about it as I passed."

"Why, I forgot to tell you about it. It's the great excitement.
Rivervale is getting known. The Mavicks are there. I hear they've taken
pretty much the whole of it."

"The Mavicks?

"Yes, the New York Mavicks, that you wrote us about, that were in the
paper."

"How long have they been there?"

"A week. There is Mrs. Mavick and her daughter, and the governess, and
two maids, and a young fellow in uniform--yes, livery--and a coachman in
the same, and a stableful of horses and carriages. It upset the village
like a circus. And they say there's a French chef in white cap and
apron, who comes to the side-door and jabbers to the small boys like
fireworks."

"How did it come about?"

"Naturally, I guess; a city family wanting a quiet place for summer in
the country. But you will laugh. Patience first discovered it. One day,
sitting at the window, she saw a two-horse buggy driven by the landlord
of the Peacock, and a gentleman by his side. 'Well, I wonder who that
is-city man certainly. And wherever is he going? May be a railroad man.
But there is nothing the matter with the railroad. Shouldn't wonder
if he is going to see the tunnel. If it was just that, the landlord
wouldn't drive him; he'd send a man. And they keep stopping and pointing
and looking round. No, it isn't the railroad, it's scenery. And what can
a man like that want with scenery?

"He does look like a railroad man. It may be tunnel, but it isn't all
tunnel. When the team came back in the afternoon, Patience was again
at the window; she had heard meantime from Jabez that a city man was
stopping at the Peacock. There he goes, and looking round more than
ever. They've stopped by the bridge and the landlord is pointing out.
It's not tunnel, it's scenery. I tell you, he is a city boarder. Not
that he cares about scenery; it's for his family. City families are
always trying to find a grand new place, and he has heard of Rivervale
and the Peacock Inn. Maybe the tunnel had something to do with it."

"Why, it's like second sight."

"No, Patience says it's just judgment. And she generally hits it. At any
rate, the family is here."

The explanation of their being there--it seemed to Philip
providential--was very simple. Mr. Mavick had plans about the Hoosac
Tunnel that required him to look at it. Mrs. Mavick took advantage of
this to commission him to look at a little inn in a retired village of
which she had heard, and to report on