A KNOCK ON THE DOOR 113 



After meeting Partridge and Kennedy his interest in 

 the affairs of the farmers' little trading concern was 

 quickened. He was much impressed with the fact that 

 here were men so devoted to an idea so profound in 

 their belief that it was the right idea that its advance- 

 ment was their first and only thought at all times. 

 Alex. Crerar liked that. If a thing were worth attempt 

 ing at all, it was worth every concentration of effort, 

 What these men were trying to accomplish appealed to 

 him as a big thing, a bigger thing than most of the 

 farmers yet realized, and it deserved all the help he 

 could give it. The little agency was in the thick of a 

 fight against tremendous odds and that, too, had its 

 appeal; for to a natural born fighter the odds meant 

 merely a bigger fight, a bigger triumph. 



Accordingly, the young man lost no opportunity to 

 boost things along. He was able to consign many car- 

 loads of grain in a season. If an idea occurred to him 

 that he thought might be of service he sat down and 

 wrote a letter, offering the suggestion on the chance 

 that it might prove useful to the Executive. He did 

 everything he could to build up the Company's busi 

 ness in the Russell district and when he returned home 

 from the shareholders' organization meeting he kept 

 right on sending in business, offering helpful sugges 

 tions and saying a good word when possible. 



As the weeks went by and it became more apparent 

 that they would wind up their first year's business 

 satisfactorily, E. A. Partridge decided definitely that 

 he would not accept another term as President. There 

 were several good men available to succeed him; but 

 he could not get it out of his head that the one man for 

 the tasks ahead was the young fellow up at Russell. 

 When he went there in June to speak at a Grain 

 8 



