at him. Now they were sorry. As for Steve, he only wanted to get away to get by himself and think. An injured look crept over his face. " Well," he said, " I thought I'd give Bidwell a chance. There are three or four men here. I have spoken to all of you and dropped a hint of something in the wind, but I'm not ready to be very definite yet." Seeing the new look of respect in the eyes of the two men Steve became bold. " I was going to call a meeting when I was ready," he said pompously. ' You two do what I've been doing. You keep your mouths shut. Don't go near that telegraph operator and don't talk to a soul. If you mean business I'll give you a chance to make barrels of money, more'n you ever dreamed of, but don't be in a hurry." He took a bundle of letters out of his inside coat pocket, and beat with them on the edge of the table that oc- cupied the center of the room. Another bold thought came into his mind. " I've got letters here offering me big money to take my factory either to Cleveland or Buffalo," he de- clared emphatically. " It isn't money that's hard to get. I can tell you men that. What a man wants in his home town is respect. He don't want to be looked on as a fool because he tries to do something to rise in the world."
***
Steve walked boldly out of the bank and into Main Street. When he had got out of the presence of the two men he was frightened. " Well, I've done it. I've made a fool of myself," he muttered aloud. In the bank he had said that Hugh McVey the telegraph operator was his man, that he had brought the
