He'd realize what a piker I was and terminate
the interview. But--I--think he'll meet my terms, because he sees I'm
pretty young and inexperienced, and he figures he'll make ten or
twenty thousand dollars out of me before I discover I'm a rotten
promoter. And, at that, his is better than an even-money bet!"
At five o'clock that same day MacCandless telephoned.
"I have called a special meeting of our directors, Captain Peasley,"
he announced, "and put your proposition up to them. They have agreed
to it, and if you will be at my office at ten o'clock to-morrow I
think we can do business."
"I think so," Matt answered. "I'll be there."
He hung up, reached for a telegraph blank and wrote the following
message:
San Francisco, July 28, 1914.
Terence Reardon,
Chief Engineer, S. S. Arab,
Port Costa, California.
Have bought Narcissus. Offer you one hundred seventy-five a
month quit Arab now and supervise installation new crank shaft,
retubing condensers, and so on; permanent job as chief. Do you
accept? Answer immediately.
PACIFIC SHIPPING COMPANY,
Matthew Peasley, President.
Having dispatched this message, Matt Peasley closed down his desk,
strolled round to the Blue Star Navigation Company's offices, and
picked up his newly acquired father-in-law.
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