Hobart laughed.
"It seems the fellow hasn't taken his dismissal very seriously, Natalie," he explained, "and remains very much interested in your affairs. That covers the principal known facts in the case."
"You mean he followed me here?"
"He was on the trail, but just for what particular purpose I have failed to learn; the lad is a bit close mouthed, but it looks to me as though he was in love with you."
The girl smiled, tossing her head as she stepped forward.
"In love with me," she echoed. "That is a joke, yet I had some such suspicion when I told him to quit the job. He acted like a fool then, and began to question me as though he had a right. It was that being engaged business most likely."
"Sure; he thought he had you copped, fortune and all, and it looks to me like he needs another jolt to put the idea entirely out of his head. That is what I brought you in for. I'll explain first just how it happened. This army guy blew in here before dark, along with another fellow, Sexton, who used to be a servant out at Fairlawn—you know him?"
"Yes; he was discharged yesterday."
"I was standing by the bar talking with Issy, and I was sure I knew this lad's face. I was stumped a bit at first where I had seen him; then all at once it came to me—he was the guy sitting out there alone in the automobile over on Arch Street. I knew then what he was over here for, and got to talking with him. He give himself away the first thing, and that is why we got him up in this dump."
"How did he know I was here?"