ence for a
moment. Those who heard him had not the quick temperament of the men
of the Western cities. They lived in the stillness of the Bush, and
thought before they undertook anything, though, when they moved, it
was usually to some purpose. One of the men stood up with a
deprecatory gesture.

"Well," he declared, "it's a great idea. Boys, wouldn't you call us
blame fools for not thinking of it before?"

He sat down suddenly, before anybody answered him, and the men were
still again until another of them rose.

"Nasmyth's not quite through yet," he said. "We'll ask him to go
ahead."

Gordon leaned forward, and touched his comrade's arm.

"Pitch it to them strong. You're getting hold," he whispered
encouragingly.

For another five minutes Nasmyth spoke as he felt that he had never
spoken before. He was intent and strung up, and he knew that a great
deal depended upon the effect he could make. He had failed with the
men of the cities, who wanted all the profit. He felt sure that he
would henceforward have one or two of them against him, and it was
clear that he must either abandon his project or win over these
hard-handed men of the Bush. With them behind him, there was, he felt,
little that he need shrink from attempting. A ring crept into his
voice as he went on, for he knew that he was getting hold as he saw
their lips set and the resolute expression of their eyes. They were
men who, by strenuous toil, wrung a bare living out of the forest, and
now there was laid before them a scheme that in its sheer daring
seized upon their attention.

"Boys," Nasmyth concluded, "I am in your hands. This thing is too big
for me to go into alone. Still, it's due to you to say that, while I
meant to give you an option of standing in, it seemed to me it would
simplify the thing if I raised most of the money before I came to you.
Money is usually scarce in the Bush."

"That's a fact," agreed the shrewd-faced hotel-keeper, who also
conducted the store. "Anyway, when you have to trade with folks who
take twelve months to square up their bills in."

Nobody seemed to heed him, and Nasmyth added:

"Well, I found I couldn't do it--that is, if I wanted to keep anything
for myself. I want you to come in, and as soon as I hear you're ready
to give it your attention, I'll lay a proposition before you."

He sat looking at them, in a state of tense anxiety, until one of them
rose to his feet.

"I guess you can count upon every on