from his pocket and made a
hurried notation.

"Taking notes for a sermon?" asked Carol.

"No, for a sickness. That's where I'll get 'em next. I hadn't
thought of the disposition. Thank you, thank you very much. I'll have
it to-morrow. Bugs in the disposition,--sounds medical, doesn't it?"

"Oh, don't, Mr. Nevius," entreated Carol. "Don't get anything the
matter with your disposition. We don't care where else you collect
them, as long as you keep on making us laugh. But, woodman, spare that
disposition."

Nevius pulled out the note-book and crossed off the notation. "There
it goes again," he muttered. "Women always were a blot on the
escutcheon of scientific progress. Just to oblige you, I've got to
forego the pleasure of making a medical curiosity of myself. Well,
well. Women are all right for domestic purposes, but they sure are a
check on science."

"They are a check on your bank-book, too, let me tell you," said
Barrows quickly. "I never cared how much my wife checked me up on
science, but when she checked me out of three bank-accounts I drew the
line."

"Speaking of death," began Nevius suddenly.

"Nobody spoke of it, and nobody wants to," said Carol.

"Miss Tucker suggests it by the forlornity of her attitude. And since
she has started the subject, I must needs continue. I want to tell you
something funny. You weren't here when Reddy Waters croaked, were you,
Duke? He had the cottage next to mine. I was in bed at the time
with--well, I don't remember where I was breaking out at the time, but
I was in bed. You may have noticed that I have what might be called a
classic pallor, and a general resemblance to a corpse."

Nancy shivered a little and Carol frowned, but Nevius continued
imperturbably. "The undertaker down-town is a lunger, and a nervous
wreck to boot. But he is a good undertaker. He works hard. Maybe he
is practising up so he can do a really artistic job on himself when the
time comes. Anyhow, Reddy died. They always come after them when the
rest of us are in at dinner. It interferes with the appetite to see
the long basket going out. So when the rest were eating, old Bennett
comes driving up after Reddy. It was just about dark, that dusky,
spooky time when the shadows come down from the mountains and cover up
the sunny slopes you preachers rave about. So up comes Bennett, and he
got into the wrong cottage. First thing I knew, some one softly pushed
open the doo