When she had punctured the last of his little balloons, he laid his
hand on her shoulder, and, looking into her face, said:--
"Nancy, you really don't mean that my railroad will _never_ be built?"
"No, George; but suppose it should not earn its expenses?"
Her thoughts were new to the colonel. Nobody except a few foolish
people in the Street, anxious to sell less valuable securities, and
utterly unable to grasp the great merits of the Cartersville and
Warrentown Air Line Railroad plan, had ever before advanced any such
ideas in his presence. He loosened his hands from the yarn, and took
a seat by the window. His aunt's misgivings had evidently so thoroughly
disturbed him that for an instant I could see traces of a certain
offended dignity, coupled with a nervous anxiety lest her inquiries
had shaken my own confidence in his scheme.
He began at once to reassure me. There was nothing to be uneasy about.
Look at the bonds! Note the perfect safety of the plan of finance--the
earlier coupons omitted, the subsequent peace of the investor! The
peculiar location of the road, with the ancestral estates dotted along
its line! The dignity of the several stations! He could hear them now
in his mind called out as they whistled down brakes: "Carter Hall!
Barboursville! Talcott!" No; there was nothing about the road that
should disturb his aunt.
Pages:
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98