Nextday，whenhecameinatnoon，therewasHen，fromtheMuleshoe，waitingfordinnerbeforeherodebackwiththemail。Hen’sjawdroppedwhenhesawBudridingonaLittleLosthay—wagon，andhiseyesbulgedwithwhatBudbelievedwasconsternation。AllthroughthemealBudhadcaughtHeneyeinghimmiserably，andlookingstealthilyfromhimtotheothers。Noonepaidanyattention，andforthatBudwasratherthankful；hedidnotwanttheLittleLostfellowstothinkthatperhapshehaddonesomethingwhichheknewwouldhanghimifitwerediscovered，which，hedecided，wasthemildestinterpretationakeenobserverwouldbeapttomakeofHen’sbehavior。
Whenhewentout，Henwasathisheels，tryingtosaysomethinginhisfutile，tongue—tiedgobble。Budstoppedandlookedathimtolerantly。\"Hen，\"It’snouse——youmightaswellbetalkingChinese，forallIknow。Ifit’simportant，writeitdownorI’llneverknowwhat’sonyourmind。\"
Hepulledanote—bookandapencilfromhisvest—pocketandgavethemtoHen，wholookedathimdumbly，workedhisAdam’sappleviolentlyandretreatedtohishorse，fumbledthemailwhichwastiedinthebottomofafloursackforsafekeeping，soughtashelteredplacewherehecouldsitdown，remainedthereafewminutes，andthenreturnedtohishorseHebeckonedtoBud，whowaswatchinghimcuriously；andwhenBudwentovertohimsaidsomethingunintelligibleandhandedbackthenote—book，motioningforcautionwhenBudwouldhaveopenedthebookatonce。
SoBudthankedhimgravely，butwithatwinkleinhiseyes，andwaiteduntilHenhadgoneandhewasalonebeforehereadthemessage。Itwasmysteriousenough，certainly。Henhadwritteninafine，cramped，unevenhand：
\"Youbeecarful。bernthisup&anddentletonlikeyounoanythingbutiwarnyoubeshurebernthisup。\"