"Suppose we meet Denton?"
"He will keep out of our way. If he don't, I may take him by the collar and shake him out of his boots."
"I guess you could do it, Mr. Bundy," said Oliver, surveying the wiry, muscular form of his companion.
"I should not be afraid to try," said Nicholas, with a grim smile.
After breakfast they arranged to remove their trunks back to their old quarters.
"Our stay here has been short, but it has been long enough," said Nicholas. "Next time we will put less confidence in fair words and a smooth tongue."
They did not meet Denton, but that gentleman was quite aware of their movements. From the window of his chamber he saw Oliver and his guardian depart, and later he saw their luggage carried away.
"So they've given me the slip, have they?" he soliloquized. "Well, that doesn't end it. The old man is worth plucking, and the boy I am paid to watch. Confound the young bantam! I will see that he don't crow so loud the next time we meet. But why does Kenyon take such an interest in him? That's what I don't understand."
Denton took from his pocket a letter signed"Benjamin Kenyon," and read carefully the following passage:
When you find the boy—and I think you cannot fail with the full description of himself and his companion which I send you—watch his movements. Note especially whether he appears to have any communication with a woman who may claim to be his mother. Probably they will not meet, but it is possible that they may. If so, it is important that I should be apprised at once, I will send you further instructions hereafter.