He did not know that he was seen to quit the place.
He was not aware of the fact that during the last part of his work a pair of foxlike eyes were watching him through a rent in the curtain, thanks to a broken slat in the shutter.
The owner of these eyes was on his trail.
It was a boy, shrewd and wiry, and he kept George Richmond in sight, no matter how many turns he made.
Mulberry Billy had not played spy upon this man for nothing.
While he could not see the writing, he felt that it was for no good, and thus he slipped after the man as he crossed one street after another, taking himself into a strange part of New York.
George Richmond visited a well-known cheap café on the Bowery and had a plain supper, after which, once more buttoning his coat to his chin, he sauntered out under the lights.
Billy was still his ferret.
The boy tracked the man to the house occupied at times by Claude Lamont.
He saw him mount the steps, but could not see beyond the door.