tterly."

"To this Mr. Petter remarked," said Lodloe, "that he thought in many
ways you had improved very much, but he was obliged to admit that he
could never think of anything that you had done which was of the least
benefit to yourself or anybody else."

"Upon my word," cried Lanigan, "that's a pretty wide sweep for old
Petter. I shall have to rub up his memory. He forgets that I helped him
to make the plans for this house. And what did Mrs. Cristie say about
me?"

"She said she thought it was a great pity that you did not apply
yourself to something or other."

"She is right there," said Beam, "and, by George! I'll apply myself to
her. However, I don't know about that," he continued. "What else did
Calthea say?"

"One remark was that having proved false to every friend you had here
you had no right to return."

"That means," said Mr. Beam, "that having promised at least five times
to marry her, I never did it once."

"Were you really engaged to her?" asked Lodloe.

"Oh, yes," said the other; "it seems to me as if I had always been
engaged to her. Born that way. Sort of an ailment you get used to, like
squinting. When I was a youngster, Calthea was a mighty pretty girl, a
good deal my senior, of course, or I wouldn't have cared for her. As
she grew older she grew prettier, and I was more and more in love with
her. We used to have quarrels, but they didn't make much difference, for
after every one of them we engaged ourselves again, and all went on as
before. But the time came when Calthea kept on being older than I was,
and didn't keep on being pretty and agreeable. Then I began to weaken
about the marriage altar and all that sort of thing, but for all that I
would have been perfectly willing to stay engaged to her for the rest of
my life if she had wished it, but one day she got jealous, kicked up a
tremendous row, and away I went."

"Well," said Lodloe, "she must have considered that the best thing you
could do for her, for Mrs. Petter said that she had heard her declare
dozens of times that from her very youth you had hung like a millstone
about her neck, and blighted her every prospect, and that your return
here was like one of the seven plagues of Egypt."

"Mixed, but severe," said Mr. Beam. "Did anybody say any good of me?"

"Yes," answered Lodloe; "Mrs. Cristie said you were an obliging fellow,
although very apt to forget what you had promised to do. Mr. Petter said
that you had a very friendly d