As I rose to go I remarked that his name, though not a common one, sounded very familiar, and asked if there were any more families by the same name living in the vicinity?
No; he and his daughter Mattie were the only representatives there of the family.
With that I knew I was on the right track, and took my leave. All things can come to the man who waits, and I was willing to enjoy my suspense for a little longer. I went away with a strong feeling of satisfaction. It is true I had put myself in line for making a deal of some thousands of dollars which I had never thought of two hours previously, but what of that? The investment looked on the face of it as though it might be a good one; and, anyhow, if I could find Mattie it would be cheap at two thousand dollars—profit or loss. I was already just that far gone.
To make a long story short, I was on the right track. When I mentioned to other people that I was transacting some business through Major Higbie it was not out of place to follow with a casual question about his family. In that way I learned that Miss Mattie was a very popular lady, who presided over her father’s house and table with dignity and grace. If she had never married it was not for want of opportunities, but because probably the right man had not yet come.
“Thank heaven,” said I to myself, “The right man is here now, but he was a long time coming. The next thing is to arrange a meeting.”
Major Higbie did that, I had not yet closed the original trade proposed, but in his mind I was surely destined to do it, and was now talking of other deals. The major invited me to his house to take supper and talk matters over. That was the way I met Mattie the second time.
Jove! How handsome she looked. There were the same big blue eyes and the same tawny hair piled high on her head, but she had matured into a beautiful and glorious womanhood, which I could only wonder at and worship. Thinking it over a little later on in the evening, I could not help but wonder that neither father nor daughter had apparently noticed my confusion, and I breathed a prayer of thanksgiving that I had not, as I was on the eve of doing, blurted out, “I am a corn doctor, selling corns, bunions and ingrown nails.” I had rallied after that first bit of confusion, however, and we three passed a very pleasant evening. I was rich enough to feel satisfied; had traveled all the country over, and selling encyclopedias had been a liberal education of itself. When I went away I knew I had made a favorable impression and was proud of it.
The rest was a foregone conclusion.
Of course, I never closed the land deal with the major, but I led him to think he would eventually catch me.
The days drifted along into weeks, and the weeks into months. I lived at my hotel, but had the run of the Major’s house. Mattie and I became almost inseparable, and I think I had a pretty good idea of what the answer would be when I laid my heart and fortune formally at her feet.