“He kept both hands in his pockets.”
“That’s so, he did!” agreed Penny. “Wait here for me! I’ll ask the ticket agent a few questions!”
She was inside the office perhaps five minutes. When she returned, visibly excited, she glanced anxiously up the street. The stranger had vanished from view down the short street, apparently having turned at the first corner.
“We must overtake him!” Penny cried. “I have a hunch we let Mr. Rhett pull a fast one!”
Hurriedly, the girls walked to the corner. The stranger was nowhere to be seen. Whether he had disappeared into a building, down an alley or another street, they had no way of knowing. Penny stopped two pedestrians to inquire, but no one had noticed the man.
“We’ve lost him!” she exclaimed to Louise. “How disgusting!”
“What did the ticket man tell you, Penny?”
“That the man was inquiring about steamship accommodations to New Orleans, and on to South America. He didn’t give his name.”
“Then how can you be sure it was Mr. Rhett?”
“It’s only a hunch. But the agent said the man was wearing a ring—he didn’t notice the type.”