by letter or postal card. We
do the rest. If you pick names of twenty good people we will
get twenty subscribers, and you will get

"FIVE DOLLARS IN CASH FOR FIVE MINUTES' WORK,

"besides our matchless paper free for one month! Remember!
Five dollars for twenty names--no more!"

Perner finished reading and looked steadily at Barrifield, as did Van
Dorn and Livingstone. Barrifield was reflecting deeply with closed eyes.

"They send in the names of twenty people," he meditated; "we mail sample
copies to them, and pay the sender twenty-five cents for each one that
subscribes. We don't pay till they subscribe, do we?"

"Why, no, of course not!" Perner was slightly annoyed that Barrifield
did not catch the scheme instantly, though it had taken him and Van Dorn
two full days to become entirely clear on it themselves. "You see," he
continued, "we'll send sample copies to each of these names for two
weeks. The sender of the names will also be getting his sample copies,
and knowing that twenty-five cents is to come from every subscriber,
he'll talk up the paper among others. He'll be an agent without knowing
it. The unpleasant feature of soliciting subscribers will be all done
away with. He'll pick the best names, of course, in the first
place--people that he knows are dead sure to take the paper. We'll get
up a paper they can't _help_ taking. He'll get five dollars in cash, and
we'll get twenty subscribers to the 'Whole Family.'"

"Twenty-one," corrected Van Dorn. "The sender of the names will
subscribe, of course--he'll have to, as an example to the others."

"Perny's going to send him a special confidential circular," put in
Livingstone, "thanking him for his interest and calling him 'Dear
Friend.'"

"And a hundred thousand people will send lists," said Perner. "A
hundred thousand lists with twenty names to the list will be two million
names. Every one of them will subscribe--every one of them! But say
they don't--say, to be on the safe side, that only _ten_ of them
subscribe before November 1; say that only _five_ of them do. There's
one half-million subscribers to start with--one half-million subscribers
on the first day of November, when we mail our first regular
subscription issue! What do you think of that?"

It was just the sort of scheme to appeal to Barrifield. As the
fascination of it dawned upon him he regarded wonderingly each of the
conspirators in turn.

"I think," he said at la