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“‘Not after I have finished the job,’ said Baxter; and I asked no further questions.”

“May I inquire,” said the captain, “if that Mr. Baxter is in want of a position?”

“I am afraid, papa,” said the Daughter of the House, “that you would have to own a navy before you could employ him.”

The gardener smiled. A story built upon these lines interested him. The Mistress of the House went on without regard to the interruptions:

“I found Anita in earnest consultation with her maid Maria and the mistress of the hotel, and it was at least an hour before she could see me. When I told her I had secured the cot, or at least arranged to do so, she was pleased and grateful, especially as I had had to go out into the rain to do it. ‘I knew, of course,’ she said, ‘that Baxter would settle that all right, and so I have been making my arrangements. But there is one favor I want you to grant me: I don’t want you to ask me anything about how I am going to manage matters. I don’t want to deceive you in any possible way, and so if you do not ask me any questions it will make it easier for me.’

“‘Very good,’ I replied; ‘and I shall ask a similar favor of you.’

“‘All right,’ said Anita. ‘And now that matter is settled.’

“The prophecies of the weather were correct. The next day, Wednesday, it rained, and it also rained on Thursday and Friday; but on Saturday it looked as if it might clear in the afternoon.

“‘I am not going to-day,’ said Anita. ‘I have been working very hard lately, and to-morrow I will take a good rest, and we will start in on Monday.’

“Baxter was very glad of the four days of delay occasioned by the stormy weather, and said that without working on Sunday he could finish everything to his satisfaction. I went down to the cot the next day to see how he was getting on; but Anita asked me no questions, and I asked none of her. I had never known her to be so continuously occupied. As I stood with Baxter in front of the cottage, where there was a fine view of the surrounding country, I asked him how much land he had thought it desirable to purchase.

“‘Over there,’ he said, ‘I bought just beyond that range of trees, about half a mile, I should say. But to the west a little more, just skirting the highroad. To the north I bought to the river, which is three quarters of a mile. But over there to the south I included that stretch of forest-land which extends to the foot-hills of the mountains; the line must be about a mile from here.’

“‘That is a very large tract,’ said I. ‘How did you manage to buy it so quickly?’

“‘I had nine real-estate agents here on Thursday morning,’ he replied, ‘and the sales were all consummated this morning. They all went to work at once, each on a separate owner. We bought for cash, and no one knew his neighbor was selling.’

“I laughed, and asked him how he was going to keep this big estate private for our use. ‘We want to wander free, you know, anywhere and everywhere.’

“‘That is what I thought,’ said he, ‘and that is why I took in such a variety of scenery. Nobody will interfere with you. There will be no inhabited house on the place except your own, and I am putting up a fence of chicken-yard wire around the whole estate. There is nothing like chicken-yard wire. It is six feet high and very difficult to climb over, and it is also troublesome to cut.’

“I exclaimed in amazement: ‘That will take a long time!’

“‘I have contracted to have it done by Saturday morning,’ replied Baxter. ‘The train with the wire fence and posts is scheduled to arrive here at eleven o’clock to-night, and work will begin immediately. Paulo Montani, the Italian boss who has worked for me before, has taken this contract, and will put twelve hundred men on.’