t in line and in touch with
"respectability." When Sam Ellersly came in for his "rations," I said:
"Sam, I want you to put me up at the Travelers Club."

"The Travelers!" echoed he, with a blank look.

"The Travelers," said I. "It's about the best of the big clubs, isn't it?
And it has as members most of the men I do business with and most of those
I want to get into touch with."

He laughed. "It can't be done."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Oh--I don't know. You see--the fact is--well, they're a lot of old fogies
up there. You don't want to bother with that push, Matt. Take my advice. Do
business with them, but avoid them socially."

"I want to go in there," I insisted. "I have my own reasons. You put me
up."

"I tell you, it'd be no use," he replied, in a tone that implied he wished
to hear no more of the matter.

"You put me up," I repeated. "And if you do your best, I'll get in all
right. I've got lots of friends there. And you've got three relatives in
the committee on membership."

At this he gave me a queer, sharp glance--a little fright in it.

I laughed. "You see, I've been looking into it, Sam. I never take a jump
till I've measured it."

"You'd better wait a few years, until--" he began, then stopped and turned
red.

"Until what?" said I. "I want you to speak frankly."

"Well, you've got a lot of enemies--a lot of fellows who've lost money in
deals you've engineered. And they'd say all sorts of things."

"I'll take care of that," said I, quite easy in mind. "Mowbray Langdon's
president, isn't he? Well, he's my closest friend." I spoke quite honestly.
It shows how simple-minded I was in certain ways that I had never once
noted the important circumstance that this "closest friend" had never
invited me to his house, or anywhere where I'd meet his up-town associates
at introducing distance.

Sam looked surprised. "Oh, in that case," he said, "I'll see what can be
done." But his tone was not quite cordial enough to satisfy me.

To stimulate him and to give him an earnest of what I intended to do for
him, when our little social deal had been put through, I showed him how he
could win ten thousand dollars in the next three days. "And you needn't
bother about putting up margins," said I, as I often had before. "I'll take
care of that."

He stammered a refusal and went out; but he came back within an hour, and,
in a strained sort of way, accepted my tip and my offer.

"That's sensible," said I. "When w