your boys
know anything about it," he added with anxiety.

"Not a thing," hastily replied the foreman. "You have your wife send a
message to me by Joe when he rustles our mail to-morrow and ask us to come
to the picnic at the A-Y on the day which you will decide on. They'll go,
all right, no fear about that. Nothing more than your wife's cooking is
needed to attract them," and he laughed heartily at how suddenly they
would come to life at such a summons.

Shields thought intently for a few seconds and then slapped his thigh:
"I've got it!" he exulted. "I'll ride over to your place with you and
write a letter to my wife telling her just what to do. Joe can deliver
it and bring back the invitation. You see, I won't be home to-night, but
that will do the trick, all right. Now, what do you say to this coming
Saturday?--this is, let me see: Wednesday. Will that be time enough for
you to make any arrangements you may want to make?"

"Shore, plenty of time," Blake laughed. "It's good all the way. Joe will
be delighted to have a real good excuse to call at your house. He's a
bashful cuss, like all the rest. They talk big, but they're some bashful
all the same. He's been worrying about it, for one day he came to me
with a funny expression on his face and acted like he didn't know how
to begin. So I asked him what was troubling him, and he blurted out like
this, as near as I can remember:

"'Well, you know Mrs. Shields said we was to go to her house when any of
us hit town?' he asked.

"'I shore do,' I answered, wondering what was up.

"'Well, I go to town a lot, and it takes a h--l of a lot of gall to do
it,' he complained, looking so serious that it was funny.

"'Gall!' said I, surprised-like, and trying to keep my face straight.
'Gall! Well, I can't see that it takes such a brave man to call at a
friend's house when he's been told to do it.'

"'Oh, that part of it is all right," he replied. 'But she'll think I only
call to get my face fed, and it makes me feel like a--I don't know what.
You see, I always get away quick.'

"'Well, stay longer, there ain't no use of being in a hurry,' I said.
'Stay and talk a while.'

"'Then they'll think I ain't got enough and push more pie at me, like they
did once,' he complained.

"'Suppose I give Silent your terrible ordeal to do,' I suggested
tentatively, 'or Bud, he's dead anxious for your job.'

"'Oh, it ain't as bad as that!' he cried quickly. 'I only thought that
I'd sp