son who threw the packs into
the river."

They gazed at her in amazement.

"Harriet, what _do_ you mean?" cried the guardian.

"If she had lived up here two hundred years ago or so the people would
have tied her to a stake and set fire to her," declared Janus,
punctuating his declaration with a series of quick, emphatic nods.

"The driver placed the pack behind the boulder and against the rocks,"
said Harriet. "Surely, he knew where he left the things. What is
more, I looked while he had gone in search of them, and, as I've
already said, saw where he had left the pack. The rest was easy to
understand. The packs could not possibly have got into the river
unless they had been thrown there."

"But who----" began Jim.

"I don't know. That it was none of our party goes without saying.
Perhaps Mr. Grubb can tell us. Who do you think it could have been,
sir?" she asked, turning to the guide.

"I swum! I swum!" muttered the guide.

"It isn't possible!" exploded Jim.

"I reckon Miss--Miss Burrell is right, Jim," agreed the guide. "Either
you threw the stuff in, or somebody else did, and we know you didn't,
so what's the answer? The young lady has given us the answer, and
there you are."

"I'm sorry," pondered Miss Elting. "I was in hopes this journey would
be free from unpleasantness, but here we are meeting with difficulties
at the very start of it. Have you any enemies who would wish to do you
harm, Mr. Grubb?"

"No, no, no! Nothing like that, Miss."

"Do you know a man named Collins?"

"Collins? Never heard of him. Who is he?"

"I don't know. I will tell you something that you do not know, either.
The night we arrived at Compton a man called on me at the hotel to ask
me to discharge you and let him act as our guide instead. He said he
needed the money. He also said we would be sorry for having taken you
as our guide; that we would get into no end of trouble were we to go
with you. He intimated a great deal more than he put into words. It
was plain that he disliked you very much. He made a distinctly
unfavorable impression upon me. Harriet saw him, too, just as he was
taking his leave."

"Well, I swum!" Janus was tugging nervously at his whiskers. There
were beads of perspiration on his forehead. His lips moved rapidly,
but he uttered no further words for some moments.

"You may go out in the woodth and thay it, if you want to," suggested
Tommy, who had been regarding the guide shr