unless I give you explicit directions to the
contrary we always dress for dinner," said the Governor. "It's a lot
more distinguished to be shot in a white tie than in a morning suit.
Always keep that in mind, Archie--you who go about popping at men in
their own houses with their own pistols."

"Not going with me!" he exclaimed after they had dined sedately in the
main dining-room of the hotel. "This is truly the _reductio ad
absurdum!_ Three times I've invaded the premises of my beloved's aunt
and twice nearly got into trouble with policemen and gardeners. I need
you, Archie; really I do; and you're not a chap to desert a pal."

Under this compulsion Archie found himself whisked away to a handsome
residential area where the Governor dismissed the driver at a corner and
continued afoot for several blocks.

"Our silk hats would disarm suspicion in even more exclusive
neighborhoods. In fact we lend a certain distinction to the entire
Genesee Valley. Alleys are distasteful to me, but into an alley we must
plunge with all our splendor."

Alleys were not only distasteful to Archie, but he thought the search
for a message in the grounds of the handsome estate the Governor seemed
bent upon exploring utterly silly and foolhardy. The Governor ran his
stick along the top of a wall that grimly guarded the rear of the
premises.

"Glass!" he exclaimed, and cleared a space with a sweep of his cane. He
caught the edge of the wall and was quickly on top. When Archie hung
back the Governor grasped him by the arms and swung him up and dropped
him into a dark corner of the garden. The house at the street end of the
deep lot was a large establishment that argued for the prosperous
worldly state of the aunt of the Governor's inamorata.

The Governor left him with the injunction to remain where he was, and he
saw in a moment the glimmer of a match in the summer house. He was
gazing at the tender, wistful new moon that suddenly slipped into his
vision in the west, when he felt the Governor's hand on his arm.

"Archie! Oh, Archie!" the Governor whispered excitedly, brushing an
envelope across the bewildered Archie's face. "Strike a match before I
perish."

He tore open the envelope, and his fingers trembled as he held the note
to the light. He read the two sheets to himself eagerly; then demanded a
second match and read aloud:

... "If this reaches you, remain near at hand until I can see you.
Please understand that I promise nothin