y. He'll put up the right bluff and we'll be back before they get
anything out of him. It's three o'clock and we must be far out on the
road by daybreak. We'll take your car and leave it in hiding at
Springtown, where by sunup we'll get horses to cross the mountains."

"Is it that I must go for three days out into those mountains with
you, my Gouverneur Faulkner?" faltered that ridiculous and troublesome
Roberta, Marquise of Grez and Bye.

"Why, no, Robert, unless--unless--Oh, well, I suppose this prisoner of
Jim's can speak English as they all can. I rather wanted you--but
perhaps it is best for me to fight it out alone. Will you help me pack
a bag? Get the one from my dressing room while I take a plunge."

"Quick, Robert Carruthers, make an excuse to that Roberta, Marquise of
Grez and Bye, who is of such a foolishness, that you must go with your
beloved Gouverneur Faulkner for his aid," I said to myself.

"It is necessary that your foreign secretary accompany you to deal
with that gentleman of France who is in prison, my Gouverneur
Faulkner," I said with decision as I rose from the side of the table
with a great quickness. "I must return home for a few necessities of
my toilet for those three days, but I will be back in what that good
Kizzie says to be a jiffy, when speaking of cooking that is delayed."

"Good," answered me my beloved Gouverneur Faulkner. Then he laid his
hand upon my shoulder as we stood together in the dimness out from the
rays of the light. "There is something in your eyes, Robert, that
renews my faith in the truths of--of life. I'm going out into the
wilderness on a grave mission whose result may shake down some houses
of--of cards, but because of your being with me I feel as if I were
starting off on a picnic or a day's fishing at the age of ten. Now,
I'll hurry." And as he spoke my Gouverneur Faulkner made a start in
the direction of his room for the bath.

"Is it that I may begin the packing of your bag for you, Your
Excellency, before I go for those necessities of my own?" I asked of
him.

"Won't be time for you to go home, boy," he answered me, looking at a
clock upon the mantel over his large fireplace. "You are still in your
evening clothes, I see. But that's easy: you climb into that pink coat
and a pair of those corduroy trousers of mine you see hanging in my
dressing room. I haven't hunted for two years but they are still
there. Put linen in that saddlebag on the shelf for us both