Page:Stewart Edward White--The Rose Dawn.djvu/338

326 Talk about public improvements! He's worth more in making Arguello stand out than a thousand public improvements!"

"Hear, hear!" said Frank Moore, ironically. "But where are we getting? What we going to do about it? I don't know how deep this trouble is, but I can raise exactly five thousand dollars on my old shack and surrounding landscape: they told me so at the bank last week. Wish it was more, but the sons of guns have no hearts."

They drew together and compared notes. The total did not look very satisfactory. To be sure the aggregate represented what was to them a very large sum; but they were all practical ranchmen, they knew the value of Corona del Monte, and they realized that the liabilities must be heavy seriously to threaten it. They stared at each other a little hopelessly.

"I know what I'd do," stated Big Bill at length, "I'd just naturally shanghai the son of a gun after he'd bought that mortgage and sort of induce him to sign it over to us, or renew it, or something."

"Of course he'd do it!" said Frank, sarcastically.

"He would by the time I'd got through with him."

"You'd have to kill him first," said Corbell, impatiently.

"I'd just as leave kill him," replied Big Bill; and meant it.

They savoured this idea for a moment.

"No good," Corbell decided, with a sigh, "a signature obtained under threat is not legal."

"Well, who's going to know how we got the signature," urged Bill. "Let him tell his yarn: we'll just deny it."

"He'd get you into court and put you under oath. You'd have to tell the truth; or perjure yourself."

"Well, I'd perjure myself," agreed Bill, equably.

"What?" gasped Ravenscroft.

"In a holy minute!" insisted Bill, stoutly. "And so would you. All we got to do is to agree, and stay with it. I'd do worse than that for a man like Colonel Peyton against a man like this Boyd."

This idea, too, fascinated them to the point of silence for a moment. It was broken by Carlson. Again the poet proved himself practical.