"He gave you a damn hard stare, Will," said Alec.
"Jerusalem!" I growled. "May be a coincidence, but--he's one of _them_ ... and I let him have a ruddy good look at me with that match!"
"Could he have chased you from up north?"
"No, no. Nobody followed me on the roads I took, son. But he and his gang have my description." I threw away the cigarette angrily. "'Course, I look like anybody else, but--"
"You do not!" protested Marion. "You're very handsome, for one thing."
Alec laughed briefly. "Well, maybe not that, Will, but you are individual enough to be spotted from a good description."
I was astonished. I had never thought so. I said, "We've got to be careful, then. Can't let him see us go into The Gray Gander."
We walked past our inn. The creature had disappeared. We went on a short distance, and then I felt from the prickling of the hair on my neck that he was behind us again.
So began a game of cat and mice, which took us around corners and fleeing through alleys until at last I felt we had lost our silent pursuer, and with a sigh we entered our tavern.
I was awakened next morning, as I slept uneasily on Alec's couch, by Doctor John Baringer. He was puffing a pipe and grinning, but his eyes were shadowed. "What's up?" I asked.
"Everybody but you ... Will, there's a lashing of people about in Baker Street. I don't know why I noticed 'em, especially, but they're there--just standing or sauntering, watching folk pass. It struck me queerly, and Alec tells me you were followed last night."
I started to dress hurriedly. "Do they look like policemen?"
"I wouldn't say so," John mused. "They're just ordinary people, men and women both, standing in the sun. I can't say I like it."
"Nor I. Are they concentrated near the inn?"
"No. Within a block or two, though; I didn't begin to notice them till I'd passed that restaurant where we ate last night."
Alec came in. "You were right," he said to John. "By God, you were right! Forty or more, loitering ... Will's got to get out."
"Will's got to lie low," snapped the physician. "They obviously don't know just which building he's hiding in. He'll have to stop here until the fiends give up."
"Or at least until I can slip out at night," I said. "I say! Does it occur to you that the blighters now have _all_ our descriptions? We were under observation last night for an hour or two! Call--"