!"

"Oh, I slept fairly well," says she. "I was awake once or twice. I
suppose I was worrying a little about you. And then I thought I hear
strange noises."

"What sort of noises?" I asks.

"Oh, like a lot of men walking by," says she. "That must have been
nearly midnight. They were talking low as they passed, and it almost
sounded as if they were carrying tools of some sort. Then along towards
morning I thought I heard them pass again. I'm sure some of them were
swearing."

"Huh!" says I. "I wonder what they could have been peeved about on such
a fine night?"

"Or I might have been simply dreaming," she adds.

"Yes, and then again," says I, smotherin' a chuckle.

I could hardly wait to dress and shave before rushin' out to inspect the
spot where I'd almost ruined myself only the mornin' before. And it was
something worth inspectin'. I'll say. Must be nearly half an acre in
that strip and I expect that sod has been growin' for years untouched by
the hand of man. At 6 P. M. last night it was just a mass of thick grass
and dandelions, but now--say, a tractor plough and a gang of prairie
tamers couldn't have done a more thorough job. If there was a square
foot that hadn't been torn up I couldn't see it with the naked eye.

Course, it aint all smooth and even. There was holes here and there,
some of 'em three feet deep, but about all the land needed now was a
little rakin' and fillin' in, such as Dominick could do in his spare
time. The cheerin' fact remains that the hard part of the work has been
done, silent and miraculous, and without price.

I shouts for Vee to come out and see. It ain't often, either, that I can
spring anything on her that leaves her stunned and bug-eyed.

"Why, Torchy!" says she, gaspy. "How in the world did you ever manage
it? I--I don't understand."

"Oh, very simple!" says I. "It's all in havin' the right kind of
neighbors."

"But you don't mean," says she, "that you persuaded some of our--oh, I'm
sure you never could. Besides, you're grinning. Torchy, I want you to
tell me all about it. Come, now! Exactly what happened last night?"

"Well," says I, "not being present myself I could hardly tell that. But
I've got a good hunch."

"What is it!" she insists.

"From your report of what you heard," says I, "and from the looks of the
ground 'n everything, I should judge that the Harbor Hills Exploring and
Excavating Co. had been making a night raid on our property."

"Pooh!" says Vee