rgiven entirely. The men
were now on the most cordial of terms, for Reggie, despite his
peculiarities and though he would never "set the river on fire" with his
intellectual ability, was by no means a bad fellow.

There was a merry hubbub of greetings and exclamations while the men
arranged for the baggage and the girls asked each other twenty questions
at once and then the party paired off for the walk to the Matson
home--that is, Joe and Mabel and Jim and Clara, formed the pairs, while
Reggie was, so to speak, a fifth wheel to the coach!

Not that this bothered Reggie in the least. He ambled along amiably,
dividing his talk and attentions impartially, serenely unconscious that
each pair was willing to bestow him upon the other.

"We ought to have a band playing 'See, the Conquering Hero Comes,'"
remarked Jim to Mabel, who was walking in front with Joe.

"I know he's a hero," said Mabel, her eyes eloquent as she looked at Joe.
"I can hardly pick up the paper but what it calls him the hero of the
World's Series."

"I don't mean a baseball hero," said Jim, "but a real, honest-to-goodness
hero--the life-saver and all that kind of stuff, you know."

"Yes," joined in Clara, "you came a day too late, Mabel. You ought to have
seen Joe at the Opera House last night. He was simply great."

"At the Opera House?" Mabel repeated, in some bewilderment.

"Sure," chaffed Jim. "Didn't you know Joe'd gone on the stage?"

"Yes," said Clara, carrying out the mystification. "He made a hit, too."

"There was at least one man in the audience he made a hit with," chuckled
Jim.

"Don't let them fool you, Mabel," said Joe, tenderly. "There was just a
little excitement at the Opera House last night and Jim and I took a hand
in stopping it. They're making an awful lot of a very simple matter."

"You've no idea what a voice Joe has for public speaking," persisted the
irrepressible Jim. "Last night he was a howling success."

"Clara, dear, tell me all about it," entreated Mabel. "We girls are the
only ones who can talk sense."

Thus appealed to, Clara told about the circumstances of the night before,
and, as may be imagined, Joe did not suffer in the telling. If the latter
had needed any other reward for his exploit he found it in Mabel's eyes as
she looked at him.

"I thought I knew all about you before," she said, in a half whisper, "but
I'm learning all the time!"

CHAPTER VI

CIRCLING THE GLOBE

When the party rea