It used about a million dollars' worth, and
there'd be long and most elaborate specifications published--columns
and columns. But sandwiched away somewhere in the middle of a
paragraph was the provision that the paper must all bear a certain
watermark; and that watermark was patented by one of Higgins's
companies! It didn't even own so much as a mill--it sublet all the
contracts. When Higgins died, he left eighty million dollars; but
they juggled the records, and you read in all the newspapers that he
left 'a few millions.' That was in Philadelphia, where you can do
such things."
Montague sat thinking for a few moments. "But I can't see why they
should do it in this case," he said. "The men who are doing it own
nearly all of the stock of the road."
"What difference does that make?" asked the Major.
"Why, they are simply plundering their own property," said Montague.
"Tut!" was the reply. "What do they care about the value of the
property? They'll unload it before the public finds out; and in the
meantime they are probably manipulating the stock.
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