ween the producer and
the consumer. Farmers are grumbling all the time. I wrote to my
brother-in-law last spring about trading for a small farm, and going
into poultry-business perhaps; and he sent back a list of prices he had
obtained for his produce. Butter twenty-five cents, and we paid forty
this winter. Milk two and a half cents a quart, while ours is from eight
to ten."

"Transportation to be counted in," suggested Maverick.

"The thing discouraged me, so I thought I'd hold on a bit, since I did
not know the first rule for farming. As Darcy says, we have spent all
these years perfecting ourselves in our business, and it hardly looks
reasonable that we should succeed at once in something altogether
different. If you don't mind, Darcy, I'd like to look over that Rochdale
experiment a little at my leisure."

Jack handed him the book, and the small party dispersed. In a week they
met again, with two more, one a stubborn old Englishman who had been in
the business. They had done very well for a while, then the market
flattened. They could not hold their stock, so the big fish swallowed
them up. That was always the end where you had no credit and no reserve
capital. Truth to tell, Jack began to realize how hard it would be to
convert some of the very men he would like to have.

Meanwhile Hamilton Minor came up with some capitalists, and Hope Mills
was put up at auction. They looked around the town, examined the
building and machinery, which was the best of its kind; but nobody
could tell whether we had reached bottom prices or not, and, though the
place was to be offered at an immense sacrifice, they were wary. Empty
mills and rusting machinery were not profitable investments. Mr. Minor's
eloquence went for nothing. These long-headed dons would rather hold on
to their money, though they expressed a good deal of sympathy for the
Lawrence estate.

"I do believe it will go for the face of the mortgage," said Jack to
Maverick that evening. "Twenty thousand dollars, and a year's interest
and taxes. Twenty-two thousand would cover the whole thing; and three
years ago Mr. Lawrence wouldn't have looked at fifty thousand. Maverick,
I can get together ten thousand of my own, and if there was one other
person"--

"We will hunt him up," returned Maverick hopefully. "There is the
reputation of the cloth already made, which is one great step in your
favor. Yes, it must be done."

Yerbury was looking a little brighter and bet