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184 outcome was so certain, he had gone ahead in the most sanguine way, enlarging his offices and his office force; Avalon had never before known anything like his establishment, part of which was fitted up more like the luxurious apartments of a wealthy dilettante than as a hard-working architect's "shop." He had reached out for more draughtsmen and had raised salaries in a manner that taxed the patience and resources of his brother architects. His theory, which he talked over with his father-in-law, was that if one started in a big way, work in a big way would come; and as he had the money to spare and was not dependent on his profession for a living, he wished to make the experiment. Mr. Dunbar agreed that this was good business. So Stewart continued the methods which he regarded as enterprising and the other architects as ostentatious; Bennett nodded to him coldly in the club, for Bennett was jealous and resented this attempt on the part of a younger to oust him by mere hue and outcry from his hard-won position of eminence. And when in the same day Bennett heard that Henry Maxwell had asked Lee to draw plans for his new office building and that Mrs. "Tom" Dowling had commissioned him to build her a house, he closed his office early and went home to his wife indignant and depressed. After years of hard work and close economy he had attained the state of keeping three servants and a horse; and in his gloom he believed that he had tasted of luxury only to have it dashed wantonly from his lips. It was pretty disheartening to have young millionaires invade the profession, become the fashion, and throw their money round for sport—driving the old and experienced architects to the wall.

Hugh Farrell's house was finished, to the great delight of the owner and the envy of some of his friends. It was a small Colonial house of red brick with white trimmings and an air of miniature elegance; within it had hardwood floors and oak wainscotings, tiled fireplaces, and carefully designed mantels—"all as good as the best," Letty said