Page:On to Pekin.djvu/105

Rh "For all I know, he may have been spying on me in Manila," he said to Nickerson.

"I don't see how he can possibly hurt you," was the reply. "Perhaps he knows little or nothing of the past."

"Then what was his object in introducing himself as Lieutenant Gilbert? I half believe he followed us from Manila. The clerk at the hotel said something about his being there earlier in the day, although I didn't pay any attention to it at the time."

"As an officer in the army, he has got to attend to his official duties. If I were you, I'd leave him severely alone; and I believe the whole thing will drop then and there. Even if he is Jefferson Pennington's son, he can't rake up that old claim, can he?"

"I don't know but that he can. Your father was the lawyer who passed on the papers in the case, and you have had all his records since he died. You ought to know more about it than I do."

At this, Jerry Nickerson's face took on a cunning look. "I do know a good deal, and don't deny it. But I reckon your father is safe—if he keeps his mouth shut."

"This Pennington may combine with Amos