umber of
pans she used.

Tish ignored both my neck and the biscuits, and, marching up the bank,
got her shotgun from the tent and loaded it.

"We may be attacked at any time," she said briefly; and, getting the
binocular, she searched the river with a splendid sweeping glance. "At
any time. Hutchins, take these glasses, please, and watch that we are
not disturbed."

"I'm baking biscuit, Miss Letitia."

"Biscuit!" said Tish scornfully. "Biscuit in times like these?"

She walked up to the camp stove and threw the oven door open; but,
though I believe she had meant to fling them into the river, she changed
her mind when she saw them.

"Open a jar of honey, Hutchins," she said, and closed the oven; but
her voice was abstracted. "You can watch the river from the stove,
Hutchins," she went on. "Miss Aggie and Miss Lizzie and I must confer
together."

So we went into the tent, and Tish closed and fastened it.

"Now," she said, "I've got the papers."

"Papers?"

"The ones Mr. McDonald gave that Indian this morning. I had an idea he'd
still have them. You can't hurry an Indian. I waited in the bushes until
he went in swimming. Then I went through his pockets."

"Tish Carberry!" cried Aggie.

"These are not times to be squeamish," Tish said loftily. "I'm neutral;
of course; but Great Britain has had this war forced on her and I'm
going to see that she has a fair show. I've ordered all my stockings
from the same shop in London, for twenty years, and squarer people never
lived. Look at these--how innocent they look, until one knows!"

She produced two papers from inside her waist. I must confess that, at
first glance, I saw nothing remarkable.

"The first one looks," said Tish, "like a grocery order. It's meant to
look like that. It's relieved my mind of one thing--McDonald's got no
wireless or he wouldn't be sending cipher messages by an Indian."

It was written on a page torn out of a pocket notebook and the page was
ruled with an inch margin at the left. This was the document:--

1 Dozen eggs.
20 Yards fishing-line.
1 pkg. Needles--anything to sew a button on.
1 doz. A B C bass hooks.
3 lbs. Meat--anything so it isn't fish.
1 bot. Ink for fountain pen.
3 Tins sardines.
1 Extractor.

Well, I could not make anything of it; but, of course, I have not Tish's
mind. Aggie was almost as bad.

"What's an extractor?" she asked.

"Exactly!" said Tish. "What is an extractor?