"It's no difference whether I am fair or unfair," Kate said,
wearily. "It explains why you simply will not brace up, and be a
real man, and do a man's work in the world, and achieve a man's
success."
"Who can get anywhere, splitting everything in halves?" he
demanded.
"The most successful men in this neighbourhood got their start
exactly that way," she said.
"Ah, well, farming ain't my job, anyway," he said. "I always did
hate it. I always will. If I could have a little capital to
start with, I know a trick that would suit you, and make us
independent in no time."
Kate said no word, and seeing she was not going to, he continued:
"I've thought about this till I've got it all down fine, and it's
a great scheme; you'll admit that, even angry as you are. It is
this: get enough together to build a saw mill on my strip of
ravine. A little damming would make a free water power worth a
fortune. I could hire a good man to run the saw and do the work,
and I could take a horse and ride, or drive around among the
farmers I know, and buy up timber cheaper than most men could get
it. I could just skin the eyes out of them."
"Did it ever occur to you that you could do better by being
honest?" asked Kate, wearily.
"Aw, well, Smarty! you know I didn't mean that literally!" he
scoffed. "You know I only meant I could talk, and jolly, and buy
at bed-rock prices; I know where to get the timber, and the two
best mill men in the country; we are near the railroad; it's the
dandiest scheme that ever struck Walden. What do you think about
it?"
"I think if Adam had it he'd be rich from it in ten years," she
said, quietly.
"Then you DO think it's a bully idea," he cried. "You WOULD try
it if we had a chance?"
"I might," said Kate.
"You know," he cried, jumping up in excitement, "I've never
mentioned this to a soul, but I've got it all thought out. Would
you go to see your brother Adam, and see if you could get him to
take an interest for young Adam? He could manage the money
himself."
"I wouldn't go to a relative of mine for a cent, even if the
children were starving," said Kate. "Get, and keep, THAT clear in
your head."
"But you think there is something in it?" he persisted.
"I know there is," said Kate with finality. "In the hands of the
right man, and with the capital to start."
"Kate, you can be the meanest," he said.
"I didn't intend to be, in this particular instance," she said.
"But honestly, George, what have I ever seen of you in the way of
financial success in the past that would give me hope for the
future?"