Orde was up and out at six o'clock the following morning. By eight he had reported for work at Daly's mill, where, with the assistance of a portion of the river crew, he was occupied in sorting the logs in the booms. Not until six o'clock in the evening did the whistle blow for the shut-down. Then he hastened home, to find that Newmark had preceded him by some few moments and was engaged in conversation with Grandma Orde. The young man was talking easily, though rather precisely1 and with brevity. He nodded to Orde and finished his remark.
After supper Orde led the way up two flights of narrow stairs to his own room. This was among the gables, a chamber2 of strangely diversified3 ceiling, which slanted4 here and there according to the demands of the roof outside.
"Well," said he, "I've made up my mind to-day to go in with you. It may not work out, but it's a good chance, and I want to get in something that looks like money. I don't know who you are, nor how much of a business man you are or what your experience is, but I'll risk it."
"I'm putting in twenty thousand dollars," pointed5 out Newmark.
"And I'm putting in my everlasting6 reputation," said Orde. "If we tell these fellows that we'll get out their logs for them, and then don't do it, I'll be DEAD around here."
"So that's about a stand-off," said Newmark. "I'm betting twenty thousand on what I've seen and heard of you, and you're risking your reputation that I don't want to drop my money."
Orde laughed.
"And I reckon we're both right," he responded.
"Still," Newmark pursued the subject, "I've no objection to telling you about myself. New York born and bred; experience with Cooper and Dunne, brokers7, eight years. Money from a legacy8. Parents dead. No relatives to speak to."
Orde nodded gravely twice in acknowledgment.
"Now," said Newmark, "have you had time to do any figuring?"
"Well," replied Orde, "I got at it a little yesterday afternoon, and a little this noon. I have a rough idea." He produced a bundle of scribbled9 papers from his coat-pocket. "Here you are. I take Daly as a sample, because I've been with his outfit11. It costs him to run and deliver his logs one hundred miles about two dollars a thousand feet. He's the only big manufacturer up here; the rest are all at Monrovia, where they can get shipping12 by water. I suppose it costs the other nine firms doing business on the river from two to two and a half a thousand."
Newmark produced a note-book and began to jot13 down figures.
"Do these men all conduct separate drives?" he inquired.
"All but Proctor and old Heinzman. They pool in together."
"Now," went on Newmark, "if we were to drive the whole river, how could we improve on that?"
"Well, I haven't got it down very fine, of course," Orde told him, "but in the first place we wouldn't need so many men. I could run the river on three hundred easy enough. That saves wages and grub on two hundred right there. And, of course, a few improvements on the river would save time, which in our case would mean money. We would not need so many separate cook outfits14 and all that. Of course, that part of it we'd have to get right down and figure on, and it will take time. Then, too, if we agreed to sort and deliver, we'd have to build sorting booms down at Monrovia."
"Suppose we had all that. What, for example, do you reckon you could bring Daly's logs down for?"
Orde fell into deep thought, from which he emerged occasionally to scribble10 on the back of his memoranda15.
"I suppose somewhere about a dollar," he announced at last. He looked up a trifle startled. "Why," he cried, "that looks like big money! A hundred per cent!"
Newmark watched him for a moment, a quizzical smile wrinkling the corners of his eyes.
"Hold your horses," said he at last. "I don't know anything about this business, but I can see a few things. In the first place, close figuring will probably add a few cents to that dollar. And then, of course, all our improvements will be absolutely valueless to anybody after we've got through using them. You said yesterday they'd probably stand us in seventy-five thousand dollars. Even at a dollar profit, we'd have to drive seventy-five million before we got a cent back. And, of course, we've got to agree to drive for a little less than they could themselves."
"That's so," agreed Orde, his crest16 falling.
"However," said Newmark briskly, as he arose, "there's good money in it, as you say. Now, how soon can you leave Daly?"
"By the middle of the week we ought to be through with this job."
"That's good. Then we'll go into this matter of expense thoroughly17, and establish our schedule of rates to submit to the different firms."
Newmark said a punctilious18 farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Orde.
"By the way," said Orde to him at the gate, "where are you staying?"
"At the Grand."
"I know most of the people here--all the young folks. I'd be glad to take you around and get you acquainted."
"Thank you," replied Newmark, "you are very kind. But I don't go in much for that sort of thing, and I expect to be very busy now on this new matter; so I won't trouble you."
收听单词发音 |
1
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
chamber
|
|
| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
diversified
|
|
| adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
slanted
|
|
| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
everlasting
|
|
| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
brokers
|
|
| n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排… | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
legacy
|
|
| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
scribbled
|
|
| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
scribble
|
|
| v.潦草地书写，乱写，滥写；n.潦草的写法，潦草写成的东西，杂文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
outfit
|
|
| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
shipping
|
|
| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
jot
|
|
| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
outfits
|
|
| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
memoranda
|
|
| n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
crest
|
|
| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
punctilious
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |