s on such a beautiful place! It will be fitted up and
railed off very much after the style of her own grounds, so that the
whole thing will be like a great estate right in the middle of the town.
She's thinkin' of callin' the park 'The Grove of the Incas.' That
sounds nice; don't you think so, madam?"

"It sounds very well indeed," said Mrs. Buskirk. She had heard before of
plans made by people who had suddenly come into possession of money.

Burke saw that he had not yet made the impression that he desired. He
wanted, without actually saying so, to let this somewhat supercilious
lady know that if the possession of money was a reason for social
position,--and he knew of no other reason for the Buskirks'
position,--Mrs. Cliff would be aft, talking to the Captain while the
Buskirks would be walking about by themselves amidship.

But he did not know how to do this. He knew it would be no use to talk
about horses and carriages, and all that sort of thing, for these the
Buskirks possessed, and their coachman wore top boots,--a thing Mrs.
Cliff would never submit to. He was almost on the point of relinquishing
his attempt to make Mrs. Buskirk call upon the widow of the storekeeper,
when the lady helped him by asking in a casual way if Mrs. Cliff
proposed living winter and summer in her new house.

"No," said Burke, "not in the summer. I hear Plainton is pretty hot in
the summer, and she'll go--" (Oh, a radiant thought came to him!) "I
expect she'll cruise about in her yacht during the warm weather."

"Her yacht!" exclaimed Mrs. Buskirk, for the first time exhibiting marks
of actual interest. "Has Mrs. Cliff a yacht?"

"She's going to have one," said Burke to himself, "and I'll put her up
to it before I go home this day."

"Yes," he said aloud, "that is, she hasn't got it yet, but she's going
to have it as soon as the season opens. I shall select it for her. I
know all about yachts and every other kind of craft, and she'll have one
of the very finest on this coast. She's a good sailor, Mrs. Cliff is,
for I've cruised with her! And nothing will she enjoy better in hot
weather than her noble yacht and the open sea!"

Now this did make an impression upon Mrs. Buskirk. A citizen of Plainton
who possessed a yacht was not to be disregarded. After this she was
rather abstracted, and the conversation fell off. Burke saw that it was
time for him to go, and as he had now said all he cared to say, he was
willing to do so.

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