"Oh, you know how it is! A lesson every day, soft music, arm around the
waist, a kind word. The girl is human. I'm probably different to
anything that ever came into her young life. Look at my wardrobe! She's
not so bad to take, either, and yet--" The immaculate speaker frowned.
"Father smells like a horse, and mother's a nut! Gee! It would take
some coin to square that."

"That's one thing they've got," asserted the clerk. "Nothing but!"

Mr. Delamater debated further. "Think of marrying The Powerful
Katrinka! I'll admit it has its points. If anything went wrong with the
bank roll Allie could make a good living for both of us. Suppose, for
instance, the old Statue of Liberty slipped and fell. Allie could jump
over to Bedloe's Island and take a turn at holding the torch. Ifi
they've got the coin you say they have, I think I'll have to see more
of her."

"You won't see any more than you do. She's hitting on all four."

"What is she up to all day?"

"I don't know. Working, studying, exercising. Rehearsing for the
movies, I guess. She has worn that companion of hers down to a frazzle.
She has her own masseuse in the bath department, she rides a horse
three days a week, and every morning she takes a long walk--"

"I've got it!" Mr. Delamater slapped his thigh. "Road work! She's
getting ready to take on Dempsey." He laughed musically. "If she
marries me her days of labor will be over; it will mean for her the
dawn of a new life--provided, of course, those oil wells are what you
say they are. Kidding aside, though, I don't dislike the girl and--I've
a notion to give her a chance."

What the clerk said was true. Allie Briskow was indeed in training,
both physical and mental, and the application, the energy she displayed
had surprised not only her parents, who could but dimly understand the
necessity of self-culture, but also Mrs. Ring, the instructress. Mrs.
Ring, a handsome, middle-aged woman whose specialty was the finishing
of wealthy young "ladies," had been induced to accept this position
partly by reason of the attractive salary mentioned in Calvin Gray's
telegram, and partly by reason of the fact that she needed a rest. She
had met the Briskows in Dallas only a short time before their departure
for the north, and although that first interview had been a good deal
of a shock to her--almost as much of a shock as if she had been asked
to tutor the offspring of a pair of chimpanzees--nevertheless she had
nerved