Alpha Book

"So this is the House that Boots built!" he said.
"Phil! It's a dream!"
"Yes--a bad one. What the devil do you mean by clearing out? What do you
want with a house, anyhow?--you infernal idiot!"
"A house? Man, I've always wanted one! I've dreamed of a dinky little
house like this--dreamed and ached for it there in Manila--on blistering
hikes, on wibbly-wabbly gunboats--knee-deep in sprouting rice--I've
dreamed of a house in New York like this! slopping through the steaming
paddy-fields, sweating up the heights, floundering through smelly hemp,
squatting by green fires at night! always, always I've longed for a
home of my own. Now I've got it, and I'm the happiest man on Manhattan
Island!"
"O Lord!" said Selwyn, staring, "if you feel that way! You never said
anything about it--"
"Neither did you, Phil; but I bet you want one, too. Come now; don't
you?"
"Yes, I do," nodded Selwyn; "but I can't afford one yet"--his face
darkened--"not for a while; but," and his features cleared, "I'm
delighted, old fellow, that _you_ have one.


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