Josh grinned, showing that he had purposely acted so as to excite the suspicion of this curious comrade. Having attained his end, he consented to explain further.
“Well, no, not quite all, Hanky,” he remarked calmly; “I’m most sure I saw a man skulking around who showed a whole lot of concern when I approached, and even hurried away. He wasn’t an old man either, and let me tell you, Rod, he hid his face from me in the bargain. Now, what do you think of that?”
“Was it Jules, do you reckon?” asked Hanky Panky, as quick as a flash; for somehow he could not imagine any other person wishing to avoid meeting one of them.
“I got the notion in my head,” admitted Josh, “that it must be either him or else some party hitched up with Jules. He acted in a way that made me sure of that.”
“Huh!” Hanky Panky went on to say, with one of his odd chuckles, “I’m only surprised, Josh, you didn’t step right up to the fellow and ask him if he answered to the name of Jules Baggott; also if he happened to know a woman called Jeanne D’Aubrey. That’d be just like your way, Josh.”
The other grinned affably as though he considered this one of the highest compliments his chum could pay him.
“Oh, well, to tell you the truth, though I’m almost ashamed to admit it,” he remarked, “I did want to chase after him and say that very same thing; but, hang the luck, he was too slippery for me. Besides, you see, it was getting dark; anyhow he managed to leave me in the lurch. But it was one of that bunch, believe me.”
“Still after that paper, it seems, Rod,” said Hanky Panky with a frown; “mebbe we’ll have a visitor again to-night, just like happened in that inn over at Calais.”
“If we do you can make up your mind he’ll have all his trouble for his pains,” the other told him; “besides, we’ll take precautions this time, and no sneak-thief can get into the room when I’m on my guard without our knowing it.”
The boys sat around for some little time afterwards. Rod entered into a conversation with the woman of the house, for while he could tell her many things concerning the state of affairs at the front, at the same time there was always a possibility of his picking up a little information that might come in handy later on.