"We already have engaged some one to do that. You mean a guide, I suppose?"
He nodded.
"May I ask your name?"
"John Collins."
"Do you live here?" she asked, curious to know more about the man, whom she began to distrust.
"Not now. I live over in the next village. I was in town and heard that you folks wanted a guide. I know more about the White Mountains than any other man in the State of New Hampshire. I can show you more, and take better care of your party, than anybody else you could find."
"Do you know Janus Grubb?"
"Ye—yes," Collins twisted uneasily, "I know him."
"He is to be our guide. The arrangements were made some time ago by the father of one of our young women. Mr. Grubb starts with us tomorrow morning, unless there should be some change in the arrangements."
"I'm sorry, Miss."