Scattergood Baines

ersary of Scattergood's arrival in that part of the world, but he was not seeing it as it was-mountainous, green, with untouched forests, quickened to life and soun

en meager-some fifty dollars in money and a head filled from ear to ear and from eyebrows to scalp lock with shrewdness. His progress in twenty-four months had been notable, for he was sole proprietor of a p

ber to the southward. He saw villages where no villages existed that day, and villages meaning more traffic for his railroad, more trade for the stores he had it in his thought to establish. Something else he saw, but more dimly. This vision took the shape of a gigantic dam far back in the mountains, behind which should be stored the waters from the melting snows and from the spring rains, so that they might be released at will to insure a un

r the present smaller affairs must content him. Even the

. He controlled the tail of the valley with his dam and boom company; he must control its mouth. He must have command over the exit from the valley so that every individual, every log, ever

complish it. But he had no disposition to hasten matters unwisely. It was better, as he told Sam Kettleman, the grocer, "

or fifty acres of granite and scrub and steep mountain wall that his heart desired. Instead, he basked in the sunshine, twiddling his bare to

ely, and he wanted to see them-but movement was repulsive to his bulging body. He sighed and closed his eyes. A shrill whistle attempting the national

said Sc

ed and looked

t could find his way across to the post office and back without gittin' su

a nickel," s

cents," said

nothin'," s

ized the boy a mome

re. He stood scratching his head a moment and then removed a tin object from a card holding eleven more of its like. With it in hi

hrill, it was penetrating, it rose and fell with a sort of ripping, tearing slash. The boy stopped in front of Scattergood and stared. Without a word Scattergood held out his hand

the boy, "

said Scattergood

'n, or is i

te I mig

w m

cke

, and Scattergood gravel

ood, and watched the boy trot down the street,

himself as best he could. The whistle cost him two cents and a half. Therefore the boy had come closer to working for Scattergood's figure than for his own demanded price. In addition, Scattergood's wares were to receiv

friend who owed his position there in great measure to Scattergood's influence. The letter gave the information that two gentlemen named Crane and Keith

matter of a certain dam and boom company, of which Scattergood was now sole owner. Second, because it presaged active lumbering operations. Third, because, in Scattergood's s

Fourth, it meant that Crane and Keith would be building the large

s to astuteness, but to blundering luck. Another point also should be noted: If Scattergood were hunting bear he gave it out that his game was partridge. He would hunt partridge industriously and conspicuously until men's

no sixty cents a thousand for drivin' their logs.... I figger they calculate to cut about ten million feet. Tha

them, for nowhere else along the valley was there flat land upon which even the tiniest village could find a resting place. These were Bailey, Tupper Falls, and Higgins's Bridge. In common with Coldriver village their communication with th

pace therein that a single fare failed utterly to show a profit to the stage line, and alighted at Bailey. He w

Scattergood, politely

hin' a mess of trout, or huntin' a deer or a partridge or somethin'. If you're ever

"that some men manages to marry wimmi

min," said Mrs.

aines," said

ate to kn

vin' her

hat I could b

to see Jim make a little money so's to be

er make money is to ke

d trout you're speakin'

t. "Set," she said. "Looks like

d be direct and succinct. He perceived

this here store-under

w m

re in the profits of

conditions yo

o anybody, and keep on runnin' the place-f

ts is comin' from, and how

s'll be plenty. I furnish the capital and show you how it'

ying in the road, "You, Jimmy, go up the brook and fetch your pa." Scattergood knew his deal was as good as closed. Before the up-boun

ly unprofitable and an aching worry to its owners. But the commotion the transfer of the stage line created was as nothing to the news that Scattergood had bought a strip of land along the railroad at the mouth of the r

re he spent much valuable time interviewing gentl

endowed with a full reservoir of initiative, but he was a shrewd customer and seldom got the worst of

at Bailey, Jim was a caller at the new offices of the lumber

ke you got to feed your lumberjacks, and I want to git th

But five hundred men eat a lot of grub. Can

the bank was willing to stand behind any contract made by th

ailey Provis

fe mostly hol

tuff, deliver it, and all th

'll take this here contract like this: Goods to be delivered in your camps at actual cost of the stuff and freighting plus ten per cent. We'll keep stock

to trouble. Bailey clinched the thing by showing an agreement with the stage line to transport the provisions at a price per hundred p

enignant his face. "I calc'late," he said to himself, "that this here dicker'll keep Crane and Keith gropin' and wond

of his main attack, Scattergood got out his maps and b

to the control of the valley. He must own more timber thereabouts than anybody else. He must dominate the timber situation. To a man whose total resources totaled a matter of fifty thousand dollars-the bulk of which was tied up in a dam and boom company as yet unproductive-this looked like a mouthful beyond his capacity to bite

spruce. Estimating with rigid conservatism, this would run eight thousand feet to the acre, or twenty billion feet of timber-and this did not take into consideratio

motto was, "Grab a dollar to-day-but don't meddle with i

ed. They were valuable, for, in Scattergood's rude printing, one could read upon them the owner of every piece of timber, every farm, the acrea

of Coldriver and numerous brooks as the ribs. Then, down the length of the stream, were parallel bands of it. On the map one could see what this

ins. These parallel lines were rails. The ones which ran close together were narrow-gauge-logging roads to bring logs to the big mill which Scattergood planned to build beside his dam. The broader lines were a standard-gauge road to carry the cut lumber to the outside world, and not only the cut lumber, but all the traffic of the valley, all the freight, the manufactured products of other mills and factori

study maps. Crane and Keith were at the same

anch-thirty thousand acres. Here's mine, on the West Branc

spruce in that triangle between us, and it's as good as ours. It's there for us when we need it. All we got to do is reach out our hand for it. The folks

But what if somebo

'll

y. Now we've got to divide camps, or else cut off one slice or the other at a time. If we owned the who

is region in a small way. Which reminds me of that Baines-our friend Scattergood. Are

or sixty cents a thousand for driving

can buy

our logs. If he can't handle them we've got a right to put on our own crew

exa

berjacks going out of camp. See? Men of his that we can't handle we'll pitch into the river. Then we'll take charge with our men and make the drive. On top of that we'll sue Scattergood for thirty or for

erous, anyhow. That last

eap of money in this valley for us, if we can keep it to ourselves, and the

you're

fter joys of life. For that is what Scattergood was doing. He had polished up his buggy, put his new harness

t had occurred to him that a great many men had wives, and that wives w

man, the grocer, "that wives is sometimes inconvenient and sometimes tryin'

doesn't," said Ket

st beef! Then cold roast pork and beef for supper.... And me obliged, by the way I'm built, to pay

there's mother-in-laws, and there's le

ts. I also figger," he added, wriggling his bare toes, "that a feller ought

sich to be fo

o look," Scatt

ed thirty. Scattergood had first encountered her when she came to his hardware store to buy a plow. On that occasion her excellent business judgment and her p

best thought, then polished th

?" said he, tying t

, Mr.

it's a hot night, a buggy ride might sort

f a buggy ride was not without de

shawl and bon

But this would not have been so. He was making ready for the winter-and for the spring that came after it. For in the spring came the drive, and with the

been mentioned, she was close upon her thirtieth year, which, in a village where eighteen is the general age for taking a

ate you noticed I been comi

e said, and blushed. It was co

' on purpose,"

l," sai

a heap, ma'am, but some. It's gittin' to be more. I calculate, some day, to be w

made n

d of a wife I want. That's honest. Yes, sir. Says I to myself, 'Mandy Randle's the one for me.' So I washed up the buggy and hitched up the horse and come rig

. "Add what you got to what I got, and we'll be p

in' and savin' too much. I want my wife should have as good as the best, and be

... And, Scattergood, you got to promise not to make no impo

ergood, "you and me

es laughed when they found Mandy present at their conferences, they never laughed but once.... And, though Scattergood's proffer of marriage had not been couched in fervent terms of love, nor had Mandy fallen on his overbroad bosom with rapture, theirs was a married life to be envie

e character of Scattergood Baines. This is not so. We are forced by the facts to regard the matter as an integral part of the

tched the young man's comings and goings, and had listened to his conversation. Early in November he

olks says old Clayt Mosi

some business

title to a piece of timber over

t I guess you'll have to a

as sort of int'rested in that thing. I can't manage n

o right to talk about a cli

e.... How'

very

ttin' r

making both ends meet was a pr

ly back to the desk. He drew from his pocket the rol

your'n,"

How? Wh

ppin' wi

ht perspiration was noticeable

the eye. As the young man did not speak, Scatt

up the money into a neat roll-while Scattergood watched him intently-and then, with s

his teeth. "Git, and take yo

was abruptly interrupted in his pastime of ejecting Scattergood forcibly. He found h

And keep the money. It's your'n. You're hired.

o more int'rest in Mosier's affairs than I have in the emperor of the heathen Chinee.... But I have got a heap of int'rest in a young feller that kin refuse a wad of money when he can't pay hi

I guess

ions to wor

on

, if things turns out for me like I think they will, you're goin' to quit bein' a law

ber in that crotch. I don't aim to need 'em all to-day, but I calc'late on gittin' a sort of fringe around the edge." He drew his finger do

es

'em c

s,

se it." When Scattergood trusted a man he trusted him. "And now," he

good Baines had bought all the stock and contracts of the Bailey Provision Company, which concern was purveying f

and Keith, as Scattergood expected, with the result that Mr. Cr

man belligerently entered the hardware store. "I was

ou get away with that other thing, but this last deal of yours makes it look as if

t I expected you'd do on that dam and boom deal, and come pretty close to doin' me out of some valuable property.

head

you can manage it. If I was in your shoes, and was the kind of a man I judge you folks be, I'd fix it so's the dam and boom company couldn't handle the drive. Buy up the men, maybe, and start f

layer of unpleasant surprise that this mound of flabby fat shou

zy, man," h

our men.... Ever happen to think what would happen in the woods if your lumberjacks run short of grub? Eh?... And suppose it happened,

e's attention to the fact that the provision company was a corporation, and liable only to the extent of its assets. "So, even if you got a judgment, you wouldn't coll

roposition?" s

and repeat as much of this here talk as you ca

found. He filled their minds; he dominated their conversation; he gave them sleepless nights and unpleasant days.... Thei

n in town, and went directly to Johnnie Bones's o

em?" h

from East to West Branch, and I couldn't touch it. I got all the rest. That one belon

rgood. "Know wher

, s

n' mar

ha

Boston and got us a preacher and done the job.

so," said th

m a-goin' to marry you off. Calcu

said, "that you'll

d for a mill site down across from theirs at the railroad. Then you might start askin' questions like you was lookin' for information. Guess that'll git up their cu

to Crane and Keith, Crane a

aid Keith, who did the talking because he could ke

offer," said

sion company-and give

too cold to omit the wearing of heavy woolen socks, so he could not twiddle his toes wi

hat do y

ine for you.... And I got the grub stored in warehouses. That's part of it. Second, I'll lease you my river for three years. You wasn't calc'latin' to pay for the use of it. So y

conference. "Yes

said Sca

check for twenty-six thousand five hundred and twenty-four dollars and nineteen cents, of which five thousand was rental of

visit to Crane and Keith

tween wind and

did you judge t

nts wanted that timber, and were going to work to build their mil

that strip of fifteen thousand acres you co

g out. "I want to account for that five

hain't perv

imber. The options cost me twenty-one hundred and seventy

gh. What did the l

llar and seven

Now tend to Crane a

e time, accompanie

ts wish to purchase. Undoubtedly they were taken in good faith, but w

with me. I hav

to disclose y

olut

is to build a mill at once

my info

ask how much

n. "You see," he said, "there's one fifteen-thousand-acre strip I could

Keith and Keith

n who wouldn't do bus

did you pay f

rdly a fair

ns? That's a fair question, isn

your principals to sell. My clients feel they need t

l li

ing in an offer of a dollar and seventy-five cents an acre

id Johnnie, "but I don'

ness, let's talk business. I've got what you want. You can't get it unless I want to sell, and I don't want to sell. I and my clients know what that timber is worth to us, but any business man will consider a quick profit if it

e it," said Crane

, for cash was a hob

with your local bank to give us

o the room. "Mr. Bones," he shouted, "I was sent to tell you that strip of tim

ound that woman!... Well, we can go to the bank and close this up. The

ill," said Cr

ted in the hands of the cashier to be paid to Johnnie when he should deliver proper deeds to the

ggy to the spot. It was a comfortable farmhouse, white painted and agreeable to look upon, but the pleasure of the

ane. It sounded like a

rushed t

ood's presence, "you own a tract of timber-fifteen thou

ng me an offer for it," she s

rom his-pocket a huge roll of bills-it being his idea of the psycholog

an acre," said she, an

a quarter

half," ro

" said Scattergood

," said Sc

Scattergood. "If you want it worse than that,"

aid Scatterg

d seven hundred and fifty dollars," she said. "I kind of li

d grinned. One might have de

t into town and close the dea

said Scattergood. "I'll drive th

ng from you at

apidly, and alighted at Johnnie Bones's office. Presently he emerged, carrying a legal-appearin

executed a certified check to the lady for fifty thousand dollars. Then he handed it to

for you. I aim to be prompt when I'm tendin' to my wife's business matt

athered it, not suavely, not with complete dignity, but after a fa

" said Mandy, "it w

sand was what got my eye," he said, pr

layin' there unproductive for thirty year. Father, he give a thousand dollars for it, and th

of the options, and nine or ten off of the other things. Guess the Baines fa

't lay idle

s, like we planned, and have some workin' capital.... And, Mandy, Crane and Keith hain't got

for our honeymoon," said