Jarred nodded his comprehension.
“Could either faction put up a bond of fifty thousand dollars as a guaranty?” Scott asked.
Jarred smiled sourly. “Five thousand would strain either of us considerable.”
“Then it will be simple enough,” Scott said. “The law requires that guaranty. But I want to be perfectly certain that it cannot be met.”
“You need not worry about that,” Jarred replied. “It would be altogether impossible.”
Scott felt relieved. Here would be an easy way to get out of the promise Mr. Reynolds had made the Waits. Probably he had not told them anything about the necessity for a bond.
“Then my next question, Mr. Morgan, is this. If an outsider takes that contract will the Waits and the Morgans work for him on the same job?”
“They will not,” Jarred replied decisively, and Vic bristled visibly at the mere thought of it. “Moreover,” Jarred continued, “no outsider will take the contract.”
“Why not?” Scott asked sharply. He had taken this as a threat and it made him bristle a little on his own part.
“Because none of them will touch it for fear of getting mixed up in this feud. They have tried that and no one would risk it.”