t it had no hold on you whatever. You
said you only smoked a little for the pleasure it gave you, and that
there was no danger at all of its ever becoming a necessity to you.
Of course, I don't care, for myself, what you put in the bank, but I
should not think you would want to rob poor little Bobberts of what
he really should have, just because you can twist out of it by
claiming--"

There were signs of tears, and Mr. Fenelby cheerfully stepped up
and dropped fifty cents more into the bank. It was one of his
periods of plenty, and he would have been willing to put dollars
into the bank, instead of quarters, rather than have Laura think he
was trying to defraud Bobberts. He explained to Laura that all he
wanted to know was what he really ought to pay, and then he would
pay it cheerfully. Probably all men are like that. They only want to
have their taxes assessed fairly, and they will pay them joyfully.
One of the prettiest sights imaginable is to see the tax-payers
gleefully crowding to pay their taxes. I say imaginable, because it
is one of the sights that has to be imagined.

The next evening was warm, and Bobberts was sleeping nicely, so Mrs.
Fenelby walked part of the way to the station to meet Tom when he
came home, and her eyes brightened when she saw the square parcel
that she knew to be the box of candy, in his hand. He kissed her,
right there on the street, as suburban husbands are not ashamed to
do, and put the box of candy in her hand.

"And what do you think my news is?" he asked, after he had asked
about Bobberts. "Brother Bill is coming to make us that visit that
he has been promising for ever so long--"

"Tom!" cried Laura. "And what do you think my news is? Kitty is
coming to spend two weeks with us! Isn't that the jolliest thing you
ever heard of? Both coming at the same time! I wonder if they--"

"Well," said Tom, who generally had a pretty clear idea of what
Laura meant to say next, "if they did fall in love with each other,
it would not be such a bad match. Your cousin Kitty is as nice as
any girl I know, and I rather think Billy isn't such a bad sort.
Anyway, they will make it pleasant for each other."

"It will brighten us up all around to have them here," said Mrs.
Fenelby. "I wonder whether we ought to make them pay tariff on
things. That was the first thing I thought of, when I read that
Kitty meant to visit us. It does seem a little like inhospitality,
to make them pay tariff."

"Not