ere, you must remember, in a day or two."

Again Earl was silent. He had sharpened up one end of the stick, and now
he turned to the other. "I wonder where we could telegraph from best,"
he said at last.

Randy's eyes lit up instantly, and he caught his big brother by the
shoulder. "Good for you, Earl; I knew you would say yes!" he cried.
"Why, we can telegraph from Spruceville, can't we?"

"We can if they'll trust us for the telegram."

"If they won't, I'll pay for it. I'm not going to let such a chance
slide by. The thing of it is," Randy added, sobering down suddenly, "how
are we to get to Boston to get the money Uncle intends to send on?"

"We'll have to sell off our things here. They'll bring in something,
although not much."

"Good! I never thought of that."

For two hours the boys talked matters over, and in the excitement dinner
was entirely forgotten. Then a telegram was prepared which ran as
follows:--

"Will sell out and come on as soon as possible."

It was agreed that Earl should send the message from Spruceville, a town
four miles beyond Basco. This was a seven miles' tramp, but he did not
mind it, having walked the distance many times previously. He procured a
bite to eat, and with the letter from his uncle in his pocket he started
off. He intended to show the letter to the telegraph operator in case
the man should hesitate to send the message with charges to be paid at
the other end.

At Basco, Earl met a number of workmen of the district, among whom was
Tom Roland, the brother of the lumberman who intended to buy the timber
land from Caleb Norcross. Roland was a man whom nobody liked, and Earl
passed him without a word, although it was evident from Roland's manner
that the latter desired to stop for a talk. With Tom Roland was a fellow
named Guardley, a ne'er-do-well, who had been up before the squire on
more than one occasion for drinking and stealing. The reader will do
well to remember both Tom Roland and Guardley, for they are destined to
play a most important part in the chapters which follow.

The middle of the afternoon had passed before Earl struck the outskirts
of Spruceville and made his way to the little railroad station where was
located the telegraph office. His errand was soon explained to the
young man in charge, and he felt in his pocket to bring forth the slip
of paper Randy had written out, and his uncle's letter.

To his consternation both were missing. He remember