“We got to buy out the farms,” he announced decisively, “an' hire the farmers to run 'em.”
“Think we can afford it, Phin?” asked Eph. “We don't want to go puttin' our money into nothin' losing?”
“We got to afford it,” said Phin. “We're in this thing so deep now we can't go back. An' we'll need part o' the farms, anyhow, fer our wheat.”
“Our wheat?” said Eph, puzzled. “Be we goin' to sell wheat, Phin?”
“Sell wheat?” said Phin, with disgust. “No such fools. Won't we need all the wheat this country can grow to keep our big flourmills rannin'? When we own all the flour-mills in the country, it stands to reason we'll have to own all the wheat, don't it?”
Eph looked at his companion with open mouth.
“Mills!” he ejaculated. “What fer do we want to own all the mills?”
Phineas waved his hand in the air.
“'Tain't 'want to,'” he said decisively, “it's 'have to.' I didn't say we'd buy all the mills, because I thought you'd surely see fer yourself that we'd have to buy them.”
“Now, I ain't kickin', Phin,” said Eph, in a conciliating tone; “if you say buy the mills, we'll buy 'em. I'm ready an' willin' any time you are. All I ask is, Why? That's all I ask—Why?”