"Oh, this is dreadful!--splendid, I mean! A brick-making outfit isn't expensive, and fuel with which to burn the bricks is cheap. Can't we three organize a company, right here, in our hats or pockets, and get the start of any and all others in the business? 'Twill cost us about two dollars per thousand, I suppose, to haul the bricks to the railway station, but even then there will be a lot of money in the business. If we could have a railway--pshaw, men--Claybanks _must_ have a railway! I've selected several routes, in off-hand fashion, over the three miles of country between here and the nearest railway station; there would be absolutely no bridging to do, nor any grading worth mentioning, so the three miles could be built for thirty thousand dollars. Let's do it!" "Truett," said Philip, impressively, "go slow--very slow, or you'll have inflammation of the brain. Worse still, I shall have it. Caleb may escape, for he has the native Westerner's serene self-confidence in his own town and section; but I'm a Claybanker by adoption merely. First, you open a mine of wealth before our eyes, in the claybanks. Then you tempt us to make bricks for rich New Yorkers and others. Then you offer us a railway for thirty thousand dollars,--more money, to be sure, than could be raised here in thirty years,--and you do all this before breakfast on Monday morning. Come into the house with us; I shall faint with excitement if I don't get a cup of coffee at once." "Make light of it, if you like," said Truett, "but will you look at the brick-making figures,--cost of plant, manufacture, and freight, also the selling price,--if I can get them from trustworthy sources?" "Indeed I will--our firm will; won't we, Caleb?" "I've been wantin' for years to see such a lot of figures," said Caleb, placidly, "an' to see the railroad figures we could touch. I've seen some of the other kind, once in a while." "I hope too many cooks haven't spoiled the broth," said Mary, at the breakfast table, from behind a large breast-knot of roses. "I found in the garden what Grace pronounces a lot of weeds; but I've made a salad of them, and I shall feel greatly mortified if all of you don't enjoy it." "We are prepared to expect almost anything delightful from what has been accounted worthless," said Philip, "after having listened to some of your brother's disclosures this morning. Eh, Caleb?" "Yes, indeed," replied Caleb, with an "I-told-you-so" air. "I never doubted that a lot of good things would be developed at Claybanks, when the right person came along to develop 'em." "Think of it, Mary!" said Truett. "You remember that magnificent house of old Billion's, on Madison Avenue--a house of yellowish brown brick? Well, the foundation of Somerton's old store is of just such brick, and it was made here, years ago, of the clay for which the town was named." Mary's eyes opened wide as she replied:--