s of track.

"The idee," said Scattergood, "is to make that forty mile of track
consid'able more of a worry to Castle than all the rest of his
railroad."

"Meddling with the railroads is a dangerous pastime," said Johnnie.
"Besides, how can you manage it?"

"We got a legislature, hain't we?"

"Yes, but the boys feel pretty friendly to the railroads, I
understand."

"Feel perty friendly to me, too," said Scattergood.

"I doubt if you could pass any legislation they wanted to fight hard."

"Um!... I'll look out for that end, Johnnie. Now what I want is for you
to draw up a bill for me that'll sort of irritate 'em where irritation
does the most hurt--which, I calc'late, is in the pocketbook. Here's my
notion: To make a pop'lar measure of it; somethin' that'll appeal to the
folks. We kin git the papers to start a holler and have folks demandin'
action of their representatives, and sich like. Taxes! That'll fetch 'em
every time."

"Yes," said Johnnie, dubiously, "but--"

"You _listen_" said Scattergood. "It stands to reason that the state
don't realize much out of that there forty mile of track. The G. and B.
gits the use of the state, so to speak, without payin' a fair rent for
it. You draw up a bill pervidin' that the railroad has got to pay a fee
of, say a dollar, for every passenger car it runs over them forty miles,
and fifty cents for every freight car. That'll mount to a consid'able
sum every year, eh?"

"It'll amount to so much," said Johnnie, gazing ruefully at his client,
"that there'll be the devil to pay. You'll pull every railroad in the
state down around your ears."

"Let 'em drop."

"And I don't know if the law'll hold water--even if you got it passed.
It's darn-fool legislation, Mr. Baines--but some darn-fool legislation
_sticks_. I don't believe this would, but it _might_."

"That's plenty to suit me," said Scattergood, slipping on his shoes and
standing up. "You git at it.... And say," he said, as a sort of
afterthought, "I want to git through a leetle bill for my stage line.
Here's about it. Won't take more'n fifty words." He handed Johnnie a
slip, crumpled and grimy, with lead-pencil notes on. "This won't cause
no trouble, anyhow."

Scattergood went back to his hardware store and sat down in his
reinforced armchair on the piazza. As he sat there young Jim Hands drove
up with his girl, alighted, and went into the ice-cream parlor for
refreshment. Scattergood studied the rig. It lacked so