over the dawn, but Kenny, with little time and no
inclination at all for melancholy rebellion, tip-toed down the stairway
with his shoes in his hand. He put them on by the kitchen fire. There
was water by the window in a milk-pail. He poured some in a basin,
washed his face and hands and found the water cold enough to hurt his
face. Still his excitement kept him keyed to a pitch of singular and
optimistic hilarity. Through the kitchen window came the pale glimmer
of snow. He hoped Hughie wouldn't hear him harnessing Nellie, and
shoot at the barn. The possibility sent him to the kitchen stairway.
It wound upward in an old-fashioned twist to the room above.

"Hughie!" he called in a low voice. "Hughie!"

There was a noise of many creaks overhead.

"I'm going to hitch up Nellie and drive over to Dr. Cole's farm. I--I
feel sure he buried the money!"

"God Almighty!" exclaimed Hughie.

But Kenny was already on his way to the kitchen door.

CHAPTER XXV

CHECKMATE!

Daylight came bleak and cold as Kenny drove rapidly up the doctor's
lane. The aggrieved mare had traveled. Through the farm window, green
with potted begonias, Kenny could see the doctor already at his
breakfast. A young colored girl was pouring out his coffee. The
doctor himself opened the door.

"Well, Mr. O'Neill," he exclaimed, "who's sick? Not Joan, I hope?"

"No," said Kenny, following the doctor back to the table. "No, nobody
sick."

"Sit down," invited the doctor, "I always figure you can talk as well
sitting as standing and you can rest. Won't you have some breakfast?"

"I couldn't eat," said Kenny. "Doctor," he added hoarsely, "would
it--be possible--for me--to speak to you--alone?"

The doctor nodded. In a life made up of emergencies as his was,
nothing astonished him.

"Annie," he said kindly, "just tell Mrs. Cole not to hurry down to
breakfast. And close the door."

Kenny took the will from his pocket and spread it on the table.

The doctor wearily fumbled for his glasses and put them on.

"Hum!" he said. "The old man's will, eh? I've been wondering about
it. Well, he didn't leave much but the farm, did he? And it might
have been better for Don and Joan if he'd taken it with him. Nobody
around here would buy it. A barn of a place! And the land's full of
stone."

"Ah!" said Kenny significantly. "But Adam Craig was a miser!"

"Pooh!" said the doctor with a sniff. "Who told you that?"

Kenny star