He had taken them into the
thing and he proposed to get them out. "I'm that kind of a man," he said
pompously. In a way, he declared, he was glad things had turned out as
they had. The four men had little actual money invested. They had all
tried honestly to do something for the town and he would see to it that
everything came out all right. "We'll be honest with every one," he said.
"The stock in the company has all been sold. We'll make some of the
machines and sell them. If they're failures, as this inventor thinks, it
will not be our fault. The plant, you see, will have to be sold cheap. When
that times comes we five will have to save ourselves and the future of the
town. The machinery we have bought, is, you see, iron and wood working
machinery, the very latest kind. It can be used to make some other thing.
If the plant-setting machine is a failure we'll simply buy up the plant at
a low price and make something else. Perhaps it'll be better for the town
to have the entire stock control in our hands. You see we few men have got
to run things here. It's going to be on our shoulders to see that labor is
employed. A lot of small stock-holders are a nuisance. As man to man I'm
going to ask each of you not to sell his stock, but if any one comes to you
and asks about its value, I expect you to be loyal to our enterprise. I'll
begin looking about for something to replace the plant-setting machine, and
when the shop closes we'll start right up again.
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