Carmella Commands
dealt with news from Rome under the new régime, and home matters like the building fund of the Sons of Italy. More of this than with new paving plans and new bus lines out of the city.
Even before Carmella asked about contracting, he had resolved to ask about Greendale. On leaving home that morning he encountered Mike Laudini, standing in front of his house down the street. Mike, he remem- bered, was the one who had suggested months ago that he buy land in Greendale. And Mr. Barrington, who had bought those same lots at an unimagined price, was known to be one of Mike’s good customers.
He stopped and they exchanged greetings. Then he asked about the suburb
“They’re building there—building like madmen,” said Mike. “The Barrington crowd and the Cronin crowd, a mile beyond, are trying to beat each other into the market with houses. Why not step into it, Tomas?”
“Maybe,” said Tommaso, moving on. He had learned what he chiefly cared to learn. He walked over to the trolley line and rode downtown, leaving the car within a block of the Central Trust Company, where Mr. Barrington had his offices. He had not yet formulated any clear idea of what he meant to do, as his steps unconsciously turned toward the Central Trust building.
Suddenly he heard himself hailed from the street,
[141]
