" He touched his leonine head." I'm as right as a fox
upstairs, Bryce."
"Right-o, Johnny. We'll buck the line together. After dinner you trot
out your plan of campaign and I'll trot out mine; then we'll tear
them apart, select the best pieces of each and weld them into a
perfect whole."
Accordingly, dinner disposed of, father and son sat down together to
prepare the plan of campaign. For the space of several minutes a
silence settled between them, the while they puffed meditatively upon
their cigars. Then the old man spoke.
"We'll have to fight him in the dark."
"Why?"
"Because if Pennington knows, or even suspects the identity of the
man who is going to parallel his logging railroad, he will throw all
the weight of his truly capable mind, his wealth and his ruthlessness
against you--and you will be smashed. To beat that man, you must do
more than spend money. You will have to outthink him, outwork him,
outgame him, and when eventually you have won, you'll know you've
been in the fight of your career. You have one advantage starting
out. The Colonel doesn't think you have the courage to parallel his
road in the first place; in the second place, he knows you haven't
the money; and in the third place he is morally certain you cannot
borrow it, because you haven't any collateral to secure your note.
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