wealth. I propose to help you good people get started, if you'll
permit me. It is not with contrition, but with pride, that I
recommend myself to you as one of the greatest living authorities
upon extravagance, idleness, and the minor vices of the prosperous."

The mother nodded, a bit vaguely. "That's kind of like Pa talks.
He sent you this, and says to tell you it's our first spendin'
spree and act accordin'." From her pocket she drew a folded check,
made out in blank to Calvin Gray and signed by Gus Briskow.

"So! I assume that I'm to pay the bills. Very well. The sky is the
limit, eh?"

"That's it. Of course, I don't need anything for myself--this
dress and bunnit are good enough--but Allie's got to have new
fixin's, from the inside out. I s'pose her things'll eat up the
best part of a hundred dollars, won't they?" The speaker's look of
worried inquiry bespoke a lifetime of habitual economy.

"We're not going to buy what you _need_, but what you want. You're
going to have just as many pretty things as Allie."

Ma was panic-stricken at this suggestion. When Gray insisted she
demurred; when he told her that one nice dress would cost at least
a hundred dollars, she confessed:

"Why, I don't s'pose all the clo's I've had since I was married
cost much more 'n that."

"I'll spend at least a thousand on you before noon," he laughed.