259
XIX OTHER PEOPLE'S TROUBLES 271
XX HITTY 288
XXI LOHENGRIN AND WHITE SATIN 299

OUTSIDE INN

CHAPTER I

A GOOD LITTLE DREAM

"I Elijah Peebles Martin, of the city and county of Harrison, in the
state of Rhode Island, being of sound and disposing mind and memory,
do make and declare the following, as and for, my last will and
testament.' ... I wish you'd take your head out of that barrel, Nancy,
and listen to the document that is going to make you rich beyond the
dreams of avarice."

"I was beyond them anyway." The young woman in blue serge made one
last effectual dive into the depths of excelsior, the topmost billows
of which were surging untidily over the edge of a big crate in the
middle of the basement floor, and secured a nest of blue and rose
colored teacups, which she proceeded to unwrap lovingly and display on
a convenient packing box. "Not one single thing broken in this whole
lot, Billy.... What is a disposing mind and memory, anyhow?"

"You don't deserve to know," the blond young man in the Norfolk jacket
assured her, adjusting himself more firmly to the idiosyncrasies of
the rackety step-ladder he was striding. "You're not human about this.
Here you are suddenly in possession of a fortune. Money enough to make
you independently wealthy for the rest of your life--money you didn't
know the existence of, two weeks ago--fed to you by a gratuitous
providence. A legacy is a legacy, and deserves to be treated as such,
and I propose to see that it gets what it deserves, without any more
shilly-shallying."

"I'm a busy woman," Nancy groaned, "and I've hammered my finger to a
pulp, trying to open this crate, while you perch on a broken
step-ladder and prate to me of legacies. The saucers to these cups may
be in here, and I can't wait to find out. I'm perfectly crazy about
this ware. It's English--Wedgewood, you know."

"I didn't know." Billy resignedly let himself to the floor, and
appropriated the screwdriver. "I thought Wedgewood was dove color, and
consisted chiefly of ladies in deshabille, doing the tango on a parlor
ornament. I smashed one in my youth, so I know. There, it's open now.
I may as well unpack what's here. These seem to be demi-tasses.

'You may tempt your upper classes,
With your villainous demi-tasses.
But Heaven will pro