"That's Chief Waller!" remarked Andy, with more or less eagerness in his voice.
"And those others are some of his men," Frank went on. "They don't mean to lose any time about looking Jules up, do they?"
"Hey! are you sure about that?" asked Elephant; "because none of 'em had a uniform on; and what good are the police in plain clothes?"
"Oh! there are times when they can do more without their uniforms than in them," Frank remarked. "And this ought to be one of them. Suppose now that keen-eyed Jules happened to be on the lookout, and saw a car loaded down with bluecoats come along, wouldn't he hide, all right? Well, that goes without saying, fellows. As it is he might never suspect a thing. I've often seen as many fellows jammed in a car, and so have every one of you."
"One good thing is, Waller ought to know that section pretty well," remarked the old traveler. "He's been brought up here, and scoured the country as if he had a fine tooth comb, many a time. He will know how to close in on Jules, if the fellow is hiding there, which I doubt."
"Why do you say that, sir?" asked Frank, who had a genuine respect for the opinions of the veteran, based as they were on long experience and observation in all parts of the world.
"It is only a surmise on my part, Frank," replied the Colonel. "We all admit that Jules is a very clever and long-headed rascal. Very well. Don't you suppose that he may regret having given way to sudden temptation, and fired at you boys this morning? He will, on reflection, fear that you may guess who did it; for of course Jules does not know that his escape has been kept a secret all this week, in the hope that he might be recaptured, and nothing need be told. Follow me, boys?"
"Oh! yes, sir," Frank declared. "And in that case the Chief will have all his trouble for his pains, since Jules will have made tracks long before this. He may be out of the county by night."
"That is true; providing that he does not allow a fierce desire for revenge to stay his feet," replied the old man, soberly.
Usually the veteran was not the one to imagine trouble where there was none in sight; and knowing this Frank looked at him somewhat uneasily.