In
Scattergood's secret heart he wanted it _all_. All he might not be able
to get, but he must have more than half--and that half distributed
strategically.
It will be seen that Scattergood was content to wait. His motto was,
"Grab a dollar to-day--but don't meddle with it if it interferes with a
thousand dollars in ten years."
Scattergood's maps had been the work of two years. That they were
accurate he knew, because he had set down on them most of the facts they
showed. They were valuable, for, in Scattergood's rude printing, one
could read upon them the owner of every piece of timber, every farm, the
acreage in each piece of timber, with a careful estimate of the amount
of timber to the acre--also its proportions of spruce, beech, birch,
maple, ash.
Toward the head of the valley, where good timber was thickest,
Scattergood's map showed how it spread out like a fan, with the two main
branches of Coldriver and numerous brooks as the ribs. Then, down the
length of the stream, were parallel bands of it. On the map one could
see what this timber could be bought for; prices ranging from two
dollars and a half an acre down the main river to sixty-six cents at the
extremity of the fan.
Pages:
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62