C. & W. run a seventy-five-mile spur out
that way. The management naturally will not stand for the expense of
both roads at the same time, since both would be very largely in the
nature of experiments. Swinnerton's scheme looked more promising than
the Old Man's. Swinnerton got his contract with the railroad. And that
contract says that if on the first day of October Mr. Crawford has not
made good he will be given not a day's grace, but work will be begun on
the other road into Swinnerton's country. Do you see now what I mean by
opposition? Do you see what will happen if we don't come up to time on
our end of the game? Swinnerton is so confident that he holds the
winning hand that he has already founded his town, already sunk a pile
of money in it. Somebody is going to go to the wall when the first day
of October comes."
"But," demurred Conniston, "Swinnerton and his corporation are doing
nothing actively to retard our work--can do nothing. If--"
"He isn't?" snorted Garton. "That's all you know about it! How do we
get all of our implements, our supplies, all of our men? They come to
us by rail, don't they? And that means they come to us over the P. C.
& W., doesn't it? And the P. C. & W. is scared out of its life,
praying every day to its little gods for Crawford's failure. What
happens? We get delayed shipments, we wait for our stuff, and it lies
sidetracked somewhere; we get our men stolen from us before they ever
get to Bolton, and shunted off to work for the opposition! There are
a hundred ways in which Swinnerton and the bigger men in with him can
slip their knife into us every day of the week.
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