see her, but--I guess they're busy. We got lots of neighbors here, rich
ones, an' we made up our minds to like 'em, if they'll give us a
chance."

"You were in luck to find a house in such a smart neighborhood, Gus.
Now show me around, quickly, for I'm dying to see it."

"Lord, I'm dyin' to show it to _somebody!_ You're the first one that's
dropped in an' we been here 'most two weeks. Say, you'll stay an' eat
supper, won't you?"

"Of course I will, and breakfast, too, if you can take care of me."

"Pshaw! Didn't we take keer of you when you come to the ranch? We got
three niggers now, just doin' the housework." As if in justification of
this riotous mode of life, the oil man explained: "Ma wanted to do it
herself, but she's porely, an' Allie vetoed it complete. She says we'll
be stylish an' enjoy life if it kills all three of us. I'd of bought a
bigger house if they'd of let me, but--"

"It is large enough. Anything more would merely add to your cares."

"Her and Ma picked out the furniture. Swell, ain't it?"

"Beautiful!" Gray exclaimed. Inwardly he groaned, for, although the
contents of the home appeared to be expensive, almost ostentatious,
they nevertheless betrayed a conspicuous lack of taste both in
character and in arrangement. Here and there were color combinations so
atrocious that they positively hurt the caller. On the whole, however,
the place looked better than he had expected, and such indications of
harmony and restraint as he detected he attributed to Allie. It was a
nice enough home, and with a little change, a little rearrangement, it
could be made attractive even to one of elegant tastes. Those changes,
of course, Gray determined to make.

Gus, plainly, was not yet accustomed to the sense of ownership, and he
hung with eagerness upon his guest's expressions of approval. After a
tour of inspection the men wound up in the library--an absurd misnomer
under the circumstances, inasmuch as the shelves were entirely bare
except for Allie's dog-eared school books--and there, before a blazing
gas log, they discussed the miracle.

"Allie's gone out to the old farm to get some stuff for Ma," the father
explained in due time. "Some pitchers of her an' Buddy when they was
little, an' a rockin'-chair, an' Ma's favorite bedspread, an' some
other things she likes."

Gray remembered the portraits, executed by a St. Louis "enlargement"
concern. They had wide gilt frames, and were protected from ravaging
fl