"If we are watched at all it wouldn't do to have me appear too much interested in the _peon's_ doings." Now that his mind was somewhat easier, Tom strolled on once more.
His roundabout path took him along among the rocks that littered the ground over the principal tunnels of _El Sombrero_.

Hundreds of feet beneath him now toiled some of the _peons_ who lived in the village of huts yonder.
Presently Reade increased his speed considerably, deciding that now it would be safe to return directly to camp.

Suddenly he stopped short, head up, his gaze directed at the tops of three or four rocks.

Some human being had just dodged out of sight at that point.
Tom felt a swift though brief chill.

Something had made him suspect that the prowler might be Gato, or one of the latter's companions.
Instead of running away Tom made for the place of hiding in short leaps.
"Hold on there a minute, my friend," Tom called in Spanish.