"You've done me a million dollars' worth of good. I needed some good friend to tell me just what you have. Please don't regret it."
"Well, I won't." She added, in a hesitant murmur, "You won't—misunderstand?"
His look turned aside the long-lashed eyes and brought a faint flush of pink to her cheeks.
"No, I'll not do that," he said.
CHAPTER XXXII
DAVE BECOMES AN OFFICE MAN
From Graham came a wire a week after the return of the oil expert to
Denver. It read:
Report satisfactory. Can you come at once and arrange with me plan of organization?
Sanders was on the next train. He was still much needed at Malapi to look after getting supplies and machinery and to arrange for a wagon train of oil teams, but he dropped or delegated this work for the more important call that had just come.
His contact with Graham uncovered a new side of the state builder, one that was to impress him in all the big business men he met. They might be pleasant socially and bear him a friendly good-will, but when they met to arrange details of a financial plan they always wanted their pound of flesh. Graham drove a hard bargain with him. He tied the company fast by legal control of its affairs until his debt was satisfied. He exacted a bonus in the form of stock that fairly took the breath of the young man with whom he was negotiating. Dave fought him round by round and found the great man smooth and impervious as polished agate.