you this morning on my
own account. I read him that note over the telephone. He said it
sounded like the work of a nut, and added that a bad nut is often a
dangerous proposition. He thinks you should take reasonable
precautions against a personal attack at least until he gets here."

"When peace will mantle the earth, I suppose!"

"Possibly so," answered the big man imperturbably. "I know if I were a
crook engaged in a campaign of crime I'd be apt to desist if a
detective suddenly appeared over the horizon. Wouldn't you?"

"Not if I thought he was scared of me!"

"Oh--I see." Mr. Krech's face, normally pink, deepened to a delicate
shade of rose. "Rather cheap, that, isn't it, Varr? No, Creighton is
not scared of crooks so you could notice it, but he's not a darn' fool
either. Anyway, there it is. Take it or leave it."

"I'll leave it, thank you. Does he think I'm going to wire the
Governor to turn out the militia?"

"He'd be more likely to suggest that you wire the nearest asylum for a
competent keeper; he has a rough tongue at times."

"Humph. When's he coming?"

"First train in the morning. Gets here at eleven."

"I'll drive down and meet him. Will he stop at the hotel, or will he
expect me to put him up here?"

"You'd better settle that with him, Mr. Varr. He's not a roughneck, if
that's what you mean." Krech contemplated the tanner reflectively;
there were several things he wished to tell him but he manfully
swallowed them all. "Good-day, sir!"

His doubts of the morning were reborn as he left the study, unattended.
Had he any right to inflict this specimen on Creighton? He could only
hope that the detective's sense of humor would prove a buffer between
him and his patron's boorishness. If not--

His cogitations ended abruptly as he spied Miss Ocky awaiting him in
the living-room. He had caught her with her eye so attentively fixed
on the study door as to suggest that a less refined woman might have
had an ear glued to the keyhole. He beamed on her, his customary
good-nature again in the ascendant as he left the irritating tanner
behind.

"Hello," he greeted her cheerfully. "Others all waiting for me
outside?"

"Yes. Your wife has apologized for you twice, I believe. I think it
was mean of you to shut yourself up like that after getting me all
excited about detectives and things! What were you two talking about?"

"Secrets," chuckled Mr. Krech. He continued to move implac