“Mr. Phillips,” says Catty, all of a sudden, “why don’t you move over there? Nothin’ to hold you here. If you’ll come we kin work together. We got a room you kin use, rent free, as an office, or we can make a kind of partnership out of it. I figgered on makin’ an ice-cream parlor out of that room, but I guess there’s more money in architects. Then you’d be handy to us, and we’d be handy to you.... I tell you, Mr. Phillips, we kin git the work to do if we kin find somebody to tell us how to do it.” “I’m hanged,” says Mr. Phillips, “if I don’t believe you can.” And that’s how it came about that Jack Phillips moved to our town and went into business with the Atkinses. It seemed like he was some folks, too. Had family and all that, but his father had lost his money. Our town was kind of excited about him comin’, and it was an awful shock to ’em when they seen our sign go up. I say our sign because I was so interested in the business. The new sign was plain and Catty said it was dignified. It said: ATKINS & PHILLIPS Architects, Contractors, Consulting Engineers Interior Decorators The first day after Jack joined in with Catty and his father I heard Mr. Gage stop him on the street. “Mr. Phillips, hain’t it?” says Mr. Gage. “I’m sure you’re right,” says Jack, with the kind of a grin he usually wears. “Took up with them Atkinses, have you?” says Mr. Gage. “The Atkinses have taken me into partnership, if that’s what you mean,” says Jack, still smiling. “They’ll do you,” says Mr. Gage. “Nothin’ but tramps off’n the road. Maybe wuss, for all I know. Folks don’t want ’em in town, and if you git mixed up with ’em, folks won’t want you.” “Has Mr. Atkins or his son done anything dishonest to anybody in this town?” “Not as I know of.” “Have they acted in any way other than as decent folks?” “Wa-al, course they been puttin’ on a good face. Waitin’ their chance,” says Mr. Gage. Jack wasn’t smiling any more. “Your name’s Gage, isn’t it? Well, let me tell you something. Mr. Atkins and Catty have given me a chance when nobody else had any use for me. Maybe I’m going to be a help to them. I hope so. I knew all about them before I came. I’m going to stay. I’m Mr. Atkins’s partner and I’m going to remain Mr. Atkins’s partner.... Maybe he’s a bit shiftless. But he’s a man of his word, Mr. Gage, and that’s a lot. He may have been a tramp, but he doesn’t sneak around trying to injure people who never did him any harm. Mr. Atkins is as good as I am, Mr. Gage, and I have a notion that both of us are a sight better than a heap of you backbiters in this town. Am I clear? We’re in business here, and we’ll _stay_ in business here. Good afternoon.” With that Jack just turned around and walked off, leaving Mr. Gage googling after him like he had bumped his head and was seeing stars. “Bully for you, Jack!” says I.