Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-29
CHAPTER XIV.


CHAPTER XIV.
m III EXT Gay the articles of partner
lN ship were drawn, and Carpen-
Ill vi ter gave his note for the neces-
e. sary expenses. Then, in an
swer to a penciled card which Mr..
Morrison had evidently left at Thorpe's
hotel in person, both young men called
at the lumberman's place of business.
They were ushered Immediately into
the private Office.
Mr. Morrison was smart little man,
with an ingratiating manner and
fishy eye. He greeted Thorpe with
marked geniality.
MY opponent Of yesterday" he cried
jocularly. "Sit down, Mr.. Thorpe. Al
though you did me out of some land I
had made every preparation to pur-
chase, can't but admire your grit and
resourcefulness. How did you get here
ahead of us?"
II walked across the upper peninsu-
Ia and caught boat" replied Thorpe
briefly.
Indeed, indeed!" replied Mr.. Morri-
son, placing the tips Of his fingers to-
gether. Extraordinary! Well, Mr..
Thorpe, you overreached us nicely, and
I suppose we must pay for our care
lessness. We must have that pine even
though we pay stumpage on it. Now,
what would you consider a fair price
for it,"
at is not for SALE" answered Thorpe.
well waive all that. OF course it
is to your interest to make difficulties
and run the price up as high as you
can. But my time is somewhat occu-
pied just at present, so I would be
very glad to hear. your top price. We
will come to an agreement afterward."
"You do not understand me, Mr..
Morrison. 1 told you the pine is not
for sale. and 1 mean it."
"Bur surely What did you puy 1t
for, them" cried Mr.. Morrison, with
evidences of a growing excitement
"We intend to manufacture it."
Mr.. Morrison's fishy eyes nearly pop
ped out of his head. He controlled
himself with an effort.
"N1r. Thorpe" said he, "let us try to
be reasonable. Our case stands this
way: We have gone to a great deal Of
expense on the Ossawinamakee in ex-
pectation Of undertaking very extern
sive operations there. To that end we
have cleared the s+ream, built three
dams and have laid the foundations of
harbor and boom. This has been
very expensive. Now. your purchase
includes most Of what we had meant to
log. You have, roughly speaking, about
3O0,00O000 in your holding, in addition
to which there are several millions
scattered near it which would pay no
body but yourself to get In. Our hold
ings are farther up stream and COM
prise only about the equal Of yours"
"Three hundred millions are not to
be sneezed at" replied Thorpe.
Certainly not" agreed Morrison
suavely, gaining confidence in the
sound Of his own voice. mot in this
country. But you must remember that
a man goes into the northern peninsula
only because he can get something bet
ter there than here. When the firm of
Morrison & DAILY establishes itself now
1t must be for the last time. We want
enough timber to do us for the rest Of
the time we are in business"
"1n that case you will have to hunt
up another locality" replied Thorpe
calmly.
Morrison's eyes flashed. but he re-
tanned his appearance Of geniality and
appealed to Wallace Carpenter.
"Then you will retain the advantage
of our dams and improvements said
he. "Is that fairw
mo, not on the face Of it," admitted
Thorpe. "But you did your work in
navigable stream for private pur-
poses without the consent of the board
of control. Your presence on the river
is illegal. You should have taken out
charter as an Improvement company.
Then as long as you attended to bust
ness and kept the concern in repair
we'd have paid you toll per thousand
feet. AS soon as you let 1t slide, how
ever, the works would revert to the
state. l won't hinder your doing that
yet, although I might. Take out your
charter and fix your rate of toll"
"In other words, you force us to stay
there and run a little two by four i'm
provement company for your benefit
or else lose the value Of our improve
mentsY'
"suit yourself" answered Thorpe
carelessly. you can always log your
present holdings"
VERY well,' cried Morrison, SO sud
denly in passion that Wallace started
back. Its war! And let me tell you