"Don't you want to sell?" said I. "Wanter buy?" said he. "I might," said I. "I might," he answered. There was not the slightest expression of mirth on his face. The professor did not know whether to laugh or not. But I laughed. I was born of Yankee stock. "How about water?" I asked, becoming very practical. "Well," he said, "thet never dried up. Town main comes down the ro'd yander, from the Slab City reservoar. You kin tap thet if well water hain't good enough fer ye." "Bathrooms?" I suggested. The old man spat again. "Brook makes a pool sometimes down yander," he replied, jerking his thumb. "Suppose we take a look into the house?" suggested the professor. The old man moved languidly from the door. As he stepped, his old black trouser leg pulled up over his shoe top, and we saw that he wore no stockings. He paused in front of the motor car. "How much did thet benzine buggy cost?" he asked. "Four thousand dollars," said the owner. The gray eyes darted a look into the professor's face; then they became enigmatic. "Powerful lot o' money," he mused, moving on. "Whar's yourn?" he added to me. "If I had one of those, I couldn't have your farm," said I. He squinted shrewdly. "Dunno's yer kin, anyway, do ye?" was his reply. He now led us into the kitchen. We saw the face of the old lady peering at us from the "butt'ry." A modern range was backed up against a huge, old-fashioned brick oven, no longer used. A copper pump, with a brass knob on the curved handle, stood at one end of the sink--"Goes ter the well," said Milt. The floor was of ancient, hardwood planking, now worn into polished ridges. A door led up a low step into the main house, which consisted, downstairs, of two rooms, dusty and disused, to the left, and two similar rooms, used as bedrooms, to the south (all four containing fireplaces), and a hall, where a staircase with carved rail led to the hall above, flanked by four chambers, each with its fireplace, too. Over the kitchen was a long, unfinished room easily converted into a servant's quarters. Secretly pleased beyond measure at the excellent preservation of the interior, I kept a discreet silence, and with an air of great wisdom began my inspection of the farm.