e is the Crimson Cord tie. These crackers are
the Crimson Cord brand. Perkins & Co. get out a great book, 'The Crimson
Cord!' Sell five million copies. Dramatized, it runs three hundred
nights. Everybody talking Crimson Cord. Country goes Crimson Cord crazy.
Result--up jump Crimson Cord this and Crimson Cord that. Who gets the
benefit? Perkins & Co.? No! We pay the advertising bills and the other
man sells his Crimson Cord cigars. That is usual."

"Yes," I said, "I'm smoking a David Harum cigar this minute, and I am
wearing a Carvel collar."

"How prevent it?" asked Perkins. "One way only,--discovered by Perkins.
Copyright the words 'Crimson Cord' as trade-mark for every possible
thing. Sell the trade-mark on royalty; ten per cent. of all receipts for
'Crimson Cord' brands comes to Perkins & Co. Get a cinch on the
aftermath!"

"Perkins!" I cried, "I admire you. You _are_ a genius. And have you
contracts with all these--notions?"

"Yes," said Perkins, "that's Perkins' method. Who originated the Crimson
Cord? Perkins did. Who is entitled to the profits on the Crimson Cord?
Perkins is. Perkins is wide awake _all_ the time. Perkins gets a profit
on the aftermath and the math and the before the math."

And so he did. He made his new contracts with the magazines on the
exchange plan--we gave a page of advertising in the "Crimson Cord" for
a page of advertising in the magazine. We guaranteed five million
circulation. We arranged with all the manufacturers of the Crimson Cord
brands of goods to give coupons, one hundred of which entitled the
holder to a copy of "The Crimson Cord." With a pair of Crimson Cord
suspenders you get five coupons; with each Crimson Cord cigar, one
coupon; and so on.

IV

On the first of October we announced in our advertisement that "The
Crimson Cord" was a book; the greatest novel of the century; a
thrilling, exciting tale of love. Miss Vincent had told me it was a love
story. Just to make everything sure, however, I sent the manuscript to
Professor Wiggins, who is the most erudite man I ever met. He knows
eighteen languages, and reads Egyptian as easily as I read English. In
fact his specialty is old Egyptian ruins and so on. He has written
several books on them.

Professor said the novel seemed to him very light and trashy, but
grammatically O.K. He said he never read novels, not having time, but he
thought that "The Crimson Cord" was just about the sort of thing a silly
public that re