obvious, rather blundering--so
that Mr. Blake can't miss him. He will know nothing about my real
scheme at all. While Mr. Blake's attention and suspicion are fixed on
the first man, the second man, who is to be a real detective with real
brains in his head, will get in the real work."

"Splendid! Splendid!" cried Old Hosie, looking at her
enthusiastically. "And yet that pup of a nephew of mine sniffs out,
'Her a lawyer? Nothing! She's only a woman!'"

Katherine flushed. "That's what I want Mr. Blake to think."

"To underestimate you--yes, I see. Have you got your first man?"

"No. I thought you might help me find him, for a local man, or a state
man, will be best; it will be easiest for him to be found out to be a
detective."

"I've got just the article for you," cried Old Hosie. "You know Elijah
Stone?"

"No. But, of course, I've seen him."

"He's Westville's best and only. He thinks he's something terrible as
a detective--what you might call a hyper-super-ultra detective.
Detective sticks out big all over him--like a sort of universal mumps.
He never looks except when he looks cautiously out of the corner of
his eye; he walks on his tiptoes; he talks in whispers; he simply
oozes mystery. Fat head?--why, Lige Stone wears his hat on a can of
lard!"

"Come, I'm not engaging a low comedian for a comic opera."

"Oh, he's not so bad as I said. He's really got a reputation. He's
just the kind of a detective that an inexperienced girl might pick up.
Blake will soon find out you've hired him, he'll believe it a bona
fide arrangement on your part, and will have a lot of quiet laughs at
your simplicity. God made Lige especially for you."

"All right. I'll see him to-morrow."

"Have you thought about the other detective?"

"Yes. One reason I went to New York was to try to get a particular
person--Mr. Manning, with whom I've worked on some cases for the
Municipal League. He has six children, and is very much in love with
his wife. The last thing he looks like is a detective. He might pass
for a superintendent of a store, or a broker. But he's very, very
competent and clever, and is always master of himself."

"And you got him?"

"Yes. But he can't come for a couple of weeks. He is finishing up a
case for the Municipal League."

"How are you going to use him?"

"I don't just know yet. Perhaps I can fit him into a second scheme of
mine. You've heard of Mr. Seymour, of Seymour & Burnett?"

"The big bankers and