morously. His
fellow-passenger was in a deep reverie and had forgotten his presence.

"Thinking of your houseboat, eh, Madge?" he inquired.

"Yes, Doctor Man," answered Madge quickly, "of the houseboat and Phil."
She sat very straight in the buggy, and, drawing her level brows into a
frown, said slowly: "I was saying over to myself that when five nice,
capable young women wish a very special thing very much they ought to be
able to obtain it. You see, we wish to spend the beginning of the summer
on the houseboat. It would be splendid for Phil. But we haven't the
money, so I am trying to find out how to get it."

The physician's eyes twinkled. "That is not a new occupation, Madge.
Most of us spend our time in trying to get hold of that same mighty
dollar. But we have to work for it as well as to think about it. I
wonder if you girls wish the holiday on your boat badly enough to work
for it? If only I could give you the money!"

Madge looked earnestly at the doctor, then said slowly: "That's just it.
Of course, we are willing to work for the money. But I must find out
what we can do in a hurry. You see, we need the money at once."

After they reached their destination, the doctor stayed a long while at
his call on his country patient, and Madge, left alone in the buggy, had
plenty of time to devise a thousand schemes for acquiring riches and to
dismiss them all as impracticable. The physician had driven his old
horse inside the trim yard of his patient, and the road lay near the big
front porch door. The little garden was as pretty and tidy as the
pictures in Kate Greenaway books. It grew tall hollyhocks, neatly cut
hedges, and a riot of old rose bushes. Madge might well have spent her
time in gazing at it, as it was a typical New England garden on a small
scale. But it seemed too tiny and conventional to the little captain,
whose inner vision conjured up the sight of the great, oak-shaded lawn
at "Forest House." Just then she had more practical problems to occupy
her attention. She let the reins fall loosely on the horse's neck, for
he was in the habit of standing without being hitched. To-day old Prince
grew tired with waiting and began to nibble at the short grass. Madge,
lost in her daydreams, paid no heed to him. The horse moved on. Ahead
there was a particularly delicious bunch of tall, feathery grass, which
had been allowed to grow unaccountably high. It was a rare shrub, but
the old horse was not aware of it.