situation. There's nothing openly threatened. But it has
been made perfectly clear to me that I'll be hampered and harassed till
I won't know whether I'm afoot or on horseback, if I go on paying a few
cents more for salmon in order to keep my plant working efficiently.
Damn it, I hate it. But I'm in no position to clash with the rest of the
cannery crowd and the banks too. I hate to let you down. You've pulled
me out of a hole. I don't know a man who would have worked at your pitch
and carried things off the way you have. If I had this pack marketed, I
could snap my fingers at them. But I haven't. There's the rub. I hate to
ditch you in order to insure myself--get in line at somebody else's
dictation."

"Don't worry about me," MacRae said gently. "I have no cannery and no
pack to market through the regular channels. Nor has the bank advanced
me any funds. You are not responsible for what I do. And neither Gower
nor the Packers' Association nor the banks can stop me from buying
salmon so long as I have the money to pay the fishermen and carriers to
haul them, can they?"

"No, but the devil of it is they can stop you _selling_," Stubby
lamented bitterly. "I tell you there isn't a cannery on the Gulf will
pay you a cent more than they pay the fishermen. What's the use of
buying if you can't sell?"

MacRae did not attempt to answer that.

"Let's sum it up," he said. "You can't take any more bluebacks from
Gower's territory. That, I gather, is the chief object. I suppose they
know as much about your business as you know yourself. Am I to be
deprived of the two boat charters into the bargain?"

"No, by the Lord," Stubby swore. "Not if you want them. My general
policy may be subject to dictation, but not the petty details of my
business. There's a limit. I won't stand for that."

"Put a fair price on the _Birds_, and I'll buy 'em both," MacRae
suggested. "You had them up for sale, anyway. That will let you out, so
far as my equipment is concerned."

"Five thousand each," Stubby said promptly.

"They're good value at that. And I can use ten thousand dollars to
advantage, right now."

"I'll give you a check. I want the registry transferred to me at once,"
MacRae continued. "That done, you can cease worrying over me, Stub.
You've been square, and I've made money on the deal. You would be
foolish to fight unless you have a fighting chance. Oh, another thing.
Will the Terminal shut off on me, too?"

"No," Stubby declar