"No. I shall turn west, I think, and strike for the Lake Champlain
country."

"Canadian line is only a few miles from here," said Jones. "Last
summer we had a couple of crooks from Boston here, makin' a dash for
the border. Didn't know it till they'd been gone a day, however. The
officers were just a day behind 'em. Likely lookin' fellers, too. Last
men in the world you'd take for bank robbers."

"Bank robbers, as a rule, are very classy looking customers," said
Barnes.

Mr. Jones grunted. After a short silence, he branched off on a new
line. "What you think about the war? Think it'll be over soon?"

"It has been going on for nearly two years, and I can't see any signs
of abatement. Looks to me like a draw. They're all tired of it."

"Think the Germans are going to win?"

"No. They can't win. On the other hand, I don't see how the Allies can
win. I may be wrong, of course. The Allies are getting stronger every
day and the Germans must surely be getting weaker. As a matter of
fact, Mr. Jones, I've long since stopped speculating on the outcome of
the war. It is too big for me. I am not one of your know-it-alls who
figure the whole thing out from day to day, and then wonder why the
fool generals didn't have sense enough to perform as expected."

"I wish them countries over there would let me fix 'em out with
generals," drawled Mr. Jones. "I could pick out fifteen or twenty men