He sensed he was being watched and only then discovered it was by children.  Four preteens were hanging in a tree he had just stepped under.  At first, he had glimpsed the hem of a girl's dress.  Not wishing to unnerve her with his presence, he thought to simply return to his office — but held firm when he heard a boy's voice hiss, Sssshhhh!  Before he could think of it, he had pulled out his long wallet from his back pocket and held it to his mouth.  He informed Secret Agent X on this walkie-talkie that he would wait under Tree Number 438.  He re-pocketed his wallet, and pretended to then hear something from above.  Ah, there you are!  He looked directly up at the three boys and a girl with no show of surprise.  I gave Secret Agent X the wrong Tree Number, he whispered to them.  This is Tree Number 1.  He pulled up the collar to his raincoat, fastened it under his chin, pushed his hands deep into his coat pockets, and scoped the scene.  Coast is clear, he said to them.  He stepped away from the tree as if to disappear.  He couldn't shed that cloak of SecretAgent-ness for the four blocks back to his office.  He even strutted into the building elevator as if on a classified mission.  He knew that that feeling of self-importance would linger with him a while, and all it had taken was a Sssshhhh! from children to pull him into their game.