ater, having learned that a place at the table had been set
for his driver as well as himself, Gray stepped out to summon the man
and to effect the necessary change in his arrangements. He was not
surprised to find the chauffeur with nose flattened against a pane of
the front-room window, his hands cupped over his eyes. Ignoring the
fellow's confusion at being discovered, Gray told him of his change of
plan and instructed him to drive back to Ranger and to return late the
following afternoon. Then he led the way toward the kitchen.

That stay at the Briskows' turned out to be less irksome than the
visitor had anticipated, for the afternoon was spent with Buddy
examining the Briskow wells and others near by. It was an interesting
experience, and Gray obtained a deal of first-hand information that he
believed would come in handy. Buddy's first mistrust was not long in
passing, and, once Gray had penetrated his guard, the boy was won
completely, the pendulum swung to the opposite extreme, and erelong
suspicion changed to liking, then to approval, and at last to open,
extravagant admiration.

And Gray liked the youthful giant, too, once the latter had dropped his
hostility and had become his natural self, for Ozark was a lad with
temper and with temperament. They got along together swimmingly; in
fact, they grew thicker than thieves in the course of time. The elder
man soon became conscious of the fact that he was being studied,
analyzed, even copied--the sincerest form of flattery--and it pleased
his vanity. Buddy's mind was thirsty, his curiosity was boundless,
questions popped out of him at every step, and every answer, every bit
of information or of philosophy that fell from the visitor's lips he
pounced upon, avidly examined, then carefully put away for future use.
He was like a magpie filling its nest. Gray's personal habits,
mannerisms, tricks--all were grist for Buddy's mill. The stranger's
suit, for instance, was a curiosity to the boy, who could not
understand wherein it was so different from any other he had ever seen;
young Briskow attributed that difference to the fact that it had
probably come from a bigger store than any he had known. It amazed him
to learn, in answer to a pointed question, that it had been cut and
fitted to the wearer by expert workmen. It disappointed him bitterly to
be informed that there was not another one exactly like it which he
could buy.

And the visitor's silk shirt, with double