abbed the hanging edge of the table-cloth. His pitiful eyes were fixed
upon the coldly disapproving face of Andy P. Symes, but there is a limit
to human endurance and Adolph Kunkel quickly reached it. Simultaneous
with a spurt of coffee Adolph rose and fled, upsetting his chair as he
went, disgraced upon his only appearance in that exclusive set from
which he was henceforth and forever barred.

He coughed significantly under the window to remind Mr. Symes that he
might be induced to return, but the hint passed unheeded, for regret
would not have been among Mr. Symes's emotions if his brother-in-law's
removal had been complete and permanent.

Over the coffee and a superior brand of cigars to which Mr. Symes called
particular attention, the conversation of his guests began to contain
some degree of naturalness and their painful self-consciousness
gradually vanished. When they seemed in a mellow and receptive mood he
began to rehearse his achievements in the East and unfold his plans. As
he talked, their imaginations stimulated by wine, they saw the future of
Crowheart pass before them like a panorama.

The army of laborers who were to be employed upon this enormous ditch
would spend their wages in Crowheart. The huge payroll would be a
benefit to every citizen. The price of horses would jump to war-time
values and every onery cayuse on the range would be hauling a scraper.
Alfalfa and timothy would sell for $18 a ton in the stack and there
would be work for every able-bodied man who applied. The grocery bills
of the commissary would make the grocers rich and Crowheart would boom
_right_. When the water was running swift and deep in the ditch the
land-hungry homeseekers would fight for ground. And it was only a step
from settlement to trolley cars, electric lights, sandstone business
blocks and cement pavements, together with lawns growing real grass!
Under the spell of his magnetic presence and convincing eloquence
nothing seemed more plausible or possible than the fulfilment of these
prophecies. And all this was to be brought about through the efforts of
Andy P. Symes, who intimated that not one million but millions had been
placed at his disposal by eager and trusting capitalists to be used by
him if necessary in making the desert bloom like the rose.

Mr. Rhodes saw himself selling corner lots at twenty thousand each while
space rates rose in the mind of Sylvanus Starr in leaps and bounds. The
Percy Parrots saw them