ou got away, but there was so much excitement that I lost sight of
it," I cut in. "I knew about it last night."

"How was that?"

"Somebody who knew about it before I did came here and told me."

"In the night?"

"In the early part of the night; yes."

"Was it Everton?"

"Not on your life. It was some one who thinks a heap more of you than
Phineas Everton does."

"You don't mean----"

"Yes; that's just who I do mean. She came over expecting to find you.
She wanted to ask you if we had a sure-enough, fire-proof, legal right
to be here. She asked me, when she found you were in bed and asleep.
I told her we had, and succeeded in making her believe it. Then she
told me what was coming to us--what Blackwell had up his sleeve."

"That explains what Gifford was trying to tell me, but he didn't tell
me where it came from," said Barrett.

"He couldn't, because I didn't tell him. It's between you and Polly
Everton, and it'll never go any farther. I shall forget it--I've
already forgotten it."

In his own way Barrett was as scrupulous as an honest man ought to be.
"I wish she hadn't done it, Jimmie. It doesn't ring just right, you
know; while her father is still on the Lawrenceburg pay-rolls."

Right there and then is when I came the nearest to having a quarrel
with Robert Barrett.

"You blind beetle!" I exploded. "Don't you see that she did it for
you? But beyond that, she was perfectly right. She saw that an unjust
thing was about to be done, and she tried to chock the wheels. The man
doesn't live who can stand up and tell me that her motives are not
always exactly what they ought to be. I know they are!"

Barrett was smiling good-naturedly before I got through. "I like your
loyalty," said he; adding: "and I shan't quarrel with you over Miss
Everton's motives; she is as good as she is pretty; and that is putting
it as strong as even you could put it."

It was time to call a halt on this bandying of words about Mary Everton
and her motives. I had already said enough to warrant a cross-fire of
questions as to how I came to know so much about her.

"We're off the track," I threw in, by way of making a needed diversion.
"You began to tell me about the Blackwell demonstration. I see we're
still here."

"You bet we're here; and we're going to stay. It may take all the
money we can dig out of that hole in the next six months to pay court
costs, but just the same, we'll stay. Blackwell tried the b