he knows and has taken advantage of it, I cannot replace him and it is
impossible to get along without a cook with so large a party."

"You will, then, not discharge him?" Stott demanded.

"I am helpless," Wallie reiterated.

Hicks grinned triumphantly.

"In that case," Mr. Stott declared in a tone which implied that a
tremendous upheaval of some kind would follow his decision, "my wife and
I will leave your party and continue through the Park by motor."

Wallie felt that it was useless to argue with any one so determined, so
he made no effort to persuade Mr. Stott to remain, though the deflection
of two more persons was a serious matter to him and Pinkey.

Without waiting to say good-bye to the others, the Stotts paid their
bill and departed, walking so erect in their indignation as they started
down the road toward the Lake Hotel that they seemed to lean backward.

It was not yet dark when Mr. Stott, stepping briskly and carrying his
Gladstone bag, raincoat, and umbrella in a jaunty manner, came into camp
announcing breezily that he had decided, upon reflection, not to "bite
off his nose to spite his face." He declared that he would not let the
likes of Ellery Hicks upset his plans for touring the Yellowstone, and
while his wife refused to return he meant to carry out his original
intention.

But the real reason for Mr. Stott's decision, as Wallie suspected from
the frequency with which he had discovered him sitting upon a log in
secluded spots counting his money, was that the hotel rates and motor
fare were far higher then he had anticipated.

Mrs. Stott's absence did not leave the gap which she had anticipated. In
fact, after the first evening her name was never mentioned, and Mr.
Stott's marital ties rested so lightly upon him that a stranger would
never have known they existed. He gravitated toward Miss Gaskett with a
promptitude which gave rise to the suspicion that he had had his eye
upon her, and Miss Gaskett responded so enthusiastically that it was a
matter for gossip.

It was noted that she took to doing her hair up at night on "wavers" and
used her lipstick with greater frequency, and whereas she had vowed she
meant never again to get in the saddle she now rode with Mr. Stott
daily.

The ladies who had known Miss Gaskett for twenty-five years, and nothing
to her discredit, were not prepared to say that she was a huzzy and a
vampire without further evidence, but they admitted to each other
pri