· A cnmnrr oo. v. ARKANSAS umm. n. oo. 51 I
was sold at the master’s sale for $40,000, to S. H. Horner, as trus»
tee for A. H. Johnson, the then president of the railroad company,
and superintendent of the road under the receiver. ,
The plaintiff, by its agent, had notice of this sale, and appeared, by
its attorney, in court and moved to open the biddings for the road,
and the court passed an order that the biddings would be opened if
the present plaintiff or any person should advance the bid $5,000
during a period of 10 days allowed for that purpose. The plaintiff,
or its agent, declined to open the biddings. In the mean time
Johnson had grown sick of his bargain, and made application to the
court to set aside the sale and permit him to withdraw the purchase
money. This was refused, and the sale confirmed. Johnson then
offered to turn the road over to the plaintiE,_or any holders of the
first-mortgage bonds who would pay him the amount of his bid I
within a period of some 50 days. This offer was communicated to
the plaintiff by its agent, Sully, and declined. “ V
It is clear, from the evidence, that the defendants Johnson and
Horner and the- citizens of Helena wished to have the bondholders
purchase the road. They were extremely anxious that the road
should be completed, and believed that its purchase by the bond-
J holders would insure that result, and that nothing else would. After
the plaintiifand other bondholders declined to take Johnson’s pur- _
chase oif his hands,he proceeded, as fast as he could raise means for
that purpose, to put the necessary repairs and improvements upon the
1·oad, which embraced 50,000 new ties, 5 miles of new iron, the rebuild-
ing of nearly all the bridges and culverts, raising the road·bed in many ‘
places, and extensive repairs of the rolling stock. He afterwards sold
va half interest in the property to his co·defendant, John J. Horner. ·
Not long after the purchase, railroad securities and property in the ·
south appreciated very much, and, although the road in question was `
but a fragment, its value was enhanced by the general and unpre- ‘ ‘
cedented increase in the value of all railroad property. Its value was A
furtherenhanced by the construction of a trunk 1ine—not projected
when Johnson purchased—from Missouri to Texas, which connects
with its western terminus at Clarendon, and by the extensive repairs
and improvements put upon the road, which altogether made it worth
from $100,000 to $200,000 at the time this suit was commenced,
supposing it to be free from incumbrances prior in time to the mort-
. gage under which defendants claim. r : A ‘ i ~
The bill, which was {iled five years after the sale, seeks to charge
[Johnson as -a trustee for the bondholders on general charges of fraud