"Yes; and I kept my eye on the door for almost an hour. I thought you might be with her."
"No; Sam Pepper and I have parted for good, Paul. I've got a room uptown, near the stand. I'd like to know what became of the young lady."
"If she came out, it must have been after I went away."
Paul knew that his mother, who was now getting better, would be anxious about him, so, without waiting longer, he hurried on. Nelson remained on the sidewalk, in deep thought.
Presently, as he was looking toward Sam Pepper's resort, he saw a corner of a curtain lifted and saw the man peer out at him. Then the curtain was dropped again.
"He's watching me," thought the newsboy. "Something is wrong here, and I know it. He and that Homer Bulson are friends, and Bulson is bound to make Miss Gertrude marry him. Perhaps they have hatched up some game against Miss Gertrude."
Not to make Sam Pepper more suspicious, Nelson walked briskly away, up the street. But at the first corner he turned, sped down the side street, and then into the alleyway connecting with the rear of Pepper's resort.
It took him but a minute to ascertain that the shutters to the rear room were tightly closed, and held together by a wire bound from one catch to the other.
The shutters were solid, but near the tops were several round holes, put there for ventilating purposes.
Looking around our hero discovered an empty barrel, and standing on this he managed to look through one of the holes into the apartment.