year till five hundred dollars' worth is done. Then we can get our
deed--or whatever it is--and sell the timber."

"Well, _what_ do you know about _that_!" Marion exclaimed
ecstatically, leaning forward across the little table with her hands
clasped. Nature had given her a much nicer voice than Kate's, and the
trite phrase acquired a pretty distinctiveness just from the way she
said it. "But--would you have to stay five years, Kate?" she added
dubiously.

"No, that's the beauty of it, you can do all the five hundred dollars'
worth in one year, Marion."

"Five hundred dollars' worth of digging holes in the ground!" Marion
gasped, giggling a little. "Good night!"

"Now please wait until you hear the rest of it!" Kate's tone sharpened
a little with impatience. She moved a petulant elbow while a tired
waitress placed two glasses of water and a tiny plate of white and
brown bread upon the table. The minute the girl's back was turned upon
them she cast a cautious eye around the clattering throng and leaned
forward.

"Four men--men with a little capital--are going into it, and pay Fred
and the professor for doing their assessment work. Four five-hundreds
will make two thousand dollars that we'll get out of them, just for
looking after their interests. And we'll have our twenty acres apiece
of timber--and you've no _idea_ what a tremendous lot of money that
will bring, considering the investment. Fred's worked so hard lately
that he's all run down and looks miserable. The doctor told him the