The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-02-28
CHAPTER NII.-CoNr1NuED.

Introduce you tomorrow. There is
John M. Rockwell, whom you know;
Andrus Carmody, a big iron and steel
man; Palmer j. Morton, railroad
magnate and fnancier; r. j. Kent,
a big Wall street operator; Hiram
Haven, sugar manufacturer, and
Simon Pence, who is also a inancier
you want to keep your eye on
Pence-he is likely to own your
drawings if you don't watch him.
Don't lend him any money. Then
there is Sidney Hammond, personal
friend of mine," concluded Mr.. Hes
tor.
Mr.. vincent's eyes bulged out as
these names tripped from the tongue
of Mr.. Hestor. He was specchless.
"You don't wish to quit good
game like this, don't you know" said
Hestor. Bob. Mr.. Vincent has not
dined. Serve him the best there is
on the boat. You will excuse me;
am going to confer with Capt.
Waters"
In the meantime six famous men
were in conclave in Mr.. Morton's
stateroom. With the exception of
Mr.. Pence, they had entirely re-
gained their composure and proceed
ed to business as calmly as if they
were within sight and sound of
Broadway cable cars, instead of be-
ing captives on the high seas.
Gentlemen" said Mr.. Morton, as
all were seated, "let us talk this mat
ter over and see what can be done.
Have you any plan to suggest, Mr..
Kent?"
"Not PLAN" responded Mr.. Kent.
eve are in for it. This fellow Hes
tor has his plans all laid, and I am
going to watch him carry them out.
There is nothing we can do"
II do not agree with you," said
Mr.. Morton, leaning back in his chair.
ut will be remarkable thing if six
men of our financial standing and
alleged ability cannot find way
to circumvent the plans of knave
or fool. This looks to me like a
money question"
Money!" exclaimed Mr.. Kent.
"Well, how much money have we?"
He reached down into his clothes
and produced SO cents in change, and
extracted from his fob pocket SIS
and So bill. II have S7.3s to con-
tribute to this campaign fund.-"
''That has nothing to do with the
matter, Kent said Mr.. Morton with
some Impotence. '"The fact is well
known that we can command an al
most unlimited amount of money"
"You can't command it out on the
Atlantic ocean," drawlcd Mr.. Kent.
"Let's see just how much we six
plutocrats have in actual money. L
have $7.3S and here it isl
lie placed it on the table.
GLOW much have you got, IIavcn?"
Mr.. Hiram Haven had been making
an inventory and produced $31.G2.
"You are atllucnt," observed Mr..
Kent. "And you. Mr.. Carmody?"
II find on examination that have
S12 and some small change; 1925,
to be exact" said Mr.. Carmody. Mr..
Palmer j. Morton. finding that Mr..
Kent was determined to pursue this
cash investigation, announced that
he had Sl2s.S5. MIR. Rockwell was
less fortunate in his immediate pos
sessions. lie scheduled $1s15.
"Wcll, dig up, Brother Pence" said
Mr.. Kent. "What is your contribu-
ton to the war chcst?'
II have II cents and Brooklyn
bridge ticket" said Mr.. Pence. You
see | never carry anything but car
fare. II is so easy to lose money
out of your pockets, and then you
may be held up and robbed. l lost
silver dollar through Il hole in my
pocket once, and have never carried
any large sums of money since"
$50 | have heard" said MIR. Kent.
"Well, pass over your / cents. You
know the story of the widows mite.
Everything counts. Let's see; we
have total of $55S2O. That is a
good average for six millionaires. 1
seldom carry more than 500. Now,
what can we do with it?"
He looked at Mr.. Morton.
81 do not suppose we can do any
thing with that amount of money"
responded the financier. "That was
not my idea. Still it is a good plan
to know just how much we have on
hand. l look ut the matter in this
light: If this man Hestor is not abso-
lutely crazy he has some definite OBJ
ject in view. 1t may take the form
of a demand for ransom. The ques.
ton for us to decide is, first, shall
we pay a ransom; and second, if so,
how much? Personally regard this
in a purely business way. My time
is worth money. We have been
trapped and our time captured with
our persons. l should be willing to
make a reasonable compromise
Since l am the one most to blame
for this affair, shall insist on stand
ing half of any fund which may be
agreed upon"
Il have often thought of what
would do if kidnapped and held fol
ransom" said Mr.. Carmody in a re
Elective way. 81 have always thought
that l would die rather than pay ,
dollar, but now that the fact con
fronts me I believe that the thoughts
of those at home outweigh m,
scruples. 7 think should be read,
to contribute to any such fund.-"
''Who are you going to give it to-?
asked Mr.. Kent.
''Why, to Mr.. Hestor," answers
Mr.. Morton.
cit will do no good" replied MI
Kent, with the decision of q ma,