Fanny turned upon him indignantly. “Yes. You don’t mean to say! Well, you’ll have to get over those notions. I suppose you got ’em at college. Dad’ll make you put on overalls and begin at the bottom. Oh, dad’s awfully thorough.” Guy considered the matter. “How much would he give me?” “Lots of fellows begin at three dollars a week,” said Fanny. Guy looked at her reproachfully. “Perhaps through influence you may be able to get as much as ten.” Then Fanny went on: “Now, look here. Dad’s always been sorry that I wasn’t a boy, so that I could take the business, and all that. But I guess I’ll take it, all the same. Only you’ll be my representative. See? After you’ve learned how to run things, dad may put you in charge of the New York office. Won’t it be grand? We’ll have a box at the opera and we’ll--” Fanny stopped. Her aunt stood at the door. “Oh, auntie, how much does it cost to keep house in New York?” Helen Briggs smiled. “That depends.” “On what?” “On whether you live in a house or an apartment--on the way you live--on a thousand things.” “To live well, I mean. How much does this house cost a year?” “The rent is three thousand.” Fanny grew limp. “Ugh!” she cried, shuddering. “But of course there are plenty of smaller houses much cheaper,” Helen added. “It’s an awfully expensive place, New York, isn’t it?” said Fanny, with a plaintive glance at Guy. “Yes, awfully,” Helen smiled. “It makes Ashburnham seem almost attractive, doesn’t it?” Fanny went on. Helen looked up suspiciously. “What do you want to know all these things for?” “Oh!” Fanny turned away inconsequently. Then she faced her aunt again. “You couldn’t possibly live _well_ on twenty dollars a week, could you?” “No; not possibly,” Helen replied, with a smile. “I don’t see how so many people can afford to get married,” said Fanny ruefully. XVI When Douglas Briggs returned to the library he wore the cheerful look of the man who has just accomplished a difficult task. “Well, I got those fellows off at last,” he said. “Who were they, Uncle Doug?” Briggs smiled grimly. “They were gentlemen who are commonly known as heelers. And they called to let me know that I hadn’t been quite generous enough to them.” Fanny looked mystified. Her eyes blinked. “How generous?” “I hadn’t secured enough places for their friends--jobs.” Fanny glanced dolefully at Guy. Then her eyes turned toward her uncle. “It’s awful hard to get a job just now, isn’t it?” she asked, pathetically. “Is it?” said Briggs, in a tone of surprise. “Do you know of anybody that wants one?” “Yes, I do,” Fanny replied. “But he’s going to get it all right,” she added, with confidence. Briggs extended both hands. “If there’s anything I can do--” he said, with a shrug of the shoulders. “No. I guess you have trouble enough. Oh, yes, you can do something nice--you can let Guy take me out for a drive.”