“Anywhere out of the world.”
Mr. Thomas Harmon submerged himself in thought and came up bearing a pearl of great price.
“Keno! I’ve got it. Refuges furnished to order. You’ve never been to my place in the mountains, have you?”
“No.”
“Boulder Brook on Lake Quam. Plumb in the dead center of nowhere. Thirteen miles from a railroad. Fishing and hunting on the premises.”
“Reads like a real-estate man’s prospectus,” observed Remsen.
“This year,” pursued Harmon, “I’m keeping open house for a special reason. Two fellows I know are getting married to-morrow. It’s a double wedding. It’s also a double honeymoon. But they aren’t onto that yet.” Harmon’s clear brown eyes twinkled. “One half won’t know how the other half lives till they get there. I’ve loaned the place to both couples for a fortnight. It’s a dead secret. Neither couple knows where the other is going. They’re on oath.”
“They won’t thank you when they meet across the dinner-table.”
“Oh, it isn’t as bad as that. They’ll be a mile apart. The Lees will be at the cottage. They get off at Meredith and go in on the truck. The Woods I’m sending to the Island. They climb out at Ashland and go over by boat. Unless they all happen to take the same train, one pair won’t even know the other is around until they meet up on the lake or in the woods.”
“Sounds like a party.”