Part 29 (1/2)
”Are you going west with us?”
”Sure! Why not? This game ain't opened yet.”
”How long are we to be favored with your a.s.sistance?”
”Hard telling. I want to see you get off on the right foot; I'd feel bad if you fell down.”
”Well, of all--”
”Let him rave,” advised George. ”He can't sell us nothing.”
”I did _my_ share, anyhow,” Alton Clyde declared, curling up comfortably in his chair, with a smile of such beat.i.tude that Fraser cried:
”Now purr! Nice kitty! Seems like I can see a canary feather sticking to your mustache.”
”It is my debut in business,” Clyde explained. ”It's my commercial coming- out party. I never did anything useful before in my whole life, so, naturally, I'm all swelled up.”
”It ain't necessary for me to itemize _my_ statement,” Fraser observed. ”A moment's consecutive thought will show anybody who's capable of bearing the strain of that much brain effort where I came in.” Gazing upon them with prophetic eye, he announced: ”And mark what I say, gents: I'll be even a bigger help to you before you get through. You do the rough work; I'll be there with the bottle of oil and the hand-polish. Yes, sir!
When the time comes I'll go down in the little bag of tricks and dig up anything you need, from a jig dance to a jimmy and a bottle of soup.”
”I know what you call 'soup'!” exclaimed Alton, with lively interest. ”Did you ever crack a safe? By Jove, that's immense!”
”I've worked in banks, considerable,” ”Fingerless” Fraser admitted, with admirable caution. ”What I mean to say is, I'm a general handy man, and I may be useful, so you better let me stick around.”
Boyd told them little of the news that had startled him earlier in the evening, beyond the bare fact that Marsh had floated a packers' trust, and that secrecy, for the present, was now doubly necessary to the success of their undertaking. The full significance of the merger, therefore, did not strike his a.s.sociates, even when, on the train, the next day, they read the announcement of its formation in the newspapers. Balt alone took notice of it, and fell into a furious rage at his enemy's success.
Alton Clyde, on the other hand, was more than ever elated over his share in a conspiracy threatened by so formidable a foe; and when Emerson const.i.tuted him a sort of secretary, with duties mainly of sending and receiving telegrams, his delight was beyond measure. He grew, in fact, insufferably conceited, and his overweening sense of his own importance became a severe trial to Fraser, who was roused to his most elaborate efforts of sarcasm. The adventurer wasted hours in a search for fitting similes by which to measure the clubman's general and comprehensive inept.i.tude, all of which rebounded from his victim's armor of complacency.
No sooner were they fairly under way for the West than Emerson began the definite shaping of his plans. He and George carefully went over the many details of their coming work and sent many messages, with the result that outfitters in a dozen lines were awaiting them when they arrived in Seattle. Without loss of time Boyd installed himself and his friends at a hotel, secured a competent and close-mouthed stenographer, and then sought out the banker with whom he had made a tentative agreement before going to Chicago. Mr. Hilliard greeted him cordially.
”I see you have carried out your part of the programme,” said he; ”but before we definitely commit ourselves, we should like to know what effect this new trust is going to have on the canning business.”
”You mean the N. A. P. A.?”
”Precisely. Our Chicago correspondent can't tell us any more than we have learned from the press--namely, that a combination has been formed. We are naturally somewhat cautious about financing a compet.i.tive plant until we know what policy the trust will pursue.”
Here was exactly the complication Boyd had feared; therefore, it was with some trepidation that he argued:
”The trust is in business for the money, and its very formation ought to be conclusive evidence of your good judgment. However, you have backed so many plants such as mine that you know, as well as I do, the big profits to be taken.”
”That isn't the point. Ordinarily we would not waver an instant, but the Wayland-Marsh outfit is apt to upset conditions. If we only knew--”
”I know!” boldly declared Boyd. ”Mr. Wayland outlined his policy to me before the public knew anything about the trust.”
”Indeed? Are you acquainted with Wayne Wayland?” asked Mr. Hilliard, with a new light of curiosity in his eyes.
”I know him well.”
”Ah! I congratulate you. Perhaps this is--er, Wayland money behind you?”
”That I am not at liberty to discuss,” the younger man replied, evasively.