“He has something in his hand—a package——”
“Listen!” Al drew Bob further into the dark interior. “Bob—when I blundered in on them, those men had—what do you suppose?—the company books!” Al clutched Bob’s arm tighter. “You remember, we hid when Mr. Parsons was in the offices—he took those books!”
“Yes,” Bob’s whisper agreed. “Now he’s been showing them to that man we saw, and to somebody else.”
“Mr. Parsons isn’t as honest as Griff wanted us to believe.”
Bob shook Al’s arm reassuringly. “No,” he admitted, “I thought Griff’s story was part of—what did they say in the war?—oh, yes! It was ‘camouflage.’ Fancy paint to conceal something.”
“If we could only get the books away from them—and tell Barney!”
“They may be coming to look for you. Mr. Parsons must have recognized you, Al. I wonder if there’s a haymow over this old floor?”
“You go along one wall and I’ll take the other. We’ll see!”
They hurried away from one another. Presently Bob called out softly and, following the wall, with one hand touching to hold his place, the other extended ahead to avoid bumping into any obstruction, the youngest of the Sky Squad found his way to Bob.
There was a ladder against the wall. Bob whispered instructions and started up the dark, uncertain ladder. Bob had hardly reached the top and called down a low reassurance when Al almost scrambled in his eagerness to get up quickly.