Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1917-07-04
Copyright by Chas. Scribner's Sons
CHAPTER V-continued.

-
Smith heard him through. nodding
understandingly when the tale was
told.
ITS the old story of the big fish
swallowing the little one; so old that
there is no longer any saving touch of
novelty in IT," he commented. 1--WE
been wondering if there wasn't some
thing of that kind il your background.
And you say you haven't any Belmonts
or Morgans or R0ckefellers in your
company?"
"We have a bunch of rather badly
scared-up ranch owners and local
people, with Colonel Baldwin in COM
mand. and that's all. The colonel is
a fighting man, all right. and he can
shoot as straight as anybody, when
you have shown him what to shoot at.
But he is Outclassed, like all the rest
of us, when it comes TO a game of finan-
cial freeze-Out. And that is what we
are up against, I'm afraid"
There isn't the slightest doubt in
the world about that" said the one
who had been called in as an expert.
"What l can't understand is why some
of you didn't size the situation up
long ago--before it got into its pres
ent desperate shape. You are at the
beginning of the end now. They've
caught you with an empty treasury,
and these stock sales you speak of
prove that they have already begun
to swallow you by Titles Timanyoni
cOmmon-I suppose you haven't any
preferred-af thirty-nine is an excel
lent gamble for any group of men who
can see their way clear to buying the
control. With an eager market for the
water-and they can sell the water to
you people, even If they don't put
their own Escalante project through
the stock can be pushed to par and
beyond, as ii will be after you folks
are all safely frozen out More than
that, they can charge you enough, for
the water you've got to have, TO finance
the Escalante scheme and pay all the
bills; and their investment, at the
present market, will be only thirty
nine cents in the dollar. It's neat
little play
Williams was by this time far past
remembering that his adviser was
man with possible alias and presum-
ably fugitive from justice.
Cant something be done, Smith?
You've had experience in these things;
your talk shows it, Have we got to
stand still and be shot to pieces?"
"The necessity remains TO be dem
Onstrated But you will be shot TO
pieces, to a dead moral certainty If
you don't put somebody on deck with
the necessary brains, and do it quick
ly." said Smith with frank bluntness.
Hold on" protested the engineer.
Every man to his trade. When I said
that we had nobody but the nelghbors
and our friends in the company.
didn't mean to give the impression
that they were either dolts or chuckle-
beads. As a matter of, fact. we have
pretty level-headed bunch of men in
Timanyoni Ditch-though I'll admit
that some of them are nervous enough,
Just now, to want to get out on almost
any terms. What I meant TO say was
that they don't happen to be up in all
the crooks ana turnlngS OF the hlgh-
finance buccaneers"
81 didn't mean to reflect upon
Colonel Baldwin and his friends" re-
Joined the eX-cashier good-naturedly.
ait is nothing especially discrediting
to them that they are not up in all the
tricks of trade which is not theirs.
The financing of q scheme like this has
come to be a business by itself. Mr.
williams, and it is hardly to be ex-
pected that "a group of inexperienced
men could do it successfully"
The construction chief turned alb
ruptly upon his cOst-cutter.
keeping in mind what you said a
few minutes ago about back numbers.
would it he climbing over the fence too