public house. He usually earned his drinks by scrubbing the floors, but this morning he had not felt like scrubbing and, because scrub he must, he hated Caleb Trench yet more, and turned once in the road to shake his fist and weep. [65] Meanwhile Trench was going patiently through the papers of his new visitor, Aaron Todd. The stout mountaineer owned timberlands, had a sawmill and grew corn on his fertile lower meadows for the city markets. Todd was considered rich, and his money was sought for new investments. The get-rich-quick machines thrive upon the outlying districts. Todd had been asked to put more money in the Eaton Land Company; he had some there already and was suddenly smitten with a caution that sent him to Caleb. The lawyer was new, but the clear brain of the shopkeeper had been tested. Todd knew him, and watched as he turned the papers over and read the glowing circular of the Land Company, its capital, its stock and its declared dividends. It was alluring and high sounding, a gilt-edged affair. Trench looked up from the long perusal, the perpendicular line between his brows sharp as a scar. “Are you all in?” he asked abruptly. Todd shook his head. “No,” he said tersely, “about five thousand. I could put in ten, but that would strip me down to the ground. The interest’s large and I need it if I’m to run that sawmill another year.” [66]“Don’t do it,” said Trench. [66] As Todd took back the papers and strapped them together with an India-rubber band, his face was thoughtful. “Why not?” he asked at last; “you’ve got a reason.” Trench nodded. Todd looked at him keenly. “Mind tellin’ it?” he asked. “Why, yes,” said Caleb, “it’s not proven, but I’m willing to show you one objection; this scheme is offering abnormal interest—” “And paying it,” threw in Todd. “And paying it now,” admitted Trench, “but for how long? Why can they pay ten per cent when the others only pay four and a half? I’d put my money in the four and a half per cent concerns and feel safe. When a firm offers such an inducement, it’s not apt to be sound; it isn’t legitimate business, as I see it.”
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