e tents and track-rollers made the place look
busy and interesting. Some of the excitement, I confess, got into my
blood. Tish, on the contrary, was calm and businesslike. We were sorry
we had sent for Charlie Sands. She no longer went out in Mr. Ellis's
car, and that evening she went back to the kitchen and made a boiled
salad dressing.

We were all deceived.

Charlie Sands came the next morning. He was on the veranda reading a
paper when we got down to breakfast. Tish's face was a study.

"Who sent for you?" she demanded.

"Sent for me! Why, who would send for me? I'm here to write up the race.
I thought, if you haven't been out to the track, we'd go out this
morning."

"We've been out," said Tish shortly, and we went in to breakfast. Once
or twice during the meal I caught her eye on me and on Aggie and she was
short with us both. While she was upstairs I had a word with Charlie
Sands.

"Well," he said, "what is it this time? Is she racing?"

"Worse than that," I replied. "I think she's backing the thing!"

"No!"

"With her cousin Angeline's legacy." With that I told him about our
meeting Mr. Ellis and the whole story. He listened without a word.

"So that's the situation," I finished. "He has her hypnotized, Charlie.
What's more, I shouldn't be surprised to see her enter the race under an
assumed name."

Charlie Sands looked at the racing list in the Morris Valley Sun.

"Good cars all of them," he said. "She's not here among the drivers,
unless she's--Who are these drivers anyhow? I never heard of any of
them."

"It's a small race," I suggested. "I dare say the big men--"

"Perhaps." He put away his paper and got up. "I'll just wander round the
town for an hour or two, Aunt Lizzie," he said. "I believe there's a
nigger in this woodpile and I'm a right nifty little nigger-chaser."

When he came back about noon, however, he looked puzzled. I drew him
aside.

"It seems on the level," he said. "It's so darned open it makes me
suspicious. But she's back of it all right. I got her bank on the
long-distance 'phone."

We spent that afternoon at the track, with the different cars doing what
I think they called "trying out heats." It appeared that a car, to
qualify, must do a certain distance in a certain time. It grew
monotonous after a while. All but one entry qualified and Jasper just
made it. The best showing was made by the Bonor car, according to
Charlie Sands.

Jasper came to our machine when it