"What is your opinion of the Lattimore & Great Western, Mr. Barslow?" he asked.
"I cannot say that I have any," I answered, "except that its construction would bring great good to Lattimore."
"It could scarcely fail," said he, "to bring in two or three systems which we now lack, could it?"
I very sincerely said that I did not know. After a few more questions concerning our plans for the future, Mr. Giddings vanished into the night, silently, as an autumn leaf parting from its bough. I thought of him no more until I unfolded the _Herald_ in the morning as we sat at breakfast, and saw that my interview was made a feature of the day's news.
"Mr. Albert F. Barslow," it read, "of the firm of Elkins & Barslow, is stopping at the Centropolis. He arrived by the 6:15 train last evening, and with his family has taken a suite of rooms pending the erection of a residence. They have not definitely decided as to the location of their new home; but it may confidently be stated that they will build something which will be a notable addition to the architectural beauties of Lattimore--already proud of her title, the City of Homes."
"I am very glad to know about this," said Alice.
"Your man Giddings has nerve, whatever else he may lack," said I to the smiling Elkins across the table. "Am I obliged to make good all these representations? I ask, that I may know the rules of the game, merely."
"One rule is that you mustn't deny any accusations of future magnificence, for two reasons: they may come true, and they help things on. You are supposed to have left your modesty in cold storage somewhere. Read on."
"Mr. Barslow," I read, "has long been a most potent political factor in his native state, but is, first of all, a business man. He brings his charming young wife--"
"Really, a most discriminating journalist," interjected Alice.
"--and social circles, as well as the business world, will find them a most desirable accession to Lattimore's population."
"Why this is absolute, slavish devotion to facts," said Jim; "where does the word-painting come in?"
"Mr. Barslow is some years under middle age, and looks the intense modern business man in every feature. His mind seems to have already become saturated with the conception of the enormous possibilities of Lattimore. He impresses those who have met him as one of the few men capable of pulling his share in double harness with James R. Elkins."