The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1916-03-02


ACQUIRING plank SIDEWALKS and getting
itself transformed into ChigriaH ave
me with a double row of false-fl )nted
.emporiums" to supplant the shack
shelters, Monsieur PoudrecaulX Bon
yras. late of the San Francisco tender
Ioin. opened the camps first counter
grill
Finding monsieur's name impossible
IN both halves of it, the camp grinned
md rechristened him "Poodles." Later,
discovering his dual gift of past mas
tership in potato frying and coffee
making, the camp gave him vogue.
Dut of the vogue sprang in swift sue
.ession cafe with side tables, res
taurant with private dining rooms, and
presently a commodious hotel, where
the food was excellent, the appoint
ments luxurious, and where Jack
clothed and in his right mind and with
money in his hand-was as good as his
master.
It was in one of Bongras private
dining rooms that Mr.. j. Wesley Cort-
wright was entertaining Brouillard,
with Miss Genevieve to make a har-
monizing third at the circular table.
The little dinner had been a gustatory
triumph. Nevertheless, when Miss
Cartwright had gone upstairs, and the
waiter would have refilled his glass,
Brouillard shook his head
If the millionaire saw the refusal he
was too wise to remark it. He was
still the frank, outspoken money
maker, hot upon the trail of the nimble
dollar. Yet there was a change of
some kind. Brouillard had marked it
on the day, fortnight earlier when
latter assuring himself morosely that
he would not) he had gone. down to
the lower canyon portal to- see the
Cartwright touring car finish its sec
ond race across the desert from e.
Cato.
"Of course I was quite prepared to
have you stand off and throw stones
at our little cob house of venture,
BrouiIlard," the host allowed at the
lighting of the gold-banded cigars.
You're the government engineer and
the builder of the big dam; but you
cant build your dam in one day, or
in two, and the interval is ours. l tell
YOU, we're going to make Mirapolis
buzz-hummer while the daylight lasts
Don't you forget that"
Mirapolis?' queried Brouillard.
as that the new name?"
Cartwright laughed and nodded. ITS
Genes name-'Miracle City Fits like
the glove on a pretty girls arm,
doesn't it?"
1T does. But the miracle is that
there should be any money daring
enough to invest itself in the Niquoia."
why, bless your workaday heart,
Brouillard," chuckled the host. moth
ing is permanent in this shutting,
growing, progressive world of ours
absolutely nothing. Some of the big
gest and costliest buildings in New
York and Chicago are built on ground
leases. Our ground lease will merely
be a little shorter in the factor Of
time"
80 much shorter that the parallel
won't hold" argued Brouillard.
THE parallel does hold; long time,
small profits and slow return; short
time, big profits and a quick return.
You've eaten here before; what do
you pay Bongras for a reasonably good
dinner?"
Brouillard laughed. "Oh, Poodles.
He cinches us, all right; four or five
times as much as it's worth-or would
cost anywhere else"
That's it. He knows he has to
make good on all these little luxlries
he gives you-cash in every day, as
you might say, and come out whole be-
fore you stop the creek and drown
him When we get in motion were
going to have Alaska faded to fragile
on prices-and you'll see everybody
paying them joyfully."
And in the end somebody, or the
final series of somebodies, will be left
to hold the bag" finished Brouillard.
There needn't be any bag holders,
Brouillard Let me put it in nut
shell: we're building a cement plant,
and we shall sell you the output-at a
good. round price, pIolhlSo SOu' put
still at lower figure than you're pay
ing for the imported article now, or
than you will pay even after the rail
road gets in. When our government
orders are filled we can afford to
wreck the plant for what it will bring |
as junk. Wen be out of it whole, with |
a nice little profit"
THAT is only one instance" object |
ed the guest.
well, Bongras, here, is one more"
laughed the host. And our power |
plant is another. You made your little
kick on that to Washington-you
thought the government ought to con-
troll its own power. That was all
right, from your point of view, but we
beat you to it. Now the reclamation
service gets all the power it needs at
nominal price, and we're going to sell
enough more to make us all feel
happy"
Sell it? To whom"
Mr.. Cartwright leaned back in his
chair on1 he condunrau aunc scanned