Colonel Carter of Cartersville | Page 8

part of this enterprise, Major, let me
show you where this road runs," said the colonel, reaching for the
casters. "I am sorry I haven't the map, but we can get along very well
with this;" and he unloaded the cruets.
"This mustard-pot, here, is Caartersville, the startin'-point of our system.
This town, suh, has now a population of mo' than fo' thousand people;
in five years it will have fo'ty thousand. From this point the line follows
the bank of the Big Tench River--marked by this caarvin'-knife--to this
salt-cellar, where it crosses its waters by an iron bridge of two spans,
each of two hundred and fifty feet. Then, suh, it takes a sharp bend to
the southard and stops at my estate, the roadbed skirtin' within a
convenient distance of Caarter Hall.
"Please move yo' arm, Fitz. I haven't room enough to lay out the city of
Fairfax. Thank you.
"Just here," continued the colonel, utilizing the remains of the cheese,
"is to be the future city of Fairfax, named after my ancestor, suh,
General Thomas Wilmot Fairfax of Somerset, England, who settled
here in 1680. From here we take a course due nawth, stopping at
Talcottville eight miles, and thence nawthwesterly to Warrentown and
the broad Atlantic; in all fifty miles."

"Any connecting road at Warrentown?" I asked.
"No, suh, nor anywhere else along the line. It is absolutely virgin
country, and this is one of the strong points of the scheme, for there can
be no competition;" and the colonel leaned back in his chair, and
looked at me with the air of a man who had just informed me of a
legacy of half a million of dollars and was watching the effect of the
news.
I preserved my gravity, and followed the imaginary line with my eye,
bounding from the mustard-pot along the carving-knife to the
salt-cellar and back in a loop to the cheese, and then asked if the Big
Tench could not be crossed higher up, and if so why was it necessary to
build twelve additional miles of road.
"To reach Carter Hall," said Fitz quietly.
"Any advantage?" I asked in perfect good faith.
The colonel was on his feet in a moment.
"Any advantage? Major, I am surprised at you! A place settled mo' than
one hundred years ago, belongin' to one of the vehy fust fam'lies of
Virginia, not to be of any advantage to a new enterprise like this! Why,
suh, it will give an air of respectability to the whole thing that nothin'
else could ever do. Leave out Caarter Hall, suh, and you pa'alize the
whole scheme. Am I not right, Fitz?"
"Unquestionably, Colonel. It is really all the life it has," replied Fitz,
solemn as a graven image, blowing a cloud of smoke through his nose.
"And then, suh," continued the colonel with increasing enthusiasm,
oblivious to the point of Fitz's remark, "see the improvements. Right
here to the eastward of this cheese we shall build a round-house marked
by this napkin-ring, which will accommodate twelve locomotives,
construct extensive shops for repairs, and erect large foundries and
caar-shops. Altogether, suh, we shall expend at this point mo' than--
mo' than--one million of dollars;" and the colonel threw back his head

and gazed at the ceiling, his lips computing imaginary sums.
"Befo' these improvements are complete it will be necessary, of course,
to take care of the enormous crowds that will flock in for a restin'-place.
So to the left of this napkin-ring, on a slightly risin' ground,--just here
where I raise the cloth,--is where the homes of the people will be
erected. I have the refusal"--here the colonel lowered his voice--"of two
thousand acres of the best private-residence land in the county,
contiguous to this very spot, which I can buy for fo' dollars an acre. It is
worth fo' dollars a square foot if it is worth a penny. But, suh, it would
be little short of highway rob'ry to take this property at that figger, and
I shall arrange with Fitz to include in his prospectus the payment of one
hundred dollars an acre for this land, payable either in the common
stock of our road or in the notes of the company, as the owners may
elect."
"But, Colonel," said I, with a sincere desire to get at the facts, "where is
the Golconda--the gold mine? Where do I come in?"
"Patience, my dear Major; I am coming to that.
"Fitz, read that prospectus."
"I have," said Fitz, turning to the colonel, "somewhat modified your
rough draft, to meet the requirements of our market; but not materially.
Of course I cannot commit myself to any fixed earning capacity until I
go over the ground, which we will do together shortly. But"--raising the
candle to