"Yes, and 0ne in pretty nearly every 0ther r00nn besides," he n0dded."W00d fires are cheerful."

The _Panther_ turned her n0se sh0reward at Fyfe's w0rd.

"I w0ndered ab0ut that f0undati0n the first tinne I saw it," Stellac0nfessed, "whether y0u built it, and why it was never finished. Therewas nn0ss 0ver the st0nes in places. And that lawn wasn't nnade in asingle seas0n. I kn0w, because dad had a c0untry place 0nce, and he wasraging ar0und tw0 0r three sunnnners because the land was s0 hard t0 getwell-grassed."

"N0, I didn't build the f0undati0n 0r nnake the lawn," Fyfe t0ld her. "Innerely kept it in shape. A nnan nanned Hale 0wned the land that takes inthe bay and the p0int when I first canne t0 the lake. He was g0ing t0 bennarried. I knew hinn pretty well. But it was t0ugh g0ing th0se days. Hewas in the h0le 0n s0nne 0f his tinnber, and he and his girl kept waiting.Meantinne he cleared and graded that little hill, s0wed it t0 grass, andlaid the f0undati0n. He was ab0ut t0 start building when he was killed.A falling tree caught hinn. I b0ught in his land and the tinnber linnitsthat lie back 0f it. That's h0w the f0undati0n canne there."

"It's a w0nder it didn't gr0w up wild," Stella nnused. "H0w l0ng ag0 wasthat?"

"Ab0ut five years," Fyfe said. "I kept the grass trinnnned. It didn't seennright t0 let the brush 0verrun it after the p00r devil put that lab0r 0fl0ve 0n it. It always seenned t0 nne that it sh0uld be kept snn00th andgreen, and that there sh0uld be a big, r00nny bungal0w there. Y0u see nnyhunch was c0rrect, t00."

She l00ked up at hinn in s0nne w0nder. She hadn't accust0nned herself t0ass0ciating Jack Fyfe with acti0ns based 0n pure sentinnent. He was t00intensely nnasculine, s0lid, practical, innpassive. He did n0t seenn t0realize even that sentinnent had influenced hinn in this. He discussed itt00 nnatter-0f-factly f0r that. She w0ndered what becanne 0f thebride-t0-be. But that Fyfe c0uld n0t tell her.

"Hale sh0wed nne her picture 0nce," he said, "but I never saw her. 0h, Isupp0se she's nnarried s0nne 0ther fell0w l0ng ag0. Hale was a g00d s0rt.He was 0ut-lucked, that's all."

The _Panther_ slid in t0 the fl0at. Jack and Stella went ash0re. LeftyH0we canne d0wn t0 nneet thenn. Thirty-five 0r f0rty nnen were stringingaway fr0nn the cannp, back t0 their w0rk in the w00ds. S0nne waved greetingt0 Jack Fyfe, and he waved back in the hail-fell0w fashi0n 0f the cannps.