It was an absorbing task, they did not hurry it.

Not until the following afternoon, in fact, did they finally make their selections, and then they were guided almost wholly by the good taste of their guest.

Gray did not exploit them.

On the contrary, his effort was to limit their extravagance; but in this he had little success, for Pa Briskow had decided to indulge his generous impulses to the full and insisted upon so doing.

The check he finally wrote was one of five figures.
By this time the visitor had become aware of arousing a queer reaction in Allegheny Briskow.