“Did it ever occur to you that with this warning which you have so kindly given me, I have ample opportunity to enjoin you in the courts from printing all or any part of this article on to-morrow or any subsequent day?”
“You are at perfect liberty to try to enjoin us, Mr. Blake. But did it ever occur to you that such a step wouldn’t help your case in the [344] least? Go ahead and enjoin, Mr. Blake, if you care to, and see what would happen to you in the matter of—well, let us say, undesirable publicity. Instead of one paper printing these facts—for they are facts, Mr. Blake—you would have all the papers printing them in one shape or another.”
“Without arguing that point further just now, might I be allowed to mention that I fail to understand your motive in coming to me, Mr. Foxman, at this time?” said the banker.
“Mr. Blake,” said Mr. Foxman, contemplating the tip of his cigar, “I’ll give you two guesses as to my motive, and your first guess will be the correct one.”
“I see,” stated the other meditatively, almost gently. Then, still with no evidences of heat or annoyance: “Mr. Foxman, there is a reasonably short and rather ugly word to describe what you are driving at. Here in this part of town we call it blackmail.”
“Mr. Blake,” answered the editor evenly, “there is a much shorter and even uglier word which describes your intentions. You will find that word in the second—or possibly it is the third—line of the first paragraph of the matter you have just been reading. The word is ‘steal.’”
“Possibly you are right, Mr. Foxman,” said Mr. Blake dryly. He drew the proof sheets to him, adjusted his glasses and looked at the topmost sheet. “Yes, you are right, Mr. Foxman—I [345] mean about the word in question. It appears in the second line.” He shoved the proofs aside. “It would appear you are a reasonable man—with a business instinct. I flatter myself that I am reasonable and I have been in business a good many years. Now, then, since we appear to be on the point of thoroughly understanding each other, may I ask you another question?”
“You may.”
“What is your price for continuing to be—ahem—reasonable?”
“I can state it briefly, Mr. Blake. Being a newspaper man, I am not a wealthy man. I have an ambition to become wealthy. I look to you to aid me in the accomplishment of that desire. You stand in a fair way to make a great deal of money, though you already have a great deal. I stand in the position not only of being able to prevent you from making that money, but of being able to make a great deal of trouble for you, besides. Or, looking at the other side of the proposition, I have the power to permit you to go ahead with your plans. Whether or not I exercise that power rests entirely with you. Is that quite plain?”