hich was on the chair by the
bed's head, and then demanded in an outraged whisper:

"What in the nation are you prowlin' around this hour of the night
for? You don't want to talk about those divilish bills and credits and
things, I hope. What's the use? Talkin' don't help none! Jumpin' fire!
I went to bed so's to forget 'em and I was just beginnin' to do it. Now
you--"

Zoeth held up his hand. "Sshh! sshh!" he whispered. "Hush, Shadrach!
I didn't come to talk about those things. Shadrach, there's--there's
somethin' queer goin' on. Get up!"

The Captain was out of bed in a moment.

"What's the matter?" he demanded, in a whisper. "What's queer?"

"I--I don't exactly know. I heard somebody movin' downstairs and--"

Shadrach grunted. "Isaiah!" he exclaimed. "Walkin' in his sleep again,
I'll bet a dollar!"

"No, no! It ain't Isaiah. Isaiah ain't walked in his sleep since he was
a child."

"Well, he's pretty nigh his second childhood now, judgin' by the way
he acts sometimes. It was Isaiah of course! Who else would be walkin'
around downstairs this time of night?"

"That's what I thought, so I went and looked. Shadrach, it was
Mary-'Gusta. Hush! Let me tell you! She had her things on, hat and all,
and she took the lantern and lit it and went out."

"Went OUT!"

"Yes, and--and up the road. Now, where--?"

Shadrach's answer was to stride to the window, pull aside the shade and
look out. Along the lane in the direction of the village a fiery spark
was bobbing.

"There she goes now," he muttered. "She's pretty nigh to the corner
already. What in the world can she be up to? Where is she bound--at
twelve o'clock?"

Zoeth did not answer. His partner turned and looked at him.

"Humph!" he exclaimed. "Why don't you tell me the whole of it while
you're about it? You're keepin' somethin' back. Out with it! Do YOU know
where she's bound?"

Zoeth looked troubled--and guilty. "Why, no, Shadrach," he faltered, "I
don't know, but--but I kind of suspect. You see, she--she did the same
thing last night."

"She DID! And you never said a word?"

"I didn't know what to say. I heard her go and I looked out of the
window and saw her. She come back about three. I thought sure she'd
speak of it this mornin', but she didn't and--and--But tonight I watched
again and--Shadrach, she's taken the store keys. Anyhow, they're gone
from the nail."

The Captain wiped his forehead. "She's gone to the store, then," he
muttered. "Jumpin