down, and it trembled on the brink of insolvency until Jim Weeks took
hold of it. He put money into it, straightened out its tangled affairs,
and incidentally made some enemies in the board of directors. There were
coal mines on the line near Sawyerville, which were operated in a
desultory way, but they never amounted to much until some more of Jim
Weeks's money went into them, and then they began to pay. This made the
M. & T. important, especially to the C. & S.C. people, who immediately
tried to make arrangements with Jim for the absorption of the M. & T. by
their line. C. & S.C. had a bad name. There were many shady operations
associated with its management, and Jim decided to have as little to do
with it as possible, so the attempt apparently was abandoned.

The stock of the M. & T. was held largely by men who lived along the line
of the road. Tillman City and St. Johns each held large blocks; they had
got a special act of legislature to allow them to subscribe for it. These
stockholders had great confidence in Jim, for under his management their
investment was beginning to pay, and they, he felt sure, approved of his
action in the C. & S.C. matter.

Everything was going well with the road, and the stock was climbing slowly
but steadily. It was not liable to any great fluctuation, for most of its
holders regarded it as a permanent investment and it did not change hands
to any great extent. Comparatively little of it got into the hands of
speculators.

But suddenly it began to jump. It was evident to every one who watched it
that some important deal was afoot. Jim Weeks was as much in the dark as
any one. He had watched its violent fluctuations for a week while he
vainly sought to ferret out the motive that was causing them. And on this
particular morning, though he sent his secretary, Harvey West, to talk to