office next mornin' I hadn't doped out how I was goin' to put it.

"Well, what about Percey?" says he.

"He's the goods," says I.

"Couldn't scare him, eh?" says Old Hickory.

"Not if I'd been a mile high," says I. "He won't sell, either. And
say, Mr. Ellins, you want to get next to Percey J. The way I look at
it, this George Wesley Jones stiff ain't the man behind him; Percey is
the man behind Jones."

"H-m-m-m-m!" says Old Hickory. "I knew there was someone; but I
couldn't trace him. So it's Sturgis, eh? That being so, we need him
with us."

"But ain't he tied up with Jones?" says I.

"Jones is a dead dog," says Old Hickory. "At least, he will be inside
of a week."

That was some prophecy, eh? Read in the papers, didn't you, how G.
Wesley cables over his resignation from Baden Two Times? Couldn't
stand the strain. The directors are still squabblin' over who to put
in as head of the P., B. & R.; but if you want to play a straight
inside tip put your money on Percey J. Uh-huh! Him and Old Hickory
have been confabbin' in there over an hour now, and if he hadn't
flopped to our side would Mr. Ellins be tellin' him funny stories?
Anyway, we're backin' that Palisades line now, and it's goin' through