That clever piece of work had proved the worth of the girl and made it necessary to spare no expense on Jerry.

So he had given him the tried and proven Northup.
The moment he looked into the grinning face of Northup he knew that the master was not at home, and both the chief and the servant relaxed.

They were friends of too long a term to stand on ceremony.
"There's no one here ?" asked Mark, as a matter of form.
"Not a soul--the kid skipped--not a soul in the house." "Suppose he were to come up behind the door and hear you talk about him like this, Northup?
He's trim you down nicely, eh ?" "Him ?" asked Northup, with an eloquent jerk of his hand.

"He's a husky young brute, but it ain't brute force that I work with." He smiled significantly into the face of the other, and John Mark smiled in return.

They understood one another perfectly.
"When is he coming back ?" "Didn't leave any word, chief." "Isn't this earlier than his usual time for starting the day ?" "It is, by five hours.