Show Common Business Honesty I BY DY ARTHUR STANWOOD PIER Caspar Dane put down the newspaper newspaper per pcr he had been reading He Ho was a aman aman aman man of ot 60 big massive and power powerfully powerfUlly fully tUlly built with a strong shrewd healthy face which was yas smooth shaven en except for short gray kers krs his head was bald and rose to a benevolent dome domo and his blue eyes In spite of a cynical glint which was al always always ways In them were softened by b the twinkling crows feet in the corners comers He lIe reclined at his ease in a comfort comfortable comfortable comfortable able leather chair unperturbed by the dropping of his cigar ashes on his din dinner dinner dinner ner coat He looked at his daughter who sat quietly on the th other side of the fire fireplace fireplace fireplace place her haired head bent over her embroidery Caspar Dane knew that she had been waiting all the even evenIng evenIng evening Ing for him to speak Helen It was to Paul Herricks fa father father father ther I paid my roy fool tax forty years ago he said Your fool tax A flush tinged her cheeks and she put down her hr h r embroidery ery with trembling hands Yes what every young man pays for his share of worldly wisdom wl dom He was a good looking sprightly man with curly black hair and very hand handsome handI handsome some ome I cheeks and an attractive attractive tive smile Paul Herrick is like that he heYes heYes heYes Yes Helen murmured I noticed It especially when he came cameto cameto cameto to Interview me today His father was wasa a crook kept a and I was one bf the young fellows he ho fleeted fleeced He Be ended as a floater on on the street Why do you tell me this Because B causo of that Interview which Paul Herrick had ha with me today toda He comes of bad stock Helen and he deals in stocks as a business I dont know which fact Is the worse Im told that hes a better fellow than his father I dare say he Is or ho have got you to care for tor him as I under understand understand understand stand is the case Or has he misinformed 1 I formed me inc on that point Helen came over and pressed her fathers hand appealingly No 10 she said Hes a n fellow director with me in Valdez Valdes Mining hes been straight enough as far as I know Caspar Dane Darle admitted What did you say to Paul Helen Helep asked timidly I 1 said that It was a most unwelcome surprise and that I would look Into the matter Not very vcr cordial were wore you ou What do you say to me meThe meThe meThe The same Helen sighed she was aware of her fathers stubborn prejudices and of his eccentric and perverse methods of con confirming confirming confirming firming them Helen my 10 dear he put his arm round her and drew her closer to him dont think Im unsympathetic with you ou I remember how bow dear a thing It was when I won your mot erd consent and I dont think I could really be unsympathetic at such a time I want you to have haC all the happiness there is in young love and theres a great deal But I dont want you to miss all aU the tho happiness there Is In love no longer young love that grows and keeps on growing even oven when the man and the woman are on the downward slope of life Compared with that your our young happiness my dear is nothing literally nothing And I want you OU to have the affection of a man so BO good that you can give Jive him all your life me mea a full ungrudging always increasing love and loyalty If It I find Paul Her Herrick Herrick Herrick rick Is such a man the fact that hes the son of his father wont make any difference to me meThe meThe meThe The irl was touched but not quite satisfied How will you find out she asked Something may happen he an answered answered answered vaguely She was aware that the reply mask masked ed an eccentric purpose but she had to be content The directors of the Valdez Mining company had been summoned for a special meeting in the law office of Mr Ir Jphn Welch It was generally under understood understood stood upon the street that at t this meeting the first dividend would be declared The mining expert Caspar Dane was returning that day from an examination of the property and upon receiving his report expected to be fa favorable favorable favorable the board would take action Mr Ir Edward Shinn the wealthy stocking manufacturer and Mr Ir Lind Lindsay Lindsay Lindsay say Tweed the eminent wool merchant met in the elevator on the way up to Welchs office As they recognized each other they nodded each with a confident and initiated smile Going to cut a melon today Inquired Tweed and Shinn answered I guess well thump it anyway to see If it its ripe Having had each one his joke they entered Welchs office in excellent hu humor humor humor mor The Tho office boy directed them to one of the inner rooms Welch and Paul Herrick were awaiting them Old man not come yet 1 asked Shinn Hell be here Herrick answered He SHe telephoned me Just an hour ago he arrived In town only this morning Tweeds voice olce broko broke in inAnd InAnd InAnd And hows the market today toda Her Herrick rick Strong Shong eh and maybe well give It an extra little fillip a great business youre in with your private I signals and pass words and what not i More like play lay than business I always i think your countersign on the floor Herrick Im afraid I dont quite under understand understand understand stand said sard the young man manOh manOh manOh Oh yes ye you ou do Why Vance my broker was telling me he has private signals on the exchange two fingers for this and three fingers for that thatto The Tho door opened and Dane entered Ho took off oft his hat nat without a smile a man built on a large lare scale with the habit of ot genial expansiveness and a face as naturally merry as it was lias shrewd he had now nat a smile of for apy a y one He shook hands With each QZ his fellow tellow directors In Ingrave Ingrave ingrave grave silence and an l although it was spring pring out doors and the morning sun was shining In at the windows the th room seemed smitten with a chill chUl Dane Dano took tho the chair at the head of tho the long table Shinn and Tweed sat together on or his right Paul HerrIck slipped clipped Into a chair on his left Over Overby Overby Overby by the door Welch Velch the tho lawyer sat at athis athis athis his desk which was wac open and watched Dane with apprehensive eyes Gentlemen the tho chair will ask ak the meeting to come to order pane Dane said His voice was grave grac deliberate and unemotional Tho The circumstances are such that the chair will dispense with the usual formalities You are waiting for tor my m report on tho the mine Gentlemen there Is no Valdez z mine The other four tour directors looked hooked at him in stupefied silence The property that we had thought so BO promising proves now quite value valueless valueless less hess In all my mining experience I have never neer known of a parallel ase We Yo Ve have uncovered as you know a aI aI I considerable quantity of ore but gen genI 1 I that ore which we have unco fred pred is all there is Instead of striking a vein we have havo struck what seems to tobe tobo tobe be bo merely an isolated deposit The money we have spent on development work has been thrown away It would hardly pay pay us to to o transport the ore we have bave blocked ou to a smelter so re remote remote remote mote as we are from a railroad In short our mine is worth literally noth nothing nothIng nothing ing But Mr Ir Dane cried Paul Her Herrick Herrick Herrick rick rising and pointing to the chart of o the mine that hung on the wall how is It possible Here Is the main lode iode He stepped up to the chart chartand chartand chartand and with his finger traced the mark markings markIngs ings As he did so he talked rapidly appealingly stating what they all had believed what was so at variance with Danes astounding news v Dane rose and stood behind him Yes he lie said We thought so But we were mistaken I can only repeat that the case so far as I know knows Is without a parallel paralle He went patiently into a technical explanation describing the dwindling and failure of the ore The superintendents report he ad added added added ded covering the matter fully Is on the way We made every possible ex exploration and the superintendent will give you all the details I hurried home to lay the matter before you But but you ou assured us Dane Dape cried Shinn ShIn with helpless pathos His face had turned a dangerous purple purple he stretched a gentlemanly little white hand along the table with entreaty to toward toward toward ward Dane DaneI I assured you ou the chairman an answered answered answered And I am chagrined like the lawyer who vho loses his case or the doctor who loses his patient No more than other men are mining engineers infallible Chagrined Good God exclaimed Tweed passionately Then he stopped the great vein in his forehead was swollen and in his flushed face tace all the lines of or age and care seemed to have tightened He bent himself forward clutching his hia hands together between his knees thrusting his sleeves up from his bony wrists Welch sitting at his desk had pen penciled penciled dIed a line Une on a slip of paper and now while the others waited walt d in stricken si silence silence lence hence he unobtrusively pressed a bell The door opened and the office boy appeared Stop cried Dane in his big voice leaping up the violence of sudden an anger anger anger ger swept over the gravity of his face He sprang between Welch elch and the boy You are not wanted boy that bell was a mistake he said and the boy openmouthed and frightened with withdrew withdrew withdrew drew Dane looked down at the lawyer The chair rules that no one In this room shall hold communication with any anyone one outside till tilt after this meeting is adjourned he stated emphatically That note In your jour hand Mr Welch Velch might be an order to sell stock I should advise you to destroy it You jump at conclusions replied the lawyer flushing and pocketing the note I wonder if It one so shrewd has not already profited by his advance in information Information information formation Dana drew a packet of papers from his pocket and tossed it on Welchs desk I expected that question You i will find those are the certificates of my five thousand shares of Valdez stock Ve We have no assurance e that your our broker may not call for them tomor tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow row sneered Welch Dane laughed intolerantly I will leave them with you my ny dear sir for safe keeping Come gentleman we may not trust one another but we must make up our minds not to betray one another arother Let us discuss the situa situation situation tion calmly He lIe returned to his place at the head of the table The two old men Shinn and Tweed with anxious an lous faces were figuring now on the backs of envelopes envelopes envelopes across from them Paul Herrick sat low in his chair with his arms fold told folded folded ed and his eyes staring gloomily at the table before him The thing for us to consider said Dane is what now to do Is it your pleasure gentlemen that we should at once publish the failure of the mine Tweed threw up both hands In a gesture gesture gesture ture of despair and Imploring dissent And the stock selling today toda at forty five fhe groaned Shinn Selling now at this moment at Welch Yelch sat at his desk fingering Danes certificates of stock The flush had left loft his face tace of the four tour men who had heard the announcement he seem seemed seemed seemed ed to hav have most thoroughly recovered himself He began to speak now with the persuasive art of ot the lawyer who had won some reputation through his cleverness In refining upon the truth and investing a specious argument with plausibility I We Ye seem gentlemen he said to tobo tobo tobe bo be suddenly confronted by a moral issue In such a turn of fortune as this the tho first impulse Is to blame some someone someone someone one we cant bear so great a shock without indignation But here on cool cooler er or second thoughts It appears that no io noone one is to blame We Ve must not In 11 Indulge dulga in recriminations We must charge out our misfortune to the limits and imperfections of human knowledge and not to the tho fault of any individual As AsI I say sa we seem to be confronted by a amoral amoral moral issue and we must determine where our duty lies Is It our duty to come out flatfooted and announce what we have learned That seems the simplest and frankest f course But Butis is It necessarily the right and wise course He paused for answer or suggestion but no one spoke Tweed sat In an attitude of ot utter dejection with his head resting on his hand seeming not notto notto notto to hear or notice anything expression was almost as listless and Herrick seemed absorbed In his own thoughts Only Caspar Dane sat up upright right massive alert aId and to him Welch Velch mainly addressed his appeal We must m st consider the tho lawyer said whether anything Is to bo ho gained by a proceeding of utter frankness Will it advantage In any way the Interests of our stockholders I cannot c not see that it will for the moment we make malee our announcement wo we o reduce the value of their stock to zero Will it be treat ing them with unfairness if It we w If lt we we hold back the Information for tor some days during which perhaps the stock gradually declines Not at all rather the tIle reverse since we shall then be giving them an opportunity to escape with something less than total loss If they decide to sell seU Have we not a duty to ourselves provided it does rot Toot conflict with our duty to our stock holders Are we wo under any obligation to protect the general public at our own expense and to our detriment I 1 should like to hear some same discussion of these the points I confess that to me this moral mor issue seems Seem eem somewhat complicated It ic iz 3 easy cas In wishing to do dothe dothe dothe the rit to do merely the quixotic thins thi t Tweed turned d In his chair and flung out ou both arms fir n i the table t ble Then in J 7 his fingers and pressing I them together till the knuckles turned white he h e spoke in a halting faltering lt voice This this finds me in pretty prett I bad shape Its been a poor year In my business and weve been running behind nobody knows it but weve wave been running behind for three years And now I thought I saw my chance chanc and Ivo Ive been buying Valdez and buy Ing ins It and buying it sure my profit would carry me make up my IiI loss Ive bought it on margins from as low as sixteen all the way up to forty And next net et month my notes come coma due and and Im ruined Not a penny in n the world Have we a duty to and to one another repeated Welch In a low voice Its hard luck old man said sail Shinn lying a hand on Tweeds arm ann Im not In as bad a box as you I guess but pull through If It i 1 weather this thing myself maybe I can give you a hand Thanks murmured Tweed Thanks His head nead sank saik s forward and he recovered himself with an effort He rose slowly to his feet teet Ill have to leave for tor a few moments Im Im sick His taco face was white and he started unsteadily toward the door Welch rose in front of him Hold on said Welch bet better better better ter go to the window All Alt you need Is a breath of fresh air The old man stopped met Welchs eyes ees and then looked pathetically at Caspar Dane for many years his friend But Dane avoided the appeal and glancing away struck a match and md his cigar Yes said Tweed bitterly The window will do doHe doHe doHe He turned and walked round the lower end of the table The window In Ina Ina Ina a recess in a Po distant corner corper of the room was open Tweed put his elbows on the sill and looked down two stories upon the murmuring traffic of the street Behind him in the room the discussion was resumed but leaning out ho did not hear a word After a moment he |