Hugh was at work on a corn-cutting
machine and already he had secured an option on it. "Perhaps when the
time comes to sell the factory there'll be more than one bidder," he told
Ernestine, the soap maker's daughter, who had married him within a month
after the sale of the car-unloading device. He grew indignant when he told
her of the disloyalty of the two men in the bank, and the rich farmer,
Tom Butterworth. "They're selling their shares and letting the small
stock-holders lose their money," he declared. "I told 'em not to do it. Now
if anything happens to spoil their plans they'll not have me to blame."
Nearly a year had been spent in stirring up the people of Bidwell to the
point of becoming investors. Then things began to stir. The ground was
broken for the erection of the factory. No one knew of the difficulties
that had been encountered in attempting to perfect the machine and word
was passed about that in actual tests in the fields it had proven itself
entirely practical. The skeptical farmers who came into town on Saturdays
were laughed at by the town enthusiasts. A field, that had been planted
during one of the brief periods when the machine finding ideal soil
conditions had worked perfectly, was left to grow. As when he operated
the tiny model in the store window, Steve took no chances. He engaged Ed
Hall to go at night and replace the plants that did not live.
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