ber, and the hot biscuits would fairly
melt in one's mouth. They chatted merrily while they ate. Suddenly it
occurred to Garry to ask how it was Fernald had arrived that morning.

"Why I got the whole dope on the receiving end of the fur smuggling by
your tip on the two buyers, and have that ready to clean up any time I
want to. Then I got worrying about you boys here in a strange country,
and decided to hop on and lend what assistance I could. I got as far as
I could by passenger train, and then because of bad connections, got
waylaid and found I would have had to lay over. Fortunately that fast
freight came along, and by dint of a little persuasion managed to
convince the trainmen that I was not a tramp, but on government
business, with the result that I arrived here fourteen hours quicker
than I would have otherwise. It was a piece of good fortune, for I guess
I am here in just enough time to see the finish of a thrilling case,
minus the thrills for me."

Breakfast over, Fernald said he was off for the Customs House, while the
boys prepared for a long vigil at the border to spot the "lane" used by
the smugglers in their trips.

Ruth insisted on preparing a lunch for them, and packed it so it could
be comfortably slipped in the pockets, so that no excess baggage would
bother them.

Before starting out, Garry climbed to the attic of the Everett house,
and getting the range with his glasses, computed the distance by means
of the Mill scale on the glasses. This gave him a working plan to use
when they hit the border, and could direct their steps so as to come out
almost exactly back of the Green farm. All that they needed to know was
the distance from the Everett House to the border. Ruth informed them it
was a matter of almost exactly three miles and a half, so they were now
sure of their distances and course. By making straight north for the
border, they would have the advantage of avoiding going through the main
part of the town.

Starting out, the three made their way directly to the approximate
location of the border line. They kept track of the distance by using a
careful thirty inch step, such as is used in the regular army, and
counting their paces as they went. A pace consists of two steps, and is
measured by starting off with the right foot and counting every time the
left foot strikes the ground. This makes each pace just five feet, and
as there are five thousand, two hundred eighty feet in a mile, one ca