m!"

"And we'll get _him_ some day," exclaimed Thayor, the fever of fishing
tingling within him.

"There are some big trout in here, Mr. Thayor," continued Holcomb.
"I've known this pond for several years and it has been rarely, if
ever, fished."

"Then, Billy, we'll have to go at them at twilight," declared Thayor.
"You had better tell Freme to bring in one of the canvas canoes."

The four retraced their way over the trail. As they reached a muddy
place half way home Holcomb noticed the imprint of Margaret's trim
little feet. It was evident to Alice, who had been watching him, that
the tracks puzzled the young woodsman. There were four of these dainty
tracks instead of two; soon the mystery was cleared as Alice Thayor
passed ahead of him and Holcomb saw that Margaret's and her mother's
footprint were identical in size.

"You seem puzzled," Alice remarked, as Holcomb steadied her along a
sunken log.

"I was looking where you had stepped, Mrs. Thayor," he confessed.

Alice laughed, a low, delicious laugh.

"You see," she explained frankly, putting forth her trim boot, "my
daughter and I wear the same size."

Again Margaret and Holcomb took the lead. Thayor and Alice followed
them leisurely, Thayor talking of his purchase of which he had yet
only seen a small portion, Alice listening eagerly. During a pause she
said carelessly:

"It must be frightfully hot in town, Sam. New York is dirty and
deserted; I pity those who cannot get away." He stopped and grew
enthusiastic again over the rare purity of the air.

"We ought to be thankful for _that_," he said, as he filled his lungs
with a deep breath. "Think of how many poor devils and delicate women
struggling for a living, and little children it would save."

"And the other people, too," she ventured boldly. "Poor Dr. Sperry
told me he would be lucky if he got out of New York at all this
summer. There are some important cases of his, I believe, which may
need him at any moment."

The mention of the doctor's name would have jarred on Sam at any other
time, but this morning he was too happy to care, and Alice, quick to
notice it, pressed on:

"I do wish he could come up here for a rest. I saw him at the Trevises
Thursday; he seemed utterly used up. Do you think he would come if we
asked him, Sam? Besides," she added cleverly, "I should like him to
see Margaret."

Thayor stopped abruptly and looked at his wife with a curious
expression.

"So should I," he