Aladdin & Co.: A Romance of Yankee Magic
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