"Very well," said Stevens. "Call it that."
Lafond in the little room at his hotel looked at himself closely in the glass.
"A fool for luck! a fool for luck!" he cried at the imaged reflection, repeating his old formula.
Stevens was gone just ten days. Of course he said nothing of Lafond's presence in Chicago. He had merely dropped in to look over the property, as was natural. Most of the men wondered why he had not done so before. He was cordial to Billy, looked over what had been done, asked many questions, listened attentively to all Billy had to say and departed in the most friendly spirit. When he arrived in Chicago, he went directly to his office in the Monadnock Building, where he had already assembled his associates by telegraph.
Stevens was brief, business-like and coldly impartial. In a man of his sort that indicated that he was very angry and chagrined.
"I have the following figures to submit," said he, taking up a paper. "They are accurate, as I consulted with an expert as to the items of future expense before leading Rapid.
10 horses at 105.00 . . . . . . . $1,050.00
10 sets harness at 60.00 . . . . . 600.00
Mill machinery . . . . . . . . . . 6,500.00
Pumps, hoists . . . . . . . . . . 1,250.00
4 months' wages at 4.00 a day . . 4,800.00
2 1/2 months' boarding expenses . 610.00
Hay, tools, implements . . . . . . 1,165.00
Wagons, household goods . . . . . 2,560.00
Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . 2,112.00
Building roads . . . . . . . . . . 829.00
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$21,476.00
"That is what has been spent up to date according to Knapp's accounts."
"But hold on!" interjected Murphy; "he has drawn six drafts. That makes thirty thousand. Has he eight thousand in hand? Why did he have to draw the last draft?"
"He doesn't know," replied Stevens grimly. "His bank balance," he declared, consulting the paper again, "is just $1,126.40. He says he doesn't know where the balance is."