vercome
her. She laid him down, an' we turned away.

"We walked through the garden paths, an' neither spoke, but in the
stillness I could hear trumpets of victory. We entered the great
hall an' sat with the others by its fireside, but took little part
in the talk. When I made my adieus she shook my hand warmly and
said I was very good to them.

"Save for its good example, the log-cabin experiment was not a
success. They slept with all the doors and windows open, an' one
night a skunk came in an' got under the bed. Mrs. Bill discovered
that they had company, an' Bill got up an' lit the lantern, an'
followed the clew to its source. He threatened an' argued an'
appealed to the skunk's better nature with a doughnut, but the
little beast sat unmoved in his corner. The place seemed to suit
him.

"Bill got mad an' flung the axe at him. It was a fatal move--fatal
to the skunk an' the cabin an' the experiment, an' a blow to the
sweetness an' sociological condition of Connecticut.

"They returned to the big house, an' by-an'-by told me of their
adventure.

"'Don't be discouraged,' I said. 'You will find skunks in every
walk of life, but when you do, always throw down your cards an'
quit the game. They can deal from the bottom of the pack. You
haven't a ghost of a show with 'em.'

"Being driven out of the cabin, Mrs. Bill gave most of her leisure
to the farm-house, where I had spent an hour or more every day.

"Suddenly I saw that a wonderful thing had happened to me. I was
in love with those kids, an' they with me. The whole enterprise
had been a bluff conceived in the interest of the Warburtons. I
hadn't really intended to build a house, but suddenly I got busy
with all the mechanics I could hire in Pointview, and the house
began to grow like a mushroom.

"Another wonderful thing happened. Mrs. Warburton fell in love
with the kids, and they with her. She romped with them on the
lawn; she took them out to ride every day; she put them to bed
every night; she insisted upon buying their clothes; she bought
them a pony an' a little omnibus; she built them a playhouse for
their comfort. The whole villa began to revolve around the
children. They called her mama an' they called me papa, a
sufficiently singular situation.

VI

IN WHICH THE PURSUIT OF LIZZIE BECOMES HIGHLY SERIOUS

Dan had been out of town, an' immediately on his return he came to
my office.

"'How's business?' I asked.

"'Well