She rose and brought him some coffee, and as he sipped it he proceeded to business.

“If I am to be infinitely honest, I must begin by inquiring whether I have enough money to settle my dinner check. Were those the berries he picked this morning?”

“Yes.”

“A scholar seventy-three years old gets down on his knees and picks berries for a man one-third his age. I can’t expect such a man to sell to me at market rates. Did you make the bread and butter?”

“I did.”

“And you cleaned the perch, and fried them, and beat up the mayonnaise, and mashed the potatoes and browned them in the oven, and baked the shortcake, and spread the table, and decorated it, and waited on me. God help us, what things a girl can do if she tries!”

To this eulogy Jean made no reply, but she certainly liked it, and it made her eyes shine.

“Then there’s your damask. Who could expect to find a cloth like that up here in the wilderness? It’s darned, but it’s embroidered with the initials of a gentlewoman.”

“She was,” said the girl, and the shining eyes were suddenly dim with tears.

“Well, now, considering all this luxury, how much is the check?”

“I don’t like to tell you. When I came in I had made up my mind to squeeze seventy-five cents out of you.”

“That’s a pretty large tip.”

“You know I didn’t mean a tip. You just sit there and make fun of me.”

“Well, you just sit there and pity me. I don’t suppose I can pay what your father’s remarks on infinity are worth, but I can pay ordinary hotel rates. I arrive here expecting dirt and ignorance, and I find dainty cooking, damask, flowers, and infinity. Here is five dollars.”

“Mr. Mahan, you are perfectly horrid!”

At this point the collie came in from the kitchen, and put his chin on Marvin’s knee.

“Governor, do you insist that five dollars is the minimum?”

Agricola barked assent, but was instantly sorry for it. He had not expected that the divinity to whom he belonged would say, “Ahnemo-sheesh!” The dog cringed and made for the door.

“What did you say to him?”

“I told him he was a bad dog.”

“I hope he swims over to my island and stays there.”

“Your island?”

“Well, the one I expect to rent. How much will it cost me?”

“Fifty cents a day.”

“But that doesn’t assure me sole possession. I want those ten acres for myself and my friend the governor. I’m willing to pay nine dollars a day, and if you will come over and call on us each day. I’ll make it ten.”

“Mr. Mahan, I have let those pines stand so that everybody on the steamers could enjoy them. Do you suppose that after doing that I am going to steal?”

“Very well. I’ll take it for half a dollar. Now about my hand.”

“I’ll wash it with pleasure. If you insist on paying, it will have to go dirty.”

“But you won’t be able to endure the sight of it when I come to meals.”

“Are you coming to meals?”

“What else can I do, since no fish will bite me?” She burst into laughter at last, while he counted out twenty dollars.

“That’s a week in advance. Your rates come to nineteen and a quarter, but twenty is easier to reckon.”

He took her hand, laid the bills within it, and closed the fingers over it. She opened her fist and took out two of the crumpled fives. She lifted poor Pat and tucked them under his helpless thumb.

“Now just go over to your own island, pick out the softest moss you can find, and take a long, long nap.”

“But I can’t, unless indeed you give me a bromide.”

“But you must, until that tired look in your face is all gone.”

“Look here, am I running up a bill for medical advice?”

“Mr. Mahan, I don’t want to see any more of you till I ring the bell for supper.”