"Oh!" she said with indrawn breath, when she had asked me how to write twenty-five thousand dollars, "I never expected to be able to sign my name to a check for such an amount." "You never will again, I fear," was my sad prophecy. "It must feel rich," said Beth, "just to have a large check pass through your fingers." "Them Three" came the nearest to tears that they were able to do. "We worked so hard for it," they sighed. "So did I!" muttered Huldah. "I couldn't live a double life," declared Silvia. CHAPTER XVIII _In Which I Decide on Extreme Measures_ Everyone in our house, which was now filled to overflowing--in fact, there were Polydores on sofas and in beds on the floor--save Silvia and myself, was on the alert for a response to the letter during the succeeding few days. Knowing Uncle Issachar, we felt sure he would make no response, or notice the matter in any way save to cash the check promptly. The monotony was somewhat relieved by the difficulties under which Beth and Rob were pursuing their courtship. On the third evening succeeding our return, Silvia and I started upstairs early to give them a chance to have the exclusive use of the library, the Polydores having all been sent to bed. As we were making some plausible excuse for going to our room, Beth remarked with a smile: "Your motive in retiring so early is commendable, but of no particular benefit to Rob and me. The Polydores, like the poor, we always have with us." "I saw that every one of them except Ptolemy was in bed at eight o'clock last night and the night before," said Silvia. "You don't mean to tell me--" "Yes, I do mean," laughed Beth. "Not Ptolemy, though. He has become too dignified to spy on us, but last night as we sat here on the settee, we heard a suppressed sneeze, and Rob pulled Emerald from underneath." "How in the world did he ever squeeze under there?" I asked, gazing at the slight space between the floor and settee. [Illustration: "We heard a suppressed sneeze, and Rob pulled Emerald from underneath."] "He did look a little flattened, as if he had been put in a letter press," said Rob. "I gave him a dime to go to bed and stay there. Beth and I had just resumed our conversation when a still, small voice said: 'I'll go to bed for a dime, too.' I then hauled Demetrius from behind the davenport." "And the night before," said Beth, "when we were sitting on the porch, Pythagoras rolled off the roof, where he had been listening to us, and came down into the vines." "Now I'll stop that," I declared. "I'll tie them in their beds and lock the doors and windows." "No," refused Rob. "I'd like to try to circumvent them by their own weapons of wits. I have a little plan which I don't dare whisper to you lest their long-range ears get in their work. We are just about to start for a walk." "In this pouring rain!" protested Silvia. "We like the rain," he replied, "and we--are not going far."