“Well,” chuckled the other, as if amused, “if they don’t it isn’t goin’ to be for want of chances, I tell you that, Rob.”
“Let’s get back to our places,” the scout leader added, “because I don’t feel altogether safe away from my suitcase, with all that wonderful stuff in it the professor said represented so much research and effort that made it priceless.”
The two men were there as they had left them. Rob again nodded carelessly when he found that the short man was eagerly watching to catch his eyes; but he did not stop to enter into any conversation when the other made some casual remark, only replying over his shoulder as he passed on.
“They kept talking like a blue streak while you were gone,” said Andy, after the other two had seated themselves. “Twice the tall man stepped off as if he meant to follow you, but he must have thought better of it, for he turned back before getting out of the car, and shook his head at the other one. They are up to something evil, Rob, take my word for it.”
“We only have one more meal aboard the train, and then comes the hotel at Los Angeles,” said Hiram. “I guess we can hold ’em off that much longer.”
“You see how you can overdo things by being too much on your guard, Hiram,” Rob explained. “Only for the way you kept on feeling your pocket they would never have suspected that Boy Scouts traveling alone could own anything worth stealing. The best way to do is to make things secure, and then appear to forget all about them.”
“I will at another time, Rob; but between the way that Marsters acted, and the caution these people on the Coast impressed on me, it all got on my nerves. You see, I thought it was only business to tell the Golden Gate people how Eastern concerns had men buzzing me continually to sell to them. That made them warn me not to take anyone into my confidence while traveling. They know some unscrupulous firms would steal an idea as big as my invention, if they could get away with it. But it’s all right now, and they can whistle for their prize for all I care.”
CHAPTER VIII.
A SHOCK AT LOS ANGELES.
The time passed, and when one of the waiters passed through to announce supper, the boys had laid out their program. As before, Rob and Hiram were to go first, while Andy held the fort for them.
“Remember and don’t leave the seat under any condition while we’re gone,” was what the scout leader told Andy.