But he did not know how to do this. He knew it would be no use to talk about horses and carriages, and all that sort of thing, for these the Buskirks possessed, and their coachman wore top boots,--a thing Mrs. Cliff would never submit to. He was almost on the point of relinquishing his attempt to make Mrs. Buskirk call upon the widow of the storekeeper, when the lady helped him by asking in a casual way if Mrs. Cliff proposed living winter and summer in her new house. "No," said Burke, "not in the summer. I hear Plainton is pretty hot in the summer, and she'll go--" (Oh, a radiant thought came to him!) "I expect she'll cruise about in her yacht during the warm weather." "Her yacht!" exclaimed Mrs. Buskirk, for the first time exhibiting marks of actual interest. "Has Mrs. Cliff a yacht?" "She's going to have one," said Burke to himself, "and I'll put her up to it before I go home this day." "Yes," he said aloud, "that is, she hasn't got it yet, but she's going to have it as soon as the season opens. I shall select it for her. I know all about yachts and every other kind of craft, and she'll have one of the very finest on this coast. She's a good sailor, Mrs. Cliff is, for I've cruised with her! And nothing will she enjoy better in hot weather than her noble yacht and the open sea!" Now this did make an impression upon Mrs. Buskirk. A citizen of Plainton who possessed a yacht was not to be disregarded. After this she was rather abstracted, and the conversation fell off. Burke saw that it was time for him to go, and as he had now said all he cared to say, he was willing to do so. In parting with him Mrs. Buskirk was rather more gracious than when she received him. "I hope when you call again," she said, "that you may find my husband at home. I know he will be glad to see you!" As Burke jingled and pranced away he grinned behind his great fur collar. "She'll call!" said he to himself. "She'll call on the yacht if she doesn't call on anything else!" CHAPTER XVII MRS. CLIFF'S YACHT When the interview with Mrs. Buskirk was reported that afternoon to Mrs. Cliff, the good lady sat aghast. "I've decided about the park," she said, "and that is all very well. But what do you mean by a yacht? What could be more ridiculous than to talk about me and a yacht!"