was seated, the President went on, "Mr. McGuire says he has already hinted to you of the necessity of the Inter-City acquiring control of the half-mile of trackage on De Lacey Street now held by the Crosstown Railways. If we are to construct our new line on Summer Street, an improvement both desirable and profitable, we must have a spur line on De Lacey to connect Summer with our present Dale Avenue line. I believe you have already investigated the ownership of the Crosstown franchise."
"Yes," replied Carter in a clipped voice. "The line is owned by one man—Jeremiah C. Dillon. It is obsolete and doing practically no business at the present time. Dillon inherited it in the will of the late William C. Rockwell, in return, I understand, for a favor he once did Rockwell. The franchise calls for one trip a day to be made over the line. If the trip is not made for even one day, the franchise becomes void. Now if we can prevent—"
"We are not interested in securing this franchise by fraud, if that is what you are intending to propose," Donaldson cut in sharply. "We are willing to pay as high as $75,000 for it. If you believe it can be bought for that, I will give you a check for that amount and authority to conduct the negotiations. We are anxious that the Inter-City name does not figure in the deal until the time comes for signing the papers. We do not want our competitors to know we are after the Crosstown. So the whole thing will have to be done in your name. And it will have to be done by not later than Friday of
