mph! So you had your cruise up there for nothin'?"

"Yus. Creepin', jumpin'! Think of it, Cap'n. I navigated this
old--er--er--spavin-rack 'way up to where them folks live, three mile on
the Denboro road 'tis, and then had to come about and beat for home
again. I ... Oh, say I sighted a chum of ours up along that way. Who do
you cal'late 'twas, Cap'n Sears? Old Eg, that's who. Togged out from
truck to keelson as usual, beaver and all, and----"

"Here! Hold up! What's that, Judah? You saw Phillips up on the Denboro
road, you say? What was he doin' there? When did you see him?"

"'Bout an hour ago, or such matter. He was aboard one of the livery
stable teams and that Josiah Ellis was pilotin' him. I sung out to
Josiah, but he never answered. Says I----"

"Sshh! Where were they bound; do you know?"

"Denboro, I presume likely. That's the only place there is to be bound
to, on that road; 'less you're goin' perchin' up to Seabury's Pond, and
folks don't do much perchin' in December. Not with beaver hats on,
anyhow. Haw, haw! Eg and Josiah was all jammed up together on the buggy
seat, with two big valises crammed in alongside of 'em, and ... Hi!
What's the matter, Cap'n Sears? What's your hurry?"

The captain did not answer. He _was_ hurrying--hurrying back to the
livery stable. Half an hour later he, too, was on the seat of a hired
buggy, driving the best horse the stable afforded up the lonely road
leading to Denboro.

He met no one on that road--which winds and twists over the hills and
through the wooded hollows from one side of the Cape to the other--until
he was within a mile of Denboro village. Then he saw another horse and
buggy approaching his. He recognized the occupant of that buggy long
before he himself was recognized.

"Hi!" he shouted, as the two vehicles came near each other. "Hi! Josiah!
Josiah Ellis!"

Josiah, serenely dozing, his feet propped against the dash and his cap
over his eyes, came slowly to life.

"Hey?" he murmured, drowsily. "Yes; here I be.... Eh! What's the matter?
Why, hello, Cap'n Kendrick, that you?"

"Whoa!" ordered the captain, addressing his own horse, who came to a
standstill beside that driven by the other. "Stop, Josiah! Come up into
the wind a minute, I want to speak to you. What have you done with
Phillips?"

Josiah was surprised. "Why, how did you know I had Mr. Phillips aboard?"
he asked. "Oh, I presume likely they told you at the stable. But how did
you know he was