San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-02-09
THE DUMMY ENEMY.
uow Two Men Succeeded In Busiaess.
Gan Franeisoo Post

archibald, my boy" said Mr.. Diff
f.uderier, the rich commission mer'
liant. the other day i@ he called his
son into his private office. "My dear
10y have Just executed the deeds by
,,Lich | retire from business to-day, and
Lave Won sole active partner in the
,sn,Ithiest house on the coast. Natur,
ally YOU expect me- TO give you some
timely counsel for your future business
aKeerect, replied young Offender.
fer. who was n member of the Bohe.
mian club and knew il all.
aYou will probably suppose that
wish TO enicin upon you frugality, tenn.
perance, integrity and punctuality as
the sure means of success. Not at all.
Those virtues are al very we'll for the
.copy-book, but the only real requisite
to success in life especially in this
state lisa sa.r really good rfeiprV%cating
a what?" qneried the scion of the
house of Diifenderfer, as he put his
feet on the desk and lit another cigar.
cite. . y ia w
sWhy, first class, bitter, unrelent-
ing dummy enemy. Something like
my dear old friend Gufey, for in
stance" rr...ygVrA y
"Why, I thought You were down on
that man the worst way" - -.
"That's just the point-that's Just the
joke of it," said old Diffenderfer with a
chuckle. Fourteen years ago I met
Guffey on the steamer, coming round
here from New York. We had both
failed in trade-I in Boston, he in
Philadelphia-both of us fairly driven
out of business by theusual SANDERS,
,jealousies and underhand defamation
Seculiar to well, to everywhere"
f"Why didn't you go into partner
5hip?" asked the junior.
= "I'll tell you. After talking the mat
ter over, Gutfey and I agreed that the
only way for a man with small capt.
tai to get along was to have some trusted
friend on the outside who would keep
him posted as to the doings of his enc
mics. Some one whom they would talk
to, don't you understand" ,.tE
81 catch on" remarked the youth.
$50 we concluded to act as each 9TH
er's dummy enemy. And from the day
we stepped off the steamer down at the
wharf, Guffey and L have never spoken
to each other, except on the 1st and
18th of each month, when I visited him
in disguise to compare notes."
SWELL, by Jove!"
ut was fact, though. Every time
my enemies-and everybody has them;
they sorter grow, somehow-put up
job on me, or lie about me, or try to in
iure me in any way, they go to Guffed
and try to rope him into she plst. He
sympathizes with them, says I am the
most internal old wretch unhung, any
then sits down and writes me the par
ticulars. Good scheme that, eh?" and
the old merchant laughed till he was
black in the face. /, 2 -t
well, should smile" grinned the
other. q,...,, r.s.
"Of course I do the same for Guffey.
Why, [ can't tell how many thousand
times I've scowled at him on the street,
and remarked to. whoever I was walk
ing with: There's that miserable
Guffey! Look at the airs he
puts on because he's rich. I'd like to
break his rascally head with club"
"Was Gufey rich, then?"
g"Why, no; of course not, at first. 1t
was part of our scheme, don't you see,
to brace up each others credit under
cover of abuse. For instance, I'd apply
for big discount at some bank, and
the cashier would slip around 10 Guffey
for information, knowing he'd give
away all my weak points. Gufey would
5cowI and say: tl,f
"WeH, I suppose the old villain is
solid enough, but d--n man who'd
turn his mother-in-l out of doors on
a cold winter night. The old beast!
1 wonder they haven't tarred and feath-
cred Diffenderfer years ago. They say
his grandmother is in the poorhouse.
With all his money, too, just think?
"Why, certainly. A bank cashier
doesn't care for grandmothers. What
he is after is stingy old capitalists and
other muldoons. Why, Gutfey once
borrowed $4,000 because 1 privately
told McLane that Guffey. had swindled
the government on 100000 contract.
Mac had him up to dinner the very
next day. Think over what L have said,
my dear boy, and go thou and do like
wise"
And promising to look carefully
around up at the club, which was cram
full of dummies of all kinds, young Diff
fenderfer Owed into his ulster and
fastened to get up on Kearney street
before the matinees let out.