“Answer my question, please.”
“I should have to assemble them again,” admitted Hardin sulkily.
Rickard consulted his note-book. “I think we’ve covered everything. Now, I want to propose the laying of a spur-track from Hamlin’s Junction to the Heading.” His manner cleared the stage of supernumeraries; this was the climax. Hardin looked ready to spring.
“And in connection with that, the development of a quarry in the granite hills back of Hamlin’s,” continued Rickard, not looking at Hardin.
Instantly Hardin was on his feet. His fist thundered on the table. “I shall oppose that,” he flared. “It is absolutely unnecessary. We can’t afford it. Do you know what that will cost, gentlemen?”
“One hundred thousand dollars!” Rickard interrupted him. “I want an appropriation this morning for that amount. It is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary if we are to save the valley. We can not afford not to do it, Mr. Hardin!”
Hardin glared at the other men for support; he found MacLean’s face a blank wall; Estrada looked uncomfortable. Babcock had pricked up his ears at the sound of the desired appropriation; his head on one side, he looked like an inquisitive terrier.
Hardin spread out his hands in helpless desperation. “You’ll ruin us,” he said. “It’s your money, the O. P.’s, but you’re lending it, not giving it to us. You are going to swamp the Desert Reclamation Company. We can’t throw funds away like that.” One hundred thousand dollars! Why, he could have stopped the river any time if he had had that sum; once a paltry thousand would have saved them—“I didn’t ask the O. P. to come in and ruin us, but to stop the river; not to throw money away in hog-wild fashion.” He was stammering inarticulately. “There’s no need of a spur-track if you rush my gate through.”
“If,” Rickard nodded. “Granted. If we can rush it through. But suppose it fails? Marshall said the railroad would stand for no contingencies. The interests at stake are too vital—”
“Interests!” cried Tom Hardin. “What do you know of the interest at stake? You or your railroad? Coming in at the eleventh hour, what can you know? Did you promise safety to thousands of families if they made their homes in this valley? Are you responsible? Did you get up this company, induce your friends to put their money in it, promise to see them through? What do you know of the interests at stake? You want to put one hundred thousand dollars into a frill. God, do you know what that means to my company? It means ruin—” Estrada pulled him down in his seat.