ackages
adorned with pink ribbons. Moon, stars and all other influences are just
right for a successful termination of my seven years of servitude to the
powers of darkness, and if I don't shake 'em off at the exact moment
ordained by the heavens I'm committed to another seven years of
wandering. There you have it in a nutshell. Marriage, home, a life of
tranquil respectability with the women we love; that's ahead of us if we
play the cards right. When you speak of calling sheriffs into
consultation you make me slightly ill. Old sinners like Leary and me
have no confidence in the law's benevolence; and it may occur to you
that inquiries as to our immediate past might be embarrassing. We shall
hold to our course, Archie!"

A pot of coffee and a basket of sandwiches were left at the bath house
door and they partook with the zest of shipwrecked mariners. At the end
of an hour, reclad in their wet clothes, they huddled at the landing
waiting for news from the hospital tent. Mrs. Perry came down presently
to report that Isabel and Ruth were asleep.

"Isabel has a badly bruised hand--no bones broken but it was an ugly
smash. She will have to carry it in a sling for a few days."

"Her hand," Archie murmured, so quaveringly that Mrs. Perry looked at
him curiously.

That one of Isabel's adorable hands should be injured enraged him; he
felt the hurt in his own heart, and he resolved that Carey should pay
dearly for an offense that surpassed all other crimes that had ever been
committed from the beginning of time.

"We have taken every precaution to guard against any unhappy
consequences of their immersion," Mrs. Perry continued. "There's some
danger of cold, but Dr. Reynolds is a skilful young woman, and of course
Isabel and Ruth are strong, vigorous girls. They will be laughing at
their misadventures by noon tomorrow."

"You're lifting our spirits a lot," said Archie, and Leary, standing a
little behind him, chokingly ejaculated a heartfelt "thank God!"

"I wish," said Mrs. Perry, "we might proclaim to the world your gallant
conduct; but for any report of this matter to get abroad would be
disastrous, a dire calamity, as you can see. The camp day begins early,
and it would be best for you to return to Huddleston and keep silent as
to the accident."

"We appreciate all that, and you may count on our discretion," said the
Governor. "Let me say first that as to the danger of starvation, you
need have no fear on that score