“So for days the procession continued, each man coming singly and watching whether he were observed. Half the council had sites for little or nothing, and the other half had sites at rates really very reasonable.
“And all the while, to the mass of buyers who importuned me and clamoured about me, I said that only very limited sales could be made, and those of leases only, and even so not till a later date.
“Meanwhile the whole town council was converted. The councillors had quite lost their old aversion to the scheme. They earmarked enthusiastically and by a unanimous vote a special tax for the laying out of the new quarter, its planting with trees, the bringing of conduits to it so that fountains of sweet water might appear in private houses and in public places, and, though the levy was no light one, it was paid cheerfully enough by all the councillors, who were now curiously proud of their town’s aggrandizement; even among the mass of poor ratepayers there were no executions, but only one mild case of torture, and perhaps a dozen bastinadoes.
“The public money so spent was very well worth while. The improvement in my property was immense; and when a fine road, bordered with trees, was laid down all along the embankment I obtained very heavy compensation from the city for the use of the ground and the cutting off of my approaches to the river.
“I, on my side, was not niggardly. I promised 100 gold pieces to the building of a new mosque in the centre of the place, on condition that ninety-nine others should do the same, and I started a hall of public recreation, the price of admission to which barely repaid the expenses of upkeep and cleaning, taxes, heat and light, interest on debentures (which I had myself very handsomely subscribed), service, literature, and secretarial expenses, decoration, approaches, annual depreciation, and at the most a profit of six to eight per cent. I also provided kitchens where the poorer citizens could purchase food at very little more than its value. These were of great service to the police, who had here a central place whence the movements of my less fortunate neighbours could be traced. I presented also public fountains with solid pewter mugs, attached to the stonework by strong chains lest they should be stolen, and I even went so far as to provide, free of all cost, public plans of the new quarter showing where unleased sites still remained and the terms on which they might be acquired.
“I made it a rule that any man building a house on my land should promise to give it up to me for nothing after twenty years; but as many people were too poor to build their own houses I established a fund whence they could borrow the money at the ordinary rates of interest and the few dues, fees, deductions, etc., inevitable to such transactions. In every way did I develop and benefit this my creation of a new town.
“I had my reward in the profound respect and honour paid me by my fellow-citizens. These were convened by the Council at an appropriate date to decide what recognition should be made of my services. They finally agreed, after long discussion and many very eloquent discourses, upon an illuminated parchment, which was presented to me with the most flattering cheers and songs upon the public square of the new quarter, in a tent of purple silk specially voted for the occasion and later claimed as a perquisite by my butler.
“I replied in a suitable manner to the acclamations of the crowd and the kindly flattery of the councillors; but I told them, at the end of my address, that I should feel ungrateful indeed if, upon such an occasion, a certain humble fellow-worker of mine were overlooked in the public rejoicings. Thereupon I extended my hand to the Enthusiast, that young Engineer of Parts whom I had so fortunately met some months before and whom I had arranged should be near the steps of my dais at the required moment. I handed him up. I smiled benignantly upon him as he blushed with happy shame and pleasure. I even set him at my side.
“‘It is all very well, my friends,’ said I, as I concluded my little speech, ‘to speak as you do of the foresight and business acumen, organizing power, and the rest of it, which—I hope justly—you ascribe to me when you tell me how, as with a magic wand, I raised all this new city from the marsh which preceded it. But what would such gifts be had they not been aided and supplemented by talents no less essential, such as those which we all admire in this young friend at my right? He it is who has performed, sometimes in a very literal sense, the spade-work. His has been the hard, obscure, constant labour and vigilance, without which my own more conspicuous efforts would have been in vain!’
“After a few subdued cheers from the assembly, most of whom had never heard of the young man, while the rest had forgotten him, all dispersed, and I was free to seek repose in my own new and sumptuous house.