Now that little one in the pink shirt-waist that brought in
the message from Mars a moment ago is a wonder of intelligence. Do you
know what she's doing now?"

"Trying to break the machine I should guess, from the racket."

"Bah! It's the Lord's Prayer."

"You mean it's a sort of prayer machine."

"Not on your life. Maude hasn't any real work to do just now and she's
running off the Lord's Prayer. I know by the way it clicks. When she
strikes 'our daily bread' the machine always gives a little gasp. See?
The rule of the office is that they must have some diddings doing all
the time. The big one with red hair is a perfect marvel at the
Declaration of Independence. She'll be through addressing circulars in a
little while and will run off into 'All men are created equal'--a
blooming lie, by the way--without losing a stroke."

"You _have_ passed the poetry stage, beyond a doubt. But I should think
the strain of keeping all this going would be wearing on your sensitive
poetical nature. And it must cost something."

"Oh, yes!" Balcomb pursed his lips and stroked his fine soft beard. "But
it's worth it. I'm not playing for small stakes. I'm looking for
Christmas trees. Now they've got their eyes on me. These old Elijahs
that have been the bone and sinew of the town for so long that they
think they own it, are about done for. You can't sit in a bank here any
more and look solemn and turn people down because your corn hurts or
because the chinch-bugs have got into the wheat in Dakota or the czar
has bought the heir apparent a new toy pistol. You've got to present a
smiling countenance to the world and give the glad hand to everybody
you're likely to need in your business. I jolly everybody!"

"That comes easy for you; but I didn't know you could make an asset of
it."

"It's part of my working capital. Now you'd better cut loose from old
man Carr and move up here and get a suite near me. I've got more than I
can do,--I'm always needing a lawyer,--organizing companies, legality of
bonds, and so on. Dignified work. Lots of out-of-town people come here
and I'll put you in touch with them. I threw a good thing to Van Cleve
only the other day. Bond foreclosure suit for some fellows in the East
that I sell stuff to. They wrote and asked me the name of a good man. I
thought of you--old college days and all that--but Van Cleve had just
done me a good turn and I had to let him have it. But you'd better come
over. You'll never kn