"
"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, brokers, eight years. Money from a legacy. 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
scribbled papers from his coat-pocket. "Here you are. I take Daly
as a sample, because I've been with his outfit. 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 shipping 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 jot down figures.
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