"They'll get away from us, Ralph!" came to him in an excited whisper.
"No, they won't, Joe!" answered an equally guarded voice. "They'll look around toward the rear of the shed and then they'll come in here. Be ready to down 'em the minute they show up in the doorway. We'll fasten 'em in here and they won't be able to get out until night."
"But if we lose that train——" put in another voice, only to be interrupted by Sercomb's.
"Lose nothing, Balt! The train stops twenty minutes, and we'll get back to the station in good time."
"Gad," muttered the voice of Slocum, "Higgins gave us a hot tip. You ought to've seen those chaps when they set eyes on me. That Dutchman would have eaten me up if I'd let him get close enough."
"I knew they'd chase you," went on Sercomb.
"I don't think we're gaining anything, even at that," struck in the voice of Packard. "We jump off the other train and delay ourselves just to set King back a train."
"Trueman, of the Jarrot Automobile Company, has a car in the race and he's not satisfied with his driver. I don't want King to work in there, and I intend to see Trueman and put one of our boys in his car. If we'd stayed on that other train we'd have reached Ottawa in the night. On this train we'll reach our destination in the morning, and I'll have a chance at Trueman before King shows up. If——"
Matt overheard that much, and his astonishment can perhaps be imagined better than described. Sercomb was plotting, as usual, and not only was he in the tool-shed with Slocum, but Joe Mings and Harry Packard and Balt Finn were there as well.
The talk between the drivers came to a sudden close as Carl, impatient to find out what Matt was doing, ran around the other side of the shed.