ge me by cooling off for an instant? You recall that this
afternoon you gave me a year within which to find a wife. Well, I've
found one already.

--Now you know I'm intoxicated? Was my voice ever soberer--now
listen.

--You won't listen? But you must. This is all up to you. You
commanded. I obeyed. Say, dad, she's an angel. I'm madly in love with
her.

--Who is she? Well, er, I really don't know--that is, her first name
is Sadie. I----

--Sadie what? Sadie Omaha--I mean she lives in Omaha.

--What is her last name and who are her people? To tell you the truth
I haven't found that out yet. I----

--I'm an ass?--a blankety, blank ass? Just wait till you see her! I
met her up at Travers Gladwin's, and----

--Travers is in Egypt! No, yes, of course he is, but----

The final outburst of paternal expletive fairly hurled Whitney Barnes
from the phone.

"There, by thunder! He's rung off in a rage."

"There's the ungrateful parent for you!" he muttered as he made his
way back to Gladwin's drawing room. "Here I've gone and broken my neck
to fall in love for him and that's all the thanks I get for it. Well,
I'll marry her in spite of him, if he doesn't leave me a dollar. I
could starve in a garret with her, and if I got too dreadfully hungry
I could eat her. Hi, ho! but, say, Mr. Whitney Barnes, you had better
switch off some of these lights. This house isn't supposed to be
occupied."

He left just one heavily shaded bronze lamp abeam. Then he carefully
drew all the curtains across the windows and tiptoed about the room
with the air of a sinister conspirator. He stopped in front of the
great, mysterious-looking chest to one side of the entrance to the
hallway, lifted the heavy lid and looked in.

"Here's where we will put our dead," he said, with a lugubrious grin,
let down the lid softly and crossed abruptly to the roomiest and
coziest chair beside the curtained window. After another sweeping
glance about the room he stretched his arms and yawned.

"Reckon I better sleep off that jag the pater presented me over the
wire," he chuckled, and down he slid into the soft upholstery, raising
his long legs upon another chair and sighing with deep contentment.
His eyes roved about the room for a moment, when he smiled suddenly
and quoted:

Why, let the stricken deer go weep;
The hart ungalled play,
For some must watch, while some must sleep:
So runs the world aw