“Well, they’ve been holding considerable conversation in low tones,” explained Rob. “I could manage to glimpse them in the glass at our end of the car, though they didn’t suspect me of spying. Every time either of you thought to get up, or even turn your heads they made out to be half asleep, with their eyes shut; but I could see they were talking about you.”
“Then mebbe that Marsters did send emissaries along with me to try and steal the product of my brains!” complained Hiram, with compressed lips and stern demeanor.
“Oh! that doesn’t follow at all,” Rob assured him. “These fellows may just happen to be a pair of hard cases always on the lookout for signs of a paying haul. When they noticed how you kept feeling of your inside pocket they guessed from the signs you must have something worth while hidden away there. Men who make their living from the world by sharp tricks get to read character wonderfully well.”
“Yes,” Andy put in just then, “they say that old and experienced customs inspectors can tell from a person’s looks in nine cases out of ten whether he or she is trying to smuggle things into the country without declaring them.”
“What can I do about it then, Rob?” asked Hiram.
“I’ve got a plan that would fill the bill,” he was told.
“Yes, go on and tell me, Rob.”
“You come with me into the car ahead. We’ll sit in the smoking compartment for a few minutes if it happens to be empty. There you can give me your packet, and I’ll fasten it inside my coat, handing over some worthless papers for you to do up as if they were priceless in value, to pin in your pocket instead. Do you get what I’m telling you, Hiram?”
“Rob, count me in,” the other replied hastily. “It’s a good thing, for even if they did happen to rob me they’d be having their pains for nothing. When you’re ready, give me the tip and I’ll follow after you.”
“Andy,” Rob continued impressively, “as we pass out you change your seat so that you’re facing the two men. In that way you can seem to be watching, and they’re not so apt to follow after us.”