Page:Arthur Stringer--The House of Intrigue.djvu/98

88 he explained, with all the placidity of a floor-boss to a factory hand. Then he moved forward a little, with a sign for me to follow. "Will you be so good as to walk beside me, toward the east here," he went on in a lowered voice. "For I preceive [sic] a stranger approaching. And this is a case where caution is of great value."

Absurd as the whole thing was, I was beginning to be interested. So I swung in beside him as we moved on down the quiet canyon of the twilit side street. He kept walking faster and faster, until it took an effort for me to keep up with him.

"What is this, anyway?" I finally inquired. "A marathon or a free-for-all?"

"Oh, I beg your pardon," said the little old geesergeezer [sic], pulling up. "I must have been thinking of other things!"

We were walking eastward down a side street that was all Indiana limestone and swell-front. The neighborhood, I could see, was what Bud would have called a cuff-shooter colony. I could also see that the little two-legged rat was heading for his lair, wherever that might be, and not just meandering along to kill time. And I resented the fact that I was following him as meek as a French poodle on a ribbon-leash.