reason they didn't see each other.

"Right away a war began between the rival houses o' Henshaw an'
Pettigrew. The first we knew Sam was buildin' a new house with a
tower on it--by jingo!--an' hardwood finish inside an' half an acre
in the dooryard. The tower was for Lizzie. It signalized her rise
in the community. It put her one flight above anybody in Pointview.

"As the house rose, up went Sam's prices again. I went over to the
store an' bought a week's provisions, an' when I got the bill I see
that he'd taxed me twenty-nine cents for his improvements.

"I met one o' my friends, an' I says to him, 'Wal,' I says, 'Sam is
goin' to make us pay for his new house an' lot. Sam's ham an'
flour have jumped again. As an assessor Sam is likely to make his
mark.'

"'Wal, what do ye expect?' says he. 'Lizzie is in high society,
an' he's got to keep up with her. Lizzie must have a home proper
to one o' her station. Don't be hard on Sam.'

"'I ain't,' I says. 'But Sam's house ought to be proper to his
station instead o' hers.'

"I had just sat down in my office when Bill Pettigrew came
in--Sam's great rival in the grocery an' aspiration business. He'd
bought a new automobile, an' wanted me to draw a mortgage on his
house an' lot for two thousand dollars.

"'You'd better go slow,' I says. 'It looks like bad business to