strong coffee, and urged on by a healthy appetite, which his morning
in the frosty country air had made keener, he enjoyed his lunch.

To these people eating was just a part of their day's work, and
beyond the satisfying of a natural appetite, evidently produced no
special feeling of enjoyment. Contrary to his expectations,
therefore, Marsh did not find an opportunity to open a conversation.
One or two remarks were greeted merely with grunts, so he decided to
wait until the business of eating had been completed. The man's food
disappeared rapidly, including a second helping, and Marsh was
pleased to see him at last take out an old cob pipe and fill it with
an evil-looking, strong-smelling tobacco from a dirty paper package.
Marsh lit a cigarette, chiefly as a matter of protection.

"Have you lived here long?" inquired Marsh, addressing the man.

"Tree year," answered the woman. The man rolled his eyes in her
direction.

"I'm thinking of buying a place around here," continued Marsh. "This
house next door seems to be a nice place."

He nodded his head in the direction of the Merton home.

The man and his wife exchanged glances. She laughed, but the man's
face looked as solemn as its expressionless lines would permit.

"Et bane bad place," he muttered.

"Nels--he bane crazy!" snapped the woman. "Crazy widt de moonshane!"

"Moonshine!" repeated Marsh.

"Hootch," she explained. "Ole's hootch."

Marsh laughed, and Nels grinned, his features for the first time
showing an awakened interest.

Marsh thought quickly. The woman was evidently the "boss," but she
would not talk about something in which she had no faith. On the
other hand, the man undoubtedly had some knowledge of things which
Marsh desired to know. He decided to side with the man.

"You don't approve of hootch?" Marsh asked her.

"No--no!" she exclaimed vehemently.

"But it makes a strong man work harder--keeps up his health." Marsh
glanced at Nels, who showed appreciation of this defense of home-made
strong drink by grinning at Marsh. The Secret Service man
decided they would soon be friends, and quietly slipping his hand
into his pocket, began to detach a bill.

The woman snorted in protest. "Et make Nels see t'ings. No goodt for
him," she said, sharply. Then she rose and began clearing the table.
While her back was turned, Marsh quickly slipped a bill over to
Nels, winked hard at him, and nodded toward the door. Dull as the
man seemed, he app