ts absurd occasion, as she bestowed them in a music rack and turned to
conduct him to the entrance.

"Good-by!" she said, and once more extended her hand, which Dennis
received with an unmistakable indication of his appreciation of the
exceptional favor.

"Good-by!" he responded as he prepared to descend the steps, "good-by!"
and added to himself, with a fervor which conveyed some intimation of
his sentiments if it did not suggest his words:

"An' may the saints preserve you!"

CHAPTER IX

When Dennis retired for the night at The Stag, his transit from his
room, which had never seemed so contracted as now, to the Land of Nod
was somewhat delayed by reason of the exhilarating conditions through
which he had just passed.

Toward midnight, however, his pulse had resumed its normal, and the
young man, reaching his drowsy destination at last, began a series of
the most surprising horticultural experiments until, what with orchids
as big as a barrel, and geraniums which could be reached only by a
ladder, he had converted the silvery strand of the dreamful domain into
a forest of atrocious color and floral monstrosity.

Awakening on the succeeding morning, Dennis, accepting the sense of
general lassitude which oppressed him as an indication of the arduous
nature of his efforts in his dreams, began to prepare for the activities
of the day.

On this occasion he was compelled to attire himself in the shirt which
he had worn on the occasion of his visit the evening before, since his
remaining bosoms, along with his heart, were in the possession of the
beautiful widow.

But the extravagance of such indulgence did not alarm him now.

Under the circumstances, what did a shirt more or less matter?

Was he not about to be admitted into paradise and receive twenty dollars
per week besides?

"Shirt, ha!" he exclaimed with a touch of Celtic wit; "it's a robe of
white I want." However, he compromised on a new necktie, and almost
ventured the length of patent leathers.

Stimulated by the prospect of all this beatitude, Dennis proceeded to
the dining-room and revived the spirit of the discouraged waiter by
ordering a liberal breakfast.

At the conclusion of the meal he further celebrated his disposition to
mortgage providence by the bestowal of a gratuity moderate enough to
renew the waiter's original unflattering estimation.

Had his father witnessed this imprudence he would have been prepared to
believe that Den