"Why, on the folks that don't come here. If Tamawaca was double the size, I'd make double the money, wouldn't I? But it's a small place, you see, and no man's so energetic that he can get more than there is. So I work every season just to accommodate the people. When you've been here a little while you'll find that out. I'll cash your checks, lend you money, run your errands, settle your quarrels with your wife, reconcile your hired girl to sleeping in the basement and play blind-man's-buff with your children. That's Wilder--everybody's friend but his own, and too honest for his own good." "Indeed, Mr. Wilder," said Jarrod, "I can see already that you are a remarkable man. What could Tamawaca do without you?" "That's it! Why, dear boy, it would bust higher than Guilderoy's kite! That's why I take such good care of my health. But here we are at Lake View. Behold your future home!" Jarrod liked the place. It was high enough to command an outlook upon the lake and to catch every breeze, yet not too high for an ordinary climb. "What's the price?" he asked. "Just step inside and see the rooms. It's magnificently furnished." "What do you ask for the place?" "There's a fine pump in the back yard and a sideboard in the dining room." "How much?" "It was painted only this spring and everything's in apple-pie order. Just step inside." Jarrod sat down on the steps. "I'll give you a thousand dollars for it," he said. "My dear boy, the lot alone's worth fifteen hundred." "Is the cottage on the lot?" "Why do you ask?" "It don't look it." "Never mind that. I'll sell you the lot and the cottage. If the house isn't on the lot it's somewhere in the neighborhood, and no one's going to ask any questions." "Why not?" "Because they daren't. They're all in the same boat. There hasn't been a surveyor allowed in Tamawaca for ages. When a man wants to build, he buys a lot of me an' Easton an' then hunts for the lot. If he thinks he's found it, he's lucky. If there don't appear to be a lot where he thinks it ought to be, he just builds his cottage and takes the chances." "All right," said Jarrod. "I'll take my chances. How much for Lake View?" "Well, dear boy, I've taken a liking to you, and so I'm willing to sacrifice. I'll pay good money to get you here as a resident. But it's a dreadful shame to think how property's advanced here lately. I've tried to keep it down, but I can't. Here's a case, though, where I can forget high prices and be generous. You can have Lake View for four thousand dollars." "What!" "And I'll trust to luck to keep Nora and me out o' the poor-house." Jarrod reflected. "I'll give you two thousand," he said. "Then it's yours. Do you want to go in and look around, or shall we walk back and get your wife and children, so they can begin to enjoy their new home?" "We'll go back," said Jarrod, wondering to what extent he had been bled. "I'll have plenty of chances to see the inside of my cottage later."