“Very clever,” admitted the other.
“He's been after that thing for six months, you know—and just as smooth and quiet! It's about the slickest game I ever heard of!”
“But how could he know what officers were to make out those specifications?”
“Oh, that's easy,” said the other. “That was the beginning of the whole thing. They got a tip that the contract was to be let, and they had no trouble in finding out the names of the officers. That kind of thing is common, you know; the bureaus in Washington are rotten.”
“I see,” said Montague.
“Gamble's company is in a bad way,” Oliver continued. “The Trust just about had it in a corner. But Gamble saw this chance, and he staked everything on it.”
“But what's his idea?” asked the other. “What good will it do him to write the specifications?”
“There are five officers,” said Oliver, “and he's been laying siege to every one of them. So now they are all his intimate friends, and every one of them has come to him for help! So there will go into Washington five sets of specifications, all different, but each containing one essential point. You see, Gamble's company has a peculiar kind of oil; it contains some ingredient or other—he told me the name, but I don't remember it now. It doesn't make it any better oil, and it doesn't make it any worse; but it's different from any other oil in the world. And now, don't you see—whatever other requirements are specified, this one quality will surely appear; and there will be only one company in the world that can bid. Of course they will name their own figure, and get a five-year contract.”
“I see,” said Montague, drily. “It's a beautiful scheme. And how much do you get out of it?”
“He paid me ten thousand at the start,” said Oliver; “and I am to get five per cent of the first year's contract, whatever that may be. Gamble says his bid won't be less than half a million, so you see it was worth while!”