Now that was confusing as all-git-out. Here was a mysterious man spying on Tod and a heap more mysterious person sneaking around to keep his eye on the spy. I drew a long breath and looked farther back into the underbrush, because you can’t tell what might happen. There might have been somebody spying on that second spy, and another watching the third, and so on. Why, there might have been a string of spies, each watching the one in front of him, that stretched ’way around the earth! I knew Mark Tidd would be a lot interested in this thing, so after I had watched long enough to make sure those two were the only spies in sight, I shinned down again careful and crept up to Mark. I did it so stealthy that he didn’t know I was coming until I reached out and touched him, and then he was that startled you wouldn’t believe. “How’s that?” says I. “I’ll bet there hain’t an Injun could ’a’ stole up any quieter.” He didn’t say a thing for a minute, and then he tried to let on he hadn’t been startled a bit. “See him?” says he. “Yes,” says I, “and that hain’t all. He’s there watchin’ Tod, and behind him is somebody else watchin’ _him_.” “Eh?” says Mark. “What’s that?” “Sure as shootin’,” says I. “Somebody’s spyin’ on the man that’s spyin’ on Tod.” “What d’you make of it?” says he. “Nothin’,” says I, “but it does look to me like we was landed plumb in the middle of somethin’ mighty mysterious.” He sat quiet for a while, thinking and pinching his fat cheek and jerking at his ear, but _he_ couldn’t make anything of it. “It l-looks to me like the man that’s watchin’ Tod m-might be workin’ for Wiggamore. Maybe they’ve had b-brains enough to think Tod might lead ’em to George Piggins. But whoever in the world would be watchin’ the spy is beyond me a mile. There hain’t no sense to it.” “There’s somethin’ to it,” says I. “Nobody’s layin’ off there behind a bush, bein’ et up by mosquitoes and havin’ ants crawl down his spine, jest for fun. No, sirree; you can bet he’s got a reason.” “Sure he’s got a reason,” says Mark, “and we got to f-find out what his reason is; but I don’t see at this minute jest how we are goin’ about it.” “The only thing,” says I, “is to stick around here and keep our eyes on Tod, and then to follow him wherever he goes. And see if these other fellers follow him, too.” “That’s right,” says Mark. “We’ll l-lay low and do just that. With all them spies traipsin’ around the woods, it’s goin’ to be mighty hard to follow Tod without gettin’ seen by some of ’em, but we kin do it.” “You bet we kin,” says I. “Sich frontiersmen as you and me could come mighty clost to crawlin’ into one of them feller’s pockets without their knowin’ it. Anyhow, _I_ could. If you was to git into a man’s pocket, the chances is he’d sense a leetle extry weight about him somewheres.” “Huh!” says Mark. And then in a couple of minutes, “Let’s eat some l-lunch.” CHAPTER XV