A Welcome to Wall Street and Us.
"Welcome!" intoned Captain Tolliver, with his hat in his hand, bowing
low to Mrs. Barslow. "Welcome, Madam and suh, in the capacity of
Lattimoreans! That we shall be the bettah fo' yo' residence among us
the' can be no doubt. That you will be prospahed beyond yo' wildest
dreams I believe equally cehtain. Welcome!"
This address was delivered within thirty seconds of the time of our
arrival at our old rooms in the Centropolis. The Captain saluted us in a
manner extravagantly polite, mysteriously enthusiastic. The air of
mystery was deepened when he called again to see Mr. Elkins in the
evening and was invited in.
"Did you-all notice that distinguished and opulent-looking gentleman who
got off the train this evening?" said he in a stage whisper. "Mahk my
words, the coming of such men, _his_ coming, is fraught with the deepest
significance to us all. All my holdin's ah withdrawn from mahket until
fu'the' developments!"
"Seems to travel in style," said Jim; "all sorts of good clothes,
colored body-servant, closed carriage ordered by wire--it does look
juicy, don't it, now?"
"He has the entiah second flo' front suite. The niggah has already sent
out fo' a bahbah," said the Captain. "Lattimore has at last attracted
the notice of adequate capital, and will now assume huh true place in
the bright galaxy of American cities. Mr. Barslow, I shall ask
puhmission to call upon you in the mo'nin' with reference to a project
which will make the fo'tunes of a dozen men, and that within the next
ninety days. Good evenin', suh; good evenin', Madam. I feel that you
have come among us at a propitious moment!"
"The Captain merely hints at the truth which struggles in him for
utterance," said Jim. "I prove this by informing you that I couldn't get
you a house. This shows, too, that the census returns are a calumny upon
Lattimore. You'll have to stay at the Centropolis until something turns
up or you can build."
"Oh, dear!" said Alice. "Hotel life isn't living at all. I hope it won't
be long."
"It will have its advantages for Al," said Mr. Elkins. "This financial
maelstrom, which will draw everything to Lattimore, will have its core
right in this hotel--a mighty good place to be. Things of all kinds have
been floating about in the air for months; the precipitation is
beginning now. The psychological moment has arrived--you have brought it
with you, Mrs. Barslow. The moon-flower of Lattimore's 'gradual, healthy
growth' is going to burst, and that right soon."
"Has Captain Tolliver infected you?" inquired Alice. "He told us the
same thing, with less of tropes and figures."
"On any still morning," said Jim, "you can hear the wheels go round in
the Captain's head; but his instinct for real-estate conditions is as
accurate as a pocket-gopher's. The Captain, in a hysterical sort of way,
is right: I consider that a cinch. Good-night, friends, and pleasant
dreams. I expect to see you at breakfast; but if I shouldn't, Al, you'll
come aboard at nine, won't you, and help run up the Jolly Roger? I think
I smell pieces-of-eight in the air! And, by the way, Miss Trescott says
for me to assure you that her vertigo, which she had for the first time
in her life, is gone, and she never felt better."
As Mr. Elkins passed from our parlor, he let in a bell-boy with the card
of Mr. Clifford Giddings, representing the Lattimore Morning _Herald_.
"See him down in the lobby," said Alice.
"I want a story," said he as we met, "on the city and its future. The
_Herald_ readers will be glad of anything from Mr. Barslow, whose coming
they have so long looked forward to, as intimately connected with the
city's development."
"My dear sir," I replied, somewhat astonished at the importance which he
was pleased to attach to my arrival, "abstractly, my removal to
Lattimore is my best testimony on that; concretely, I ought to ask
information of you."
We sat down in a corner of the lobby, our chairs side by side, facing
opposite ways. He lighted a cigar, and gave me one. In looks he was
young; in behavior he had the self-possession and poise of maturity. He
wore a long mackintosh which sparkled with mist. His slouch hat looked
new and was carefully dinted. His dress was almost natty in an
unconventional way, and his manners accorded with his garb. He acted as
if for years we had casually met daily. His tone and attitude evinced
respect, was entirely free from presumption, equally devoid of reserve,
carried with it no hint of familiarity, but assumed a perfect
understanding. The barrier which usually keeps strangers apart he
neither broke down, which must have been offensive, nor overleaped,
which would have been presumptuous. He covered it with that demeanor of
his, and together we sat down upon it.
"I thought the _Herald_ was an evening paper," said I.
"It was, in the days of yore," he replied; "but Mr. Elkins happened to
see me in Chicago one day, and advised me to come out and look the old
thing over with a view to purchasing the plant. You observe the result.
As fellow immigrants, I hope there will be a bond of sympathy between
us. You think, of course, that Lattimore is a coming city?"
"Yes."
"Its geographical situation seems to render its development inevitable,
doesn't it? And," he went on, "the railway conditions seem peculiarly
promising just now?"
"Yes," said I, "but the natural resources of the city and the
surrounding country appeal most strongly to me."
"They are certainly very exceptional, aren't they?" said he, as if the
matter had never occurred to him before. Then he went on telling me
things, more than asking questions, about the jobbing trades, the brick
and tile and associated industries, the cement factory, which he spoke
of as if actually _in esse_, the projected elevators, the
flouring-mills, and finally returned to railway matters.
"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?"
"Here it is," said I.
"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."
"The fellow piles it on a little strong at times, doesn't he, Mrs.
Barslow?" said Jim.
"He brings to our city," I read on, "his vigorous mind, his fortune, and
a determination never to rest until the city passes the 100,000 mark. To
a _Herald_ representative, last night, he spoke strongly and eloquently
of our great natural resources."
Then followed a skillfully handled expansion of our _tete-a-tete_ talk
in the lobby.
"Mr. Barslow," the report went on, "very courteously declined to discuss
the L. & G. W. situation. It seems evident, however, from remarks
dropped by him, that he regards the construction of this road as
inevitable, and as a project which, successfully carried out, cannot
fail to make Lattimore the point to which all the Western and
Southwestern systems of railways must converge."
"You're doing it like a veteran!" cried Jim. "Admirable! Just the proper
infusion of mystery; I couldn't have done better myself."
"Credit it all to Giddings," I protested. "And note that the center of
the stage is reserved to our mysterious fellow lodger and co-arrival."
"Yes, I saw that," said Jim. "Isn't Giddings a peach? Let Mrs. Barslow
hear it."
"She ought to be able to hear these headlines," said I, "without any
reading: 'J. Bedford Cornish arrives! Wall Street's Millions On the
Ground in the Person of One of Her Great Financiers! Bull Movement in
Real Estate Noted Last Night! Does He Represent the Great Railway
Interests?'"
"Real estate and financial circles," ran the article under these
headlines, "are thrown into something of a fever by the arrival, on the
6:15 express last evening, of a gentleman of distinguished appearance,
who took five rooms _en suite_ on the second floor of the Centropolis,
and registered in a bold hand as J. Bedford Cornish, of New York. Mr.
Cornish consented to see a _Herald_ representative last night, but was
very reticent as to his plans and the objects of his visit. He simply
says that he represents capital seeking investment. He would not admit
that he is connected with any of the great railway interests, or that
his visit has any relation to the building of the Lattimore & Great
Western. The _Herald_ is able to say, however, that its New York
correspondent informs it that Mr. Cornish is a member of the firm of
Lusch, Carskaddan & Mayer, of Wall Street. This firm is well known as
one of the concerns handling large amounts of European capital, and said
to be intimately associated with the Rothschilds. Financial journals
have recently noted the fact that these concerns are becoming
embarrassed by the plethora of funds seeking investment, and are turning
their attention to the development of railway systems and cities in the
United States. Their South American and Australian investments have not
proven satisfactory, especially the former, owing to the character of
the people of Latin America. It has been pointed out that no real-estate
investment can be more than moderately profitable in climates which
render the people content with a mere living, and that the restless and
unsatisfied vigor of the Anglo-Saxon alone can make lands and railways
permanently remunerative. Mr. Cornish admitted these facts when they
were pointed out to him, and immediately changed the subject.
"Mr. Cornish is a very handsome and opulent-looking gentleman, and seems
to live in a style somewhat luxurious for the Occident. He has a colored
body-servant, who seems to reflect the mystery of his master; but if he
has any other reflections, the _Herald_ is none the wiser for them.
Admittance to the suite of rooms was obtained by sending in the
reporter's card, which vanished into a sybaritic gloom, borne on a
golden salver. Mr. Cornish seems to be very exclusive, his meals being
served in his rooms; and even his barber has instructions to call upon
him each morning. One wonders why the barber is called in so frequently,
until one marks the smooth-shaven cheeks above the close-clipped,
pointed, black, Vandyke beard. He is withal very cordial and courtly in
his manners.
"James R. Elkins, when seen last evening, refused to talk, except to say
that, in financial circles, it has been known for some days that
important developments may be now momently expected, and that some such
thing as the visit of Mr. Cornish was imminent. Captain Marion Tolliver
expressed himself freely, and to the effect that this mysterious visit
is of the utmost importance to Lattimore, and a thing of national if not
world-wide importance."
"Now, that justifies my confidence in Giddings," said Mr. Elkins,
"fulfilling at the same time the requirements of journalism and
hypnotism. Come, Al, our bark is on the sea, our boat is on the shore.
The Spanish galleons are even now hiding in the tall grass, in
expectation of our cruise. Let us hence to the office!"