lroyd, 'here is Jack's friend, whom you
bailed out of Mazas.'

"The introduction was startling. I turned crimson with mortification.
The professor was very decent about it; he called me by name at once.
Then he looked at his spade. It was clear he considered me a nuisance
and wished to go on with his digging.

"'I suppose,' he said, 'you are still writing?'

"'A little,' I replied, trying not to speak sarcastically. My output
had rivalled that of 'The Duchess'--in quantity, I mean.

"'I seldom read--fiction,' he said, looking restlessly at the hole in
the ground.

"Miss Holroyd came to my rescue.

"'That was a charming story you wrote last,' she said. 'Papa should
read it--you should, papa; it's all about a fossil.'

"We both looked narrowly at Miss Holroyd. Her smile was guileless.

"'Fossils!' repeated the professor. 'Do you care for fossils?'

"'Very much,' said I.

"Now I am not perfectly sure what my object was in lying. I looked at
Daisy Holroyd's dark-fringed eyes. They were very grave.

"'Fossils,' said I, 'are my hobby.'

"I think Miss Holroyd winced a little at this. I did not care. I went
on:

"'I have seldom had the opportunity to study the subject, but, as a
boy, I collected flint arrow-heads--"

"'Flint arrow-heads!' said the professor coldly.

"'Yes; they were the nearest things to fossils obtainable,' I replied,
marvelling at my own mendacity.

"The professor looked into the hole. I also looked. I could see
nothing in it. 'He's digging for fossils,' thought I to myself.

"'Perhaps,' said the professor, cautiously, 'you might wish to aid me
in a little research--that is to say, if you have an inclination for
fossils.' The double-entendre was not lost upon me.

"'I have read all your books so eagerly,' said I, 'that to join you,
to be of service to you in any research, however difficult and
trying, would be an honor and a privilege that I never dared to hope
for.'

"'That,' thought I to myself, 'will do its own work.'

"But the professor was still suspicious. How could he help it, when he
remembered Jack's escapades, in which my name was always blended!
Doubtless he was satisfied that my influence on Jack was evil. The
contrary was the case, too.

"'Fossils,' he said, worrying the edge of the excavation with his
spade--'fossils are not things to be lightly considered.'

"'No, indeed!' I protested.

"'Fossils are the most interesting as well as puzzling things in the
world,' s