“I—­yes, I guess I do—­but—­”

“Any objections to workin’ for me?”

“None.”

“All right.  Keep the money.  When you’ve worked it up come for more.  And, young feller, if things turns out for me like I think they will, you’re goin’ to quit bein’ a lawyer one of these days.  I’m a-goin’ to need you in my business.  Come over to my store.”

At the store Scattergood spread his maps before the young man, and pointed to a certain spot.  “There’s about fifty different passels of timber in that crotch.  I don’t aim to need ’em all to-day, but I calc’late on gittin’ a sort of fringe around the edge.”  He drew his finger down the East Branch and up the West Branch in a sort of horseshoe.  “Your job’s to git options on the fringe—­in your own name.  Git the idee?”

“Yes.”

“Git ’em cheap.”

“Yes, sir.”

“There’s five thousand dollars on deposit in the bank in your name.  Use it.”  When Scattergood trusted a man he trusted him.  “And now,” he said, “I calc’late to raise a little dust, so’s you won’t be noticed.”

Scattergood’s little dust consisted of allowing to be inserted in the local paper an item announcing that Scattergood Baines had bought all the stock and contracts of the Bailey Provision Company, which concern was purveying food supplies to all the camps of Messrs. Crane and Keith....  Then Scattergood settled back to watch the dust rise.

The dust arose, and filled the eyes and noses of Messrs. Crane and Keith, as Scattergood expected, with the result that Mr. Crane was a passenger on Scattergood’s stage to Coldriver village.

“Howdy, Mr. Crane?” said Scattergood, as that gentleman belligerently entered the hardware store.  “I was sort of lookin’ forward to seein’ some of you folks.”

“Look here, Baines,” said Crane, “what are you butting into our game for?  We let you get away with that other thing, but this last deal of yours makes it look as if you were hunting trouble.  You bought that provision company to get a lever on us.”

“Maybe so....  Maybe so, but I wouldn’t get het up about it....  You see, it’s like this:  you folks kind of did what I expected you’d do on that dam and boom deal, and come pretty close to doin’ me out of some valuable property.  I didn’t get het up, though, I jest sort of sat around and waited....  And it come out all right.  Now, didn’t it?”

“Bullhead luck.”

“Maybe so....  Maybe so.  Now, here’s how I figger things to-day.  You and Keith hain’t amiable about that deal, and you don’t aim to let my dam and boom company make any money out of you.  I expect you can manage it.  If I was in your shoes, and was the kind of a man I judge you folks be, I’d fix it so’s the dam and boom company couldn’t handle the drive.  Buy up the men, maybe, and start fights, and be sort of forced to take charge so’s to get my drive through.  And then I’d sue for damages....  That’s how I’d do.  I calc’late that’s about what you and Keith has in mind, hain’t it?”