So they went on, Ben giving comfort and Bob taking it; and then they made a few alterations in the arrangement of the furniture, and they tried the effect of the table-cloth and the lamp-shade, and Bob put a few flowers in the vase, and stood at the door to see how everything looked. “Will it smile to her, will it smile to her, I wonder?” he said, anxiously. “Of course it will,” said Ben, also stepping back to see the whole effect. “That lamp-shade and that table-cloth and that vase and that toasting-fork settle the whole matter, in my mind!” “If there were only some nice neighbours,” said Robert Strafford. “But there isn’t a soul within six miles.” “You are surely forgetting the deaf lady with the ear-trumpet,” remarked Ben, mischievously. “Don’t be a fool, Ben,” said Robert Strafford, shortly. “She is not exactly a stimulating companion,” continued Ben, composedly, “but she is better than no one at all. And then there’s myself. I also am better than no one at all. I don’t think you do so badly after all, in spite of your grumblings. Then eight miles off live Lauderdale and Holles and Graham. Since Jesse Holles returned from his travels, they are as merry a little company as you would wish to see anywhere.” “Hilda is so fond of music,” said Robert Strafford, sadly, “and I have no piano for her as yet.” “That is soon remedied,” answered Ben. “But why didn’t you tell me these things before? The ear-trumpet lady has a piano, and I daresay with a little coaxing she would lend it to you. I’m rather clever at coaxing through a trumpet; moreover, she rather likes me. I have such a gentle voice, you know, and I believe my moustache is the exact reproduction of one owned by her dead nephew! Her dead nephew certainly must have had an uncommonly fine moustache! Well, about the piano. I’ll see what I can do; and meanwhile, for pity’s sake, cheer up.” He put his hand kindly on his friend’s shoulders. “Yes, Bob, I mean what I say,” he continued; “for pity’s sake, cheer up, and don’t be receiving her ladyship with the countenance of a boiled ghost. That will depress her far more than anything in poor old California. Be your old bright self again, and throw off all these misgivings. You’ve just worked yourself out, and you ought to have taken a month’s holiday down the coast. You would have come back as strong as a jack-rabbit and as chirpy as a little horned toad.” “Oh, I shall be all right,” said Robert Strafford; “and you’re such a brick, Ben. You’ve always been good to me. I’ve been such a sullen cur lately. But for all that--”