"Thoburn House" over the veranda and children sailing paper boats in the
mineral spring.

Sure enough, the next afternoon Mr. Thoburn drove out from Finleyville
with a suit case, and before he'd taken off his overcoat he came out to
the spring-house.

"Hello, Minnie," he exclaimed. "Does the old man's ghost come back to
dope the spring, or do you do it?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Thoburn," I retorted
sharply. "If you don't know that this spring has its origin in--"

"In Schmidt's drug store down in Finleyville!" he finished for me. "Oh,
I know all about that spring, Minnie! Don't forget that my father's
cows used to drink that water and liked it. I leave it to you," he said,
sniffing, "if a self-respecting cow wouldn't die of thirst before she
drank that stuff as it is now."

I'd been filling him a glass--it being a matter of habit with me--and he
took it to the window and held it to the light.

"You're getting careless, Minnie," he said, squinting at it. "Some of
those drugs ought to be dissolved first in hot water. There's a lump of
lithia there that has Schmidt's pharmacy label on it."

"Where?" I demanded, and started for it. He laughed at that, and putting
the glass down, he came over and stood smiling at me.

"As ingenuous as a child," he said in his mocking way, "a nice, little