"No use running," said the captain. "We will try to bluff it out."
The first man of the crowd to reach them stopped.
"What's the row back there?" he asked.
"Just a street fight, I guess," replied Hal. "We didn't stop to see."
"More than likely some Frenchman has been rounded up," said the man.
"Better come along and see the fun," and he broke into a trot again.
"We had better make a bluff at going," said Hal to the captain, as he
noticed that some of the crowd eyed them queerly.
Turning, they joined the crowd, and began to retrace their steps. They
went slowly, however, and the crowd gradually drew away from them. At
last, finding themselves behind the last man, they turned suddenly into a
side street and broke into a run again.
Turning another corner, they slowed down to a walk.
"We had better get away from here," exclaimed the Frenchman. "They will
be back after us in a minute."
They continued their walk, still stepping along at a rapid pace, and at
length emerged, without further difficulty, into a brilliantly lighted
street, which, they learned, was the main thoroughfare of the town.
Mingling with the crowd, they were soon comparatively safe.
"The thing to do now is to find out where the hotel is," said the
Frenchman.
Stopping in an open shop, Hal made an inquiry.
"Two blocks ahead," was the reply, and following directions, Hal and the
captain soon came upon a large, though unpretentious, hotel. They went in
and sat down in the rotunda.
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