"So you intend to stay up there all summer?" in the same half playful, half sneering tone.
"No, dear; I intend to buy a tract of land and build a house, or camp, that will house you properly."
This last came as a distinct shock, but she did not waver.
"And your decision is final, I suppose," she returned, as she readjusted her rings. "And when will this be?" she added.
"As soon as I can get the title deeds—not later than a month at the outside. Would you like me to tell you about the country?"
She shrugged her shoulders, raising herself among the pillows.
"No, I shouldn't know anything more about it."
"But you haven't the slightest idea what Big Shanty Brook is like," he said with conviction—"a superb wilderness, an unbroken forest. Imagine a—"
She raised her hand with a bored little laugh.
"Now, Sam, dear, don't," she protested. "I hate long descriptions of places; besides, I can imagine it perfectly—a muddy old stream with a lot of sad looking trees sticking about in a wilderness miles away from any human being anyone in his or her right mind would ever care to see. As for your Holcomb and the other two tramps, they would simply bore me to death."