secured.

"Are you going to subscribe rather heavily in the company, Stevens?"
inquired Westlake, with the curiosity of a man who likes to have his
own opinion corroborated by another man of good judgment.

"Well," replied the father of Miss Josephine, "I think of taking a
rather solid little block of stock. I believe I can spare twenty-five
thousand dollars to invest in almost any company Sam Turner wants to
start."

"He's a fine boy," agreed Westlake. "A square, straight young fellow,
a good business man, and a hustler. I see him playing tennis with my
girl every day, and she seems to think a lot of him."

"He's bound to make his mark," Mr. Stevens acquiesced, sharply
suppressing a fool impulse to speak of his own daughter. "Do you
fellows intend to let him secure control of this company?"

"I should say not!" replied Westlake, with such unnecessary emphasis
that Stevens looked at him with sudden suspicion. He knew enough about
old Westlake to "copper" his especially emphatic statements.

"Are you agreeable to Princeman's plan to pool all stock but Turner's?"

"Well--we can talk about that later."

"Huh!" grunted Mr. Stevens, and together the two heavy-weights, Stevens
with his aggressive beard suddenly pointed a trifle more straight out,
and Mr. Westlake with his placidity even more marked than usual,
stalked on into the parlor, where Mr. Blackstone, taking the chair _pro
tem_., read them the preliminary agreement he had drawn up; upon which
Sam Turner immediately started to wrangle, a proceeding which proved
altogether in vain.

The best he could get for patents and promotion was two thousand out of
the five thousand shares of common stock, and finally he gave in,
knowing that he could not secure the right kind of men on better terms.
Mr. Blackstone thereupon offered a subscription list, to which every
man present solemnly appended his name opposite the number of shares he
would take. Sam, at the last moment, put down his own name for a block
of stock which meant a cash investment of considerably more than he had
originally figured upon. He cast up the list hurriedly. Five hundred
shares of preferred, carrying half that much common, were still to be
subscribed. With whom could he combine to obtain control? The only
men who had subscribed enough for that purpose were Princeman, who was
out of the question, and, in fact, would be the leader of the
opposition, and Westlake. The highest of the other