"Sit down," he invited, motioning them to chairs in the private office to which they were admitted. "Didn't expect to see you again, Hagan, in such a hurry. You must have rushed through your business with Old Gripper and his crowd. How did you come out?"
"By the door," answered the Irishman; "and it's little good it did us to go in."
"Did you take my advice as a tip in regard to that railroad deal?"
"It's no advice I needed, for I wasn't thinking of pushing into that."
"There might be money in it if they put her through in the proper manner; but it's Merriwell's idea, I reckon, to capitalize her at her proper value; and that will make it necessary for the men who build to take just as much risk as the general public who buys the stock. It doesn't seem possible that a shrewd old fox like Watson Scott can be dragged into such a dangerous affair. Now, if you and I were doing it, Hagan, we'd do it in a way that would leave us practically without risk, and I think we'd clean up a good thing out of it."
"Why can't we do it?" exclaimed Hagan, as if struck by a sudden thought.
"Why can't we?" questioned Jerome, in some surprise. "Why, that other gang is in it."
"We'll block 'em, me boy! We'll hold their scheme up, and reap the harvest ourselves!"
"How can it be done? Oh, no; I'm not looking for trouble with that bunch. It isn't necessary to build railroads in order to make money. There are plenty of roads in existence that can be manipulated and squeezed dry. There is no need to go searching round for new roads to build."
"But there is something more to squeeze in this than a railroad. What if I show you how we can get an interest in a vast tract of land in Eastern Sonora—a tract that is rich in minerals in one section and may be opened up for ranches and plantations in another?"