This sounded reasonable,
and as there was a movement on foot to lease the entire Cherokee
Outlet from that Nation, if an adequate range could be secured, such a
cattle company as suggested ought to be profitable.
Major Hunter and I were a unit in business matters, and after an
exchange of views by letter, it was agreed to run down to the capital
and hold a conference with the promoters of the proposed company. My
parents were aging fast, and now that I was moderately wealthy it was
a pleasure to drop in on them for a week and hearten their declining
years. Accordingly with the expectation of combining filial duty and
business, I took Edwards with me and picked up the major at his home,
and the trio of us journeyed eastward. I was ten days late in reaching
Washington. It was the Christmas season in the valley; every darky
that our family ever owned renewed his acquaintance with Mars' Reed,
and was remembered in a way befitting the season. The recess for the
holidays was over on my reaching the capital, yet in the mean time a
crude outline of the proposed company was under consideration. On
the advice of our silent partner, who well knew that his business
associates were slightly out of their element at social functions and
might take alarm, all banquets were cut out, and we met in little
parties at cafes and swell barrooms. In the course of a few days all
the preliminaries were agreed on, and a general conference was called.
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