"Allis used to be in the steel business six or eight years ago,"
Gamble continued, reminiscently. "Then he sold out--it was the real
beginning of the forming of the Steel Trust. Did you ever hear that
story?"

"Not that I know of," said Montague.

"Well," said the other, "if you are going to match yourself against
the Steel crowd, it's a good idea to know about them. Did you ever
meet Jim Stagg?"

"The Wall Street plunger?" asked Montague. "He's a mere name to me."

"His last exploit was to pull off a prize fight in one of the swell
hotels in New York, and one nigger punched the other through a
plate-glass mirror. Stagg comes from the wild West, you know, and
he's wild as they make 'em--my God, I could tell you some stories
about him that'd make your hair stand up! Perhaps you remember some
time ago he raided Tennessee Southern in the market and captured it;
and old Waterman testified that he took it away from him because he
didn't consider he was a fit man to own it. As a matter of fact,
that was just pure bluff, for Waterman uses him in little jobs like
that all the time.--Well, six or eight years ago, Stagg owned a big
steel plant out West; and there was a mill in Indiana, belonging to
Allis, that interfered with their business. One time Stagg and some
of his crowd had been on a spree for several days, and late one
night they got to talking about Allis. 'Let's buy the----out,' said
Stagg, so they ordered a special and a load of champagne, and away
they went to the city in Indiana. They got to Allis's house about