"So it seems," replied Jane.
"But—'it must have cost a lot of money."
"Isn't the Professor rich?" inquired Josie O'Gorman, who was present and had listened quietly to the conversation.
"I-don't-know," answered Mary Louise, and the other girls forbore to answer more definitely.
That evening, however, Josie approached the subject when she and Mary Louise were sitting quietly at home and the conversation more confidential.
"The Dyers," explained her friend, "were not very prosperous until the Professor got the appointment as superintendent of schools. He was a teacher in a boys' school for years, on a small salary, and everyone was surprised when he secured the appointment."
"How did it happen?" asked Josie.
Mary Louise looked across at her grandfather.
"How did it happen, Gran'pa Jim?" she repeated.
The old colonel lowered his book.