vening
putting him to sleep before he had fairly fitted himself to the
inequalities of his burrow below the tree roots.

III

SENSIBLE SHOES

THE dawn of the second morning was much like that of the first, cool and
crystal clear, and with the sun beating out a pathway of molten gold
across the mirror-like surface of the solitary lake.

Prime bestirred himself early, meaning to get the breakfast under way
single-handed while Miss Millington slept. But the young woman who had
described herself as being "fit" had stolen a march upon him. He was
frying the bacon when she came skimming up the beach with her hair
flying.

"I got up early and didn't want to disturb you," she told him. "There is
a splendid swimming place just around that point; I don't know when I've
enjoyed a dip more. Wouldn't you like to try it while I dry my hair and
make some more of the homicidal bread?"

Prime went obediently and took the required bath, finding the water
bracingly cold and scarcely shallow enough to be reassuring to a
non-swimmer. Over the breakfast which followed, the picnic spirit still
presided, though by now it was beginning to lose a little of the lilt.
For one thing, the bacon and the pan-bread, though they were ameliorated
somewhat by the tinned things, were growing a trifle monotonous; for
another, the limitless expanse of lake and sky and forest gave forth no
sign of the hoped-for rescue.

After breakfast they made a careful calculation to determine how long
their provisions would last. This, too, was unhopeful. With reasonable
economy they might eat through another day. Beyond that lay a chance of
famine.

"Surely Grider will come back for us to-day," Prime asserted when
Domestic Science had done its best in apportioning the supplies. But at
this the young woman shook her head doubtfully.

"I have had time to think," she announced. "It is all a guess, you
know--this about Mr. Grider--and the more I think of it the more
incredible it seems. Consider a moment. To make the kidnapping possible
we must both have been drugged. That is a serious matter--too serious to
have a part in the programme of the most reckless practical joker."

Prime looked up quickly. "I might have been drugged very easily. But
you?"

The young woman bared a rounded arm to show a minute red dot half-way
between wrist and elbow. "I told you about the young woman who stumbled