“Sit down, Jack,” said he. “I'm glad you came in. I was going to try to see you some time to-day. I've been thinking the matter over very carefully since the other day, and I've come to the conclusion that it is too steep for me. I don't doubt the investment a bit, but the returns are too far off. Fifteen thousand means a lot more to me than it does to you, and I've got to think of the immediate future. I hope you weren't counting on me—”
“Oh, that's all right,” broke in Orde. “As I told you, I can swing the thing myself, and only mentioned it to you on the off chance you might want to invest. Now, what I want is this—” he proceeded to outline carefully the agreement between himself and Newmark while the lawyer took notes and occasionally interjected a question.
“All right,” said the latter, when the details had been mastered. “I'll draw the necessary notes and papers.”
“Now,” went on Orde, producing the bundle of papers from his pocket, “here's the abstract of title. I wish you'd look it over. It's a long one, but not complicated, as near as I can make out. Trace seems to have acquired this tract mostly from the original homesteaders and the like, who, of course, take title direct from the government. But naturally there are a heap of them, and I want you to look it over to be sure everything's shipshape.”
“All right,” agreed Taylor, reaching for the papers.
“One other thing,” concluded Orde, uncrossing his legs. “I want this investment to get no further than the office door. You see, this is for Bobby, and I've given a lot of thought to that sort of thing; and nothing spoils a man sooner than to imagine the thing's all cut and dried for him, and nothing keeps him going like the thought that he's got to rustle his own opportunities. You and I know that. Bobby's going to have the best education possible; he's going to learn to be a lumberman by practical experience, and that practical experience he'll get with other people. No working for his dad in Bobby's, I can tell you. When he gets through college, I'll get him a little job clerking with some good firm, and he'll have a chance to show what is in him and to learn the business from the ground up, the way a man ought to. Of course, I'll make arrangements that he has a real chance. Then, when he's worked into the harness a little, the old man will take him out and show him the fine big sugar pine and say to him, 'There, my boy, there's your opportunity, and you've earned it. How does ORDE AND SON sound to you?' What do you think of it, Frank?”
Taylor nodded several times.
“I believe you're on the right track, and I'll help you all I can,” said he briefly.
“So, of course, I want to keep the thing dead secret,” continued Orde. “You're the only man who knows anything about it. I'm not even going to buy directly under my own name. I'm going to incorporate myself,” he said, with a grin. “You know how those things will get out, and how they always get back to the wrong people.”
“Count on me,” Taylor assured him.