h you haven't the address. We'll look for the address
this afternoon. Then we'll know where we are--at."--The last syllable a
smiling concession to Billy.

But Saxon did not accompany them. There was too much to be done in
cleaning the long-abandoned house and in preparing an arrangement for
Mrs. Mortimer to sleep. And it was long after supper time when Mrs.
Mortimer and Billy returned.

"You lucky, lucky children," she began immediately. "This valley is just
waking up. Here's your market. There isn't a competitor in the valley.
I thought those resorts looked new--Caliente, Boyes Hot Springs, El
Verano, and all along the line. Then there are three little hotels in
Glen Ellen, right next door. Oh, I've talked with all the owners and
managers."

"She's a wooz," Billy admired. "She'd brace up to God on a business
proposition. You oughta seen her."

Mrs. Mortimer acknowledged the compliment and dashed on.

"And where do all the vegetables come from? Wagons drive down twelve to
fifteen miles from Santa Rosa, and up from Sonoma. Those are the nearest
truck farms, and when they fail, as they often do, I am told, to supply
the increasing needs, the managers have to express vegetables all
the way from San Francisco. I've introduced Billy. They've agreed to
patronize home industry. Besides, it is better for them. You'll deliver
just as good vegetables just as cheap; you will make it a point to
deliver better, fresher vegetables; and don't forget that delivery for
you will be cheaper by virtue of the shorter haul.

"No day-old egg stunt here. No jams nor jellies. But you've got lots of
space up on the bench here on which you can't grow vegetables. To-morrow
morning I'll help you lay out the chicken runs and houses. Besides,
there is the matter of capons for the San Francisco market. You'll start
small. It will be a side line at first. I'll tell you all about that,
too, and send you the literature. You must use your head. Let others
do the work. You must understand that thoroughly. The wages of
superintendence are always larger than the wages of the laborers. You
must keep books. You must know where you stand. You must know what pays
and what doesn't and what pays best. Your books will tell that. I'll
show you all in good time."

"An' think of it--all that on two acres!" Billy murmured.

Mrs. Mortimer looked at him sharply.

"Two acres your granny," she said with asperity. "Five acres. And then
you won't be able to suppl