CHAPTER X CLARA BUTTERWORTH left Bidwell, Ohio, in Septem- ber of the year in which Steve Hunter's plant-set- ting machine company went into the hands of a re- ceiver, and in January of the next year that enterpris- ing young man, together with Tom Butterworth, bought the plant. In March a new company was or- ganized and at once began making Hugh's corn-cut- ting machine, a success from the beginning. The fail- ure of the first company and the sale of the plant had created a furor in the town. Both Steve and Tom Butterworth could, however, point to the fact that they had held on to their stock and lost their money in common with every one else. Tom had indeed sold his stock because he needed ready money, as he ex- plained, but had shown his good faith by buying again just before the failure. " Do you suppose I would have done that had I known what was up? " he asked the men assembled in the stores. " Go look at the books of the company. Let's have an investigation here. You will find that Steve and I stuck to the rest of the stockholders. We lost our money with the rest. If any one was crooked and when they saw a failure coming went and got out from under at the expense of some one else, it wasn't Steve and me. The books of
