be released, and
Archie spent some time trying to satisfy him that his solemn covenant
with the Governor would be carried out in every particular.

Leary, who had returned to the _Arthur B. Grover_ shortly after
daylight, showed the strain of the night.

"It was kind o' lonesome buryin' that poor devil over yonder. There
wasn't a thing on 'im to tell who he was. That other chap came to and I
did the best I could fer 'im, and gave him money; tole him to clear out
and keep his mouth shet or he'd do a lot o' time for mixin' up with
Carey. I tore down that lunatic's fort and Carey wouldn't know the place
himself."

The old fellow's succinct report gave to the burial of the victim of the
night's encounter an added gruesomeness. A dead man hidden away under
cover of darkness, without benefit of clergy, meant nothing to Leary,
who smoked his pipe, and asked in mournful accents what was to be done
with old man Congdon and Carey. These questions troubled Archie not a
little, but when he suggested that the detective had also to be disposed
of Leary grinned broadly.

"Ole Governor don't do nothin' like nobody else; y' must a-learned that
by this time. That chap ain't no detective; he's a gun man we sent to
chum with Carey."

Archie bared his head to the cool morning air. It was almost too much to
learn that Briggs, who had so gallantly played the part of a government
detective, was really an ally, shrewdly introduced into the Governor's
strategy to awaken fear in Eliphalet Congdon.

"Perky ain't no baby," Leary said, "an' you don't ketch 'im runnin' into
no detective."

"But Perky wired the Governor that he thought he was being watched?"

Leary grinned again.

"Ole Governor was foolin' you. That telegram was jes' to let Governor
know Briggs was on the job. Got t' have his little joke, ole Governor.
It tickles 'im t' fool us boys."

Archie went at once to the Huddleston station, where he satisfied
himself that the lonely agent knew nothing of the transactions of the
night. The receipt and despatch of telegrams by the Governor had been a
welcome relief from the routine business of the office, and recognizing
Archie as a friend of his patron Mr. Saulsbury, he expressed the hope
that they were finding the fishing satisfactory.

Archie drew from the breast pocket of his waistcoat the envelope the
Governor's sister had given him the night she dined in the New York
house. In his subsequent adventures he had guarded it jealo