t made the Old Man blink. But no man might have
charge of the Happy Family for long without attaining that state of
mental insulation which renders a shock scientifically impossible. The
Old Man wrote a check, twisted his mouth into a whimsical knot and
inquired mildly: "What's the brand of devilment this time, and how
long's it going to take yuh?" With a perceptible emphasis on the word
_this_.

For probably the first time in his life Andy blushed and stammered
over a lie, and before he had got out more than two words, the Old Man
seemed to understand the situation quite thoroughly. He said "Oh, I
see. Well, git a round-trip ticket and be dead sure yuh don't out-stay
the limit." He took out his pipe and filled it meditatively.

Andy blushed again--six weeks indoors had lightened the tan on his
face so that his blushes showed very plainly--and made desperate
denial. "I'm only going up to Butte. But a fellow can't have any kind
of a time there without a fair-sized roll, and--I'll be back in two or
three weeks--soon as my leg's mended thorough. I--"

"Get along with yuh!" growled the Old Man, though his eyes twinkled.
"Doggone it, don't yuh lie to _me_. Think I was shipped in on the last
train? A man don't git red in the face when he's just merely headed
for Butte. Why, doggone yuh--"

The last words had to serve for a farewell, because Andy was limping
away as fast as he could, and did not come back to the house again. He
did not even tell the Little Doctor good-by, though it was fifteen
minutes before John Wedum, the ranchhand, had the team ready to drive
Andy to town, and he was one of the Little Doctor's most loyal
subjects.

* * * * *

Andy walked haltingly down a palm-shaded street in San Jose and
wondered just what would be the best and quickest way in which to find
Mary Edith Johnson. Three ways were open to him: He could hunt up all
the Johnsons in town--there were three full pages of them in the
directory, as he remembered with a sigh--and find out which one was
the right one; but San Jose, as he had already discovered, was not a
village, and he doubted if he could stand the walking. He could visit
all the real estate offices in town--and he was just beginning to
realize that there were almost as many real estate offices as there
were Johnsons. And he could promenade the streets in the hope of
meeting her. But always there was the important fact to face--the fact
that San J