"What sort of writing is this?" he asked.
"That's too many for me. It isn't Chinese—Carl said Ping told him that—and it isn't Dutch. Of course, it's not English. And who it belongs to, or where it came from, or what's the good of it, is more than I know. But it appears to have caused a lot of bother."
"It's Hindoostanee," spoke up Twomley, staring at the open sheet. "I can read the language. If you wish, I'll translate it."
Then, for the first time, Burton and Carl turned on the Englishman and took his measure.
[CHAPTER IV.]
A CLUE IN HINDOOSTANEE.
"Who are you, my friend?" inquired Burton bluntly.
"A friend of Motor Matt," replied Twomley easily. "He'll vouch for me, I fancy."
"Mr. Twomley, attaché of the British Legation at Washington, Burton," said Matt. "Mr. Burton," Matt added to the Englishman, "is the proprietor of the show. The other lad is Carl Pretzel, who is also a chum of mine. We can talk over this matter before them. Carl had everything to do with the finding of Margaret Manners, back there at Lafayette."