"You--you want a landlady who talks?" I gasped, incredulous.
"It's one of the rules," he said, again obscurely.
I could make nothing of him. And had I any right to introduce to Hetty
Carpenter a guest who came without credentials and talked more or less
like a lunatic at large?
"Mr. Duncan--" I began, uncomfortable.
"Don't say it," he anticipated me. "I know you think I'm crazy--but I'm
not. You would think so, naturally, because you're the only man here
who's ever lived away from Radville long enough--not counting those who
went to the World's Fair--."
"How did you know?"
"Bigelow told me last night; said you'd be glad to meet somebody from
New York. I hope he's right. I'm glad, personally.... You see--May I
request that you regard this as confidential?"
"Yes--yes!"
"I've come to Radville to make my fortune."
The confession smote me witless: I could only gape. He nodded
confirmation, with a most serious mien. At length I found strength to
articulate. "From New York--?"
"Yes. It's a new scheme. You see, Mr. Littlejohn,
matters have come to such a state that a city-bred boy practically
doesn't stand any show on earth of making good in the cities; your
country-bred boys crowd him to the wall, nine times out of ten. They
invade us in hordes, fresh from the open, strong, vigorous,
clear-headed, ambitious.... What chance have we got? ... I've been
figuring it out, you see, and I've come to the conclusion that it's my
only salvation to get back to the country and improve some of the
opportunities--the golden opportunities--that your boys have neglected,
overlooked, in their mad desire to invade the commercial centres of the
country."
He seemed very much in earnest; I was watching him as closely as I
might without making my scrutiny offensive; and there seemed to be the
ring of conviction in his voice, while the expression of his eyes
indicated concentrated thought. And how was I to know, then, that the
concentration was due to the necessity of invention?
"You follow me, Mr. Littlejohn?"
"I was here first," I corrected. "Still, there's more in what you say
than perhaps you realise."
"If I'd made this discovery originally I'd agree with you, sir. But,
quite to the contrary, it was pointed out to me by one of the shrewdest
business minds in the United States--a man who'd been a country boy to
begin with. And I've come to the conclusion that he's right."
"So you're here."
"Here I am."
"And what do you propose doing?"
"I'm reading law, Mr. Littlejohn; that I shall continue. In the
meantime, I shall keep my eyes open. At any day, at any amount, the
opportunity may present itself, the opportunity I'm looking for."
"Probably you're right," I assented, impressed, as we turned a corner.
A young woman in a very attractive linen gown was strolling toward us,
quite prettily engaged with a book which she read as she walked, her
fair young head bowed beneath a sunshade which tinted her face
becomingly. She gave me a shy smile and a low-voiced greeting as we
passed. Only my knowledge of the young woman prevented me from being
blinded by her engaging appearance.
"That," said I, when we were out of earshot, "shows you what a furore a
good-looking young man can create in a town like this. Josie Lockwood
has put on her best bib-and-tucker to go walking in this afternoon, on
the off-chance of meeting you, Mr. Duncan."
"Flattery note," he commented. "Who's Josie Lockwood?"
"Daughter of Blinky Lockwood, the richest man in Radville."
"Ah!" he said cryptically.
We had come to Miss Carpenter's. I opened the gate for him, but he
stood aside, refusing to precede me. And courtesy in the young folk of
to-day warms my old heart.
He had as much for Hetty Carpenter. Within an hour he had insinuated
himself into her good graces with a deftness, an ease, that astounded.
Within three hours he was established, bag and baggage, in her very
best room.
And thirty minutes after she had helped Duncan unpack, Hetty had to run
downtown to buy a spool of thread.