my affair. Hustle those boxes in now, I don't want the oranges to freeze."
"Who was the man who took him away?" asked William, as indifferently as he could, though he was nervous with eagerness to hear the answer.
"I never saw him before. It was none of my affair, though I liked the looks of that boy, and I didn't care much for the man. But I've gotten over the habit of interfering in other people's business. Come now, boy, hustle!"
William went to work with an energy that pleased his employer. The boy was beginning to think he had made a mistake. He felt that he should have followed the man, to see where he took the lad he believed was Ned. But then, too, he had telephoned Mr. Wilding and the chums to meet him at the fruit store, and if he was not there when they arrived, they would not know what to make of it.
"I can't be in two places at once," William thought to himself. "I guess I'd better stay here until some one comes. Then maybe I can trace which way the man took the boy. Anyhow I'm not sure it was Ned. I've never seen him, and it wouldn't do to make a mistake. He wouldn't admit he was Ned Wilding, but he acted to me as though he was afraid of something."
