The Valley of the Giants Part 28

"Yes," s.h.i.+rley agreed, "I dare say that was his object. Was it reprehensible of him, Uncle Seth?"

"Not a bit, my dear. He was simply playing the cold game of business.

I would have done the same thing to Cardigan had the situation been reversed. We played a game together--and I admit that he won, fairly and squarely."

"Then why is it that you feel such resentment against him?"

"Oh, I don't resent the old fool, s.h.i.+rley. He merely annoys me. I suppose I feel a certain natural chagrin at having been beaten, and in consequence cherish an equally natural desire to pay the old schemer back in his own coin. Under the rules as we play the game, such action on my part is perfectly permissible, is it not?"

"Yes," she agreed frankly, "I think it is, Uncle Seth. Certainly, if he blocked you and rendered your timber valueless, there is no reason why, if you have the opportunity, you should not block him--and render his timber valueless."

The Colonel banged the table with his fist so heartily that the silver fairly leaped. "Spoken like a man!" he declared. "I HAVE the opportunity and am proceeding to impress the Cardigans with the truth of the old saying that every dog must have his day. When Cardigan's contract with our road for the hauling of his logs expires by limitation next year, I am not going to renew it--at least not until I have forced him to make me the concessions I desire, and certainly not at the present ruinous freight-rate."

"Then," said s.h.i.+rley eagerly, "if you got a right of way through his Valley of the Giants, you would renew the contract he has with you for the hauling of his logs, would you not?"

"I would have, before young Cardigan raised such Hades that day in the logging-camp, before old Cardigan sold his Valley of the Giants to another burglar--and before I had gathered indubitable evidence that neither of the Cardigans knows enough about managing a sawmill and selling lumber to guarantee a reasonable profit on the capital they have invested and still pay the interest on their bonded and floating indebtedness. s.h.i.+rley, I bought those Cardigan bonds for you because I thought old Cardigan knew his business and would make the bonds valuable--make them worth par. Instead, the Cardigan Redwood Lumber Company is tottering on the verge of bankruptcy; the bonds I purchased for you are now worth less than I paid for them, and by next year the Cardigans will default on the interest.

"So I'm going to sit tight and decline to have any more business dealings with the Cardigans. When their hauling contract expires, I shall not renew it under any circ.u.mstances; that will prevent them from getting logs, and so they will automatically go out of the lumber business and into the hands of a receiver; and since you are the largest individual stockholder, I, representing you and a number of minor bondholders, will dominate the executive committee of the bondholders when they meet to consider what shall be done when the Cardigans default on their interest and the payment due the sinking fund. I shall then have myself appointed receiver for the Cardigan Redwood Lumber Company, investigate its affairs thoroughly, and see for myself whether or no there is a possibility of working it out of the jam it is in and saving you a loss on your bonds.

"I MUST pursue this course, my dear, in justice to you and the other bondholders. If, on the other hand, I find the situation hopeless or conclude that a period of several years must ensue before the Cardigans work out of debt, I shall recommend to the bank which holds the deed of trust and acts as trustee, that the property be sold at public auction to the highest bidder to reimburse the bondholders. Of course," he hastened to add, "if the property sells for more than the corporation owes such excess will then in due course be turned over to the Cardigans."

"Is it likely to sell at a price in excess of the indebtedness?"

s.h.i.+rley queried anxiously.

"It is possible, but scarcely probable," he answered dryly. "I have in mind, under those circ.u.mstances, bidding the property in for the Laguna Grande Lumber Company and merging it with our holdings, paying part of the purchase-price of the Cardigan property in Cardigan bonds, and the remainder in cash."

"But what will the Cardigans do then, Uncle Seth?"

"Well, long before the necessity for such a contingency arises, the old man will have been gathered to the bosom of Abraham; and after the Cardigan Redwood Lumber Company has ceased to exist, young Cardigan can go to work for a living."

"Would you give him employment, Uncle Seth?"

"I would not. Do you think I'm crazy, s.h.i.+rley? Remember, my dear, there is no sentiment in business. If there was, we wouldn't have any business."

"I think I understand, Uncle Seth--with the exception of what effect the building of the N. C. O. has upon your plans."

"Item two," he challenged, and ticked it off on his middle finger.

"The Cardigan Redwood Lumber Company owns two fine bodies of redwood timber widely separated--one to the south of Sequoia in the San Hedrin watershed and at present practically valueless because inaccessible, and the other to the north of Sequoia, immediately adjoining our holdings in Towns.h.i.+p Nine and valuable because of its accessibility." He paused a moment and looked at her smilingly, "The logging railroad of our corporation, the Laguna Grande Lumber Company, makes it accessible. Now, while the building of the N.C.O.

would be a grand thing for the county in general, we can get along without it because it doesn't help us out particularly. We already have a railroad running from our timber to tidewater, and we can reach the markets of the world with our s.h.i.+ps."

"I think I understand, Uncle Seth. When Cardigan's hauling contract with our road expires, his timber in Towns.h.i.+p Nine will depreciate in value because it will no longer be accessible, while our timber, being still accessible, retains its value."

"Exactly. And to be perfectly frank with you, s.h.i.+rley, I do not want Cardigan's timber in Towns.h.i.+p Nine given back its value through accessibility provided by the N.C.O. If that road is not built, Cardigan's timber in Towns.h.i.+p Nine will be valuable to us, but not to another living soul. Moreover, the Trinidad Redwood Timber Company has a raft of fine timber still farther north and adjoining the holdings of our company and Cardigan's, and if this infernal N.C.O.

isn't built, we'll be enabled to buy that Trinidad timber pretty cheap one of these bright days, too."

"All of which appears to me to const.i.tute sound business logic, Uncle Seth."

He nodded. "Item three," he continued, and ticked it off on his third finger: "I want to see the feeder for a transcontinental line built into Sequoia from the south, for the reason that it will tap the Cardigan holdings in the San Hedrin watershed and give a tremendous value to timber which at the present time is rather a negative a.s.set; consequently I would prefer to have that value created after Cardigan's San Hedrin timber has been merged with the a.s.sets of the Laguna Grande Lumber Company."

"And so--"

"I must investigate this N.C.O. outfit and block it if possible--and it should be possible."

"How, for instance?"

"I haven't considered the means, my dear. Those come later. For the present I am convinced that the N.C.O. is a corporate joke, sprung on the dear public by the Trinidad Redwood Timber Company to get the said dear public excited, create a real-estate boom, and boost timber-values. Before the boom collapses--a condition which will follow the collapse of the N.C.O.--the Trinidad people hope to sell their holdings and get from under."

"Really," said s.h.i.+rley, demurely, "the more I see of business, the more fascinating I find it."

"s.h.i.+rley, it's the grandest game in the world."

"And yet," she added musingly, "old Mr. Cardigan is so blind and helpless."

"They'll be saying that about me some day if I live to be as old as John Cardigan."

"Nevertheless, I feel sorry for him, Uncle Seth."

"Well, if you'll continue to waste your sympathy on him rather than on his son, I'll not object," he retorted laughingly.

"Oh, Bryce Cardigan is able to take care of himself."

"Yes, and mean enough."

"He saved our lives, Uncle Seth."

"He had to--in order to save his own. Don't forget that, my dear."

Carefully he dissected a sand-dab and removed the backbone. "I'd give a ripe peach to learn the ident.i.ty of the scheming b.u.t.tinsky who bought old Cardigan's Valley of the Giants," he said presently. "I'll be hanged if that doesn't complicate matters a little."

"You should have bought it when the opportunity offered," she reminded him. "You could have had it then for fifty thousand dollars less than you would have paid for it a year ago--and I'm sure that should have been sufficient indication to you that the game you and the Cardigans had been playing so long had come to an end. He was beaten and acknowledged it, and I think you might have been a little more generous to your fallen enemy, Uncle Seth."

"I dare say," he admitted lightly. "However, I wasn't, and now I'm going to be punished for it, my dear: so don't roast me any more. By the way, that speckled hot-air fellow Ogilvy, who is promoting the Northern California Oregon Railroad, is back in town again. Somehow, I haven't much confidence in that fellow. I think I'll wire the San Francisco office to look him up in Dun's and Bradstreet's. Folks up this way are taking too much for granted on that fellow's mere say-- so, but I for one intend to delve for facts--particularly with regard to the N.C.O. bank-roll and Ogilvy's a.s.sociates. I'd sleep a whole lot more soundly to-night if I knew the answer to two very important questions."

"What are they, Uncle Seth?"

"Well, I'd like to know whether the N.C.O. is genuine or a screen to hide the operations of the Trinidad Redwood Timber Company."

"It might," said s.h.i.+rley, with one of those sudden flashes of intuition peculiar to women, "be a screen to hide the operations of Bryce Cardigan. Now that he knows you aren't going to renew his hauling contract, he may have decided to build his own logging railroad."

After a pause the Colonel made answer: "No, I have no fear of that.

It would cost five hundred thousand dollars to build that twelve-mile line and bridge Mad River, and the Cardigans haven't got that amount of money. What's more, they can't get it."

"But suppose," she persisted, "that the real builder of the road should prove to be Bryce Cardigan, after all. What would you do?"

Colonel Pennington's eyes twinkled. "I greatly fear, my dear, I should make a noise like something doing."

"Suppose you lost the battle."

"In that event the Laguna Grande Lumber Company wouldn't be any worse off than it is at present. The princ.i.p.al loser, as I view the situation, would be Miss s.h.i.+rley Sumner, who has the misfortune to be loaded up with Cardigan bonds. And as for Bryce Cardigan--well, that young man would certainly know he'd been through a fight."

"I wonder if he'll fight to the last, Uncle Seth."