"That's right!"
"You are students at the Kentfield Academy then?"
"Yes. Better move a bit faster. Here comes the express. It will pass the local on the bridge, I guess. Yes, there they both come."
Whistles from the locomotives of the two approaching trains, which rounded curves at this point, showed that the two engineers had seen the figures on the track.
"That's for us!" exclaimed Paul, quickly.
The stranger did not answer, but slowly followed Dick, who scrambled down the embankment. Ere they reached the lower level the trains rushed thunderously past in a cloud of dust and cinders.
"Now you can walk the track with more safety," remarked Dick to the man. "There won't be another train for three hours."
"Thank you, I think I'll go the rest of my journey by the highway," and the man, with a little bow, turned aside, going in the direction from which the boys had come. As he walked along Paul turned in time to see him take from his pocket the note he had pinned there and tear it up, scattering the fragments along the road.
For a few moments Paul and Dick walked along in silence, Grit following at their heels. Then Paul spoke.