In Atwater's absence he was received by the head draughtsman. The scheme had widened, as such schemes will; there were suggestions for the porch and for new hand—rails. There was also a drawing for a cornice in harmony.
"Urn," said George, thoughtfully. "This is all very handsome."
At about the same time that work on the Ogden house began, the work on the plans for the Floyd house received a check. This check was due to the first Western trip of Winthrop C. Floyd, treasurer of the Massachusetts Brass Company. He came on a general visit of inspection.
The morning after his arrival he sat in the office of the Chicago branch; he had come down with Mrs. Floyd and Claudia. His keen and quiet eye ran over the furnishings of the place. He was a bachelor of forty; he was dressed simply but elegantly—he was completely comme il faut, except for his muddy shoes, which seemed to trouble him.
"Well, Walworth," he said, with the manner of an elder brother and of an official whose dictum had weight, "you are pretty well fixed up out here—better than the home office, in fact."
"Have to be," returned the other. "Down East everybody knows the company; you could do business in a coal-shed if you wanted to. Here it's different. People don't know us from a hole in the ground; they go by what they see."
"Do you use all these calls and things?"
The wall was set with electrical devices for calling boys from everywhere for everything.
"Sometimes. Anyway it looks as if we did, and that helps business."
Little Claudia came creeping up to his desk.