gain and
once more shook the hand of his visitor--this time far more heartily.

"Most glad, indeed, to meet your acquaintance, Mr. Burns," said Philo
Gubb heartily. "It is a pleasure to meet anybody from the offices of
the Rising Sun Deteckative Agency. And if you ever see the man that
wrote the 'Complete Correspondence Course of Deteckating,' I wish--"

The false Mr. Burns smiled.

"I wrote it," he said modestly.

"I am _most_ very glad to meet you, sir!" exclaimed Philo Gubb, and
again he shook his visitor's hand. "Because--"

"Ah, yes, because--" queried the Bald Impostor pleasantly.

"Because," said Philo Gubb, "there's a question I want to ask. I refer
to Lesson Seven, 'Petty Thievery, Detecting Same, Charges Therefor.' I
have had some trouble with 'Charges Therefor.'"

"Indeed? Let me see the lesson, please," said the Bald Impostor.

"'The charges for such services,'" Philo Gubb read, pointing to the
paragraph with his long forefinger, "'should be not less than ten
dollars per diem.' That's what it says, ain't it?"

"It does," said the Bald Impostor.

"Well, Mr. Burns," said Philo Gubb, "I took on a job of chicken-thief
detecting, and I had to detect for two diems to do it, and that would
be twenty dollars, wouldn't it?"

"It would," said the Bald Impostor.

"Which is fair and proper," said Philo Gubb, "but the old gent
wouldn't pay it. So I ask you if you'd be kindly willing to go to him
along with me in company and tell him I charged right and according to
rates as low as possible?"

"Of course I will go," said the Bald Impostor.

"All right!" said Philo Gubb, rising. "And the old gent is a man
you'll be glad to meet. He's a prominent citizen gentleman of the
town. His name is Judge Orley Morvis."

The Bald Impostor gasped. Every free-acting pore on his head worked
immediately.

"And, so he won't suspicion that I'm running in some outsider on him,"
said Philo Gubb, "I'll fetch along this letter you wrote me, to
certify your identical identity."

He picked up the warning letter from the Rising Sun Agency, and stood
waiting for the Bald Impostor to arise. But the Bald Impostor did not
arise. For once at least he was flabbergasted. He opened and shut his
mouth, like a fish out of water. His head seemed to exude millions of
moist beads. He saw a smile of triumph on Philo Gubb's face. Mr. Gubb
was smiling triumphantly because he was able now to show Judge Orley
Morvis a thing or two, but the Bal