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We only have one more meal aboard the train, and then comes the hotel at Los Angeles, said Hiram. I guess we can hold em off that much longer.
You see how you can overdo things by being too much on your guard, Hiram, Rob explained. Only for the way you kept on feeling your pocket they would never have suspected that Boy Scouts traveling alone could own anything worth stealing. The best way to do is to make things secure, and then appear to forget all about them.
I will at another time, Rob; but between the way that Marsters acted, and the caution these people on the Coast impressed on me, it all got on my nerves.
You see, I thought it was only business to tell the Golden Gate people how Eastern concerns had men buzzing me continually to sell to them. That made them warn me not to take anyone into my confidence while traveling. They know some unscrupulous firms would steal an idea as big as my invention, if they could get away with it. But its all right now, and they can whistle for their prize for all I care.
CHAPTER VIII A SHOCK AT LOS ANGELES
Remember and dont leave the seat under any condition while were gone, was what the scout leader told Andy.
Do you suspect that they might even try to get away with our hand baggage? asked the other. I thought it was only Hirams pockets they wanted to explore.
If they are thieves nothing is safe from them, explained Rob. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Keep your foot on my bag as you sit here. If anybody tries to tempt you to change seats just say youve got a bone in your leg, and dont care to move around more than you can help.
Sure thing! chuckled Andy; it hurts terribly, too; and the only thing that is able to make me use it is the walk to the dinner the cake-walk I call it. Leave it all to me, Rob; Im frozen to this seat.
Accordingly, the pair passed along the aisle and headed for the dining-car. Again the two men did their best to be civil, even nodding and smiling genially as the two boys passed them.
Rob, theyre chasing after us! muttered Hiram, in some little anxiety, just as he and his chum had entered the next car and were passing along the narrow corridor.
All right, theres no law to prevent them from getting hungry at the same time we do, replied Rob over his shoulder.
But they may choose to sit down with us at the same table, and make themselves chummy, objected the other.
I guess not if we know it, Rob told him.
How can we help it without making some sort of scene? asked Hiram.
Thats easy enough, if we can pick a table that only accommodates two, explained the scout leader, and as were in the advance, we have our choice.
Oh!
Evidently, Hiram was considerably relieved by what his comrade had said. He once more realized that Rob promised to be equal to the occasion. Indeed, the record of past achievements should have told Hiram this long ago; but in the presence of new dangers he was apt to forget what splendid things Rob had accomplished on other occasions when the tide seemed adverse.
Upon entering the dining-car Rob smiled to see that there was just one table seating two that did not have some one at it.
Theres our chance, Rob, down at the further end of the car! said Hiram hastily, as though he feared the other might not see the table.
Rob took the chair that placed his back against the partition. This allowed him to survey the rest of the car. Nothing could have suited his plans better, for there was a small mirror that he could use to spy upon the two men who were now sitting facing him, halfway up the car.
As the meal progressed and evening drew on, the electric lights in the diner were turned on. Hiram somehow seemed to lack his voracious appetite.
Dont just know whats the cause, Rob, he remarked, when the other accused him of not disposing of much of the food he had ordered, it may be the rocking of the car, which is fierce just now; or else it comes of my riding backward. Ive been told that some people never can stand for that. But I guess I wont starve to death between now and morning.
The two men talked a good deal, but then there was nothing suspicious in that. Rob also noticed that they watched him and companion from time to time, as if their interest kept on growing.
When Hiram happened to think of his instructions, and occasionally raised a hand to feel for his coat in the region of that inner pocket, Rob kept a close watch on the men. He could plainly see the shorter one nudge his companion in the side, and say something, for his lips moved. Undoubtedly he was calling the others attention to Hirams suggestive movement, and while not a lip-reader, Rob could easily imagine him saying half under his breath:
See, there he goes at it again! Just as we decided, he must have something rich hidden away there. And were fools if we dont make a big bid for it!
Rob was by this time fully satisfied that the men had evil designs on his comrades inside pocket. He was determined to be unusually careful about riding in a public conveyance while in Los Angeles, since that