It had been easy for them to drop into
the old intimacy which had grown up between them on that hard, long
trail between Lone Moose and the Stikine. They had a lot of common
ground to meet on besides that.
This night Tommy had something on his mind besides casual conversation.
He wasted little time in preliminaries.
"Would you be interested in taking over my car agencies on a percentage
basis, Wes?" he asked point-blank, when he had settled himself in a
chair with a cigar in his mouth. "I have worked up a good business with
the Standard and the Petit Six. I don't like to let it go altogether. I
shall have to devote all my time to the ship plant. That looms biggest
on the horizon. But I want to hold these agencies as an anchor to
windward. You could run both places without either suffering, I'm
confident. Ill make you a good proposition."
Thompson reflected a minute.
"What is your proposition?" he asked at length. "I daresay I could
handle it. But I can't commit myself offhand."
"Of course not," Tommy agreed. "You can go over my books from the
beginning, and see for yourself what the business amounts to. I'd be
willing to allow you seventy-five per cent. of the net. Based on last
year's business you should clear twelve thousand per annum.
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