“Keep out of trouble,” warned Mr. Hampton anxiously, and the flyer laughed. “We’ll be waiting at the hotel to hear from you.”
As the Border Patrol man darted away along the bench, hastening so as to accomplish his purpose before the occupants resumed their seats, Bob who was the last in line of the party swung up behind him.
“The Army can’t get all the fun,” he chuckled, brushing aside the restraining hand which Jack instinctively thrust out to halt him.
A moment later he was too far away to be dragged back, and all his companions could do was to stare after him with mouths open in dismay.
“No, you don’t, Frank,” said Mr. Hampton suddenly, making a dive for Frank. The latter had attempted to climb up on the seat and set off in pursuit of his big pal.
“Come on, Mr. Hampton,” begged Frank, “be a Sport.”
The older man shook his head.
“Two will be plenty for the job,” he said. “I wish Bob hadn’t gone, and I’d have stopped him if I could. I hope no trouble comes of it. And I suppose Bob will be all right, because Captain Cornell can get help by making his rank known, in case the necessity of an appeal to the Mexican police arises. Nevertheless, I won’t be comfortable until I hear from Bob and the army man again. And I’d feel even more uncomfortable if you had gone, too.”
“Oh, I say,” protested Frank. “I can take care of myself as well as Bob.”
“Yes, I know,” answered Mr. Hampton. “The truth is you probably can take care of yourself better than Bob, that is you think a bit faster. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. But, there. Cornell and Bob, as you see, have reached the stairway and disappeared down it, while Ramirez and Ramon are still ten or twelve feet distant and held up by the crowd. That’s good. Our boys will be able to wait for them outside, and should manage to follow them without arousing suspicion.”