his
father's office. As they sat smoking on the veranda the Duchess of
Suffolk, the Queen of Sheba, and Maid Marian came out and entered a big
car. The old lady bowed with dignity as the car moved off; the girls
waved their hands.

"Perfect!" Hood muttered as he returned their salutations. "We may never
meet again in this world, but the memory of this encounter will abide
with me forever."

"I don't want to appear fussy, Hood," Deering began good-naturedly, "but
would you mind telling me what's next on your programme?"

"Not in the slightest. It's just occurred to me that it would be well to
dine to-night in one of the handsome villas scattered through these
hills. Still following the slipper, we shall choose one somewhere east of
the inn and present ourselves confidently at the front door. Failing
there, we shall assault the postern and, perhaps, enrich our knowledge of
life with the servants' gossip."

"There are some famous kennels in this neighborhood, and I'd hate awfully
to have an Airedale bite a hole in my leg," Deering suggested.

"My dear boy, that's the tamest thing that could happen to us! My calves
are covered with scars from dogs' teeth; you soon get hardened to canine
ferocity. We'll take a tramp for an hour to work the fuzz off our gray
matter, and then a nap to freshen us up for the evening. We shall learn
much to-night; I'm confident of that."

There seemed to be no way of escaping Hood or changing his mind once he
announced a decision. The programme was put through exactly as he had
indicated. The important thing about the tramp was that Cassowary
accompanied them on the walk, and Deering found him both agreeable and
interesting. He discoursed of polo, last year's Harvard-Yale football
game, and ice-boating, in which he seemed deeply experienced.

Hood left them to look for hieroglyphics on a barn which he said was a
veritable palimpsest of cryptic notations of roving thieves.

Cassowary's manner underwent a marked change when he and Deering were
alone.

"If you're going to give the old boy the slip," he said earnestly, "I
want you to give me notice. I'm not going to be left alone with him."

Their eyes met in a long scrutiny; then Deering laughed.

"I don't know how you feel about it, but, by George, I'm afraid to shake
him!"

"That's exactly my fix," Cassowary answered. "I was in a bad way when he
picked me up: just about ready to jump off a high building and let it go
at that. And I