They stared at her stunned. Even Leila tore her adoring eyes from Barry's face, and fixed them on the girl who made this astounding statement.
"Mary," Aunt Frances gasped, "do you meant that you are going to take—lodgers——?"
"Only one, Aunt Frances. And he's perfectly respectable. I advertised and he answered, and he gave me a bank reference."
"He. Mary, is it a man?"
Mary nodded. "Of course. I should hate to have a woman fussing around. And I set the rent for the suite at exactly the amount I shall need to take me through this year, and he was satisfied."
She turned and picked up a printed slip from the table.
"This is the way I wrote my ad," she said, "and I had twenty-seven answers. And this seemed the best——"
"Twenty-seven!" Aunt Frances held out her hand. "Will you let me see what you wrote to get such remarkable results?"
Mary handed it to her, and through the diamond-studded lorgnette Aunt Frances read:
"To let: Suite of two rooms and bath; with Gentleman's Library. House on top of a high hill which overlooks the city. Exceptional advantages for a student or scholar."