gh he had never really
noticed them before. Then he laughed shortly a laugh seemingly quite
devoid of amusement, and got up to wander aimlessly about the room. At
last he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and walked over to it,
and glared fiercely at the reflection for a full round minute. Twice he
opened his mouth, only to close it again without a sound. At length,
however, the right words came to him. He looked himself witheringly in
the eyes.

"You blundering, God-forsaken ass!" he enunciated.

That seemed to cheer him up quite a bit, for he turned away from the
mirror with a less hopeless expression on his face and began to unpack
his valise and distribute the contents about the room. Later he borrowed
some of Zephania's hot water from the singing kettle and shaved himself.
No matter to what depths of degradation a man may fall, shaving
invariably raises him again to a fair level of self-respect. He ate
luncheon with a good appetite, and then wandered down to Prout's Store,
ostensibly to ask if his trunk had arrived, but in reality to satisfy a
craving for human intercourse. The trunk had not come, Mr. Prout
informed him, but, as Wade couldn't well expect it before the morning,
he wasn't disappointed. He purchased one of Mr. Prout's best
cigars--price one nickel--and sat himself on the counter.

"Yes," said Mr. Prout, "them two houses is a good deal alike. In fact I
guess they're just alike. Anyway, old Colonel Selden Phelps built 'em
alike, an' I guess they ain't been much changed. I recollect my mother
tellin' how the old Colonel had them two houses built. The Colonel lived
over near Redding and folks used to say he was land-crazy. Every cent
the Colonel would get hold of he'd up an' buy another tract of land with
it. Owned more land hereabouts than you could find on the county map,
and they say he never had enough to eat in the house from one year's end
to t'other. Family half starved most of the time, so they used to tell.
The boy, Nathan, he up an' said he couldn't stand it; said he might's
well be a Roman Catholic, because then he would be certain of a full
meal once in awhile, but as it was every day was fast day. So he run
away down to Boston an' became a sailor. The Colonel never saw him
again, because he was lost at sea on his second voyage. That just left
the two girls, Mary and Evelyn. My mother used to say that every one
pitied them two girls mightily. Always looked thin and peaked, they did,