"Шервуд Андерсен. Белый бедняк (engl) " - читать интересную книгу автора

became convinced that the jeweler's son was telling the truth. It did not
occur to him that a Bidwell young man would dare lie to such solid men
as John Clark and himself. "You let them city bankers alone," he said
emphatically. "You tell us your story. What you got to tell?"

In the silent little room the three men stared at each other. Tom
Butterworth and John Clark in their turn began to have dreams. They
remembered the tales they had heard of vast fortunes made quickly by men
who owned new and valuable inventions. The land was at that time full of
such tales. They were blown about on every wind. Quickly they realized that
they had made a mistake in their attitude toward Steve, and were anxious to
win his regard. They had called him into the bank to bully him and to laugh
at him. Now they were sorry. As for Steve, he only wanted to get away--to
get by himself and think. An injured look crept over his face. "Well," he
said, "I thought I'd give Bidwell a chance. There are three or four men
here. I have spoken to all of you and dropped a hint of something in the
wind, but I'm not ready to be very definite yet."

Seeing the new look of respect in the eyes of the two men Steve became
bold. "I was going to call a meeting when I was ready," he said pompously.
"You two do what I've been doing. You keep your mouths shut. Don't go near
that telegraph operator and don't talk to a soul. If you mean business I'll
give you a chance to make barrels of money, more'n you ever dreamed of, but
don't be in a hurry." He took a bundle of letters out of his inside coat
pocket, and beat with them on the edge of the table that occupied the
center of the room. Another bold thought came into his mind.

"I've got letters here offering me big money to take my factory either to
Cleveland or Buffalo," he declared emphatically. "It isn't money that's
hard to get. I can tell you men that. What a man wants in his home town is
respect. He don't want to be looked on as a fool because he tries to do
something to rise in the world."

* * * * *

Steve walked boldly out of the bank and into Main Street. When he had got
out of the presence of the two men he was frightened. "Well, I've done it.
I've made a fool of myself," he muttered aloud. In the bank he had said
that Hugh McVey the telegraph operator was his man, that he had brought
the fellow to Bidwell. What a fool he had been. In his anxiety to impress
the two older men he had told a story, the falsehood of which could be
discovered in a few minutes. Why had he not kept his dignity and waited?
There had been no occasion for being so definite. He had gone too far, had
been carried away. To be sure he had told the two men not to go near the
telegraph operator, but that would no doubt but serve to arouse their
suspicions of the thinness of his story. They would talk the matter over
and start an investigation of their own. Then they would find out he
had lied. He imagined the two men as already engaged in a whispered
conversation regarding the probability of his tale. Like most shrewd men
he had an exalted notion regarding the shrewdness of others. He walked a