ed.

"Just think of that now!" and the mason went off into another peal of
laughter which made Adelle uncomfortable. He did not take seriously his
relationship with the mistress of Highcourt. "I bet old grandfather Stan
would have been mighty surprised if he could see his niece and her swell
house!"

Suddenly the mason rose, and, fetching out a box from his house, said
with an elaborate flourish of ironical courtesy,--

"Sit down, cousin, and we'll talk it over."

Adelle accepted the seat meekly.

"So father's folks didn't really come from Missouri--but from way back
East?" he inquired with appreciation of the added aristocracy that this
gave the family.

"Surely they came from Alton," Adelle replied. "That was where the
Clarks had always lived--ever since before the Revolution."

"As long as that! Think of it--I'll be damned--beggin' your pardon,
cousin!" the mason exclaimed.

Except for this familiar use of the term of relationship Tom Clark's
attitude was respectful enough, more humorous than anything else, as if
the news Adelle had given him merely completed his ironic philosophy of
life. He mused,--

"So I had to get into a fight in 'Frisco and come here to work on this
job to find out my family connections."

He seemed impressed with the devious paths of Providence.

"And I had to go all the way from Alton to Paris to find a Californian
husband, who brought me out here!" laughed Adelle, who was beginning to
comprehend the mason's humor and the situation.

Neither thought of any money concern in the new-found relationship. They
were still sitting before the shack on boxes in the red light of the
descending sun and Clark was explaining to "cousin" his theory of the
unimportance of family ties, when Archie came up the path. Adelle
perceived him first, and hastily getting up went to meet him. She did
not want him to hear the news, at least not until she had had time to
manage his susceptibilities, for she knew that his first reaction would
be to get rid of her "cousin" as soon as possible, and he would nag her
until the mason had been discharged. Archie, who had been drinking
enough since his game to give free rein to his poor temper, immediately
began the attack within hearing of the stone mason.

"So this is where you are! I've been looking for you all over the place.
Thought you were too tired to go to the polo," he said accusingly.

"I only just came up the hill for a little walk," Adelle explaine