n't it?" asked Smithy. "For my
part now, fellows, I rather took to that man who sat here, and drank his
coffee. He's no hobo, I give you my word. His hands may look soiled, but
under it all they're decent enough to belong to a gentleman."

"Hey! listen to Smithy, would you?" exclaimed Step-hen, as if surprised.
"Now, I never knew he had such a way of figgering out things. If he
keeps on like that, he'll leave us all in the lurch, fellers."

"To tell the truth," admitted the other, smilingly; "time was when I
wouldn't have thought of noticing a single thing about such a man; but
you see, I've been studying up the rules and suggestions our
scout-master loaned me, and it keeps on telling greenhorns and
tenderfeet to always be on the lookout, so as to remember what they see.
And when he sat there, I just thought it would be a fine chance to make
a mental note of anything queer about him I could detect."

"Good for you, Number Five," said Thad, warmly. "I said you were going
to make your mark yet, once you got into the fever of things; and
already you're proving a credit to the Silver Fox Patrol."

"Then you saw the same things, did you, Thad?" asked Smithy, eagerly,
and with a really happy look on his delicate face; because this practice
of "doing things" was a new experience for him, and success made him
feel proud indeed.

"Partly so; though you went me one better when you made out that his
hands were white under the grime," answered the scout-master.

"That sounds like you think he took on all that dirt on purpose?"
remarked Bumpus.

"Perhaps he did," replied Thad; "perhaps the man is playing some sort of
part, for a reason of his own."

"Bunking with an ignorant foreigner just to get a chance to sneak into
camps, and run off with the haversacks that have been carelessly left
lying around loose?" suggested Step-hen, still harping on his wrongs.

"Well, I don't agree with you there, Step-hen," remarked Allan. "Like
Smithy here, I found something about that man that interested me. If
asked me point-blank now, possibly I couldn't tell you what it was that
attracted me--his eyes, his smile, or his whole manner. But I'd be badly
mistaken if he would turn out to be a rascal."

"And I say the same," observed Thad, vigorously.

"Oh! well, you fellows may be right," remarked Giraffe; "but to my mind
there's something mighty suspicious about the way they came snooping
around here. Reckon that party might know more abou