"Colonel Davidson. He said they'd got to stop makin' that noise
and I said I'd oil 'em every day. And--and I forgot it."

"Yes--well, I ain't surprised to death, exactly. What then?"

"Well--well, you see, they were squealin' worse than usual one
mornin' and Colonel Davidson he came in here and--and I remembered
I hadn't oiled 'em for three days. And I--I said how horrible the
squealin' was and that I'd oil 'em right away and--and--"

"Well, go on! go on!"

"And when I went out to do it there wasn't any wind and the mills
wasn't goin' at all. You see, 'twas his oldest daughter takin' her
singin' lessons in the house with the window open."

Captain Sam put back his head and shouted. Jed looked sadly at the
floor. When the captain could speak he asked:

"And you mean to tell me that was the reason you wouldn't let the
house again?"

"Er--why, yes."

"I know better. You didn't have any row with the Davidsons. You
couldn't row with anybody, anyhow; and besides the Colonel himself
told me they would have taken the house the very next summer but
you wouldn't rent it to 'em. And you mean to say that yarn you've
just spun was the reason?"

"Why--yes."

"Rubbish! You've told me a dozen reasons afore, but I'm bound to
say this is the most foolish yet. All right, keep the real reason
to yourself, then. But I tell you what I'm goin' to do to get even
with you: I'm goin' to send these folks down to look at your house
and I shan't tell you who they are or when they're comin'."

The knee slipped down from Mr. Winslow's grasp and his foot struck
the floor with a crash. He made a frantic clutch at his friend's
arm.

"Oh, now, Sam," he cried, in horror, "don't do that! Don't talk
so! You don't mean it! Come here! . . . Sam!"

But the captain was at the door. "You bet I mean it!" he declared.
"Keep your weather eye peeled, Jed. They'll be comin' 'most any
time now. And if you have ANY sense you'll let 'em the house. So
long!"

He drove away in his little car. Jed Winslow, left standing in the
shop doorway, staring after him, groaned in anxious foreboding.

He groaned a good many times during the next few hours. Each time
the bell rang announcing the arrival of a visitor he rose to answer
it perfectly sure that here were the would-be tenants whom his
friend, in the mistaken kindness of his heart, was sending to him.
Not that he had the slightest idea of renting his old home, but he
dreaded the