Page:Steadfast Heart.djvu/267

 Verry was an opportunist, and so, perceiving the ascendancy of Judge Crane’s star, he hitched his wagon to it, and while he did not totally ignore Angus, and while for purposes of valuable publicity he still clung to Dave Wilkins, he placed his main dependence upon Rainbow’s financial giant. Crane, as was the nature of the man, was easily persuaded. The inventor’s confidence in Crane’s ability to call out money for investment in any project he chose to father at this time was not misplaced, for Rainbow set a high value on its Circuit Judge. It endowed him with the golden touch. He was reputed to be on the point of accepting an enormous sum from the Standard Oil Company for his land and options—and there were whispers of other mysterious and fortunate ventures whose exact character was unknown to Rainbow…. If there had not been other ventures in finance, how had he been able to produce so much ready money for his oil project?… This latter was a question which gave Angus Burke no little concern.

As for Crane, he was a man not to be envied, if the facts had been exhibited for appraisal. He was a worried man, a harried and vexed man…. This much may be said for him: He believed honestly in the presence of oil, and that a matter of weeks separated him from the wealth of which he dreamed. It was those intervening