“Hello, kid! What you doing here?”
He looked up to behold his old enemy Peter Manton.
“I’m working for Mr. Newton,” replied Larry, not feeling any too friendly.
“I’m working too,” volunteered Peter, seemingly forgetting that there was an old score between him and Larry. “I’m on the Scorcher. I’ll bet we beat you fellows all hollow. The Scorcher plays up news in red type on the front page. It’s a dandy paper.”
Larry did not reply, but Peter called after him:
“Where you stopping?”
“At the hotel,” replied Larry, not caring to be impolite.
“See you later,” called Peter as he kept on toward the telegraph office. “Yes, I’ll see you later, and I guess you’ll wish you hadn’t seen me,” muttered Peter, shaking his fist at Larry’s back. If Larry could have seen this he might have worried a little, but, as it was, he did not.
Getting back to the hotel, Larry found the place filled with excited men. They all seemed to be talking at once, but all Larry could distinguish was “dynamite,” “blow it up,” and “save our lives.”
“What’s the matter?” he asked of Mr. Newton.