Page:Barbour--Peggy in the rain.djvu/85

 call it cheating or grafting; they call it 'business.'"

"Well, maybe. Glad I'm not in business, then. Glad you're not, too."

"But I am, and that's what makes me mad. So are you to a lesser extent. You rent your buildings, don't you?"

"A chap does it for me," said Pete.

"Well, how do you know that you are dealing honestly with your tenants?"

"Because if I wasn't I'd knock that chap's damned block off!"

"Then knock it off. Afterwards look into things and you'll find you were justified. My business is railroading. You'd think a big system like the C. and W. could be run honestly and make enough money to satisfy the stockholders, wouldn't you?"

Peter blinked. "I'm satisfied with what I get."

"Yes, and you get what you do because—or in spite—of the fact that the road is run like any other business."

"Oh, I say, old man!"

"Fact, though. And I'm not telling you anything you won't learn for yourself in a week or