until it crossed the other outward line. At this crossing he marked a
letter A and turned to his auditors.

"This is your stake out yonder. The rule shows it to be a little over
34-5/8 inches from the base line at B. That is, by the scale, a few
inches over 277 feet and that is the distance from here to where Grace
stuck it into the ground. Our hundred-foot steel tape line is at your
service, Mr. Hooper."

Mr. Hooper merely glanced at Bill. He took up the tape line and spoke to
his nephew. "Git a holt o' this thing, Thad, an' let's see if--"

Grace interrupted him. "No, Dad; never let Thad do it! He'd make some
mistake accidentally on purpose. I'll help you."

There was utter silence from all while Grace carried out the end of the
tape and placed her sticks, Mr. Hooper following after. Skeets borrowed
a pencil and a bit of paper from Gus and went along with Grace to keep
tally, but she dropped the pencil in the grass, stepped on and broke it,
was suffused with embarrassment and before she could really become
useful, the father and daughter had made the count mentally and they
came back to the base line, still without saying a word, a glad smile on
the girl's face and something between wonder and surprise on the old
man's features.

Still without a word Mr. Hooper came straight to Bill, thrust out his
big hand to grasp that of the smiling boy and in the other hand was held
the bills of the wager, which he extended toward Gus.

"Yours, lad," he said. "We made the distance two hundred and