er shy, immature
lad---certainly not one who bore himself with an air of calm
self-possession and who wasted no words. He gave another low laugh
that ended in a chuckle, and replied briefly:

"My name's Bill---Bill Terrill---perhaps you've heard tell o' me?
I'm Old Man Walsh's nevvy, your friend Tom's Cousin."

"I've heard of you," said Ralph, drily.

"Who told you, then?"

"Jack Durham---another cousin of yours."

"Oh! You don't mean the kid that joined that 'ere Boy Scout crowd
over at Pi'neer Camp last summer, after---after------"

"After you attacked the old man and him in the woods, one day. Yes,
he's the one. He told me."

"You an' him pals?"

"Not exactly; he's much younger than I."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen next month."

"Old enough ter know better, eh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Better than ter go diggin' fer---well, gold, in these 'ere parts."

A blush overspread Ralph's freckled face, but it faded as quickly as
it had come, and he continued to stare at Bill Terrill.

"I wasn't digging for gold," he said quietly.

"Of course not! I was only joshing you, boy! Say, what I wanted ter
see you about is this: there's some dispute between the
what-d'-you-call-uns?---executors?---of your dad's will and Old Man
Perkins, who owns the farm next ter yours, about the boundary lines.
Old Man Perkins, he claims-----"

"He has no claim whatever!" interrupted Ralph, vehemently. "That old
dispute was almost settled before my father's death. Dad had our
farm surveyed, charted, and the boundaries marked. I can show you
the stone on the northwest corner; it's only a few yards away, over
there."

"Well, Perkins is havin' _his_ acres surveyed now," said Terrill,
"an' I'm one of the crew that's doing the job fer him. I'm axeman.
You see, I've reformed consid'r'ble since-----since last summer, and
I j'ined a surveyin' crew; axeman now, rodman later, if I'm good,
an'-------"

"But why did you want to see me? Was it about this boundary question?"

"Oh, you admit there is some question about it, after all?"

"Are you trying to pump me, Terrill?" asked Ralph, shrewdly suspicious.
"If you are, you won't get any satisfaction until I've seen our
lawyer. It seems to me you're playing detective instead of surveyor,
and you don't do it very well! You had better stick to your job,
and the axe!"

Terrill grinned.

"If it turns out that your pa made some mistake or was---er---too
cock-sure about the