millions of lumber. The plan of operations was very simple.
“We’ll buy the lands,” explained he, “on long time, backed by the notes
of good men; and then mortgage them for money enough to get the road well
on. Then get the towns on the line to issue their bonds for stock, and
sell their bonds for enough to complete the road, and partly stock it,
especially if we mortgage each section as we complete it. We can then
sell the rest of the stock on the prospect of the business of the road
through an improved country, and also sell the lands at a big advance,
on the strength of the road. All we want,” continued Mr. Bigler in his
frank manner, “is a few thousand dollars to start the surveys, and
arrange things in the legislature. There is some parties will have to be
seen, who might make us trouble.”
“It will take a good deal of money to start the enterprise,” remarked Mr.
Bolton, who knew very well what “seeing” a Pennsylvania Legislature
meant, but was too polite to tell Mr. Bigler what he thought of him,
while he was his guest; “what security would one have for it?”
Mr. Bigler smiled a hard kind of smile, and said, “You’d be inside, Mr.
Bolton, and you’d have the first chance in the deal.”
This was rather unintelligible to Ruth, who was nevertheless somewhat
amused by the study of a type of character she had seen before.
At length she interrupted the conversation by asking,
“You’d sell the stock, I suppose, Mr. Bigler, to anybody who was
attracted by the prospectus?”
“O, certainly, serve all alike,” said Mr. Bigler, now noticing Ruth for
the first time, and a little puzzled by the serene, intelligent face that
was turned towards him.
“Well, what would become of the poor people who had been led to put their
little money into the speculation, when you got out of it and left it
half way?”
It would be no more true to say of Mr. Bigler that he was or could be
embarrassed, than to say that a brass counterfeit dollar-piece would
change color when refused; the question annoyed him a little, in Mr.
Bolton’s presence.
“Why, yes, Miss, of course, in a great enterprise for the benefit of the
community there will little things occur, which, which–and, of course,
the poor ought to be looked to; I tell my wife, that the poor must be
looked to; if you can tell who are poor–there’s so many impostors. And
then, there’s so many poor in the legislature to be looked after,” said
the contractor with a sort of a chuckle, “isn’t that so, Mr. Bolton?”
Eli Bolton replied that he never had much to do with the legislature.
“Yes,” continued this public benefactor, “an uncommon poor lot this year,
uncommon. Consequently an expensive lot. The fact is, Mr. Bolton, that
the price is raised so high on United States Senator now, that it affects
the whole market; you can’t get any public improvement through on
reasonable terms. Simony is what I call it, Simony,” repeated Mr.
Bigler, as if he had said a good thing.
Mr. Bigler went on and gave some very interesting details of the intimate
connection between railroads and politics, and thoroughly entertained
himself all dinner time, and as much disgusted Ruth, who asked no more
questions, and her father who replied in monosyllables:
“I wish,” said Ruth to her father, after the guest had gone, “that you
wouldn’t bring home any more such horrid men. Do all men who wear big
diamond breast-pins, flourish their knives at table, and use bad grammar,
and cheat?”
“O, child, thee mustn’t be too observing. Mr. Bigler is one of the most
important men in the state; nobody has more influence at Harrisburg.
I don’t like him any more than thee does, but I’d better lend him a
little money than to have his ill will.”
“Father, I think thee’d better have his ill-will than his company. Is it
true that he gave money to help build the pretty little church of
St. James the Less, and that he is, one of the vestrymen?”