CHAPTER VI.

I am Inducted into the Cave, and Enlist.

"Here's the cave," said Jim, at the door of his office, next morning.

"As prospective joint-proprietor and co-malefactor, I bid you welcome."

The smiles with which the employees resumed their work indicated that

the extraordinary character of this welcome was not lost upon them. The

office was on the ground-floor of one of the more pretentious buildings

of Lattimore's main street. The post-office was on one side of it, and

the First National Bank on the other. Over it were the offices of

lawyers and physicians. It was quite expensively fitted up; and the

plate-glass front glittered with gold-and-black sign-lettering. The

chairs and sofas were upholstered in black leather. On the walls hung

several decorative advertisements of fire-insurance companies, and maps

of the town, county, and state. Rolls of tracing-paper and blueprints

lay on the flat-topped tables, reminding one of the office of an

architect or civil engineer. A thin young man worked at books, standing

at a high desk; and a plump young woman busily clicked off typewritten

matter with an up-to-date machine.

"You'll find some books and papers on the table in the next room," said

Jim, as I finished my first look about. "I'll ask you to amuse yourself

with 'em for a little while, until I can dispose of my morning's mail;

after which we'll resume our hunt for resources. We haven't any morning

paper yet, and the evening _Herald_ is shipped in by freight and edited

with a saw. But it's the best we've got--yet."

He read his letters, ran his eyes over his newspapers and a magazine or

two, and dictated some correspondence, interrupted occasionally by

callers, some of whom he brought into the room where I was whiling away

the time, examining maps, and looking over out-of-date copies of the

local papers. One of these callers was Mr. Hinckley, the cashier of the

bank, who came to see about some insurance matters. He was spare,

aquiline, and white-mustached; and very courteously wished Lattimore the

good fortune of securing so valuable an acquisition as ourselves. It

would place Lattimore under additional obligations to Mr. Elkins, who

was proving himself such an effective worker in all public matters.

"Mr. Elkins," said he, "has to a wonderful degree identified himself

with the material progress of the city. He is constantly bringing here

enterprising and energetic business men; and we could better afford to

lose many an older citizen."

I asked Mr. Hinckley as to the length of his own residence in Lattimore.

"I helped to plat the town, sir," said he. "I carried the chain when

these streets were surveyed,--a boy just out of Bowdoin College. That

was in '55. I staged it for four hundred miles to get here. Aleck

Macdonald and I came together, and we've both staid from that day. The

Indians were camped at the mouth of Brushy Creek; and except for old

Pierre Lacroix, a squaw-man, we were for a month the only white men in

these parts. Then General Lattimore came with a party of surveyors, and

by the fall there was quite a village here."

Jim came in with another gentleman, whom he introduced as Captain

Tolliver. The Captain shook my hand with profuse politeness.

"I am delighted to see you, suh," said he. "Any friend of Mr. Elkins I

shall be proud to know. I heah that Mrs. Barslow is with you. I trust,

suh, that she is well?"

I informed him that my wife was in excellent health, being completely

recovered from the fatigue of her journey.

"Ah! this aiah, this aiah, Mr. Barslow! It is like wine in its

invigorating qualities, like wine, suh. Look at Mr. Hinckley, hyah,

doing the work of two men fo' a lifetime; and younge' now than any of

us. Come, suh, and make yo' home with us. You nevah can regret it.

Delighted to have you call at my office, suh. I am proud to have met

you, and hope to become better acquainted with you. I hope Mrs. Tulliver

and Mrs. Barslow may soon meet. Good-morning, gentlemen." And he hurried

out, only to reappear as soon as Mr. Hinckley was gone.

"By the way, Mr. Barslow," he whispered, "should you come to Lattimore,

as I have no doubt you will, I have some of the choicest residence

property in the city, which I shall be mo' than glad to show you. Title

perfect, no commissions to pay, city water, gas, and electric light in

prospect. Cain't yo' come and look it ovah now, suh?"

"Who is this Captain Tolliver, Jim," I asked as we went out of the

office together, "and what is he?"

"In other words, 'Who and what art thou, execrable shape?' Well, now,

don't ask me. I've known him for years; in fact, he suggested to me the

possibilities of this burg. In a way, the city is indebted to him for my

presence here. But don't ask me about him--study him. And don't buy lots

from him. The Captain has his failings, but he has also his strong

points and his uses; and I'll be mistaken if he isn't cast for a fairly

prominent part in the drama we're about to put on here. But don't spoil

your enjoyment by having him described to you. Let him dawn on you by

degrees."

That day I met most of the prominent men of the town. Jim took me into

the banks, the shops, and the offices of the leading professional

gentlemen. He informed them that I was considering the matter of coming

to live among them; and I found them very friendly, and much interested

in our proposed change of residence. They all treated Jim with respect,

and his manner toward them had a dignity which I had not looked for.

Evidently he was making himself felt in the community.

When we returned to the Centropolis at noon, we found Mrs. Trescott and

her daughter chatting with my wife. The elder woman was ill-groomed, as

are all women of her class in comparison with their town sisters, and

angular. I knew the type so well that I could read the traces of farm

cares in her face and form. The serving of gangs of harvesters and

threshers, the ever-recurring problems of butter, eggs, and berries, the

unflagging fight, without much domestic help, for neatness and order

about the house, had impressed their stamp upon Mrs. Trescott. But she

was chatting vivaciously, and assuring Mrs. Barslow that such a thing as

staying longer in town that morning was impossible.

"I can feel in my bones," said she, "that there's something wrong at the

farm."

"You always have that feeling," said her daughter, "as soon as you pass

outside the gate."

"And I'm usually right about it," said Mrs. Trescott. "It isn't any use.

My system has got into that condition in which I'm in misery if I'm off

that farm. Josie drags me away from it sometimes; and I do enjoy meeting

people! But I like to meet 'em out there the best; and I want to urge

you to come often, Mrs. Barslow, while you're here. And in case you move

here, I hope you'll like us and the farm well enough so that we'll see a

good deal of you."

I was presented to Mrs. Trescott, and reintroduced to the young lady,

with whom Alice seemed already on friendly terms. I was surprised at

this, for she was not prone to sudden friendships. There was something

so attractive in the girl, however, that it went far to explain the

phenomenon. For one thing, there was in her manner that same steadiness

and calm which I had noticed in her voice in the dusk last night. It

gave one the impression that she could not be surprised or startled,

that she had seen or thought out all possible combinations of events,

and knew of their sequences, or adjusted herself to things by some

all-embracing rule, by which she attained that repose of hers. The

surprising thing about it, to my mind, was to find this exterior in Bill

Trescott's daughter. I had seen the same thing once or twice in people

to whom I thought it had come as the fruit of wide experience in the

world.

While Miss Trescott was slim, and rather below the medium in height, she

was not at all thin; and had the great mass of ruddy dark hair and fine

brown eyes which I remembered so well, and a face which would have been

pale had it not been for the tan--the only thing about her which

suggested those occupations by which she became her father's "right-hand

man." There was intelligence in her face, and a grave smile in her eyes,

which rarely extended to her handsome mouth. If mature in face, form,

and manner, she was young in years--some years younger than Alice. I

hoped that she might stay to dinner; but she went away with her mother.

In her absence, I devoted some time to praising her. Jim failed to join

in my paeans further than to give a general assent; but he grew

unaccountably mirthful, as if something good had happened to him of

which he had not yet told us.

"I have invited a few people to my parlors this evening," said he, "and,

of course, you will be the guests of honor."

My wife demurred. She had nothing to wear, and even if she had, I was

without evening dress. The thing seemed out of the question.

"Oh, we can't let that stand in the way," said he. "So far as your own

toilet is concerned, I have nothing to say except that you are known to

be making a hurried visit, and I have an abiding faith, based on your

manner of stating your trouble, that it can be remedied. I saw your eye

take on a far-away look as you planned your costume, even while you were

declaring that you couldn't do it. Didn't I, now?"

"You certainly did not," said Alice; and then I noticed the absorbed

look myself. "But even if I can manage it, how about Albert?"

"I'll tell you about Albert. I'll bet two to one there won't be a suit

of evening clothes worn. The dress suit may come in here with street

cars and passenger elevators, but it lacks a good deal of being here

yet, except in the most sporadic and infrequent way. And this thing is

to be so absolutely informal that it would make the natives stare. You

wouldn't wear it if you had it, Al."

"Who will come?" said Mrs. Barslow.

"Oh, a couple of dozen ladies and gentlemen, business men and doctors

and lawyers and their women-folks. They'll stray in from eight to ten

and find something to eat on the sideboard. They'll have the happiness

of meeting you, and you can see what the people you are thinking of

living among and doing business with are like. It's a necessary part of

your visit; and you can't get out of it now, for I've taken the liberty

of making all the arrangements. And, as a matter of fact, you don't

want to do so, do you, now?"

Thus appealed to, Alice consented. Nothing was said to me about it, my

willingness being presumed.

The guests that evening were almost exclusively men whom I had met

during the day, and members of their families. In the absence of any

more engaging topic, we discussed Lattimore as our possible future home.

"I have always felt," said Mr. Hinckley, who was one of the guests,

"that this is the natural site of a great city. These valleys, centering

here like the spokes of a wheel, are ready-made railway-routes. In the

East there is a city of from fifty thousand to three times that, every

hundred miles or so. Why shouldn't it be so here?"

"Suh," said Captain Tolliver, "the thing is inevitable. Somewhah in this

region will grow up a metropolis. Shall it be hyah, o' at Fairchild, o'

Angus Falls? If the people of Lattimore sit supinely, suh, and let these

country villages steal from huh the queenship which God o'dained fo' huh

when He placed huh in this commandin' site, then, suh, they ah too base

to be wo'thy of the suhvices of gentlemen."

"I've always been taught," said Mrs. Trescott, "that the credit of

placing her in this site belonged to either Mr. Hinckley or General

Lattimore."

"Really," said Miss Addison to me, "I don't see how they can laugh at

such irreverence!"

"I think," said Miss Hinckley in my other ear, "that Mr. Elkins

expressed the whole truth in the matter of the rivalry of these three

towns, when he said that when two ride on a horse, one must ride behind.

Aren't his quotations so--so--illuminating?"

I looked about at the company. There were Mr. Hinckley, Mrs. Hinckley,

their daughter, whom I recognized as the splendid blonde whose pacers

had passed us when we were out driving, Mrs. Trescott and her daughter,

and Captain and Mrs. Tolliver. Those present were plainly of several

different sets and cliques. Mrs. Hinckley hoped that my wife would join

the Equal Rights Club, and labor for the enfranchisement of women. She

referred, too, to the eloquence and piety of her pastor, the

Presbyterian minister, while Mrs. Tolliver quoted Emerson, and invited

Alice to join, as soon as we removed, the Monday Club of the Unitarian

Church, devoted to the study of his works. Mr. Macdonald, red-whiskered,

weather-beaten, and gigantic, fidgeted about the punch-bowl a good deal;

and replying to some chance remark made by Alice, ventured the opinion

that the grass was gettin' mighty short on the ranges. Miss Addison, who

came with her cousins the Lattimores, looked with disapproval upon the

punch, and disclosed her devotion to the W. C. T. U. and the Ladies' Aid

Society of the Methodist Church. The Lattimores were Will Lattimore and

his wife. I learned that he was the son of the General, and Jim's

lawyer; and that they went rarely into society, being very exclusive.

This was communicated to me by Mrs. Ballard, who brought Miss Ballard

with her. She asked in tones of the intensest interest if we played

whist; while Miss Ballard suggested that about the only way we could

find to enjoy ourselves in such a little place would be to identify

ourselves with the dancing-party and card-club set. I began to suspect

that life in Lattimore would not be without its complexities.

Mr. Trescott came in for a moment only, for his wife and daughter. Miss

Trescott was not to be found at first, but was discovered in the

bay-window with Jim and Miss Hinckley, looking over some engravings. Mr.

Elkins took her down to her carriage, and I thought him a long time

gone, for the host. As soon as he returned, however, the conversation

again turned to the dominant thought of the gathering, municipal

expansion. And I noted that the points made were Jim's. He had already

imbued the town with his thoughts, and filled the mouths of its citizens

with his arguments.

After they left, we sat with Jim and talked.

"Well, how do you like 'em?" said he.

"Why," said Alice, "they're very cordial."

"Heterogeneous, eh?" he queried.

"Yes," said she, "but very cordial. I am surprised to feel how little I

dislike them."

As for me, I began to look upon Lattimore with more favor. I began to

catch Jim's enthusiasm and share his confidence. As we smoked together

in his rooms that evening, he made me the definite proposal that I go

into partnership with him. We talked about the business, and discussed

its possibilities.

"I don't ask you to believe all my prophecies," said he; "but isn't the

situation fairly good, just as it is?"

"I think well of it," I answered, "and it's mighty kind of you to ask me

to come. I'll go as far as to say that if it depends solely on me, we

shall come. As for these prophecies of yours, I am in candor bound to

say that I half believe them."

"Now you _are_ shouting," said he. "Never better prophecies anywhere.

But consider the matter aside from them. Then all we clean up in the

prophecy department will be velvet, absolute velvet!"

"I can add something to the output of the prophecy department," said

Alice, when I repeated the phrase; "and that is that there will be some

affairs of the heart mingled with the real estate and insurance before

long. I can see them in embryo now."

"If it's Jim and Miss Trescott you mean, I wish the affair well," said

I. "I'm quite charmed with her."

"Well," said Alice, "from the standpoint of most men, Miss Hinckley

isn't to be left out of the reckoning in such matters. What a face and

figure she has! Miss Addison is too prudish and churchified; but I like

Miss Hinckley."

"Yes," said I; "but Miss Trescott seems, somehow, to have been known to

one, in some tender and touching relation. There's that about her which

appeals to one, like some embodiment of the abstract idea of woman.

That's why one feels as if he had risked his life for her, and protected

her, and seen her suffer wrong, and all that--"

"That's only because of that affair you told me of," said my wife.

"Since I've seen her, I've made up my mind that you misconstrued the

matter utterly. There was really nothing to it."

In a week I wrote to Mr. Elkins, accepting his proposal, and promising

to close up my affairs, remove to Lattimore, and join with him.

"I do not feel myself equal to playing the part of either Romulus or

Remus in founding your new Rome," I wrote; "but I think as a writer of

fire-insurance policies, and keeping the office work up, I may prove

myself not entirely a deadhead. My wife asks how the breathing-spaces

for the populace are coming on?"

And the die was cast!