he
told me he understood, but all the timber, ten inch an' over, 'd ben
sold off. He told me that his father's head clerk told him that the old
gentleman had tried fer a long time to dispose of it; but it called fer
too much to develop it, I guess; 't any rate he couldn't, an' John's
got it to pay taxes on."

"I shouldn't think it was wuth anythin' to him but jest a bill of
expense," observed Mrs. Bixbee.

"Tain't now," said David, "an' mebbe won't be fer a good while; still,
it's wuth somethin', an' I advised him to hold onto it on gen'ral
princ'ples. I don't know the pertic'ler prop'ty, of course," he
continued, "but I do know somethin' of that section of country, fer I
done a little prospectin' 'round there myself once on a time. But it
wa'n't in the oil territory them days, or wa'n't known to be, anyway."

"But it's eatin' itself up with taxes, ain't it?" objected Mrs. Bixbee.

"Wa'al," he replied, "it's free an' clear, an' the taxes ain't so very
much--though they do stick it to an outside owner down there--an' the
p'int is here: I've alwus thought they didn't drill deep enough in that
section. The' was some little traces of oil the time I told ye of, an'
I've heard lately that the's some talk of a move to test the territory
agin, an', if anythin' was to be found, the young feller's prop'ty might
be wuth somethin', but," he added, "of course the' ain't no tellin'."

CHAPTER XXXVI.

"Well," said Miss Verjoos, when her sister overtook her, Mr. Euston
having stopped at his own gate, "you and your latest discovery seemed to
be getting on pretty well from the occasional sounds which came to my
ears. What is he like?"

"He's charming," declared Miss Clara.

"Indeed," remarked her sister, lifting her eyebrows. "You seem to have
come to a pretty broad conclusion in a very short period of time.
'Charming' doesn't leave very much to be added on longer acquaintance,
does it?"

"Oh, yes it does," said Miss Clara, laughing. "There are all degrees:
Charming, very charming, most charming, and _perfectly_ charming."

"To be sure," replied the other. "And there is the descending scale:
Perfectly charming, most charming, very charming, charming, very
pleasant, quite nice, and, oh, yes, well enough. Of course you have
asked him to call."

"Yes, I have," said Miss Clara.

"Don't you think that mamma----"

"No, I don't," declared the girl with decision. "I know from what Mr.
Euston said, and I know from the lit