Benton said nothing more. Argument seemed such a futile thing, so far as Murtry was concerned. Five minutes passed and Murtry’s man appeared empty handed. His manner was apologetic.
“It ain’t there,” he said, whining. “An’ there ain’t any on the boat. Sam or some of the other boys must’ve used it all up last fall before the boat was laid up. I don’t know what to do unless I mush up there an’ have the boys come down in a boat or on a raft.”
For almost a minute, Murtry raved like a maniac. “An’ ev’ry day that my men stay up there, it’s costin’ me a hunderd an’ sixty-five dollars.” He groaned. “Fifteen men at ten a day an’ my foreman at fifteen a day. That’s what comes of puttin’ a man like you in charge of my boat. Say, how long do you think it’d take you to mush up there?”
“A hunderd an’ fifty miles is a good ways—goin’ through the brush like I’ll have to do,” the man said. “I’ll do my best though to make it in ten days.”
“Sixteen hunderd an’ sixty-five dollars!” Again Murtry groaned. “An’ maybe a whole lot more—if you don’t make it in ten days. Well, what are you standin’ there for? Get a move on!”
“Wait just a minute, Mr. Murtry. I’ve just thought about somethin’ that may save you a whole lot of money, an’ save me that long trip upriver on foot. An old-timer over on Penny Ante Crick has been tellin’ all around that this young Benton sledded in nearly five gallons of oil last winter. He was laughin’ about him usin’ it to grease his sled runners, an’ he’s got upward of four gallons of it left. Now, if you could buy it off him——”
“Why, of course,” Murtry interrupted briskly. “I heard about it a month ago. Just forgot it.” He turned to Benton. “How much do you want for that oil?” he asked in a pleasant voice.
Young Benton was thinking fast. He, too, had forgotten all about the oil that he had bought to make slippin’ easy. He had considered the stuff worthless, but now——
“I’ll tell you, Mr. Murtry,” he said thoughtfully, “I had a lot of work sledding that oil in here last winter. I really hadn’t thought about selling it, but since you need it, and I don’t, I’ll let you have it.”
“You mean for nothin’?” Murtry asked incredulously.