“I hope so,” replied Winthrop, thoughtfully. “If many people are interested in our new town it will help us in more ways than one. They will ultimately move to Waterville, erect homes, and engage in business; but we must not be impatient and expect too much for the first year, or the second, for that matter. ‘Rome was not [128] built in a day.’ I fully believe,” continued Winthrop, “that parties purchasing lots at the present prices will receive most excellent returns on their investments. You see,” continued Winthrop in a confidential way, “the Waterville Town Company was compelled to go into debt very heavily at the time it commenced its operations, but by persistent and continued efforts on the part of various members of the company, we have greatly reduced the indebtedness, and if the sale of lots continues for a week longer we will, probably, not owe a dollar. 9136 We will then divide our property, each member receiving a deed for his respective share.” Winthrop seemed so happy in anticipation of the joyful time when the company’ would be out of debt, and was so confidential and frank in regard to the matter, that Vance, hardly knowing why, found himself deeply interested in the work of selling lots, and suggested to Winthrop that he would write to some of the members of the Banner force who were particular friends of his, and advise them to send on their surplus earnings for investment. The town boomer was at once on the alert, and, in not an over-anxious way, heartily advised the step. Accordingly, that night at the hotel in Butte City, Vance wrote a letter to his friends advising an investment in Waterville. The dramatic critic, the religious editor, the police reporter, and the heads of the several departments of the Banner at once acted on Vance’s advice. They knew nothing of the chief’s action in regard to Vance’s dismissal. They wired Vance, authorizing him to sight [129] draft them for $2,500, and invest the proceeds in town lots in Waterville. He at once complied with the instructions, turned the money over to Winthrop, and instructed him to forward the deeds to his friends in New York city. He was not a little gratified to find his last letter to the Banner copied in full by the Intermountain Blade and the Butte City Miner, with editorials referring to the article as particularly able, and to the writer as having the “courage of his convictions.” The article had a most salutary effect on Homer Winthrop’s lot selling enterprise, and during the next few days he sold more Waterville town lots than his most sanguine expectations had caused him to hope for. Toward the last of the week Vance left Butte City for Gold Bluff, via Waterville. He had in his possession additional data and statistics to support and corroborate his recent letter to the Banner.