ut I think I could have got more if I had thought longer.

On the day before that on which I was to sail, my mind was in such a
disturbed condition that I could not attend to my packing or anything
else. It almost enraged me to think that I was deliberately leaving
the country ten days before my tenants would come to my house. There
was no reason why I should do this. There were many reasons why I
should not. There was Barker. I was now of the opinion that he would
personally superintend the removal of the Vincents and their
establishment to my home. I remembered that the only suggestion he had
made about the improvement of the place had been the construction of a
tennis-court. I knew that he was a champion player. Confound it!
What a dreadful mistake I had made in selecting such a man for my
house-agent. With my mind's eye I could already see Miss Vincent and
Barker selecting a spot for tennis and planning the arrangements of the
court.

I took the first train to New York and went directly to the steamboat
office. It is astonishing how many obstacles can be removed from a
man's path if he will make up his mind to give them a good kick. I
found that my steamer was crowded. The applications for passage
exceeded the accommodations, and the agent was delighted to transfer me
to the steamer that sailed on June 3. I went home exultant. Barker
drove over in the evening to take his last instructions, and a blank
look came over his face when I told him that business had delayed my
departure, and that I should not sail the next day. If I had told him
that part of that business was the laying out of a tennis-court he
might have looked blanker.

Of course the date of my departure did not concern the Vincents,
provided the house was vacated by June 1, and I did not inform them of
the change in my plans, but when the mother and daughter came out the
next week they were much surprised to find me waiting to receive them
instead of Barker. I hope that they were also pleased, and I am sure
that they had every reason to be so. Mrs. Vincent, having discovered
that I was a most complacent landlord, accommodated herself easily to
my disposition and made a number of minor requirements, all of which I
granted without the slightest hesitation. I was delighted at last to
put her into the charge of my housekeeper, and when the two had betaken
themselves to the bedrooms I invited Miss Vincent to come out with me
to select a s