i
"that may all be very well," commented one of the members at the directors' meeting of the international power company, held on the day of rawn's arrival in new york; "that may all be true, but what do we know about the practical application? i've heard of extracting gold from sea water—and the fellow proved it right before your eyes! the world is full of these things, getting rich all at once, but usually when we get to the bottom of it, there's the same old gold brick."
the speaker was rather a slight man, with dark pointed beard, a man whose name swayed railway fortunes, but whose digestion was not worth mentioning. silence greeted his comment. a dozen pairs of eyes turned toward john rawn from different points about the long directors' table. the speaker went on:
"i am ready to back anything i believe in, of course, and i must say i believed in this—maybe because i wanted to, it looked so good. it's the pinkest, prettiest, sweetest scheme i ever saw, and that's the fact. but we don't get anywhere with it. we've been pouring money into these chicago works, and there's nothing doing. we've been paying you a pretty stiff salary, mr. rawn, and our total expenses have footed up enormously. we've got the work on the dam and on the central transmission plant to show, yes, but that's all. and that wasn't why i went into this thing. for one, i want to be shown a few things about the chicago installations. it's that wireless receiver that's got us all into this, and i want to know about that."
john rawn made characteristic answer: "how much is your stock worth, in your opinion, van?" he demanded quietly.
"i'll just about call that bluff right here," broke out the dyspeptic financier. "i'll take sixty for all my holdings."
"how many shares?"
"i'm only in for three thousand."
"push me that pen, charles," commented john rawn casually. "i'll make a memorandum of that," said he. "it's a sale. will you please initial it? you shall have my check in due course."
the dyspeptic director hesitated for an instant. "put up or shut up!" exclaimed john rawn roughly. "i'm going to buy you out, and throw you out, right here. we don't want any cold-foot sitting here with us. this has got to be a bunch of fighting men, and we don't want any quitters."
"i'll not stand for that!" began the dyspeptic. "i want to say—"
"you'll say nothing, and you'll stand for that," retorted rawn. "i'll get you the cash here in copper pennies if you like, inside of five minutes. o.k. that paper, and cancel your right to vote. the meeting isn't called to order yet, and the books are not closed."
"that's the talk!" growled a deep voice farther toward the end of the table. the general traffic man of earlier days, ackerman, of st. louis, was the speaker. "i'll take half of that myself, rawn."
"yes, and divide it with me, ackerman," nodded standley, the railway president to whom rawn had first brought his device.
the dissatisfied director paled yet more. "oh, well," said he, "if that's the way you feel about it, i'll just call your bluff. here's my initials; and you're welcome to my stock."
"record it!" said rawn tersely, throwing the memorandum across to the treasurer. "have you got the stock here?"
"yes, right in my inside pocket," retorted the other savagely.
"pass it to the treasurer, then, if you please—that is to say, if you will take the assurance of myself and these gentlemen that we'll take up this memorandum."
"oh, of course i'll do that," assented the other grudgingly.
"then that'll be about all," said mr. rawn. "and as this is to be a directors' meeting, why, maybe—"
the dyspeptic financier was already reaching for his hat and coat.
ii
"i want all you gentlemen to feel," said john rawn calmly, "that there's a chance to lay down right here, if your feet are getting cold. better quit now than later on. i won't work with men who haven't got heart in this thing. if any of you are scared, let me know. i couldn't take over all your stock myself, of course, but if you want to let go, i believe i can swing another company organization."
they looked at him silently, here and there a gray head shaking in negation. rawn's eye lighted.
"that's the idea!" said he; "we'll all sit tight."
he turned to catch the eye of the late director, who was now passing toward the door. "i'm going," said the latter importantly.
"and good riddance!" said john rawn calmly.
"i'll take care of you for that, one of these days, mr. rawn!"
"why not now?"
"you'll see what i'll do to you in the market!"
"the market be damned!" said john rawn evenly. "there isn't any market. there isn't anything to buy or sell. if there is any stock offered, i'm the market, right here and now. go on and do what you can. the more you talk of what you don't know about, the more you'll boom this thing; so turn yourself loose, if you feel like it. i've got our superintendent here to prove this thing out—to the directors of this company, mr. van. the meeting is informal, but it may be instructive. we can fill any vacancy on the board at some other time, maybe."
a large, bearded man, with drooping lower eyelids, who sat across the table, chuckled to himself gently as the ex-director slammed the door.
"well, then—" said a tentative voice.
all these men were men of large affairs. they would have spared no time for this meeting had it not seemed to them much worth their while.
"van's going to talk," said one voice.
"let him talk about what he likes," rejoined rawn. "it's close communion for the rest of us. well, then, have we all got cards?" he demanded.
there was a grim look on each face along the table which suited the fancy of the speaker. "all right, then," said he. "there are only two or three of you who ever saw our device actually at work. i've got my report all brought up to date. mr. halsey will tell you what he has been doing in the works, how he has been handicapped, why we can not turn over at once a completed installation of one of our motors. we know perfectly well that a great deal of money has been expended. we don't want you to put in that money unless you are satisfied of returns, big returns. gentlemen, are you ready to see the gold brick? would you like to look at the little joker, or see if you can find the pea under the shell? if so, there will be further opportunity for those who want to drop out. but i'd very much prefer you'd drop out now and not after our experiments."
there was no answer, beyond a growl from ackerman, a twitched hand of the bearded man.
iii
halsey rose and placed on the table the little model which he took from the case at his side. in principle, it was the same which had been shown in the original demonstration at st. louis, long before, although in workmanship it was in this instance a trifle more finished, showing more of shining brass and steel. halsey looked about hesitatingly.
"shall we use the fan again?" he inquired of mr. rawn.
"not on your life!" cried out ackerman. "no more fan bursting goes. you'll put on the little railway, here on the table, as you were showing me the other day."
"you gentlemen all know the general theory of the invention," halsey went on, again assuming the post of lecturer, which rawn once more graciously surrendered to him, waving a hand largely in his direction as though in explanation to the others. "it's simply the attuning of a motor to the free electrical current in the air—the wireless idea, of course. you're posted on all this. now, i've got some little things here which will show some of the applications of our idea. we'll make a little track, for a railway train, and we'll run its motor here with current of our own, simply by our receiver for the free current.
"i've often thought of the applicability of our receivers to the use of automobiles. any man could have one of these receivers in his own garage, and could charge his own machine as he liked. that's only one use of the idea. what is true regarding auto cars is true also of plows, wagons, nearly all farm machinery. one of these receivers which you could carry around under your arm would do the work of many men, of many horses. with this model here i can, as mr. ackerman and mr. standley will agree, burst that electric fan wide open, and with no wire attachment for any current whatever. and i think we can run this little train of cars."
a sigh went around the table at these calm words. these grave, gray men looked intently, bending forward at the edge of the table as young halsey completed his mechanical arrangements.
"if this thing works," said the large, bearded man, leaning forward, "where does it leave railway transportation?"
"it leaves it with us!" interrupted john rawn. "with us absolutely!"
"what's to hinder anybody from building all the railroads they want, and making all the cars they want, and taking all the power they want out of the air, as you say?"
"nothing in the world to prevent," said john rawn, "except the solidarity of the railway men of this country. if we take you all in and if you all stand pat, what chance has any one else got, except through buying power of us? of course, this thing would break us if used against us. but we don't propose to see it used that way. our patents protect us."
"go on," said the bearded man. "let's see the wheels go 'round."
they saw as much, and more. halsey's little car repeated its circuit about the long table again and again, tirelessly, operated by power taken from the unwired receiver. where the receiver got its power halsey explained in detail as he had done before.
the thing was there to show for itself. as to the breadth of its application, these men needed no advice. they were accustomed to the look ahead, to the weighing of wide possibilities.
"it's like the french conjurer, gentlemen," said john rawn smiling. "he operates with his sleeves rolled up. 'there is no déception, by friends,' says he. there's the whole works on the table right before us. if it isn't a tremendous thing i'm the worst fooled man in all this world, and i'll be the worst broke man in the world."
"toot! toot!" remarked a jovial voice from standley's end of the table. "start her up again, son—i never get tired of seeing that thing go like the chinaman's cable car." levity was a relief to them. there is a certain strain, after all, in planning for the ownership of a people, a republic.
halsey again pushed down the lever, and again the dummy car ran around and about the table on the curved track which had been laid for it.
"that's the travel of the future, gentlemen," said john, rawn soberly, at length. "they can take it or leave it. so can you."
iv
silence fell on that group of gray, grave men. the thing seemed to them uncanny, although so simple. they looked about, one at the other. a sort of sigh passed about the room. there sat at the table men who represented untold millions of capital. they were looking upon a device which in the belief of all was about to multiply these millions many-fold. their hands already inordinately full of power, they contemplated yet more inordinate power. they sat fascinated, silent, sighing at the prospect, in a delicious half-delirium. the forehead or the upper lip of each was moist.
"you can't get away from it, fellows," said standley, of st. louis. "i've tried to, my best, and i can't. i felt just the way you do when it was first put up to me—i didn't want to face the truth, it was so big. as soon as these two men went away from me my feet got cold; but if they hadn't come back, i think i'd have jumped in the river. i want to let go of this thing right here—it scares me. but i just can't, that's all."
they made no comment. the atmosphere seemed strangely strained, tense. an old and beardless man, thin, pallid, leaned against the table, his eyes staring, his face almost corpse-like. no voice was raised in criticism or indeed in comment, but all sat weighing, pondering. rawn was the first to break the silence.
"gentlemen," said he, "of course this is the big part of our company patents, and it is over this that we've met to-day. you've been doubting my executive ability. i have shown you what the prize is that we're working for—-there it is on the table. as to the difficulties of pulling off a thing as big as this, they are bigger in this case than could be expected or figured out in advance. our superintendent, mr. halsey here, tells me that he is having a great deal of trouble in labor matters. the men are discontented, and what is worse, they're curious, all the time. we can't employ just any sort of irresponsible labor, and we can't complete one machine—we've got to bring them all through, at once, together—indeed, got pretty near to finish them all ourselves. we can't take any people in on this secret, of course. it all takes time, and it all takes money.
"i've got my report here, all these pages, which i'll not trouble you to read unless you like. what i want to say is this: we've got our power plant, and our wire transmitter system, and we're making money on that, as everybody knows. we can pay dividends on the old way of transmitting power, developing the 'juice' by water power and peddling it out by wire. we can pay ten per cent., and a stock dividend every year, for we are earning nineteen and eight-tenths per cent. now, on wire work alone, not mentioning our exclusive franchises. nobody can put a value on those. up to this time most of us have been contented to reach out and get hold of water powers in the old way—that didn't look so slow to us then as it does now. if we should throw away, entirely, this part of our device, we still would stand just as safe as we ever would have stood.
"again, suppose we wanted to play the market, and throw away every idea of using this second current of electricity. we could list this stock to-morrow and make it the most active issue on the street. that's plain to all of us.
"again, let's reason over this matter and see whether it isn't impatience and not distrust which is troubling all of us. we haven't really spent so very much money in the receiver installations. there isn't a stockyards firm in chicago which doesn't put aside a bigger appropriation every year for scientific experimenting than we're putting into what is no experiment, but a certainty. it is a drop in the bucket, as my figures here show distinctly.
"now, since these things are true, i just came down here to ask you gentlemen what it is that you want? you've been criticizing me. we've thought enough of this thing to plan legislation in congress and in the adjoining states where we are working. we've been at a lot of trouble one way or other. we've wanted to get a grip on this country which couldn't be shaken off by any political or industrial changes. that's just what i'm offering you here, gentlemen. pretty much the whole business world will be yours. i brought you this, didn't i? now, do you want a nice gold fence around the world with diamond tips to the pickets; or what is it that you do want? up to this time you've wanted what was impossible. now i've shown you that the impossible is possible. here it is, on the table in front of you—here's the proof. unless i am drunk or crazy, the future governors of the united states of america are sitting right here at this table."
he touched the glass top lightly, gently, with his finger-tips, which had no tremor in them. john rawn was completely master of himself.
v
"but it has cost a lot of money, rawn," began one director hesitatingly.
"that's a relative term," answered rawn. "i have all the details here among my figures. it is much or little, as you care to look at it—it doesn't seem much to me. we've run this thing down to rock-bed economy all the time. we cut our men a dollar a week last month, and it started a riot. we're trying to save all the money we can, of course—it's my money that is being spent just the same as yours, my time that is wasting, just the same as yours. i'm as eager as you to get my hands on this thing, and to get its hands on this country. but there's such a thing as losing by lack of confidence, and many and many a good thing has been lost by lack of money backed by nerve. what do you want, gentlemen? i can't do much more than i have done."
"and it's enough!" cried the bearded man, his voice harsh, strident with his emotion. "we've got to have it! let's stick, let's stick, fellows! they'll never shake us off. there is absolutely no limit to this thing."
"is that still the way you feel, jim?" asked standley from his end of the table.
"yes, it is; how about it, gentlemen?" answered ackerman's deep voice.
his eyes turned from one to the other, and found no dissent, although the air of each man was earnest, almost somber.
"shake hands, then!" called out the bearded man with enthusiasm, a man who had swayed millions by the force of his own convictions before that time.
"let's all shake hands, then, gentlemen," said john rawn.
they did so, each man reaching out his hands to his neighbor; halsey, of course, stepping back as not belonging to that charmed circle. they made a ring around that table of countless, untold millions, of uncounted, unmeasured power. their faces would have made study sufficient for the greatest painter of the world. there was not a young man present, not one whose face did not show lines deep graven, whose hair was not white, or gray, or grizzled. many faces there were, but from the eyes of each shone the same light. the grasp of the hand of each meant the same thing. they stood, hand clasped to hand, soul clasped to soul; greed and power clasped to greed and power.
"move we 'journ," said ackerman. the president dropped the gavel on the table top.
vi
rawn finally escaping from the crowd of importunate reporters who waited in the halls, at length broke away to go to his rooms. he met halsey in the lobby. the latter had in his hand a telegram, which shook somewhat as he extended it.
"well," said rawn, turning toward him with a frown, "what is it?"
he read: "charles s. halsey, the palatial, new york: your child is a girl. the mother is doing well. you would best return at once. there is a slight deformity. you must share this grief with the mother when she knows—"
rawn dropped the message to the floor. halsey's face looked so desperately old and sad that for one moment rawn almost forgot his own grief. "you'd better go on home, charley," he said. "too bad—to get such news now! but isn't that just like a woman!"
