The Kentucky-colonel-looking man proved to be Alston. Cox had the large face, and the Englishman--John Arthur Merrivale Pritchard, as was to be expected--wrote the best hand. Mr. O'Malley, the famous editor, wrote the worst. His signature looked as if it had been traced by an inky worm writhing in agony. "Tell us at once," Gay demanded, "what they are like." Maud regarded her frolicsome sisters with inscrutable eyes, and said: "At first, you think that Mr. Cox is a heartless old cynic, but when you get to know him really well--I remember an instance that occurred in the early sixties----" "Oh, dry up!" said Lee. "Are they nice and presentable, like fat old Sam Langham?" "The three old ones," said Maud, "made me think of three very young boys just loose from school. Messrs. Renier and Pritchard, however, seem more used to holidays. There is, however, a complication. All five wish to go fishing as soon as they can change into fishing clothes, and there aren't enough guides to go around." "What's the trouble?" asked Gay eagerly. "Bullard," Maud explained, "has sent word that his wife is having a baby, and Benton has gone up to Crotched Lake West to see if the ice is out of it. That leaves only three guides to go around. Benton oughtn't to have gone. Nobody told him to. But he once read the Declaration of Independence, and every now and then the feeling comes over him that he must act accordingly." "But," exclaimed Lee, "what's the matter with Gay and me?" "Nothing, I hope," said Maud; "you look well. I trust you feel well." "We want to be guides," said Gay; "we want to be useful. Hitherto we've done nothing to help. Mary works like a slave in the kitchen; you here. Eve will never leave the laundry once the wash gets big. Phyllis has her garden, in which things will begin to grow by and by, but we--we have no excuse for existence--none whatever. Now, I could show Mr. Renier where the chances of taking fish are the best." "No," said Lee firmly; "I ought to guide him. It's only fair. He once guided me--I've always remembered--bang into a couple who outweighed us two to one, and down we went." "Mary will hardly approve of you youngsters going on long expeditions with strange young men," Maud was quite sure; "and, of course, Arthur won't." Lee and Gay began to sulk. At that moment Arthur came into the office. "Halloo, you two!" he said. "Been looking for you, and even shouting. The fact is, we're short of guides, and Mary and I think----" Lee and Gay burst into smiles. "What did we tell you, Maud? Of course, we will. There are no wiser guides in this part of the woods." "That," said Arthur, "is a fact. The older men looked alarmed when I suggested that two of my sisters--you see, they've always had native-born woodsmen and even Indians----" "Then," said Lee, "we are to have the guileless youths. I speak for Renier." "Meanie," said Gay.