new railway was to pass quite close to it, he decided to investigate it
carefully and see just what it really amounted to."

Holton smiled a little wryly as she completed her explanation. "He's
stayed here, studyin' it, a long time, ain't he?"

"Yes," Miss Alathea answered. "When he once reached here he seemed to
find new beauties in the country every day. He wrote us the most glowing
letters of it, and these letters and--and--other things, decided me to
come and see him and the property he is so fond of. The Colonel was
polite enough to volunteer as escort, your daughter to come as a
companion."

Holton winked mysteriously at Colonel Doolittle. "You come at the right
time," said he. "I'll have some things to tell you of this country and
just what the railroad's going to do for it if you should care to
listen."

The Colonel's eyes, plainly those of one who read the tale of character
upon the faces of the people whom he met, looked at him with no great
favor, but he smiled. "We've already learned some things which have
astonished us," he said. Then, though, despite the fact that his remark
had greatly aroused Holton's curiosity, evidently, he changed the
subject somewhat abruptly, and turned grandiosely to Miss 'Lethe.

"May I offuh you my ahm, ma'am, for a little stroll about heah?" he
inquired. "The greatest disadvantage which I see about this country is
the lack of level places big enough to put a race-track in, ma'am. So
far as I can see from lookin' round me, casual like, you couldn't run a
quahtuh, heah, without eitheh goin' up a hill or comin' down one."