me to him over the wire speedily dispelled his somnolence.

"That you, Win? This is Kearn Thode."

"What! Gad, old man, it's good to hear your voice!" Winnie exclaimed.
"When did you get in?"

"Just last night. I tried to get hold of you, but your father told me
you were up there at Stoney Crest----"

"Come on out! Jim would have asked you if he'd known where you were.
I'll tell him----"

"No," Thode interrupted tersely. "Sorry, but I can't waste a day!
I've got to see you at once, this morning if possible."

"All right," Winnie responded. "Tell you what I'll do; I'll grab Jim's
speedster and meet you at the Bumble Bee Inn. I can make it in an hour
and so can you, as it's about half way out. Nobody'll be around in the
morning and it's deserted anyway this time of the year, so we can have
it to ourselves. I say, what's the racket, Kearn?"

"Tell you when I see you. Don't fail me, Win. Good-bye."

When Winnie drove up to the road-house an hour later, a lone taxi'
stood outside and a familiar figure was seated at one of the tables in
the otherwise empty restaurant. As it rose he saw that the two months
had brought Kearn Thode back to what he had been before the fever laid
him low in Mexico. He glowed with the old health and strength, and in
his eyes was the triumphant fire of achievement.

"Hello, old man! You're looking wonderfully fit again, thank the Lord!
Did you find that important something or other that was worth more than
the pot of gold?"

Thode smiled as they shook hands.

"I found what I went after," he replied quietly. "And you? I hear
you're settling into the harness in great shape."

Winnie flushed.

"The governor would boast, I suppose, as long as I succeeded in keeping
out of jail," he observed. "It's a horrible responsibility to be an
only son! But what's the big idea? You didn't chivvie me out of bed
in the cold gray dawn for nothing!"

Thode beckoned to the solitary waiter, hovering in the pantry doorway,
before responding.

"We'd better have some coffee and a bite first. Then I want the news;
remember I've been out in the wild and woolly since before the
holidays."

When their order had been given, Winnie observed:

"I suppose you've heard about Wiley. He's been down in Mexico and
grabbed off a new oil well, the Almas Perderse----"

"The Lost Souls!" Thode's hands clenched, and he drew a deep breath
between set teeth. "So he pulled it off, did he? By Jove,