then. Suppose you come in about half-past two o'clock, and
if he takes kindly to the scheme I'll have him meet you here. If he has
other plans, why, there's no harm done, and we'll try and think of
something else."

Thanking his new-found friend heartily, but not quite sure whether he
liked this way of shelving him from the Bureau for a season, Colin made
his way to the lower story of the building, where he felt that the two
young fur seals were old friends. As it happened, a couple of boys about
his own age came along and, overhearing their remarks, Colin joined in,
realizing that they had all sorts of wrong ideas about the seals. He
waxed so enthusiastic that, as other people came in, they gathered
around him and, before Colin was really conscious of it, he had quite an
audience. Among them was an old attendant of the Bureau who, as it
happened, had been on the Pribilof Islands with Dr. Brown Goode, in
1872. He listened for a while, then said:

"I beg your pardon, sir, but have you been in St. Paul recently?"

"I was there this spring," Colin replied.

"It's just forty years this summer, sir, since I was on the islands.
They tell me there's been great changes." And, without further ado, he
commenced to question Colin closely concerning the place, the boy having
equal interest in learning what the rookeries were like when the first
investigation was made. It was not until lunch-time that he could tear
himself away.

Promptly, at the hour appointed, Colin presented himself at the Deputy
Commissioner's office and was met by Dr. Crafts' secretary. His pulse
was beating like a trip-hammer, and he probably looked nervous, for the
secretary glanced once or twice in his direction. Then, wishing to give
news that would be welcome, she said formally, of course, but betraying
a sincere kindliness:

"I think Mr. Collier is with Dr. Crafts now."

On the instant Colin detected that the secretary knew something about
the matter and wanted to reassure him, so he smiled back, saying:

"Thank you. I hope it will be all right, then."

The two men were chatting earnestly, and the wait seemed long to Colin,
but after a while the Deputy Commissioner called him in.

"This is the boy, Robert," he said. "Colin," he continued, "let me
present you to Mr. Collier."

"So you're coming along with me to Bermuda and Florida, I hear," the
museum curator said, shaking hands.

Colin looked up at the tall, gaunt figure and caught a twinkl