"But come," he said, putting on his hat, "won't you come and have lunch with me?"
And this big, busy retail merchant, who was not too big or too busy to take me, a little dealer in a small town to lunch, took me over to the Exeter House, where we had an excellent dinner, and a most enjoyable chat; after which he took me over to the association rooms, which I had for some time wanted to visit, where I met some other likeable fellows in the hardware business who happened to be in town.
I wished I could have stayed longer to talk with some of the interesting men there, but I felt we ought to get back to Farmdale; so I tore myself away, feeling, however, that our joy ride had proved to be of practical dollars-and-cents value to me.
CHAPTER XX
A SUCCESSFUL MONDAY MEETING
My Monday night meetings were proving very beneficial, and one, in particular, had been very interesting. It had been something of an innovation.
The secretary of the hardware association had been in town, and I had asked him around to the house for lunch; and while there, I had told him about our weekly meetings. He thought it was an excellent idea.
"You are doing a good thing," he said, "and you'll get a lot closer to your boys. They work better for you, don't you know."
It was Betty who had suggested the idea. It hadn't occurred to me at all. She was in the kitchen, getting the lunch ready, and I didn't think she was paying any attention to what Mr. Field and I were talking about. Then, as she was placing the lunch of chops and grilled sweet potatoes (grilled as only Betty can grill them) on the table, she had remarked:
"If Mr. Field is staying in town to-night, why not ask him to attend your meeting with you?"