Greasy nodded.
"Yep, I see your point. 'Twouldn't do for a Canadian M.P. to be mixed up in it," he grinned. "Of course, it's a long chance. S'pose the yallah-legs got wind o' it? Or s'pose, if we did pull it off, they sent soldiers from Canada to smash us? Eh? What then?"
"They won't. And if they did, you'd know about it long before. Then you could take your pickings and 'git.'"
"Give us the idea again—and give it slow."
Welland complied.
"Here's the general scheme—details to be arranged later: You'll send people into Black Elk—people the Police don't suspect—to stir up trouble along the creeks; not to preach violence, mind you, nor yet preach anything openly, but just to get the boys ready. At the same time you'll organize your gunmen here. When the time comes, you and your men get into Black Elk, finish preparing the boys, and then get 'em all together, on the quiet, and throw down your cards. Then, if the Police won't give in, you smash 'em and run the country. If they do give in, you run things to suit yourselves, just the same. Then you get your pickings and clear out. While you're getting your pickings, you get the U.S. Government to promise to annex the Territory. See? That'll keep the Canadian Government quiet and you'll be a hero in the little old U.S."
"What if they don't promise?"
"They'll promise, all right. Anyway, even if they don't, you can tell the boys they have and that'll give 'em all the heart they want."
Greasy pondered again.
"Say, it sounds a fine idea," he admitted at last.