ingly. "I'd sure like that
big garden and that porch. You could sit on that porch and see the
mountains, couldn't you? But my ears and whiskers, the expense of
keeping it!"

They passed on to other and less palatial possibilities, and returned to
the hotel undecided. The two women, bewildered and weary, diverged and
discussed the matter of dress till the mid-day meal.

"I like being rich," remarked the young wife, as they took their seats
in the lovely dining-room, and looked about at the tables so shining, so
dainty. "It would be fun to run a house like this, don't you think?" She
addressed her mother.

"Good gracious, no! Think of the bill for help and the worry of looking
after all this silver! No, it's too splendid for us."

Haney still retained enough of his ancient humor to smile at them. "I'd
rather see you manage that big stone house with the porch which I'm
going to buy."

"You don't mean it?" said Bertha, while Mrs. Gilman stared at him over
her soup.

He went on quietly. "Sure! Me mind's made up. You want the garden and I
like the porch; so 'phone the agent after dinner, and we'll go up and
see to it this very afternoon."

Bertha's bosom heaved with excitement, and her eyes expanded. "I'd like
just once to see the _inside_ of a house like that. It must be half as
big as this hotel--but to own it! You're crazy, Captain."

The remote possibility of walking through that wonderful mansion took
away the young wife's appetite, and she became silent and reflective in
the face of a delicious fried chicken. The magic of her husband's wealth
began to make itself most potently felt.

Haney insisted on smoking a cigar in the lobby. Bertha took her mother
away to talk over the tremendous decision which was about to be thrust
upon them. "We want a house," said she, decisively, "but not a palace
like that. What would we do with it? It scares me up a tree to think of
it."

"I guess he was only joking," Mrs. Gilman agreed.

"I can see the porch would be fine for him," Bertha went on. "But,
jiminy spelter, we'd all be lost in the place!"

Haney called Williams to his side, and told him of the house. "It's a
big place, but I want it. Go you and see the agent. My little girl needs
a roof, and why not the best?"

"Sure!" replied Williams, with conviction. "She's entitled to a castle.
You round up the women, and I'll do the rest."

The house proved to be even more splendid and spacious than its exterior
indicate