"It was my idea," put in Bill, conversationally.
"It certainly was, Bill!" Marvin went on. "And the new hotel is a big success! You see, the state line runs right through the middle of the house—through the center of the lobby, in fact! There are two separate desks, one on the California side and one on the Nevada side. Women began to arrive, and they all wanted rooms on the Nevada side—and they wanted them for six months!"
Harper roared with laughter. "The Reno divorce brigade!" he exclaimed.
Bill fairly beamed at the attention his affairs were drawing. He sat down on the corner of the table and grinned at Harper, while Marvin went on:
"Exactly! Everybody knows what a woman goes to Reno for, but at Bill's hotel she can get a room on the Nevada side and still make her friends believe that she is at a California resort!"
Again Harper laughed. "A corking good business idea!" he said. "And so it was your idea, Mr. Jones? I congratulate you! I suppose you have been out West here a long time?"
"Sure—came out in the gold excitement," replied Bill, calmly.
Harper stole an amused glance at Marvin. "Why, the gold excitement was away back in forty-nine!"
"Well, they was still excited when I got here!" Bill gazed up at the ceiling, his half-shut eyes hiding their twinkle.
"It's too bad you didn't happen to be one of the lucky ones," Harper consoled him, arising from his chair.