president, with satisfaction. "I am convinced that Montagne Lewis
is behind it. Look out for these fellows when you get to work,
Mr. Swift. They will stop at nothing. I tell you that the fight
is on between the Hendrickton & Pas Alos and the Hendrickton &
Western. I have either got to break them or they will break me."

"You seem very sure that there is a conspiracy against you, Mr.
Bartholomew," said the senior Swift reflectively.

"I am sure," was the reply. "And I am likewise sure that this
scheme of electrification of my road through the Pas Alos Range is
the only salvation for my railroad."

"I should call it a big contract," Ned Newton said,
thoughtfully.

"You have said it! But it is not a visionary scheme I have in
mind. You must know--you Swifts--how successful such an
electrification through the Rockies has been made by the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway."

"I've looked that up," confessed Tom, with enthusiasm. "That
was a great piece of work."

"It is. It is. But I hope for even a greater outcome of your
experiments, Mr. Swift. Of course, I do not expect to compete
with that great road. They had millions to spend, and they spent
them. Those Baldwin-Westinghouse locomotives the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul built in nineteen hundred and nineteen are
wonderful machines. They have got forty-two freight locomotives,