big man; but, oddly enough, it occurred to him that Mary
seemed larger than he was.

"Bob!" exclaimed a harsh whisper behind him, "howld yer tongue! it's
only a gir-rl! Don't ye say a har-rd word to the loikes o' her!"

Other whispers and growls came from the hall, but the big man stood
like a stone post for several seconds.

"You're the editor?" he gasped. "Is old Murdoch dead,--or has he run
away?"

"He's at home, and ill," said Mary. "What is your errand?"

"I keep a decent hotel, sir,--ma'am--madam--I do,--we all do,--it's the
_Eagle_, you know,--and there's no kind of disorder,--and there was
never any complaint in Mertonville--"

"Howld on, Bob!" exclaimed the prompter behind him. "You're no good at
all; coom along, b'ys. Be civil,--Mike Flaherty will never have it
said he brought a shillalah to argy wid a colleen. I'm aff!"

Away he went, stick and all, and the other five followed promptly,
leaving Mary Ogden standing still in amazement. She was trying to
collect her thoughts when Mr. Black marched in from the other room,
followed by the two typesetters; and Mr. Bones tumbled up-stairs, out
of breath.

Mary had hardly any explanation to make about what Mr. Bones
frantically described as "the riot," and she was inclined to laugh at
it. Just then Mr. Murdoch himself came to the door.

Jack stopped the engine, exclaiming, "Mr. Murdoch! you here?"

"What is it? What is it?" he exclaimed. "I saw them go out. Did they
break anything?"

"Miss Ogden scared 'em off in no time," said Mr. Black.

Mary resigned the editorial chair to Mr. Murdoch. Bones brought in two
office chairs; Mr. Black appeared with a very high stool that usually
stood before one of his typecases; Mary preferred one of the office
chairs, and there she sat a long time, replying to Mr. Murdoch's
questions and remarks. She had plenty to tell, after all she had heard
at the sociable, and Mr. Murdoch groaned at times, but still he thanked
her for her efforts. Meanwhile Mr. Black went to the engine-room with
an errand for Jack that sent him over to the other side of the village.
Jack looked in the little cracked mirror in the front room as he went
out.

"Ink enough; they'll never know me," said Jack. "I'm safe enough.
Besides, Mrs. McNamara wasn't robbed at all. She was yelling because
she thought robbers were coming."

He loitered along on his way back, with his eyes open and his ears
ready to catch any bit of stray news,