CHAPTER XIV
IN CUSTODY
Blake and Charlie nodded their heads as Joe gave voice to his suspicion. Then, as they looked across once again at the man in the slouch hat, he seemed aware of their glances and slunk down an alley.
"But I think he has his eye on us, all the same," observed Blake, as the boys went into their hotel.
"What are we going to do about it?" inquired Charlie. "Shall we put up a kick or a fight?"
"Neither one," decided Blake, after a moment's thought.
"Why not?" inquired Macaroni, with rather a belligerent air, as befitted one in the midst of war's alarms. "Why not go and ask this fellow what he means by spying on us?"
"In the first place, if we could confront him, which I very much doubt," answered Blake, "he would probably deny that he was even so much as looking at us, except casually. Those fellows from Scotland Yard, or whatever the English now call their Secret Service, are as keen as they make 'em. We wouldn't get any satisfaction by kicking."
"Then let's fight!" suggested Charlie. "We can protest to the officer who told us to wait here for our permits to go to the front. We can say we're United States citizens and we object to being spied on. Let's do it!"
"Yes, we could do that," said Blake slowly. "But perhaps we are being kept under surveillance by the orders of that same officer."