'Might I inquire, sir,' said Mr. Bloom, 'in what particular line of business you inserted your coin? I know that town as well as I know the regulations for illegal use of the mails. I might give you a hunch as to whether you can make the game go or not.'
J. Pinkney, somehow, had a kindly feeling toward these unsophisticated representatives of by-gone days. They were so simple, impractical, and unsuspecting. He was glad that he happened not to have a gold brick or a block of that western Bad Boy Silver Mine stock along with him. He would have disliked to unload on people he liked so well as he did these; but there are some temptations toe enticing to be resisted.
'No, sir,' said Colonel Blaylock. pausing to arrange the queen's wrap. 'I did not invest in Okochee. I have made an exhaustive study of business conditions, and I regard old settled towns as unfavorable fields in which to place capital that is limited in amount. Some months ago, through the kindness of a friend, there came into my hands a map and description of this new town of Skyland that has been built upon the lake. The description was so pleasing, the future of the town set forth in such convincing arguments, and its increasing prosperity portrayed in such an attractive style that I decided to take advantage of the opportunity it offered. I carefully selected a lot in the centre of the business district, although its price was the highest in the schedule--five hundred dollars--and made the purchase at once.'
'Are you the man--I mean, did you pay five hundred dollars for a lot in Skyland' asked J. Pinkney Bloom.
'I did, sir,' answered the Colonel, with the air of a modest millionaire explaining his success; 'a lot most excellently situated on the same square with the opera house, and only two squares from the board of trade. I consider the purchase a most fortuitous one. It is my intention to erect a small building upon it at once, and open a modest book and stationery store. During past years I have met with many pecuniary reverses, and I now find it necessary to engage in some commercial occupation that will furnish me with a livelihood. The book and stationery business, though an humble one, seems to me not inapt nor altogether uncongenial. I am a graduate of the University of Virginia; and Mrs. Blaylock's really wonderful acquaintance with belles-lettres and poetic literature should go far toward insuring success. Of course, Mrs. Blaylock would not personally serve behind the counter. With the nearly three hundred dollars I have remaining I can manage the building of a house, by giving a lien on the lot. I have an old friend in Atlanta who is a partner in a large book store, and he has agreed to furnish me with a stock of goods on credit, on extremely easy terms. I am pleased to hope, sir, that Mrs. Blaylock's health and happiness will be increased by the change of locality. Already I fancy I can perceive the return of those roses that were once the hope and despair of Georgia cavaliers.'
Again followed that wonderful bow, as the Colonel lightly touched the pale cheek of the poetess. Mrs. Blaylock, blushing like a girl, shook her curl and gave the Colonel an arch, reproving tap. Secret of eternal youth--where art thou? Every second the answer comes--'Here, here, here.' Listen to thine own heartbeats, 0 weary seeker after external miracles.
'Those years,' said Mrs. Blaylock, 'in Holly Springs were long, long, long. But now is the promised land in sight. Skyland!--a lovely name.'
'Doubtless,' said the Colonel, 'we shall be able to secure comfortable accommodations at some modest hotel at reasonable rates. Our trunks are in Okochee, to be forwarded when we shall have made permanent arrangements.'
J. Pinkney Bloom excused himself, went forward, and stood by the captain at the wheel.
'Mac,' said he, 'do you remember my telling you once that I sold one of those five-hundred-dollar lots in Skyland?'
'Seems I do,' grinned Captain MacFarland.
'I'm not a coward, as a general rule,' went on the promoter, 'but I always said that if I ever met the sucker that bought that lot I'd run like a turkey. Now, you see that old babe-in-the-wood over there? Well, he's the boy that drew the prize. That was the only five-hundred-dollar lot that went. The rest ranged from ten dollars to two hundred. His wife writes poetry. She's invented one about the high grounds of Georgia, that's way up in G. They're going to Skyland to open a book store.'
'Well,' said MacFarland, with another grin, 'it's a good thing you are along, J. P.; you can show 'em around town until they begin to feel at home.'
'He's got three hundred dollars left to build a house and store with,' went on J. Pinkney, as if he were talking to himself. 'And he thinks there's an open house up there.'
Captain MacFarland released the wheel long enough to give his leg a roguish slap.
'You old fat rascal!' he chuckled, with a wink.
'Mac, you're a fool,' said J. Pinkney Bloom, coldly. He went back and joined the Blaylocks, where he sat, less talkative, with that straight furrow between his brows that always stood as a signal of schemes being shaped within.
'There's a good many swindles connected with these booms,' he said presently. 'What if this Skyland should turn out to be one--that is, suppose business should be sort of dull there, and no special sale for books?'
'My dear sir,' said Colonel Blaylock, resting his hand upon the back of his wife's chair, 'three times I have been reduced to almost penury by the duplicity of others, but I have not yet lost faith in humanity. If I have been deceived again, still we may glean health and content, if not worldly profit. I am aware that there are dishonest schemers in the world who set traps for the unwary, but even they are not altogether bad. My dear, can you recall those verses entitled 'He Giveth the Increase,' that you composed for the choir of our church in Holly Springs?'
'That was four years ago,' said Mrs. Blaylock; 'perhans I can repeat a verse or two.
'The lily springs from the rotting mould; Pearls from the deep sea slime; Good will come out of Nazareth All in God's own time.
'To the hardest heart the softening grace Cometh, at last, to bless; Guiding it right to help and cheer And succor in distress.
'I cannot remember the rest. The lines were not ambitious. They were written to the music composed by a dear friend.'
'It's a fine rhyme, just the same,' declared Mr. Bloom. 'It seems to ring the bell, all right. I guess I gather the sense of it. It means that the rankest kind of a phony will give you the best end of it once in a while.'
