First he made the journey with the hot-air-ship of his mind, an'
came back with millions in the hold of his imagination. Then he
thought he'd experiment with a corporation of his friends--his
surplus friends. They got in on the ground floor, an' got out in
the sky. Most of 'em were thrown over for ballast. The Wellman of
this enterprise escaped with his life an' a little wreckage. He
was Mr. Thomas Robinson Barrow, an' he came to consult me about
his affairs. They were in bad shape.

"'Sell your big house an' your motor-cars,' I urged.

"'That would have been easy,' he answered, 'but Lizzie has spoilt
the market for luxuries. You remember how she got high notions up
at the Smythe school, an' began a life of extravagance, an' how we
all tried to keep up with her, an' how the rococo architecture
broke out like pimples on the face of Connecticut?'

"I smiled an' nodded.

"'Well, it was you, I hear, that helped her back to earth and
started her in the simpleton life. Since then she has been going
just as fast, but in the opposite direction, and we're still tryin'
to keep up with her. Now I found a man who was going to buy my
property, but suddenly his wife decided that they would get along
with a more modest outfit. She's trying to keep up with Lizzie.
Folks are getting wise.'

"'Why don't you?'

"'Can't.'