“I intended to come to you about that.”
“Well?”
“I ain’t going on with our agreement.”
Simmons’ face exhibited not a trace of concern.
“I may say,” he returned smoothly, “that I am not completely surprised. I have been looking for something of the kind. I must remind you that our partnership is a legal and binding instrument; you can’t break it, nor throw aside your responsibility, with a few words. It will be an expensive business for you.”
“I’m willing to pay with what I’ve got.”
The other held up a palm in his familiar, arresting gesture. “Nothing of that magnitude; nothing out of the way; I only wanted to remind you that a compensation should follow your decision. It puts me in a very nice position indeed. I gather from your refusal to continue the partnership that you do not intend to execute singly the original plan; it is possible that you will not hold the options against the coming of transportation.”
“You’ve got her,” Gordon declared; “I’m not going to profit seventy times over, tie up all that timber, from the ignorance of men that ought to rightly advantage from it. I—I—” Gordon rose to his feet in the harassing obscurity of his need; “I don’t want to make! I don’t want to take anything ... never again! I want—”
“You forget, unfortunately, that I am forced to be accessory to your—your change of heart. I may say that I shall have to pay dearly for your—your eleventh hour conversion. Timber will be—unsteady.”
“Didn’t you mention getting something out of it?”