At first Guy thought the man must be an employee of the steamer, but a second glance assured him that this could not be. All the ship’s attendants were in uniform, and this person was not so attired. Moreover, the boy was certain he recognized the intruder.
But the man did not turn his face toward Guy after a first hurried glance in the latter’s direction. He moved with long strides toward the nearest stairway. Guy observed that he was tall, squarely built, and carried no superfluous flesh.
“I’ll follow him and make sure,” resolved the boy, starting after the retreating figure. “If anything’s been stolen, I want to know who took it.”
Guy pursued the man up the stairway to the next deck above. The fellow ran up the stairs, two steps at a bound, and when the boy reached the next upper landing, he fancied he saw the fugitive enter a cafe. Guy entered also, but the man had disappeared.
Vexed at being thus outwitted, young Burton left the cafe and searched the neighborhood unsuccessfully. Then he returned to his stateroom, the door of which he found locked. He unlocked the door and entered. Inside all was not in the orderly condition in which it had been left an hour or two earlier.
Guy and his mother occupied adjoining staterooms. Each of these, owing to architectural necessity in its peculiar position, was constructed and fitted for the accommodation of but one passenger. A door between the two rooms indicated that they were intended occasionally to be used as a suite.
The door was open, as Guy and his mother had left it. On a chair in his mother’s room, the boy found his mother’s valise, which he remembered distinctly she had left on the floor. He took hold of the handle and was about to lift, when it fell open. Probably the intruder had attempted to clasp it, but failed, in his haste to depart.
A protruding piece of linen under the lid of his trunk in his own room next attracted the boy’s attention. He took hold of the lid and lifted. It was unlocked. Guy was certain he had locked the trunk before leaving the room two hours earlier.
Inside the trunk he found new evidence of meddling. The box containing the “wireless shoe” outfit had been opened. The paper in which it had been wrapped was removed and tucked under other contents of the trunk. Apparently the man had hoped to find valuables in this box.
Guy made a through examination of all his belongings, which were in considerable disorder, but nothing had been stolen. Then he left the room, locked the door, and started for the place where he had left his mother.