"A wit, eh? Then he'll appreciate an answer from me. Have you a
telegraph blank, Mr. Grant?"

Two minutes later the following telegram to Swearengen Jones was
awaiting the arrival of a messenger-boy, and Brewster was blandly
assuring Messrs. Grant & Ripley that he did not "care a rap for
the consequences":

NEW YORK, October 23, 1--

SWEARENGEN JONES,

Butte, Mont.

No doubt you could do it for less than six thousand. Montana is
regarded as the best grazing country in the world, but we don't
eat that sort of stuff in New York. That's why it costs more to
live here.

MONTGOMERY BREWSTER.

Just before leaving his apartments for Miss Drew's home he
received this response from faraway Montana:

BUTTE, MONTANA, Oct. 23, 1--

MONTGOMERY BREWSTER, New York.

We are eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. I suppose
that's why it costs us less to live high.