So much the registry-clerk heard; and he saw, between jabs
with his pen, the straight path to the revolving doors of the portal
ploughed by the big man with young Blount at his elbow.
One minute after the spinning doors had engulfed the pair the
registry-clerk was called on the house telephone. A sad-faced tourist
who was waiting patiently for his room assignment heard only the answer
to the question which came over the wire from one of the upper floors:
"No, Senator, Mr. Evan is not here; he has just this moment gone
out--with Mr. McVickar. Could I overtake him? I'll try; but I don't know
where they were going. Yes; all right. I'll send a boy right away."
VIII
THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT
When the news went forth to the dwellers in the sage-brush hills that
Boss David's son had been appointed to fill an important office as a
member of the railroad company's legal staff, the first wave of
astoundment was swiftly followed by many speculations as to what young
Blount's _debut_ as a railroad placeman really meant.
_The Plainsman_, the capital city's principal daily, and the outspoken
organ of the people's party, was quick to discover an ulterior motive in
Evan Blount's appointment and its acceptance. Blenkinsop, the
leader-writer on _The Plainsman_, took a half-column in which to point
out in emphatic and vigorous Western phrase the dangers that threatened
the commonwealth in this very evident coalition of the railroad octopus
and the machine.
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