Were you in any of those companies, Walters?"
"No," he said, his eyes shifting.
Roebuck's face grew stern. "You bought two hundred thousand dollars of the
last issue of government bonds, they tell me, with your two years' profits
from the Western Railway Construction Company."
"I bought no bonds," blustered Walters. "What money I have I made out of
speculating in the stock of my road--on legitimate inside information."
"Your uncle in Wilkesbarre, I meant," pursued Roebuck.
Walters reddened, looked straight at Roebuck without speaking.
"Do you still deny?" demanded Roebuck.
"I saw everybody--_everybody_--grafting," said Walters boldly, "and
I thought I might as well take my share. It's part of the business." Then
he added cynically: "That's the way it is nowadays. The lower ones see
the higher ones raking off, and they rake off, too--down to conductors
and brakemen. We caught some trackwalkers in a conspiracy to dispose
of the discarded ties and rails the other day." He laughed. "We jailed
_them_."
"If you can show that any director has taken anything that did not belong
to him, if you can show that a single contract you let to a construction or
a supply company--except, of course, the contracts you let to yourself--of
them I know nothing, suspect much--if you can show one instance of these
criminal doings, Mr.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111