"Yes, it will make a change," said the older man. "I hope I may live to see at least a part of it."
"If you succeed there will be many others to follow. The land will soon be a network of railroads," went on David, still musing.
"We shall succeed!" said Mr. Jervis, closing his lips firmly in a way that made one sure he knew whereof he spoke.
"And now tell me about it," said David, with his most engaging smile, as a child will ask to have a story. David could be most fascinating when he felt he was in a sympathetic company. At other times he was wont to be grave, almost to severity. But those who knew him best and had seen him thus melted into child-like enthusiasm, felt his lovableness as the others never dreamed.
The table talk launched into a description of the proposed road, the road bed, the manner of laying the rails, their thickness and width, and the way of bolting them down to the heavy timbers that lay underneath. It was all intensely fascinating to Marcia. Mr. Jervis took knives and forks to illustrate and then showed by plates and spoons how they were fastened down.
David asked a question now and then, took out his note book and wrote down some things. The two guests were eager and plain in their answers. They wanted David to write it up. They wanted the information to be accurate and full.
"The other day I saw a question in a Baltimore paper, sent in by a subscriber, 'What is a railroad?'" said the old gentleman, "and the editor's reply was, 'Can any of our readers answer this question and tell us what is a railroad?'"
There was a hearty laugh over the unenlightened unbelievers who seemed to be only too willing to remain in ignorance of the march of improvement.
David finally laid down his note book, feeling that he had gained all the information he needed at present. "I have much faith in you and your skill, but I do not quite see how you are going to overcome all the obstacles. How, for instance, are you going to overcome the inequalities in the road? Our country is not a flat even one like those abroad where the railroad has been tried. There are sharp grades, and many curves will be necessary," said he.
Mr. Jervis had shoved his chair back from the table, but now he drew it up again sharply and began to move the dishes back from his place, a look of eagerness gleaming in his face.