"N nothing," remarked the clerk; "that's a B."
"Yes, it is a B, I think, and to me the word looks like—well, like Balloon," said Hemming.
O'Rourke sighed. "Of course it is New York; see the break in the middle, and a man is more likely to come from there than from a balloon," he said.
"Some men go away in balloons, sir," suggested the clerk.
Just then the proprietor of the hotel entered and approached the desk. He Was an imposing figure of a man, tall and deep, and suitably dressed in the roomiest of light tweeds. His face was round and clever. He shook hands with the new arrivals.
"Military men, I believe," he said.
"Not just now," replied Hemming.
"Do you know where Mr. Hudson is at present?" asked O'Rourke, in casual tones.
"Mr. Hudson, of Philadelphia? Why, no, sir, I can't say that I do," answered the big man.
"How do you know he's of Philadelphia?" asked the Englishman.