“Not a bit of it,” Dugan assured his yellow skinned companion. “Didn’t you come in by night and make straight for this place? You couldn’t have a better hiding-place. No one ever comes here, and——
Cra-c-k!
A board, upon which Tubby had unthinkingly stood, so as to obtain a better view, gave way under the heavy youth’s weight at this interesting point. With a gasp of dismay, Tubby clutched at the lilacs to save himself from falling, thereby creating even more noise.
“Who’s there?” roared Dugan, springing to his feet. The boys caught the glint of a revolver, as he shot erect. Like a small and venomous snake, the Jap, too, was up like a flash. But they were neither of them quick enough to catch a glimpse of the scouts, as they dashed off into a patch of woods lying to the left, into the shadows of which they had dived, wriggling along on their stomachs, before either Dugan or the Jap had recovered from their start.
From their cover, the boys could see the pair emerge from the house and search about it thoroughly, without, of course, finding a trace of anything unusual.
“Guess it must have been a rabbit or something,” they could hear Dugan say, after a prolonged search that showed no indication of human surveillance.
“Huh! Honorable rabbit gave me a big jump,” they heard the Jap rejoin.
The two went back into the house, no doubt to continue their deliberations, while the boys, making a detour through the woods, once more emerged on the main road, with Tubby’s thirst still unsatisfied.
“Now, what do you suppose was the meaning of that confab?” asked Merritt, as they trudged along.
“Looks to me like treachery of some sort,” rejoined Rob. “Those Japs have been busy in Mexico during the insurrection. You know, they wanted to get a coaling base there. They certainly are not friends of Uncle Sam’s, however much they pretend to be, and when you see one of our soldiers in such a consultation with one of them, it looks bad.”