as many ways to do that as the Cap'n can of savin' a quarter. Our
baseball team's been a success, ain't it? Sure thing! Then why not a
football team? Parker says he'll get it together, and coach and cap'n
it, too. And Robinson and his daughter have agreed to stay till October
fifteenth. So there's a start, anyhow.'

"'Twas a start, and a pretty good one. The Robinsons had come to the Old
Home about the fust of August, and they was our star boarders. 'G. W.
Robinson' was the old man's name as entered on the hotel log, and his
daughter answered to the hail of 'Grace'--that is, when she took
a notion to answer at all. The Robinsons was what Peter T. called
'exclusive.' They didn't mix much with the rest of the bunch, but
kept to themselves in their rooms, partic'lar when a fresh net full of
boarders was hauled aboard. Then they seemed to take an observation of
every arrival afore they mingled; questioned the pedigree and statistics
of all hands, and acted mighty suspicious.

"The only thing that really stirred Papa Robinson up and got him excited
and friendly was baseball and boat racin'. He was an old sport, that was
plain, the only real plain thing about him; the rest was mystery. As
for Grace, she wa'n't plain by a good sight, bein' what Brown called
a 'peach.' She could have had every single male in tow if she'd wanted
'em. Apparently she didn't want em, preferrin' to be lonesome and sad
and interestin'. Yes, sir, there was a mystery about them Robinsons, and
even Peter T. give in to that.

"'If 'twas anybody else,' says he, 'I'd say the old man was a crook,
down here hidin' from the police. But he's too rich for that, and always
has been. He ain't any fly-by-night. I can tell the real article without
lookin' for the "sterlin'" mark on the handle. But I'll bet all the
cold-storage eggs in the hotel against the henyard--and that's big
odds--that he wa'n't christened Robinson. And his face is familiar to
me. I've seen it somewhere, either in print or in person. I wish I knew
where.'

"So if the Robinsons had agreed to stay--them and their two
servants--that was a big help, as Brown said. And Parker would help,
too, though we agreed there wa'n't no mystery about him. He was a big,
broad-shouldered young feller just out of college somewheres, who had
drifted our way the fortni't after the Robinsons came, with a reputation
for athletics and a leanin' toward cigarettes and Miss Grace. She leaned
a little, too, but hers