Mrs. Presby broke down and cried after she learned that the girls were
not seriously injured. Tom went out in the woodshed and wailed so loudly
that he was heard in the rooms upstairs. Mr. Presby hobbled about
irritably. He did not care to have those in the house know how much
affected he really was.

Early the next morning he sent for one of his men. The old gentleman was
now in a fine temper. Owing to the excitement caused by the accident,
and a particularly painful attack of the gout, he had passed a sleepless
night and was therefore in a most unamiable frame of mind.

"Who closed those gates?" roared Mr. Presby the instant the man appeared
in the doorway of the dining room, where the master was hobbling back
and forth.

"I--I don't know, sir."

"You closed them!" thundered Richard Presby.

"I did not. They were open when I last saw them."

"When was that?"

"About an hour before the accident occurred, I think, sir."

"If you didn't close them, who did? Answer me that."

Of course the man could not answer that question. He made no answer at
all, thinking thereby not to further irritate his employer.

"I suppose the gates were closed by some of those rascally treasure
hunters that are continually tearing over my premises, digging holes for
the unwary to fall into and making general nuisances of themselves in
every other way. Drive them off. Pepper them with shot if you can't get
rid of them in any other way. I may not be here for long, but while I am
here, I'm the master of Treasureholme. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," answered the man humbly, his face reflecting no expression
at all.

Mr. Presby thumped back and forth with his cane for nearly an hour after
that, despite the fact that every step he took sent excruciating pains
through his gouty foot. Finally retiring to the library, he went to
sleep in his Morris chair, with the troublesome foot propped up on a
stool.

Early in the forenoon Mrs. Presby communicated with Miss Sallie and Mr.
Stuart, telling them as much of the details of the accident as was
known. Ten minutes later Robert Stuart and Miss Sallie were on their way
to Treasureholme as fast as an automobile could carry them. The girls
were asleep when they arrived. The doctor, who had arrived in the
meantime, would not permit his patients to be disturbed. He assured Mr.
Stuart, however, that the girls had providentially escaped with a few
slight scratches and bruises and that they would