Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-06

people have not got. sIncerity-1 need it
in my enterprise"
what is your entcrprse?" asked
Craig.
ITelderman lowered his voice TT is
my great ambition to own every trust
company in New York"
Craig laughed aloud. Hitch your
wagon to star-you're crazy, man." he
said. 1T would take billions to buy up
the trust companies in New York"
Helderman smiled supcrciliously. "Not
billions lie returned, hardly a mil
lion"
Craig shook his head. And then he
NODDED. I'm interested" he said. Let
mo hear about It,"
Helderman touched him gently on the
arm. "Give me million-and n few
frank-faced young men like you, and
can do It," He tapped his forehead. Be
hind it all is this-it needs Helderman
to push 1t through. Let mo explain First,
a million dollars-less. Maybe half mil
lion We buy one trust company--its
stock. We buy control. This trust COM
pany has assets. We control those as
sets, because we control the stock. What
do do with these assets and this
stock? We buy another trust company
and we put up the stock, and possibly the
assets, as collateral security for the pur-
chase price of the second trust company
So far, so good. We now have two trust
companies. But trust company number
two-it also has stock which we control,
assets also We put those up to buy
trust company number three. What fol-
lows-just this: What We can do once
we can do hundred times"
IAN endless chain, murmured Craig. He
was right when he said this interested
him. 1t did more-it startled him.
IAN endless chain" echoed Helderman,
Exactly, and we start 1t with less than
a million dollars"
What about the law?" queried Craig.
THE law" returned Helderman, dismiss
sing the law with wave OF his hand.
The law deals only with failures-this
plan will be great success. What
touch turns to gold"
He waved his hand toward the ship, as
II he owned It.
"I occupy the royal suite am known
on board as the man who occupies, who
can pay for, the royal suitel"
Again he waved his large, white hand
sweepingy, and the moonlight broke into
brilliant splnters on tho facets of huge
and fiawless diamond no wore.
"Money?-bahp' he exclaimed
Rutherford did not smile nor was he
disgusted. He might have been amused
by the grandiloquent ostentaton; he might
have scorned 1t as showing a lack OF
brains and breeding. But another lively
thought possessed him. He knew beyond
peradventure that the man possessed an
extraordinary intelligence. that he was al
ready recognized as a peculiar power in
was the conviction that came to Ruther-
ford-the posing and the blatant preten-
sion were only q mask purposely assumed
for the time. i'm order to hide some other
object or scheme of brilliant and willy
mind. knowing this. or feeling 1t intu-
lively, the young man OWNED that he
must be on his guard.
They had reached the stern Of the ship.
where the deck ran from rail to rail,
"Shall We retuTn?" said Helderman.
Without waiting for a reply. he wheeled
sharply and started back. Rutherford
wondered II he were overworklng his own
Imagination. Awhile ago, he had fancied
that Mrs, Talcott wanted TO escape from
his or Helderman's neighborhood; and
now he fancied that Helderman was seek
ing TO eluds some undesirable meeting.
gust a second" said Craig, stepping
close 10 the cabin wall, as If to light
fresh cigar.
"Ahr' he breathed conarmatlvely to
himself. Out of the tail OF his eye he had
caught sight of a slender and graceful
woman emerging from the shadow Of the
aft deck.
Helderman had turned back. without
pausing, and the woman seemed TO Rp-
proach him, as though unconscious OF the
younger man who had stepped into the
shadow to light his cigar. Apparently
without observing her, Heldermsn threw
back his head and puffed a succession OF
white smoke rings into the blue night air
The woman scarcely altered her pace or
as she passed on; yet Craig was
certain that she had observed the signal
and had been warned away,
lie stared after her as she hurried
along the deck. A long. dark veil fiutter-
ing about her head and shoulders, COM
pletely disguised the contour OF her head
and the color OF her hair. Yet he had
seen a certain gray ulster too many times
not TO recognize 1t now. He had watched
its wearer too often-so he told himself
not to know Just how becomingly II set
on the slender figure And not Is minutes
before-again he told himself-he had seen
JUST such dainty white slippers resting on
the rung Of the steamer chair.