curred, or
realized that this copper affair, which was to me a matter of life and
death, was to Henry H. Rogers only another device to extort dollars from
the public, I should then and there have thrown down the gauntlet and
demanded that "Standard Oil" step out into the open and assume all legal
responsibility, or have exposed the whole scheme. But my suspicions were
suspicions only, and I could not be sure that Mr. Rogers was doing other
than discretion warranted, when he desired to have things done in such a
way as to allow me to continue to conjure with the magic name "Standard
Oil." In other words, wasn't he doing exactly what I myself was engaged
upon? I was planning to have him consent to things he was otherwise
unwilling to allow, and he, in his turn, was scheming to have the bank
and his "Standard Oil" associates pass over things they would be sure to
question if presented less adroitly, or if they came from some other
quarter. Yet all I was trying to accomplish was honest and best for all.
Why might not his intentions be as fair as mine? However, the eye-snap
determined me to steer nearer the wind.

"Well and good, Mr. Rogers," I went on. "I will tell the story I know is
true and that you know is true, and that you have repeatedly given me
your word you would stand by me in telling, but I will only do so in a
way I deem safe and fair to myself. Is that agreed?"

He winced a bit. "What do you mean by that?" he said. "What do you mean
by a 'way safe and fair' to yourself? You are not suspicious of any of
us, are you?"

"Suspicious is not the word, Mr. Rogers. I brought you and Mr.
Rockefeller this copper enterprise. We have gone ahead with it upon
clearly laid down lines. I have done to the letter all I agreed, and, so
far, the enterprise has more than fulfilled my promises. I realize that
our success has largely come from our going to the public and openly
telling it what we were doing and what we intended to do. Until now, I
am the one who has made all the promises, and, legally, up to this
point, I am the only one who can be called to account, but it is the
fact that for any statement I have made, you and Mr. Rockefeller have
been as much responsible as myself, and you as much or more than I have
had the benefit which has come from what I have promised. Now we are
ready for business with the public, and there must be a clear and
distinct understanding with it or it will not part with its money. This
unders