n?"

"What kind of 'goods' does she expect to get on me?" the woman inquired.

"Can't you guess?"

"I can't imagine, dream, or suspect."

"Just hurry things along to an agreement tween you and me, and I'll tell
you."

"I'll give you $10 a day and reasonable expenses. That doesn't include
your board; only your carfare and such incidentals when you're away from
home. That is all conditioned, of course, on your proving to my
satisfaction that you have the information you say you have. There's no
use of my fighting for this income if I have to pay it all out without
getting my benefit from it."

"I'll try not to be so hard on you as all that," Langford reassured the
woman. "I accept your offer, although it's the minimum I would consider.
I suppose you are prepared to give me a check today?"

"Yes, I can give you something--your expenses thus far and maybe a
little besides. Now hurry up and tell your story."

"I can do it in a few words. Mrs. Hutchins has sent a dozen or more
girls up here to find out how you treat the youngster and if he is well
fed, clothed and educated. She's received word from some source to the
contrary and is planning to take him away if she discovers that her
suspicions are true. These spies are all Camp Fire Girls who were
camping on her farm. One of them is her niece. The proof of my statement
that they are here to spy on you is in their plan to camp near your
cottage and cultivate an intimate acquaintance with your family,
particularly your two daughters. Two of them were up here looking over
the lay of the ground; maybe they're here yet. Undoubtedly you'll see
something of them tomorrow or the next day."

Mrs. Graham's eyes flashed dangerously. Langford saw the menace in her
look and manner.

"As I am now in your employ as counsel," he said, "I'll begin giving
advice at once. Cut out this hate business. It's your worst enemy. Just
be all smiles and dimples and give them the sweetest con game welcome
imaginable. Pretend to be delighted to meet the bunch of Camp Fire
Girls. Tell them you had long held their organization in the highest
esteem. Take your two daughters into your full confidence. Tell them
they must play their part, too, and play it well. They must be eager to
become Camp Fire Girls and seek to be chummy with the spies.

"And as for the boy, in whom they are specially interested, you must
treat him as if you regard him the dearest little darling on earth."
(Mrs. Graham's f