id, her voice shaking as she spoke, "I
must tell you, that the roof is very much out of repair, and--"

"Oh, that doesn't matter at all!" said Burke. "A tenant, if he's the
right sort of tenant, is bound to put a house into repair to suit
himself. I'll attend to the roof if it needs it, you may be sure of
that! And if it doesn't need it, I'll leave it just as it is! That'll be
all right, and you can tell your sister that you've found a tenant. I'm
getting dreadfully tired of living at that hotel, and a house of my own
is somethin' that I've never had before! But one thing I must ask of
you, Miss Thorpedyke: don't say anything to your sister about tobacco
smoke, and perhaps she will never think of it!"

CHAPTER XV

MISS NANCY MAKES A CALL

It was a day or two after the most satisfactory arrangement between the
Thorpedykes, Mrs. Cliff, and Mr. Burke had been concluded, and before it
had been made public, that Miss Nancy Shott came to call upon Mrs.
Cliff.

As she walked, stiff as a grenadier, and almost as tall, she passed by
the new building without turning her head even to glance at it, and
going directly up to the front door of the old house, she rang the bell.

As Mrs. Cliff's domestic household were all engaged in the new part of
the building, the bell was not heard, and after waiting nearly a minute,
Miss Shott rang it again with such vigor that the door was soon opened
by a maid, who informed her that Mrs. Cliff was not at home, but that
Miss Croup was in.

"Very well," said Miss Shott, "I'll see her!" and, passing the servant,
she entered the old parlor. The maid followed her.

"There's no fire here," she said. "Won't you please walk into the other
part of the house, which is heated? Miss Croup is over there."

"No!" said Miss Shott, seating herself upon the sofa. "This suits me
very well, and Willy Croup can come to me here as well as anywhere
else!"

Presently Willy arrived, wishing very much that she also had been out.

"Do come over to the other parlor, Miss Shott!" said she. "There's no
furnace heat here because Mrs. Cliff didn't want the old house altered,
and we use this room so little that we haven't made a fire."

"I thought you had the chimney put in order!" said Miss Shott, without
moving from her seat. "Doesn't it work right?"

Willy assured her visitor that the chimney was in good condition so far
as she knew, and repeated her invitation to come into a warmer room,
but to this