Sam tilted his chair back and balanced himself, a feat he had learned after much practice.
"What do you think now?" he queried.
"That Wingate is bound to delay us as much as possible."
"But he ran away from his uncle."
"Perhaps he did, and perhaps he didn't," said Bob. "I've been thinking about it."
"Do you think"—Sam let his chair come down with a bang—"that it was—no, you can't mean it—that it was all a bluff?"
"It wouldn't surprise me a bit."
"Great Cæsar, Bob Somers!" exclaimed Sam, rising and walking briskly up and down; "you're making a great mystery out of this, aren't you? How do you explain about the 'honest man' act?"
"Part of the game. The provisions were all left. Nat made no efforts to signal. He didn't seem to care about it."
"And you think—?"