e advice," Rick grunted. "I've got a knot in the lace."

The man came abreast of them, between Rick and the building, and in that
moment, clawing wildly for balance, Rick lost his hold on Scotty's
shoulder. He fell squarely against the man in the gray suit and crushed
him into the building.

[Illustration: _Pretending to lose his balance, Rick fell squarely
against the man_]

"Hey!" the man yelled. "What's the idea?"

Scotty rushed to the rescue, took the fallen shadow by the shoulders,
and tried to pull him to his feet. This only made matters worse, since
Rick was stretched across his legs.

"I'm so sorry," Scotty said. "Gosh, I'm sorry. He slipped. Here. Let me
help you up."

"Get off me," the man yelled.

Rick tried, lost his balance again, and fell against the man's chest,
pinning him to the sidewalk.

Scotty groaned. "Rick! You clumsy ox. Get off the man!"

"I'm trying to," Rick said plaintively. "My shoe came off. Here. Help me
up."

"Help yourself!" Scotty returned sharply. "I'm trying to help this
gentleman."

Rick rolled clear and Scotty got the man to his feet. He was something
less than spotlessly clean, thanks to the dust of the road, and there
was a rip in the arm of his coat.

"Look at that!" Scotty exclaimed. He made ineffectual efforts to dust
the man off. "Rick, you ripped his coat."

Rick looked embarrassed. "I'm terribly sorry. Here, sir. Let me take you
to this tailor shop. We can have it repaired in a jiffy."

"Forget it!" the man snapped. "And get out of my way. I'm in a hurry."

"It was all my fault, and I refuse to take no for an answer," Rick said
firmly. He took the man by the arm. "Come on. It will only take a
moment. You can't walk around town like that. I insist on having your
suit repaired. I'm sure that the tailor can mend it so no one would ever
notice."

"No," the man grated. "Please stand aside." Both boys had managed to
block the sidewalk.

"Please," Rick pleaded. "This is terribly upsetting. We really should
have the damage to your suit repaired."

The man's dark complexion was turning a grayish pink with rage. Rick
estimated quickly. If he knew Steve Ames, the JANIG agent was long gone,
and the tail would not catch up with him again. They had delayed the
shadow for perhaps two minutes, but for Steve that would be enough.

Rick stepped aside. "Very well. If you insist--"

"I do." The man brushed by and hurried off.

The boys looked at each other and grinned