A town is only as good as the timbers that form its buildings.
Christoph's eyes narrowed as Steelgrave started the bidding and Buller raised the bid. They weren't doing this half-heartedly. He called out, "Seven thousand five hundred!" then leaned closer to Aldridge. "I propose we discuss now what to do when the bidding goes over ten thousand. Buller and Steelgrave are probably just trying to drive up the price for us, but how far do we go?"
Buller's presence at the auction and this snappy start to the bidding meant that the stage line was going to get very expensive very fast. Was it worth it? He and Aldridge might not get the chance to find out, depending on how far Aldridge was willing to go.
@ [JulieS]
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@ [Javia
Elias and Latham watched what was transpiring after the initial bid from Steelgrave, it was clear that Alderts and Aldridge were attempting to slow the bidding. The two men looked at each other and smiled, not they either had a favorite in this auction, the smiles were about the fact that a move by the two partners to slow things was smart, if Buller allowed it.
Elias' eyes narrowed a bit as he studied the other three men. Did he want to continue, or see what they did next? Was it a venture that he saw as profitable enough to go toe to toe with Buller and the other two, and of the three, which would he actually end up going against?
Cole Latham understood the value of the line, and in reality that starting price of five thousand dollars was nowhere near what the line was worth, considering the owner, or owners could make back that initial investment within five years at the very most. But how much would that investment end up being, and would Elias stay in the bidding?
"I propose we discuss now what to do when the bidding goes over ten thousand. Buller and Steelgrave are probably just trying to drive up the price for us, but how far do we go?"
Mason frowned. He didn't like the way this thing was going on. It was clear that Buller and maybe Steelgrave were only interested in driving up the price but then again, maybe they really wanted to buy the stageline.
Looking at Christoph, he nodded and whispered, "All right, I'm in but if the bidding reaches twenty thousand then I'm going to have re-consider."
Even though the stage line was a good investment, paying over ten thousand for it might be too big of a risk since he had other plans for things he wanted to do in Kalispell.
@ [Bailey]
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@ [Javia
"A piddlin' Five Hundred?!!" Buller scoffed at the rival bid "And here I thought you gentlemen were serious about this here auction... I bid Eight Thousand U.S. Dollars... how about that gents?! HA HA HA!!"
The bombastic little old man was clearly enjoying being the 'Big I Am' at this affair.
He turned to Elias.
"Can't believe you've given up the ghost on this little game already, Steelgrave. Thought you had a little more sand than that!" he chided with a glint in his eye.
"Giving up the ghost you say?" Elias asked as if he didn't understand the phase. "Hardly, Colonel, I am simply weighing my options at the moment, I can catch up with bidding at any time before the hammer falls, as you are well aware, Sir." Now, Elias Steelgrave was no stranger to bidding wars and to be frank, he had no idea of tipping his hand if he had a hand to tip. He was still considering what it was he wanted to do.
To stand and watch for a while, to see how the bidding might progress, develop some sort of strategy, perhaps. Being called out by a bully bidder was not unusual. It had happened before, he killed a man for that, a man m, much like the loud, obnoxious Colonel Buller. And he considered it, but he could not afford the rope they would happily hang him with.
@Bailey
@JulieS
@Javia
A town is only as good as the timbers that form its buildings.
Aldridge was willing to go higher. That gave them more time to feel out what Steelgrave and Buller really intended here today. Christoph acknowledged his potential business partner with a nod as he glanced between Steelgrave and Buller. No other bid from Steelgrave -- yet. That was good, at least.
But Buller was a different story. Christoph ignored the intended slight from the colonel and called calmly, "Eight thousand five hundred." Buller could huff and puff all he wanted, but there was nothing wrong with being cautious during an auction, especially not when you were going up against giants like Steelgrave and Buller. As Steelgrave had said, he could catch up any time, and Christoph and Mason Aldridge knew that as well as Buller did.
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@ [JulieS
"Eight thousand five hundred." Buller could huff and puff all he wanted, but there was nothing wrong with being cautious during an auction, especially not when you were going up against giants like Steelgrave and Buller. As Steelgrave had said, he could catch up any time, and Christoph and Mason Aldridge knew that as well as Buller did.
"HA HA HA!!" Buller laughed, pretending to search his pockets "Let's see if I can find a spare dime to raise you there boys!" he guffawed. He clearly considered the extra 500 a piddling effort indeed.
"Ten Thousand U.S. Dollars!!! HA HA HA!!" he then shouted a look of triumph on his fat red little face.
"Jesus!" the man with the beard and spectacles muttered.
@[Flip]
@[JulieS]
That was what Elias and Cole Latham thought. Elias did not like Buller, he was, in Steelgrave's opinion, a tin horn and a four flusher. A braggard when it came to his wealth and holdings. He liked to lord it over the small guy, and had no use for the fairer sex. He was known to beat the prostitutes who worked for him for the pure pleasure of it.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, Tuc? would you mind a short break here?" Elias asked, not unheard of, but not common either. "Buller, Aldridge, Alders? Just a few moments, please. If there's a penalty I will pay it."
Bongo
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"Ten Thousand U.S. Dollars!!! HA HA HA!!" he then shouted a look of triumph on his fat red little face.
Mason raised both of his eyebrows in surprise. Alders' attempt at slowing down the bidding was unsuccessful and it seemed that Buller was either intent on buying the stageline or he wanted to make it hard for anybody who did.
He was going to speak to Alders and work out another strategy but before he could, Elias spoke up...
"Excuse me, gentlemen, Tuc? would you mind a short break here?" Elias asked, not unheard of, but not common either. "Buller, Aldridge, Alders? Just a few moments, please. If there's a penalty I will pay it."
The look of surprise had now been replaced by a frown. Now Steelgrave wanted to say something and he hoped it wouldn't be a waste of time. As he stood up slowly, he said, "All right Steelgrave, let's hear what you have to say."
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@ [Bongo
@ [Bailey}
Oh, the cleverness of me!
Tuc was reeling over the way the auction was going, but he certainly wasn't going to complain, nor object to anything that might upset the process. Besides, he was curious to see what Steelegrave had to say.
"I've got no problem with it," he commented, wondering where this was all going, and what the end result was going to be.