“Oh, you must come,” declared Peter, “now I have a chance to go in with you. I couldn’t think of you’re not seeing her. Look here,” and Peter winked and tried to look sly--“Aunt Susie is no tightwad. She is the most generous woman in the world. She’s minded to give you fellows a fine meal and treat you like princes. She considers that you saved her life and she can’t do too much for you. Say, on the quiet, I’ll bet she makes you a present of fifty dollars apiece.” “What for?” demanded Frank. “For getting to that burning boat and saving all hands, of course. Why, I wouldn’t take the risk you did of being blown up for a thousand dollars.” “No, I don’t think you would,” announced Pep, bluntly. “I’ll tell you,” went on their guest--“if you’ll give me a tip on the side I’ll work up Aunt Susie to a hundred dollars apiece. There, I know I can do it.” Frank bit his lip and tried to keep from losing his temper with this mean-spirited cad. Then he said with quiet dignity: “I think you had better go, Mr. Carrington, and I shall expect you to tell your aunt that we were only too glad to do a trifling service for her. Please inform her, also, that I am quite certain we shall be too busy to accept her kind invitation for to-morrow evening; in fact, we may leave Seaside Park for our home at Fairlands early in the morning.” Dauntless Peter! you could not squelch that shallow nerve of his. In a trice he shouted out: “Why! do you live at Fairlands?” “Yes,” nodded Frank, wondering what was coming next from this extraordinary youth. “Then you know Greg Grayson?” “Oh, yes,” admitted Randy. “I should think we did!” observed Pep, with a wry grimace. “Why, then, we’re regular friends,” insisted Peter, acting as if he was about to embrace all hands. “He was my roommate at school. We were like twin brothers.” “Maybe that’s the reason!” muttered Pep. “His folks are big guns in Fairlands, just as we are here. Say, if you know Greg Grayson, that settles it. You just ask him if I ain’t all right--up to snuff and all that--and if I wouldn’t make a fine partner.” Frank managed to usher their persistent visitor from the room, all the way down the corridor the latter insisting that he was going to “put the proposition up to Aunt Susie” forthwith, and that they would hear from him on the morrow. “Frank,” exclaimed Pep, “it seems good to get rid of that fellow.” “A fine partner he’d make,” observed Randy, with a snort. “I am dreadfully sorry he overheard our plans,” spoke Frank. “Of course it will soon be generally known if we decide to locate here; but this Peter may talk a lot of rubbish that might hurt us or start somebody else on our idea.” “And to think of his knowing Greg Grayson, and playing him off on us as a recommendation!” cried Pep. “They make a good pair,” added Randy. “Why, I’d give up the whole business before I would have either of them connected with our plans in any way.”