(5) If a franchise had been arranged for and the bribe already
delivered, that meant the prompt and unadvertised commencement of
operations. Where (the Colonel asked himself) would these operations
begin? Why, close to the waterfront, where materials could be landed
from the steamer that brought them to Sequoia. At whose mill-dock
would those materials be discharged? Why, Cardigan's dock, of course.
Ogilvy had probably called first on Cardigan to arrange that detail.
Yes, the N. C. O. was going to carry its monumental bluff to the
point of building a mile of track through town. ... No--no, they
wouldn't spend that much money on a bluff; they wouldn't bribe
Poundstone unless the road was meant. And was it a common carrier,
after all? Had Cardigan in some mysterious manner managed to borrow
enough money to parallel the Laguna Grande Lumber Company's logging-
road, and was he disguising it as a common carrier?
The trail was growing hot; the Colonel mopped his brow and
concentrated further. If the N. C. O. was really going to start
operations, in order to move its material from the Cardigan dock to
the scene of operations it would have to cut his (the Colonel's)
tracks somewhere on Water Street. Damnation! That was it. They were
trying to slip one over on him.
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