“Now, if we could get off at once, Esau,” I said, “they would not see us go, and when they return they might come and watch here as long as they liked.”
Esau jumped at the idea, and went out to see if he could find a man to help us carry our boxes, while I paid our bill.
Before I had done he was back with Gunson, whom he had met, and told what he was after, with the result that they had returned together.
“I’m only a poor man,” said our friend, with a laugh, “so I thought I might as well come and earn half a dollar. I thought too,” he added, seriously, “that it would be better not to employ a stranger, who would be able to point out where you are staying, in case your acquaintances want to hunt you out to do you an ill turn.”
We were only too glad of his offer, and in less than an hour we were safely in the shelter of our new resting-place; while upon Esau’s going out to reconnoitre, taking a good round so as not to be seen, he returned shortly in high glee, to tell us that the three men were seated on a stack of timber, watching the hotel we had left.
“And ready for some mischief, I’ll be bound,” said Gunson. “These fellows work in clans, and I shall be very glad if we can get away without a crack on the head.”
As we sat chatting with Gunson the rest of that day and evening, he seemed to puzzle me, for sometimes he talked quite like a steerage passenger, just as the rough-looking man he seemed should talk, while at others, words and ideas kept slipping out which made me think he must be one who had had a good education. He had travelled a great deal, as we knew, but he seemed singularly reserved about his intentions. That he was going to the Fraser River he made no secret; but though he kept us in the dark, he somehow or another, now that he was more with us, contrived to possess himself of all our projects.
He seemed at times quite changed, and his manner set me wondering why it was that, though we had passed nearly five months together on board the Albatross, seeing us every day, he had rarely spoken to us then, and we parted almost as much strangers as on the first day when we encountered each other in the dark cabin of the ship.
First one and then the other would think he had found a clue to our companion’s intentions; but when we parted for the night we felt far from sure, but more curious than ever.
“So you are going hunting, are you?” he said, in the course of our conversation.