l us exactly how you got yourself elected President
and how you propose to cover up?"

And with an easy laugh, Mr. Nickleby did so. Because when one is
talking to "friends" whom one has under thumb and who are about to
shoulder heavy responsibilities one can afford to talk freely; because,
also, whisky loosens the tongue and enables one to vizualize a flock of
poultry out of a basket of eggs! Then, too, there is inspiration in
nods of approval and expressions of admiration, and both Honorable
Milton Waring and Mr. Blatchford Ferguson were prodigal of these as the
recital progressed.

Certainly it was an amazing confession. With considerable gusto did J.
Cuthbert Nickleby explain the various moves by which he had dethroned
the Lawson interests and usurped control of the Interprovincial Loan &
Savings Company. The quiet gathering together of proxies, the
appointment of dummy directors, the "purchase" of others, the "personal
loans" which silenced others still, the failure of "Old Nat" to produce
his authority for voting the Bradford block of stock--all of these
factors Mr. Nickleby set forth with a lucidity and frankness which
aimed to convince his two auditors that when they and their associates
assumed "control" it would be absolute, with no possibility of failure
in swinging the annual meeting to suit themselves.

"By heaven, Nickleby, you're a wizard!" cried Ferguson at last, unable
longer to restrain his enthusiasm. "You've got the situation tied up
in a pretty knot and no mistake. Hasn't he, Milt? Take it from me, J.
C., if you'd been cruising the high seas in the days of Captain Kidd,
you'd have given him a run for his money! Some buccaneer, believe me!"
and he went off into a peal of laughter born of sheer admiration.

"Quit your kidding, Blatch," grinned Mr. Nickleby modestly as he
reached for the decanter, quite unconscious of the pun. "But I hope
you're now convinced that this proposition is feasible and quite in
order."

"I don't know about that," objected the Honorable Milton slowly. "It's
clear enough that you've got things in your own hands just now, J. C.,
and can shove through this deal O.K. But your whole control rests upon
the fact that the Bradford stock is side-tracked. Supposing Nat Lawson
locates that missing power-of-attorney? What then?"

"I give you my word that he can't do it," chuckled Nickleby.

"That's all very well. But supposing he does? How do you know he
can't?"