“That suits me,” Kit answered. “I’m dead tired.” “If we hadn’t gone to sleep to-night,” mourned Jimmie, “We wouldn’t be here now. That nap just spoiled everything.” “What could we have done if we had remained awake?” Kit demanded. “When that blond brute arrived, we’d have got our heads knocked off and that’s about all.” “In just a little while now,” Jimmie declared, “I’m going to trail over to Monterey and see if I can find any trace of Mr. Havens or the boys. It’s just rotten the way Ben and Carl are staying away!” As soon as the boy finished speaking, Kit grabbed him by the arm and pointed to the west. “There’s your light!” he said. The light referred to sat on a peak some distance to the west, very near to the sheer descent into the Pacific, in fact, and was slightly lower than the one upon which the boys had rested. It was, however, above the clouds and the moon, pushing her way through the mists, shone full upon the shining planes of a flying machine. Only one artificial light was in sight, and that appeared to come from the aeroplane lamp stationed just above the seats. “That’s the _Louise_, all right enough!” exclaimed Jimmie. “Now I wonder what they are staying there for! It seems to me that they ought to be getting out of this country just as fast as gasoline can carry them.” “There’s something exciting going on over there!” Kit exclaimed. CHAPTER XXIII. A LOOK AT THE BOWL. The interruption which came at the restaurant during the meal Ben and Carl were having with Mr. Havens and the two officers, was, to the boys at least, a most astonishing one. When Sloan entered the restaurant, his head wrapped in a great bandage, the boys, of course, recognized him as the man who had played the part of a Chinaman so cleverly. After the explanations made by the two officers, Sloan would have been recognized in any event, but the boys would have known him if they had had no information on the subject. His resemblance to a Chinaman was, indeed, striking. Indeed, it was claimed by many who knew and disliked him that he really was a Chinaman. As he entered the restaurant Sloan beckoned to Gilmore, and the two conferred together a short time at a separate table. The boys saw that Gilmore was very much interested in the revelations being made by Sloan, and they also saw that the detective was very weak. By the time the conference was ended the meal had been completed, and Gilmore returned to his friends while Sloan hastened away in the care of a deputy sheriff who had been summoned to the restaurant. “This visit appears to make a change of plan necessary,” Gilmore said, as the five walked away from the restaurant. “We have some talking to do, so we may as well go to my office, where we can talk without danger of being overheard.”