“Are you anxious to sell your interest in the mine?” asked Dick.
“Not exactly anxious,” answered Hodge; “but I have a wish to go into business in the East, and the money I should receive would be enough to set me up. Frank has his other mines to look after, and he’s willing to let go of the Phantom. Still, we know it’s valuable property, and we’re not going to sell it for anything under a fair price.”
“I thought,” said Dick, “that there still might be some trouble over that mine, and that possibly you were willing to dispose of it for that reason.”
“Not a bit of trouble,” smiled Hodge. “All that thing seems settled. Frank has downed his enemies in the West, and things are moving swimmingly. His San Pablo Mine, in Mexico, is the richest property, but the expense of packing ore a long distance to the railroad, and shipping it north to a smelter, cuts down his profits. He has a scheme now of organizing a company to build a railroad that will give him an outlet to the north. It’s likely he’ll try to push this project along while he is in Chicago. If the railroad is ever constructed, it is likely he’ll be actively engaged in the work. Dick, your brother is a hustler.”
Dick’s eyes gleamed and his face wore an expression of pride.
“Frank’s all right,” he declared. “Not many fellows have a brother like him.”
Bart smiled and nodded.
“Those are nearly the words he used about you the night before I left Chicago. We were talking of old times at Fardale, and finally he fell to speaking of you. He’s pretty proud of you, Dick.”
“I don’t know of anything I have ever done to make him proud of me,” said the boy.
“Well, I rather fancy you’ve demonstrated that you have the right stuff in you. He feels certain you’ll make a good record at Yale if you get there.”