Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1904-12-09
DuPLlcITy or ADDlcks.

when my story ended in the No
vember issue of the magazine / was in
the midst Of my narrative to Addicks
of the brilliant results OF my interview
with MI. Rogers at his home in New
York. / was full of enthusiasm, In
which I felt sure the Delaware INK
would Join me, for victory meant more
to him than to me.
/ finished my story with a vivid expo
sition of what the results on the
market would be. and with how little
difficulty we could get u new pur-
chase paid for within a few months.
Addicks looked at me in a cool, ag-
~gravating way, as though my enthusl-
Bsm was a joke.
Lawson. you have done a big thing,
a big thing, but you ave put up TOO
many bonds, altogether too many. 1t
looks to me as though that old trick
ster had got the best OF US at last"
BY this time / had learned all the
moods Of this mar and knew that when
he assumed the air of cold, saturnine
POPULARITY it was Their safe to look for
the unbottling of some frappe trickery.
My enthusiasm oozed. FASTENED TO
ask:
what do you mean by too many
bonds, Addicks? l ave him all we
had. Sorry it was not more. We are
to pay him four and a half million
dollars, and the sooner we do 1t the
better. Now out with what you've got
in your mind; l won't stand m
trifing."
Addicks continued to look at me with
the same indolent, critical air. He said
slowly:
THE reason 1 say you've given too
many bonds Is that we haven't a mil
lion and a half TO put up. Where In
the world did you get the idea we
had"
In an instant l realized that this
sharper had tricked me into apparently
tricking Rogers. / was boiling with
age.
lyon have told me over and yer
again that you retained the right to
Issue q million and a half bonds, that
you had never parted with 1t, and re-
lying on your assurances, / have done
business with Rogers. Let's nave the
truth now, at once"
Addicks is a master In the manage
ment of just such tangles as had devel-
oped here. / had expected him to give
way before my indignation. He looked
me square in the eye and turned the
tables on me. He got mad first.
You have taken too much on our
self, he began vehemently. you had
no right TO go ahead without consulting
me. Because I've given you full swing
you think you are the whole thing, but
you're not. And as for you rushing
in on me without warning expecting
that I'm going to let you turn all the
assets OF this corporation over to your
new STANDARD OIL friend. / won't
stand for it, and you can't do this COR
poration's business in hat way"
He poured or for fve minutes with
out giving me a chance to interpose
a word. He seemed to be consumed
with anger and paced UP and down the
Office. Then, suddenly, he stopped:
1--WE cannot afford to have n
trouble, you and /. Lawson, n I'm
sure you only did what you thought
best, but the fact is. that / pledged
some Of these bonds for our war sup
plies a month ago, and though Pm
not going to dispute it with you, I'd
swear l told you at the time
He certainly had played the game
magnificently. AS he talked 1 had been
mentally reviewing the situation /
found myself in. saw myself dropped
out Of Rogers consideration as the
same kind of a financial trickster that
Addicks was. For the moment / had
no fight left; L was simply knocked
out.
Don't feel bad, Lawson. You got as
far with Rogers as it is possible to
get, and you are dead right when you
say that once we got hold of his cor
poraticn, SO that everyone knows that
we've licked him, we can easily sell
stock enough to pay him in a few
weeks" As he talked he was again
the master financial trickster, full of
device and strategy. Finally / said:
Don't say any more, Addicks.
Words won't help us. I've got to face
Rogers as soon as a train car take
me back to New York. and after that
then III have something to say to
YOU" { started to go.
What are you going to say to him."
Say to him? What can / say to
him? At my solicitation he gave me
a hearing-at his own house-treated
me best in the world. l told him GER
tain things. and pledged my word they
were truths, and I've got to go back and
tell"
'iTeil what?"
THAT I'm either as big a liar as he
says you are, or a fool-a doddering
fool"
you are going to do nothing of the
kind" Addicks declared peremptorily.
You're going to tell him that you were
not posted up to date. and that /, being
pressed for money, had pledged some
of the million and a half I had told
you we had. That's all. He'll see it
all right, and he'll trade for--for-
what we have left"
l suddenly remembered that he had
not told me how nan bonds he had on
hand. a ray Of hope in the fog.
How many free bonds have we to
offer, Addicks< supposing he is willing
to overlook this ugly piece of trickery?"
j asked anxiously.
I'm not quite sure he answered,
but l a find from the books" He
rang for Miller, his r~ight-hand man,
the dummy treasurer of the Bay State
company, and said to him: Harry, Mr..
Lawson has got mixed up about the
bonds. He thought we had a million
and a half. You remember we've
pledged some In the loans. Just how
many have we now on hand?"
Harry" looked 1t up and said, ''Just
$9o4. 600"
There you are, Lawson said Ad-
dicks. There's plenty to assure Rogers
We'll do what we agree to-
Fool that | was. I did not see his
am No one ever ices see Addicks'
game till it Is too late, for no one but
a moral Idiot would play the game
that Addicks plays, and, thank heaven,
moral idiots are so rare In life that
II is not worth while figuring out the
formula from which they work.
r. nv ,sclock 4 me lorI~ ~.