it was really important that everything
should be made satisfactory before I left.

"It seems to me," he said, smiling a little grimly, "that the Vincents
had better be kept away from your house until you have gone. If you do
anything more to it you may find out that it would have been more
profitable to have shut it up while you are away."

He did call, however, partly because I wished him to and partly because
he was curious to see the people I was so anxious to install in my
home, and to whom he was to be my legal representative. He reported
the next day that he had found no one at home but Miss Vincent, and
that she had said that she and her mother would be very glad to come
out the next week and go over the place before they took possession.

"Next week!" I exclaimed. "I shall be gone then!"

"But I shall be here," said Mr. Barker, "and I'll show them about and
take their suggestions."

This did not suit me at all. It annoyed me very much to think of
Barker showing Miss Vincent about my place. He was a good-looking
young man and not at all backward in his manners.

"After all," said I, "I suppose that everything that ought to be done
has been done. I hope you told her that."

"Of course not," said he. "That would have been running dead against
your orders. Besides, it's my business to show people about places. I
don't mind it."

This gave me an unpleasant and uneasy feeling. I wondered if Mr.
Barker were the agent I ought to have, and if a middle-aged man with a
family and more experience might not be better able to manage my
affairs.

"Barker," said I, a little later, "there will be no use of your going
every month to the Vincents to collect their rent. I shall write to
Mr. Vincent to pay as he pleases. He can send a check monthly or at
the end of the season, as it may be convenient. He is perfectly
responsible, and I would much prefer to have the money in a lump when I
come back."

Barker grinned. "All right," said he, "but that's not the way to do
business, you know."

I may have been mistaken, but I fancied that I saw in my agent's face
an expression which indicated that he intended to call on the first day
of each month, on the pretext of telling Vincent that it was not
necessary to pay the rent at any particular time, and that he also
proposed to make many other intervening visits to inquire if repairs
were needed. This might have been a good deal to get out of his
expression, b