me.

There is a broken-down old stuff here by the name of Hazard.
He calls himself Colonel, and has been mixed up in all kinds
of wild-cat enterprises for the past forty years. He knows
something about running a paper of the vintage of '68 and
they think he's a great man. He says they're backed by
millions, but probably knows no more about it than I do.
Whatever they've got, they are "lambs," and one of them,
Livingstone, is a regular infant in arms. They're going to
lose their "bundle," of course, whatever it is, and we want
to get as much of it as we can and as quick as possible.
Here's what _you_ want to do.

Go right to the "Family Friend" people and tell them that
the "Whole Family" is placing a big lot of advertising and
will cut into them in great shape. The "Friend" will give
you a lot of advertising to place for them, for they are
always "leery" of competition. I have already told these
chumps that they will have to do a lot more advertising than
they counted on in order to get ads themselves. They are
going to let me pick the places, and you can stand to win on
my picking places where the commission will be worth
something. You can't do that so well with the "Friend"
people, of course,--they'll pick for themselves,--but
whatever we get from that end will be just so much to the
good, and we'll divide profits in the middle.

Now about the money here. Tell Jackson to present his bill
before he turns their copy in. They will have to pay then if
they have got any money, and if they haven't we'll find it
out. They can't kick, for they've talked cash all the time,
though they seem to think that means when the advertising is
out, and I'll let them keep on thinking so awhile longer.

Now, Dick, we ought to get a pretty good thing out of this
by making it cut both ways, and I want you to attend to your
end all O. K. You hustle the "Friend" folks and I'll "round
up" these duffers. Then I'll come down in a day or two, and
we'll go out where we can have a quiet drink and talk it
over. Your commissions ought to swell up pretty well this
month if we work this through properly, and mine ought to
help out my salary here, which I shall go on pulling as long
as their "dough" holds out to burn. Oh, but these fellows
are a lot