known as a "mixer," everybody from shovelers to machine men
knew him as Dave, the chain-cutter man. He had the reputation of being
able to do "half again as much work as any man in the slope." Although
Mr. Stanlock knew of the influence of this man on the miners almost
from the day when the strike was called, the only name by which he
heard him spoken of during almost the entire period of the tie-up was
"Dave, the chain-cutter man."

Little of special interest relative to the strike, so far as the girls
were concerned, took place on the last Saturday and Sunday before
Christmas. Mr. Stanlock reported the recent occurrences to the police
in detail, but what the police planned to do was not communicated in
the form of hint or suggestion to the members of Flamingo Fire. If Mr.
Stanlock knew, he kept the information a close secret. In harmony with
his habitual reticence on business matters, he sought to avoid further
discussion of the subject.

On Saturday, however, there was added to the events of the season one
item of great importance, which would have caused Marion no little
uneasiness could she have caught more than the most superficial hint
concerning it. This hint was so superficial that it consisted merely
of a glimpse at the address and postmark on a letter that arrived at
the house with the early mail. Marion took the letters and papers from
the mail box, and as she was distributing them she observed the
Hollyhill postmark on an envelope addressed in a man's handwriting to
Helen Nash.

"I wonder who it can be," the hostess mused as she laid the letter on
Helen's dresser. "I didn't know that she was on specially friendly
terms with any of the boys of Hollyhill. But then you can never know
what to expect of her. You find out what she is going to do when she
does it."

In spite of the paradox, no truer statement of Helen's nature had ever
been made. She said nothing to any of the girls about the letter she
had received and if subsequent events had not recalled the incident,
Marion probably would have forgotten it entirely.

The three detectives employed by Mr. Stanlock were housed in the now
vacant sleeping quarters of the chauffeur over the garage. A buzzer
connected with the house and an agreed signal system of "1," "2," "3"
served as a means of quick information as to how many of the men were
wanted at any given time. Sunday morning another chauffeur, engaged by
Mr. Stanlock, arrived and was housed with the