Mr. Merriwether looked at the man a long time. He could not deny that to really desperate men such deeds offered no particular difficulty. The average crook is not dangerous to a millionaire; but a man like this is more than dangerous. He thought quickly and formed his conclusions accurately.
"How are you going to make Tom marry one of the girls whose names you mentioned?" he asked, in the tone of voice one uses toward physicians.
The man smiled slightly and said: "Oh, I am not going to do it. I don't care whether he marries or not. You must do that. But I'll tell you how, if you wish,--after McWayne gets here. Just think over the affair. It will put you in a more intelligently receptive frame of mind." And with a pleasant smile the man took a little book bound in green leather and began to read.
Mr. E. H. Merriwether, as was his wont when thinking, began at the beginning and reviewed the entire affair quickly but carefully. He did this again--it did not take him long--and then he began to co-ordinate his ideas and study the case. Within ten minutes he had forgotten his animosity. In fifteen he felt respect for this man. In twenty he was thinking how helpless any one man is against his ten billion trillion natural foes--microbes, seismic disturbances, floods, and the chemical reaction of hostile brains. This man, whose very name was unknown to him, had vanquished the victor--had looted the tent of the victorious general!
This was incredible when spoken in a conversational tone of voice. Perhaps this same remarkable man might tell how to make Tom choose a desirable wife. It was worth while making the experiment. It was in the nature of a gamble in which E. H. Merriwether stood to win a happiness worth all the money in the world and stood to lose nothing!
A knock at the door roused him from his reverie. One of the footmen arrived from the threshold.
Mr. Merriwether's private secretary entered. E. H. Merriwether held out his right hand.
Mr. McWayne took four slips of paper and gave them to his chief, who quickly looked at them and passed them over to the master of the house. The man looked at them, indorsed them, and handed a pen to Mr. Merriwether. The czar of the Pacific & Southwestern wrote on each of the checks: