ch as a million would be, and my father used to say that it was a bad
thing to get into the way of figuring on things that we could never
reach."

The Judge sat still, and looked at Jack out of his half-closed gray eyes
for a minute in silence.

"Come up to the house with me," he said, rising.

Jack followed him to the house, where the Judge opened his desk and took
out a red-backed memorandum-book, and dictated while Jack copied in his
own handwriting the description of a piece of land on a slip of paper.

"If you go over to school, to-morrow, an hour earlier than usual," he
said, "call at the county clerk's office, show him your memorandum, and
find out in whose name that land stands. It is timber-land five miles
back, and worth five hundred dollars. When you get the name of the
owner, you will know what to do; if not, you can ask me, but you'd
better not mention my name to anybody in this matter."

Jack thanked Mr. Kane, but left him feeling puzzled. In fact, the
farmer-judge seemed to like to puzzle people, or at least he never told
anything more than was necessary.

The next morning, the boys were off early to Port William. Jack wondered
if the land might belong to his father, but then he was sure his father
never had any land in Kentucky. Or, was it the property of some dead
uncle or cousin, and was he to find a fortune, like the hero of a cheap
story? But when the county clerk, whose office it is to register deeds
in that county, took the little piece of paper, and after scanning it,
took down some great deed-books and mortgage-books, and turned the pages
awhile, and then wrote "Francis Gray, owner, no incumbrance," on the
same slip with the description, Jack had the key to Mr. Kane's puzzle.

It was now Thursday forenoon, and Jack was eager on all accounts to get
home, especially to see the lawyer in charge of his father's claim
against Mr. Gray. So the next day at noon, as there was nothing left but
the closing exercises, the three boys were excused, and bade good-bye
to their teacher and school-mates, and rowed back to their own side of
the river. They soon had the skiff loaded, for all three were eager to
see the folks at Greenbank. Jack's mother had been at home more than a
week, and he was the most impatient of the three. But they could not
leave without a good-bye to Judge Kane and his wife, to which good-bye
they added a profusion of bashful boyish thanks for kindness received.
The Judge walked to