ike punishing parents they seemed resolved to let
Adelle taste the dregs of her folly by herself. Each quarter they
deposited with the Paris bankers twelve hundred and fifty dollars and
notified them not to honor Mrs. Davis's drafts in excess of this amount.
It was automatic. That was the ideal of the trust company, as it is of
many private persons, to reduce life to automatic processes.

But as the day drew near when the trust company had to give a final
accounting to the probate court of its guardianship, they notified
Adelle by a curt letter that her presence would be desirable. There were
certain matters in connection with her assuming control of her fortune
and terminating their trust that could be transacted more expeditiously
if Mrs. Davis would present herself at their office by the end of May.
"We beg to remain," etc.

The suggestion came as a welcome incentive to the young couple. Anything
that might expedite matters was to their taste. They had talked of
making a visit to Archie's relatives and introducing Adelle to the
modern paradise of the golden slope and at the same time visiting the
Pauls. And so, about the middle of May, the Davises took ship from Havre
for the New World, occupying, in deference to their coming wealth, an
expensive deck suite in the transatlantic hotel, and thus made their
journey in all possible comfort.

They arrived in B---- with a great many trunks that contained a small
part of all those purchases which Adelle had made; also with a dog and
Adelle's maid. Their first real experience of their American citizenship
came naturally at the dock. Archie, who had lost some money on the way
across, and was hazy about his duties and rights as a returning citizen,
had put in an absurd declaration for the customs officers. With their
formidable array of trunks the couple presented at once a vulnerable
aspect to the inspectors, and long after the procession of travelers had
scurried away in cabs, Archie and Adelle were left, hot and
uncomfortable, trying to "explain" their false declaration. Adelle, who
was not usually untruthful, lied shamelessly about the prices she had
paid for things. "It cost just nothing at all,--twenty francs," she
declared as the officer held forth some article whose real value he knew
perfectly well. Adelle lost her assurance, shed tears of shame; Archie
lost his temper and swore at the officer for insulting his wife, and in
consequence every article in the fourteen