He was all right, she said, if you didn't come under his tree. And
Montague asked, "Which is his tree?" and she answered, "Any one he
happens to be under at the time."

And then she came to the Wallings. Mrs. Billy had been in on the inside
of that family, and there was nothing she didn't know about it; and she
brought the members up, one by one, and dissected them, and exhibited
them for Montague's benefit. They were typical bourgeois people, she
said. They were burghers. They had never shown the least capacity for
refinement--they ate and drank, and jostled other people out of the
way. The old ones had been boors, and the new ones were cads.

And Mrs. Billy sat and puffed at her cigar. "Do you know the history of
the family?" she asked. "The founder was a rough old ferryman. He
fought his rivals so well that in the end he owned all the boats; and
then some one discovered the idea of buying legislatures and building
railroads, and he went into that. It was a time when they simply
grabbed things--if you ever look into it, you'll find they're making
fortunes to-day out of privileges that the old man simply sat down on
and held. There's a bridge at Albany, for instance, to which they
haven't the slightest right; my brother knows about it--they've given
themselves a contract with their railroad by which they're paid for
every passenger, and their profit every year is greater than the cost
of the bridge. The son was the head of the family when I came in; and I
found that he had it all arranged to leave thirty million dollars to
one of his sons, and only ten million to my husband. I set to work to
change that, I can tell you. I used to go around to see him, and
scratch his back and tickle him and make him feel good. Of course the
family went wild--my, how they hated me! They set old Ellis to work to
keep me off--have you met Judge Ellis?"

"I have," said Montague.

"Well, there's a pussy-footed old hypocrite for you," said Mrs. Billy.
"In those days he was Walling's business lackey--used to pass the money
to the legislators and keep the wheels of the machine greased. One of
the first things I said to the old man was that I didn't ask him to
entertain my butler, and he mustn't ask me to entertain his valet--and
so I forbid Ellis to enter my house. And when I found that he was
trying to get between the old man and me, I flew into a rage and boxed
his ears and chased him out of the room!"

Mrs. Billy paused, and laughed