He was keen, practical business to the core, and no sentiment about him,
for he arose promptly with the farewell words, shook hands with Bart in
an off-hand way, and was gone like a flash to catch his train to the
city.

Bart stood for a moment in a kind of daze. The congratulatory words of
the superintendent, and the appointment to the position of agent,
stirred the dearest desires of his heart.

His great good fortune momentarily overwhelmed him, and he stood staring
silently after the superintendent in a grand dream of opulence and
ambition.

"I want you!" spoke a harsh, sudden voice, and Bart Stirling came out of
dreamland with a shock.




CHAPTER IX

COLONEL JEPTHA HARRINGTON


The young express agent recognized the tones before he saw the speaker's
face. Only one person in Pleasantville had that mixture of lofty command
and tragic emphasis, and that was Colonel Jeptha Harrington.

As Bart turned, he saw the village magnate ten feet away, planted like a