Now stove wood, to be really useful, must have seasoned a year. It is
not pleasant to build fires with green wood. Appreciating this,
Scattergood ambled about the countryside and bought up every available
stick of wood at prices of the day--and under, for he was a good buyer.
He secured a matter of a thousand cords--and then waited hopefully.
It was a small transaction, promising no great profits, but Scattergood
Baines was never, even when a rich man, one to scorn a small deal....
Within sixty days he turned over his corner in wood, realizing a profit
of something over four hundred dollars.... This is merely to illustrate
how Scattergood's capital grew.
On June 16th Scattergood drove to the county seat. He now owned a horse,
and a buggy whose seat he more than comfortably filled. In the county
seat Scattergood was not unknown, for various county officers had been
helped to their place by his growing influence in his town--notably the
sheriff.
There was little interest in the sale, and what interest there was
Scattergood caused by his unexpected appearance. Nobody had imagined he
would be present. Now that he was there, nobody could imagine why.
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