Theodore shrugged. ‘It depends on the consistency of the rock. I haven’t surveyed it in any detail yet, of course, but from what I saw when we first climbed up there, it looks like flawless granite.’

‘What happens once we’re past the summit?’ asked Collis.

Theodore stood up straight. ‘Once we’re past the summit, there will be six or seven more tunnels to cut at the very least. We’ll have to cut into the sides of the mountains, too, so that we don’t have to follow the emigrant trail around every wiggle and every waggle along the way. But the summit tunnel will be the crucial achievement. Once that’s complete, we’ll be able to take all our workers and all our heavy equipment up into the High Sierras by rail, and the building of the road into Nevada should go forward at speed.’

‘How soon can we file this route with the government?’ asked Leland. ‘It seems to me that we’ve had our money invested for quite a while, without much prospect of any returns.’

‘I’ll have to carry out a completely detailed survey before I can file,’ Theodore told him. ‘That means weeks, even months, up in the mountains.’

‘And how much will it cost?’ Leland enquired.

‘Another twenty-thousand dollars at least. That’s on top of what all of you have already invested.’

Charles pushed his hands into his vest pockets. ‘Twenty-thousand dollars? Where are you going to find that?’

‘Gentlemen,’ said Theodore, ‘we are all partners in this railroad. The question is, where are we going to find all that?’

‘Senator Stride?’ asked Collis.

Leland puffed out his cheeks and slowly shook his head. ‘I doubt if your Senator friend will want to commit himself much further. Not with things the way they are in Washington.’

‘The trouble is,’ Theodore said, ‘that I’m not getting much financial support from anyone around here, nor in San Francisco. The local traders want to wait until we’ve got full approval from the government, and a few miles of track laid, and the San Francisco business establishment is about as hostile as it could be. Sam Lewis promised me money when we found a route, but even he’s backed out.’

‘You can’t simply file these maps?’ asked Charles.

Theodore shook his head. ‘They’re not sufficient. I haven’t even measured the grades, or costed the construction.’

‘Well,’ said Leland, clearing his throat, ‘what are we going to do? We can’t stretch our own credit any further.’

Collis sat back on the edge of the counter thoughtfully. ‘I have an idea,’ he said.

‘A twenty-thousand-dollar idea?’ Charles asked him.

‘Maybe a thirty-thousand-dollar idea. Or even more.’

‘Where are you going to get that kind of money?’ Leland scoffed. ‘You hardly make enough in the store to cover the cost of your keep.’

‘Just listen,’ said Collis. ‘It seems to me that there are two key men who can help us, individually, or even jointly. The first is Senator Stride, who’s already been prepared to put ten thousand dollars of his own money into the railroad, and under the right circumstances might be persuaded to put in more. The second is Laurence Melford.’