Presently Tim Plant, teamster, drove by, and Scattergood hailed him.
"Tim," he said, "you owe me a leetle bill. This hain't a dun, but I got a mite of work to be done, and seein' things wasn't brisk with you, I figgered you might want to work it out—jest to keep busy."
"Sure," said Tim.
Whereupon Scattergood elevated himself to the seat beside Tim, and was driven to the spot he had selected for the Coldriver terminal of his railroad.
"I want about a hunderd feet graded along here," he said, "to lay rails on."
"Rails!... Gosh! Scattergood, you hain't thinkin' of buildin' a railroad, be you?"
"Shucks!" said Scattergood. "I jest got a half dozen rails comin', and I figgered I'd like to see how they'd look all laid down on the spot. Give folks an idee how a railroad 'u'd look if there was one."
In which manner Scattergood collected a doubtful bill, obtained a quantity of labor at what might be called wholesale rates—and actually started work on his railroad. Actual, patent for the world to see. The railroad was begun. Not Crane & Keith, not President Castle, not a court in the world could deny that actual construction had begun. Scattergood was insuring himself against possible steps by the enemy to nullify his charter.
"What's this here eminent domain?" Scattergood asked Johnnie Bones.
"It's a legal thing that allows railroads to take land necessary to its operation—paying for it, of course."