CHAPTER XXV. That Last Weird Battle in the West 306 CHAPTER XXVI. The End--and a Beginning 320 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ALADDIN & CO ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE PERSONS OF THE STORY. James Elkins, the "man who made Lattimore," known as "Jim." Albert Barslow, who tells the tale; the friend and partner of Jim. Alice Barslow, his wife; at first, his sweetheart. William Trescott, known as "Bill," a farmer and capitalist. Josephine Trescott, his daughter. Mrs. Trescott, his wife. Mr. Hinckley, a banker of Lattimore. Mrs. Hinckley, his wife; devoted to the emancipation of woman. Antonia, their daughter. Aleck Macdonald, pioneer and capitalist. General Lattimore, pioneer, soldier, and godfather of Lattimore. Miss Addison, the general's niece. Captain Marion Tolliver, Confederate veteran and Lattimore boomer. Mrs. Tolliver, his wife. Will Lattimore, a lawyer. Mr. Ballard, a banker. J. Bedford Cornish, a speculator, who with Elkins, Barslow, and Hinckley make up the great Lattimore "Syndicate." Clifford Giddings, editor and proprietor of the Lattimore Herald. De Forest Barr-Smith, an Englishman "representing capital." Cecil Barr-Smith, his brother. Avery Pendleton, of New York, a railway magnate; head of the "Pendleton System." Allen G. Wade, of New York; head of the Allen G. Wade Trust Co. Halliday, a railway magnate; head of the "Halliday System." Watson, a reporter. Schwartz, a locomotive engineer on the Lattimore & Great Western. Hegvold, a fireman. Citizens of Lattimore, Politicians, Live-stock Merchants, Railway Clerks and Officials, etc. Scene: Principally in the Western town of Lattimore, but partly in New York and Chicago. Time: Not so very long ago. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ALADDIN & CO CHAPTER I. Which is of Introductory Character. Our National Convention met in Chicago that year, and I was one of the delegates. I had looked forward to it with keen expectancy. I was now, at five o'clock of the first day, admitting to myself that it was a bore. The special train, with its crowd of overstimulated enthusiasts, the throngs at the stations, the brass bands, bunting, and buncombe all jarred upon me. After a while my treason was betrayed to the boys by the fact that I was not hoarse. They punished me by making me sing as a solo the air of each stanza of "Marching Through Georgia," "Tenting To-night on the Old Camp-ground," and other patriotic songs, until my voice was assimilated to theirs. But my gorge rose at it all, and now, at five o'clock of the first day, I was seeking a place of retirement where I could be alone and think over the marvelous event which had suddenly raised me from yesterday's parity with the fellows on the train to my present state of exaltation.