Well, you could have knocked me down with a straw. I wouldn’t have believed it, and I wouldn’t have believed it if somebody had told me those big business men would all get up and come over and shake hands with us four boys and say such things to us as they did. I was doggone embarrassed, but not Mark. He liked it. Not that he was ever swell-headed, but he did love to be praised, and this time he was getting a whole armful of it. Pretty soon they all settled down again, and President James says, “Now what terms can we make with you? You’ve got us down. What does it cost us?”
“We just want what is f-f-fair,” says Mark.
“Um!... Let’s see. Now suppose that you let us talk it over while you step into the next room. We’ll call you back in a few minutes and make an offer to you. How’s that?”
“Fine, sir,” says Mark, and out we went. We sat around there for twenty minutes, and then President James opened the door and asked us to come in again.
“We’ve talked it over,” said he, “and have decided to make you this offer. If you will transfer to us your dam and the site of your mill, and the Piggins land you hold under option, we will, in return, build you a new mill below the dam, remove and set up your machinery, reimburse you for loss of profits during the time the changes are being made, and give you three thousand dollars in cash. How is that?”
“It’s all right,” said Mark, “except that we wouldn’t have any p-p-power to run the mill.”
“Didn’t I tell you?” said President James to the fat man. “I said he was sharp enough to see that. You said he wouldn’t notice.... We left that out on purpose,” said he, “just to see.... You came up to expectations. Well, on that point, we will furnish you power free for a period of ten years, after that you are to pay for it at a reasonable rate.”
“We accept,” says Mark.
“Good. We will have the proper papers drawn—”
“And meantime,” says the fat director, “I want to see whether that Tidd boy can eat as much as I can. I’m going to invite the lot of you to dinner to watch the contest, and, believe me, friends, it is going to be some spectacle. It starts as soon as we can get to the best place to eat in town.”
Everybody got up and we went out, and that fat man bought us a dinner that I sha’n’t ever forget, and I bet Mark won’t either. I didn’t know there was such grub in the world, and I ate till I ’most exploded. But Mark—well, you should have seen it. Him and that fat man had hardly started when we commenced, and they kept on for an hour, with all the rest of those directors laughing and urging them just as if it was a baseball game. It ended up with the fat director laying back in his chair, panting, and with Mark finishing up a thing they called a French pastry and asking if he couldn’t have a couple more. Yes, sir, he beat that man by three French pastries, and was declared to be the champion eater of Michiga............