such as, say, the
library fireplace, the fan-light window at the end of the upper
hall, the pillared front porch, and a corner of the drawing-room.

Also--and this was the great thing, calling for a heavy outlay--we
would advertise in some two or three of the ultra periodicals, the
advertisement to carry a stunning little cut of our front porch. We
decided to run the risk of expending more money than we could really
afford, because the people that advertisement was meant to attract
would in the long run pay for it.

"Our prices will be predacious, piratical, prohibitive, and
profitable. We shall stop just this side of highway robbery.
Therefore our demands will be cheerfully, nay, willingly met; and
everybody, including you and me, Sophy, will be satisfied and
happy!"

"_Boarders!_" said I, limply, "_boarders_--in Hynds House!"

"Perish the thought! We have possibly the most interesting and
beautiful old house in America. It's one of the few really historic
houses left in the whole South. It has seen the Indians, it has seen
the British, it has seen Sherman's men, and escaped them all. Well,
then, we propose to allow certain of the elect, who can afford it,
to come and live in Hynds House for a while. They will be willing to
pay a round sum for the privilege. That's all."

"Oh, is it, indeed! And will they?"

"Won't they, though!" Alicia spoke confidently. "Now draft me a
letter to the Head, setting forth the many reasons why himself, his
wife, their car, and her Chow, can't afford to miss Hynds House on
their trip South this season. You might explain that Mary Magdalen
is our cook, and the Queen of Sheba our hand-maid. Also, please help
me decide in which of these magazines we had better advertise
first."

"But the cost!" I wailed. "We have spent so sinfully much already!
And the place is eating its head off, with nothing coming in. Since
I took down those bill-boards, actually the price of that Lafayette
Street lot has gone down. Nobody seems anxious to buy it any more."

"Change your mind about selling it; hint that you're considering an
ice-cream parlor and a movie theater," said the girl who'd been the
worst file-clerk. "In the meantime, Sophy, you have sense enough to
understand that we've spent so much money we've got to spend more to
get some of it back.--I vote we start in this one, Sophy," and she
laid her finger upon the most expensive and ultra of all the
magazines!

"But that is for _millionai