Andy P. Symes was much occupied with his own thoughts, he was not
sleeping well and all food tasted much alike, while the adulation of his
fellow-townsmen did not afford him the usual pleasure. These symptoms
are most frequently associated with lack of funds, and in this respect
Mr. Symes's case was not a peculiar one, the fact being that the total
of the month's payroll exceeded the amount in the treasury--with no
relief in sight--interest in the great Symes Irrigation Project having
seemed suddenly to lag in financial circles.
"Maybe I imagine it," Mudge, the promoter, had written, "but it looks to
me as though Capital was giving us the frosty mitt. They won't even
listen. I can't raise a dollar among the stockholders or sell a bond.
Could anybody have been knocking the proposition?"