established, the dreamed-of electric line is built out from the city, or
the Capitalist from Somewhere-else arrives to invest in vacant lots,
thereon to build new hotels and business blocks.

The Doctor says that in the whole history of Corinth there are only two
events. The first was the coming of the railroad; the second was the
death of the Doctor's good friend, the Statesman.

The railroad did not actually enter Corinth. It stopped at the front
gate. But with Judge Strong's assistance the fathers and mothers
recognized their "golden opportunity" and took the step which the
eloquent Judge assured them would result in a "glorious future." They
left the beautiful, well-drained site chosen by those who cleared the
wilderness, and stretched themselves out along the mud-flat on either
side of the sacred right-of-way--that same mud-flat being, incidentally,
the property of the patriotic Judge.

Thus Corinth took the railroad to her heart, literally. The depot, the
yards, the red section-house and the water-tank are all in the very
center of the town. Every train while stopping for water (and they all
stop) blocks two of the three principal streets. And when, after waiting
in the rain or snow until his patience is nearly exhausted, the humble
Corinthian goes to the only remaining crossing, he always gets there just
in time to meet a long freight backing onto the siding. Nowhere in the
whole place can one escape the screaming whistle, clanging bell, and
crashing drawbar. Day and night the rumble of the heavy trains jars and
disturbs the peacefulness of the little village.

But the railroad did something for Corinth; not too much, but something.
It did more for Judge Strong. For a time the town grew rapidly.