Still, Peleg was standing there when they once more resumed their stroll, that same entranced look on his freckled face; as though he may have utterly forgotten the passage of time, and the fact of his having business to attend to in this unexpected treat of being brought in touch with a traveling circus.
Ralph had several things he wanted his friends to see while in town. Of course, they might be trivial sights to these scouts, some of whom had actually been across the ocean; traveled to Mexico, and visited at the great Panama-Pacific Exposition on the Coast; but, then, like most boys, he felt that it was up to him to do the honors to the best of his ability.
So Rob and the others looked upon the high school with its campus; heard about the doings of the football team, and the baseball nine that represented Wyoming in the league; were shown the various mills and factories upon which the stability of Wyoming rested; and, finally, along toward half-past seven, they started for the hall where the concert was to be given, and which happened to be in the centre of the town.
Rob noticed that quite a lively wind had arisen. Some of the boys remarked that they were glad they had thought to “chuck” their sweaters in the car, for with such a high breeze in their faces they would need them going home at a late hour. Mention is made of this because it afterwards turned out that this same strong wind had much to do with the fortunes of Wyoming before another day dawned.
As they passed along the main street of the town Rob saw Ralph pointing to what seemed to be an abandoned frame building that had once been a bustling hive of industry, though now deserted. It stood as a connecting link between the old part of the town and the newer section where all those factories and mills lay.
“Going to be pulled down soon, and another big mill built there,” Ralph remarked, and then he added, turning to Rob: “Look, Rob, there’s Peleg now, and going in that place!”
Chapter XIV
The Rising Wind
“Then he didn’t go to the circus, after all,” remarked Tubby, as though that one thought occupied his mind; truth to tell, had the stout scout been given his own choice in the matter, he might have preferred seeing the acrobats and the tightrope walkers under the big round-top, rather than listen to the warblings of those who were to take part in the concert.
“He seems to hesitate and look around him,” said Rob, meaningly, to Ralph Jeffords. “What sort of a building is that, anyhow? It looks as though it might be given up to offices and shops.”
“Just what the Handy Building is,” explained Ralph. “There are a lot of different business people represented there. Some people call it the Arcade Building. You can see plenty of lights there, for most of the offices keep open till ten o’clock at night. Among others I might mention who occupy space in there, Rob, is one Hardman, a curio dealer. I’ve been in his rooms lots of times when I had some money I felt like investing in old coins and foreign postage stamps for my collection.”