f which he was ignorant.

"You will excuse me if I speak frankly?"

Wallie gulped, wondering fearfully what she knew and how much.

She went on in a voice which seemed to have hoarfrost on it:

"But the fact is, I am not in the habit of eating with the _help_."

Wallie felt relief surge over him. His face cleared and he laughed
light-heartedly.

"I know that, of course, Mrs. Stott, but out here it is different.
Camping is particularly democratic. It has never occurred to 'Red' or
Hicks that they are not welcome at the table, and I fear that they would
be greatly offended if I should suggest----"

Mrs. Stott drew herself up haughtily.

"That is no concern of mine, Wallie. It is a matter of principle with
me to keep servants in their places. I am not a snob, but----"

"Sh-ss-sh!" Wallie looked over his shoulder in Hicks' direction.

In clarion tones she continued:

"I cannot consent to letting down the barriers even in these
unconventional surroundings. You can adjust the matter to suit yourself,
but I ab-so-lute-ly refuse to sit cheek by jowl with the cook and
McGonnigle!"

Wallie grew solemn, as well he might, for along with the tact of a
diplomat to a Balkan state it required the courage of a lion to convey
the information to one of Hicks' violent disposition that he was not fit
to sit at table with the wife of the rising young attorney.

It weighed on his mind through breakfast, and he was not made more
comfortable by the fact that "Red," stimulated to effervescence by so
large an audience, tossed off his _bon-mots_ in a steady stream,
unconscious that his wit was not a treat to all who heard him and that
his presence was regarded as anything but highly desirable, while Mr.
Hicks brought his tin-plate and, by chance purely, elbowed himself a
place beside Mrs. Stott with the greatest assurance.

Wallie decided to postpone the delicate talk of dropping a hint to Mr.
Hicks until later in the day, as he had plenty to engage his attention
with Miss Mercy's departure confronting him.

"Red" denied the crime with which he was charged with a face of
preternatural innocence, declaring that he was shocked that any one
should attribute to him such a heinous offence as purposely leaving four
sharp alder prongs under a lady's blankets. Nobody--bar none--had a
greater respect for the sex than "Red" McGonnigle!

But Miss Mercy was not to be pacified by apologies however abject, or
explanations however convincing.