Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-10-26
n tbe evening and Is a fudge of books

in the evening ana is a Judge of books
and pictures. Lawyers are the door-
keepers and the messengers or the plg
dive: and these lawyers. though tney
stand the highest and get the biggest
fees, are lust what you would expect
human beings to be who expose them-
| selves to such temptations, and yield
whenever they get an opportunity, as
eager and compliant as a cocotte.
NV lawyers a sold me out; l. fool
that I was, had not guarded the only
weak plate in my m against my
comprehensive plate over my pack,
to shed assassin thrusts. Roebuck ana
Langdon between them owned the gov
ernor; he owned the canal commission;
my canal, which gave me access TO
tideWater for the product of my Man.
asquale mines, was as good as closed.
| no longer a the whip-hand in Ma
tional Coal. The others could sell me
out and TAX two-thirds of my fortune
whenever they liked-for of what use
were my mines with no outlet now TO
any market, except the outlets the coal
crowd owned?
AS soon as / had thought the situa-
ton u in all it's bearings l realized
that there was no escape for me now,
that whatever anc to escape L might
have had was closed by my
ing to Sake and kicking him. But L
did not regret; it was worth the honey
it would cost me. Besides, l thought l
saw how l could later on turn 1t to
good account. A sensible man never
max es fatal errors. Whatever he does
is at least experience, and can also be
used to advantage. If Napoleon hadn't
been half lead at Waterloo, l don't
doubt he would have used it's disaster
as a means to a greater victory.
Was 1 downcast by the discovery that
those bandits had me apparently at
their mercy? Not a bit. Never in my
life have l been downcast over money
matters more than a few minutes. Why
should l be? Why should any man be
who has made himself all that he is?
AS long as his brain is sound, his cap
ital is unimpaired. When ] walked into
Mowbray Langdon's office l was like a
thoroughbred exercising on a clear
frosty morning; and my smile was as
fresh as the flower in my buttonhole.
l thrust out my hand at him. Il con-
graduate you," said l.
He took the proffered hand with a
questioning look.
"On what?" said he. 1t is hard to
tell from his face what is going on in
his head, but l think l guessed right
when l decided that Sal hadn't yet
warned him.
II have just found out from Sake"
1 pursued, about the canal BILL
What canal bill?" he asked.
That puzzled look was a mistake,
when you don't know anything about
a matter, you look merely blank. You
overdid it; you've given yourself
away"
He shrugged his shoulders. LAS you
please" said he. AS you please was his
favorite expression; a st~ereotyped
irony, for in dealing with him, things
were never as you pleased, but always
as he pleased.
Next time you want to dig a mine
under anybody" | went on, don't hire
SAKE. Really / feel sorry for you-to
have such a clever scheme messed by
an ass
IF you don't mind, I'd like to know
what you're talking about" said he,
with his patient, bored look.
LAS you and Roebuck own the gov
ernor, l know your little law ends my
little canal"
still l don't know what you're talk
ing about" drawled he. You are al
ways suspecting everybody of double
dealing. l gather that this is another
instance of your infirmity. Really,
Blackjack, the world isn't wholly made
of ~scoundrels."
Il know that" said /. And l will
even admit that its sCoundrelS are sell
dom made up wholly Of scoundrelism.
Even Roebuck would rather do the de-
cent thing, if he can do it without en-
dangering his personal interests. AS
you'll regard you as n of the
d~ecentest men l ever knew-outside of
business. And wen there, l believe
you'd keep your word, as long az the
other fellow kept his"
Thank you," said he, bowling ironi-
cally. This fiattery makes me sus-
pect you've come to get something"
O the contrary" said L. II want
to give something. l wan to give you
my coal mines"
Il thought you'd see that our offer
was fair" said he. And Pm glad you
changed you mind abou quar-
reling with your best friends. We can
be useful to you, you to US. A break
would be silly"
That's the way 1t looks to me-" ]
assented. And l decided that my sharp
talk to Roebuck had set them to esti-
mating my value to them.
Sam Ellersly," Langdon presently
remarked, tells me he's campaigning
hard for you at the Travellers. | hope
you'n make it. We're rather a slow
crowd; a few men like you might stir
things up"
l am always more than willing to
give others credit for good sense and
good motives. 1t was not vanity, but
this disposition to credit others with
sincerity and sense, that led me to be-
him, both as to the coal matter
and as to the Travellers club. Thanks,
l said; M that he might
look no further for my motive. / added:
II want to get into the club much as
the winner of a race wants the medal
that belongs to him. I've built myself
up into a rich man, into one of the
in finance, and / feel I'm en-
titled TO recognition"
/H..k,oI A~SA Af--