In this case it all came down to one question, did they want to drill the Watkins tract or not. Of course they might wait ten years, till in the course of the county’s development somebody else come in and did what Dad was now a-doin’—put skids under the public authorities, and “greased” the skids. In a great many cases the authorities were greedy, they went out on purpose to hold you up and make you pay; in other cases they was jist ignorant and indifferent; but anyhow, if you wanted things done you had to pay for them. Dad explained the difference between public and private business; in your own business, you were boss, and you drove ahead and pushed things through; but when you ran into public authorities, you saw graft and waste and inefficiency till it made you sick. And yet there was fools always rooting for public ownership; people who called themselves Socialists, and wanted to turn everything over to the government to run, and when they had their way, you’d have to fill out a dozen application blanks and await the action of a board of officials before you could buy a loaf of bread.
Dad said that Bunny would get a practical course in civics, that he could take back to his teacher; they wasn’t going to get their road, jist by paying a tip to one apricot-grower. And sure enough, they didn’t! A couple of days later Dad got Mr. Carey on the phone, and learned that he had interviewed the other board members, and feared there would be some opposition; the board came up for reelection this fall, and there had been a lot of grumbling over the waste of road funds, and nobody wanted to take on any more troubles. There was to be a meeting of the board next week, and meantime, if Dad had any influence, it would be a good time for him to use it. Dad repeated this to Bunny, and explained, he was supposed to call on the other board members and distribute some more envelopes. “But I’ll do it wholesale,” said Dad, “and I’ll do it quick—before the Excelsior Pete crowd wake up to what’s happening. That’s our only chance, I’ve an idea.”
So Dad strolled into the office of Mr. Hardacre, the real estate agent, and through the smoke of a gold-foil cigar he put to that knowing gentleman the problem of what people he, Mr. Hardacre, would call on, in case he wanted to get a road built in San Elido county. Mr. Hardacre laughed and said that first he’d go to see Jake Coffey, and after that he’d go home and rest. Further questions elicited the fact that Jake Coffey was a hay and feed dealer in the town of San Elido, the county seat; also, he was the Republican boss of the county. Dad said all right, thanks, and he and Bunny were soon in the car, and headed for San Elido at Dad’s customary speed. “Now, son,” said he, “you’ll finish your lesson in civics!”
II
Jacob Coffey, Hay, Feed and Grain, Lime, Cement and Plaster, sat in the private office behind his store, with his feet on a center table from which the remains of a poker game had not yet been cleaned. He was a hard-bitten individual with tight-shut mouth and other features to correspond; his skin was tanned to leather, and all his teeth were gold, so far as they showed. He got his feet off the table and stood up; and when he heard Dad’s name, he said: “I was rather expecting you’d call.” Dad said: “I only jist heard about you. I came at fifty miles an hour.” So they were friends, and Mr. Coffey accepted a gold-foil cigar instead of his half-chewed one, and they sat down to business.
“Mr. Coffey,” said Dad, “I am an independent oil man; what the Big Five call one of the ‘little fellers’—though not so little that I won’t show here in San Elido county. I’ve bought twelve thousand acres, and want to prospect for oil. If there’s any here, I’ll put a couple of hundred wells on the tract, and employ a thousand men, and pay a few million dollars in wages, and double real estate values for five or ten miles around. Now, Excelsior Pete is here; and of course they’ll fight to keep me or anyone else out. The thing I want to show you political fellers is that these big companies never put up the dough unless they have to, and it most all goes to the state machine, anyhow. Like everything else, they need a little competition to keep them softened up. Us independents pay more, and we make the big fellows pay more too. I assume I’m talking to a man who knows this game.”
“You may assume it,” said Mr. Coffey, drily. “Exactly what do you want?”
“For the present, jist one thing—a road to Paradise. It’s a case of no road, no drilling, and that’s no bluff, but a fact you can understand, because you haul heavy material yourself, and you may have tried to deliver over that there sheep-trail.”
“I have,” said Mr. Coffey.
“Well, then, no words needed. I want a road, and I want it without no red tape—I want the county to start work within the next ten days, and jist push the job right through, so that I can get in here and drill my well, now while I got a rig to spare. Maybe that’s never been done before, but it’s what I want, and I’ve come to ask what it’s worth. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly,” said Mr. Coffey, and his hard face yielded to a slight smile. It was evident that
