damage?"

"I shall be only too glad to do so, sir," Tom agreed.

Even Mr. Bascomb consented at last to go. As they gained the porch
Nicolas rushed up with the cigars for which the president had sent him.
While Mr. Bascomb paused to light one, Mr. Prenter thrust an arm through
Tom's and led that youth down the road.

"Now, Mr. Reade," murmured the treasurer, earnestly, "Mr. Bascomb, of
course, is our president, and I don't want you to treat him with the
slightest disrespect. But Bascomb isn't the majority stockholder nor the
whole board of directors, so I'll just drop this hint: When Bascomb talks
of resignations don't attach too serious importance to it until you receive
a resolution endorsing the same view and passed by the board of directors
of the company."

"Thank you. I have no intention of resigning," smiled Tom.

"Now, let's go on," continued Mr. Prenter.

Mr. Bascomb, having his cigar lighted, seemed to prefer strolling in the
rear by himself.

"Now, I don't want to give you any wrong impressions, Mr. Reade," went on
Mr. Prenter. "Mr. Bascomb is the head of our company, but other directors
represent more of the stock of the company than he does. I am one of them.
Sometimes Mr. Bascomb gets a bit hard-headed, and he is inclined to give
orders that others of us wouldn't approve. I judge that you and he were
having some dispute when I happened along."

"I didn't regard it as a dispute, sir," Reade rejoined. "In the first
place, I had discharged, for incompetency and faithlessness, a foreman
named Evarts.

"And Evarts is a pet of Mr. Bascomb's," smiled Mr. Prenter. "I imagine
that Evarts is even some sort of family connection who has to be looked
after and kept in a good job."

"Anyway," Tom continued, "I explained that Evarts was worse than useless
here and that I couldn't have him in the camp or on the job."

"Quite right, I fancy," nodded Mr. Prenter. "In the second place, Mr.
Bascomb ordered me to stop my crusade against the gamblers who had tried
to invade the camp and rob the men of their earnings. Hazelton and I had
that sort of row once out in Arizona---and we won out."

"You deserve to win out here, too," remarked Mr. Prenter. "I have no
patience with anything but straight, uncompromising right. We can't
control the men, if they see fit to leave the camp at night, but you have
every right---and it's your duty---to see to it that no disorder is allowed
within camp limits. I, too,