Com. Why, sir, if the security of the whole State is not good, they have nothing else to offer. However, I will think of your offer of Mississippi funds. I have another call to make—so, good morning, sir.
As soon as the commissioner had left, John held this soliloquy with himself:
HIS SOLILOQUY THEREUPON.
“I am afraid I have overshot the mark. That asking security was a bad affair; but then, I am so in the habit of asking six or eight for one, hang me if I could resist it in this instance. The railroad stock, too: if he should inquire about it, ‘he’ll smoke me.’ Two hundred thousand dollars!—why, I’ve got but ten shares; but then, I could buy the rest at five dollars a share. A small debt they owe, indeed—ha, ha, ha. I have no doubt those they owe would be glad to make it small. A promising company!—yes, they promise every thing, and perform nothing. They will never divide one-twentieth of one per cent.; and then, the Mississippi funds, too—I wish I had said at a small discount, instead of par; and then I could have fixed it at one per cent., which certainly would have been small enough, for I can buy them at 30 off. Confound my avarice—I’ve made a miss-fire. The fellow is tame as a spaniel—but then, he’s no fool; how he stared, when I puffed his State; he didn’t believe me. If he talks about this, I’m ruined; but then, I’ll deny it all, when he’s gone.”
HIS GAME UP.
When the commissioner went out, he proceeded to the office of Mr. Bottomly, where, upon inquiry, he learned the truth, viz: that Mississippi funds were at 30 per cent. discount, and that Long Island Railroad was worth 5 dollars a share, instead of 100. Of course, all further negotiation with John ceased, and that gentleman was left to wait the arrival of a commissioner from some state still farther west, with whom his persuasive flattery, tempered by experience in its use, would be more effectual. And here I leave him, to the disposal of him, whom the State has adjudged to possess a wiser head than mine.
HOW TO “COME OVER” A MAN.
The commissioner, when he left the office of Mr. Bottomly, encountered Mr. G., who, as we have seen, had just left the parlor of the Morrison. G. seized him by the arm, and insisted that he should go home and dine with him. It was the intention of the commissioner, to have gone immediately to Mr. Bold Eno, whose advice he now began to consider a salvo against the tricks and managements of others; not in the least imagining that, should he once get in the clutches of that gentleman, it would be like escaping from the thievishness of apes, to throw himself into the embrace of a Bear. Such an interview was precisely what G. desired to prevent, and consequently, he was persuasive to a degree that common sense, in polite society, would denominate rudeness. The commissioner, who, in days gone by, had often urged the weary traveller to partake of the bounty of his board, or accept the shelter of his roof, and whose open heart and hand still made the luxuries of his table the common property of his friends, had no idea of such a perversion of the rights of hospitality, as a prostitution of them to the sordid purposes of interest. He was therefore persuaded; and once at home with G., he was there detained through the day and evening, and regaled with savory viands—“taste after taste with kindliest change upheld,” with flowing nectar, dulcet creams, and the sweet sounds of music, with beauty’s winning smiles, till his brain whirled with pleasure and delight.
GOOD EFFECTS OF HOSPITALITY.
It is not my business to record what further took place on that day and evening; how many friends accidentally came in, to enliven the scene, and how certain gentlemen, who were introduced to the commissioner, poured flattery into his ear. It is enough that the deed was done, and in the mind of the commissioner, the character of Mr. G. was established, as the most disinterested, polite, gentlemanly, agreeable, hospitable, and honest, of men; and to his guidance he therefore submitted himself.