steadily around one hundred and twenty.

The geniuses who had first planned a combination of all match concerns
and a monopoly of the trade in America were two men, Messrs. Hull and
Stackpole--bankers and brokers, primarily. Mr. Phineas Hull was a
small, ferret-like, calculating man with a sparse growth of dusty-brown
hair and an eyelid, the right one, which was partially paralyzed and
drooped heavily, giving him a characterful and yet at times a sinister
expression.

His partner, Mr. Benoni Stackpole, had been once a stage-driver in
Arkansas, and later a horse-trader. He was a man of great force and
calculation--large, oleaginous, politic, and courageous. Without the
ultimate brain capacity of such men as Arneel, Hand, and Merrill, he
was, nevertheless, resourceful and able. He had started somewhat late
in the race for wealth, but now, with all his strength, he was
endeavoring to bring to fruition this plan which, with the aid of Hull,
he had formulated. Inspired by the thought of great wealth, they had
first secured control of the stock of one match company, and had then
put themselves in a position to bargain with the owners of others. The
patents and processes controlled by one company and another had been
combined, and the field had been broadened as much as possible.

But to do all this a great deal of money had been required, much more
than was in possession of either Hull or Stackpole. Both of them being
Western men, they looked first to Western capital. Hand, Schryhart,
Arneel, and Merrill were in turn appealed to, and great blocks of the
new stock were sold to them at inside figures. By the means thus
afforded the combination proceeded apace. Patents for exclusive
processes were taken over from all sides, and the idea of invading
Europe and eventually controlling the market of the world had its
inception. At the same time it occurred to each and all of their
lordly patrons that it would be a splendid thing if the stock they had
purchased at forty-five, and which was now selling in open market at
one hundred and twenty, should go to three hundred, where, if these
monopolistic dreams were true, it properly belonged. A little more of
this stock--the destiny of which at this time seemed sure and
splendid--would not be amiss. And so there began a quiet campaign on
the part of each capitalist to gather enough of it to realize a true
fortune on the rise.

A game of this kind is never played with the rema