but I don't want to ride on her
when she's doing it."

"Nor I. Well, it was a nice little run, all right. Funny, though,
that we didn't get any mail; wasn't it?"

"It sure was. I think somebody must be robbing the post-office,
for we ought to have had a letter from Mr. Hadley before this,"
and he laughed at his own joke.

"Yes," agreed Joe, "and I ought to have had one from--"

He stopped suddenly, and a blush suffused the tan of his cheeks.

"Might as well say it as think it," broke in Blake with another
laugh that showed his white, even teeth. "Hasn't Mabel written to
you this week?"

"What if she hasn't?" fired back Joe.

"Oh, nothing. Only--"

"Only I suppose you are put out because you haven't had a postcard
from Birdie Lee!" challenged Joe.

"Oh, well, have it your own way," and Blake, with a shrug of his
broad shoulders, began to wheel the motor cycle into the shed.

"No, but it is queer; isn't it?" went on Joe. "Here we've been
back from the flood district over two weeks now, and we haven't
had a line from Mr. Hadley. He promised to write, too, and let us
know what sort of moving pictures he might be in line for next.
Our vacation will soon be over, and we don't want to be idle."

"That's right," agreed his chum. "There's no money in sitting
around, when the film isn't running. Oh, well, I suppose Mr.
Hadley has been so busy that he hasn't had time to make his plans.

"Besides," Blake went on, "you know there was a lot of trouble
over the Mississippi flood pictures--reels of film getting lost,
and all that--to say nothing of the dangers our friends ran.
Birdie Lee said she'd never forget what they suffered."

"I don't blame her. Well, maybe they haven't got straightened out
enough yet to feel like writing. But it sure is nice here, and I
don't mind if we stay another week or so," and he looked up the
pleasant valley, on one side of which was perched the farmhouse
where the two moving picture boys had been spending their
vacation.

"It sure is nice," agreed Blake. "And it's lots more fun since we
got this motor cycle," for they had lately invested in the
powerful vehicle on which they had made many trips about the
surrounding country.

As Blake went to put the machine in the shed, which their
farmer-landlord had allowed them to use, Joe turned to glance back
along the road they had come.

The farmhouse was set up on a little hill, above the road, and a
glimpse of the highway could be had f