The same thing happened on two successive nights. Try as he did he could discover no one, however. He began to be quite nervous. A person who could steal up on him in a crowd, unknown to him, and drop letters into his pocket, was clearly a dangerous customer, Larry reasoned.
On Saturday night, as he left the train, he felt a suspicious tug at his coat pocket. He turned quickly, and caught a glimpse of a youth hurrying through the crowd.
“If that wasn’t Peter Manton I’ll eat my hat,” thought Larry.
He drew out the letter, which, in accordance with his expectations, he found. It read:
THIS IS THE LAST WARNING.
CHAPTER XXVI
LARRY’S NARROW ESCAPE
Somehow, instead of being frightened at receiving the ominous message thrust into his pocket in that mysterious manner, Larry felt a sense of relief.
“Well, I’m glad they’re at the end of this warning business,” he remarked to himself. “It was getting annoying. I’d rather do some real fighting, than all this sparring in the dark. If they’re going to do something let ’em do it, and not be hinting at it all the time. The suspense is worse than anything else.”
As Larry hurried toward his home he could not help feeling a little bit worried lest something had befallen Jimmy. The message seemed to indicate that the patience of the gang was exhausted, and that they would now proceed to act.
Consequently Larry felt much relieved when he reached home, and found his brother and all the others safe. He was tired with his day’s work, and went to bed early.