“Is it so, indeed? And bearing that pack upon your shoulders, too.”
“It’s not so comfortable as it might be,” laughed the other shortly; “and not so lightly carried as your saddle-bags, which I see hanging upon the wall.”
The tall man turned and looked where the other pointed.
“It just happens that I’m not sure that those are mine,” said he. Then running his eye over the array of hats, saddle-bags and riding-whips which hung upon the wooden pegs, he remarked, addressing those at the other table: “Did it ever occur to you, gentlemen, how alike all such things are? For the life of me I can’t see why we are not continually mistaking each other’s property.”
“Now that I think of it,” spoke Mr. Revere, “I must say that I agree with you.”
“I knew you would,” said the tall man. Then with a laugh he added, lightly: “But let us put it to the test.” He looked at the things upon the wall as though reckoning them up. “There are four—yes, five pairs of saddle pouches. Come, now,” and he ran his eyes over his neighbors until they rested upon Ben, still laughingly, “let us see if you can tell which is your own and which are your friends’.”
Nat, with a start, grasped the man’s idea instantly.
“Ezra placed the message to Dr. Warren in his saddle pocket,” he said to himself. “This man in some way knows of it, and is taking this means of making sure which are Ezra’s.”
It was plain that Ben Cooper did not altogether relish being selected to make what the stranger called the test. While the boy never dreamed of the real truth, as it flashed into Nat’s brain, still there was something in the man’s manner that did not please him—a cunning and a mockery, well hidden, but present nevertheless. However, he did not see how he could well refuse, so he set about the task without further ado.
“The pair at the end I do not know, so I suppose they must be yours, sir,” said he. “Next are Mr. Revere’s, because they are of polished leather, and next are Ezra’s because they are of pigskin and almost new——”