XXXIVIt seemed to Ase that Nat’s plans went forward over the years as though he worked steadily at a difficult jig-saw puzzle. Nat’s confidence in the Pacific Northwest was justified. He poured his earnings back into his various businesses and projects. He found himself occasionally over-extended, strapped for cash, stretching his credit, but it was at these times as if a piece in the puzzle refused to fit for the moment only. He found its proper place shortly, and the design took shape, having been definitive from the beginning.
He and Arent lived as bachelors. He sent for ’Melie before she had quite completed her course in home economics.
“I’ll always handle the budget,” he wrote, “and if Ma hasn’t taught you to cook by now, you’re hopeless. Anyway, it won’t be long before the big hous
