His mouth twisted in a grim smile.
"Say, son," he said, "if I hadn't been so free with my proclamations about bein' your friend you and me would have a settlement for that little bit of talk.

The Emperor and me alike! Ugh!" The next afternoon he came in again and asked me to step outside the railing.

He had something to say to me, he declared.
We sat down together on the settee by the wall.
"Ros," he said, in a low tone, "have you had any new offer for your property?
Not from Colton or the town, but from anybody else ?" "No," I answered.

"What do you mean ?" "You ain't heard anything from a Boston firm claimin' to represent the Bay Shore Development Company, or some such ?" "No.

What sort of a company is that ?" "I don't know; that is, I don't know much about it.