"I suggested a brewery to supply the fountain," said Arthur, looking over, "and that he might work out even by selling the surplus beer. There were difficulties, of course; if he supplied the fountain with beer, nobody would buy it in bottles. Then it was proposed to sell the surplus beer to the neighboring towns. But with the fountain playing in Kimberly, these would pretty certainly be depopulated. Per contra, it was figured that this might operate to raise the price of his Kimberly lots. But while we were working the thing out for him, what do you think happened?"
"Fancy," murmured Imogene, "and named Kimberly!"
"Oh, it is running; he put in the water-works."
"Generous!" echoed Hamilton. "Don’t be deceived, Mrs. MacBirney. You should see what he charges them for water. I should think it would be on his conscience, if he has one. He is Jupiter with the frogs. Whatever they ask, he gives them. But when they get it--how they do get it!"
"Don’t believe Doctor Hamilton, Mrs. MacBirney," said Robert Kimberly. "I stand better with my Western friends than I do with these cynical Easterners. And if my town will only drink up the maintenance charges, I am satisfied."
"The percentage of lime in the water he supplies is something fierce," persisted the doctor. "It is enough to kill off the population every ten years. I suggested a hospital."
"But didn’t Mr. MacBirney tell me they have a sugar factory there?" asked Alice.
"They have," said De Castro. "One of Robert’s chemists was out there once trying to analyze the taxes. Incidentally, he brought back some of the soil, thinking there might be something in it to account for the tax mania. And behold, he found it to be fine for sugar beets! Irrigation ditches and a factory were put in. You should see how swell they are out there now."
"Robert has had all kinds of resolutions from the town," said Fritzie.
Kimberly turned to Alice to supplement the remark. "Quite true, I _have_ had all kinds--they are strong on resolutions. But lately these have been less sulphurous."
"Well, isn’t it odd? My father’s ranch once extended nearly all the way from Piedmont to the very town you are speaking of!" exclaimed Alice.
Kimberly looked at her with interest. "Was that really yours--the big ranch north of Kimberly?"