The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-06-26

| fronting on tidewater to enable him
to erect a sawmill, lay out his yards,
and build a dock out into the deep
water.
THUS Gregory will have that which
he hasn't got nOw-an outlet to his
market by water; and when the rail.
road to SeCuoia builds in from the
south. it will connect with the road
which we have built from SequOia up
! into Township nine to the north
hence Gregory will also have an out
! let to his market by rail. lie can
easily get a good manager to run his
lumber business until he finds GUS
| toner for il. and In the meantime we
will be charging his account with our
freight bills against him and gradual
iy pay off the loan without pinching
ourselves"
John Cardigan'S old hand came CROP
/ ingly forth and rested affectionately
upon his boys. you forget. my son.
that we cannot last I'm business long
] enough to get that road built, even
though Gregory should agree to
finance the building of it. The inter-
est on our bonded Indebtedness is
payable on the first"
"We can meet it, sir"
AYE, but we can't meet the. fifty
thousand dollars which, under the
terms of our deed of trust, we are re-
| quired to pay in on July first of each
! year as q striking fund toward the re-
tirement of our bonds. Bryce, it just
can't be DONE We'd have our road
about half completed when we'd bust
up in business indeed the minute
Pennington suspected we were paral-
Icing his line he'd choke off our wind.
I tell you it can't be done"
But Bryce cOntradicted him earn
estly. "It can be DONE" he said. "If
we can start building our road and
have it half completed before Pen
nlngtOn jumps on us, Gregory will
simply have to come to our aid in self
defense. Once he ties up with us, he's
committed 10 the task of seeing us
! through. can do it, I tell you"
| John Cardigan raised his hand.
"NO," he said firmly. 81 will not allow
you to do this. That way-that is the
Pennington method. If we fall, my
son, we pass out like gentlemen, not
blackguards. We will not take advan-
tage of this man Gregory's faith. If
he joins forces with us, we lay our
hand on the table and let him look"
''Then he'll never join hands with
us, partner. We're DONE"
"We're not done, my son. We have
one alternative, and I'm going to take
II. I've got tO-fOr your sake. More
over. your mother would have wished
II So"
You don't mean"
"Yes. I do. I'm going to sell Pen
ningtOn my Valley Of the Giants. 1t
is my personal property, and 1t is not
mOrtgaged. Pennington can never
foreclOse on it-and until he getN 1t,
twenty-five hundred acres of virgin
timber on SGuaw creek are valueless-
nay, q source of expense to hims
Bryce, he has to have 1t; and he'll pay
the price, when he knows l mean
| business"
With a sweeping gesture he waved
aside the arguments that rose to his
sons lips. lead me to the telephone.
he commanded; and Bryce, recOgniz-
| Ing his sire's unalterable determine
ton, obeyed.,
Find PenningtOn's number In the
telephone book" John Cardigan COM
manded next.
Bryce found 1t. and his father pro-
ceeded to get the Colonel on the wire.
Pennington" he said hoarsely. ''this
is John Cardigan speaking. I've de-
cided to sell you that Quarter-section
that blocks your timber on SQuaw
creek"
Indeed" the Colonel purred. II
had an idea you were going to pre-
sent 1t to the city for natural park. /"
"Tve changed my mind. I've decid-
ed to sell at your last Offer"
"Tve changed my mind, too. I've
decided not to bhy-at nay last offer.
Goodnight"
Slowly John Cardigan hung the re-
ceiver on the hook, turned and CROPPED
| for his son. When he found him, the
! old man held him for a moment in his
arms. LEAD me- upstairs, son." he
murmured presently. I'm tired. I'm
going to bed"
When Colonel Seth Pennington
turned from the telephone and faced
his niece. Shirley read his triumph In
his face. "Old Cardigan has capitu-
lated at last" he cried exultingly. "He
just telephOned to say he'd accept my
last offer for his Valley Of the Giants. /"
But you're not going to buy 1t.
You told him so, Uncle Seth"
"Of course I'm not going to buy 1t.
! ut my last offer. It's worth five thou
sand dollars in the open market, and
once I offered him fifty thousand for
it. Now I'll give him FIVE"
II wonder why he wants to SELL
Shirley unused. "From what Bryce
Cardigan told me once, his father at
taches a sentimental value to that
strip Of woods; his wife is buried
there"
Hes selling II because he's desper-
ate. II he wasn't lettering on the
| eor.1a ~ hopHrr1vfov hotd navor Iof