“Because, if their earnings had been seventy millions, these men would still be in need of money,” Mr. Perin said.
“Why so?”
“Because, as they wish to absorb all the carrying business of this coast—in fact, all sorts of business—they want money, money, money. They want to buy steamboats, ferry-boats, ocean steamers; street railroads and street cars; coal mines and farms; in fact, they want everything, and want it more when some poor devil loses his business thereby and goes, frozen out, into the cold world. So you see, to go into such a variety of business besides railroading and killing Tom Scott, it costs money. It takes millions and millions to kill and freeze out so many people.”
“I hope they'll be disappointed in killing Colonel Scott,” said Don Mariano. “That would mean death to many others.”
“I hope so, too, but I hear that Mr. Huntington devoutly prays that a kind Providence may enable him ‘to see grass growing over Tom Scott,’” Mr. Perin replied.
“Yes, my brother wrote me that Huntington does say that he hopes to worry Scott to death, and ‘see grass growing over his grave.’ I fear he will see grass growing over many graves if he succeeds in killing the Texas Pacific,” said Mr. Mechlin.
“He is trying hard to do that, and his associates are backing him up with millions,” Mr. Perin said.
“Then Heaven help us poor people who have invested our all, believing that San Diego would have a railroad,” said Mr. Mechlin, bitterly.
Next morning the three friends went again to the railroad office and sent their cards to Governor Stanford. In a few minutes the servant returned to say that the Governor was very busy, but if the gentlemen could wait he would see them as soon as possible. The gentlemen waited; they read the morning papers and looked over railroad guides to while away time.
Yes, they waited, but they would have spared themselves that trouble, and they would have never made that pilgrimage from San Diego to consult the oracle at San Francisco, could they have read what Mr. Huntington was about that time writing to his associates concerning his modus operandi in Washington to “convince” Congressmen to do as he wished, to defeat the Texas Pacific; writing all about sending an ex-Senator to “switch off the South,” and there to pretend to be an anti-subsidy Democrat, and to state falsely that the Texas Pacific would injure the South. All this, however, was only known lately, when Mr. Huntington's letters were made public. At that time the three friends, thinking it impossible that the rights of Southern California would be so utterly disregarded, did not see any absurdity in interviewing the Governor.