Jack thought it best, however, not to let his suspicions appear on the surface. So he answered calmly enough:
“Yes, we are out for a short run through the country. We are thinking of turning back now, though.”
“Is that so?” was the rejoinder. “Well, we are going on. Got a bit of wire you can let us have? The insulation on one of ours is worn through.”
“I think we can spare you a piece,” said Jack, thinking that this would be a good way to get rid of the men. He rummaged in the tool box and soon produced what was wanted. The red-bearded man thanked him and, having adjusted his engine, he and his companion drove off.
“Well, what do you make of that?” exclaimed Jack, in some wonderment; “the fellow was just as cool as if we hadn’t chased him across Mr. Peregrine’s estate yesterday.”
“I’m glad you didn’t refer to that,” said Tom; “it might have made trouble; and our first duty now is to get the model safely to Boston. We can settle up accounts with those chaps later. By the way, I guess it was a mere accident—their meeting us here.”
Jack looked rather perplexed.
“I don’t know exactly,” he said, with a dubious shake of the head, “and yet they didn’t seem to have any idea that we were on an important mission.”
“Unless they were foxy enough to cover up anything they knew about our having the model right here with us,” said Tom.
“At any rate, it will be best to wait here a while and let them get on ahead a good ways,” decided Jack; “the further off from those chaps we are the better content I am.”