Chapter 176: Catherine’s Panic
The elderly Lady Catherine was nearly driven mad by her foolish son.
She genuinely wished she could stuff the idiot she had given birth to back into her womb.
“Listen to me, Bartholomew. Perhaps you should learn something from Gareth. He may be impulsive at times, but he would never make a decision like this without discussing it with the family first.”
“Your arrogance and self-importance are going to drag the entire Braithwaite family straight into hell.”
“Have you already forgotten the Gray family? The Emerald Ranch incident—how long ago was that? If it weren’t for the Grays, how would Davey have ever found out that we were involved as well?”
“How can you make the same mistake twice? Are you like those drunken fools from the Gray family, with nothing but alcohol sloshing around in your head?”
Bartholomew, being scolded so harshly, clearly still hadn’t grasped how serious the situation was.
“Mother, maybe we don’t need to be that afraid of Davey. We have our own guards. He’s already offended Mr. Bronte—would he really dare to make an enemy of us as well?”
“At worst, we can just give up the moonshine business to him. He’s basically doing it already anyway. But if Mr. Bronte manages to get rid of Davey, we can take the moonshine trade back. That’s a huge sum of money.”
“It’s far more profitable than our Thoroughbred horses or cotton business, Mother.”
At that point, the elderly Mrs. Catherine could no longer hold herself back. She raised her hand and slapped Bartholomew hard across the face.
“Perhaps I should lock you up in a small house like Gertrude, Bartholomew—you brain-damaged fool.”
“What makes you think our family guards can compare to the employees of Davey Security? Don’t you read the newspapers? He’s paying every single one of his employees one hundred dollars. A full one hundred dollars!”
“Do you have any idea what that means? It means every single employee at Davey Security is an elite—retired soldiers, even Pinkerton agents, all working for Davey.”
“And you still think our family guards can deal with people like that?”
“Fine. I never should have expected anything from an idiot like you. If the future of the Braithwaite family were placed in your hands, the entire family would be on the brink of destruction at all times.”
“Right now, we need to seriously think about how to remedy this situation. Bartholomew, tell me everything you know about Mr. Bronte’s plans against Davey. Do not hide a single detail.”
“Perhaps… we still have a chance to make things right.”
Hearing this, Bartholomew cried out in shock, “One hundred dollars? That man must be insane! How can he possibly offer such a high salary? What is he trying to do?”
The wages for the Braithwaite family guards were around thirty-five dollars. Given the United States’ current economic conditions, that was already considered quite generous.
With the massive influx of immigrants into the United States, there was no concern about a shortage of manpower at all.
They could even pick out skilled cowboys from among the applicants.
Six years ago, in March 1893, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company declared bankruptcy after failing to repay loans from British banks, marking the beginning of the United States’ economic crisis.
Two months later, the National Rope Company met the same fate.
The collapse of these two enterprises triggered a stock market crash. Because major banks in the Big Apple had poured enormous investments into the stock market, a wave of bank failures soon followed.
As banks collapsed, credit tightened. Newly established businesses quickly went bankrupt after being unable to secure loans.
Once the panic began, it spread rapidly across the entire country. Within just two months, more than 8,000 businesses, 156 railroad companies, and 400 banks collapsed across the United States.
Agricultural prices fell even further. One million workers—twenty percent of the labor force—lost their jobs, reaching the highest unemployment rate in United States history.
Although there was a slight recovery beginning in 1895, the present era was still firmly within a period of economic depression.
As a result, a job paying thirty-five dollars was already considered very good.
Davey’s one-hundred-dollar salary, however, was enough to make everyone scramble desperately for the position.
Clearly, Bartholomew rarely read the newspapers. He had no idea about Davey’s recruitment advertisements and only knew that Davey had opened a security company—information he had heard from his mother, Catherine.
After learning about the one-hundred-dollar salary, Bartholomew finally realized just how grave his mistake had been.
With a trembling voice, Bartholomew said, “Martelli … Mr. Bronte’s subordinate. He’s the one I contacted.”
“According to the plan, he’ll bring enough men to destroy Davey’s Land Ranch—the moonshine operation there.”
“It’s… it’s today. If the plan hasn’t changed.”
Hearing this, the elderly Lady Catherine no longer had the time or energy to scold her eldest son.
She immediately shouted, “Gareth! Gerald! My children! Mount your horses at once and ride straight to Land Ranch!”
“Go and warn Davey’s men that Bronte’s people are about to launch an attack.”
“You must be fast—fast enough to get there before Bronte’s men arrive and deliver the message.”
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