He decided that he was feeling too sick to worry about it yet. He longed only to get in a bed and sleep and let the morrow take care of itself. And if Barker proved to be Devlin, he could only hope that Fortune would smile upon him and help him to succeed despite the mischance that had cut him off from Mr. Conne's help and the International offices. A long silence prevailed in the car. Shorty and Biff were sound asleep on each other's shoulders and emitting soft nasal sounds. Nickie Fallon was hunched in his corner in a half doze and up in front Frost and Barker were deep in whispered conversation. The road was rough but Frost handled the car expertly, driving it as if he knew the bad spots by experience. He had only his parking lights on now and they were speeding along with surprisingly little sound from the engine. After a time they entered a narrow, wooded lane and Frost seemed to pick his way more carefully. Skippy was quick to note that the trees, in places, interlaced and during their entire journey through that section, one could stretch one's arms at either side and touch the overhanging branches. For at least an hour, he guessed, they hadn't passed a house. "We come up back roads, I betcha," Nickie Fallon whispered suddenly as if guessing his thoughts. "Looks like we're miles from nowhere. This guy Barker knows his hide-outs, hah?" "Mm," said Skippy. "Gee, we wouldn't know howta get back home if we wanted to, huh?" "Frost says we can't an' what's more we ain't to try, in case we get thinkin' we're smarter than him or Barker is. He says kids like us 'ud run right into the bulls an' that 'ud make it bad for them--see? Him an' Barker'd do a long stretch if we squealed that they helped us crash. So Frost says they ain't takin' no chances on lettin' us think we can get anywheres alone. They're gonna treat us swell s'long as we're stickin' under cover till they help us go west. So we gotta get used to stayin' quiet a little while--see?" "Yeah," Skippy answered, "I think so." He could feel Nickie Fallon looking at him curiously. Suddenly he felt the boy move closer to him. "Say, lissen, kid," he whispered, "d'you feel funny 'bout this Frost an' Baker?" "Gee," said Skippy, not a little startled, "I--I dunno.... I--whadda you mean, huh?" Fallon's lips almost touched Skippy's ear. "Listen kid," he confided, "I ain't been doin' what I done, an' not learnin' that guys don't do nothin' for love. How come, they been takin' all this trouble for some kids they ain't never laid eyes on 'fore today, hah?" "Whadda you s'pose?" Skippy whispered timidly. "We ain't tippin' off Shorty or Biff, but between you'n me, kid, I think these guys got some job for us what they can't do themselves--see? A little job, mebbe." "Yeah, an' if they have, it's all right, huh?" Skippy retorted making a brave effort to measure up as one of Nickie's kind.