"Yes, yes," replied Whyland, with the sprightly ingenuousness of a boy. "Whoever looks for a fair return on his money nowadays must keep a little in advance of legislation."
"Just what Pence was saying only yesterday."
"I snatched that great truth from my slight association with the Tax Commission," burbled Whyland. "Almost everything marked, spotted: property, real and personal; lands, lots, improvements; bonds, stocks, mortgages——"
"Everything, in short, but franchises?"
"Franchises, yes. Nothing left but to turn one's attention to the public utilities——"
"And to hope that legislation may lag as far behind and as long behind as possible."
"Precisely," said Whyland. "Meanwhile, we string our wires——"
"Pence up one pole and you up the next—"
Whyland shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "And may it be long before they call us down!"
Abner listened to all this in silence, shaking his head sadly and conscious of a deep and growing depression. Here was Whyland, a clever, likeable fellow—and his host too—disintegrating before his very eyes.