ecord, in case an accident of the
kind to which his comrade had nearly fallen a victim happened to him.
Moreover, it might be a safeguard to let his antagonists know that they
could not destroy his evidence if they took his life.

He related his adventures in Scotland, his pursuit of Daly, and his
surmises about the gang, and then going down, asked the hotel clerk to
witness his signature and put the document in the safe. After this, he
went to the veranda, where Lucy came to meet him with shining eyes.

"Jake," she said with emotion, "I felt we would be safe as soon as you
arrived. If you knew how I listened for the train and longed for your
step! But the wretch has hurt you; your face is bruised and cut."
Foster felt embarrassed, but laughed. "My face will soon recover its
usual charm, and if it's any comfort, the other fellow looks, and no
doubt feels, much worse." Then he turned to Lawrence, who sat near.
"You have evidently been telling Miss Stephen a highly-colored tale."

"Lucy!" she corrected him. "I'm not going to call you Mr. Foster.
You're our friend--mother's and mine---as well as Lawrence's." She
stopped and shuddered. "But you shall not make a joke of what you did!
What might have happened won't bear thinking of. If you hadn't come in
time!"

Foster, seeing her emotion, glanced at Mrs. Stephen, begging her to
interfere, but her strained look indicated that her feelings harmonized
with the girl's. Then Lawrence interposed with a grin--

"Jake always does come in time--that's one of his virtues. He's the
kind of man who's there when he's wanted. I don't know how he does it,
because he's not really clever."

"Lawrence," said Lucy severely, "sometimes you're not as humorous as
you think."

"Then I hope I'm tactful, because you're making poor Jake feel horribly
awkward. I believe he thought you wanted to kiss him and was very
nearly running away."

Lucy blushed and Lawrence resumed: "He can't deny it; Jake, you know
you would have run away! However, I knew what I was doing when I made
him my partner some time ago. Jake has a romantic imagination that now
and then leads him into trouble, but although it's perhaps as much luck
as genius, when he undertakes a thing he puts it over. For example,
there was the sawmill----"

Lucy stopped him with a gesture. "We are not going to talk about the
sawmill. It was your--I mean our--troubles Jake plunged into, and
pluck that can't be daunted is