"Ah, but Tom's a keener," said that gossip. "Think of that little
divil Cully jammed behind the door with her bid in his hand,
a-waitin' for the clock to get round to two minutes o' nine, an'
that big stuff Dan McGaw sittin' inside wid two bids up his
sleeve! Oh, but she's cunnin', she is! Dan's clean beat. He'll
niver haul a shovel o' that stone."
"How'll she be a-doin' a job like that?" came from a woman
listening over the banisters.
"Be doin'?" rejoined a red-headed virago. "Wouldn't ye be doin'
it yerself if ye had that big coal-dealer behind ye?"
"Oh, we hear enough. Who says they're in it?" rejoined a third
listener.
"Pete Lathers says so--the yard boss. He was a-tellin' me man
yisterday."
On consulting Justice Rowan the next morning, McGaw and his
friends found but little comfort. The law was explicit, the
justice said. The contract must be given to the lowest
responsible bidder. Tom had deposited her certified check of five
hundred dollars with the bid, and there was no informality in her
proposal. He was sorry for McGaw, but if Mrs. Grogan signed the
contract there was no hope for him. The horse-doctor's action was
right. If McGaw's second bid had been received, it would simply
have invalidated both of his, the law forbidding two from the same
bidder.
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