Of timberlands, whose cut logs must go down Coldriver Valley to reach a market, Scattergood’s maps showed him there were probably a quarter of a million acres—­mostly spruce.  Estimating with rigid conservatism, this would run eight thousand feet to the acre, or twenty billion feet of timber—­and this did not take into consideration hardwood.  In Scattergood’s secret heart he wanted it all.  All he might not be able to get, but he must have more than half—­and that half distributed strategically.

It will be seen that Scattergood was content to wait.  His motto was, “Grab a dollar to-day—­but don’t meddle with it if it interferes with a thousand dollars in ten years.”

Scattergood’s maps had been the work of two years.  That they were accurate he knew, because he had set down on them most of the facts they showed.  They were valuable, for, in Scattergood’s rude printing, one could read upon them the owner of every piece of timber, every farm, the acreage in each piece of timber, with a careful estimate of the amount of timber to the acre—­also its proportions of spruce, beech, birch, maple, ash.

Toward the head of the valley, where good timber was thickest, Scattergood’s map showed how it spread out like a fan, with the two main branches of Coldriver and numerous brooks as the ribs.  Then, down the length of the stream, were parallel bands of it.  On the map one could see what this timber could be bought for; prices ranging from two dollars and a half an acre down the main river to sixty-six cents at the extremity of the fan.

As Scattergood studied his maps he saw, far in the future, perhaps, but clearly and distinctly and certainly, two parallel lines running up the river to his village; he saw, branching off from a spot below the village, where East and West Branches joined to pour over a certain dam owned by him, other narrower parallel lines following river and brooks back and back into the mountains, the spruce-clad mountains.  These parallel lines were rails.  The ones which ran close together were narrow-gauge—­logging roads to bring logs to the big mill which Scattergood planned to build beside his dam.  The broader lines were a standard-gauge road to carry the cut lumber to the outside world, and not only the cut lumber, but all the traffic of the valley, all the freight, the manufactured products of other mills and factories which were to come along the banks of his river.  Here, in black and white, was set down Scattergood’s life plan.  When it was accomplished he would be through.  He would be willing to have his maps rolled up and himself to be laid on the shelf, for he would have done the thing he set out to do....  For, strange as it may seem, Scattergood was not pursuing money for money itself—­his objective was achievement.

Scattergood was not the only man to own or to study maps.  Crane and Keith were at the same interesting employment, but on a lesser scale.