12. He was making a fortune.

“Was Marshall also being paid off by Jeffrey?” asked Richard.
“I doubt that; but nobody knows for sure,” went on Oscar. “He was most probably only brought along by Wrigglesworth and Pomeroy to add credibility to the whole sordid affair. In the wilderness, far away from Government, they thought they could do whatever they wanted and justice would never catch up with them I guess.”
Richard remembered his many cruises to people’s homes when he was last out here. How well he had been treated and how much at home he had been made to feel. Something he had never forgotten ever since.
It was payback time.
His own search for the truth had arrived in Wild Bay.
The people had been kept in the dark for far too long. They had been unable to find out what had been going on behind the scenes as Quigley supervised operations, ruthlessly making fast bucks as quickly as possible. Many over-laden Company Ships, full of thousands of cords of top-grade timber destined for Jeffrey’s other company left the wharf without proper checks. The Company Men treated the first settlers with disregard and disdain. The Plackets, a hunting, fishing and trapping family had their traps destroyed as the Company cut right-up close to their lines. The Company had no respect for the land or its people.
They were The Men from England.
“Didn’t the men-folk of Wild Bay do anything to stop them or at the very least slow them down?
“What could they do? There was great excitement, hope and belief that permanent, reliable full–time work was now at long last available on The Labrador. You have to give Jeffrey his dues. He had gumption and a vision but he didn’t have the character to make it all happen.”
Richard reflected about Oscar’s last words.