ostelry, now the famous grill room of the Club, the Invasion
of the New--the opening of the great Flamsted Quarries--the migrations
of the nations hitherwards and the consequent prospective industrial
development of our native village."

He paused and looked about him impressively; finally his eye settled
sternly on Elmer Wiggins who, satisfied inwardly with the choice and
bounteous supper provided by the Colonel, had made up his mind to "stand
fire", as he said afterwards to Augustus.

The Colonel resumed his speech, his voice acquiring as he proceeded a
volume and depth that carried it far beyond the grill room's walls to
the ears of edified passers on the street:

"There were those among us who maintained--in the face of extreme
opposition, I am sorry to say--that this town of Flamsted would soon
make itself a factor in the vast industrial life of our marvellous
country. In retrospect, I reflect that those who had this faith, this
trust in the resources of their native town, were looked upon with
scorn; were subjected to personal derision; were termed, to put it
mildly, 'mere dreamers'--if I am not mistaken, the original expression
was 'darned boomers.' Mr. Wiggins, here, our esteemed wholesale and
retail pharmacist, will correct me if I am wrong on this point--"

He paused again as if expecting an answer; nothing was forthcoming but a
decidedly embarrassed "Hem," from the afore-named pharmacist. The
Colonel was satisfied.

"Now, gentlemen, in refutation of that term--I will not repeat
myself--and what it implied, after fourteen years, comparable to those
seven fat kine of Pharaoh's dream, our town can point throughout the
length and breadth of our land to its monumental works of art and
utility that may well put to blush the renowned record of the Greeks and
Romans."

Prolonged applause and a ringing cheer.

"All over our fair land the granite monoliths of _Flamsted_, beacon or
battle, point heavenwards. The transcontinental roads, that track and
nerve our country, cross and re-cross the raging torrents of western
rivers on granite abutments from the _Flamsted_ quarries! The laws,
alike for the just and unjust,"--the Colonel did not perceive his slip,
but Elmer Wiggins smiled to himself,--"are promulgated within the
stately granite halls of the capitals of our statehood--_Flamsted_
again! The gospel of praise and prayer will shortly resound beneath the
arches of the choir and nave of the great granite cathed