Mrs. Slosher smiled. She was a beautiful young woman. To youth
belongs much.

Johnny Gamble, caught amidships, as it were, snorted.

"Well, I don't live out there," he said.

Mr. Slosher smiled.

"That is all, I believe," he announced as he assisted Mrs. Slosher
to her feet with that punctilious gallantry which defies a younger
man to do it better.

At four o'clock Jim Guff called Mr. Gamble on the telephone.

"Hello, Gamble!" he hailed in an entirely new voice. "You're a
robber!"

"You flatter me," returned Johnny quite comfortably. "Is there
anything I can do for you in that line?"

"A whole lot," replied Guff. "I'll accept the price you gave Mrs.
Guff on that river-view site."

"Too late," answered Johnny cheerfully. "I withdrew that offer
before Mrs. Guff left the office. Mr. and Mrs. Slosher have been in
since then."

Jim Guff's voice cracked as he hastily said: