Page:Stewart Edward White--The Rose Dawn.djvu/341

Rh the vision, and greatly relieved that this scheme seemed to be the basis of his father's activities. But the next speech dashed him.

"The big money, though, at the start is from this Peyton property," pursued Boyd. He laughed like a delighted boy. "That's where you come in, Ken: that's your part of it. You've earned the chance. Without you the scheme wouldn't have been considered."

"What do you mean?" demanded Kenneth.

"Your work at Brainerd's that gave me the idea. Don't you see, if you hadn't showed there what could actually be done on a small scale—demonstrated it—, that nobody'd have the nerve to tackle it on a big scale? With that example right next door, you can satisfy anybody that, with the water we can supply them, they can make a living off ten acres and a darn good thing off twenty! Now you take that Peyton property. It can be taken over at the present time for what amounts to an average of ten dollars an acre. And that's every cent it's worth," he added, noting a change in Kenneth's expression. "Don't forget that final value is what is put into raw material. And any land around here is nothing but raw material. Now that same land, divided, will sell at the start-off for three hundred an acre; and later some of it will go as high as a thousand. That's where the really big profits of the water scheme will come in."

He leaned back, smiling triumphantly at his son.

"But, father, it would kill Colonel Peyton to lose his ranch."

"He's lost it already," Boyd waved this aside. "Of course, we'll take care of the old man. He'll be a lot better off than he would be otherwise."

"The ranch is part of his very existence, father. Wouldn't some other property do?"

"Of course a great deal of property will come under irrigation when the water is developed," answered Boyd, patiently, "but there is nothing as centrally located, as directly in line of the water, that lays as well for irrigation, or that offers near the chance. And I don't believe we could find anything anywhere else as cheap."

Kenneth was silent for some moments. He did not know how to begin.