“Not for sale, Mr. Bartel.”
“Very well. We’ll give you ten thousand more than you paid for it.”
“You misunderstand me. It is not for sale.”
“Oh, come! You bought it to sell to us. What can you do with it?”
“Run it,” suggested Ridgway.
“Without ore?”
“You forget that I own a few properties, and have leases on others. When the Taurus begins producing, I’ll have enough to keep the smelter going.”
“When the Taurus begins producing?”—Bartel smiled skeptically. “Didn’t Johnson and Leroy drop fortunes on that expectation?”
“I’ll bet five thousand dollars we make a strike within two weeks.”
“Chimerical!” pronounced the graybeard as he rose to go, with an air of finality. “Better sell the smelter while you have the chance.”