"Now, don't be so foolish, Plums. You haven't done enough to hurt a kitten, since we come here, an' all I'll ask of you is to take care of the princess while I'm fixin' up." With this understanding, Master Plummer agreed to his friend's proposal, and during the next half hour Joe laboured faithfully at the housework, while Plums amused the princess, when it was possible for him to do so without too great an exertion. Then it was that the child, who had been looking out of the window for a moment, clapped her tiny hands, and screamed, as she pointed towards the orchard, thereby causing Master Plummer to ascertain the cause of the sudden outburst. "There goes Dan Fernald!" he exclaimed. "Where?" "Sneakin' up through the orchard. It looks like he was goin' to the barn." "He's on some of his detective sprees, I s'pose. That feller can make an awful fool of hisself without tryin' very hard," and Joe would have gone back to his work but that Plums prevented him, by saying: "He ain't sneakin' 'round there for any good. It would be different if he thought we was in the garden. I wouldn't be 'fraid to bet he was where he could see aunt Dorcas, when she went away, an' is countin' on makin' it hot for us." [Illustration: "'COME ON QUICK, PLUMS! DAN'S SET THE BARN A-FIRE.'"] "It would be a sore job for him if he did. Look out for the princess, an' I'll snoop 'round to see what he's doin'." Joe went through the shed door, which led out of the garden, but could see no one. If the amateur detective had not gone inside the barn, he must be loitering at the further end, where he was screened from view of any one on either side the building. "If I go 'round there, he'll think it's because I'm 'fraid he'll make trouble for us, an' that's what would please him," Joe said to himself. Then, passing through the shed, he looked out of the door on the opposite side. No one could be seen from this point, and he returned to the garden just as Dan came out from around the corner of the barn, running at full speed towards a grove, situated a mile or more from the main road. "What have you been doin' 'round here?" Joe shouted, angrily, and the amateur detective halted long enough to say: "You think you're mighty smart, Joe Potter, but you'll find there are some folks that can give you points. What I've done to you this time ain't a marker 'longside of what it'll be when I try my hand again." Then Master Fernald resumed his flight, much to Joe's surprise, and halted not until he was within the friendly shelter of the trees. "Now, I wonder what he meant by all that talk? It seems like he was more of a fool this mornin' than I ever knew him to be before."