orers' shack when the Governor stepped into his path.

"Mooning? Perky and I have been smoking our pipes off yonder in the
woods. He's as sore as a boil because Putney's blown in and he's got to
make a feint at honest labor. Perky has a very delicate touch with the
tools of his trade and he'd just got his laboratory fixed up in the
garret where he's been doctoring gold pieces to beat the band. He says
old Eliphalet is more and more delighted with his work. The more he's
delighted the better the sport for us."

"I don't see where the sport comes in!" said Archie testily, pausing at
the fence of the chicken yard. "It's a long way to that camp in Michigan
where we've got to take the child; and you needn't think it's going to
be so easy. The old man will be hot after us. Putney's still got a nurse
looking after him, but if he's traveled this far he's not going to let
go of the little girl without a fight. You've got to take this thing
seriously; a mistake will be fatal and after all I've gone through I
don't just relish making a mess of it."

"Make a wish!" cried the Governor. "There goes a star sliding merrily
toward the Pacific."

But a shower of meteors would not have stopped Archie's questions as to
the manner in which Edith Congdon was to be snatched from her
grandfather's farm in Ohio and transferred to the inland seas. He
resented his exclusion from the conference with Perky and said so.

"My dear boy, suspense is good for the soul; I'm merely cultivating in
you the joy of surprise. The discipline of waiting will sharpen your
wits, which is important, as I mean to honor you with considerable
responsibility and leave you here when I depart, which will be tonight
as dewy eve spreads her sparkling robe--"

"Leave me here! My God, man, I'm not going to be stranded in this
wilderness! You've lost your senses if you think you can shake me now
and leave me to get pinched and do time for your foolishness!"

"Patience, little brother, and not quite so vociferous! You have a good
natural voice with strong carrying powers but it shows a sad lack of
cultivation. This much will I impart: tomorrow morning Perky will
whisper to Eliphalet that the Government is wise to the gold piece trick
and that they are watched. The old boy will be scared to death--his son
on the place and all that sort of thing, besides the chance of facing a
hard-hearted Federal judge for tampering with the Republic's coin. Perky
will throw a scare into