"I'll do it. Lend me that pipe of yours again. I won't light it."

We walked up the hill, Falkenberg putting on mighty airs, pointing this
way and that with the pipe and criticizing the place. It annoyed me
somewhat to see him stalking along in that vainglorious fashion while I
carried the load. I said:

"Going to be a piano-tuner this time?"

"I think I've shown I can tune a piano," he said shortly. "I am good for
that at any rate."

"But suppose there's some one in the house knows all about it--Fruen, for
instance--and tries the piano after you've done?"

Falkenberg was silent. I could see he was growing doubtful again. Little
by little his lordly gait sank to a slouching walk.

"Perhaps we'd better not," he said. "Here, take your pipe. We'll just go
up and simply ask for work."




XV


As it happened, there was a chance for us to make ourselves useful the
moment we came on the place. They were getting up a new flagstaff, and
were short of hands. We set to work and got it up in fine style. There was