“Maybe he thought he had,” Scott replied bitterly, “but he hadn’t.”
“Don’t be bashful in saying what you think about him,” Mr. Johns urged. “He was a man we took on temporarily, and we’ve let him out again.”
“It is a good thing,” Scott said. “I think I should have killed him myself if he had stayed there. Do you know the situation down there, Mr. Johns?”
“No,” Mr. Johns replied, “I am beginning to think that I do not. Two men were sent there before you were. Both of them seemed to be getting along fine according to their reports, but one suddenly resigned and the other asked for a transfer. Neither of them gave a very satisfactory reason.”
Scott grinned. “I can tell you the reason. There is an A1 feud down there. Those fellows tied up with one party, and the other one ran them out of the country.”
Mr. Johns was intensely interested and insisted on knowing all the details. “But why not ignore both factions and give the contract to an outsider? That is altogether possible.”
“That’s what I thought,” Scott said, “but everybody knows of that feud, and no one will touch the contract for fear of getting mixed up in it.”
Mr. Johns rubbed his forehead in perplexity. “And unless we can deliver those logs on time we’ll lose our option on that piece of land. What are you going to do about it?” He looked at Scott helplessly.
“Resign like the rest of them,” Scott grinned.
“Oh, come now, Burton,” Mr. Johns remonstrated. “I did not expect that of you. You have the reputation of being resourceful and a fighter. You are not going to resign and let yourself be run out of the country at the first sign of trouble, are you?”