from page 86 and 87 of DEVIL MAKE A THIRD:
"This is what it is. He'd hired Ed (Charles Brown) to do the surveyin' and he's going to start pickin' his route next week. He hasn't told Ed for sure which way he's headin', but the line's runnin' from Albany to join up with the road to Mobile. Naturally, they'll hit Aven. Me and Ed figured everything and there ain't but one way for him to come."
He stopped and wiped his forehead, breathing deeply, and pushed his hair back.
"He'll cross Basin Street (East Main St.) within two blocks of the store I wanted to buy. He'll build a depot, and a freight yard, and that section of town'll grow up crazy as a plum thicket."
Buck stopped and straightened up then with a half-smiling triumph in his eyes. Joe Bannon pulled his beard carefully out to the longest strand and looked at it curiously for a moment. He looked up and nodded.
"Buy it. I got the money."
"No, sir," Buck said, quickly. "Let's go whole hog. I'll throw in my old store and the new one as collateral so I can buy it without help." He watched silently until is father nodded. "Then," he said, "you get out this afternoon and tomorrow morning and buy, quiet-like, all the ridge land you can northeast of town. They'll hunt the ridges. Don't buy anything but poor land with a good stand of timber on it. We'll sell the timber first thing, then, by God, we'll have 'em hooked. They'll condemn at a price that'll give us a profit on the land deal, then we'll have the timber sale on top of it. Buy it right into Aven long as the price is right, then we'll sit tight and let 'em come to us."
Joe Bannon stared at his son for a moment and his eyes were puzzled, not with the business, but puzzled as if he were trying to place a stranger in his memory. He laughed low.
"I'll do it," he said, and slapped his knee. "It looks like big gamblin', but I'll do it. But how come this afternoon?"
"I sent Ed off with a gallon of whiskey," Buck said. "Told him to take half of it out to Colt Peterman's place in the country, and he could have the rest. He'll be drunk for two days and won't have a chance to tell it in town. That'll give us a two-day jump on the rest."
"This is what it is. He'd hired Ed (Charles Brown) to do the surveyin' and he's going to start pickin' his route next week. He hasn't told Ed for sure which way he's headin', but the line's runnin' from Albany to join up with the road to Mobile. Naturally, they'll hit Aven. Me and Ed figured everything and there ain't but one way for him to come."
He stopped and wiped his forehead, breathing deeply, and pushed his hair back.
"He'll cross Basin Street (East Main St.) within two blocks of the store I wanted to buy. He'll build a depot, and a freight yard, and that section of town'll grow up crazy as a plum thicket."
Buck stopped and straightened up then with a half-smiling triumph in his eyes. Joe Bannon pulled his beard carefully out to the longest strand and looked at it curiously for a moment. He looked up and nodded.
"Buy it. I got the money."
"No, sir," Buck said, quickly. "Let's go whole hog. I'll throw in my old store and the new one as collateral so I can buy it without help." He watched silently until is father nodded. "Then," he said, "you get out this afternoon and tomorrow morning and buy, quiet-like, all the ridge land you can northeast of town. They'll hunt the ridges. Don't buy anything but poor land with a good stand of timber on it. We'll sell the timber first thing, then, by God, we'll have 'em hooked. They'll condemn at a price that'll give us a profit on the land deal, then we'll have the timber sale on top of it. Buy it right into Aven long as the price is right, then we'll sit tight and let 'em come to us."
Joe Bannon stared at his son for a moment and his eyes were puzzled, not with the business, but puzzled as if he were trying to place a stranger in his memory. He laughed low.
"I'll do it," he said, and slapped his knee. "It looks like big gamblin', but I'll do it. But how come this afternoon?"
"I sent Ed off with a gallon of whiskey," Buck said. "Told him to take half of it out to Colt Peterman's place in the country, and he could have the rest. He'll be drunk for two days and won't have a chance to tell it in town. That'll give us a two-day jump on the rest."
posted by robertoreg at 1:28 PM
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