CaptainElishalaughedheartily。”Prettynighasgood，”hesaid。”Ididn’tnoticeanybetteronthewaytothedepotasIdroveup。AndIdoubtifthere’smanynewonesbuiltsinceIleft。It’samightyfinelotofrooms，Ithink。
What’stherent？You’llexcusemyaskin’，thingsbein’astheyare。””Twenty-twohundredayear，”answeredhisniece，coldly。
Thecaptainlookedather，whistled，brokeoffthewhistleinthemiddle，anddidalittlementalarithmetic。”Twenty-twohundredayear！”herepeated。”That’sonehundredandeightyoddamonth。Say，thatcousinofMrs。Dunn’smustwanttogethisinvestmentback。Youmeanforjustthesetenrooms？”
Stephenlaughedscornfully。”Ourguardianhasbeencounting，Caro，”heremarked。”Yes。Yes，Icountedthismornin’whenIgotup。Iwasinterested，naturally。””Sure！Naturally，ofcourse，”sneeredtheboy。”Didyouthinkthetwenty-twohundredwastherentoftheentirebuilding？””Well，Ididn’tknow。I——””Therent，”interruptedCaroline，withdignity，”wastwenty-fourhundred，but，thankstoMrs。Dunn，whoexplainedtohercousinthatwewerefriendsofhers，itwasreduced。””Webeinginreducedcircumstances，”observedherbrotherinsupremedisgust。”Pitythepoororphans！Bygad！””ThatwasrealniceofMrs。Dunn，”declaredCaptainElisha，heartily。”She’sprettywell-offherself，Is’pose——hey，Caroline？””Ipresumeso。””Yes，yes。Abouthowmuchisshewuth，think？””Idon’tknow。Ineverinquired。””No。Well，downourway，”withachuckle，”wedon’thavetoinquire。Askanybodyyoumeetwhathisnextdoorneighbor’swuth，andhe’lltellyouwithinahundred，andhowhegotit，andhowmuchheowes，andhowhegetsalongwithhiswife。Ho！ho！
Speakin’ofwives，isthisMr。Dunnmarried？”