BY MEREDITH NICHOLSON

 BLACKSHEEP! BLACKSHEEP! LADY LARKSPUR THE MADNESS OF MAY THE VALLEY OF DEMOCRACY

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

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[Illustration: Her "Very glad, I'm sure, " was uttered with reservations]

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BLACKSHEEP! BLACKSHEEP!

BY

MEREDITH NICHOLSON

ILLUSTRATED BY

LESLIE L. BENSON

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

1920

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Maybe, in spite of their tameless days Of outcast liberty, They're sick at heart for the homely ways Where their gathered brothers be. 

Meanwhile, "Blacksheep! Blacksheep!" we cry, Safe in the inner fold;And maybe they hear, and wonder why, And marvel, out in the cold. 

--RICHARD BURTON. 

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Her "Very glad, I'm sure, " was uttered with reservations _Frontispiece_

 FACING PAGE

At the crack of the gun the fugitive stopped short 32

"It's all right about you, Governor, but the kid had bettershake the tree" 112

"We must be in a hurry or that woman will catch you" 234

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BLACKSHEEP! BLACKSHEEP!

CHAPTER ONE

I

Mrs. Howard Featherstone spent much time thinking up things for herbrother Archibald Bennett to do, and as Archie was the ideal bachelorbrother, always remembering the children's birthdays and turning updutifully for Christmas dinners, he accepted her commissions in the mostamiable spirit and his services were unfailingly satisfactory. He knewperfectly well that most of the jobs she imposed upon him had beenpolitely but firmly declined by her busy husband, but this made nodifference to Archie, who had all the time in the world, and infinitepatience, and he rather enjoyed tracing express packages and matchingribbons. 

"The agent who's been looking up a summer house for us says this is anunusual opportunity, as there are few places to let at Bailey Harbor andthis one is unexpectedly on the market. The owner is obliged to leavejust after settling in it, so it's all in perfect condition and if itmeets our needs we can go right up. Howard's simply swamped withwork--he's conducting some sort of investigation with night meetings andthat sort of thing--and we'd all appreciate it if you could run up therefor us. "

The many preoccupations of his brother-in-law, who held a seat inCongress and took his job seriously, were well known to Archie. Featherstone was an important cog in the governmental machinery whileArchie had nothing on earth to do, so it was eminently fitting that he, as an unattached and unemployed brother-in-law, should assume some ofFeatherstone's domestic burdens. Archie had planned to leave for theCanadian Rockies two days later, but as no urgent business called him inthat direction, he obligingly agreed to take a look at the Bailey Harborhouse that had been placed so providentially within reach of his sister. 

"The owner belongs to that old New England Congdon family, " Mrs. Featherstone explained; "they date from the beginning of time, and someof them are a trifle eccentric. You remember one of them--he must be thefather or an uncle of the owner of this house--Eliphalet Congdon, wholives in Boston and is horribly rich but is always doing weird things. There was a perfectly killing article in the paper just the other daytelling of his latest exploit, which was getting arrested for refusingto allow them to check his umbrella at the Metropolitan Museum. Theythought, of course, that he was a crank who wanted to poke holes throughthe pictures, and he made such a fuss that they had to arrest him and hewouldn't give bail but had his lawyer get him out on a writ of habeascorpus. "

"The same philanthropist who had a bus built just like the Fifth Avenuebusses and wanted to run it himself to pick up women and children theregular busses wouldn't stop for, " laughed Archie. "If you're renting ahouse from that family it's just as well to look into it carefully. Allright, May; I'll inspect the premises for you. "

In spite of his good-natured assent she continued to pile up excusesfor her husband and explained in great detail the rundown condition ofthe children which made it necessary to get them out of Washington asquickly as possible. Archie was already mentally planning the details ofhis trip with his customary exactness. As he traveled constantly in theinterest of his health, which had been a cause of solicitude to himselfand all his relatives as far back as any one could remember, he knewtrain schedules by heart, and by catching the Federal Express the nextnight he would be able to connect with a train at Boston that would landhim at Bailey Harbor at two o'clock the same day. 

With any sort of luck he could escape from the Harbor, reach New Yorkthe following morning and proceed immediately westward. A few telegramswould readjust matters so that he would lose only a day in setting outfor Banff, which his newest doctor had told him was an ideal spot forhim. Many other doctors had posted him off to numerous other places inpursuit of the calm or stimulus or whatever it was he needed to make hima sound man capable of taking some part in the world's affairs. Archie'scondition was always a grateful topic of conversation and now that hissister had told him how many bedrooms her menage required, and warnedhim particularly to be sure that there was a sleeping porch and agarage, and not to forget to look carefully into the drainage system ofthe entire Maine coast; having watched him make notes of these matters, Mrs. Featherstone, in her most sisterly tone, broached the subject ofhis health. 

"Your troubles, Archie, are all due to the scarlet fever you had whenyou were a child. I've thought that if you could ever get into someactive work it would cure you. These sanatoriums you live in most of thetime never do you any good. They just keep you thinking about yourself. What you need is a complete upsetting, --something that would give a newturn to your life. And, you know, " she went on softly, "I'd hoped, Archie, that the right girl would turn up one of these days and thatthat would prove the panacea. But the girls I've picked out neverpleased you, and here you are, the finest brother in the world, and themost conscientious man alive, always doing generous things forpeople--you know you do, Archie--with nothing ahead of you but just onesanatorium after another. I haven't much faith in this idea of yourgoing to the Rockies; you know you tried the Alps five years ago and thealtitude nearly killed you. "

"I seem doomed to sit on the sidelines and watch the game, " Archieagreed gloomily. 

"But sometimes, I think you yield too easily to discouragement. Pleasedon't think I mean to be unkind or unjust, but if at some turn of theroad you were obliged to put your back to the wall and fight for yourlife! Really, dear, I think you would win the battle and be a verydifferent man afterward. "

Archie smiled wanly. He had the lively imagination of the neurasthenicand very often he had dreamed of vanquishing single-handed a dozenenemies, or plunging into a burning house and staggering out half deadbearing a helpless child in his arms. To look at him no one wouldbelieve that he had a nerve in his tall frame. Once a friend carried himoff to a farm where an autocratic athletic trainer rejuvenated tiredbusiness men; and Archie survived the heroic treatment and reappearedbronzed and hardened and feeling better than he had ever felt in hislife. But a winter spent in an office and leisure to think of himself asan invalid brought back the old apprehensions, and there being no one athand to drag him again to the trainer's, he renewed his acquaintancewith the waiting-rooms of specialists. 

"There will be a few people in for dinner tonight, " remarked Mrs. Featherstone as he rose to go; "very simple, you know; and Howard justtelephoned that he can't possibly come, so if you can arrange it, Archie--"

"All right, May. Weld and Coburn are in town and I was going to havedinner with them at the Army and Navy, but if you really want me--"

"Oh, that's perfectly fine of you, Archie! You are splendid to breakyour engagement with them when you three don't meet very often; but itwill be a real help to me to have you. It's so late now that I can't askany one else in Howard's place. And Isabel Perry will be here; you knowshe's the dearest girl, and I always thought you really did like Isabel. Her father lost all his money before he died and she's had a position asgymnasium teacher in Miss Gordon's school. This summer she's to run agirls' camp up in Michigan and she can't help making a splendid successof it. "

Archie did not at once detach Miss Perry from the innumerable host ofyoung women his sister had introduced him to; they were a hazy compositein his memory, but when Mrs. Featherstone insisted that he couldn't haveforgotten Miss Perry's smile and merry laugh, he promptly declared thathe remembered her perfectly. When he found himself sitting beside herlater at Mrs. Featherstone's table, with a lady on his right who wasundoubtedly most distinguished in spite of the fact that he failed tocatch her name and understood very little of her rapid French, he wasvery grateful for Miss Perry's propinquity. The smile and the laugh wereboth better even than Mrs. Featherstone's specifications, and herEnglish had a refreshing Western tang and raciness that pleased him. 

"I passed you on the street the other day and made frantic efforts toattract your attention but you were in a trance and failed to see mysignals. "

"I was taking my walk, " he stammered. 

"'_My_ walk!'" she repeated. "You speak as though you had a monopoly ofthat form of exercise. I must say you didn't appear to be enjoyingyourself. Your aspect was wholly funereal and your demeanor that of aman with a certain number of miles wished on him. "

"Four a day, " Archie confessed with an air of resignation; "two in themorning and two before dinner. "

"Then you were doing your morning lap when I passed you. Only four milesa day?"

"By the doctor's orders, " he assented with the wistful smile thatusually evoked sympathetic murmurs in feminine auditors. 

"Oh, the doctors!" remarked the girl as though she had no great opinionof doctors in general or of Mr. Bennett's medical advisers inparticular. He was used to a great deal of sympathy and he was convincedthat Miss Perry was an utterly unsympathetic person. 

"What would you call a good walk?" he asked a little tartly. 

"Oh, ten, twenty, thirty! I've done fifteen and gone to a dance at theend of the tramp. "

"But you haven't my handicap, " he protested defensively. "You can't bevery gay about walking when you're warned that excessive fatigue mayhave disastrous consequences!"

She was not wholly without feeling for her face grew grave for a momentand she met his eyes searchingly, with something of the professionalscrutiny to which he had long been accustomed. 

"Eyes clear; color very good; voice a trifle weak and suggestingtimidity and feeble initiative. Introspective; a little self-conscious, and unimportant nervous symptoms indicated by the rolling of breadcrumbs. "

"I've paid doctors large fees for telling me the same things, " he said, hastily hiding the bread crumbs under the edge of his plate. "I wishyou'd write those items down for me. I'm in earnest about that. "

"When did you say you were leaving town?"

"Tomorrow evening. If you'll write out your diagnosis and anysuggestions you may have as to my habits, diet and general course oflife, I promise to put them into practice. "

"Your case interests me and I'll consider this matter of advising you. "

"I shall expect the document tomorrow afternoon!"

"I should want to be very sure, " she laughed, "that you were reallyleaving town and that I shouldn't see you for a long time--perhaps neveragain!"

"That has an ominous sound, as though you were going to give me a deathsentence! Is my case as bad as that?"

"Not at all; but it calls for that disagreeable frankness we all dislikein our friends and very properly resent in mere acquaintances. I shouldbe enormously embarrassed to meet you until after--"

She paused and surveyed him once more, questioningly. The French ladywas telling a story to the whole company, and they were obliged to giveheed to it; and as Archie failed to catch the point of it Miss Perryvery kindly gave him the clue. The talk was general for a few minutesand then he begged her to finish the sentence that had been left in theair. 

"Oh, it doesn't matter! I think I was going to say that it would beembarrassing to see you until after you had given my little hints atrial. I'll say now that just the orderly course of your life, with fourmiles a day, no more, no less, isn't a bit likely to get you anywhere. My treatment for such a case as yours would be very drastic. I'd set yousome real stunts to do if you were my patient. May tells me that theywon't have you in the army, the navy, or the flying corps, but I believeI could find some excitement for you, " she ended musingly. 

"As, for example--?" he asked, finding the French lady conspiring withan attaché of the Italian embassy. "To meet the competition of the nervespecialists, you'll have to be very explicit and tell me exactly what todo. "

"Right there is one of your troubles--living by fixed schedules. You'venever felt the world's rough hand; you don't know life! Clubs andsanatoriums and week-ends in comfortable houses don't count. You're atremendously formal person, Mr. Bennett! What you really need is a goodhard jar! Every morning you know exactly what you're going to do everyhour of the day. It's routine that kills! Now just suppose when you'reout on one of your walks you were to overpower the chauffeur of, we willsay, the British ambassador, and drive the car bearing his Excellencyinto some lonely fastness of the Virginia hills, and hold him for aransom, and collect the money in twenty-dollar gold pieces and escapewith it and then come back to Washington and spend it all on a big partywith the ambassador as the guest of honor. There would be a realachievement--something that would make you famous in two hemispheres. "

"And incidentally lock me up for life if I escaped being shot! Such anescapade would very likely spoil our cordial relations with England andcause no end of trouble. "

"There you are!" she exclaimed, "thinking always of the cost, never ofthe fun! Of course you would never do any such thing. Let me try again!Suppose you were to hold up a bank messenger in Wall Street and skipwith a satchelful of negotiable securities and then, after the paperswere through ragging the police for their inefficiency, you would driveup to the bank in a taxi, walk in and return the money, saying you hadfound it in the old family pew at Trinity when you went in to say yourprayers! Here would be an opportunity to break the force of habit andawaken your self-confidence. "

"Am I to understand that you practice what you preach? I don't mean tobe impertinent, but really, --"

"Oh, I'm perfectly capable of doing anything I've suggested. I'm merelybiding my time. Parents are pardonably fussy about the sort of personthey turn their children over to, so I must have a care. I mean to digfor buried treasure this summer, realizing the dream of a lifetime. "

"That appeals to me strongly. Perhaps you'd let me assist in thatundertaking?"

"Impossible! I want all the glory and eke the gold if I find the hiddenchests. Talk about romance being dead! My grandfather was a planter inMississippi before the Civil War. In about 1860 he saw trouble ahead, and as he was opposed to secession he turned everything he had intogold, bought several tracts of land in Michigan and New York andsecretly planted his money. His wife and children refused to share hislonely exile and he sent them to England but clung to America himself, and died suddenly and alone the second year of the war on the very acresmy father inherited in Michigan. That's where I'm opening my camp. "

"And the gold hasn't been found?" asked Archie deeply interested. 

"Not a coin so far! You see grandfather made his will in war time andonly divided the land, being afraid to mention the buried treasure in adocument that would become a public record when he died. "

"This is most exciting. It's only unfortunate that it's not pirate goldto give zest to your enterprise. "

"Oh, the pirate in the story is a cousin of mine, who inherited the landup near the St. Lawrence and has dug all over it without results. Myfather gave the Michigan scenery to me, but this cousin has beendigging on my land, most unwarrantably! He's rather a dashing youngperson!"

Archie was so enthralled that he forgot the typewritten dietary healways carried in his pocket and ate most of his portion of beeftenderloin before he remembered that red meats were denied him. He laiddown his fork so abruptly that she asked him what was the matter. 

"Nothing; only you've interested me so much that I've eaten a whole lotof stuff that's positively forbidden. You've already scored a victoryover my specialists!"

"Splendid!" she cried. "Eat when you're hungry and never think aboutyour food. Don't let a mere piece of beef know that you're a coward. Have you ever committed murder? You pale at the suggestion and yet apleasant little murder might be the very thing to set you on your feetagain!"

From time to time he caught Mrs. Featherstone's eyes fixed upon himapprovingly, and he knew that she was thinking that at last he had met agirl who interested him. The impression that he was an invalid inimminent peril of death caused his friends and acquaintances to talk tohim as though he were a sick child, and it was refreshing to find a girlwho openly chaffed him about his health and went the length ofprescribing a career of riotous crime as a cure for his ills. This wasenormously amusing for in prep school and college he had been guiltlessof the traditional pranks and in the six years that had elapsed since heemerged into the world he had walked circumspectly in the eyes of allmen. 

Isabel Perry was not afraid of him and she didn't treat him as girlsdid who had an idea that if they talked to him very long he might faintor even die on their hands. He noted her fine rounded arms and supplefingers that spoke for strength, reflecting that very likely she couldpick him up and pitch him through the window. He had always dislikedathletic girls, fancying that they nodded to him patronizingly as theypassed him on country club verandas all aglow from golf or tennis. Thisamiable Isabel was quite capable of making him dance through a set oftennis and with her high spirits and strong will might even bring himout alive. It was obvious that the sudden sweeping away of her father'sfortune had not troubled her in the least. He marveled at this, for hehad a great deal of money that had been conferred upon him in the cradleand what he should do if he lost it was a depressing possibility thathad contributed not a little to his neurasthenia. 

When it came time for Isabel to say good-night to her hostess Bennettwas hovering near to offer his services in calling her car. 

"Nothing like that for me! I brought walking shoes and shall foot ithome, thank you. But--" she hesitated and said with mock gravity, "ifyou're not afraid of the night air or the excessive fatigue, you mighttake me home. That will add a mile to your prescription but you can rideback!"

The other guests had gone when she reappeared, wrapped in a long cloakand bearing a party-bag containing her slippers. She spoke of her plansfor the summer with charming candor as they set off at a brisk pace. Little bits of autobiography she let fall interested him immensely. Shewas born in Wyoming, where her father had been a ranchman, and she hadfirst known Mrs. Featherstone in college. She was enthusiastic about thesummer camp; if it succeeded she meant to conduct an outdoor school forgirls, moving it from Michigan to Florida with the changing seasons. 

"People have been so kind to me! And I shall have a wonderful lot ofgirls--just think of it, --one hundred dear young beings from all overthe country. It's a big responsibility but that land of my grandfather'sis a lovely site for the camp. It's on a bay, where the swimming will beperfectly safe, and there's a wonderful forest, with Indian trails thatrun back to Marquette's time. We shall have a doctor--a woman, ofcourse--and two trained nurses and some splendid young women to act, ascouncilors. "

There was no question of her making a success of it, he said, marvelingat her vitality, her exuberance, the confidence with which she viewedthe future. 

"I wish you all good luck, " he said when they reached the house of thefriend she was visiting. "The camp will be a great success, --I'm sure ofthat. "

"Oh, it's a case of sink or swim--I've got to make it go!" she repliedwith her buoyant laugh. "If I don't succeed I can't emerge from thewoods next fall and face my creditors!"

"There's the buried treasure; you mustn't neglect that! I'm greatly yourdebtor for all the interesting things you've told me. This has been thehappiest evening I've spent since----"

"Since you began taking everything so hard? Please quit looking on yourlife as a burden; try to get some fun out of it!"

The door opened to the key she gave him and the light of the hall lampfell upon her face and glinted her brown hair as she put out her hand. 

"Don't forget me in the rush of things! And particularly don't forgetthat note of instructions. I'm counting on that!"

"Not really?" she exclaimed. "I was just in fun, you know. "

"If I don't get it before I leave tomorrow evening, I shall be terriblydisappointed. I shall take it as a sign that you don't think me worthbothering about!"

There was a pleading in his voice that held her for a moment; shesurveyed him gravely, then answered lightly, "Oh, very well! You shall have it, sir!"

II

Archie didn't know that the note caused Isabel a great deal of trouble. It was one thing to promise to tell a man who was all but a strangerjust how to alter his way of life with a view to a happier existence, but to sit before a sheet of white paper and compose a letter on thesubject was a very different matter, as Isabel's waste-paper basketcould have testified. Her first experiments had been very serious, withurgent recommendations of hard physical labor; but this provedunsatisfactory. Then she attacked it from an ethical angle and suggestedsocial service as a means of destroying the selfishness which shehonestly believed to be one of his troubles. 

She scribbled on a pad the titles of half a dozen hooks designed forweary and disconsolate souls, but they hardly touched his case andbesides he had probably been deluged with just such literature. Moreover, she must write a note that would not require an answer; thisshe felt to be imperatively demanded by the circumstances. She thoughtArchibald Bennett a nice fellow and she was sorry for him, but no moreand no less sorry than she would have been for any one else who failedto find the world a pleasant place to live in. Something a littlecryptic, yet something that would discourage further confidences withoutwounding him--this would solve the problem--and she spent an hourturning over the pages of a book of quotations searching for somestirring epigrammatic utterance. The wise of all the ages seemed to havebeen strangely unmindful of the needs of neurasthenic young men, butfinally she hit upon these lines and copied them in her best hand:--

 He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, That dares not put it to the touch To gain or lose it all. 

She wondered who the Marquis of Montrose was who had lived in theseventeenth century and bequeathed this quatrain to posterity, but thisdidn't matter, and after reading the lines aloud several times shedecided that they would serve her purpose admirably. If Mr. Bennett tookthem seriously, well enough; and if he didn't like them it made nodifference as she would probably never meet him again. 

She wrote on a calling card, "Best wishes and good luck, " and put thisinside the note sheet, and as the hour was late she despatched it to Mr. Bennett by special messenger. 

The note reached Archie just as he was leaving his sister's house. Whenhe was seated in the train he drew it out and inspected the envelopecarefully, held it to the light and speculated fearfully as to thenature of its contents. His thoughts had played about Isabel Perry mostof the day and he had listened to his sister's enthusiastic praise ofher with an unusual attention that had not been lost upon Mrs. Featherstone. He had hoped for a long letter in the vein of the girl'schaffing humor, and the size of the missive was a distinctdisappointment. 

He opened it guardedly, and his face fell as he pondered the verse. Itwas a neat, well-bred slap at him as a man without initiative orcourage. At the dinner table she had expressed much the same thoughtthat was condensed in the verse, but the quotation, unrelieved by hersmile, carried a sting. He read it over until the lines marched with animble step through his memory. There was something oddly haunting inthem, and he experimented with a variety of emphases and pauses, particularly as to the last line, which he found might be read in agreat number of ways. He decided finally that it was best interpreted bya little pause after "gain, " with the remaining words vanishing in adespondent sigh. Perhaps this was the way Isabel Perry thought of him, as a loser in the game of life; but he experienced a pleasant tingle inthe blood when he reflected that this may have been the wrong readingand very different from the sense she meant to convey. His spiritssoared as he decided that the last line was intended to be readunbrokenly and that it constituted a challenge, flung at him with a tossof her head, a flash of the brown eyes. 

This thought was wholly heartening and he dwelt upon it a long time. Shemust have thought him capable of deeds of high emprise or she would nothave chosen this fragment as her last word to him. Her choice of amessage implied a certain faith that he might, if he chose, break theshackles of fear and custom that bound him and do something that wouldlift him out of himself. The card with the good wishes gave a soothing, saving personal touch to the communication. She had drawn the pen acrossa Chicago street number and supplied no other address; but after a darkmoment in which he accepted this as a delicate hint that the incidentwas closed, he concluded that very likely she had deleted the addresshastily for the reason that she was to disappear into the woods for thesummer. Still, she might have substituted the camp address and hefretted over this for an hour. She left him without excuse for a reply, and he gravely reflected that the Marquis of Montrose was the onlyperson to whom he could protest, but as she had copied from thequotation book the figures "1621-1640" and added them to the name forhis illumination, it was clearly impossible to ask the author for aninterpretation of his stanza. 

Archie was lulled to sleep by the encouraging thought that what she haddone was to give him a commission to redeem himself by strange andmoving adventures, and he dreamed that he had climbed to the remotefastnesses of the Rockies, and captured a mountain sheep alive andwalked into his sister's house with the animal under his arm andpresented it to Miss Perry at the tea table. 

He changed trains at Boston and again at Portsmouth, where he checkedhis bag. At two o'clock he reached Bailey Harbor, where he verified hismemorandum as to the return trip and found the telegram he expected fromthe New York brokerage office in which he was a silent partner, sayingthat his booking for Banff had been changed as requested. He never tookthe chance of being stuffed into an upper berth, or riding in a daycoach, and he congratulated himself upon his forethought and the easewith which he was proceeding upon his sister's errand. 

He stepped into the only taxi in sight and drove to the villagedruggist's for the key to the Congdon house. 

"Just go in and take your time to it, " said the man. "Lights and waterhaven't been turned off and if you take the house your folks can stepright in. Mrs. Congdon left only yesterday. Suppose you'll be going onthe five eleven; it's your only chance of getting back to Bostontonight. If you don't find it convenient to stop here again, just leavethe key under the door mat. "

"I guess you'll find the place all shipshape, " said the driver, as theyset off. "Folks came up early but didn't stay long. Left in a hurry;kind o' funny, skippin' the way they did. "

"There hadn't been sickness in the family?" asked Archie, apprehensivelythinking that he might be stumbling into infection. 

"Lord no! Family troubles, I reckon! They been comin' here a long timeand usually came earlier and stayed later than anybody else. I don'tknow nothin', mind ye, but there's talk she had trouble with herhusband. "

"You mean Mr. And Mrs. Congdon have separated?"

"I'm sayin' nothin'! But the Congdons are all queer. His pap used tohave a house here and he was the worst ole crank on the shore. YoungPutney's a pretty decent fellow. Mighty fine woman, his wife. Ever'bodylikes _her_. "

The confidences of the weatherbeaten chauffeur only mildly interestedArchie, who was bent upon inspecting the house as quickly as possiblewith a view to footing it back to the station, and thus crediting twomiles to the day's exercise account. It was unseasonably warm and theair was lifeless and humid. 

"Think it will rain?" asked Archie. 

"Yep, " replied the driver with a glance at the sea. "There's goin' to bea lively kick-up before mornin'. "

Archie eyed his top-coat and umbrella with the pardonable satisfactionof a man who travels prepared for all weathers. To follow the shore pathin the teeth of a storm would do much toward establishing hisself-confidence and prove that he was not a mollycoddle. Isabel Perryand her note were firmly imbedded in his subconsciousness and werecausing curious slips and shifts of his mental machinery. Certain of herutterances at his sister's table rankled, and his thousandth conjectureabout the note was that it mocked his weaknesses and defied him toprove that he was far from being the worthless social parasite shebelieved him to be. 

III

He discharged the driver and in a moment was standing in a bigliving-room that exhaled an atmosphere of comfort and good taste. Onevery hand were the evidences of a hasty abandonment of the house by itsrecent occupants. A waste-paper basket by a writing table in one corneroverflowed with scraps of discarded letters; the family had evidentlysnatched a hasty luncheon before leaving and the dining table had notbeen cleared. A doll lay sprawled on the landing as he made his wayupstairs, and in the bed chambers empty chiffonier drawers gaped asthough from surprise at their hasty evacuation. He made a survey of thewhole premises and then went through again from cellar to garretchecking off his sister's queries. There was something disconcerting inthe intense silence of the place broken only by the periodic thump ofthe sea at the base of the cliff. 

The house would serve the Featherstones admirably. There was even thesleeping porch opening from the nursery that his sister had expresslystipulated and a tiny retreat back of the living-room with desk andshelves that would meet the requirements of his congressmanbrother-in-law at such times as he might find it possible to join hisfamily. 

Fully satisfied with his investigations, Archie picked up a book with apaper-cutter thrust through it to mark the place of its last reader, became absorbed and read until he, was roused by a clap of thunder thatseemed to shake the world. Hurrying to the window he found that thestorm had already broken. There was a greenish light over the sea andthe waves had begun to smite the rocks with dismaying ferocity. To catchthe five eleven he would have to leave at once, and he seized hisbelongings and opened the door, but upon stepping out upon the verandathe walk he had contemplated along the shore path to the village seemeda foolhardy thing to undertake. An unearthly darkness had fallen uponthe world and a misstep in the rough path over the rocks might pitch himheadlong into the sea. He had marked the presence of a telephone in thehouse and decided to summon a taxi, but as he clapped the receiver tohis ear he was startled by a blinding glare and the crack of a mightywhip overhead. He snatched the instrument again and bawled into it, butit was buzzing queerly and he sprang away from it as another glare litup the room. 

He turned on the lights and sat down to think. He might return by thehighway over which he had reached the house, but the driver had told himit was the longer way. The roof and walls rang under the downpour and hedecided that after all to spend the night in an abandoned house would befully as heroic as to subject himself to the ruthless fury of thehurricane. It would be a lark to camp in the Congdon villa, a break inthe deadly routine of his days which Isabel Perry had pointed out as apossible cause of his invalidism. He made himself comfortable andstudied the sheaf of time tables he had brought with him, methodicallyformulating the messages he would be obliged to despatch in the morningto change his westward passage. 

The storm showed no sign of abating and as nightfall deepened the gloomhe set the broad fireplace in the living-room glowing, drew the shades, and feeling twinges of hunger explored the kitchen pantry. The Congdonshad left a well-stocked larder and, finding bacon, eggs and bread, hedecided that the cooking of a supper would be a jolly incident of theadventure. He laid aside his coat and rolling up his sleeves soon had afire going in the range, which smoked hideously until he mastered thedampers. He removed the dishes that had been left on the dining-roomtable and carefully laid a cover for one. The roses in a bowl thatserved as a centerpiece were still fresh and were a pathetic reminder ofthe mistress of the house. In rearranging the table he found a telegramunder a plate at what he assumed to be Mrs. Congdon's place. To read amessage not intended for his eyes was decidedly against his strict code, but his curiosity overcame his scruples and these words met his eyes:

 New York, June 10, 1917. Mrs. Alice B. Congdon, Bailey Harbor, Maine. 

 Your letter has your characteristic touch of cruelty. We may as well part now and be done with it. But the children you cannot have. Remember that I relinquish none of my rights on this point. I demand that you surrender Edith at once and I will communicate with you later about the custody of Harold until such time as he is old enough to come to me. 

 Putney Congdon. 

The cautious hint of the taxi driver that domestic difficulties wereresponsible for the breaking up of the Congdon household found here apainful corroboration. He chivalrously took sides at once with theunhappy Alice; no matter how shrewish the absconding wife might be, onlya brute of a husband would fling such a message at her head. Archiehated discord; the very thought of it was abhorrent. He had never had acare in his life beyond his health, and quarrels of every sort he leftto underbred people with evil tempers. Here was a furious lunatictelegraphing his wife of the severance of the most sacred of ties anddemanding the immediate transfer of one child to his possession andrelinquishing only temporarily the custody of the other, presumablyyounger and the lawful owner of the doll he had picked up on the stairlanding. 

He now visualized the whole scene that followed upon the receipt of thetelegram; the hurried, tearful packing, the bewildered children, thepanic-struck servants rushing about obeying the orders of a hystericalmistress. The more he thought of it the warmer became his defensiveattitude toward the unknown Alice. She had met the situation like awoman of quick decisions, --perhaps she was a little too unyielding andthis had caused the rupture; but no man worthy to be called a gentlemanwould commit to the wires so heartless a message directed at the motherof his children. 

His attention had been arrested several times by a photograph of a younggirl, of eleven or twelve, set in a silver frame on the living-roomtable, whom he assumed to be the Edith mentioned in the telegram. Shewas a lovely child, with a wealth of hair falling about her shoulders, and roguish eyes that looked at him teasingly. It was a thoroughlyfeminine face with an unusual perfection of line. Very likely the childwas the reëmbodiment of her mother who must, he thought, be a veryhandsome woman indeed. His resentment hardened against the husband andfather, the author of the brutal message that disposed of his maritalobligations as coolly as though he had been canceling an order for acarload of merchandise, as he held up the picture for the joy of meetingthe gaze of the merry eyes. 

Though the breaking of eggs into the skillet had proved a fearsomematter and the bacon sizzled strangely, the cooking had proved muchsimpler than he had believed possible. He burnt his fingers handling thetoaster, but after ruining a considerable quantity of bread he producedthree slices of toast that were the equal of any offered by his favoriteclub. As usual when frustrated in his plans (something that had rarelyhappened in his whole life) he made the most of the situation, eatingslowly while the rain poured in an unbroken sheet down the windows. Hewished Isabel could see him and know that for once the routine of hislife had been interrupted only to find him resourceful and the easymaster of his fate. 

He made a point of washing the dishes and cooking utensils and puttingthem carefully away. These matters attended to, he roamed over the housewhich now had a new interest for him since the Congdon family skeletonhad come out of its closet and danced round the dinner table. In one wayand another he found it possible to make a fair acquaintance with thelate inmates of the house. In a bedroom adjoining the nursery therewere books in abundance, and very good books they were--essays, poetry, a few of those novels that appeal only to sophisticated readers, andchildren's books, including a volume of Bible stories retold for theyoung. He could readily imagine Mrs. Congdon reading aloud from thesevolumes to her youngsters as they stood beside the wicker rocker in thebay-window. Only a few hours earlier the house had rung with the happylaughter of children; he fancied he could hear them calling to theirmother up the stair. Mrs. Congdon was a blonde, he decided, from thepresence in a closet of a blue peignoir overlooked in her flight and abolt of blue ribbon that had rolled under the bed as though seekingrefuge from the general confusion. 

In the adjoining room he sought traces of the hard-hearted husband, butin his departure, presumably sometime earlier, Congdon had made a cleansweep; there was nothing to afford a clue to his character beyond afour-in-hand tie whose colors struck Archie as execrable. Below in thesnuggery fitted up for masculine use was a table, containing a humidorhalf filled with dried-up cigars, and an ill-smelling pipe--Archie hatedpipes--and a box of cigarettes. A number of scientific magazines layabout and a forbidding array of books on mechanics and chemistryoverflowed the shelves. He threw open a cabinet filled with blue printsillustrating queer mechanical contrivances. They struck him as verysilly and he slammed the thing shut in disgust, convinced that Congdonwas a crank, or he wouldn't have indulged in such foolishness. In adrawer of the desk was an automatic pistol and a box of cartridges. Ata country house where he once week-ended a burglar scare had inspiredfeverish intensive pistol practice among the guests and Archie hadlearned to load and fire and even developed some skill as a marksman. There were three cartridges in the magazine and Archie thrust it intohis pocket thinking it not a bad idea to be prepared for invasion. 

He was oppressed with a fleeting sense of his isolation as he drew backa shade and pressed his face to the pane. The house stood at the edge ofthe summer colony and a considerable distance from its nearest neighbor. The landward horizon still brightened at intervals with a languidmockery of lightning, dimmed by the fog that was dragging in from thesea. The siren in the harbor had begun its mournful iterations, and hecaught the occasional flash of the revolving light that gleamed now andthen through breaks in the fog. 

He switched off the lights in the lower rooms and established himself inthe guest chamber. The bed had been dismantled but he found blankets andlinen and addressed himself to the novel task of making a couch forhimself. If he had consulted his pleasure in advance he would haveshrunk from camping in a lonely seaside house for a night; but now thatthe experience was forced upon him he was surprised to find that he wasnot afraid. The revelation was an agreeable one. He, Archibald Bennett, was a perfectly normal being, capable of rising to emergencies; and whenhe saw Isabel Perry again, as he had every intention of doing at the endof the summer, this little trip to Bailey Harbor would make a verypretty story which could not fail to convince her of his fortitude andcourage. 

Sleeping in his underwear was distasteful but this was only anothersmall item that proved his resolute fiber and ability to acceptconditions as he found them. He opened the windows and performed hisusual before-retiring calisthenics, tested the reading lamp beside thebed, placed the pistol within easy reach and became absorbed in a volumeof short stories. 

He read the book through, put out the light and was half asleep when hewas roused by footsteps on the veranda below. 

IV

It was close upon midnight and the presence of a prowler on the premisescaused his heart to gallop wildly. He seized the pistol, crept to thewindow and peered cautiously out. Between the crash of the breakers helistened intently and had decided that the steps had been the illusionof a dream when a sound in the room below renewed his alarm. He gainedthe door in two jumps. He could hear the opening and closing of drawersand see the flash of an electric lamp as the thief moved swiftly about, apparently taking it for granted that he had the house to himself. Theswish of the swing-door between dining-room and pantry marked hisinvestigations in the rear of the house. He evidently found nothingthere, for he was back in the hall again in a moment. Then through thevast silence of the big house the unknown gave voice to his anger anddisappointment:

"Well, I'll be damned!"

This, reaching Archie very clearly, added nothing to his comfort. Hedebated making a dash for the switch and flooding the lower rooms withlight, but a burglar angrily damning himself for his stupidity inentering a house where plated silver was the only booty in sight was nota person to provoke unnecessarily. Then a series of quick flashes on thewall of the stair gave warning of the intruder's invasion of the upperrooms. 

Archie drew back and waited. His thoughts and emotions in this hour ofdanger interested him. He had always imagined that he would collapse inany moment of peril. The fingers of his left hand sought the wrist ofhis right that grasped the automatic and while his heart was stillbeating quickly the pulse was regular. This was immensely gratifying andhe resolved to report the fact to his medical counselor at the firstopportunity. 

The thief had become more cautious and was tiptoeing up the uncarpetedtreads of the stair, still sending occasionally a bar of light ahead. All the doors of the bedrooms stood open, Archie remembered, and thethief would not be long in discovering that the recent occupants hadleft behind them nothing of the slightest value. His courage wasmounting; he was enormously surprised to find that his hands were quitesteady, and his mind had never functioned more perfectly. The burglarwas now in Mrs. Congdon's room, where he stumbled over a chair thatrocked furiously until stilled by the invader. He was now coming boldlydown the hall as though satisfied that the house was empty. A flash ofhis lamp fell upon the door frame just above Archie's left hand. 

He crawled hastily across the bed and swung round and waited with hisback against a chiffonier in the corner, sternly resolved that notwithout a struggle would he be shot and his body left lying crumpled ina corner with no one to tell the tale. He had the advantage of theknowledge of the enemy's approach, and he raised the gun and covered thedoor in readiness. A flash clipped the dark for an instant. Then a handgroped along the wall seeking the switch. Archie could hear its softrasping over the wall. As the switch snapped the room flooded withlight. The bewildering glare leaping out of the darkness held the man inthe doorway and he raised his arm and passed his hand over his eyes toshield them from the light. 

Between the front windows stood a long mirror swung in a movable frame, and as he measured distances and calculated chances Archie found himselfstaring at the reflection of a tall man with a cap pulled low over hishead and with the collar of a yellowish raincoat turned up about hisface. The eyes of the two met, the gaze of each gripping and holdingthat of the other. 

The burglar's shoulders drooped as he gaped at the mirrored apparition. Then swiftly he jerked a pistol from his pocket and fired point blankinto the mirror. The report crashed horribly in the room, followed bythe tinkle of fragments of glass. Archie aimed at the doorway, but hisshot seemed only to hasten the man's flight. A rug slipped and thefugitive fell with a frightened yell that rang eerily through the house. 

In the hall Archie turned on all the lights and gaining the landingfired at the retreating figure as it plunged toward the front door. Atthe crack of the gun the fugitive stopped short, clapped his hand to hisshoulder and groaned, then sprang through the front door and Bennettheard immediately the quick patter of his feet on the walk. 

The lock bore no evidence of having been forced. It was a curiousbusiness and Archie closed the door, placed a heavy chair against it, and feeling a little giddy he threw himself down on a davenport in theliving-room. He began thinking very hard. He had shot a man and for allhe knew the victim might be lying dead somewhere on the premises. To besure the shooting of an armed housebreaker was justifiable, but thethought of coroner's inquests and dallyings with the police filled himwith horror. The newspapers would seize upon the case with avidity, andhis friends would never cease twitting him about his valor in firing abullet into the back of a fleeing burglar. 

The frame of the photograph of the young girl that had so charmed himlay on the floor face down. Bennett picked it up and found that thepicture had been removed. He wondered a little at this but dismissed thesubject from his mind to consider the graver business of how to avoidthe disagreeable consequences of his encounter. He must leave the houseand escape from Bailey Harbor before daybreak, and he went upstairs andhurriedly began dressing. 

[Illustration: At the crack of the gun the fugitive stopped short]

But for the tangible evidence of the smashed mirror (the bullet hadpierced the wooden back and was imbedded in the wall behind it) he mighthave dismissed the whole thing as a nightmare. Instinctively he beganbuilding up an alibi and planning his flight. The druggist who had givenhim the key and the taxi driver both supposed that he had inspected thehouse and taken the evening train for Boston. As he got into his clotheshe decided to make a wide detour of the town, perhaps tramping on toPortsmouth, and there recover his bag and be off for the Rockies. 

At one o'clock he was drinking coffee and munching toast and jam tofortify himself for his journey. He had shot and perhaps killed a man, and his mind surged now with self-accusations. He needn't have fired theshot--the thief was running away and very likely would not have molestedhim further. He was sorry for the fellow, wounded or dead; but in amoment he was shuddering as he reflected that the bullet that splinteredthe mirror had really been meant for him, and it had struck with greatprecision just where the reflection of his head had presented a fairtarget to the startled marksman. 

He turned out the lights and placing the key under the door mat stolethrough the garden. The man he had shot might even now be lying dead inhis path, and he lifted his feet high to avoid stumbling over thecorpse. But more appalling was the thought that the fugitive might belying in ambush, and he carried his pistol before him at arm's lengthagainst such an emergency. 

He gained the road, glanced toward the house and set off in the generaldirection of the New Hampshire border. 

V

There was neither star nor moon, and a chill wet wind bore in from thesea. His immediate business was to get as far away from Bailey Harbor aspossible. He started with a long swinging stride that was quicklyarrested as he splashed through pools left by the rain or stumbled offthe road where it turned sharply. Once he wandered into a driveway andseeking a way out crashed into a sunken garden. His feet were wet andhis trousers flapped heavily about his legs. The shrubbery pricked himlike barbed wire and a scratch along his cheek bled most disagreeably. He hurriedly felt his way along a hedge to the highway, hating himselfwith the greatest cordiality. If this was the adventurous life it wasnot for him, and he solemnly resolved that if he didn't die of pneumoniaas the result of his indiscretions he would stick close to clubs andcomfortable hotels for the remainder of his life. 

He had no way of keeping track of his progress, but on bumping into across-roads sign-board he struck a match and read "Bailey Harbor 5 M. , "and the discovery that only five miles lay between him and the Congdonhouse filled him with rage and terror. A little later he caught thefirst glimmer of dawn breaking over a gray world. This was hearteningbut it brought also new dangers for he had no idea of where his tramphad brought him and mud-splashed as he was and with the scratch acrosshis face stinging uncomfortably, he was in no haste to meet thestrangers who would soon be passing him in the road. 

A curious whistle, a long pipe and then a short quick one, in theroadside a little way ahead brought him to a halt. He drew the gun fromhis overcoat pocket and stood perfectly quiet. In a few seconds thewhistle was repeated and Archie, grown suddenly bold, checked an impulseto fly and imitated it. 

A man rose from behind a stone wall on the right and walked toward him. 

"That you, Hoky?" he called sharply, peering through the mist. 

Seeing that it was not Hoky but a stranger with a pistol, he sprangforward and wrenched the gun from Archie's hand. 

"Stop squealing! Bad enough for you to fool me with that whistle withoutpulling a gun. Now you get right over there by the fence where I'mpointing and we'll consider matters a little!"

"I was just walking to Portsmouth, " began Archie in a blithe tone hehoped would prove convincing. 

His captor laughed ironically, and throwing open Bennett's coat, demanded:

"Where's your badge? Don't lie to me! You're one of these villageconstables or a plainclothes man from Boston. Either way you'd bettershow your hand. "

"If you think I'm connected with the police, " Archie faltered, "you werenever more mistaken in your life!"

The man clapped his hands over Archie's pockets and then struck a matchand surveyed his face with care. This done he stuck his nose close tohis captive's mouth and bade him breathe. 

"You haven't the bouquet of an inebriate, son. You stepped along likeHoky, my pal, and that's why I whistled; and you warbled the answer likea mockingbird. Now listen to me! You've been up to something, so don'ttell me again that you're taking a little before breakfast stroll toPortsmouth to work up an appetite. In the first place, have you seen aman about your size along the road anywhere?"

"Not a soul!" declared Archie solemnly. 

"Mighty queer Hoky doesn't turn up! I warned the beggar against theseseaside villas; they're all outfitted with fancy burglar alarms thatmake a deuce of a row when you step on the wire. Electricity is the baneof the craft; you light a wire that rings a gong loud enough to wake thedead and then some chap jumps out of bed and turns on all the lights inthe house and very likely opens up with a gun before you can sayJerusalem. But Hoky thought he knew better. "

Archie clutched at the stone fence against which his captor had pushedhim and his breath came in long gasps. 

"You mean, " he faltered, "that you fear your friend has been shot!"

"That, my dear sir, is exactly what troubles me! Hoky didn't need to doit; that's what rouses my indignation! He's been running free for twoyears, and not a thing against him--wiped out all his indictments withgood time like an honest thief, and now very likely he's been potted bysome large prosperous householder as he was trying to lift a bit ofsilver; and these country houses never have anything worth risking yourlife for! My dear boy, can you blame me for being peeved, enormouslypeeved, when I reflect that Hoky, one of the best pals in the world, isprobably lying as dead as a pickled mackerel somewhere back yonder? Orif he has escaped death in his felonious enterprise he may have met theconstable and be awaiting the pleasure of a grand jury of righteousfarmers of the old commonwealth of Maine!"

Archie's tongue clung to the roof of his mouth as he tried to murmurhis sympathy for the stranger's sorrow. The thought that he was probablytalking to the accomplice of the man he had shot was terrifying; thestranger seemed enormously fond of Hoky and if he knew that he hadwithin his grasp the person who was responsible for Hoky's failure toreturn from his visit to Bailey Harbor he would very likely make hasteto avenge his friend's death. It seemed to Archie that the gods wereplaying strange tricks upon him indeed. The man's speech was not theargot he had assumed from his reading of crook stories to be the commonutterance of the underworld. There was something attractive in thefellow. He carried himself jauntily, and his clean-shaven, rounded faceand fine gray eyes would not have suggested his connection withburglary. He was an engaging sort of person, and overcoming hisdiscomfiture at having sent a bullet into the foolish Hoky, Archiedecided suddenly that the man might be of service to him. He was inpressing need of a change of clothes but he was in no condition toproceed to Portsmouth to redeem his suitcase; an impression that wasconfirmed unexpectedly by his captor. 

"You will pardon my candor, but you certainly look like the devil. There's a rip in your trousers that needs explaining and that swipe onyour face reminds me of a map of the Mississippi done in red ink. Let meintroduce myself to you as the Governor. Among the powers that prey thatis my proud cognomen, not to say _alias_. Now please be frank--whatmischief brings you here at this pale hour?"

Archie gave serious thought to his answer. If he could convince thissingular person that he was a crook he would be less likely to suspectthat he had been the instrument of Hoky's undoing. And there was thepossibility that if he met the Governor's friendly advances in areciprocal spirit the man might help him out of his predicament. TheGovernor was waiting for his answer, humming pleasantly as he surveyedthe heavens. 

"I've got to make a getaway and be in a hurry about it, " declared Archiewith a confidential air that caused a humorous light to play in theGovernor's eyes. 

"A little trouble of some sort, eh? Perhaps fearing a collision with therevised statutes of this or adjacent states?"

"Something like that, " Archie answered huskily. 

"It rather occurred to me that you were not promenading for merepleasure, " replied the Governor, drawing his hand across his chin. "Thecauses that lead people to travel have been enumerated by no less anauthority than Mr. Laurence Sterne as--

"Infirmity of body, "Imbecility of mind, or

"Inevitable necessity. 

"Unless my memory errs the same authority classifies travelers as theidle, the inquisitive, the lying, the proud, the vain, the splenetic; towhich he added the delinquent and felonious traveler, the unfortunateand innocent traveler, the traveler without aim and the wanderingsentimentalist. From the looks of your clothing I should judge that youbelong to the necessitous group, though from a certain uneasy expressionI might easily place you among the delinquent and criminal. Afashionable defaulter perhaps? No. Then let it go at murder, though Iconfess you don't look as though you'd have a stomach for homicide. "

"I came damned near getting pinched!" asserted Archie stoutly. "The copsback there in that town gave me a hard run for it. "

Feeling that he was making an impression on the Governor he warmed tohis work. 

"I was just crawling through the window of a drug store when here comesa chap tiptoeing through the alley flashing a dark lantern, and I boltedfor the tall timber as hard as I could sprint. The fire bell rang andthe whole town woke up and I got lost running through a garden back ofone of those swell's houses on the shore. That's how I got this slash inthe face, and I'm in a pretty pickle now. There'll be a whole armylooking for me; and if your friend Hoky's been killed they'll be keen topinch me as another member of the gang. "

The Governor listened patiently as Archie jerked this out, nervouslytrying to conceal his Harvard training in the use of the Englishlanguage by resorting to such terms as he imagined bold bad men employin moments of mental stress. 

"An amateur, I take it?" remarked the Governor with the humorous twinklethat seemed to be habitual with him. 

"Hell, no, " grumbled Archie scornfully. "But I always play the gamealone; I never had any use for pals. They get in the way. "

"Wrong, my boy; wrong! A good partner like me is essential to thesuccessful prosecution of the art or craft felonious. As for myself Irarely venture to expose myself in these little affairs; but I adviseand counsel the brethren. I am their confidant and assist them ininnumerable ways purely for the joy of it, I assure you. Now Hoky and Ihad been on the road all spring, and he made a good haul or two under mydirection; but he wouldn't let well enough alone. I warned him againstmaking an attempt back yonder last night. A stormy night always makeshonest householders wakeful. Take it from me, son, there couldn't be aworse time for a burglary than a night melodious with rolling thunder. You haven't the judgment of a month-old infant. I bought a toothbrush atthat drug store yesterday evening and there's a light right over thesafe at the end of the prescription counter. Your attempt, my son, speaks for courage but not for discretion. You should always ask meabout such things. "

"I'm sorry, " replied Archie meekly, "that I didn't run into you sooner. "

"The loss is mine!" cried the Governor heartily. "But let us bepractical. The coast will ring with this, particularly if Hoky is lyingcold at the undertaker's. He must be dead or pinched or he'd be here bythis time. We shall make a long jump, son, and ponder the future. "

He walked off briskly with Archie close beside him. 

"When Hoky persisted in his ill-chosen enterprise I felt a wearinessupon me and lifted a little roadster that I've tucked away down here ina peaceful lane. Thought I'd be all ready to give the old boy a longpull for freedom when he came back, but alas--!"

Sure enough the roadster was there; a very handy little car indeed, andArchie was profoundly interested to know that it was in this fashionthat a man who from his own confession was counselor extraordinary tothieves, toured the country. The Governor had become suddenly a man ofaction. Kneeling down he detached a New York license tag from themachine, drew from his pocket a Maine tag and attached it, hummingmeanwhile. 

"The rural police haven't learned this simple device, " he explained, ashe sent the discarded tag skimming into a corn field. "I've got aboutforty miles to run inland. The back roads only and Providence ourguide!"

He jumped in and bade Archie take the seat beside him. The car was soonbumping merrily over a rough road that wound through a pine wood. Asnear as Archie could reckon from the sun that was crawling into viewthey were bound for Halifax, but to be going anywhere was an infiniterelief, and to be traveling with a man whose comrade he had shot andprobably killed only a few hours earlier, imparted a piquant flavor tothe journey. This astonishing person who called himself Governor might, for all he knew, be hurrying him to some lonely place to murder him, butif this was his plan he was most agreeable about it. He had taken offthe mackinaw coat in which he had first appeared in the road and thebrown coat underneath was of modish cut; and as his foot played upon thebrake Archie noted that he wore silk hose. He had never dreamed thatoutlaws were so careful of their raiment. And the man's talk was that ofa cultivated gentleman who wore his learning lightly and was blessedwith an easy conscience; not at all like the philosopher and guide ofcriminals. 

"You seem to know this country well, " Archie remarked as they penetratedmore deeply into the woods and followed a grass-grown trail that endedabruptly at an abandoned lumber camp. 

"Oh, I know most of the whole United States just as well, " remarked theGovernor, steering the car slowly among the deep ruts. "We'll shoot thecar around behind that pyramid of sawdust and walk a bit to stretch ourlegs. "

There was no trace of a path where he struck off into the woods but hestrode along with the easy confidence of one who is sure of hisdestination. They brought up presently beside a brook and in a momentmore reached a log hut planted on the edge of the high bank. 

"What do you think of that, Sir Archibald?" inquired the Governorcarelessly. 

Archie paused, wavering in the path. The man had called him by his rightname, throwing in the prefix with a tinge of insolence. 

"Oh, your name?" remarked the Governor turning from a leisurely surveyof the dwelling. "Perfectly easy! Archibald Bennett was neatly sewedinto your coat pocket by your tailor as I observed when I rubbed myhands over your waistcoat to see if you wore a badge. Your bill-fold isthere intact--it's rather indelicate of you to feel for it! If I'd meantto rob you I'd have biffed you on the head long ago and thrown yourcarcass to the buzzards. "

"I got these duds out of a suitcase I sneaked from an auto in Boston, and that's no name of mine, " Archie explained hurriedly, still anxiousto convince the Governor that he was a thief. 

"A deft hand, son; but very careless of you not to rip out the label. Men have been hanged on slighter evidence. But Archibald is not a nameto sneeze at, and I rather like Archie; and Archie I shall continue tocall you. Now we'll see what we can do to shake up a breakfast. "

He drew out a key and opened the door of the hut. On one side stood adilapidated cook stove of an obsolete pattern, surrounded by a fewkitchen utensils. In the far end were two bunks, one above the other, and on a chair beside them a pile of blankets neatly folded. In themiddle of the room was a table littered with old magazines. 

"Not a bad place, Archie! I stumbled upon it a couple of years ago quiteby accident and use it occasionally. The retreat of some artist whoprobably starved to death. When I first found the shack it was full ofimpressionistic studies that looked as though the poor boob stood on hishead to paint. I made a burnt offering of the whole lot to outragedNature. " He opened a cupboard revealing a quantity of provisions. "Poorold Hoky was a great lover of ham; I never saw such an appetite forsmoked pork, and he had just stocked us up with a few specimens helifted somewhere. "

Besides three hams there were coffee, cartons of crackers and cans ofcondensed milk. 

"We fellows who live by our wits need the open air just as much as bankpresidents, for our business makes a heavier drain on the nerves, "continued the Governor after they had prepared breakfast. "Your pallorsuggests that you may have emerged quite recently from one of thoseinstitutions designed for the moral reconstruction of the weak anderring. "

Archie's eyes fell under the Governor's keen gaze. But he realized thathe must firmly establish himself in the man's confidence by palminghimself off as a crook with a prison record. In no other way could he besure of the assistance and protection which the Governor alone couldgive him. 

"Three months' jail sentence, " he replied smoothly. 

"Ah! A minor felony, I judge, from the brevity of your incarceration, "replied the Governor, emptying the coffee pot into Archie's cup. "I havenever been in jail and to the best of my knowledge I have never beenindicted; or if I have the sheriff has never caught up with me! My heartbleeds nevertheless for these poor devils who are always in the toils, and in my poor weak fashion I try to help them. Really, my dear Archie, thieves as a class are shockingly deficient in intelligence. Until Idropped into the underworld they were a peculiarly helpless lot--likedear old Hoky whose loss I shall mourn to my dying day. "

Archie flinched, but he was beginning to feel at home in his new rôle ofa fugitive from justice, and murmured his sympathy without a quaver. 

"My friend, " said the Governor soberly as they rose from the table, "wehave dipped our hands in the same dish and broken bread together. I'mstrong for the old traditions of Arab hospitality and that sort ofthing. There's honor, you know, among thieves, and I'm rather keen forthe sentimental side of the business. You may trust me, telling me asmuch or as little of yourself as you please. I don't mind saving thatyou're a likable chap, but pathetically helpless in emergencies likemost of our brethren. It's well for you that you fell in with me, withthat little episode of the drug store hanging over you. I'll be a goodpal to you and I ask you to be straight with me. Are we friends or--"

He put out his hand questioningly. Archie grasped it, meeting the gazeof the keen gray eyes squarely, but with something of an appeal in them. 

"All right, Archie--for such you shall be to the end of the chapter, whether you lied about it or not. And now let's deal with practicalaffairs. I'm going to spend the afternoon on that stolen machine we'vegot back there; you'll hardly know it when you see it again. I'llpaint'er white to symbolize our purity. There's an assortment of clothesthe boys have left here from time to time--all sizes and ready for anyemergency. You can pick'em over while I'm working on the car. I've got abag of my own stuff stuck around here somewhere. " He filled and lighteda pipe, walked toward the kitchen end of the room and kicked a long box. "If you'll just push that aside you'll find a door in the floor--quite acellar underneath--made it myself. Candles on the shelf there. Don'tbreak your neck on the ladder. "

He gathered up several cans of ready-to-use paint, and paused in thedoorway to deliver a final admonition. 

"If Hoky _should_ turn up--tall chap, a little bent in the shoulders, clean, sharp profile--call him Hoky and yell Governor before he shoots. He's very sudden with the gun, that Hoky; a lamentable weakness; spoiledhim for delicate jobs, but I'm afraid that at last somebody's got thedrop on him. "

The cellar was really a cave gouged into the earth and piled with trunksand hand bags stuffed with all manner of loot. There was enoughsilverware to equip a dozen households, and Archie amused himself bystudying the monograms, thinking that quite possibly he was handlingspoons that he had encountered on happier occasions in the homes of hisfriends. The trunks contained clothing in great variety and most of itwas new and of good quality. He carried up an armful and found a graysuit that fitted him very well. Another visit yielded shirts, socks andunderclothing, a slightly used traveling case with shaving materials andother toilet articles. 

He bathed in the brook, shaved, dressed and felt like a new being. Onlya few hours had elapsed since he walked uprightly in the eyes of allmen; now he was a fugitive, and for all he knew to the contrary amurderer. He had accommodated himself with ease to lying and thepractice of deceit; and even the taking of human life seemed no longer amonstrous thing. If he were caught in the Governor's company he wouldhave a pretty time of it satisfying a court of his innocence; but heconsidered his plight tranquilly. 

In doffing the clothing he had acquired honestly and substituting stolenraiment, it was almost as though he were changing his character as well. In transferring his effects from the old to the new pockets he came uponIsabel Perry's note, and grinned as he re-read it. He wondered whatIsabel would say if she knew that he had already slipped the leash thatbound him to convention and performed even more reckless deeds than shehad prescribed for him. 

"No callers? Well, I must say you're a credit to our gents' clothingdepartment!" the Governor remarked on his return. "That stuff wasaccumulated early in the spring by a couple of the boys who had no moresense. Silver, yes; you can melt it and sell it like pig iron; but howabsurd to risk your neck stealing mere raiment! Still the word's gonedown the line and any of the brethren who're in need of shelter and achange of clothes will find what they want here. You've picked about thebest of the lot. What do you make of this? Found it in the car. "

He extended a crumpled telegram which read:

 Bailey Harbor, Me. June 11, 1917. 

 Putney Congdon, Thackeray Club, New York. 

 I am offering the house for rent. Shall take every precaution to protect my children from your brutality. 

 A. B. C. 

Archie felt the hut whirling round him. What he held was beyond questionthe reply of Mrs. Congdon to her husband's telegram that had been leftlying on the dinner table. And if Congdon had left New York for BaileyHarbor immediately to put into effect his threat to abduct his child, itmight have been Congdon he had shot--not Hoky! The Governor, scrubbingthe paint from his hands, called over his shoulder:

"An odd message! It had slipped under the seat. Good thing I found it. "

"Where did you find that car?" asked Archie with an attempt atindifference. 

"Oh, the bloomin' thing was run up under a clump of trees on the backroad on the far side of Bailey. I thought maybe it was a stolen car. Hoky and I separated there when the storm started. So I drove themachine to the place you found me waiting for him. Mr. Congdon hasprobably notified all the world of his sad loss. " He held out his handsfor Archie's inspection. "This is certainly hard and fast paint, but itdid the work all right. The owner of that machine wouldn't know it now. And not more than a spoonful of gas gone out of the tank; so we can makea long jump, Archie. "

No jump they could make would be long enough, Archie reflected. He wasafraid to ask further questions about the car and his senses were numbedby the effort to determine whether it was Hoky he had shot or Mr. PutneyCongdon. If his bullet had impinged upon Congdon's person, the man wouldundoubtedly believe his wife had ordered him murdered, and Archie foundno consolation in the conjecture that he had added to Mrs. Congdon'sdistress. If Congdon wasn't dead he would be sure to make diligentinquiries in the village as to his assailant and the stolen car. Thedruggist would know who had taken the key and Archie had stated hispurpose to walk to the station and take the five eleven train. Butbeyond Bailey Harbor he saw his alibi crumbling. 

The Governor's ceaseless flow of talk fortunately diverted his thoughtsto more cheerful channels. He must stick to the Governor, who to be sureshowed no inclination to desert him. Indeed the Governor evinced asincere pleasure in his society, and if he behaved himself he might fillthe void created in the man's life by the loss of Hoky. He would remainin hiding until the whole thing blew over, whether it was Hoky or PutneyCongdon he had shot in Congdon's house. 

He obeyed with alacrity a hint that he prepare luncheon; and after thishad been consumed the Governor suggested a game of chess, produced a setof ivory chessmen from a cupboard and soon proved himself a skilfulplayer. 

"It's wonderful for sharpening the wits, " he explained. "When I've got adifficult job on hand I find a game stimulating to my faculties. Let mesee, who was that telegram addressed to? Congdon; yes, that's right. Dropped into a chess club in Boston about a month ago and watched a chapplaying, highly nervous fellow but a pretty stiff player at that. Theycalled him Congdon all right and he may be the owner of that car. Thethought pleases me. Heard him asking for his father, Eliphalet Congdon, who's a chess fiend, too, it appeared. Had heard of him before--the oldboy carries his will around in his umbrella just to tantalize hisrelations, who are all crazy to know what he's going to do with hismoney. Something pathetic in a man chasing his own father over thecountry; doesn't gee with our old ideal of the patriarchal system withfather at the head of the table serving the whole family from onemiserable duck. Ever notice a queer streak of eccentricity in people whotoy with the chessmen? Of course you're thinking I'm no exception to therule, but the thought isn't displeasing to me. That was a neatmove--you're waking up, Archie! Well, sir, young Congdon was offeringsomething handsome to any one who'd steal the old man's umbrella so hecould get hold of the will. I've sunk pretty low, Archie, but stealingumbrellas is distinctly not in my line!"

At the end of two hours the Governor declared that they must take a napbefore setting out and turned into one of the berths and was soonsnoring. Archie was glad of a chance to be alone with his thoughts, buthe found them poor company. After kicking about restlessly for a time heslept but only to wander through a wild phantasmagoria of crime in whichIsabel Perry, dressed precisely as he had seen her at his sister's, ledhim on from one wild scene to another, clapping her hands with delightat each exploit. 

"You are doing splendidly, " she laughed, as he turned to her, pistol inhand, after shooting a gigantic policeman with fiery red whiskers. "Really you exceed my expectations. I am proud of you, Mr. Bennett, " shewas saying when a vigorous shake brought him up standing. 

"To gain or lose it all, " he stammered rubbing his eyes. But it was notIsabel he was addressing but his confederate, blandly smiling. 

"The boy quotes poetry!" the Governor exclaimed. "Archie, you've come inanswer to my prayers! Together we shall drink of the fount of Castalia. We shall chum with Apollo and the Muses Nine! But the gods call uselsewhere! We'll snatch a bite and be off! And we've got a job allwaiting for us. One of the brotherhood has commissioned me to dig upsome boodle he's planted over in New Hampshire. You may recall theincident. Red Leary, a rare boy, who pulled off some big enterprises inKansas and Missouri a dozen years ago, emerged from Leavenworth andfloated into good old conservative New England where he held up anexpress messenger and sauntered off with fifty thousand dollars in newbank notes fresh from the Treasury. I've been in touch with Redlately--he's been up in Nova Scotia but doesn't like the climate, and hewants his boodle. Do you follow me?"

"He hid it somewhere and wants your help in recovering it?"

"Right the first time! In the summer there's a lot of travel north andsouth and Leary, who's had an honest job up there since he made thehaul, is even now wandering down Lake Champlain to meet me. No, Archie, communication through the underworld is much less difficult than youimagine. Regular post offices and that sort of thing. That cash istucked away in the cellar of a church and by this time tomorrow nightwe'll have it, all ready for old Red and check the item from ourtablets. "

"But the numbers of those notes are in every bank in the country, "suggested Archie; "the police are only waiting for the bills to get intocirculation to pounce on the thief. "

"I am more and more delighted with you, my son! That point had given meno little worry. But something will turn up; there will be a way out ofthe difficulty. Chuck your old duds into the creek and close thewindows. We'll hit the long trail!"

CHAPTER TWO

I

Out of the woods and once more on a smooth highway the stolen car spedlike a frightened ghost through the starry night. The Governor drovewith the assurance of a man who knows what he's about. Huddled in a longulster he had found in the cabin, Archie, whose ideas of motoring hadalways been extremely conservative, yielded himself more and more to theinevitable. He was no longer a free agent but a plaything ofcircumstance. In no exaggerated sense he was a captive, a prisoner ofthe man beside him, whose friendliness was flattering and alarming in abreath!

At any moment they might be held up and subjected to scrutiny andquestioning, and Archie experienced a tingle at the prospect; but theGovernor had declared with apparent sincerity that he had never been injail and this in itself was reassuring, for presumably a man who sokeenly enjoyed his freedom was a skilled dodger of the law. TheGovernor, who would have passed anywhere for a successful banker orlawyer, had more of the spirit of the debonair swashbucklers of romancethan any other man Archie had known. He might be a great liar, andArchie suspected that he was; and doubts of the man's sanity troubledhim not a little; but it sufficed for the moment that his comrade wassteering him rapidly away from Bailey Harbor, and so far had managedthe business with excellent judgment. 

Occasionally the Governor lifted his voice in songs of unimpeachableliterary and musical quality that rang sonorously above the hum of theengine. 

 "Who is Sylvia? What is she? That all our swains commend her, "

he sang through to the end to the old familiar air; followed by "Drinkto Me Only with Thine Eyes. "

They struck a stretch of road under repair and slowing up the Governorremarked carelessly as he picked his way through a line of red lanterns:

"Speaking of women, my dear Archie, do you share the joy of the lyricpoets in the species?"

"Women?" gulped Archie, as surprised as though he had been askedsuddenly his opinion of the _gazella dorcas_. 

"The same, Archie. It occurs to me that you have probably had manyaffairs. A fellow of your coolness and dash couldn't fail to appeal tothe incomprehensible sex. I'm thirty-four but I've loved only onewoman--that's the solemn truth, Archie. Occasionally smallindiscretions, I confess; and I sometimes weakly yield to the temptationto flirt, but with my hand on my heart I declare solemnly that only oncehave I ever been swayed by the grand passion. And strange as it may seemshe's a bishop's daughter, though a saint in her own right! O wonderful!O sublime!"

This confidence, vague as to the identity and habitat of the lady of theGovernor's adoration, nevertheless made it incumbent upon Archie to makesome sort of reply. The Governor would probably be disappointed in himif he confessed the meagerness of his experiences, and he felt that itwould be a grave error to jeopardize his standing with his companion. 

"Well, I'm in the same boat, " he answered glibly. "There's only one girlfor me!"

"Magnificent!" cried the Governor. "I hope she's not beyond your reachlike my goddess?"

"Well, I'll hardly say that, " Archie replied. "But there aredifficulties, embarrassments, you know. "

"Possibly your choice of the open road as a career is a bar to marriage?Such situations are always deplorable. "

"It is quite the other way round with me, " Archie protested. "It was shewho put me up to it!"

"What! Your inamorata wanted you to be a crook?" cried the Governor. "She must be a wonderful girl! Shoplifter, perhaps? There are some jollygirls in that business! Or, maybe she's one of these confidence womenwho play a sure game and usually get by with it?"

"Nothing like that!" cried Archie hastily. "She just fancies thelife--thinks it offers me a good chance to prove my mettle. She hatesconventionality. "

This reference to Isabel Perry, remote and guarded as it was, hedefended only on the ground that it was necessary in some way to meetthe Governor half-way in his confidences. And what he had said wasreally true, though to be sure Isabel could hardly be held responsiblefor the shooting at the Congdon house. He wondered what Isabel would sayif she could see him with a criminal beside him, joy-riding in a stolencar. And it was no lie that he sincerely believed that he loved her. Noother girl had ever roused him so much, or given him so good reason forstanding off and taking a look at himself. His thoughts of her had ledhim far afield when the Governor remarked ruminatively:

"Do you manage to see her? That's the devil of it in my case! The lady'sforbidden to recognize me in any way and the right reverend father is atart old party and keeps sharp watch of her. You'd think a girl oftwenty-two or thereabouts who spends her time in good works for theheathen and runs a Sunday-school class in a slum would be indulged inher admiration for a jolly rogue like me! But the facts are decidedlyotherwise. She's never quite brought her nerve to the point of breakinghome ties and bolting with me; but she's declined to marry all thebachelor and widower dominies in the paternal diocese on my account. Anda young bishop of the brightest prospects. Actually, my dear Archie!There's a steadfast soul for you! But I can't see her and the regularmails are closed to us. Nevertheless we have an arrangement--highlyromantic, by which if she ever needs me or thinks I can serve her in anyway she's to leave a note in a certain place. It's her own idea and verypretty. Savors of the good old times when bold knights went riding up tothe castle and yelled to the flinty-hearted duke inside to lower thedraw-bridge and send out his daughter to be married on the spot or he'dbe dropped in the moat with all his armor for a sinker. "

Archie thought it would be a fine thing if he could make an arrangementwith Isabel by which he could hear from her on his travels and hemustered courage to ask the Governor how he managed his line ofcommunication. 

"The device is the simplest possible. In our jauntings we shall pass atown where she visits a good deal--the home of an ancient aunt. It's ajolly old place, big grounds, with elms and maples all round, andthere's a tea house with a tile floor, and there's a particular bluetile under a bench that can be pried out with a pen knife. That's ourpost-office, and much safer than registered mail. Of course my businesscorrespondence is a different matter. I pick that up in countless placesbetween here and California--reports of the boys, their hopes andambitions and hints of schemes for acquiring sudden wealth. If you'dlike to use some of these addresses and have mail forwarded I'll be gladto oblige you. You know how fussy the government is about the use of themail for irregular purposes? Well, it rather tickled me to get someenvelopes with S. S. S. P. Printed in the corner and the number of avacant lot in Sioux City as the address. A careless eye would think theinitials stood for some sort of learned society but the real translationis Society for the Segregation of Stolen Property. I always use these incommunicating with the brotherhood. "

"There's a good deal about the business I don't know, " said Archie withtwinges of envy and admiration. "My bridges are all burned behind me andI'm not getting mail anywhere; but I'll remember your offer. "

Further conversation was ended by the swinging of a lantern across theroad. 

"Ah!" exclaimed the Governor, with a curious rising inflexion. "I'vebeen looking for that. "

He slowed up instantly and in a moment halted car. The headlights playedupon two men standing belligerently in front of the roadster. 

"Good evening, gentlemen!" cried the Governor. "Short of gas or what'sthe trouble?"

"We're from the Portsmouth police, " answered one of the men while theother ran to the rear of the car and swung a lantern over the licensetag. 

"Maine tag, " he shouted. 

"Certainly a Maine license, " replied the Governor. "We're deputysheriffs from Cumberland County looking for two crooks who've beenrobbing houses up our way. Got blank warrants all ready to serve if wecatch the scoundrels. "

Archie shuddered at the Governor's assurance. The Portsmouth officersmanifested the deepest professional interest and sympathy as theGovernor with an authoritative air flourished two documents. 

"Burglar shot at Bailey Harbor last night, " explained one of theofficers; "they found his body this morning and we're looking for hisaccomplice. Guess he didn't come this way; we been on the road allnight. "

"We've held up everybody that looked suspicious all the way down andhaven't seen a soul, " the Governor replied in official tones. "Think thechaps we're looking for skipped by train. What did the dead burglar looklike?"

"I talked with the Bailey mayor over the telephone and he said the deadman was a big fellow, clean-shaven with the scar of an old knife woundunder his left arm. One of the cottagers shot him in his house, but hegot away--crawled down on the shore and died. Boston policedepartment's sending a man up to look at the body. Never knew so manyburglaries up this way. Must be a whole gang at work. "

"Certainly looks like it, " the Governor assented. "Well, if you see atall chap and a short thick-set fellow anywhere nail 'em for us. Oldcriminals with long records. They've been enjoying themselves up ourway. The tall one doesn't say much, but the little chap is a smoothtalker--can talk himself right out of jail if you give him a chance. "

"We'll shoot first and get an explanation afterward if we see 'em, "declared the Portsmouth officer, as his companion buttoned up his coatpreparatory to getting back into the car. 

"Glad to see you, boys!" exclaimed the Governor, backing the stolenmachine and then calling a cheery "Good luck!" as he passed their car. 

Archie had been sitting pigeon-toed expecting that at any minute the twoofficers would discover points in the stolen car to arouse theirsuspicions; but the Governor's jaunty tone had evidently thrown thementirely off guard. He had hoped that the Governor would press forfurther details as to the killing of the burglar at the Harbor, but asmatters stood he had learned nothing except that a burglar had been shotin one of the Harbor cottages and he was again torn with anxiety as tothe identity of the man he had fired at in the Congdon house. 

The Governor began to chortle after a quick glance at the vanishing redlight of the Portsmouth car. 

"Not the first time I've used warrants in that way! And they're goodwarrants too. I plucked a bunch of such literature from a deputy sheriffwho got too inquisitive last summer and I had to grab and tie him to atree up near Moosehead where I'd gone for a conference with some of theboys who were coming out of Canada. But I guess it's a sure thing thosePortsmouth chaps were looking for me! I'd been strolling round quitefreely with poor Hoky up the shore. If that chap had stuck his fingerinto the paint this machine would have gone no further. We'll do wellto leave the main road for a while, then step briskly into a trainsomewhere. "

"Your nerve in describing us--you and me, sitting right there beforethem--to those officers gave me a chill, " confessed Archie. "If you'dtalked to them much more we'd have been pinched for sure. "

"You flatter the intelligence of the police. There are not a half adozen detectives worthy of the name in the whole country. Possibly wemay have a contest of wits with some of them before we close theseason. "

It had always been Archie's habit to greet courteously the policemen hepassed at night in the Avenue, little dreaming that the day would comewhen he would view the policing of the world with contemptuous disdain. The Governor spoke of policemen and detectives with pity; they were sostupid, he said, though he admitted under Archie's cross-examinationthat they could be a nuisance at times. 

"Make yourself as conspicuous as possible and they're hardly likely tobother you. There are times, of course, when one must hide, but themistake our boys make is in hiding in places where the police can callthem up by telephone and tell them to pay their own taxi fare to thenearest police station. I call on police chiefs in a purely social waynow and then, and talk to them about the best way of reforming crooks. It's their philosophy that no crook ever reforms; an absurd idea, ofcourse. But there's no surer way to ingratiate yourself with a big fatdetective than to ask how you can help poor repentant sinners, whichgives him a chance to discourage you. There's nothing in it, he warnsyou. You thank him for his advice and ask him out to lunch. I've boughtexpensive dinners for some of the highest priced crime-ferrets in thegame just for the joy of hearing their pessimism. They're all swollen upwith the idea of their superior knowledge of human nature. But it servesa good purpose to cultivate them, for you're perfectly safe so long asyou listen and don't try to tell them anything. "

II

Toward morning the Governor again had recourse to the Elizabethan bards, then he lapsed suddenly into a meditative mood. 

"It's always a bad sign when the season opens with the potting of someof the comrades. When there's one such catastrophe there are bound to beothers. Now that Hoky's dead you'll hear of the killing of otherburglars. Every householder on the coast will buy himself a gun and waitfor a chance to shoot some misguided stranger he finds collectingbric-a-brac in the dark watches of the night. But Hoky's death is a lossto the underworld. At his best he could achieve the impossible. Once hespent a week on the roof of police headquarters in Cincinnati; really hedid. Good weather and perfectly comfortable; used to stroll down throughthe building and go out for food; then back again. Chatted with thechief of detectives about his own crime, which was holding up thepaymaster of a big factory. Bless me if Hoky didn't bury the money in agraveyard and hurry uptown and live right there with the whole policesystem right under him. He was a dear fellow, Hoky! By the way, you'remighty lucky that you didn't get a neat little chunk of lead rightthrough the midriff, fooling with that drug store!"

In the rush of his thoughts Archie had forgotten his imaginary exploitat the Harbor drug store and realized that he must have his wits abouthim if he expected to retain the Governor's regard and confidence. Theease with which the supercrook rode around policemen vastly increasedhis feeling of reliance in his strange companion, and his only misgivingwas that the daring resourceful rogue might abandon him. 

As dawn broke the whistle and rumble of a train caused the Governor tostop the car and dive into his pockets for time tables of which hecarried a large supply. He scanned one and hummed his satisfaction. 

"We'll get rid of this machine right now as there's a station over therea little way where we can pick up a local right into Portsmouth. Don'tbe nervous. We'll pass for a couple of city men owning farms up here andjust riding into town on a little business. 

 'Virtue is bold and goodness never fearful, '

as well said by old William of Avon. We shall be bold, Archie, but nottoo bold. "

He stopped, opened a gate and ran the car--thoroughly disreputable fromits nocturnal bath in mud--through a barnyard and into an empty shed. 

"Now for a brisk walk! The owner of this place sleeps late--not a signof smoke from the kitchen chimney. And yet so many students of farm lifewonder at the meager earnings of the honest husbandman! However, we'vegiven that chap an excellent roadster and if he keeps his mouth shut hecan run it till it falls to pieces for all anybody will ever know it's astolen vehicle. "

They crossed the railroad and were soon buying tickets from a sleepystationmaster. The Governor talked briskly through the window as theagent stamped their tickets while Archie cowered at the door marvelingthat any one could face the problems of a precarious existence so gaily. 

They alighted at Portsmouth without mishap, and Archie, recalling theprimary object of his travels, stepped to the telegraph office and wiredhis sister as follows:

 "Have been motoring with friend; hence delay in reporting. The house will not do. Plumbing in wretched condition, and house generally out of repair. Sorry but you will have to look further. "

Then he wrote a telegram to his office in New York explaining that hehad been motoring, which accounted for his failure to call for hispassage to Banff, thoughtfully adding that the cost of his unusedsleeping car tickets should be charged to his personal account. Aftercomposing these messages he redeemed his suitcase in the check room anddropped it beside the Governor's battered kit bag on the platform. 

"Ah! Burning the wires a little? I hope you are committing noindiscretion, son. I was admiring your baggage; that suitcase of yourswould hold a king's wardrobe. We'll drive to the hotel, get a bath and asolid, old-fashioned breakfast, a hearty meal such as old Ike Waltonrecommended to fishermen eager for the early worm, and plan our furthertravels. "

The Governor commanded the best service of the inn, obtaining twoadjoining rooms with bath. He registered elaborately as Reginald HeberSaulsbury and wrote Archie down as Ashton Comly, dashingly indicatingthe residence of both as New York. In response to an inquiry for mailfor Mr. Saulsbury the clerk made search and threw out a letter which theGovernor opened indifferently and after a glance crumpled into hispocket. 

"A note from Red Leary, " he explained when they had reached their rooms. "He's slipping along slowly toward Brattleboro, where we're to deliverthat loot we've got to pick up. You will pardon my cheek in registeringfor you; unwarrantable assumption. I choose Ashton Comly as a dignifiedand distinctive _alias_; sounds a little southern; you may consideryourself for the present a scion of an ancient house of the Carolinas. As for me, Saulsbury's a name I saw chalked on a box-car in the Buffaloyards and Reginald Heber is a fit handle to it. When I was in prepschool we had a lecture by an eminent divine on the life of ReginaldHeber, hymn writer, and that sort of thing. I'm rather ashamed of myselffor borrowing the name of a man of singularly pure life, but it's thedevil in me, lad! It's an awful thing to be born with a devil inside ofyou, but it could hardly be said that my case is unique. Here you are, also the possessor of a nasty little devil, and obviously, like me, aman of good bringing up. That's why I've warmed to you. You triedpulling rough talk on me at our first meeting, but you've got Harvardwritten all over you. No, not a word! We are two brunette sheep farastray from the home pastures and not apologizing for our color orprevious condition of servitude. "

Archie had always enjoyed the ease of good inns, and being in acomfortable house with his own effects at hand, he might have forgottenthat he was a fugitive if it hadn't been for the propinquity of hiscompanion, who was addressing himself with elaborate ceremonial to thepreparation of his bath. The Governor's bag contained an assortment ofsilk shirts and underwear, a dress suit, a handsome set of toiletarticles, and as Archie scrutinized them approvingly the Governorsmiled, stepped to the door, and locked it. 

"The property of a fastidious gentleman of breeding, you would say! Youwould never dream that thing has a false bottom!"

Archie would not have dreamed it, but the Governor dumped the remainingcontents on the bed, fumbled in the bottom of the bag, lifted aconcealed flap, and drew out a long fold of leather. 

"You might think it a surgeon's pocket-kit, son, but you would begreatly in error. Drills, jimmies, even a light hammer--and here's alittle contrivance that has been known to pluck the secret from mostintricate combinations--my own invention. The common yegg habit ofpouring an explosive fluid into the cracks of a strong box is obsolete. I hold that such a procedure is vulgar, besides being calculated to makean ugly noise when not perfectly muffled. By George, Archie, it occursto me that you must have left your kit behind you in that absurd drugstore at the Harbor! It is just as well that you are no longerencumbered with those playthings. Trust the Governor in future. I'myearning for a cool grapefruit, so bestir yourself. "

"I want to learn all the modern improvements, " said Archie, fingeringthe burglar tools. "I've been playing the game wrong--decidedly wrong!"

"My favorite pupil!" cried the Governor, from the tub in which he wasalready rolling and splashing. "You shall be my successor when I pass onto other fields. Destiny has thrown you in my path for this verypurpose. You will rank high among the crooks of all history, the king ofthe underworld, feared and loved by the great comradeship who prey uponthe world by night!"

Archie felt very humble under these promises and prophecies, andwondered whether there was really deep down in his soul some moralobliquity that the acute master crook had detected and responded to. There had been clergymen and philanthropists among Archie's forebears, but never murderer or thief, and he was half-persuaded that he was thepredestined black sheep that he had always heard gave a spot of color tothe whitest flock. 

At the breakfast table the Governor scanned a local paper and with achirrup passed it to Archie, pointing to a double-column headline:

 A CARNIVAL OF BURGLARY IN MAINE

Archie's eyes fell upon the bizarre photograph of a dead man with whichthe page was illustrated, and he choked on a fragment of grapefruit ashe read the inscription: "Dead Thief, Identity Unknown. "

It was a ghastly thing with which to be confronted; and his perturbationincreased as he read an account of the killing. It was in the house ofMr. Waldo S. Cummings, a cottager, that the man had been shot, themortal wound being inflicted by the householder's son, after an excitingbattle. The dead body of the burglar had been found on the shore and thewhole coast was being searched for his accomplice. 

"That's poor old Hoky all right, " murmured the Governor, buttering apiece of toast reflectively. "How indecent to prop up a corpse that wayand take a snapshot merely to satisfy the morbid curiosity of a sillypublic! As you seem to be entranced with the literary style of ourBailey Harbor correspondent, I shall take the liberty of helping you toa fried egg. "

However, Archie's appetite was pretty effectually spoiled by thisparagraph:

 An odd circumstance, more or less remotely connected with the killing of the burglar in the fashionable colony still remains to be explained. Officer Yerkes shortly before two o'clock, the hour at which the thief was shot in Mr. Cummings's home, saw a man hurrying through Water Street. He bore the appearance of a gentleman, and the officer did not accost him, thinking him a yachtsman from one of the boats in the harbor who had been visiting friends ashore. Yerkes says that the man walked oddly, pausing now and then as though in pain, and was carrying his right hand upon his left shoulder. Owing to the poor lighting of Water Street--a matter that has been a subject of frequent complaint to the city authorities--Yerkes was unable to catch a glimpse of the stranger's features. This morning drops of blood were found on the board walk crossed by the stranger where Officer Yerkes had seen him, and it is believed that this was another of the burglar-gang who was wounded in a struggle somewhere in the interior and was seeking the help of his confederate, presumably the man shot in the Cummings house. 

As the paper fell from Archie's hand the Governor took it up. 

"You seem agitated, Archie! You must learn to conceal your feelings!"

When he had read the paragraph he glanced quickly at Archie, whose forkwas beating a queer tattoo on his plate. 

"Your work possibly?" murmured the Governor. "Compose yourself. That oldlady over there has her eye on you. I'm afraid you lied to me about thedrug store, for if you'd done any shooting in that neighborhood youwould never have got out of town alive! No!"--he held up his handwarningly--"tell me nothing! But if we've got a murder behind us, weshall certainly be most circumspect in our movements. That's all piffleabout Hoky having any confederate except me. And there's not a singleone of the great comradeship on this shore--I know that; no one whoknows the password of the inner door. You interest me more and more, Archie! I congratulate you on your splendid nerve. "

Archie's nerve was nothing he could admire himself, but a second cup ofcoffee put warmth into his vitals and he recovered sufficiently to paythe breakfast check. If it was Congdon he had shot there was still thehope, encouraged by the newspaper, that the wounded man was in no hasteto report his injury to the police. But Archie found little comfort inthe thought that somewhere in the world there was a man he had shot andperhaps fatally wounded. 

He must conceal his anxious concern from the Governor; for more thanever he must rely upon his strange friend for assistance in escapingfrom the consequences of the duel in the Congdon cottage. 

III

"I was thinking, " remarked the Governor, after a long reverie, "that itwould be only decent for me to run back to Bailey Harbor and attend poorHoky's funeral. "

Archie stared aghast. 

"Hoky was my friend, " the Governor continued. "The newspaper says he'sto be buried in the Potter's Field this afternoon, and it will only setus back a day in our plans. I can imagine how desperately forlorn thething will be. Some parson will say a perfunctory prayer for a poordevil he believes to have gone straight to the fiery pit and they'llbury him in a pauper's grave. There will be the usual morbidly curiouscrowd hanging round, wagging their heads and whispering. I shall go, Archie, and you can wait for me. It will take only a few hours and wecan spend the night here and resume our journey tomorrow. "

"But a stranger appearing there! It's dangerous!" Archie protested. "I wouldn't go back there for a million dollars!"

"Hoky would have taken the chance for me, " said the Governor, firmly. "The whole shore teems with tourists, and I'll leave it to your judgmentwhether any one would take me for a crook. Be careful of my feelings, Archie; I'm just a little emotional today. Hoky and I have run beforethe hounds too often for me to desert him now. The people up there maythink what they please and go to the devil! Hoky had ideals of a sort;he never squealed on a pal; he was as loyal as the summer sun toripening corn. "

The Governor's interest in Hoky's obsequies was chivalrous beyondquestion, but Archie resented being left alone. The Governor's departurestruck him in all the circumstances as a base desertion, and forlorn andfrightened he locked himself in his room, expecting that any moment thepolice would batter down the door. The waiting for this catastrophebecame intolerable and after an hour of it he went downstairs meditatinga walk to the wharves. A young woman stood at the desk talking to theclerk, who scanned the pages of the register and shook his head. 

"No Mrs. Congdon has registered here within a week, I'm sure. Will youleave any message?"

She said no and asked about trains. 

"Did you want something, Mr. Comly?" the clerk asked courteously. 

Archie had paused by the desk, staring open-mouthed at the young woman, who was asking the boy who held her bag to summon a taxi. If he wasstill possessed of his senses the girl in the gray tailored suit wasIsabel Perry. The walls of the hotel office appeared to be tippingtoward him. Isabel might have come to Portsmouth in answer to the prayerof his heart, but not Isabel asking for Mrs. Congdon. Isabel had glancedcarelessly in his direction as the clerk addressed him as Mr. Comly andhe had promptly raised his hat, only to be met with a reluctant nod anda look of displeasure with connotations of alarm. Having dramatizedhimself as appearing before her, a splendid heroic figure, to receiveher praise for his exploits, this reception was all but the last strawto his spirit. Moreover, she was walking toward the door as thoughanxious to escape from him. 

He darted after her, resolved to risk another snub before allowing herto slip away ignorant of the vast change that had been wrought in himsince their meeting in Washington. A taxi was not immediatelyforthcoming and she frowned impatiently as he appeared beside her. Afrowning Isabel had not entered into his calculations at all; it was amirthful, light-hearted Isabel he was carrying in his heart. He wouldaffect gaiety; he would let her see that he was a dare-devil, the manshe would have him be. 

"Really!" he exclaimed, twittering like an imbecile, "isn't it jollythat we've met in this way?"

"I'm not so sure of that! May I ask just why you are here under anassumed name?"

"Well, you know, " he began, his lips twitching as he mopped his face, "you told me to throw a brick at the world and I've been following youradvice. " Under her stoical scrutiny his voice squeaked hysterically. "It's perfectly jolly, the life I'm leading! You never heard of anythingso wild and devilish! Miss Perry, behold your handiwork!"

Perspiring, stuttering, with the glitter of madness in his eyes, he wasnot on the whole an object to be proud of, and there was no pride or joymanifest in Miss Isabel Perry as she observed him critically, with thedetachment of one who observes a wild animal in a menagerie. Her silencemoved him to further frantic efforts to impress her with the fact thathe was now a character molded to her hand. 

"You were asking for Mrs. Congdon; Mrs. Putney Congdon, I suppose? Well, I certainly could tell you a story if you would give me time! What Idon't know about the Congdon family wouldn't make a large book! Ha, ha!But if I had known Mrs. Congdon was a friend of yours I should haveacted differently, very differently indeed. "

He was attracting attention. The porter, the bell-boy supportingIsabel's bag, and a few passers-by paused, amused by the spectacle of aheated gentleman earnestly addressing a young woman who seemed greatlyannoyed by his attentions. 

The taxi drew up and she stepped into it, but he landed beside her, flinging a handful of silver on the walk and taking her suitcase on hisknees. 

"This is unpardonable! If it hadn't been for making a scene I shouldhave told the porter to throw you out!"

His teeth chattered as he tried to throw a conciliatory tone into hisspeech without losing his air of bravado. 

"You know you're responsible for everything! I see life differently, really I do! And this is so beautifully romantic, running into you here, of all places!"

"I think, " she said, sweeping him with a look of scorn, "that you'vebeen following me or were put here to watch me!"

"Oh, that's unkind, most unkind! Purely chance, --the usual way, youknow! How do you imagine I should be watching you with anything but thenoblest intentions?"

"You went to Bailey Harbor to look at a cottage for Mrs. Featherstone, didn't you? Putney Congdon was there, wasn't he? And why are youloitering here when you were so eager to get away to the Rockies?"

At the mention of Putney Congdon a laugh, the sharp concatenation of alunatic caused the driver to glance round apprehensively. 

"That's the scream of it, you know!" Archie cried. "I don't know for thelife of me whether it was Putney Congdon I shot at the Congdon house orHoky, the burglar. They're burying Hoky today and my partner incrime--wonderful chap--insisted on going to the funeral. You couldn'tbeat that! And it's so deliciously funny that you should be looking forMrs. Congdon, who may be a widow for all I know!"

"A widow!" Isabel, with her hand clutching the door, swung upon him withconsternation and fear clearly depicted in her face. 

Her astonishment moved him to greater hilarity. Seeing that he had atlast impressed her, he redoubled his efforts to be entertaining. 

"Oh, that's the mystery just at present, whether poor old Putney is deador not! No great loss, I imagine! But where do you suppose Mrs. Congdonwent to hide her children from the brute?"

"That's exactly what I suspected!" she exclaimed furiously. "You arewaiting here to find that out! How can you play the spy for him! Youtalk about shooting a man! Why, you haven't the moral courage to kill aflea! The kindest interpretation I can put upon your actions is toassume that you are hopelessly mad. "

They had reached the station, and she jumped out and snatched her bag. He gave the driver a five dollar bill and dashed across the platformonly to see her vanish into the vestibule of a Boston train just as itwas drawing out. 

He walked to the water front firmly resolved to drown himself, but hiscourage failing he yielded himself luxuriously to melancholyreflections. Instead of expressing delight at finding him reveling invillainy, Isabel had made it disagreeably clear that she not only wasnot delighted but that she thought him a dreadful liar, a spy upon heractions and possibly other things equally unflattering. Why she shouldthink him capable of spying upon her movements, he did not know, nor washe likely to learn in the future that hung darkly before him. As hepondered there was nothing more startling in the fact that he had nothurried on to Banff than that she should be in Portsmouth when she hadtold him she was leaving Washington immediately for the girls' camp inMichigan. 

Congdon was a name of evil omen. What business could Isabel have withthat unhappy lady that would cause her to delay her departure for theWest? His intimations that Putney Congdon might be dead had filled herwith horror, and yet she had hinted at his sister's dinner that thetaking of human life was a small matter. That a girl so wholly charmingand persuasive at a dinner table could be so stern and unreasonable at achance meeting afterward, shook his confidence in her sex, which thatmemorable meeting had done much to establish upon firm ground. He hadbeen wholly stupid and tactless in pouncing upon her with what herealized, under the calming influences of the brisk sea air, must havestruck her as the vaporings of a dangerous lunatic. He had never beenclever; he smarted now under the revelation that all things consideredhe was an immitigable ass. 

He went back to the hotel bitter but fortified by a resolution thatnothing should check him now in his desperate career. He had quarreledwith the inspiration of his new life, but in the end Isabel should havereason to know how unjust she had been. It was something after all tohave seen her, perplexed, anxious and angry though she had been. She wasstill the most wonderful girl he had ever met, the more remarkable forthe fact that now she had gone he had not the slightest idea of what hadbrought her into the strange world inhabited by the quarreling andfleeing Congdons. But men had suffered before for love of woman and hewould bear his martyrdom manfully, keeping the humiliating interviewcarefully from the Governor. 

The Governor returned from Hoky's funeral somewhat wistful, but hedescribed the burial with his accustomed enthusiasm. 

"It will be one of the satisfactions of my life that I went, " hedeclared. "They didn't have the decency to bring in a minister--fancyit! Blessed if I didn't step into the breach and make a few remarksmyself! I did, indeed, Archie, right there in the undertaker's joint, with a lot of bumpkins staring! No man sinks so low that he hasn't gotsome good in him; that was the burden of my argument. The sheriff cameup and wrung my hand when it was all over. He had heard my littlesermon and I suppose thought I was some rich and influentialphilanthropist; so I let it go at that. "

IV

The next morning he announced Cornford as their next stopping point, atown, he explained, whose history thrust far back into colonial times. When they were seated in the parlor car he tossed a bundle of magazinesinto Archie's lap. 

"It will amuse you to know that one of the policemen we met on the roadlooking for Hoky's accomplice is standing on the platform. He's justinspected the day coaches;--never occurs to him that knaves of ourdegree travel de luxe. "

He yawned as the train started and drew a small volume from his pocket. 

"I shall lose myself in old Horatius Flaccus for an hour. It's odd but Ialways do my best concentrating with a poet before me. And what you saidyesterday about those new bank notes Leary has hid up here disturbed mejust a little. You can't trust fellows of old Leary's type with a matterso delicate as launching new money, where the numbers, as you so sagelyremarked, are being looked for by every bank teller in America. I have ahunch that something unusual will happen before the summer's over, andwe must be primed for every emergency. "

Archie saw that it was really a volume of the Horatian odes in which hissingular companion had become engrossed. The Governor was utterly beyondhim and he stared out moodily at the flying landscape, hating himselfcordially as he thought of Isabel Perry and living over again theexciting moments in the Congdon house that preluded this strangejourneying with a scholarly criminal who evidently derived the deepestsatisfaction from the perusal of Latin poetry. The Governor broke inupon his reflections occasionally to read him a favorite passage or toask questions, flattering to Archie's learning, as to possibleinterpretations of the venerated text. 

The Cornford Inn proved to be a quaint old tavern, modernized, and itspatrons, the Governor explained, were limited to cultivated people whosought the peace and calm of the hills. After a leisurely luncheon theytook their coffee in a pleasant garden on one side of the house. 

"One might be in France or Italy, " remarked the Governor, lighting acigar. "An ideal place; socially most exclusive, and I trust we shallhave no reason to regret our visit. "

"That depends, " said Archie, inspecting the end of his cigarette, "onwhether we are transferred to the county jail or not. "

"Your apprehensions are as absurd as they are groundless, my dear boy. We could cash checks for any reasonable sum in this caravanserai merelyon our appearance as men of education and property. Even in stolenclothes you look like a capitalist. "

Two men came into the garden and seated themselves at a table on theother side of a screen of shrubbery. They ordered coffee and one of themremarked upon the recent prevalence of crime in New England. 

"A thief was shot at Bailey Harbor night before last and there seems tobe a band of crooks operating all along the coast. "

"We need a better type of men in Congress, " said the Governor in a loudtone, with a wink at Archie. "There's a steady deterioration in thequality of our representatives in both houses. "

"You are right, " Archie responded, remembering with a twinge ofconscience his congressman brother-in-law. 

The Governor nodded to Archie to keep on talking, while he played therôle of eavesdropper. 

"You oughtn't to have carried that cash up here, " came in a low tonefrom the hedge. "The old man is a fool or he wouldn't have suggestedsuch a thing. "

"Well, he wrote that he was coming here to spend a week and in hischaracteristic fashion said if I wanted his stock I could bring thecurrency here and close the transaction. The Congdons are all a lot ofcranks, you know. This old curmudgeon carries a small fortune aroundwith him all the time, and never accepts a check in any transaction. "

The Governor grew more eloquent in his attempt to convince Archie of thedecadence of American statesmanship, while their unseen neighbors, feeling themselves secure, continued their discussion of the errand thathad brought them to Cornford. 

"You're paying the old skunk a big price for his shares!"

"Well, I've got to to keep them out of hostile hands, " said the secondvoice irritably. "I don't like the idea of carrying yellowbacks aroundin a satchel just to humor a lunatic. And he's had the nerve to writethat he won't be here until tomorrow!"

"But the cash--"

"Oh, it's all safe enough. No one knows but that I'm here just for arest. "

"Let's stroll about a little, " said the Governor. "We're not getting ourusual amount of exercise and there's a good bit of colonial historytucked away in Cornford. "

He led the way through the garden to the street, and bade Archie proceedslowly to the post office while he walked toward the main entrance ofthe inn. 

Archie was buying stamps for which he had no immediate use when theGovernor joined him. 

"These chaps were quite providentially in the office calling for theirkeys so I had no trouble in identifying them. Seebrook and Walters arethe names. Seebrook, the older chap, has his daughter with him. Theyhave rooms on the floor below us. "

"You don't think they've got any considerable sum of money with them, doyou?" asked Archie breathlessly. 

"That remains to be seen! Did you notice their reference to a man namedCongdon? Singular how I keep running into members of that tribe. I'mbeginning to think there's a fatality in the name!"

Archie glanced at him covertly. He too felt that there was somethingdecidedly strange in the way the name haunted him, but the Governor hadpicked up a local guide book and was pointing out objects of interest asthey wended their way along the street. Archie's wits had never been sotaxed as since he had fired a pistol, more or less with intent to kill, in the house of Putney Congdon, but it was incredible that the Governorcould know aught of that matter. The Governor, however, was manifestingthe greatest interest in Cornford history, halting citizens to propoundinquiries as to landmarks, and pausing before the town hall to makeelaborate notes of a tablet struck in memory of the first selectmen. 

When they reached the green, which the town's growth had left to oneside, he sat down on a bench and directed attention to a church whosehistory he read impressively from the book. 

"That carries us back quite a way beyond the Revolution. No longer usedbut reverently preserved for its associations. And in the cellar of thatsimple edifice where the early colonists used to hide from predatoryIndians, is hidden fifty thousand dollars. A suitcase all ready tosnatch, thrust under the bin where the worshipers of old kept the Sundaywood!"

"I suppose it might rot there and nobody be the wiser?" muttered Archie, glancing at the venerable meeting house with awakened interest. 

"Quite true! But it must be saved from destruction. We mustn't failLeary; he's put his trust in me. It's our job to recover the funds, andif I never ask you to join me in anything more perilous you'll haveoccasion to congratulate yourself. There are two automobiles at thechurch door now--tourists, having a look at the relic, and theirpresence will neatly cover our visit. "

They found half a dozen visitors roaming through the church, opening andclosing the doors of the old pews. Archie was accosted by a stout ladyin quest of just the information he had gained from the guide book. Hecourteously answered her questions and found the other sightseerspressing round to share in his lecture on the Cornford meeting house. When he had imparted everything he knew and added a few fanciful touchesto improve the story, he turned to look for the Governor. 

"If you want to see the cellar, don't tumble down the steps as I did, "called a cheery voice from the entry; "it's an abominable hole!"

Being an abominable hole the visitors laughingly surged toward the doorto explore it, and the Governor struck matches to light their descent. 

He brushed the dust from his knees and mopped his face until the voicesbelow receded. 

"All safe and sound! Stuck it out through a back window into a lilacbush, and we'll pick it up at our leisure. You may not have noticed thatthis old pile is built up against an abandoned mill. We shall loiterback to the inn carrying the loot quite boldly with us. You might lug ityourself as I'm a little warm from digging the thing up--Leary hadburrowed under the wood bin and hidden it for keeps. "

To be sauntering in broad daylight through the principal thoroughfare ofa serene New England town carrying a suitcase filled with stolen moneywas still another experience that made Archie feel that he had indeedentered upon a new manner of life. The Governor with a spray of lilac inhis lapel had never been in better spirits. 

"That's a very decent suitcase and you can hand it to a bell hop andbid him fly with it to your room. You were a little short of linen andmade a few purchases--the thing explains itself. Who could challenge us, Archie! We'd make a plausible front in Buckingham palace. "

They followed the suitcase upstairs, where the Governor unlocked itwith an implement that looked like a nut pick. Archie's last vestige ofdoubt as to the Governor's powers vanished when he saw that the bag wasfilled with packages of bank notes in small denominations. 

"One might object to so many of the little fellows, " remarked theGovernor, "but on the whole we have no reason to complain of Leary'swork. The rascal is anxious to settle down in some strictly moralcommunity and open a confectionery shop--one of these little concernswhere the neighborhood children bring in their pennies for sodas andchewing-gum, with a line of late magazines on the side. A kind, genialman is Leary, and he swears he'll abandon the road for good. "

Archie picked up several bundles of the bills and turned them over, reflecting that to his other crimes he had now added the receipt andconcealment of stolen money. 

"Dinner in an hour, Archie, " said the Governor, who was drawing adiagram of some sort on a sheet of inn paper. "The evening meal israther a ceremonial affair here and as I notice that you carry a dresssuit we shall follow the conventions. Meanwhile I wish you would look inat Barclay & Pedding's garage, just around the comer, and ask if a carhas been left there for Mr. Reginald H. Saulsbury. You needn't be afraidof getting pinched, for the machine was acquired by purchase and I'mmerely borrowing it from Abe Collins, _alias_ Slippery Abe, the king ofall con men. Abe only plays for suckers of financial prominence who'dgladly pay a second time not to be exposed and he's grown so rich thathe's retiring this summer. He was to send a machine to me here so Icould avoid the petty annoyances of travel in a stolen car We'll leavehere like honest men, with the landlord bowing us away from the door. "

That there should indeed be a handsome touring car at Barclay &Pedding's, awaiting the pleasure of Mr. Saulsbury, increased enormouslyArchie's respect and admiration for the Governor. It was a first-classmachine worth four or five thousand dollars as it stood, and Archie wascheered by the thought that he enjoyed the friendship of a man whosatisfied all his needs with so little trouble. 

When he returned the Governor was dressing and manifested no surprisethat the car awaited his pleasure. 

"Yes, of course, " he remarked absently. "You can always rely on Abe. It's time for you to dress, and we must look our prettiest. I caught aglimpse of Miss Seebrook strolling through the garden with her papa abit ago. It may be necessary for you to cultivate her a trifle. A littleflirting now and then is relished by the wisest men. "

"If you think--" began Archie warily. 

"Of course I think!" the Governor interrupted. "We've got fifty thousanddollars of nice new bills here and we're not going to the trouble ofstaining and mussing them up for safe circulation if we can dispose ofthem _en bloc_, so to speak, in all their pristine freshness. There's tobe a dance in the dining hall as soon as dinner is over. The house isquite full and we shall mingle freely in the merry throng. I'll go downahead of you and test the social atmosphere a little. "

When Archie reached the parlors half an hour later he found the Governorengaged in lively conversation with a gentleman he introducedimmediately as Mr. Seebrook. 

"And Mr. Walters, Mr. Comly, and--"

"Mr. Saulsbury and Mr. Comly, my daughter, Miss Seebrook. "

The girl had just joined her father and his friend. She acknowledged theintroduction with an inclusive smile and nod. Archie's spirits, whichdrooped whenever he was deprived of the Governor's enlivening presencefor a few minutes, were revived by this fresh demonstration of therascal's daring effrontery. Seebrook and Walters were apparentlyaccepting him at face value in the fashion of socially inclinedtravelers who meet in inns. To Archie's consternation the Governor begandescribing Hoky's funeral, which he did without neglecting any of itspoignant features or neglecting to mention the few remarks he hadoffered to relieve the bleakness of the burglar's obsequies. 

"That was pretty fine, wasn't it?" Miss Seebrook remarked to Archie. "Any one would know that Mr. Saulsbury is just the kind of man who woulddo that. "

"There's no limit to his kindness and generosity, " Archie replied withunfeigned sincerity. 

"You are motoring?" asked the girl. "We drove through here last fall tosee the foliage, --it's perfectly wonderful, but I didn't know it couldbe so sweet at this season. I adore summer; don't you adore summer, Mr. Comly?"

Miss Seebrook was the most obvious of sentimentalists and Archie thoughtinstantly how different she was from Isabel. But being thrown in thecompany of any girl made possible the concrete comparison of Isabel withthe rest of womankind very greatly to Isabel's advantage. Miss Seebrookwas about Isabel's age, but she spoke in a languid purring voice thatwas wholly unlike Isabel's crisp, direct manner of speech. Her fatherhad come up on some tiresome business matter, bringing Mr. Walters, who, it seemed, was his attorney, and she confessed that they talked businessa great deal, which bored her immensely. 

"I judge, Mr. Comly, that you are one of those fortunate men who canthrow business to the winds and have a good time without being botheredwith telegrams from a hateful office. "

Her assumption flattered Archie. As his immediate concern was to escapethe consequences of his folly in shooting a fellow mortal, he assuredher that he was always glad of an opportunity to fling business caresaside. She explained that the inn was much affected by cottagers inneighboring summer settlements and that many of the diners had motoredin for the dance. Seebrook and Walters were undoubtedly enjoying theGovernor, proof of which was immediately forthcoming when Seebrooksuggested that they should all dine together. 

"You do us much honor, " said the Governor. "Mr. Comly and I shall bepleased, I'm sure. "

Archie had often eaten alone in just such pleasant little inns fromsheer lack of courage to make acquaintances, but it seemed the mostnatural thing in the world for the Governor to establish himself onterms of intimacy with perfect strangers. Their party was the merriestin the room, and Archie was aware of envious glances from other tablesthat were not enlivened by a raconteur so affable and amusing as theGovernor. 

"It's so nice to stumble into a place like this where every one mayspeak to every one else and be _sure_, you know!" said Miss Seebrook. 

"It does rather strengthen one's faith in the human race, " Archieagreed, reflecting that if she had known that upstairs in the amiableMr. Saulsbury's room reposed fifty thousand dollars of stolen money herconfidence in the exclusiveness of the Cornford Inn would have beensomewhat shaken. But the ironic humor of the whole thing overmasteredhis sense of guilt and he managed to hold the table for a little whilewithout the Governor's assistance as he talked of the French chateauxwith honest knowledge. The Seebrooks had motored through the chateaucountry the year before the war and as Archie had once made theexcursion with an architect he was on firm ground. 

"There's a thorough man for you!" exclaimed the Governor proudly whenArchie supplied some dates in French history for which Miss Seebrookfumbled. 

They continued their talk over coffee served in the garden. When themusic began Seebrook and Walters recalled a bridge engagement and theGovernor announced that he must look up an old friend who lived inCornford. He produced a piece of paper on which he had scratched one ofthe diagrams he was eternally sketching as though consulting amemorandum of an address. 

"I shall be back shortly, " he said as they separated in the office. 

Seebrook and Walters found their bridge partners and Archie and MissSeebrook joined the considerable company that were already dancing. Onlya few days earlier nothing could have persuaded Archie to dance, but nowthat he was plunged into a life of adventure the fear of dropping deadfrom excessive exercise no longer restrained him. Miss Seebrookundoubtedly enjoyed dancing and after a one-step and a fox-trot shedeclared that she would just love to dance all night. It had been a longtime since Archie had heard a girl make this highly unoriginal remark, and in his own joy of the occasion he found it tinkling pleasantly inremote recesses of his memory. As Miss Seebrook pouted when he suggestedthat she might like him to introduce some of the other men and said thatshe was perfectly satisfied, he hastened to assure her that the rôle ofmonopolist was wholly agreeable to him. In this mad new life aflirtation was only an incident of the day's work, and Miss Seebrook wasnot at all averse to flirting with him. 

She thought it would be fine to take a breath of air, and gathering upher cloak they went into the garden for an ice. This refreshment orderedhe was conscious of new and pleasant thrills as he faced her across thetable. His youth stirred in him again. It was reassuring to have thisproof that one might be a lost sheep dyed to deepest black and yetindulge in philandering under the June stars with a pretty girl--ahandsome stately girl she was!--unrestrained by the thought that shewould run away screaming for the police if she knew that he was a manwho shot people and consorted with thieves and very likely would die onthe gallows or be strapped in an electric chair before he got hisdeserts. His mind had passed through innumerable phases since he lefthis sister's house in Washington, and now as he shamelessly flirted withMiss Seebrook he knew himself for an unmoral creature, a degenerate whowas all the more dangerous for being able to pass muster among decentfolk. He had always imagined that citizens of the underworld werelimited in their social indulgences to cautious meetings in the backrooms of low saloons, but this he had found to be a serious mistake. Itwas clear that the élite among the lawless might ride the high crest ofsocial success. 

His only nervousness was due to the fear that he might betray himself. It was wholly possible that Miss Seebrook knew some of his friends; infact she mentioned a family in Lenox that he knew very well. She wasexpert in all the niceties of flirtation and he responded joyously, assurprised and delighted as a child with a new toy at the ease with whichhe conveyed to her the idea that his life had been an immeasurable darkwaste till she had dawned upon his enraptured vision. Her back wastoward the inn and across her shoulders he could see the swaying figuresin the ball room. The light from a garden lamp played upon her head andbrightened in her fair hair. 

Miss Seebrook was speaking of music, and reciting the list of operas sheloved best when Archie's gaze was caught and held by a shadow thatflitted along an iron fire escape that zigzagged down from the fourth tothe first story of the long rambling inn. 

"You seem very dreamy, " remarked Miss Seebrook. "I know how that is forI can dream for hours and hours. "

"Yes; reverie; just floating on clouds, on and on, " Archie replied, though the shadow moving on and on along the side of the inn wastroubling him not a little. 

"The stars were never so near as they are tonight, " she said. "Was itShakspere or Longfellow who said, 'bright star, would I were steadfastas thou art!'"

It was neither, Archie knew, but he said he thought the line occurred inHamlet. 

"Do you think Hamlet was insane?" she asked. 

"I sometimes think I am, " replied Archie, watching the shadow on the innwall. 

"Why, Mr. Comly, how absurd!"

It was really not so absurd at the moment, but he again had recourse tothe poets, devoutly praying that she would not look toward the inn. Hehad surmised that the Governor's declared purpose to call on an oldfriend in Cornford was merely to cover his withdrawal from the party;but that he could have meditated a predatory excursion through the innhad not entered into Archie's speculations as to his friend's absence. There was no mistaking the figure that had moved swiftly down theladder. The Governor for a man of his compact build was amazingly agileand quick of foot and hand. He was now creeping along the little balconyat the third floor. He paused a moment and then vanished into an openwindow. The Governor had said that the Seebrook party had rooms justunder their own; but--

"I have chosen a star for you, " Miss Seebrook was murmuring. 

Archie, in his preoccupation with the Governor's strange performance, was so slow to respond that Miss Seebrook, thinking that he wasdeliberating as to which star he should bestow upon her in return, generously broadened the scope of her offer. 

"You shall have Orion or Arcturus with his sons. "

"I never could find Orion even with a sky map and a telescope, " Archieroused himself to protest. 

Something very unlike a star but more like the glimmer of a match in aroom on the third floor held his fascinated gaze, and it was difficultto be interested in the conversation of even so pretty a girl as MissSeebrook when an audacious thief was at work only a little way beyondher. For all Archie knew it was her own room that the venturesomeGovernor was ransacking and at that very moment he might be stuffing hispockets with her belongings. 

Venus, Archie gravely announced, had always been his favorite star; andhe set her to searching for it in the bright expanse while he watchedthe Governor reappear, bending low as he crept out of the window andascended rapidly to the fourth floor. He had risked detection by a dozenpeople who were idling about the garden. The intermission was over andmusic floating through the open windows again invited to the dance. 

"We must go back, I suppose, " said Miss Seebrook with a sigh. 

"I shall never forget this, " declared Archie, hoping with all his heartthat there would be no occasion for regretting the hour spent in thegarden. 

They danced again, and in the handclapping that followed the firstnumber he turned to find the Governor, calm and with no marks of hisescapade upon him, bowing before Miss Seebrook. 

"Really, I must break in! Just a little fragment of this waltz! Morecapricious and jazzy measures have their day but the waltz enduresforever! Don't frown at me that way, Comly! My old friend kept me longerthan I expected and the night grows old. "

The Governor danced with smoothness and ease. Archie, his back to thewall, saw the rogue laughing into his partner's face as lightheartedlyas though he had not, within a few minutes, imperiled his freedom in anact of sheerest folly. 

He brought the girl back to Archie, and then ingratiated himself with ashy elderly woman who was having a difficult time finding partners forher granddaughters. The Governor introduced himself with a charmingdeference, a winning courtesy, that gained her heart at once. He notonly danced with her young charges but found other partners for them. Archie marveled; a man of the Governor's intelligence and address couldhardly have failed to gain a high place in the world, yet hisperformance on the fire escape proved all the man had said of himself asan outlaw. The Governor was not one man but a dozen different men and indespair Archie gave up trying to account for him. 

V

At midnight Seebrook and Walters came in from their card game. 

"We've certainly had the best of you, papa! It has been a wonderfulevening!" exclaimed Miss Seebrook. 

"I knew it was going to be a good party, " said the Governor warmly. "Iregretted every moment I had to spend with my friends in Putnam Street. And yet should auld acquaintance be forgot, you know!"

"You were perfectly lovely to that nice old lady and her frightenedlittle granddaughters. They will never forget you as long as they live!And I'm afraid Mr. Comly will always remember me as the girl who kepthim all to herself for a whole evening. "

"I didn't make it a hard job for you, " Archie protested. "I shall markthe evening with a white stone on the long journey of life. "

"I hope, papa, you will add a word to my invitation to these gentlemento come and see us at home. "

"Certainly, " Seebrook assented cordially, drawing out his card-case. 

"We shall be ready for a little sociability, " remarked the Governor, "when we return from the West. We are motoring from Portland toPortland, with a few little side trips like this, and we ought to havesome good yarns to tell when we get back. "

"You are not running off immediately?" asked Walters. "Mr. Seebrook andI are really here on business, but we've been delayed and may haveanother day's time to kill. We'd be glad to play around with you. "

"It's most lamentable, " replied the Governor, "that we've got to runaway tomorrow. It's now the hour when ghosts walk but we shall see youin the morning. "

In Archie's room the Governor hummed one of his favorite ballads as heslipped out of his coat and picked a speck from his snowy waistcoat. Then he produced a tiny phial from his pocket and touched his upper lipwith a drop of the contents. 

"It's a very curious thing about perfumes, " he said meditatively. "Icarry an assortment of these little bottles. The psychology of the thingis most interesting. Fragrances differ astonishingly as to theirreactions upon the nerves. Only two hours ago I fortified myself for alittle foolishness that required nevertheless a steady hand by sniffingthe bouquet of a rare perfume known only to a few connoisseurs, --acompound based upon attar of roses. But this that I have just hadrecourse to is soothing and sedative. It is made from a rare flowerfound only in the most inaccessible fastnesses of the Andes, and isbelieved by the natives to be a charm against death. At some time Ishall be glad to show you a treatise on the plant written by an eminentSpanish botanist. Its effect upon me is instantaneous and yet it mightserve you quite differently, as our sensitiveness to these reactions ofthe olfactory nerve are largely idiosyncratic. Let me tap your upper lipwith the cork--ah!"

There was nothing more repulsive to Archie than perfumes and heimpatiently jerked his head away. The odor proved, however, to beexceedingly delicate and not the miserable chemical concoction hedreaded. But he was not to be thwarted in his purpose to learn just whatthe Governor meant by endangering their security so recklessly. Heslammed the transom tight and drew down the shades. 

"Well?" he demanded sharply. 

"It is evident, " remarked the Governor good-humoredly, "that you do notreact to the soothing influences of the _rosa alta_. You seem perturbed, anxious, with slight symptoms of _paralysis agitans_. Pray be seated andI will do my best to restore your peace of mind. "

"You needlessly exposed yourself to observation by sneaking down thefire escape of this hotel--I know that!"

"My dear boy, I was merely gathering a few blossoms of the crimsonrambler from the ancient walls of the inn. You may have noted that Iwore a spray of buds in my lapel when I joined you in the ball room. "

"You had no right to plunder the house without warning me! I don'trelish the idea of being jailed for your foolishness. And those peoplewere mighty decent to us! If they knew we were two crooks--!"

"They merely yielded to our charms! They feel themselves honored by ouracquaintance! Now seat yourself on the bed and I'll tell you the wholestory. When I left you I hastened into the village, bought a stick ofshaving soap in a drug store and a few cigars in a tobacconist's. Ineach place I conversed with the clerk, thus laying ample ground for analibi. Hurrying back to the inn I avoided observation by entering by theside door, skipped up to our rooms--and there you are! I did run achance, of course, in climbing down the ladder, but all's well that endswell. I exchanged our new bank notes for sixty well-wornone-thousand-dollar gold certificates negotiable in all parts of therepublic. That means a net gain in the Red Leary trust fund of tenthousand dollars. Seebrook had the stuff in the collar tray of histrunk. As the trunk was otherwise empty and the lock a special one thatgave me a bit of trouble he's not likely to bother with it until old manCongdon turns up to close the stock transaction. When he opens it hewill find fifty thousand dollars of good bills neatly piled there andif he has the imagination of a canary he will think the fairies haveplayed a trick on him!"

"My God!" moaned Archie. "You don't think you can get away with this!"

"I think, " returned the Governor imperturbably, "that _we_ must and willget away with it. " His emphasis on the plural pronoun caused Archie tocringe. "It strikes me as highly amusing that we have unloaded thosebills of Leary's on a good sport like Seebrook. As I locked that stuffin his trunk I got to laughing--really, I did--and a chambermaid roamingthe hall must have heard me, for the key rattled in the lock just as Islipped out of the window. There's Leary's suitcase and I've packed itwith our soiled linen and stuck in a pair of shoes for weight. Seebrook's legal tender is neatly rolled up in my best silken hose in mykit bag. Hark! There's Seebrook tumbling into his bed, which is justbeneath mine!"

"You're getting me in pretty deep, " mumbled Archie dejectedly. 

"How about those blood stains on the sidewalk at Bailey Harbor?" askedthe Governor in his blandest tones. "When you speak of getting in deepyou forget that some one besides Hoky was shot back yonder. You came tome red-handed from a deed of violence, and I took you in and became yourprotector, asking no questions. It's the basest ingratitude for you towhimper over a small larceny when you have added assault or murder tothe liabilities of our partnership! But don't forget for a moment thatwe're pals and pledged to see each other through. "

The reference to the blood stains reported by the Bailey Harbor policethrew Archie back instantly upon the Governor's mercy. Complicity inthe robbery of Seebrook was as nothing compared with the haunting fearthat the man he had shot in the Congdon house had died from the wound. Unable to determine this question he was floundering in a veritable seaof crimes. The Governor was undressing with provoking indifference tohis companion's perturbation. 

"Sleep, lad, sleep! You may be sure that nothing will harm us tonight, and I have faith that more stirring adventures are ahead of us. Iforgive you your qualms and quavers, the pardonable manifestations ofyouth and inexperience. We walk in slippery places but we shall notstumble, at least not while the Governor keeps his head!"

Nothing appealed to Archie as of greater importance than the retentionby his companion of the head that now lay chastely upon a snowy pillow. A handsome, well-formed head, a head suggestive of family and the prideof race, though filled with the most complicated mental machinery withwhich a human being had ever been endowed. 

"Put out the lights and get you to your couch!" the Governor muttereddrowsily. 

The man certainly wore his crimes lightly. He was sound asleep beforeArchie had got into his pajamas. 

VI

When they reached the dining-room at ten the next morning they foundSeebrook and Walters just finishing breakfast. Miss Seebrook was havingcoffee in her room, her father explained in response to Archie's politeinquiries. 

"We're hoping to get away this afternoon, " he continued. "It will takeonly a few minutes to transact our business when the man I'm waiting forappears; but he's an uncertain quantity, and there's no telling whenhe'll show up. But we're having a good time and I shan't mind anotherday or two. If only you gentlemen would bear us company!"

"Ah, you are very kind!" said the Governor; "but we must resume ourramble toward the Pacific. We are more or less dated up for littleentertainments on the way. "

"I certainly envy you, " said Walters ruefully. "Seebrook and I belong tothe large class of men who work for a living. "

"Well, Comly and I have our own small jobs, " the Governor protested. "We're interested in some water power schemes through the West and hopeto make our expenses. "

Seebrook and Walters lingered in the office as Archie and the Governorpaid their account. As they waited for their car to be sent round fromthe garage a machine drew up and discharged a short, wiry, elderly manin a motor coat that was much too large for him. He was accompanied byan enormous amount of luggage and from the steps of the inn gave ordersin a high piping voice as to the manner of its disposal. As the variouspieces were hustled into the office he enumerated them in an audibletone as though inviting the cooperation of all the loungers in making aninventory of his effects. When this had been concluded Seebrook steppedup and accosted the newcomer. 

"Mr. Congdon, I am very glad to see you. I hope you are not worn out byyour drive. "

"Worn out!" snapped the little man. "Do you imagine a run of a hundredmiles would fatigue a man of my constitution? I assure you that you aregreatly mistaken if you think I am feeling my age. Seventy! And I don'tfeel a day over fifty, not a day, sir. But I shall rest for a few hoursas a precaution, a mere precautionary measure and be able to meet youfor our little business at two-thirty sharp. "

"That will suit me perfectly, " replied Seebrook. 

Archie hung about impatiently waiting for the Governor to make hisfarewells to the old lady and her granddaughters on whom he had expendedhis social talents at the dance. Mr. Congdon was quarreling with theclerk over the location of the room he had reserved; he wanted no roomwith a western exposure as such rooms were always so baked by theafternoon sun that they were as hot as tropical jungles at night. Havingfrightened the clerk into readjusting the entire registration toaccommodate him, he demanded to know whether his son, Mr. PutneyCongdon, was stopping in the house. 

"Mind you, I have no reason to believe he _is_ here, but I've beenasking for him everywhere along the road. "

Assured that Mr. Putney Congdon was not in the inn and hadn't been therewithin the recollection of the office staff, the senior Congdon explodedviolently upon Seebrook and Walters. 

"Things have come to a pretty pass in this topsy turvy world when a mancan't find his own son! For three days I've been wiring his clubs andall other places he could possibly be without result. And I have learnedthat his wife has left Bailey Harbor and the house there is closed. Closed! How dare they close that house when I was about to pay them avisit? I spent thirty-five dollars last night in telephoning trying tofind out what's become of my son and his family and I got nothing for mymoney--nothing!"

Seebrook and Walters expressed their sympathy in mild tones that rousedthe old gentleman to greater fury. 

"Can a whole family be obliterated and no trace left behind? Is itpossible that they've been murdered in their beds, servants and all, andthe police not yet aware of it?"

At the mention of murder Archie began stealthily feeling his way alongthe cigar counter to a water cooler. He drank two glasses of ice waterwhile he listened to Eliphalet's grievances against all things visibleand invisible. There seemed to be no escaping from the Congdons and herewas the father of Putney boldly publishing to the whole state of NewHampshire his fear that his son had been murdered. 

"I called up everybody I could think of at Bailey Harbor, that dismalrotten hole, and got nothing for my trouble. Nothing! A fool druggist, who pretended to know everything about the place, had the effrontery totell me Putney hadn't been there for a week and declared that his familyhad left! Why should they leave? I ask you to tell me why mydaughter-in-law should leave a comfortable house at the shore at thisseason and tell nobody her destination?"

As no member of his growing audience of guests, clerks and bell-hopscould answer his questions, Mr. Congdon swept the whole company with afierce, disdainful glare and began mobilizing the entire day watch ofporters and bell-boys to convey his luggage to his room. One of theyoung gentlemen was engaged at the moment in winking at the girlattendant at the cigar counter when the agitated traveler thrust thepoint of an enormous umbrella into his ribs with a vigor that elicited ayell of surprise and pain. 

The concentration of the hotel staff upon the transfer of Mr. Congdon'sluggage to his room left the Governor and Archie to manage the removalof their own effects to the waiting car. Seebrook and Walters obliginglyassisted, laughing at Congdon's eccentricities. 

"The arrival of that enchanting old crank increases my grief atleaving, " declared the Governor. "A delightful person. The son hementioned with so much feeling was in Boston looking for _him_ a monthago. "

Seebrook seized the Governor's kit bag containing the sixty thousanddollars and carried it out to the car. The sight of it in Seebrook'shand gave Archie sensations of nausea that were not relieved by the grinhe detected on the Governor's face. Within an hour or two at most thesubstitution and robbery would be discovered and the country would ringwith the demand for their detention. But the Governor was carrying offthe departure with his usual gaiety. It was clear that he had made themost favorable impression upon Seebrook and Walters; and in the cordialhandshaking and expressions of hope for future meetings Archie joinedwith the best spirit he could muster. A cheery good-by caused him tolook up. Miss Seebrook with a red rose in her hand waved to him from herwindow. 

As he lifted his cap she dropped the rose with a graceful sweep of thearm. 

"Like the old stage coach days!" cried the Governor, applauding Archie'scatch. 

He jumped into the machine and Archie scrambled after him. Archie's lastimpression of the inn was the blur of a waving handkerchief in MissSeebrook's window. 

"We are a success, my boy! You bore yourself marvelously well, " said theGovernor testing the gears. "As I remember we pass town hall on rightand cross railroad at bridge; then follow telephone poles. We don't needthe guide book; it's all in my head. Ah, that little touch of the rosewas worth all our perils; nothing in my experience was ever prettierthan that! A lovely girl; you might do worse if you were not alreadyplighted. If she had come down to say good-by it would have been muchless significant. But the rose, the red, red rose! It wouldn't be a badidea to stick it in an envelope and mail it to the girl you were tellingme about--the one who sent you forth to shatter kingdoms. I guess thatwould jostle her a little, particularly if you were to enclose a linetelling her that it had fallen to your hand from a curtained lattice. "

"I don't know her address, " mumbled Archie, fastening the flower in hisbuttonhole. 

He still martyrized himself in his thoughts of Isabel. Her contumelioustreatment of him at Portsmouth rankled; but he had satisfied himselfthat it was all his fault. In some way the curse of the Congdons layupon her as upon him. If he had not burst upon her so idiotically shewould probably have listened to his story with some interest if notwith admiration. He meant to be very loyal to Isabel in spite of thedisheartening contretemps at Portsmouth and he drew the rose from hiscoat and cast it from him. 

"So soon!" exclaimed the Governor. "I rejoice in your fidelity. Hoperides a high horse and I'm confident that in due season we shall findour two adorable ones. But it will do you no harm to indulge in a littleaffair now and then on the way; merely practice at the approach shot, you know, to keep your hand in. You are undoubtedly thinking of yourbeloved with a new tenderness because you found Miss Seebrook kind. Such, lad, is the way of love, true love, the love that never dies. "

Love as a subject for discussion seemed wholly incongruous in view ofthe fact that they were running off with Seebrook's money and pursuersmight already be hot on their trail. He suggested the dangers of theirsituation, thinking that here at last was something that would sober theGovernor. But the Governor merely laughed as he swung the car round asharp corner. 

"Don't you believe that I hadn't a care for our safe flight! You mustlearn to use your eyes, son. There was one of the brotherhood of theroad right there in the office when we left. I gave him instructionslast night. He's a sneak thief of considerable intelligence who gave methe sign as I was pretending to leave for that call on my old friend. Ismuggled him upstairs to keep watch for me and he proved himself afellow of decided merit. He'll be hanging round Cornford today and asthe absurd police will be obliged to make an arrest to save theirreputations he will put himself in their way and encourage the idea bysubtle means that he _might_ have been the malefactor who robbedSeebrook's trunk and left Leary's bills behind. They will be unable tomake a case against him but he'll probably get thirty days forloitering. Then he'll walk out and draw a thousand dollars from one ofour little private banks further along the road for so chivalrouslythrowing himself into the breach! There are wheels within wheels in ourgame, and these fellows who make sacrifice hits are highly useful. Theyalso serve who only go to jail, as John Milton almost said. Even thepolice recognize the sacrificial artists; and encourage them--on thequiet, of course. It calms public complaint of their inefficiency. I canfind you men who will do a year's time to save the men higher up. Thissatisfies the public as to the zeal of its paid protectors and makes itpossible for men of genius like you and me to walk in high placesunmolested. A damnable system, Archie, but we learned it from the greedytrust magnates. You take the wheel; it just occurs to me that you saidyou were a fair driver. "

Archie had always imagined that men slip gradually from the straight andnarrow path, but he felt himself plunging down a steep toboggan with allthe delirious joy of a speed maniac. 

Of one thing he was confident: if he ever returned to his old orderly, lawful life, he would be much more tolerant of sinners than he had beenin the old tranquil times. He had always found it easy to be good butnow he was finding it quite as easy to be naughty, very naughty indeed. His speculations as to just how long he could be imprisoned for hiscrimes and misdemeanors to date resolved themselves into a questionwith which he interrupted the Governor in a sonorous recitation ofTennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington. 

"If you shoot a man but don't kill him, and pile on top of thatreceiving stolen goods and complicity in burglary, how much can theyhand you?"

The Governor answered with disconcerting promptness. 

"Shooting with intent to commit murder--they always put it that waywhether you meant the shot as anything more than a little pleasantry orreally had murder in your heart--that would be a minimum of ten years inmany of the American states and a hard-hearted judge might soak you fortwenty. Then pile on that from one to five years for hiding stolenproperty; and then a first-class burglary, might run you pretty high, particularly if they landed you on all three charges and showed that youwere viciously hostile to the forces of society. But there's no causefor worry. If you behaved yourself they'd knock off a generous allowanceand a fellow of your enlightenment and tact might be put to work in thewarden's office, or set to collecting potato bugs in the prison gardenpatch. But it's highly unprofessional to bother about such trifles. Wehaven't been nabbed yet, and if you and I are not smart enough to keepout of trouble we ought to be locked up; that's my philosophy of thesituation. You must conquer that morbid strain in you that persists inlooking for trouble. I find it highly depressing. "

He sang a bar of "Ben Bolt" to test his memory of the words and thenurged Archie to join him in the ballad, which he said was endeared tohim by the most sacred associations. Archie hadn't indulged in songsince he sang "Fair Harvard" at his last class reunion, but the Governorpraised his singing and carried him through "Robin Grey" and a few otherclassics with growing animation. 

"You respond to treatment splendidly! The sun and air are bringing afine color to your face until you don't even remotely suggest a dolefuljail bird. We'll soon be able to stroll along Fifth Avenue and pass formembers of the leisure class who live on the golf links. You needhardening up and if you stick to me you'll lay up a store of health thatwill last you forty years. "

The Governor was amazingly muscular, and his shapely hands seemedpossessed of miraculous strength. When a tire went bad he changed itwith remarkable ease and dexterity, scorning Archie's offer ofassistance. 

"No lost motion! The world spends half its time doing things twice thatcould as well be done once. I am blessed with an orderly mind, Archie. You will have noticed that virtue in me by the time the frost is on thepunkin and the fodder's in the shock, to quote the Hoosier Theocritus. "

And so, to the merry accompaniment of old tunes and mellow rhymes, theycrossed the Connecticut. 

CHAPTER THREE

I

With all his outward candor the Governor had, Archie found, reservesthat were quite unaccountable. He let fall allusions to his past in themost natural fashion, with an incidental air that added to theirplausibility, without ever tearing aside the veil that concealed hisorigin or the manner of his fall, if, indeed, a man who so jubilantlyboasted of his crimes and seemed to find an infinite satisfaction anddelight in his turpitude, could be said to have fallen. Having mentionedBrattleboro as the point at which they were to foregather with RedLeary, the Governor did not refer to the matter again, but chose routesand made detours without explanation. 

As a matter of fact they swung round Brattleboro and saw only the faintblue of its smoke from the western side. It was on the second afternoonout of Cornford that the Governor suddenly bade Archie, whom heencouraged to drive much of the time, pause at a gate. 

"We linger here, son. May I suggest that you take your cue from me? BillWalker is an honest dairyman to all intents and purposes, but really anold crook who got tired of dodging sheriffs and bloodhounds and boughtthis farm. A sober, industrious family man, you will find him, with awife and one daughter. This is one of the best stations of theunderground railroad; safe as a mother's arms, and you will neverbelieve you're not the favored guest of a week-end party. Walker's anold chum of Leary's. They used to cut up in the most reprehensiblefashion out West in old times. You've probably wondered what becomes ofold crooks. Walker is of course an unusual specimen, for he knew whenthe quitting was good, and having salted away a nice little fortuneaccumulated in express hold-ups, he dwells here in peace and passes thehat at the meeting house every Sunday. You may be dead sure that onlythe aristocracy of our profession have the entrée at Walker's. His herdon the hillside yonder makes a pretty picture of tranquillity. The houseis an old timer, but he's made a comfortable place of it, and the wifeand daughter set a wonderful table. Here's the old boy now. "

A gray-bearded man with a pronounced stoop, clad in faded blue overalls, was waiting for them at the barn. 

"Just run the machine right in, " he called. 

The car disposed of, the Governor introduced Archie as one of hisdearest friends, and the hand Archie clasped was undeniably roughened bytoil. Walker mumbled a "glad-to-see-ye, " and lazily looked him over. 

"Always glad to meet any friend of Mr. Saulsbury's, " he drawled with amournful twang. "We've got plenty o' bread and milk for strangers. Somebody's spread the idea we run a hotel here and we're pestered a gooddeal with folks that want to stop for a meal. We take care o' 'emmostly. The wife and little gal sort o' like havin' folks stop; takesaway the lonesomeness. "

There was nothing in his speech or manner to suggest that he had everbeen a road agent. He assisted them in carrying their traps to thehouse, talking farmer fashion of the weather, crops and the state of theroads. The house was connected with the barn in the usual New Englandstyle. In the kitchen a girl sang cheerily and hearing her the Governorpaused and struck an attitude. 

"O divinity! O Deity of the Green Hills! O Lovely Daughter of the Stars!O Iphigenia!"

The girl appeared at a window, rested her bare arms on the sill andsmilingly saluted them with a cheery "Hello there!"

"Look upon that picture!" exclaimed the Governor, seizing Archie's arm. "In old times upon Olympus she was cup-bearer to the gods, but here sheis Sally Walker, and never so charming as when she sits enthroned uponthe milking stool. Miss Walker, my old friend, Mr. Comly, or Achilles, as you will!"

A very pretty picture Miss Walker made in the kitchen window, a vividportrait that immediately enhanced Archie's pleasurable sensations infinding a haven that promised rest and security. Her black hair wasswept back smoothly from her forehead and there was the glow of perfecthealth in her rounded cheeks. Archie noted her dimples and the whiteeven teeth that made something noteworthy and memorable of her smile. 

"Well, Mr. Saulsbury, I've read all those books you sent me, and thecandy was the finest I ever tasted. "

"She remembers! Amid all her domestic cares, she remembers! My dear lad, the girl is one in a million!"

"You'd think Mr. Saulsbury was crazy about me!" she laughed. "But hemakes the same speeches to every girl he sees, doesn't he, Mr. Comly?"

"Indeed not, " protested Archie, rallying bravely to the Governor'ssupport. "He's been raving about you for days and my only surprise isthat he so completely failed to give me the faintest idea--idea--"

"Of your charm, your ineffable beauty!" the Governor supplied. "You see, Sally, my friend is shy with the shyness of youth and inexperience andhe is unable to utter the thoughts that do in him rise! I can see thathe is your captive, your meekest slave. By the way, will there becottage cheese prepared by your own adorable hand for supper? Are goldenwaffles likely to confront us on the breakfast table tomorrow at thehideous hour of five-thirty? Will there be maple syrup from yonderhillside grove?"

"You have said it!" Sally answered. "But you'd better chase yourselvesinto the house now or pop'll be peeved at having to wait for you. "

On the veranda a tall elderly man rose from a hammock in which he hadbeen reading a newspaper and stretched himself. His tanned face wasdeeply lined but he gave the impression of health and vigor. 

"Leary, " whispered the Governor in an aside and immediately introducedhim. 

"The road has been smooth and the sky is high, " said the Governor inresponse to a quick anxious questioning of Leary's small restless eyes. 

"Did you find peace in the churches by the way?" asked Leary. 

"In one of the temples we found peace and plenty, " answered the Governoras though reciting from a ritual. 

Leary nodded and gave a hitch to his trousers. 

"You found the waters of Champlain tranquil, and no hawks followed thelandward passage?"

"The robin and the bluebird sang over all the road, " he answered; thenwith a glance at Archie: "You gave no warning of the second pilgrim. "

"The brother is young and innocent, but I find him an apt pupil, " theGovernor explained. 

"The brother will learn first the wisdom of silence, " remarked Leary, and then as though by an afterthought he shook Archie warmly by thehand. 

They went into the house where Mrs. Walker, a stout middle-aged woman, greeted them effusively. 

"We've got to put you both in one room, if you don't mind, " sheexplained, "but there's two beds in it. I guess you can make out. "

"Make out!" cried the Governor with a deprecatory wave of his hand. "Weshould be proud to be permitted to sleep on the porch! You do us muchhonor, my dear Mrs. Walker. "

"Oh, you always cheer us up, Mr. Saulsbury. And Mr. Comly is just aswelcome. "

The second floor room to which Walker led them was plainly but neatlyfurnished and the windows looked out upon rolling pastures. The Governorabandoned his high-flown talk and asked blunt questions as to recentvisitors, apparently referring to criminals who had lodged at the farm. They talked quite openly while Archie unpacked his bag. The restlessactivity of the folk of the underworld, their methods of communicationand points of rendezvous seemed part of a vast system and he was ashamedof his enormous interest in all he saw and heard. The Governor's coolfashion of talking of the world of crime and its denizens almostlegitimatized it, made it appear a recognized part of the acceptedscheme of things. Walker aroused the Governor's deepest interest bytelling of the visit of Pete Barney, a diamond thief, who had latelymade a big haul in Chicago, and had been passed along from one point ofrefuge to another. The Governor asked particularly as to the man'sexperiences and treatment on the road, and whether he had complained ofthe hospitality extended by any of the agents of the underground. 

"You needn't worry about him, " said Walker, with a shrug. "He asks forwhat he wants. "

"Sorry if he made himself a nuisance. I'll give warning to chain thegates toward the North. Is he carrying the sparks with him?"

"Lets 'em shine like a fool. I told 'im to clear out with 'em. "

"You did right. The brothers in the West must be more careful abouthanding out tickets. Now trot Red up here and we'll transact a littlebusiness. "

Leary appeared a moment later and Archie was about to leave the room, but the Governor insisted stoutly that he remain. 

"I'm anxious for you and Red to know that I trust both of you fully. "

"What's the young brother, --a con?" asked Leary with a glance at Archie. 

To be referred to as a confidence man by a gentleman of Leary'sprofessional eminence gave Archie a thrill. The Governor answered bydrawing up his sleeves and going through the motions of washing hishands. 

"Does the hawk follow fast?" Leary asked, as he proceeded to fill hispipe. 

"The shadow hasn't fallen, but we watch the sky, " returned the Governor. 

The brushing of the hands together Archie interpreted as a code signsignifying murder and the subsequent interchange of words he took to beinquiry and answer as to the danger of apprehension. He felt thatLeary's attitude toward him became friendlier from that moment. Therewas something ghastly in the thought that as the slayer of a human beinghe attained a certain dignity in the eyes of men like Leary. But hebecame interested in the transaction that was now taking place betweenthe thief and the Governor. The Governor extracted the sixtyone-thousand-dollar bills from his bag, and laid them out on the bed. Herapidly explained just how Leary's hidden booty had been recovered, andthe manner in which the smaller denominations had been converted intobills that could be passed without arousing suspicion. 

"Too big for one bite, but old Dan Sheedy will change 'em all for you inBean Center. You know his place? You see him alone and ask him to chopsome feed for your cattle. He makes a good front and stands well at hisbank. "

Leary picked up ten of the bills and held them out to the Governor. 

"If that ain't right we'll make it right, " he said. 

"Not a cent, Red! I haven't got to a point yet where I charge a fee formy services. But our young brother here is entitled to anything hewants. "

Archie grasped with difficulty the idea that he was invited to share inthe loot. His insistence that he couldn't think for a moment ofaccepting any of the money puzzled Leary. 

"It's all right about you, Governor, but the kid had better shake thetree. If his hands are wet he's likely to need a towel. "

"Don't be an ass, Comly, " said the Governor. "Leary's ahead of the gameten thousand good plunks and what he offers is a ridiculously modesthonorarium. Recovering such property and getting it into shape for themarket is worth something handsome. "

"Really, " began Archie, and then as the "really" seemed an absurdlybanal beginning for a rejection of an offer of stolen money, he saidwith a curl of the lip and a swagger, "Oh, hell! I'd feel pretty rottento take money from one of the good pals. And besides, I didn't doanything anyhow. "

The Governor passed his hand over his face to conceal a smile, but Learyseemed sincerely grieved by Archie's conduct and remarked dolefully thatthere must be something wrong with the money. The Governor hastilyvouched for its impeccable quality and excused Archie as a person hardlysecond to himself for eccentricity. 

[Illustration: "It's all right about you, Governor, but the kid bettershake the tree"]

"No hard feeling; most certainly not! My young friend is only proud toserve a man of your standing in the profession. It is possible thatlater on you may be able to render us a service. You never can tell, youknow, Red. "

Leary philosophically stowed the bills in his clothing. 

"You're done, are you?" asked the Governor; "out of the game?"

"I sure have quit the road, " Leary answered. "The old girl has got a fewthousands tucked away and I'm goin' to pick her up and buy a motionpicture joint or a candy and soda shop somewhere in the big lakes--oneof those places that freeze up all winter, so I can have a chance torest. The old girl has a place in mind. The climate will be good for myasthma. She knows how to run a fizz shop and I'll be the scenery andjust set round. "

"On the whole it doesn't sound exciting, " the Governor commented, inspecting a clean shirt. "Did your admirable wife get rid of thosepearls she pinched last winter? They were a handsome string, as Iremember, too handsome to market readily. Mrs. Leary has a passion forprecious baubles, Archie, " the Governor explained. "A brilliant careerin picking up such trifles; a star performer, Red, if you don't mind mybragging of your wife. "

Leary seemed not at all disturbed by this revelation of his wife'slarcenous affection for pearls. That a train robber's wife should be athief seemed perfectly natural; indeed it seemed quite fitting thatthieves should mate with thieves. Archie further gathered that Mrs. Leary operated in Chicago, under the guise of a confectionery shop, oneof the stations of the underground railroad, and assisted thebrotherhood in disposing of their ill-gotten wares. A recent reform wavein Chicago had caused a shake-up in the police department, mostdisturbing to the preying powers. 

"They're clean off me, I reckon, " said Leary a little pathetically, thereference being presumably to the pestiferous police. "That was a goodidea of yours for me to go up into Canada and work at a real job for awhile. Must a worked hard enough to change my finger prints. Some blokedied in Kansas awhile back and got all the credit for being the oldoriginal Red Leary. "

This error of the press in recording Leary's death tickled the Governormightily, and Leary laughed until he was obliged to wipe the tears fromhis eyes. 

"I'm going to pull my freight after supper, " he said. "Walker's goin' totake me into town and I'll slip out to Detroit where the old girl'swaitin' for me. "

The Governor mused upon this a moment, drew a small note-book from hispocket and verified his recollection of the address of one of theoutposts of the underground which Leary mentioned. 

"Avoid icy pavements!" he admonished. "There's danger in all thoseborder towns. "

Walker called them to supper and they went down to a meal that met allthe expectations aroused by the Governor's boast of the Walker cuisine. Not only were the fried chicken and hot biscuits excellent, but Archiefound Miss Walker's society highly agreeable and stimulating. She wore asnowy white apron over a blue gingham dress, and rose from time to timeto replenish the platters. The Governor chaffed her familiarly, andArchie edged into the talk with an ease that surprised him. Hisspeculative faculties, all but benumbed by the violent exercise to whichthey had been subjected since he joined the army of the hunted, foundnew employment in an attempt to determine just how much this cheery, handsome girl knew of the history of the company that met at herfather's table. She was the daughter of a retired crook, and it hadnever occurred to him that crooks had daughters, or if they were soblessed he had assumed that they were defectives, turned over forrearing to disagreeable public institutions. 

The Governor had said that they were to spend a day or two at Walker'sbut Archie was now hoping that he would prolong the visit. When next hesaw Isabel he would relate, quite calmly and incidentally, his meteoricnights through the underworld, and Sally, the incomparable dairy maid, should dance merrily in his narrative. In a pleasant drawing-roomsomewhere or other he would meet Isabel and rehabilitate himself in hereyes by the very modesty with which he would relate his amazing tale. Itpleased him to reflect that if she could see him at the Walker tablewith Red Leary and the Governor, that most accomplished of villains, eating hot biscuits which had been specially forbidden by his physician, she would undoubtedly decide that he had made a pretty literalinterpretation of her injunction to throw a challenge in the teeth offate. 

Walker ate greedily, shoveling his food into his mouth with his knife;and Archie had never before sat at meat with a man who used this meansof urging food into his vitals. The Governor magnanimously ignored hisfriend's social errors, praising the chicken and delivering sobeautiful an oration on the home-made pickled peaches that Sally mustneeds dart into the pantry and bring back a fresh jar which she placedwith a spoon by the Governor's plate. 

At the end of the meal Walker left for town to put Leary on a train forBoston. The veteran train robber shook hands all round and waved a lastfarewell from the gate. Archie was sorry to lose him, for Leary was anappealing old fellow, and he had hoped for a chance to coax from himsome reminiscences of his experiences. 

Leary vanished into the starlit dusk as placidly as though he hadn'ttucked away in his clothing sixty thousand dollars to which he had nolawful right or title. There was something ludicrous in the wholeproceeding. While Archie had an income of fifty thousand dollars a yearfrom investments, he had always experienced a pleasurable thrill atreceiving the statement of his dividends from his personal clerk in thebroker's office, where he drew an additional ten thousand as a silentpartner. Leary's method of dipping into the world's capital seemed quiteas honorable as his own. Neither really did any work for the money. Thishe reflected was both morally and economically unsound, and yet Archiefound himself envying Leary the callousness that made it possible forhim to pocket sixty thousand stolen dollars without the quiver of aneyelash. 

II

The Governor, smoking a pipe on the veranda and chatting with Mrs. Walker, recalled him from his meditations to suggest that he show adecent spirit of appreciation of the Walkers' hospitality by repairingto the kitchen and helping Sally with the dishes. In his youth Archiehad been carefully instructed in the proper manner of entering a parlor, but it was with the greatest embarrassment that he sought Sally in herkitchen. She stood at the sink, her arms plunged into a steaming dishpan, and saluted him with a cheery hello. 

"I was just wondering whether you wouldn't show up! Not that you had to, but it's a good deal more fun having somebody to keep you company in thekitchen. "

"I should think it would be, " Archie admitted, recalling that his motherused to express the greatest annoyance when the servants made herkitchen a social center. "Give me a towel and I'll promise not to breakanything. "

"You don't look as though you'd been used to work much, " she said, "buttake off your coat and I'll hang an apron on you. "

His investiture in Mrs. Walker's ample apron made it necessary for Sallyto stand quite close to him, and her manner of compressing her lips asshe pinned the bib to the collar of his waistcoat he found whollycharming. His heart went pit-a-pat as her fingers, moist from the suds, brushed his chin. She was quite tall; taller than Isabel, who had fixedhis standard of a proper height for girls. Sally did not giggle, butacted as normal sensible girls should act when pinning aprons on youngmen. 

She tossed him a towel and bade him dry the plates as she placed them onthe drain board. She worked quickly, and it was evident that she was acapable and efficient young woman who took an honest pride in her work. 

"You've never stopped here before? I thought. I didn't remember you. Well, we're always glad to see the Governor, he's so funny; but say, some of the people who come along--!"

"I hope, " said Archie, turning a dish to the light to be sure it wasthoroughly polished, "I hope my presence isn't offensive?"

"Cut it out!" she returned crisply. "Of course you're all right. I knewyou were a real gent the first squint I got of you. You can't fool memuch on human nature. "

"You've always lived up here?" asked Archie, meek under her frankapproval. 

"Certainly not. I was born in Missouri, a grand old state if I do say itmyself, and we came here when I was twelve. I went through high schooland took dairying and the domestic arts in college and I'm twenty-threeif you care to know. "

He had known finishing-school girls and college girls and girls who hadbeen educated by traveling governesses, but Sally was different andsuffered in no whit by comparison. Her boasted knowledge of the humanrace was negligible beside her familiarity with the mysteriousmechanisms of cream separators and incubators. Fate had certainly founda strange way of completing his education! But for the shot he had firedin the lonely house by the sea, he would never have known that girlslike Sally existed. As he assisted her to restore the dishes to thepantry, she crossed the kitchen with queenly stride. Isabel hadn't afiner swing from the hips or a nobler carriage. When he abandoned hiscriminal life he would assemble somewhere all the girls he had met inhis pilgrimage. There should be a round table, but where Isabel satwould be the head, and his sister should chaperone the party. When itdispersed he would tell Isabel, very honestly, of his reaction to eachone, and if she took him to task for his susceptibility it would be agood defense that she was responsible for sending him forth to wrestlewith temptation. 

When the kitchen was in perfect order they reported the fact to Mrs. Walker and Sally suggested that they stroll to a trout brook which washer own particular property. The stream danced merrily from the hills, afriendly little brook it was--just such a ribbon of water as a girl likeSally would fancy for a chum. 

"We must have a drink or you won't know how sweet and cool the wateris!" She cupped her hands and drank; but his own efforts to bring thewater to his lips were clumsy and ineffectual. 

"Oh you!" she laughed. "Let me show you!"

Drinking from her hands was an experience that transcended for themoment all other experiences. If this was a rural approach to aflirtation, Miss Seebrook's methods were much safer, and the garden ofthe Cornford tavern a far more circumspect stage than a Vermontbrookside shut off from all the world. 

He had decided to avoid any reference to the secrets of the undergroundtrail, but his delicacy received a violent shock a moment later, whenthey were seated on a bench beside the brook. 

"Do you know, " she said, "you are not like the others?"

"I don't understand, " he faltered. 

"Oh, cut it out! You needn't try to fool me! When I told you awhile agoI thought you were nice, I meant more than that; I meant that you didn'tat all seem like the crooks that sneak through here and hide at ourhouse. You're more like the Governor, and I never understand about theGovernor. It doesn't seem possible that any one who isn't forced bynecessity into crime would ever follow the life. Now you're a gentleman, any one could tell that, but I suppose you've really done somethingpretty bad or you wouldn't be here! Now I'm going to hand it to youstraight; that's the only way. "

"Certainly, Miss Walker; I want you to be perfectly frank with me. "

"Well, my advice would be to give yourself up, do your time like a manand then live straight. You're young enough to begin all over again andyou might make something of yourself. The Governor has romantic ideasabout the great game but that's no reason why you should walk the thornyroad. Now pop would kill me if he knew I was talking this way. It's afunny thing about pop. All I know about him I just picked up a little ata time, and he and ma never wanted me to know. Ma's awful nervous aboutso many of the boys stopping here, for she hung on to pop all the timehe was shooting up trains out West, and having a husband in thepenitentiary isn't a pleasant thing to think about. Ma's father ran asaloon down in Missouri; that's how she got acquainted with pop, but mawas always on the square, and they both wanted me brought up right. Itwas ma's idea that we should get clean away from pop's old life, andshe did all the brain work of wiping the slate clean and coming away offhere. We were a couple of years doing it, trying a lot of other placesall over the country before they struck this ranch and felt safe. Pop'sliving straight; you needn't think he isn't, but he's got a queerhankering to see the sort of men he used to train with. It's natural, Isuppose. "

"I suppose it is. But you must have suffered; I can imagine how youfeel, " said Archie, who had listened to her long speech with raptattention. 

"Well, I don't know that I've suffered so much, " she replied slowly, "but I do feel queer sometimes when I'm around with young folks whosefathers never had to duck the cops. Not that they've any suspicions, ofcourse; I guess pop stands well round here. "

"I can understand perfectly how your father would like to see some ofthe old comrades now and then and even give them shelter and help themon their way. That speaks highly for his generosity. It's a big thingfor me right now to be put up here. I'm in a lot of trouble, and thisgives me a chance to get my bearings. I shall always remember yourfather's aid. And you don't know how wonderful it is to be sittingbeside you here and talking to you just as though nothing had everhappened to me; really as though I wasn't a lost sheep and a prettyblack one at that. "

"I'm sorry, " she answered. "When I told you you'd better go and do yourtime and get done with it, I didn't mean to be nasty. But I was thinkingthat a man as sensitive as I judge you to be would be happier in thelong run. Now pop had an old pal who drifted along here a couple ofyears ago, and pop had it all figured out to shoot him right up intoCanada, but, would you believe it, that man simply wouldn't go! The veryidea of being in a safe place where he was reasonably certain of notbeing bothered worried him. He simply couldn't stand it. He was so usedto being chased and shot at it didn't seem natural to be out of danger, and pop had to give him money to take him to Oklahoma where he'd havethe fun of teasing the sheriffs along. And he had his wish and I supposehe died happy, for we read in the papers a little while afterward thathe'd been shot and killed trying to hold up a bank. "

Archie expressed his impatience of the gentleman who preferred death inOklahoma to a life of tranquillity in the Canadian wilds. 

"Oh, they never learn anything, " Sally declared. "I wouldn't besurprised if pop didn't pull out some time and beat it for the West. Itmust be awful tame for a man who's stuck pistols into the faces ofexpress messengers and made bank tellers hand out their cash to settledown in a place like this where there's nothing much to do but go tochurch and prayer meeting. I don't know how many men pop's killed in histime but there must be quite a bunch. But pop doesn't seem to worrymuch. It seems to me if I'd ever pumped a man full of lead I'd have abad case of insomnia. "

"Well, I don't know, " remarked Archie, weighing the point judicially. "Isuppose you get used to it in time. Your father seems very gentle. Youprobably exaggerate the number of his--er--homicides. "

He felt himself utterly unqualified to express with any adequacy hissympathy for a girl whose father had flirted with the gallows soshamelessly. Walker had courageously entered express cars and jumpedinto locomotive cabs in the pursuit of his calling and this was muchnobler than shooting a man in the back. Sally would probably despise himif she knew what he had done. 

She demurred to his remark about her father's amiability. 

"Well, pop can be pretty rough sometimes. He and I have our littletroubles. "

"Nothing serious, I'm sure. I can't imagine any one being unkind to you, Sally. "

"It's nice of you to say that. But I'm not perfect and I don't pretendto be!"

Sympathy and tenderness surged within him at this absurd suggestion thatany one could harbor a doubt of Sally's perfection. Her modesty, thetone of her voice called for some more concrete expression of hisunderstanding than he could put into words. Her hand, dimly discerniblein the dusk of the June stars, was invitingly near. He clasped and heldit, warm and yielding. She drew it away in a moment but not rebukingly. The contact with her hand had been inexpressibly thrilling. Not sincehis prep school days had he held a girl's hand, and the brook and thestars sang together in ineffable chorus. It was bewildering to find thatso trifling an act could afford sensations so charged with all thefelicity of forbidden delight. 

"I wonder, " she said presently; "I wonder whether you would--whether youreally would do something for me?"

"Anything in my power, " he declared hoarsely. 

"What time is it?" she asked with a jarring return to practical things. 

She bent her head close as he held a match to his watch. It was halfpast eight. 

"We'll have to hurry, " she said. "When I told you pop and I didn'talways agree about everything I was thinking--"

"Is it about a man?" he asked, surmising the worst and steeling himselffor the blow if it must fall. He would show her how generouslychivalrous a man could be toward a girl who honored him with herconfidence and appealed for his assistance. 

"It would be a long story, " she said sadly, "and there isn't time totell it, but the moment I saw you were so big and brave and strong, Ithought you might help. "

To be called big and brave and strong by so charming a person, to enjoyher confidence and be her chosen aid in an hour of need and perplexityprofoundly touched him. He wished that Isabel could have heard Sally'stribute to his strength and courage--Isabel who had said only a few daysago that he wouldn't kill a flea. He had always been too modest and tootimid, just as Isabel had said, but those days were passed and the manIsabel knew was very different from the man who sat beside Bill Walker'sdaughter under the glowing Vermont stars. Drums were beating and buglessounding across the hills as he waited for Sally to send him into thelists with her colors flying from his spear. 

"I wouldn't trust the Governor; he's too friendly with pop for that. It's just this way, " she went on dreamily. "There's a young man, AbijahStrong, who owns a farm just a little way down the road. He and I havebeen in love with each other ever since we went to school together, really and truly lovers. He was at college when I was, so I know himvery well. But pop doesn't like him, and when he found how matters stoodhe refused to allow me to see him any more. And he's been very hardabout it. We've been waiting for a chance to run away and get married. Imet him last night in the lane and everything's arranged for us to leavetonight, run into Brattleboro and be married there and then go on toBoston and wait till pop's disposed to be reasonable. "

"He will be very angry, of course, " said Archie, his ardor somewhatchilled now that he knew the nature of the project in which she askedhis cooperation. 

"Yes; pop will be perfectly crazy, " she affirmed with a lingeringintonation that seemed to imply a certain joy in the prospectivedisturbance of her parent's equilibrium. "He wants me to marry apreacher at Saxby Center who's almost as old as pop, and has three grownchildren. I thought maybe you could pretend to take me out for a littleride in your car, and pick up Abijah and give us a lift. My things areall packed and hid away in the garage; so all I need to do is to get myhat. "

"Of course I couldn't come back here, " Archie suggested. "Your fatherwould be sure to vent his wrath on me. "

"Oh, I'd thought of that!" she exclaimed. "But you could go on and waitsomewhere for the Governor to catch up with you. "

"I'd have to make sure he _didn't_ catch up with me! He'll be mightysore about this. "

"Well, if you're afraid of him--"

"Pooh! I certainly am not afraid of him, " he declared contemptuously. "He and I were bound to part sometime. "

In the half hour they had spent together by the brook he had forgottenhis dependence upon the Governor and his earlier fears that the mastercrook might desert him. Through the cajoleries of a girl he had knownonly a few hours he was ready to break with his comrade by mischievouslyupsetting the domestic affairs of a host who doubtless had not forgottenhow to kill men who incurred his displeasure. Sally had affected himlike a strong cordial and as they walked to the house he grewincreasingly keen for the proposed adventure. Sally, like Isabel, haddared him to be brave, and he screwed his courage to the sticking point. 

"If you don't mind I'll take Sally for a little run down the road, " hesuggested casually when they found the Governor and Mrs. Walker stillgossiping on the veranda. 

No objection was raised by Mrs. Walker beyond an injunction not to begone long and a warning not to go without her jacket. The permission wasgiven so readily that Archie was moved to make the polite suggestionthat they might all like to go and his heart sank when the Governorpromptly seconded the invitation. But to his immeasurable relief Mrs. Walker professed weariness and quickly disposed of the matter. 

"No joy riding, " the Governor called after them. "Sally's a valuableasset of this family and I'll hold you personally responsible, Comly, for her safe return. "

III

At the garage Sally produced a satchel which Archie tossed into the car, and they were quickly humming through the lane and into the highway. 

"Abijah expected me to walk down to meet him if I could get awaytonight, so he'll be surprised when I come in a machine, " she said asthey emerged into the open road. "He was to wait for me every nightuntil I saw a good chance to skip. His car is only a little dinky thingand he'll be tickled to death to see this fine machine. "

A quick spurt of ten minutes and Sally bade him drive slowly. 

"Run by the school house when we come to it and then stop. Abijah willbe there. "

When the car stopped Sally jumped out and was immediately joined by ayoung man to whom she spoke rapidly out of Archie's hearing. Herexplanations finished she brought him to the car and presented him asMr. Strong. 

"Mr. Comly is going to the minister's with us and then give us a lifttoward Boston. That's ever so much better than anything we'd thought of, 'Bijah!"

"Whatever you say, little girl! I'll shut off the lights on my machineand get my traps. "

Archie, testing his searchlight, let its beam fall upon Abijah as thoughby accident and found Sally's lover a very well-dressed, decent-lookingfellow. All his life he would be proud of his daring in saving SallyWalker from marriage with the odious widower and mating her with theyouth of her choice. The bride and groom elect were established in theback seat and he experienced a sharp jealous twinge, when, turning toask her a question about the road, he caught them in a rapturous kiss. This was what it meant to be young and free, and youth and freedom werethings he had never until now appraised at their true worth. Havingcaptured and mounted destiny he would ride with a tight rein andrelentless spur. The immediate affair was much to his taste, and hemeditated making it his business in future to befriend lovers indifficulties. 

"How long do we stop at Brattleboro?" he asked over his shoulder. 

"Only long enough to get the knot tied, " Abijah answered. "I was in townthis afternoon and everything's set. "

"I hope, " said Sally, "you'll give the bride away; it would be just fineof you, Mr. Comly. "

"I was hoping you'd ask me, " he flung back. "I want to be as prominentin the wedding party as possible. "

The last time he had figured in a wedding he had been best man for acollege friend who had been married at high noon in Grace Church, beforean audience notably distinguished in New York society. Sally's nuptialswere blest in a little parsonage, with the minister's wife and daughterand Archie as the sole witnesses. The minister had only lately come totown and therefore confined his inquiries to the strict requirements ofecclesiastical and Vermont law. When he lifted his head to ask whogiveth this woman Archie bestowed Sally upon Abijah with just the touchof grace and dignity he had long noted as the accepted manner of givinga woman in marriage in the most exacting circles. 

The groom sheepishly dug two one-dollar bills out of his trousers pocketand the sum striking Archie as a pitifully inadequate fee he slipped aten-dollar bill into the minister's hand as the bride and groom werehurrying from the house. 

"Well, Sally, " Archie remarked, as he joined them, "for better or worseyou are married. I certainly wish you all good luck. "

"We'll be back in a week and everything will be smooth as butter, " Sallydeclared lightly. 

The wedding journey from Brattleboro to Bennington was marred by tiretrouble and freakishness on the part of the engine, and as neither ofhis passengers knew the roads Archie's good nature was severely testedby the exigencies of the night drive. 

Abijah helped with the tires but only stared helplessly while Archiepoked at the engine. Sally was far more resourceful and lent herassistance with her usual good cheer, a cheer which Archie felt he wouldmiss when he bade them good-by at Bennington. As a mark of special favorshe moved to the front seat to keep him company and facilitate the studyof sign posts. 

"We're only making half time, " said Archie after a long interruption. "We'll not get into Bennington before daylight. "

"I've put you to an awful lot of trouble, " Sally remarked with realcontrition. "And you've left your friend the Governor far behind. Isuppose they started out to look for us in pop's machine when we didn'tshow up and they may be close behind us now. The only thing I'm sorryabout is missing hearing pop swear when he found I had skipped. Itwould be funny if they thought I'd run off with you, wouldn't it! I'djust love that!"

"I don't think it's so funny you didn't, " Archie answered. "I think itwas my mistake!"

The groom had drawn up his knees and was attempting to sleep on the backseat. It was quite improper to flirt with the newest of brides but Sallygave tolerant ear and even encouraged Archie's protestations ofadmiration while Abijah bumped about in the tonneau and now and thenrolled off the seat when the enraptured driver negotiated a sharp turn. But for Sally's disposition to make the most of her last hours with himthe drive would have bored Archie exceedingly. By two o'clock he washungry and at three he was bringing all his powers of eloquence to bearupon the obtuse owner of a village garage who was stubbornly hostile tothe idea of leaving his bed to provide a lunatic with gasoline. Archie'svociferous oratory had the pleasing effect of filling all the windows inthe neighborhood with unsympathetic hearers and the village policemanappeared and made careful note of car and contents. 

"I guess you're used to getting what you go after in this world, " saidSally as they resumed their journey. "You certainly told that man whereto get off. "

"Just a little firmness will go a long way with such a chap, " Archieanswered, marveling at his newly discovered command of the unattainable. A week earlier he would have been incapable of threatening a wholevillage with frightful reprisals unless it responded to his demands. 

"I didn't like that cop poking round the car, " Abijah complained. "Hetook your number all right. "

"Don't you worry about policemen, " Archie answered scornfully. "If theyfool with me I'll knock their blocks off!"

"I'll say you would!" cried Sally in a tone of conviction that made himregret that no policeman's head was in reach that he might demonstratehis valor on the spot. 

Sally and Abijah were eager to leave Bennington as soon as possible. 

"Don't think we're not appreciating what you've done for us, " saidAbijah, "but Sally and I had better shake you and that machine righthere. Sally's folks'll be sure to be after us and they'll just aboutargue we came this way. "

Archie laid to his soul the flattering unction that Abijah was jealous. Justification of this suspicion was supported by the bridegroom's suddenanxiety to depart out of Vermont with the utmost expedition. Archie hadevery intention of ordering as gorgeous a breakfast as Bennington's besthotel could provide, but Abijah promptly vetoed this suggestion and theyate at a lunch counter, which Archie found a most disagreeableproceeding. Abijah left Sally and Archie eating scrambled eggs while heset forth to acquire information about trains. He returned while theywere still at the counter to report that a train was almost immediatelyavailable. His haste annoyed Archie, who hated being hurried at hismeals. At the station Abijah hung about the baggage-room, where he hadno business whatever, as though trying to create the impression that hewas traveling alone. When the train came along he climbed into thesmoker with his own bag, leaving Archie to assist Sally into the chaircar. 

"Abijah's just a little afraid pop might have telephoned, you know, orbe coming after us. He'll move in here when the train starts. "

"I don't like to leave you like this, " said Archie mournfully. 

"Oh, it will be all right, " Sally answered bravely. "Abijah's nervous;that's all. That was certainly some ride we had last night. I hopeyou'll go up to the hotel now and get a good sleep. "

"Oh, I'll look out for that, " Archie replied. 

His arrears of sleep did not trouble him; but the thought of losingSally broke his heart. The hard night ride had left no traces on herface. Her cheeks were aglow and her eyes were bright. When he saidagain, a little tremulously, that he hated to leave her he had nevermade a more honest statement in his life. 

"I suppose we'll hardly meet again, " he said with a dejection which hehoped would elicit a promise of further meetings. 

"I'm afraid it will be a long, long time before I see you, " she saidwith a lingering tenderness and wistfulness. 

"I hope you're going to be very happy, Sally. And I shall think of youalways as you were last night. I shall never forget our talk by thebrook. "

"Neither shall I, " she murmured. Her lashes were wonderful; not tillthat moment had he done justice to her lashes. 

"I want to give you a little present--something you can hide away tomake sure you are not embarrassed in any way until you get settled. Iwish it were gold, but you won't mind. You understand, don't you, Sally?"

He always carried a five-hundred-dollar bill against emergencies andthis he had clung to through all his adventures. He now produced it fromhis inner waistcoat pocket and slipped it into her hand. 

Her brow clouded for an instant; then she smiled radiantly. 

"I oughtn't to take it; but I know you mean it all right. It's dear ofyou, " and her tone and the immeasurable kindness of her eyes were easilyworth five hundred dollars. 

Belated passengers were now brushing past them in the aisle. Theconductor, walking briskly along the platform, shouted all aboard withheartless finality. It seemed like the voice of doom to Archie. 

"Good-by, Sally!"

He put out his hand, but with a quickness that took his breath away sheflung her arms round his neck and kissed him. The touch of her hand bythe brook under the stars was as nothing to this. Two young girlsseeking seats giggled at the frankness and heartiness of the salutation. In old times Archie would have perished of humiliation; but anoverwhelming joy filled his soul. The giggles of bread-and-butter misseswho knew nothing of life and love were beneath his notice. Sally's armswere still about his neck, her lips were parted expectantly. 

"You must go, honey, " she whispered and his kiss fell like a punctuationupon her last delectable word. 

If she hadn't given him a gentle push toward the door he might neverhave reached the vestibule. Another person who shared his haste toleave the train materially assisted him by gentle pressure to theplatform. His brain whirled from the intoxication of Sally'skiss--indeed the two kisses, or specifically the kiss received and thekiss returned. But his exaltation was of brief duration, for therebeside him stood Isabel like an accusing angel, severe and implacable. It was she whose gentle impulsion had facilitated his exit from theparlor car, and beyond question she had witnessed the kissing, adisagreeable circumstance that fell smotheringly upon his ecstatic mood. 

"You were on that train!" he exclaimed;--the most fatuous of questionsand the poorest possible opening for a conversation. 

She ignored his inquiry. It was now her turn to give way under thestress of emotion and the indignant tears shone in her eyes. 

"I thought I had made it sufficiently plain at Portsmouth that I resentyour following me! The meeting there might have been by accident, butseeing you here I am convinced--I am convinced that you are spying uponme!"

"But, Miss Perry--"

"I should think, " she interrupted, "that knowing or suspecting what I amtrying to do you would show me some consideration!"

"But I can explain; really I can explain if you will give me a moment!It probably hasn't occurred to you that I'm a good deal mystified bythese little journeys you are making over New England! My own dallyingin these parts is due to circumstances I can easily explain. In fact, but for you I should not be here at all!"

This, uttered with a conciliatory smile and quite calmly, not onlyfailed to mollify her anger but produced quite the opposite effect. Heragitation increased, and for the second time they presented the pictureof a man and woman involved in a quarrel in a public place. 

"I understand perfectly that but for me you shouldn't be loitering here!And you practically acknowledged at Portsmouth that you were interestingyourself in the affairs of the Congdons!"

"We are playing at cross purposes quite unnecessarily, " protestedArchie. "Why not confess just what your interest is in that family? Itold you quite plainly at Portsmouth that I had reason to believe I hadshot Putney Congdon at Bailey Harbor! But for the courage you put in myheart I should never have done that!"

"If you did that you have ruined everything! A dastardly act for which Ihope you will pay the full penalty of the law!"

This was wholly unreasonable and quite beside himself he shook hisfinger in her face. 

"You seem to forget that you advised me to flout the law; to do just thethings I have been doing, roving the world, shooting and plundering!There's a policeman at the other end of the platform; call him and turnme over to the authorities!"

She glanced hurriedly in the direction of a policeman who had niched abanana from a bunch providentially exposed to his rapacity on a truck, and was hastily consuming it. 

"Maybe he is watching me!" she gasped. 

For a young woman who had prescribed outlawry as a cure for obstreperousnerves her alarm was astonishing. 

"May I ask, Miss Perry, what reason you have for fearing theauthorities?"

"That of course is what you would like to know!" she replied tearfully. "But you know too much! If you have told me the truth yourmeddlesomeness will have far-reaching consequences too dreadful to thinkabout! Your assumed name tells its own story and convinces me that youhave not told the truth. I went aboard that train to look for some one Ihoped I might meet, and you know perfectly well why I am here. "

He could only stammer a futile expostulation at the gross injustice ofthis. 

"Everything has gone wrong, " she continued, "and you may have all thesatisfaction you can get out of your interference, your intrusion uponaffairs of the greatest delicacy, in which my assistance and my honorare pledged. That car standing yonder belongs to me and before I leave Iwant you to walk away from here as rapidly as possible and not turn yourhead!"

He did not even confirm her statement as to the propinquity of the carbut crossed the platform with the crestfallen air of a child indisgrace. She had loftily ignored the kissing of Mrs. Abijah Strong. Theosculatory adventure with Sally shrank at once in importance from thefact that Isabel had not only ignored it but had made it whollyunnecessary for him to explain that transaction. 

He knew nothing save that he was enormously tired and he went to thehotel and crawled wearily into bed. 

IV

It was close upon six o'clock when a knock roused him from a sleep thathad not been easily won. 

"It's yo' baggage, boss!"

"Baggage?" repeated Archie. 

He had told the clerk he had no baggage and had paid in advance for hisroom. His suitcase was at Walker's and it was hardly possible thatWalker had forwarded his effects. He opened the door cautiously and sawat a glance that the bag was undeniably his. He groped for his trousersand gave the waiting porter half a dollar. 

"How did it get here?" he asked with attempted indifference. 

"Don't know nuffin' 'bout it, suh; gemmen tole me tote 'er up. If itain't all right--"

"Oh, it's all right enough!" Archie exclaimed hastily, fearing to pursuethe inquiry. 

He opened the bag and found that it not only contained all hisbelongings but they had been packed neatly by an experienced hand. Theunaccountable arrival of his luggage sent his thoughts flying toWalker's farm and the Governor. 

Pleased as he was by the arrival of his effects, the reappearance of thebag brought him back to earth with a reverberating jar. He was confidentthat malevolent agencies were responsible; and to be reminded thussharply of the powers of evil just when he craved nothing so much asslumber's oblivion was disturbing and ominous. 

He was sitting on the edge of the bed idly smoothing the wrinkles out ofa pet necktie when a gently insinuating knock unpreluded by a step inthe hall caused him to start. 

"Come!"

The door opened slowly, wide enough to permit a man's head to be thrustin. A face wearing an amused smile, a familiar face but the last heexpected to see, met his gaze. 

"Hist!"

The Governor widened the opening in the door and squeezed through. 

"My dear Archie!" he exclaimed as he locked the door, "how infinitelyrelieved I am! I was afraid some harm had befallen you, but to find youhere safe and sound fills my heart with gratitude. "

He flung down his cap and linen duster, chose a chair by the window andseated himself with a little sigh. 

"I hope, " Archie ventured timidly, "that you came alone?"

"Oh, yes; I'm alone! Trust me for that; but my friend Walker was noteasily shaken. A strong passionate nature, Walker; a man long habituatedto the lethal knife, the unerring pistol. No easy task you may wellbelieve to get rid of him. And his provocation! O my boy, hisprovocation to justifiable homicide and all that sort of thing!"

"Well, I only did what I thought was right, " Archie declared doggedly. "I wasn't weighing the consequences. "

The Governor, filling his pipe, lifted a hand to emphasize the"splendid" with which he received this statement. 

"Splendid, my dear Archie, to see how beautifully you rose to thesituation--a situation that spoke powerfully to your generous heart! Ifthere has been any error it is mine. I should have known from the wayyou played up to the Seebrook girl that you were far too susceptible tobe trusted with women. The error is mine; not yours, Archie; I don'tblame you a particle. Indeed the incident warms my heart to you. Sallyis a winsome lass; she has a way with her, that girl!"

"I would have done the same thing for any girl in like circumstances, "Archie declared, pacing the floor with shoulders erect. 

"I dare say you would! Your heart and your sword are at the command ofany pretty jade who squints at you! But when I suggested that it mightbe well for you to keep in practice I didn't mean for you to make amonkey of yourself. Your true love--what did you say her name is?"

To recall Isabel to his memory was a greater mockery than the Governorknew, but Archie met the question with well-feigned unconcern. 

"I didn't say, " he answered; "but her name is Isabel. "

"Ah! One of the few really perfect names in the whole list! Rather morestyle to it than Sally! And yet Sally has been used to good advantage bythe balladists. To 'Sally in Our Alley, ' we might add Sally at the Churnor Sally Softly Singing in the Corn, or Sally Leading Archie by the Ear. The possibilities are exquisite. "

"If you don't mind, " said Archie with dignity, "we'll stop talkingnonsense. I want to know what happened. "

"Just a little curious, are you, as to what followed your amazing breachof hospitality? Ran away with a pretty girl, assisted in marrying her toan undesirable son-in-law, and now you want to know how the old folkstake it! Oh, Archie, for sheer innocence you are a wonder!"

"Walker had no right to force a girl like Sally to marry an oldcurmudgeon she hated. I never hesitated as to the course I should takeafter she told me her story. The marriage was in proper form and Ihaven't a single regret!"

The Governor rocked with delight. 

"You didn't miss a stroke!" he exclaimed wiping the tears from his eyes. "The marriage satisfied all legal requirements. Your work was only toowell done!"

"I'm glad you're satisfied, " said Archie spitefully. "And if Walker is asensible man he will welcome the young couple home and make the best ofit. "

"It saddens me to be obliged to speak the grievous truth when yourconscience is so pleased with itself. Let me deal in surmises a momentbefore I hand you a few unhappy facts. Sitting with Sally down by thebrook and probably holding her hand"--(Archie flinched)--"holding herhand perhaps, and strongly tempted to kiss her, you fell an easy prey toher fascinations. She told you a plausible yarn as to Walker's crueltyin wanting her to marry a tottering old widower and asked you to assisther to elope with a sturdy young farmer who was even then waiting forher by the old mill or the school house, or something like that. Andyour heart swelled to bursting with the thought of serving one so fair!Wholly natural, Archie, for I too have dwelt in Arcady! If that minxhadn't told you she had a lover loitering in the background, you'dprobably have thrown yourself into the breach and eloped with heryourself. Yes, you would, Archie! I must have a care of you or yourIsabel will never meet you at the altar!"

"We're not talking of Isabel, " Archie interrupted haughtily. "I'lltrouble you to say all you have to say about Sally and Abijah. "

"Abijah!" squeaked the Governor, again overcome by mirth. 

For the first time Archie disliked the Governor. His unsympatheticattitude toward the elopement was intolerable. A round of abuse wouldhave been more palatable than this ironic jesting. The Governor saw thathe had gone too far and immediately shifted the key. 

"What you did, Archie, " he resumed paternally, "what you did was tomarry Sally, the incomparable, Sally the divine, to Pete Barney, thediamond thief. He took refuge with Walker a couple of weeks ago, and theold man extended him his usual generous hospitality. Barney had beenwell vouched for and had all the pass-words and countersigns of thegreat fraternity, but Walker mistrusted him. A week is the usual limitfor a pilgrim's stay, and seeing how Sally and Barney were hitting itoff the old man gave the chap a hint to move along. He didn't go, itseems, but hung round the neighborhood waiting for a chance to pull offthe elopement in which you so kindly assisted even to the extent ofbolting with Slippery Abe's car. "

"You mean--you mean I married the girl to a crook?" gasped Archie. 

"One of the smoothest in the game! And Sally knew he was a crook! Isuppose it was the diamonds that fetched her. If you'd looked at hishands you would have noticed that he hadn't the paws of an honest GreenMountain farmer. Pick-pocket originally and marvelously deft; butprecious stones are his true métier. The trifling little necklace he hadon his person when he struck Walker's is worth a cool hundred thousand. He'll have to break it up and sell 'em in the usual way and it will taketime. "

Archie sank upon the bed, twisting his hands together. He had done ahorrible thing, hardly second to murder, and his penitence weighedheavily upon him. 

"You are not chaffing me! It doesn't seem possible that the girl wouldhave deceived me!"

"We never know when they are going to deceive us, Archie! I hate tothink that Sally inherited a strain of lawlessness and yet she hated thefarm and was crazy to escape. I forgot to mention that she lifted acouple of hundred dollars the old man kept under a plank in the parlorfloor--an emergency fund in case he ever had to run for it. A nastytrick, I call it; most unfilial on Sally's part. The Walkers are crushedby her conduct. They have tried to shield her from all the sorrow andshame of the world; and there was really a very decent young farmer wildto marry her, old New England stock, revolutionary stuff, aristocrats, you may say. And if you hadn't muddled everything it would have comeabout in time. But you will have your fling, Archie! You certainlyspilled the beans. And I had vouched for you at the Walkers'; it'salmost as bad as though I had betrayed them myself. You will not, ofcourse, make the serious error of knocking at the Walker door again!That would be rubbing it in; but I hope you have learned your lesson. Itprobably didn't occur to you that I might have been sore enough tomention somewhere your connection with certain blood stains on the boardwalk at Bailey Harbor. You should have a care of yourself!"

"I don't want you to think me ungrateful, " Archie stammered. "The girlmade a fool of me; I see it all now!"

"She made a fool of you but you in turn made a fool of me! And while I'mnot caviling, you will pardon me, son, if I suggest that hereafter youplay square with me. I'm no saint, but I wouldn't desert a comrade orstick a knife in his back. Please understand that I don't mean to curbyour personal enterprise, or set any limit on your little affairs of theheart. You are not the first man who thought he understood women, andyou are not the last victim of that deplorable delusion. But let's haveno more foolishness. "

"I haven't a thing to say for myself!" blurted Archie, who was at thepoint of tears. "I was weak, miserably weak. I had no idea that any onecould lie as that girl did. And it's not fair for me to stay on withyou. I can't ask you to trust me again. We'd better part company righthere!"

"How completely you misjudge me, Archie! There's a charm in you begottenof your very innocence and helplessness, and I should be very unhappy ifwe parted now. We've shared some danger together and in spite of yourweaknesses I'm fond of you. And if I left you to your own devicessomething quite disastrous might happen to you. "

Discomfited and humiliated as he was the very thought of going out intothe world alone filled Archie with horror. Under Sally's hypnoticinfluence he had concluded that the Governor was a negligible factor inhis life; but away from the girl and rankling under her deceit hegrasped at the Governor's friendship with the frantic clutch of adrowning man. The Governor drew out his bill fold and extracted from ita newspaper cutting. 

"Note this, Archie, from a Boston paper of today. Our old friend Congdonhas stirred up the Boston police about the disappearance of his son. Idon't ask you to make any comment on that item; I merely call yourattention to the fact that Putney Congdon is on the missing list andlike ourselves Putney Congdon was at Bailey Harbor. Nothing particularlystartling in all this, as the police records show something like anaverage of one thousand four hundred and thirteen missing or unaccountedfor persons in the United States every year. This paper says thatCongdon was seen by one person and one only at Bailey Harbor. That was agarage man who sold him some gas--it was a stormy night--andincidentally that night poor Hoky set sail for the happy isles. And thedate is further memorable from the fact that it was the occasion of ourfirst meeting. And the blood stains on the board walk of one of thestreets at Bailey--"

"Stop, for God's sake!" cried Archie. "I'll tell you everything; I'll--"

"You'll tell me nothing, because I refuse to listen! Confessing is ahabit. If I encourage you to confess to me you'll be pouring your taleinto the ear of the first policeman you meet. As things stand you arenot suspected, and if we follow my program you are likely to walk theworld in safety for the rest of your days. If I knew the circumstances Imight become nervous and I must retain my poise or we perish. Yourautobiography for the past week or so would make a ripping narrative, but you'd better learn to forget. Our yesterdays are as nothing; it'stomorrow we've got to think about. Those Congdons are rather apicturesque lot as I catch them in cinema flashes. It appears from thepaper that young Putney's wife had left him, and there was some sort ofrow about the children. The old boy we struck at Cornford will probablybe charging the absconding wife with killing Putney the first thing weknow!"

"Charge Mrs. Congdon with killing her husband! O my God!" wailed Archie. 

"Control yourself, my dear boy! One would infer from that item that Mrs. Congdon dropped off the earth after she left Bailey Harbor. She and herchildren motored out of Bailey and haven't yet reached their house inNew York, for which she was presumably bound. By Jove, it's woozzy theway these Congdons keep bobbing up! I'd give something handsome to knowhow the old chap and Seebrook came out at Cornford. I learn that they'reholding Silent Tim, the chap I told you would be arrested, and our partin the delicate transaction is already obscured. "

Archie was giving the Governor only half attention. His nerves wereunstrung by the bald, colorless report of Putney Congdon'sdisappearance, which shocked him all the more from the fact that it wasso hideously commonplace, merely a bit of journalistic routine. Hewished the Governor would stop reading newspapers. Now that the man'sdisappearance had been heralded the police of the entire country wouldbe searching for him dead or alive and if his body were found therewould be a great hue and cry until his murderer was apprehended. 

The Governor was unconcernedly sketching one of the diagrams with whichhe seemed to visualize his plans. These he made in small compass, anyscrap of paper serving his purpose. Archie had supposed this was a meansof recalling places and highways and determining the time required toreach a certain point, but the Governor was always at pains to concealthese calculations or memoranda. Archie was startled now to hear hiscompanion muttering to himself:

"Aries, the Lamb, the Fishes! For a time I stumbled and walked indarkness but the leading light is clearer now. The moving fingerwrites--writes!" He dropped his pencil and gazed blankly into space. 

Archie had caught one day a glimpse of several of the zodiacal signsdrawn on the margin of a newspaper where the Governor had neglected toerase them; but he was astounded to find that he was in the company of aman who took counsel of the stars. 

"_Né sous une mauvaise étoile!_ You catch the sense admirably. Yes, Iwas born under an evil star; just that! But if I haven't pondered themysteries unprofitably I shall emerge from the shadow in due season. When you see me scribbling I am calculating the potency of the dark fatethat overhangs me and trying to estimate when if ever the cloud willpass. Don't trouble your head with those fancies; leave them to me. Hopeis buoyed in me by the fact that never yet have my figures erred. Thenight before I picked you up in the road I knew that you were walkingtoward me out of nowhere, and I was charged by the planets to befriendyou. So here we are, pilgrims under heavenly protection!"

"I'm sorry; I don't want to leave you; I couldn't make it alone, " Archieanswered, awed and meek under these revelations. 

"It's very curious, Archie, " the Governor resumed, making a little pileof the scraps to which he had already reduced the sketch; "it's quiteremarkable that the light still hangs in the west for us. Since youjoined me it has been more brilliant. It may be that after all you aredestined to bring me good luck!" He paced the floor for several minutes, then struck his hands together sharply. "All right!" he exclaimed. "Ithas never failed me! The light is mild, feminine, we shall say, gentle, persuasive, encouraging. It would be fatal to ignore its message. "

Archie watched him for some gleam of humor, but the Governor had neverbeen more serious. His face lighted as he found Archie's eyes fixed uponhim. 

"You were thinking just then that I've gone crazy; but I assure you thatI'm perfectly able to give myself all the tests for insanity; I shouldrecognize the symptoms immediately, from my ability to look into myselfwith the detachment of a man who stands at a window and peers into alighted room. To return to practical affairs, we shall abandon Collins'machine and I'll wire him where to pick it up. Then we'll entrain at ourleisure. "

"If you don't mind my asking, I'd like to know where we're bound for?"

"New York, my dear boy; but you needn't be alarmed. It will be hot thereand we'll only pause for a day or so. We both need to freshen up ourwardrobe a bit. "

Archie shook his head stubbornly. 

"I haven't told you this, but I'm supposed to be in the CanadianRockies. It would be a risky business for me to show up in town! I mightat any turn run into relatives or friends who know I left for a twomonths' absence in the Rockies. And incidentally, the same people_might_ know I had been to Bailey Harbor. "

"You're a frightful egotist, Archie! This is a large world and man'smemory is short. The man you dine with most frequently at your clubwouldn't remember in a week whether you told him you were going to theRockies or the Himalayas and if you met him on the Avenue he'd merelynod and pass on trying to remember who the devil you were. But I renewmy sacred promise to take care of you; you may rely on me, Archie. Nowas always we invite the most searching scrutiny! If you see any oldfriends I beg of you do not attempt to dodge them; shake one and allheartily by the hand. We'll pretend that our black wool is as white asthe drifted snow, and no one will run after us shouting, 'Blacksheep, blacksheep!'"

V

As the train flew along the Connecticut shore Archie realized with a newpoignancy the tremendous change that had occurred in his life since heleft New York, his birthplace and the home of his family for two hundredyears. Instead of lounging in clubs and his luxurious apartment he wouldnow go skulking through the streets with a master crook, and hisimagination was already intent upon the character of the lair to whichthe Governor would guide him. He still swayed between the joys of hismad adventure and its perils. He might, he knew, bid the Governorgood-by at the Grand Central Station, step into a taxi and walk into thedoor of one or another of his clubs and bid the world defiance. Theserenity of his life as known to his friends would be a sufficientrefutation of any charge that might be made against him. No one wouldbelieve the mysterious Governor if he were to declare on oath thatArchibald Bennett was a criminal who had left a scarlet trail acrossthree states. 

It would be an interesting experiment to defy the Governor; but hedismissed this as foolish and hazardous. The Governor had a long arm, and having trifled with his good nature at the Walkers' it wouldcertainly be ungracious and in all likelihood disastrous to offend him asecond time. But the Governor's fantastic talk about the joining oftheir stars in the west had touched his imagination. With all hisabsurdities, and strange and unaccountable as he was, the Governor didmake good his promises. If he wasn't in league with occult powers he atleast possessed a baffling sort of prescience; and what was more to thepoint he had apparently reduced to a fine art the business of keepingclear of the authorities. If he could escape from the Governor it wouldbe to take up his old eventless life, with a recrudescence no doubt ofthe ills that had so long beset him; and he had utterly forgotten thathe had ever been an invalid. He grinned as he reflected that he had beenobliged to shoot a man to find a cure for his nerves. 

As the train drew out of New Haven the Governor, seemingly absorbed in amagazine, covertly kicked him. A man passed slowly through the car, carelessly eyeing the passengers. When he reached Archie's chair hepaused as though steadying himself against the swaying train. For amoment he clung to the back of the Governor's chair, which was turnedtoward the window, and his eyes surveyed the luggage piled under thewindows. The Governor swung round presently and remarked indifferentlywithout changing his position:

"Rawlings, the best man they have in the Department now. He's lookingfor some one but let us hope it's not us. A very keen eye has Rawlings. Not one of these sleuths in a black derby and false mustache you see inthe movies, but a gentleman and a man of education. He's probablylooking for that teller who cut a slice out of the surplus of aMassachusetts bank last week. It's not our trouble, Archie. Embezzlersand defaulters are not to my taste; we rather look down on that breed inthe brotherhood. A low order of talent; no brains; they're not in ourclass. "

"But it isn't necessary to advertise our sins to the whole train!"whispered Archie, eyeing apprehensively their nearest neighbors in thecrowded car. "You haven't convinced me yet that we're not making aserious blunder. "

"Cease grumbling! If we wanted to play safe we'd both enter some homefor aged and decrepit men and sit among the halt and blind and toothlessuntil we became even as they. Rawlings' defaulter is encumbered, mostdisgracefully, with the usual blonde, in this case the lily-handedcashier in a motion picture shop; and a man of Rawlings' intelligencewould know at a glance that we are not villains of that breed. Ihaven't traveled by this route for some time and I mean to keep awake toenjoy the pleasant view. My historical sense is always tickled as I cutacross Rhode Island and contemplate the state house at Providence. If wewere not really upon business bent we might have run down toNarragansett Pier or even to Newport for a breath of air. Newport!Newport is adorable! I am far from being a snob, Archie, but Newport isreally the loveliest place in America. I grant you that Bar Harbor hasits points and even Bailey Harbor is not so bad--do pardon me, Archie! Iforgot for the moment your unhappy memories of that place--but Newportalone is perfection gone to heaven! It would please me enormously tojoin you in a little excursion to Newport, by yacht preferably; but ifit leaked out that we had been flying so high it would injure us withthe simple-hearted comrades of the great brotherhood. You can imaginewhat a man like Red Leary would say if he knew we were dining at tableswhere the jewels run into millions. And your young friend Abijah, aliasPete Barney, would certainly cut our acquaintance if we failed to takeadvantage of such glorious opportunities. "

"How are you going to know whether we're watched?" asked Archie in afrightened whisper when "Forty-second Street" flashed at him from thewall of the tunnel. 

"In a few minutes we'll know the worst, " replied the Governor blandly. "I beg of you be confident, be assured, be cheerful!"

At the station gates a man in gray livery stepped up and touched his capto the Governor. 

"Ah, Tom; glad to see you again!"

"Thank you, sir; is this all the luggage?"

"That's all, Tom. Have an eye to Mr. Comly's bag; he's stopping withme. "

Archie dragged himself into a handsome limousine that was brought to thecurb by a chauffeur as impeccably tailored as the footman. 

"Well, George, how are things with you?" asked the Governor pleasantly. 

"Very good, sir; things running very smoothly, sir. "

"Drive directly home, please. 

"We may wander to our hearts' content, Archie, but there's no place likehome, particularly when it's little old New York, " remarked theGovernor, sinking back contentedly. 

CHAPTER FOUR

I

The car crossed to the Avenue and bore north. Archie was again left highin air. He had expected to be piloted by circuitous routes to some vilethieves' den in the intricate mazes of the East Side, but the car andthe smartly appareled men encouraged the hope of a very differentdestination. The Governor, evidently enjoying his companion'sbefuddlement, talked of the changes that had taken place in the uppercity in his memory. His reminiscences did not interest Archie greatly. He thought it likely the Governor was uttering commonplaces for thebenefit of the men on the box, who could easily hear their passengers'conversation through the partition windows. The car passed two clubs inwhich Archie was a member in good standing and he caught a fleetingglimpse down an intersecting thoroughfare of the apartment house inwhich he was a tenant with a recurrence of the disagreeable questioningshe had experienced so frequently as to whether he was himself or someother and very different person. 

The Governor had not warned him to avoid marking the route, which was asfamiliar to Archie as the palm of his hand, but somewhere in theSeventies he did for a moment lose track of the streets, and the car, swinging east, stopped midway of a block of handsome residences. Therewas still the chance that this was all by-play, a trick for concealingtheir arrival in town; but the footman was already ringing the bell of ahouse whose facade was the most distinguished in sight. The door wasopened by a manservant, whose face expressed pleasure as the Governorpassed him with all the airs of incontestable proprietorship. 

"I think we may as well go at once to our rooms, " he said. "Youunderstand, Baring, that we dine at seven-thirty--places for three?"

"Very good, sir: I received your telegram. "

Amid the various phases of surprise through which he had passed sincereaching the station Archie had kept his ears open, thinking theservants would address their employer by a name, but no such clue wasforthcoming. The house exhaled an atmosphere of luxury and taste, andthe furnishings were rich and consistently chosen. Archie recalledtwenty houses in which he was frequently a guest that in nowiseapproached the Governor's establishment for comfort and charm. If he hadbeen puzzled before he was stupefied now. The enormous effrontery of thething overwhelmed him. He knew the general neighborhood too well not tobe sure that it was not a region where a housebreaker of even the mostexalted rank could live unchallenged. To be sure this was summer, andmost of the houses along the street were boarded up; but the Governorwould certainly not be invading in broad daylight premises to which hehad no claim, and the retinue of trained and decorous servants disposedeffectually of any such speculations. 

On the second floor the Governor lingered in the drawing-room to callhis guest's attention to some pictures, contemporary American work, which Archie recognized instantly. Indeed he knew several of thepainters very well. 

"We must encourage our own artists, " remarked the Governor. "It's theonly way we shall ever develop an American art. "

Continuing up another flight (there was an elevator, the Governorexplained, but he preferred the stairs) Archie surveyed approvingly alounging room, half library and half office. 

"If you have a taste for old leather there's stuff here that will pleaseyou. No rubbish, you see; a man's room, a little quaint as to furniture, and the telephone and electric fan are the only anachronisms, aconcession to the spirit of modern life. Here I have worked out somemost abstruse problems in astrology. A capital place to ponder themysteries. If anything on that tray interests you, help yourself. "

Archie tottered toward the stand on which decanters, syphons, and asilver bowl of ice had been placed. He helped himself generously toScotch; the Governor contented himself with a glass of mineral water--henever took anything else, he explained. 

"Odd, but I've never used the stuff at all. Bless you, no fanaticalnotions on the subject! If you don't see what you like there just pressa button and it will probably be found for you. And now, my dearArchie"--he closed the door and turned on the fan--"you are my guest, inevery sense my guest. You wouldn't be human if you didn't wonder aboutme rather more than at any time since we first met; you had not theslightest idea that I should bring you to so decent a shack as this. Itmay have occurred to you that I may be an interloper here, but such isnot the case. I own this house and the ground it stands on andeverything in it. You are, of course, not a prisoner; not in any sense, and there's a telephone in your room--you shall see in a moment--bywhich you can talk to all the world quite freely, --no restrictionswhatsoever. 

"My name is not Saulsbury, of course, but something quite different. Theservants in this house do not know my true name. They might, of course, work it out, for I pay taxes here, and my family history is spread inthe public records, but the people you see about here are trained tocurb their curiosity; I trust them just as I trust you. They are allfrom under the crust, --the man who met us at the station is a daringhousebreaker; the chauffeur a second-story man, the only one I ever knewwho had the slightest judgment; the butler is a hotel thief, and ashrewd operator until he got too corpulent for transom work. Down to thescullery maid, who was a clever shoplifter, all the servants are crooksI've picked up and installed here until they can do what Leary's doing, invest their ill-gotten gains in some legitimate business. When Baringoffers you the asparagus or serves your coffee you may derive a thrillfrom the knowledge that the man at your elbow has enough rewards hangingover him to make any one rich who can telephone his whereabouts topolice headquarters in any town in America. As all branches of theprofession are represented here my retainers repay my hospitality bykeeping me in touch with their comrades everywhere. "

Archie wiped the perspiration from his face and groped for the decanter. 

"You're not afraid--not afraid of _them_!"

"Ingratitude, my dear Archie, is reserved for the highbrow moralist; Itrust these people with my life and liberty, and they know I'll not onlyprotect them but that my facilities for shielding them and assisting inthe liquidation of their loot is theirs to command. While they are heretheir lives are wholly circumspect, though they are not without theirtemptations. With a place like this to operate from they could raid thiswhole block and back vans up to my door and cart it away. Officiouscaretakers and hidden wires connected with detective agencies would onlystimulate their wits. But nothing doing, Archie! A policeman on thisbeat suggested to Baring, over a bottle of beer in the basement, thelifting of plate in a house round the corner, but what did Baring do butshow the fellow the door! And yet Baring has stolen thousands ofdollars' worth of stuff of all kinds and has it well planted waiting forme to turn it into cash. By the way, you saw the chap who brought in thetray? You probably noticed his melancholy air? I had just told him ofHoky's death and he's all broken up. He and Hoky ranged the MissouriRiver towns a few years ago and the police out there are still trying toexplain their plunderings. "

"I suppose, I suppose, " Archie timidly ventured, "you've told them about_me_?"

"Not a word! They'd be jealous: wouldn't understand how I made you aguest when all the rest of 'em have to work for a living. You will actexactly as though you were a visitor in the house of an old friend. Andnow I must go through this mail--I've got a chap who collects my stufffrom some of the unofficial post-offices up-state and here it is allready for inspection. The first room to the right is yours. 

"A few pretty good pastels stuck around here, " he continued, opening adoor. "That 'Moonrise on the Grand Lagoon' is rather well done. Everything seems to be in order; if you want your clothes pressed pokethe button twice. "

Archie snapped his fingers impatiently. When he went to Washington tosay good-by to his sister he had ordered a trunk packed with the majorportion of his wardrobe and held for orders. How to possess himself ofthe trunk without disclosing his presence in town to the valet of theDowden Apartments was beyond his powers. 

"If you have something tucked away that you'd like to get hold of--"suggested the Governor with one of his intuitive flashes. 

"It's a trunk at my--er--lodgings. A man who works there packed it forme--"

"Why don't you come out with it and say that the syndicate valet in oneof these palatial bachelor chambers somewhere uptown packed it for you?I can tell a man who's been valeted as far as my eyes will reach. Now Ihave no curiosity whatever about your personal identity or affairs ofany sort, as I've told you before. I'll ring for my own valet, who wasan honest tailor before he became a successful second-story worker, andyou may confide your predicament to him. He'll ride home on the trunk. There was never yet a valet who wouldn't steal the trousers off a bronzestatue, and I'll lift the ban on crooked work here long enough forTimmons to call at your lodgings and either by violence or corruptionsecure your trunk. No! Not a cent. Remember that you are my guest. "

The trunk was in Archie's room in just one hour. Timmons, who hadreceived his instructions without the slightest emotion, gravelyunpacked it. 

"You've got to admit the service in this house is excellent. If youdon't mind we'll dress for dinner, " remarked the Governor lounging inthe doorway. "I forgot to say that there's a lady dining with us--"

"A lady!" demanded Archie with a frown. He had assumed, when theGovernor reminded Baring that dinner was to be served for three, that hewas to be introduced to some prominent member of what the Governor wasfond of calling the great fraternity. But the threatened projection of awoman into the household struck Archie unfavorably. The Governor's taleof his love affair with a bishop's daughter he had discounted heavily;it was hardly possible that any respectable woman would dine in thehouse. The Governor, with his usual quick perception, noted hiscompanion's displeasure. 

"Your qualms and your concern for the proprieties are creditable to yourup-bringing. But how ungenerous of you to suspect me of wishing to mixyou up with anything even remotely bordering upon an intrigue, a vulgarliaison! One thing I am not, my boy; one thing I may, with a degree ofassurance, say for myself, and that is that with all my sins I am notvulgar!"

"Of course I didn't mean that, " said Archie clumsily, knowing that thiswas exactly what he had meant. "But I thought you might be--er--morecomfortable if I didn't appear. "

"The suspicion had sunk deep! But once more I shall forgive you. Yourpresence will help me tide over a difficult situation. I am not onlyshowing you once more the depth of my confidence and trust but, morethan that, I pay you the compliment of asking your assistance. You bearyourself so like a gentleman that your presence at my table can hardlyfail to reassure the lady and contribute to her own ease and peace ofmind. And without you we might quarrel horribly. You will act as abuffer, a restraining influence; your charming manners will mitigate theviolence of her resentment against me. The lady--"

Archie waited for what further he might have to say about the lady. TheGovernor had grown suddenly grave. He crossed the room, stared at thefloor for a moment, and then said from the door:

"The lady, my dear boy, is my sister. "

II

The Governor maintained so evenly his mood of irresponsible insouciancethat the soberness with which he announced that it was his sister whowas to join them at dinner sent Archie's thoughts darting away at a newtangent of speculation. He had so accommodated himself to the idea thatthe Governor was a man without ties, or with all his ties broken, thatthis intimation that he had a sister who was still on friendly enoughterms with him to visit his house--an establishment which with all itsconventionalities of comfort and luxury was dominated by a note ofmystery--left Archie floundering. As the man himself had said, it wouldnot be so difficult a matter to penetrate the secret of his identity. Archie knew several men in town who were veritable encyclopedias of thescandal of three generations, and if the scion of some old New Yorkhouse had gone astray these gentlemen could furnish all the essentialdata. But he had given his word and he had no intention of prying intohis friend's affairs. However, the sister might let fall some clue, andas he dressed he tried to imagine just what sort of woman the Governor'ssister would prove to be. 

"Julia is usually very prompt but she is motoring from Southampton andwe must allow her the usual margin, " the Governor remarked when they metin the drawing-room. Traces of the same nervousness he had manifested inannouncing that it was his sister who was coming to dine with them werestill visible. 

The clock had struck the three-quarters when they heard the annunciatortinkle followed by the opening of the front door. The Governor left theroom with a bound and Archie heard distinctly his hearty greetings and awoman's subdued replies. 

"I'm sorry to be late, but we had to change a tire. No, I'll leave mywraps here. "

"Won't you be more comfortable without your hat?"

"No, I'll keep it; thanks!"

The door framed for a moment a young woman who in her instant's pause onthe threshold seemed like a portrait figure suddenly come to life. Shewas taller than the Governor and carried herself with a suggestion ofhis authoritative bearing. Her face was a feminized version of theGovernor's, exquisitely modeled and illuminated by dark eyes that sweptArchie with a hasty inquiry from under the brim of a black picture hat. She might have been younger or older than the Governor, but her maturitywas not an affair of years. She was a person of distinction, a woman tochallenge attention in any company. Archie was not sure whether she hadbeen warned of a stranger's presence in the house, but if she wassurprised to find him there she made no sign. 

As Archie advanced to meet them he moved slowly, and unconsciously drewhimself up, as though preparing to meet a personage who compelled homageand was not to be approached without a degree of ceremony. She wasentirely in black save for the roses in her hat. She might have retainedthe hat, he thought, for the sake of its shadow on her face; or from asense that it emphasized the formal and transitory nature of her visit. 

"Julia, this is my friend, Mr. Comly. "

Her "very glad, I'm sure, " was uttered with reservations, but shesmiled, a quick sad little smile. 

The Governor had introduced her as Julia, carelessly, as though ofcourse Archie knew the rest of it. The whole business was as utterlyunreal as anything could be. The Governor asked perfunctorily about herdrive into town, and whether it had been hot in the country. Dinner wasannounced immediately and they sat down at a round table whosecenterpiece of sweet peas brought a coolness into the room. 

The dinner was served with a deliberation befitting the end of a summerday. Julia was the most tranquil of the trio and it was in Archie's mindthat she was capable of dominating even more difficult situations. Shewas studying him--he was conscious of that--and it was clear that shewas not finding it easy to appraise and place him. The Governor hadgiven him no hint of the possible trend of the table talk but the womantook the matter into her own hands. As though by prearrangement shetouched upon wholly impersonal matters, recent movements in Europeanaffairs, a new novel, the industrial situation; things that could bebroached without fear of embarrassment were picked up and flung asidewhen they had served their purpose. The Governor was often inattentive, the most uncomfortable member of the trio. It seemed to Archie as he meta puzzled look in Julia's eyes from time to time that she was stilltrying to account for him, and her manner he thought slowly changed. Herfirst defensive hostility yielded to something much more amiable. It wasas though she had reached a decision not wholly unflattering and mightbe a little sorry for her earlier attitude. 

The Governor roused himself presently at the mention of a new book ofverse she had praised, and threw himself into the talk thereafter withcharacteristic spirit and humor. 

"Mr. Comly shares my affection for the poets. He has been a greatresource to me, Julia. I'm sure you'd be grateful to him if you knew theextent of his kindnesses. A new friend, but it's not always the oldones, you know--"

"My brother is hard to please, " said Julia. "You score high in meetinghis exacting requirements. "

A slight smile dulled the irony of this, but the Governor, evidentlyconcerned for the maintenance of amity, introduced the art of theAztecs, to which he brought his usual enthusiasm. 

The Aztecs carried them back to the drawing-room, where Archie, feelingthat the Governor and his sister probably had personal affairs to talkabout, lounged toward the door; but the Governor was quick to detect hispurpose. 

"Julia, if you brought those documents with you I'll take them up to myroom and look them over. It's only a matter of my signature, isn't it?You and Mr. Comly can give the final twist to prehistoric art. I'll bedown at once. "

"Very well; you will find them in my bag in the hall. I must start homevery soon, you know. "

"I had hoped you would spend the night here, " said the Governor; "but ifyou won't I'm grateful even for this little glimpse. "

If Julia was displeased by the Governor's very evident intention not tobe left alone with her she was at pains to conceal the feeling. Archieturned toward her inquiringly, but he met a look of acquiescence thatcarried also an appeal as though she wished him not to interfere. 

The Governor left the room and reappeared with a small satchel, took outseveral bundles of legal papers and glanced at their superscriptions. 

"Those are chiefly deeds and leases, " Julia remarked carelessly. "They're all ready to be signed by the trustees. There are forms for ourapproval attached to all of them and you'll find that I've signed. "

The Governor shrugged his shoulders as though business matters were notto his taste and in a moment they heard his quick step on the stair. 

The novelty of the situation that left Archie alone with a woman whosevery name he did not know was enhanced by the sumptuousness of thebackground furnished by the house itself. It was the oddest possibleplace for such an adventure. Julia sat with one arm flung along the backof a low chair. She fell naturally into poses that suggested portraits;there were painters who would have jumped at the chance of sketching heras she sat there with the spot of red in the big hat and the shadowedface and the white of her throat and arms relieving the long black line. 

"It is no doubt clear to you, " she remarked without altering herposition and with no lowering of the habitual tone of her speech, "thatmy brother prefers not to be alone with me. "

"I rather surmised that, " Archie replied with an ease he did not feel. She might ask questions; it might be that she would cross-examine him asto the Governor's recent movements. He turned to drop his cigarette intothe brass receiver at his elbow to avoid contact with her gaze, whichwas bent upon him disconcertingly. 

"We have but a moment, and we must have a care not to seem to beconfidential. He didn't close his door, I think. "

The draperies at the end of the room swayed a little and Archie walkedback and glanced into the dining-room. He nodded reassuringly and sheindicated a seat a little nearer than the one he had left. 

"Please don't be alarmed, but it's a singular fact that I know you; wemet once, passingly, at a tea in Cambridge; it's a good while ago and weexchanged only a word, so don't try to remember. I much prefer that youshouldn't. " Archie didn't remember; he had attended many teas atCambridge during commencement festivities and had always hated them. "Itwas not until we were at the table that I placed you tonight. I'mtelling you this, " she went on, "not to disturb you but to let you knowthat I'm relieved, infinitely relieved to know that you are with mybrother. How it came about is none of my affair. But you are agentleman; in the strange phase through which"--her lips formed to speaka name but she caught herself up sharply--"through which he is passingI'm gratified that he has your companionship. I want you to promise tobe kind to him, and to protect him so far as possible. I only knowvaguely--I am afraid to surmise--how he spends his time; this is myfirst glimpse of him in a year, and for half a dozen years I have methim only in some such way as this. You have probably questioned hissanity; that would be only natural, but there is no such excuse for him. Once something very cruel happened to him; something that greatlyembittered him, a very cruel, hard thing, indeed; and after the firstshock of it--" She turned her head slightly and her lips quivered. 

"That is all, " she said, and faced him again with her beautiful reposeaccentuated, her perfect self-control that touched him with an infinitepity. She was superb, and he had listened with a shame deepened by theconsciousness that, remembering him from a chance meeting, sheattributed to him an honor and decency he had relinquished, it seemedto him, in some state of existence before the dawn of time. What sheknew or did not know about her brother was not of importance; it was theassumption that he was capable of exercising an influence upon the man, protecting and saving him from himself that hurt, hurt with all thepoignancy of physical pain. She did not dream that she had got the wholething upside-down; that if the Governor was a social pariah he himselfwas no whit better, and had thrown himself upon the Governor's mercy. 

"I shall do what I can, " he said. "You can see that I am very fond ofhim; he has been enormously kind to me. "

She gave little heed to this, though she nodded her head slowly asthough she had counted upon his promise. 

"You probably know that with all his oddities and whimsicalities he hassome theory of life that doesn't belong to our day. It may help you toknow that there's a crisis approaching in his affairs. He has hinted atit for several years; it's a part of the mystery in which he wrapshimself; but I never know quite how to take him. He wears a smilingmask. Please understand that it is because I love him so much that I amsaying these things to you; that and because I know I can trust you. Youare remaining with him, I hope--"

"Yes; we plan to be together for some time. "

"If anything should happen to him I should like to know. " She paused amoment. "It was distinctly understood between us when he called me bytelephone this morning that I was not to hint in any way as to hisidentity, or mine for that matter, and I shall not break faith with him. He would be greatly displeased if he knew what I have said to you; but Iresolved after I had been in the house half an hour that I could counton your aid. We have but a moment more. "

She mused a moment and then with quick decision stepped to a writingtable, snatched a sheet of paper and wrote rapidly, while he filled inthe interval by talking of irrelevant things to guard against the chancethat the Governor might be on his way down and would note their silence. 

She thrust the sheet into an envelope and sealed it. 

"I trust you completely, " she said, lingering with, a smile upon thelast word. "I shall be at that address until the first of October. Youcan wire me in any emergency. "

When the Governor reappeared they were seemingly in the midst of aleisurely discussion of the drama. 

"Back into the bag they go, " said the Governor. "Everything's all right, Julia. I checked up the items with my inventory and am entirelysatisfied. I'm delighted that you two get on so well together; but Iknew you would hit it off. Mr. Comly has been most kind and considerate, Julia. In my long pilgrimage I have never before met a man so much to mytaste. The Wandering Jew and the Flying Dutchman had no such luck. Sweetit is to wander with a good comrade, taking no care for the morrow, butletting every day suffice unto itself. "

He walked to a grand piano at the end of the room, sat down and began toplay. 

Surprise was dead in Archie where the Governor was concerned; he couldonly marvel at the ease and finish with which the man made the roomvibrate with the most exquisite melodies of Schumann, Chopin, MacDowell. He played for half an hour without airs or affectations, things thatbruised and hurt the spirit by their very tenderness and wistfulness. 

"It's as though some one had been flinging handfuls of rose leaves intothe room, " said Julia softly when the last chords had died away. 

The music had at least served the purpose of dispersing any unhappyhovering ghosts, and she was quick to seize the moment as a propitiousone for her departure. The Governor did not demur when she asked him tosee if her car was waiting. 

"You are not afraid to drive out alone? I should be glad, you know, tomake the run with you. "

"Not in the least afraid, " she answered lightly. 

Fear, Archie thought, was not a thing one would associate with her. TheGovernor brought her coat, a long garment that covered her completely. She produced from the bag a cap which she substituted for the hat andArchie had thus his first view of her handsome head and abundant darkhair and her face freed of the baffling shadow. 

In carrying her wrap into the room the Governor had frustrated any hopeshe may have had for a private word with him; but she betrayed noresentment. 

"It's really much nicer changing indoors, " she laughed, standing beforea mirror to adjust the cap. "Coming in I shifted my headgear just beforewe reached town. Behold me now, a woman transformed!"

The Governor plucked Archie's sleeve as a sign that he was not to dropback and she walked to the car between them. 

With a smile and a wave of the hand she was gone and they stood at thecurb looking after her until the limousine was out of sight. 

"Thank you, lad, " said the Governor quietly. 

They went up to his den, where they smoked for some time in silence. TheGovernor seemed to be gathering himself together after the strain of thethree difficult hours and when he spoke finally it was with a deep sigh. 

"Well, Archie, we must bear ourselves as men in all our perplexities. Weare put into this world for a purpose, every chick of us, and there's nouse kicking the shins of the high gods. I feel a leading; there'ssomething pulling us both; unseen powers knocking us about. Tomorrow Ishall be engaged most of the day; there are some of the brotherhood tomeet and it must be managed with caution. I suggest that you stretchyour legs in the park and feed the swans as a tranquilizer. Soon weshall be abroad on the eternal quest. The quest for what, I see writtenin your eyes! For peace, Archie; for happiness! It may be nearer than wethink--there's always that to tie our hopes to!"

"It would be possible, I suppose, " said Archie slowly, "for us to cut itall out, settle back into our old places--"

"Never!" cried the Governor. , "I tell you we've got to complete thecircle! If we stop now we're ruined, both of us! We've got to go righton. I know what's the matter with you; it's that dear sister of mine whohas wakened in you all manner of regrets and yearnings for your oldlife. Ah, she couldn't fail to affect you that way; she's so wholly thereal thing! Seeing her probably made you homesick for your Isabel. There! I thought you would jump! And maybe you think I haven't beentroubled in the same way about my little affair! There would besomething fundamentally wrong with us, lad, if we didn't feel, when westood before a beautiful noble woman, as though we were in a divinepresence. That's the test, Archie; so long as we are sensible of thatfeeling there's some hope for us in this world and the next. "

III

Archie learned from Baring, who brought up his breakfast, that theGovernor had left the house. 

"It was our orders to take good care of you, sir; if there's any way wecan serve you--"

"A morning paper; that will be all, thank you. I shall be going outpresently. "

"Very good, sir. The master thought it likely you would spend the dayout. He will hardly be in himself before six. "

Here again was an opportunity to abandon the Governor, but keen now fornew experiences and sensations, Archie dismissed the idea. The appeal ofthe Governor's sister had imposed a new burden upon him, and theGovernor's voluble prattle about fate and the inevitable drawing ofdestiny had impressed him. He could depart for Banff and take the chanceof never being molested for any of his crimes, but to do this would becowardice, just that fear of his fate that Isabel had twitted himabout. 

He chose a stick with care from a rack at the front door, walked to theAvenue and turned determinedly cityward, walking jauntily. BeyondForty-second Street he passed several acquaintances, who nodded, just asthe Governor had predicted, little dreaming that he was a recklesscriminal, a man with an _alias_ and a fortnight's record that would makea lively story for the newspapers. 

He was rather disappointed that no one followed him, no hand was clappedon his shoulder. He reached Madison Square unwearied, wondering whetherthe obliteration of his moral sense had destroyed also his old fearsabout his health. He climbed to the front seat of a bus and rode up theAvenue, a conspicuous figure. 

He grinned as he saw seated in the upper window of the most conservativeof all his clubs one of his several prosperous uncles, an old gentlemanwho for years was to be found in that same spot at this same hour of theday. 

Having sufficiently exposed himself to the eyes of the world hedetermined to eat luncheon in the park restaurant. His appetite demandedan amount of food that he would have been incapable of consuming a monthearlier, and having given his order he surveyed the pavilion tranquilly. Women and children were the chief patrons, with a sprinkling ofsightseers resting from their contemplation of the city's wonders. 

He watched idly a young woman with two children who occupied a tabledirectly in his line of vision. He was sure she was their mother, andnot a governess; she was smartly dressed, and her manner with theyoungsters was charming. She occasionally glanced about nervously, andhe detected several times a troubled look in her face. The childrenchattered gaily, but it was evidently with an effort that she answeredtheir questions or entered into their talk. Children always interestedhim, and the boy was a handsome little fellow, but it was the girl whoheld Archie's attention, first as the embodiment of the beauty andinnocence of youth, and then with a perplexed sense that he had seen herbefore. She suddenly turned toward him, her fair curls tumbling abouther shoulders, and glanced idly across the pavilion. The fine oval face, the eyes dancing with merriment at something her brother had directedher attention to, sent his thoughts flying to Bailey Harbor. As thoughconsciously aiding his memory, she fell into the relaxed pose so happilycaught by the photograph, with the same childish archness andcaptivating smile. 

Their luncheon had just been served and he continued to inspect themwith a deepening conviction that the woman was Mrs. Congdon and thesethe children mentioned in the telegram he had found tucked under theplate of the Bailey Harbor house. The resemblance between the youngwoman and the child with the roguish smile was unmistakable. She mighton occasion present the same smiling countenance, though in unguardedmoments a tense, worried look came into her face, and she continued heranxious survey of her neighbors. 

It was a dispiriting thought that there under his eyes, so close thatthe babble of the children occasionally reached him across theintervening tables, was the family of the man he had shot. 

Their ignorance of that dark transaction gave him little comfort, norwas there any extenuation of his sin in the fact that the wife had fledto escape from her husband's brutality. He tried to console himself withthe reflection that the thing had a ludicrous side. He might walk overto Mrs. Congdon and say: "Pardon me, madam, but it may interest you toknow that I shot your husband at Bailey Harbor and you have nothingfurther to fear from him. I am unable to state at the moment whether thewound was a mortal one, but from my knowledge of your family affairs Ijudge that you would hardly be grieved if you never saw him again. "

He was shocked at his own levity. The thing was not in any aspect alaughing matter. Amid other experiences he had freed himself for a fewdays of the thought of Putney Congdon lying dead in a lonely cleft ofthe Maine rocks, but meeting the man's family in this fashion was almostas disconcerting as a visit from Congdon's ghost. 

The Congdons had eaten their meal hurriedly and were already payingtheir check. He watched them move away toward the interior of the park, marked their direction and chose a parallel course with a view tokeeping them in sight. 

Occasionally he caught glimpses of the children dancing ahead of theirmother. The remote paths she chose for the ramble confirmed hissuspicion that she was on guard against the threatened seizure of theyoungsters by their father, and having been driven from Bailey Harborwas now in town to formulate her plans for the future, or perhaps onlywhiling away the hours until she could escape to some other place in thecountry. Unable to argue himself out of a feeling that Mrs. Congdon'stroubles were no affair of his he was beset by the fear that he might bedoomed for the rest of his life to follow them, to view them from afaroff, never speaking to them, but led on by the guilty knowledge that hewas a dark factor in their lives. 

He became so engrossed that he lost track of them for a time; then aturn of the path brought him close upon them. Mrs. Congdon was sittingon a bench under a big elm and the children were joyously romping on thelawn in front of her, playing with a toy balloon to which a bit of barkhad been fastened. They would toss it in the air and jump and catch itwhile the weight prevented its escape. A gust of wind caught it asArchie passed and drove it across his path, while the children withscreams of glee pursued it. The string caught under his hat brim and heseized it just as the girl, outdistancing her brother, plunged into him. 

"Edith!" called the mother, rising quickly. "Children, you mustn't gointo the path. There's plenty of room here for you to play. "

"The wind was a little too much for you that time!" laughed Archie, asthe children, panting from their run, waited for the restoration oftheir plaything. He measured the buoyancy of the balloon against theballast, and let go of it with a little toss that seemed to free it, then he sprang up and caught it amid their excited cries. 

The little girl curtsied as he put the string in her hand. 

"Thank you very much!" they chorused. 

Mrs. Congdon had walked a little way toward the path but now that thechildren were again scampering over the lawn she paused and made aslight, the slightest, inclination of the head as Archie lifted his hatand continued on his way. 

Edith was the name used in the telegram he had found in the BaileyHarbor house, and this coupled with his closer view of the childdisposed of Archie's last hope that after all it might not be Mrs. Congdon and her children he had stumbled upon. She had no business tothrow herself across his path, he fumed. The appearance of PutneyCongdon's father at Cornford had shaken him sufficiently, but that heshould be haunted by the man's wife and children angered him. He wantedto fly from the park and hide himself again in his room at theGovernor's house, but he was without will to leave. The decent thing forhim to do was to take the first train for Bailey, and begin diligentsearch for Putney Congdon, dead or alive. He had no right to assume thatthe man's serious injury or death would be any consolation to the wifeand children. And the quarrel between husband and wife might have beenonly a tiff, something that would have been adjusted without furtherbitterness but for his interference. There was no joy in the fate thatkept continually bringing his crime to his attention. Thoroughlymiserable, he threw himself upon a bench and lapsed into gloomymeditations. The light-hearted laughter of the children--PutneyCongdon's children--was borne to him fitfully to add to hisdiscomfiture, but he was held to the spot. There was something weirdlyfascinating in their propinquity, and in the thought that he alone ofall men on earth could ever tell them just what had happened in theirhouse when their father went there to search for them. 

He sat half an hour pensively, noting an occasional pedestrian or theflash of a motor that rolled through the unfrequented driveway. But forthe hum of the cars the deep calm of a June afternoon lay upon thelandscape. 

Then a piercing scream, the shrill cry of a child in terror, brought himto his feet. 

"Help! Help! Oh, Edith! _Edith!_"

The cries sent him at a run toward the place in which he had left theCongdons. 

Rounding a curve in the path he saw a man rushing down the road withEdith in his arms. The mother was racing after him, while the little boylay wailing where he had fallen in his frantic effort to follow. In thedistance stood a car, with a woman waiting beside the open door. 

Archie redoubled his pace, passed Mrs. Congdon and gained the car as theman with the child in his arms jumped into it. The woman, who hadevidently been acting as watcher, stumbled as she attempted to spring inafter them and delayed flight for an instant. The door slammed viciouslyon Archie's arm as he landed on the running board. The car was movingrapidly and a man's voice bade the driver hurry. Within the child'sscreams were suddenly stifled, the door swung open for an instant and ablow, delivered full in the face, sent Archie reeling into the road. 

When he gained his feet Mrs. Congdon stood beside him moaning andwringing her hands. A mounted policeman rode upon the scene, listenedfor an instant to Archie's explanations and, sounding his whistle, setoff after the car at a gallop. A dozen of the park police were on thespot immediately, followed by a crowd of excited spectators. Mrs. Congdon had fainted and several women were ministering to her. Thelittle boy, sobbing plaintively, tried to answer the questions of thesergeant who took charge and despatched men in every direction to searchfor the kidnapers and send the alarm through the city. 

Archie's nose bled from the rap in the face and his back ached where hehad struck the earth. The sergeant plied him with questions which heanswered carefully, knowing that in all the circumstances of his havingloitered in the vicinity he might not unnaturally be suspected ofcomplicity. When his name was asked, he answered promptly. 

"John B. Wright, Boston; stopping at the Hotel Ganymede. "

"Business?"

"Broker, Nanonet Building, Boston. "

These items officially written down, he described truthfully how he hadfirst seen the woman and her children in the pavilion, the subsequentwalk, and the episode of the balloon. He pointed out just where he hadbeen sitting when the screams attracted his attention. 

"This is a serious case and you will be wanted as a witness, " said theofficer. "You didn't know these people--never saw them before?"

"No. I had come to the park to kill time until four o'clock, when I havean engagement at the Plaza Hotel. "

The officer noted carefully his description of the woman who hadassisted in the kidnaping and such meager facts as he was able to giveas to the man who had carried off the little girl under the very eyesof her mother. 

The sergeant glanced at Archie's ruddy handkerchief and grinned. 

"Guess that let's you out! You didn't get the number of the taxi? Thatwould help a little. "

"There wasn't time for that. I was trying to hang on till help came, butthis smash in the face spoiled that. "

To the jostling crowd anxious to hear his story Archie was a hero, orvery nearly one. He heard their murmurs of admiration as he describedthe manner in which he had attempted to board the car. There wereenormous hazards in the whole situation and every consideration ofpersonal security demanded that he leave the park at once, but Mrs. Congdon was now recovering, and he was reluctant to abandon her and thefrightened boy to the mercies of the park police and staring spectators. 

She had recovered sufficiently to tell her story, and to Archie's reliefcorroborated his own version in a manner to dispose of any question asto his innocence. 

The woman's composure struck Archie as remarkable and her replies to theofficer's questions were brief and exact. Several times she appealed tohim for confirmation on some point, and he edged closer and stood besideher defensively. Her inquisitor had neglected to ask her name andaddress in his eagerness for information as to the appearance of thekidnapers. Her reply gave Archie a distinct shock. 

"Mrs. George W. Kendall, 117 E. Corning Street, Brooklyn. "

"Have you been threatened in any way? Have you any enemy who might haveattempted to steal the child?"

"Nothing of the kind. I brought the children to the park just for anouting and with no thought that anything so horrible could happen. "

It was incredible that any one could lie with so convincing an air. Hewas satisfied that she was Mrs. Putney Congdon, and that the child shehad called Edith was the original of the photograph he had seen atBailey Harbor. And the stealing of the child was in itself but theactual carrying out of her husband's threat. He knew far too much aboutthe Congdons for his own peace of mind, but he was unwilling to deserther in her perplexities. When the owners of several machines offered totake her home, she glanced about uncertainly and her eyes falling uponhim seemed to invite his assistance. 

"Pardon me, but if I can serve you in any way--"

"Thank you, " she said with relief. "I must get away from this; it'sunbearable. "

He put her and the boy into a taxi, whose driver had been early on thescene, and drove away with them, with a final promise to the sergeant toreport later at the park station. 

"Brooklyn!" he ordered. 

For a few minutes she was busy comforting the child and Archie deep inthought turned to meet the searching gaze of her gray eyes. 

"You are a gentleman; I am sure of that; and I feel that I can trustyou. "

That the wife of a man he had tried to kill and possibly had slainshould be paving the way for confidences, gave him a bewildered sense ofbeing whisked through some undiscovered country where the impossiblehad become the real. 

"I'm in a strange predicament, and I'm forced to ask your help. The nameand address I gave the police were fictitious. I know it has a queerlook; but I had to do it. I know perfectly well who carried away mylittle girl. The man and woman you saw at the car were servants employedby my father-in-law, who cordially dislikes me. There had beentrouble--"

With a shrug she expressed her impatience of her troubles, and bent overthe boy who was demanding to be taken to Edith. 

"You'll see Edith soon, dear, so don't trouble any more, " she saidkindly. 

Having quieted the child, she returned to her own affairs, glancing outto note the direction of the car. She had done some quick thinking inmaking her decision to hide her identity from the police. There wasfight in her eyes and Archie realized that he had to do with a woman ofspirit. He waited eagerly for a hint as to her plans. 

"Of course I'm not going to Brooklyn, " she said, as the taxi swung intoFifth Avenue. "Please tell the man to drive to the Altmore, ladies'entrance. I'll walk through to the main door and take another taxi. Imean to lose myself, " she went on, after Archie had given theinstructions. "I have every intention of keeping away from policemen andreporters, but there's no reason why you should bother any further. I'monly sorry your name had to be brought into it. The moment they findI've deceived them they'll be after you for further information, and Iregret that exceedingly. I wish to avoid publicity and keep my domesticaffairs out of the newspapers; but this of course will only centerattention the more on you. If there's anything I could do--"

"You needn't bother about that at all, " replied Archie with a reassuringsmile. "The name and address I gave were both false. "

"You mean that really!"

"I mean that; just that! My reasons are of importance to no one butmyself, and have nothing to do with the loss of your child, I assureyou. I give you my word that neither the police nor the reporters willever find me. I know nothing about you and of course it is quiteunnecessary for me to know. "

"Thank you; you are very kind, " she murmured. 

It struck him as highly amusing that he should be conspiring with thewife of a gentleman he had shot. In every aspect it was ridiculous andnot since boyhood had he felt so much like giggling. And Mrs. Congdonwas wonderful; it was a delight to be the repository of the confidencesof so handsome a young matron and one who met so difficult a situationso courageously. They were both liars; both were practising a deceitthat could hardly fail to bring them under sharp scrutiny if they shouldbe caught. 

Women were far from being the simple creatures he had believed them tobe. The heart of woman was a labyrinth of mystery. Mrs. Congdon, altogether lovely and bearing all the marks of breeding, had lied quiteas convincingly as Sally Walker. The ways of Isabel were beyond allhuman understanding; and yet her contradictions only added to her charm. Isabel's agitation over the affairs of the Congdons led him close to thepoint of mentioning her name to note its effect upon Mrs. Congdon, butto do this might be an act of betrayal that would only confirm Isabel'sopinion of him as a stupid, meddlesome person. Nothing was to be gainedby attempting to hasten the culmination of the fate that flung him aboutlike a chip on a turbulent stream. Fiends and angels might be battlingfor his soul, and Lucifer might take him in the end, but meanwhile hewas having a jolly good time. 

He looked at her covertly and they laughed with the mirth of childrenplanning mischief in secret. 

"The little girl, " he ventured; "you are not apprehensive about her?"

"Not in the slightest. My father-in-law is most disagreeably eccentric, but he is very fond of my children. It was quite like him to attempt tocarry off the little girl, always a particular pet of his. I wasshocked, of course, when it happened. I thought I should be safe in thepark for a few hours until I could catch a train. I meant to put thechildren quite out of my husband's way. I didn't know he was in town; infact, I don't know now that he is or anything about him. But he'sundoubtedly in communication with his father. It's rather a complicatedbusiness, you see. "

It was much more complex than she knew, and not, all things considered, a laughing matter. He spent an uncomfortable moment pondering asituation which he viewed with the mingled joy and awe of a childwatching the fire in a fuse approach a fire-cracker. 

"I shall be glad to assist you if I can aid you in any way. You will tryto recover the child--?" he suggested. 

"It's generous of you to offer, but I think you had better keep out ofit. Of course I shall have Edith back; you may be sure of that. "

"You have some idea of where they are taking her--?"

"No, I really haven't. But she will be safe, though I hate to think ofher being subjected to so hideous an experience. It's rather odd, as Ithink of it, that my husband didn't personally try to take the childfrom me. "

This, uttered musingly, gave Archie a perturbed moment. But the car hadreached the Altmore. He lifted out the boy and accompanied them to thedoor. 

"Thank you, very much, " she said in a tone that dismissed him. 

Archie drove to another hostelry for a superficial cleaning up, explaining to the brush boy who scraped the oily mud from his trousersthat he had been in an automobile accident. He rode downtown in thesubway, strolled past the skyscraper in which his office was situatedand returned to the Governor's house feeling on the whole well pleasedwith himself. 

IV

Refreshed by a nap and a shower he was dressed and waiting for theGovernor at seven. On his way through the hall he ran into a man whosesudden appearance gave him a start. He was not one of the servants but arough-looking stranger with drooping shoulders and a smear of dirtacross his cheek. He would have passed him in the street as a laborerreturning from a hard day's work. The man did not lift his eyes butshuffled on to the door of the Governor's room which he opened andthen, flinging round, stood erect and laughed aloud. 

"Pardon me, Archie, for giving you a scare! I couldn't resist theimpulse to test this makeup!"

"You!" cried Archie, blinking as the Governor switched on the light. 

"I went and came in these togs; not for a lark, I assure you, butbecause I had to go clear down under the crust today. Turn the water onin my tub and I'll be slipping into decent duds in a jiffy. Here's anextra I picked up downtown. The scream of the evening is akidnaping--most deplorable line of business! Have you ever noticed acertain periodicity in child stealing? About every so often you hear ofsuch a case. Despicable; a foul crime hardly second to murder. Hangingis not too severe a punishment. Clear out now, for if we begin talkingI'll never get dressed!"

The account of the kidnaping in the park was little more than abulletin, but Archie soon had it committed to memory. The police had notyet learned that the two most important witnesses had given fictitiousnames, for both pseudonyms appeared in the article. 

In spite of the Governor's frequently avowed assertion that he wished toknow nothing about him, Archie felt strongly impelled to make a cleanbreast of the Bailey Harbor affair, the two encounters with Isabel andhis meeting with Mrs. Congdon. His resolution strengthened when theGovernor appeared, dressed with his usual care and exhilarated by hisday's adventures. At the table the Governor threw a remark now and thenat the butler as to the whereabouts and recent performances of some ofthat functionary's old pals. Baring received this information soberlywith only the most deferential murmurs of pleasure or dismay at thesuccesses or failures of the old comrades. Baring retired after thedinner had been served, and the Governor, in cozy accord with his cigar, remarked suddenly:

"Odd; you might almost say singular! I've crossed old man Congdon'strail again! You recall him--the old boy we left to the tender merciesof Seebrook and Walters?"

"Yes; go on!" exclaimed Archie so impatiently that the Governor eyed himin surprise. 

"It's remarkable how my theory that every man is a potential crook findsfresh proof all the time. Now old Congdon is rich and there's no reasonon earth why he shouldn't live straight; but, bless you, it's quiteotherwise! He's a victim of the same aberration that prompts peopleapparently as upright as a flagstaff to drop hotel towels into theirtrunks, collect coffee spoons in popular restaurants, or steal flowersin public gardens when they have expensive conservatories at home. Younever can tell, Archie. "

Archie, with the Congdons looming large on his horizon, was notinterested in the philosophical aspects of petty pilfering. 

"Stick to Eliphalet, " he suggested. 

"Oh, yes! Well, I met today one of the most remarkable of all the men Iknow who camp outside the pale. Perky is his name in Who's Who in NoMan's Land. A jeweler by trade, he fell from his high estate and went onthe road as a yegg. The work was too rough for him for one thing, andfor another it was too much of a gamble. Opening safes only to findthat they contained a few dollars in stamps and the postmaster's carpetslippers vexed him extremely and he then entered into the game of boringneat holes in the rim of twenty-dollar gold pieces, leaving only theouter shell and filling 'em up with a composition he invented that madethe coin ring like a marriage bell. While he was still experimenting heran into old Eliphalet sitting with his famous umbrella on a bench inBoston Common. Perky thought Eliphalet was a stool pigeon for a conoutfit, but explanations followed and it was a case of infatuation onboth sides. The old man was as tickled with the scheme as a boy with anew dog. He now assists Perky to circulate the spurious medium ofexchange. Perky says he's a wonderful ally, endowed with all thequalities of a first class crook. "

"You'll appreciate that better, " said Archie, "when you hear what I knowabout the Congdon family. You've been mighty decent in not pressing mefor any account of myself but you've got to hear my story now. We'llprobably both be more comfortable if I don't tell you my name, but youshall have that, too, if you care for it. So many things have happenedsince I left Bailey Harbor that you don't know about, things that Ihaven't dared tell you, that I'm going to spout it all now and here. Ifyou want to chuck me when you've heard it, well enough; but I don't mindsaying that to part with you would hurt me terribly. I never felt sodependent on any man as I do on you; and I've grown mighty fond of you, old man. "

"Thank you, lad, " said the Governor. 

He listened patiently, nodding occasionally or throwing in a question. When Archie finished he rose and clapped him on the shoulder. 

"By Jove, you've tossed my stars around like so many dice! I've got toconsult the oracles immediately. "

He darted from the room and when Archie reached his study the Governorwas poring over a map of the heavens. 

"Your Isabel's all tangled up in our affairs!" declared the Governorwith mock resentment. "It's she who has upset the calculations of allstar-gazers from the time of Ptolemy!"

"Isabel!" cried Archie excitedly. "I don't catch the drift of this atall!"

"I should be surprised if you did! Note that countless lines convergeupon my diagram. Isabel will dawn upon your gaze again very soon--I feelit coming. Our next move was clearly outlined to me before we came totown, but I must verify the figures in the light of this pistol practiceat Bailey. " He covered many sheets of a large tablet with figures andthrew down his pencil with a satisfied sigh. 

"Rochester!" he muttered. "Rochester of all places!"

"Would you mind telling me just what Rochester has to do with all this?"Archie demanded testily. 

"My dear boy, Rochester is one of the suburbs of Paradise! The commerceand manufactures of that city are nothing; it's an outpost of Romance, like Bagdad and Camelot, a port of call on the sea of dreams, likeCarcassonne! You may recall that I told you of a certain tile in asummer house where my adored promised to leave a message for me if herheart softened or she needed me. Well, the secret post-office is atRochester; there the incomparable visits her aunt and about this time ofyear she's likely to be there. And if you knew the way of the stars andcould understand my calculations you'd see that your Isabel is likely tohave some business in that neighborhood just about now. "

"Rubbish! I happen to know that her business was all to be in northernMichigan this summer. Your stars have certainly made a monkey of youthis time!"

"Cynic! The thought seems to please you! You want to see me discomfitedand defeated. Very well; you can drop me right here if you like, butI'll wager something handsome that you'll regret your skepticism all therest of your days. Resistance to the course of events marked by thestars is bound to result in confusion. And here's another strikingcoincidence: You mentioned casually that Isabel spoke of buried treasurein the far north. I'm overpowered by that. The sweet influences ofPleiades have long beguiled me with the promise of a quest for hiddengold; for years, Archie, the thing has haunted me. "

"You talk like a nonsense book! How much luggage are we taking?"

"Take everything you've got! This is going to be the most important ofall my enterprises, Archie. It's just as well to be fully prepared. "

He rang for Timmons to do their packing and fell upon a time table. 

"We shall take it easy tomorrow, arriving at Rochester, the city ofdreams, just as the shades of night are falling fast. Run along now;I've got a lot to think about. "

Archie was roused the next morning by the Governor, who flung an armfulof newspapers on his bed. 

"The police have confessed with unusual frankness that they were dupedin the park kidnaping. You and the attractive Mrs. Congdon both steppedinto the void. The names and addresses are found to be imaginary andthey're in the air! You stirred up a pretty row, you two. "

"I'd give something handsome to know where she went, " said Archie. "Iought to have stood by to help her instead of leaving her and hertroubles at a hotel door. "

"Having shot her husband, your concern for her safety and happiness doesyou credit! If the fellow died on the beach and his body was washed outto sea Mrs. Congdon is a widow. And in that event it's rather up to youto offer to marry her. The conventions of good society demand it. Yourstory gave me a restless night. I'm flabbergasted by the way things arehappening. For a modest fellow you are certainly capable of stirring upa queer mess of situations. And the singular thing about it is that forthousands of years we've been moving toward each other out of the void!And all the other people who were to influence our destinies were on theway to join us--scores of 'em, Archie!"

"Detectives, policemen, and all the rest of them! Grand juries, prosecuting officers, judges of criminal courts and prison wardens!"

"You're going to bore me one of these days by that sort of prattle. Onto Rochester!"

V

They wrote themselves down on the hotel register at Rochester asSaulsbury and Comly and were quickly in the rooms the Governor hadengaged by wire. 

"We dress, of course; unless I give you explicit directions to thecontrary we always dress for dinner, " said the Governor. "It's a lotmore distinguished to be shot in a white tie than in a morning suit. Always keep that in mind, Archie--you who go about popping at men intheir own houses with their own pistols. "

"Not going with me!" he exclaimed after they had dined sedately in themain dining-room of the hotel. "This is truly the _reductio adabsurdum!_ Three times I've invaded the premises of my beloved's auntand twice nearly got into trouble with policemen and gardeners. I needyou, Archie; really I do; and you're not a chap to desert a pal. "

Under this compulsion Archie found himself whisked away to a handsomeresidential area where the Governor dismissed the driver at a corner andcontinued afoot for several blocks. 

"Our silk hats would disarm suspicion in even more exclusiveneighborhoods. In fact we lend a certain distinction to the entireGenesee Valley. Alleys are distasteful to me, but into an alley we mustplunge with all our splendor. "

Alleys were not only distasteful to Archie, but he thought the searchfor a message in the grounds of the handsome estate the Governor seemedbent upon exploring utterly silly and foolhardy. The Governor ran hisstick along the top of a wall that grimly guarded the rear of thepremises. 

"Glass!" he exclaimed, and cleared a space with a sweep of his cane. Hecaught the edge of the wall and was quickly on top. When Archie hungback the Governor grasped him by the arms and swung him up and droppedhim into a dark corner of the garden. The house at the street end of thedeep lot was a large establishment that argued for the prosperousworldly state of the aunt of the Governor's inamorata. 

The Governor left him with the injunction to remain where he was, and hesaw in a moment the glimmer of a match in the summer house. He wasgazing at the tender, wistful new moon that suddenly slipped into hisvision in the west, when he felt the Governor's hand on his arm. 

"Archie! Oh, Archie!" the Governor whispered excitedly, brushing anenvelope across the bewildered Archie's face. "Strike a match before Iperish. "

He tore open the envelope, and his fingers trembled as he held the noteto the light. He read the two sheets to himself eagerly; then demanded asecond match and read aloud:

. .. "If this reaches you, remain near at hand until I can see you. Please understand that I promise nothing, but it is very possible thatyou may be able to serve me. My aunt is giving a party for me Thursdaynight. I must leave it to you as how best to arrange for a shortinterview the day following. A very dear friend needs help. The matteris urgent. You will think it a fine irony that I should call upon youfor a service that may be disagreeable if not dangerous, when yourunaccountable way of life has caused me so much unhappiness. "

The match curled and fell from Archie's fingers. A tense silence layupon the garden. A bat slanted eerily through the warm air. The Governorclasped Archie's hand tightly. He seemed swayed by a deep emotion, andwhen he spoke it was in a husky whisper. 

"It has come as I always knew it would come! And something tells me I amnear the end. Even with all my faith, boy, it's staggering. And this isthe very night of the dance. Ah, listen to that!"

They had moved out into a broad walk and Archie saw that the house wasbrilliantly lighted. Suddenly the strains of a lively two-step drewtheir attention to a platform that extended out upon the lawn from theconservatory, and at the same moment electric lamps shone in dozens ofJapanese lanterns along the hedge-lined paths. The Governor looked athis watch. It was half-past nine. 

"It's about time for us to clear out, " Archie remarked. 

"What! Leave this sacred soil when _she's_ here? Not on your life, Archie! I shall not leave till I've had speech with her. "

"She mentioned the day following the dance in the note, " Archieprotested. "You'd certainly make a mess of things if you tried to buttinto the party. "

"On the other hand the festal occasion offers an ideal opportunity forthe meeting! It's going to be a big affair; already machines are dashinginto the driveway in large numbers. We can merge in the happy throng andtrust to our wits to get us out alive. The aunt is seventy and verywise; she'll know us instantly as men of quality. "

He urged Archie, still resisting, through the grounds to the frontentrance, where they were admitted with several other guests who arrivedat the same moment. The gentlemen they found in the dressing room merelyglanced at them carelessly or nodded. An old gentleman, mistakingArchie for some one else, asked assistance with an obstreperous tie andexpressed his gratitude in the warmest terms. The Governor, primpingwith the greatest deliberation, had never been calmer. To Archie thisintrusion in the house of perfect strangers was a culminating act offolly, bound to result in humiliation. 

"We maybe a trifle early, " the Governor remarked, lighting a cigaretteand settling himself in a rocker. "We shall receive greaterconsideration if we linger a few moments. "

As Archie had counted on slipping downstairs heavily supported byproperly invited guests, he paced the floor for a quarter of an hourwhile the Governor imperturbably read a magazine. 

The room had cleared when at last he expressed his readiness to go. 

"The receiving line is probably broken up by this time. Our hostessdoesn't know either of us from the lamented Adam but I shall introduceyou quite casually, you know. Her name, by the way, is Lindsay. Thereare scads of people here; the very first families. We may mingle freelywithout fear of lowering our social standards. "

The stately old lady they found in the drawing-room lifted a lorgnetteas they approached, smiled affably and gave the Governor her hand. 

"Mrs. Lindsay, my friend, Mr. Comly. He arrived unexpectedly an hour agoand I thought you wouldn't mind my bringing him along, so I didn'tbother you by telephoning. "

"I should have been displeased if you had hesitated a moment--any friendof yours, you know!"

"Ruth is with you, of course? I haven't seen her since the last time shevisited you. "

"She's the same wonderful girl! You will find her dancing, I think. "

Other arrivals facilitated their escape. As they passed down thedrawing-room the Governor directed Archie's attention to a portraitwhich he pronounced a Copley, and insisted upon examining closely. Itwas with difficulty that Archie persuaded him to leave it, so enrapturedwas the Governor with the likeness of a stern old gentleman in powderedwig, who gazed down upon them with anything but a friendly eye. 

As they stepped into the conservatory the music ceased and there was aflutter as the dancers sought seats, or stepped out upon the lawn. Archie, acutely uncomfortable, heard the Governor stifle an exclamation. 

"That is she! Stand by me now! That chap's just left her. This is ourchance!"

A young woman was just seating herself in a chair at the farther cornerof the conservatory and her partner had darted away toward a table wherepunch was offered. The Governor moved toward her quickly. Archie saw herlift her head suddenly and her lips parted as though she were about tomake an outcry. Then the Governor bowed low over her hand, utteringexplanations in a low tone. Her surprise had yielded to what Archie, loitering behind, thought an expression of relief and satisfaction. Hemoved forward as the Governor turned toward him. 

"Miss Hastings, Mr. Comly. "

The girl had risen, perhaps the better to hide her agitation, Archiethought. She absently accepted the cup of punch brought by her partner, who, seeing her preoccupied with two strangers, pledged her to anotherdance and left them. 

"My name here, " the Governor was saying, "is Saulsbury. "

A slight shrug and a frown betrayed displeasure, but it was only for amoment and she smiled in spite of herself. The Governor's occasionalreferences to the woman who had enchained his affections had notprepared Archie for this presentation to a Ruth who might have passedfor seventeen in a hasty scrutiny and upon whose graceful head it seemeda wickedness to add the five years the Governor had attributed to her. She was below medium height, with brown hair and eyes. There wassomething wonderfully sweet and appealing in her eyes. Imagination hadset its light in them and the Governor was a man to awaken romanticdreams in imaginative women. The tan of her cheeks emphasized her lookof youth; she would have passed for a school girl who lived in tenniscourts and found keen delight on the links. How and where the Governorcould have known her was a matter of speculation, but in his wanderingsjust such a charming gipsy might easily have captured his fancy. TheGovernor had never, not even in the presence of his sister, been sowholly the gentleman as now. He was enormously happy, but with a subduedhappiness. He was upon his good behavior and Archie was satisfied thathe would in no way abuse the hospitality of the house he had enteredwith so much effrontery. The girl would take care of that in any event. The humor of the thing was appealing to her, and her eyes danced withexcitement. How much she knew about the Governor was another bafflingmatter; but she knew enough at least to know that his appearance was animpudence and with all discretion she was enjoying her connivance in herlover's appearance. A wise, self-contained young person, capable ofextricating herself from even more perilous situations. Archie likedRuth. The Governor had said that she was a bishop's daughter but for allthat she might have been the child of a race of swarthy kings. 

"You couldn't have thought that I would wait when I knew that you werein a mood to tolerate me or that I might serve you!" said the Governorgravely. "If our presence is likely to prove embarrassing--"

"Oh, Aunt Louise doesn't know the names of half the people here. Shenever goes out herself; she merely asked old friends and the children ofold friends. I really didn't want this party for I'm here on business, and it's about that that I want to speak to you, please!"

"I think, " said Archie, ill at ease, "that the moment has come for me toretire. "

"We shall not turn you adrift!" cried Ruth. "I have a very dear friend Imust introduce you to. Oh--" she hesitated and turned to the Governor, "is Mr. Comly a roamer? Has he a heart for high adventure?"

"He speaks without accent the language of all who love the long brownroad. "

"Then let him come with me!"

She laid her hand on Archie's arm, and walked toward the wide-flungdoors. The orchestra was again summoning the dancers. 

"Oh, Isabel!"

Following her gaze he was glad of the slight pressure of her hand on hisarm. Here at least was something tangible in a world that totteredtoward chaos. For it was Isabel Perry who turned at the sound of Ruth'svoice. She was just at the point of gliding away with her partner. 

"Miss Perry, Mr. Comly!"

The eyes that had haunted him in his wanderings flashed upon him, thennarrowed questioningly. 

"Oh, Mr. Comly!" There was the slightest stress on the assumed name. "After this dance--"

She slipped away leaving him staring. 

"Please take me back to Mr. Saulsbury, " said Ruth. "I've got to cut thisdance. I will introduce you to some other girls. "

But as no other girls were immediately available he protested that hewould do very well and guided her to the Governor. 

"Isabel is very busy, as usual, " said Ruth, "but if Mr. Comly is a goodstrategist, he will not fail to find her again. Isabel, you know--"

"Isabel!" exclaimed the Governor. "Not really--"

"Yes, really, " Archie answered, his voice hoarse as he raised it abovethe music. 

The Governor struck his gloved hands together smartly. Ruth, turningfrom a youth to whom she had excused herself, asked quickly:

"What has happened? You both look as though you had seen a ghost. "

"It's more mysterious than ghosts. Come; we must make the most of theseminutes. Your next partner won't give you up as meekly as that last onedid. "

Archie saw them a moment later pacing back and forth in one of the walksa little distance from the house. He stationed himself at the door withsome other unattached men, and followed Isabel's course over the floorwith intent, eager eyes. The dance, to a new and enchanting air, wasprolonged and he died many deaths as he watched her, catchingtantalizing glimpses of her face only to lose it again. 

No one in the happy throng seemed gayer than she; and once as shetripped by he assured himself that there was no hostility in the swiftglance she gave him. Seeing her again rilled him with a great happinessuntinged with bitterness. Among all the women of the bright company shealone was superb, and not less regal for his remembrance of her anger, the anger that had brought tears to her lovely eyes. 

At the conclusion of the number, she remained, to his discomfiture, atthe farther end of the platform, and when he hurried forward in the hopeof detaching her from the group that surrounded her she did not see himat all, which was wholly discouraging. A partner sought her for the nextdance and as the music struck up he made bold to accost her. 

"I am not to be eluded!" he said. "I must have at least one dance!"

"My card is filled--but I am reserving a boon for you! You shall havethe intermission, " and added as by an afterthought, "Mr. Comly, " with adelicious mockery. 

He passed Ruth, returning to put herself in the path of her nextpartner. 

"This is your punishment for coming late!" laughed the girl. There washappiness in her eyes. "How perfectly ridiculous you two men are!"

"Suppose we talk a bit, " said the Governor when they had found a benchon the lawn. He was silent for several minutes, sitting erect with armsfolded. 

"It's nearing the end!" he said solemnly; "there are other changes andchances perhaps, but the end is in sight. The whole thing wasunalterable from the beginning; it makes little difference what we donow. And it's you--it's you that have brought it all about. We are boundtogether by ties not of earthly making. "

He laughed softly, turned and placed his hand on Archie's shoulder. 

"You are beginning to believe at last?"

"I don't know what to believe, " Archie answered slowly. "There'ssomething uncanny in all this. Just how much do you understand of it?"

"Precious little! Your Isabel and my Ruth are friends; quite intimatefriends indeed. In college together, I'd have you know, but I never knewit till now. That's news to you, isn't it?"

"Most astonishing news!"

"And this is the very Isabel who shattered your equanimity; told you toshoot up the world and then treated you like a pick-pocket the next timeyou met! But as old William said 'Love is not love that alters when italteration finds. '"

"Don't jump at conclusions! I was just bragging when I gave you the ideathat there was anything between us. The love's all on my side! Shetwitted me about my worthlessness that night in Washington; bade me teardown the heavens. And it oddly happened that from that hour I have neverbeen a free man; I have done things I believed myself incapable ofdoing. "

"You did them rather cheerfully, I must say! But on the whole, nothingvery naughty. And I'll prepare you a little for what I prefer you shouldhear from Isabel--I got it from Ruth--you're not quite finished yet withthat pistol shot in the Congdon house. It seems to be echoing round theworld!"

CHAPTER FIVE

I

"In spite of my warnings you continue to follow me!" said Isabel whenthey were established in the supper room. 

"Are we to have another row? I don't believe I can go through with it. "

"No; for rows haven't got us anywhere. And Ruth whispered to me a momentago to be very nice to you. While the gentleman on the other side of meis occupied we might clear up matters a little. "

"It's not in my theory of life to explain things; I tried explainingmyself at Portsmouth and again at Bennington but you were singularlyunsympathetic. Please be generous and tell me why you were skipping overNew England, darting through trains and searching hotel registers andmanifesting uneasiness when policemen appeared. You recommended a lifeof lawlessness to me but I didn't know you meant to go in for that sortof thing yourself. "

"It occurred to me after the Bennington interview that I might have beenunjust, but I was in a humor to suspect every one. When you said you'dshot Putney Congdon you frightened me to death. Of course you didnothing of the kind!"

"This is wonderful chicken salad, " he said, hastily. "I beg you to doit full justice. The people about us mustn't get the idea that we'rediscussing homicide. Now, to answer your question, I _had_ shot Mr. Putney Congdon and in edging away from the scene of my bloodshed I wasguilty of other indiscretions that made me chatter like a maniac when Isaw you. It was such a joke that you should turn up when I was doingjust what you prescribed for me as a cure for my ills. I am quite calmnow, and my health is so good that when the waiter brings those littlepocket rolls this way I shall take a second and perhaps a third. "

"My own nerves had gone to pieces or I shouldn't have flared as I did atPortsmouth and I was even more irresponsible when I saw you in thatparlor car at Bennington. "

"You saw me kiss a girl on the train. Miss Perry, I will not deceive youabout that. She was all but a stranger, and I had assisted her to elope. Her husband was hiding in the baggage car. "

"He would have thrown himself under the wheels if he had witnessed thatardent kissing! I confess that I hadn't done justice to yourfascinations. And you were not her guardian, or anything like that?"

"Certainly not. She's a dairy maid I married to a diamond thief bymistake. My ignorance of women is complete. Sally Walker's duplicitywasn't necessary to convince me of that but your own conduct completelycrushed my vanity. "

"The crushing has improved you, I think. Please don't think that becauseI am showing you so much tolerance I am wholly satisfied that youweren't trying to thwart my own criminal adventures. When we met atPortsmouth I was trying to meet poor Mrs. Congdon somewhere to helpkidnap her little girl!"

"Edith--a lovely child, " Archie remarked, and picked up the napkin thatslipped from her knees. He enjoyed her surprise. "Please don't scorn theice cream; you will find it very refreshing. As you were saying--"

"If I hadn't been warned by Ruth that you were to be trusted in thisbusiness I should begin screaming. How did you know the child's name?What do you know about the Congdons?"

"Volumes! Let my imagination play on your confession. You were trying tofind Mrs. Congdon and whisk the child away to your camp, when I ran intoyou. You had missed connections with the mother and thought I was tryingto embarrass or frustrate you? I had troubles of my own and you couldn'thave done me a greater wrong!"

"Mrs. Congdon was in a panic, skipping about with the children to avoidher husband; but it was really her father-in-law who was pursuing her. He's a miserly, disagreeable wretch! I came here to meet Ruth, who is anold friend of hers, hoping she might be able to deliver the little girlto me undetected. I met both Mr. And Mrs. Congdon once, several yearsago, at a dinner in Chicago, but I can hardly say that I know them. Ruth's to be the chief councilor of my camp--so interested in my schemethat she insisted on going up there to help me. And Mrs. Congdon thoughtthat would be a fine place to hide her Edith while the family rumpus wason. I was to run with Edith as hard as I could for Heart o' Dreams, mygirls' camp, you know, up in Michigan. "

"How stupid I am! With a word you might have made unnecessary our twoaltercations!"

"The matter, as you can see, is very delicate, even hazardous. I hadnever been a kidnaper and when you saw me on those two occasions I wasterribly alarmed, not finding Mrs. Congdon where she expected to be. AndI must say that you added nothing to my peace of mind. "

"Please note that I am drinking coffee at midnight! I shouldn't havedared do that before your cheering advice in Washington. We have but amoment more, and I shall give you in tabloid form my adventures todate. "

It was the Isabel of the Washington dinner party who listened. She wasdeeply interested and amused, and at times he had the satisfaction ofreading in her face what he hopefully interpreted as solicitude for hissafety. He confined himself to essentials so rigidly that she protestedconstantly that he was not doing his story justice. Of the Governor hespoke guardedly, finding that Isabel knew nothing about him beyond ashadowy impression she had derived from Ruth that he was a wanderer whohad charmed her fancy. 

"If he hasn't told you of the beginning of their acquaintance, I musthave a care, " said Isabel. "He and Ruth met oddly enough in a settlementhouse--I needn't say where it was--where Ruth was a volunteer worker. Your friend turned up there as a tramp and she didn't know at once thathe was masquerading. Afterward he threw himself in her path, mostingeniously, in his proper rôle of a gentleman, in a summer place whereshe was visiting, and that added to the charm of the mystery. I can seethat he's very unusual. You've told me more than she knows about him, but even that leaves a good deal to be desired. In all the world there'sno girl like Ruth; there must be no question of her happiness!"

"You needn't be afraid. In spite of his singular ways I'd trust himround the world. We can't stay here longer, I suppose; there's a youngblade at the door looking for you now. Is there any way I can serveyou?"

"Ruth has explained all that to Mr. Saulsbury by now. She felt sure thathe would help; and, believe me, I have confidence in you. "

"The first thing is to find Edith Congdon and you may trust us for that. I will seize this moment to say, " he added quietly, "that you are evenlovelier than I remembered you!"

"You are very bold, sir! You wouldn't have said that a very little whileago. "

"You complained once that I wasn't bold enough! Now that I come to youred handed and for all you know with stolen silver in my pocket, youcan't complain of my forwardness. I am a rascal of high degree, as youwould have me be. And I now declare myself your most relentless suitor!I trust my frankness pleases you?"

"Your adventures in rascality have added to your plausibility. I almostbelieve you--but not quite. You seem to be extremely vulnerable tofeminine blandishments. There's Sally, the milkmaid. Remember that I sawyou kiss her with rather more than brotherly warmth. Still, I supposeyou'd earned some reward for your daring. "

"A bluff old man-at-arms ought to be forgiven for pausing in his wildcareer to kiss a pretty lass at the wayside!" he growled. 

His mock-heroic attitude toward his exploits kept her laughing, untilshe said, quite soberly:

"Please don't think I'm so awfully frivolous, for I really am not. Andto be sitting in a place like this among all these highly proper peopletalking of the dreadful things you've done is simply ridiculous. When Iundertook to hide Edith Congdon from her father I couldn't see thatthere would be anything wrong in it! And yet I would have been akidnaper, I suppose. "

"And you've cheerfully turned the job over to me, " he said, finding itnow his turn to be amused. "When you gave me your warrant to destroy allthe kingdoms of the world you forgot that there might be unpleasantconsequences. But I assure you that after a few days you don't caremuch!"

"It's so deliciously dreadful! And only the other day you were in mortalterror of sudden death. "

"I've forgotten I ever had a nerve. To be sure our littlemisunderstandings nearly broke my heart, but now that you've smiledagain I'm ready for anything. I might say further that in the end Ishall expect my reward. If there are other men who love you they will dowell to keep out of my path. We shall meet somewhere or other soon, Ihope!"

"From what you say of your friend's faith in the stars there's no useplanning. I shall remain here a day or two in the hope of hearing fromMrs. Congdon. She loves her husband and from what Ruth says he's reallydevoted to her, but the father-in-law is a malicious mischief maker. "

"If I shot the wrong man I shall always deplore the error. I hope youtake into consideration the fact that he might have shot me! He thoughthe had a man at the end of his gun when he popped away at the mirror. "

"I'm ashamed that I find it all so funny. Shooting any one can't reallybe a pleasant performance for a gentleman of your up-bringing; and yetyou speak of it now as though it were only a trifling incident of theday's work. The Marquis of Montrose would certainly be vastly tickled ifhe knew what his little rhyme has done for you. "

"The Marquis isn't in the sketch at all; it's far more important thatyou should approve of me in every particular. You spoke of buriedtreasure at that never-to-be-forgotten dinner at my sister's. I've keptthat in mind as rather a pretty prospect. "

"That cousin of mine is a great nuisance. He's not only bent uponfinding my grandfather's buried money, but he thinks he is in love withme. "

"I have a rival then?" asked Archie, with a sinking of the heart. 

"You may call him that, " she laughed. "A girl always likes to thinkthere are others. "

"Your camp--you haven't yet told me how to find it?" he said eagerly. 

"It's a girls' camp, you know, and the male species is rigidly excluded. But Ruth will give Mr. Saulsbury full particulars. "

"Crusoe found a footprint in the sand! By the way, did my sister Mayever find a summer cottage?"

"She found a house at Cape May, which is much more accessible fromWashington than Bailey Harbor. Do you imagine you can ever tell her allyou've just told me?"

"There are certain confidences permissible between sisters-in-law, soit's really up to you!" he replied glibly. "Don't trouble to answer; theGovernor's waiting for me. "

They walked back to the hotel in the best of humor. As they crossed thelobby the Governor suddenly slapped his pockets and walked to the cigarstand. A tall man in a gray traveling cap was talking earnestly to theclerk, meanwhile spinning a twenty-dollar gold piece on the show case. The Governor purchased some cigarettes and while waiting for changenodded to the stranger, who absently responded and began tapping thecoin with the handle of a penknife. 

"Not many of those things in circulation nowadays, " the Governorremarked, thrusting the cigarettes into his pocket. The strangercarelessly inspected the two gentlemen in evening dress and handed thecoin to the Governor. 

"What d'ye think of that?" he asked. 

The Governor turned the gold disk to the light and then flung it sharplyon the wooden end of the counter, where it rang musically. He handed itback with a smile. 

"The real thing, all right! Wish I had a couple of million just likeit. "

"It's a good thing you haven't!" the man remarked with a grin. 

He resumed his talk with the clerk, speaking in a low tone, while theGovernor loitered at the magazine counter. Archie went to the desk fortheir keys and received a bundle of mail for Mr. Saulsbury, who walkedslowly toward him apparently absorbed in the periodical he hadpurchased. 

"It doesn't seem possible we can lose!" he said when they reached theirrooms. "There will be cross-currents yet; but a strong tide has set in, bearing us on. "

He threw the magazine with well-directed aim into a desk in the corner, and meditatively smoothed his hat on his sleeve. 

"That chap was Dobbs, a Government specialist in counterfeiters, andthat twenty-dollar piece had almost the true ring, but not quite. Theman who turned it out showed me the difference only yesterday. Perky?Certainly! He said Eliphalet Congdon had taken a bagful to pass on theunwary. The old boy had changed a lot of them in New England and theGovernment is not ignoring the matter. Eliphalet Congdon presents justsuch a case as we find occasionally where some perfectly soundconservative country banker feels the call of the wild and does a loopof death in high finance. "

"You don't think old man Congdon has been here lately?" asked Archie. 

"Only a day or two ago! I picked that up while I was buying my magazine. Congdon bought some stogies at the cigar stand and changed that twenty. We're all loaded for Eliphalet, Archie. After you told me your kidnapingstory, I telegraphed to Perky for all the possible places where the oldman might be. Perky has ranged the country with him and from his data wecan keep tab on the old boy. Dobbs knows nothing of the kidnaping; it'sthe gold piece that interests him. I overheard enough to know we're onthe right track. Eliphalet Congdon owns a farm in Ohio. Perky spent amonth there boring out gold pieces. What we've got to do, Archie, is tofind the Congdon child and turn her over to your Isabel and my Ruth. Avery pretty job, demanding our best attention. "

He paced the floor for a moment, his hands thrust deep in his trouserspockets, his silk hat tipped rakishly on one side of his head. 

"A strange thing is happening; something the stars gave no hint of. We're being driven by circumstances utterly beyond our control from theside of the lawless to the side of the lawful and benevolent. In spiteof ourselves, you understand!"

"But we're not leaving here until--"

"You were about to say that we can't shake the dust of Rochester fromour sandals before we've made our party calls. Alas, no! We shall notcommunicate with our ladies again. First we must justify theirconfidence in us and find the Congdon child. Our wool can only changefrom black to white when we have performed some act of valor in a goodcause. That is clearly indicated by my latest pondering of the zodiacalsigns. Let me say that your Isabel is beyond question a girl worthliving or dying for. I am delighted that she and Ruth speak the languageof those of us who love the life adventurous, children of stars and sun. I shall be up early to make a few discreet inquiries as to the recentvisit of Eliphalet and then I must buy a machine powerful enough tocarry us far and fast. Luckily I brought a bundle of cash for just suchemergencies. "

"But a day's delay can't matter, " Archie pleaded. "Every hour matterswhen the woman I love sets a task for me. It's still the open road forus, Archie. Good-night and pleasant dreams!"

II

The new car proved to be a racer and the Governor drove it with thespeed of a king's messenger bearing fateful tidings. Occasionally fromsheer weariness he relinquished the wheel to Archie, whose dispositionto respect the posted warnings against lawless haste evoked theGovernor's most contemptuous criticism. 

"We ride for our ladies! Let the constables go hang!"

Constables were not to Archie's taste but now that they were bent upon adefinite errand and one that promised another meeting with Isabel at theend of the journey he shared the Governor's zest for flight. It was ajoy to be free under the broad blue arch of June. Spring is a playtimefor fledgling fancy but in summer the heart is strong of wing and daresthe heavens. It was Archie who now initiated vocal outbursts, strikingup old glee club catches he hadn't thought of since his college days. Hewas in love. He bawled his scraps of song that the world might know thathe was a lover riding far and hard at the behest of his lady. Histhoughts skipped before him like dancing children. The life he wasleading was not the noblest; he had no illusions on that score; but hewas no longer a loafer waiting in luxurious ease for the curtain to fallupon a dull first act in a tedious drama, but a man of action, quitecapable of holding his own against the world!

"You've caught the spirit at last! We're the jolliest beggars alive!"exulted the Governor. 

He dropped from the clouds at intervals; proved his possession of apractical mind; received telegrams in towns Archie had never heard ofbefore, and tossed the fragments to the winds. 

"All the machinery, the intricate mechanism of the underworld is at workto assist us! I tell you as little as possible, but I neglect nothing. All communications in cipher, and you can see that the telegraph clerksthink we are persons of highest importance. "

He dashed off replies unhesitatingly, emphasizing the urgency for theirprompt despatch. Skirting the shores of Erie, he produced from a hollowtree a bundle of mail, wrapped in oil-skin. Soiled envelopes with theaddresses scrawled awkwardly in pencil were reenclosed in brownenvelopes neatly directed in typewriting and bearing the S. S. S. P. Inone corner. The humor of his Society for the Segregation of StolenProperty tickled the Governor mightily and when Archie asked what wouldhappen if these packets of mail went astray and fell into the hands ofpost-office inspectors, he displayed one of the notes which consisted ofa dozen unrelated words, decorated with clumsy drawings, --a tree, abridge, a barred window. 

"Only twenty men out of our hundred million could read that! Code of ourmost exclusive circle. The silly wretch has been raiding country banksin the middle west and carried his playfulness too far. He's in jail nowbut not at all worried--merely bored. He'd safely planted his stuffbefore they nabbed him, and he had fixed up his alibi in advance;that's the import of that oblong in the corner, which means that he canshow a white card--a clean bill of health, legally speaking, and isn'tafraid. "

"I suppose he expects you to find the stuff and turn it into non-taxablesecurities, " Archie remarked ironically. 

"Precisely the idea! But I may not be able to serve him there. It willgrieve me to leave the boys in the lurch; they've confided in me a longtime. "

The Governor had lapsed into moods of silence frequently since they leftRochester. The imminence of his release from whatever power haddominated him might, Archie thought, have subdued him to this unfamiliarhumor with its attendant long periods of sober reflection. The meetingwith Ruth had worked this change, he believed, no longer marveling atthe fate that had linked their lives and their loves together. But thehints the Governor let fall of an approaching climacteric, a crisis ofsignificance in his affairs, filled Archie with apprehension. 

"Don't be foolish!" exclaimed the Governor, when Archie broached thematter. "Haven't I told you time and again that we shall stand togetherto the end of the trail!"

This was in a town where they paused for a quick overhauling of the car. At their table in a cafeteria he rioted in figures and expressedsatisfaction with the results. 

"If only the stars continue kind!" he said. 

Nothing was to be gained by pressing inquiries upon a gentleman whoordered his affairs by the zodiac. At Buffalo the Governor made earnestefforts to rent a yacht, without confiding to Archie just what use heexpected to make of it. No yachts being in the market, the Governor setabout hiring a tug, and did in fact lease one for a month from adredging company, paying cash and the wages of the crew in advance, andreserving an option to buy. The _Arthur B. Grover_ was to be sent toCleveland and held there for orders. He might want to negotiate thelakes as far as Duluth, he told the president of the company, who wassurprised and chagrined when the singular Mr. Saulsbury readily accepteda figure that was intended to be prohibitive. The Governor was proud ofthe tug and expatiated upon its good points, which included sleepingquarters for the men and a nook where the captain could tuck himselfaway. He deplored his previous inattention to tugs; he believed more funcould be got from a tug like the _Arthur B. Grover_ than from the beststeam yacht afloat. 

"We must be ready for anything, " he remarked to Archie. "The signs pointto a disturbance of great waters, and there's nothing like beingprepared. "

At Cleveland Archie's last doubt as to his mentor's connection with theunderworld of which he talked so entertainingly was removed. Reachingthe city at midnight the car was left at a garage downtown, their trunksexpressed to Chicago, and they arrived by a devious course at anill-smelling boarding house. Here, the Governor informed him, only thearistocracy of the preying professions were received. 

The arrival of another guest, a tall man of thirty, who had been takinga porch-climbing jaunt through mid-western cities, added to Archie'spleasure. In his clubs he had lent eager ear to the tales of such of hisacquaintances as had slaughtered lions in Africa, or performed fancystunts of mountaineering, and more lately he had listened with awe tothe narratives of scarred veterans of the Foreign Legion; but thisfellow "Gyppy, " as the Governor called him, who had mastered the art ofscaling colonial pillars and raiding the second story chambers of thehomes of honest citizens, seemed to Archie hardly less heroic. "Gyppy"recounted his adventures with a kind of sullen humor that Archie foundhighly diverting. He sheepishly confessed that the net reward of afortnight of diligent labor in his specialty was only three hundreddollars. The Governor was very stern with "Gyppy, " advising him toabandon porch-climbing as a hazardous and unprofitable vocation. Archiewas dragged from the hardest bed he had ever slept in early the nextmorning. 

"No more scented soap!" cried the Governor. "No more breakfast-in-bed!Here's where we get down to brass tacks and let our whiskers flourish!"He threw a rough suit of clothes on a chair and bade Archie get into itas quickly as possible. "Jam the other suit into your bag and Wigginswill ship it with mine to a point we may or may not touch. We shallleave this thriving city as farm hands eager to step softly upon theyielding clod. We go by trolley a little way, and if you have neversurveyed the verduous Ohio Valley from a careening trolley car you havea joy coming to you. A democratic conveyance; plenty of chances to plantyour feet in baskets of fresh-laid eggs or golden butter! But don'tassume that we shall ride all the way; it's afoot for us, Archie! Weshall be tramps seeking honest labor but awfully choosey about the jobswe take!"

An ill-fitting suit, with a blue flannel shirt and tattered capcompletely transformed him. He surveyed himself with satisfaction in acracked mirror while urging Archie to greater haste. 

"We'd cut a pretty figure on Fifth Avenue now!" he exclaimed, delightedto see Archie apparelled in a suit rather less pleasing to the eye thanhis own. "We'll roughen up considerably in our travels and by the timewe reach Eliphalet Congdon's broad acres he'll never recognize us asgentlemen he's met before. "

"You don't expect to see the old man, do you?" demanded Archie with asinking of the heart. "I thought we were going to find that little girland hurry with her to Isabel's camp? This tramping stuff will merelycause us to lose time. "

"We're not going to lose any time. I'm as anxious to be on with thebusiness as you are; but we're not going to make a mess of it. I've gotsome ideas I don't dare tell you about; you might get panicky and run!Steady, Archie, and trust the Governor. "

Trusting the Governor had been much easier while they were traveling infast motors or in parlor cars. The trolley with its frequent stops, theproneness of the plain folk to lunch upon bananas and peanuts and castthe skins and shells thereof upon the floor pained Archie greatly. 

The first night they slept in a barn, without leave, begged a breakfastand walked until Archie cried for mercy. 

"What's a blistered foot more or less!" cried the Governor, producingan ointment which he forthwith applied with tenderest solicitude. 

From his ingenuity in foraging and the philosophy with which he acceptedthe day's vicissitudes, Archie judged that his companion was by no meansnew to the road. He showed the greatest familiarity with the region theytraversed, avoiding farmhouses where no generosity could be expected bythe tramping fraternity, leading the way through quiet woods to"swimming holes" where they bathed and solaced their souls. They mustnot get ahead of their schedule, he explained. When Archie, knowingnothing of schedules, timidly asked questions the Governor, feigning notto hear, would deliver long lectures on Ohio history, praising thepioneers of the commonwealth, and enthusiastically reciting the publicservices of her statesmen. 

At the end of the fourth day as they kicked their heels against the pierof a bridge that spanned the Sandusky, watching the stars slip intotheir places in the soft tender sky, the Governor's quick ear detectedthe step of a pedestrian approaching from the west. 

"Unless we've missed a turn somewhere, that's Perky. A punctual chap;this is the exact time and place for our meeting and he should beartidings of interest in our affairs. "

The man, who was dressed like a farm laborer, responded carelessly tothe Governor's greeting, and swung himself to a seat beside him on theabutment. 

"The young brother knows the wisdom of silence, " remarked the Governor, laying his hand on Archie's knee. "It's a pleasure to bring you twotogether. He and I follow the leading of the same star. What news of thelamb in the pasture?"

As though taking time to accommodate himself to the Governor's manner ofspeech Perky lighted his pipe and flicked the match into the river. 

"The little lamb is not happy. The father is expected tonight. I've gotorders to chop wood while he's on the reservation. "

"The son is not wise to the metal trick and you drop into thebackground?"

"The true word has been spoken, brother. "

"The son has been long upon the road. What caused him to linger?"

"A broken arm, so the old man has it; and repairs have been made in ahospital at Portland by the eastern sea. "

The Governor dug his elbow into Archie's ribs. Archie caught a gleam. Putney Congdon had been in a hospital recovering from the bullet woundreceived at Bailey Harbor, but was now arriving at his father's Ohiofarm, where his child, the lamb referred to, was concealed. Putney wasto be kept in ignorance of the lure of the tampered coins that hadbrought Perky into alliance with his father, and Perky was to interesthimself in wood-chopping during the son's visit. In the privacy of thebridge with only an uninterested river for auditor, there seemed to beno reason why these matters should not be discussed openly; but theGovernor evidently enjoyed these veiled communications, though it wasclear that Perky found difficulty in fashioning the responses. 

"Is there work in the fields for willing hands? Shall we find welcome aslaborers keen for the harvest?" asked the Governor. 

"The slave driver weeps for lack of help and the pay is high. You willbe welcome. When the sun makes its shortest shadow tomorrow you willsign papers for the voyage. "

This penetrated to Archie's consciousness as assurance that he and theGovernor would find employment on Eliphalet's farm, where Edith Congdonwas being concealed from her mother, and that the most fortunate time toapply for employment was at noon the next day. 

"The lamb must be carried to more northern pastures. We must guardagainst snares and pitfalls. "

"The old ram is keen but only one eye may be used at a knot-hole. Hesuspects nothing. We have spoken enough?"

"Longer speech would be a weariness; you may leave us. "

Perky waited for a motor to clatter over the bridge and with a careless"So long!" walked away whistling. 

"A pretty decent chap, that, " remarked the Governor, "with a highlydeveloped bump of discretion. A man I hope to see with his feet onhonest earth when I leave the road. There must be no slip, Archie. Theresponsibilities of the next fortnight are enormous. The happiness ofmany people depends upon us. We'll stroll back to that big farm wepassed awhile ago. It's starred in the official guide books of the dustyramblers and the milk and bread and butter there will be excellent. Andthe barn is red, Archie! A red barn is the best of all for sleepingpurposes. An unpainted barn advertises the unthrift of the owner, andthe roof is always leaky. The scent of moldy hay is extremely offensiveto me--suggests rheumatism and pneumonia. And a white barn stares at youinsolently. Whenever I see a white barn I prepare for bad luck. But ared barn, Archie, warms the cockles of your heart. It enfolds you like acanopy of dreams! I wouldn't have the red too glaring;--a certainrustiness of tint is desirable--"

"Here endeth the lecture, " Archie interrupted. "I am starving in a landof milk and honey. Do I understand, " he asked as they crossed thebridge, "that tomorrow we're going to find jobs on Eliphalet'splantation and kidnap his granddaughter?"

"Much as I hate to anticipate, Archie, it's not only little Edith we'regoing to kidnap! We're going to steal the old man too!"

III

"I never saw a tramp yet that was worth his breakfast, " snarled Grubbs, the foreman of Eliphalet Congdon's farm. "But don't you bums think y'can loaf round here. It's goin' t' be work from now right through tillthe wheat's cut. Jail birds, both on y', I bet. Well, there ain'tnothin' round here to steal. Y' can both sleep in the hands' house backyonder and hop to meals when the bell rings. There's some old hats inthe barn; shed them pies y' got on yer heads and try t' look like honestmen anyhow. "

They partook of the generous midday meal provided in a big screenedporch adjoining the kitchen. Half a dozen other laborers, regularlyattached to Eliphalet's section of rich land, eyed the newcomers withthe disdain born of their long tenure. Perky was a capital actor; no onewould have imagined that he had ever seen either of the new handsbefore. In the near-by fields the wheat shimmered goldenly in the sun, quivering into the perfection that would bring it under the knife a fewdays later. Help was scarce and the scorn of the foreman was assumed. Hehad every intention of clinging to the latest comers, inexperiencedvagabonds though they might prove, until the pressing need was passed. 

The Governor was set to work with two other men ripping out an old railfence and replacing it with wire. Archie's task was the rather moredisagreeable one of trundling gravel in a wheelbarrow and distributingit in holes staked for his guidance in the road that ran from thehighway gate to the barn. The holes were small; it seemed to Archieabsurd to spend time filling such small cavities; and a wheelbarrowfilled with gravel is heavy. The foreman explained the job and departed, reappearing from time to time for the pleasure of criticizing Archie'swork. When Archie suggested that there would be an economy of time inloading the gravel into a wagon and effecting the distribution by thatmeans the foreman stared at him open-mouthed for a moment, then burstinto ironical laughter. 

"Give _you_ a team to handle--you!"

The thought of trusting Archie with a team when teams were needed formuch more important matters struck the cynical foreman as a grossimpiety. The humor of the thing was too tremendous to be enjoyed alone;he yelled to a man who was driving by in a motor truck filled with milkcans to stop and hear the joke. Archie's soul burned within him. That aman of education who belonged to the best clubs on the continent shouldbe proclaimed a fool by a hatchet-faced farmer in overalls, before a fatperson on a milk truck was the most crushing of all humiliations. Theforeman jumped on the truck and rode away, and Archie bent his back tothe barrow, resolving that never again would he complain of bumps in aroad now that he knew the heart-breaking and back-breaking labor ofroad-mending. 

On the whole he did a good job; it was remarkable how interested onecould become in so contemptible a task. He tamped the gravel into theholes with the loving care of a dentist filling a tooth, and struck workwith reluctance when the bell sounded for supper. 

The Governor was already on terms of comradeship with his fellowtoilers, and as they splashed in the basins set out on a long plank nearthe kitchen, his quips kept them laughing. Two college boys had justarrived to aid in the harvesting. Farmers are not much given to humorand the young fellows were clearly pleased to find a jester on thepremises. At the supper table the Governor gave his conversationalpowers free rein. This was the only life; he had rested all winter sothat he might enjoy farm life the more. He subjected the collegians to arigid examination in Latin, quizzed them in physics and promised thewhole company a course of lectures on astronomy. 

Perky strolled away in one direction; the Governor in another andArchie, left to his own devices, fumed at this desertion. The two wouldmeet somewhere and plan the next strategic move, Archie surmised, and hewas irritated to find himself denied a place in their councils. Herefused an invitation to sit in at a poker game that was being organizedin the farm hands' house and wandered idly about the premises. Theresidence was a two-story farmhouse, with a broad veranda evidentlyquite recently added. As Archie passed the windows he noted that therooms were handsomely furnished. This was not an establishment where theemployees were admitted to social intercourse with the family of theowner. As Archie stole by, the voices from the veranda sounded remote asfrom another world. An aristocrat by birth and training, he found here aconcrete lesson in democracy that disturbed him. The world was not allclub corners and week-end parties. For a few hours at least he wasearning his bread by the sweat of his face--a marvelous experience--andfeeling very lonesome indeed at the end of his day's labor. 

"I don't want to stay with papa; I want to see mama!"

A child's voice plaintively uttering this as he slunk round the housereminded him of the real nature of his sojourn on Eliphalet Congdon'sacres. 

"Papa's sick; you must be nice to your papa. You must help him to getwell, and then you can see your mama!"

Through the parlor windows he saw the stolen Edith rebelliouslyconfronting the tall woman who had been a party to the kidnaping inCentral Park. 

Eliphalet Congdon entered the room clutching a newspaper and Archieheard him exclaim angrily:

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Edith. Your papa's just come andis sick and tired and your fretting's keeping him awake. Take herupstairs, Sarah, and put her to bed. "

As he surveyed the upper windows he caught a glimpse of a woman in atrained nurse's uniform. Putney Congdon was established on the farm andthough it was nearly three weeks since the fateful night at BaileyHarbor, he was still feeling the effects of his injury. Afraid of beingcaught loitering Archie hurried down to the meadow that stretched awayfrom the house and stumbled into a flock of sheep. 

He left the sheep, rather envying their placid existence, and was on hisway to the laborers' shack when the Governor stepped into his path. 

"Mooning? Perky and I have been smoking our pipes off yonder in thewoods. He's as sore as a boil because Putney's blown in and he's got tomake a feint at honest labor. Perky has a very delicate touch with thetools of his trade and he'd just got his laboratory fixed up in thegarret where he's been doctoring gold pieces to beat the band. He saysold Eliphalet is more and more delighted with his work. The more he'sdelighted the better the sport for us. "

"I don't see where the sport comes in!" said Archie testily, pausing atthe fence of the chicken yard. "It's a long way to that camp in Michiganwhere we've got to take the child; and you needn't think it's going tobe so easy. The old man will be hot after us. Putney's still got a nurselooking after him, but if he's traveled this far he's not going to letgo of the little girl without a fight. You've got to take this thingseriously; a mistake will be fatal and after all I've gone through Idon't just relish making a mess of it. "

"Make a wish!" cried the Governor. "There goes a star sliding merrilytoward the Pacific. "

But a shower of meteors would not have stopped Archie's questions as tothe manner in which Edith Congdon was to be snatched from hergrandfather's farm in Ohio and transferred to the inland seas. Heresented his exclusion from the conference with Perky and said so. 

"My dear boy, suspense is good for the soul; I'm merely cultivating inyou the joy of surprise. The discipline of waiting will sharpen yourwits, which is important, as I mean to honor you with considerableresponsibility and leave you here when I depart, which will be tonightas dewy eve spreads her sparkling robe--"

"Leave me here! My God, man, I'm not going to be stranded in thiswilderness! You've lost your senses if you think you can shake me nowand leave me to get pinched and do time for your foolishness!"

"Patience, little brother, and not quite so vociferous! You have a goodnatural voice with strong carrying powers but it shows a sad lack ofcultivation. This much will I impart: tomorrow morning Perky willwhisper to Eliphalet that the Government is wise to the gold piece trickand that they are watched. The old boy will be scared to death--his sonon the place and all that sort of thing, besides the chance of facing ahard-hearted Federal judge for tampering with the Republic's coin. Perkywill throw a scare into him that will stand him on his head and thenhe'll advise him to beat it and the old chap will throw his arms aroundPerky's neck and beg for protection. And Perky, with a reputation fornever deserting a pal, will seize him firmly by the hand and awaythey'll go. "

"_Where_ will they go?" Archie demanded tartly. 

"That would be telling! Let it suffice that they depart in some haste. Next I take the little girl into my care and start for the camp. You, Archie, will remain here to watch Mr. Putney Congdon. "

"I didn't come here with you, did I? They won't suspect me of complicityor anything--oh, no!" moaned Archie. 

"Bless you, my boy, I'm far less stupid than you think. I'm leaving hereat once and the little girl will be carried off with all circumspection. My lines of communication are working splendidly and some of the keenestwits in the underworld are assembling here and there to assist in myvarious enterprises. The part I'm assigning you flatters yourintelligence. You are to watch Putney Congdon and follow him when heleaves. "

"Cut that rubbish and listen to me, " said Archie, his voice quaveringwith anger; "you can't play the fool with me in this fashion. You meanto leave me here with a man I shot; and you think I'm going to _follow_him! What if he never goes; what if he stays all summer!"

"He won't, " the Governor answered. "He's going to follow that child ofhis if it leads him to kingdom come. If you want to see your Isabelagain, follow Putney Congdon. You will of course be a model ofdiscretion, but--"

"Do you mean to say you'll tell him where you're taking his child? If Ididn't know you for a sober man I'd swear you'd been drinking!"

"Never more sober in my life, Archie. I shall not of course spoil thejoy of the kidnaping by taking Putney into my confidence, but after thechild's well out of the way I shall send him a wire telling him wherehis daughter may be found--a gentle hint, but sufficient to tease hiscuriosity. "

Archie stamped his foot in impotent fury. 

"You're leaving me here on this infernal farm, with a man I shot andnearly murdered! And you'll wire him where you're headed for when youhaven't told me!"

"Steady, lad; steady! Don't forget that the underworld is a labyrinth ofmystery. I'm utilizing all my power among the brotherhood to pull offthis undertaking. All about us--" he waved his hand--"with theirfunctions duly assigned, are men I can trust and who trust me--some ofthem utter strangers to one another but bound by the same tie. But I'lljust whisper the address in your ear and you'll do well to remember it. Heart o' Dreams Camp, Huddleston, Michigan; post-office, Calderville. When the victim of your ready gun rises from his couch and strikes outfor the northwest you will not lose sight of him. If you do you'llmuddle everything. Your hand baggage has been planted safely with thebaggage master at the railway station at Tiffin, seven miles from wherewe stand, and here's the check for it. Once more you shall renew youracquaintance with scented soap. Observe my instructions strictly, Archie; meet all difficulties with a confident spirit and you willneither stumble nor fall. Good-by and God bless you!"

The Governor's blessing failed to dispel the gloom that settled upon Mr. Archibald Bennett as he crept through the shed where the laborers werehoused and found his cot. It was a hot humid night, with the chirr ofqueer insects outside mocking with weary iteration the lusty snores ofthe weary farm hands. He might bolt, now that he had Isabel's address, and suffer the Governor to manage in his own fashion the foolhardyenterprises, of which he had spoken so lightly; but to do this would beonly to prove himself a deserter. The business of delivering EdithCongdon into Isabel's hands was his affair as much as the Governor's. And having twice had a taste of Isabel's anger his appetite was sated. To win her applause he must appear before her a heroic figure, but thepart the Governor had assigned him was little calculated to develop hischivalric qualities. He found himself warmly hating Putney Congdon. IfCongdon had only had the decency to die there would not be all thisbother, and in his bitterness he resolved that if he got another chancehe would make an end of him. Soothed by this decision he fell asleep. 

IV

The morning opened auspiciously with a raking from Grubbs, who, findingthat the Governor had decamped, most ungenerously held Archieresponsible for his departure. 

"I swear every year, " he declared, "I'll never hire another tramp andhereafter I'll let the crops rot before I'll have one on the place. "

Archie replied with heat that he knew nothing about the Governor or thereason for his precipitate passing. As the scolding the foreman hadgiven him the day before still rankled, he protested his ignorance ofthe Governor and all his ways with a vigor strengthened much to his ownedification by oaths he had never employed before. The foreman, takenaback by his onslaught, mumbled and then asked humbly as though ashamedof his lack of confidence in his employee: "Well, you two landed heretogether and I thought you might be gettin' ready to play the sametrick. Look here, d'ye know anything about horses?"

"Well, I've ridden some, " Archie answered guardedly, fearing theimposition of some disagreeable task as a punishment for his violentlanguage. 

"Ridden; where th' hell have you rode?"

Archie's knowledge of horses had been gained by cautious riding in parkbridle paths with a groom, but to confess this would be only to increasethe wrath and arouse the suspicions of the farmer. 

"Oh, I've always been around horses, " said Archie. "I guess I can handle'em all right. "

The foreman meditated, gave a hitch to his trousers, inspected Archiefrom head to foot and spat. 

"Humph! I gotta find somebody t' watch the old man's granddaughter ride'er pony, and I guess I'll give you the job if y' got sense enough toset on a horse and keep th' kid from breakin' 'er neck. What y' think o'that! I gotta waste a horse right now when I could use a dozen more, soa grown man can play with a kid! The old man's skipped this morningwithout sayin' whether he'd ever be back again!"

"Mr. Congdon has left?" asked Archie, with all the innocence he couldmuster. 

"Not only has he gone but he's took a scrub I was usin' as handy man onthe place. You can't beat it! There ought to be a law against city menownin' farms an' makin' farmers do their work. "

Archie thought this sound philosophy and he expressed his agreementheartily. 

"Well, go to the barn and clean up that pony, and clap on a boy's saddleyou'll find there; and there's a sorrel mare in the last stall on theleft you can take. The kid'll be out lookin' fer y', and y' want to takemighty good care of 'er; she's the ole man's pet and he'll kill y' ifanything goes wrong with 'er. Keep 'er out about an hour and bepartickler careful. Between you and me there's somethin' queer about thekid bein' here; row o' some kind between her pa and ma. Her pa's heresick. Guess all them Congdon's got something wrong with 'em!"

Archie restrained an impulse to affirm the last statement and set offstolidly for the barn. He felt himself a better man for his interviewwith the foreman, who proved to be human and no bad fellow after all. His appointment as groom for the daughter of Putney Congdon was onlyanother ironic turn of fate. The child might remember him as the man whohad rescued her balloon in Central Park, but in his shabby clothes andwith his face disguised by a week's growth of beard this was unlikely. Amore serious matter for concern was the possibility that the Governor orhis agents might attempt to steal her away from him while she was in hiscare. But so far in his stormy pilgrimage he had gained nothing byyielding to apprehensions and he whistled as he rubbed down the pony andgot his own mount ready. 

The child came running into the barn lot followed by the woman who hadbeen a party to her abduction, and danced joyfully toward the pony. 

"Edith mustn't stay out too long; an hour will be enough for the firstday. And please keep close to the gate. You're sure you understandhorses?"

Archie satisfied her on all points, submitting himself to her criticalgaze without flinching. In his big straw hat he was not even remotelysuggestive of the man who had attempted to frustrate the seizure of thechild in the park. In her ecstatic welcome of the pony Edith hardly gaveArchie a glance. A riding costume had been improvised for her out of aboy scout's suit, and with her curls flying under her broad hat she wasa spirited and appealing figure. The woman followed them down the laneto the road, where she indicated the bounds to be observed during thelesson. The pony was old and fat, and only with much urging could he bebrought to a trot. Archie delivered himself of all the wisdom he couldrecall from the instruction of his riding teacher as to seat andcarriage. The companionship of the child cheered him; and as theypatrolled the road she prattled with youthful volubility. When atraction engine passed towing a threshing machine the sorrel mare showedher mettle in a series of gyrations that all but landed Archie in afence corner. 

Edith, watching him with trepidation, cried out in admiration of hishorsemanship. The woman, satisfied that the groom was really a masterhorseman, sat down on the grass by the gate to read. 

Archie, in his anxiety to save the child from mishap, had given littleattention to the traffic on the road until he awoke to the fact that thesame touring car had passed twice within a short period. It was a smartvehicle with a chauffeur in gray livery whose figure tantalized hismemory. It flashed upon him in a moment that this was either theGovernor's New York chauffeur or some one who bore a strikingresemblance to that person. The Governor had hinted at the summoning ofmany assistants to aid in his undertaking, and it was not at allunlikely that he had drawn upon his New York establishment. But for thechild to be abducted during the progress of the riding lesson might leadto unpleasant consequences and was not at all to Archie's taste. 

The woman's attention was wholly relaxed and she scarcely glanced up ashe passed her. There could be no better opportunity for the seizure, asthe laborers were widely distributed over the farm. A stretch ofwoodland opposite the Congdon gate precluded the possibility ofinterruption from that quarter. 

The gray-clad chauffeur passed again, this time in a more powerful car. He made no sign but Archie caught a glimpse of the Governor busilytalking with a strange man. Convinced now that the Governor's plans wereculminating and that the car was making these circuits of the farm toenable the occupants to get their bearings, Archie awaited anxiously thenext appearance of the machine. When at the end of a quarter of an hourit shot into view he was at the farthest point from the gate indicatedby the woman as the range of Edith's exercise. 

"That girth needs pulling up a little; let's dismount here, " saidArchie, drawing up under a tree at the roadside. The woman was deeplypreoccupied with her book and apparently oblivious to the traffic on theroad. Archie pretended to be having trouble with the saddle, as hefilled in the time necessary for the car to reach him. It passed thegate more rapidly than on previous occasions, but slowed down at onceand a familiar voice greeted him. 

"Pardon me, but is this the road to Tiffin? I'm afraid we've beenrunning round in a circle. "

"Straight ahead! And I suggest that you be in a hurry about it!" saidArchie, seeing that the woman had risen and was now moving rapidlytoward them. The Governor stepped jauntily from the running board, withhis hands thrust into the pockets of his duster. There was a twinkle inhis eyes as he noted Archie's trepidation. He glanced toward the womanindifferently, removed his cap and addressed the little girl, who stoodbeside the pony with her hand on the bridle. A second car drew up justbehind the Governor's machine. The woman was calling loudly to Edith tocome to her immediately. 

"Edith--Miss Edith Congdon, " said the Governor, smiling. "Your motherwants you very, very much and I've come to take you to her. If you willjump into the car you will see her very soon. We must be in a hurry orthat woman will catch you. You needn't have a fear in the world. Willyou trust me?"

The child hesitated, and Archie, enraged at the deliberation with whichthe Governor was managing the abduction, really leaving it to the childwhether she should go or not, saw the look of fear she bent upon theapproaching woman--a look that yielded to wonder and amazement and hopeas she jumped nimbly into the machine. 

[Illustration: "We must be in a hurry or that woman will catch you"]

At the same moment two men sprang out of the second car and rushed atArchie. One of them flung a carriage robe over his head and twisted itround his throat, then they gathered him up, head and heels, and tossedhim over the fence. The thing could not have been managed more neatly ifit had been rehearsed. The Governor leaned over the fence and gazingupon Archie, wriggling in a patch of briars, unconcernedly recited:

 "'She who comes to me and pleadeth In the lovely name of Edith Shall not fail of what was wanted; Edith means the blessed, therefore All that she may wish or care for, Shall, when best for her, be granted!'"

The two cars were enveloped in a cloud of dust when Archie, tearing theblanket from his head, rose to confront the screaming woman. Twice hehad seen the child stolen, and the first occasion had not been withoutits drama, but the Governor had made of the second the sheerest farce. The woman berated him roughly for his stupidity while he attempted toexplain. 

"The man who talked to the little girl knew her--called her by name. They've probably just gone for a ride. "

This only increased the woman's indignation and he roused himself toplacate her. 

"I had better run to the house and telephone to the Tiffin police, " hesuggested. 

To his infinite surprise she declared in alarm that this must not bedone; she would go herself and tell the child's father what had occurredand let him deal with the matter. This was wholly beyond hiscomprehension and to conceal his emotions he fell back heavily upon hisrôle of the country bumpkin, complaining of imaginary injuries andvowing that he would have the law on the men who assaulted him. Thewoman glanced carefully about, as though to make sure they had not beenobserved and then set off for the house. She took several steps and thenturned to say:

"Don't talk about this--do you understand? You're not to say a wordabout it. I'll see Mr. Putney Congdon and tell him just how ithappened. "

"But if the police should ask me--"

"Don't be a fool! The police are not going to know about this. Thosewere Mr. Putney Congdon's orders in case anything like this happened. And you needn't talk to the other hands about it either. I'll fix theforeman; all you've got to do is to keep your mouth shut. "

Her assumption that Mr. Putney Congdon would not be greatly aroused bythe abduction of his daughter was anything but clarifying. Archiereturned the pony to the barn and was sitting in the door brooding uponthe prevailing madness of the human race when Grubbs found him. 

"Well, it certainly beats hell!" the man remarked, wiping his brow withthe back of his hand. 

"There's a good deal in what you say, " Archie mournfully assented. "Iwant you to know that it wasn't my fault. Those fellows--there wereabout six of 'em--jumped on me and tried to choke me to death and thenpitched me over the fence and it was all over in half a second. Iapologize if that's what you expect. "

"I don't expect a damned thing! That fool woman said I wasn't to pesteryou about it as you wasn't to blame, which makes me sore, for at thefirst jump I was goin' to call the sheriff and turn y' over. But fromwhat she says we're not to say a word--not a word, mind y'! Y' can'tbeat it!"

"I certainly shan't attempt to beat it, " replied Archie sadly. "I'd liketo catch a March hare just to tell him that some human beings are a lotcrazier than he is. We haven't done justice to the intellectual powersof the rabbit. "

The foreman blinked but the remark penetrated and he burst into a loudguffaw. That a child should be picked up in the road and carried awaywas startling enough but that nothing was to be done about it was soegregious that words failed to do justice to it. It was only eleveno'clock and he told Archie that he might spend an hour at the woodpile, even guiding him to that unromantic spot and initiating him into theuses of saw and ax. 

V

Three days in the harvest field brought Archie to a new respect for hisdaily bread. He found joy in the discovery that he had strength to throwinto the scale against man's necessities. He was taking a holiday fromlife itself; and he was content to bide his time until the vacationended. He was passing through an ordeal and if he emerged alive he wouldbe a wiser and better man. He planned a life with Isabel that should bespent wholly in the open. Cities should never know him again. Isabellived now so vividly in his mind that trifles he had not thought of intheir meetings became of tremendous importance; foolish things, lover'sfatuities. There was a certain grave deliberation of speech, moredeliberate when the sentence was to end in laughter; this he knew to beadorable. There was the tiniest little scar, almost imperceptible, overone of her temples; it was the right one, he remembered. An injury inchildhood, perhaps; he grieved over it as though he had seen the cruelwound inflicted. And she had a way of laying her hand against her cheekthat touched him deeply as he thought of it. Her hands were the mostwonderful he had ever seen; useful, capable hands, slim and long. 

When he thought of the castigation she had given him in those dark dayswhen they so miserably misunderstood each other, it helped to rememberher hands; they were hands that could be only the accompaniment of akind and generous heart. There was the troublesome cousin who loved her;but he consoled himself with the reflection that she would not havementioned the man if she had really cared for him; and yet this might beonly a blind. He would have an eye to that cousin. The buried treasurehe hadn't taken very seriously. In spite of all the remarkable thingsthat had happened to him he still had moments of incredulity, and in themidst of an Ohio wheatfield, with the click and clatter of the reapersin his ears and the dry scent of the wheat in his nostrils, to dream ofburied gold was transcendent folly. 

Gossip from the farmhouse reached him at the back door and he was alertfor any sign that Putney Congdon meditated leaving. Eliphalet had notreturned; he judged that Perky, probably inspired by the Governor, hadfrightened the old man into taking a long journey. The woman who hadcared for Edith had left; he got that direct from Grubbs, who poured outconfidences freely as they smoked together after the twilight supper. 

"Say, I guess I sized you up all wrong. You don't act like a bum at all;I guess you and me might rent a farm round here somewhere and make somemoney out of it next year. You're the first hobo I ever saw who could doa day's work without cryin'. "

The queer ways of the Congdons had not been referred to between themuntil the third evening, when they took counsel of their tobacco apartfrom the other men, sprawling on the grass in a friendly intimacy thatArchie found flattering. A plain, hard-fisted farmer liked him andshowed a preference for his society; the thing was unbelievable. 

"I get it through the kitchen that the old man's son's goin' to clearout tonight. Orders was sent to have a machine ready to take him to townat eleven o'clock. Guess there was nothing the matter with him nohow--y'know what these rich young fellas are, and they say the old man's wortha mint. The idea of a big grown man havin' a nurse take care of himmakes me sick. I ain't seen that fella since he came. Telegram phonedout this evenin' made 'im jump out o' bed, they say, and he's off forsomewhere tonight. Sees a chance to make a lot of money most likely. "

Archie cautiously changed the subject, but he was already planning hisdeparture. The Governor had bidden him follow Congdon and here were hismarching orders. The prospect of playing the spy upon Congdon had grownno less disagreeable since the Governor had told him that this was to behis next duty. The only thing that reconciled him to the unattractivetask was the assurance that Congdon would set out at once for Heart o'Dreams Camp, where Isabel presumably was now established. To botherhimself further with the Congdons was not to his liking; he had ceasedwishing that he had killed Putney; he wished now that the whole familywere at the other side of the world where they wouldn't so persistentlyinterfere with his affairs. 

Grubbs complained bitterly because upon him fell the duty of gettingPutney into town to catch a west-bound train at midnight. 

"You'd think we run a taxi joint here! Where am I goin' to get a night'srest, I'd like to know!"

With the seven-mile tramp to town before him Archie was unable tosympathize with Grubbs' longing for slumber. He left the foremantinkering the machine in which Putney was to be borne to the station, changed his hat for his cap and stole out of the sleeping quarters tothe road. 

The thought that he was on his way to Isabel lightened his step, and hetrudged along with frequent invocations of the stars. He carried nothingin his pockets but the sealed address the Governor's sister had givenhim; the verse in Isabel's writing, and a roll of bills the Governor hadpressed upon him when they parted. 

Reaching town, he found himself with an hour to spare. He got his bagfrom the station and bought a ticket. There was only one upperavailable, said the agent with the usual optimistic suggestion of ticketagents that something better might be found when the train came in. Hespent half an hour at a hotel cleaning up and changing to the clothinghe had discarded at Cleveland. 

. .. Grubbs carried Putney's luggage across the platform with doggedstride, passing Archie without a sign of recognition. He was followed bya tall man in a gray suit whose left arm was supported by a sling. Grubbs took hasty leave and the two travelers were left alone. 

"A warm night, " Congdon remarked. 

Archie agreed to this, a trifle huskily. Congdon was not a bad lookingfellow; his tone and manner, and his face, as revealed by the platformlights, encouraged the belief that he was a gentleman. 

"No red caps here, I suppose, " said Congdon with a glance toward thestation. 

"I fancy not, " Archie replied. "I'll be glad to help you with yourbags. "

"Oh, thank you! I have a game shoulder, --nearly well now, but it givesme a twinge occasionally. The train's on time, I believe. "

A blast from the locomotive and a humming of the rails woke the stationto life. Archie grabbed the larger of Congdon's bags and led the waytoward a voice bawling "Chicago sleeper. " Congdon showed his ticket forlower three and climbed in; Archie remaining behind to negotiate forspace. 

"Nothing left but uppers; you can take upper three. "

He found Congdon in the aisle disposing of his effects. 

"I've got the upper half of the section, " said Archie, "But I promisenot to be a nuisance to you. "

"That will be all right. I asked for a stateroom but you can never getwhat you want at these way stations. I'm going to smoke for a while. "

Archie threw his suitcase into the upper berth and clung to thecurtains as the train started with a jerk. Here was a situation soutterly confounding that his spirit sank under the weight of it. He wasnot only traveling with a man he had shot; he was obliged to sleep overhim. The propinquity made it possible to finish the business begun atBailey Harbor and be done with him. He felt the perspiration tricklingdown his cheeks. The possibilities of the next few hours were hideous;what if he were unable to resist an impulse to give Putney Congdon hisquietus; what if--

He staggered toward the smoking compartment and found it unoccupied savefor Congdon, who had planted himself in a chair and was trying to lighta cigarette. Archie sank upon the leather divan and struck and held amatch for him. 

Congdon thanked him with a nod and remarked that the weather wasfavoring the farmers. 

Archie, satisfied that the rather melancholy blue eyes had found in himnothing familiar or suggestive of their earlier and tragic meeting, heartily commended the weather as excellent for the crops. Congdon gavea hitch to his shoulder occasionally and flinched when a sudden jerk ofthe car threw him against the window frame. The glint of pain in hiseyes sent a wave of remorse through Archie's soul. Congdon bore hisaffliction manfully. There was about him nothing even remotelysuggestive of Eliphalet Congdon's grotesque figure or excited, choppyspeech. He had suffered and perhaps his wound was not alone responsiblefor his pallor or the hurt look in his eyes. As Congdon played nervouslywith his watch chain, he inspected Archie with quick furtive glances. 

"I'm all banged up--nerves shot to pieces, " he said abruptly, turninghis gaze intently upon Archie. 

"That's rough. Used to be troubled a good deal myself. "

The sound of his own voice and the consciousness that the victim of hisbullet was reaching out to him for sympathy brought back his courage. Hewould be very kind to Putney Congdon. Even apart from the disabledshoulder there was a pathos in the man. Archie felt that in happiermoments he could become very fond of Putney Congdon. He looked like achap it would be pleasant to sit with at a table for two in a quiet clubcorner. 

"Chicago?" Congdon asked. It seemed to Archie that he threw into thequestion a hope that they were to be fellow travelers to the end of thejourney. Here was something, a turn of the screw, that even the Governorcould not have foreseen. 

The conductor came for their tickets and Archie took advantage of theinterruption to ponder the ethics and the etiquette of his predicament;but there was no precedent in all history for such a synchronization oftwo gentlemen who had recently engaged in a midnight duel. Archie wasappalled by the consciousness that he and Congdon were really hitting itoff. 

The tickets surrendered, Congdon drew out his watch, said that he hadbeen sleeping badly and hated to go to bed. He sat erect and tried toreach his coat pocket. His face twitched with the pain of the effort. 

"I had a bottle of dope I'm supposed to take to help me sleep; must haveleft it in my bag. Will you poke the button, please?"

"Can't I get it for you?" asked Archie. 

"You are very kind. It's the small satchel--a lot of stuff in it allmixed up. A bottle about as long as your hand. "

Opening the bag in Congdon's berth Archie's hand fell upon a photographthat lay on top. The face swam before his eyes and he pitched forward inhis agitation, bumping his head viciously against the window. It was aphotograph of Isabel Perry, an Isabel somewhat younger than the girl heknew, but Isabel--indubitably Isabel! Another dive into the bag'srecesses brought up the photograph of Edith Congdon that had beensnatched from the frame in the Bailey Harbor cottage. This wasexplicable enough, but the likeness of Isabel in Congdon's satchel wasutterly inexplicable and astounding. He groped for the bottle and creptback to the smoking compartment. 

"That's right; thanks. One teaspoonful in water if you don't mind. Thisis really quite unpardonable. You are very good to bother with me; I'dcounted on the porter's help. Had a trained nurse for a while but youcan't go traveling over the country with a nurse, and the woman hadbegun to bore me to death. I'd rather die than have doctors and nursestrailing me about. "

"They're odious, " Archie assented. "There! Now have a cigarette to killthe taste. "

"Good idea! One more and I'll turn in. "

A cigarette is the most insignificant of peace offerings, and yet Archieexperienced a pleasurable thrill as Putney Congdon accepted one from hiscase. They were very good cigarettes, of a brand with which Archie hadsupplied himself generously at Tiffin and Congdon expressed his approvalof them. 

Congdon, the custodian of a photograph of Isabel Perry, demanded a morecareful inspection, and Archie studied him with renewed interest. Isabelhad in no way indicated that she knew Congdon; it was Mrs. Congdon thatshe was trying to serve, and Isabel was hardly a girl to bestow herphotograph upon a married man. Congdon had no business with thephotograph and Archie bitterly resented its presence in the man'sluggage. 

He jumped when Congdon announced that he was ready to turn in, followedhim to the berth, and helped him to undress, even touching the woundedshoulder. 

"That little scratch there's coming along all right now, but the bone'ssore; suppose I'll feel weather changes as old chaps do who haverheumatism. "

"Whistle if you need anything in the night, " said Archie, and allowedthe porter to push him into the upper berth, the first he had everoccupied. Wakened now and then by unusual jars, he heard nothing ofCongdon. He stifled a desire to steal Isabel's photograph and in timeslept the sleep of exhaustion. 

When they were roused by the porter he helped Congdon into his clothes, chose a clean shirt for him and laughingly offered to shave him. 

Congdon regarded him quizzically. 

"You're a mighty good fellow! It's about time I was introducing myself. My name is Congdon. I live in New York; just taking a little trip for myhealth; going up into the lakes. "

"Comly's my name. No particular plans myself. Just knocking about abit. "

By the time Archie had made his toilet they were running into theChicago station. 

"Suppose we have breakfast in the station restaurant?" Congdonsuggested. "If I go up to the University Club I'm likely to run intosomebody who'll want me to do things. And I'm not up to it; really I'mnot. "

"I understand perfectly, " said Archie. 

"And see here, old man; I don't want to force myself on you, but you'vebeen awfully decent to me. Don't be alarmed, but to tell you the honesttruth my nerves are in such a state that I'm afraid to be alone. If apoor neurasthenic won't bore you too much I wish you'd let me tag youtill my train leaves tonight. I promise not to be a nuisance and if itbecomes unbearable, just chuck me!"

They not only breakfasted together, but after motoring through the parksthey spent an hour at the art institute and then Archie acted as host atluncheon. The fear of being accosted by an acquaintance made himnervous, and his anxiety seemed to be shared by Congdon, who chose aneating place unfrequented by travelers. By this time Archie was fullycommitted to the further journey into Michigan and contributed his halfto the purchase of a stateroom for the trip. 

"I'm using you; you can see that I'm using you, making a valet of you, dragging you into the wilderness!" exclaimed Congdon. "But I always wasa selfish whelp. "

He made the confession with a grim smile, and an impatient sweep of hisfree arm as though brushing himself out of existence. 

Archie's intimate friends were few; men thought him difficult, or lookedupon him as an invalid to be left to his own devices; and yet he feltthat he had known Putney Congdon for years. 

On a bench in Grant Park Congdon swung himself into a confidentialattitude. 

"Life's the devil's own business, " he said with a deep sigh. "I've gotto a place where I don't care what happens--everything black anywhere Ilook. I've been trying for the past four or five years to do things GodAlmighty never intended me to do. I was happily married; two beautifulchildren; none finer, --but I'll shorten up the story so you can see whata monkey fate has made of me. My father's a crank, a genius in his way, but decidedly eccentric. My mother died when I was a youngster and as Iwas an only child father tried all sorts of schemes of educating me, whimsical notions, one after another. The result was I've never got alook in anywhere; unfitted for everything. After I married he stilltried to hold the rein on me, wanted to put me into businesses I hatedand kept meddling with my domestic affairs. All this made me weak andirresolute. I have a mechanical turn--not a strong bent but the onlything that ever tugged at me very hard. Almost made some importantinventions, but only almost. About the time I'd get a good start fatherwould shoot me off into something else, and if I refused he'd cut off myallowance. Never set me up for myself; keeps me dependent on his bounty. Humiliating; positively humiliating!"

"I can imagine so, " Archie agreed. He had now got the explanation of theblue prints in the Bailey Harbor house and found himself deeplyinterested in Congdon's recital. 

"Well, sir, I was about to offer myself as exhibit _A_ on a slab in thenearest morgue, " Congdon continued, "when I met a young woman who_seemed_ to understand me, and right there's where I made the greatestmistake of my life. It was last spring when that happened. Talk aboutplausibility, Comly! The word never had any meaning until that girl camealong. She made a fool of me; that's the short of it. I took her intodinner at the house of some friends right here in Chicago--I lived hereabout a month trying to learn a patent medicine business father had goneinto. The thing was a fake; a ghastly imposition on the public. Suchthings have a weird fascination for father; it's simply an obsession, for he doesn't need the money. "

He was wandering into a description of various other dubious businessesthat had attracted Eliphalet Congdon when Archie, nervously twisting afolded newspaper, brought him back to the girl who had played somischievous a part in his life. 

"Oh yes! Well, I was ready to jump at anything and she diagnosed my casewith marvelous penetration. Really, Comly, it was staggering! She saidI faced life with the soul of a coward; she'd got an inkling, I suppose, of my father's freakishness and injustice; and she told me I lackedassurance and initiative. Suggested that I go armed and shoot any onewho stepped on my toes. All this with a laugh, of course; butnevertheless I felt that she really meant it. She said a man can doanything he really determines to do; it's up to him. She recited a pieceof verse to the effect that a man fears his fate too much if he won'tput his life to the test. I was fool enough to believe it. I tried tofollow her advice. It ended in my having a row with my father that beatall the other rows I ever had with him and he turned against mywife--said she was trying to estrange us. And when I ran away to escapefrom the nasty mess he sent her telegrams in my name threatening tokidnap the children and he did in fact kidnap my little daughter. Snatched her away from her mother and carried her out to one of hisfarms in Ohio. But my wife's a great woman, Comly; one of the dearest, bravest women in the world. She's played a clever trick on the oldgentleman and got the child back again and I'm damned glad of it. I gota message that the little girl's up in Michigan, so that's really whereI'm headed for. I don't dare believe that _she_ sent me the message, butI hope to God she did. That's the way things have gone with me eversince I listened to that girl. Everything all upside down. She's asiren; a dangerous character; I ought to have known better!"

"She's beautiful, I suppose, " Archie ventured, fanning himself with hishat. 

"Devilishly handsome!" Congdon exclaimed. 

Archie had suffered a blow but he was meeting it bravely. Havingbelieved that Isabel had given him this same advice quite spontaneously, it was with a shock that he realized that she had offered it in similarterms to Congdon. There was no question as to the identity of the girlwho had bidden Congdon plant his back to the wall and defy the world; noone but Isabel would ever have done that. 

"And this young woman, " Archie asked after a long glance at the lake, "pardon me if I ask whether she affected you in a sentimental way? Didyou well, er--"

"If you mean am I in love with her, " began Congdon, "I believe I can sayhonestly that it hardly amounts to that. And yet she made a curiousimpression on me. You know how it is, Comly! A man may love his wifewith all his heart and soul and he may mean to be awfully square withher; and yet there may be a face or a voice now and then that will, well, you know, make him wobble a little. I did think about that girl alot; it was damned funny how I thought of her. She'd pop up in my mindwhen I had absolutely willed that I would never think of her again. Andyet the more I resolved to get her out of my mind the more stubbornlyshe'd keep coming into my thoughts. 

"I suppose in a way it was my pride; I hated to think that a girl aspretty and clever and attractive as she is thought me a contemptible, slinking coward. We all want to be heroes to women; it's one of thedamned weaknesses of our sex, Comly. I'd ceased to be a hero to my wife, who's the gentlest and most long suffering woman alive, but this otherwoman rather gave me hope that I might qualify for the finals in _her_eyes. Now, Comly, I see that you're a steady-going fellow; never thrownoff your balance; not a chap to be made a fool of by a girl who amusesherself at your expense at a dinner party. I wish you'd tell me franklyjust what you think of this?"

"I'd say, " replied Archie, attempting to meet this demand with aphilosophic air, "I'd say that the girl probably played the game onevery man she thought she could impose on. Merely a part of her socialtechnique; a stunt, so to speak, which she'd found would make us weakmales sit up and take notice. If I were you I'd clean forget the wholebusiness; on the other hand there's the suspicion that you appealed toher strongly, a girlish fancy, perhaps, and she thought you were thesort of fellow that would be hit harder if she roused you to action. Itell you, Congdon, women are curious creatures. Just when you thinkyou've got your hand on a pretty bird she flutters away and singsmerrily in another part of the wood. "

"Right!" ejaculated Congdon. "By George, that expresses it exactly!"

"About your child, up there in Michigan, " said Archie, pleased that hewas scoring as a man of wisdom, "it's wholly possible that your wifesent you the wire as an approach to a reconciliation. "

"Oh, Lord, no! You don't know my wife, Comly. You see I got answers tothe telegrams father sent her in my name and she hit right back at me!Don't you believe that she's coaxing me to come back to her. And here'sthe message I got out there in Ohio that caused me to jump for thetrain. "

He produced from his pocket a crumpled telegram which read:

 Your daughter is in safe hands at Huddleston, Michigan. Proceed to that point with serenity and contemplate the stars with a tranquil spirit. 

This was so clearly the Governor's work that Archie found it difficultto refrain from laughing. 

"My wife, " Congdon continued, "would never send a message like that; youmay be sure of it. You may think it queer that I set off, when I was illand not feeling up to the trip, on the strength of a message like that. But ever since that girl told me I oughtn't to hesitate when I heard thebugle I can't resist the temptation to act on the spur of the moment. I'm a fool, I suppose. Tell me I'm a fool, Comly. "

"I shall do nothing of the kind. There's always the chance that the girlhad sized you up right and gave you sound advice. Don't answer if youdon't want to, but have you really done anything, anything you wouldn'thave done if that girl hadn't told you to step on the world a littleharder?"

Congdon's free hand worked convulsively; he bent closer to Archie andwhispered:

"I've killed a man!"

"You murdered a man!" Archie gasped. 

"Not a question about it, my dear fellow! It was up at my house on theMaine shore. After father had driven my wife away I went there to lookat the ruins of my home. A sentimental pilgrimage, feeling that I'd madea mess of everything and mighty blue. I was mooning through the housewhen I ran into a burglar. The scoundrel had gone to bed in the guestroom. I was scared to death when I opened the door and spotted him but Ithought of that girl's advice and pulled my gun and shot him. Couldn'thave missed the fellow across a bedroom. As I ran down the stairway hetook a shot at me; that's what's the matter with my shoulder. I got upto Portland and a doctor I know there fixed me up and kept the thingdark. I passed at the hospital as the victim of a pistol woundaccidentally inflicted. "

"Well, I'd say you're out of it easy. Of course you didn't kill him orhe wouldn't have been able to wound you. I congratulate you on yourescape!"

"Thanks, Comly; but you see he didn't die immediately, but crawled offand breathed his life out in some lonely place. It's horrible! Of coursehe was a thief and had no business in the house; but as I sit here onthis park bench I'm a murderer! I never got beyond the headlines in thePortland papers; simply couldn't bear it and haven't dared look at anewspaper since. I shot a poor devil who had quite as much right to liveas I have. The thing will hang over me till I die! I don't know just whyI am confiding in you, but something tells me that you can look at thething straight. If you say I ought to go to Maine and surrender myselfand tell what I know about the shooting of that man I'll do it. "

"Most certainly not!" cried Archie with mournful recollection of his ownspeculations on the same point in the hours when he believed that hehimself was responsible for Hoky's death. The emotional strain of thetalk was telling on him. He had never expected to hear from Congdon'slips the story of their duel at Bailey Harbor. Congdon had no idea thathe had fired not at a man but at a reflection in a mirror; and it was aquestion whether common decency didn't demand that he set Congdonstraight. Congdon in all likelihood wouldn't believe him. Nobody wouldbelieve such a story! And certainly if he should tell all he knew of theCongdons and Isabel, and wind up by acknowledging that it was he who hadbeen in the Bailey Harbor house on the night of the shooting, Congdonwould probably be so frightened that he would run away in terror to seekpolice protection. 

Congdon, unaware of his companion's perturbation, rose and suggested awalk to freshen them up before train time. 

"I thank God I fell in with you, " he said with feeling. "Just talking toyou has helped me a whole lot!"

Archie, his guilt heavy upon him, walked up Michigan Avenue beside theman he had shot. 

CHAPTER SIX

I

They breathed deep of the tonic air of the North as they left thesleeper. Huddleston was a forlorn village with one street that displayeda single line of buildings against a background of saw mill and sawdust. An unpainted structure bearing the inscription, "Grand Hotel;Fishermen's Resort" presented a picture of complete desolation to thetravelers. The further arm of the bay was a strip of green in thedistance. 

A fisherman posed in monumental majesty on a weatherbeaten pile oflumber on the wharf was the only human being in sight on the water sideof the town. Just as the train pulled out he jerked up his pole, flinging a perch high in air and catching it with a yell of delight. Archie sighed with relief as the fisherman, now standing erect to unhookthe perch, turned toward them. It was the Governor, rakishly trigged outin knickerbockers, with a cap smartly tilted over one ear and a scarfsnapping about his face in the lively wind. 

"This looks like the end of the world, " Congdon remarked dejectedly asthey walked toward the hotel. "I was a fool to come here and drag youalong. "

"Don't worry about me, " said Archie cheerfully. "We'll make a lark ofit. Your daughter's probably around here somewhere. We'll lay low andsee what turns up. "

A man emerged from the hotel and crossed the street. Archie identifiedhim at once as Red Leary, to whom the Governor had delivered the stolenmoney at Walker's farm. Leary made no sign of ever having seen Archiebefore but picked up the luggage and led the way to the hotel. Archie'sadmiration for the Governor soared to new heights at this manifestationof the thoroughness of his preparations. Something had been said atWalker's about Leary's retirement to northern Michigan, but at that timeHuddleston had not, he was sure, figured in the Governor's plans. Learywalked round the counter and turned the register for their signatures. 

"We jes' opened the house last week; she's been shet up quite a spellbut they're goin' t' open the mill ag'in. Jest now there ain't a soul intown. Those houses and the store are boarded up tight. The railroadagent stays here to run the water tank and sleeps in the station. Yep;one other gent's registered. " He placed his finger on "Reginald HeberSaulsbury" in the Governor's flowing autograph. "All the way from NewYork. I guess you'll find him all right. Blew in a couple of days ago;says he come out here seekin' peace for his soul; them's his verywords. "

"I judge there's a large surplus of soul stuff hereabouts, " remarkedCongdon. "By the way, you haven't seen anything of a little girl abouthere, have you--a child of eleven?"

"Not one of 'em but a whole passel, " replied Leary lifting his headafter scrawling the numbers of the rooms against their names. "They's acamp o' city girls across the bay. The day I got here a whole trainloadof 'em was hauled up from Chicago. Y' never saw such a lively bunch. Andyestiddy I was over that way lookin' up fishin' places to recommend toour guests and saw the whole outfit swimmin'. A cute lot o' youngsters. Mos' likely th' camp'll bring considerable business to the hotel; folkscomin' up to visit their kids. "

"Well, I suppose that's the trick, " said Congdon as Leary startedupstairs with their bags. "Edith has been put in a camp; her mother'swork, of course. Not a bad idea. All I want to be sure of is that thechild's in good hands. This is a beastly hole but I guess we can makeout for a day or two and I'll see if I can get a glimpse of Edith. "

"Oh, we'll have to study the situation a little, " Archie answered. "Idon't question your daughter's all right. We can make out here for a fewdays anyhow. "

The house had been renovated and their rooms were better than the grimexterior promised. 

"There'll be dinner at twelve, " said Leary; "and if you want to try yourhand at trollin' for pickerel I'll fix you up later in the afternoon. Mr. Saulsbury's been snatchin' up perch all mornin'. I'm tired out jestfrom settin' on the porch and watchin' 'im. "

Mrs. Leary, in spite of the fact disclosed by the Governor at Walker's, that she had conducted a fence in Chicago and was prone to view preciousstones with a covetous eye, bore all the marks of respectability. Sheentered the dining-room briskly, her motherly face heated from therange, and placed a large platter of fried chicken on the table. 

"Jes' help yerselves, gents. We've hardly got goin' yet but I got awaitress on the way from Chicago and she'll spare me some steps. "

"Ah!" ejaculated the Governor, pausing dramatically in the door andeyeing the newly arrived guests as though their presence filled him withastonishment. He bowed to them and remarked upon the fineness of theday. 

"I guess you folks'll get acquainted without bein' introduced, " observedMrs. Leary. "It's always nicer in a summer resort when folks gettogether sociable-like. You wanted radishes, Mr. Saulsbury, and you'llnotice I got 'em fer you. "

"Madam, " said the Governor in his most elaborate manner, "I knew you atonce for a woman of kind heart! I am not in the least surprised to findmyself in the presence of the noblest radishes I have ever seen. "

In a moment more he had introduced himself to Archie and Congdon. He hadspent a jolly morning, he announced. Not in years had he enjoyed himselfso hugely. He delivered a lecture on fish only to celebrate in sonorousperiods the humble perch, scorned by epicures. It was the mostdelectable of all the finny genus, superior even to the pompano. Congdon, first irritated by the Governor's volubility, was soon laughingat his whimsical speeches and by the time they moved to the narrowveranda to smoke he was both puzzled and amused. Archie had been withthe Governor so constantly and was so familiar with his tangentialmental processes that he was glad of an opportunity to watch the effectof his patter upon a man of his own world. It was clear that theGovernor was at pains to make himself agreeable to Congdon. He touchedupon public affairs, sensibly and convincingly, then turned handspringsthrough the arts and sciences. 

"Rather odd my being here, " he rippled on; "and I need hardly say thatit's a pleasure to meet on this bleak shore two gentlemen of yourcaliber. I told a friend of mine in Chicago that I was enormously fed upwith cities and the general human pressure and wanted to go to the mostGod-forsaken spot in America. And he answered without a moment'shesitation that Huddleston, Michigan, would satisfy my loftiest ideal ofgodforsakenness. He had been here straightening up some land titles andcamped out for a week with a surveyor and ate out of a skillet. He's oneof these fussy fellows who sends an order of chops back to a clubkitchen a dozen times before he's satisfied, --you know the type. He'sprobably laughing himself to death right now thinking how miserable Iam. But I refuse to be bored; never in my life have I been bored! Eventhe sawdust pyramids and the stumps are magnificent in their desolation. I feel it in my bones that something extraordinary is going to happen. Something's got to happen or the lake will rise in one vast wave anddestroy Huddleston. I hope you gentlemen share my feeling that ourmeeting has been ordered by the gods and that we shall stand or falltogether. "

"If we've got to put the responsibility somewhere the gods may have it, "laughed Congdon. "I'm a cripple, as you see, but as Comly and I haven'ta thing to do we'll give you a day or two to kick up some excitement. Itmay entertain you to know that my coming here was due to an anonymoustelegram. "

"Excellent! I'm delighted to know that there's some of the old romanticspirit left in the world! It pleases me clear through to meet a man whowill act on an anonymous telegram and not ring up the police to asktheir stupid advice. "

With a wave of the hand he left them, declaring it to be his purpose tospend the afternoon in the woods. 

"What do you make of that chap?" Congdon asked as the Governor strolledaway, swinging a stick, and disappeared at the end of the street. 

"He talks like a nonsense book, " Archie replied. "I hope he won't becomea nuisance!"

"A cheerful soul, I should call him. He's likely to make the place moretolerable. "

When Congdon pleaded weariness Archie put him to bed and then saunteredaway, following a dirt road that wound through the timber. In a littlewhile he came upon the Governor lying with his back against a tree, reading Horace. 

"You arrive most opportunely!" he said, without lifting his eyes fromthe book. "I was pining for some one to read this ode to. "

He not only read the ode but expounded it, dwelling upon felicities thathad eluded him before. With countless questions crying for answer Archiewas obliged to feign interest in the poem until the Governor thrust thebook into his pocket with a sigh and led the way to the beach. 

"Well, you landed him here!" he remarked, seating himself on a log andproducing his pipe. "Or did he bring you? One would think you were oldchums to see you together. Not a bad fellow, I should say. "

"He's really a good sort, " said Archie; "but I'll tell you the wholestory. "

The Governor listened placidly, interrupting only when Archie repeatedwhat Congdon had said of Isabel. 

"A wonderful girl!" he ejaculated. "Makes it her business to tease theworld along. Laughing in her sleeve all the time. I must say it's oddthat both you and Congdon should be the victims of her wiles. My burdensare heavier than I knew, for I've got to get you both out of yourscrapes. "

"You don't seem to appreciate how horrible I felt when I found myselfliking that fellow. To say I was embarrassed doesn't express it! And Inearly gave myself away when he told me he'd killed a man, your friendHoky, you know. I nearly confessed all I knew of that business just toease the poor chap's mind. "

"But you didn't, Archie! You couldn't have done anything so foolish. Mytutoring hasn't been wholly wasted on you, after all. You managed thetrip admirably; I haven't a point to criticize; but now to get down tobrass tacks. What you learned of old Eliphalet Congdon's meddlesomenessjibes exactly with what I know of his character. Let me show yousomething, Archie. "

He walked out upon the gravelly shore and pointed through the wide-flungarms of the bay. 

"Do you see a little blur of smoke out yonder in the open lake? That'sthe _Arthur B. Grover_ proceeding under her own steam, with all thedignity of a transatlantic liner. I took up my option and the bloomin'thing is mine. It's got a crew of the smartest crooks in all America. Men of genius in the field of felony, and a few of them talented inother lines. One chap a navigator, able to sail a ship round the Horn, and yet he prefers to play the shell game at rural fairs. And Perky's onboard with old Eliphalet Congdon! Yes, sir; the old boy is right thereas safe as King Arthur when the dark barge bore him away to the sound ofwailing. Perky sent me a wire from Mackinac this morning saying that allis well on our frigate. They have orders to hang around out there till Isignal them to come in. But, my dear Archie--"

He refilled his pipe and when he had it going to his satisfaction wavedhis arm toward the camp. 

"There's a queer business going on over there. Ruth told me at Rochesterthat when I brought Edith up here I'd better leave the train atCalderville, the first station south of Huddleston, and drive to Hearto' Dreams Camp through the woods. Well, the road over there was only atrail and I had a hard job getting through, but made it all right. Ruthand Isabel were delighted with our success. That's all easy. But thosegirls are in trouble. "

"Well, hurry on!" said Archie, sitting up straight. 

"Oh, that cousin of Isabel's is not a myth at all as I rather thought hemight be; and that money may be buried over there somewhere, you know. And the cousin's laying himself out to annoy the camp in every waypossible, even going the length of trying to starve 'em out. There's astack of supplies at the Huddleston station that they can't move. "

"You forget, " cried Archie excitedly, "that there are laws even in thewilderness! If that fellow's looking for trouble all we've got to do isto telephone for the sheriff and land him in jail. The jails up in thisneck of woods are probably highly uncomfortable. "

"I grant all that, " said the Governor sprawling at ease. "But thenotoriety of the thing would kill the camp. Once it got into thenewspapers every father and mother who has a child out yonder would goright up in the air. It would make a great first page story--buriedtreasure--a war for hidden gold centered about a girls' camp. That wholeyarn about the haughty southerner planting his money in safe territorytill he saw which way the cat jumped is fruity stuff for our specialcorrespondent on the spot. No, Archie; ladies of quality like our Ruthand Isabel must be protected from vulgar publicity, and we don't wantany sheriffs or newspaper reporters nosing around. It's up to you and meto smooth out their troubles without resorting to bothersome legalapparatus. The camp has no telephone; the road round to that peninsulais all but inaccessible. They have a launch they're in the habit ofusing to carry stuff across from Huddleston, but Mr. Richard Careyblocks the way! I got all this when I was delivering Edith over there atthe back door. And Carey is camped at the land entrance, with an army oflumberjacks to help him maintain a blockade. On my way out I ran thegantlet, and if you think Carey is only fooling about this buriedtreasure business, gaze on this!"

He took off his cap and pointed to a hole through the baggy top. 

"A bullet, Archie, fired from ambush with murderous intent. "

"But she said her cousin was in love with her! It can't be possiblethat he's resorting to violence to drive her off land that belongs toher, with the idea that she'll meet him at the altar afterwards. "

"There's no loving touch in that bullet hole! Heart o' Dreams Camp is indanger as long as that lunatic runs loose. They can't communicate withHuddleston or Calderville in their launch because Carey patrols theshore. It's a siege, Archie, and they're going to be hard put forprovisions in another day or two. "

"Then it's our duty to relieve the beleaguered garrison?"

"Nothing less than that! When I took Edith over to Heart o' Dreams, Isabel and Ruth wouldn't let me stay long enough to plan anything. Theywere pretty anxious, of course, with Carey trying to smoke them out; andthey were afraid Putney would try to take Edith away from them. But fromwhat you say it's only Eliphalet who's made the trouble and we don'tneed to fear anything from Putney. If it comes to a showdown I ratherthink he'll play with us. You're sure he doesn't suspect that Isabel'sthe head of Heart o' Dreams?"

"He hasn't the ghost of an idea of it. I tell you his spirit's brokenanyhow. With Hoky's murder on his mind and the general muddle of hisfamily affairs he doesn't care much which way the wind blows. "

"That man needs occupation and we may find some way of using him. Helooks as though he had red blood in him; a fighter if he was thoroughlyaroused. If he knew the trick I've played on his father I guess thatwould tickle him considerably. The idea of old Eliphalet with hismillions cruising the lakes with a band of the most accomplishedoutlaws in America is funny, Archie; real comedy I should call it. He'sa prisoner on the _Arthur B. Grover_, only he doesn't know it. Imobilized that outfit thinking we might need some help up here andincidentally to keep Eliphalet where I could put my hand on him; but thewhole thing's complicated, Archie. It's far more of a mess than Iexpected. "

He found a smooth patch of sand and with a stick drew a number ofdiagrams, carefully effacing them after they had served his purpose. 

"Humph! This is no time for weakening! Over there, Archie, "--he pointedtoward Heart o' Dreams--"are the two finest women in the world. We'regoing to stand by them no matter whose head gets cracked. "

He spoke lightly, but his brow clouded. It was evident that something ofunhappy augury had been, revealed in his last appeal to the heavens. 

"I want to be alone for a while, " he said brusquely, "I'll turn up atsupper time. "

II

At the supper table a new direction was given to Archie's thoughts, fora time at least. Fortunately his nerves had grown accustomed to shocksand he was only dazed now by the intrusion of a new figure on the scene. The Governor and Congdon were already at the table when he reached thedining-room. Mrs. Leary had referred to an assistant she was expectingon the afternoon train, and as Archie appeared at the door a neatlyattired waitress walked sedately before him to his place. 

Sally Walker had faded in a long perspective of crowding memories. Henever expected to see Sally again, but if the girl who stood by hischair was not Sally she was her twin. He sank into his seat, watchingher out of the corner of his eye as she passed through the swing doorwith a flutter of her snowy apron. He replied feebly to the Governor'sbantering salutation and nervously played with his fork. The Governorwas soaring and Archie's bewilderment was evidently affording him secretdelight. 

Sally was not merely a past mistress of dissimulation; she was theundisputed reigning queen in that realm. She served the table with astrictly professional air, in no way betraying the fact that two of theguests had lately enjoyed the hospitality of her father's house or thatshe had beguiled one of them by the grossest misrepresentations toassist her to elope. 

"There's custard and apple, " she recited finally, "or you may have wheatcakes with syrup, " and as Archie covertly met her eyes she winked, awink not sly or vulgar but a wink expressive of mischief on a holidayand quite content with itself. 

He was enormously curious to know how she had reached Huddleston andwhat her adventures had been on the way--matters as to which the suaveGovernor was no doubt fully informed, though he showed no disposition todisclose them. 

For a gentleman, the guest of an inn, to lurk round the kitchen doorwaiting for a chance to address a waitress is wholly undignified, butArchie was doing this very thing the moment he could escape from theGovernor and Congdon. Mrs. Leary was upstairs preparing additionalrooms against the chance of further arrivals and Sally was alone in thekitchen. 

"Well, I've got the same old job, " she remarked carelessly, as Archiepaused uncertainly on the threshold. "You're a pay guest here and Ican't let you swing a towel, so if you want to talk take a chair on theside lines. "

Sally was as handsome as ever; he had not been mistaken in thinking hera very handsome and attractive girl with a distinct charm. It seemedaeons ago that he had kissed her; in fact it was almost unbelievable thathe had ever kissed so radiant a being. She received him as an oldfriend, without a trace of embarrassment. Her ease put him at seriousdisadvantage. He was at a loss to know how to impress upon her theheinousness of the deceit she had practised upon him. 

"Sally, " he began in a tone that he meant to be sternly paternal, "Ihope you realize that you treated me very shabbily up there at yourfather's. You not only behaved disgracefully, but you threw away yourlife, and the bright promise of your future. I was very stupid to fallinto your trap. If things go wrong with you I shall always blame myself. And I don't see any chance for happiness for you unless you change yourways. "

She deliberately concluded the drying of a plate, put it down, and threwthe towel aside. 

"Look here, " she began, folding her arms and walking slowly toward him;"I'm not the worst girl in the world and I'm far from being the best. Ilied to you and it was a nasty trick; but I had to get away from thatfarm; I simply couldn't stand it any longer. And I'd worried a lot aboutbeing the daughter of a crook; I honestly had. I always knew it wouldcome out in me some way, and I thought the sooner the better. I just hadto do some rotten thing to satisfy myself as to how it feels. You canunderstand that, can't you?"

"I think I can, Sally, " he stammered. "But--"

"There's no butting about it! I just had to try it once, and you camealong just when I needed you. Yes, sir; I took advantage of you becauseI saw you were a gentleman and sympathetic and full of that chivalrystuff; and I played on your feelings and made you the little goat. Itwasn't nice of me. "

"It certainly approached the unpardonable, Sally. And you not onlyruined your own life but nearly caused me to lose my best friend. I'mstill pretty sore about that. But what hurt me most was that yousacrificed your opportunity to be somebody in the world, to be a noble, useful woman. You linked yourself for life to a slinking, scoundrellythief!"

Sally laughed mockingly. Then, her hands on her hips, she regarded himpityingly. 

"You poor goose! You sure didn't get my number right! If you thought Iwas going to be tied up for the rest of my days with a miserable littlewretch like Pete Barney you certainly had me wrong. I just had to turn afew handsprings, and you needn't tell me how disgusted you are when Isay that all I wanted was to know how it feels to lie and steal. "

"Yes; you stole some money from your father; that was very wrong, Sally. "

"Say, you make me tired! What I borrowed from pop I'll pay back. Thelow-down thing I did was to take that string of diamonds away fromBarney. He slipped 'em to me that night as we were on the way to thepreacher's to get married. Married! Do you think I really wanted tomarry that man! Do you think I _am_ married to him now? Why, I gave himthe slip at the first station after I kissed you good-by and I haven'tseen him since. And I never intend to see him again! I ducked round tillI got to a place on the underground railroad I knew about from pop; andthey took good care of me. Then I slid to Petoskey where the Learys werestarting up their refreshment shop and was just learning how to makesoft drinks look wicked when the Governor jerked a wire to Red and thatgrand old girl his wife to come here and open up this moldy old joint. My folks know where I am now and as soon as they coax me a little I'llgo home and be a nice little girl for the rest of my life. "

"But the diamonds--"

"Don't be so tragic or I'll burst out crying! I've got the sparklershidden safe; and I'm going to get the Governor to help make a deal togive 'em back to the owner if he won't prosecute Barney. I wouldn't wantthat man, even if he's only my husband on paper, to go over the road onmy account. I'm satisfied with my kick-up and you needn't be afraid I'llbreak any more Commandments. "

"Where's Barney now?" demanded Archie suspiciously. 

"In jail in Buffalo, if you must know! They pinched him on an old case, so you needn't blame me. I tell you I'm clear done with him. Love thatworm! He just gave me an excuse to let my blacksheep blood ripple alittle and it's all over now. And I'm sorry I played you for a sucker;honest I am. You gave me a lot of money for a wedding present and asthe wedding doesn't count I'm going to give it back. You'll find ittucked away in your collar-box in the top drawer of your bureau. I guessthat's about all, so you can trot back to the front of the house. "

With a finality that closed discussion she fell energetically upon thedishes, and he left her to join the Governor and Congdon. Hisenlightenment as to the complexity of human nature was proceeding. Sallywas wonderful, astonishing, baffling. He did not question that this timeshe had told him the truth. He was touched by her confession that herescapade was merely an experiment to test her blood for inherited evil. There was an enormous pathos in this; Sally needed help and guidance. Hewould discuss the matter with the Governor the moment they had disposedof their more urgent affairs. 

III

At nine when Congdon announced his intention of going to bed Archieassisted him as usual. 

"This air's setting me up, " said Putney, as Archie inspected thecrippled shoulder. "The doctor told me to begin exercising that arm assoon as the soreness left it. How does the wound look?"

"Like a vaccination mark in the wrong place; that's all. You certainlyhad a close call, old man. Only a few inches lower and it would havepierced your heart. "

In their hours together Archie had never been able to free his mind ofthe disagreeable fact that he had so nearly killed Congdon; and he wasbeset now by the thought that sooner or later he must confess hisculpability in the Bailey Harbor shooting. Congdon was accepting him atface value, and the thing wasn't square. Every time he touched theinjured shoulder his conscience pricked him. 

"I've got to tell Congdon I shot him and that he was in no wayresponsible for Hoky's death, " he announced determinedly to theGovernor, whom he found pacing the street in front of the hotel. 

"Of course you'll tell him, but not yet. I'm mistaken in the man if heacts ugly about it. The proper way to tell a man you've tried to killhim and that he's carrying the scar of your bullet is to mention itincidentally, when you're walking home from church with him, or allowinghim to sign the check for your lunch. Seriously, it was merely adeplorable error on both sides and I believe he'll see it that way. Butuntil we get some other things cleared up we'll let him think he killedHoky, just to keep him humble. And now that he's off the invalid listwe'll let him share some of the little adventures that lie before us. Tonight we've got a matter on hand that's better done by ourselves. Ifyou think he's safe for a few hours we'll go ahead. "

He stopped on the way to the wood-bordered shore and produced from afence corner an electric lamp and two revolvers. 

"Stick one of these in your pocket. We're not going to add to our crimesif we can help it, but I owe somebody a shot for that nip in my cap. "

A stiff wind from the open lake was whipping up battalions of whitecapsthat danced eerily in the starlight. At a point half a mile from thevillage the Governor flashed his lamp along a bank that hung over thebeach and found a canoe and a row boat hidden in a thicket. 

"We're all fixed. Good old Leary planted these things for us while wewere at supper. "

He gave the whistle Archie remembered from his first encounter with theGovernor, and in a moment Leary stood beside them. 

They had carried the boats to the water's edge when the Governorsuddenly stood erect. The monotonous tum tum of a gasoline engine wasborne to them out of the darkness. 

"Carey has a boat of some power, " the Governor remarked, "and as hecarries no lights we've got to take the chance of sneaking round him orgetting run down. We must impress it on Ruth and Isabel that they're notto attempt to run the blockade. Then we've got to get rid of Carey; puthim clean out of business. You and Red take the row boat and trail me;I'll scout ahead with the canoe. If one of us gets smashed the otherwill pick up the casualties. "

The canoe shot forward, the Governor driving the paddle with a practisedhand. The row boat followed, Leary at the oars and Archie serving him aspilot. As they moved steadily toward the middle of the bay they markedmore and more clearly the passage of the launch as it patrolled thefarther shore. 

Leary pulled a strong stroke and Archie was obliged to check him fromtime to time to avoid collision with the Governor's craft. At intervalspassing clouds dimmed the star-glow and in one of these periods a dullbump ahead gave Archie a fright. 

"Steady! I'll be all right in a moment!" the Governor calledreassuringly. 

He had run into a log that lay across his path and the canoe hadattempted to jump it. When he reported himself free they went aheadalert for further manifestations from the launch, which for some timehad given no hint of its position. 

They were two-thirds of the way across the bay when the Governor gavethe signal to stop and they drew together for a conference. 

"They must be keeping watch, " said Archie calling attention to lights onthe shore. "If we could land without frightening the girls to death--"

The Governor whistled through his teeth. Somewhere to the left of themas they lay fronting the camp, a sharp blow was struck upon metal. Itwas repeated fitfully for several minutes. 

"It's Carey tinkering his engine. He's been playing possum off there. "

The launch was so near that they heard the waves slapping its sides. Archie and Leary gripped the canoe tight while the Governor listened forany indications of a change in Carey's position. 

Suddenly Leary sprang up in the tossing boat. 

"Look ahead!" he exclaimed, leveling his arm at a shadow that darted outof the darkness and passed between them and the launch. The Governor sawit and stifled a cry of dismay. 

"Two women in a canoe! They're going to run for it!"

"They are fools!" growled Leary settling himself to the oars andswinging the boat round. 

The Governor had already turned the canoe and was furiously plying hispaddle. A lantern shot its beams from the phantom craft, but the lightvanished immediately. 

"There goes his engine, " the Governor called as he took the lead. "Hespotted that light and will try to run them down. "

Isabel and Ruth, attempting to elude Carey's blockade and seek help atHuddleston, were forcing a crisis that might at any minute result indisaster. It was close upon midnight, and there was no help to be hadfrom either shore. A fierce anger surged through Archie's heart. Therecould have been no safer place to commit murder than the quiet bay atthe dead of night. Ultimately the bodies would be washed up; there wouldbe the usual inquiries and a report of accidental drowning. 

It was incredible that Carey would attempt to run down two women on thedark bay and it was apparently his intention to circle round them anddrive them back to the camp. Neither the canoe of the adventurous womennor the launch was visible from the row boat, though the engine's rapidpulsations indicated the line of Carey's pursuit. To shout to the daringwomen that help was at hand would only alarm them, and Archie crouchedin the bow, peering ahead for the silhouette of the Governor as hiscanoe rose on the waves. 

The launch executed a wide half-circle, stopped and retraced its course. Leary, refusing to relinquish the oars, swore between strokes, theobject of his maledictions being the invisible Carey, whom he consignedto the bottom of the lake in phrases that struck Archie as singularlyfelicitous. In spite of their steady advance and the frequent turns andtwists of the launch, the canoe and row boat seemed to approach nonearer to the enemy. There was no doubt but that Carey knew a craft ofsome kind had put off from the camp and he was determined to interceptit; but he was still unconscious of the presence in the bay of the threemen from Huddleston. 

The Governor called to Archie to stop following and move in thedirection of the town, independently of his own movements, thusbroadening the surface they were covering with a view to succoring thecanoe. As though with malevolent delight in the fear he was causing, Carey rapidly changed the course of the launch, urging it backward andforward with a resulting wild agitation of the waters. In one of theseevolutions it passed within oar's length of the row boat. 

"Keep on swearing!" cried Archie. "He's not a man; he's the devil!"

The launch passed again, like a dark bird skimming the water, and hetook off his shoes and threw aside his coat. 

"If that blackguard keeps this up we may have to swim for it! Give methe oars; I want to warm up!"

They were changing positions when the launch, executing another of itserratic evolutions, again swept by. A second later they were startled bya crash followed by screams and cries for help. Leary whistled shrillyto attract the Governor's attention and bent to the oars. 

Carey shut off his power the moment he struck the canoe, whether insudden alarm at the success of his design or in the hope of picking upthe victims of his animosity was a question Archie left for a moretranquil hour's speculation. A shout from the Governor announced that hewas hurrying toward the scene of the collision. 

The launch, running full speed, had struck hard and it was sheer goodluck that the camp canoe had not been cut in two and the occupantskilled. The drumming of the engine had ceased but a searchlight sweepingthe water indicated the launch's position. The beam fell for a momentupon the Governor, paddling madly; another sweep of the light disclosedtwo heads bobbing on the waves some distance away from him. 

"Bear left!" cried Leary, seizing an oar. "Slow down! Stop!"

Archie backed water and the bow sprung high as Leary plunged into thebay. 

The light playing upon the scene from the launch fell in turn upon thestruggling women, the Governor and Leary swimming toward them, andArchie steadying the row boat ready to aid in the rescue. The appearanceof unknown men evidently frightened Carey, for he turned off his lightand retreated toward the inner recesses of the bay. 

The rescuers were now dependent upon sound and the starlight in theurgent business of marking the position of the young women. A handgrasped Archie's trailing oar and in a moment with Leary's assistance hehad gotten one of the women into the boat. The men now redoubled theirefforts to find the second victim of the catastrophe, shouting to keeptrack of one another and to hearten the girl who was somewhere battlingfor her life. 

A faint cry, hardly distinguishable above the commotion of the waves, caught Archie's ear and he jumped into the water and swam toward it. Inmaking a stroke his arm fell upon the side of the overturned canoe. Apitiful little whimper startled him; he touched a face and his fingerscaught in a woman's hair. The canoe still retained enough buoyancy tosupport him, and his lusty cries brought the Governor to his side, followed an instant later by Leary, laboriously pushing the boat beforehim. 

They worked in silence save for the sharp commands of the Governor. Theboat had to be balanced against the lifting of the second figure overthe side, and Leary managed this, while Archie and the Governor, aftertwice failing, with a supreme effort, got the second girl aboard. 

Leary was running the ray of an electric lamp over the faces of the twoyoung women when one of them sat up and muttered in a choking, frightened tone, "Oh, Isabel!" Whereupon she began to laughhysterically. 

"Thank God Ruth is safe!" cried the Governor. "But Isabel--?"

"They were both taking care of themselves when we picked them up, " saidArchie, holding to the side of the boat. "We haven't a case of drowningto deal with. "

"We'll make for the camp as fast as possible. I'll take the oars, " saidthe Governor. "You and Leary follow in my canoe. "

The Governor sent the boat swiftly toward the camp with Archie and Learyclose behind. Ruth, protesting that she was only chilled by her ducking, vigorously manipulated the arms of her prostrate companion. When shehailed the shore a lantern flashed in answer and the camp doctor andIsabel's mother met them at the landing. They had heard the crash of thecollision and the reassuring cries that had announced the rescue. 

"Lungs all clear; a case of exhaustion or shock, " announced the doctorcrisply, and Archie formed a high opinion of her as a capable personwhom he should always remember gratefully. 

Ruth declared that she was able to walk but Isabel became the object oftheir immediate concern. She lay in the boat muttering incoherently. Archie gathered her up in his arms and bore her to the hospital tentwhere a nurse awaited them. 

"You gentlemen must go at once to the bath house on the shore, " orderedthe doctor with a brisk professional air. "Take one of these lanterns, and strip and rub yourselves dry. Hot coffee will be sent you shortly. As there isn't a man on the place we can't offer you dry clothing, butif you need medical attention let me know. "

The tent flap fell. 

"We're lucky devils, " said the Governor, as they wrung the water fromtheir clothes in the bath house. "If we hadn't been just where we werethose girls would have drowned. In their skirts they couldn't have madethe shore. Lucky I say!"

"We have some unfinished business, " remarked Archie. "We're going totake up this little matter with Mr. Carey before I sleep again. "

"Patience!" cried the Governor, now in high spirits though his teethchattered. "It was his inning; he kept them from reaching Huddleston, but we don't want to waste our chance of scoring when we go to bat. Patience; and then more patience!"

"You don't mean to say that you're not going to notify the authoritiesnow?" demanded Archie. "It would give me the greatest satisfaction tosend him over the road for attempted murder. "

"We could do that beyond question; but I've already told you, my dearboy, that we are going to be the sole judge of the law and the evidencein these matters. I mean to end my career as the prince of villains witha flourish. There shall be no loose ends. My time is short. Before theweek is out I've got to tie all pending matters up in neat packagesadorned with pink ribbons. Moon, stars and all other influences are justright for a successful termination of my seven years of servitude to thepowers of darkness, and if I don't shake 'em off at the exact momentordained by the heavens I'm committed to another seven years ofwandering. There you have it in a nutshell. Marriage, home, a life oftranquil respectability with the women we love; that's ahead of us if weplay the cards right. When you speak of calling sheriffs intoconsultation you make me slightly ill. Old sinners like Leary and mehave no confidence in the law's benevolence; and it may occur to youthat inquiries as to our immediate past might be embarrassing. We shallhold to our course, Archie!"

A pot of coffee and a basket of sandwiches were left at the bath housedoor and they partook with the zest of shipwrecked mariners. At the endof an hour, reclad in their wet clothes, they huddled at the landingwaiting for news from the hospital tent. Mrs. Perry came down presentlyto report that Isabel and Ruth were asleep. 

"Isabel has a badly bruised hand--no bones broken but it was an uglysmash. She will have to carry it in a sling for a few days. "

"Her hand, " Archie murmured, so quaveringly that Mrs. Perry looked athim curiously. 

That one of Isabel's adorable hands should be injured enraged him; hefelt the hurt in his own heart, and he resolved that Carey should paydearly for an offense that surpassed all other crimes that had ever beencommitted from the beginning of time. 

"We have taken every precaution to guard against any unhappyconsequences of their immersion, " Mrs. Perry continued. "There's somedanger of cold, but Dr. Reynolds is a skilful young woman, and of courseIsabel and Ruth are strong, vigorous girls. They will be laughing attheir misadventures by noon tomorrow. "

"You're lifting our spirits a lot, " said Archie, and Leary, standing alittle behind him, chokingly ejaculated a heartfelt "thank God!"

"I wish, " said Mrs. Perry, "we might proclaim to the world your gallantconduct; but for any report of this matter to get abroad would bedisastrous, a dire calamity, as you can see. The camp day begins early, and it would be best for you to return to Huddleston and keep silent asto the accident. "

"We appreciate all that, and you may count on our discretion, " said theGovernor. "Let me say first that as to the danger of starvation, youneed have no fear on that score. I wired yesterday for a tug I'msomewhat interested in to pick up supplies at Harbor Springs and it willput in here some time during the afternoon. "

"You are wonderful!" exclaimed Mrs. Perry. "After you ran past thebarricade so successfully and delivered the little Congdon girl I'vebeen sure Ruth's confidence in you isn't misplaced. "

"That was a trifling matter. I wish you'd tell me before we leave justhow much credence you give this buried treasure story? While we'reabout it we must go to the bottom of that. "

The rays of the lantern Archie held disclosed an incredulous smile onMrs. Perry's face. She was a tall handsome woman, very like Isabel, evenin the tones of her voice and in an occasional gesture; and she hadIsabel's fine eyes. 

"I've never thought that more than a fairy tale, " she said. "I shouldnot want you gentlemen to waste time or run the risk of bodily injury inlooking for chests of money that may never have been buried here at all. There was, to be sure, a considerable fortune, but my father-in-law, whom I never saw, would have been much likelier to distribute it amongbanks in the northern states or in Canada. Richard Carey evidentlybelieves the story, though from his actions I'm inclined to think himutterly mad. He's going to desperate lengths to search for the treasure. His conduct is tinged a good deal with resentment because Isabel hasrepeatedly refused to marry him. He's a ne'er-do-well, a blacksheep anda disgrace to his family. "

The Governor sighed deeply. 

"I sometimes wonder that there's any white wool in the world; there areso many of these skittish little black lambkins scattered over thepastures!"

"They make uncomfortable neighbors!" Mrs. Perry exclaimed, so heartilythat they all laughed. 

On the silent shore with the tents of Heart o' Dreams Camp slowlyemerging from the shadows of the surrounding wood in the firstglimmering of dawn, Archie wondered just what Mrs. Perry's feelingswould be if she knew that she had been countenancing three rogues, twoof whom were far-wandering sheep with badly spotted fleeces and thethird, the solemn, silent Leary, with a trail of crime that reached fromocean to ocean. 

She walked with them to the landing and waved the lantern in farewell asthey set forth across the brightening waters for Huddleston. 

IV

When the Governor and Archie went down to breakfast at nine o'clock theylearned that Congdon had risen early and, declaring that his arm wasfully recovered, was fishing from the wharf. 

The Governor drew from his pocket a telegram which Leary had carried upto him while he was dressing. 

"A cipher from Perky at Harbor Springs. He's got the provisions aboardbut reports that he suspects the tug is being watched. It's possible ofcourse that he and old Eliphalet were spotted at Cleveland when theyboarded the boat and that the Government is keeping an eye on the_Arthur B. Grover_. "

Archie fidgeted uneasily. 

"We've got enough trouble on hand right here without bucking the Federalauthorities. Of course you'll warn him at once not to put in here!"

"My reply was sent instantly. I wired him to hold on to Eliphalet but todrop all the men he didn't need to handle the tug at the firstconvenient point and send them singly into the woods beyond Caldervilleto await instructions. This is a dead port; nothing but driftwood haslanded here since the mill shut down three years ago. "

"I tell you I don't like this at all! You can't run a pirate shipthrough the Great Lakes without attracting attention. A policeman canstand on the shore anywhere and throw a brick on board anything afloat. "

"Really, you exaggerate, Archie, " replied the Governor gently. "Thesewide and beautiful waters invite the adventurous mariner and if piracyappealed to me at all I'd rather enjoy levying tribute upon theunprotected cities of the saltless seas. "

Sally brought in a fresh pot of coffee and they waited for her to leavethe room. 

"Only one thing interests me, " declared Archie, "and that's theimmediate cleaning up of Carey. The Congdons have begun to bore me, ifyou'll pardon my saying it! The old man and his plugged gold pieces andthe will he's reported to carry in his umbrella and the family row arenone of my business. If you want to give me a thrill of delight you'llchuck everything connected with the name Congdon and concentrate onCarey. "

"Not so easy, with our friend Putney living here under the same roof. Again I warn you that we must practise patience. Here comes Putney now. "

They had reached the veranda, where Congdon joined them, proudlydisplaying his string of perch. When Leary had borne his catch to thekitchen Congdon became serious. 

"Something's happened that bothers me a little. A man motored up hereawhile ago, looked the place over and asked me a lot of questions aboutthe hotel and its guests. You understand, Comly--"

He hesitated, glancing questioningly from Archie to the Governor. 

"You may trust Saulsbury. We have knowledge of some other things thatmake it necessary for us all to stand together. "

"This fellow seemed to have no business here, " Congdon continued. "Hesaid he was staying at Calderville, farther down the road, and pretendedto be looking for a quiet hotel to bring his family to. He thoughtHuddleston might do. He looked me over in a way I didn't like. Youremember, Comly, I took you into my confidence about a little difficultyI had before I came here--"

"That little affair on the Maine coast? It was a shooting, Saulsbury, "Archie explained soberly. 

"Extraordinary!" exclaimed the Governor. "Mr. Congdon, you may commandmy services in any manner whatsoever. Now and then it has been myfortune to be able to pull a friend out of trouble. Pray consider mewholly at your service. "

He listened gravely while Congdon described the shooting at BaileyHarbor. He was convinced that he had shot a burglar who died of thewound, and that the injury from which he had just recovered had beeninflicted by his victim. 

"You have troubled about this matter quite unnecessarily, " the Governordeclared with a wave of the hand. "I can see that yours is a sensitivenature, with imagination highly developed. You were in your own house, and had every right to be there; and certainly no jury would everconvict you of murder where you were only defending yourself against ascoundrel who did his best to kill you. "

Congdon brightened perceptibly at this broad-minded view of the matterand flashed a look of relief at Archie, who was quietly smoking. 

"It's most fortunate that we three have met here, gentlemen andmurderers all!" the Governor went on airily. "Comly tells me that he toohas been dodging the police. To make you both feel perfectly at easeI'll be equally frank and say that for nearly seven years I've beenmixed up with the leading crooks of this country; not for profit; no, decidedly not; but merely for the fun of the thing. "

Archie pretended to share Congdon's surprise at this confession, delivered without the quiver of an eyelash. 

"I should never have guessed it, " said Congdon. "I had sized you up as acollege professor, or perhaps a lecturer on applied ethics, " he addedwith a laugh; "we hardly look the black wretches we are!"

"Let us hope not! But now to business. We seem to be fellows with apretty taste for adventure, and I'm going to appeal to your chivalryright now to help me in a very delicate and dangerous matter that callsfor prompt attention. Comly and I had a little brush with the enemy lastnight and in our further tasks we shall be glad of your help. "

He bade Archie tell the story, interrupting occasionally to supply somedetail. When Isabel's name was mentioned as the head of Heart o' DreamsCamp Congdon sprang to his feet excitedly. 

"Isabel Perry! Why, " he flung round upon Archie, "that's the girl I toldyou about in Chicago, who gave me the bad advice that got me into all mytrouble with my wife. So it's Isabel who's the custodian of my daughter!This is a queer business, gentlemen. "

"Highly interesting, I must confess!" the Governor ejaculated. "But youmust bear no grudge against Miss Perry; she's wonderful. She all butlost her life last night. Comly and I have solemnly pledged ourselves toclear up this whole situation, and we invite your fullest cooperation. "

"Certainly; I enlist right now. With my own child over there at themercy of that scoundrel I couldn't refuse. I assure you that I cherishno resentment against Miss Perry. I was a fool, I suppose, ever to havelet her influence me. I was pretty miserable at the time and she is avery attractive girl, and we men, well--"

"Man, " said the Governor, "is only a xylophone upon which any woman mayexercise her musical talents. At times her little hammers evoke thepleasantest harmonies, but when it pleases my lady she can produce themost painful discords. To get back to business, the tug that's bringingthe supplies for the camp is also towing a launch for our use. We'llmeet Mr. Carey on land or water, or in the air if he chooses. Now, Congdon, if you've no objection to taking orders from me, I'll ask youto lie off Heart o' Dreams in the row boat, while the supplies areunloaded. Our landlord, a trustworthy person in every particular, willgo with you. Comly and I will meet the tug and pick up the launch. "

"But how about this fellow from Calderville who's nosing round?" Congdonasked anxiously. "I'll say right here that I have no intention of beinghauled back to Maine to be tried for murder. "

"Take my word for it, that Comly and I will die rather than give you up. We'll stand or fall together. That chap may not be looking for you atall. He may be on the lookout for me or some pal of mine on the tug;they're all outlaws, desperadoes!"

"You're fooling, aren't you?" demanded Congdon incredulously. 

"Not in the least! Fugitives from justice, every mother's son of 'em!Only a few will be aboard when the _Arthur B. Grover_ puts into Heart o'Dreams, but there are enough crooks in the woods about here to plunderall Michigan. If that chap from Calderville's looking for trouble he'sgoing to have his hands full. "

Congdon went into Archie's room just before noon and laid an automaticpistol on the dresser. 

"See that? That's the gun I shot the thief with at Bailey Harbor. GuessI'll take it with me this afternoon for I know the infernal thingworks!"

"It's always best to tote a gun you've tested, " Archie answered, examining with unfeigned interest the weapon Congdon had discharged intothe mirror in the Bailey Harbor house. The gun with which he had shotCongdon was in a drawer of his bureau, and the instant Congdon left heexamined it for any marks by which its owner might identify it. He wasrelieved when the Governor came in and assured him that there wasnothing to distinguish the pistol from a thousand of its kind. 

While they waited for the tug's appearance they hung off Heart o' Dreamsshore, and the Governor and Archie paddled close enough to talk withRuth at the wharf. 

"Everything's all right, " she reported cheerily. "The doctor is keepingIsabel in bed today but merely to rest. The bruised hand is doingnicely and will probably heal without a scar. The camp's runningsmoothly and the girls don't know that they ate our last bread andbutter for luncheon. "

"You're safe in putting cookies on the evening bill of fare, " said theGovernor. "Has Carey made any sign today?"

"No, except that I went through the woods this morning towardCalderville and found the road piled with logs there at the bridge overthe little brook. I peeped through the barricade and saw some men withguns--"

"Don't you dare go near that place again!" exclaimed the Governor. "There's a good mile between that point and the camp boundaries and youhave no business going off your reservation. "

"How terribly you scold! I was just reconnoitering a little. "

"That little might mean the end of the world! But it's worth while toknow that you pout when you're scolded. "

The hazards of the night had left no mark upon her, and in the khakiHeart o' Dreams uniform she would have passed for a carefree boy. 

"You look shockingly young, " the Governor remarked with mock resentment, as he fended the canoe away from the wharf. "It doesn't seem possiblethat a venerable relic like me would ever have any chance with abeautiful young goddess like you. "

"Maybe you haven't!"

"Don't taunt me, woman, or I'll let you starve to death! Archie, " hewent on, his delight in her bright in his eyes, "this might be just theright moment to propose marriage. Your presence is a littleembarrassing, but all the conditions here are unusual. Ruth, I'm soproud of myself for loving you that I feel like proclaiming it to allthe world. "

She picked up a chip and threw it at him with a boy's free swing. Hecaught it and placed it tenderly in his pocket. 

"The first gift you ever made me!" he cried rapturously. "I shall askyou to autograph it later. I shall treasure it always!"

"Who are those gentlemen out yonder?" she asked, spying Congdon andLeary in the row boat. 

"The gentleman idling at the oars is Mr. Leary, the honest innkeeperfrom Huddleston; the other is Mr. Putney Congdon!"

"Not really! Please don't tell me we're to have another kidnaping!"

"Certainly not! Leary was a valuable member of our rescue party lastnight and he's wholly friendly to our cause. Mr. Congdon came up withMr. Comly merely to be near his daughter. "

"How did he know she was here? Please don't jest; this is very serious!"

"He knew because he got a mysterious message from me hinting that hiswife had sent the child here. He's a charming fellow--not at all thebrute we've been thinking him; and while we've told him only what it'sbest for him to know about ourselves he cheerfully enlisted in ourcampaign to protect the camp. He's even now--"

An exclamation from Ruth caused Archie and the Governor to turn towardthe lake. The _Arthur B. Grover_ was steaming slowly into the bay. Amoment later Leary whistled to call attention to the Carey launch, whichwas running rapidly toward the camp. 

"Keep out of sight, " said the Governor, "and send your young charges toplay in the woods. We don't want witnesses if anything disagreeablehappens while we're unloading. "

"Please, " she cried, turning to go, "take care of yourselves! We'dbetter give up the fight right now than have you hurt!"

"It was pretty nice of her to say that, Archie, " said the Governorsoberly, watching her as she disappeared down a long lane of tents. "We'll see some fun now if Carey cuts any capers. "

"He'll hardly ram the tug, though he may be fool enough to try it. "

The _Arthur B. Grover_ had rounded the point and was feeling its waytoward Heart o' Dreams. 

Archie recognized Perky, industriously taking soundings and lazilygiving orders to the man at the wheel. 

"How much does she show?" called the Governor. 

"A coupla clothes lines deep, " replied Perky without taking the pipefrom his mouth. 

His air of unconcern, his complete absorption in the business of gettingthe tug in position to unload, the nonchalant manner in which hedirected the pilot, greatly enhanced Archie's admiration for Perky. 

Two men were rigging up a crane to land the bags, boxes and crates thatwere piled on deck in prodigal profusion. 

"There's our new launch trailing behind like clouds of glory, " said theGovernor. "A very snappy little affair it is. "

"And a very snappy little man is hanging over the rail of the tuggripping an umbrella. How do you suppose Perky's explaining all this toEliphalet?"

"Trust Perky to be plausible. Wait till father Congdon sees Putney andyou'll hear an imitation of the ichthyosaurus singing its song of hate. "

Carey's launch had effected a half circle round Heart o' Dreams landingand was now drawing nearer. There were two men aboard and Leary, havingput himself between the launch and the tug, signaled the Governor bylifting one arm high over his head, and then extending it horizontally. A careless observer would have thought he was only stretching himself. 

"That means, " the Governor explained, "that there's a suspicious personon Carey's launch; and, " he continued, after watching Leary's furthertelegraphing, "that Congdon has identified him as the gentleman whointerviewed him at Huddleston this morning. Everything's goingsmoothly. "

By the time the _Arthur B. Grover_ had warped in, Carey had brought hislaunch to within a dozen yards of the tug, and his companion wasstanding up anxiously scrutinizing the men on board. 

"Prisoners!" he bawled; "every one of you a prisoner! I know you, Perky;and you needn't try any tricks on me or it'll be the worse for you. Anddon't you fellows on that wharf try any funny business with me!"

Perky, busily getting the crane in working order, paid no heed whateverto these threats uttered in the authoritative tone of one who isconfident of the support of the army and navy of the United States. Carey loudly seconded the detective's demand for the immediate andunconditional surrender of the tug. 

"Trapped! Lost!" cried Eliphalet, tragically. 

"You're mighty right you're lost!" yelled the officer. "You're a niceold scoundrel, to be circulating plugged gold pieces, and a rich man atthat! You're pinched; do you understand? You're under arrest!"

The effect of this shot was to cause Eliphalet to attempt to climb fromthe tug to the wharf but the Governor seized a paddle and gently urgedhim back. 

"I beg of you, Mr. Congdon, don't be disturbed. That person in thelaunch can't harm you in the least. He may be annoying, yes; and hisvoice is extremely disagreeable, but really his utterances are unworthyof the attention of honest men. "

"Who the deuce are you?" demanded Eliphalet, leveling his umbrella atthe Governor. "It occurs to me we have met before. "

"Thanks for the compliment!" the Governor answered, dodging a heavycrate, the first of the freight to be swung ashore. 

Perky was thoroughly prepared for the expeditious delivery of his cargo, even to wheelbarrows in which three men now began trundling supplies upthe wharf and along the beach to the camp store house. The work wasproceeding rapidly, without noise or confusion, and Archie and theGovernor were busily assisting when the shore was startled by a yell. 

Leary and Congdon in the row boat had been stealing up behind Carey'slaunch. Leary sprang aboard while the two occupants were watching thelanding of the stores. 

Carey, diving under Leary's arms, seized a club and knocked himoverboard. The detective jumped into the water and swam to the wharf, where he was immediately overpowered and hauled aboard the tug. By thistime Carey was steering for the middle of the bay, where he watched thetug for a while and then retired toward his camp. 

Leary had crawled upon the pier and was disconsolately shaking the waterout of his shoes. 

"It was a good try, old man, " said the Governor cheerily. "That fellow'snot going to be easy to bag, but we've got a detective on our hands, " hechuckled, "and I don't know just how we're going to let loose of him. "

Putney Congdon had rowed close to the wharf to pick up Leary. As theGovernor had predicted, Eliphalet Congdon emitted a loud and not whollymelodious howl as he recognized his son. 

"Hey there! You've been following me! I told you to stay at the farm andhere you come sneaking after me away up here where I've come for rest. "

"You were never more mistaken in your life!" replied Putney. "I came uphere to see Edith and found that that fellow you saw in the launch wastrying to starve out this camp. "

"Edith here? Who says Edith's here? You're out of your senses! You knowperfectly well the child's in Ohio!"

"Break in on that dialogue, " said the Governor to Archie. "Those menwill never get anywhere yelling at each other. I'll attend to Eliphaletafter we land the freight. "

"If that wife of yours has stolen Edith I'll have the law on her!"screamed Eliphalet. "She's not fit to have the care of children!"

Archie walked to the edge of the wharf and commanded Eliphalet to holdhis peace. 

"Putney, row out a few hundred yards and watch Carey. You needn't worryabout your father. We'll find some way of getting him out of hisscrapes. "

The detective, who had been lashed to the pilot house, reused himself toshout:

"You'll make a nice mess of it trying to get him away from theGovernment. The whole lot of you are crooks, and you're holding me atyour peril. "

The discharge of freight had not ceased during this colloquy. The craneswung over the wharf at regular intervals, and the men with thewheelbarrows trotted back and forth with the spirit and agility of menintent upon finishing an honest day's work. As Putney Congdon, mystifiedbut obedient, rowed away, his father began begging Perky to leave theplace and steer for Canada. 

"You promised to protect me but you've made a fool of me, " the old manwailed. "You betrayed me to the police; you--"

The Governor flung a sack of potatoes into a wheelbarrow, and surveyedthe infuriated Eliphalet for a moment. 

"Pray calm yourself, Mr. Congdon, and please be careful how you chargepeople with serious crimes. It seems to be an obsession with you thateverybody on earth is a crook. The proposition interests mepsychologically. When I get through with this freight I'll look at yourdata. Meanwhile I solemnly warn you to make no charge against me or anyfriends of mine that you can't prove. "

It was five o'clock when the last of the cargo was landed in the storehouse. The engineer (a gentleman whose grimy face and mournful eyesbelied his record as a hold-up man) sounded the whistle. 

Ruth ran down to the shore and Archie and the Governor went to meet her. 

"O you angels!" she cried. "I've just taken a peep into the store houseand you've given us enough food to last all next summer. It's perfectlysplendid. I wasn't watching--really, I wasn't--for I had to keep thegirls busy; but you did have trouble of some sort?"

"Nothing of the slightest consequence, " the Governor answered. "We triedto catch Carey but he was too quick for us. But we did pick up a friendof his--the gentleman you see giving an exhibition of haughty disdainout there on the tug. Keep everybody well under cover tonight and don'tbe alarmed by anything you hear. We'll soon be through with thisbusiness. "

"Who's that funny little man on the tug? He seems anxious to attractattention!"

Eliphalet Congdon was engaged in an argument with the detective, who, being helpless, was obliged to endure a tirade the old gentleman wasdelivering to the accompaniment of an occasional prod of the inevitableumbrella. 

"That, " said the Governor, "is Edith Congdon's paternal grandfather; anestimable person fallen upon evil times. "

"You don't mean Mr. Eliphalet Congdon!"

"Most emphatically I do. "

"And have he and his son settled their differences?"

"Not so you would notice it! But they'll be loving each other when I getthrough with them. "

"Do you know, " said the girl, looking wonderingly into the Governor'seyes, "I don't suppose I could ever learn to know when you're foolingand when you're not. "

"After we're married I shall never attempt to fool you. By the way, " headded hastily as she frowned and shrugged her shoulders, "when does thecamp close?"

"August twenty, if Mr. Carey doesn't close it sooner. "

"The date shall stand without reference to Carey's wishes, intentions oracts. Please write your father to be here on that last day and bring hisepiscopal robes with him. And by the way, you spoke of yourembarrassments about mail. We'll send to the Calderville post-office forall the Heart o' Dreams mail; a boat will deliver it tonight and pick upthe camp mail bag. Have you anything to add, Archie?"

"You might say to Isabel, " said Archie slowly, "that August twentystrikes me as the happiest possible date for our wedding. "

"You two talk of weddings as though we were not in the midst of battle, murder and sudden death!"

She folded her arms and regarded them with an odd little smile, halfwistful, half questioning, playing about her lips. The tug was drawingaway from the wharf. Perky sat on the rail placidly sucking an orange, anoble picture of an unrepentant sinner. From the woods floated the far, faint cries and light-hearted laughter of the camp youngsters at play. In spite of his attempt to imitate the Governor's jauntiness Archie feltagain, as so often since he left Bailey Harbor, the unreality of theevents through which he had been projected with his singular companion, who had drawn him so far out of his orbit that it was hard to believethat he would ever slip into it again. Their affairs had never presentedso many problems as now, when the Governor was predicting and planningthe end with so much assurance. In the few seconds that Ruth deliberatedhe plunged to the depths in his despair that Isabel would ever seriouslyconsider him as a lover. 

"I was just thinking, " said the girl, stepping back a little into a paththat led from the beach to the woods, "how we seem to be living in thegood old times, when knights hastened by land or water to the rescue ofladies in distress. This is all very pretty and be sure we allappreciate what you have done for us. But I don't quite see through tothe end!" The smile was gone and there was no doubt of the sincerity ofthe anxiety that darkened her eyes as she ended with a little, quavering, despairing note: "Something serious and dreadful threatensus, one and all of us maybe! It's only--what do you call such a thing--apresentiment!"

"Please don't think of it!" pleaded Archie; "things are bound to comeout all right. You mustn't lose faith in us. "

"Yes; it will be only a little longer, " muttered the Governorlistlessly. 

He had responded instantly to Ruth's confession of her premonition ofimpending evil, and Archie, troubled by his friend's change of mood, hastened to end the interview. 

"We're not going to lose!" he declared. "It's when the world isbrightest that the shadow of a cloud sometimes makes us fear to trustour happiness. Good-by and good luck!"

She was not reassured, however, and as she shook hands with them therewere tears in her eyes. 

V

The Governor quickly recovered his spirits and with characteristicenthusiasm began putting the new launch through its paces. Likeeverything that pleased him, the launch was wonderful. He called uponArchie to bear witness to its unsurpassed merits, and they ran out tothe row boat to invite the admiration of Putney and Leary. Putney, theyfound, was skilled in the handling of such craft, and the Governorcheerfully turned the launch over to him. 

"You take it and run up to Calderville, where you'd better get supper. Pick up the Heart o' Dreams mail and bring it back to Huddleston, andmeet us on the wharf at nightfall. We've got a heavy night's work aheadof us. Carey's probably jarred a good deal to find that we've got a tugand a launch to play with. "

"That's all right, and I'll obey orders, of course, " said Congdon, wiping the oil from his hands; "but don't forget that my father's outthere on that tug. I don't know what trouble he's in, but I can't forgetthat he's my father--"

Archie, touched by his display of feeling, turned with a pleading glanceto the Governor, but the Governor needed no prompting to be kind. 

"My dear boy, " he said, "you may rely upon me to extricate your fatherfrom his embarrassments. Archie and I are going aboard the tug to studyhis case carefully. If we don't do anything else this summer we'regoing to take the kink out of your family affairs. "

"There's no reason why you should--" Putney began. 

"Reason!" exclaimed the Governor, snapping his fingers contemptuously, "reasons for things are a horrible bore. In this pretty good old worldwe must apologize for our sins and weaknesses but not for our kindintentions. "

As they boarded the _Arthur B. Grover_ Eliphalet made no attempt tospeak to Putney though he leaned over the side and shook his umbrella atthe launch as it drew away. The Governor told Perky to produce food andinvited Eliphalet and the detective to supper. The officer, churlishfrom his bath in the bay and his enforced appearance in jumper andoveralls during the drying of his garments, replied to a polite inquirythat his name was Briggs but that his credentials had been lost in histumble into the water. 

"We shall waive all formalities, " said the Governor, "as my guest yourofficial connections, real or fictitious, concern me not at all. "

Corned beef, crackers, fruit and coffee composed the supper, andEliphalet Congdon, Briggs, Archie and the Governor sat cross-legged onthe deck and partook of it picnic fashion. 

"A truce to our difficulties, gentlemen!" the Governor cried, liftinghis tin cup of coffee. "I'm sure there are misunderstandings involvingall of us that time will clear up. It's mighty lucky for you, Briggs, that we succeeded in detaching you from that chap who brought you here. If you had remained in his company you would certainly have come togrief. With murderous intent he ran down two women right here in thebay last night. We saved their lives by sheer good luck. You were notwith him, I suppose, and I'll charitably assume you don't know hispurpose in attacking them. "

"He says the girls' camp is on his land and he's only trying to drive'em off, " replied Briggs. "Whatever his game is it's none of mybusiness. "

"It's any man's business to protect women and innocent children from themalice of a madman. To let you into a dark secret, he's got the ideathat there's buried treasure somewhere on the land occupied by Heart o'Dreams Camp. "

"Treasure!" exclaimed Eliphalet. "Do you mean to say there's moneyburied there?"

"That's the idea, " said the Governor with a grim smile at the suddenglint of greed in the old man's eyes. He told the story, told it withflourishes and decorations that pleased Archie immensely. 

"It sounds pretty fishy, " Briggs remarked, "but there may be somethingin it. "

"You never can tell, " muttered Eliphalet. "It would have been naturalfor one of those old southerners who hadn't any confidence in Jeff Davisto plant his money in some lonely place like this. "

"In one way or another we are all seekers of buried treasure, " remarkedthe Governor sententiously. 

His story had cleared the air, giving, as Archie reflected, a freshillustration of the power of romance to soften the harshness of even sorealistic a situation as confronted the tug's passengers. Eliphalet'simagination had been stirred, and he asked many questions about thetreasure. Briggs lost his hostile air and showed himself the possessorof an unsuspected amiability. 

"You seem to be a good fellow, " remarked the Governor; "and yourinterest in the _Arthur B. Grover_ is legitimate enough, I daresay. Ifyou will promise to behave and not try to leave the tug or molest anyone on board you're free to do as you like. But I want you to playfair. "

"I seem to be at your mercy. You've got to consider that my reputationis at stake. It's my duty to land Mr. Congdon and that chap you callPerky in the nearest jail and report their arrest to Washington. "

"Washington, " replied the Governor, drawing his hand across his face, "is a beautiful city; but it's a long way from here. Be assured that I'mno anarchist and the delicate matter of your professional standing issomething that shall engage my most earnest thought. Please makeyourself comfortable. "

He bade Archie follow him to the bow where Eliphalet was moodily gazinginto the water. 

"Mr. Congdon, " the Governor began in his blandest tones, "as a merelooker-on at the passing show I'm persuaded that you're not getting muchout of life. A mistake, sir; a mistake it grieves me to see you making. "

"What I do or do not do, " cried the old man, lifting his umbrellabelligerently, "is none of your infernal business. "

"An error, sir; an error of considerable magnitude, if you will pardonme! I wish my friend here to bear witness that I am qualified to offeryou excellent advice based on exact information as to your intimatedomestic affairs. You're a meddlesome person, Mr. Congdon, with a slightelement of cruelty in your makeup, of which let us hope you are notwholly conscious. Morally you are skidding, but this I charitablyattribute to your lack of a wholesome and healthy interest in life. Incidentally you've done all you could to destroy the happiness of yourson, who is a fine fellow and a gentleman. "

"And his wife, your daughter-in-law, is one of the noblest women in theworld!" interjected Archie, seeing that the Governor's arraignment wasnot without its effect on the odd, crumpled little figure. However, themention of Mrs. Congdon instantly aroused Eliphalet's ire. 

"That woman ordered me out of her house--a house I bought and paid for!She did her best to make my son hate me! She compelled him to quit thebusinesses I started for the sole purpose of providing him employment!"

"Your trouble is that you never knew when Putney grew up, " declared theGovernor. "You tried to boss him even after his marriage, and if Mrs. Congdon turned you out of her house she did only what anyself-respecting woman would do. As the result of your miserly ways, yourmeddlesomeness and your selfishness, you've just about ruined your life. The penitentiary yawns for you. " Eliphalet shuddered, and a look of fearnot pleasant to see crossed his face. "But, " the Governor went on, "inspite of your cowardly conduct I'm rather disposed to pull you out ofthe hole. "

"You will help; you really will help me?"

"Not if you cringe and whine like that. If you will stand square on yourfeet and listen to me I'll make you a proposition. Don't flinch; Idon't want any of your money! I've heard that you make a habit ofcarrying your will around in that umbrella, for the ludicrous reasonthat you think you are not one of us absent-minded mortals who forgetour umbrellas. And you like to have the will handy so you can rewrite itwhen the mood strikes you. Give me that thing!"

Eliphalet hesitated, but the Governor said, "If you please, Mr. Congdon, " with all possible shadings of courteous insistence, and gentlypried it from the old man's fingers. 

It was a heavy, bulgy, disreputable-looking umbrella with a batteredcurved handle. The canopy was held together by a piece of twine. Ratherthan be seen with so monstrous a thing any self-respecting person wouldcheerfully take a drenching. The Governor opened it, shook out a numberof manilla envelopes, all carefully sealed, and flung the umbrella fromhim as though it were an odious and hateful thing. As it struck thewater it spread open and the wind seized it and bore it gaily away. TheGovernor watched it for a moment with an ironic grin, then began openingthe envelopes and scanning the contents. 

"I began life as a lawyer, " he said coolly, "so you needn't fear thatI'll not respect the sanctity of these experiments in the testamentaryart. "

Archie, taking and refolding the wills as the Governor finished readingthem, marveled at this unexpected revelation of his friend's professionlet fall in the most casual fashion, as was the Governor's way. 

"It's evident from the dates of these wills that you've been steadilycutting down the amount of your bequest to your son, " the Governor wassaying, "so that if you died tonight he'd receive only a hundredthousand dollars, the remaining million or two going to humanesocieties, and one fat plum, I notice, to the Home for Outcast Cats. Theeccentricities of testators have never impressed me by their humor, particularly when hatred and revenge are behind them. You wouldmalevolently cut off your own blood merely because your daughter-in-lawdoesn't like your manners, which are bad, or because your son wouldn'tfall in with your fantastic schemes of making money dishonestly. Isuppose you've had a good time flourishing these wills before your sonand his wife when you were peeved, to let them know how you planned topunish them. Watch me, Archie, so you can bear witness to thedestruction of these things; they're all going to feed the fishes exceptthis earliest one, which divides the property in generous lumps betweenPutney Congdon and his children, with a handsome personal recognition ofMrs. Congdon. That shall be preserved. "

Eliphalet sullenly watched the Governor as he tore the papers into bitsand flung them to the breeze, all save the one, which he again scannedwith sophisticated care and stowed away carefully in his pocket. 

"Now, sir; let us get down to business! If you will promise me never tomake another will without consulting me, but will let this one I've keptstand, and if you agree not to interfere any further with your son'sfamily or his wife or his children or his ox or his ass or anything thatis his, for the rest of your natural life, I'll guarantee that in dueseason you'll leave this tug a free man. "

"You can do that; you are sure you can save me?" Eliphalet's voice shookand his hands, thrust out appealingly, trembled pitifully as he turnedfrom the Governor to Archie. 

"My friend can do what he says, " said Archie. "You may trust him. "

"I promise, " said the old man steadily. "But I must see Putney andexplain about the coins. It was more in a spirit of playfulness, acuriosity to know how such things are done that I got mixed up in thatbusiness. "

"I daresay it was and I'm sure you'll not repeat the offense, " said theGovernor, lighting a cigarette. "As to Putney, I'll arrange the meetingas soon as possible. "

Eliphalet Congdon was the last man Archie would have expected to yieldto the Governor's wizardry, or hypnotism, or whatever it was that causedpeople to submit to him; but the old man's face expressed infiniterelief now that the Governor had so insolently assumed the rôle ofdictator in his affairs. The pathos of the weazened little figure nowstripped of its arrogance, and the assertion of a long-latent kindlinessin his countenance, encouraged the hope that happier times were in storefor all the Congdons. 

CHAPTER SEVEN

I

The Governor and Archie were waiting on the Huddleston wharf when Putneyand Leary returned from Calderville, bringing two sacks of Heart o'Dreams mail. Putney had loafed about the Calderville post-office andmade purchases in several shops to learn if possible whether Carey'spurpose in establishing himself in the woods was known to the villagers. He had, it seemed, represented himself as an investigator for a lumbercompany engaged in appraising timber. This was the story he had told inCalderville and the villagers had not questioned it. 

"That's all right, " said the Governor, "and serves our purpose well. Archie, you and Leary take the launch and carry the mail over to Hearto' Dreams. The tug will be within call in case you need help. At twelveo'clock meet me about a quarter of a mile this side of Carey'sbarricade; Leary's got the place spotted so he can find it in the dark. Use a canoe; no noise and no lights. Hurry along but don't blow up thelaunch. "

"I have a surprise for you, " said Ruth when Archie delivered the mail atthe camp office. "I'm going to be busy sorting this mail, but if youwill step to the door, bear left ten yards and stop by a bench underour tallest pine, some one you pretend to like rather particularly mayappear, but just for a moment, remember! You ought to be eternallygrateful to me for this; I had to overcome both the doctor and the nurseand the prejudices and suspicions of the particular person--"

"Isabel!" he exclaimed. He hadn't dreamed that he might see Isabel. 

She came toward him out of the shadows, wrapped in a long cloak, carrying a lantern, and paused by the bench. 

"These old-fashioned lanterns are a lot nicer than the electric flashthings, " she remarked. 

They sat down with the lantern between them, her right hand resting uponits wire guard for a moment. The glow emphasized its fine length andfirmness. The left hand was bandaged and he saw her thrust it quicklyout of sight. 

"You haven't let me say how happy I am that you are able to be up, orhow grateful I am for this glimpse of you. It's always just glimpses. "

"Maybe it's better that way! But so much happens between our meetings;there was never anything like it in all the world. Never was anacquaintance so pursued by storms! I wonder where the blow will fallnext?"

"Not on your head, " he answered decisively, "not if the Governor and Ican prevent it. But let us not waste time on that; I want your assurancethat you are really well. "

"Oh, perfectly; not an ache from the ducking; only this little remindermy hand will carry for a day or two; but that's nothing to worry about!"

There was a restraint upon them, due perhaps to the calming influenceof the stars, the murmurings of the shore in conference with the pines. 

"The things that have happened since we first met would make a largebook, " he said with an accession of courage, "but a separate volumewould have to be written about your hands. "

She fell back at once upon her defenses. 

"Oh, are they as large as that!"

"They are as dear as that!"

"How absurd you are! Here we are with only a few minutes to talk; notmore than ten--that's official from the doctor; and you're talkingfoolishness. If I were extremely sensitive I might imagine that my facewas displeasing to you!"

"The face is too remote, too sacred; I wouldn't dare let myself thinkabout it. The hand encourages belief in our common humanity; but theface is divine, a true key to the soul. The hand we think of commonly asa utilitarian device of nature, and in your case we know it to beskilled in many gracious arts, but beyond its decorative values--"

"Dear me! Just what are you quoting?"

"Please suffer the rest of it! Your hands, I was about to say, not onlyawaken admiration by their grace and symmetry, but the sight of themdoes funny things to my heart. "

"That heart of yours! How did it ever manage to survive the strain andexcitement of last night?"

"Oh, it functioned splendidly. But it was at work in a good cause. Praypermit me to continue. Your hands are adorable; I am filled withtenderest longings to possess them. If I should touch them I might die, so furious would be my palpitations!"

"The minutes fly and you are delivering an oration on the human hand, which in the early processes of evolution was only a claw. If you arenot careful you'll be writing poetry next!"

"The future tense does me an injustice. I've already committed theunpardonable rhyme! I never made a verse before in my life, and thishasn't been confided to paper. I thought it out at odd moments in myrecent travels. The humming of the wheels on the sleeper coming up gaveme the tune. If you will encourage me a little I think I can recite it. It needs smoothing out in spots, but it goes something like this:

 "I view with awe and wonder Her hands so slim and long, -- I must not make the blunder Of clasping them--in song!

 "But sweet the memory lingers Of happy fleeting times When I have kissed her fingers And folded them in rhymes. 

 "Hands shouldn't be so slender, So dear and white and strong, To waken thoughts so tender That fold them like a song!"

"Charming! I never thought when I talked to you that night at yoursister's that I was addressing my inanities to a poet. Those are verynice jingles. I'm struck by the imagination they show--in the secondverse I think it is--?"

He repeated the verse. 

"Are you daring me?" he asked. 

"I dared you once and got you into a lot of trouble. Please rememberthat we are unchaperoned and the dear little girls asleep in those tentsback yonder would be shocked--"

"I shall make the shock as gentle as possible, " he said and kissed herunresisting hand. 

"The poem seems in a way to have been prophetic!" she remarked. "I mustrun now or the doctor will scold me, or I shall be scolding you! I mustsay one thing before we part. I've had time today to do a good deal ofthinking, and my opinion of myself isn't very high. Out of sheercontrariness that night in Washington I teased you into doing thingsthat led you into grave danger--and the danger is still all about us. I'm sorry; with all my heart I'm sorry! If anything should happen toyou, it would be my fault--my very grievous sin! And maybe there areother men that I may have said similar things to--oh, you were not thefirst!" she laughed forlornly. "They, too, may have plunged into thesame pit I dug for you. Oh, how foolish I've been!"

There was no questioning the sincerity of her dejection and contrition, and he felt moved to tell her of Putney's confession in the park atChicago, that they might laugh together at the curious fling of fatethat had brought two of her victims together In deadly combat. But hermood did not encourage the idea that she would view the matter in ahumorous light. 

"I wish you could tell me truly, " she went on, "that what I said thatnight really didn't impress you; that it wasn't responsible for yourgiving up your plans for going to the Rockies?"

"Honestly, I can't say anything of the kind! And if we hadn't had thetalk, and if you hadn't sent the verse, I shouldn't be here trying tohelp you now. "

"But it was flirting; it was the silliest kind of flirting!"

"That is always a legitimate form of entertainment, a woman's right andprivilege! Please put all this out of your mind!"

"It's not a thing to be dismissed so lightly. I'm very unhappy about it;I'm deeply ashamed of myself!"

"You exaggerate the whole matter, " he urged. "You are making me out amiserable weakling indeed when you think I ambled off toward perditionjust because you dared me to assert myself a little!"

"I want you to promise, " she said slowly, "that you won't in any wayinterfere with my cousin here. I can't have you taking further risks. After last night I doubt whether he bothers us. Ruth feels as I do aboutit; you must go away. You will promise, please--"

"You would have us run just as the game grows interesting! Of coursewe're not going to quit the field and leave that fellow here to annoyyou! He's a dangerous character and we're going to get rid of him. "

She was depressed, much as Ruth had been a few hours earlier and hisefforts to win her to a happier frame of mind were unavailing. 

"I love you; I love you!" he said softly. 

"You must never say that to me again, " she said slowly and determinedly. "After my stupid, cruel thoughtlessness you must hate me--"

"But, Isabel--"

She seized the lantern and hurried away, her head bowed, the cloakbillowing about her. He watched the lantern till its gleam was swallowedup in the darkness. 

It was ten o'clock. Leary had got the outgoing mail--a week'saccumulation, and they crossed to Huddleston where one of Perky's menwas waiting with a machine to carry it to Calderville. 

"The Governor didn't want the launch goin' up there ag'in, " Learyexplained. "He dug up that car somewhere. "

"The Governor's a great man, " said Archie. 

"The greatest in the world!" Leary solemnly affirmed. 

II

Shortly before midnight Archie and Leary left the _Arthur B. Grover_ andpaddled cautiously toward the point fixed by the Governor for theirrendezvous. They were fortified with a repeating rifle, a shotgun (thiswas Leary's preference) and several packets of rockets for use insignaling the tug. It was the strangest of all expeditions, the moreexciting from the fact that it was staged in the very heart of thecountry. For all that shore or water suggested of an encompassingcivilization, the canoe driven by the taciturn Leary might have been theargosy of the first explorer of the inland seas. 

Archie, keenly alive to the importance of the impending stroke, wasaware that the Governor had planned it with the care he brought to themost trifling matters, though veiled by his indifference, which in turnwas enveloped in his superstitious reliance on occult powers. Whetherthrough some gift of prevision the Governor anticipated needs anddangers in his singular life, or whether he was merely a favorite of thegods of good luck, Archie had never determined, but either way the manwho called himself Saulsbury seemed able to contrive and directincidents with the dexterity of an expert stage hand. The purchase ofthe _Arthur B. Grover_ had seemed the most fantastic extravagance, butthe tug had already proved to be of crucial importance in theprosecution of their business. The seizure of Eliphalet Congdon had beenjustified; Perky and Leary were valuable lieutenants and the crew ofjailbirds was now to be utilized as an offensive army. 

Leary, restless because he couldn't smoke, spoke only once, to inquireArchie's judgment as to the passage of time. The old fellow, longaccustomed to lonely flights after his plunderings, possessed theacutely developed faculties of a predatory animal; and the point atwhich they were to debark having been fixed in his mind in a daylightsurvey he paddled toward it with certainty. He managed his paddle sodeftly that there was hardly a drip that could announce their proximityto any one lying in wait on the bay. Several minutes before Archiecaught the listless wash of calm water on a beach, Leary heard it andpaused, peering at the opaque curtain of the woodland beyond the lightershadow of the shore. 

"We struck it right, " he announced, returning from an examination of theshore markings. 

They carried the canoe into the wood and lay down beside it, communicating in whispers. 

"That girls' camp's on th' right; Carey's place to the left. Hear that!"His quick ear caught the faint moan of a locomotive whistle far to thesouth. It was a freight crossing a trestle, he said, though Archie hadno idea of how he reached this conclusion. 

"Th' rest o' th' boys are away off yonder, " and he lifted Archie's handto point. 

"How many?" asked Archie, who had never known the number of men droppedfrom the tug to make the swing round Carey's fortress. 

"Ten; and a purty sharp bunch! You be dead sure they're right er oleGovernor wouldn't have 'em!"

Leary's confidence in the Governor as a judge of character reënforcedArchie's own opinion of the leader's fitness to command. That he shouldhave been received into the strange brotherhood of the road, which theGovernor controlled with so little friction, never ceased to puzzle him. He was amused to find himself feeling very humble beside Leary, a poor, ignorant, unmoral creature, whose loyalty as manifested in his devotionto the Governor was probably the one admirable thing in his nature. 

"Somebody may get hurt if we come to a scrimmage, " he suggested. "Whatdo you think of the chances?"

"When ole Governor's bossin' things I don't do no thinkin', " the old mananswered. He raised his head, catching a sound in the gloom, and tappedArchie's shoulder. "It's him, I reckon. "

An instant later the Governor threw himself on the ground beside them. He was breathing hard and lay on his back, his arms flung out, completely relaxed, for several minutes. Archie had often wondered athis friend's powers of endurance; he rarely complained of fatigue, andvery little sleep sufficed him. He sat up suddenly and said crisply:

"Well, boys, everything's ready!"

One by one his little army assembled, rising from the ground likespecters. They gathered stolidly about the Governor, who flashed hiselectric lamp over their faces, --evil faces and dull faces, with eyesbold or shrinking before the quick stab of the gleam. 

"Remember, you're not to shoot except in self-defense, " said theGovernor. "It's Carey, the leader, we're after. Those poor fools he'sgot with him think there's big money in this; I've told you all aboutthat. They may run and they may put up a fight, but Carey must be takenprisoner. Spread out four paces apart for the advance, and move in aslow walk. When you hear me yell I'll be on top of the barricade. That'syour signal for the dash to go over and get him. "

Leary was already deploying the men. The Governor laid his hand onArchie's shoulder. In the contact something passed between them, such acommunication as does not often pass from the heart of one man toanother. 

"If it comes to the worst for me, you and Isabel will look out for Ruth. I needn't ask you that. Use the tug quickly to clear things up here;there must be nothing left to tell the tale. See that old man Congdonkeeps his promise. That will of his is in my blue serge coat in thecloset of my room. If I die, bury me on the spot; no foolishness aboutthat. I died to the world seven years ago tonight, so a second departurewill call for no flowers!"

Tears welled in Archie's eyes as he grasped his friend's hand there inthe dark wood under the world-old watch of the stars. 

Leary reported everything in readiness, and the signal to go forward wasgiven by a hand-clasp repeated along the line. Archie kept at theGovernor's heels as they advanced, pausing every fifty paces for amethodical inspection of the company by Leary and Perky, the latterhaving left the tug in charge of the engineer and joined the party lastof all. 

When they reached the little stream that defined the boundary of Hearto' Dreams territory the Governor, Archie and Leary got in readiness fortheir dash across the bridge and over the barricade. The purl of watereager for its entrance into the bay struck upon Archie's ear with aspiteful insistence. 

"There must be no chance of these fellows breaking past us andfrightening the women at Heart o' Dreams, " said the Governor. "We've gotto make a clean sweep. But it's Carey we want, preferably alive!"

There was not a sound from the farther side of the stream. They crawledacross the bridge and Archie ran his hand over the frame of logs againstwhich stones had been heaped in a rough wall, as the Governor hadexplained to him. Archie had determined to thwart his friend's purposeto lead the assault, but while he was seeking a footing in the crevicesthe Governor swung himself to the top. His foot struck a stone perchedon the edge and it rolled down into the camp with a great clatter. 

As though it had touched a trigger a shotgun boomed upon the night, indicating that Carey had not been caught napping. Orders given in ashrill voice and answering shouts proclaimed the marshaling of hisforces. Archie and Leary reached the Governor as he was crawling overthe stones. Some one threw a shovelful of coals upon a heap of wood thatevidently had been soaked in inflammable oil, for the flames rose with aroar. 

It may have been that Carey had grown wary of murder as a means ofgaining his end after the escapade of the previous night, for the firstmove of his men was to attempt to drive out the invaders with riflesswung as clubs. Carey screamed at them hysterically, urging them togreater efforts. 

"Fight for the gold, boys! Fight for the gold!"

It seemed impossible that the men he had lured to his camp with thepromise of gold would not see that he was mad. He flung himself firstupon one and then another of the attacking party, a fanatical gleam inhis eyes. Once, with two of his supporters at his back, he directed hisfury against Archie. This invited a general scrimmage in which weaponswere cast aside and fists dealt hard blows. When it ended Archie laywith friends and enemies piled upon him in a squirming mass. He got uponhis feet, his face aching from a blow from a brawny fist, and found thetwo sides taking account of injuries and maneuvering for the next move. 

The great bonfire kept the belligerents constantly in sight of eachother, skulking, dodging, engaging in individual encounters poorlycalculated to bring victory to either side. One of Carey's men lay nearthe barricade, insensible from a crack over the head from a rifle butt. His plight was causing uneasiness among his comrades, who began drawingback toward the shadows. Carey, seeing that their pluck was ebbing, cursed them. Only seven of the Governor's party had entered thebarricade, the others having been left outside to prevent a retreattoward Heart o' Dreams in case the enemy attempted flight. 

"We ain't gettin' nowhere!" growled Leary at the end of a thirdinconclusive hand-to-hand struggle with only a few battered heads as theresult. 

"There's gold for all of you!" screamed Carey to his men, and urged themto another attack. 

They advanced again, but Archie was quick to see that they came into thelight reluctantly and precipitated themselves half-heartedly into thestruggle. The Governor, too, was aware of their diminished spirit andgot his men in line for a charge. 

"We'll clean 'em up this time, boys!" he called encouragingly. 

He took the lead, walking forward calmly, and in a low tone pointing outthe individual that each should attack. The quiet orderliness of themovement, or perhaps it was a sense of impending defeat, roused Carey toa greater fury than he had yet shown. As the invaders broke line for theassault, he leaped at the Governor and swung at him viciously with arifle. The Governor sprang aside and the gun slipped from Carey's handsand clattered against the barricade. 

Angered by his failure, and finding his men yielding, Carey abruptlychanged his tactics. He ran back beyond the roaring fire and caught upanother rifle. Leary began circling round the flames in the hope ofgrappling with him, but he was too late. Without taking time for aim, Carey leveled the weapon and fired through the flames. 

Archie, struggling with a big woodsman, beat him down and turned as theshot rang out. The Governor was standing apart, oddly and strangelyalone it seemed to Archie, and he was an eternity falling. He raisedhimself slightly, carrying his rifle high above his head, and his facewas uplifted as though in that supreme moment he invoked the stars ofhis dreams. Then he pitched forward and lay very still. 

Carey's shot seemed to have broken the tacit truce against a resort toarms. There was a sharp fusillade, followed by a scramble as thebelligerents sought cover. The men who had been left outside now leapedover the barricade. The appearance of reënforcements either frightenedCarey or the success of his shot had awakened a new rage in his crazedmind, for he emptied his rifle, firing wildly as he danced withfantastic step toward the prone figure of the Governor. 

Archie, his heart a dead weight in his breast, resolved that theGovernor's last charge to him should be kept. He saw Congdon beyond thelight of the conflagration taking aim at Carey with careful calculation. Carey must not be killed; no matter what the death toll might be, theman responsible for it must be taken alive. He raised his hand as asignal to Congdon not to fire, and waited, hanging back in the shadows, watching the wild gyrations of the madman. Carey seemed now to beoblivious to everything that was happening about him as he continued hisdance of triumph. In the midst of this weird performance, suddenlywidening the circumference of his operations, he stumbled. As he reeledArchie rushed in, gripping his throat and falling upon him. 

The breath went out of the man as he struck the ground, and Archiejumped up and left him to Congdon and Leary. 

Perky was kneeling beside the Governor tearing open his shirt which wasalready crimson from a fast-flowing wound. 

"He's hurt bad; it's the end of him!" muttered the old man helplessly. 

"There's nothing to be done here, " said Archie, tears coursing down hischeeks as he felt the Governor's faltering pulse. "We must cross toHuddleston as quickly as possible. "

At Carey's downfall his men fled through the woods, pursued by severalof the Governor's party. Perky seized the rockets and touched one afterthe other to the flames of the bonfire. The varicolored lights werestill bright in the sky when the answering signal rose from the bay. 

"The tug's moving up, " said Perky. 

A thousand and one things flitted through Archie's mind. The Governorhad not opened his eyes; his breath came in gasps, at long, painfulintervals. To summon aid through the usual channels would be to invite ascrutiny of their operations that could only lead to complications withthe law and a resulting publicity that was to be avoided at any hazard. If a doctor were summoned from Calderville, he would in all likelihoodfeel it to be his duty to report to the authorities the fact that he hada wounded patient. It was hardly fair to call upon the young womanphysician at Heart o' Dreams, and yet this was the only safe move. While Perky and Leary were fashioning a litter he knelt beside theGovernor, laving his face with water from the brook. He despatched twomessengers to Heart o' Dreams, one through the woods and the other in acanoe. 

They would make the crossing in Carey's launch, while the tug, nowshowing its lights close inshore could be sent for the doctor. Two menhad already started for the beach with Carey bound and gagged and he wasto be kept on the tug until some way could be found of disposing of him. 

"I'll stay behind; I gotta clean up here; you don't need to know nothin'about it, " said Leary gruffly. 

One of Carey's men had been shot and instantly killed and another stilllay unconscious near the barricade from his battering on the head earlyin the fight. Leary grimly declared that the others would not be likelyto talk of their night's adventure. 

It had been a foolhardy undertaking, with potentialities of exposure anddanger that added fear to the grief in Archie's heart at the Governor'sfall. At best the thing was horrible, and but for the coolness withwhich Leary and Perky were meeting the situation Archie would have beenfor abandoning any attempt at secrecy. 

"It was th' ole Governor's way o' doin' it, " said Leary, as thoughreading Archie's thoughts. "Ole Governor never made no mistakes. Weain't agoin' to make no mistakes now, doin' what he tole us not to do. I'll go back and bury that poor devil and cover up the place. I guesshe's luckier bein' dead anyhow. An' then I'll wake up that other cussan' get rid of 'im. All you gotta do is t' ferget about it and take careo' ole Governor. "

III

Archie was very humble as he reflected that he hadn't done justice tothe intelligence and charm, to say nothing of the professional skill ofDr. Katherine Reynolds in his hurried glimpse of her at Heart o' Dreams. His fears that a woman doctor, who was really only a girl of the age ofRuth and Isabel, would not be equal to the emergency were dismissed anhour after she reached Huddleston. She brought the camp nurse with herand was fortified with bags of instruments and hospital supplies. 

She went about her examination without a question; made it as though shewere daily in the habit of dealing with wounded men; specifically calledfor boiling water, laid out sponges and bottles and oddly shapedtrinkets of steel, and the Governor's room in the ramshackle hotel wasquickly transformed into a surgery. Perky had gone aboard the tug, whichwas to remain in the bay until the outcome of the Governor's injurycould be learned. Putney Congdon kept Archie company in the hall outsidethe sick room. 

The morning was breaking when the door opened. 

"There's about one chance in a thousand, " said Dr. Reynolds, lookingvery tired but smiling bravely; "but we've taken the chance. There arereasons, I assume, why this matter should be kept quiet, and of courseyou know the danger, --to you and all of us!"

"It's splendid of you to accept the responsibility; be sure I appreciateit!"

"But I have no right to take it. I've done all I know how to do, butthere should be another head and a surer hand. Dr. Mosgrove of Chicagohas a summer home twenty miles from Heart o' Dreams. He's an old friendof my family and one of the most skilful surgeons in America. I'vewritten him a note and I'm sure he will come instantly. "

The note was sent to the tug for delivery and at eight o'clock thesurgeon was at Huddleston. He was in the sick room for a long, a verylong time. Archie pounced upon him eagerly when he reappeared. He eyedthe young man quizzically, apparently immensely amused about something. 

"What does all this mean?" he whispered. "Pirates in these waters whereI've been summering for years! Men shot and the police not notified! Agirl doctor attending the case! May I trouble you for your name, sir?"

Archie replied with all possible dignity that his name was Ashton Comly, and demanded a professional opinion as to the sick man's chances ofrecovery. The doctor became instantly serious. 

"The bullet pierced the right chest wall and of course there wasimmediate and copious hemorrhage. You needn't trouble about the delay ingetting to the doctor; nature went to work at once, forming clots thatplugged automatically the gaping mouth of the severed vessels. You menwere fortunate to find Dr. Reynolds; she has handled the case admirably. Dear me! I'm constantly astonished at these girls! You don't knowperhaps that your attending physician is a society girl who studiedmedicine over the solemn protest of her family? Sat on my knee as achild, and it tickles me immensely to see how coolly she takes this. Iapprove of her work in every particular. "

"Thank you, " cried Archie. "Oh, thank you for that! One thing more:would you advise me to summon the patient's sister, his only closerelative, I believe? I must do it at once if you think, possibly--"

"Yes. There being always the uncertainties, I should certainly do so. I'll run up in my launch this evening. "

Archie accompanied Dr. Mosgrove aboard the tug and gave Perky thehopeful news of the Governor's condition. Eliphalet Congdon demanded toknow what had happened in the night, and when he was to be released, andArchie spent some time trying to satisfy him that his solemn covenantwith the Governor would be carried out in every particular. 

Leary, who had returned to the _Arthur B. Grover_ shortly afterdaylight, showed the strain of the night. 

"It was kind o' lonesome buryin' that poor devil over yonder. Therewasn't a thing on 'im to tell who he was. That other chap came to and Idid the best I could fer 'im, and gave him money; tole him to clear outand keep his mouth shet or he'd do a lot o' time for mixin' up withCarey. I tore down that lunatic's fort and Carey wouldn't know the placehimself. "

The old fellow's succinct report gave to the burial of the victim of thenight's encounter an added gruesomeness. A dead man hidden away undercover of darkness, without benefit of clergy, meant nothing to Leary, who smoked his pipe, and asked in mournful accents what was to be donewith old man Congdon and Carey. These questions troubled Archie not alittle, but when he suggested that the detective had also to be disposedof Leary grinned broadly. 

"Ole Governor don't do nothin' like nobody else; y' must a-learned thatby this time. That chap ain't no detective; he's a gun man we sent tochum with Carey. "

Archie bared his head to the cool morning air. It was almost too much tolearn that Briggs, who had so gallantly played the part of a governmentdetective, was really an ally, shrewdly introduced into the Governor'sstrategy to awaken fear in Eliphalet Congdon. 

"Perky ain't no baby, " Leary said, "an' you don't ketch 'im runnin' intono detective. "

"But Perky wired the Governor that he thought he was being watched?"

Leary grinned again. 

"Ole Governor was foolin' you. That telegram was jes' to let Governorknow Briggs was on the job. Got t' have his little joke, ole Governor. It tickles 'im t' fool us boys. "

Archie went at once to the Huddleston station, where he satisfiedhimself that the lonely agent knew nothing of the transactions of thenight. The receipt and despatch of telegrams by the Governor had been awelcome relief from the routine business of the office, and recognizingArchie as a friend of his patron Mr. Saulsbury, he expressed the hopethat they were finding the fishing satisfactory. 

Archie drew from the breast pocket of his waistcoat the envelope theGovernor's sister had given him the night she dined in the New Yorkhouse. In his subsequent adventures he had guarded it jealously ascontaining his one clue to the Governor's identity. Now that the evilhour the woman dreaded had come, Archie found himself hesitating as helistened to the agent's complaint of the fate that had stranded him inso desolate a spot. The man turned to answer the importunity of theinstrument which was sounding his call and Archie tore open theenvelope. In a flowing hand which expressed something of the grace andcharm of the woman who had given it to him in circumstances soremarkable, he read:

 Mrs. Julia Van Doren Graybill Until October 1, Southampton, L. I. 

The agent was taking a train order and was unaware of the agitation ofthe man at the window. It was the Van Doren that burnt itself intoArchie's consciousness. It was an old name of honorable connotations, one with which he had been familiar all his life. It was chiseled in thewall of the church near the pew held for a hundred years by his ownfamily; it was a name of dignity, associated with the best traditions ofManhattan Island; and this, presumably, was the Governor's name. Graybill was unfamiliar, and this puzzled him, for he knew and couldplace half a dozen Van Dorens, probably relatives in some degree of theGovernor, but he recalled no woman of the family who had married aGraybill. Julia had said at the Governor's that she remembered him; buteven now with her name before him he could not place her. 

He made his message as brief as possible:

 Regret that I must act on my promise of several weeks ago and use the address given in confidence. Encouraged to believe that the patient will recover. Suggest, however, that you come at once. 

To this he added instructions as to the most direct route to Huddleston, and signed himself Ashton Comly. 

He and Congdon were at the supper table when he received the answer:

 Thank you. I am just leaving. J. V. D. G. 

Archie was not permitted to enter the sick room, but from time to timehe received assurances that the patient's condition was "satisfactory, "and at intervals Dr. Reynolds recited with professional brevity data asto temperature, respiration and the like. A second nurse wasimperatively needed, but when they were considering the danger of addingto the number of persons who knew that a wounded man was fighting forhis life in the abandoned village, Mrs. Leary suggested Sally--Sally whohad been in tears from the moment the Governor was carried into thehouse. Dr. Reynolds accepted Sally on sight and the girl quicklyadjusted herself to the routine of the sick chamber. 

At eleven o'clock Archie saw the Heart o' Dreams launch approachingHuddleston and leaving Congdon to answer any call from the Governor'sbedside, hurried to meet it. 

Ruth and Isabel had crossed alone and their stress of mind and heart wasmanifest before they landed. 

"I felt it; I knew that it would come!" cried Ruth. "If only you hadn'tgone there! It wasn't worth the sacrifice. "

"But we have every reason to hope! We must support him with our faiththat he will come out of it!"

"I should never have permitted either of you to come to this place, "said Isabel. "I shall always feel that it was my fault. "

The obligation to cheer them raised his own spirits as he explained thenature of the Governor's injury while they sat on the hotel veranda. Hedescribed the fight at the barricade with reservations, mentioning notat all the fact that a man had died as the result. They understood asfully as he that the whole affair must be suffered to slip into oblivionas quickly as possible. 

"The complications are so endless!" said Isabel with a sigh. "In thatmass of mail you delivered last night I found a letter from Mrs. Congdonsaying that she would arrive today--almost at once, in fact!"

"The prospect isn't wholly pleasing!" he exclaimed, looking at hiswatch. "I've played the very devil in the Congdons' affairs. I suppose Ishould lift my hat politely as she steps from the train and tell herthat I'm the brute who attempted to make her a widow. She will of courserecognize me instantly as the gentleman who escaped with her in a taxiafter the kidnaping of her daughter. "

"It seems to me, " said Isabel soberly, "that from the very moment youand I unfolded our napkins on the tragic night of your sister's dinnerthe world has been upside down. If we should ever tell all that hashappened, and how we have been whirled about and made to do things I'msure we were never intended to do, there wouldn't be one sane personanywhere who'd believe it. I feel like crying all the time! And I'm notsure that I'm not responsible for all of it, every bit of it! Why, I mayas well tell you now that I, poor, weak, foolish I, bade Putney Congdontake horse and ride gaily through the world, carving people with hisstout sword! And I played the same trick on you!"

"Oh, he told me all about that!" laughed Archie, glad of something torelieve the tension. "He told me without shame that he had almost fallenin love with you as a distraction from his troubles. But I didn'tconfess that you had started me for the penitentiary. There's the train, and you must permit me to satisfy Mrs. Congdon that her husband is in amood for immediate reconciliation before I break the news that he ishere. "

Mrs. Putney Congdon more than justified the impression he had formed ofher in their encounter in Central Park by the manner in which she heardhis story. He told it with all brevity on the station platform. Firstassuring her of Edith's safety, he made a clean breast of the BaileyHarbor visit, but skipped discreetly all that had occurred between thatcalamitous excursion and his meeting with her in New York. 

It was so incredible that it was not until he described his journey toHuddleston in Putney's company that she was able to see any humor in theseries of events that had led them all into the north. 

"Poor dear Putney! And he doesn't know yet that you nearly killed him!"

"Oh, there are a lot of things he doesn't know. Your father-in-law hasgiven his solemn promise that he will not again attempt to meddle inyour affairs. The umbrella that symbolized his tyranny is at the bottomof the lake and if he should die you and your children wouldn't bethrown upon charity. "

"This is all too wonderful to be true, " she exclaimed. "After all themisery I've endured it can't be possible that happiness is just ahead ofme. I had become resigned--"

"Your resignation after Edith was snatched away from you there in thepark struck me as altogether charming! Your conduct pleased me mightily. We were both awful frauds, fooling the police and running away!"

"It was delicious! I had always had a wild wicked desire to fool apoliceman. Isn't that a dreadful confession! What must you think of mefor admitting such a thing!"

"My own derelictions make me very humble; it's only a survival of theprimitive in all of us. I shouldn't worry about it. It's terribly easyto become a lost sheep, even a black one. But this is not an hour forphilosophical discussion. Let me assure you that the nasty telegram thatcaused you to leave Bailey Harbor in so bitter a spirit was the work ofyour father-in-law. Putney had nothing to do with it. "

"Oh, I rather guessed that; but I ran away thinking I might rouse myhusband to a little self-assertion. "

"And when he asserted himself sufficiently to go back to you I was rightthere to shoot him!"

"You are a highly amusing person! It would interest me a good deal toknow your real name and a lot of other things about you. "

"In due season you shall know everything. Just now I haven't the heartto keep you from your husband, and I'm going to send him to youimmediately. And as I shrink from telling a man I like so much that Itried to kill him not so long ago, I'm going to turn that agreeablebusiness over to you!"

IV

That night the Governor's condition took an unfavorable turn and Dr. Mosgrove was summoned. He remained until the crisis was passed. 

"We must expect progress to be retarded now and then; but now that we'vegot by this we may feel more confident. He hasn't been wholly consciousat any time, but he's muttered a name several times--Julia; is that thesister? Then the sight of her may help us in a day or two when his mindclears up. "

Archie was beset with many fears as he waited the arrival of Mrs. Graybill. His utter ignorance of any details touching the life of hisfriend seemed now to rise before him like a fog which he was afraid topenetrate. And there was Ruth, with her happiness hanging in thebalance; she was in love with a man of whom she knew nothing; indeed themystery that enfolded him was a part of his fascination for her, nodoubt; and if in the Governor's past life there was anything that mademarriage with a young woman of Ruth's fineness and sweetness hazardous, the sooner it was known the better. But when he caught a glimpse of Mrs. Graybill in the vestibule of the train his apprehensions vanished. Thepoise, the serenity of temper, an unquestioning acceptance of the fatethat played upon her life, which he had felt at their first meetingstruck him anew. 

"Our patient is doing well. The news is all good, " he said at once. 

"I felt that it would be; I couldn't believe that this was the end!"

"We will hope that it is only the beginning!" he said gravely. 

"A capital place for a beginning, or ending!" she remarked glancing witha rueful smile at the desolate street and shabby hotel. 

Putney and his wife had moved to Heart o' Dreams for a few days. Itwould be a second honeymoon, Putney said. Mrs. Graybill was introducedinto the hotel without embarrassment. It might have seemed that she hadforeseen just such a situation and prepared for it. She won Dr. Reynolds' heart by the brevity of her questions, and expressed hersatisfaction with everything that had been done. When she came down tothe dining-room for luncheon she avoided all reference to the sick man. In her way she was as remarkable as the Governor himself. Her arrivalhad greatly stirred Mrs. Leary, who, deprived of Sally's services, served the table. Archie was struck by the fact that with only theexchange of commonplace remarks the two women, born into utterlydifferent worlds, seemed to understand each other perfectly. He hadmerely told Mrs. Leary that the Governor's sister was coming and warnedher against letting fall any hint of her knowledge of his ways. 

"I've never been in these parts before, " Julia remarked to Archie; "Ishould be glad if you'd show me the beach. We might take a walk a littlelater. "

The hour in which he waited for her tried his soul. The Governor was theone man who had ever roused in him a deep affection, and the dread offinding that under his flippancy, his half-earnest, half-boyishmake-believe devotion to the folk of the underworld, he was really anirredeemable rogue, tortured him. These were disloyal thoughts; he hatedhimself for his doubts. It was impossible that a man of the Governor'sblood, his vigor of mind and oddly manifested chivalry could ever havebeen more than a trifler with iniquity. 

"I'm going to ask you to bear with me, " said Mrs. Graybill when theyreached the shore, "if I seem to be making this as easy for myself aspossible. I know that my brother cares a great deal for you. He sent melittle notes now and then--he always did that, though the intervals weresometimes long; I know that he would want you to know. Things havereached a point where if he lives he will tell you himself. "

"Please don't think I have any feeling that I have any right to know. It's very generous of you to want to tell me. But first it's only fairto give you a few particulars about myself. You said in New York thatyou knew me and I must apologize for my failure to recall our meeting. "

"It was fortunate you didn't! I've known some of your family, I think;your sister is Mrs. Howard Featherstone. Away back somewhere the VanDorens and a Bennett owned some property jointly. It may have been anuncle of yours?"

"Yes; Archibald Bennett, for whom I was named. "

"That's very odd; but it saves explanations. We are not meeting quite asstrangers. "

"I felt that the moment I saw the name Van Doren. I had never seen yourbrother until we met in Maine; he was of the greatest service to me; Iwas in sorry plight when he picked me up. "

He was prepared to tell the story of the meeting, everything indeed thathad occurred. He had imagined that she would be immensely curious as toall the phases and incidents of his relationship with her brother. 

"Just now I shall be happier not to know, " she said, and added with asmile: "Later, when my heart is lighter than it is today you may tellme. "

She was magnificent, a thoroughbred, this woman, who walked beside himwith the air of a queen who might lose a throne but never the mastery ofher own soul. She was far more at ease than he, walking with her handsthrust carelessly into the pockets of her coat, halting now and then togaze across the water. 

"My brother is Philip Van Doren, and there were just the two of us. Anunusual sympathy bound us together from childhood, and there was never acloser tie between brother and sister. I married his most intimatefriend. My husband betrayed him; it was the breach of a trust in whichthey were jointly liable. It was not merely a theft, it was a gross, dastardly thing, without a single mitigating circumstance. My husbandkilled himself. "

She spoke without a quaver of the beautiful voice, meeting his gaze asshe uttered the last sentence as though anxious to spare herself nothingin her desire to convince him of her perfect composure. One might havethought her an amiable woman attempting to entertain a dull companion bysummarizing a tale she had read that had not interested herparticularly. 

"It broke Philip's heart; it broke his spirit! It destroyed his generousfaith in all men. He was a brilliant student in college and promised togo far in the law; but he felt keenly the dishonor. The financial partof it he of course took care of; that was the least of it. There wasalways a strain of mysticism in him; and he had gone deeply intoastrology and things like that; and when the dark hour came he pretendedto find consolation in them. He was born under an evil star, he said, and would not be free of its spell until he had passed through a periodof servitude. It sounds like insanity, but it was only a grim ironicdistortion of his reason. He said that if honor was so poor a thing hewould seek a world that knew no honor. I dread to think how he has spentthese years!"

"I have found him the kindest, the most loyal, the most lovable of men. He has simply mocked at life--the life he used to know. "

"Yes; I suppose that was the way of it, " she said pensively. "In one ofhis brief messages he spoke of a young woman who had interested him, butI never can tell when he's serious--"

Archie met the question promptly. 

"A charming young girl, Ruth Hastings, whose antecedents and connectionsare the best. You need have no fears on that score. You shall see her, very soon. "

She permitted him to describe the meeting with Ruth and Isabel atRochester, and her face betrayed relief and pleasure as he made it clearthat the Governor's romance was in no way discreditable. 

"It is curious, and in his own way of looking at things may besignificant, that your telegram reached me on the day following theseventh anniversary of the beginning of his exile. "

"He had looked forward to the seventh anniversary as marking the end ofthe dark influences; he believed there would be a vast change in hisaffairs. "

"If only he lives!" she exclaimed. "Is it possible that he can ever stepback into the world he left?"

"You may be sure he has planned a return, with marriage at the verythreshold. "

"Then God grant that he may live!" she said fervently. 

The following evening, after Dr. Mosgrove's visit had left their hopeshigh, Archie carried her to Heart o' Dreams. Happiness shone in thestars over the northern waters. Putney Congdon and his wife wereenjoying to the full the peace that followed upon the storms of theirmarried life. They had established themselves in a tent on the outskirtsof the camp and declared that they might remain there forever. A girlbugler sounded taps and the lights went out, leaving tired and happyyouth to the fellowship of dreams. 

Isabel gave Archie no opportunity to speak to her alone, and he foundher aloofness dismaying. Her scruples against hearing protestations oflove from a man she believed she had injured were creditable to herconscience, but Archie was all impatient to shatter them. She made acandid confession to Mrs. Congdon, with Putney and Archie standing by. 

"With malice aforethought I practiced my vampirish arts upon these twomen! And, Alice, the crudest thing you could do would be to forgive me!I couldn't bear it. I flirted with Mr. Congdon; not only that but I tookadvantage of his distress over his father's efforts to estrange you twoto counsel him to lead a reckless, devil-may-care existence. And I triedthe same thing on Mr. Bennett, only he was much more susceptible thanyour husband and took me more seriously. I want you, one and all, to besure that I hate myself most cordially!"

"The end justified the means, I think, " said Mrs. Congdon. 

"I found a friend I'm not going to lose as one result, " said Putney. "And if the sick man across the bay recovers I hope I have anotherlifelong friend there. "

"Oh, it's all so strange!" cried Mrs. Congdon. "One might think that wemust suffer tribulation before we know what perfect happiness is! And Inever expect to understand all that has happened to you men. Is itpossible that you'll ever settle down again?"

"That depends--" Archie remarked, glancing meaningfully at Isabel, --aglance which Mrs. Congdon detected and appraised with that presciencewhich makes every woman a match-maker. 

On the wharf they lingered, like a company of old friends reluctant foreven a brief parting; Ruth, lantern in hand, stood beside Mrs. Graybill, looking like a child beside the stately woman. As Archie cried "Allaboard, " Julia caught Ruth in her arms and kissed her. 

"Good night, little girl!" she said softly. 

It was like a benediction and the very graciousness of act and wordlightened Archie's vigil as all night he watched outside the Governor'sdoor. 

V

On the eighth day Dr. Mosgrove announced that his visits were no longernecessary; he ran up to Huddleston, he told Archie, for the pleasure ofmeeting the agreeable people he found there. The Governor was making anextraordinary recovery, and the bracing northern air would soon set himup. Someone was always on the water between Leary's hotel and Heart o'Dreams, and clouds no longer darkened the bay. 

Dr. Mosgrove had made a careful examination of Carey, and recommendedthat he be sent to a sanatorium for treatment. Perky undertook to carryhim to a private institution near Chicago suggested by the doctor, andthis became another of the series of strange errands that fell to thelot of the _Arthur B. Grover_. Eliphalet Congdon had been importuningArchie to release him, but it had seemed wise to give the erraticmillionaire more time in which to meditate upon his sins. 

When the tug returned Archie found that the old gentleman had takenadvantage of a day's parole in Chicago to do considerable shopping. In anew suit of clothes he really looked, as Perky said, like a white man;but the change in him was not merely as to his outward person. He openeda bag on deck and displayed with pride a pearl necklace he had purchasedfor his daughter-in-law, a handsome watch for young Edith and anotherfor his grandson, whom Mrs. Congdon had left with a friend in the east. 

"I guess I haven't been square with Putney, " he remarked, "and now's agood time to let him know how I feel about it. Here, " he continued, producing a bulky envelope, "is two hundred and fifty thousand dollarsin government bonds that he may use as he likes. "

"Grand; perfectly bully!" cried Archie. "Please consider yourselfdischarged from the ship. We'll go right over to Heart o' Dreams andspread the glad tidings. "

Though so many vistas were brightening, Archie was still troubled byIsabel's persistent refusal to see him alone, or to give him anyopportunity to break down the barriers she had raised against him. Afterluncheon at the camp, where Eliphalet Congdon proved himself a verylikable human being, he sought her as she was leaving the dining hall. 

Her young charges were skipping gaily about her; there was no questionof their admiration and affection for her. He caught the spirit of theirgaiety and took advantage of a moment when Isabel emerged smiling froman adoring group to plant himself before her. 

"You are running away from me!" he said sternly. "And that's not fair. "

"Oh, this is my busiest day! You mustn't think a place like this runsautomatically. "

"I think nothing of the kind. But your studied efforts to escape from meare embarrassing. Ruth, the Congdons, Mrs. Graybill--everybody isnoticing it!"

"Certain matters are one's personal affair, " she answered. "Really Imust ask you to excuse me. "

"I refuse to be snubbed again! You are trampling me under foot, and Irefuse to be stepped on any more. I wish to assure you, Miss Perry, thatmy love for you is not to be spurned with impunity!"

"Please be careful! Those girls over there are watching us. "

"A wonderful opportunity for them to see a desperate man making love; aninvaluable part of their education! They will never forget how I fellupon my knees and declared myself!"

"Oh, you wouldn't! You really wouldn't! You forget that these childrenare highly impressionable!"

"So am I, and extremely sensitive. It would be fine if you'd join me ina little walk. If you refuse I shall follow you the rest of the daysinging. The Governor and I did a good deal of singing in our travelsand--"

As he filled his lungs as though about to burst into song she hastilyturned toward the wood. 

"You seem to forget that I'm mistress here while you're merely a guest!I hate to say it, but you're in serious danger of becoming a nuisance. "

"You're not resentful and hateful enough yet to frighten me away. 

 'He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, That dares not put it to the touch To gain or lose it all. '

"It's a fact we can't escape from that you and I are not free agents andwe haven't been from the very moment we met at May's house. And thelines converge here; you've got to admit that!"

"But they lead away again in quite opposite directions. It is cruel ofyou to insist--"

"I insist that I love you! That's the only thing that matters!"

"Except, " she corrected, "your cheerful assumption that I reciprocatethe feeling, when--"

"Let me begin all over again, " he interrupted hastily. "You must realizethat all the odd happenings that followed our meeting in Washington havecome out pretty well; only this little affair of ours--"

"You call it an affair! Calamity would be a better term for it. "

This silenced him for some time. Tradition held that the trail theyfollowed was an inheritance from Indian times; it was like anineffaceable line drawn in the forest by the red men in assertion oftheir permanent title to the soil. 

As she walked before him, carrying her head high, his heart ached withlove for her. It would be best perhaps not to urge her further; to waituntil the camp closed and then see her in a different environment. Itmight be that his sister would arrange this for him, and he took couragefrom the thought. 

"It has been in my mind for a day or two that May must be wonderingwhat's become of me. I always write to her, you know; and she imaginesme in the Rockies. There must be a stack of mail waiting for me atBanff; I must wire to have it forwarded. "

"You needn't necessarily give up the trip--"

She turned her head to dodge an overhanging bough and he caught aglimpse of her face; she was crying; and new and world-shaking emotionswere stirred in him by the sight of her tear-wet cheek. 

"Do you know, " he said, "when we talk about clearing up things I'dforgotten about that buried treasure. I think it would be a mistake forme to leave without exhausting all the possibilities of finding yourgrandfather's buried gold. I wonder if poor Carey knew any more about itthan you do!"

"I'm sure he didn't. There are holes here and there in these woods thathe dug in his search. He had an idea that it might be found in the ruinsof grandfather's house, but that stood where I built the camp hall and Ihad the old cellar thoroughly explored. Why!" she exclaimed, stoppingshort and glancing about thoughtfully, "that's strange. "

"We're lost, I hope!"

"Not lost; but there was a fork in the trail and I must have made thewrong turn. I don't remember that I ever saw that fallen tree before. "

At some time, perhaps several years earlier, a storm had evidentlycentered its fury about the place where they stood, and a big hemlockcrushing in its fall several smaller trees lay prone across the trail. 

"That old fellow must have made a mighty crash when he went down. I'msure that I never came this way before. "

"Here's an old scar, " said Archie, "where some one must have blazed thetree years and years ago. It's the mark of an ax or hatchet. And look!Three other big trees bear the same mark. They define a square and musthave been made for some purpose!"

Discussion of the markings brought them immediately into accord. Isabelwas perplexed to find herself in a spot she had never visited beforethough she had spent the previous summer on the land, planning thecamp, and thought she knew every foot of it. She peered into the pittorn by the roots of the huge tree. The sunlight glinted brightly uponsomething that lay half hidden in the earth. 

"Oh, how wonderful!" she cried and placed a gold piece in his hands. 

They knelt together, tearing up the weeds and loosening the earth. Itwas Archie who quickly found a second coin, a ten-dollar gold piecestamped 1859. With a stick he dug into the hole and soon they had made alittle heap of bright coins, laughing like children with each discovery. A deeper probe resulted in the unearthing of a splintered cedar plankevidently torn from a chest that had contained the money. 

"Of all the astonishing things that ever happened this is the mostutterly paralyzing!" exclaimed Archie jubilantly. 

Using the board as a spade he scooped out a capful of coins--gold, American, English and French, which the Southerner had buried in thenorthern wilderness. 

"It won't do to leave this place unprotected, and we must stop or we'llhave more than we can carry. We must bring Putney back to help. It's myguess that there's a chest of money at the foot of each of these blazedtrees. "

"And pretty good hiding places, too, where the gold might have remainedforever if--"

"If you hadn't been hating me so that you lost your way!"

They stood with the heap of gold between them, the bewilderment ofdiscovery in their eyes. 

"This is the end of the rainbow and the gold lies at our feet!" hesaid, and he took her hands, and the one still wearing the bandage heheld very, very gently. "Love we know to be better than much fine gold;and wouldn't it be a pity for the finding of these coins to mark thevery end, with nothing beyond! And life is so big and wonderful I wantyour help to make mine of some use--"

She looked at him long and searchingly, and her eyes were so grave, their questioning seemed so interminable, that he did not know until shespoke that her lips had trembled into a smile. 

"If you can forgive me, " she said; and she laid her hands upon hisshoulders, lightly as though by their touch she were investing him withher hope in life renewed and strengthened, and giving pledge that theywould walk together thereafter to the end of their days. 

 * * * * *

During his convalescence the matter of the sixty thousand dollars takenfrom Seebrook at Cornford troubled the Governor greatly. While he hadnot personally profited by that transaction it was, he said, his nearestapproach to actual larceny and he wished to make reparation, the moreparticularly as Eliphalet complained that the sale of his stock wasfrustrated by the mysterious substitution of Leary's stolen bills forthe money in Seebrook's trunk. Whereupon Archie bought the stock fromEliphalet and sent it with ten thousand dollars in cash to Seebrook, enclosing in the packet he confided to Briggs for delivery a noteexplaining that the theft had been a mere bit of pleasantry for whichthe guilty person offered the sincerest apologies. 

Before he left the North the Governor made generous provision for allwho had shared his fortunes. Perky sold the _Arthur B. Grover_ to adredging company in Chicago and the proceeds were divided among thecrew. To each man's share the Governor made a substantial addition withthe stipulation that the recipient should engage thereafter in somehonorable calling. It may be said that in every instance of which thepresent chronicler has knowledge the man thus endowed invested wisely ina lawful business and so far has kept his promise. 

When he closed the hotel Leary took Perky to his home further up thelake, and as Mrs. Leary was perfectly capable of managing theconfectionery alone, the two old friends purchased a garage, where inthe abundant leisure of the long northern winters they discuss theexploits of their lawless days and read the newspaper reports of theperformances of their successors in the predatory arts, deploring, ofcourse, the ineptitude of the new generation. The underground trailceased to exist with the passing of the Governor, and as you tour theGreen Mountain State you may pause at Bill Walker's farm and enjoy aglass of buttermilk on his veranda without fear of a raid by theconstabulary. 

Eliphalet Congdon is at peace with all the world, and wherever a chesstournament is forward he may be observed, sometimes an interestedspectator, but not infrequently a participant and a shrewd and dangerousadversary. 

Sally Walker deserves and shall receive a final word. When Mrs. Graybillleft Huddleston, happy and wholly at ease as to her brother's future, she took Sally with her, with every intention of adopting the girl andcarrying her abroad for a protracted stay. As Pete Barney was killedlate in the summer while attempting to escape from the Ohiopenitentiary, Sally was quite free to enter upon a new life, and fromall accounts she is realizing fully the expectations of herbenefactress. 

In the loveliest of Colorado's valleys you may, if you exercise youreyes intelligently, note three houses in the Spanish style, with roadsthat link them together as though publishing the fact that the owners ofthe surrounding ranches are bound by the closest and dearest ties. As anadjunct of his residence Putney Congdon maintains a machine shop wherehe finds ample time for experiment. The Archibald Bennetts are learningall there is to know about fruit culture; and they are so happy thatthey are in danger of forgetting the existence of cities. Farthest ofthe three homes from the railroad, and where the hills begin, Philip andRuth Van Doren chose their abode. And you may see them any day that youcare to penetrate to their broad pastures, riding together, viewing withcontemplative eyes the distant peaks or the cattle that are theGovernor's delight, a link, he says, between the present and the oldentimes when the world was young. And often at night, when they are notwith the Congdons or the Bennetts, they ride for hours in silence, sogreat is their happiness, so perfect their understanding, so deep theirconfidence in the stars. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Books by MEREDITH NICHOLSON

Lady Larkspur

"This is pure comedy carried on in high spirits and mingled with thecharm of romance. "--_Outlook_. 

"There is a gracefulness to the dialogue and an artistic balance in thecharacterization that keep one reminded that this is an author who isalso an artist down to the last word. "--_Philadelphia Press_. 

"Mr. Nicholson keeps us entertained and uncertain to the end. "--_BostonHerald_. 

The Madness of May

Illustrated by Frederic Dorr Steele

"May to Mr. Nicholson is neither a person nor a month. It is a state ofmind and an intoxication of spirit. The little tale is a gay and joyousfantasy that plays with the imagination like the wind through new-leafedtrees. "--_New York Sun_. 

"No one who wishes to be charmed out of himself or herself for an houror so should neglect to read the story. "--_Philadelphia Ledger_. 

"Meredith Nicholson has written nothing more charmingly fanciful or morefilled with the spirit of the springtime than 'The Madness of May. '"--_St. Louis Republic_. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

By MEREDITH NICHOLSON

The Valley of Democracy

Illustrated by Walter Tittle

"It is a book which could have been written only by a Westerner; and itis a book for every American, Westerner and Easterner, Northerner andSoutherner, to read, mark, ponder, and inwardly digest. "--_New YorkTimes_. 

"The book radiates the spirit that makes the Westfascinating. "--_Outlook_. 

"His chapters are set forth with that same easy facility in letterswhich has marked his works in fiction. "--_New York World_. 

"A notably serious and thoughtful study of the American mind, character, and tendencies in the Middle West. .. . It is a book of fascinatinginterest and of the greatest possible civic and patriotic value. "--_NewYork Tribune_. 

"Meredith Nicholson has done a great work in this masterly study of theMiddle West. It is a national, nay, more, an international service whichis performed in these illuminating pages, for in interpreting America toAmericans the author is also interpreting America, or a veryconsiderable section of it, to the world at large. "--_San FranciscoChronicle_. 

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CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, New York