The two boys looked at each other and only laughed.
"Notice his right eye when you see him again," chuckled Bill.
CHAPTER XVII
THE UNEXPECTED
"Where did you come from, Gus?" Bill asked, still inclined to laugh.
"The road. Slipped away from the others for I was wondering whether you might not get into trouble. Couldn't imagine that chump would spring anything that wouldn't make you mad, and I knew you'd talk back. So I did the gumshoe."
"Well, I suppose he would have made it quite interesting for me and I am eternally grateful to you. If it weren't for you, Gus, I guess, I'd have a hard time in—"
"By cracky, if it weren't for you, old scout, where would I be? Nowhere, or anywhere, but never somewhere."
"That sounds to me something like what Professor Gray calls a paradox," laughed Bill.
"I don't suppose you're going to peach on Thad," Gus offered.