with the Mammon of unrighteousness?
I always play the game according to the rules, no matter whether I like
the rules or not. I'll play this hand in that way."

Then turning to his secretary, he said:

"Call the main office cashier by telegraph and tell him to come to me at
once, here at the house."

There were no telephones in that day, but Captain Will Hallam was
accustomed to say that, living, as he did, in the nineteenth century, he
made free use of nineteenth century conveniences in his business. He had
laced the little city with telegraph wires, connecting his house not
only with his office, and many warehouses, but with the houses of all
the chief men in his employ, even to the head drayman. And he exacted of
every one of his employees a reasonable facility in the use of the Morse
telegraph.

Captain Hallam had many rules for the governance of his own conduct.
Among them were these:

"Never be a fool--look at the practical side of things.

"Never let anything run away with you--keep cool.

"Never be in a hurry--make the other fellows do the hustling.

"Never let the men you work with know what you are doing--they might
talk, or they might do a little business on their own account.

"Never be satisfied with anything as it is--there is always some way of
bettering it.

"Never send good money after bad--it doesn't pay.

"Never waste energy in regretting a loss--there's a better use for
energy.

"Never hesitate to pay for your education as you get it--use the
telegraph freely, and keep in close communication with the men who are
likely to know what you want to know.

"When you want a man to keep still, make it worth his while--but don't
say anything to him about it. That opens the way to blackmail.

"Never take a drink--it unbalances the judgment.

"Never get angry--that's worse than taking a dozen drinks.

"Never do anything till you are ready to do it all over and clear
through."

In obedience to the spirit of these rules, Captain Will Hallam, as soon
as he had sent off his telegraphic messages, went out into his garden
and hoed a while. Then he called John, his English gardener, and gave
him some minute instructions respecting the care of certain plants. John
resented the impertinence of course, but he obeyed the instructions,
nevertheless. It was the fixed habit of men who worked for Captain Will
Hallam to obey his commands.

Presently the cashier presented himself, with check book in hand.