[Illustration: "The outside edge, by George!" said Charlie Sands. "Theold sport!"]

TISH

The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions

By MARY ROBERTS RINEHART

_With Illustrations__by May Wilson Preston_

1916

CONTENTS

MIND OVER MOTOR

LIKE A WOLF ON THE FOLD

THE SIMPLE LIFERS

TISH'S SPY

MY COUNTRY TISH OF THEE--

ILLUSTRATIONS

"The outside edge, by George!" said Charlie Sands. "The old sport!"

Without cutting down her speed, bumped home the winner

The real meaning of what was occurring did not penetrate to any of us

It ended with Tish stalking off into the woods with the rabbit in onehand and the knife in the other

As fast as she wet a bit of lawn, we followed with the pails

"Get the canoe and follow. I'm heading for Island Eleven"

"It's well enough for you, Tish Carberry, to talk about gripping a horsewith your knees"

"The older I get, Aggie Pilkington, the more I realize that to take youanywhere means ruin"

"It would be just like the woman to refuse to come any farther and spoileverything"

MIND OVER MOTOR

HOW TISH BROKE THE LAW AND SOME RECORDS

I

So many unkind things have been said of the affair at Morris Valleythat I think it best to publish a straightforward account of everything. The ill nature of the cartoon, for instance, which showed Tish in a pairof khaki trousers on her back under a racing-car was quite uncalledfor. Tish did not wear the khaki trousers; she merely took them alongin case of emergency. Nor was it true that Tish took Aggie along asa mechanician and brutally pushed her off the car because she was notpumping enough oil. The fact was that Aggie sneezed on a curve and fellout of the car, and would no doubt have been killed had she not beenthrown into a pile of sand. 

It was in early September that Eliza Bailey, my cousin, decided to goto London, ostensibly for a rest, but really to get some cretonne atLiberty's. Eliza wrote me at Lake Penzance asking me to go to MorrisValley and look after Bettina. 

I must confess that I was eager to do it. We three were very comfortableat Mat Cottage, "Mat" being the name Charlie Sands, Tish's nephew, hadgiven it, being the initials of "Middle-Aged Trio. " Not that I regardthe late forties as middle-aged. But Tish, of course, is fifty. CharlieSands, who is on a newspaper, calls us either the "M. A. T. " or the"B. A. 's, " for "Beloved Aunts, " although Aggie and I are not relatedto him. 

Bettina's mother's note:--

 Not that she will allow you to do it, or because she isn't entirely able to take care of herself; but because the people here are a talky lot. Bettina will probably look after you. She has come from college with a feeling that I am old and decrepit and must be cared for. She maddens me with pillows and cups of tea and woolen shawls. She thinks Morris Valley selfish and idle, and is disappointed in the church, preferring her Presbyterianism pure. She is desirous now of learning how to cook. If you decide to come I'll be grateful if you can keep her out of the kitchen. 

 Devotedly, ELIZA. 

 P. S. If you can keep Bettina from getting married while I'm away I'll be very glad. She believes a woman should marry and rear a large family!

 E. 

We were sitting on the porch of the cottage at Lake Penzance when Ireceived the letter, and I read it aloud. "Humph!" said Tish, puttingdown the stocking she was knitting and looking over her spectacles atme--"Likes her Presbyterianism pure and believes in a large family! Howold is she? Forty?"

"Eighteen or twenty, " I replied, looking at the letter. "I'm not anxiousto go. She'll probably find me frivolous. "

Tish put on her spectacles and took the letter. "I think it's your duty, Lizzie, " she said when she'd read it through. "But that young womanneeds handling. We'd better all go. We can motor over in half a day. "

That was how it happened that Bettina Bailey, sitting on Eliza Bailey'sfront piazza, decked out in chintz cushions, --the piazza, of course, --sawa dusty machine come up the drive and stop with a flourish at the steps. And from it alight, not one chaperon, but three. 

After her first gasp Bettina was game. She was a pretty girl in a whitedress and bore no traces in her face of any stern religious proclivities. 

"I didn't know--" she said, staring from one to the other of us. "Mothersaid--that is--won't you go right upstairs and have some tea and liedown?" She had hardly taken her eyes from Tish, who had lifted theengine hood and was poking at the carbureter with a hairpin. 

"No, thanks, " said Tish briskly. "I'll just go around to the garage andoil up while I'm dirty. I've got a short circuit somewhere. Aggie, youand Lizzie get the trunk off. "

Bettina stood by while we unbuckled and lifted down our traveling trunk. She did not speak a word, beyond asking if we wouldn't wait until thegardener came. On Tish's saying she had no time to wait, because shewanted to put kerosene in the cylinders before the engine cooled, Bettina lapsed into silence and stood by watching us. 

Bettina took us upstairs. She had put Drummond's "Natural Law in theSpiritual World" on my table and a couch was ready with pillows and aknitted slumber robe. Very gently she helped us out of our veils anddusters and closed the windows for fear of drafts. 

"Dear mother is so reckless of drafts, " she remarked. "Are you sure youwon't have tea?"

"We had some blackberry cordial with us, " Aggie said, "and we all had alittle on the way. We had to change a tire and it made us thirsty. "

"Change a tire!"

Aggie had taken off her bonnet and was pinning on the small lace cap shewears, away from home, to hide where her hair is growing thin. In hercap Aggie is a sweet-faced woman of almost fifty, rather ethereal. Shepinned on her cap and pulled her crimps down over her forehead. 

"Yes, " she observed. "A bridge went down with us and one of the nailsspoiled a new tire. I told Miss Carberry the bridge was unsafe, but shethought, by taking it very fast--"

Bettina went over to Aggie and clutched her arm. "Do you mean to say, "she quavered, "that you three women went through a bridge--"

"It was a small bridge, " I put in, to relieve her mind; "and only a footor two of water below. If only the man had not been so disagreeable--"

"Oh, " she said, relieved, "you had a man with you!"

"We never take a man with us, " Aggie said with dignity. "This one wasfishing under the bridge and he was most ungentlemanly. Quite refusedto help, and tried to get the license number so he could sue us. "

"Sue you!"

"He claimed his arm was broken, but I distinctly saw him move it. "Aggie, having adjusted her cap, was looking at it in the mirror. "Butdear Tish thinks of everything. She had taken off the license plates. "

Bettina had gone really pale. She seemed at a loss, and impatient atherself for being so. "You--you won't have tea?" she asked. 

"No, thank you. "

"Would you--perhaps you would prefer whiskey and soda. "

Aggie turned on her a reproachful eye. "My dear girl, " she said, "withthe exception of a little home-made wine used medicinally we drinknothing. I am the secretary of the Woman's Prohibition Party. "

Bettina left us shortly after that to arrange for putting up Letitiaand Aggie. She gave them her mother's room, and whatever impulse shemay have had to put the Presbyterian Psalter by the bed, she restrainedit. By midnight Drummond's "Natural Law" had disappeared from my tableand a novel had taken its place. But Bettina had not lost her air ofbewilderment. 

That first evening was very quiet. A young man in white flannels called, and he and Letitia spent a delightful evening on the porch talkingspark-plugs and carbureters. Bettina sat in a corner and looked at themoon. Spoken to, she replied in monosyllables in a carefully sweet tone. The young man's name was Jasper McCutcheon. 

It developed that Jasper owned an old racing-car which he kept in theBailey garage, and he and Tish went out to look it over. They verypolitely asked us all to go along, but Bettina refusing, Aggie and I satwith her and looked at the moon. 

Aggie in her capacity as chaperon, or as one of an association ofchaperons, used the opportunity to examine Bettina on the subject ofJasper. 

"He seems a nice boy, " she remarked. Aggie's idea of a nice boy is onewho in summer wears fresh flannels outside, in winter less conspicuously. "Does he live near?"

"Next door, " sweetly but coolly. 

"He is very good-looking. "

"Ears spoil him--too large. "

"Does he come around--er--often?"

"Only two or three times a day. On Sunday, of course, we see more ofhim. "

Aggie looked at me in the moonlight. Clearly the young man from the nextdoor needed watching. It was well we had come. 

"I suppose you like the same things?" she suggested. "Similar tastesand--er--all that?"

Bettina stretched her arms over her head and yawned. 

"Not so you could notice it, " she said coolly. "I can't thick ofanything we agree on. He is an Episcopalian; I'm a Presbyterian. Heapproves of suffrage for women; I do not. He is a Republican; I'm aProgressive. He disapproves of large families; I approve of them, ifpeople can afford them. "

Aggie sat straight up. "I hope you don't discuss that!" she exclaimed. 

Bettina smiled. "How nice to find that you are really just nice elderlyladies after all!" she said. "Of course we discuss it. Is it anything tobe ashamed of?"

"When I was a girl, " I said tartly, "we married first and discussedthose things afterward. "

"Of course you did, Aunt Lizzie, " she said, smiling alluringly. She wasthe prettiest girl I think I have ever seen, and that night she wasbeautiful. "And you raised enormous families who religiously walked tochurch in their bare feet to save their shoes!"

"I did nothing of the sort, " I snapped. 

"It seems to me, " Aggie put in gently, "that you make very little oflove. " Aggie was once engaged to be married to a young man namedWiggins, a roofer by trade, who was killed in the act of inspecting atin gutter, on a rainy day. He slipped and fell over, breaking his neckas a result. 

Bettina smiled at Aggie. "Not at all, " she said. "The day of blind loveis gone, that's all--gone like the day of the chaperon. "

Neither of us cared to pursue this, and Tish at that moment appearingwith Jasper, Aggie and I made a move toward bed. But Jasper not going, and none of us caring to leave him alone with Bettina, we sat downagain. 

We sat until one o'clock. 

At the end of that time Jasper rose, and saying something about itsbeing almost bedtime strolled off next door. Aggie was sound asleep inher chair and Tish was dozing. As for Bettina, she had said hardly aword after eleven o'clock. 

Aggie and Tish, as I have said, were occupying the same room. I went tosleep the moment I got into bed, and must have slept three or four hourswhen I was awakened by a shot. A moment later a dozen or more shots werefired in rapid succession and I sat bolt upright in bed. Across thestreet some one was raising a window, and a man called "What's thematter?" twice. 

There was no response and no further sound. Shaking in every limb, Ifound the light switch and looked at the time. It was four o'clock inthe morning and quite dark. 

Some one was moving in the hall outside and whimpering. I opened thedoor hurriedly and Aggie half fell into the room. 

"Tish is murdered, Lizzie!" she said, and collapsed on the floor in aheap. 

"Nonsense!"

"She's not in her room or in the house, and I heard shots!"

Well, Aggie was right. Tish was not in her room. There was a sort ofhorrible stillness everywhere as we stood there clutching at each otherand listening. 

"She's heard burglars downstairs and has gone down after them, and thisis what has happened! Oh, Tish! brave Tish!" Aggie cried hysterically. 

And at that Bettina came in with her hair over her shoulders and askedus if we had heard anything. When we told her about Tish, she insistedon going downstairs, and with Aggie carrying her first-aid box and Icarrying the blackberry cordial, we went down. 

The lower floor was quiet and empty. The man across the street had putdown his window and gone back to bed, and everything was still. Bettinain her dressing-gown went out on the porch and turned on the light. Tishwas not there, nor was there a body lying on the lawn. 

"It was back of the house by the garage, " Bettina said. "If onlyJasper--"

And at that moment Jasper came into the circle of light. He had aNorfolk coat on over his pajamas and a pair of slippers, and he wasrunning, calling over his shoulder to some one behind as he ran. 

"Watch the drive!" he yelled. "I saw him duck round the corner. "

We could hear other footsteps now and somebody panting near us. Aggiewas sitting huddled in a porch chair, crying, and Bettina, in the hall, was trying to get down from the wall a Moorish knife that Eliza Baileyhad picked up somewhere. 

"John!" we heard Jasper calling. "John! Quick! I've got him!"

He was just at the corner of the porch. My heart stopped and then rushedon a thousand a minute. Then:--

"Take your hands off me!" said Tish's voice. 

The next moment Tish came majestically into the circle of light andmounted the steps. Jasper, with his mouth open, stood below looking up, and a hired man in what looked like a bed quilt was behind in theshadow. 

Tish was completely dressed in her motoring clothes, even to hergoggles. She looked neither to the right nor left, but stalked acrossthe porch into the house and up the stairway. None of us moved until weheard the door of her room slam above. 

"Poor old dear!" said Bettina. "She's been walking in her sleep!"

"But the shots!" gasped Aggie. "Some one was shooting at her!"

Conscious now of his costume, Jasper had edged close to the veranda andstood in its shadow. 

"Walking in her sleep, of course!" he said heartily. "The trip to-day wastoo much for her. But think of her getting into that burglar-proofgarage with her eyes shut--or do sleep-walkers have their eyesshut?--and actually cranking up my racer!"

Aggie looked at me and I looked at Aggie. 

"Of course, " Jasper went on, "there being no muffler on it, the racketwakened her as well as the neighborhood. And then the way we chasedher!"

"Poor old dear!" said Bettina again. "I'm going in to make her sometea. "

"I think, " said Jasper, "that I need a bit of tea too. If you will putout the porch lights I'll come up and have some. "

But Aggie and I said nothing. We knew Tish never walked in her sleep. She had meant to try out Jasper's racing-car at dawn, forgetting thatracers have no mufflers, and she had been, as one may say, hoist withher own petard--although I do not know what a petard is and have neverbeen able to find out. 

We drank our tea, but Tish refused to have any or to reply to ourknocks, preserving a sulky silence. Also she had locked Aggie out andI was compelled to let her sleep in my room. 

I was almost asleep when Aggie spoke:--

"Did you think there was anything queer about the way that Jasper boysaid good-night to Bettina?" she asked drowsily. 

"I didn't hear him say good-night. "

"That was it. He didn't. I think"--she yawned--"I think he kissed her. "

II

Tish was down early to breakfast that morning and her manner forbade anymention of the night before. Aggie, however, noticed that she ate hercereal with her left hand and used her right arm only when absolutelynecessary. Once before Tish had almost broken an arm cranking a car andhad been driven to arnica compresses for a week; but this time we darednot suggest anything. 

Shortly after breakfast she came down to the porch where Aggie and Iwere knitting. 

"I've hurt my arm, Lizzie, " she said. "I wish you'd come out and crankthe car. "

"You'd better stay at home with an arm like that, " I replied stiffly. 

"Very well, I'll crank it myself. "

"Where are you going?"

"To the drug store for arnica. "

Bettina was not there, so I turned on Tish sharply. "I'll go, ofcourse, " I said; "but I'll not go without speaking my mind, LetitiaCarberry. By and large, I've stood by you for twenty-five years, andnow in the weakness of your age I'm not going to leave you. But I warnyou, Tish, if you touch that racing-car again, I'll send for CharlieSands. "

"I haven't any intention of touching it again, " said Tish, meeklyenough. "But I wish I could buy a second-hand racer cheap. "

"What for?" Aggie demanded. 

Tish looked at her with scorn. "To hold flowers on the dining-table, "she snapped. 

It being necessary, of course, to leave a chaperon with Bettina, becauseof the Jasper person's habit of coming over at any hour of the day, weleft Aggie with instructions to watch them both. 

Tish and I drove to the drug store together, and from there to a garagefor gasoline. I have never learned to say "gas" for gasoline. It seemsto me as absurd as if I were to say "but" for butter. Considering thatAggie was quite sulky at being left, it is absurd for her to assume anair of virtue over what followed that day. Aggie was only like a lot ofpeople--good because she was not tempted; for it was at the garage thatwe met Mr. Ellis. 

We had stopped the engine and Tish was quarreling with the man aboutthe price of gasoline when I saw him--a nice-looking young man in ablack-and-white checked suit and a Panama hat. He came over and stoodlooking at Tish's machine. 

"Nice lines to that car, " he said. "Built for speed, isn't she? What doyou get out of her?"

Tish heard him and turned. "Get out of her?" she said. "Bills mostly. "

"Well, that's the way with most of them, " he remarked, looking steadilyat Tish. "A machine's a rich man's toy. The only way to own one is tohave it endowed like a university. But I meant speed. What can youmake?"

"Never had a chance to find out, " Tish said grimly. "Between nervouswomen in the machine and constables outside I have the twelve-miles-an-hour habit. I'm going to exchange the speedometer for a vacuum bottle. "

He smiled. "I don't think you're fair to yourself. Mostly--if you'llforgive me--I can tell a woman's driving as far off as I can see themachine; but you are a very fine driver. The way you brought that carin here impressed me considerably. "

"She need not pretend she crawls along the road, " I said with somesarcasm. "The bills she complains of are mostly fines for speeding. "

"No!" said the young man, delighted. "Good! I'm glad to hear it. So aremine!"

After that we got along famously. He had his car there--a low gray thingthat looked like an armored cruiser. 

"I'd like you ladies to try her, " he said. "She can move, but she is asgentle as a lamb. A lady friend of mine once threaded a needle as anexperiment while going sixty-five miles an hour. "

"In this car?"

"In this car. "

Looking back, I do not recall just how the thing started. I believe Tishexpressed a desire to see the car go, and Mr. Ellis said he couldn't lether out on the roads, but that the race-track at the fair-ground wasopen and if we cared to drive down there in Tish's car he would show usher paces, as he called it. 

From that to going to the race-track, and from that to Tish's getting inbeside him on the mechanician's seat and going round once or twice, wasnatural. I refused; I didn't like the look of the thing. 

Tish came back with a cinder in her eye and full of enthusiasm. "It wasmagnificent, Lizzie, " she said. "The only word for it is sublime. Yousee nothing. There is just the rush of the wind and the roar of theengine and a wonderful feeling of flying. Here! See if you can find thiscinder. "

"Won't you try it, Miss--er--Lizzie?"

"No, thanks, " I replied. "I can get all the roar and rush of wind I wantin front of an electric fan, and no danger. "

He stood by, looking out over the oval track while I took three cindersfrom Tish's eye. 

"Great track!" he said. "It's a horse-track, of course, but it's inbully shape--the county fair is held there and these fellows make a bigfeature of their horse-races. I came up here to persuade them to hold anautomobile meet, but they've got cold feet an the proposition. "

"What was the proposition?" asked Tish. 

"Well, " he said, "it was something like this. I've been turning thetrick all over the country and it works like a charm. The town's aheadin money and business, for an automobile race always brings a big crowd;the track owners make the gate money and the racing-cars get the prizes. Everybody's ahead. It's a clean sport too. "

"I don't approve of racing for money, " Tish said decidedly. 

But Mr. Ellis shrugged his shoulders. "It's really hardly racing formoney, " he explained. "The prizes cover the expenses of the racing-cars, which are heavy naturally. The cars alone cost a young fortune. "

"I see, " said Tish. "I hadn't thought of it in that light. Well, whydidn't Morris Valley jump at the chance?"

He hesitated a moment before he answered. "It was my fault really, " hesaid. "They were willing enough to have the races, but it was a matterof money. I made them a proposition to duplicate whatever prize moneythey offered, and in return I was to have half the gate receipts and thebetting privileges. "

Tish quite stiffened. "Clean sport!" she said sarcastically. "Withbetting privileges!"

"You don't quite understand, dear lady, " he explained. "Even in thecleanest sport we cannot prevent a man's having an opinion and backingit with his own money. What I intended to do was to regulate it. Regulate it. "

Tish was quite mollified. "Well, of course, " she said, "I suppose sinceit must be, it is better--er, --regulated. But why haven't yousucceeded?"

"An unfortunate thing happened just as I had the deal about to close, "he replied, and drew a long breath. "The town had raised twenty-fivehundred. I was to duplicate the amount. But just at that time a--a youngbrother of mine in the West got into difficulties, and I--but why gointo family matters? It would have been easy enough for me to pay mypart of the purse out of my share of the gate money; but the committeedemands cash on the table. I haven't got it. "

Tish stood up in her car and looked out over the track. 

"Twenty-five hundred dollars is a lot of money, young man. "

"Not so much when you realize that the gate money will probably amountto twelve thousand. "

Tish turned and surveyed the grandstand. 

"That thing doesn't seat twelve hundred. "

"Two thousand people in the grandstand--that's four thousand dollars. Four thousand standing inside the ropes at a dollar each, four thousandmore. And say eight hundred machines parked in the oval there at fivedollars a car, four thousand more. That's twelve thousand for the gatemoney alone. Then there are the concessions to sell peanuts, toyballoons, lemonade and palm-leaf fans, the lunch-stands, merry-go-roundand moving-picture permits. It's a bonanza! Fourteen thousand anyhow. "

"Half of fourteen thousand is seven, " said Tish dreamily. "Seventhousand less twenty-five hundred is thirty-five hundred dollarsprofit. "

"Forty-five hundred, dear lady, " corrected Mr. Ellis, watching her. "Forty-five hundred dollars profit to be made in two weeks, and nothingto do to get it but sit still and watch it coming!"

I can read Tish like a book and I saw what was in her mind. "LetitiaCarberry!" I said sternly. "You take my warning and keep clear of thisfoolishness. If money comes as easy as that it ain't honest. "

"Why not?" demanded Mr. Ellis. "We give them their money's worth, don't we? They'd pay two dollars for a theater seat without halfthe thrills--no chances of seeing a car turn turtle or break itssteering-knuckle and dash into the side-lines. Two dollars' worth?It's twenty!"

But Tish had had a moment to consider, and the turning-turtle businesssettled it. She shook her head. "I'm not interested, Mr. Ellis, " shesaid coldly. "I couldn't sleep at night if I thought I'd been the causeof anything turning turtle or dashing into the side-lines. "

"Dear lady!" he said, shocked; "I had no idea of asking you to helpme out of my difficulties. Anyhow, while matters are at a standstillprobably some shrewd money-maker here will come forward before long andmake a nice profit on a small investment. "

As we drove away from the fair grounds Tish was very silent; but just aswe reached the Bailey place, with Bettina and young Jasper McCutcheonbatting a ball about on the tennis court, Tish turned to me. 

"You needn't look like that, Lizzie, " she said. "I'm not even thinkingof backing an automobile race--although I don't see why I shouldn't, sofar as that goes. But it's curious, isn't it, that I've got twenty-fivehundred dollars from Cousin Angeline's estate not even earning four percent?"

I got out grimly and jerked at my bonnet-strings. 

"You put it in a mortgage, Tish, " I advised her with severity in everytone. "It may not be so fast as an automobile race or so likely to turnturtle or break its steering-knuckle, but it's safe. "

"Huh!" said Tish, reaching for the gear lever. "And about as exciting asa cold pork chop. "

"And furthermore, " I interjected, "if you go into this thing now thatyour eyes are open, I'll send for Charlie Sands!"

"You and Charlie Sands, " said Tish viciously, jamming at her gears, "ought to go and live in an old ladies' home away from this cruelworld. "

Aggie was sitting under a sunshade in the broiling sun at the tenniscourt. She said she had not left Bettina and Jasper for a moment, andthat they had evidently quarreled, although she did not know when, having listened to every word they said. For the last half-hour, shesaid, they had not spoken at all. 

"Young people in love are very foolish, " she said, rising stiffly. "Theyshould be happy in the present. Who knows what the future may hold?"

I knew she was thinking of Mr. Wiggins and the icy roof, so I patted hershoulder and sent her up to put cold cloths on her head for fear ofsunstroke. Then I sat down in the broiling sun and chaperoned Bettinauntil luncheon. 

III

Jasper took dinner with us that night. He came across the lawn, freshlyshaved and in clean white flannels, just as dinner was announced, andsaid he had seen a chocolate cake cooling on the kitchen porch and thatit was a sort of unwritten social law that when the Baileys happened tohave a chocolate cake at dinner they had him also. 

There seemed to be nothing to object to in this. Evidently he was right, for we found his place laid at the table. The meal was quite cheerful, although Jasper ate the way some people play the piano, by touch, withhis eyes on Bettina. And he gave no evidence at dessert of a fondnessfor chocolate cake sufficient to justify a standing invitation. 

After dinner we went out on the veranda, and under cover of showing me asunset Jasper took me round the corner of the house. Once there, heentirely forgot the sunset. 

"Miss Lizzie, " he began at once, "what have I done to you to have youtreat me like this?"

"I?" I asked, amazed. 

"All three of you. Did--did Bettina's mother warn you against me?"

"The girl has to be chaperoned. "

"But not jailed, Miss Lizzie, not jailed! Do you know that I haven't hada word with Bettina alone since you came?"

"Why should you want to say anything we cannot hear?"

"Miss Lizzie, " he said desperately, "do you want to hear me propose toher? For I've reached the point where if I don't propose to Bettinasoon, I'll--I'll propose to somebody. You'd better be warned in time. Itmight be you or Miss Aggie. "

I weakened at that. The Lord never saw fit to send me a man I could careenough about to marry, or one who cared enough about me, but I couldn'tlook at the boy's face and not be sorry for him. 

"What do you want me to do?" I asked. 

"Come for a walk with us, " he begged. "Then sprain your ankle or gettired, I don't care which. Tell us to go on and come back for you later. Do you see? You can sit down by the road somewhere. "

"I won't lie, " I said firmly. "If I really get tired I'll say so. If Idon't--"

"You will. " He was gleeful. "We'll walk until you do! You see it's likethis, Miss Lizzie. Bettina was all for me, in spite of our differing onreligion and politics and--"

"I know all about your differences, " I put in hastily. 

"Until a new chap came to town--a fellow named Ellis. Runs a sporty carand has every girl in the town lashed to the mast. He's a novelty andI'm not. So far I have kept him away from Bettina, but at any time theymay meet, and it will be one-two-three with me. "

I am not defending my conduct; I am only explaining. Eliza Baileyherself would have done what I did under the circumstances. I went for awalk with Bettina and Jasper shortly after my talk with Jasper, leavingTish with the evening paper and Aggie inhaling a cubeb cigarette, herhay fever having threatened a return. And what is more, I tired withinthree blocks of the house, where I saw a grassy bank beside the road. 

Bettina wished to stay with me, but I said, in obedience to Jasper'seyes, that I liked to sit alone and listen to the crickets, and for themto go on. The last I saw of them Jasper had drawn Bettina's arm throughhis and was walking beside her with his head bent, talking. I sat forperhaps fifteen minutes and was growing uneasy about dew and myrheumatism when I heard footsteps and, looking up, I saw Aggie comingtoward me. She was not surprised to see me and addressed me coldly. 

"I thought as much!" she said. "I expected better of you, Lizzie. Thatboy asked me and I refused. I dare say he asked Tish also. For you, whopride yourself on your strength of mind--"

"I was tired, " I said. "I was to sprain my ankle, " she observedsarcastically. "I just thought as I was sitting there alone--"

"Where's Tish?"

"A young man named Ellis came and took her out for a ride, " said Aggie. "He couldn't take us both, as the car holds only two. "

I got up and stared at Aggie in the twilight. "You come straight homewith me, Aggie Pilkington, " I said sternly. 

"But what about Bettina and Jasper?"

"Let 'em alone, " I said; "they're safe enough. What we need to keep aneye on is Letitia Carberry and her Cousin Angeline's legacy. "

But I was too late. Tish and Mr. Ellis whirled up to the door athalf-past eight and Tish did not even notice that Bettina was absent. She took off her veil and said something about Mr. Ellis's having hearda grinding in the differential of her car that afternoon and that hesuspected a chip of steel in the gears. They went out together to thegarage, leaving Aggie and me staring at each other. Mr. Ellis wascarrying a box of tools. 

Jasper and Bettina returned shortly after, and even in the dusk I knewthings had gone badly for him. He sat on the steps, looking out acrossthe dark lawn, and spoke in monosyllables. Bettina, however, was verygay. 

It was evident that Bettina had decided not to take her Presbyterianisminto the Episcopal fold. And although I am a Presbyterian myself I feltsorry. 

Tish and Mr. Ellis came round to the porch about ten o'clock and he waspresented to Bettina. From that moment there was no question in my mindas to how affairs were going, or in Jasper's either. He refused to moveand sat doggedly on the steps, but he took little part in theconversation. 

Mr. Ellis was a good talker, especially about himself. 

"You'll be glad to know, " he said to me, "that I've got this race matterfixed up finally. In two weeks from now we'll have a little excitementhere. "

I looked toward Tish, but she said nothing. 

"Excitement is where I live, " said Mr. Ellis. "If I don't find anywaiting I make it. "

"If you are looking for excitement, we'll have to find you some, " Jaspersaid pointedly. 

Mr. Ellis only laughed. "Don't put yourself out, dear boy, " he said. "I have enough for present necessities. If you think an automobile raceis an easy thing to manage, try it. Every man who drives a racing-carhas a _coloratura_ soprano beaten to death for temperament. Then everyracing-car has quirky spells; there's the local committee to propitiate;the track to look after; and if that isn't enough, there's the promotionitself, the advertising. That's my stunt--the advertising. "

"It's a wonderful business, isn't it?" asked Bettina. "To take a mileor so of dirt track and turn it into a sort of stage, with drama everyminute and sometimes tragedy!"

"Wait a moment, " said Mr. Ellis; "I want to put that down. I'll use itsomewhere in the advertising. " He wrote by the light of a match, whilewe all sat rather stunned by both his personality and his alertness. "Everything's grist that comes to my mill. I suppose you all rememberwhen I completed the speedway at Indianapolis and had the Governor ofIndiana lay a gold brick at the entrance? Great stunt that! But the bestpart of that story never reached the public. "

Bettina was leaning forward, all ears and thrills. "What was that?" sheasked. 

"I had the gold brick stolen that night--did it myself and carried thebrick away in my pocket--only gold-plated, you know. Cost eight or ninedollars, all told, and brought a million dollars in advertising. But thepapers were sore about some passes and wouldn't use the story. Too badwe can't use the brick here. Still have it kicking about somewhere. "

It was then, I think, that Jasper yawned loudly, apologized, saidgood-night and lounged away across the lawn. Bettina hardly knew he wasgoing. She was bending forward, her chin in her palms, listening to Mr. Ellis tell about a driver in a motor race breaking his wrist cranking acar, and how he--Ellis--had jumped into the car and driven it tovictory. Even Aggie was enthralled. It seemed as if, in the last hour, the great world of stress and keen wits and endeavor and mad speed hadsat down on our door-step. 

As Tish said when we were going up to bed, why shouldn't Mr. Ellis brag?He had something to brag about. 

IV

Although I felt quite sure that Tish had put up the prize money for Mr. Ellis, I could not be certain. And Tish's attitude at that time did notinvite inquiry. She took long rides daily with the Ellis man in his graycar, and I have reason to believe that their objective point was alwaysthe same--the race-track. 

Mr. Ellis was the busiest man in Morris Valley. In the daytime he wassuperintending putting the track in condition, writing what he called"promotion stuff, " securing entries and forming the center of excitedgroups at the drug store and one or other of the two public garages. In the evenings he was generally to be found at Bettina's feet. 

Jasper did not come over any more. He sauntered past, evening afterevening, very much white-flanneled and carrying a tennis racket. Andonce or twice he took out his old racing-car, and later shot by thehouse with a flutter of veils and a motor coat beside him. 

Aggie was exceedingly sorry for him, and even went the length of havingthe cook bake a chocolate cake and put it on the window sill to cool. Ithad, however, no perceptible effect, except to draw from Mr. Ellis, whohad been round at the garage looking at Jasper's old racer, a remarkthat he was exceedingly fond of cake, and if he were urged--

That was, I believe, a week before the race. The big city papers hadtaken it up, according to Mr. Ellis, and entries were pouring in. 

"That's the trouble on a small track, " he said--"we can't crowd 'em. A dozen cars will be about the limit. Even with using the cattle pensfor repair pits we can't look after more than a dozen. Did I tell youHeckert had entered his Bonor?"

"No!" we exclaimed. As far as Aggie and I were concerned, the Bonormight have been a new sort of dog. 

"Yes, and Johnson his Sampler. It's going to be some race--eh, what!"

Jasper sauntered over that evening, possibly a late result of the cake, after all. He greeted us affably, as if his defection of the past weekhad been merely incidental, and sat down on the steps. 

"I've been thinking, Ellis, " he said, "that I'd like to enter my car. "

"What!" said Ellis. "Not that--"

"My racer. I'm not much for speed, but there's a sort of feeling in thetown that the locality ought to be represented. As I'm the only owner ofa speed car--"

"Speed car!" said Ellis, and chuckled. "My dear boy, we've got Heckertwith his ninety-horse-power Bonor!"

"Never heard of him. " Jasper lighted a cigarette. "Anyhow, what's thatto me? I don't like to race. I've got less speed mania than any owner ofa race car you ever met. But the honor of the town seems to demand asacrifice, and I'm it. "

"You can try out for it anyhow, " said Ellis. "I don't think you'll makeit; but, if you qualify, all right. But don't let any other town people, from a sense of mistaken local pride, enter a street roller or atraction engine. "

Jasper colored, but kept his temper. 

Aggie, however, spoke up indignantly. "Mr. McCutcheon's car was a veryfine racer when it was built. "

"_De mortuis nil nisi bonum_, " remarked Mr. Ellis, and getting up saidgood-night. 

Jasper sat on the steps and watched him disappear. Then he turned toTish. 

"Miss Letitia, " he said, "do you think you are wise to drive that racerof his the way you have been doing?"

Aggie gave a little gasp and promptly sneezed, as she does when she isexcited. 

"I?" said Tish. 

"You!" he smiled. "Not that I don't admire your courage. I do. But theother day, now, when you lost a tire and went into the ditch--"

"Tish!" from Aggie. 

"--you were fortunate. But when a racer turns over the results are notpleasant. "

"As a matter of fact, " said Tish coldly, "it was a wheat-field, not aditch. "

Jasper got up and threw away his cigarette. "Well, our departing friendis not the only one who can quote Latin, " he said. "_Verbum sap. _, MissTish. Good-night, everybody. Good-night, Bettina. "

Bettina's good-night was very cool. As I went up to bed that night, Ithought Jasper's chances poor indeed. As for Tish, I endeavored to speaka few word of remonstrance to her, but she opened her Bible and began toread the lesson for the day and I was obliged to beat a retreat. 

It was that night that Aggie and I, having decided the situation wasbeyond us, wrote a letter to Charlie Sands asking him to come up. Justas I was sealing it Bettina knocked and came in. She closed the doorbehind her and stood looking at us both. 

"Where is Miss Tish?" she asked. 

"Reading her Bible, " I said tartly. "When Tish is up to some mischief, she generally reads an extra chapter or two as atonement. "

"Is she--is she always like this?"

"The trouble is, " explained Aggie gently, "Miss Letitia is anenthusiast. Whatever she does, she does with all her heart. "

"I feel so responsible, " said Bettina. "I try to look after her, butwhat can I do?"

"There is only one thing to do, " I assured her--"let her alone. If shewants to fly, let her fly; if she wants to race, let her race--and trustin Providence. "

"I'm afraid Providence has its hands full!" said Bettina, and went tobed. 

For the remainder of that week nothing was talked of in Morris Valleybut the approaching race. Some of Eliza Bailey's friends gave fancy-workparties for us, which Aggie and I attended. Tish refused, being nowopenly at the race-track most of the day. Morris Valley was muchexcited. Should it wear motor clothes, or should it follow the exampleof the English Derby and the French races and wear its afternoonreception dress with white kid gloves? Or--it being warm--wouldn'tlingerie clothes and sunshades be most suitable?

Some of the gossip I retailed to Jasper, oil-streaked and greasy, in theBaileys' garage where he was working over his car. 

"Tell 'em to wear mourning, " he said pessimistically. "There's always afatality or two. If there wasn't a fair chance of it nothing would make'em sit for hours watching dusty streaks going by. "

The race was scheduled for Wednesday. On Sunday night the cars began tocome in. On Monday Tish took us all, including Bettina, to the track. There were half a dozen tents in the oval, one of them marked with ahuge red cross. 

"Hospital tent, " said Tish calmly. We even, on permission from Mr. Ellis, went round the track. At one spot Tish stopped the car and gotout. 

"Nail, " she said briefly. "It's been a horse-racing track for years, andwe've gathered a bushel of horse-shoe nails. "

Aggie and I said nothing, but we looked at each other. Tish had said"we. " Evidently Cousin Angeline's legacy was not going into a mortgage. 

The fair-grounds were almost ready. Peanut and lunch stands had sprungup everywhere. The oval, save by the tents and the repair pits, wasmarked off into parking-spaces numbered on tall banners. Groups of dirtymen in overalls, carrying machine wrenches, small boys with buckets ofwater, onlookers round the tents and track-rollers made the place lookbusy and interesting. Some of the excitement, I confess, got into myblood. Tish, on the contrary, was calm and businesslike. We were sorrywe had sent for Charlie Sands. She no longer went out in Mr. Ellis'scar, and that evening she went back to the kitchen and made a boiledsalad dressing. 

We were all deceived. 

Charlie Sands came the next morning. He was on the veranda reading apaper when we got down to breakfast. Tish's face was a study. 

"Who sent for you?" she demanded. 

"Sent for me! Why, who would send for me? I'm here to write up the race. I thought, if you haven't been out to the track, we'd go out thismorning. "

"We've been out, " said Tish shortly, and we went in to breakfast. Onceor twice during the meal I caught her eye on me and on Aggie and she wasshort with us both. While she was upstairs I had a word with CharlieSands. 

"Well, " he said, "what is it this time? Is she racing?"

"Worse than that, " I replied. "I think she's backing the thing!"

"No!"

"With her cousin Angeline's legacy. " With that I told him about ourmeeting Mr. Ellis and the whole story. He listened without a word. 

"So that's the situation, " I finished. "He has her hypnotized, Charlie. What's more, I shouldn't be surprised to see her enter the race under anassumed name. "

Charlie Sands looked at the racing list in the Morris Valley Sun. 

"Good cars all of them, " he said. "She's not here among the drivers, unless she's--Who are these drivers anyhow? I never heard of any ofthem. "

"It's a small race, " I suggested. "I dare say the big men--"

"Perhaps. " He put away his paper and got up. "I'll just wander round thetown for an hour or two, Aunt Lizzie, " he said. "I believe there's anigger in this woodpile and I'm a right nifty little nigger-chaser. "

When he came back about noon, however, he looked puzzled. I drew himaside. 

"It seems on the level, " he said. "It's so darned open it makes mesuspicious. But she's back of it all right. I got her bank on thelong-distance 'phone. "

We spent that afternoon at the track, with the different cars doing whatI think they called "trying out heats. " It appeared that a car, toqualify, must do a certain distance in a certain time. It grewmonotonous after a while. All but one entry qualified and Jasper justmade it. The best showing was made by the Bonor car, according toCharlie Sands. 

Jasper came to our machine when it was over, smiling without anyparticular good cheer. 

"I've made it and that's all, " he said. "I've got about as much chanceas a watermelon at a colored picnic. I'm being slaughtered to make aRoman holiday. "

"If you feel that way why do you do it?" demanded Bettina coldly. "Ifyou go in expecting to slaughtered--"

He was leaning on the side of the car and looked up at her with eyesthat made my heart ache, they were so wretched. 

"What does it matter?" he said. "I'll probably trail in at the last, sound in wind and limb. If I don't, what does it matter?"

He turned and left us at that, and I looked at Bettina. She had her lipsshut tight and was blinking hard. I wished that Jasper had looked back. 

V

Charlie Sands announced at dinner that he intended to spend the night atthe track. 

Tish put down her fork and looked at him. "Why?" she demanded. 

"I'm going to help the boy next door watch his car, " he said calmly. "Nothing against your friend Mr. Ellis, Aunt Tish, but some enemy oftrue sport might take a notion in the night to slip a dope pill intothe mouth of friend Jasper's car and have her go to sleep on the trackto-morrow. "

We spent a quiet evening. Mr. Ellis was busy, of course, and so wasJasper. The boy came to the house to get Charlie Sands and, I suppose, for a word with Bettina, for when he saw us all on the porch he looked, as you may say, thwarted. 

When Charlie Sands had gone up for his pajamas and dressing-gown, Jasperstood looking up at us. 

"Oh, Association of Chaperons!" he said, "is it permitted that my ladywalk to the gate with me--alone?"

"I am not your lady, " flashed Bettina. 

"You've nothing to say about that, " he said recklessly. "I've selectedyou; you can't help it. I haven't claimed that you have selected me. "

"Anyhow, I don't wish to go to the gate, " said Bettina. 

He went rather white at that, and Charlie Sands coming down at thatmoment with a pair of red-and-white pajamas under his arm and atoothbrush sticking out of his breast pocket, romance, as Jasper saidlater in referring to it, "was buried in Sands. "

Jasper went up to Bettina and held out his hand. "You'll wish me luck, won't you?"

"Of course. " She took his hand. "But I think you're a bit of a coward, Jasper!"

He eyed her. "Coward!" he said. "I'm the bravest man you know. I'm doinga thing I'm scared to death to do!"

 * * * * *

The race was to begin at two o'clock in the afternoon. There were smallraces to be run first, but the real event was due at three. 

From early in the morning a procession of cars from out of town pouredin past Eliza Bailey's front porch, and by noon her cretonne cushionswere thick with dust. And not only automobiles came, but hay-wagons, side-bar buggies, delivery carts--anything and everything that couldtransport the crowd. 

At noon Mr. Ellis telephoned Tish that the grand-stand was sold out andthat almost all the parking-places that had been reserved were taken. Charlie Sands came home to luncheon with a curious smile on his face. 

"How are you betting, Aunt Tish?" he asked. 

"Betting!"

"Yes. Has Ellis let you in on the betting?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, " Tish said sourly. "Mr. Elliscontrols the betting so that it may be done in an orderly manner. I amsure I have nothing to do with it. "

"I'd like to bet a little, Charlie, " Aggie put in with an eye on Tish. "I'd put all I win on the collection plate on Sunday. "

"Very well. " Charlie Sands took out his notebook. "On what car and howmuch?"

"Ten dollars on the Fein. It made the best time at the trial heats. "

"I wouldn't if I were you, " said Charlie Sands. "Suppose we put it onour young friend next door. "

Bettina rather sniffed. "On Jasper!" she exclaimed. 

"On Jasper, " said Charlie Sands gravely. 

Tish, who had hardly heard us, looked up from her plate. 

"Bettina is betting, " she snapped. "Putting it on the collection platedoesn't help any. " But with that she caught Charlie Sands' eye and hewinked at her. Tish colored. "Gambling is one thing, clean sport isanother, " she said hotly. 

I believe, however, that whatever Charlie Sands may have suspected, hereally knew nothing until the race had started. By that time it was toolate to prevent it, and the only way he could think of to avoid gettingTish involved in a scandal was to let it go on. 

We went to the track in Tish's car and parked in the oval. Not near thegrandstand, however. Tish had picked out for herself a curve at one endof the track which Mr. Ellis had said was the worst bit on the course. "He says, " said Tish, as we put the top down and got out the vacuumbottle--oh, yes, Mr. Ellis had sent Tish one as a present--"that ifthere are any smashups they'll occur here. "

Aggie is not a bloodthirsty woman ordinarily, but her face quite lit up. 

"Not really!" she said. 

"They'll probably turn turtle, " said Tish. "There is never a racewithout a fatality or two. No racer can get any life insurance. Mr. Ellis says four men were killed at the last race he promoted. "

"Then I think Mr. Ellis is a murderer, " Bettina cried. We all looked ather. She was limp and white and was leaning back among the cushions withher eyes shut. "Why didn't you tell Jasper about this curve?" shedemanded of Tish. 

But at that moment a pistol shot rang out and the races were on. 

The Fein won two of the three small races. Jasper was entered only forthe big race. In the interval before the race was on, Jasper went roundthe track slowly, looking for Bettina. When he saw us he waved, but didnot stop. He was number thirteen. 

I shall not describe the race. After the first round or two, what withdust in my eyes and my neck aching from turning my head so rapidly, Ijust sat back and let them spin in front of me. 

It was after a dozen laps or so, with number thirteen doing as well asany of them, that Tish was arrested. 

Charlie Sands came up beside the car with a gentleman named Atkins, whoturned out to be a county detective. Charlie Sands was looking stern andsevere, but the detective was rather apologetic. 

"This is Miss Carberry, " said Charlie Sands. "Aunt Tish, this gentlemanwishes to speak to you. "

"Come around after the race, " Tish observed calmly. 

"Miss Carberry, " said the detective gently, "I believe you are back ofthis race, aren't you?"

"What if I am?" demanded Tish. 

Charlie Sands put a hand on the detective's arm. "It's like this, AuntTish, " he said; "you are accused of practicing a short-change game, that's all. This race is sewed up. You employ those racing-cars withdrivers at an average of fifty dollars a week. They are hardly worth it, Aunt Tish. I could have got you a better string for twenty-five. "

Tish opened her mouth and shut it again without speaking. 

"You also control the betting privileges. As you own all the racers youhave probably known for a couple of weeks who will win the race. Havingmade the Fein favorite, you can bet on a Brand or a Bonor, or whateverone you chance to like, and win out. Only I take it rather hard of you, Aunt Tish, not to have let the family in. I'm hard up as the dickens. "

"Charlie Sands!" said Tish impressively. "If you are joking--"

"Joking! Did you ever know a county detective to arrest a prominentwoman at a race-track as a little jest between friends? There's no joke, Aunt Tish. You've financed a phony race. The permit is taken in yourname--L. L. Carberry. Whatever car wins, you and Ellis take the prizemoney, half the gate receipts, and what you have made out of thebetting--"

Tish rose in the machine and held out both her hands to Mr. Atkins. 

"Officer, perform your duty, " she said solemnly. "Ignorance is nodefense and I know it. Where are the handcuffs?"

"We'll not bother about them, Miss Carberry", he said. "If you like I'llget into the car and you can tell me all about it while we watch therace. Which car is to win?"

"I may have been a fool, Mr. County Detective, " she said coldly; "butI'm not a knave. I have not bet a dollar on the race. "

We were very silent for a time. The detective seemed to enjoy the racevery much and ate peanuts out of his pocket. He even bought ared-and-black pennant, with "Morris Valley Races" on it, and fastened itto the car. Charlie Sands, however, sat with his arms folded, stiff andsevere. 

Once Tish bent forward and touched his arm. 

"You--you don't think it will get in the papers, do you?" she quavered. 

Charlie Sands looked at her with gloom. "I shall have to send it myself, Aunt Tish, " he said; "it is my duty to my paper. Even my family pride, hurt to the quick and quivering as it is, must not interfere with myduty. "

It was Bettina who suggested a way out--Bettina, who had sat back aspale as Tish and heard that her Mr. Ellis was, as Charlie Sands saidlater, as crooked as a pretzel. 

"But Jasper was not--not subsidized, " she said. "If he wins, it's allright, isn't it?"

The county detective turned to her. 

"Jasper?" he said. 

"A young man who lives here. " Bettina colored. 

"He is--not to be suspected?"

"Certainly not, " said Bettina haughtily; "he is above suspicion. Besides, he--he and Mr. Ellis are not friends. "

Well, the county detective was no fool. He saw the situation thatminute, and smiled when he offered Bettina a peanut. "Of course, " hesaid cheerfully, "if the race is won by a Morris Valley man, and not byone of the Ellis cars, I don't suppose the district attorney would careto do anything about it. In fact, " he said, smiling at Bettina, "I don'tknow that I'd put it up to the district attorney at all. A warning toEllis would get him out of the State. "

It was just at that moment that car number thirteen, coming round thecurve, skidded into the field, threw out both Jasper McCutcheon and hismechanician, and after standing on two wheels for an appreciable momentof time, righted herself, panting, with her nose against a post. 

Jasper sat up almost immediately and caught at his shoulder. Themechanician was stunned. He got up, took a step or two and fell down, weak with fright. 

I do not recall very distinctly what happened next. We got out of themachine, I remember, and Bettina was cutting off Jasper's sweater withCharlie Sands' penknife, and crying as she did it. And Charlie Sands wastrying to prevent Jasper from getting back into his car, while Jasperwas protesting that he could win in two or more laps and that he coulddrive with one hand--he'd only broken his arm. 

The crowd had gathered round us, thick. Suddenly they drew back, andin a sort of haze I saw Tish in Jasper's car, with Aggie, as white asdeath, holding to Tish's sleeve and begging her not to get in. The nextmoment Tish let in the clutch of the racer and Aggie took a sort offlying leap and landed beside her in the mechanician's seat. 

Charlie Sands saw it when I did, but we were both too late. Tish wascrossing the ditch into the track again, and the moment she struck levelground she put up the gasoline. 

It was just then that Aggie fell out, landing, as I have said before, ina pile of sand. Tish said afterward that she never missed her. She hadjust discovered that this was not Jasper's old car, which she knewsomething about, but a new racer with the old hood and seat put on inorder to fool Mr. Ellis. She didn't know a thing about it. 

Well, you know the rest--how Tish, trying to find how the gears worked, side-swiped the Bonor car and threw it off the field and out of therace; how, with the grandstand going crazy, she skidded off the trackinto the field, turned completely round twice, and found herself on thetrack again facing the way she wanted to go; how, at the last lap, shethrew a tire and, without cutting down her speed, bumped home thewinner, with the end of her tongue nearly bitten off and her spinefairly driven up into her skull. 

[Illustration: Without cutting down her speed, bumped home the winner]

All this is well known now, as is also the fact that Mr. Ellisdisappeared from the judges' stand after a word or two with Mr. Atkins, and was never seen at Morris Valley again. 

Tish came out of the race ahead by half the gate money--six thousanddollars--by a thousand dollars from concessions, and a lame back thatshe kept all winter. Even deducting the twenty-five hundred she had putup, she was forty-five hundred dollars ahead, not counting the prizemoney. Charlie Sand brought the money from the track that night, afterhaving paid off Mr. Ellis's racing-string and given Mr. Atkins a smallpresent. He took over the prize money to Jasper and came back with it, Jasper maintaining that it belonged to Tish, and that he had only racedfor the honor of Morris Valley. For some time the money went begging, but it settled itself naturally enough, Tish giving it to Jasper in theevent of--but that came later. 

On the following evening--Bettina, in the pursuit of learning to cook, having baked a chocolate cake--we saw Jasper, with his arm in a sling, crossing the side lawn. 

Jasper stopped at the foot of the steps. "I see a chocolate cake coolingon the kitchen porch, " he said. "Did you order it, Miss Lizzie?"

I shook my head. 

"Miss Tish? Miss Aggie?"

"I ordered it, " said Bettina defiantly--"or rather I baked it. "

"And you did that, knowing what it entailed? He was coming up the stepsslowly and with care. 

"What does it entail?" demanded Bettina. 

"Me. "

"Oh, that!" said Bettina. "I knew that. "

Jasper threw his head back and laughed. Then:--

"Will the Associated Chaperons, " he said, "turn their backs?"

"Not at all, " I began stiffly. "If I--"

"She baked it herself!" said Jasper exultantly. "One--two. When I saythree I shall kiss Bettina. "

And I have every reason to believe he carried out his threat. 

 * * * * *

Eliza Bailey forwarded me this letter from London where Bettina had sentit to her:--

 _Dearest Mother_: I hope you are coming home soon. I really think you should. Aunt Lizzie is here and she brought two friends, and, mother, I feel so responsible for them! Aunt Lizzie is sane enough, if somewhat cranky; but Miss Tish is almost more than I can manage--I never know what she is going to do next--and I am worn out with chaperoning her. And Miss Aggie, although she is very sweet, is always smoking cubeb cigarettes for hay fever, and it looks terrible! The neighbors do not know they are cubeb, and, anyhow, that's a habit, mother. And yesterday Miss Tish was arrested, and ran a motor race and won it, and to-day she is knitting a stocking and reciting the Twenty-third Psalm. Please, mother, I think you should come home. 

 Lovingly, BETTINA. 

 P. S. I think I shall marry Jasper after all. He says he likes the Presbyterian service. 

I looked up from reading Eliza's letter. Tish was knitting quietly andplanning to give the money back to the town in the shape of a library, and Aggie was holding a cubeb cigarette to her nose. Down on the tenniscourt Jasper and Bettina were idly batting a ball round. 

"I'm glad the Ellis man did not get her, " said Aggie. And then, after asneeze, "How Jasper reminds me of Mr. Wiggins. "

The library did not get the money after all. Tish sent it, as a weddingpresent, to Bettina. 

LIKE A WOLF ON THE FOLD

I

Aggie has always been in the habit of observing the anniversary of Mr. Wiggins's death. Aggie has the anniversary habit, anyhow, and her lifeis a succession: of small feast-days, on which she wears mental crape orwedding garments--depending on the occasion. Tish and I always rememberthese occasions appropriately, sending flowers on the anniversaries ofthe passing away of Aggie's parents; grandparents; a niece who died inbirth; her cousin, Sarah Webb, who married a missionary and wasswallowed whole by a large snake, --except her shoes, which the reptilerefused and of which Aggie possesses the right, given her by thestricken husband; and, of course, Mr. Wiggins. 

For Mr. Wiggins Tish and I generally send the same things eachyear--Tish a wreath of autumn foliage and I a sheaf of wheat tied with alavender ribbon. The program seldom varies. We drive to the cemetery inthe afternoon and Aggie places the sheaf and the wreath on Mr. Wiggins'slast resting-place, after first removing the lavender ribbon, of whichshe makes cap bows through the year and an occasional pin-cushion orfancy-work bag; then home to chicken and waffles, which had been Mr. Wiggins's favorite meal. In the evening Charlie Sands generally comes inand we play a rubber or two of bridge. 

On the thirtieth anniversary of Mr. Wiggins's falling off a roof andbreaking his neck, Tish was late in arriving, and I found Aggie sittingalone, dressed in black, with a tissue-paper bundle in her lap. I put mysheaf on the table and untied my bonnet-strings. 

"Where's Tish?" I asked. 

"Not here yet. "

Something in Aggie's tone made me look at her. She was eyeing the bundlein her lap. 

"I got a paler shade of ribbon this time, " I said, seeing she made nocomment on the sheaf. "It's a better color for me if you're going tomake my Christmas present out of it this year again. Where's Tish'swreath?"

"Here. " Aggie pointed dispiritedly to the bundle in her lap and went onrocking. 

"That! That's no wreath. "

In reply Aggie lifted the tissue paper and shook out, with hands thattrembled with indignation, a lace-and-linen centerpiece. She held it upbefore me and we eyed each other over it. Both of us understood. 

"Tish is changed, Lizzie, " Aggie said hollowly. "Ask her for bread thesedays and she gives you a Cluny-lace fandangle. On mother's anniversaryshe sent me a set of doilies; and when Charlie Sands was in the hospitalwith appendicitis she took him a pair of pillow shams. It's that Syrian!"

Both of us knew. We had seen Tish's apartment change from a sedate andspinsterly retreat to a riot of lace covers on the mantel, on the backsof chairs, on the stands, on the pillows--everywhere. We had watchedher Marseilles bedspreads give way to hem-stitched covers, with bolstersto match. We had seen Tish go through a cold winter clad in a successionof sleazy silk kimonos instead of her flannel dressing-gown; terriblekimonos--green and yellow and red and pink, that looked like fruitsalads and were just as heating. 

"It's that dratted Syrian!" cried Aggie--and at that Tish came in. Shestood inside the door and eyed us. 

"What about him?" she demanded. "If I choose to take a poor starvingChristian youth and assist him by buying from him what I need--what Ineed!--that's my affair, isn't it? Tufik was starving and I took himin. "

"He took you in, all right!" Aggie sniffed. "A great, mustached, dirty, palavering foreigner, who's probably got a harem at home and no respectfor women!"

Tish glanced at my sheaf and at the centerpiece. She was dressed as shealways dressed on Mr. Wiggins's day--in black; but she had a new lacecollar with a jabot, and we knew where she had got it. She saw our eyeson it and she had the grace to flush. 

"Once for all, " she snapped, "I intend to look after this unfortunateSyrian! If my friends object, I shall be deeply sorry; but, so far asI care, they may object until they are purple in the face and theirtongues hang out. I've been sending my money to foreign missions longenough; I'm doing my missionary work at home now. "

"He'll marry you!" This from Aggie. 

Tish ignored her. "His father is an honored citizen of Beirut, of thenobility. The family is impoverished, being Christian, and grosslyimposed on by the Turks. Tufik speaks French and English as well asMohammedan. They offered him a high government position if he woulddesert the Christian faith; but he refused firmly. He came to thiscountry for religious freedom; at any moment they may come after him andtake him back. "

A glint of hope came to me. I made a mental note to write to the mayor, or whatever they call him over there, and tell him where he could locatehis wandering boy. 

"He loves the God of America, " said Tish. 

"Money!" Aggie jeered. 

"And he is so pathetic, so grateful! I told Hannah at noon to-day--that'swhat delayed me--to give him his lunch. He was starving; I thought we'dnever fill him. And when it was over, he stooped in the sweetest way, while she was gathering up the empty dishes, and kissed her hand. It wastouching!"

"Very!" I said dryly. "What did Hannah do?"

"She's a fool! She broke a cup on his head. "

Mr. Wiggins's anniversary was not a success. Part of this was due toTish, who talked of Tufik steadily--of his youth; of the wonderfulbargains she secured from him; of his belief that this was the land ofopportunity--Aggie sniffed; of his familiarity with the Bible andBiblical places; of the search the Turks were making for him. Theatmosphere was not cleared by Aggie's taking the Cluny-lace centerpieceto the cemetery and placing it, with my sheaf, on Mr. Wiggins's grave. 

As we got into Tish's machine to go back, Aggie was undeniably peevish. She caught cold, too, and was sneezing--as she always does when she isirritated or excited. 

"Where to?" asked Tish from the driving-seat, looking straight ahead andpulling on her gloves. From where we sat we could still see the dot ofwhite on the grass that was the centerpiece. 

"Back to the house, " Aggie snapped, "to have some chicken and wafflesand Tufik for dinner!"

Tish drove home in cold silence. As well as we could tell from her back, she was not so much indignant as she was determined. Thus we do notbelieve that she willfully drove over every rut and thank-you-ma'am onthe road, scattering us generously over the tonneau, and finally, whenAggie, who was the lighter, was tossed against the top and sprained herneck, eliciting a protest from us. She replied in an abstracted tone, which showed where her mind was. 

"It would be rougher on a camel, " she said absently. "Tufik was tellingme the other day--"

Aggie had got her head straight by that time and was holding it withboth hands to avoid jarring. She looked goaded and desperate; and, asshe said afterward, the thing slipped out before she knew she was morethan thinking it. 

"Oh, damn Tufik!" she said. 

Fortunately at that moment we blew out a tire and apparently Tish didnot hear her. While I was jacking up the car and Tish was getting thekey of the toolbox out of her stocking, Aggie sat sullenly in her placeand watched us. 

"I suppose, " she gibed, "a camel never blows out a tire!"

"It might, " Tish said grimly, "if it heard an oath from the lips of amiddle-aged Sunday-school teacher!"

We ate Mr. Wiggins's anniversary dinner without any great hilarity. Aggie's neck was very stiff and she had turned in the collar of herdress and wrapped flannels wrung out of lamp oil round it. When shewished to address either Tish or myself she held her head rigid andturned her whole body in her chair; and when she felt a sneeze coming onshe clutched wildly at her head with both hands as if she expected it tofly off. 

Tufik was not mentioned, though twice Tish got as far as Tu-- and thenthought better of it; but her mind was on him and we knew it. She workedthe conversation round to Bible history and triumphantly demandedwhether we knew that Sodom and Gomorrah are towns to-day, and that astreet-car line is contemplated to them from some place or other--itdeveloped later that she meant Tyre and Sidon. Once she suggested thatAggie's sideboard needed new linens, but after a look at Aggie's rigidhead she let it go at that. 

No one was sorry when, with dinner almost over, and Aggie lifting herice-cream spoon straight up in front of her and opening her mouth witha sort of lockjaw movement, the bell rang. We thought it was CharlieSands. It was not. Aggie faced the doorway and I saw her eyes widen. Tish and I turned. 

A boy stood in the doorway--a shrinking, timid, brown-eyed youngOriental, very dark of skin, very white of teeth, very black of hair--aslim youth of eighteen, possibly twenty, in a shabby blue suit, brokenshoes, and a celluloid collar. Twisting between nervous brown fingers, not as clean as they might have been, was a tissue-paper package. 

"My friends!" he said, and smiled. 

Tish is an extraordinary woman. She did not say a word. She sat stilland let the smile get in its work. Its first effect was on Aggie's neck, which she forgot. Tufik's timid eyes rested for a moment on Tish andbrightened. Then like a benediction they turned to mine, and came to astop on Aggie. He took a step farther into the room. 

"My friend's friend are my friend, " he said. "America is my friend--thisso great God's country!"

Aggie put down her ice-cream spoon and closed her mouth, which had beenopen. 

"Come in, Tufik, " said Tish; "and I am sure Miss Pilkington would likeyou to sit down. "

Tufik still stood with his eyes fixed on Aggie, twisting his package. 

"My friend has said, " he observed--he was quite calm and divinelytrustful--"My friend has said that this is for Miss Pilk a sad day. Myfriend is my mother; I have but her and God. Unless--but perhaps I havetwo new friend also--no?"

"Of course we are your friends, " said Aggie, feeling for the table-bellwith her foot. "We are--aren't we, Lizzie?"

Tufik turned and looked at me wistfully. It came over me then what anawful thing it must be to be so far from home and knowing nobody, andhaving to wear trousers and celluloid collars instead of robes andturbans, and eat potatoes and fried things instead of olives and figsand dates, and to be in danger of being taken back and made into aMohammedan and having to keep a harem. 

"Certainly, " I assented. "If you are good we will be your friends. "

He flashed a boyish smile at me. 

"I am good, " he said calmly--"as the angels I am good. I have here aletter from a priest. I give it to you. Read!"

He got a very dirty envelope from his pocket and brought it round thetable to me. "See!" he said. "The priest says: 'Of all my children Tufiklies next my heart. '"

He held the letter out to me; but it looked as if it had been copiedfrom an Egyptian monument and was about as legible as an outbreak ofmeasles. 

"This, " he said gently, pointing, "is the priest's blessing. I carryit ever. It brings me friends. " He put the paper away and drew a longbreath; then surveyed us all with shining eyes. "It has brought me you. "

We were rather overwhelmed. Aggie's maid having responded to the bell, Aggie ordered ice cream for Tufik and a chair drawn to the table; butthe chair Tufik refused with a little, smiling bow. 

"It is not right that I sit, " he said. "I stand in the presence of mythree mothers. But first--I forget--my gift! For the sadness, MissPilk!"

He held out the tissue-paper package and Aggie opened it. Tufik's giftproved to be a small linen doily, with a Cluny-lace border!

We were gone from that moment--I know it now, looking back. Gone! Wewere lost the moment Tufik stood in the doorway, smiling and bowing. Tish saw us going; and with the calmness of the lost sat there nibblingcake and watching us through her spectacles--and raised not a hand. 

Aggie looked at the doily and Tufik looked at her. 

"That's--that's really very nice of you, " said Aggie. "I thank you. "

Tufik came over and stood beside her. 

"I give with my heart, " he said shyly. "I have had nobody--in all solarge this country--nobody! And now--I have you!" Aggie saw--but toolate. He bent over and touched his lips to her hands. "The Bible says:'To him that overcometh I will give the morning star!' I haveovercometh--ah, so much!--the sea; the cold, wet England; the EllisIsland; the hunger; the aching of one who has no love, no money! Andnow--I have the morning star!"

He looked at us all three at once--Charlie Sands said this wasimpossible, until he met Tufik. Aggie was fairly palpitant and Tish wassmug, positively smug. As for me, I roused with a start to find myselfsugaring my ice cream. 

Charlie Sands was delayed that night. He came in about nine o'clock andfound Tufik telling us about his home and his people and the shepherdson the hills about Damascus and the olive trees in sunlight. Wehalf-expected Tufik to adopt Charlie Sands as a father; but he contentedhimself with a low Oriental salute, and shortly after he bowed himselfaway. 

Charlie Sands stood looking after him and smiling to himself. "Prettysmooth boy, that!" he said. 

"Smooth nothing!" Tish snapped, getting the bridge score. "He's asad-hearted and lonely boy; and we are going to do the kindest thing--weare going to help him to help himself. "

"Oh, he'll help himself all right!" observed Charlie Sands. "But, sincehis people are Christians, I wish you'd tell me how he knows so muchabout the inside of a harem!"

Seeing that comment annoyed us, he ceased, and we fell to our bridgegame; but more than once his eye fell on Aggie's doily, and he mutteredsomething about the Assyrian coming down like a wolf on the fold. 

II

The problem of Tufik's future was a pressing one. Tish called a meetingof the three of us next morning, and we met at her house. We found herreading about Syria in the encyclopædia, while spread round her onchairs and tables were numbers of silk kimonos, rolls of crocheted lace, shirt-waist patterns, and embroidered linens. 

Hannah let us in. She looked surly and had a bandage round her head, asure sign of trouble--Hannah always referring a pain in her temper toher ear or her head or her teeth. She clutched my arm in the hall andheld me back. 

"I'm going to poison him!" she said. "Miss Lizzie, that little snakegoes or I go!"

"I'm ashamed of you, Hannah!" I replied sternly. "If out of the breadthof her charity Miss Tish wishes to assist a fellow man--"

Hannah reeled back and freed my arm. 

"My God!" she whispered. "You too!"

I am very fond of Hannah, who has lived with Tish for many years; but Ihad small patience with her that morning. 

"I cannot see how it concerns you, anyhow, Hannah, " I observed severely. 

Hannah put her apron to her eyes and sniffled into it. 

"Oh, you can't, can't you!" she wailed. "Don't I give him half hismeals, with him soft-soapin' Miss Tish till she can't see for suds?Ain't I fallin' over him mornin', noon, and night, and the postmantelling all over the block he's my steady company--that snip that's noteighteen yet? And don't I do the washin'? And will you look round theplace and count the things I've got to do up every week? And don't hetalk to me in that lingo of his, so I don't know whether he's askin' fora cup of coffee or insultin' me?"

I patted Hannah on the arm. After all, none of the exaltation of a gooddeed upheld Hannah as it sustained us. 

"We are going to help him help himself, Hannah, " I said kindly. "Hehasn't found himself. Be gentle with him. Remember he comes from theland of the Bible. "

"Humph!" said Hannah, who reads the newspapers. "So does the plague!"

The problem we had set ourselves we worked out that morning. As Tishsaid, the boy ought to have light work, for the Syrians are not alaboring people. 

"Their occupation is--er--mainly pastoral, " she said, with the authorityof the encyclopædia. "Grazing their herds and gathering figs and olives. If we knew some one who needed a shepherd--"

Aggie opposed the shepherd idea, however. As she said, and with reason, the climate is too rigorous. "It's all well enough in Syria, " she said, "where they have no cold weather; but he'd take his death of pneumoniahere. "

We put the shepherd idea reluctantly aside. My own notion of finding acamel for him to look after was negatived by Tish at once, and properlyenough I realized. 

"The only camels are in circuses, " she said, "and our duty to the boy ismoral as well as physical. Circuses are dens of immorality. Of coursethe Syrians are merchants, and we might get him work in a store. Butthen again--what chance has he of rising? Once a clerk, always a clerk. "She looked round at the chairs and tables, littered with the contents ofTufik's pasteboard suitcase, which lay empty at her feet. "And there isnothing to canvassing from door to door. Look at these exquisitethings!--and he cannot sell them. Nobody buys. He says he never getsinside a house door. If you had seen his face when I bought a kimonofrom him!"

At eleven o'clock, having found nothing in the "Help Wanted" column tofit Tufik's case, Tish called up Charlie Sands and offered Tufik as areporter, provided he was given no nightwork. But Charlie Sands said itwas impossible--that the editors and owners of the paper were alwaysputting on their sons and relatives, and that when there was a vacancythe big advertisers got it. Tish insisted--she suggested that Tufikcould run an Arabian column, like the German one, and bring in a lot ofnew subscribers. But Charlie Sands stood firm. 

At noon Tufik came. We heard a skirmish at the door and Hannah talkingbetween her teeth. 

"She's out, " she said. 

"Well, I think she is not out, " in Tufik's soft tones. 

"You'll not get in. "

"Ah, but my toes are in. See, my foot wishes to enter!" Then somethingsoft, coaxing, infinitely wistful, in Arabian followed by a slap. Thenext moment Hannah, in tears, rushed back to the kitchen. There was nosound from the hallway. No smiling Tufik presented himself in thedoorway. 

Tish rose in the majesty of wrath. "I could strangle that woman!" shesaid, and we followed her into the hall. 

Tufik was standing inside the door with his arms folded, staring ahead. He took no notice of us. 

"Tufik!" Aggie cried, running to him. "Did she--did she dare--Tish, lookat his cheek!"

"She is a bad woman!" Tufik said somberly. "I make my little prayer tosee Miss Tish, my mother, and she--I kill her!"

We had a hard time apologizing to him for Hanna. Tish got a basin ofcold water so he might bathe his face; and Aggie brought a tablespoonfulof blackberry cordial, which is soothing. When the poor boy was calmerwe met in Tish's bedroom and Tish was quite firm on one point--Hannahmust leave!

Now, this I must say in my own defense--I was sorry for Tufik; and it isquite true I bought him a suit and winter flannels and a pair of yellowshoes--he asked for yellow. He said he was homesick for a bit ofsunshine, and our so somber garb made him heart-sad. But I would neverhave dismissed a cook like Hannah for him. 

"I shall have to let her go, " Tish said. "He is Oriental and passionate. He has said he will kill her--and he'll do it. They hold life verylightly. "

"Humph!" I said. "Very well, Tish, that holding life lightly isn't aChristian trait. It's Mohammedan--every Mohammedan wants to die and goto his heaven, which is a sort of sublimated harem. The boy's probably aChristian by training, but he's a Mohammedan by blood. "

Aggie thought my remark immoral and said so. And just then Hannah solvedher own problem by stalking into the room with her things on and asuitcase in her hand. 

"I'm leaving, Miss Tish!" she said with her eye-rims red. "God knows Inever expected to be put out of this place by a dirty dago! You'll findyour woolen stockings on the stretchers, and you've got an appointmentwith the dentist tomorrow morning at ten. And when that littleblackguard has sucked you dry, and you want him killed to get rid ofhim, you'll find me at my sister's. "

She picked up her suitcase and Tish flung open the door. "You're ahard-hearted woman, Hannah Mackintyre!" Tish snapped. "Your sister can'tkeep you. You'll have to work. "

Hannah turned in the doorway and sneered at the three of us. 

"Oh, no!" she said. "I'm going to hunt up three soft-headed old maidsand learn to kiss their hands and tell 'em I have nobody but them andGod!"

She slammed out at that, leaving us in a state of natural irritation. But our rage soon faded. Tufik was not in the parlor; and Tish, tiptoeing back, reported that he was in the kitchen and was mixing upsomething in a bowl. 

"He's a dear boy!" she said. "He feels responsible for Hannah's leavingand he's getting luncheon! Hannah is a wicked and uncharitable woman!"

 "Man's inhumanity to man, Makes countless thousands mourn!"

quoted Aggie softly. From the kitchen came the rhythmic beating of awooden spoon against the side of a bowl; a melancholy chant--quitearchaic, as Tish said--kept time with the spoon, and later a smell ofbaking flour and the clatter of dishes told us that our meal wasprogressing. 

"'The Syrians, '" read Tish out of her book, "'are a peaceful andpastoral people. They have not changed materially in nineteen centuries, and the traveler in their country finds still the life of Biblicaltimes. ' Something's burning!"

Shortly after, Tufik, beaming with happiness and Hannah clearlyforgotten, summoned us to the dining-room. Tufik was not a cook. Werealized that at once. He had made coffee in the Oriental way--strongenough to float an egg, very sweet and full of grounds; and after a biteof the cakes he had made, Tish remembered the dentist the next day andrefused solid food on account of a bad tooth. The cakes were made oflard and flour, without any baking-powder or flavoring, and the topswere sprinkled thick with granulated sugar. Little circles of greasemelted out of them on to the plate, and Tufik, wide-eyed with triumph, sweetly wistful over Tish's tooth, humble and joyous in one minute, stood by the cake plate and fed them to us!

I caught Aggie's agonized eye, but there was nothing else to do. Were wenot his friends? And had he not made this delicacy for us? On her thirdcake, however, Aggie luckily turned blue round the mouth and had to goand lie down. This broke up the meal and probably saved my life, thoughmy stomach has never been the same since. Tish says the cakes areprobably all right in the Orient, where it is hot and the grease doesnot get a chance to solidify. She thinks that Tufik is probably a goodcook in his own country. But Aggie says that a good many things in theBible that she never understood are made plain to her if that is whatthey ate in Biblical times--some of the things they saw in visions, andall that. She dropped asleep on Tish's lounge and distinctly saw Tufikmurdering Hannah by forcing one of his cakes down her throat. 

The next month was one of real effort. We had planned to go to Panama, and had our passage engaged; but when we broke the news to Tufik heturned quite pale. 

"You go--away?" he said wistfully. 

"Only for a month, " Tish hastened to apologize. "You see, we--we are allvery tired, and the Panama Canal--"

"Canal? I know not a canal. "

"It is for ships--"

"You go there in a ship?"

"Yes. A canal is a--"

"You go far--in a ship--and I--I stay here?"

"Only for a month, " Aggie broke in. "We will leave you enough money tolive on; and perhaps when we come back you will have found something todo--"

"For a month, " he said brokenly. "I have no friends, no Miss Tish, noMiss Liz, no Miss Pilk. I die!"

He got up and walked to the window. It was Aggie who realized the awfultruth. The poor lonely boy was weeping--and Charlie Sands may say whathe likes! He was really crying--when he turned, there were large tearson his cheeks. What made it worse was that he was trying to smile. 

"I wish you much happiness on the canal, " he said. "I am wicked; but mysad heart--it ache that my friends leave me. I am sad! If only myseester--"

 * * * * *

That was the first we had known of Tufik's sister, back in Beirut, wearing a veil over her face and making lace for the bazaars. We were toknow more. 

Well, between getting ready to go to Panama and trying to find somethingTufik could do, we were very busy for the next month. Tufik grewreconciled to our going, but he was never cheerful about it; and findingthat it pained him we never spoke about it in his presence. 

He was with us a great deal. In the morning he would go to Tish, whowould give him a list of her friends to see. Then Tish would telephoneand make appointments for him, and he would start off hopefully, with his pasteboard suitcase. But he never sold anything--except ashirt-waist pattern to Mrs. Ostermaier, the minister's wife. We took dayabout giving him his carfare, but this was pauperizing and we knew it. Besides, he was very sensitive and insisted on putting down everythingwe gave him in a book, to be repaid later when he had made a success. 

The allowance idea was mine and it worked well. We figured that, allowing for his washing, --which was not much, as he seemed to preferthe celluloid collar, --he could live in a sort of way on nine dollars aweek. We subscribed equally to this; and to save his pride we mailed itto him weekly by check. 

His failure to sell his things hurt him to the soul. More than once wecaught tears in his eyes. And he was not well--he could not walk anydistance at all and he coughed. At last Tish got Charlie Sands to takehim to a lung specialist, a stupid person, who said it was a cigarettecough. This was absurd, as Tufik did not smoke. 

At last the time came for the Panama trip. Tish called me up the day shepacked and asked me to come over. 

"I can't. I'm busy, Tish, " I said. 

She was quite disagreeable. "This is your burden as well as mine, " shesnapped. "Come over and talk to that wretched boy while I pack my trunk. He stands and watches everything I put in, and I haven't been able topack a lot of things I need. "

I went over that afternoon and found Tufik huddled on the top step ofthe stairs outside Tish's apartment, with his head in his hands. 

"She has put me out!" he said, looking up at me with tragic eyes. "Mymother has put me out! She does not love Tufik! No one loves Tufik! I amno good. I am a dirty dago!"

I was really shocked. I rang the bell and Tish let me in. She had had nomaid since Hannah's departure and was taking her meals out. She sawTufik and stiffened. 

"I thought I sent you away!" she said, glaring at him. 

He looked at her pitifully. 

"Where must I--go?" he asked, and coughed. 

Tish sighed and flung the door wide open. "Bring him in, " she said withresignation, "but for Heaven's sake lock him in a closet until I get myunderwear packed. And if he weeps--slap him. "

The poor boy was very repentant, and seeing that his cough worried us hefought it back bravely. I mixed the white of an egg with lemon juice andsugar, and gave it to him. He was pathetically grateful and kissed myhand. At five o'clock we sent him away firmly, having given himthirty-six dollars. He presented each of us with a roll of crochetedlace to take with us and turned in the doorway to wave a wistful finalgood-bye. 

We met at Tish's that night so that we might all go together to thetrain. Charlie Sands had agreed to see us off and to keep an eye onTufik during our absence. Aggie was in a palpitating travel ecstasy, clutching a patent seasick remedy and a map of the Canal Zone; Tish wasseeing that the janitor shut off the gas and water in the apartment; andCharlie Sands was jumping on top of a steamer trunk to close it. Thetaxicab was at the door and we had just time to make the night train. The steamer sailed early the next morning. 

"All ready!" cried Charlie Sands, getting the lid down finally. "All offfor the Big Ditch!"

We all heard a noise in the hall--a sort of scuffling, with anoccasional groan. Tish rushed over and threw open the door. On the topstep, huddled and shivering, with streams of water running off his hairdown over his celluloid collar, pouring out of his sleeves and cascadingdown the stairs from his trousers legs, was Tufik. The policeman on thebeat was prodding at him with his foot, trying to make him get up. Whenhe saw us the officer touched his hat. 

"Evening, Miss Tish, " he said, grinning. "This here boy of yours hasbeen committing suicide. Just fished him out of the lake in the park!"

"Get up!" snapped Charlie Sands. "You infernal young idiot! Get up andstop sniveling!"

He stooped and took the poor boy by the collar. His brutality roused usall out of our stupor. Tish and I rushed forward and commanded him tostand back; and Aggie, with more presence of mind than we had given hercredit for, brought a glass containing a tablespoonful of blackberrycordial into which she had poured ten drops of seasickness remedy. Tufikwas white and groaning, but he revived enough to sit up and stare at uswith his sad brown eyes. 

"I wish to die!" he said brokenly. "Why you do not let me die? Myfriends go on the canal! I am alone! My heart is empty!"

Tish wished to roll him on a barrel, but we had no barrel; so, withCharlie Sands standing by with his watch in his hand, refusing to assistand making unkind remarks, we got him to Tish's room and laid out on hermackintosh on the bed. He did not want to live. We could hardly forcehim to drink the hot coffee Tish made for him. He kept muttering thingsabout his loneliness and being only a dirty dago; and then he turnedbitter and said hard things about this great America, where he couldfind no work and must be a burden on his three mothers, and could notbring his dear sister to be company for him. Aggie quite broke down andhad to lie down on the sofa in the parlor and have a cracker and a cupof tea. 

When Tish and I had succeeded in making Tufik promise to live, and hadgiven him one of his own silk kimonos to put on until his clothing couldbe dried--Charlie Sands having disagreeably refused to lend hisovercoat--and when we had given the officer five dollars not to arrestthe boy for attempting suicide, we met in the parlor to talk thingsover. 

Charlie Sands was sitting by the lamp in his overcoat. He had put ourrailway and steamer tickets on the table, and was holding his cigaretteso that Aggie could inhale the fumes, she having hay fever and hercubebs being on their way to Panama. 

"I suppose you know, " he said nastily, "that your train has gone andthat you cannot get the boat tomorrow?"

Tish was in an exalted mood--and she took off her things and flung themon a chair. 

"What is Panama, " she demanded, "to saving a life? Charlie, we must plansomething for this boy. If you will take off your overcoat--"

"And see you put it on that little parasite? Not if I melt! Do you knowhow deep the lake is? Three feet!"

"One can drown in three feet of water, " said Aggie sadly, "if one isvery tired of life. People drown themselves in bathtubs. "

Tish's furious retort to this was lost, Tufik choosing that moment toappear in the doorway. He wore a purple-and-gold kimono that had givenTish bronchitis early in the winter, and he had twisted a bath towelround the waist. He looked very young, very sad, very Oriental. Heignored Charlie Sands, but made at once for Tish and dropped on one kneebeside her. 

"Miss Tish!" he begged. "Forgive, Miss Tish! Tufik is wicked. He has thebad heart. He has spoil the going on the canal. No?"

"Get up!" said Tish. "Don't be a silly child. Go and take your shoes outof the oven. We are not going to Panama. When you are better, I am goingto give you a good scolding. "

Charlie Sands put the cigarette on a book under Aggie's nose and stoodup. 

"I guess I'll go, " he said. "My nerves are not what they used to be andmy disposition feels the change. "

Tufik had risen and the two looked at each other. I could not quite makeout Tufik's expression; had I not known his gentleness I would havethought his expression a mixture of triumph and disdain. 

"'The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold, and his cohorts weregleaming in purple and gold!'" said Charlie Sands, and went out, slamming the door. 

III

The next day was rainy and cold. Aggie sneezed all day and Tish hadneuralgia. Being unable to go out for anything to eat and the exaltationof the night before having passed, she was in a bad humor. When I gotthere she was sitting in her room holding a hot-water bottle to herface, and staring bitterly at the plate containing a piece of burnedtoast and Tufik's specialty--a Syrian cake crusted with sugar. 

"I wish he had drowned!" she said. "My stomach's gone, Lizzie! I ate oneof those cakes for breakfast. You've got to eat this one. "

"I'll do nothing of the sort! This is your doing, Tish Carberry. If ithadn't been for you and your habit of picking up stray cats and dogs andOrientals and imposing them on your friends we'd be on the ocean to-day, on our way to a decent climate. The next time your duty to your brotherman overwhelms you, you'd better lock yourself in your room and throwthe key out the window. "

Tish was not listening, however. Her eye and her mind both were on thecake. 

"If you would eat it and then take some essence of pepsin--" shehazarded. But I looked her full it the eye and she had the grace tocolor. "He loves to make them, " she said--"he positively beamed when hebrought it. He has another kind he is making now--of pounded beans, orsomething like that. Listen!" I listened. 

From back in the kitchen came a sound of hammering and Tufik's voicelifted in a low, plaintive chant. "He says that song is about thevalleys of Lebanon, " said Tish miserably. "Lizzie, if you'll eat half ofit, I'll eat the rest. "

My answer was to pick up the plate and carry it into the bathroom. Heroic measures were necessary: Tish was not her resolute self; and, indeed, through all the episode of Tufik, and the shocking denouementthat followed, Tish was a spineless individual who swayed to and frowith every breeze. 

She divined my purpose and followed me to the bathroom door. 

"Leave some crumbs on the plate!" she whispered. "It will look morenatural. Get rid of the toast too. "

I turned and faced her, the empty plate in my hands. 

"Tish, " I said sternly, "this is hypocrisy, which is just next door tolying. It's the first step downward. I have a feeling that this boy isdemoralizing us! We shall have to get rid of him. "

"As for instance?" she sarcastically asked. 

"Send him back home, " I said with firmness. "He doesn't belong here; heisn't accustomed to anything faster than a camel. He doesn't know how towork--none of them do. He comes from a country where they can eat foodlike this because digestion is one of their occupations. "

I was right and Tish knew it. Even Tufik was satisfied when we put it upto him. He spread his hands in his Oriental way and shrugged hisshoulders. 

"If my mothers think best, " he said softly. "In my own land Tufik isknown--I sell in the bazaar the so fine lace my sister make. I drinkwine, not water. My stomach--I cannot eat in this America. But--I haveno money. "

"We will furnish the money, " Tish said gently. "But you must promise onething, Tufik. You must not become a Mohammedan. "

"Before that I die!" he said proudly. 

"And--there is something else, Tufik, --something rather personal. But Iwant you to promise. You are only a boy; but when you are a man--" Tishstopped and looked to me for help. 

"Miss Tish means this, " I put in, "you are to have only one wife, Tufik. We are not sending you back to start a harem. We--we disapprove stronglyof--er--anything like that. "

"Tufik takes but one wife, " he said. "Our people--we have but one wife. My first child--it is called Tish; my next, Lizzie; and my next, AggiePilk. All for my so kind friends. And one I call Charlie Sands; and oneshall be Hannah. So that Tufik never forget America. "

Aggie was rather put out when we told her what we had done; but aftereating one of the cakes made of pounded beans and sugar, under Tufik'striumphant eyes, she admitted that it was probably for the best. Thatevening, while Tufik took his shrunken and wrinkled clothing to bepressed by a little tailor in the neighborhood who did Tish's repairing, the three of us went back to the kitchen and tried to put it in order. It was frightful--flour and burned grease over everything, every pandirty, dishes all over the place and a half-burned cigarette in thesugar bin. But--it touched us all deeply--he had found an old photographof the three of us and had made a sort of shrine of the clock-shelf--thepicture in front of the clock and in front of the picture a bunch of redgeraniums. 

While we were looking at the picture and Aggie was at the sink puttingwater in the glass that held the geraniums, Tufik having forgotten to doso, Tish's neighbor from the apartment below, an elderly bachelor, cameup the service staircase and knocked at the door. Tish opened it. 

"Humph!" said the gentleman from below. "Gone is he?"

"Is who gone?"

"Your thieving Syrian, madam!"

Tish stiffened. 

"Perhaps, " she said, "if you will explain--"

"Perhaps, " snarled the visitor, "you will explain what you have donewith my geraniums! Why don't you raise your own flowers?"

Tish was quite stunned and so was I. After all, it was Aggie who came tothe rescue. She slammed the lid on to the teakettle and set it on thestove with a bang. 

"If you mean, " she said indignantly, "that you think we have anygeraniums of yours--"

"Think! Didn't my cook see your thieving servant steal 'em off the boxon the fire-escape?"

"Then, perhaps, " Aggie suggested, "you will look through the apartmentand see if they are here. You will please look everywhere!"

Tish and I gasped. It was not until the visitor had made the rounds ofthe apartment, and had taken an apologetic departure, that Tish and Iunderstood. The teakettle was boiling and from its spout coming a spicyand familiar odor. Aggie took it off the stove and removed the lid. Thegeraniums, boiled to a pulp, were inside. 

"Back to Syria that boy goes!" said Tish, viewing the floral remains. "He did it out of love and we must not chide him. But we have our ownimmortal souls to think of. "

The next morning two things happened. We gave Tufik one hundred andtwenty dollars to buy a ticket back to Syria and to keep him in funds onthe way. And Tish got a note from Hannah:--

 _Dear Miss Tish_: I here you still have the dago--or, as my sister's husband says, he still has you. I am redy to live up to my bargen if you are. 

 HANNAH. 

 P. S. I have lerned a new salud--very rich, but delissious. 

 H. 

In spite of herself, Tish looked haunted. It was the salad, no doubt. She said nothing, but she looked round the untidy rooms, whereeverything that would hold it had a linen cover with a Cluny-laceedge--all of them soiled and wrinkled. She watched Tufik, chanting aboutthe plains of Lebanon and shoving the carpet-sweeper with a bang againsther best furniture; and, with Hannah's salad in mind, she sniffed awarning odor from the kitchen that told of more Syrian experiments withher digestion. Tish surrendered: that morning she wrote to Hannah thatTufik was going back to Syria, and to come and bring the salad recipewith her. 

That was, I think, on a Monday. Tufik's steamer sailed on Thursday. OnTuesday Aggie and I went shopping; and in a spirit of repentance--for wefelt we were not solving Tufik's question but getting rid of him--webought him a complete new outfit. He almost disgraced us by kissingour hands in the store, and while we were buying him some ties hedisappeared--to come back later with the rims of his eyes red fromweeping. His gentle soul was touched with gratitude. Aggie had to tellhim firmly that if he kissed any more hands he would get his ears boxed. 

The clerks in the store were all interested, and two or three cash-boysfollowed us round and stood, open-mouthed, staring at us. Neither Aggienor I knew anything about masculine attire, and Tufik's idea was a suit, with nothing underneath, a shirt-front and collar of celluloid, and agreen necktie already tied and hooking on to his collar-button. He wasdazed when we bought him a steamer trunk and a rug, and disappearedagain, returning in a few moments with a small paper bag full ofgumdrops. We were quite touched. 

That, as I say, was on Tuesday. Tufik had been sleeping in Tish'sguest-room since his desperate attempt at suicide, and we sent histhings to Tish's apartment. That evening Tufik asked permission to spendthe night with a friend in the restaurant business--a Damascan. Tish lethim go against my advice. 

"He'll eat a lot of that Syrian food, " I objected, "and get sick andmiss his boat, and we'll have the whole thing over again!"

But Tish was adamant. "It's his last night, " she said, "and he haspromised not to smoke any cigarettes and I've given him two pepsintablets. This is the land of the free, Lizzie. "

We were to meet Tufik at the station next morning and we arranged alunch for him to eat on the train, Aggie bringing fried chicken and Isandwiches and cake. Tish's domestic arrangements being upset, shesupplied fruit, figs and dates mostly, to make him think of home. 

The train left early, and none of us felt very cheerful at having to beabout. Aggie sat in the station and sneezed; Tish had a pain above hereye and sat by a heater. We had the luncheon in a large shoebox, wrappedin oiled paper to keep it moist. 

He never appeared! The train was called, filled up, and left. Peopletook to staring at us as we sat there. Aggie sneezed and Tish held hereye. And no Tufik! In a sort of helpless, breakfastless rage we called ataxicab and went to Tish's. No one said much. We were all thinking. 

We were hungry; so we spread out the shoebox lunch on one of theCluny-lace covers and ate it, mostly in silence. The steamer trunk andthe rug had gone. We let them go. They might go to Jerusalem, as far aswe were concerned! After we had eaten, --about eleven o'clock, Ithink, --Tish got up and surveyed the apartment. Then, with a savagegleam in her eye, she whisked off all the fancy linens, the Cluny laces, the hemstitched bedspreads, and piled them in a heap on the floor. Aggieand I watched her in silence. She said nothing, but kicked the whole lotinto the bottom of a cupboard. When she had slammed the door, she turnedand faced us grimly. 

"That roll of fiddle-de-dees has cost me about five hundred dollars, "she said. "It's been worth it if it teaches me that I'm an old fool andthat you are two others! If that boy shows his face here again, I'llhand him over to the police. "

However, as it happened, she did nothing of the sort. At four o'clockthat afternoon there was a timid ring at the doorbell and I answered it. Outside was Tufik, forlorn and drooping, and held up by main force by atall, dark-skinned man with a heavy mustache. 

"I bring your boy!" said the mustached person, smiling. "He has greattrouble--sorrow; he faint with grief. "

I took a good look at Tufik then. He was pale and shaky, and his newsuit looked as if he had slept in it. His collar was bent and wilted, and the green necktie had been taken off and exchanged for a raggedblack one. 

"Miss Liz!" he said huskily. "I die; the heart is gone! My parent--"

He broke down again; and leaning against the door jamb he buried hisface in a handkerchief that I could not believe was one of the lot wehad bought only yesterday. I hardly knew what to do. Tish had said shewas through with the boy. I decided to close them out in the hallwayuntil we had held a council; but Tufik's foot was on the sill, and themore I asked him to move it, the harder he wept. 

The mustached person said it was quite true. Tufik's father had died ofthe plague; the letter had come early that morning. Beirut was full ofthe plague. He waved the letter at me; but I ordered him to burn itimmediately--on account of germs. I brought him a shovel to burn it on;and when that was over Tufik had worked out his own salvation. He was atthe door of Tish's room, pouring out to Aggie and Tish his grief, andoffering the black necktie as proof. 

We were just where we had started, but minus one hundred and twentydollars; for, the black-mustached gentleman having gone after trying tosell Tish another silk kimono, I demanded Tufik's ticket--to beredeemed--and was met with two empty hands, outstretched. 

"Oh, my friends, --my Miss Tish, my Miss Liz, my Miss Ag, --what must Isay? I have not the ticket! I have been wikkid--but for my sister--onlyfor my sister! She must not die--she so young, so little girl!"

"Tufik, " said Tish sternly, "I want you to tell us everything thisminute, and get it over. "

"She ees so little!" he said wistfully. "And the body of myparent--could I let it lie and rot in the so hot sun? Ah, no; Miss Tish, Miss Liz, Miss Ag, --not so. To-day I take back my ticket, get themoney, and send it to my sister. She will bury my parent, and then--shecomes to this so great America, the land of my good friends!"

There was a moment's silence. Then Aggie sneezed!

IV

I shall pass over the next month, with its unpleasantnesses; overCharlie Sands's coming one evening with a black tie and, on the strengthof having killed a dog with his machine, asking for money to bury it, and bring another one from Syria! I shall not more than mention Hannah, who kept Tish physically comfortable and well fed and mentally wretched, having a teakettle of boiling water always ready if Tufik came to theapartment; I shall say nothing of our success in getting him employmentin the foreign department of a bank, and his ending up by washing itswindows; or of the position Tish got him as elevator boy in herhospital, where he jammed the car in some way and held up four surgeonsand three nurses and a patient on his way to the operating-room--untilthe patient changed his mind and refused to be operated on. 

Aggie had a brilliant idea about the census--that he could make thecensus reports in the Syrian district. To this end she worked for sometime, coaching Tufik for the examination, only to have him fail--failabsolutely and without hope. He was staying in the Syrian quarter atthat time, on account of Hannah; and he brought us various temptingoffers now and then--a fruit stand that could be bought for a hundreddollars; a restaurant for fifty; a tailor's shop for twenty-five. But, as he knew nothing of fruits or restaurants or tailoring, we refused toinvest. Tish said that we had been a good while getting to it, but thatwe were being businesslike at last. We gave the boy nine dollars a weekand not a penny more; and we refused to buy any more of his silly linensand crocheted laces. We were quite firm with him. 

And now I come to the arriving of Tufik's little sister--not that shewas really little. But that comes later. 

Tufik had decided at last on what he would be in our so great America. Once or twice, when he was tired or discouraged, Tish had taken him outin her machine, and he had been thrilled--really thrilled. He did notseem able to learn how to crank it--Tish's car is hard to crank--but helearned how to light the lamps and to spot a policeman two blocks away. Several times, when we were going into the country, Tish took himbecause it gave her a sense of security to have a man along. 

Having come from a country where the general travel is by camel, however, he had not the first idea of machinery. He thought Tish madethe engine go by pressing on the clutch with her foot, like a sewingmachine, and he regarded her strength with awe. And once, when we werefilling a tire from an air bottle and the tube burst and struck him, hedeclared there was a demon in the air bottle and said a prayer in themiddle of the road. About that time Tish learned of a school forchauffeurs, and the three of us decided to divide the expense and sendhim. 

"In three months, " Tish explained, "we can get him a state license andhe can drive a taxicab. It will suit him, because he can sit to do it. "

So Tufik went to an automobile school and stood by while some one drewpictures of parts of the engine on a blackboard, and took home lists ofwords that he translated into Arabic at the library, and learnedeverything but why and how the engine of an automobile goes. He stillthought--at the end of two months--that the driver did it with hisfoot! But we were ignorant of all that. He would drop round in theevenings, when Hannah was out or in bed, and tell us what "magneto" wasin Arabic, and how he would soon be able to care for Tish's car andwould not take a cent for it, doing it at night when the taxicab wasresting. 

At the end of six weeks we bought him a chauffeur's outfit. The nextday the sister arrived and Tufik brought her to Aggie's, where we werewaiting. We had not told Hannah about the sister; she would not haveunderstood. 

Charlie Sands telephoned while we were waiting and asked if he mightcome over and help receive the girl. We were to greet her and welcomeher to America; then she was to go to the home of the Syrian with thelarge mustache. Charlie Sands came in and shook hands all round, surveying each of us carefully. 

"Strange!" he muttered. "Curious is no name for it! What do we know ofthe vagaries of the human mind? Three minds and one obsession!" he saidwith the utmost gentleness. "Three maiden ladies who have livedimpeccable lives for far be it from me to say how many years; andnow--this! Oh, Aunt Tish! Dear Aunt Tish!"

He got out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. Tish was speechless withrage, but I rose to our defense. 

"We don't want to do it and you know it!" I said tartly. "But when theLord sends want and suffering to one's very door--"

"Want, with large brown eyes and a gentle voice!" he retorted. "My dearladies, it's your money; and I dare say it costs you less than bridge atfive cents a point, or the Gay White Way. But, for Heaven's sake, myrespected but foolish virgins, why not an American that wants a realjob? Why let a sticky Oriental pull your legs--"

"Charlie Sands!" cried Tish, rising in her wrath. "I will not enduresuch vulgarity. And when Tufik takes you out in a taxicab--"

"God forbid!" said Charlie Sands, and sat down to wait for Tufik'ssister. 

She did not look like Tufik and she was tired and dirty from thejourney; but she had big brown eyes and masses of dark hair and shespoke not a single word of English. Tufik's joy was boundless; his softeyes were snapping with excitement; and Aggie, who is sentimental, wasobliged to go out and swallow half a glass of water without breathing tokeep from crying. Charlie Sands said nothing, but sat back in a cornerand watched us all; and once he took out his notebook and made amemorandum of something. He showed it to us later. 

Tufik's sister was the calmest of us all, I believe. She sat on a stiffchair near the door and turned her brown eyes from one to the other. Tish said that proper clothing would make her beautiful; and Aggie, disappearing for a few minutes, came back with her last summer's foulardand a jet bonnet. When the poor thing understood they were for her, shelooked almost frightened, the thing being unexpected; and Tufik, in aparoxysm of delight, kissed all our hands and the girl on each cheek. 

Tish says our vulgar lip-osculation is unknown in the Orient and thatthey rub noses by way of greeting. I think, however, that she ismistaken in this and that the Australians are the nose-rubbers. I recalla returned missionary's telling this, but I cannot remember just wherehe had been stationed. 

Things were very quiet for a couple of weeks. Tufik came round onlyonce--to tell us that, having to pay car fare to get to the automobileschool, his nine dollars were not enough. We added a dollar a week underprotest; and Tish suggested with some asperity that as he was only busyfour hours a day he might find some light employment for the balance ofthe day. He spread out his hands and drew up his shoulders. 

"My friends are angry, " he said sadly. "It is not enough that I study? Imust also work? Ver' well, I labor. I sell the newspaper. But, to buynewspapers, one must have money--a dollar; two dollars. Ver' leetle;only--I have it not. "

We gave him another dollar and he went out smiling and hopeful. Itseemed that at last we had solved his problem. Tish recalled one of herSunday-school scholars who sold papers and saved enough to buy asecond-hand automobile and rear a family. But our fond hopes were dashedto the ground when, the next morning, Hannah, opening the door at Tish'sto bring in the milk bottles, found a huge stack of the night-before'snewspapers and a note on top addressed to Tish, which said:-

 _Deer Mother Tish_: You see now that I am no good. I wish to die! I hav one papier sold, and newsboys kell me on sight. I hav but you and God--and God has forget!

 TUFIK. 

We were discouraged and so, clearly, was Tufik. For ten days we did nothear from him, except that a flirty little Syrian boy called for the tendollars on Saturday and brought a pair of Tufik's shoes for us to haveresoled. But one day Tish telephoned in some excitement and said thatTufik was there and wanted us to go to a wedding. 

"His little sister's wedding!" she explained. "The dear child is allexcited. He says it has been going on for two days and this is the dayof the ceremony. "

Aggie was spending the afternoon with me, and spoke up hastily. 

"Ask her if I have time to go home and put on my broadcloth, " she said. "I'm not fixed for a wedding. "

Tish said there was no time. She would come round with the machine andwe were to be ready in fifteen minutes. Aggie hesitated on account ofintending to wash her hair that night and so not having put up hercrimps; but she finally agreed to go and Tish came for us. Tufik was inthe machine. He looked very tidy and wore the shoes we had had repaired, a pink carnation in his buttonhole, and an air of suppressed excitement. 

"At last, " he said joyously while Tish cranked the car--"at last myfriends see my three mothers! They think Tufik only talks--now theysee! And the priest will bless my mothers on this so happy day. "

Tish having crawled panting from her exertion into the driver's seat andtaken the wheel, in sheer excess of boyish excitement he leaned over andkissed the hand nearest him. 

The janitor's small boy was on the curb watching, and at that he set upa yell of joy. We left him calling awful things after us and Tish's facewas a study; but soon the care of the machine made her forget everythingelse. 

The Syrian quarter was not impressive. It was on a hillside above theRussian Jewish colony, and consisted of a network of cobble-pavedalleys, indescribably dirty and incredibly steep. In one or two of thesealleys Tish was obliged to turn the car and go up backward, her machineclimbing much better on the reverse gear. Crowds of children followedus; dogs got under the wheels and apparently died, judging by theyelps--only to follow us with undiminished energy after they had pickedthemselves up. We fought and won a battle with a barrel of ashes andcame out victorious but dusty; and at last, as Tufik made a lordlygesture, we stopped at an angle of forty-five degrees and Tufik bowed usout of the car. He stood by visibly glowing with happiness, while Tishgot a cobblestone and placed it under a wheel, and Aggie and I took inour surroundings. 

We were in an alley ten feet wide and paved indiscriminately with stonesand tin cans, babies and broken bottles. Before us was a two-story brickhouse with broken windows and a high, railed wooden stoop, minus twosteps. Under the stoop was a door leading into a cellar, and from thiscellar was coming a curious stamping noise and a sound as of an animalin its death throes. 

Aggie caught my arm. "What's that?" she quavered. 

I had no time to reply. Tufik had thrown open the door and stood asideto let us pass. 

"They dance, " he said gravely. "There is always much dancing before awedding. The music one hears is of Damascus and he who dances now is asheik among his people. "

Reassured as to the sounds, we stepped down into the basement. That wasat four o'clock in the afternoon. 

I have never been fairly clear as to what followed and Aggie's memoryis a complete blank. I remember a long, boarded-in and floored cellar, smelling very damp and lighted by flaring gas jets. The center was emptysave for a swarthy gentleman in a fez and his shirt-sleeves, wearing apair of green suspenders and dancing alone--a curious stamping dancethat kept time to a drum. I remember the musicians too--three of themin a corner: one playing on a sort of pipes-of-Pan affair of reeds, one on a long-necked instrument that looked like a guitar with zitherambitions, and a drummer who chanted with his eyes shut and kept timeto his chants by beating on a sheepskin tied over the mouth of a brassbowl. Round three sides of the room were long, oil cloth-covered tables;and in preparation for the ceremony a little Syrian girl was sweeping uppeanut shells, ashes, and beer bottles, with absolute disregard of theguests. 

All round the wall, behind rows of beer bottles, dishes of bananas, and plates of raw liver, were men, --soft-eyed Syrians with whiteteeth gleaming and black hair plastered close and celluloidcollars, --gentle-voiced, urbane-mannered Orientals, who came up gravelyone by one and shook hands with us; who pressed on us beer and peanutsand raw liver. 

Aggie, speaking between sneezes and over the chanting and the drum, benttoward me. "It's a breath of the Orient!" she said ecstatically. "Oh, Lizzie, do you think I could buy that drum for my tabouret?"

"Orient!" observed Tish, coughing. "I'm going out and take theswitch-key out of that car. And I wish I'd brought Charlie Sands!"

It was in vain we reminded her that the Syrians are a pastoral peopleand that they come from the land of the Bible. She looked round hergrimly. 

"They look like a lot of bandits to me, " she sniffed. "And there'salways a murder at a wedding of this sort. There isn't a woman here butourselves!"

She was exceedingly disagreeable and Aggie and I began to getuncomfortable. But when Tufik brought us little thimble-sized glassesfilled with a milky stuff and assured us that the women had only gone toprepare the bride, we felt reassured. He said that etiquette demandedthat we drink the milky white stuff. 

Tish was inclined to demur. "Has it any alcohol in it?" she demanded. Tufik did not understand, but he said it was harmless and given to allthe Syrian babies; and while we were still undecided Aggie sniffed it. 

"It smells like paregoric, Tish, " she said. "I'm sure it's harmless. "

We took it then. It tasted sweet and rather spicy, and Aggie said itstopped her sneezing at once. It was very mild and pleasant, and rathermedicinal in its flavor. We each had two little glasses--and Tish saidshe would not bother about the switch-key. The car was insured againsttheft. 

A little later Aggie said she used to do a little jig step when she wasa girl, and if they would play slower she would like to see if she hadforgotten it. Tish did not hear this--she was talking to Tufik, and amoment later she got up and went out. 

Aggie had decided to ask the musicians to play a little slower and I hadmy hands full with her; so it was with horror that, shortly after, Iheard the whirring of the engine and through the cellar window caught aglimpse of Tish's machine starting off up the hill. I rose excitedly, but Tufik was before me, smiling and bowing. 

"Miss Tish has gone for the bride, " he said softly. "The taxicab hav'not come. Soon the priest arrive, and so great shame--the bride is nothere! Miss Tish is my mother, my heart's delight!"

When Aggie realized that Tish had gone, she was rather upset--shedepends a great deal on Tish--and she took another of the little glassesof milky stuff to revive her. 

I was a little bit nervous with Tish gone and the sun setting andanother tub of beer bottles brought in--though the people were orderlyenough and Tufik stood near. But Aggie began to feel very strange, and declared that the man with the sheepskin drum was winking at her andthat her head was twitching round on her shoulders. And when a dozen orso young Syrians formed a circle, their hands on each other's shoulders, and sang a melancholy chant, stamping to beat time, she wept with sheersentiment. 

"Ha! Hoo! Ta, Ta, Ta!" they chanted in unison; and Tufik bent over us, his soft eyes beaming. 

"They are shepherds and the sons of shepherds from Palestine, " hewhispered. "That is the shepherd's call to his sheep. In my country manyare shepherds. Perhaps some day you go with me back to my country, andwe hear the shepherd call his sheep--'Ha! Hoo! Ta, Ta, Ta!'--and we hearthe sleepy sheep reply: 'Maaaa!'"

"It is too beautiful!" murmured Aggie. "It is the Holy Land all overagain! And we should never have known this but for you, Tufik!"

Just then some one near the door clapped his hands and all the noiseceased. Those who were standing sat down. The little girl with the broomswept the accumulations of the room under a chair and put the broom in acorner. The music became loud and stirring. 

Aggie swayed toward me. "I'm sick, Lizzie!" she gasped. "That paregoricstuff has poisoned me. Air!"

I took one arm and Tufik the other, and we got her out and seated on oneof the wooden steps. She was a blue-green color and the whites of hereyes were yellow. But I had little time for Aggie. Tufik caught my handand pointed. 

Tish's machine was coming down the alley. Beside her sat Tufik's sister, sobbing at the top of her voice and wearing Aggie's foulard, a pair ofcotton gloves, and a lace curtain over her head. Behind in the tonneauwere her maid of honor, a young Syrian woman with a baby in her arms andfour other black-eyed children about her. But that was not all. In frontof the machine, marching slowly and with dignity, were three beardedgentlemen, two in coats and one in a striped vest, blowing on curiousdouble flutes and making a shrill wailing noise. And all round werecrowds of women and children, carrying tin pans and paper bags full ofparched peas, which they were flinging with all their might. 

I caught Tish's eye as the procession stopped, and she lookedsubdued--almost stunned. The pipers still piped. But the bride refusedto move. Instead, her wails rose higher; and Aggie, who had paid noattention so far, but was sitting back with her eyes shut, looked up. 

"Lizzhie, " she said thickly, "Tish looks about the way I feel. " And withthat she fell to laughing awful laughter that mingled with the bride'scries and the wail of the pipes. 

The bride, after a struggle, was taken by force from the machine andplaced on a chair against the wall. Her veil was torn and her wreathcrooked, and she observed a sulky silence. To our amazement, Tufik wasstill smiling, urbane and cheerful. 

"It is the custom of my country, my mothers, " he said. "The bride leavewith tears the home of her good parents or of her friends; and she speakno word--only weep--until she is marriaged. Ah--the priest!"

The rest of the story is short and somewhat blurred. Tish having brokenher glasses, Aggie being, as one may say, _hors de combat_, and I havingdeveloped a frightful headache in the dust and bad air, the real meaningof what was occurring did not penetrate to any of us. The priestofficiated from a table in the center of the room, on which he placedtwo candles, an Arabic Bible, and a sacred picture, all of which he tookout of a brown valise. He himself wore a long black robe and a beard, and looked, as Tish observed, for all the world as if he had steppedfrom an Egyptian painting. Before him stood Tufik's sister, the maid ofhonor with her baby, the black-mustached friend who had brought Tufik tous after his tragic attempt at suicide, and Tufik himself. 

[Illustration: The real meaning of what was occurring did not penetrateto any of us]

Everybody held lighted candles, and the heat was frightful. The musicceased, there was much exhorting in Arabic, much reading from the book, many soft replies indiscriminately from the four principals--and thensuddenly Tish turned and gripped my arm. 

"Lizzie, " she said hoarsely, "that little thief and liar has done usagain! That isn't his sister at all. He's marrying her--for us to keep!"

Luckily Aggie grew faint again at that moment, and we led her out intothe open air. Behind us the ceremony seemed to be over; the drum wasbeating, the pipes screaming, the lute thrumming. 

Tish let in the clutch with a vicious jerk, and the whir of the enginedrowned out the beating of the drum and the clapping of the hands. Twilight hid the tin cans and ash-barrels, and the dogs slept on thecool pavements. In the doorways soft-eyed Syrian women rocked theirbabies to drowsy chants. The air revived Aggie. She leaned forward andtouched Tish on the shoulder. 

"After all, " she said softly, "if he loves her very much, and there wasno other way--Do you remember that night she arrived--how he looked ather?"

"Yes, " Tish snapped. "And I remember the way he looked at us every timehe wanted money. We've been a lot of sheep and we've been sheared goodand proper! But we needn't bleat with joy about it!"

As we drew up at my door, Tish pulled out her watch. 

"It's seven o'clock, " she said brusquely. "I am going to New York on thenine-forty train and I shall take the first steamer outward bound--Ineed a rest! I'll go anywhere but to the Holy Land!"

We went to Panama. 

 * * * * *

Two months afterward, in the dusk of a late spring evening, CharlieSands met us at the station and took us to Tish's in a taxicab. We werehomesick, tired, and dirty; and Aggie, who had been frightfully seasick, was clamoring for tea. 

As the taxicab drew up at the curb, Tish clutched my arm and Aggieuttered a muffled cry and promptly sneezed. Seated on the doorstep, celluloid collar shining, the brown pasteboard suitcase at his feet, wasTufik. He sat calmly smoking a cigarette, his eyes upturned in placidand Oriental contemplation of the heavens. 

"Drive on!" said Tish desperately. "If he sees us we are lost!"

"Drive where?" demanded Charlie. 

Tufik's gaze had dropped gradually--another moment and his brown eyeswould rest on us. But just then a diversion occurred. A window overheadopened with a slam and a stream of hot water descended. It had beencarefully aimed--as if with long practice. Tufik was apparently notsurprised. He side-stepped it with a boredom as of many repetitions, and, picking up his suitcase, stood at a safe distance looking up. First, in his gentle voice he addressed the window in Arabic; then froma safer distance in English. 

"You ugly old she-wolf!" he said softly. "When my three old women comeback I eat you, skin and bones, --and they shall say nothing! They loveme--Tufik! I am their child. Aye! And my child--which comes--will betheir grandchild!"

He kissed his fingers to the upper window which closed with a slam. Tufik stooped, picked up his suitcase, and saw the taxi for the firsttime. Even in the twilight we saw his face change, his brown eyesbrighten, his teeth show in his boyish smile. The taxicab driver hadstalled his engine and was cranking it. 

"Sh!" I said desperately, and we all cowered back into the shadows. 

Tufik approached, uncertainty changing to certainty. The engine wasstarted now. Oh, for a second of time! He was at the window now, peeringinto the darkness. 

"Miss Tish!" he said breathlessly. No one answered. We hardly breathed. And then suddenly Aggie sneezed! "Miss Pilk!" he shouted in delight. "Mymothers! My so dear friends--"

The machine jerked, started, moved slowly off. He ran beside it, a handon the door. Tish bent forward to speak, but Charlie Sands put his handover her mouth. 

And so we left him, standing in the street undecided, staring after uswistfully, uncertainly--the suitcase, full of Cluny-lace centerpieces, crocheted lace, silk kimonos, and embroidered bedspreads, in his hand. 

That night we hid in a hotel and the next day we started for Europe. Weheard nothing from Tufik; but on the anniversary of Mr. Wiggins's death, while we were in Berlin, Aggie received a small package forwarded fromhome. It was a small lace doily, and pinned to it was a card. It read:--

 For the sadness, Miss Pilk!

 TUFIK. 

Aggie cried over it. 

THE SIMPLE LIFERS

I

I suppose there is something in all of us that harks back to the soil. When you come to think of it, what are picnics but outcroppings ofinstinct? No one really enjoys them or expects to enjoy them, but withthe first warm days some prehistoric instinct takes us out into thewoods, to fry potatoes over a strangling wood fire and spend the nextweek getting grass stains out of our clothes. It must be instinct; everyatom of intelligence warns us to stay at home near the refrigerator. 

Tish is really a child of instinct. She is intelligent enough, but in acontest between instinct and brains, she always follows her instinct. Aggie under the same circumstances follows her heart. As for me, Igenerally follow Tish and Aggie, and they've led me into some curiousplaces. 

This is really a sort of apology, because, whereas usually Tish leadsoff and we follow her, in the adventure of the Simple Life we were allequally guilty. Tish made the suggestion, but we needed no urging. Asyou know, this summer two years ago was a fairly good one, as summersgo, --plenty of fair weather, only two or three really hot spells, andnot a great deal of rain. Charlie Sands, Tish's nephew, went over toEngland in June to report the visit of the French President to Londonfor his newspaper, and Tish's automobile had been sent to the factory tobe gone over. She had been teaching Aggie to drive it, and owing toAggie's thinking she had her foot on the brake when it was really on thegas, they had leaped a four-foot ditch and gone down into a deep ravine, from which both Tish and Aggie had had to be pulled up with ropes. 

Well, with no machine and Charlie Sands away, we hardly knew how to planthe summer. Tish thought at first she would stay at home and learn toride. She thought her liver needed stirring up. She used to ride, shesaid, and it was like sitting in a rocking-chair, only perhaps more so. Aggie and I went out to her first lesson; but when I found she hadbought a divided skirt and was going to try a man's saddle, I could notrestrain my indignation. 

"I'm going, Tish, " I said firmly, when she had come out of thedressing-room and I realized the situation. "I shan't attempt torestrain you, but I shall not remain to witness your shame. "

Tish eyed me coldly. "When you wish to lecture me, " she snapped, "aboutrevealing to the public that I have two legs, if I do wear a skirt, don't stand in a sunny doorway in that linen dress of yours. I am goingto ride; every woman should ride. It's good for the liver. "

I think she rather wavered when they brought the horse, which lookedlarger than usual and had a Roman nose. The instructor handed Tish fourlines and she grabbed them nervously in a bunch. 

"Just a moment!" said the instructor, and slipped a line between eachtwo of her fingers. 

Tish looked rather startled. "When I used to ride--" she began withdignity. 

But the instructor only smiled. "These two are for the curb, " hesaid--"if he bolts or anything like that, you know. Whoa, Viper! Still, old man!"

"Viper!" Tish repeated, clutching at the lines. "Is--is he--er--nasty?"

"Not a bit of it, " said the instructor, while he prepared to hoist herup. "He's as gentle as a woman to the people he likes. His only fault isthat he's apt to take a little nip out of the stablemen now and then. He's very fond of ladies. "

"Humph!" said Tish. "He's looking at me rather strangely, don't youthink? Has he been fed lately?"

"Perhaps he sees that divided skirt, " I suggested. 

Tish gave me one look and got on the horse. They walked round the ringat first and Tish seemed to like it. Then a stableman put a nickel intoa player-piano and that seemed to be a signal for the thing to trot. Tish said afterward that she never hit the horse's back twice in thesame place. Once, she says, she came down on his neck, and several timesshe was back somewhere about his tail. Every time she landed, whereverit might be, he gave a heave and sent her up again. She tried to say"Whoa, " but it came out in pieces, so to speak, and the creature seemedto be encouraged by it and took to going faster. By that time, she said, she wasn't coming down at all, but was in the air all the time, with thehorse coming up at the rate of fifty revolutions a second. She hadpresence of mind enough to keep her mouth shut so she wouldn't bite hertongue off. 

After four times round the music stopped and the horse did also. Theywere just in front of us, and Tish looked rather dazed. 

"You did splendidly!" said Aggie. "Honestly, Tish, I was frightened atfirst, but you and that dear horse seemed one piece. Didn't they, Lizzie?"

Tish straightened out the fingers of her left hand with her right andextricated the lines. Then she turned her head slowly from right to leftto see if she could. 

"Help me down, somebody, " she said in a thin voice, "and call anosteopath. There is something wrong with my spine!"

She was in bed three days, having massage and a vibrator and beingrubbed with chloroform liniment. At the end of that time she offered meher divided skirt, but I refused. 

"Riding would be good for your liver, Lizzie, " she said, sitting up inbed with pillows all about her. 

"I don't intend to detach it to do it good, " I retorted. "What yourliver and mine and most of the other livers need these days isn't to besent out in a divided skirt and beaten to a jelly: they need rest--lessfood and simpler food. If instead of taking your liver on a horse you'dput it in a tent and feed it nuts and berries, you wouldn't be the coloryou are to-day, Tish Carberry. "

That really started the whole thing, although at the time Tish saidnothing. She has a way of getting an idea and letting it simmer on theback of her brain, as you may say, when nobody knows it's been cookingat all, and then suddenly bringing it out cooked and seasoned and readyto serve. 

On the day Tish sat up for the first time, Aggie and I went over to seeher. Hannah, the maid, had got her out of bed to a window, and Tish wassitting there with books all about her. It is in times of enforcedphysical idleness that most of Tish's ideas come to her, and Aggie hadreminded me of that fact on the way over. 

"You remember, Lizzie, " she said, "how last winter when she was gettingover the grippe she took up that correspondence-school course inswimming. She's reading, watch her books. It'll probably be suffrage orairships. "

Tish always believes anything she reads. She had been quite sure shecould swim after six correspondence lessons. She had all the movementsexactly, and had worried her trained nurse almost into hysteria for aweek by turning on her face in bed every now and then and trying theoverhand stroke. She got very expert, and had decided she'd swimregularly, and even had Charlie Sands show her the Australian crawlbusiness so she could go over some time and swim the Channel. It was amatter of breathing and of changing positions, she said, and was up tointelligence rather than muscle. 

Then when she was quite strong, she had gone to the natatorium. Aggieand I went along, not that we were any good in emergency, but becauseTish had convinced us there would be no emergency. And Tish went in atthe deep end of the pool, head first, according to diagram, and _did notcome up_. 

Well, there seemed to be nothing threatening in what Tish was readingthis time. She had ordered some books for Maria Lee's children and waslooking them over before she sent them. The "Young Woods-man" was oneand "Camper Craft" was another. How I shudder when I recall those names!

Aggie had baked an angel cake and I had brought over a jar of cookies. But Tish only thanked us and asked Hannah to take them out. Even then wewere not suspicious. Tish sat back among her pillows and said verylittle. The conversation was something like this:--

 _Aggie_: Well, you're up again: I hope to goodness it will be a lesson to you. If you don't mind, I'd like Hannah to cut that cake. It fell in the middle. 

 _Tish_: Do you know that the Indians never sweetened their food and that they developed absolutely perfect teeth?

 _Aggie_: Well, they never had any automobiles either, but they didn't develop wings. 

 _Lizzie_: Don't you want that window closed? I'm in a draft. 

 _Tish_: Air in motion never gave any one a cold. We do not catch cold; we catch heat. It's ridiculous the way we shut ourselves up in houses and expect to remain well. 

 _Aggie_: Well, I'b catchig sobethig. 

 _Lizzie_ (_changing the subject_): Would you like me to help you dress? It might rest your back to have your corset on. 

 _Tish_ (_firmly_): I shall never wear a corset again. 

 _Aggie_ (_sneezing_): Why? Didn't the Iddiads wear theb?

Tish is very sensitive to lack of sympathy and she shut up like a clam. She was coldly polite to us for the remainder of our visit, but she didnot again refer to the Indians, which in itself was suspicious. 

Fortunately for us, or unfortunately, Tish's new scheme was one shecould not very well carry out alone. I believe she tried to induceHannah to go with her, and only when Hannah failed her did she turn tous. Hannah was frightened and came to warn us. 

I remember the occasion very well. It was Mr. Wiggins's birthdayanniversary, and we usually dine at Aggie's and have a cake with thirtycandles on it. Tish was not yet able to be about, so Aggie and I atetogether. She always likes to sit until the last candle is burned out, which is rather dispiriting and always leaves me low in my mind. 

Just as it flickered and went out, Hannah came in. 

"Miss Tish sent over Mr. Charlie's letter from London, " said Hannah, andput it in front of Aggie. Then she sat down on a chair and commenced tocry. 

"Why, Hannah!" said Aggie. "What in the world has happened?"

"She's off again!" sniveled Hannah; "and she's worse this time than she'sever been. No sugar, no tea, only nuts and fruit, and her windows openall night, with the curtains getting black. I wisht I had Mr. Charlie bythe neck. "

I suppose it came over both of us at the same time--the "YoungWoodsman, " and the "Camper Craft, " and no stays, and all that. I reachedfor Charlie Sands's letter, which was always sent to Tish and meant forall of us. He wrote:--

 _Dear Three of a Kind_: Well, the French President has came and went, and London has taken down all the brilliant flags which greeted him, such tactful bits as bore Cressy and Agincourt, and the pretty little smallpox and "plague here" banners, and has gone back to such innocent diversions as baiting cabinet ministers, blowing up public buildings, or going out into the woods seeking the Simple Life. 

 The Simple Lifers travel in bands--and little else. They go barefooted, barearmed, bareheaded and barenecked. They wear one garment, I believe, let their hair hang and their beards grow, eat only what Nature provides, such as nuts and fruits, sleep under the stars, and drink from Nature's pools. Rather bully, isn't it? They're a handsome lot generally, brown as nuts. And I saw a girl yesterday--well, if you do not hear from me for a time it will be because I have discarded the pockets in which I carry my fountain pen and my stamps and am wandering barefoot through the Elysian fields. 

 Yours for the Simple Life, CHARLIE SANDS. 

As I finished reading the letter aloud, I looked at Aggie in dismay. "That settles it, " I said hopelessly. "She had some such idea before, and now this young idiot--" I stopped and stared across the table atAggie. She was sitting rapt, her eyes fixed on the smouldering wicks ofMr. Wiggins's candles. 

"Barefoot through the Elysian fields!" she said. 

II

I am not trying to defend myself. I never had the enthusiasm of theother two, but I rather liked the idea. And I did restrain them. It wasmy suggestion, for instance, that we wear sandals without stockings, instead of going in our bare feet, which was a good thing, for the firstday out Aggie stepped into a hornet's nest. And I made out the lists. 

The idea, of course, is not how much one can carry, but how little. The"Young Woodsman" told exactly how to manage in the woods if one werelost there and had nothing in the world but a bootlace and a wirehairpin. 

With the hairpin one could easily make a fair fish-hook--and with abootlace or a good hemp cord one could make a rabbit snare. 

"So you see, " Tish explained, "there's fish and meat with no trouble atall. And there will be berries and nuts. That's a diet for a king. "

I was making a list of the necessaries at the time and under bootlacesand hairpins I put down "spade. "

"What in Heaven's name is the spade for?" Tish demanded. 

"You've got to dig bait, haven't you?"

Tish eyed me with disgust. 

"Grasshoppers!" she said tersely. 

There was really nothing Tish was not prepared for. I should never havethought of grasshoppers. 

"The idea is simply this, " observed Tish: "We have surrounded ourselveswith a thousand and one things we do not need and would be betterwithout--houses, foolish clothing, electric light, idioticservants--Hannah, get away from that door!--rich foods, furniture andcrowds of people. We've developed and cared for our bodies instead ofour souls. What we want is to get out into the woods and think; toforget those pampered bodies of ours and to let our souls grow andassert themselves. "

We decided finally to take a blanket apiece, rolled on our shoulders, and Tish and I each took a strong knife. Aggie, instead of the knife, took a pair of scissors. We took a small bottle of blackberry cordialfor emergencies, a cake of soap, a salt-cellar for seasoning the fishand rabbits, two towels, a package of court-plaster, Aggie's hay-feverremedy, a bottle of oil of pennyroyal to use against mosquitoes, anda large piece of canvas, light but strong, cut like the diagram. 

[Illustration]

Tish said it was the regulation Indian tepee, and that a squaw could setone up in an hour and have dinner cooked inside it in thirty minutesafter. She said she guessed we could do it if an Indian squaw could, andthat after we'd cut the poles once, we could carry them with us if wewished to move. She said the tent ought to be ornamented, but she hadhad no time, and we could paint designs on it with colored clay in thewoods when we had nothing more important to do!

It made a largish bundle, but we did not intend to travel much. Wethought we could find a good place by a lake somewhere and put up thetent, and set a few snares, and locate the nearest berry-bushes andmushroom-patches, and then, while the rabbits were catching themselves, we should have time to get acquainted with our souls again. 

Tish put it in her terse manner most intelligently. "We intend toprove, " she stated to Mrs. Ostermaier, the minister's wife, who came tocall and found us all sitting on the floor trying to get used to it, forof course there would be no chairs, "we shall prove that the trappingsof civilization are a delusion and a snare. We shall bring back 'Menssana in corpore sano'. "

The minister's wife thought this was a disease, for she said, "I hopenot, I'm sure, " very hastily. 

"We shall make our own fire and our own shelter, " said Tish from thefloor. "We shall wear one garment, loose enough to allow entire freedomof movement. We shall bathe in Nature's pools and come out cleansed. Onthe Sabbath we shall attend divine service under the Gothic arches ofthe trees, read sermons in stones, and instead of that whining tenor inthe choir we shall listen to the birds singing praise, overhead. "

Mrs. Ostermaier looked rather bewildered. "I'm sure I hope so, " she saidvaguely. "I don't like camping myself. There are so many bugs. "

As Tish said, some ideas are so large that the average person cannot seethem at all. 

We had fixed on Maine. It seemed to combine all the necessary qualities:woods and lakes, rabbits, game and fish, and--solitude. Besides, Aggie's hay fever is better the farther north she gets. On the day wewere leaving, Mr. Ostermaier came to see us. 

"I--I really must protest, ladies, " he said. "That sort of thing may beall right for savages, but--"

"Are we not as intelligent as savages?" Tish demanded. 

"Primitive people are inured to hardships, and besides, they havemethods of their own. They can make fire--" "So can I, " retorted Tish. "Any fool can make a fire with a rubbing-stick. It's been done inthirty-one seconds. "

"If you would only take some matches, " he wailed, "and a good revolver, Miss Letitia. And--you must pardon this, but I have your well-being atheart--if I could persuade you to take along some--er--flannels and warmclothing!"

"Clothing, " said Tish loftily, "is a matter of habit, Mr. Ostermaier. "

I think he got the idea from this that we intended to discard clothingaltogether, for he went away almost immediately, looking rather upset, and he preached on the following Sunday from "Consider the lilies of thefield. .. . Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one ofthese. "

We left on Monday evening, and by Tuesday at noon we were at ourdestination, as far as the railroad was concerned. Tish had a map withthe lake we'd picked out, and we had figured that we'd drive out towithin ten miles or so of it and then send the driver back. The lake wasin an uninhabited neighborhood, with the nearest town twenty-five milesaway. We had one suitcase containing our blankets, sandals, shortdresses, soap, hairpins, salt-box, knives, scissors, and a compass, andthe leather thongs for rabbit snares that we had had cut at a harnessshop. In the other suitcase was the tepee. 

We ate a substantial breakfast at Tish's suggestion, because we expectedto be fairly busy the first day, and there would be no time for hunting. We had to walk ten miles, set up the tent, make a fire and gather nutsand berries. It was about that time, I think, that I happened to recallthat it was early for nuts. Still there would be berries, and Tish hadadded mushrooms to our menu. 

We found a man with a spring wagon to drive us out and Tish showed himthe map. 

"I guess I can get you out that way, " he said, "but I ain't heard of nocamp up that direction. "

"Who said anything about a camp?" snapped Tish. "How much to drive usfifteen miles in that direction?"

"Fifteen miles! Well, about five dollars, but I think--"

"How much to drive us fifteen miles without thinking?"

"Ten dollars, " said the man; and as he had the only wagon in the town wehad to pay it. 

It was a lovely day, although very warm. The morning sun turned thewoods to fairylike glades. Tish sat on the front seat, erect and staringahead. 

Aggie bent over and touched my arm lightly. "Isn't she wonderful!" shewhispered; "like some adventurer of old--Balboa discovering the PacificOcean, or Joan of Arc leading the what-you-call-'ems. "

But somehow my enthusiasm was dying. The sun was hot and there were noberry-bushes to be seen. Aggie's fairy glades in the woods were filled, not with dancing sprites, but with gnats. I wanted a glass of iced tea, and some chicken salad, and talcum powder down my neck. The road wasbad, and the driver seemed to have a joke to himself, for every now andthen he chuckled, and kept his eyes on the woods on each side, as if heexpected to see something. His manner puzzled us all. 

"You can trust me not to say anything, ladies, " he said at last, "butdon't you think you're playing it a bit low down? This ain't quite up tocontract, is it?"

"You've been drinking!" said Tish shortly. 

After that he let her alone, but soon after he turned round to me andmade another venture. 

"In case you need grub, lady, " he said, "--and them two suitcases don'thold a lot, --I'll bring out anything you say: eggs and butter and gardentruck at market prices. I'm no phylanthropist, " he said, glaring atTish, "but I'd be glad to help the girl, and that's the truth. I beenmarried to this here wife o' mine quite a spell, and to my first one fortwenty years, and I'm a believer in married life. "

"What girl?" I asked. 

He turned right round in the seat and winked at me. 

"All right, " he said. "I'll not butt in unless you need me. But I'd liketo know one thing: He hasn't got a mother, he says, so I take it you'rehis aunts. Am I on, ladies?"

We didn't know what he was talking about, and we said so. But he onlysmiled. A mile or so from our destination the horse scared up a rabbit, and Tish could hardly be restrained from running after it with a leatherthong. Aggie, however, turned a little pale. 

"I'll never be able to eat one, never!" she confided to me. "Did you seeits eyes? Lizzie, do you remember Mr. Wiggins's eyes? and the way heused to move his nose, just like that?"

At the end of fifteen miles the driver drew up his horses and took afresh chew of tobacco. 

"I guess this is about right, " he said. "That trail there'll take you tothe lake. How long do you reckon it'll be before you'll need some fresheggs?"

"We are quite able to look after ourselves, " said Tish with hauteur, andgot out of the wagon. She paid him off at once and sat down on hersuitcase until he had driven out of sight. He drove slowly, looking backevery now and then, and his last view of us must have beenimpressive--three middle-aged and determined women ready to conquer thewilderness, as Tish put it, and two suitcases. 

It was as solitary a place as we could have wished. We had not seen ahouse in ten miles, and when the last creak of the wagon had died awaythere was a silence that made our city-broke ears fairly ache. Tishwaited until the wagon was out of sight; then she stood up and threw outher arms. 

"At last!" she said. "Free to have a lodge in some vast wilderness--tothink, to breathe, to expand! Lizzie, do you suppose if we go back wecan get that rabbit?"

I looked at my watch. It was one o'clock and there was not a berry-bushin sight. The drive had made me hungry, and I'd have eaten a rabbit thatlooked like Mr. Wiggins and called me by name if I'd had it. But therewas absolutely no use going back for the one we'd seen on our drive. 

Aggie was opening her suitcase and getting out her costume, which was ablue calico with short sleeves and a shoe-top skirt. 

"Where'll I put it on?" she asked, looking about her. 

"Right here!" Tish replied. "For goodness sake, Aggie, try to discardfalse modesty and false shame. We're here to get close to the greatbeating heart of Nature. Take off your switch before you do anotherthing. "

None of us looked particularly well, I admit; but it was wonderful howmuch more comfortable we were. Aggie, who is very thin, discarded a partof her figure, and each of us parted with some pet hypocrisy. But Idon't know that I have ever felt better. Only, of course we were hungry. 

We packed our things in the suitcases and hid them in a hollow tree, andTish suggested looking for a spring. She said water was always the firstrequisite and fire the second. 

"Fire!" said Aggie. "What for? We've nothing to cook. "

Well, that was true enough, so we sent Aggie to look for water and Tishand I made a rabbit snare. We made a good many snares and got to berather quick at it. They were all made like this illustration. 

[Illustration]

First Tish, with her book open in front of her, made a running noose outof one of the buckskin thongs. Next we bent down a sapling and tied thenoose to it, and last of all we bound the free part of the thong round asnag and thus held the sapling down. The idea is that a rabbit, boundingalong, presumably with his eyes shut, will stick his head through thenoose, kick the line clear of the snag and be drawn violently into theair. Tish figured that by putting up half a dozen snares we'd havethree or four rabbits at least each day. 

It was about three when we finished, and we drew off to a safe distanceto watch the rabbit bound to his doom. But no rabbits came along. 

I was very empty and rather faint, but Tish said she had never been ableto think so clearly, and that we were all overfed and stodgy and wouldbe better for fasting. 

Aggie came in at three-thirty with a hornet sting and no water. She saidthere were no springs, but that she had found a place where a spring hadexisted before the dry spell, and there was a naked footprint in themud, quite fresh! We all went to look at it, and Tish was quite positiveit was not a man's footprint at all, but only a bear's. 

"A bear!" said Aggie. 

"What of it?" Tish demanded. "The 'Young Woodsman' says that no bearattacks a human unless he is hungry, and at this time of the year withthe woods full of food--"

"Humph!"--I could not restrain myself--"I wish you would show me alittle of it. If no rabbit with acute melancholia comes along to commitsuicide by hanging on that gallows of yours, I think we'll starve todeath. "

"There will be a rabbit, " Tish said tersely; and we started back to thesnare. 

I was never so astonished in my life. There was a rabbit! It seems wehad struck a runway without knowing it, although Tish said afterwardthat she had recognized it at once from the rabbit tracks. Anyhow, whether it died of design or curiosity, our supper was kicking at thetop of the sapling, and Tish pretended to be calm and to have known allalong that we'd get one. But it was not dead. 

We got it down somehow or other and I held it by the ears while itkicked and scratched. I was hungry enough to have eaten it alive, butAggie began to cry. 

"You'll be murderers, nothing else, " she wailed. "Look at his littlewhite tail and pitiful baby eyes!"

"Good gracious, Aggie, " Tish snapped, "get a knife and cut its throatwhile I make a fire. If it's any help to you, we're not going to eateither its little white tail or its pitiful baby eyes. "

As a matter of fact Aggie wouldn't touch the rabbit and I did not caremuch about it myself. I do not like to kill things. My Aunt SarahMackintosh once killed a white hen that lived twenty minutes without itshead; two weeks later she dreamed that that same hen, without a head, was sitting on the footboard of the bed, and the next day she got wordthat her cousin's husband in Sacramento had died of the hiccoughs. 

It ended with Tish giving me the fire-making materials and stalking offinto the woods with the rabbit in one hand and the knife in the other. 

[Illustration: It ended with Tish stalking off into the woods with therabbit in one hand and the knife in the other]

Tish is nothing if not thorough, but she seemed to me inconsistent. Shebrought blankets and a canvas tepee and sandals and an aluminum kettle, but she disdained matches. I rubbed with that silly drill and a sort ofbow arrangement until my wrists ached, but I did not get even a spark offire. When Tish came back with the rabbit there was no fire, and Aggiehad taken out her watch crystal and was holding it in the sun over apile of leaves. 

Tish got out the "Young Woodsman" from the suitcase. It seems I hadfollowed cuts I and II, but had neglected cut III, which is: Hold theleft wrist against the left shin, and the left foot on the fireblock. Ihad got my feet mixed and was trying to hold my left wrist against myright shin, which is exceedingly difficult. Tish got a fire in fourteenminutes and thirty-one seconds by Aggie's watch, and had to wear abandage on her hand for a week. 

But we had a fire. We cooked the rabbit, which proved to be much olderthan Aggie had thought, and ate what we could. Personally I am not fondof rabbit, and our enjoyment was rather chastened by the fear that somemushrooms Tish had collected and added to the stew were toadstools_incognito_. To make things worse, Aggie saw some goldenrod nearby andbegan to sneeze. 

It was after five o'clock, but it seemed wisest to move on toward thelake. 

"Even if we don't make it, " said Tish, "we'll be on our way, and whilethat bear is likely harmless we needn't thrust temptation in his way. "

We carried the fire with us in the kettle and we took turns with thetepee, which was heavy. Our suitcases with our city clothes in them wehid in a hollow tree, and one after the other, with Aggie last, westarted on. 

The trail, which was a sort of wide wagon road at first, became afootpath; as we went on even that disappeared at times under fallenleaves. Once we lost it entirely, and Aggie, falling over a hidden root, stilled the fire. She became exceedingly disagreeable at about thattime, said she was sure Tish's mushrooms were toadstools because shefelt very queer, and suddenly gave a yell and said she had seensomething moving in the bushes. 

We all looked, and the bushes were moving. 

III

It was dusk by that time and the path was only a thread between massesof undergrowth. Tish said if it was the bear he would be afraid of thefire, so we put dry leaves in the kettle and made quite a blaze. By itslight Tish read that bears in the summer are full fed and reallyfrolicsome and that they are awful cowards. We felt quite cheered andbrave, and Tish said if he came near to throw the fire kettle at him andhe'd probably die of fright. 

It was too late to put up the tepee, so we found a clearing near thepath and decided to spend the night there. Aggie still watched thebushes and wanted to spend the night in a tree; but Tish's calmness wasa reproach to us both, and after we had emptied the kettle and madequite a fire to keep off animals, we unrolled our blankets and preparedfor sleep. I could have slept anywhere, although I was still ratherhungry. My last view was of Tish in the firelight grimly bending down asapling and fastening a rabbit snare to it. 

During the night I was wakened by somebody clutching my arm. It wasAggie who lay next to me. When I raised my head she pointed off into thewoods to our left. At a height of perhaps four feet from the ground aghastly red glow was moving rapidly away from us. It was not a torch; itwas more a radiance, and it moved not evenly, but jerkily. I could feelthe very hair rising on my head and it was all I could do to call Tish. When we had roused her, however, the glow had faded entirely and shesaid we had had a nightmare. 

The snare the next morning contained a skunk, and we moved on as quicklyas possible, without attempting to secure the thong, of which we hadseveral. We gathered some puffballs to soak for breakfast and in aclearing I found some blackberry bushes. We were very cheerful thatmorning, for if we could capture rabbits and skunks, we were sure ofother things, also, and soon we would be able to add fish to our menu. True, we had not had much time to commune with our souls, and Aggie'sarms were so sunburned that she could not bend them at the elbows. But, as Tish said, we had already proved our contention that we could getalong without men or houses or things. Things, she said, were the curseof modern life; we filled our lives with things instead of thoughts. 

It was when we were ready to cook the puffballs that we missed thekettle! Tish was very angry; she said it was evident that the bear wasmischievous and that all bears were thieves. (See the "Young Woodsman. ")But I recalled the glow of the night before, and more than once I caughtAggie's eyes on me, filled with consternation. For we had seen thatkettle leaving the camp with some of our fire in it, and bears areafraid of fire!

We reached the lake at noon and it seemed as if we might soon have timeto sit down and rest. But there was a great deal to do. Aggie was of noassistance on account of her arms, so Tish and I put up the tent. The"Young Woodsman" said it was easy. First you tied three long polestogether near the top and stood them up so they made a sort of triangle. Then you cut about a dozen and filled in between the three. That lookedeasy, but it took an afternoon, and our first three looked like thisfirst cut. 

[Illustration: AS THE FIRST THREE LOOKED AS THEY SHOULD HAVE LOOKED]

We had caught a rabbit by noon, and Aggie being unfit for other work, and the kettle being gone, Tish set her to roasting it. It was notvery good, but we ate some, being ravenous. The method was simplicityitself--two forked sticks in the ground, one across to hang the rabbitto and a fire beneath. It tasted rather smoky. 

In the afternoon we finished putting up the tepee, and Tish made afishhook out of a hairpin and tied it to a strong creeper I had found. But we caught no fish. We had more rabbit for supper, with somepuffballs smoked and a few huckleberries. But by that time the verysight of a rabbit sickened me, and Aggie began to talk about broiledbeefsteak and fried spring chicken. 

We had seen no sign of the bear, or whatever it was, all day, and itseemed likely we were not to be again disturbed. But a most mysteriousthing occurred that very night. 

As I have said, we had caught no fish. The lake was full of them. We saton a bank that evening and watched them playing leapfrog, and talkedabout frying them on red-hot stones, but nothing came near the hairpin. At last Tish made a suggestion. 

"We need worms, " she said. "A grasshopper loses all his spirit afterhe's been immersed for an hour, but a worm will keep on wriggling andattracting attention for half a day. "

"I wanted to bring a spade, " said I. 

But Tish had read of a scheme for getting worms that she said the gamewarden of some place or other had guaranteed officially. 

"You stick a piece of wood about two feet into the ground in a likelyspot, " she said, "and rub a rough piece of bark or plank across the top. This man claims, and it sounds reasonable, that the worms think it israining and come up for water. All you have to do is to gather them up. "

Tish found a pole for the purpose on the beach and set to work, whileAggie and I prepared several hooks and lines. The fish were jumpingbusily, and it seemed likely we should have more than we could do tohaul them in. 

The experiment, however, failed entirely, for not a single wormappeared. Tish laid it to the fact that it was very late and that theworms were probably settled down for the night. It may have been that, or it may have been the wrong kind of wood. 

The mysterious happening was this: We rose quite early because the tepeedid not seem to be well anchored and fell down on us at daybreak. Tishwent down to the beach to examine the lines that had been out all night, and found nothing. She was returning rather dispirited to tell us thatit would be rabbit again for breakfast, when she saw lying on a flatstone half a dozen beautiful fish, one or two still gasping, in our lostkettle!

Tish said she stood there, opening and shutting her mouth like the fish. Then she gave a whoop and we came running. At first we thought theymight have been jumping and leaped out on to the beach by accident, but, as Tish said, they would hardly have landed all together and into akettle that had been lost for two nights and a day. The queer thing wasthat they had not been caught with a hook at all. They hadn't a mark onthem. 

We were so hungry that we ate every one of them for breakfast. It wasonly when we had eaten, and were sitting gorged and not caring whetherthe tent was set up again or not, that we fell to wondering about thefish. Tish fancied it might have been the driver of the spring wagon, but decided he'd have sold us the fish at thirty cents a pound liveweight. 

All day long we watched for a sign of our benefactor, but we sawnothing. Tish set up more rabbit snares; not that she wanted rabbits, but it had become a mania with her, and there were so many of them thatas they grew accustomed to us they sat round our camp in a ring andcriticized our housekeeping. She thought if she got a good many skinsshe could have a fur robe made for her automobile. As a matter of factshe found another use for them. 

It was that night, then, that we were sitting round the camp-fire onstones that we had brought up from the beach. We had seen nothing moreof the bear, and if we had been asked we should have said that thenearest human being was twenty-five miles away. 

Suddenly a voice came out of the woods just behind us, a man's voice. 

"Please don't be alarmed, " said the voice. "But may I have a little ofyour fire? Mine has gone out again. "

"G-g-g-good gracious!" said Aggie. "T-Tish, get your revolver!"

This was for effect. Tish had no revolver. 

All of us had turned and were staring into the woods behind, but wecould see no one. After Aggie's speech about the revolver it was sometime before the voice spoke again. 

"Never mind, Aggie, " Tish observed, very loud. "The revolver is here andloaded--as nice a little thirty-six as any one needs here in the woods. "

She said afterward that she knew all the time there was no thirty-sixcaliber revolver, but in the excitement she got it mixed with her bustmeasure. Having replied to Aggie, Tish then turned in the direction ofthe voice. 

"Don't skulk back there, " she called. "Come out, where we can see you. If you look reliable, we'll give you some fire, of course. "

There was another pause, as if the stranger were hesitating. Then:--

"I think I'd better not, " he said with reluctance in his voice. "Can'tyou toss a brand this way?"

By that time we had grown accustomed to the darkness, and I thought Icould see in the shadow of a tree a lightish figure. Aggie saw it at thesame instant and clutched my arm. 

"Lizzie!" she gasped. 

It was at that moment that Tish tossed the brand. It fell far short, buther movement caught the stranger unawares. He ducked behind the tree, but the flare of light had caught him. With the exception of what lookedlike a pair of bathing-trunks he was as bare as my hand!

There was a sort of astonished silence. Then the voice called out:--"Whyin the world didn't you warn me?" it said, aggrieved. "I didn't know youwere going to throw the blamed thing. "

We had all turned our backs at once and Tish's face was awful. 

"Take it and go, " she said, without turning. "Take it and go. "

From the crackling of leaves and twigs we judged that he had come outand got the brand, and when he spoke again it was from farther back inthe woods. 

"You know, " he said, "I don't like this any more than you do. I've gotforty-two mosquito bites on my left arm. "

He waited, as if for a reply; but getting none he evidently retreated. The sound of rustling leaves and crackling twigs grew fainter, fainterstill, died away altogether. We turned then with one accord and gazedthrough the dark arches of the forest. A glowing star was retreatingthere--a smouldering fire, that seemed to move slowly and with anappearance of dejection. 

It was the second time Aggie and I had seen fire thus carried throughthe wood; but whereas about the kettle there had been a glow andradiance that was almost triumphant, the brand we now watched seemedsmouldering, dejected, ashamed. Even Tish felt it. 

"The wretch!" she exclaimed. "Daring to come here like that! No wonderhe's ashamed. "

But Aggie, who is very romantic, sat staring after the distant torch. 

"Mr. Wiggins suffered so from mosquitoes, " she said softly. 

IV

The next morning we found more fish awaiting us, and on the smooth sandof the beach was a message written with a stick:--

 If you will leave a wire hairpin or two on this stone I can get bigger fish. What do you mean to do with all those rabbit skins?

 (Signed) P. 

Tish was touched by the fish, I think. She smoothed off the sandcarefully and wrote a reply:--

 Here are the hairpins. Thank you. Do you want the rabbit skins?

 L. C. 

All day we were in a state of expectancy. The mosquitoes were very bad, and had it not been for the excitement of the P---- person I should havegiven up and gone home. I wanted mashed potatoes and lima beans withbutter dressing, and a cup of hot tea, and muffins, and ice--in fact, I cannot think of anything I did not want, except rabbits and fish andpuffballs and such blackberries as the birds did not fancy. Although wewere well enough--almost too well--the better I felt the hungrier I got. 

Tish thought the time had now come to rest and invite our souls. Sheset the example that day by going out on a flat rock in the lake andpreparing to think all the things she'd been waiting most of her lifeto consider. 

"I am ready to form my own opinions about some things, " she said. "I realize now that all my life the newspapers and stupid people andbooks have formed my opinions. Now I'm going to think along my ownlines. Is there another life after this? Do I really desire thesuffrage? Why am I a Baptist?"

Aggie said she would like to invite her soul that day also, not to formany opinions, --Tish always does that for her, --but she had to get someclothes in September and she might as well think them out. 

So it happened that I was alone when I met the P---- person's youngwoman. 

I had intended to wander only a short way along the trail, but after Ihad gone a mile or two it occurred to me as likely that the spring-wagondriver would come back that way before long out of curiosity, and Ithought I might leave a message for him to bring out some fresh eggs andleave them there. I could tell Tish I had found a nest, or perhaps, since that would be lying, I could put them in a nest and let her findthem. I'd have ordered tea, too, if I could have thought of any way toaccount for it. 

"I'm going to do some meditating myself to-day, " I remarked, "but Ithink better when I'm moving. If I don't come back in an hour or sodon't imagine I've been kidnaped. "

Tish turned on her stone and looked at me. 

"You will not be kidnaped, " she said shortly. "I cannot imagine any onesafer than you are in that costume. "

Well, I made my way along the trail as rapidly as I could. It was twentymiles there and back and I've seen the day when two city blocks wouldsend me home to soak my feet in hot water. But the sandals were easy towalk in and my calico skirt was short and light. 

I had no paper to write my message on, of course, but on the way Igathered a large white fungus and I scraped a note on it with a pin. With the fungus under my arm I walked briskly along, planning an omeletwith the eggs, if we got any, and gathering mushrooms here and there. Itwas the mushrooms that led me to the discovery of a camping-place thatwas prehistoric in its primitiveness--a clearing, surrounded by lowbushes, and in the center a fireplace of stones with a fire smouldering. At one side a heap of leaves and small twigs for a bed, a stump for aseat, and lying on top of it a sort of stone axe, made by inserting asharp stone into the cleft of a sapling and tying it into place with awild-grape tendril. Pegged out on the ground to cure was a rabbit skin, indifferently scraped. It made our aluminum kettle and canvas tepee looklike a marble-vestibuled apartment on Riverside Drive. 

The whole thing looked pitiful, hungry. I thought of Tish sitting on astone inviting her soul, while rabbits came from miles round to sticktheir heads through our nooses and hang themselves for our dinner; andit seemed to me that we should share our plenty. I thought it probablethat the gentleman of the woods lived here, and from the appearance ofthe place he carried all his possessions with him when he wore hisbathing-trunks. If I had been in any doubt, the sight of Aggie's wirehairpin, sharpened and bent into a serviceable fishhook, decided me. Iscratched a message for him on another fungus and left it:--

 If you need anything come to the Indian tepee at the lake. We have no clothing to spare, but are always glad to help in time of trouble. 

 (Signed) ONE OF THE SIMPLE LIFERS. 

I went on after that and about noon reached our point of exodus from thewagon. I was tired and hot and I kept thinking of my little dining-roomat home, with the electric fan going, and iced cantaloupe, and nobodyworrying about her soul or thinking her own thoughts, and no rabbits. 

Our suitcases were safe enough in the hollow tree, and I thought thespring wagon had been back already, for there were fresh tracks. Thisdiscouraged me and I sat down on a log to rest. It was then that I heardthe girl crying. 

She was crying softly, but in the woods sounds travel. I found her onher face on the pine needles about twenty yards away, wailing her heartout into a pink automobile veil, and she was so absorbed in her miserythat I had to stoop and touch her before she looked up. 

"Don't cry, " I said. "If you are lost, I can direct you to asettlement. "

She looked up at me, and from being very red and suffused she went quitepale. It seems that with my bare legs and sandals and my hair down, which was Tish's idea for making it come in thick and not gray, and whatwith my being sunburned and stained with berries, she thought I was awild woman. I realized what was wrong. 

"Don't be alarmed, " I said somewhat grimly. "I'm rational enough; if Ihop about instead of walking, it's because I'm the tomb of more rabbitsthan I care to remember, but aside from that I'm all right. Are youlost?"

She sat up, still staring, and wiped her eyes. 

"No. I have a machine over there among the trees. Are there--are thereplenty of rabbits in the woods?"

"Thousands. " She was a pretty little thing, very young, and dressed in awhite motor coat with white shoes and hat. 

"And--and berries?"

"There aren't many berries, " I admitted. "The birds eat 'em. We get theones they don't fancy. "

Now I didn't think for a moment that she was worried about my diet, butshe was worried about the food supply in the woods, that was sure. So Isat down on a stump and told her about puffballs, and what Tish had readabout ants being edible but acid, and that wood mice, roasted and notcooked too dry, were good food, but that Aggie had made us liberate theonly ones we had caught, because a man she was once engaged to used tocarry a pet mouse in his pocket. 

Nothing had really appealed to her until I mentioned Mr. Wiggins. Thenunexpectedly she began to cry again. And after that I got the wholestory. 

It seems she was in love with a young man who was everything a young manought to be and had money as well. But the money was the barrier really, for the girl's father wouldn't believe that a youth who played polo, anddid not have to work for a living, and led cotillons, and paid calls inthe afternoon could have really good red blood in him. He had a man inview for her, she said, one who had made his money himself, and had tohave his valet lay out his clothes for fear he'd make a mistake. Oncethe valet had to go to have a tooth pulled and the man had to declinea dinner. 

"Father said, " finished the little girl tearfully, "that ifPercy--that's his name, and it counted against him too--that if Percywas a real man he'd do something. And then he hap-happened on a book ofmy small brother's, telling how people used to live in the woods, andkill their own food and make their own fire--"

"The 'Young Woodsman, ' of course, " I put in. 

"And how the strong survived, but the weak succumbed, and he said ifPercy was a man, and not a t-tailor's dummy, he'd go out in the woods, j-just primitive man, without anything but a pair of bathing trunks, and keep himself alive for a month. If he s-stood the test father waswilling to forget the 'Percy. ' He said that he knew Mr. Willoughby coulddo it--that's the other man--and that he'd come in at the end of thetime with a deed for the forest and mortgages on all the surroundingcamps. "

"And Percy agreed?"

"He didn't want to. He said it took mentality and physical endurance aswell as some courage to play polo. Father said it did--on the part ofthe pony. Then s-some of the men heard of it, and there were bets onit--ten to one he wouldn't do it and twenty to one he couldn't do it. SoPercy decided to try. Father was so afraid that some of the campers andguides would help him that he had notices sent out at Mr. Willoughby'ssuggestion offering a reward if Percy could be shown to have asked anyassistance. Oh, I know he's sick in there somewhere, or starvingor--dead!"

I had had a great light break over me, and now I stooped and patted thegirl on the shoulder. 

"Dead! Certainly not, " I said. "I saw him last night. "

"Saw him!"

"Well, not exactly saw him--there wasn't much light. But he's alive andwell, and--do you really want him to win?"

"Do I?" She sat up with shining eyes. "I don't care whether he ownsanything in the world but the trunks. If I didn't think I'd add to histroubles I'd go into the woods this minute and find him and suffer withhim. "

"You'd have to be married to him first, " I objected, rather startled. 

But she looked at me with her cheeks as red strawberries. "Why?" shedemanded. "Father's crazy about primitive man--did primitive man takehis woman to church to be married, with eight brides maids and areception after the ceremony? Of course not. He grabbed her and carriedher off. "

"Good Heavens! You're not in earnest?" "I think I am, " she said slowly. "I'd rather live in the woods with Percy and no ceremony than livewithout him anywhere in the world. And I'll bet primitive man would havebeen wiped off the earth if he hadn't had primitive woman to add herwits to his strength. If Percy only had a woman to help him!"

"My dear, " I said solemnly, "he has! He has, not one, but three!"

It took me some time to explain that Percy was not supporting a harem inthe Maine woods; but when at last she got my idea and that the other twoclassed with me in beauty and attractiveness, she was overjoyed. 

"But Percy promised not to ask for help, " she said suddenly. 

"He needn't. My dear, go away and stop worrying about Percy--he's allright. When is the time up?"

"In three weeks. "

"I suppose father and the Willoughby person will come to meet him?"

"Yes, and all the fellows from the club who have put money up on him. We're going to motor over and father's bringing the physical director ofthe athletic club. He's not only got to survive, but he's got to be ingood condition. "

"He'll be in good condition, " I said grimly. "Does he drink and smoke?"

"A little, not too much. Oh, yes, I had forgotten!" She opened up alittle gold cigarette case, which she took from her pocket, andextracted a handful of cigarettes. 

"If you are going to see him, " she said, "you might put them where he'llfind them?"

"Certainly not. "

"But that's not giving them to him. "

"My dear child, " I said sternly, "Percy is going to come out of thesewoods so well and strong that he may not have to work, but he'll wantto. And he'll not smoke anything stronger than corn-silk, if we're totake charge of this thing. "

She understood quickly enough and I must say she was grateful. She wasalmost radiant with joy when I told her how capable Tish was, and thatshe was sure to be interested, and about Aggie's hay fever and Mr. Wiggins and the rabbit snares. She leaned over and kissed meimpulsively. 

"You dear old thing!" she cried. "I know you'll look after him and makehim comfortable and--how old is Miss Letitia?"

"Something over fifty and Aggie Pilkington's about the same, althoughshe won't admit it. "

She kissed me again at that, and after looking at her wrist watch shejumped to her feet. 

"Heavens!" she said. "It's four o'clock and my engine has been runningall this time!"

She got a smart little car from somewhere up the road, and the last Isaw of her she was smiling back over her shoulder and the car running onthe edge of a ditch. 

"You are three darlings!" she called back. "And tell Percy I lovehim--love him--love him!"

I thought I'd never get back to the lake. I was tired to begin with, andafter I'd gone about four miles and was limping with a splinter in myheel and no needle to get it out with, I found I still had the fungusmessage to the spring-wagon person under my arm. 

It was dark when I got back and my nerves were rather unstrung, whatwith wandering from the path here and there, with nothing to eat sincemorning, and running into a tree and taking the skin off my nose. When Ilimped into camp at last, I didn't care whether Percy lived or died, andthe thought, of rabbit stew made my mouth water. 

It was not rabbit, however. Aggie was sitting alone by the fire, wavinga brand round her head to keep off mosquitoes, and in front of her, dangling from the spit, were a dozen pairs of frogs' legs in a row. 

I ate six pairs without a question and then I asked for Tish. 

"Catching frogs, " said Aggie laconically, and flourished the brand. 

"Where?"

"Pulling them off the trees. Where do you think she gets them?" shedemanded. 

A large mosquito broke through her guard at that moment and she flungthe torch angrily at the fire. 

"I'm eaten alive!" she snapped. "I wish to Heaven I had smallpox orsomething they could all take and go away and die. "

The frogs' legs were heavenly, although in a restaurant I loathe thethings. I left Aggie wondering if her hay fever wasn't contagiousthrough the blood and hoping the mosquitoes would get it and sneezethemselves to death, and went to find Tish. 

She was standing in the margin of the lake up to her knees in water, with a blazing torch in one hand and one of our tent poles in the other. Tied to the end the pole was a grapevine line, and a fishing-hook madeof a hairpin was attached to it. 

Her method, which it seems she'd heard from Charlie Sands and which wasnot in the "Young Woodsman, " was simple and effectual. 

"Don't move, " she said tensely when she heard me on the bank. "There'sone here as big as a chicken!"

She struck the flare forward, and I could see the frog looking at it andnot blinking. He sat in a sort of heavenly ecstasy, like a dog about tobay at the moon, while the hook dangled just at his throat. 

"I'm half-ashamed to do it, Lizzie, it's so easy, " she said calmly, still tickling the thing's throat with the hook. "Grab him as I throwhim at you. They slip off sometimes. "

The next instant she jerked the hook up and caught the creature by thelower jaw. It was the neatest thing I have ever seen. Tish came wadingover to where I stood and examined the frog. 

"If we only had some Tartare sauce!" she said regretfully. "I wish you'dlook at my ankle, Lizzie. There's something stuck to it. "

The something was a leech. It refused to come off, and so she carriedboth frog and leech back to the camp. Aggie said on no account to pull aleech off, it left its teeth in and the teeth went on burrowing, or laideggs or something. One must leave it on until it was full and round andcouldn't hold any more, and then it dropped off. 

So all night Tish kept getting up and going to the fire to see if it wasswelling. But toward morning she fell asleep and it dropped off, and wehad a terrible feeling that it was somewhere in our blankets. 

But the leech caused less excitement that evening than my story of Percyand the little girl in the white coat. Aggie was entranced, and Tish hadmade Percy a suit of rabbit skin with a cap to match and outlined a setof exercises to increase his chest measure before I was half throughwith my story. 

But Percy did not appear, although we had an idea that he was not faroff in the woods. We could hear a crackling in the undergrowth, but whenwe called there was no reply. Tish was eating a frog's leg when the ideacame to her. 

"He'll never come out under ordinary circumstances in that--er--costume, "she said. "Suppose we call for help. He'll probably come bounding. Help!" she yelled, between bites, as one may say. 

"Help! Fire! Police!"

"Help!" cried Aggie. "Percy, help!" It sounded like "Mercy, help!"

It worked like a charm. The faint cracking became louder, nearer, turnedfrom a suspicion to a certainty and from a certainty to a fact. Thebushes parted and Percy stood before us. All he saw was three elderlywomen eating frogs' legs round a fire under a cloud of mosquitoes. Hestopped, dumbfounded, and in that instant we saw that he didn't need thephysical exercises, but that, of course, he did need the rabbit-skinsuit. 

"Great Scott!" he panted. "I thought I heard you calling for help. "

"So we did, " said Tish, "but we didn't need it. Won't you sit down?"

He looked dazed and backed toward the bushes. 

"I--I think, " he said, "if there's nothing wrong I'd better not--"

"Fiddlesticks!" Tish snapped. "Are you ashamed of the body the Lordgave you? Don't you suppose we've all got skins? And didn't I thrash mynephew, Charlie Sands, when he was almost as big as you and had less on, for bathing in the river? Sit down, man, and don't be a fool. "

He edged toward the fire, looking rather silly, and Aggie passed him afrog's leg on a piece of bark. 

"Try this, Percy, " she said, smiling. 

At the name he looked ready to run. "I guess you've seen the notices, "he said, "so you'll understand I cannot accept any food or assistance. I'm very grateful to you, anyhow. "

"You may take what food you find, surely, " said Aggie. "If you find aroasted frog's leg on the ground--so--there's nothing to prevent youeating it, is there?"

"Nothing at all, " said Percy, and picked it up. "Unless, of course--"

"It's not a trap, young man, " said Tish. "Eat it and enjoy it. There arelots more where it came from. "

He relaxed at that, and on Tish's bringing out a blanket from the tentto throw over his shoulders he became almost easy. He was much surprisedto learn that we knew his story, and when I repeated the "love him"message, he seemed to grow a foot taller and his eyes glowed. 

"I'm holding out all right, " he said. "I'm fit physically. But the thingthat gets my goat is that I'm to come out clothed. Dorothea's fathersays that primitive man, with nothing but his hands and perhaps a stoneclub, fed himself, made himself a shelter, and clothed himself in skins. Skins! I'm so big that two or three bears would hardly be enough. I didfind a hole that I thought a bear or two might fall into, and got almoststung to death robbing a bee tree to bait the thing with honey. Butthere aren't any bears, and if there were how'd I kill 'em? Wait untilthey starve to death?"

"Rabbits!" said Tish. 

He looked down at himself and he seemed very large in the firelight. "Dear lady, " he said, "there aren't enough rabbits in the county tocover me, and how'd I put 'em together? I was a fool to undertake thething, that's all. "

"But aren't you in love with her?" asked Aggie. 

"Well, I guess I am. It isn't that, you know. I'm a good bit worse thancrazy about her. A man might be crazy about a mint julep or a powerboat, but--he'd hardly go into the woods in his skin and live on fishuntil he's scaly for either of them. If I don't get her, I don't want tolive. That's all. "

He looked so gloomy and savage that we saw he meant it, and Aggie wasperceptibly thrilled. Trish, however, was thinking hard, her eyes on theleech. "Was there anything in the agreement to prevent your acceptingany suggestions?"

He pondered. "No, I was to be given no food, drink, shelter, or anyweapon. The old man forgot fire--that's how I came to beg some. "

"Fire and brains, " reflected Tish. "We've given you the first and we'veplenty of the second to offer. Now, young man, this is my plan. We'llgive you nothing but suggestions. If now and then you find a cooked mealunder that tree, that's accident, not design, and you'd better eat it. Can you sew?"

"I'm like the Irishman and the fiddle--I never tried, but I guess Ican. " He was much more cheerful. 

"Do you have to be alone?"

"I believe he took that for granted, in this costume. "

"Will it take you long to move over here?"

"I think I can move without a van, " he said, grinning. "My sole worldlypossessions are a stone hatchet and a hairpin fishhook. "

"Get them and come over, " commanded Tish. "When you leave this forest atthe end of the time you are going to be fed and clothed and carry atent; you will have with you smoked meat and fish; you will carry underyour arm an Indian clock or sundial; you will have a lamp--if we canfind a clamshell or a broken bottle--and you will have a fire-makingoutfit with your monogram on it. "

"But, my dear friend, " he said, "I am not supposed to have anyassistance and--"

"Assistance!" Tish snapped. "Who said assistance? I'm providing thebrains, but you'll do it all yourself. "

He moved over an hour or so later and Tish and I went into the tent tobed. Somewhat later, when she limped to the fire to see how the leechwas filling up, he and Aggie were sitting together talking, he ofDorothea and Aggie of Mr. Wiggins. Tish said they were both talking atthe same time, neither one listening to the other, and that it soundedlike this:--"She's so sweet and trusting and honest--well, I'd believewhat she said if she--"

"--fell off a roof on a rainy day and was picked up by a man with ahorse and buggy quite unconscious. "

V

The next three weeks were busy times for Percy. He wore Tish's blanketfor two days, and then, finding it in the way, he discarded italtogether. Seen in daylight it was easy to understand why littleDorothea was in love with him. He was a handsome young giant, althoughmuch bitten by mosquitoes and scratched with briers. 

The arrangement was a good one all round. He knew of things in the woodwe'd never heard of--wild onions and artichokes, and he had found aclump of wild cherry trees. He made snares of the fibers of tree bark, and he brought in turtles and made plates out of the shells. And all thetime he was working on his outfit, curing rabbit skins and sewing themtogether with fibers under my direction. 

When he'd made one sleeve of his coat we had a sort of celebration. He'd found an empty bottle somewhere in the woods, and he had made awild-cherry decoction that he declared was cherry brandy, keeping it inthe sun to ferment. Well, he insisted on opening the brandy that day andpassing it round. We had cups made of leaves and we drank to his sleeve, although the stuff was villainous. He had put the sleeve on, and itlooked rather inadequate. "Here's fun, " he said joyously. "If my Englishtailor could see this sleeve he'd die of envy. A sleeve's not all of acoat, but what's a coat without a sleeve? Look at it--grace, ease ofline, and beauty of material. "

Aggie lifted her leaf. 

"To Dorothea!" she said. "And may the sleeve soon be about her. "

Tish thought this toast was not delicate, but Percy was enchanted withit. 

It was on the evening of the fourth day of Percy's joining our camp thatthe Willoughby person appeared. It happened at a most inauspicious time. We had eaten supper and were gathered round the camp-fire and Tish hadput wet leaves on the blaze to make a smudge that would drive themosquitoes away. We were sitting there, Tish and I coughing and Aggiesneezing in the smoke, when Percy came running through the woods andstopped at the foot of a tree near by. 

"Bring a club, somebody, " he yelled. "I've treed the back of my coat. "

Tish ran with one of the tent poles. A tepee is inconvenient for thatreason. Every time any one wants a fishing-pole or a weapon, the tentloses part of its bony structure and sags like the face of a stout womanwho has reduced. And it turned out that Percy had treed a coon. Heclimbed up after it, taking Tish's pole with him to dislodge it, and itwas at that moment that a man rode into the clearing and practicallyfell off his horse. He was dirty and scratched with brambles, and hisonce immaculate riding-clothes were torn. He was about to take off hishat when he got a good look at us and changed his mind. 

"Have you got anything to eat?" he asked. "I've been lost since noonyesterday and I'm about all in. "

The leaves caught fire suddenly and sent a glow into Percy's tree. Ishall never forget Aggie's agonized look or the way Tish flung on morewet leaves in a hurry. 

"I'm sorry, " she said, "but supper's over. "

"But surely a starving man--"

"You won't starve inside of a week, " Tish snapped. "You've got enoughflesh on you for a month. "

He stared at her incredulously. 

"But, my good woman, " he said, "I can pay for my food. Even youitinerant folk need money now and then, don't you? Come, now, cook me afish; I'll pay for it. My name is Willoughby--J. K. Willoughby. Perhapsyou've heard of me. "

Tish cast a swift glance into the tree. It was in shadow again and shedrew a long breath. She said afterward that the whole plan came to herin the instant of that breath. 

"We can give you something, " she said indifferently. "We have a stewedrabbit, if you care for it. "

There was a wild scramble in the tree at that moment, and we thought allwas over. We learned later that Percy had made a move to climb higher, out of the firelight, and the coon had been so startled that he almostfell out. But instead of looking up to investigate, the stranger backedtoward the fire. 

"Only a wildcat, " said Tish. "They'll not come near the fire. "

"Near!" exclaimed Mr. Willoughby. "If they came any nearer, they'd haveto get into it!"

"I think, " said Tish, "that if you are afraid of them--although you aresafe enough if you don't get under the trees; they jump down, youknow--that you would better stay by the fire to-night. In the morningwe'll start you toward a road. "

All night with Percy in the tree! I gave her a savage glance, but sheignored me. 

The Willoughby looked up nervously, and of course there were trees allabout. 

"I guess I'll stay, " he agreed. "What about that rabbit?"

I did not know Tish's plan at that time, and while Aggie was feeding theWilloughby person and he was grumbling over his food, I took Tish aside. 

"Are you crazy?" I demanded. "Just through your idiocy Percy will haveto stay in that tree all night--and he'll go to sleep, likely, and fallout. "

Tish eyed me coldly. 

"You are a good soul, Lizzie, " she observed, "but don't overwork yourmind. Go back and do something easy--let the Willoughby cross your palmwith silver, and tell his fortune. If he asks any questions I'm queen ofthe gypsies, and give him to understand that we're in temporary hidingfrom the law. The worse he thinks of us the better. Remember, we haven'tseen Percy. "

"I'm not going to lie, " I said sternly. 

"Pooh!" Tish sneered. "That wretch came into the woods to gloat over hisrival's misery. The truth's too good for him. "

I did my best, and I still have the silver dollar he gave me. I told himI saw a small girl, who loved him but didn't realize it yet, and therewas another man. 

"Good gracious, " I said, "there must be something wrong with your palm. I see the other man, but he seems to be in trouble. His clothing hasbeen stolen, for he has none, and he is hungry, very hungry. "

"Ha!" said Mr. Willoughby, looking startled. "You old gypsies beat thedevil! Hungry, eh? Is that all?"

The light flared up again and I could see clearly the pale spot in thetree, which was Percy. But Mr. Willoughby's eyes were on his palm. 

"He has about decided to give up something--I cannot see just what, " Isaid loudly. "He seems to be in the air, in a tree, perhaps. If hewishes to be safe he should go higher. "

Percy took the hint and moved up, and I said that was all there was inthe palm. Soon after that Mr. Willoughby stretched out on the ground bythe fire, and before long he was asleep. 

During the night I heard Tish moving stealthily about in the tepee andshe stepped on my ankle as she went out. I fell asleep again as soon asit stopped aching. Just at dawn Tish came back and touched me on theshoulder. 

"Where's the blackberry cordial?" she whispered I sat up instantly. 

"Has Percy fallen out of the tree?"

"No. Don't ask any questions, Lizzie. I want it for myself. That drattedhorse fell on me. "

She refused to say any more and lay down groaning. But I was too worriedto sleep again. In the morning Percy was gone from the tree. Mr. Willoughby had more rabbit and prepared to leave the forest. He offeredTish a dollar for the two meals and a bed, and Tish, who was movingabout stiffly, said that she and her people took no money for theirhospitality. Telling fortunes was one thing, bread and salt was another. She looked quite haughty, and the Willoughby person apologized and wentinto the woods to get his horse. 

The horse was gone!

It was rather disagreeable for a time. He plainly thought we'd taken it, although Tish showed him that the end of the strap had been chewedpartly through and then jerked free. 

"If the creature smelled a wildcat, " she said, "nothing would hold it. None of my people ever bring a horse into this part of the country. "

"Humph!" said Mr. Willoughby. "Well, I'll bet they take a few out!"

He departed on foot shortly after, very disgusted and suspicious. Weshowed him the trail, and the last we saw of him he was striding along, looking up now and then for wildcats. 

When he was well on his way, Percy emerged from the bushes. I hadthought that he had helped Tish to take the Willoughby horse, but itseems he had not, and he was much amazed when Tish came through the woodleading the creature by the broken strap. 

"I'll turn it loose, " she said to Percy, "and you can capture it. Itwill make a good effect for you to emerge from the forest on horseback, and anyhow, what with the rabbit skin, the tent, and the sundial and theother things, you have a lot to carry. You can say you found it strayingin the woods and captured it. "

Percy looked at her with admiration not unmixed with reverence. "MissLetitia, " he said solemnly, "if it were not for Dorothea, I should askyou to marry me. I'd like to have you in my family. "

 * * * * *

I am very nearly to the end of my narrative. 

Toward the last Percy was obliged to work far into the night, for ofcourse we could not assist him. He made a full suit of rabbit skinssewed with fibers, and a cap and shoes of coonskin to match. The shoeswere cut from a bedroom-slipper pattern that Tish traced in the sand onthe beach, and the cap had an eagle feather in it. He made a birch-barkknapsack to hold the fish he smoked and a bow and arrow that looked wellbut would not shoot. When he had the outfit completed, he put it on, with the stone hatchet stuck into a grapevine belt and the bow and arrowover his shoulder, and he looked superb. 

"The question is, " he reflected, trying to view himself in the edge ofthe lake: "Will Dorothea like it? She's very keen about clothes. Andgee, how she hates a beard!"

"You could shave as the Indians do, " Tish said. 

"How?"

"With a clamshell. "

He looked dubious, but Tish assured him it was feasible. So he hunted aclamshell, a double one, Tish requested, and brought it into camp. 

"I'd better do it for you, " said Tish. "It's likely to be slow, but itis sure. "

He was eyeing the clamshell and looking more and more uneasy. 

"You're not going to scrape it off?" he asked anxiously. "You know, pumice would be better for that, but somehow I don't like the idea. "

"Nothing of the sort, " said Tish. "The double clamshell merely forms apair of Indian nippers. I'm going to pull it out. "

But he made quite a fuss about it, and said he didn't care whether theIndians did it or not, he wouldn't. I think he saw how disappointed Tishwas and was afraid she would attempt it while he slept, for he threw theIndian nippers into the lake and then went over and kissed her hand. 

"Dear Miss Tish, " he said; "no one realizes more than I your inherentnobility of soul and steadfastness of purpose. I admire them both. Butif you attempt the Indian nipper business, or to singe me like a chickenwhile I sleep, I shall be--forgive me, but I know my impulsiveness ofdisposition--I shall be really vexed with you. "

Toward the last we all became uneasy for fear hard work was telling onhim physically. He used to sit cross-legged on the ground, sewing fordear life and singing Hood's "Song of the Shirt" in a doleful tenor. 

"You know, " he said, "I've thought once or twice I'd like to dosomething--have a business like other fellows. But somehow dressmakingnever occurred to me. Don't you think the expression of this right pantis good? And shall I make this gore bias or on the selvage?"

He wanted to slash one trouser leg. 

"Why not?" he demanded when Tish frowned him down. "It's awfullyfetching, and beauty half-revealed, you know. Do you suppose mybreastbone will ever straighten out again? It's concave from stooping. "

It was after this that Tish made him exercise morning and evening andthen take a swim in the lake. By the time he was to start back, he wasin wonderful condition, and even the horse looked saucy and shiny, owingto our rubbing him down each day with dried grasses. 

The actual leave-taking was rather sad. We'd grown to think a lot of theboy and I believe he liked us. He kissed each one of us twice, once forhimself and once for Dorothea, and flushed a little over doing it, andAggie's eyes were full of tears. 

He rode away down the trail like a mixture of Robinson Crusoe and Indianbrave, his rubbing-fire stick, his sundial with burned figures, and hisbow and arrow jingling, his eagle feather blowing back in the wind, andhis moccasined feet thrust into Mr. Willoughby's stirrups, and left usdesolate. Tish watched him out of sight with set lips and Aggie waswhimpering on a bank. 

"Tish, " she said brokenly, "does he recall anything to you?"

"Only my age, " said Tish rather wearily, "and that I'm an elderlyspinster teaching children to defy their parents and committing larcenyto help them. "

"To me, " said Aggie softly, "he is young love going out to seek hismate. Oh, Tish, do you remember how Mr. Wiggins used to ride by takinghis work horses to be shod!"

 * * * * *

We went home the following day, which was the time the spring-wagon manwas to meet us. We started very early and were properly clothed andhatted when we saw him down the road. 

The spring-wagon person came on without hurry and surveyed us as hecame. 

"Well, ladies, " he said, stopping before us, "I see you pulled it offall right. "

"We've had a very nice time, thank you, " said Tish, drawing on hergloves. "It's been rather lonely, of course. "

The spring-wagon person did not speak again until he had reached theopen road. Then he turned round. 

"The horse business was pretty good, " he said. "You ought to hev seenthem folks when he rode out of the wood. Flabbergasted ain't the word. They was ding-busted. "

Tish whispered to us to show moderate interest and to say as little aspossible, except to protest our ignorance. And we got the story at lastlike this:--

It seems the newspapers had been full of the attempt Percy was to make, and so on the day before quite a crowd had gathered to see him come outof the wood. 

"Ten of these here automobiles, " said the spring-wagon person, "and ahay-wagon full of newspaper fellows from the city with cameras, andabout half the village back home walked out or druv and brought theirlunches--sort of a picnic. I kep' my eye on the girl and on a Mr. Willoughby. 

"The story is that Willoughby who was the father's choice--Willoughbywas pale and twitching and kep' moving about all the time. But the girl, she just kep' her eyes on the trail and waited. Noon was the time set, or as near it as possible. 

"The father talked to the newspaper men mostly. 'I don't think he'lldo it, boys!' he said. 'He's as soft as milk and he's surprised me bysticking it out as long as he has. But mark my words, boys, ' he said, 'he's been living on berries and things he could pick up off the ground, and if his physical condition's bad he loses all bets!"

It seems that, just as he said it, somebody pulled out a watch andannounced "noon. " And on the instant Percy was seen riding down thetrail and whistling. At first they did not know it was he, as they hadexpected him to arrive on foot, staggering with fatigue probably. Herode out into the sunlight, still whistling, and threw an unconcernedglance over the crowd. 

He looked at the trees, and located north by the moss on the trunks, theS. -W. P. Said, and unslinging his Indian clock he held it in front ofhim, pointing north and south. It showed exactly noon. It was then, andnot until then, that Percy addressed the astonished crowd. 

"Twelve o'clock, gentlemen, " he said. "My watch is quite accurate. "

Nobody said anything, being, as the S. -W. P. Remarked, struck dumb. Buta moment afterward the hay-wagon started a cheer and the machines tookit up. Even the father "let loose, " as we learned, and the little girlsat back in her motor car and smiled through her tears. 

But Willoughby was furious. It seems he had recognized the horse. "That's my horse, " he snarled. "You stole it from me. "

"As a matter of fact, " Percy retorted, "I found the beast wanderingloose among the trees and I'm perfectly willing to return him to you. Ibrought him out for a purpose. "

"To make a Garrison finish!"

"Not entirely. To prove that you violated the contract by going into theforest to see if you could find me and gloat over my misery. Instead youfound--By the way, Willoughby, did you see any wild-cats?"

"Those three hags are in this!" said Willoughby furiously. "Are youwilling to swear you made that silly outfit?"

"I am, but not to you. "

"And at that minute, if you'll believe me, " said the S. -W. P. , "the girlgot out of her machine and walked right up to the Percy fellow. I wasstanding right by and I heard what she said. It was, curious, seeinghe'd had no help and had gone in naked, as you may say, and came outclothed head to foot, with a horse and weapons and a watch, and able tomake fire in thirty-one seconds, and a tent made of about a thousandrabbit skins. "

Tish eyed him coldly. 

"What did she say?" she demanded severely. "She said: 'Those three dearold things!'" replied the S. -W. P. "And she said: 'I hope you kissedthem for me. '"

"He did indeed, " said Aggie dreamily, and only roused when Tish nudgedher in a rage. 

 * * * * *

Charlie Sands came to have tea with us yesterday at Tish's. He is justback from England and full of the subject. 

"But after all, " he said, "the Simple Lifers take the palm. Think of it, my three revered and dearly beloved spinster friends; think of thepeace, the holy calm of it! Now, if you three would only drink less teaand once in a while would get back to Nature a bit, it would be good foryou. You're all too civilized. "

"Probably, " said Tish, pulling down her sleeves to hide her sunburnedhands. "But do you think people have so much time in the--er--woods?"

"Time!" he repeated. "Why, what is there to do?"

Just then the doorbell rang and a huge box was carried in. Tish had awarning and did not wish to open it, but Charlie Sands insisted and cutthe string. Inside were three sets of sable furs, handsomer than any inthe church, Tish says, and I know I've never seen any like them. 

Tish and I hid the cards, but Aggie dropped hers and Charlie Sandspounced on it. 

"'The sleeve is now about Dorothea, '" he read aloud, and then, turning, eyed us all sternly. 

"Now, then, " said Charlie Sands, "out with it! What have you been up tothis time?"

Tish returned his gaze calmly. "We have been in the Maine woods in theholy calm, " she said. "As for those furs, I suppose a body may buy a setof furs if she likes. " This, of course, was not a lie. "As for thatcard, it's a mistake. " Which it was indeed. 

"But--Dorothea!" persisted Charlie Sands. 

"Never in my life knew anybody named Dorothea. Did you, Aggie?"

"Never, " said Aggie firmly. 

Charlie Sands apologized and looked thoughtful. On Tish's remainingrather injured, he asked us all out to dinner that night, and almost thefirst thing he ordered was frogs' legs. Aggie got rather white about thelips. 

"I--I think I'll not take any, " she said feebly. "I--I keep thinking ofTish tickling their throats with the hairpin, and how Percy--"

We glared at her, but it was too late. Charlie Sands drew up his chairand rested his elbows on the table. 

"So there was a Percy as well as a Dorothea!" he said cheerfully. "Imight have known it. Now we'll have the story!"

TISH'S SPY

THE ADVENTURE OF THE RED-HEADED DETECTIVE, THE LADY CHAUFFEUR, AND THEMAN WHO COULD NOT TELL THE TRUTH

I

It is easy enough, of course, to look back on our Canadian experienceand see where we went wrong. What I particularly resent is the attitudeof Charlie Sands. 

I am writing this for his benefit. It seems to me that a clean statementof the case is due to Tish, and, in less degree, to Aggie and myself. 

It goes back long before the mysterious cipher. Even the incident of ourabducting the girl in the pink tam-o'-shanter was, after all, theinevitable result of the series of occurrences that preceded it. 

It is my intention to give this series of occurrences in their properorder and without bias. Herbert Spencer says that every act of one'slife is the unavoidable result of every act that has preceded it. 

Naturally, therefore, I begin with the engagement by Tish of a girl aschauffeur; but even before that there were contributing causes. Therewas the faulty rearing of the McDonald youth, for instance, and Tish'sæsthetic dancing. And afterward there was Aggie's hay fever, which madeher sneeze and let go of a rope at a critical moment. Indeed, Aggie'shay fever may be said to be one of the fundamental causes, being thereason we went to Canada. 

It was like this: Along in June of the year before last, Aggie suddenlyannounced that she was going to spend the summer in Canada. 

"It's the best thing in the world for hay fever, " she said, avoidingTish's eye. "Mrs. Ostermaier says she never sneezed once last year. TheNorthern Lights fill the air with ozone, or something like that. "

"Fill the air with ozone!" Tish scoffed. "Fill Mrs. Ostermaier's skullwith ozone, instead of brains, more likely!"

Tish is a good woman--a sweet woman, indeed; but she has a vein ofgentle irony, which she inherited from her maternal grandfather, who wason the Supreme Bench of his country. However, that spring she wasinclined to be irritable. She could not drive her car, and that waswhere the trouble really started. 

Tish had taken up æsthetic dancing in Mareb, wearing no stays and amiddy blouse and short skirt; and during a fairy dance, where she was totwirl on her right toes, keeping the three other limbs horizontal, shetwisted her right lower limb severely. Though not incapacitated, shecould not use it properly; and, failing one day to put on the brakequickly, she drove into an open-front butter-and-egg shop. 

[This was the time one of the newspapers headed the article: "Even theEggs Scrambled. "]

When Tish decided to have a chauffeur for a time she advertised. Therewere plenty of replies, but all of the applicants smoked cigarettes--ahabit Tish very properly deplores. The idea of securing a young womanwas, I must confess, mine. 

"Plenty of young women drive cars, " I said, "and drive well. And, atleast, they don't light a cigarette every time one stops to let a traingo by. "

"Huh!" Tish commented. "And have a raft of men about all the time!"

Nevertheless, she acted on the suggestion, advertising for a young womanwho could drive a car and had no followers. Hutchins answered. 

She was very pretty and not over twenty; but, asked about men, her faceunderwent a change, almost a hardening. "You'll not be bothered withmen, " she said briefly. "I detest them!"

And this seemed to be the truth. Charlie Sands, for instance, for whosebenefit this is being written, absolutely failed to make any impressionon her. She met his overtures with cold disdain. She was also adamantto the men at the garage, succeeding in having the gasoline filteredthrough a chamois skin to take out the water, where Tish had for yearsbegged for the same thing without success. 

Though a dashing driver, Hutchins was careful. She sat on the small ofher back and hurled us past the traffic policemen with a smile. 

[Her name was really Hutchinson; but it took so long to say it at therate she ran the car that Tish changed it to Hutchins. ]

Really the whole experiment seemed to be an undoubted success, whenAggie got the notion of Canada into her head. Now, as it happened, owing to Tish's disapproval, Aggie gave up the Canada idea in favorof Nantucket, some time in June; but she had not reckoned with Tish'ssubconscious self. Tish was interested that spring in the subconsciousself. 

You may remember that, only a year or so before, it had been the fourthdimension. 

[She became convinced that if one were sufficiently earnest one could gothrough closed doors and see into solids. In the former ambition she wasunsuccessful, obtaining only bruises and disappointment; but she diddevelop the latter to a certain extent, for she met the laundress goingout one day and, without a conscious effort, she knew that she had thebest table napkins pinned to her petticoat. She accused the womansternly--and she had six!]

"Nantucket!" said Tish. "Why Nantucket?"

"I have a niece there, and you said you hated Canada. "

"On the contrary, " Tish replied, with her eyes partly shut, "I findthat my subconscious self has adopted and been working on the Canadiansuggestion. What a wonderful thing is this buried and greater ego!Worms, rifles, fishing-rods, 'The Complete Angler, ' mosquito netting, canned goods, and sleeping-bags, all in my mind and in orderly array!"

"Worms!" I said, with, I confess, a touch of scorn in my voice. "If youwill tell me, Tish Carberry--"

"Life preservers, " chanted Tish's subconscious self, "rubber blankets, small tent, folding camp-beds, a camp-stove, a meat-saw, a wood-saw, and some beads and gewgaws for placating the Indians. " Then she openedher eyes and took up her knitting. "There are no worms in Canada, Lizzie, just as there are no snakes in Ireland. They were all destroyedduring the glacial period. "

"There are plenty of worms in the United States, " I said with spirit. "I dare say they could crawl over the border--unless, of course, theyobject to being British subjects. "

She ignored me, however, and, getting up, went to one of her bureaudrawers. We saw then that her subconscious self had written downlists of various things for the Canadian excursion. There was oneheaded Foodstuffs. Others were: Necessary Clothing: Camp Outfit;Fishing-Tackle; Weapons of Defense: and Diversions. Under this lastheading it had placed binoculars, yarn and needles, life preservers, a prayer-book, and a cribbage-board. 

"Boats, " she said, "we can secure from the Indians, who make them, Ibelieve, of hollow logs. And I shall rent a motor boat. Hutchins saysshe can manage one. When she's not doing that she can wash dishes. "

[We had been rather chary of motor boats, you may remember, since thetime on Lake Penzance, when something jammed on our engine, and we hadgone madly round the lake a number of times, with people on variousdocks trying to lasso us with ropes. ]

Considering that it was she who had started the whole thing, and gotTish's subconscious mind to working, Aggie was rather pettish. 

"Huh!" she said. "I can't swim, and you know it, Tish. Those canoethings turn over if you so much as sneeze in them. "

"You'll not sneeze, " said Tish. "The Northern Lights fill the air withozone. "

Aggie looked at me helplessly; but I could do nothing. Only the yearbefore, Tish, as you may recall, had taken us out into the Maine woodswithout any outfit at all, and we had lived on snared rabbits, andthings that no Christian woman ought to put into her stomach. This timewe were at least to go provisioned and equipped. 

"Where are we going?" Aggie asked. 

"Far from a white man, " said Tish. "Away from milk wagons and childrenon velocipedes and the grocer calling up every morning for an order. We'll go to the Far North, Aggie, where the red man still treads hisnative forests; we'll make our camp by some lake, where the deer come atearly morning to drink and fish leap to see the sunset. "

Well, it sounded rather refreshing, though I confess that, until Tishmentioned it, I had always thought that fish leaped in the evening tocatch mosquitoes. 

We sent for Hutchins at once. She was always respectful, but neversubservient. She stood in the doorway while Tish explained. 

"How far north?" she said crisply. Tish told her. "We'll have nocut-and-dried destination, " she said. "There's a little steamer goes upthe river I have in mind. We'll get off when we see a likely place. "

"Are you going for trout or bass?"

Tish was rather uncertain, but she said bass on a chance, and Hutchinsnodded her approval. 

"If it's bass, I'll go, " she said. "I'm not fond of trout-fishing. "

"We shall have a motor boat. Of course I shall not take the car. "

Hutchins agreed indifferently. "Don't you worry about the motor boat, "she said. "Sometimes they go, and sometimes they don't. And I'll helpround the camp; but I'll not wash dishes. "

"Why not?" Tish demanded. 

"The reason doesn't really matter, does it? What really concerns you isthe fact. "

Tish stared at her; but instead of quailing before Tish's majestic eyeshe laughed a little. 

"I've camped before, " she said. "I'm very useful about a camp. I like tocook; but I won't wash dishes. I'd like, if you don't mind, to see thegrocery order before it goes. "

Well, Aggie likes to wash dishes if there is plenty of hot water; andHannah, Tish's maid, refusing to go with us on account of Indians, itseemed wisest to accept Hutchins's services. 

Hannah's defection was most unexpected. As soon as we reached ourdecision, Tish ordered beads for the Indians; and in the evenings westrung necklaces, and so on, while one of us read aloud from the worksof Cooper. On the second evening thus occupied, Hannah, who is allowedto come into Tish's sitting-room in the evening and knit, suddenlyburst into tears and refused to go. 

"My scalp's as good to me as it is to anybody, Miss Tish, " she saidhysterically; and nothing would move her. 

She said she would run no risk of being cooked over her own camp-fire;and from that time on she would gaze at Tish for long periodsmournfully, as though she wanted to remember how she looked when she wasgone forever. 

Except for Hannah, everything moved smoothly. Tish told Charlie Sandsabout the plan, and he was quite enthusiastic. 

"Great scheme!" he said. "Eat a broiled black bass for me. And take theadvice of one who knows: don't skimp on your fishing-tackle. Get thebest. Go light on the canned goods, if necessary; but get the best reelsand lines on the market. Nothing in life hurts so much, " he saidimpressively, "as to get a three-pound bass to the top of the water andhave your line break. I've had a big fellow get away like that and chaseme a mile with its thumb on its nose. " This last, of course, was purelyfigurative. 

He went away whistling. I wish he had been less optimistic. When we cameback and told him the whole story, and he sat with his mouth open andhis hair, as he said, crackling at the roots, I reminded him with somebitterness that he had encouraged us. His only retort was to say thatthe excursion itself had been harmless enough; but that if three elderlyladies, church members in good standing, chose to become freebooters andpirates the moment they got away from a corner policeman, they need notblame him. 

The last thing he said that day in June was about fishing-worms. 

"Take 'em with you, " he said. "They charge a cent apiece for them upthere, assorted colors, and there's something stolid and British about aCanadian worm. The fish aren't crazy about 'em. On the other hand, ourworms here are--er--vivacious, animated. I've seen a really brisk andon-to-its-job United States worm reach out and clutch a bass by thegills. "

I believe it was the next day that Tish went to the library and readabout worms. Aggie and I had spent the day buying tackle, according toCharlie Sands's advice. We got some very good rods with nickel-platedreels for two dollars and a quarter, a dozen assorted hooks for eachperson, and a dozen sinkers. The man wanted to sell us what he called a"landing net, " but I took a good look at it and pinched Aggie. 

"I can make one out of a barrel hoop and mosquito netting, " I whispered;so we did not buy it. 

Perhaps he thought we were novices, for he insisted on showing us allsorts of absurd things--trolling-hooks, he called them; gaff hooks forlanding big fish and a spoon that was certainly no spoon and did notfool us for a minute, being only a few hooks and a red feather. He askeda dollar and a quarter for it!

[I made one that night at home, using a bit of red feather from aduster. It cost me just three cents. Of that, as of Hutchins, morelater. ]

Aggie, whose idea of Canada had been the Hotel Frontenac, had grownrather depressed as our preparations proceeded. She insisted that nighton recalling the fact that Mr. Wiggins had been almost drowned inCanada. 

"He went with the Roof and Gutter Club, Lizzie, " she said, "and he was abeautiful swimmer; but the water comes from the North Pole, freezingcold, and the first thing he knew--"

The telephone bell rang just then. It was Tish. 

"I've just come from the library, Lizzie, " she said. "We'd better raisethe worms. We've got a month to do it in. Hutchins and I will be roundwith the car at eight o'clock to-night. Night is the time to get them. "

She refused to go into details, but asked us to have an electric flashor two ready and a couple of wooden pails. Also she said to wearmackintoshes and rubbers. Just before she rang off, she asked me to seethat there was a package of oatmeal on hand, but did not explain. When Itold Aggie she eyed me miserably. 

"I wish she'd be either more explicit or less, " she said. "We'll bearrested again. I know it!"

[Now and then Tish's enthusiasms have brought us into collision with thelaw--not that Tish has not every respect for law and order, but that sheis apt to be hasty and at times almost unconventional. ]

"You remember, " said Aggie, "that time she tried to shoot the sheriff, thinking he was a train robber? She started just like this--reading upabout walking-tours, and all that. I--I'm nervous, Lizzie. "

I was staying with Aggie for a few days while my apartment was beingpapered. To soothe Aggie's nerves I read aloud from Gibbon's "Rome"until dinner-time, and she grew gradually calmer. 

"After all, Lizzie, " she said, "she can't get us into mischief with twowooden pails and a package of oatmeal. "

Tish and Hutchins came promptly at eight and we got into the car. Tishwore the intent and dreamy look that always preceded her enterprises. There was a tin sprinkling-can, quite new, in the tonneau, and we placedour wooden pails beside it and the oatmeal in it. I confess I wascurious, but to my inquiries Tish made only one reply:--

"Worms!"

Now I do not like worms. I do not like to touch them. I do not even liketo look at them. As the machine went along I began to have a creepyloathing of them. Aggie must have been feeling the same way, for when myhand touched hers she squealed. 

Over her shoulder Tish told her plan. She said it was easy to getfishing-worms at night and that Hutchins knew of a place a few miles outof town where the family was away and where there would be plenty. 

"We'll put them in boxes of earth, " she said, "and feed them coffee ortea grounds one day and oatmeal water the next. They propagate rapidly. We'll have a million to take with us. If we only have a hundred thousandat a cent apiece, that's a clear saving of a thousand dollars. "

"We could sell some, " I suggested sarcastically; for Tish's enthusiasmshave a way of going wrong. 

But she took me seriously. "If there are any fishing clubs about, " shesaid, "I dare say they'll buy them; and we can turn the money over toMr. Ostermaier for the new organ. "

Tish had bought the organ and had an evening concert with it before weturned off the main road into a private drive. 

"This is the place, " Hutchins said laconically. 

Tish got out and took a survey. There was shrubbery all round and a verylarge house, quite dark, in the foreground. 

"Drive onto the lawn, Hutchins, " she said. "When the worms come up, thelamps will dazzle them and they'll be easy to capture. "

We bumped over a gutter and came to a stop in the middle of the lawn. 

"It would be better if it was raining, " Tish said. "You know, yourself, Lizzie, how they come up during a gentle rain. Give me thesprinkling-can. "

I do not wish to lay undue blame on Hutchins, who was young; but it wasshe who suggested that there would probably be a garden hose somewhereand that it would save time. I know she went with Tish round the cornerof the house, and that they returned in ten minutes or so, dragging ahose. 

"I broke a tool-house window, " Tish observed, "but I left fifty centson the sill to replace it. It's attached at the other end. Run back, Hutchins, and turn on the water; but not too much. We needn't drown thelittle creatures. "

Well, I have never seen anything work better. Aggie, who had refused toput a foot out of the car, stood up in it and held the hose. As fast asshe wet a bit of lawn, we followed with the pails. I spread mymackintosh out and knelt on it. 

[Illustration: As fast as she wet a bit of lawn, we followed with thepails]

The thing took skill. The worms had a way of snapping back into theirholes like lightning. 

Tish got about three to my one, and talked about packing them in mossand ice, and feeding them every other day. Hutchins, however, stood onthe lawn, with her hands in her pockets, and watched the house. 

Suddenly, without warning, Aggie turned the hose directly on my left earand held it there. 

"There's somebody coming!" she cried. "Merciful Heavens, what'll I dowith the hose?"

"You can turn it away from me!" I snapped. 

So she did, and at that instant a young man emerged from the shrubbery. 

He did not speak at once. Probably he could not. I happened to look atHutchins, and, for all her usual _savoir-faire_, as Charlie Sands calledit, she was clearly uncomfortable. 

Tish, engaged in a struggle at that moment and sitting back like arobin, did not see him at once. 

"Well!" said the young man; and again: "Well, upon my word!"

He seemed out of breath with surprise; and he took off his hat andmopped his head with a handkerchief. And, of course, as though thingswere not already bad enough, Aggie sneezed at that instant, as shealways does when she is excited; and for just a second the hose wason him. 

It was unexpected and he almost staggered. He looked at all of us, including Hutchins, and ran his handkerchief round inside his collar. Then he found his voice. 

"Really, " he said, "this is awfully good of you. We do need rain--don'twe?"

Tish was on her feet by that time, but she could not think of anythingto say. 

"I'm sorry if I startled you, " said the young man. "I--I'm a bitstartled myself. "

"There is nothing to make a fuss about!" said Hutchins crisply. "We aregetting worms to go fishing. "

"I see, " said the young man. "Quite natural, I'm sure. And where are yougoing fishing?"

Hutchins surprised us all by rudely turning her back on him. Consideringwe were on his property and had turned his own hose on him, a littletact would have been better. 

Tish had found her voice by that time. "We broke a window in thetool-house, " she said; "but I put fifty cents on the sill. "

"Thank you, " said the young man. 

Hutchins wheeled at that and stared at him in the most disagreeablefashion; but he ignored her. 

"We are trespassing, " said Tish; "but I hope you understand. We thoughtthe family was away. "

"I just happened to be passing through, " he explained. "I'm awfullyattached to the place--for various reasons. Whenever I'm in town I spendmy evenings wandering through the shrubbery and remembering--er--happierdays. "

"I think the lamps are going out, " said Hutchins sharply. "If we're toget back to town--"

"Ah!" he broke in. "So you have come out from the city?"

"Surely, " said Hutchins to Tish, "it is unnecessary to give thisgentleman any information about ourselves! We have done no damage--"

"Except the window, " he said. 

"We've paid for that, " she said in a nasty tone; and to Tish: "How do weknow this place is his? He's probably some newspaper man, and if youtell him who you are this whole thing will be in the morning paper, likethe eggs. "

"I give you my word of honor, " he said, "that I am nothing of the sort;in fact, if you will give me a little time I'd--I'd like to tell allabout myself. I've got a lot to say that's highly interesting, if you'llonly listen. "

Hutchins, however, only gave him a cold glance of suspicion and put thepails in the car. Then she got in and sat down. 

"I take it, " he said to her, "that you decline either to give or toreceive any information. "

"Absolutely!"

He sighed then, Aggie declares. 

"Of course, " he said, "though I haven't really the slightest curiosity, I could easily find out, you know. Your license plates--"

"Are under the cushion I'm sitting on, " said Hutchins, and started theengine. 

"Really, Hutchins, " said Tish, "I don't see any reason for being sosuspicious. I have always believed in human nature and seldom have Ibeen disappointed. The young man has done nothing to justify rudeness. And since we are trespassing on his place--"

"Huh!" was all Hutchins said. 

The young man sauntered over to the car, with his hands thrust into thiscoat pockets. He was nice-looking, especially then, when he was smiling. 

"Hutchins!" he said. "Well, that's a clue anyhow. It--it's an uncommonname. You didn't happen to notice a large 'No-Trespassing!' sign by thegate, did you?"

Hutchins only looked ahead and ignored him. As Tish said afterward, wehad a good many worms, anyhow; and, as the young man and Hutchins hadclearly taken an awful dislike to each other at first sight, the bestway to avoid trouble was to go home. So she got into the car. The youngman helped her and took off his hat. 

"Come out any time you like, " he said affably. "I'm not here at all inthe daytime, and the grounds are really rather nice. Come out and getsome roses. We've some pretty good ones--English importations. If youcare to bring some children from the tenements out for a picnic, pleasefeel free to do it. We're not selfish. "

Hutchins rudely started the car before he had finished; but he ignoredher and waved a cordial farewell to the rest of us. 

"Bring as many as you like, " he called. "Sunday is a good day. AskMiss--Miss Hutchins to come out and bring some friends along. "

We drove back at the most furious rate. Tish was at last compelled toremonstrate with Hutchins. 

"Not only are we going too fast, " she said, "but you were really rude tothat nice young man. "

"I wish I had turned the hose on him and drowned him!" said Hutchinsbetween her teeth. 

II

Hutchins brought a newspaper to Tish the next morning at breakfast, andTish afterwards said her expression was positively malevolent in such ayoung and pretty woman. 

The newspaper said that an attempt had been made to rob the Newcombplace the night before, but that the thieves had apparently securednothing but a package of oatmeal and a tin sprinkling-can, which theyhad abandoned on the lawn. Some color, however, was lent to the fearthat they had secured an amount of money, from the fact that a silverhalf-dollar had been found on the window sill of a tool-house. TheNewcomb family was at its summer home on the Maine coast. 

"You see, " Hutchins said to Tish, "that man didn't belong there at all. He was just impertinent and--laughing in his sleeve. "

Tish was really awfully put out, having planned to take the Sundayschool there for a picnic. She was much pleased, however, at Hutchins'sastuteness. 

"I shall take her along to Canada, " she said to me. "The girl hasinstinct, which is better than reason. Her subconsciousness is unusuallyactive. "

Looking back, as I must, and knowing now all that was in her small headwhile she whistled about the car, or all that was behind her smile, one wonders if women really should have the vote. So many of them arecreatures of sex and guile. A word from her would have cleared up somuch, and she never spoke it!

Well, we spent most of July in getting ready to go. Charlie Sands saidthe mosquitoes and black flies would be gone by August, and we were inno hurry. 

We bought a good tent, with a diagram of how to put it up, some foldingcamp-beds, and a stove. The day we bought the tent we had rather ashock, for as we left the shop the suburban youth passed us. We ignoredhim completely, but he lifted his hat. Hutchins, who was waiting inTish's car, saw him, too, and went quite white with fury. 

Shortly after that, Hannah came in one night and said that a man waswatching Tish's windows. We thought it was imagination, and Tish gaveher a dose of sulphur and molasses--her liver being sluggish. 

"Probably an Indian, I dare say, " was Tish's caustic comment. 

In view of later developments, however, it is a pity we did notinvestigate Hannah's story; for Aggie, going home from Tish's late onenight in Tish's car, had a similar experience, declaring that a smallmachine had followed them, driven by a heavy-set man with a mustache. She said, too, that Hutchins, swerving sharply, had struck the smallermachine a glancing blow and almost upset it. 

It was about the middle of July, I believe, that Tish received thefollowing letter:--

 _Madam_: Learning that you have decided to take a fishing-trip in Canada, I venture to offer my services as guide, philosopher, and friend. I know Canada thoroughly; can locate bass, as nearly as it lies in a mortal so to do; can manage a motor launch; am thoroughly at home in a canoe; can shoot, swim, and cook--the last indifferently well; know the Indian mind and my own--and will carry water and chop wood. 

 I do not drink, and such smoking as I do will, if I am engaged, be done in the solitude of the woods. 

 I am young and of a cheerful disposition. My object is not money, but only expenses paid and a chance to forget a recent and still poignant grief. I hope you will see the necessity for such an addition to your party, and allow me to subscribe myself, madam, Your most obedient servant, J. UPDIKE. 

Tish was much impressed; but Hutchins, in whose judgment she began tohave the greatest confidence, opposed the idea. 

"I wouldn't think of it, " she said briefly. 

"Why? It's a frank, straightforward letter. "

"He likes himself too much. And you should always be suspicious ofanything that's offered too cheap. "

So the Updike application was refused. I have often wondered since whatwould have been the result had we accepted it!

The worms were doing well, though Tish found that Hannah neglected them, and was compelled to feed them herself. On the day before we started, wepacked them carefully in ice and moss, and fed them. That was the daythe European war was declared. 

"Canada is at war, " Tish telephoned. "The papers say the whole countryis full of spies, blowing up bridges and railroads. "

"We can still go to the seashore, " I said. "The bead things will do forthe missionary box to Africa. "

"Seashore nothing!" Tish retorted. "We're going, of course, --just as weplanned. We'll keep our eyes open; that's all. I'm not for one side orthe other, but a spy's a spy. "

Later that evening she called again to say there were rumors that theCanadian forests were bristling with German wireless outfits. 

"I've a notion to write J. Updike, Lizzie, and find out whether he knowsanything about wireless telegraphy, " she said, "only there's so littletime. Perhaps I can find a book that gives the code. "

[This is only pertinent as showing Tish's state of mind. As a matter offact, she did not write to Updike at all. ]

Well, we started at last, and I must say they let us over the borderwith a glance; but they asked us whether we had any firearms. Tish'strunk contained a shotgun and a revolver; but she had packed over thetop her most intimate personal belongings, and they were not disturbed. 

"Have you any weapons?" asked the inspector. 

"Do we look like persons carrying weapons?" Tish demanded haughtily. Andof course we did not. Still, there was an untruth of the spirit and noneof us felt any too comfortable. Indeed, what followed may have been apunishment on us for deceit and conspiracy. 

Aggie had taken her cat along--because it was so fond of fish, she said. And, between Tish buying ice for the worms and Aggie getting milk forthe cat, the journey was not monotonous; but on returning from one ofher excursions to the baggage-car, Tish put a heavy hand on my shoulder. 

"That boy's on the train, Lizzie!" she said. "He had the impudence toask me whether I still drive with the license plates under a cushion. English roses--importations!" said Tish, and sniffed. "You don't supposehe went into that tent shop and asked about us?"

"He might, " I retorted; "but, on the other hand, there's no reason whyour going to Canada should keep the rest of the United States at home!"

However, the thing did seem queer, somehow. Why had he told us thingsthat were not so? Why had he been so anxious to know who we were? Why, had he asked us to take the Sunday-school picnic to a place that did notbelong to him?

"He may be going away to forget some trouble. You remember what he saidabout happier days, " said Tish. 

"That was Updike's reason too, " I relied. "Poignant grief!"

For just a moment our eyes met. The same suspicion had occurred to usboth. Well, we agreed to say nothing to Aggie or Hutchins, for fear ofupsetting them, and the next hour or so was peaceful. 

Hutchins read and Aggie slept. Tish and I strung beads for the Indians, and watched the door into the next car. And, sure enough, about themiddle of the afternoon he appeared and stared in at us. He watched usfor quite a time, smoking a cigarette as he did so. Then he came in andbent down over Tish. 

"You didn't take the children out for the picnic, did you?" he said. 

"I did not!" Tish snapped. 

"I'm sorry. Never saw the place look so well!"

"Look here, " Tish said, putting down her beads; "what were you doingthere that night anyhow? You don't belong to the family. "

He looked surprised and then grieved. 

"You've discovered that, have you?" he said. "I did, you know--word ofhonor! They've turned me off; but I love the old place still, and onsummer nights I wander about it, recalling happier days. "

Hutchins closed her book with a snap, and he sighed. 

"I perceive that we are overheard, " he said. "Some time I hope to tellyou the whole story. It's extremely sad. I'll not spoil the beginning ofyour holiday with it. "

All the time he had been talking he held a piece of paper in his hand. When he left us Tish went back thoughtfully to her beads. 

"It just shows, Lizzie, " she said, "how wrong we are to trust toappearances. That poor boy--"

I had stooped into the aisle and was picking up the piece of paper whichhe had accidentally dropped as he passed Hutchins. I opened it and readaloud to Tish and Aggie, who had wakened:--

"'Afraid you'll not get away with it! The red-haired man in the carbehind is a plain-clothes man. '"

Tish has a large fund of general knowledge, gained through CharlieSands; so what Aggie and I failed to understand she interpreted at once. 

"A plain-clothes man, " she explained, "is a detective dressed as agentleman. It's as plain as pikestaff! The boy's received this warningand dropped it. He has done something he shouldn't and is escaping toCanada!"

I do not believe, however, that we should have thought of his being apolitical spy but for the conductor of the train. He proved to be a verynice person, with eight children and a toupee; and he said that Canadawas honeycombed with spies in the pay of the German Government. 

"They're sending wireless messages all the time, probably from remoteplaces, " he said. "And, of course, their play now is to blow up thetranscontinental railroads. Of course the railroads have an army ofdetectives on the watch. "

"Good Heavens!" Aggie said, and turned pale. 

Well, our pleasure in the journey was ruined. Every time the whistleblew on the engine we quailed, and Tish wrote her will then and there onthe back of an envelope. It was while she was writing that the truthcame to her. 

"That boy!" she said. "Don't you see it all? That note was a warning tohim. He's a spy and the red-haired man is after him. "

None of us slept that night though Tish did a very courageous thingabout eleven o'clock, when she was ready for bed. I went with her. Wehad put our dressing-gowns over our nightrobes, and we went back to thecar containing the spy. 

He had not retired, but was sitting alone, staring ahead moodily. Thered-haired man was getting ready for bed, just opposite. Tish spokeloudly, so the detective should hear. 

"I have come back, " Tish said, "to say that we know everything. A wordto the wise, Mister Happier Days! Don't try any of your tricks!"

He sat, with his mouth quite open, and stared at us: but the red-hairedman pretended to hear nothing and took off his other shoe. 

None of us slept at all except Hutchins. Though we had told her nothing, she seemed inherently to distrust the spy. When, on arriving at the townwhere we were to take the boat, he offered to help her off with Aggie'scat basket, which she was carrying, she snubbed him. 

"I can do it myself, " she said coldly; "and if you know when you're welloff you'll go back to where you came from. Something might happen to youhere in the wilderness. "

"I wish it would, " he replied in quite a tragic manner. 

[As Tish said then, a man is probably often forced by circumstances intohateful situations. No spy can really want to be a spy with every brickwall suggesting, as it must, a firing-squad. ]

Well, to make a long story short, we took the little steamer that goesup the river three times a week to take groceries and mail to thelogging-camps, and the spy and the red-haired detective went along. Thespy seemed to have quite a lot of luggage, but the detective had only asuitcase. 

Tish, watching the detective, said his expression grew more and moreanxious as we proceeded up the river. Cottages gave place tologging-camps and these to rocky islands, with no sign of life; still, the spy stayed on the steamer, and so, of course, did the detective. 

Tish went down and examined the luggage. She reported that the spy wastraveling under the name of McDonald and that the detective's suitcasewas unmarked. Mr. McDonald had some boxes and a green canoe. Thedetective had nothing at all. There were no other passengers. 

We let Aggie's cat out on the boat and he caught a mouse almostimmediately, and laid it in the most touching manner at the detective'sfeet; but he was in a very bad humor and flung it over the rail. Shortlyafter that he asked Tish whether she intended to go to the ArcticCircle. 

"I don't know that that's any concern of yours, " Tish said. "You're notafter me, you know. "

He looked startled and muttered something into his mustache. 

"It's perfectly clear what's wrong with him, " Tish said. "He's got tostick to Mr. McDonald, and he hasn't got a tent in that suitcase, oreven a blanket. I don't suppose he knows where his next meal's comingfrom. "

She was probably right, for I saw the crew of the boat packing a box ortwo of crackers and an old comfort into a box; and Aggie overheard thedetective say to the captain that if he would sell him some fishhooks hewould not starve anyhow. 

Tish found an island that suited her about three o'clock that afternoon, and we disembarked. Mr. McDonald insisted on helping the crew with ourstuff, which they piled on a large flat rock; but the detective stood onthe upper deck and scowled down at us. Tish suggested that he was awoman-hater. 

"They know so many lawbreaking women, " she said, "it's quite natural. "

Having landed us, the boat went across to another island and depositedMr. McDonald and the green canoe. Tish, who had talked about a lodge insome vast wilderness, complained at that; but when the detective got offon a little tongue of the mainland, in sight of both islands, she saidthe place was getting crowded and she had a notion to go farther. 

The first thing she did was to sit on a box and open a map. The CanadianPacific was only a few miles away through the woods!

Hutchins proved herself a treasure. She could work all round the threeof us; she opened boxes and a can of beans for supper with the samehatchet, and had tea made and the beans heated while Tish was selectinga site for the tent. 

But--and I remembered this later--she watched the river at intervals, with her cheeks like roses from the exertion. She was really a prettygirl--only, when no one was looking, her mouth that day had a way ofsetting itself firmly, and she frowned at the water. 

We, Hutchins and I, set up the stove against a large rock, and when theteakettle started to boil it gave the river front a homey look. Sittingon my folding-chair beside the stove, with a cup of tea in my hand anda plate of beans on a doily on a packing-box beside me, I was entirelycomfortable. Through the glasses I could see the red-haired man onthe other shore sitting on a rock, with his head in his hands; but Mr. McDonald had clearly located on the other side of his island and wasnot in sight. 

Aggie and Tish were putting up the tent, and Hutchins was feeding thetea grounds to the worms, which had traveled comfortably, when I saw acanoe coming up the river. I called to Tish about it. 

"An Indian!" she said calmly. "Get the beads, Aggie; and put my shotgunon that rock, where he can see it. " She stood and watched him. "Primitive man, every inch of him!" she went on. "Notice his uncoveredhead. Notice the freedom, almost the savagery, of the way he uses thatpaddle. I wish he would sing. You remember, in Hiawatha, how they singas they paddle along?"

She got the beads and went to the water's edge; but the Indian stoopedjust then and, picking up a Panama hat, put it on his head. 

"I have called, " he said, "to see whether I can interest you in a set ofbooks I am selling. I shall detain you only a moment. Sixty-three steelengravings by well-known artists; best hand-made paper; and the workitself is of high educational value. "

Tish suddenly put the beads behind her back and said we did not expectto have any time to read. We had come into the wilderness to rest ourminds. 

"You are wrong, I fear, " said the Indian. "Personally I find that I canread better in the wilds than anywhere else. Great thoughts in greatsurroundings! I take Nietzsche with me when I go fishing. "

Tish had the wretched beads behind her all the time; and, to makeconversation, more than anything else, she asked about venison. Heshrugged his shoulders. J. Fenimore Cooper had not prepared us for anIndian who shrugged his shoulders. 

"We Indians are allowed to kill deer, " he said; "but I fear you areprohibited. I am not even permitted to sell it. "

"I should think, " said Tish sharply, "that, since we are miles from agame warden, you could safely sell us a steak or two. "

He gazed at her disapprovingly. "I should not care to break the law, madam, " he said. 

Then he picked up his paddle and took himself and his scruples and hishand-made paper and his sixty-three steel engravings down the river. 

"Primitive man!" I said to Tish, from my chair. "Notice the freedom, almost the savagery, with which he swings that paddle. "

We had brought a volume of Cooper along, not so much to read as toremind us how to address the Indians. Tish said nothing, but she got thebook and flung it far out into the river. 

There were a number of small annoyances the first day or two. Hutchinswas having trouble with the motor launch, which the steamer had towed upthe day we came, and which she called the "Mebbe. " And another civilizedIndian, with a gold watch and a cigarette case, had rented us a leakycanoe for a dollar a day. 

[We patched the leak with chewing gum, which Aggie always carried forindigestion; and it did fairly well, so long as the gum lasted. ]

Then, on the second night, there was a little wind, and the tentcollapsed on us, the ridgepole taking Aggie across the chest. It wasthat same night, I think, when Aggie's cat found a porcupine in thewoods, and came in looking like a pincushion. 

What with chopping firewood for the stove, and carrying water, andbailing out the canoe, and with the motor boat giving one gasp and thendying for every hundred times somebody turned over the engine, we had notime to fish for two days. 

The police agent fished all day from a rock, for, of course, he hadno boat; but he seemed to catch nothing. At times we saw him diggingfrantically, as though for worms. What he dug with I do not know; but, of course, he got no worms. Tish said if he had been more civil shewould have taken something to him and a can of worms; but he had beenrude, especially to Aggie's cat, and probably the boat would bring himthings. 

What with getting settled and everything, we had not much time to thinkabout the spy. It was on the third day, I believe, that he brought hisgreen canoe to the open water in front of us and anchored there, justbeyond earshot. 

He put out a line and opened a book; and from that time on he was a partof the landscape every day from 10 A. M. To 4 P. M. At noon he would eatsome sort of a lunch, reading as he ate. 

He apparently never looked toward us, but he was always there. It wasthe most extraordinary thing. At first we thought he had found aremarkable fishing-place; but he seemed to catch very few fish. It wasTish, I think, who found the best explanation. 

"He's providing himself with an alibi, " she stated. "How can he be a spywhen we see him all day long? Don't you see how clever it is?"

It was the more annoying because we had arranged a small cove forsoap-and-water bathing, hanging up a rod for bath-towels and suspendinga soap-dish and a sponge-holder from an overhanging branch. The cove waswell shielded by brush and rocks from the island, but naturally was opento the river. 

It was directly opposite this cove that Mr. McDonald took up hisposition. 

This compelled us to bathe in the early morning, while the water wasstill cold, and resulted in causing Aggie a most uncomfortable half-houron the fourth morning of our stay. 

She was the last one in the pool, and Tish absent-mindedly took herbathrobe and slippers back to the camp when she went. Tish went outin the canoe shortly after. She was learning to use one, with a lifepreserver on--Tish, of course, not the canoe. And Mr. McDonald arrivingsoon after, Aggie was compelled to sit in the water for two hours andtwenty minutes. When Hutchins found her she was quite blue. 

This was the only disagreement we had all summer: Aggie's refusing tospeak to Tish that entire day. She said Mr. McDonald had seen her headand thought it was some sort of swimming animal, and had shot at her. 

Mr. McDonald said afterward he knew her all the time, and was uncertainwhether she was taking a cure for something or was trying to commitsuicide. He said he spent a wretched morning. At five o'clock thatevening we began to hear a curious tapping noise from the spy's island. It would last for a time, stop, and go on. 

Hutchins said it was woodpeckers; but Tish looked at me significantly. 

"Wireless!" she said. "What did I tell you?"

That decided her next move, for that evening she put some tea and cannedcorn and a rubber blanket into the canoe; and in fear and trembling Iwent with her. 

"It's going to rain, Lizzie, " she said, "and after all, that detectivemay be surly; but he's doing his duty by his country. It's just asheroic to follow a spy up here, and starve to death watching him, as itis to storm a trench--and less showy. And I've something to tell him. "

The canoe tilted just then, and only by heroic effort, were we able tocalm it. 

"Then why not go comfortably in the motor boat?"

Tish stopped, her paddle in the air. "Because I can't make that drattedengine go, " she said, "and because I believe Hutchins would drown us allbefore she'd take any help to him. It's my belief that she's known himsomewhere. I've seen her sit on a rock and look across at him withmurder in her eyes. "

A little wind had come up, and the wretched canoe was leaking, thechewing gum having come out. Tish was paddling; so I was compelled tosit over the aperture, thus preventing water from coming in. Despite mybest efforts, however, about three inches seeped in and washed about me. It was quite uncomfortable. 

The red-haired man was asleep when we landed. He had hung the comfortover a branch, like a tent, and built a fire at the end of it. He hadhis overcoat on, buttoned to the chin, and his head was on hissuit-case. He sat up and looked at us, blinking. 

"We've brought you some tea and some canned corn, " Tish said; "and arubber blanket. It's going to rain. "

He slid out of the tent, feet first, and got up; but when he tried tospeak he sneezed. He had a terrible cold. 

"I might as well say at once, " Tish went on, "that we know why you arehere--"

"The deuce you do!" he said hoarsely. 

"We do not particularly care about you, especially since the way youacted to a friendly and innocent cat--one can always judge a man by theway he treats dumb animals; but we sympathize with your errand. We'lleven help if we can. "

"Then the--the person in question has confided in you?"

"Not at all, " said Tish loftily. "I hope we can put two and twotogether. Have you got a revolver?"

He looked startled at that. "I have one, " he said; "but I guess I'll notneed it. The first night or two a skunk hung round; two, in fact--motherand child--but I think they're gone. "

"Would you like some fish?"

"My God, no!"

This is a truthful narrative. That is exactly what he said. 

"I'll tell you what I do need, ladies, " he went on: "If you've gota spare suit of underwear over there, I could use it. It'd stretch, probably. And I'd like a pen and some ink. I must have lost my fountainpen out of my pocket stooping over the bank to wash my face. "

"Do you know the wireless code?" Tish asked suddenly. 

"Wireless?"

"I have every reason to believe, " she said impressively, "that one ofthe great trees on that island conceals a wireless outfit. "

"I see!" He edged back a little from us both. 

"I should think, " Tish said, eyeing him, "that a knowledge of thewireless code would be essential to you in your occupation. "

"We--we get a smattering of all sorts of things, " he said; but he wasuneasy--you could see that with half an eye. 

He accompanied us down to the canoe; but once, when Tish turnedsuddenly, he ducked back as though he had been struck and changed color. He thanked us for the tea and corn, and said he wished we had a sparerazor--but, of course, he supposed not. Then:--

"I suppose the--the person in question will stay as long as you do?" heasked, rather nervously. 

"It looks like it, " said Tish grimly. "I've no intention of being drivenaway, if that's what you mean. We'll stay as long as the fishing'sgood. "

He groaned under his breath. "The whole d--d river is full of fish, " hesaid. "They crawled up the bank last night and ate all the crackers I'dsaved for to-day. Oh, I'll pay somebody out for this, all right! Goodgracious, ladies, your boat's full of water!"

"It has a hole in it, " Tish replied and upturned it to empty it. 

When he saw the hole his eyes stuck out. "You can't go out in that leakycanoe! It's suicidal!"

"Not at all, " Tish assured him. "My friend here will sit on the leak. Get in quick, Lizzie. It's filling. "

The last we saw of the detective that night he was standing on the bank, staring after us. Afterward, when a good many things were cleared up, hesaid he decided that he'd been asleep and dreamed the whole thing--thewireless, and my sitting on the hole in the canoe, and the wind tossingit about, and everything--only, of course, there was the tea and thecanned corn!

We did our first fishing the next day. Hutchins had got the motor boatgoing, and I put over the spoon I had made from the feather duster. After going a mile or so slowly I felt a tug, and on drawing my line inI found I had captured a large fish. I wrapped the line about a part ofthe engine and Tish put the barrel hoop with the netting underneath it. The fish was really quite large--about four feet, I think--and it brokethrough the netting. I wished to hit it with the oar, but Hutchins saidthat might break the fin and free it. Unluckily we had not broughtTish's gun, or we might have shot it. 

At last we turned the boat round and went home, the fish swimmingalongside, with its mouth open. And there Aggie, who is occasionallyalmost inspired, landed the fish by the simple expedient of getting outof the boat, taking the line up a bank and wrapping it round a tree. Byall pulling together we landed the fish successfully. It was forty-nineinches by Tish's tape measure. 

Tish did not sleep well that night. She dreamed that the fish had a redmustache and was a spy in disguise. When she woke she declared there wassomebody prowling round the tent. 

She got her shotgun and we all sat up in bed for an hour or so. 

Nothing happened, however, except that Aggie cried out that there was asmall animal just inside the door of the tent. We could see it, too, though faintly. Tish turned the shotgun on it and it disappeared; butthe next morning she found she had shot one of her shoes to pieces. 

III

It was the day Tish began her diary that we discovered the red-hairedman's signal. Tish was compelled to remain at home most of the day, breaking in another pair of shoes, and she amused herself by watchingthe river and writing down interesting things. She had read somewhere ofthe value of such records of impressions:--

 10 A. M. Gull on rock. Very pretty. Frightened away by the McDonald person, who has just taken up his customary position. Is he reading or watching this camp?

 10. 22. Detective is breakfasting--through glasses, he is eating canned corn. Aggie--pickerel, from bank. 

 10. 40. Aggie's cat, beside her, has caught a small fish. Aggie declares that the cat stole one of her worms and held it in the water. I think she is mistaken. 

 11. Most extraordinary thing--Hutchins has asked permission to take pen and ink across to the detective! Have consented. 

 11. 20. Hutchins is still across the river. If I did not know differently I should say she and the detective are quarreling. He is whittling something. Through glasses, she appears to stamp her foot. 

 11. 30. Aggie has captured a small sunfish. Hutchins is still across the river. He seems to be appealing to her for something--possibly the underwear. We have none to spare. 

 11. 40. Hutchins is an extraordinary girl. She hates men, evidently. She has had some sort of quarrel with the detective and has returned flushed with battle. Mr. McDonald called to her as she passed, but she ignored him. 

 12, noon. Really, there is something mysterious about all this. The detective was evidently whittling a flagpole. He has erected it now, with a red silk handkerchief at end. It hangs out over the water. Aggie--bass, but under legal size. 

 1. 15 P. M. The flag puzzles Hutchins. She is covertly watching it. It is evidently a signal--but to whom? Are the secret-service men closing in on McDonald?

 1. Aggie--pike!

 2. On consulting map find unnamed lake only a few miles away. Shall investigate to-morrow. 

 3. Steamer has just gone. Detective now has canoe, blue in color. Also food. He sent off his letter. 

 4. Fed worms. Lizzie thinks they know me. How kindness is its own reward! Mr. McDonald is drawing in his anchor, which is a large stone fastened to a rope. Shall take bath. 

Tish's notes ended here. She did not take the bath after all, for Mr. McDonald made us a call that afternoon. 

He beached the green canoe and came up the rocks calmly and smilingly. Hutchins gave him a cold glance and went on with what she was doing, which was chopping a plank to cook the fish on. He bowed cheerfully toall of us and laid a string of fish on a rock. 

"I brought a little offering, " he said, looking at Hutchins's back. "The fishing isn't what I expected but if the young lady with the hatchetwill desist, so I can make myself heard, I've found a place where thereare fish! This biggest fellow is three and a quarter pounds. "

Hutchins chopped harder than ever, and the plank flew up, striking herin the chest; but she refused all assistance, especially from Mr. McDonald, who was really concerned. He hurried to her and took thehatchet out of her hand, but in his excitement he was almost uncivil. 

"You obstinate little idiot!" he said. "You'll kill yourself yet. "

To my surprise, Hutchins, who had been entirely unemotional right along, suddenly burst into tears and went into the tent. Mr. McDonald took ahasty step or two after her, realizing, no doubt, that he had said morethan he should to a complete stranger; but she closed the fly of thetent quite viciously and left him standing, with his arms folded, staring at it. 

It was at that moment he saw the large fish, hanging from a tree. Hestood for a moment staring at it and we could see that he was quitesurprised. 

"It is a fish, isn't it?" he said after a moment. "I--I thought for amoment it was painted on something. "

He sat down suddenly on one of our folding-chairs and looked at thefish, and then at each of us in turn. 

"You know, " he said, "I didn't think there were such fish! I--youmustn't mind my surprise. " He wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. "Just kick those things I brought into the river, will you? I apologizefor them. "

"Forty-nine inches, " Tish said. "We expect to do better when we reallyget started. This evening we shall go after its mate, which is probablyhanging round. "

"Its mate?" he said, rather dazed. "Oh, I see. Of course!"

He still seemed to doubt his senses, for he went over and touched itwith his finger. "Ladies, " he said, "I'm not going after the--the mate. I couldn't land it if I did get it. I am going to retire from thegame--except for food; but I wish, for the sake of my reason, you'd tellme what you caught it with. "

Well, you may heartily distrust a person; but that is no reason why youshould not answer a simple question. So I showed him the thing I hadmade--and he did not believe me!

"You're perfectly right, " he said. "Every game has its secrets. I had nobusiness to ask. But you haven't caught me with that feather-dusterthing any more than you caught that fish with it. I don't mind your nottelling me. That's your privilege. But isn't it rather rubbing it in tomake fun of me?"

"Nothing of the sort!" Aggie said angrily. "If you had caught it--"

"My dear lady, " he said, "I couldn't have caught it. The mere shock ofgetting such a bite would have sent me out of my boat in a swoon. " Heturned to Tish. "I have only one disappointment, " he said, "that itwasn't one of _our_ worms that did the work. "

Tish said afterward she was positively sorry for him, he looked socrestfallen. So, when he started for his canoe she followed him. 

"Look here, " she said; "you're young, and I don't want to see you getinto trouble. Go home, young man! There are plenty of others to takeyour place. "

He looked rather startled. "That's it exactly, " he said, after a moment. "As well as I can make out there are about a hundred. If you think, " hesaid fiercely, raising his voice, "that I'm going to back out and letsomebody else in, I'm not. And that's flat. "

"It's a life-and-death matter, " said Tish. 

"You bet it's a life-and-death matter. "

"And--what about the--the red-headed man over there?"

His reply amazed us all. "He's harmless, " he said. "I don't like him, naturally; but I admire the way he holds on. He's making the best of abad business. "

"Do you know why he's here?"

He looked uneasy for once. 

"Well, I've got a theory, " he replied; but, though his voice was calm, he changed color. 

"Then perhaps you'll tell me what that signal means?"

Tish gave him the glasses and he saw the red flag. I have never seen aman look so unhappy. 

"Holy cats!" he said, and almost dropped the glasses. "Why, he--he mustbe expecting somebody!"

"So I should imagine, " Tish commented dryly. "He sent a letter by theboat to-day. "

"The h--l he did!" And then: "That's ridiculous! You're mistaken. Asa--as a matter of fact, I went over there the other night andcommandeered his fountain pen. "

So it had not fallen out of his pocket!

"I'll be frank, ladies, " he said. "It's my object just now to keep thatchap from writing letters. It doesn't matter why, but it's vital. "

He was horribly cast down when we told him about Hutchins and the penand ink. 

"So that's it!" he said gloomily. "And the flag's a signal, of course. Ladies, you have done it out of the kindness of your hearts, I know; butI think you have wrecked my life. "

He took a gloomy departure and left us all rather wrought up. Who werewe, as Tish said, to imperil a fellow man? And another thing--if therewas a reward on him, why should we give it to a red-haired detective, who was rude to harmless animals and ate canned corn for breakfast?

With her customary acumen Tish solved the difficulty that very evening. 

"The simplest thing, " she said, "of course, would be to go overduring the night and take the flag away; but he may have more redhandkerchiefs. Then, too, he seems to be a light sleeper, and it wouldbe awkward to have him shoot at us. "

She sat in thought for quite a while. Hutchins was watching the sunset, and seemed depressed and silent. Tish lowered her voice. 

"There's no reason why we shouldn't have a red flag, too, " she said. "Itgives us an even chance to get in on whatever is about to happen. We canwarn Mr. McDonald, for one thing, if any one comes here. Personally Ithink he is unjustly suspected. "

[But Tish was to change her mind very soon. ]

We made the flag that night, by lantern light, out of Tish's red silkpetticoat. Hutchins was curious, I am sure; but we explained nothing. And we fastened it obliquely over the river, like the one on the otherside. 

Tish's change of heart, which occurred the next morning, was dueto a most unfortunate accident that happened to her at nine o'clock. Hutchins, who could swim like a duck, was teaching Tish to swim, andshe was learning nicely. Tish had put a life-preserver on, with aclothes-line fastened to it, and Aggie was sitting on the bank holdingthe rope while she went through the various gestures. 

Having completed the lesson Hutchins went into the woods for redraspberries, leaving Tish still practicing in the water with Aggieholding the rope. Happening to sneeze, the line slipped out of her hand, and she had the agonizing experience of seeing Tish carried away by thecurrent. 

I was washing some clothing in the river a few yards down the streamwhen Tish came floating past. I shall never forget her expression or myown sense of absolute helplessness. 

"Get the canoe, " said Tish, "and follow. I'm heading for Island Eleven. "

[Illustration: "Get the canoe and follow. I'm heading for Island Eleven"]

She was quite calm, though pale; but, in her anxiety to keep well abovethe water, she did what was almost a fatal thing--she pushed thelife-preserver lower down round her body. And having shifted thefloating center, so to speak, without warning her head disappeared andher feet rose in the air. 

For a time it looked as though she would drown in that position; butTish rarely loses her presence of mind. She said she knew at once whatwas wrong. So, though somewhat handicapped by the position, she replacedthe cork belt under her arms and emerged at last. 

Aggie had started back into the woods for Hutchins; but, with one thingand another, it was almost ten before they returned together. Tish bythat time was only a dot on the horizon through the binocular, havingmissed Island Eleven, as she explained later, by the rope being caughton a submerged log, which deflected her course. 

We got into the motor boat and followed her, and, except for a mostunjust sense of irritation that I had not drowned myself by followingher in the canoe, she was unharmed. We got her into the motor boat andinto a blanket, and Aggie gave her some blackberry cordial at once. Itwas some time before her teeth ceased chattering so she could speak. When she did it was to announce that she had made a discovery. 

"He's a spy, all right!" she said. "And that Indian is another. Neitherof them saw me as I floated past. They were on Island Eleven. Mr. McDonald wrote something and gave it to the Indian. It wasn't a letteror he'd have sent it by the boat. He didn't even put it in an envelope, so far as I could see. It's probably in cipher. "

Well, we took her home, and she had a boiled egg at dinner. 

The rest of us had fish. It is one of Tish's theories that fish shouldonly be captured for food, and that all fish caught must be eaten. I donot know when I have seen fish come as easy. Perhaps it was the worms, which had grown both long and fat, so that one was too much for a hook;and we cut them with scissors, like tape or ribbon. Aggie and I finallygot so sick of fish that while Tish's head was turned we dropped in ourlines without bait. But, even at that, Aggie, reeling in her line to gohome, caught a three-pound bass through the gills and could not shakeit off. 

We tried to persuade Tish to lie down that afternoon, but she refused. 

"I'm not sick, " she said, "even if you two idiots did try to drown me. And I'm on the track of something. If that was a letter, why didn't hesend it by the boat?"

Just then her eye fell on the flagpole, and we followed her horrifiedgaze. The flag had been neatly cut away!

Tish's eyes narrowed. She looked positively dangerous; and within fiveminutes she had cut another flag out of the back breadth of thepetticoat and flung it defiantly in the air. Who had cut away thesignal--McDonald or the detective? We had planned to investigate thenameless lake that afternoon, Tish being like Colonel Roosevelt in herthirst for information, as well as in the grim pugnacity that is herdominant characteristic; but at the last minute she decided not to go. 

"You and Aggie go, Lizzie, " she said. "I've got something on hand. "

"Tish!" Aggie wailed. "You'll drown yourself or something. "

"Don't be a fool!" Tish snapped. "There's a portage, but you and Lizziecan carry the canoe across on your heads. I've seen pictures of it. It'seasy. And keep your eyes open for a wireless outfit. There's one about, that's sure!"

"Lots of good it will do to keep our eyes open, " I said with somebitterness, "with our heads inside the canoe!"

We finally started and Hutchins went with us. It was Hutchins, too, whovoiced the way we all felt when we had crossed the river and werepreparing for what she called the portage. 

"She wants to get us out of the way, Miss Lizzie, " she said. "Can youimagine what mischief she's up to?"

"That is not a polite way to speak of Miss Tish, Hutchins, " I saidcoldly. Nevertheless, my heart sank. 

Hutchins and I carried the canoe. It was a hot day and there was nopath. Aggie, who likes a cup of hot tea at five o'clock, had broughtalong a bottle filled with tea, and a small basket containing sugar andcups. 

Personally I never had less curiosity about a lake. As a matter of factI wished there was no lake. Twice--being obliged, as it were, to walkblindly and the canoe being excessively heavy--I, who led the way, ranthe front end of the thing against the trunk of a tree, and bothHutchins and I sat down violently, under the canoe as a result of theimpact. 

To add to the discomfort of the situation Aggie declared that we werebeing followed by a bear, and at the same instant stepped into a swampup to her knees. She became calm at once, with the calmness of despair. 

"Go and leave me, Lizzie!" she said. "He is just behind those bushes. Imay sink before he gets me--that's one comfort. "

Hutchins found a log and, standing on it, tried to pull her up; but sheseemed firmly fastened. Aggie went quite white; and, almost besidemyself, I poured her a cup of hot tea, which she drank. I remember shemurmured Mr. Wiggins's name, and immediately after she yelled that thebear was coming. 

It was, however, the detective who emerged from the bushes. He got Aggieout with one good heave, leaving both her shoes gone forever; and whileshe collapsed, whimpering, he folded his arms and stared at all of usangrily. 

"What sort of damnable idiocy is this?" he demanded in a most unpleasanttone. 

Aggie revived and sat upright. 

"That's our affair, isn't it?" said Hutchins curtly. 

"Not by a blamed sight!" was his astonishing reply. 

"The next time I am sinking in a morass, let me sink, " Aggie said, withsimple dignity. 

He did not speak another word, but gave each of us a glance of the mostdeadly contempt, and finished up with Hutchins. 

"What I don't understand, " he said furiously, "is why you have to lendyourself to this senile idiocy. Because some old women choose to sinkthemselves in a swamp is no reason why you should commit suicide!"

Aggie said afterward only the recollection that he had saved her lifeprevented her emptying the tea on him. I should hardly have knownHutchins. 

"Naturally, " she said in a voice thick with fury, "you are in a positionto insult these ladies, and you do. But I warn you, if you intend tokeep on, this swamp is nothing. We like it here. We may stay for months. I hope you have your life insured. "

Perhaps we should have understood it all then. Of course Charlie Sands, for whom I am writing this, will by this time, with his keen mind, comprehend it all; but I assure you we suspected nothing. 

How simple, when you line it up: The country house and the garden hose;the detective, with no camp equipment; Mr. McDonald and the greencanoe; the letter on the train; the red flag; the girl in the pinktam-o'-shanter--who has not yet appeared, but will shortly; Mr. McDonald's incriminating list--also not yet, but soon. 

How inevitably they led to what Charlie Sands has called our crime!

The detective, who was evidently very strong, only glared at her. Thenhe swung the canoe up on his head and, turning about, started back theway we had come. Though Hutchins and Aggie were raging, I was resigned. My neck was stiff and my shoulders ached. We finished our tea in silenceand then made our way back to the river. 

I have now reached Tish's adventure. It is not my intention in thisrecord to defend Tish. She thought her conclusions were correct. CharlieSands says she is like Shaw--she has got a crooked point of view, butshe believes she is seeing straight. And, after a while, if you look herway long enough you get a sort of mental astigmatism. 

So I shall confess at once that, at the time, I saw nothing immoral inwhat she did that afternoon while we were having our adventure in theswamp. 

I was putting cloths wrung out of arnica and hot water on my neck whenshe came home, and Hutchins was baking biscuit--she was a marvelouscook, though Aggie, who washed the dishes, objected to the number ofpans she used. 

Tish ignored both my neck and the biscuits, and, marching up the bank, got her shotgun from the tent and loaded it. 

"We may be attacked at any time, " she said briefly; and, getting thebinocular, she searched the river with a splendid sweeping glance. "Atany time. Hutchins, take these glasses, please, and watch that we arenot disturbed. "

"I'm baking biscuit, Miss Letitia. "

"Biscuit!" said Tish scornfully. "Biscuit in times like these?"

She walked up to the camp stove and threw the oven door open; but, though I believe she had meant to fling them into the river, she changedher mind when she saw them. 

"Open a jar of honey, Hutchins, " she said, and closed the oven; buther voice was abstracted. "You can watch the river from the stove, Hutchins, " she went on. "Miss Aggie and Miss Lizzie and I must confertogether. "

So we went into the tent, and Tish closed and fastened it. 

"Now, " she said, "I've got the papers. "

"Papers?"

"The ones Mr. McDonald gave that Indian this morning. I had an idea he'dstill have them. You can't hurry an Indian. I waited in the bushes untilhe went in swimming. Then I went through his pockets. "

"Tish Carberry!" cried Aggie. 

"These are not times to be squeamish, " Tish said loftily. "I'm neutral;of course; but Great Britain has had this war forced on her and I'mgoing to see that she has a fair show. I've ordered all my stockingsfrom the same shop in London, for twenty years, and squarer people neverlived. Look at these--how innocent they look, until one knows!"

She produced two papers from inside her waist. I must confess that, atfirst glance, I saw nothing remarkable. 

"The first one looks, " said Tish, "like a grocery order. It's meant tolook like that. It's relieved my mind of one thing--McDonald's got nowireless or he wouldn't be sending cipher messages by an Indian. "

It was written on a page torn out of a pocket notebook and the page wasruled with an inch margin at the left. This was the document:--

 1 Dozen eggs. 20 Yards fishing-line. 1 pkg. Needles--anything to sew a button on. 1 doz. A B C bass hooks. 3 lbs. Meat--anything so it isn't fish. 1 bot. Ink for fountain pen. 3 Tins sardines. 1 Extractor. 

Well, I could not make anything of it; but, of course, I have not Tish'smind. Aggie was almost as bad. 

"What's an extractor?" she asked. 

"Exactly!" said Tish. "What is an extractor? Is the fellow going to pullteeth? No! He needed an _e_; so he made up a word. "

She ran her finger down the first letters of the second column. "D-y-n-a-m-i-t-e!" she said triumphantly. "Didn't I tell you?"

IV

Well, there it was--staring at us. I felt positively chilled. He lookedso young and agreeable, and, as Aggie said, he had such nice teeth. Andto know him for what he was--it was tragic! But that was not all. 

"Add the numbers!" said Tish. "Thirty-one tons, perhaps, of dynamite!And that's only part, " said Tish. "Here's the most damning thing ofall--a note to his accomplice!"

"Damning" is here used in the sense of condemnatory. We are none of usaddicted to profanity. 

We read the other paper, which had been in a sealed envelope, butwithout superscription. It is before me as I write, and I am copying itexactly:--

 I shall have to see you. I'm going crazy! Don't you realize that this is a matter of life and death to me? Come to Island Eleven to-night, won't you? And give me a chance to talk, anyhow. Something has got to be done and done soon. I'm desperate!

Aggie sneezed three times in sheer excitement; for anyone can see howabsolutely incriminating the letter was. It was not signed, but it wasin the same writing as the list. 

Tish, who knows something about everything, said the writing denoted anunscrupulous and violent nature. 

"The _y_ is especially vicious, " she said. "I wouldn't trust a man whomade a _y_ like that to carry a sick child to the doctor!"

The thing, of course, was to decide at once what measures to take. Theboat would not come again for two days, and to send a letter by it tothe town marshal or sheriff, or whatever the official is in Canada whotakes charge of spies, would be another loss of time. 

"Just one thing, " said Tish. "I'll plan this out and find some way todeal with the wretch; but I wouldn't say anything to Hutchins. She's anice little thing, though she is a fool about a motor boat. There's nocase in scaring her. "

For some reason or other, however, Hutchins was out of spirits thatnight. 

"I hope you're not sick, Hutchins?" said Tish. 

"No, indeed, Miss Tish. "

"You're not eating your fish. "

"I'm sick of fish, " she said calmly. "I've eaten so much fish that whenI see a hook I have a mad desire to go and hang myself on it. "

"Fish, " said Tish grimly, "is good for the brain. I do not care toboast, but never has my mind been so clear as it is to-night. "

Now certainly, though Tish's tone was severe, there was nothing in it tohurt the girl; but she got up from the cracker box on which she wassitting, with her eyes filled with tears. 

"Don't mind me. I'm a silly fool, " she said; and went down to the riverand stood looking out over it. 

It quite spoiled our evening. Aggie made her a hot lemonade and, Ibelieve, talked to her about Mr. Wiggins, and how, when he was living, she had had fits of weeping without apparent cause. But if the girl wasin love, as we surmised, she said nothing about it. She insisted that itwas too much fish and nervous strain about the Mebbe. 

"I never know, " she said, "when we start out whether we're going to getback or be marooned and starve to death on some island. "

Tish said afterward that her subconscious self must have taken the word"marooned" and played with it; for in ten minutes or so her plan poppedinto her head. 

"'Full-panoplied from the head of Jove, ' Lizzie, " she said. "Really, itis not necessary to think if one only has faith. The supermind does itall without effort. I do not dislike the young man; but I must do myduty. "

Tish's plan was simplicity itself. We were to steal his canoe. 

"Then we'll have him, " she finished. "The current's too strong there forhim to swim to the mainland. "

"He might try it and drown, " Aggie objected. "Spy or no spy, he'ssomebody's son. "

"War is no time to be chicken-hearted, " Tish replied. 

I confess I ate little all that day. At noon Mr. McDonald came andborrowed two eggs from us. 

"I've sent over to a store across country, by my Indian guide, philosopher, and friend, " he said, "for some things I needed; but I daresay he's reading Byron somewhere and has forgotten it. "

"Guide, philosopher, and friend!" I caught Tish's eye. McDonald hadwritten the Updike letter! McDonald had meant to use our respectabilityto take him across the border!

We gave him the eggs, but Tish said afterward she was not deceived for amoment. 

"The Indian has told him, " she said, "and he's allaying our suspicions. Oh, he's clever enough! 'Know the Indian mind and my own!'" she quotedfrom the Updike letter. "'I know Canada thoroughly. ' 'My object is notmoney. ' I should think not!"

Tish stole the green canoe that night. She put on the life preserver andwe tied the end of the rope that Aggie had let slip to the canoe. Thelife-preserver made it difficult to paddle, Tish said, but she feltmore secure. If she struck a rock and upset, at least she would notdrown; and we could start after her at dawn with the Mebbe. 

"I'll be somewhere down the river, " she said, "and safe enough, mostlikely, unless there are falls. "

Hutchins watched in a puzzled way, for Tish did not leave until dusk. 

"You'd better let me follow you with the launch, Miss Tish, " she said. "Just remember that if the canoe sinks you're tied to it. "

"I'm on serious business to-night, Hutchins, " Tish said ominously. "Youare young, and I refuse to trouble your young mind; but your ears aresharp. If you hear any shooting, get the boat and follow me. "

The mention of shooting made me very nervous. We watched Tish as long aswe could see her; then we returned to the tent, and Aggie and Icrocheted by the hanging lantern. Two hours went by. At eleven o'clockTish had not returned and Hutchins was in the motor boat, getting itready to start. 

"I like courage, Miss Lizzie, " she said to me; "but this thing ofelderly women, with some sort of bug, starting out at night in canoes istoo strong for me. Either she's going to stay in at night or I'm goinghome. "

"Elderly nothing!" I said, with some spirit. "She is in the prime oflife. Please remember, Hutchins, that you are speaking of your employer. Miss Tish has no bug, as you call it. "

"Oh, she's rational enough, " Hutchins retorted: "but she is a woman ofone idea and that sort of person is dangerous. "

I was breathless at her audacity. 

"Come now, Miss Lizzie, " she said, "how can I help when I don't knowwhat is being done? I've done my best up here to keep you comfortableand restrain Miss Tish's recklessness; but I ought to know something. "

She was right; and, Tish or no Tish, then and there I told her. She wasmore than astonished. She sat in the motor boat, with a lantern at herfeet, and listened. 

"I see, " she said slowly. "So the--so Mr. McDonald is a spy and has sentfor dynamite to destroy the railroad! And--and the red-haired man is adetective! How do you know he is a detective?"

I told her then about the note we had picked up from beside her in thetrain, and because she was so much interested she really seemed quitethrilled. I brought the cipher grocery list and the other note down toher. 

"It's quite convincing, isn't it?" she said. "And--and exciting! I don'tknow when I've been so excited. "

She really was. Her cheeks were flushed. She looked exceedingly pretty. 

"The thing to do, " she said, "is to teach him a lesson. He's young. Hemayn't always have had to stoop to such--such criminality. If we canscare him thoroughly, it might do him a lot of good. "

I said I was afraid Tish took a more serious view of things and wouldnotify the authorities. And at that moment there came two or threeshots--then silence. 

I shall never forget the ride after Tish and how we felt when we failedto find her; for there was no sign of her. The wind had come up, and, what with seeing Tish tied to that wretched canoe and sinking with it orshot through the head and lying dead in the bottom of it, we were aboutcrazy. As we passed Island Eleven we could see the spy's camp-fire andhis tent, but no living person. 

At four in the morning we gave up and started back, heavy-hearted. What, therefore, was our surprise to find Tish sitting by the fire inher bathrobe, with a cup of tea in her lap and her feet in a foot-tub ofhot water! Considering all we had gone through and that we had obeyedorders exactly, she was distinctly unjust. Indeed, at first she quiterefused to speak to any of us. 

"I do think, Tish, " Aggie said as she stood shivering by the fire, "thatyou might at least explain where you have been. We have been going upand down the river for hours, burying you over and over. "

Tish took a sip of tea, but said nothing. 

"You said, " I reminded her, "that if there was shooting, we were tostart after you at once. When we heard the shots, we went, of course. "

Tish leaned over and, taking the teakettle from the fire, poured morewater into the foot-tub. Then at last she turned to speak. 

"Bring some absorbent cotton and some bandages, Hutchins, " she said. "Iam bleeding from a hundred wounds. As for you"--she turned fiercely onAggie and me--"the least you could have done was to be here when Ireturned, exhausted, injured, and weary; but, of course, you weregallivanting round the lake in an upholstered motor boat. "

Here she poured more water into the foot-tub and made it much too hot. This thawed her rather, and she explained what was wrong. She wasbruised, scratched to the knees, and with a bump the size of an egg onher forehead, where she had run into a tree. 

The whole story was very exciting. It seems she got the green canoewithout any difficulty, the spy being sound asleep in his tent; butabout that time the wind came up and Tish said she could not make aninch of progress toward our camp. 

The chewing gum with which we had repaired our canoe came out at thattime and the boat began to fill, Tish being unable to sit over the leakand paddle at the same time. So, at last, she gave up and made for themainland. 

"The shooting, " Tish said with difficulty, "was by men from the Indiancamp firing at me. I landed below the camp, and was making my way asbest I could through the woods when they heard me moving. I believe theythought it was a bear. "

I think Tish was more afraid of the Indians, in spite of theirsixty-three steel engravings and the rest of it, than she pretended, though she said she would have made herself known, but at that momentshe fell over a fallen tree and for fifteen minutes was unable to speaka word. When at last she rose the excitement was over and they had goneback to their camp. 

"Anyhow, " she finished, "the green canoe is hidden a couple of milesdown the river, and I guess Mr. McDonald is safe for a time. Lizzie, youcan take a bath to-morrow safely. "

Tish sat up most of the rest of the night composing a letter to theauthorities of the town, telling them of Mr. McDonald and enclosingcareful copies of the incriminating documents she had found. 

During the following morning the river was very quiet. Through thebinocular we were able to see Mr. McDonald standing on the shore of hisisland and looking intently in our direction, but naturally we paid noattention to him. 

The red-haired man went in swimming that day and necessitated ourretiring to the tent for an hour and a half; but at noon Aggie'snaturally soft heart began to assert itself. 

"Spy or no spy, " she said to Tish, "we ought to feed him. "

"Huh!" was Tish's rejoinder. "There is no sense is wasting good food ona man whose hours are numbered. "

We were surprised, however, to find that Hutchins, who had detested Mr. McDonald, was rather on Aggie's side. 

"The fact that he has but a few more hours, " she said to Tish, "is anexcellent reason for making those hours as little wretched as possible. "

It was really due to Hutchins, therefore, that Mr. McDonald had aluncheon. The problem of how to get it to him was a troublesome one, butTish solved it with her customary sagacity. 

"We can make a raft, " she said, "a small one, large enough to hold atray. By stopping the launch some yards above the island we can floathis luncheon to him quite safely. "

That was the method we ultimately pursued and it worked mostsatisfactorily. 

Hutchins baked hot biscuits; and, by putting a cover over the pan, wewere enabled to get them to him before they cooled. 

We prepared a really appetizing luncheon of hot biscuits, broiled ham, marmalade, and tea, adding, at Aggie's instructions, a jar of preservedpeaches, which she herself had put up. 

Tish made the raft while we prepared the food, and at exactly half-pasttwelve o'clock we left the house. Mr. McDonald saw us coming and waswaiting smilingly at the upper end of the island. 

"Great Scott!" he said. "I thought you were never going to hear me. Another hour and I'd have made a swim for it, though it's suicidal withthis current. I'll show you where you can come in so you won't hit arock. "

Hutchins had stopped the engine of the motor boat and we threw out theanchor at a safe distance from the shore. 

"We are not going to land, " said Tish, "and I think you know perfectlywell the reason why. "

"Oh, now, " he protested; "surely you are going to land! I've had anawfully uncomfortable accident--my canoe's gone. "

"We know that, " Tish said calmly. "As a matter of fact, we took it. "

Mr. McDonald sat down suddenly on a log at the water's edge and lookedat us. 

"Oh!" he said. 

"You may not believe it, " Tish said, "but we know everything--yourdastardly plot, who the red-haired man is, and all the destruction andwretchedness you are about to cause. "

"Oh, I say!" he said feebly. "I wouldn't go as far as that. I'm--I'mnot such a bad sort. "

"That depends on the point of view, " said Tish grimly. 

Aggie touched her on the arm then and reminded her that the biscuitswere getting cold; but Tish had a final word with him. 

"Your correspondence has fallen into my hands, young man, " she said, "and will be turned over to the proper authorities. "

"It won't tell them anything they don't know, " he said doggedly. "Lookhere, ladies: I am not ashamed of this thing. I--I am proud of it. I amperfectly willing to yell it out loud for everybody to hear. As a matterof fact, I think I will. "

Mr. McDonald stood up suddenly and threw his head back; but hereHutchins, who had been silent, spoke for the first time. 

"Don't be an idiot!" she said coldly. "We have something here for you toeat if you behave yourself. "

He seemed to see her then for the first time, for he favored her with along stare. 

"Ah!" he said. "Then you are not entirely cold and heartless?"

She made no reply to this, being busy in assisting Aggie to lower theraft over the side of the boat. 

"Broiled ham, tea, hot biscuits, and marmalade, " said Aggie gently. "Mypoor fellow, we are doing what we consider our duty; but we want you toknow that it is hard for us--very hard. "

When he saw our plan, Mr. McDonald's face fell; but he stepped out intothe water up to his knees and caught the raft as it floated down. 

Before he said "Thank you" he lifted the cover of the pan and saw thehot biscuits underneath. 

"Really, " he said, "it's very decent of you. I sent off a grocery orderyesterday, but nothing has come. "

Tish had got Hutchins to start the engine by that time and we weremoving away. He stood there, up to his knees in water, holding the trayand looking after us. He was really a pathetic figure, especially inview of the awful fate we felt was overtaking him. 

He called something after us. On account of the noise of the engine, wecould not be certain, but we all heard it the same way. 

"Send for the whole d--d outfit!" was the way it sounded to us. "Itwon't make any difference to me. "

V

The last thing I recall of Mr. McDonald that day is seeing him standingthere in the water, holding the tray, with the teapot steaming under hisnose, and gazing after us with an air of bewilderment that did notdeceive us at all. 

As I look back, there is only one thing we might have noticed at thetime. This was the fact that Hutchins, having started the engine, wassitting beside it on the floor of the boat and laughing in the cruelestpossible manner. As I said to Aggie at the time: "A spy is a spy andentitled to punishment if discovered; but no young woman should laughover so desperate a situation. "

I come now to the denouement of this exciting period. It had been Tish'stheory that the red-haired man should not be taken into our confidence. If there was a reward for the capture of the spy, we ourselves intendedto have it. 

The steamer was due the next day but one. Tish was in favor of notwaiting, but of at once going in the motor boat to the town, some thirtymiles away, and telling of our capture; but Hutchins claimed there wasnot sufficient gasoline for such an excursion. That afternoon we went inthe motor launch to where Tish had hidden the green canoe and, with ahatchet, rendered it useless. 

The workings of the subconscious mind are marvelous. In the midst ofchopping, Tish suddenly looked up. 

"Have you noticed, " she said, "that the detective is always watching ourcamp?"

"That's all he has to do, " Aggie suggested. 

"Stuff and nonsense! Didn't he follow you into the swamp? Does Hutchinsever go out in the canoe that he doesn't go out also? I'll tell you whathas happened: She's young and pretty, and he's fallen in love with her. "

I must say it sounded reasonable. He never bothered about the motorboat, but the instant she took the canoe and started out he was hoveringsomewhere near. 

"She's noticed it, " Tish went on. "That's what she was quarreling aboutwith him yesterday. "

"How are we to know, " said Aggie, who was gathering up the scraps of thegreen canoe and building a fire under them--"how are we to know they arenot old friends, meeting thus in the wilderness? Fate plays strangetricks, Tish. I lived in the same street with Mr. Wiggins for years, andnever knew him until one day when my umbrella turned wrong side out in agust of wind. "

"Fate fiddlesticks!" said Tish. "There's no such thing as fate inaffairs of this sort. It's all instinct--the instinct of the race tocontinue itself. "

This Aggie regarded as indelicate and she was rather cool to Tish thebalance of the day. 

Our prisoner spent most of the day at the end of the island toward us, sitting quietly, as we could sec through the glasses. We watchedcarefully, fearing at any time to see the Indian paddling toward him. 

[Tish was undecided what to do in such an emergency, except to intercepthim and explain, threatening him also with having attempted to carry theincriminating papers. As it happened, however, the entire camp had gonefor a two-days' deer hunt, and before they returned the whole thing hadcome to its surprising end. ]

Late in the afternoon Tish put her theory of the red-haired man to thetest. 

"Hutchins, " she said, "Miss Lizzie and I will cook the dinner if youwant to go in the canoe to Harvey's Bay for water-lilies. "

Hutchins at once said she did not care a rap for water-lilies; but, seeing a determined glint in Tish's eye, she added that she would go forfrogs if Tish wanted her out of the way. 

"Don't talk like a child!" Tish retorted. "Who said I wanted you out ofthe way?"

It is absolutely true that the moment Hutchins put her foot into thecanoe the red-haired man put down his fishing-rod and rose. And she hadnot taken three strokes with the paddle before he was in the blue canoe. 

Hutchins saw him just then and scowled. The last we saw of her she wasmoving rapidly up the river and the detective was dropping slowlybehind. They both disappeared finally into the bay and Tish drew a longbreath. 

"Typical!" she said curtly. "He's sent here to watch a dangerous man andspends his time pursuing the young woman who hates the sight of him. When women achieve the suffrage they will put none but married men inpositions of trust. "

Hutchins and the detective were still out of sight when supper-timecame. The spy's supper weighed on us, and at last Tish attempted tostart the motor launch. We had placed the supper and the small raftaboard, and Aggie was leaning over the edge untying the painter, --not aman, but a rope, --when unexpectedly the engine started at the firstrevolution of the wheel. 

It darted out to the length of the rope, where it was checked abruptly, the shock throwing Aggie entirely out and into the stream. Tish caughtthe knife from the supper tray to cut us loose, and while Tish cut Ipulled Aggie in, wet as she was. The boat was straining and panting, and, on being released, it sprang forward like a dog unleashed. 

Aggie had swallowed a great deal of water and was most disagreeable; butthe Mebbe was going remarkably well, and there seemed to be everyprospect that we should get back to the camp in good order. Alas, forhuman hopes! Mr. McDonald was not very agreeable. 

"You know, " he said as he waited for his supper to float within reach, "you needn't be so blamed radical about everything you do! If you objectto my hanging round, why not just say so? If I'm too obnoxious I'llclear out. "

"Obnoxious is hardly the word, " said Tish. "How long am I to be aprisoner?"

"I shall send letters off by the first boat. "

He caught the raft just then and examined the supper with interest. 

"Of course things might be worse, " he said; "but it's dirty treatment, anyhow. And it's darned humiliating. Somebody I know is having a goodtime at my expense. It's heartless! That's what it is--heartless!"

Well, we left him, the engine starting nicely and Aggie being wrapped ina tarpaulin; but about a hundred yards above the island it began to slowdown, and shortly afterward it stopped altogether. As the current caughtus, we luckily threw out the anchor, for the engine refused to startagain. It was then we saw the other canoes. 

The girl in the pink tam-o'-shanter was in the first one. 

They glanced at us curiously as they passed, and the P. T. S. --that is theway we grew to speak of the pink tam-o'-shanter--raised one hand in theair, which is a form of canoe greeting, probably less upsetting to theequilibrium than a vigorous waving of the arm. 

It was just then, I believe, that they saw our camp and headed for it. The rest of what happened is most amazing. They stopped at our landingand unloaded their canoes. Though twilight was falling, we could seethem distinctly. And what we saw was that they calmly took possessionof the camp. 

"Good gracious!" Tish cried. "The girls have gone into the tent! Andsomebody's working at the stove. The impertinence!"

Our situation was acutely painful. We could do nothing but watch. Wecalled, but our voices failed to reach them. And Aggie took a chill, partly cold and partly fury. We sat there while they ate the entiresupper!

They were having a very good time. Now and then somebody would go intothe tent and bring something out, and there would be shrieks oflaughter. 

[We learned afterward that part of the amusement was caused by Aggie'sfalse front, which one of the wretches put on as a beard. ]

It was while thus distracted that Aggie suddenly screamed, and a momentlater Mr. McDonald climbed over the side and into the boat, dripping. 

"Don't be alarmed!" he said. "I'll go back and be a prisoner again justas soon as I've fired the engine. I couldn't bear to think of the ladywho fell in sitting here indefinitely and taking cold. " He was examiningthe engine while he spoke. "Have visitors, I see, " he observed, ascalmly as though he were not dripping all over the place. 

"Intruders, not visitors!" Tish said angrily. "I never saw them before. "

"Rather pretty, the one with the pink cap. May I examine the gasolinesupply?" There was no gasoline. He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm afraidno amount of mechanical genius I intended to offer you will start her, "he said; "but the young lady--Hutchins is her name, I believe?--willsee you here and come after you, of course. "

Well, there was no denying that, spy or no spy, his presence was acomfort. He offered to swim back to the island and be a prisoner again, but Tish said magnanimously that there was no hurry. On Aggie's offeringhalf of her tarpaulin against the wind, which had risen, he accepted. 

"Your Miss Hutchins is reckless, isn't she?" he said when he wascomfortably settled. "She's a strong swimmer; but a canoe is uncertainat the best. "

"She's in no danger, " said Tish. "She has a devoted admirer watching outfor her. "

"The deuce she has!" His voice was quite interested. "Why, who onearth--"

"Your detective, " said Aggie softly. "He's quite mad about her. The wayhe follows her and the way he looks at her--it's thrilling!"

Mr. McDonald said nothing for quite a while. The canoe party hadevidently eaten everything they could find, and somebody had brought outa banjo and was playing. 

Tish, unable to vent her anger, suddenly turned on Mr. McDonald. "If youthink, " she said, "that the grocery list fooled us, it didn't!"

"Grocery list?"

"That's what I said. "

"How did you get my grocery list?"

So she told him, and how she had deciphered it, and how the word"dynamite" had only confirmed her early suspicions. 

His only comment was to say, "Good Heavens!" in a smothered voice. 

"It was the extractor that made me suspicious, " she finished. "What wereyou going to extract? Teeth?"

"And so, when my Indian was swimming, you went through his things! It'sthe most astounding thing I ever--My dear lady, an extractor is used toget the hooks out of fish. It was no cipher, I assure you. I needed anextractor and I ordered it. The cipher you speak of is only a remarkablecoincidence. "

"Huh!" said Tish. "And the paper you dropped in the train--was that acoincidence?"

"That's not my secret, " he said, and turned sulky at once. 

"Don't tell me, " Tish said triumphantly, "that any young man comes hereabsolutely alone without a purpose!"

"I had a purpose, all right; but it was not to blow up a railroadtrain. "

Apparently he thought he had said too much, for he relapsed into silenceafter that, with an occasional muttering. 

It was eight o'clock when Hutchins's canoe came into sight. She waspaddling easily, but the detective was far behind and moving slowly. 

She saw the camp with its uninvited guests, and then she saw us. Thedetective, however, showed no curiosity; and we could see that he madefor his landing and stumbled exhaustedly up the bank. Hutchins drew upbeside us. "He'll not try that again, I think, " she said in her crispvoice. "He's out of training. He panted like a motor launch. Who are ourvisitors?"

Here her eyes fell on Mr. McDonald and her face set in the dusk. 

"You'll have to go back and get some gasoline, Hutchins. "

"What made you start out without looking?"

"And send the vandals away. If they wait until I arrive, I'll be likelyto do them some harm. I have never been so outraged. "

"Let me go for gasoline in the canoe, " said Mr. McDonald. He leaned overthe thwart and addressed Hutchins. "You're worn out, " he said. "Ipromise to come back and be a perfectly well-behaved prisoner again. "

"Thanks, no. "

"I'm wet. The exercise will warm me. "

"Is it possible, " she said in a withering tone that was lost on us atthe time, "that you brought no dumb-bells with you?"

If we had had any doubts they should have been settled then; but wenever suspected. It is incredible, looking back. 

The dusk was falling and I am not certain of what followed. It was, however, something like this: Mr. McDonald muttered something angrilyand made a motion to get into the canoe. Hutchins replied that she wouldnot have help from him if she died for it. The next thing we knew shewas in the launch and the canoe was floating off on the current. Aggiesquealed; and Mr. McDonald, instead of swimming after the thing, merelyfolded his arms and looked at it. 

"You know, " he said to Hutchins, "you have so unpleasant a dispositionthat somebody we both know of is better off than he thinks he is!"

Tish's fury knew no bounds, for there we were marooned and two of us wetto the skin. I must say for Hutchins, however, that when she learnedabout Aggie she was bitterly repentant, and insisted on putting her ownsweater on her. But there we were and there we should likely stay. 

It was quite dark by that time, and we sat in the launch, rockinggently. The canoeing party had lighted a large fire on the beach, usingthe driftwood we had so painfully accumulated. 

We sat in silence, except that Tish, who was watching our camp, saidonce bitterly that she was glad there were three beds in the tent. Thegirls of the canoeing party would be comfortable. 

After a time Tish turned on Mr. McDonald sharply. "Since you claim to beno spy, " she said, "perhaps you will tell us what brings you alone tothis place? Don't tell me it's fish--I've seen you reading, with a lineout. You're no fisherman. "

He hesitated. "No, " he admitted. "I'll be frank, Miss Carberry. I didnot come to fish. "

"What brought you?"

"Love, " he said, in a low tone. "I don't expect you to believe me, butit's the honest truth. "

"Love!" Tish scoffed. 

"Perhaps I'd better tell you the story, " he said. "It's long and--andrather sad. "

"Love stories, " Hutchins put in coldly, "are terribly stupid, except tothose concerned. "

"That, " he retorted, "is because you have never been in love. You areyoung and--you will pardon the liberty?--attractive; but you are totallyprosaic and unromantic. "

"Indeed!" she said, and relapsed into silence. 

"These other ladies, " Mr. McDonald went on, "will understand thestrangeness of my situation when I explain that the--the young lady Icare for is very near; is, in fact, within sight. "

"Good gracious!" said Aggie. "Where?"

"It is a long story, but it may help to while away the long night hours;for I dare say we are here for the night. Did any one happen to noticethe young lady in the first canoe, in the pink tam-o'-shanter?"

We said we had--all except Hutchins, who, of course, had not seen her. Mr. McDonald got a wet cigarette from his pocket and, finding a box ofmatches on the seat, made an attempt to dry it over the flames; so hisstory was told in the flickering light of one match after another. 

VI

"I am, " Mr. McDonald said, as the cigarette steamed, "the son of poorbut honest parents. All my life I have been obliged to labor. You maysay that my English is surprisingly pure, under such conditions. As amatter of fact, I educated myself at night, using a lantern in the topof my father's stable. "

"I thought you said he was poor, " Hutchins put in nastily. "How did hehave a stable?"

"He kept a livery stable. Any points that are not clear I will explainafterward. Once the thread of a narrative is broken, it is difficult toresume, Miss Hutchins. Near us, in a large house, lived the lady of myheart. "

"The pink tam-o'-shanter girl!" said Aggie. "I begin to understand. "

"But, " he added, "near us also lived a red-headed boy. She liked himvery much, and even in the long-ago days I was fiercely jealous of him. It may surprise you to know that in those days I longed--fairlylonged--for red hair and a red mustache. "

"I hate to interrupt, " said Hutchins; "but did he have a mustache as aboy?"

He ignored her. "We three grew up together. The girl isbeautiful--you've probably noticed that--and amiable. The one thing Iadmire in a young woman is amiability. It would not, for instance, haveoccurred to her to isolate an entire party on the bosom of a northernand treacherous river out of pure temper. "

"To think, " said Aggie softly, "that she is just over there by thecamp-fire! Don't you suppose, if she loves you, she senses yournearness?"

"That's it exactly, " he replied in a gloomy voice, "if she loves me! Butdoes she? In other words, has she come up the river to meet me or tomeet my rival? She knows we are here. Both of us have written her. Thepresence of one or the other of us is the real reason for this excursionof hers. But again the question is--which?"

Here the match he was holding under the cigarette burned his fingers andhe flung it overboard with a violent gesture. 

"The detective, of course, " said Tish. "I knew it from the beginning ofyour story. "

"The detective, " he assented. "You see his very profession attracts. There's an element of romance in it. I myself have kept on with myfather and now run the--er--livery stable. My business is a handicapfrom a romantic point of view. 

"I am aware, " Mr. McDonald went on, "that it is not customary to speakso frankly of affairs of this sort; but I have two reasons. It hurts meto rest under unjust suspicion. I am no spy, ladies. And the secondreason is even stronger. Consider my desperate position: In the morningmy rival will see her; he will paddle his canoe to the great rock belowyour camp and sing his love song from the water. In the morning I shallsit here helpless--ill, possibly--and see all that I value in life slipout of my grasp. And all through no fault of my own! Things are soevenly balanced, so little will shift the weight of her favor, thatfrankly the first one to reach her will get her. "

I confess I was thrilled. And even Tish was touched; but she covered heremotion with hard common sense. 

"What's her name?" she demanded. 

"Considering my frankness I must withhold that. Why not simply refer toher as the pink tam-o'-shanter--or, better still and more briefly, theP. T. S. ? That may stand for pink tam-o'-shanter, or the Person ThatSmiles, --she smiles a great deal, --or--or almost anything. "

"It also stands, " said Hutchins, with a sniff, "for Pretty Tall Story. "

Tish considered her skepticism unworthy in one so young, and told herso; on which she relapsed into a sulky silence. 

In view of what we knew, the bonfire at our camp and the small figureacross the river took on a new significance. 

As Aggie said, to think of the red-haired man sleeping calmly while hislady love was so near and his rival, so to speak, _hors de combat!_Shortly after finishing his story, Mr. McDonald went to the stern of theboat and lifted the anchor rope. 

"It is possible, " he said, "that the current will carry us to my islandwith a little judicious management. Even though we miss it, we'll hardlybe worse off than we are. "

It was surprising we had not thought of it before, for the plansucceeded admirably. By moving a few feet at a time and then anchoring, we made slow but safe progress, and at last touched shore. We got out, and Mr. McDonald built a large fire, near which we put Aggie to steam. His supper, which he had not had time to eat, he generously divided, andwe heated the tea. Hutchins, however, refused to eat. 

Warmth and food restored Tish's mind to its usual keenness. I recall nowthe admiration in Mr. McDonald's eyes when she suddenly put down thesandwich she was eating and exclaimed:--

"The flags, of course! He told her to watch for a red flag as she cameup the river; so when the party saw ours they landed. Perhaps they stillthink it is his camp and that he is away overnight. "

"That's it, exactly, " he said. "Think of the poor wretch's excitementwhen he saw your flag!"

Still, on looking back, it seems curious that we overlooked the way thered-headed man had followed Hutchins about. True, men are polygamousanimals, Tish says, and are quite capable of following one woman aboutwhile they are sincerely in love with somebody else. But, when you thinkof it, the detective had apparently followed Hutchins from the start, and had gone into the wilderness to be near her, with only a suitcaseand a mackintosh coat; which looked like a mad infatuation. 

[Tish says she thought of this at the time, and that; from what she hadseen of the P. T. S. , Hutchins was much prettier. But she says she decidedthat men often love one quality in one girl and another in another; thathe probably loved Hutchins's beauty and the amiability of the P. T. S. Also, she says, she reflected that the polygamy of the Far East isprobably due to this tendency in the male more than to a preponderanceof women. ]

Tish called me aside while Mr. McDonald was gathering firewood. "I'm afool and a guilty woman, Lizzie, " she said. "Because of an unjustsuspicion I have possibly wrecked this poor boy's life. "

I tried to soothe her. "They might have been wretchedly unhappytogether, Tish, " I said; "and, anyhow, I doubt whether he is able tosupport a wife. There's nothing much in keeping a livery stablenowadays. "

"There's only one thing that still puzzles me, " Tish observed: "grantingthat the grocery order was a grocery order, what about the note?"

We might have followed this line of thought, and saved what occurredlater, but that a new idea suddenly struck Tish. She is curious in thatway; her mind works very rapidly at times, and because I cannot take hermental hurdles, so to speak, she is often impatient. 

"Lizzie, " she said suddenly, "did you notice that when the anchor waslifted, we drifted directly to this island? Don't stare at me like that. Use your wits. "

When I failed instantly to understand, however, she turned abruptly andleft me, disappearing in the shadows. 

For the next hour nothing happened. Tish was not in sight and Aggieslept by the fire. Hutchins sat with her chin cupped in her hands, andMr. McDonald gathered driftwood. 

Hutchins only spoke once. "I'm awfully sorry about the canoe, MissLizzie, " she said; "it was silly and--and selfish. I don't always actlike a bad child. The truth is, I'm rather upset and nervous. I hate tobe thwarted--I'm sorry I can't explain any further. "

I was magnanimous. "I'm sure, until to-night, you've been perfectlysatisfactory, " I said; "but it seems extraordinary that you shoulddislike men the way you do. "

She only eyed me searchingly. 

It is my evening custom to prepare for the night by taking my switch offand combing and braiding my hair; so, as we seemed to be settled for thenight, I asked Mr. McDonald whether the camp afforded an extra comb. Hebrought out a traveling-case at once from the tent and opened it. 

"Here's a comb, " he said. "I never use one. I'm sorry this is all I cansupply. "

My eyes were glued to the case. It was an English traveling-case, withgold-mounted fittings. He saw me staring at it and changed color. 

"Nice bag, isn't it?" he said. "It was a gift, of course. The--thelivery stable doesn't run much to this sort of thing. "

But the fine edge of suspicion had crept into my mind again. 

 * * * * *

Tish did not return to the fire for some time. Before she came back wewere all thoroughly alarmed. The island was small, and a short searchconvinced us that she was not on it!

We wakened Aggie and told her, and the situation was very painful. Thelaunch was where we had left it. Mr. McDonald looked more and moreuneasy. 

"My sane mind tells me she's perfectly safe, " he said. "I don't knowthat I've ever met a person more able to take care of herself; but it'sdarned odd--that's all I can say. "

Just as he spoke a volley of shots sounded from up the river near ourcamp, two close together and then one; and somebody screamed. 

It was very dark. We could see lanterns flashing at our camp andsomebody was yelling hoarsely. One lantern seemed to run up and down thebeach in mad excitement, and then, out of the far-off din, Aggie, whoseears are sharp, suddenly heard the splash of a canoe paddle. 

I shall tell Tish's story of what happened as she told it to CharlieSands two weeks or so later. 

"It is perfectly simple, " she said, "and it's stupid to make such a fussover it. Don't talk to me about breaking the law! The girl came; Ididn't steal her. "

Charlie Sands, I remember, interrupted at that moment to remind her thatshe had shot a hole in the detective's canoe; but this only irritatedher. 

"Certainly I did, " she snapped; "but it's perfectly idiotic of him tosay that it took off the heel of his shoe. In that stony country it'salways easy to lose a heel. "

But to return to Tish's story:--

"It occurred to me, " she said, "that, if the launch had drifted to Mr. McDonald's island, the canoe might have done so too; so I took a lookround. I'd been pretty much worried about having called the boy a spywhen he wasn't, and it worried me to think that he couldn't get awayfrom the place. I never liked the red-haired man. He was cruel toAggie's cat--but we've told you that. 

"I knew that in the morning the detective would see the P. T. S. , as wecalled her, and he could get over and propose before breakfast. But whenI found the canoe--yes, I found it--I didn't intend to do anything morethan steal the detective's boat. "

"Is that all?" said Charlie Sands sarcastically. "You disappoint me, Aunt Letitia! With all the chances you had--to burn his pitiful littletent, for instance, or steal his suitcase--"

"But on my way, " Tish went on with simple dignity, "it occurred to methat I could move things a step farther by taking the girl to Mr. McDonald and letting him have his chance right away. Things went wellfrom the start, for she was standing alone, looking out over the river. It was dark, except for the starlight, and I didn't know it was she. Ibeached the canoe and she squealed a little when I spoke to her. "

"Just what, " broke in Charlie Sands, "does one say under suchcircumstances? Sometime I may wish to abduct a young woman and it iswell to be prepared. "

"I told her the young man she had expected was on Island Eleven and hadsent me to get her. She was awfully excited. She said they'd seen hissignal, but nothing of him. And when they'd found a number of femininethings round they all felt a little--well, you can understand. She wentback to get a coat, and while she was gone I untied the canoes andpushed them out into the river. I'm thorough, and I wasn't going to havea lot of people interfering before we got things fixed. "

It was here, I think, that Charlie Sands gave a low moan and collapsedon the sofa. "Certainly!" he said in a stifled voice. "I believe inbeing thorough. And, of course, a few canoes more or less do notmatter. "

"Later, " Tish said, "I knew I'd been thoughtless about the canoes; but, of course, it was too late then. "

"And when was it that you assaulted the detective?"

"He fired first, " said Tish. "I never felt more peaceable in my life. It's absurd for him to say that he was watching our camp, as he hadevery night we'd been there. Who asked him to guard us? And the idea ofhis saying he thought we were Indians stealing things, and that he firedinto the air! The bullets sang past me. I had hardly time to get myrevolver out of my stocking. "

"And then?" asked Charlie Sands. 

"And then, " said Tish, "we went calmly down the river to Island Eleven. We went rapidly, for at first the detective did not know I had shot ahole in his canoe, and he followed us. It stands to reason that if I'dshot his heel off he'd have known there was a hole in the boat. Luckilythe girl was in the bottom of the canoe when she fainted or we mighthave been upset. "

It was at this point, I believe, that Charlie Sands got his hat andopened the door. 

"I find, " he said, "that I cannot stand any more at present, Aunt Tish. I shall return when I am stronger. "

 * * * * *

So I shall go back to my own narrative. Really my justification isalmost complete. Any one reading to this point will realize theinjustice of the things that have been said about us. 

We were despairing of Tish, as I have said, when we heard the shots andthen the approach of a canoe. Then Tish hailed us. 

"Quick, somebody!" she said. "I have a cramp in my right leg. "

[The canoeing position, kneeling as one must, had been always verytrying for her. She frequently developed cramps, which only a hotfootbath relieved. ]

Mr. McDonald waded out into the water. Our beach fire illuminated thewhole scene distinctly, and when he saw the P. T. S. Huddled in the canoehe stopped as though he had been shot. 

"How interesting!" said Hutchins from the bank, in her cool voice. 

I remember yet Tish, stamping round on her cramped limb and smilingbenevolently at all of us. The girl, however, looked startled andunhappy, and a little dizzy. Hutchins helped her to a fallen tree. 

"Where--where is he?" said the P. T. S. 

Tish stared at her. "Bless the girl!" she said. "Did you think I meantthe other one?"

"I--What other one?"

Tish put her hand on Mr. McDonald's arm. "My dear girl, " she said, "thisyoung man adores you. He's all that a girl ought to want in the man sheloves. I have done him a grave injustice and he has borne it nobly. Comenow--let me put your hand in his and say you will marry him. "

"Marry him!" said the P. T. S. "Why, I never saw him in my life before!"

We had been so occupied with this astounding scene that none of us hadnoticed the arrival of the detective. He limped rapidly up thebank--having lost his heel, as I have explained--and, dripping withwater, confronted us. When a red-haired person is pale, he is very pale. And his teeth showed. 

He ignored all of us but the P. T. S. , who turned and saw him, and wentstraight into his arms in the most unmaidenly fashion. 

"By Heaven, " he said, "I thought that elderly lunatic had taken you offand killed you!"

He kissed her quite frantically before all of us; and then, with one armround her, he confronted Tish. 

"I'm through!" he said. "I'm done! There isn't a salary in the worldthat will make me stay within gunshot of you another day. " He eyed herfiercely. "You are a dangerous woman, madam, " he said. "I'm going tobring a charge against you for abduction and assault with intent tokill. And if there's any proof needed I'll show my canoe, full of waterto the gunwale. "

Here he kissed the girl again. 

"You--you know her?" gasped Mr. McDonald, and dropped on a tree-trunk, as though he were too weak to stand. 

"It looks like it, doesn't it?"

Here I happened to glance at Hutchins, and she was convulsed with mirth!Tish saw her, too, and glared at her; but she seemed to get worse. Then, without the slightest warning, she walked round the camp-fire and kissedMr. McDonald solemnly on the top of his head. 

"I give it up!" she said. "Somebody will have to marry you and take careof you. I'd better be the person. "

 * * * * *

"But why was the detective watching Hutchins?" said Charlie Sands. "Wasit because he had heard of my Aunt Letitia's reckless nature? I am stillbewildered. "

"You remember the night we got the worms?"

"I see. The detective was watching all of you because you stole theworms. "

"Stole nothing!" Tish snapped. "That's the girl's house. She's the MissNewcomb you read about in the papers. Now do you understand?"

"Certainly I do. She was a fugitive from justice because the cat founddynamite in the woods. Or--perhaps I'm a trifle confused, but--Now Ihave it! She had stolen a gold-mounted traveling-bag and given it toMcDonald. Lucky chap! I was crazy about Hutchins myself. You might tipher the word that I'm badly off for a traveling-case myself. But whatabout the P. T. S. ? How did she happen on the scene?"

"She was engaged to the detective, and she was camping down the river. He had sent her word where he was. The red flag was to help her findhim. "

Tish knows Charlie Sands, so she let him talk. Then:--

"Mr. McDonald was too wealthy, Charlie, " she said; "so when she wantedhim to work and be useful, and he refused, she ran off and got asituation herself to teach him a lesson. She could drive a car. But herpeople heard about it, and that wretched detective was responsible forher safety. That's why he followed her about. "

"I should like to follow her about myself, " said Charlie Sands. "Do youthink she's unalterably decided to take McDonald, money and all? He'sstill an idler. Lend me your car, Aunt Tish. There's a theory there;and--who knows?"

"He is going to work for six months before she marries him, " Tish said. "He seems to like to work, now he has started. "

She rang the bell and Hannah came to the door. 

"Hannah, " said Tish calmly, "call up the garage and tell McDonald tobring the car round. Mr. Sands is going out. "

MY COUNTRY TISH OF THEE--

We had meant to go to Europe this last summer, and Tish would have goneanyhow, war or no war, if we had not switched her off onto somethingelse. "Submarines fiddlesticks!" she said. "Give me a good lifepreserver, with a bottle of blackberry cordial fastened to it, and thesea has no terrors for me. "

She said the proper way to do, in case the ship was torpedoed, was to goup on an upper deck, and let the vessel sink under one. 

"Then without haste, " she explained, "as the water rises about one, strike out calmly. The life-belt supports one, but swim gently for theexercise. It will prevent chilling. With a waterproof bag of crackers, and mild weather, one could go on comfortably for a day or two. "

I still remember the despairing face Aggie turned to me. It was Decemberthen, and very cold. 

However, she said nothing more until January. Early in that monthCharlie Sands came to Tish's to Sunday dinner, and we were all there. The subject came up then. 

It was about the time Tish took up vegetarianism, I remember that, because the only way she could induce Charlie Sands to come to dinnerwas to promise to have two chops for him. Personally I am not avegetarian. I am not and never will be. I took a firm stand except whenat Tish's home. But Aggie followed Tish's lead, of course, and I believelived up to it as far as possible, although it is quite true that, stopping in one day unexpectedly to secure a new crochet pattern, Ismelled broiling steak. But Aggie explained that she merely intended touse the juice from a small portion, having had one of her weak spells, the balance to go to the janitor's dog. 

However, this is a digression. 

"Europe!" said Charlie Sands. "Forget it! What in the name of thegastric juice is this I'm eating?"

It was a mixture of bran, raisins, and chopped nuts, as I recall it, moistened with water and pressed into a compact form. It was Tish's owninvention. She called it "Bran-Nut, " and was talking of making it inlarge quantities for sale. 

Charlie Sands gave it up with a feeble gesture. "I'm sorry, AuntLetitia, " he said at last; "I'm a strong man ordinarily, but by the timeI've got it masticated I'm too weak to swallow it. If--if one couldhave a stream of water playing on it while working, it would facilitatethings. "

"The Ostermaiers, " said Aggie, "are going West. "

"Good for the Ostermaiers, " said Charlie Sands. "Great idea. See Americafirst. 'My Country Tish of Thee, ' etc. Why don't you three try it?"

Tish relinquished Europe slowly. 

"One would think, " Charlie Sands said, "that you were a German beingasked to give up Belgium. "

"What part of the West?" she demanded. "It's all civilized, isn't it?"

"The Rocky Mountains, " said Charlie Sands, "will never be civilized. "

Tish broke off a piece of Bran-Nut, and when she thought no one waslooking poured a little tea over it. There was a gleam in her eye thatAggie and I have learned to know. 

"Mountains!" she said. "That ought to be good for Aggie's hay fever. "

"I'd rather live with hay fever, " Aggie put in sharply, "than cure it byfalling over a precipice. "

"You'll have to take a chance on that, of course, " Charlie Sands said. "I'm not sure it will be safe, but I am sure it will be interesting. "

Oh, he knew Tish well enough. Tell her a thing was dangerous, and nopower could restrain her. 

I do not mind saying that I was not keen about the thing. I had myfortune told years ago, and the palmist said that if a certain line hadhad a bend in it I should have been hanged. But since it did not, to becareful of high places. 

"It's a sporting chance, " said Charlie Sands, although I was proddinghim under the table. "With some good horses and a bag ofthis--er--concentrated food, you would have the time of your younglives. "

This was figurative. We are all of us round fifty. 

"The--the Bran-Nut, " he said, "would serve for both food and ammunition. I can see you riding along, now and then dropping a piece of it on thehead of some unlucky mountain goat, and watching it topple over intoeternity. I can see--"

"Riding!" said Aggie. "Then I'm not going. I have never been on a horseand I never intend to be. "

"Don't be a fool, " Tish snapped. "If you've never been on a horse, it'stime and to spare you got on one. "

Hannah had been clearing the table with her lips shut tight. Hannah isan old and privileged servant and has a most unfortunate habit ofspeaking her mind. So now she stopped beside Tish. 

"You take my advice and go, Miss Tish, " she said. "If you ride a horseround some and get an appetite, you'll go down on your knees andapologize to your Maker for the stuff we've been eating the last fourweeks. " She turned to Charlie Sands, and positively her chin wasquivering. "I'm a healthy woman, " she said, "and I work hard and needgood nourishing food. When it's come to a point where I eat the cat'smeat and let it go hungry, " she said, "it's time either I lost myappetite or Miss Tish went away. "

Well, Tish dismissed Hannah haughtily from the room, and theconversation went on. None of us had been far West, although Tish has asister-in-law in, Toledo, Ohio. But owing to a quarrel over a pair ofandirons that had been in the family for a time, she had never visitedher. 

"You'll like it, all of you, " Charlie Sands said as we waited for thebaked apples. "Once get started with a good horse between your knees, and--"

"I hope, " Tish interrupted him, "that you do not think we are going toride astride!"

"I'm darned sure of it. "

That was Charlie Sands's way of talking. He does not mean to be rude, and he is really a young man of splendid character. But, as Tish says, contact with the world, although it has not spoiled him, has roughenedhis speech. 

"You see, " he explained, "there are places out there where the horseshave to climb like goats. It's only fair to them to distribute yourweight equally. A side saddle is likely to turn and drop you a mile ortwo down a crack. "

Aggie went rather white and sneezed violently. 

But Tish looked thoughtful. "It sounds reasonable, " she said. "I've feltfor along time that I'd be glad to discard skirts. Skirts, " she said, "are badge of servitude, survivals of the harem, reminders of a timewhen nothing was expected of women but parasitic leisure. "

I tried to tell her that she was wrong about the skirts. MissMacGillicuddy, our missionary in India, had certainly said that thewomen in harems wore bloomers. But Tish left the room abruptly, returning shortly after with a volume of the encyclopædia, and looked upthe Rocky Mountains. 

I remember it said that the highest ranges were, as compared with thesize and shape of the earth, only as the corrugations on the skin of anorange. Either the man who wrote that had never seen an orange or he hadnever seen the Rocky Mountains. Orange, indeed! If he had said the upperend of a pineapple it would have been more like it. I wish the man whowrote it would go to Glacier Park. I am not a vindictive woman, but Iknow one or two places where I would like to place him and make himswallow that orange. I'd like to see him on a horse, on the brink of acañon a mile deep, and have his horse reach over the edge for a strayplant or two, or standing in a cloud up to his waist, so that, as Aggieso plaintively observed, "The lower half of one is in a snowstorm whilethe upper part is getting sunburned. "

For we went. Oh, yes, we went. It is not the encyclopædia's fault thatwe came back. But now that we are home, and nothing wrong except a touchof lumbago that Tish got from sleeping on the ground, and, of course, Aggie's unfortunate experience with her teeth, I look back on ourvarious adventures with pleasure. I even contemplate a return next year, although Aggie says she will die first. But even that is not to be takenas final. The last time I went to see her, she had bought a revolverfrom the janitor and was taking lessons in loading it. 

The Ostermaiers went also. Not with us, however. The congregation madeup a purse for the purpose, and Tish and Aggie and I went further, andpurchased a cigar-case for Mr. Ostermaier and a quantity of cigars. Smoking is the good man's only weakness. 

I must say, however, that it is absurd to hear Mrs. Ostermaier boastingof the trip. To hear her talk, one would think they had done the wholething, instead of sitting in an automobile and looking up at themountains. I shall never forget the day they were in a car passing alonga road, and we crossed unexpectedly ahead of them and went on straightup the side of a mountain. 

Tish had a sombrero on the side of her head, and was resting herself inthe saddle by having her right leg thrown negligently over the horse'sneck. With the left foot she was kicking our pack-horse, a creature soscarred with brands that Tish had named her Jane, after a cousin of herswho had had so many operations that Tish says she is now entirelyunfurnished. 

Mr. Ostermaier's face was terrible, and only two days ago Mrs. Ostermaier came over to ask about putting an extra width in the skirt toher last winter's suit. But it is my belief that she came to save Tish'ssoul, and nothing else. 

"I'm so glad wide skirts have come in, " she said. "They're so modest, aren't they, Miss Tish?"

"Not in a wind, " Tish said, eying her coldly. 

"I do think, dear Miss Tish, " she went on with her eyes down, "thatto--to go about in riding-breeches before a young man is--well, it ishardly discreet, is it?"

I saw Tish glancing about the room. She was pretty angry, and I knewperfectly well what she wanted. I put my knitting-bag over CharlieSands's tobacco-pouch. 

Tish had learned to roll cigarettes out in Glacier Park. Not that shesmoked them, of course, but she said she might as well know how. Therewas no knowing when it would come in handy. And when she wishes to calmherself she reaches instinctively for what Bill used to call, strangely, "the makings. "

"If, " she said, her eye still roving, --"if it was any treat to atwenty-four-year-old cowpuncher to see three elderly women inriding-breeches, Mrs. Ostermaier, --and it's kind of you to thinkso, --why, I'm not selfish. "

Mrs. Ostermaier's face was terrible. She gathered up her skirt and rose. "I shall not tell Mr. Ostermaier what you have just said, " she observedwith her mouth set hard. "We owe you a great deal, especially the returnof my earrings. But I must request, Miss Tish, that you do not voicesuch sentiments in the Sunday school. "

Tish watched her out. Then she sat down and rolled eleven cigarettes forCharlie Sands, one after the other. At last she spoke. 

"I'm not sure, " she said tartly, "that if I had it to do over again I'ddo it. That woman's not a Christian. I was thinking, " she went on, "ofgiving them a part of the reward to go to Asbury Park with. But she'dhave to wear blinders on the bathing-beach, so I'll not do it. "

However, I am ahead of my recital. 

For a few days Tish said nothing more, but one Sunday morning, walkinghome from church, she turned to me suddenly and said:--

"Lizzie, you're fat. "

"I'm as the Lord made me, " I replied with some spirit. 

"Fiddlesticks!" said Tish. "You're as your own sloth and overindulgencehas made you. Don't blame the Good Man for it. "

Now, I am a peaceful woman, and Tish is as my own sister, and indeedeven more so. But I was roused to anger by her speech. 

"I've been fleshy all my life, " I said. "I'm no lazier than most, andI'm a dratted sight more agreeable than some I know, on account ofhaving the ends of my nerves padded. "

But she switched to another subject in her characteristic manner. 

"Have you ever reflected, either of you, " she observed, "that we knownothing of this great land of ours? That we sing of loving 'thy rocksand rills, thy woods and templed hills'--although the word 'templed'savors of paganism and does not belong in a national hymn? And that itis all balderdash?"

Aggie took exception to this and said that she loved her native land, and had been south to Pinehurst and west to see her niece inMinneapolis, on account of the baby having been named for her. 

But Tish merely listened with a grim smile. "Travel from a car window, "she observed, "is no better than travel in a nickelodeon. I have doneall of that I am going to. I intend to become acquainted with my nativeland, closely acquainted. State by State I shall wander over it, refreshing soul and body and using muscles too long unused. "

"Tish!" Aggie quavered. "You are not going on another walking-tour?"

Only a year or two before Tish had read Stevenson's "Travels with aDonkey, " and had been possessed to follow his example. I have elsewhererecorded the details of that terrible trip. Even I turned pale, I fear, and cast a nervous eye toward the table where Tish keeps herreading-matter. 

Tish is imaginative, and is always influenced by the latest book she hasread. For instance, a volume on "Nursing at the Front" almost sent heracross to France, although she cannot make a bed and never could, andturns pale at the sight of blood; and another time a book on flyingmachines sent her up into the air, mentally if not literally. I shallnever forget the time she secured some literature on the Mormon Church, and the difficulty I had in smuggling it out under my coat. 

Tish did not refute the walking-tour at once, but fell into a deepreverie. 

It is not her custom to confide her plans to us until they are fullyshaped and too far on to be interfered with, which accounts for ournervousness. 

On arriving at her apartment, however, we found a map laid out on thetable and the Rocky Mountains marked with pins. We noticed that whenevershe straightened from the table she grunted. 

"What we want, " Tish said, "is isolation. No people. No crowds. Noservants. If I don't get away from Hannah soon I'll murder her. "

"It wouldn't hurt to see somebody now and then, Tish, " Aggie objected. 

"Nobody, " Tish said firmly. "A good horse is companion enough. " Sheforgot herself and straightened completely, and she groaned. 

"We might meet some desirable people, Tish, " I put in firmly. "If we do, I don't intend to run like a rabbit. "

"Desirable people!" Tish scoffed. "In the Rocky Mountains! My dearLizzie, every desperado in the country takes refuge in the Rockies. Ofcourse, if you want to take up with that class--"

Aggie sneezed and looked wretched. As for me, I made up my mind then andthere that if Letitia Carberry was going to such a neighborhood, she wasnot going alone. I am not much with a revolver, but mighty handy with apair of lungs. 

Well, Tish had it all worked out. "I've found the very place, " she said. "In the first place, it's Government property. When our country putsaside a part of itself as a public domain we should show ourappreciation. In the second place, it's wild. I'd as soon spend avacation in Central Park near the Zoo as in the Yellowstone. In thethird place, with an Indian reservation on one side and a nationalforest on the other, it's bound to be lonely. Any tourist, " she saidscornfully, "can go to the Yosemite and be photographed under a redwoodtree. "

"Do the Indians stay on the reservation?" Aggie asked feebly. 

"Probably not, " Tish observed coldly. "Once for all, Aggie--if you aregoing to run like a scared deer every time you see an Indian or a bear, I wish you would go to Asbury Park. "

She forgot herself then and sat down quickly, an action which wasfollowed by an agonized expression. 

"Tish, " I said sharply, "you have been riding a horse!

"Only in a cinder ring, " she replied with unwonted docility. "Theteacher said I would be a trifle stiff. "

"How long did you ride?"

"Not more than twenty minutes, " she said. "The lesson was to be an hour, but somebody put a nickel in a mechanical piano, and the creature I wason started going sideways. "

Well, she had fallen off and had to be taken home in a taxicab. WhenAggie heard it she simply took the pins out of the map and stuck them inTish's cushion. Her mouth was set tight. 

"I didn't really fall, " Tish said. "I sat down, and it was cinders, andnot hard. It has made my neck stiff, that's all. "

"That's enough, " said Aggie. "If I've got to seek pleasure by ramming myspinal column up into my skull and crowding my brains, I'll stay athome. "

"You can't fall out of a Western saddle, " Tish protested ratherbitterly. "And if I were you, Aggie, I wouldn't worry about crowding mybrains. "

However, she probably regretted this speech, for she added more gently:"A high altitude will help your hay fever, Aggie. "

Aggie said with some bitterness that her hay fever did not need to behelped. That, as far as she could see, it was strong and flourishing. Atthat matters rested, except for a bit of conversation just before weleft. Aggie had put on her sweater vest and her muffler and the jacketof her winter suit and was getting into her fur coat, when Tish said:"Soft as mush, both of you!"

"If you think, Tish Carberry, " I began, "that I--"

"Apple dumplings!" said Tish. "Sofa pillows! Jellyfish! Not a muscle todivide between you!"

I drew on my woolen tights angrily. 

"Elevators!" Tish went on scornfully. "Street cars and taxicabs! Nowonder your bodies are mere masses of protoplasm, or cellulose, orwhatever it is. "

"Since when, " said Aggie, "have you been walking to develop yourself, Tish? I must say--"

Here anger brought on one of her sneezing attacks, and she was unable tofinish. 

Tish stood before us oracularly. "After next September, " she said, "youwill both scorn the sloth of civilization. You will move about for thejoy of moving about. You will have cast off the shackles of the fleshand be born anew. That is, if a plan of mine goes through. Lizzie, youwill lose fifty pounds!"

Well, I didn't want to lose fifty pounds. After our summer in the Mainewoods I had gone back to find that my new tailor-made coat, which hadfitted me exactly, and being stiffened with haircloth kept its shape offand looked as if I myself were hanging to the hook, had caved in on mein several places. Just as I had gone to the expense of having it takenin I began to put on flesh again, and had to have it let out. Besides, no woman over forty should ever reduce, at least not violently. Shewrinkles. My face that summer had fallen into accordion plaits, and Ihad the curious feeling of having enough skin for two. 

Aggie had suggested at that time that I have my cheeks filled out withparaffin, which I believe cakes and gives the appearance of youth. ButMrs. Ostermaier knew a woman who had done so, and being hit on one sideby a snowball, the padding broke in half, one part moving up under hereye and the second lodging at the angle of her jaw. She tried lying on ahot-water bottle to melt the pieces and bring them together again, butthey did not remain fixed, having developed a wandering habit andslipping unexpectedly now and then. Mrs. Ostermaier says it is painfulto watch her holding them in place when she yawns. 

Strangely enough, however, a few weeks later Tish's enthusiasm for theWest had apparently vanished. When several weeks went by and the atlashad disappeared from her table, and she had given up vegetarianism forSwedish movements, we felt that we were to have a quiet summer afterall, and Aggie wrote to a hotel in Asbury Park about rooms for July andAugust. 

There was a real change in Tish. She stopped knitting abdominal bandsfor the soldiers in Europe, for one thing, although she had sent overalmost a dozen very tasty ones. In the evenings, when we dropped in tochat with her, she said very little and invariably dozed in her chair. 

On one such occasion, Aggie having inadvertently stepped on the rockerof her chair while endeavoring by laying a hand on Tish's brow todiscover if she was feverish, the chair tilted back and Tish wakenedwith a jerk. 

She immediately fell to groaning and clasped her hands to the small ofher back, quite ignoring poor Aggie, whom the chair had caught in theepigastric region, and who was compelled for some time to struggle forbreath. 

"Jumping Jehoshaphat!" said Tish in an angry tone. It is rare for Tishto use the name of a Biblical character in this way, but she was clearlysuffering. "What in the world are you doing, Aggie?"

"T-t-trying to breathe, " poor Aggie replied. 

"Then I wish, " Tish said coldly, "that you would make the effort someplace else than on the rocker of my chair. You jarred me, and I am in nostate to be jarred. "

But she refused to explain further, beyond saying, in reply to aquestion of mine, that she was not feverish and that she had not beenasleep, having merely closed her eyes to rest them. Also she affirmedthat she was not taking riding-lessons. We both noticed however, thatshe did not leave her chair during the time we were there, and that shewas sitting on the sofa cushion I had made her for the previousChristmas, and on which I had embroidered the poet Moore's beautifulwords: "Come, rest in this bosom. "

As Aggie was still feeling faint, I advised her to take a mouthful ofblackberry cordial, which Tish keeps for emergencies in her bathroomcloset. Immediately following her departure the calm of the evening wasbroken by a loud shriek. 

It appeared, on my rushing to the bathroom, while Tish sat heartlesslystill, that Aggie, not seeing a glass, had placed the bottle to her lipsand taken quite a large mouthful of liniment, which in color resembledthe cordial. I found her sitting on the edge of the bathtub in a stateof collapse. 

"I'm poisoned!" she groaned. "Oh, Lizzie, I am not fit to die!"

I flew with the bottle to Tish, who was very calm and stealthily rubbingone of her ankles. 

"Do her good, " Tish said. "Take some of the stiffness out of her liver, for one thing. But you might keep an eye on her. It's full of alcohol. "

"What's the antidote?" I asked, hearing Aggie's low groans. 

"The gold cure is the only thing I can think of at the moment, " saidTish coldly, and started on the other ankle. 

I merely record this incident to show the change in Tish. Aggie was notseriously upset, although dizzy for an hour or so and very talkative, especially about Mr. Wiggins. 

Tish was changed. Her life, which mostly had been an open book to us, became filled with mystery. There were whole days when she was not to belocated anywhere, and evenings, as I have stated, when she dozed in herchair. 

As usual when we are worried about Tish, we consulted her nephew, Charlie Sands. But like all members of the masculine sex he refused tobe worried. 

"She'll be all right, " he observed. "She takes these spells. But trustthe old lady to come up smiling. "

"It's either Christian Science or osteopathy, " Aggie said dolefully. "She's not herself. The fruit cake she sent me the other day tasted veryqueer, and Hannah thinks she put ointment in instead of butter. "

"Ointments!" observed Charlie thoughtfully. "And salves! By George, Iwonder--I'll tell you, " he said: "I'll keep an eye open for a few days. The symptoms sound like--But never mind. I'll let you know. "

We were compelled to be satisfied with this, but for several days welingered in anxiety. During that painful interval nothing occurred toenlighten us, except one conversation with Tish. 

We had taken dinner with her, and she seemed to be all right again andmore than usually active. She had given up the Bran-Nut after breakinga tooth on it, and was eating rare beef, which she had heard wasdigested in the spleen or some such place, thus resting the stomach fora time. She left us, however, immediately after the meal, and Hannah, her maid, tiptoed into the room. 

"I'm that nervous I could scream, " she said. "Do you know what she'sdoing now?

"No, Hannah, " I said with bitter sarcasm. "Long ago I learned never tosurmise what Miss Tish is doing. "

"She's in the bathroom, standing on one foot and waving the other in theair. She's been doing it, " Hannah said, "for weeks. First one foot, thenthe other. And that ain't all. "

"You've been spying on Miss Tish, " Aggie said. "Shame on you, Hannah!"

"I have, Miss Aggie. Spy I have and spy I will, while there's breath inmy body. Twenty years have I--Do you know what she does when she comehome from these sneakin' trips of hers? She sits in a hot bath until thewonder is that her blood ain't turned to water. And after that she usesliniment. Her underclothes is that stained up with it that I'm ashamedto hang 'em out. "

Here Tish returned and, after a suspicious glance at Hannah, sat down. Aggie and I glanced at each other. She did not, as she had for some timepast, line the chair with pillows, and there was an air about her almostof triumph. 

She did not, however, volunteer any explanation. Aggie and I were drivento speculation, in which we indulged on our way home, Aggie being myguest at the time, on account of her janitor's children having measles, and Aggie never having had them, although recalling a severe rash as achild, with other measly symptoms. 

"She has something in mind for next summer, " said Aggie apprehensively, "and she is preparing her strength for it. Tish is forehanded if nothingelse. "

"Well, " I remarked with some bitterness, "if we are going along it mightbe well to prepare us too. "

"Something, " Aggie continued, "that requires landing on one foot withthe other in the air. "

"Don't drivel, " said I. "She's not likely going into the Russian ballet. She's training her muscles, that's all. "

But the mystery was solved the following morning when Charlie Sandscalled me up. 

"I've got it, beloved aunt, " he said. 

"Got what?" said I. 

"What the old lady is up to. She's a wonder, and no mistake. Only Ithink it was stingy of her not to let you and Aunt Aggie in. "

He asked me to get Aggie and meet him at the office as soon as possible, but he refused to explain further. And he continued to refuse until wehad arrived at our destination, a large brick building in the center ofthe city. 

"Now, " he said, "take a long breath and go in. And mind--no excitement. "

We went in. There was a band playing and people circling at a mile aminute. In the center there was a cleared place, and Tish was there onice skates. An instructor had her by the arm, and as we looked she wavedhim off, gave herself a shove forward with one foot, and then, with herarms waving, she made a double curve, first on one foot and then on theother. 

"The outside edge, by George!" said Charlie Sands. "The old sport!"

Unluckily at that moment Tish saw us, and sat down violently on the ice. And a quite nice-looking young man fell over her and lay stunned forseveral seconds. We rushed round the arena, expecting to see them bothcarried out, but Tish was uninjured, and came skating toward us with herhands in her pockets. It was the young man who had to be assisted out. 

"Well, " she said, fetching up against the railing with a bang, "ofcourse you had to come before I was ready for you! In a week I'll reallybe skating. "

We said nothing, but looked at her, and I am afraid our glances showeddisapproval, for she straightened her hat with a jerk. 

"Well?" she said. "You're not tongue-tied all of a sudden, are you?Can't a woman take a little exercise without her family and friendscoming snooping round and acting as if she'd broken the TenCommandments?"

"Breaking the Ten Commandments!" I said witheringly. "Breaking a legmore likely. If you could have seen yourself, Tish Carberry, sprawled onthat ice at your age, and both your arteries and your bones brittle, asthe specialist told you, --and I heard him myself, --you'd take thosethings off your feet and go home and hide your head. "

"I wish I had your breath, Lizzie, " Tish said. "I'd be a submarinediver. "

Saying which she skated off, and did not come near us again. A younggentleman went up to her and asked her to skate, though I doubt if shehad ever seen him before. And as we left the building in disapprovalthey were doing fancy turns in the middle of the place, and a crowd wasgathering round them. 

Owing to considerable feeling being roused by the foregoing incident, we did not see much of Tish for a week. If a middle-aged woman wants tomake a spectacle of herself, both Aggie and I felt that she needed to betaught a lesson. Besides, we knew Tish. With her, to conquer a thing isto lose interest. 

On the anniversary of the day Aggie became engaged to Mr. Wiggins, Tishasked us both to dinner, and we buried the hatchet, or rather theskates. It was when dessert came that we realized how everything thathad occurred had been preparation for the summer, and that we were notgoing to Asbury Park, after all. 

"It's like this, " said Tish. "Hannah, go out and close the door, anddon't stand listening. I have figured it all out, " she said, when Hannahhad slammed out. "The muscles used in skating are the ones used inmountain-climbing. Besides, there may be times when a pair of skateswould be handy going over the glaciers. It's not called Glacier Park fornothing, I dare say. When we went into the Maine woods we wentunprepared. This time I intend to be ready for any emergency. "

But we gave her little encouragement. We would go along, and told herso. But further than that I refused to prepare. I would not skate, andsaid so. 

"Very well, Lizzie, " she said. "Don't blame me if you find yourselfunable to cope with mountain hardships. I merely felt this way: if eachof us could do one thing well it might be helpful. There's always snow, and if Aggie would learn to use snowshoes it might be valuable. "

"Where could I practice?" Aggie demanded. 

But Tish went on, ignoring Aggie's sarcastic tone. "And if you, Lizzie, would learn to throw a lasso, or lariat, --I believe both terms arecorrect, --it would be a great advantage, especially in case of meetingferocious animals. The park laws will not allow us to kill them, and itwould be mighty convenient, Lizzie. Not to mention that it would be anaccomplishment few women possess. "

I refused to make the attempt, although Tish sent for the clothesline, and with the aid of the encyclopædia made a loop in the end of it. Finally she became interested herself, and when we left ratherdownhearted at ten o'clock she had caught the rocking-chair three timesand broken the clock. 

Aggie and I prepared with little enthusiasm, I must confess. We had asmuch love for the rocks and rills of our great country as Tish, but, asAggie observed, there were rocks and rocks, and one could love themwithout climbing up them or falling off them. 

The only comfort we had was that Charlie Sands said that we should rideponies, and not horses. My niece's children have a pony which is verygentle and not much larger than a dog, which comes up on the porch forlumps of sugar. We were lured to a false sense of security, I must say. 

As far as we could see, Tish was making few preparations for the trip. She said we could get everything we needed at the park entrance, andthat the riding was merely sitting in a saddle and letting the pony dothe rest. But on the 21st of June, the anniversary of the day Aggie wasto have been married, we went out to decorate Mr. Wiggins's lastresting-place, and coming out of the cemetery we met Tish. 

She was on a horse, astride!

She was not alone. A gentleman was riding beside her, and he had herhorse by a long leather strap. 

She pretended not to see us, and Aggie unfortunately waved her redparasol at her. The result was most amazing. The beast she was on jerkeditself free in an instant, and with the same movement, apparently, leaped the hedge beside the road. One moment there was Tish, in a derbyhat and breeches, and the next moment there was only the gentleman, withhis mouth open. 

Aggie collapsed, moaning, in the road, and beyond the hedge we couldhear the horse leaping tombstones in the cemetery. 

"Oh, Tish!" Aggie wailed. 

I broke my way through the hedge to find what was left of her, while theriding-master bolted for the gate. But to my intense surprise Tish wasnot on the ground. Then I saw her. She was still on the creature, andshe was coming back along the road, with her riding-hat on the back ofher head and a gleam in her eye that I knew well enough was a gleam oftriumph. 

She halted the thing beside me and looked down with a patronizing air. 

"He's a trifle nervous this morning, " she said calmly. "Hasn't beenworked enough. Good horse, though, --very neat jump. "

Then she rode on and out through the gates, ignoring Aggie's pitifulwail and scorning the leading-string the instructor offered. 

We reached Glacier Park without difficulty, although Tish insisted ontalking to the most ordinary people on the train, and once, losing her, we found her in the drawing-room learning to play bridge, although not acard-player, except for casino. Though nothing has ever been said, Ibelieve she learned when too late that they were playing for money, asshe borrowed ten dollars from me late in the afternoon and was lookingrather pale. 

"What do you think?" she said, while I was getting the money from thesafety pocket under my skirt. "The young man who knocked me down on theice that day is on the train. I've just exchanged a few words with him. He was not much hurt, although unconscious for a short time. His name isBell--James C. Bell. "

Soon after that Tish brought him to us, and we had a nice talk. He saidhe had not been badly hurt on the ice, although he got a cut on theforehead from Tish's skate, requiring two stitches. 

After a time he and Aggie went out on the platform, only returning whenAggie got a cinder in her eye. 

"Just think, " she said as he went for water to use in my eye-cup, "heis going to meet the girl he is in love with out at the park. She hasbeen there for four weeks. They are engaged. He is very much in love. Hedidn't talk of anything else. "

She told him she had confided his tender secret to us, and instead oflooking conscious he seemed glad to have three people instead of one totalk to about her. 

"You see, it's like this, " he said: "She is very good looking, and inher town a moving-picture company has its studio. That part's all right. I suppose we have to have movies. But the fool of a director met her ata party, and said she would photograph well and ought to be with them. He offered her a salary, and it went to her head. She's young, " headded, "and he said she could be as great a hit as Mary Pickford. "

"How sad!" said Aggie. "But of course she refused?"

"Well, no, she liked the idea. It got me worried. Worried her peopletoo. Her father's able to give her a good home, and I'm expecting totake that job off his hands in about a year. But girls are queer. Shewanted to try it awfully. "

It developed that he had gone to her folks about it, and they'd offeredher a vacation with some of her school friends in Glacier Park. 

"It's pretty wild out there, " he went on, "and we felt that the air, andhorseback riding and everything, would make her forget the movies. Ihope so. She's there now. But she's had the bug pretty hard. Got so shewas always posing, without knowing it. "

But he was hopeful that she would be cured, and said she was to meet himat the station. 

"She's an awfully nice girl, you understand, " he finished. "It's onlythat this thing got hold of her and needed driving out. "

Well, we were watching when the train drew in at Glacier Park Station, and she was there. She was a very pretty girl, and it was quite touchingto see him look at her. But Aggie observed something and remarked on it. 

"She's not as glad to see him as he is to see her, " she said. "He wasgoing to kiss her, and she moved back. "

In the crowd we lost sight of them, but that evening, sitting in thelobby of the hotel, we saw Mr. Bell wandering round alone. He lookeddepressed, and Aggie beckoned to him. 

"How is everything?" she asked. "Is the cure working?"

He dropped into a chair and looked straight ahead. 

"Not so you could notice it!" he said bitterly. "Would you believe thatthere's a moving-picture outfit here, taking scenes in the park?"

"No!"

"There is. They've taken two thousand feet of her already, dressed likean Indian, " he said in a tone of suppressed fury. "It makes me sick. Idare say if we tied her in a well some fool would lower a camera on arope. "

Just at that moment she sauntered past us with a reddish-haired youngman. Mr. Bell ignored her, although I saw her try to catch his eye. 

"That's the moving-picture man with her, " he said in a low, violent tonewhen they had passed. "Name's Oliver. " He groaned. "He's told her sheought to go in for the business. She'd be a second Mary Pickford! I'dlike to kill him!" He rose savagely and left us. 

We spent the night in the hotel at the park entrance, and I could notget to sleep. Tish was busy engaging a guide and going over oursupplies, and at eleven o'clock Aggie came into my room and sat down onthe bed. 

"I can't sleep, Lizzie, " she said. "That poor Mr. Bell is on my mind. Besides, did you see those ferocious Indians hanging round?"

Well, I had seen them, but said nothing. 

"They would scalp one as quick as not, " Aggie went on. "And who's toknow but that our guide will be in league with them? I've lost myteeth, " she said with a flash of spirit, "but so far I've kept my hair, and mean to if possible. That old Indian has a scalp tied to the end ofa stick. Lizzie, I'm nervous. "

"If it is only hair they want, I don't mind their taking my switch, " Iobserved, trying to be facetious, although uneasy. As to the switch, itno longer matched my hair, and I would have parted from it without apang. 

"And another thing, " said Aggie: "Tish can talk about ponies until sheis black in the face. The creatures are horses. I've seen them. "

Well, I knew that, too, by that time. As we walked to the hotel from thetrain I had seen one of than carrying on. It was arching its back like acat that's just seen a strange dog, and with every arch it swelled itsstomach. At the third heave it split the strap that held the saddle on, and then it kicked up in the rear and sent saddle and rider over itshead. So far as I had seen, no casualty had resulted, but it had set methinking. Given a beast with an India-rubber spine and no sense ofhonor, I felt I would be helpless. 

Tish came in just then and we confronted her. 

[Illustration: "It's well enough for you, Tish Carberry, to talk aboutgripping a horse with your knees"]

"Ponies!" I said bitterly. "They are horses, if I know a horse. And, moreover, it's well enough for you, Tish Carberry, to talk aboutgripping a horse with your knees. I'm not built that way, and you knowit. Besides, no knee grip will answer when a creature begins to act likea cat in a fit. "

Aggie here had a bright idea. She said that she had seen pictures ofpneumatic jackets to keep people from drowning, and that Mr. McKee, abuyer at one of the stores at home, had taken one, fully inflated, whenhe crossed to Paris for autumn suits. 

"I would like to have one, Tish, " she finished. "It would break theforce of a fall anyhow, even if it did puncture. "

Tish, who was still dressed, went out to the curio shop in the lobby, and returned with the sad news that there was nothing of the sort onsale. 

We were late in getting started the next morning owing partly to Aggie'shaving put her riding-breeches on wrong, and being unable to sit downwhen once in the saddle. But the main reason was the guide we hadengaged. Tish heard him using profane language to one of the horses anddismissed him on the spot. 

The man who was providing our horses and outfit, however, understood, and in a short time returned with another man. 

"I've got a good one for you now, Miss Carberry, " he said. "Safe andperfectly gentle, and as mild as milk. Only has one fault, and maybe youwon't mind that. He smokes considerably. "

"I don't object, as long as it's in the open air, " Tish said. 

So that was arranged. But I must say that the new man did not look mild. He had red hair, although a nice smile with a gold tooth, and histrousers were of white fur, which looked hot for summer. 

"You are sure that you don't use strong language?" Tish asked. 

"No, ma'am, " he said. "I was raised strict, and very particular as toswearing. Dear, dear now, would you look at that cinch! Blow up theirlittle tummies, they do, when they're cinched, and when they breathe itout, the saddle's as loose as the tongues of some of these heretourists. "

Tish swung herself up without any trouble, but owing to a large canvasbag on the back of my saddle I was unable to get my leg across, andwas compelled to have it worked over, a little at a time. At last, however, we were ready. A white pack-horse, carrying our tents andcooking-utensils, was led by Bill, which proved to be the name of ourcowboy guide. 

Mr. Bell came to say good-bye and to wish us luck. But he lookedunhappy, and there was no sign whatever of the young lady, whose name wehad learned was Helen. 

"I may see you on the trail, " he said sadly. "I'm about sick of thisplace, and I'm thinking of clearing out. "

Aggie reminded him that faint heart never won fair lady, but he onlyshook his head. 

"I'm not so sure that I want to win, " he said. "Marriage is a seriousbusiness, and I don't know that I'd care to have a wife that followed acamera like a street kid follows a brass band. It wouldn't make for aquiet home. "

We left him staring wistfully into the distance. 

Tish sat in her saddle and surveyed the mountain peaks that rose behindthe hotel. 

"Twenty centuries are looking down upon us!" she said. "The crest of ournative land lies before us. We will conquer those beetling crags, or dietrying. All right, Bill. Forward!"

Bill led off, followed by the pack-horse, then Tish, Aggie and myself. We kept on in this order for some time, which gave me a chance toobserve Aggie carefully. I am not much of a horsewoman myself, havingnever been on a horse before. But my father was fond of riding, and Isoon adapted myself to the horse's gait, especially when walking. Onlevel stretches, however, where Bill spurred his horse to a trot, I wasnot so comfortable, and Aggie appeared to strike the saddle in adifferent spot every time she descended. 

Once, on her turning her profile to me in a glance of despair, I wasstruck by the strange and collapsed appearance of her face. This wasexplained, however, when my horse caught up to hers on a wider stretchof road, and I saw that she had taken out her teeth and was holding themin her hand. 

"Al-almost swallowed them, " she gasped. "Oh, Lizzie, to think of asummer of this!"

At last we left the road and turned onto a footpath, which instantlycommenced to rise. Tish called back something about the beauties ofnature and riding over a carpet of flowers, but my horse was fording asmall stream at the time and I was too occupied to reply. The path--ortrail, which is what Bill called it--grew more steep, and I let go ofthe lines and held to the horn of my saddle. The horses were climbinglike goats. 

"Tish, " Aggie called desperately, "I can't stand this. I'm going back!I'm--Lordamighty!"

Fortunately Tish did not hear this. We had suddenly emerged on the brinkof a precipice. A two-foot path clung to the cliff, and along the veryedge of this the horses walked, looking down in an interested manner nowand then. My blood turned to water and I closed my eyes. 

"Tish!" Aggie shrieked. 

But the only effect of this was to start her horse into a trot. I hadclosed my eyes, but I opened them in time to see Aggie give a wildclutch and a low moan. 

In a few moments the trail left the edge, and Aggie turned in her saddleand looked back at me. 

"I lost my lower set back there, " she said. "They went over the edge. Isuppose they're falling yet. "

"It's a good thing it wasn't the upper set, " I said, to comfort her. "Asfar as appearance goes--"

"Appearance!" she said bitterly. "Do you suppose we'll meet anybody butdesperadoes and Indians in a place like this? And not an egg with us, ofcourse. "

The eggs referred to her diet, as at different times, when having herteeth repaired, she can eat little else. 

"Ham, " she called back in a surly tone, "and hard tack, I suppose! I'llstarve, Lizzie, that's all. If only we had brought some junket tablets!"

With the exception of this incident the morning was quiet. Tish and Billtalked prohibition, which he believed in, and the tin pans on thepack-horse clattered, and we got higher all the time, and rode throughwaterfalls and along the edge of death. By noon I did not much care ifthe horses fell over or not. The skin was off me in a number of places, and my horse did not like me, and showed it by nipping back at my leghere and there. 

At eleven o'clock, riding through a valley on a trail six inches wide, Bill's horse stepped on a hornets' nest. The insects were probably dazedat first, but by the time Tish's horse arrived they were prepared, andthe next thing we knew Tish's horse was flying up the mountain-side asif it had gone crazy, and Bill was shouting to us to stop. 

The last we saw of Tish for some time was her horse leaping a mountainstream, and jumping like a kangaroo, and Bill was following. 

"She'll be killed!" Aggie cried. "Oh, Tish, Tish!"

"Don't yell, " I said. "You'll start the horses. And for Heaven's sake, Aggie, " I added grimly, "remember that this is a pleasure trip. "

It was a half-hour before Tish and Bill returned. Tish was a chastenedwoman. She said little or nothing, but borrowed some ointment from mefor her face, where the branches of trees had scraped it, while Bill ledthe horses round the fatal spot. I recall, however, that she said shewished now that we had brought the other guide. 

"Because I feel, " she observed, "that a little strong language would bea relief. "

We had luncheon at noon in a sylvan glade, and Aggie was pathetic. Shedipped a cracker in a cup of tea, and sat off by herself under a tree. Tish, however, had recovered her spirits. 

"Throw out your chests, and breathe deep of this pure air unsullied bycivilization, " she cried. "Aggie, fill yourself with ozone. "

"Humph!" said Aggie. "It's about all I will fill myself with. "

"Think, " Tish observed, "of the fools and dolts who are living underroofs, struggling, contending, plotting, while all Nature awaits them. "

"With stings, " Aggie said nastily, "and teeth, and horns, and claws, andevery old thing! Tish, I want to go back. I'm not happy, and I don'tenjoy scenery when I'm not happy. Besides, I can't eat the landscape. "

As I look back, I believe it would have been better if we had returned. I think of that day, some time later, when we made the long descent fromthe Piegan Pass under such extraordinary circumstances, and I realizethat, although worse for our bodies, which had grown strong and agile, so that I have, later on, seen Aggie mount her horse on a run, it wouldhave been better for our nerves had we returned. 

We were all perfectly stiff after luncheon, and Aggie was sulking also. Bill was compelled to lift us into our saddles, and again we started upand up. The trail was now what he called a "switchback. " Halfway upAggie refused to go farther, but on looking back decided not to returneither. 

"I shall not go another step, " she called. "Here I am, and here I staytill I die. "

"Very well, " Tish said from overhead. "I suppose you don't expect us allto stay and die with you. I'll tell your niece when I see her. "

Aggie thought better of it, however, and followed on, with her eyesclosed and her lips moving in prayer. She happened to open them at a badplace, although safe enough, according to Bill, and nothing to what wewere coming to a few days later. Opening them as she did on a ledge ofrock which sloped steeply for what appeared to be several miles downon each side, she uttered a piercing shriek, followed by a sneeze. Asbefore, her horse started to run, and Aggie is, I believe Bill said, the only person in the world who ever took that place at a canter. 

We were to take things easy the first day, Bill advised. "Till you getyour muscles sort of eased up, ladies, " he said. "If you haven't beenriding astride, a horse's back seems as wide as the roof of a church. But we'll get a rest now. The rest of the way is walking. "

"I can't walk, " Aggie said. "I can't get my knees together. "

"Sorry, ma'am, " said Bill. "We're going down now, and the animals has tobe led. That's one of the diversions of a trip like this. First you rideand than you walk. And then you ride again. This here's one of the showplaces, although easy of access from the entrance. Be a good place for aholdup, I've always said. "

"A holdup?" Tish asked. Her enthusiasm seemed to have flagged somewhat, but at this she brightened up. 

"Yes'm. You see, we're near the Canadian border, and it would be easyfor a gang to slip over and back again. Don't know why we've never hadone. Yellowstone can boast of a number. "

I observed tartly that I considered it nothing to boast of, but Bill didnot agree with me. 

"It doesn't hurt a neighborhood none, " he observed. "Adds romance, asyou might say. "

He went on and, happening to slide on a piece of shale at that moment, Isat down unexpectedly and the horse put its foot on me. 

I felt embittered and helpless, but the others kept on. 

"Very well, " I said, "go on. Don't mind me. If this creature wants tosit in my lap, well and good. I expect it's tired. "

But as they went on callously, I was obliged to shove the creature offand to hobble on. Bill was still babbling about holdups, and Aggie wassaying that he was sunstruck, but of course it did not matter. 

We made very slow progress, owing to taking frequent rests, and late inthe afternoon we were overtaken by Mr. Bell, on foot and carrying apack. He would have passed on without stopping, but Aggie hailed him. 

"Not going to hike, are you?" she said pleasantly. Aggie is fond ofpicking up the vernacular of a region. 

"No, " he said in a surly tone quite unlike his former urbane manner, "I'm merely taking this pack out for a walk. "

But he stopped and mopped his face. 

"To tell you the truth, ladies, " he said, "I'm working off a littlesteam, that's all. I was afraid, if I stayed round the hotel, I'd dosomething I'd be sorry for. There are times when I am not a fitcompanion for any one, and this is one of them. "

We invited him to join us, but he refused. 

"No, I'm better alone, " he said. "When things get too strong for me onthe trail I can sling things about. I've been throwing boulders down themountain every now and then. I'd just as soon they hit somebody as not. Also, " he added, "I'm safer away from any red-headed men. "

We saw him glance at Bill, and understood. Mr. Oliver was red-headed. 

"Love's an awful thing, " said Bill as the young man went on, kickingstones out of his way. "I'm glad I ain't got it. "

Tish turned and eyed him. "True love is a very beautiful thing, " sherebuked him. "Although a single woman myself, I believe in it. 'Comelive with me and be my love, '" she quoted, sitting down to shake a stoneout of her riding-boot. 

Bill looked startled. "I might say, " he said hastily, "that I may havemisled you, ladies. I'm married. "

"You said you had never been in love, " Tish said sharply. 

"Well, not to say real love, " he replied. "She was the cook of an outfitI was with and it just came about natural. She was going to leave, whichmeant that I'd have to do the cooking, which I ain't much at, especiallypastry. So I married her. "

Tish gave him a scornful glance but said nothing and we went on. 

We camped late that afternoon beside Two Medicine Lake, and while Billput up the tents the three of us sat on a log and soaked our aching feetin the water which was melted glacier, and naturally cold. 

What was our surprise, on turning somewhat, to see the angry loverfishing on a point near by. While we stared he pulled out a large trout, and stalked away without a glance in our direction. As Tish, with herusual forethought, had brought a trout rod, she hastily procured it, butwithout result. 

"Of course, " Aggie said, "no fish! I could eat a piece of broiled fish. I dare say I shall be skin and bone at the end of this trip--and notmuch skin. "

Bill had set up the sleeping-tent and built a fire, and it looked cozyand comfortable. But Tish had the young man on her mind, and aftersupper she put on a skirt which she had brought along and went to seehim. 

"I'd take him some supper, Bill, " she said, "but you are correct: youare no cook. "

She disappeared among the bushes, only to return in a short time, jerking off her skirt as she came. 

"He says all he wants is to be let alone, " she said briefly. "I must sayI'm disappointed in him. He was very agreeable before. "

I pass without comment over the night. Bill had put up the tent over theroot of a large tree, and we disposed ourselves about it as well as wecould. In the course of the night one of the horses broke loose and putits head inside the tent. Owing to Aggie's thinking it was a bear, Tishshot at it, fortunately missing it. 

But the frightened animal ran away, and Bill was until noon the next dayfinding it. We cooked our own breakfast, and Tish made some gems, havingbrought the pan along. But the morning dragged, although the scenery waslovely. 

At twelve Bill brought the horse back and came over to us. 

"If you don't mind my saying it, Miss Carberry, " he observed, "you're abit too ready with that gun. First thing you know you'll put a holethrough me, and then where will you be?"

"I've got along without men most of my life, " Tish said sharply. "Ireckon we'd manage. "

"Well, " he said, "there's another angle to it. Where would I be?"

"That's between you and your Creator, " Tish retorted. 

We went on again that afternoon, and climbed another precipice. We sawno human being except a mountain goat, although Bill claimed to haveseen a bear. Tish was quite calm at all times, and had got so that shecould look down into eternity without a shudder. But Aggie and I werestill nervous, and at the steepest places we got off and walked. 

The unfortunate part was that the exercise and the mountain air madeAggie hungry, and there was little that she could eat. 

"If any one had told me a month ago, " she said, mopping her forehead, "that I would be scaling the peaks of my country on crackers and tea, Iwouldn't have believed it. I'm done out, Lizzie. I can't climb anotherinch. "

Bill was ahead with the pack horse, and Tish, overhearing her, calledback some advice. 

"Take your horse's tail and let him pull you up, Aggie, " she said. "I'veread it somewhere. "

Aggie, although frequently complaining, always does as Tish suggests. Soshe took the horse's tail, when a totally unexpected thing happened. Docile as the creature generally was, it objected at once, and kickedout with both rear feet. In a moment, it seemed to me, Aggie was gone, and her horse was moving on alone. 

"Aggie!" I called in a panic. 

Tish stopped, and we both looked about. Then we saw her, lying on aledge about ten feet below the trail. She was flat on her back, and herriding-hat was gone. But she was uninjured, although shaken, for as welooked she sat up, and an agonized expression came over her face. 

"Aggie!" I cried. "Is anything broken?"

"Damnation!" said Aggie in an awful voice. "The upper set is gone!"

I have set down exactly what Aggie said. I admit that the provocationwas great. But Tish was not one to make allowances, and she turned andwent on, leaving us alone. She is not without feeling, however, for fromthe top of the pass she sent Bill down with a rope, and we dragged poorAggie to the trail again. Her nerves were shaken and she was repentantalso, for when she found that her hat was gone she said nothing, although her eyes took on a hunted look. 

At the top of the pass Tish was sitting on a stone. She had taken hermending-box from the saddle, where she always kept it handy, and wasdrawing up a hole in her stocking. I observed to her pleasantly that itwas a sign of scandal to mend clothing while still on, but she ignoredme, although, as I reflected bitterly, I had not been kicked over thecliff. 

It was a subdued and speechless Aggie who followed us that afternoonalong the trail. As her hat was gone, I took the spare dish towel andmade a turban for her, with an end hanging down to protect the back ofher neck. But she expressed little gratitude, beyond observing that asshe was going over the edge piecemeal, she'd better have done it all atonce and be through with it. 

The afternoon wore away slowly. It seemed a long time until we reachedour camping-place, partly because, although a small eater ordinarily, the air and exercise had made me feel famished. But the disagreementbetween Tish and Aggie, owing to the latter's unfortunate exclamationwhile kicked over the cliff, made the time seem longer. There was notthe usual exchange of pleasant nothings between us. 

But by six o'clock Tish was more amiable, having seen bear scratches ontrees near the camp, and anticipating the sight of a bear. She mixed upa small cup cake while Bill was putting up our tent, and then, takingher rod, proceeded to fish, while Aggie and I searched for grasshoppers. These were few, owing to the altitude, but we caught four, which weimprisoned in a match-box. 

With them Tish caught four trout and, broiling them nicely, she offeredone to poor Aggie. It was a peace offering, and taken as such, so thatwe were soon on our former agreeable footing, and all forgotten. 

The next day it rained, and we were obliged to sit in the tent. Bill satwith us, and talked mainly of desperadoes. 

"As I observed before, " he said, "there hasn't been any tourist holdupyet. But it's bound to come. Take the Yellowstone, now, --one holdup ayear's the average, and it's full of soldiers at that. "

"It's a wonder people keep on going, " I observed moving out of a puddle. 

"Oh, I don't know, " he said. "In one way it's good business. I take itthis way: When folks come West they want the West they've read about. What do they care for irrigation and apple orchards? What they like isdanger and a little gunplay, the sort of thing they see in these heremoving pictures. "

"I'm sure I don't, " Aggie remarked. It was growing dusk, and she peeredout into the forest round us. "There is something crackling out therenow, " she said. 

"Only a bear, likely, " Bill assured her. "We have a sight of bears here. No, ma'am, they want danger. And every holdup's an advertisement. Yousee, the Government can't advertise these here parks; not the way itshould, anyhow. But a holdup's news, so the papers print it, and it setspeople to thinking about the park. Maybe they never thought of the placeand are arranging to go elsewhere. Then along comes a gang and raisesh--, raises trouble, and the park's in every one's mouth, so to speak. We'd get considerable business if there was one this summer. "

At that moment the crackling outside increased, and a shadowy formemerged from the bushes. Even Bill stood up, and Aggie screamed. 

It was, however, only poor Mr. Bell. 

"Mind if I borrow some matches?" he said gruffly. 

"We can't lend matches, " Tish replied. "At least, I don't see the use ofsending them back after they've been lighted. We can give you some. "

"My mistake, " he said. 

That was all he said, except the word "Thanks" when I reached him a box. 

"He's a surly creature, " Tish observed as he crackled through the brushagain. "More than likely that girl's better off without him. "

"He looks rather downhearted, " Aggie remarked. "Much that we think istemper is due to unhappiness. "

"Much of your charitable view is due to a good dinner too, " Tish said. "Here we are, in the center of the wilderness, with great peaks on everyhand, and we meet a fellow creature who speaks nine words, and begrudgesthose. If he's as stingy with money as with language she's hard a narrowescape. "

"He's had kind of a raw deal, " Bill put in. "The girl was stuck on himall right, until this moving-picture chap came along. He offered to takesome pictures with her in them, and it was all off. They're making up aplay now, and she's to be in it. "

"What sort of a play?" Tish demanded. 

"Sorry not to oblige, " Bill replied. "Can't say the nature of it. "

But all of us felt that Bill knew and would not say. 

Tish, to whom a mystery is a personal affront, determined to find outfor herself; and when later in the evening we saw the light of Bell'scamp-fire, it was Tish herself who suggested that we go over and visitwith him. 

"We can converse about various things, " she said, "and take his mindfrom his troubles. But it would be better not to mention affairs of theheart. He's probably sensitive. "

So we left Bill to look after things, and went to call on Mr. Bell. Itwas farther to his camp than it had appeared, and Tish unfortunately raninto a tree and bruised her nose badly. When it had stopped bleeding, however, we went on, and at last arrived. 

He was sitting on a log by the fire, smoking a pipe and looking verysad. Behind him was a bit of a tent not much larger than an umbrella. 

Aggie touched my arm. "My heart aches for him, " she said. "There isdespair in his very eyes. "

I do not believe that at first he was very glad to see us, but hesoftened somewhat when Tish held out the cake she had brought. 

"That's very nice of you, " he said, rising. "I'm afraid I can't ask youto sit down. The ground's wet and there is only this log. "

"I've sat on logs before, " Tish replied. "We thought we'd call, seeingwe are neighbors. As the first comers it was our place to call first, ofcourse. "

"I see, " he said, and poked up the fire with a piece of stick. 

"We felt that you might be lonely, " said Aggie. 

"I came here to be lonely, " he replied gloomily. "I want to be lonely. "

Tish, however, was determined to be cheerful, and asked him, as a safesubject, how he felt about the war. 

"War?" he said. "That's so, there is a war. To tell the truth, I hadforgotten about it. I've been thinking of other things. "

We saw that it was going to be difficult to cheer him. Tish tried theweather, which brought us nowhere, as he merely grunted. But Aggiebroached the subject of desperadoes, and he roused somewhat. 

"There are plenty of shady characters in the park, " he said shortly. "Wolves in sheep's clothing, that's what they are. "

"Bill, our guide, says there may be a holdup at any time. "

"Sure there is, " he said calmly. "There's one going to be pulled off inthe next day or two. "

We sat petrified, and Aggie's eyes were starting out of her head. 

"All the trimmings, " he went on, staring at the fire. "Innocent andunsuspecting tourists, lunch, laughter, boiled coffee, and cold ham. Ambush. The whole business--followed by highwaymen in flannel shirts andrevolvers. Dead tourist or two, desperate resistance--everything. "

Aggie rose, pale as an aspen. "You--you are joking!" she cried. 

"Do I look like it?" he demanded fiercely. "I tell you there is going tobe the whole thing. At the end the lovely girl will escape on horsebackand ride madly for aid. She will meet the sheriff and a posse, who areout for a picnic or some such damfool nonsense, and--"

"Young man, " Tish said coldly, "if you know all this, why are yousitting here and not alarming the authorities?"

"Pooh!" he said disagreeably. "It's a put-up scheme, to advertise thepark. Yellowstone's got ahead of them this year, and has had itsexcitement, with all the papers ringing with it. That was a gag, too, probably. "

"Do you mean--"

"I mean considerable, " he said. "That red-headed movie idiot will be ona rise, taking the tourists as they ride through. Of course he doesn'texpect the holdup--not in the papers anyhow. He happens to have thecamera trained on the party, and gets it all. Result--a whacking goodpicture, revolvers firing blank cartridges, everything which people willcrowd to see. Oh, it's good business all right. I don't mind admittingthat. "

Tish's face expressed the greatest rage. She rose, drawing herself toher full height. 

"And the tourists?" she demanded. "They lend themselves to thisimposition? To this infamy? To this turpitude?"

"Certainly not. They think it's the real thing. The whole business hangson that. And as the sheriff, or whoever it is in the fool plot, capturesthe bandits, the party gets its money back, and has material forconversation for the next twenty years. "

"To think, " said Tish, "of our great National Government lending itselfto such a scheme!"

"Wrong, " said the young man. "It's a combination of Western railroadsand a movie concern acting together. "

"I trust, " Tish observed, setting her lips firmly, "that the touristswill protest. "

"The more noise, the better. " The young man, though not more cheerful asto appearance, was certainly more talkative. "Trust a clergyman foryelling when his pocket's picked. "

With one voice the three of us exclaimed: "Mr. Ostermaier!"

He was not sure of the name, but "Helen" had pointed the clergyman outto him, and it was Mr. Ostermaier without a doubt. 

We talked it over with Bill when we got back, and he was not assurprised as we'd expected. 

"Knew they were cooking up something. They've got some Indians in ittoo. Saw them rehearsing old Thunder Mountain the other day in nothingbut a breech-clout. "

Tish reproved him for a lack of delicacy of speech, and shortlyafterward we went to bed. Owing to the root under the tent, and puddleshere and there, we could not go to sleep for a time, and we discussedthe "nefarious deed, " as Tish aptly termed it, that was about to takeplace. 

"Although, " Tish observed, "Mr. Ostermaier has been receiving for somany years that it might be a good thing, for his soul's sake, to havehim give up something, even if to bandits. " I dozed off after a time, but awakened to find Tish sitting up, wide awake. 

"I've been thinking that thing over, Lizzie, " she said in a low tone. "Ibelieve it's our duty to interfere. "

"Of course, " I replied sarcastically; "and be shown all over the countryin the movies making fools of ourselves. "

"Did you notice that that young man said they would be firing blankcartridges?"

Well, even a blank cartridge can be a dangerous thing. Then and there Ireminded her of my niece's boy, who was struck on the Fourth of July bya wad from one, and had to be watched for lockjaw for several weeks. 

It was at that moment that we heard Bill, who had no tent, by choice, and lay under a tree, give a loud whoop, followed by what wasunmistakably an oath. 

"Bear!" he yelled. "Watch out, he's headed for the tent! It's agrizzly. "

Tish felt round wildly for her revolver, but it was gone! And the bearwas close by. We could hear it snuffing about, and to add to theconfusion Aggie wakened and commenced to sneeze with terror. 

"Bill!" Tish called. "I've lost my revolver!"

"I took it, Miss Carberry. But I've been lying in a puddle, and it won'tgo off. "

All hope seemed gone. The frail walls of our tent were no protectionwhatever, and as we all knew, even a tree was no refuge from a bear, which, as we had seen in the Zoological Garden at home, can climb like acat, only swifter. Besides, none of us could climb a tree. 

It was at that moment that Tish had one of those inspirations that makeher so dependable in emergencies. Feeling round in the tent for apossible weapon, she touched a large ham, from which we had broiled afew slices at supper. In her shadowy form there was both purpose andhigh courage. With a single sweeping gesture she flung the ham at thebear so accurately that we heard the thud with which it struck. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Bill called from a safe distance. Eventhen we realized that his restraint of speech was a pose, pure andsimple. "If you make him angry he'll tear up the whole place. "

But Tish did not deign to answer. The rain had ceased, and suddenly themoon came out and illuminated the whole scene. We saw the bear sniffingat the ham, which lay on the ground. Then he picked it up in his jawsand stood looking about. 

Tish said later that the moment his teeth were buried in the ham shefelt safe. I can still see the majestic movement with which she walkedout of the tent and waved her arms. 

"Now, scat with you!" she said firmly. "Scat!"

He "scatted. " Snarling through his nose, for fear of dropping the ham, he turned and fled up the mountainside. In the open space Tish stood theconqueror. She yawned and glanced about. 

"Going to be a nice night, after all, " she said. "Now, Bill, bring methat revolver, and if I catch you meddling with it again I'll put thatpair of fur rugs you are so proud of in the fire. "

Bill, who was ignorant of the ham, emerged sheepishly into the open. "Where the--where the dickens did you hit him, Miss Tish?" he asked. 

"In the stomach, " Tish replied tartly, and taking her revolver went backto the tent. 

All the next day Tish was quiet. She rode ahead, hardly noticing thescenery, with her head dropped on her chest. At luncheon she took asardine sandwich and withdrew to a tree, underneath which she sat, alonely and brooding figure. 

When luncheon was over and Aggie and I were washing the dishes andhanging out the dish towels to dry on a bush, Tish approached Bill, whowas pouring water on the fire to extinguish it. 

"Bill, " she stated, "you came to us under false pretenses. You swear, for one thing. "

"Only under excitement, Miss Tish, " he said. "And as far as that goes, Miss Aggie herself said--"

"Also, " Tish went on hastily, "you said you could cook. You cannotcook. "

"Now, look here, Miss Tish, " he said in a pleading tone, "I can cook. Ididn't claim to know the whole cookbook. I can make coffee and frybacon. How'd I know you ladies wanted pastry? As for them canned salmoncroquettes with white sauce, I reckon to make them with a littleshowing, and--"

"Also, " said Tish, cutting in sternly, "you took away my revolver, andleft us helpless last night, and in peril of wild beasts. "

"Tourists ain't allowed to carry guns. "

He attempted to look injured, but Tish ignored him. 

"Therefore, " she said, "if I am not to send you back--which I have beenconsidering all day, as I've put up a tent myself before this, and youare only an extra mouth to feed, which, as we are one ham short, isinconvenient--you will have to justify my keeping you. "

"If you will just show me once about them gems, Miss Tish--" he began. 

But Tish cut him off. "No, " she said firmly, "you are too casual aboutcooking. And you are no dish-washer. Setting a plate in a river andletting the current wash it may satisfy cow-punchers. It doesn't go withme. The point is this: You know all about the holdup that is going totake place. Don't lie. I know you know. Now, you take us there and tellus all you know about it. "

He scratched his head reflectively. "I'll tell you, " he said. "I'm aslow thinker. Give me about twenty minutes on it, will you? It's a sortof secret, and there's different ways of looking at it. "

Tish took out her watch. "Twenty minutes, " she said. "Start thinkingnow. "

He wandered off and rolled a cigarette. Later on, as I have said, heshowed Tish how to do it--not, of course, that she meant to smoke, butTish is fond of learning how to do things. She got so she could rollthem with one hand, and she does it now in the winter evenings, insteadof rolling paper spills as formerly. When Charlie Sands comes, shealways has a supply ready for him, although occasionally somewhat dryfrom waiting for a few weeks. 

At the end of twenty minutes Tish snapped her watch shut. 

"Time!" she called, and Bill came back. 

"Well, I'll do it, " he said. "I don't know as they'll put you in thepicture, but I'll see what I can do. "

"Picture nothing!" Tish snapped. "You take us there and hide us. That'sthe point. There must be caves round to put us in, although I don'tinsist on a cave. They're damp usually. "

Well, he looked puzzled, but he agreed. I caught Aggie's eye, and weexchanged glances. There was trouble coming, and we knew it. Our longexperience with Tish had taught us not to ask questions. "Ours but to doand die, " as Aggie later said. But I confess to a feeling of uneasinessduring the remainder of that day. 

We changed our course that afternoon, turning off at Saint Mary's andspending the night near the Swiss Chalet at Going-to-the-Sun. Aggie andI pleaded to spend the night in the chalet, but Tish was adamant. 

"When I am out camping, I camp, " she said. "I can have a bed at home, but I cannot sleep under the stars, on a bed of pine needles, and belured to rest by the murmur of a mountain stream. "

Well, we gave it up and went with her. I must say that the trip hadimproved us already. Except when terrified or kicked by a horse, Aggiewas not sneezing at all, and I could now climb into the saddleunassisted. My waistbands were much looser, too, and during a short restthat afternoon I put a dart in my riding-breeches, during the absenceof Bill after the pack-horse, which had strayed. 

It was on that occasion that Tish told us as much of her plan as shethought it wise for us to know. 

"The holdup, " she explained, "is to be the day after to-morrow on thePiegan Pass. Bill says there is a level spot at the top with rocks allabout. That is the spot. The Ostermaiers and their party leave theautomobiles at Many Glaciers and take horses to the pass. It will beworth coming clear to Montana to see Mrs. Ostermaier on a horse. "

"I still don't see, " Aggie observed in a quavering voice, "what we haveto do with it. "

"Naturally not, " said Tish. "You'll know as soon as is good for you. "

"I don't believe it will ever be good for me, " said poor Aggie. "Itisn't good for anybody to be near a holdup. And I don't want to be in amoving picture with no teeth. I'm not a vain woman, " she said, "but Idraw the line at that. "

But Tish ignored her. "The only trouble, " she said, "is having onerevolver. If we each had one--Lizzie, did you bring any ink?"

Well, I had, and said so, but that I needed it for postcards when westruck a settlement. 

Tish waved my objection aside. "I guess it can be managed, " sheobserved. "Bill has a knife. Yes, I think it can be done. "

She and Bill engaged in an earnest conference that afternoon. At firstBill objected. I could see him shaking his head. Then Tish gave himsomething which Aggie said was money. I do not know. She had been shortof cash on the train, but she may have had more in her trunk. Then I sawBill start to laugh. He laughed until he had to lean against a tree, although Tish was quite stern and serious. 

We reached Piegan Pass about three that afternoon, and having inspectedit and the Garden Wall, which is a mile or two high at that point, wereturned to a "bench" where there were some trees, and dismounted. 

Here, to our surprise, we found Mr. Bell again. As Tish remarked, he wasbetter at walking than at talking. He looked surprised at seeing us, andwas much more agreeable than before. 

"I'm afraid I was pretty surly the other night, " he said. "The truth is, I was so blooming unhappy that I didn't give a damn for anything. "

But when he saw that Bill was preparing to take the pack off the horsehe looked startled. 

"I say, " he said, "you don't mean to camp here, do you?"

"Such is my intention, " Tish observed grimly. 

"But look here. Just beyond, at the pass, is where the holdup is to takeplace to-morrow. "

"So I believe, " said Tish. "What has that to do with us? What are yougoing to do?"

"Oh, I'm going to hang round. "

"Well, we intend to hang round also. "

He stood by and watched our preparations for camp. Tish chose a smallgrove for the tent, and then left us, clambering up the mountain-side. She finally disappeared. Aggie mixed some muffins for tea, and weinvited the young man to join us. But he was looking downhearted againand refused. 

However, when she took them out of the portable oven, nicely browned, and lifting the tops of each one dropped in a teaspoonful of grapejelly, he changed his mind. 

"I'll stay, if you don't mind, " he said. "Maybe some decent food willmake me see things clearer. "

When Tish descended at six o'clock, she looked depressed. "There is nocave, " she said, "although I have gone where a mountain goat would getdizzy. But I have found a good place to hide the horses, where we canget them quickly when we need them. "

Aggie was scooping the inside out of her muffin, being unable to eat thecrust, but she went quite pale. 

"Tish, " she said, "you have some desperate plan in view, and I am notequal to it. I am worn with travel and soft food, and am not as young asI once was. "

"Desperate nothing!" said Tish, pouring condensed milk into her tea. "Iam going to teach a lot of idiots a lesson, that's all. There should beone spot in America free from the advertising man and his schemes, andthis is going to be it. Commercialism, " she went on, growing oratorical, "does not belong here among these mighty mountains. Once let it start, and these towering cliffs will be defaced with toothpowder andintoxicating-liquor signs. "

The young man knew the plans for the holdup even letter than Bill. Hewas able to show us the exact spot which had been selected, and to tellus the hour at which the Ostermaier party was to cross the pass. 

"They'll lunch on the pass, " he said, "and, of course, they suspectnothing. The young lady of whom I spoke to you will be one of theirparty. She, however, knows what is coming, and is, indeed, a party toit. The holdup will take place during luncheon. "

Here his voice broke, and he ate an entire muffin before he went on:"The holdup will take place on the pass, the bandits having been hiddenon this 'bench' right here. Then the outlaws, having robbed thetourists, will steal the young lady and escape down the trail on theother side. The guide, who is in the plot, will ride ahead in thisdirection and raise the alarm. You understand, " he added, "that as it'sa put-up job, the tourists will get all their stuff back. I don't knowhow that's to be arranged. "

"But the girl?" Tish asked. 

"She's to make her escape later, " Mr. Bell said grimly, "and will bephotographed galloping down the trail, by another idiot with a camera, who, of course, just happens to be on the spot. She'll do it too, " headded with a pathetic note of pride in his voice. "She's got nerveenough for anything. "

He drew a long breath, and Aggie poured him a third cup of tea. 

"I dare say this will finish everything, " he said dejectedly. "I can'toffer her any excitement like this. We live in a quiet suburb, wherenobody ever fires a revolver except on the Fourth of July. "

"What she needs, " Tish said, bending forward, "is a lesson, Mr. Bell--something to make her hate the very thought of a moving pictureand shudder at the sound of a shot. "

"Exactly, " said Mr. Bell. "I've thought of that. Something to make hergun-shy and camera-shy. It's curious about her. In some ways she's atimid girl. She's afraid of thunder, for one thing. "

Tish bent forward. "Do you know, " she said, "the greatest weapon in theworld?"

"Weapon? Well, I don't know. These new German guns--"

"The greatest weapon in the world, " Tish explained, "is ridicule. Man ishelpless against it. To be absurd is to be lost. When the bandits takethe money, where do they go?"

"Down the other side from the pass. A photographer will photograph themthere, making their escape with the loot. "

"And the young lady?"

"I've told you that, " he said bitterly. "She is to be captured by theattacking party. "

"They will all be armed?"

"Sure, with blanks. The Indians have guns and arrows, but the arrowshave rubber tips. "

Tish rose majestically. "Mr. Bell, " she said, "you may sleep to-nightthe sleep of peace. When I undertake a thing, I carry it through. Myfriends will agree with me. I never fail, when my heart is set on it. Bythe day after to-morrow the young lady in the case will hate the sightof a camera. "

Although not disclosing her plan, she invited the young man to join us. But his face fell and he shook his head. 

Tish said that she did not expect to need him, but that, if the timecame, she would blow three times on a police whistle, which she had, with her usual foresight, brought along. He agreed to that, althoughlooking rather surprised, and we parted from him. 

"I would advise, " Tish said as he moved away, "that you conceal yourselfin the valley below the pass on the other side. "

He agreed to this, and we separated for the night. But long after Aggieand I had composed ourselves to rest Tish sat on a stone by thecamp-fire and rolled cigarettes. 

At last she came into the tent and wakened us by prodding us with herfoot. 

"Get all the sleep you can, " she said. "We'll leave here at dawnto-morrow, and there'll be little rest for any of us to-morrow night. "

At daylight next morning she roused us. She was dressed, except that shewore her combing-jacket, and her hair was loose round her face. 

"Aggie, you make an omelet in a hurry, and, Lizzie, you will have to getthe horses. "

"I'll do nothing of the sort, " I said, sitting up on the ground. "We'vegot a man here for that. Besides, I have to set the table. "

"Very well, " Tish replied, "we can stay here, I dare say. Bill's busy atsomething I've set him to doing. "

"Whose fault is it, " I demanded, "that we are here in 'Greenland's IcyMountains'? Not mine. Id never heard of the dratted place. And thosehorses are five miles away by now, most likely. "

"Go and get a cup of tea. You'll have a little sense then, " said Tish, not unkindly. "And as for what Bill's doing, he's making revolvers. Where's your writing ink?"

_I had none!_ I realized it that moment. I had got it out at the firstcamp to record in my diary the place, weather, temperature, and my ownpulse rate, which I had been advised to watch, on account of the effectof altitude on the heart, and had left the bottle sitting on a stone. 

When I confessed this to Tish, she was unjustly angry and a triflebitter. 

"It's what I deserve, most likely, for bringing along two incompetents, "was her brief remark. "Without ink we are weaponless. "

But she is a creature of resource, and a moment later she emerged fromthe tent and called to Bill in a cheerful tone. 

"No ink, Bill, " she said, "but we've got blackberry cordial, and bymixing it with a little soot we may be able to manage. "

Aggie demurred loudly, as there are occasions when only a mouthful ofthe cordial enables her to keep doing. But Tish was firm. When I went tothe fire, I found Bill busily carving wooden revolvers, copying Tish's, which lay before him. He had them done well enough, and could have gonefor the horses as easy as not, but he insisted on trimming them up. Mine, which I still have, has a buffalo head carved on the handle, andAggie's has a wreath of leaves running round the barrel. 

In spite of Aggie's wails Tish poured a large part of the blackberrycordial into a biscuit pan, and put in a chip of wood. 

"It makes it red, " she said doubtfully. "I never saw a red revolver, Bill. "

"Seems like an awful waste, " Bill said. But having now completed thewreath he placed all three weapons--he had made one for himself--in thepan. The last thing I saw, as I started for the horses, was the three ofthem standing about, looking down, and Aggie's face was full of misery. 

I was gone for a half-hour. The horses had not wandered far, and havingmounted mine, although without a saddle, I copied as well as I could thewhoop Bill used to drive them in, and rounded them up. When I returned, driving them before me, the pack was ready, and on Tish's face was alook of intense satisfaction. I soon perceived the reason. 

Lying on a stone by the fire were three of the shiniest black revolversany one could want. I eyed Tish and she explained. 

"Stove polish, " she said. "Like a fool I'd forgot it. Gives a truemetallic luster, as it says on the box. "

Tish is very particular about a stove, and even on our camping-trips wekeep the portable stove shining and clean. 

"Does it come off?"

"Well, more or less, " she admitted. "We can keep the box out and renewwhen necessary. It is a great comfort, " she added, "to feel that we areall armed. We shall need weapons. "

"In an emergency, " I observed rather tartly, "I hope you will not dependon us too much. While I don't know what you intend to do, if it isanything desperate, just remember that the only way Aggie or I can doany damage with these things is to thrust them down somebody's throatand strangle him to death. "

She ignored my remark, however, and soon we were on our horses andmoving along the trail toward the pass. 

II

It will be unnecessary to remind those familiar with Glacier Park of thetrail which hugs the mountain above timber-line, and extends toward thepass for a mile or so, in a long semicircle which curves inward. 

At the end it turns to the right and mounts to an acre or so of levelground, with snow and rocks but no vegetation. This is the Piegan Pass. Behind it is the Garden Wall, that stupendous mass of granite rising toincredible heights. On the other side the trail drops abruptly, by meansof stepladders which I have explained. 

Tish now told us of her plan. 

"The unfortunate part is, " she said, "that the Ostermaiers will not seeus. I tried to arrange it so they could, but it was impossible. We mustcontent ourselves with the knowledge of a good deed done. "

Her plan, in brief, was this: The sham attacking party was to turn andride away down the far side of the pass, up which the Ostermaiers hadcome. They were, according to the young man, to take the girl with them, with the idea of holding her for ransom. She was to escape, however, while they were lunching in some secluded fastness, and, riding back tothe pass, was to meet there a rescue party, which the Ostermaiers wereto meet on the way down to Gunsight Chalet. 

Tish's idea was this: We would ride up while they were lunching, pretendto think them real bandits, paying no attention to them if they fired atus, as we knew they had only blank cartridges, and, having taken themprisoners, make them walk in ignominy to the nearest camp, some milesfarther. 

"Then, " said Tish, "either they will confess the ruse, and the countrywill ring with laughter, or they will have to submit to arrest and muchunpleasantness. It will be a severe lesson. "

We reached the pass safely, and on the way down the other side we passedMr. Oliver, the moving-picture man, with his outfit on a horse. Hetouched his hat politely and moved out on a ledge to let us by. 

"Mind if I take you as you go down the mountain?" he called. "It's abully place for a picture. " He stared at Aggie, who was muffled in acape and had the dish towel round her head. "I'd particularly like toget your Arab, " he said. "The Far East and the Far West, you know. "

Aggie gave him a furious glance. "Arab nothing!" she snapped. "If youcan't tell a Christian lady from a heathen, on account of her havinglost her hat, then you belong in the dirty work you're doing. "

"Aggie, be quiet!" Tish said in an awful voice. 

But wrath had made Aggie reckless. "'Dirty work' was what I said, " sherepeated, staring at the young man. 

"I beg your pardon. I'm sure I--"

"Don't think, " Aggie went on, to Tish's fury, "that we don't know a fewthings. We do. "

"I see, " he said slowly. "All right. Although I'd like to know--"

"Good-morning, " said Aggie, and kicked her horse to go on. 

I shall never forget Tish's face. Round the next bend she got off herhorse and confronted Aggie. 

[Illustration: "The older I get, Aggie Pilkington, the more I realizethat to take you anywhere means ruin. "]

"The older I get, Aggie Pilkington, " she said, "the more I realize thatto take you anywhere means ruin. We are done now. All our labor is fornothing. There will be no holdup, no nothing. They are scared off. "

But Aggie was still angry. "Just let some one take you for a lousyBedouin, Tish, " she said, "and see what you would do. I'm not sorryanyhow. I never did like the idea. "

But Tish dislikes relinquishing an idea, once it has taken hold. And, although she did not speak to Aggie again for the next hour, she wentahead with her preparations. 

"There's still a chance, Lizzie, " she said. "It's not likely they'llgive up easy, on account of hiring the Indians and everything. "

About a mile and a half down the trail, she picked out a place to hide. This time there was a cave. We cleared our saddles for action, as Tishproposed to let them escape past us with the girl, and then to followthem rapidly, stealing upon them if possible while they were atluncheon, and covering them with the one real revolver and the threewooden ones. 

The only thing that bothered us was Bill's attitude. He kept laughing tohimself and muttering, and when he was storing things in the cave, Tishtook me aside. 

"I don't like his attitude, Lizzie, " she said. "He's likely to giggle ordo something silly, just at the crucial moment. I cannot understand whyhe thinks it is funny, but he does. We'd be much better without him. "

"You'd better talk to him, Tish, " I said. "You can't get rid of himnow. "

But to tell Tish she cannot do a thing is to determine her to do it. 

It was still early, only half-past eight, when she came to me with aneager face. 

"I've got it, Lizzie, " she said. "I'll send off Mona Lisa, and he willhave to search for her. The only thing is, she won't move unless she'sdriven. If we could only find a hornet's nest again, we could manage. Itmay be cruel, but I understand that a hornet's sting is not as painfulto a horse as to a human being. "

Mona Lisa, I must explain, was the pack-horse. Tish had changed her namefrom Jane to Mona Lisa because in the mornings she was constantlymissing, and having to be looked for. 

Tish disappeared for a time, and we settled down to our long wait. Billput another coat of stove polish on the weapons, and broke now and theninto silent laughter. On my giving him a haughty glance, however, hebecame sober and rubbed with redoubled vigor. 

In a half-hour, however, I saw Tish beckoning to me from a distance, andI went to her. I soon saw that she was holding her handkerchief to onecheek, but when I mentioned the fact she ignored me. 

"I have found a nest, Lizzie, " she cried. "Slip over and unfasten MonaLisa. She's not near the other horses, which is fortunate. "

I then perceived that Tish's yellow slicker was behind her on the groundand tied into a bundle, from which emerged a dull roaring. I waswondering how Tish expected to open it, when she settled the question byasking me to cut a piece from the mosquito netting which we put in thedoorway of the tent at night, and to bring her riding-gloves. 

Aggie was darning a hole in the tablecloth when I went back and Bill wasstill engaged with the weapons. Having taken what she required to Tish, under pretense of giving Mona Lisa a lump of sugar, I untied her. Whatfollowed was exactly as Tish had planned. Mona Lisa, not realizing herfreedom, stood still while Tish untied the slicker and freed its furiousinmates. She then dropped the whole thing under the unfortunate animal, and retreated, not too rapidly, for fear of drawing Bill's attention. For possibly sixty seconds nothing happened, except that Mona Lisaraised her head and appeared to listen. Then, with a loud scream, shethrew up her head and bolted. By the time Bill had put down the stovebrush she was out of sight among the trees, but we could hear herleaping and scrambling through the wood. 

"Jumping cats!" said Bill, and ran for his horse. "Acts as though she'dstarted for the Coast!" he yelled to me, and flung after her. 

When he had disappeared, Tish came out of the woods, and, getting akettle of boiling water, poured it over the nest. In spite of thenetting, however, she was stung again, on the back of the neck, andspent the rest of the morning holding wet mud to the affected parts. 

Her brain, however, was as active as ever, and by half-past eleven, mounting a boulder, she announced that she could see the Ostermaierparty far down the trail, and that in an hour they would probably be atthe top. She had her field-glasses, and she said that Mrs. Ostermaierwas pointing up to the pass and shaking her head, and that the otherswere arguing with her. 

[Illustration: "It would be just like the woman, to refuse to come anyfarther and spoil everything"]

"It would be just like the woman, " Tish said bitterly, "to refuse tocome any farther and spoil everything. "

But a little later she announced that the guide was leading Mrs. Ostermaier's horse and that they were coming on. 

We immediately retreated to the cave and waited, it being Tish'sintention to allow them to reach the pass without suspecting ourpresence, and only to cut off the pseudo-bandits in their retreat, as Ihave explained. 

It was well that we had concealed the horses also, for the party stoppednear the cave, and Mrs. Ostermaier was weeping. "Not a step farther!"she said. "I have a family to consider, and Mr. Ostermaier is a man ofwide usefulness and cannot be spared. "

We did not dare to look out, but we heard the young lady speaking, andas Aggie remarked later, no one would have thought, from the sweetnessof her voice, that she was a creature of duplicity. 

"But it is perfectly safe, dear Mrs. Ostermaier, " she said "And think, when you go home, of being able to say that you have climbed a mountainpass. "

"Pass!" sniffed Mrs. Ostermaier. "Pass nothing! I don't call a wall amile high a pass. "

"Think, " said the girl, "of being able to crow over those three oldwomen who are always boasting of the things they do. Probably you areright, and they never do them at all, but you--there's a moving-pictureman waiting, remember, and you can show the picture before the DorcasSociety. No one can ever doubt that you have done a courageous thing. You'll have the proof. "

"George, " said Mrs. Ostermaier in a small voice, "if anything happens, Ihave told you how I want my things divided. "

"Little devil!" whispered Aggie, referring to the girl. "If that youngman knows when he is well off, he'll let her go. "

But beyond rebuking her for the epithet, Tish made no comment, and theparty moved on. We lost them for a time among the trees, but when theymoved out above timber-line we were able to watch them, and we saw thatMrs. Ostermaier got off her horse, about halfway up, and climbed slowlyon foot. Tish, who had the glasses, said that she looked purple andangry, and that she distinctly saw the guide give her something to drinkout of a bottle. It might, however, have been vichy or some similarinnocent beverage, and I believe in giving her the benefit of the doubt. 

When at last they vanished over the edge of the pass, we led out ourhorses and prepared for what was to come. Bill had not returned, and, indeed, we did not see him until the evening of the second day afterthat, when, worn but triumphant, we emerged from the trail at the ManyGlaciers Hotel. That, however, comes later in this narrative. 

With everything prepared, Tish judged it best to have luncheon. I made afew mayonnaise-and-lettuce sandwiches, beating the mayonnaise in thecool recesses of the cave, and we drank some iced tea, to which Aggiehad thoughtfully added sliced lemon and a quantity of ginger ale. Feeling much refreshed, we grasped our weapons and waited. 

At half-past twelve we heard a loud shriek on the pass, far overhead, followed almost immediately by a fusillade of shots. Then a silence, followed by more shots. Then a solitary horseman rode over the edge ofthe pass and, spurring his horse, rode recklessly down the precipitoustrail. Aggie exclaimed that it was Mr. Ostermaier, basely deserting hiswife in her apparent hour of need. But Tish, who had the glasses, reported finally that it was the moving-picture man. 

We were greatly surprised, as it had not occurred to us that this wouldbe a part of the program. 

As he descended, Tish announced that there must be another photographeron top, as he was "registering" signs of terror--a moving-pictureexpression which she had acquired from Charlie Sands--and looking backfrequently over his shoulder. 

We waited until he reached timber-line, and then withdrew to a group oftrees. It was not our intention to allow him to see us and spoileverything. But when he came near, through the woods, and his horsecontinued at unabated speed, Tish decided that the animal, frightened bythe shots, was running away. 

She therefore placed herself across the trail to check its headlongspeed, but the animal merely rushed round her. Mr. Oliver yelledsomething at us, which we were, however, unable to hear, and kept madlyon. 

Almost immediately four men, firing back over their shoulders, rode intosight at the pass and came swiftly down toward us. 

"Where's the girl?" Tish cried with her glasses to her eyes. "The idiotshave got excited and have forgotten to steal her. "

That was plainly what had happened, but she was determined to be stolenanyhow, for the next moment she rode into view, furiously following thebandits. 

"She's kept her head anyhow, " Tish observed with satisfaction. "Trust alot of men to go crazy and do the wrong thing. But they'll have tochange the story and make her follow them. "

At timber-line the men seemed to realize that she was behind them, andthey turned and looked up. They seemed to be at a loss to know what todo, in view of the picture. But they were quick thinkers, too, wedecided. Right then and there they took her prisoner, surrounding her. 

She made a desperate resistance, even crying out, as we could plainlysee. But Tish was irritated. She said she could not see how the storywould hold now. Either the girl should have captured them, they beingout of ammunition, or the whole thing should have been done again, according to the original plan. However, as she said, it was not ouraffair. Our business was to teach them a lesson not to impose onunsuspecting tourists, for although not fond of Mrs. Ostermaier, we hadbeen members of Mr. Ostermaier's church, and liked him, although hissermons were shorter than Tish entirely approved of. 

We withdrew again to seclusion until they had passed, and Tish gave themten minutes to get well ahead. Then we rode out. 

Tish's face was stern as she led off. The shriek of Mrs. Ostermaier wasstill, as she said in a low tone, ringing in her ears. But before we hadgone very far, Tish stopped and got off her horse. "We've got to pad thehorses' feet, " she said. "How can we creep up on them when on everystony place we sound like an artillery engagement?"

Here was a difficulty we had not anticipated. But Tish overcame it withher customary resource, by taking the blanket from under her saddle andcutting it into pieces with her scissors, which always accompany her. Wethen cut the leather straps from our saddles at her direction, and eachof us went to work. Aggie, however, protested. 

"I never expected, " she said querulously, "to be sitting on the RockyMountains under a horse, tying a piece of bed quilt on his feet. Iwouldn't mind, " she added, "if the creature liked me. But the way hefeels toward me he's likely to haul off and murder me at any moment. "

However, it was done at last, and it made a great change. We moved alongsilently, and all went well except that, having neglected to draw thecinch tight, and the horse's back being slippery without the padding, mysaddle turned unexpectedly, throwing me off into the trail. I bruised myarm badly, but Tish only gave me a glance of scorn and went on. 

Being above carelessness herself, she very justly resents it in others. 

We had expected, with reason, that the so-called highwaymen, havingretreated to a certain distance, would there pause and very possiblylunch before returning. It was, therefore, a matter of surprise to findthat they had kept on. 

Moreover, they seemed to have advanced rapidly, and Tish, who had read abook on signs of the trail, examined the hoofprints of their horses in asoft place beside a stream, and reported that they had been going at alope. 

"Now, remember, " she said as she prepared to mount again, "to allintents and purposes these are real bandits and to be treatedaccordingly. Our motto is 'No quarter. ' I shall be harsh, and I expectno protest from either of you. They deserve everything they get. "

But when, after another mile or two, we came to a side trail, leading, by Tish's map, not to Many Glaciers, but up a ravine to another pass, and Tish saw that they had taken that direction, we were puzzled. 

But not for long. 

"I understand now, " she said. "It is all clear. The photographer wasriding ahead to get them up this valley somewhere. They've probably gota rendezvous all ready, with another camera in place. I must say, " sheobserved, "that they are doing it thoroughly. "

We rode for two hours, and no sign of them. The stove polish had comeoff the handles of our revolvers by that time, and Aggie, having rubbedher face ever and anon to remove perspiration, presented under herturban a villainous and ferocious expression quite at variance with hercustomary mildness. 

I urged her to stop and wash, but Tish, after a glance, said to keep on. 

"Your looking like that's a distinct advantage, Aggie, " she said. "Likeas not they'll throw up their hands the minute they see you. I know Ishould. You'd better ride first when we get near. "

"Like as not they'll put a hole in me, " Aggie objected. "And as toriding first, I will not. This is your doing, Tish Carberry, and as fortheir having blank cartridges--how do we know someone hasn't made amistake and got a real one?"

Tish reflected on that. "It's a possibility, " she agreed. "If we findthat they're going to spend the night out, it might be better to waituntil they've taken off all the hardware they're hung with. "

But we did not come up with them. We kept on finding traces of the partyin marshy spots, and once Tish hopped off her horse and picked up asmall handkerchief with a colored border and held it up to us. 

"It's hers, " she said. "Anybody would know she is the sort to usecolored borders. They're ahead somewhere. "

But it seemed strange that they would go so far, and I said so. 

"We're far enough off the main trail, Tish, " I said. "And it's gettingwilder every minute. There's nothing I can see to prevent a mountainlion dropping on us most any time. "

"Not if it gets a good look at Aggie!" was Tish's grim response. 

It began to grow dark in the valley, and things seemed to move on eitherside of the trail. Aggie called out once that we had just passed agrizzly bear, but Tish never faltered. The region grew more and morewild. The trail was broken with mudholes and crossed by fallen logs. With a superb disdain Tish rode across all obstacles, not even glancingat them. But Aggie and I got off at the worst places and led our horses. At one mudhole I was unfortunate enough to stumble. A horse with aparticle of affection for a woman who had ridden it and cared for it forseveral days would have paused. 

Not so my animal. With a heartlessness at which I still shudder thecreature used me as a bridge, and stepped across, dryfoot, on my back. Owing to his padded feet and to the depth of the mud--some eight feet, Ibelieve--I was uninjured. But it required ten minutes of hard labor onthe part of both Tish and Aggie to release me from the mud, from which Iwas finally raised with a low, hissing sound. 

"Park!" said Aggie as she scraped my obliterated features with a smallbranch. "Park, indeed! It's a howling wilderness. I'm fond of my nativeland, " she went on, digging out my nostrils, so I could breathe, "but Idon't calculate to eat it. As for that unfeeling beast of yours, Lizzie, I've never known a horse to show such selfishness. Never. "

Well, we went on at last, but I was not so enthusiastic about teachingpeople lessons as I had been. It seemed to me that we might have kept onalong the trail and had a mighty good time, getting more and more nimbleand stopping now and then to bake a pie and have a decent meal, andputting up our hair in crimps at night, without worrying about otherfolks' affairs. 

Late in the afternoon of that day, when so far as I could see Tish waslost, and not even her gathering a bunch of wild flowers while thehorses rested could fool me, I voiced my complaint. 

"Let me look at the map, Tish, " I suggested. "I'm pretty good at maps. You know how I am at charades and acrostics. At the church supper--"

"Nonsense, Lizzie, " she returned. "You couldn't make head or tail ofthis map. It's my belief that the man who made it had never been here. Either that or there has been an earthquake since. But, " she went on, more cheerfully, "if we are lost, so are the others. "

"If we even had Bill along!"

"Bill!" Tish said scornfully. "It's my belief Bill is in the wholebusiness, and that if we hadn't got rid of him we'd have been the nextadvertising dodge. As far as that goes, " she said thoughtfully, "itwouldn't surprise me a particle to find that we've been taken, withoutour knowing it, most any time. Your horse just now, walking across thatbridge of size, for one thing. "

Tish seldom makes a pun, which she herself has said is the lowest formof humor. The dig at my figure was unkind, also, and unworthy of her. Iturned and left her. 

At last, well on in the evening, I saw Tish draw up her horse and pointahead. 

"The miscreants!" she said. 

True enough, up a narrow side cañon we could see a camp-fire. It was asmall one, and only noticeable from one point. But Tish's keen eye hadseen it. She sat on her horse and gazed toward it. 

"What a shameful thing it is, " she said, "to prostitute the beauties ofthis magnificent region to such a purpose. To make of these beetlingcrags a joke! To invade these vast gorges with the spirit ofcommercialism and to bring a pack of movie actors to desecrate thevirgin silence with ribald jests and laughter! Lizzie, I wish youwouldn't wheeze!"

"You would wheeze, too, Tish Carberry, " I retorted, justly indignant, "if a horse had just pressed your spinal column into your breast bone. Goodness knows, " I said, "where my lungs are. I've missed them eversince my fall. "

However, she was engrossed with larger matters, and ignored mypetulance. She is a large-natured woman and above pettiness. 

We made our way slowly up the cañon. The movie outfit was securelycamped under an overhanging rock, as we could now see. At one pointtheir position commanded the trail, which was hardly more than a trackthrough the wilderness, and before we reached this point we dismountedand Tish surveyed the camp through her glasses. 

"We'd better wait until dark, " Tish said. "Owing to the padding theyhave not heard us, but it looks to me as if one of them is on a rock, watching. "

It seemed rather strange to me that they were keeping a lookout, butTish only shrugged her shoulders. 

"If I know anything of that red-headed Oliver man, " she said, "he hatesto let a camera rest. Like as not he's got it set up among the treessomewhere, taking flashlights of wild animals. It's rather a pity, " shesaid, turning and surveying Aggie and myself, "that he cannot get youtwo. If you happen to see anything edible lying on the ground, you'dbetter not pick it up. It's probably attached to the string that setsoff the flash. "

We led our horses into the woods, which were very thick at that point, and tied them. My beast, however, lay down and rolled, saddle and all, thus breaking my mirror--a most unlucky omen--and the bottle of oliveoil which we had brought along for mayonnaise dressing. Tish is fond ofmayonnaise, and, besides, considers olive oil most strengthening. However, it was gone, and although Aggie comforted me by suggesting thather boiled salad dressing is quite tasty, I was disconsolate. 

It was by that time seven o'clock and almost dark. We held a conference. Tish was of the opinion that we should first lead off their horses, ifpossible. 

"I intend, " she said severely, "to make escape impossible. If they fire, when taken by surprise, remember that they have only blank cartridges. Imust say, " she added with a confession of unusual weakness, "that I amglad the Indians escaped the other way. I would hardly know what to dowith Indians, even quite tame ones. While I know a few letters of thedeaf-and-dumb language, which I believe all tribes use in common, I fearthat in a moment of excitement I would forget what I know. "

The next step, she asserted, was to secure their weapons. 

"After all, " she said, "the darkness is in our favor. I intend to fireonce, to show them that we are armed and dangerous. And if you two willpoint the guns Bill made, they cannot possibly tell that they are notreal. "

"But we will know it, " Aggie quavered. Now that the quarry was in sightshe was more and more nervous, sneezing at short intervals in spite ofher menthol inhaler. "I am sorry, Tish, but I cannot feel the same aboutthat wooden revolver as I would about a real one. And even when I try toforget that it is only wood the carving reminds me. "

But Tish silenced her with a glance. She had strangely altered in thelast few minutes. All traces of fatigue had gone, and when she struck amatch and consulted her watch I saw in her face that high resolve, thatstern and matchless courage, which I so often have tried to emulate andfailed. 

"Seven o'clock, " she announced. "We will dine first. There is nothinglike food to restore failing spirits. "

But we had nothing except our sandwiches, and Tish suggested snaringsome of the stupid squirrels with which the region abounded. 

"Aggie needs broth, " she said decidedly. "We have sandwiches, but Aggieis frail and must be looked to. "

Aggie was pathetically grateful, although sorry for the squirrels, whichwere pretty and quite tame. But Tish was firm in her kindly intent, andproceeded at once to set a rabbit snare, a trick she had learned in theMaine woods. Having done this, and built a small fire, well hidden, wesat down to wait. 

In a short time we heard terrible human cries proceeding from the snare, and, hurrying thither, found in it a young mountain lion. It lookeddangerous, and was biting in every direction. I admit that I wasprepared to leave in haste, but not so Tish. She fetched her umbrella, without which she never travels, and while the animal set its jaws init--a painful necessity, as it was her best umbrella--Tish hit it on thehead--not the umbrella, but the lion--with a large stone. 

Tish's satisfaction was unbounded. She stated that the flesh of themountain lion was much like veal, and so indeed it proved. We made anourishing soup of it, with potatoes and a can of macédoine vegetables, and within an hour and a half we had dined luxuriously, adding to ourrepast what remained of the sandwiches, and a tinned plum pudding ofEnglish make, very nutritious and delicious. 

For twenty minutes after the meal we all stood. Tish insists on this, asaiding digestion. Then we prepared for the night's work. 

I believe that our conduct requires no defense. But it may be well againto explain our position. These people, whose camp-fire glowed sobrazenly against the opposite cliff, had for purely mercenary motivescommitted a cruel hoax. They had posed as bandits, and as bandits theydeserved to be treated. They had held up our own clergyman, of a nervoustemperament, on a mountain pass, and had taken from him a part of hisstipend. It was heartless. It was barbarous. It was cruel. 

My own courage came back with the hot food, which I followed by acharcoal tablet. And the difference in Aggie was marked. Possibly someof the courage of the mountain lion, that bravest of wild creatures, hadcommunicated itself to her through the homely medicine of digestion. 

"I can hardly wait to get after them, " she said. 

However, it was still too early for them to have settled for the night. We sat down, having extinguished our fire, and I was just dozing offwhen Tish remembered the young man who was to have listened for thepolice whistle. 

"I absolutely forgot him, " she said regretfully. "I suppose he ishanging round the foot of Piegan's Pass yet. I'm sorry to have him missthis. I shall tell him, when I see him, that no girl worth having wouldbe sitting over there at supper with four moving-picture actors withouta chaperon. The whole proceeding is scandalous. I have noticed, " sheadded, "that it is the girls from quiet suburban towns who are reallymost prone to defy the conventions when the chance comes. "

We dozed for a short time. 

Then Tish sat up suddenly. "What's that?" she said. 

We listened and distinctly heard the tramp of horses' feet. We startedup, but Tish was quite calm. 

"They've turned their horses out, " she said. "Fortune is with us. Theyare coming this way. "

But at first it did not seem so fortunate, for we heard one of the menfollowing them, stumbling along, and, I regret to say, using profanelanguage. They came directly toward us, and Aggie beside me trembled. But Tish was equal to the emergency. 

She drew us behind a large rock, where, spreading out a raincoat toprotect us from the dampness, we sat down and waited. 

When one of the animals loomed up close to the rock Aggie gave a lowcry, but Tish covered her mouth fiercely with an ungentle hand. 

"Be still!" she hissed. 

It was now perfectly dark, and the man with the horses was not far off. We could not see him, but at last he came near enough so that we couldsee the flare of a match when he lighted a cigarette. I put my hand onAggie, and she was shaking with nervousness. 

"I am sure I am going to sneeze, Lizzie, " she gasped. 

And sneeze she did. She muffled it considerably, however, and we werenot discovered. But, Tish, I knew, was silently raging. 

The horses came nearer. 

One of them, indeed, came quite close, and took a nip at the toe of myriding-boot. I kicked at it sharply, however, and it moved away. 

The man had gone on. We watched the light of his cigarette, and thus, ashe now and then turned his head, knew where he was. It was now that Ifelt, rather than heard, that Tish was crawling out from the shelter ofthe rock. At the same time we heard, by the crunching of branches, thatthe man had sat down near at hand. 

Tish's progress was slow but sure. For a half-hour we sat there. Thenshe returned, still crawling, and on putting out my hand I discoveredthat she had secured the lasso from her saddle and had brought it back. How true had been her instinct when she practiced its use! How my ownwords, that it was all foolishness, came back and whispered lessons ofhumility in my ear!

At this moment a deep, resonant sound came from the tree where the movieactor sat. At the same moment a small creature dropped into my lap fromsomewhere above, and ran up my sleeve. I made frantic althoughnecessarily silent efforts to dislodge it, and it bit me severely. 

The necessity for silence taxed all my strength, but managing finally tosecure it by the tail, I forcibly withdrew it and flung it away. Unluckily it struck Aggie in the left eye and inflicted a painfulbruise. 

Tish had risen to her feet and was standing, a silent and menacingfigure, while this event transpired. The movements of the horses as theygrazed, the soft breeze blowing through the pines, were the only sounds. Now she took a step forward. 

"He's asleep!" she whispered. "Aggie, sit still and watch the horses. Lizzie, come with me. "

As I advanced to her she thrust her revolver into my hand. 

"When I give the word, " she said in a whisper, "hold it against hisneck. But keep your finger off the trigger. It's loaded. "

We advanced slowly, halting now and then to listen. Although brushcrackled under our feet, the grazing horses were making a similardisturbance, and the man slept on. Soon we could see him clearly, sitting back against a tree, his head dropped forward on his breast. Tish surveyed the scene with her keen and appraising eye, and raisedthe lasso. 

The first result was not good. The loaded end struck a branch, and, being deflected, the thing wrapped itself perhaps a dozen times round myneck. Tish, being unconscious of what had happened, drew it up with ajerk, and I stood helpless and slowly strangling. At last, however, sherealized the difficulty and released me. I was unable to breathecomfortably for some time, and my tongue felt swollen for several hours. 

Through all of this the movie actor had slept soundly. At the secondeffort Tish succeeded in lassoing him without difficulty. We had feareda loud outcry before we could get to him, but owing to Tish's swiftnessin tightening the rope he was able to make, at first, only a low, gurgling sound. I had advanced to him, and was under the impression thatI was holding the revolver to his neck. On discovering, however, that Iwas pressing it to the trunk of the tree, to which he was now secured bythe lariat, I corrected the error and held it against his ear. 

He was now wide awake and struggling violently. Then, I regret to say, he broke out into such language as I have never heard before. At Tish'srequest I suppress his oaths, and substitute for them harmlessexpressions in common use. 

"Good gracious!" he said. "What in the world are you doing anyhow?Jimminy crickets, take that thing away from my neck! Great Scott andland alive, I haven't done anything! My word, that gun will go off ifyou aren't careful!"

I am aware that much of the strength of what he said is lost in thisfree translation. But it is impossible to repeat his real language. 

"Don't move, " Tish said, "and don't call out. A sound, and a bullet goescrashing through your brain. "

"A woman!" he said in most unflattering amazement. "Great Jehoshaphat, awoman!"

This again is only a translation of what he said. 

"Exactly, " Tish observed calmly. She had cut the end off the lasso withher scissors, and was now tying his feet together with it. "My friend, we know the whole story, and I am ashamed, ashamed, " she saidoratorically, "of your sex! To frighten a harmless and well-meaningpreacher and his wife for the purpose of publicity is not a joke. Suchhoaxes are criminal. If you must have publicity, why not seek it in someother way?"

"Crazy!" he groaned to himself. "In the hands of lunatics! Oh, mygoodness!" Again these were not exactly his words. 

Having bound him tightly, hand and foot, and taken a revolver from hispocket, Tish straightened herself. 

"Now we'll gag him, Lizzie, " she said. "We have other things to doto-night than to stand here and converse. " Then she turned to the manand told him a deliberate lie. I am sorry to record this. But a tendencyto avoid the straight and narrow issues of truth when facing a crisis isone of Tish's weaknesses, the only flaw in an otherwise strong andperfect character. 

"We are going to leave you here, " she said. "But one of our number, fully armed, will be near by. A sound from you, or any endeavor to callfor succor, will end sadly for you. A word to the wise. Now, Lizzie, take that bandanna off his neck and tie it over his mouth. "

Tish stood, looking down at him, and her very silhouette was scornful. 

"Think, my friend, " she said, "of the ignominy of your position! Is anymoving picture worth it? Is the pleasure of seeing yourself on thescreen any reward for such a shameful position as yours now is? No. Athousand times no. "

He made a choking sound in his throat and writhed helplessly. And so weleft him, a hopeless and miserable figure, to ponder on his sins. 

"That's one, " said Tish briskly. "There are only three left. Come, Aggie, " she said cheerfully--"to work! We have made a good beginning. "

It is with modesty that I approach that night's events, rememberingalways that Tish's was the brain which conceived and carried out theaffair. We were but her loyal and eager assistants. It is for thisreason that I thought, and still think, that the money should have beendivided so as to give Tish the lion's share. But she, dear, magnanimoussoul, refused even to hear of such a course, and insisted that we shareit equally. 

Of that, however, more anon. 

We next proceeded to capture their horses and to tie them up. Weregretted the necessity for this, since the unfortunate animals hadtraveled far and were doubtless hungry. It went to my heart to drag themfrom their fragrant pasture and to tie them to trees. But, as Tish said, "Necessity knows no law, " not even kindness. So we tied them up. Not, however, until we had moved them far from the trail. 

Tish stopped then, and stared across the cañon to the enemy's camp-fire. 

"No quarter, remember, " she said. "And bring your weapons. "

We grasped our wooden revolvers and, with Tish leading, started for thecamp. Unluckily there was a stream between us, and it was necessary toford it. It shows Tish's true generalship that, instead of removing hershoes and stockings, as Aggie and I were about to do, she suggestedgetting our horses and riding across. This we did, and alighted on theother side dryshod. 

It was, on consulting my watch, nine o'clock and very dark. A few dropsof rain began to fall also, and the distant camp-fire was burning low. Tish gave us each a little blackberry cordial, for fear of dampness, andtook some herself. The mild glow which followed was very comforting. 

It was Tish, naturally, who went forward to reconnoiter. She returned inan hour, to report that the three men were lying round the fire, twoasleep and one leaning on his elbow with a revolver handy. She did notsee Mr. Oliver, and it was possible that it was he we had tied to thetree. The girl, she said, was sitting on a log, with her chin propped inher hands. 

"She looked rather low-spirited, " Tish said. "I expect she liked thefirst young man better than she thought she did. I intend to give her apiece of my mind as soon as I get a chance. This playing hot and coldisn't maidenly, to say the least. "

We now moved slowly forward, after tying our horses. Toward the last, following Tish's example, we went on our hands and knees, and I wasthankful then for no skirts. It is wonderful the freedom a man has. Iwas never one to approve of Doctor Mary Walker, but I'm not so sure sheisn't a wise woman and the rest of us fools. I haven't put on a skirtbraid since that time without begrudging it. 

Well, as I have stated, we advanced, and at last we were in full sightof the camp. I must say I'd have thought they'd have a tent. We expectedsomething better, I suppose, because of the articles in the papers aboutmovie people having their own limousines, and all that. But there theywere, open to the wrath of the heavens, and deserving it, if I do sayso. 

The girl was still sitting, as Tish had described her. Only now she wascrying. My heart was downright sore for her. It is no comfort, havingmade a wrong choice, to know that it is one's own fault. 

Having now reached the zone of firelight Tish gave the signal, and werose and pointed our revolvers at them. Then Tish stepped forward andsaid:--

"Hands up!"

I shall never forget the expression on the man's face. 

He shouted something, but he threw up his hands also, with his eyespopping out of his head. The others scrambled to their feet, but hewarned them. 

"Careful, boys!" he yelled. "They're got the drop on us. "

Just then his eyes fell on Aggie, and he screeched:--

"Two women and a Turk, by ----. " The blank is mine. 

"Lizzie, " said Tish sternly, as all of them, including the girl, heldtheir hands up, "just give me your weapon and go over them. "

"Go over them?" I said, not understanding. 

"Search them, " said Tish. "Take everything out of their pockets. Anddon't move, " she ordered them sternly. "One motion, and I fire. Go on, Lizzie. "

Now I have never searched a man's pockets, and the idea was repugnant tome. I am a woman of delicate instincts. But Tish's face was stern. I didas commanded, therefore, the total result being:--

Four revolvers. 

Two large knives. 

One small knife. 

One bunch of keys. 

One plug of chewing-tobacco. 

Four cartridge belts. 

Two old pipes. 

Mr. Ostermaier's cigar-case, which I recognized at once, being the onewe had presented to him. 

Mrs. Ostermaier's wedding-ring and gold bracelet, which her sister gaveher on her last birthday. 

A diamond solitaire, unknown, as Mrs. Ostermaier never owned one, preferring instead earrings as more showy. 

And a considerable sum of money, which I kept but did not count. 

There were other small articles, of no value. 

"Is that all the loot you secured during the infamous scene on PieganPass?" Tish demanded, "You need not hide anything from us. We know thefacts, and the whole story will soon be public. "

"That's all, lady, " whined one of the men. "Except a few boxes of lunch, and that's gone. Lady, lemme take my hands down. I've got a stiffshoulder, and I--"

"Keep them up, " Tish snapped. "Aggie, see that they keep them up. "

Until that time we had been too occupied to observe the girl, who merelystood and watched in a disdainful sort of way. But now Tish turned andeyed her sternly. 

"Search her, Lizzie, " she commanded. 

"Search me!" the girl exclaimed indignantly. "Certainly not!"

"Lizzie, " said Tish in her sternest manner, "go over that girl. Look inher riding-boots. I haven't come across Mrs. Ostermaier's earrings yet. "

At that the girl changed color and backed off. 

"It's an outrage, " she said. "Surely I have suffered enough. "

"Not as much, " Tish observed, "as you are going to suffer. Go over her, Lizzie. "

While I searched her, Tish was lecturing her. 

"You come from a good home, I understand, " she said, "and you oughtto know better. Not content with breaking an honest heart, you join amoving-picture outfit and frighten a prominent divine--for Mr. Ostermaieris well known--into what may be an illness. You cannot deny, " sheaccused her, "that it was you who coaxed them to the pass. At least youneedn't. We heard you. "

"How was I to know--" the girl began sullenly. 

But at that moment I found Mrs. Ostermaier' chamois bag thrust into herriding-boot, and she suddenly went pale. 

Tish held it up before her accusingly. "I dare say you will not denythis, " she exclaimed, and took Mrs. Ostermaier's earrings out of it. 

The men muttered, but Aggie was equal to the occasion. "Silence!" shesaid, and pointed the revolver at each in turn. 

The girl started to speak. Then she shrugged her shoulders. "I couldexplain, " she said, "but I won't. If you think I stole those hideousearrings you're welcome to. "

"Of course not, " said Tish sarcastically. "No doubt she gave them toyou--although I never knew her to give anything away before. "

The girl stood still, thinking. Suddenly she said "There's another one, you know. Another man. "

"We have him. He will give no further trouble, " Tish observed grimly. "Ithink we have you all, except your Mr. Oliver. "

"He is not my Mr. Oliver, " said the girl. "I never want to see himagain. I--I hate him. "

"You haven't got much mind or you couldn't change it so quickly. "

She looked sulky again, and said she'd thank us for the ring, which washers and she could prove it. 

But Tish sternly refused. "It's my private opinion, " she observed, "thatit is Mrs. Ostermaier's, and she has not worn it openly because of thecongregation talking quite considerably about her earrings, and notcaring for jewelry on the minister's wife. That's what I think. "

Shortly after that we heard a horse loping along the road. It camenearer, and then left the trail and came toward the fire. Tish picked upone of the extra revolvers and pointed it. It was Mr. Oliver!

"Throw up your hands!" Tish called. And he did it. He turned a sort ofblue color, too, when he saw us, and all the men with their hands up. But he looked relieved when he saw the girl. 

"Thank Heaven!" he said. "The way I've been riding this country--"

"You rode hard enough away from the pass, " she replied coldly. 

We took a revolver away from him and lined him up with the others. Allthe time he was paying little attention to us and none at all to theother men. But he was pleading with the girl. 

"Honestly, " he said, "I thought I could do better for everybody by doingwhat I did. How did I know, " he pleaded, "that you were going to do sucha crazy thing as this?"

But she only stared at him as if she hated the very ground he stood on. 

"It's a pity, " Tish observed, "that you haven't got your camera along. This would make a very nice picture. But I dare say you could hardlyturn the crank with your hands in the air. "

We searched him carefully, but he had only a gold watch and some money. On the chance, however, that the watch was Mr. Ostermaier's, althoughunlikely, we took it. 

I must say he was very disagreeable, referring to us as highwaymen andusing uncomplimentary language. But, as Tish observed, we might as wellbe thorough while we were about it. 

For the nonce we had forgotten the other man. But now I noticed that thepseudo-bandits wore a watchful and not unhopeful air. And suddenly oneof them whistled--a thin, shrill note that had, as Tish later remarked, great penetrative power without being noisy. 

"That's enough of that, " she said. "Aggie, take another of these gunsand point them both at these gentlemen. If they whistle again, shoot. As to the other man, he will not reply, nor will he come to yourassistance. He is gagged and tied, and into the bargain may become atany time the victim of wild beasts. "

The moment she had said it, Tish realized that it was but too true, andshe grew thoughtful. Aggie, too, was far from comfortable. She saidlater that she was uncertain what to do. Tish had said to fire if theywhistled again. The question in her mind was, had it been said purelyfor effect or did Tish mean it? After all, the men were not realbandits, she reflected, although guilty of theft, even if only foradvertising purposes. She was greatly disturbed, and as agitation alwayscauses a return of her hay fever, she began to sneeze violently. 

Until then the men had been quiet, if furious. But now they fell intoabject terror, imploring Tish, whom they easily recognized as theleader, to take the revolvers from her. 

But Tish only said: "No fatalities, Aggie, please. Point at an arm or aleg until the spasm subsides. "

Her tone was quite gentle. 

Heretofore this has been a plain narrative, dull, I fear, in manyplaces. But I come now to a not unexciting incident--which for a timeplaced Tish and myself in an unpleasant position. 

I refer to the escape of the man we had tied. 

We held a brief discussion as to what to do with our prisoners untilmorning, a discussion which Tish solved with her usual celerity bycutting from the saddles which lay round the fire a number of thoseleather thongs with which such saddles are adorned and which are used incase of necessity to strap various articles to the aforesaid saddles. 

With these thongs we tied them, not uncomfortably, but firmly, theirhands behind them and their feet fastened together. Then, as the nightgrew cold, Tish suggested that we shove them near the fire, which wedid. 

The young lady, however, offered a more difficult problem. Wecompromised by giving her her freedom, but arranging for one of ournumber to keep her covered with a revolver. 

"You needn't be so thoughtful, " she said angrily, and with a total lackof appreciation of Tish's considerate attitude. "I'd rather be tied, especially if the Moslem with the hay fever is going to hold the gun. "

It was at that moment that we heard a whistle from across the stream, and each of the prostrate men raised his head eagerly. Before Tish couldinterfere one of them had whistled three times sharply, probably adanger signal. 

Without a word Tish turned and ran toward the stream, calling to me tofollow her. 

"Tish!" I heard Aggie's agonized tone. "Lizzie! Come back. Don't leaveme here alone. I--"

Here she evidently clutched the revolver involuntarily, for there was asharp report, and a bullet struck a tree near us. 

Tish paused and turned. "Point that thing up into the air, Aggie, " shecalled back. "And stay there. I hold you responsible. "

I heard Aggie give a low moan, but she said nothing, and we kept on. 

The moon had now come up, flooding the valley with silver radiance. Wefound our horses at once, and Tish leaped into the saddle. Being heavierand also out of breath from having stumbled over a log, I was somewhatslower. 

Tish was therefore in advance of me when we started, and it was she whocaught sight of him first. 

"He's got a horse, Lizzie, " she called back to me. "We can get him, Ithink. Remember, he is unarmed. "

Fortunately he had made for the trail, which was here wider thanordinary and gleamed white in the moonlight. We had, however, lost sometime in fording the stream, and we had but the one glimpse of him as thetrail curved. 

Tish lashed her horse to a lope, and mine followed without urging. I had, unfortunately, lost a stirrup early in the chase, and wascompelled, being unable to recover it, to drop the lines and clutchthe saddle. 

Twice Tish fired into the air. She explained afterward that she did thisfor the moral effect on the fugitive, but as each time it caused myhorse to jump and almost unseat me, at last I begged her to desist. 

We struck at last into a straight piece of trail, ending in a wall ofgranite, and up this the trail climbed in a switchback. Tish turned tome. 

"We have him now, " she said. "When he starts up there he is as much goneas a fly on the wall. As a matter of fact, " she said as calmly as thoughwe had been taking an afternoon stroll, "his taking this trail showsthat he is a novice and no real highwayman. Otherwise he would haveturned off into the woods. "

At that moment the fugitive's horse emerged into the moonlight and Tishsmiled grimly. 

"I see why now, " she exclaimed. "The idiot has happened on Mona Lisa, who must have returned and followed us. And no pack-horse can be made toleave the trail unless by means of a hornet. Look, he's trying to pullher off and she won't go. "

It was true, as we now perceived. He saw his danger, but too late. MonaLisa, probably still disagreeable after her experience with the hornets, held straight for the cliff. 

The moon shone full on it, and when he was only thirty feet up its faceTish fired again, and the fugitive stopped. 

"Come down, " said Tish quietly. 

He said a great many things which, like his earlier language, I do notcare to repeat. But after a second shot he began to descend slowly. 

Tish, however, approached him warily, having given her revolver to me. 

"He might try to get it from me, Lizzie, " she observed. "Keep it pointedin our direction, but not at us. I'm going to tie him again. "

This she proceeded to do, tying his hands behind him and fastening hisbelt also to the horn of the saddle, but leaving his feet free. All thiswas done to the accompaniment of bitter vituperation. She pretended toignore this, but it made an impression evidently, for at last shereplied. 

"You have no one to blame but yourself, " she said. "You deserve yourpresent humiliating position, and you know it. I've made up my mind totake you all in and expose your cruel scheme, and I intend to do it. I'mnothing if I am not thorough, " she finished. 

He made no reply to this, and, in fact, he made only one speech on theway back, and that, I am happy to say, was without profanity. 

"It isn't being taken in that I mind so much, " he said pathetically. "It's all in the game, and I can stand up as well under trouble as anyone. It's being led in by a crowd of women that makes it painful. "

I have neglected to say that Tish was leading Mona Lisa, while Ifollowed with the revolver. 

It was not far from dawn when we reached the camp again. Aggie was as wehad left her, but in the light of the dying fire she looked older andmuch worn. As a matter of fact, it was some weeks before she looked likeher old self. 

The girl was sitting where we had left her, and sulkier than ever. Shehad turned her back to Mr. Oliver, and Aggie said afterward that the waythey had quarreled had been something terrible. 

Aggie said she had tried to make conversation with the girl, and had, indeed, told her of Mr. Wiggins and her own blasted life. But she hadremained singularly unresponsive. 

The return of our new prisoner was greeted by the other men with brutalrage, except Mr. Oliver, who merely glanced at him and then went back tohis staring at the fire. It appeared that they had been counting on himto get assistance, and his capture destroyed their last hope. Indeed, their language grew so unpleasant that at last Tish hammered sharply ona rock with the handle of her revolver. 

"Please remember, " she said, "that you are in the presence of ladies!"

They jeered at her, but she handled the situation with her usualgeneralship. 

"Lizzie, " she said calmly, "get the tin basin that is hanging to mysaddle, and fill it with the water from that snowbank. On the occasionof any more unseemly language, pour it over the offender without mercy. "

It became necessary to do it, I regret to state. They had not yetlearned that Tish always carries out her threats. It was the one who wefelt was the leader who offended, and I did as I had been requested to. But Aggie, ever tender-hearted, feared that it would give the man asevere cold, and got Tish's permission to pour a little blackberrycordial down his throat. 

Far from this kindness having a salubrious effect, it had the contrary. They all fell to bad language again, and, realizing that they wished thecordial, and our supply being limited, we were compelled to abandon thetreatment. 

It had been an uncomfortable night, and I confess to a feeling of reliefwhen "the rift of dawn" broke the early skies. 

We were, Tish calculated, some forty miles from breakfast, and Aggie'sdiet for some days had been light at the best, even the mountain-lionbroth having been more stimulating than staying. We thereforeinvestigated the camp, and found behind a large stone some flour, baking-powder, and bacon. With this equipment and a frying-pan or two wewere able to make some very fair pancakes--or flapjacks, as they arecalled in the West. 

Tish civilly invited the girl to eat with us, but she refused curtly, although, on turning once, I saw her eyeing us with famished eyes. Ithink, however, that on seeing us going about the homely task of gettingbreakfast, she realized that we were not the desperate creatures she hadfancied during the night, but three gentlewomen on a holiday--simpletourists, indeed. 

"I wish, " she said at last almost wistfully--"I wish that I couldunderstand it all. I seem to be all mixed up. You don't suppose I wantto be here, do you?"

But Tish was not in a mood to make concessions. "As for what you want, "she said, "how are we to know that? You are here, aren't you?--here asa result of your own cold-heartedness. Had you remained true to the veryestimable young man you jilted you would not now be in this position. "

"Of course he would talk about it!" said the girl darkly. 

"I am convinced, " Tish went on, dexterously turning a pancake by a swiftmovement of the pan, "that sensational movies are responsible for muchthat is wrong with the country to-day. They set false standards. Perfectly pure-minded people see them and are filled with thoughts ofcrime. "

Although she had ignored him steadily, the girl turned now to Mr. Oliver. 

"They don't believe anything I tell them. Why don't you explain?" shedemanded. 

"Explain!" he said in a furious voice. "Explain to three lunatics?What's the use?"

"You got me into this, you know. "

"I did! I like that! What in the name of Heaven induced you to ride offthe way you did?"

Tish paused, with the frying-pan in the air. "Silence!" she commanded. "You are both only reaping what you have sowed. As far as quarrelinggoes, you can keep that until you are married, if you intend to be. Idon't know but I'd advise it. It's a pity to spoil two houses. "

But the girl said that she wouldn't marry him if he was the last man onearth, and he fell back to sulking again. 

As Aggie observed later, he acted as if he had never cared for her, while Mr. Bell, on the contrary, could not help his face changing whenhe so much as mentioned her name. 

We made some tea and ate a hearty breakfast, while the men watched us. And as we ate, Tish held the moving-picture business up to contumely andscorn. 

"Lady, " said one of the prostrate men, "aren't you going to give usanything to eat?"

"People, " Tish said, ignoring him, "who would ordinarily cringe at thesight of a wounded beetle sit through bloody murders and go home withthe obsession of crime. "

"I hope you won't take it amiss, " said the man again, "if I say that, seeing it's our flour and bacon, you either ought to feed us or take itaway and eat it where we can't see you. "

"I take it, " said Tish to the girl, pouring in more batter, "that youyourself would never have thought of highway robbery had you not beenled to it by an overstimulated imagination. "

"I wish, " said the girl rudely, "that you wouldn't talk so much. I'vegot a headache. "

When we had finished Tish indicated the frying-pan and the batter. "Perhaps, " she said, "you would like to bake some cakes for thesefriends of yours. We have a long trip ahead of us. "

But the girl replied heartlessly that she hoped they would starve todeath, ignoring their pitiful glances. In the end it was our owntender-hearted Aggie who baked pancakes for them and, loosening theirhands while I stood guard, saw that they had not only food but thegentle refreshment of fresh tea. Tish it was, however, who, not to beoutdone in magnanimity, permitted them to go, one by one, to the streamto wash. Escape, without horses or weapons, was impossible, and theyrealized it. 

By nine o'clock we were ready to return. And here a difficulty presenteditself. There were six prisoners and only three of us. The men, fed now, were looking less subdued, although they pretended to obey Tish'scommands with alacrity. 

Aggie overheard a scrap of conversation, too, which seemed to indicatethat they had not given up hope. Had Tish not set her heart on leadingthem into the great hotel at Many Glaciers, and there exposing them tothe taunts of angry tourists, it would have been simpler for one of usto ride for assistance, leaving the others there. 

In this emergency Tish, putting her hand into her pocket for herscissors to trim a hangnail, happened to come across the policeman'swhistle. 

"My gracious!" she said. "I forgot my promise to that young man!"

She immediately put it to her lips and blew three shrill blasts. To oursurprise they were answered by a halloo, and a moment later the younggentleman himself appeared on the trail. He was no longer afoot, but wasmounted on a pinto pony, which we knew at once for Bill's. 

He sat on his horse, staring as if he could not believe his eyes. Thenhe made his way across the stream toward us. 

"Good Heavens!" he said. "What in the name of--" Here his eyes fell onthe girl, and he stiffened. 

"Jim!" cried the girl, and looked at him with what Aggie afterwardcharacterized as a most touching expression. 

But he ignored her. "Looks as though you folks have been pretty busy, "he observed, glancing at our scowling captives. "I'm a trifle surprised. You don't mind my being rather breathless, do you?"

"My only regret, " Tish said loftily, "is that we have not secured theIndians. They too should be taught a lesson. I am sure that the red manis noble until led away by civilized people who might know better. "

It was at this point that Mr. Bell's eyes fell on Mr. Oliver, who withhis hands tied behind him was crouching over the fire. 

"Well!" he said. "So you're here too! But of course you would be. " Thishe said bitterly. 

"For the love of Heaven, Bell, " Mr. Oliver said, "tell those mad womenthat I'm not a bandit. "

"We know that already, " Tish observed. 

"And untie my hands. My shoulders are about broken. "

But Mr. Bell only looked at him coldly. "I can't interfere with theseladies, " he said. "They're friends of mine. If they think you are bettertied, it's their business. They did it. "

"At least, " Mr. Oliver said savagely, "you can tell them who I am, can'tyou?"

"As to that, " Mr. Bell returned, "I can only tell them what you say youare. You must remember that I know nothing about you. Helen knows muchmore than I do. "

"Jim, " cried the girl, "surely you are going to tell these women that weare not highway robbers. Tell them the truth. Tell them I am not ahighway robber. Tell them that these men are not my accomplices, that Inever saw them before. "

"You must remember, " he replied in an icy tone, "that I no longer knowyour friends. It is some days since you and I parted company. And youmust admit that one of them is a friend of yours--as well as I canjudge, a very close friend. "

She was almost in tears, but she persisted. "At least, " she said, "youcan tell them that I did not rob that woman on the pass. They are goingto lead us in to Many Glaciers, and--Jim, you won't let them, will you?I'll die of shame. "

But he was totally unmoved. As Aggie said afterward, no one would havethought that, but a day or two before, he had been heartbroken becauseshe was in love with someone else. 

"As to that, " he said, "it is questionable, according to Mrs. Ostermaier, that nothing was taken from you, and that as soon as theattack was over you basely deserted her and followed the bandits. A fulldescription of you, which I was able to correct in one or two triflingdetails, is now in the hands of the park police. "

She stared at him with fury in her eyes. "I hope you will never speak tome again, " she cried. 

"You said that the last time I saw you, Helen. If you will think, youwill remember that you addressed me first just now. "

She stamped her foot. 

"Of course, " he said politely, "you can see my position. You maintainand possibly believe that these--er--acquaintances of yours"--heindicated the men--"are not members of the moving-picture outfit. Alsothat your being with them is of an accidental nature. But, on the otherhand--"

She put her fingers in her ears and turned her back on him. 

"On the other hand, " he went on calmly, "I have the word of these threerespectable ladies that they are the outfit, or part of it, that theyhave just concluded a cruel hoax on unsuspecting tourists, and that theyjustly deserve to be led in as captives and exposed to the full ignominyof their position. "

Here she faced him again, and this time she was quite pale. "Askthose--those women where they found my engagement ring, " she said. "Oneof those wretches took it from me. That ought to be proof enough thatthey are not from the moving-picture outfit. "

Tish at once produced the ring and held it out to him. But he merelyglanced at it and shook his head. 

"All engagement rings look alike, " he observed. "I cannot possibly say, Helen, but I think it is unlikely that it is the one I gave you, as youtold me, you may recall, that you had thrown it into a crack in aglacier. It may, of course, be one you have recently acquired. "

He glanced at Mr. Oliver, but the latter only shrugged his shoulders. 

Well, she shed a few tears, but he was adamant, and helped us saddle thehorses, ignoring her utterly. It was our opinion that he no longer caredfor her, and that, having lost him, she now regretted it. I know thatshe watched him steadily when he was not looking her way. But he wentround quite happily, whistling a bit of tune, and not at all like thesurly individual we had at first thought him. 

The ride back was without much incident. Our prisoners rode with theirhands tied behind them, except the young lady. 

"We might as well leave her unfastened, " the young man said casually. "While I dare say she would make her escape if possible, andparticularly if there was any chance of getting filmed while doing it, I will make myself personally responsible. "

As a matter of fact she was exceedingly rude to all of us, and duringour stop for luncheon, which was again bacon and pancakes, she made adash for her horse. The young man saw her, however, in time, and broughther back. From that time on she was more civil, but I saw her looking athim now and then, and her eyes were positively terrified. 

It was Aggie, at last, who put in a plea for her with him, drawing himaside to do so. "I am sure, " she said, "that she is really a nice girl, and has merely been led astray by the search for adventure. Naturally myfriends, especially Miss Tish, have small sympathy with such a state ofmind. But you are younger--and remember, you loved her once. "

"Loved her once!" he replied. "Dear lady, I'm so crazy about her at thisminute that I can hardly hold myself in. "

"You are not acting much like it. "

"The fact is, " he replied, "I'm afraid to let myself go. And if she'slearned a lesson, I have too. I've been her doormat long enough. I triedit and it didn't work. She's caring more for me now, at this minute, than she has in eleven months. She needs a strong hand, and, by George!I've got it--two of them, in fact. "

We reached Many Glaciers late that afternoon, and Tish rode right up tothe hotel. Our arrival created the most intense excitement, and Tish, although pleased, was rather surprised. It was not, however, until alarge man elbowed his way through the crowd and took possession of theprisoners that we understood. 

"I'll take them now, " he said. "Well, George, how are you?"

This was to the leader, who merely muttered in reply. 

"I'd like to leave them here for a short time, " Tish stated. "Theyshould be taught a severe lesson and nothing stings like ridicule. Afterthat you can turn them free, but I think they ought to be discharged. "

"Turn them free!" he said in a tone of amazement. "Discharged! My dearmadam, they will get fifteen years' hard labor, I hope. And that's toogood for them. "

Then suddenly the crowd began to cheer. It was some time before Tishrealized that they were cheering us. And even then, I shall have toconfess, we did not understand until the young man explained to me. 

"You see, " he said, "I didn't like to say anything sooner, for fear ofmaking you nervous. You'd done it all so well that I wanted you tofinish it. You're been in the right church all along, but the wrongpew. Those fellows aren't movie actors, except Oliver, who will befreed now, and come after me with a gun, as like as not! They're realdyed-in-the-wool desperadoes and there's a reward of five thousanddollars for capturing them. "

Tish went rather white, but said nothing. Aggie, however, went into aparoxysm of sneezing, and did not revive until given aromatic ammoniato inhale. 

"I was fooled at first too, " the young man said. "We'd been expecting aholdup and when it came we thought it was the faked one. But theperson"--he paused and looked round--"the person who had the real joltwas Helen. She followed them, since they didn't take her for ransom, ashad been agreed in the plot. 

"Then, when she found her mistake, they took her along, for fear she'dride off and raise the alarm. All in all, " he said reflectively, "it hasbeen worth about a million dollars to me. "

We went into the hotel, with the crowd following us, and the first thingwe saw was Mrs. Ostermaier, sitting dejectedly by the fire. When she sawus, she sprang to her feet and came to meet us. 

"Oh, Miss Tish, Miss Tish!" she said. "What I have been through!Attacked on a lonely mountain-top and robbed of everything. My reason isalmost gone. And my earrings, my beautiful earrings!"

Tish said nothing, but, reaching into her reticule, which she had takenfrom the horn of her saddle, she drew out a number of things. 

"Here, " she said. "Are your earrings. Here also is Mr. Ostermaier'scigar-case, but empty. Here is some money too. I'll keep that, however, until I know how much you lost. "

"Tish!" screeched Mrs. Ostermaier. "You found them!"

"Yes, " Tish said somewhat wearily, "we found them. We found a number ofthings, Mrs. Ostermaier, --four bandits, and two lovers, or rather three, but so no longer, and your things, and a reward of five thousanddollars, and an engagement ring. I think, " she said, "that I'd like ahot bath and something to eat. "

Mrs. Ostermaier was gloating over her earrings, but she looked up atTish's tired and grimy face, at the mud encrusted on me from my accidentthe day before, at Aggie in her turban. 

"Go and wash, all of you, " she said kindly, "and I'll order some hottea. "

But Tish shook her head. "Tea nothing!" she said firmly. "I want abroiled sirloin steak and potatoes. And"--she looked Mrs. Ostermaierfull in the eye--"I am going to have a cocktail. I need it. "

Late that evening Aggie came to Tish's room, where I was sitting withher. Tish was feeling entirely well, and more talkative than I canremember her in years. But the cocktail, which she felt, she said, in noother way, had gone to her legs. 

"It is not, " she observed, "that I cannot walk. I can, perfectly well. But I am obliged to keep my eyes on my feet, and it might be noticed. "

"I just came in, " Aggie said, "to say that Helen and her lover have madeit up. They are down by the lake now, and if you will look out you cansee them. "

I gave Tish an arm to the window, and the three of us stood and lookedout. The moon was rising over the snow-capped peaks across the lake, andagainst its silver pathway the young people stood outlined. As we lookedhe stooped and kissed her. But it was a brief caress, as if he had justremembered the strong hand and being a doormat long enough. 

Tish drew a long breath. 

"What, " she said, "is more beautiful than young love? It will be acomfort to remember that we brought them together. Let go of me now, Lizzie. If I keep my eye on the bedpost I think I can get back. "