t! And capital pooled against me! Ignoramuses foolin' the world
with makeshifts because they've got capital behind 'em to boost them
and keep others down--and Bodge with five hundred partunts right here
waitin'." Again he patted the shiny sphere shoved above the riot of
hair and whiskers.

The Cap'n scrutinized the surface with sullen interest.

"They'd better stay inside, whatever they are you're talkin' about,"
he growled. "They couldn't pick up no kind of a livin' on the
outside."

"Gents, do you know what's the most solemn sound in all nature?" Mr.
Bodge went on. "I heard it as I came away from my house. It was my
woman with the flour-barrel ended up and poundin' on the bottom with
the rollin'-pin to get out enough for the last batch of biscuit. The
long roll beside the graves of departed heroes ain't so sad as that
sound. I see my oldest boy in the dooryard with the toes of his boots
yawed open like sculpins' mouths. My daughter has outgrown her dress
till she has to wear two sets of wristers to keep her arms warm--and
she looks like dressed poultry. And as for me, I don't dare to set
down enough to get real rested, because my pants are so thin I'm
afraid I can't coax 'em along through next winter. I've come to the
place, gents, where I've give up. I can't fight the trusts any longer
without some backin'. I've got to have somebody take holt of me and
get what's in me out. I reelize it now. It's in me. Once out it will
make me and all them round me rich like a--a--"

When Mr. Bodge halted for a simile Hiram grunted under his breath:
"Like a compost heap."

"I was born the way I am--with something about me that the common
run of men don't have. How is it my brains gallop when other brains
creep? It's that mysterious force in me. Seein' is believin'. Proof
is better than talkin'. Cap'n Sproul, you just take hold of one of
my whiskers and yank it out. Take any one, so long's it's a good
lengthy one."

His tone was that of a sleight-of-hand man offering a pack of cards
for a draw.

The Cap'n obeyed after Mr. Bodge had repeated his request several
times, shoving his mat of beard out invitingly.

Mr. Bodge took the whisker from the Cap'n's hand, pinched its butt
firmly between thumb and forefinger and elevated it in front of his
face. It stuck straight up. Then it began to bend until its tip almost
touched his lips. A moment thus and it bent in the other direction.

"There!" cried Mr. Bodge, triumphantly. "Tho