You didn't; you got a corner lot with it. That's what I'm going to
do. I can have Felix Marchand put in the jug, and make his old father,
Hector Marchand, sick; but I like old Hector Marchand, and I think he's
bred as bad a pup as ever was. I'm going to try and do with this business
as you did with that watch. I'm going to try and turn it to account and
profit in the end. Felix Marchand's profiting by a mistake of mine--a
mistake in policy. It gives him his springboard; and there's enough dry
grass in both towns to get a big blaze with a very little match. I know
that things are seething. The Chief Constable keeps me posted as to
what's going on here, and pretty fairly as to what's going on in Manitou.
The police in Manitou are straight enough. That's one comfort. I've done
Felix Marchand there. I guess that the Chief Constable of Manitou and
Monseigneur Lourde and old Mother Thibadeau are about the only people
that Marchand can't bribe. I see I've got to face a scrimmage before I
can get what I want."
"What you want you'll have, I bet," was the admiring response.
"I'm going to have a good try. I want these two towns to be one. That'll
be good for your town lots, Jowett," he added whimsically. "If my policy
is carried out, my town lot'll be worth a pocketful of gold-plated
watches or a stud of spavined mares.
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