She did not know whether her father or Buckley had told the tale.
On the front porch of the farmhouse through the summer evenings the two men
talked of the progress, of the town and the part they were taking and hoped
to take in its future growth. The New York man had proposed a scheme to
Tom. He was to go to Hugh and propose a contract giving the two men an
option on all his future inventions. As the inventions were completed
they were to be financed in New York City, and the two men would give up
manufacture and make money much more rapidly as promoters. They hesitated
because they were afraid of Steve Hunter, and because Tom was afraid Hugh
would not fall in with their plan. "It wouldn't surprise me if Steve
already had such a contract with him. He's a fool if he hasn't," the older
man said.
Evening after evening the two men talked and Clara sat in the deep shadows
at the back of the porch and listened. The enmity that had existed between
herself and her father seemed to be forgotten. The man who had asked her to
marry him did not look at her, but her father did. Buckley did most of the
talking and spoke of New York City business men, already famous throughout
the Middle West as giants of finance, as though they were his life-long
friends. "They'll put over anything I ask them to," he declared.
Clara tried to think of Alfred Buckley as a husband. Like Hugh McVey he
was tall and gaunt but unlike the inventor, whom she had seen two or three
times on the street, he was not carelessly dressed.
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