“Why not?” inquired Markham, in some surprise. “Well, I’ll tell you. To-night about closes up what business I have in hand. You know all my hopes and plans tend towards starting a mail order business. We would soon exhaust this district, selling on a small scale. I want to reach a wider one. I have found out what takes with the public. Next week I am going to gather together what we have, and move to another town.” Markham’s face fell. He looked a trifle uneasy. “Nearer the city?” he asked, in quite an anxious tone. “No, nearly a hundred and fifty miles north of here. The fact is, Markham, I am going to move to Pleasantville. I have some rare, royal friends there. Two of them, Darry and Bob Haven, are in the printing business. They own and publish a weekly newspaper. They can help me immensely. Then there is a mightier reason, too, for locating at Pleasantville.” “What’s that, Frank?” asked the interested Markham. “A man named Dawes runs a novelty factory there--makes all kinds of little hardware specialties. It is just the place to manufacture my apple corer, if it is a success. If it is not, I can advertise the list he already manufactures, and get up something else.” “There’s a good deal of money in those little devices when a fellow gets up the right thing, I suppose?” asked Markham. “Sure, anything new and handy goes great,” responded Frank. “I have read of a dozen little simple inventions that have made a great fortune for the owners.” Markham was studiously silent for a few minutes. Then he asked: “Do they make things in wire at that Pleasantville factory--I mean, do they have the material and machinery to make wire things?” “If not, they can easily get them,” answered Frank. “Why do you ask, Markham?” “Well,” said Markham, with a little conscious laugh, “the truth is, I have invented something myself.” CHAPTER XIV A MEAN ENEMY “You have invented something yourself?” repeated Frank, with a good deal of curiosity. “Yes,” nodded Markham. “What is it?” “A puzzle.” “What kind of a puzzle?” pressed Frank. “I’ll show it to you,” said Markham, fishing in his pocket. “There it is. I don’t suppose it’s much,” he continued in a deprecating way, “though two or three fellows who saw it said it was quite clever.” Frank inspected the article his companion now handed him with a good deal of interest. It was roughly made of wire. There was a ring linked into a triangle, and the latter linked onto two other rings. The lower one of these had a link connected with a wire square. Lying loose around this link was a larger ring of wire. “What’s the puzzle?” inquired Frank, looking over the little device. “To get that big ring over all the other rings, the little square and the triangle.” “Oh, I see,” said Frank, working at the device industriously, but finally asking: “Can it be done?”