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_.
"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?"
"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.