“Mr. Stanwood is giving us a new clubhouse in memory of his wife, because she was the first president of the club, you know. She started it. You knew that, didn’t you?”

“Why, no, did she? That was before I moved to the city, you know,” said Mrs. Brent. “But she was still president when I first joined. I remember her. She was lovely, wasn’t she? And then she was ill a long time before she died, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, she was ill for a year, suffered terribly, and kept her part of the work going just as long as possible. She was wonderful! And it seems Mr. Stanwood has just heard that we have been talking about trying to enlarge our clubhouse, and he came forward yesterday just right out of the blue and offered to give us a new clubhouse, root and branch!”

“Wasn’t that wonderful!” exclaimed Mrs. Brent gushingly.

Thurlow Reed held his breath and listened.

“It certainly was! And it wasn’t just talk. He had some good suggestions to make. It seems he has felt for a long time that we needed a larger auditorium, and he suggested that we purchase one of the old residences on Regent Street”—Thurlow Reed almost shouted aloud then, for Regent Street was where the Reeds lived—“and use the residence for club rooms and so on,” went on the well-modulated voice of the white-haired lady, “and build the right kind of an auditorium in front of it—”

“How ideal!” said Mrs. Brent. “Wouldn’t that Lockwood place be wonderful? It’s far enough back from the street to leave plenty of room for a good big auditorium with a terrace in front, which is all the lawn you would want in a clubhouse.”

“Exactly,” said the older woman complacently.” We thought of that at once, of course, being vacant as it is, and I called up the agent who has charge of it, but it seems it was willed to the daughters who live in California and they are not willing to sell. They want to keep the old homestead, as they expect to return someday and live there themselves. We even went to the extent of telegraphing, but their reply was quite decided. They wouldn’t sell at any price. In fact, they can’t till the younger daughter comes of age, which won’t be for two years yet, so that was final for us, of course. We want to get something right away.”

“Oh, Mrs. Steele, isn’t that too bad? That would have been ideal! But of course there are other pretty places right along there. There will surely be something on that block.”

“Not for sale, I’m afraid,” sighed Mrs. Steele, shaking her head. “We’ve gone over that whole block. The owners are all living in their homes, it seems, and one can’t just go and ring a doorbell and ask people if they won’t get out and sell you their home. Besides, one would have to pay more that way, and we can’t really pay much for the property, because that would take away too much from the auditorium building. The gift was”—she lowered her voice and mentioned the sum given under her breath so that Thurlow couldn’t be sure of the exact sum, but he distinctly heard the next sentence—“so that we could scarcely afford to pay more than twelve or fourteen thousand for the lot and whatever buildings it contained. We really ought not to pay more than twelve, of course, but we might stretch a point if it was in the right location. In fact, I think we would have given more for that Lockwood place if we could have gotten it. Its location is so central and so desirable.”

Thurlow sat there fairly weak with astonishment and fearsome delight.