"Oh, I daresay, but the people are so dreadfully unsympathetic. I suppose you'll call me very old-fashioned; but I don't think our novelists ought to rob us of all hope, all belief… . But come, everybody's waiting to talk to you. Fynes sees that, and he hates it. Oh, I do hope I haven't spoilt your chance of the prize!" She held out her hand. "You will come to see me, won't you? Yes—at six some day. Will you come tomorrow?" she insisted, and drew him after her across the room.

Vance, in following, had his eyes on the small dreary man by the door. Of the many recent novels he had devoured very few had struck him as really important; and of these The Corner Grocery was easily first. Among dozens of paltry books pushed into notoriety it was the only one entitled to such distinction. Readers all over the country had felt its evident sincerity, and its title had become the proverbial epithet of the smalltown atmosphere. It did not fully satisfy Vance; he thought the writer left untouched most of the deeper things the theme implied; if he himself had been able to write such a book he would have written it differently. But it was fearless, honest, preternaturally alive; and these qualities, which to Vance seemed the foundation of the rest, were those he most longed to acquire. "First stand your people on their feet," Frenside had once enjoined him; "there'll be time enough afterward to tell us where they went." If only Tristram Fynes should be moved to say that the people in "Unclaimed" stood on their feet!

Vance's heart thumped furiously as Mrs. Pulsifer paused near the great man. If it should really turn out that Fynes had read "Unclaimed," and was here because of it!

"Oh, Mr. Fynes—what a surprise! I didn't know you ever condescended … Oh, but you mustn't say you're going—not before I've introduced Mr. Weston! Vance Weston; yes; who wrote 'Unclaimed.' He's simply dying to talk to you about … "

Mr. Fynes's compressed lips snapped open. "About The Corner Grocery, eh? Well, there's a good deal to be said about it that hasn't been said yet," he rejoined energetically, fixing his eyes on Vance. "You're one of the new reviewers, aren't you? Do 'The Cocoanut Tree' in the New Hour? Yes—I believe I saw something of yours the other day. Well, see here; this is no place for a serious talk, but I'd be glad if you'd come round some day and just let me tell you exactly what I want said about The Corner Grocery… . Much the best way, you know. The book's a big book; no doubt about that. What I want people told is why it's big… . Come round tomorrow, will you? I'm going to cut it now… ."