Thayor turned and formally extended his hand.

"Oh, I beg your pardon! I--" then his whole manner changed. "Why,
_Holcomb_!" he exclaimed with delightful surprise. "Oh, I'm so glad to
see you! And--er--your dear father--how is he?"

"First rate, thank you, Mr. Thayor. It seems kind of natural to see
you again. Father was speaking about you the very day he left. He went
on Monday to Fort Ti' with my mother for a visit."

"Ah, indeed!" returned Thayor, drawing up a chair beside the boy,
and before even the glasses were entirely emptied the two had begun
talking of the woods and all it held in store for them, the banker
declaring, as he followed Randall into the dining room, that if he
could arrange his business he would make a quick trip to the Lake with
Holcomb as guide.

If the luncheon that followed was a surprise to the stranger from
Moose River, Holcomb's modest naturalness and innate good breeding
were a revelation to Randall's friends. This increased to positive
enthusiasm when one of the actor's massive turquoise rings struck the
rim of the stranger's wine glass, nearly spilling the contents
into Holcomb's lap, and which Holcomb's deft touch righted with
the quickness of a squirrel, before a drop left its edge, a feat of
dexterity which brought from the actor in his best stage voice:

"Zounds, sir! A little more and I should have deluged you"--Holcomb
answering with a smile: