THE HOUSE OF HAPPY HOURS 



149 



leisure hours that winter to studying 

 everything he could find on model villages, 

 and every phase of civic improvement, and 

 his determination once taken was final. 

 Mr. Waring, therefore, now following the 

 old gentleman's ideas instead of leading, 

 put them into beautiful drawings, and 

 made careful estimates of the cost of every 

 detail. 



On one or two occasions Mr. Tucker had 

 met and chatted pleasantly with the wife 

 of his architect, and admired the sweet- 

 mannered, bright-faced children, and it 

 soon became rather a customary thing for 

 him to drop in on them once or twice a 

 week, as they sat around their evening 

 lamp. His own life had never been 

 blessed by the softening influence of wife 

 or child, and such insight into family life 

 as had accidentally come to him, as he 

 was busy making his way through the 

 world, had left him no very pleasant im- 

 pression, -so the gentleness and closeness 

 of the AYarings to each other came to him 

 as a fascinating revelation. The rich, 

 lonely old man had so long bent his en- 

 ergies so closely and so strenuously to his 

 intense game of money-making that he had 

 almost forgotten that the greatest thing 

 in the world was for him as though it did 

 not exist. Love in all its loveliness drew 

 him there, and though he went away 

 doubly lonely, he did not try to keep away, 

 for he was always pleasantly welcomed, 

 and the gentle dignity of the Warings won 

 from himL a deep respect which it was a 

 pleasure for him to experience. 



As soon as the plans were fully com- 

 pleted the new houses went up rapidly. 

 Mr. Tucker's favor had proven a great 

 advertisement for Mr. Waring, and his 

 wife's clear eyes grew gladder and happier 

 daily as she saw his confidence coming 

 back to him, and his quiescent endurance 

 of the first weary months in Wimbledon 

 giving place to elasticity and enthusiasm 

 in his work. She and the children watched 

 every phase of the growth of the Exten- 

 sion, with almost a proprietary interest, 

 and many were the consultations they held 



with Mr. Tucker as to the relative merits 

 of different woodland trees to be set along 

 the new streets. 



The new little dooryards were smoothly 

 sodded with Bermuda grass as soon as the 

 work on the houses permitted the use of 

 the space, and Mr. Tucker drove and 

 walked constantly about the suburb which 

 was to bear his name, his pride in it con- 

 stantly increasing as he watched it grow 

 more and more attractive. 



One day he said to Mrs. Waring, "You 

 must take vour choice of the cottages. I 



ONE OF THE NEW COTTAGES 



am getting letters about them every day, 

 and from present indications they will all 

 be taken by the time they are finished." 



Mrs. Waring hesitated before replying, 

 for she had been tempted to exchange their 

 place of abode for one of the beautiful 

 little places, which, although they would 

 make the rent higher, were so convenient 

 and attractive. She at last made up her 

 mind to stay where they were, hoping in 

 this way to get the sooner into a home of 

 their OAvn, for in spite of her acceptance 

 of conditions, blood and tradition were too. 

 strong for her to relinquish her dream of 

 a home until she saw that there was no 

 possibility of its coming to pass. 



"I do not think we will want to make a 

 change, Mr. Tucker," she said at last. 



"What !" he exclaimed, "ilfter the in- 

 terest you have taken ? The interest, I feel 



