“See that you do. Then you can come to me later. I shall speak to Lucy about this. There isn’t any hurry in the matter, for she has two more years in that school.”
He dismissed the matter abruptly, with an inquiry about the line fences and a mention of the destroyed dam.
“I told those farmers their dam wouldn’t hold,” he declared, with something akin to satisfaction in his tone. “I knew it couldn’t, the way they put it together. They wouldn’t believe me, for they thought I had some axe to grind in saying it; but now they see for themselves.”
Justin wondered what Philip Davison would say if he knew the truth. He did not even comment on Davison’s statement, but left the room as soon as he could do so without brusqueness.
Sloan Jasper, representing the opposition to Ben Davison, came to him the next day, which was Thursday.
“How about that, Justin?” he asked, anxious yet hopeful.
Justin had been given time to think, and his answer was ready.
“It wouldn’t be possible for me to run against Ben—it wouldn’t be right.”
“He ain’t fit fer the place, and you know it!”
“I can’t run against him, Mr. Jasper.”