on
learning of the unparalleled bargain we had secured in the
Schmittheimer place, he did not go into raptures as did Mrs. Denslow,
and Mrs. Baylor, and Mrs. Tiltman and the rest of our neighbors at
home. So far from being carried away by any whirlwind of enthusiasm,
Mr. Black maintained a placidity of demeanor amounting to stoicism; he
plied me with questions about "titles," and "abstracts," and
"indentures," and "mortgages," and "liens," and "incumbrances," and
other things that I actually knew no more about than the veriest
Bushman knows about the theory of Nebulae.

To add to my embarrassment he solicited explicit information about the
Schmittheimer place, in what subdivision it was located, and in what
township. Had I been a veritable human encyclopaedia I could hardly
have satisfied that man's greed for information touching that
particular spot. What knew I of tracts, of townships, of quarter
sections or of subdivisions? Were I filled with a knowledge of these
humdrum commonplaces, should I know aught of that enthusiasm which
thrills the being who, after many and long years of weary hoping and
waiting, sees the object of his desires just within his grasp? Should
Moses just in sight of the promised land be expected to give the
dimensions of that delectable spot, and to locate it and bound it and
map it off with the accuracy of a Rand & McNally township guide?

I suppose that this conservatism is natural with some people--this lack
of fervor, this absence of enthusiasm. Still I will admit Mr. Black's
tranquillity--nay, his glacial composure--under the circumstances
surprised and grieved me. I did not understand why the prospect and
the promise of "our house" did not set Mr. Black--and, for that matter,
all the rest of humanity--into the selfsame transports of delight which
I experienced. Mind you, now, I am not complaining of nor am I finding
fault with Mr. Black. I am simply chronicling happenings and
observations. Mr. Black is a benevolent and beneficent man. He said
to me at last: "Well, you can tell Alice that I will send her a draft
for the money she needs, and within a fortnight I shall run up to take
a look at your purchase."

I was in Cincinnati three days. I should have been there but two. A
curious happening detained me. As I was going to the railway station
from Mr. Black's house the evening of the second day I saw a man with a
reflector telescope selling views of the moon at five cents a