He rose to his feet and examined the boughs of the pine.

“As I thought,” he whispered with great satisfaction.  “Despite his courage and power over himself, both of which were very great, he became a little excited.  Doubtless he saw something that stirred him deeply.”

“What under the stars are you talking about, Harry?”

“See, he broke off three twigs of the pine.  Just snapped them in two with nervous fingers.  Here are pieces lying on the ground.  Now, a man does that sort of thing almost unconsciously.  He will not reach up for the twig or down for it, but he breaks it because it presents itself to him at the corner of his eye.  This man was six feet in height or more and built very powerfully.  I think I know him!  Yes, I’m sure I know him!  Nor is it at all strange that he should be here.”

“Shall we make a thorough search for him among the pines?  You say he’s tall and built powerfully.  But maybe the two of us could master him, and if not we could call for help.”

“Too late, George.  He left a long time ago, and he took with him what he wanted.  We needn’t look any farther.”

“Lead on, then, King of Trailers and Master of Secrets!  If the mighty Caliph, Haroun al Kenton, wishes to prowl in these grounds, seeking the heart of some great conspiracy, it is not for his loyal vizier, the Sheikh Ul Dalton to ask him questions.”

“I’m not certain that a vizier is a sheikh.”

“Nor am I, but I’m certain that I want to go home and go to bed.  Vikings of the land like ourselves can’t stand much luxury.  It weakens the tissues, made strong on the march and in the fields.”

They left the grounds silently and unobserved and soon were in their own quarters, where they slept nearly the whole day.  Then they spent three or four days more in the social affairs which were such a keen pleasure to them after such a long deprivation.  But wherever they went, and they were in demand everywhere, Harry was always looking for somebody, a man, tall, heavy and broad shouldered, not a man who would come into a room where he was, or who would join a company of people that he had joined, but one who would hang upon the outskirts, and hide behind the corners of buildings or trees.  He did not see the shadow, but once or twice he felt that it was there.

The officer, Bathurst, told him one night that some important papers had been stolen from the White House of the Confederacy itself.

“They pertain to our army,” said Bathurst, “and they will be of value to the enemy, if they reach him.”

“I’m quite certain that the most daring and dangerous of all northern spies is in Richmond,” said Harry.

Then he told Bathurst of Shepard and of the trails that he had seen among the pines behind Curtis’s house.

“Do you think this man got our map?” asked Bathurst.

“It may have been so.  Perhaps he was hidden in the court and when he saw us go out, leaving the map on the table, he slipped in at the window and seized it.”