"Draws the money-line sharp and clear, does he?" said the young man, who appeared to be more deeply interested than a merely casual topic would account for.
The little lady nodded vigorously. "That's it, exactly. You can fairly hear the double eagles clink when he speaks."
The general agent deprecated disloyalty, and was fain to change the subject.
"What are you doing so far away from your territory, Fred?" he asked.
"I'm in charge of the party of old people and invalids in the Tadmor. They'd a mind to be 'personally conducted,' and they threaten to take me all the way across to the Coast."
"Good!" exclaimed the small person. "Then you can stop over and visit us in Salt Lake."
The passenger agent shook his head. "I sha'n't get that far. I must break away at Denver, by all means."
"Would nothing tempt you to go on?"
"I'm afraid not; that is—I—er—" the young man's embarrassment suddenly returned, and he stopped helplessly.
Mrs. Burton's curiosity was instantly on the alert. "Then there is something? Do tell me what it is," she pleaded.