There ain't many folks buying them, though. He's always home in the evenings. You can telephone him from the hotel." Stuart registered at the Inn. It was a building left over from a previous attempt to colonize Greenhurst. Stuart was given a room at the end of a wing, on the third floor. The hotel was somewhat modernized, so Stuart was not dissatisfied with the surroundings.
The other guests were typical residents of an obscure resort. Stuart went in the dining room when the bell rang for dinner. After that, he lounged a while in the lobby. Finally, he called Paul Hawthorne's cottage. A brisk voice answered him. Stuart gave his name and explained that he had come to Greenhurst from New York. He mentioned that he would like to know about real-estate opportunities. Hawthorne eagerly agreed to meet him. He said he would come to the Inn in his car. In ten minutes, Hawthorne arrived. He proved to be a pleasant-faced man, some forty-odd years of age. He shook hands warmly and invited Stuart to come up to the cottage.
They left the hotel, and were soon in the living room of Hawthorne's home, chatting as though they were old friends. Hawthorne was interesting to Stuart. The man possessed a lulling glibness; but Stuart felt that his cordiality was something that he adopted with all prospects.
"By the way," said Hawthorne, "you don't happen to know Sherwood Mayo, who lives near here?"
"Mayo, the millionaire?"
"Yes," Hawthorne assented.
"I've heard of him," declared Stuart. "I'd like to meet him sometime."
"I can arrange that," said Hawthorne promptly. "Tonight, if you wish." The statement surprised Stuart. He had not expected to find Hawthorne and Mayo on good terms. This was a good hit, already, Stuart thought.
"Mayo is a friend of mine," explained Hawthorne. "We had a little unpleasantness, when I first came here. Mayo has a hunting lodge, and he thought that he was lord of all lands that he could view from his watch tower. Since he found he wasn't, he's been more pleasant.
"He's begun to find out that the people who are buying here in Greenhurst are of a selective class. Wait, I'll phone him and see if we can run up there."