“Tell me something about yourself,” he said. His usually brusque manner softened. “No—on reflection, I think we had better postpone that for a while. Ferd, if you are going over to the Carroll, take him along. Let him have everything he wants.” He turned away. “Now, Ogden, as I was saying, the idiot who drew this plan ought to be drummed out of town; he——”
Willie, quite startled by the sudden change in the Major’s voice, was glad to follow Ferd outside.
At the Carroll Inn, he was assigned to a pleasant room. After a good wash and a bountiful meal he felt decidedly unlike the lad who had walked across the prairie.
A little later on, Major Carroll listened to Willie Sloan’s history of his life from the time he was five years old up to the present. He also learned that, above all things, Mr. Beaumont’s ward disliked typewriting and office work.
At intervals the financier smiled and nodded.
Then Willie, encouraged by his manner, spoke earnestly about Cranny’s mission to Border City; he said it would be a most dreadful shame if Mr. Beaumont wasn’t supplied with all possible information. He also said several things which would have made Cranny highly indignant had he heard them.
Major Carroll toyed with his watch fob, smiled, and reflected. Being at the very head of the progressive movement, he was, naturally, inclined to offer Mr. Beaumont every encouragement.
“I’ll see that you get all the particulars,” he remarked, briskly. “We are going to have a great town here in a few years. There are splendid opportunities for safe investment. To-morrow, I shall find time to put you on the right track.”
The Major, in his enthusiasm, seemed to disregard the fact that his hearer was merely a boy.
A strange expression began to creep over Willie Sloan’s face. He had generally found himself treated as a person of small importance, and the Major’s tone and manner touched a chord in his nature which had seldom, if ever, been played upon. He brightened up perceptibly.