he received a letter from the
secretary of the company explaining that the additional stock was
pool stock and not to be marketed at the present time. It was in
the nature of a bonus to which he was entitled as one of the early
shareholders. The letter was full of verbiage and technical
details of which the judge understood nothing, but he thought it
very liberal of the company, and putting the stock away in his
safe soon forgot all about it. Had he been a business man he would
have scented peril. He would have realized that he had now in his
possession $50,000 worth of stock for which he had not paid a
cent, and furthermore had deposited it when a reorganization came.

But the judge was sincerely grateful for Ryder's apparently
disinterested advice and wrote two letters to him, one in which he
thanked him for the trouble he had taken, and another in which he
asked him if he was sure the company was financially sound, as the
investment he contemplated making represented all his savings. He
added in the second letter that he had received stock for double
the amount of his investment, and that being a perfect child in
business transactions he had been unable to account for the extra
$50,000 worth until the secretary of the company had written him
assuring him that everything was in order. These letters Ryder
kept.

From that time on the Alaskan Mining Company underwent mysterious
changes. New capitalists gained control and the name was altered
to the Great Northwestern Mining Company. Then it became involved
in litigation, and one suit, the outcome of which meant millions
to the company, was carried to the Supreme Court, where Judge
Rossmore was sitting. The judge had by this time forgotten all
about the company in which he owned stock. He did not even recall
its name. He only knew vaguely that it was a mine and that it was
situated in Alaska. Could he dream that the Great Northwestern
Mining Company and the company to which he had entrusted his few
thousands were one and the same? In deciding on the merits of the
case presented to him right seemed to him to be plainly with the
Northwestern, and he rendered a decision to that effect. It was an
important decision, involving a large sum, and for a day or two it
was talked about. But as it was the opinion of the most learned
and honest judge on the bench no one dreamed of questioning it.

But very soon ugly paragraphs began to appear in the newspapers.
One paper asked