I propose, therefore, to wait upon him
to-morrow, and request his cooperation in a scheme which is not only
to prove profitable, but to make head against the lax principles of
the present age. Leave me alone to tickle him. I consider his name, and
those of one or two others belonging to the same meeting-house,--fellows
with bank-stock and all sorts of tin,--as perfectly secure. These
dissenters smell a premium from an almost incredible distance. We can
fill up the rest of the committee with ciphers, and the whole thing is
done."
"But the engineer--we must announce such an officer as a matter of
course."
"I never thought of that," said Bob. "Couldn't we hire a fellow from one
of the steamboats?"
"I fear that might get us into trouble. You know there are such things
as gradients and sections to be prepared. But there's Watty Solder, the
gas-fitter, who failed the other day. He's a sort of civil engineer
by trade, and will jump at the proposal like a trout at the tail of a
May-fly."
"Agreed. Now then, let's fix the number of shares. This is our first
experiment, and I think we ought to be moderate. No sound political
economist is avaricious.
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