ever he showed up. In fact, he was a very hefty
Proposition all through the Business District. But when he struck the
Street leading to his House he began to reef his Sails and lower all
of his Flags.

In his own Domicile he did not even play Second Fiddle. He simply
trailed along at the fag end of the Parade and carried the Music.
The Piercing Eye and the Peremptory Manner that caused all the
Book-keepers to fall off from their High Perches and prostrate
themselves had no visible effect on Laura and the Girls. Popsy was a
High Guy at the Directors' Meeting, but a mighty cheap Souffle at his
own Fireside. Any time that his Plans did not coincide with those of
the Feminine Bunch, they passed him a backhanded Veto that would cause
him to lie quiet for Days at a time.

[Illustration: _Scrub Town._]

The Financier loved the boundless West, where the Sack Coat abounds
and the Cuss-Word is a common Heritage. Domestic Cigars were good
enough for him, and he figured that one good reliable Hired Girl
who knew how to cook Steak was all the Help that was needed in any
House. But Mother had seen Fifth Avenue in a Dream, and the Girls had
attended a Boarding School at which nearly every one knew some one who
was Prominent Socially. They had done a lot of Hard Work at the Piano
and taken a side-hold on the French Language and it seemed to them
that they were wasting their Time in loitering on the Outskirts of
Civilization when they might be up at Headquarters cutting more or
less of a Gash. All the Young Men in this Reub Town wore Derbies
with their Evening Clothes and came to Dances with their White Gloves
smelling of Gasoline, in addition to which they lacked Repose. If they
had stopped to cultivate Repose, most of them would have landed in the
Villa set aside for Paupers.

When Laura and the Girls first advocated pulling up Stakes and doing
a tall Hike to the East, the Producer emitted a Roar that would have
frightened any one except Laura and the Girls. They closed in on him
from three Directions and beat down his Defence. When they got through
with the living Meal Ticket he was as meek as an English Servant and
ready to take orders from any one.

So the Caravansary moved away toward the Rising Sun. At Wilkesbarre,
Pennsylvania, the Heavens opened and a Great Light struck down upon
them, transforming all except the one who happened to carry the Letter
of Credit. Laura and the Girls suddenly forgot that there was any Land
w