ed-head."

"Who's getting the swelled-head?" demanded Gregory, the smile passing
from his face.

"Well, I'm not," retorted the girl, laying special stress on the
pronoun. "I've seen too much of this game to have my head turned by a
little luck."

Gregory overlooked the implication and admitted soberly:

"Yes, we sure have had luck. There's no denying that. I never had any
idea the boys would take to the game the way they have."

"They wouldn't if it hadn't been for my fishermen taking all the trouble
they did with them. Why, a lot of those fellows were seasick when they
first came down here. They were 'rocking-chair sailors.' My men made
them what they are. I don't see any luck in that."

Gregory smiled provokingly.

"No, I don't suppose there was," he said. "What I meant was I was lucky
in getting hold of men who really wanted to learn. You've admitted
several times that they got along faster than you had any idea they
would."

"Anybody could catch fish the way they've been running the last few
weeks," evaded Dickie. "I never saw anything like it before. Nearly
every boat comes in with a good haul. And when the local market was
glutted at Port Angeles, you shot them up north and just tumbled on to a
good market as Frisco was out of fish. That was nothing but luck," she
challenged.

"And now we have orders for all canned stuff we can turn out," Gregory
put in.

"Sure you have. From the Western outfit. I wouldn't trust them out of
sight with a case of fish. They'll eat the stuff up as long as you can
throw it to them in big lots. That gives them a chance to beat you down
on the price. The first bad run of luck you have, they'll drop you cold.
I know. They did the same thing with your father the very first time he
began to fall down on his output."

"Yes, but----"

"You're not going to fall down." She took the words from his mouth and
hurried on: "That is just what I was afraid of. Your luck has gone to
your head. You have an idea things are always going to be like this. I
know better. And you'll know before you get through. The fish are liable
to head out to sea any day."

"You guessed wrong about what I was going to say," Gregory announced. "I
was going to tell you I had an order from Winfield & Camby for a
shipment of albacore if we can get them out right away. Suppose the
fish do run to sea," he went on. "I'll back you to find them if any one
can. And we're well equipped now to follow them up."

Di