'm not going out there," he said. "I've seen enough of Captain Horn
and his wife. To tell you the truth, Mrs. Cliff, that's what's the
matter with me."

"I don't understand you," said she.

"It's simply this," said Burke. "Since I've seen so much of the Captain
and his wife, and the happiness they get out of each other, I've found
out that the kind of happiness they've got is exactly the kind of
happiness I want, and there isn't anything else--money, or land, or
orange groves, or steamships--that can take the place of it."

"In other words," said Mrs. Cliff, with a smile, "you want to get
married."

"You've hit it exactly," said he. "I want a wife. Of course I don't
expect to get exactly such a wife as Captain Horn has--they're about as
scarce as buried treasure, I take it--but I want one who will suit me
and who is suited to me. That's what I want, and I shall never be happy
until I get her."

"I should think it would be easy enough for you to get a wife, Mr.
Burke," said Mrs. Cliff. "You are in the prime of life, you have plenty
of money, and I don't believe it would be at all hard to find a good
woman who would be glad to have you."

"That's what my mother said," said he. "When I was there she bored me
from morning until night by telling me I ought to get married, and
mentioning girls on Cape Cod who would be glad to have me. But there
isn't any girl on Cape Cod that I want. To get rid of them, I came away
sooner than I intended."

"Well then," said Mrs. Cliff, "perhaps there is some one in particular
that you would like to have."

"That's it exactly," said Burke, "there is some one in particular."

"And do you mind telling me who it is?" she asked.

"Since you ask me, I don't mind a bit," said he. "It's Miss Croup."

Mrs. Cliff started back astonished. "Willy Croup!" she exclaimed. "You
amaze me! I don't think she would suit you."

"I'd like to know why not?" he asked quickly.

"In the first place," said she, "it's a long time since Willy was a
girl."

"That's the kind I want," he answered. "I don't want to adopt a
daughter. I want to marry a grown woman."

"Well," said Mrs. Cliff, "Willy is certainly grown. But then, it doesn't
seem to me that she would be adapted to a married life. I am sure she
has made up her mind to live single, and she hasn't been accustomed to
manage a house and conduct domestic affairs. She has always had some
one to depend upon."

"That's what I like," said he. "Let her