Lost Farm Camp Part 28

"Well, Davy, but you're looking fit and sleek enough to worry the duennas. How are you making it?"

"Making what, Walt?"

"Everything, anything, trouble, feminine anxiety-Say, Davy, I'm right glad to see you around again. You know that little Flossie faithful at the hospital wouldn't let me see you. Doctor's orders, you know."

"Which one?" asked David, stepping to one side as a worried-looking individual dashed into the elevator.

"Insulting attorney," said Bas...o...b.. with a gesture toward the rapidly ascending car. "He has his troubles, too.-Which one? Oh, yes; the little one with the complexion and the starry orbs that make you want to say things to her. I called several times. Got used to being refused admittance to the repair shop. She was all to the lovely, though."

David noticed Bas...o...b..s healthy color and remarked upon it.

"Yes. Been up among the fuzzies again. N. M. & Q. Were you going up to see the pater?"

"Don't intend to, now I have seen you. Can you spare a little of your valuable time, Walt?"

"Sure! Glad to cut off a slice for you. How'll you have it, hot or cold?"

"It will be-cold, I think," replied David.

The Saturn was all but deserted, and they found a secluded corner where Bas...o...b.. after giving an order, sank comfortably into one of the wide leather chairs.

"Sizz, Davy?" he asked, as a squat, emblazoned bottle and its accompanying siphon were placed at his elbow.

"Thank you-but it's a trifle too early for me."

Ross watched Bas...o...b..as he manipulated the bottles with a practiced hand. Wallie's genial countenance expressed such unruffled satisfaction and good-will that David found it difficult to begin. He accepted a proffered cigar, bit it tentatively, turned it in his fingers, and without lighting it, began abruptly.

"Wallie, about that asbestos-" He paused as Bas...o...b..looked up quickly from the gla.s.s he held. "Do you know of any reason why we should continue to fight this thing out in the dark?"

Bas...o...b..tapped the gla.s.s with his finger-nails. "Not now," he replied coolly.

"Was there ever any good reason for it?"

Bas...o...b..shifted his position, turning toward the window with an absent stare. "Yes, I think there was."

"Of course, it was practically your find, or Harrigan's," said David; "but don't you think your last trip to Lost Farm was playing it a trifle raw, under the circ.u.mstances?"

"Of your being in the hospital?"

"Yes."

Bas...o...b..colored slightly, smiled as he recalled his use of a similar expression in speaking to Ross once, and replied,-

"Governor's orders, Davy."

David ignored his companion's quibble. "You said there was a reason-?"

"There was-and is." He faced David squarely. "Maybe you have heard rumors of it, Davy, and you're the first and last man that I'll ever tell this to-and it's as straight as-you are."

"Thanks," said David, a bit briefly.

"The pater's dipped. Every cent he has is tied up in the N. M. & Q., and the road's costing more to build than he figured on. Bernard, White & Bas...o...b..are stung, and that's all there is to it. It isn't the first time either. The Interurban contract, two years ago, panned out bad. The pater tried to recoup on the market. You can guess the rest. His personal account wouldn't pay my laundry bill. When I wrote to him about the asbestos on Lost Farm, he jumped at the chance to float that scheme and organized the Northern Improvement Company, on his nerve and a little business prestige. To come down to the ghastly, Davy, Northern Improvement capital has been paying our current expenses. If that deal falls through,"-Bas...o...b..s lips curled sarcastically,-"it's the front page in the Yellow Horrors for us, and G.o.d knows what they'll do to the pater. Of course I can dig up something out of the wreck, but Bessie-"

"I'm glad you told me," interrupted David. "Now I appreciate your position-and my own. It makes it less difficult for me to go ahead with my scheme."

"I knew you would," replied Bas...o...b.. misunderstanding him. "In fact, I told the pater that nothing this side of flowers and little Davy in the front carriage would stop you. So you're going to put your deal through?"

"Yes, if I can swing it, but that depends on you and your father."

"Correct, my jewel. Of course it's a big thing for you. To buck the pater and his ill.u.s.trious son takes nerve, doesn't it, Davy?"

"More than that. But see here, Walt, my partnership with Avery means nothing more than a working interest. I don't own a foot of the land.

I'm here to interest capital, though. Then mine the stuff and market it.

Of course I expect to make something, and I'm willing to risk what little capital I have."

"I have told Bessie about all there is to tell," said Bas...o...b.. watching David's face closely. "She said she knows you won't give it up, even if it indirectly sends us to the bread-line."

"That doesn't sound just like you, Walt. Besides, I just don't like Bessie's name mentioned in this connection."

"Of course not. I appreciate that, Davy, and I'll be good."

"Well, you needn't be sarcastic, Walt. It's not your most becoming style."

"If I had anything to bet," replied Bas...o...b.. "I'd lay three to one you'll win out,-marry the siren child,-suppress the Cyclops, and become one of our 'most influential,' etc."

"You would probably lose. Especially on the siren child, as you call her. By the way, where's Smoke?"

"Reasonable question, my son, but unanswerable. We parted company somewhere near Tramworth, without explanations or regrets, on Smoke's part anyway. That dog's cut out for a bushwhacker. Boston's too tame for him after that 'Indian Pete' affair. Wonder whom he'll ma.s.sacre next? I was beginning to get a bit shy of him myself."

"He probably felt it, and vamoosed," said David.

"He probably felt hungry," replied Bas...o...b.. with an unpleasant laugh. "A man's in a bad way when his dog won't stick to him. Perhaps he smelt the wolf at the door of the house of Bas...o...b.."

"You're drawing it pretty fine, Wallie."

"Oh, d.a.m.n the dog, and you, too."

"See here, Walt,"-David stood up and straightened his shoulders. "I'll take that from you, but you'd better retract about the dog. And that reminds me, now you're stripped for action, how much did you give Harrigan for his find-the asbestos?"

"That, Mr. Claymore-and-Kilts, is none of your d.a.m.ned business."

"Good!" exclaimed David. "Now, you're more like your real self than I've seen you yet. The Saturn is a hospitable club. I think I'll put up my name some day."

"Speaking of sarcasm," began Bas...o...b.. but the expression of David's face checked him. "My G.o.d, Davy, you don't realize what it means to tell a chap what I've told you and get turned down as-"

"I think I do, Walt," interrupted David. "I'm not going to insult either of us by saying I'm sorry, but if you want to come into this thing-help me organize a company independent of the N. M. & Q., you understand, I have a few friends who are willing to go in with me, and I'd like to make you one of them."

Bas...o...b..s astonishment held him speechless for a moment.