“Good evening to you, pard,” said the latter, walking up to the boy’s place of concealment.
“How are you?” replied Huggins, who did not like the familiar tone in which he had been addressed. “Can you tell me which way to go to find a hotel?”
“Hotel!” repeated the stranger. “There’s none around here.”
Huggins started and looked about him. Then he saw that he had got off in the woods, and that there were only one or two small buildings within the range of his vision.
“Is there no house in the neighborhood at which I can obtain a night’s lodging?” asked Huggins, growing alarmed.
“I don’t suppose there is,” was the encouraging reply.
“Where does the station-agent sleep?”
“In his office.”
“How far is your house from here?”
“Well, I can’t say just how many miles it is.”