I followed them at a respectful distance.

My two subordinates, at a respectful distance, also, followed me.
It was, I deeply regret to say, impossible to get near enough to them to overhear their conversation without running too great a risk of being discovered.

I could only infer from their gestures and actions that they were all three talking with extraordinary earnestness on some subject which deeply interested them.

After having been engaged in this way a full quarter of an hour, they suddenly turned round to retrace their steps.

My presence of mind did not forsake me in this emergency.