“Why, Professor Barrington,” spoke Frank, “can it be done?”
“It can,” answered the professor, positively. “It’s taken some digging to find that out, but I accomplished what I was after. It is true that Boston Common is a limited and very exclusive bit of territory, but it is changing, as all business centers do, and the quick and ready man with capital can get his opportunity by watching out for it and acting quickly when the right time comes.
“I’ve brought you down here because I’ve got to decide on a location within the next two days or lose my option on a most valuable lease. I don’t expect you and your people to go into this thing blindfolded, although you’ve got to act quickly. I suggest that we fortify ourselves with a good breakfast. Then I will take you for a stroll, that will show you the exact situation far better than I can tell it to you.”
“That will be fine, Professor Barrington,” said Frank. “I shall be interested in more ways than one, as this is my first view of Boston.”
Everything seemed going so smoothly now that the professor was as gay as a schoolboy on a lark. As they reached Tremont street just opposite the Common, Frank halted involuntarily, caught by the novelty of the scene. His first glance singled out several playhouses already located there. His companion pointed out the Temple, given over to educational exhibitions, concerts and the like; a well-known vaudeville theater, and several popular playhouses.
“There’s the subway to Cambridge, on Tremont street,” explained the professor, “and that is the State House at the far end of the Common. This is the hub of Boston, just as the city itself is the ‘Hub of the Universe.’”
Frank as yet knew little of the city, but he was quick-witted enough to realize that the professor had selected a fine location for his enterprise. The places of entertainment already established, the presence of the crowds, the general environment decided Frank, just as it had done when he had picked out the vacant structure on upper Broadway in New York City that had become the best venture of the moving picture chums—the Empire.
“Yes,” observed Frank, thoughtfully, “location is everything. I am at your command, Professor Barrington, to go through with the proposition as speedily and thoroughly as possible.”
“There are two places on the Common that are available,” explained the professor, “although the fact is not generally known. We will take in the first one, as it is nearest at hand. Here we are,” announced the speaker, stepping to the curb out of the way of passing pedestrians and halting his companion by his side.
They faced a narrow building of an old type. It was not yet open, but the lettering on the windows apprised Frank of the fact that it was a large stationers’ supply store.