Presently he strolled down the road until he came to a break in the trees on his right.

Though the moon had gone partly behind a cloud Dick found himself gazing down a clearing.

He would not have been interested, had it not been that he caught sight of the unmistakable silhouette of a soldier, and, beside him, a somewhat stoop-shouldered man in darker garb.
"Why, I wonder if that can be Mock, and his carpenter ?" reflected Prescott, recalling the note that had dropped so mysteriously into his extended palm.
Screened behind a bush Dick watched the pair until he saw them coming toward the road.

Then Prescott drew back, finding better shelter, but he did not seek complete concealment.

It occurred to him to wait there, in silence, and see if Private Mock displayed any uneasiness on coming face to face with his captain's chum.
"That will be a good way, perhaps, to test out the note," Prescott decided.
Though the two men appeared to be talking earnestly, only a mumble of voices reached Dick's ears when the men were no more than thirty feet away.