When the door closed behind the girl old John readjusted his nose
glasses and leaned back in his chair. "A clever engineer he is, beyond
a doubt," he mused. "For I kept my eye on him while he was layin' out
Orcutt's Nettle River project. If he'd made a botch of the job 'twould
have saved me offerin' my plant to the city. But he has the look of a
man ye couldn't trust in the dark--an' 'twould be clever engineerin' to
marry a million. I'll set him a job that'll show the stuff that's in
him. If he's a crook, I'll give him the chance to prove it." Reaching
into a pigeon-hole of his desk, McNabb withdrew a thick packet of
papers and removed the rubber band.
A few moments later Jean entered, the office followed by a rather well
set up young man, whose tiny mustache was chopped square, like a
miniature section of box hedge. "This is Mr. Wentworth, Dad,"
introduced the girl. "And now I'll leave you two men, because Oskar
has promised to help me pick out a coat, and it's after ten o'clock.
And, by the way, Dad, what kind of a coat shall I get? I want a good
one."
"I'll warrant ye do! Well, just you tell Oskar to let you pick out a
pony, or a crummer, or a baum marten, or a squirrel. They're all good."
As the door closed behind his daughter, old John McNabb motioned the
younger man to a chair. "My daughter tells me you're an engineer," he
began.
"Yes, sir, temporarily unemployed."
"Come up here on the Nettle River project, I hear. What's the matter?
Couldn't you dam the river?"
"Oh, yes. The Nettle River presents no serious engineering problem. I
spent four months on the ground and reported it favorably, and then all
of a sudden, I was informed that the project had been abandoned, at
least for the present. The trouble, I presume, was in the financing.
It certainly was not because of any physical obstacles."
"What was the idea in building the dam in the first place?"
"Why, for power purposes. I believe it was their intention to induce
manufacturing enterprises to locate in Terrace City, and to furnish
them electric power at a low rate----"
"An' underbid me on the lightin' contract--an' then unload onto the
city at a big profit."
Wentworth smiled. "I was not advised as to the financial end of it. I
suppose, though, that that would have been the logical procedure."
Old John chuckled. "You're right, it would, with Fred Orcutt mixed up
in it. But they didn't catch me nappin', an' I slipped the word to the
city dads that I'd sell out to 'em, lock, stock, an' barrel, at a
figure that would have meant a loss to Orcutt's crowd to meet. So I'm
the one that busted the Nettle River bubble, an' seein' I knocked ye
out of a job, it's no more than fair I should offer ye another."
"Why, thank you----"
"Don't thank me yet," interrupted McNabb. "Ye may not care to tackle
it. It's a man's size job, in a man's country. Part of it's the same
kind of work you've been doin' here--locatin' a dam to furnish power to
run a pulp mill. Then you'll have to check up the land covered by that
batch of options, an' explore a couple of rivers, an' locate more
pulpwood, an' get options on it. An' lay out a road to the railway.
It's in Canada, in the Gods Lake Country, three hundred miles north of
the railhead."
"How soon would you expect me to start?"
"Monday wouldn't be none too soon; to-morrow would be better. It's
this way. I've got options on better than half a million acres of
pulpwood lyin' between Hayes River an' the Shamattawa. Ten years ago I
cut the last of my pine, an' I got out my pencil an' begun to figure
how I could keep in the woods. I pig-ironed a little--got out hardwood
for the wooden specialty factories to cut up into spools, an'
clothes-pins, an' oval dishes an' whatnot--an' then I turned my
attention to the pulpwood. I figured it wouldn't be long before the
papermills would be hollerin' for raw materials the way they was
turnin' out the paper, so I nosed around a bit an' bought options on
pulpwood land here an' there. An' now's the time to get busy, with the
big newspapers an' the magazines all howlin' for paper, an' all the
mills workin' overtime."
"Do you mean that you're going to manufacture paper yourself--way up
there? How do you expect to get your product to market?"
"Easy enough. Make the paper in the woods, an' float it a little
better than a hundred miles to Hudson Bay in barges, or scows. You
see, the Shamattawa runs into Hayes River, an' Hayes River empties into
the Bay just across a spit of land from Port Nelson. And the railway
from The Pas to Port Nelson is being pushed to completion. With the
paper on the Bay, I can ship by rail or boat to the market."
"And you want to locate the mill on the Hayes River?"
"No; the Hayes runs too flat. Either on the upper Shamattawa, or on
Gods River, which lies between the two, an' flows into the Shamattawa.
There's plenty of water in either one, an' I think both or 'em have got
fall enough. I want the mill where it will be easy to get the wood to
it, an' at the same time, where we'll have a good head of water--an'
it's got to be done quick. The options expire the first of August, an'
I've nosed around an' found out there's no chance to renew 'em on
decent terms. When you get the mill located, then you've got to slip
down the river an' find out what kind of scows we'll need, an' lay out
a road to the new Hudson Bay Railway that's headed for Port Nelson.
We'll haul in the material an' save time. An' when you've finished
that, you can make a survey of the pulpwood available outside our
present holdin's."
"Quite a job, take it all in all."
"Yes--an' takin' it all in all, it'll take quite a man to fill it,"
retorted McNabb brusquely. "The man that puts this through won't never
need to hunt another job, because this is only the beginnin' of the
pulpwood game for me----" The telephone on the desk rang, and after a
moment's conversation, McNabb arose and tossed the packet of papers
into Wentworth's lap. "I've got to step out for a matter of ten or
fifteen minutes," he said. "Here's the papers, an' a map of the
country. Look 'em over, an' if you care to tackle it, let me know when
I come back."
Alone in the office, Wentworth studied the map fully five minutes; then
he read over the option contract. Suddenly, he straightened in his
chair, and read the last clause of the contract carefully:
Be it further agreed that if the said John McNabb, or his authorized
representative, does not demand fulfillment of the terms of this
agreement, and accompany the said demand by tender of at least ten
percent of the purchase price named herein, on or before noon of the
first day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, this agreement
shall automatically become null and void in its entirety.
Be it further agreed between the said John McNabb, and the said
Canadian Wild Lands Company, Ltd., that aforementioned demand and
tender of payment shall be made at and in the store of that trading
post of the Hudson's Bay Company, situated upon the north shore of Gods
Lake, and known as Gods Lake Post.
Swiftly Wentworth stepped to the desk and, lifting the receiver from
its hook, called a number. "Hello! Wolverine Bank? I want to speak
with Mr. Orcutt. Hello, Mr. Orcutt? This is Wentworth--No, I don't
want any money. Listen, I must see you at once. I'm on the trail of
something big, and I need you to help swing it. There's a million in
it--can't say more now. What? One o'clock at the bank? Right, I'll
be there. Good-by."
A few moments later McNabb entered the office. "Well, did you look the
proposition over? Ye see by the map how we can get the paper to the
Bay. What d'ye say? Take it, or leave it?"
"I'll take it," answered Wentworth.
"An' ye'll start to-morrow?"
"Why--it's pretty short notice--but--yes, I'll start to-morrow."
Old John McNabb drew a check which he handed to Wentworth.
"Expenses, an' a month's advance salary," grunted the older man.
"And when do you want a report on the mill site?"
"As soon after the ice goes out as you can make it."
"And you will be up during the summer?"
"Some time in July--I've got to be there on the first of August to
close that option. Take those location papers with ye. Ye'll need
them, an' the map--I have another copy in the vault at the bank. I'll
bring 'em up when I come, so if somethin' comes up so you couldn't be
at the post on the first of August, it won't hold up the deal. Run
along now, I must catch the 11:45 train for Grand Rapids--see you in
July."