Drawn by F. R. Gruger“A MAN WILL FOLLOW HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A LONG, LONG WAY, AND OVER ALL SORTS OF OBSTRUCTIONS”At Toronto, however, he began again to take some interest in life and insisted upon staying there a day, saying that he couldn’t stand so much continuous traveling. On their first morning there, he again asked Connorton whether he had any new proposition to make.“No-o, I think not,” replied Connorton; “but, as you have brought up the subject, I would suggest that we might go ahead along the line already proposed. We can get a notary here, and if you will execute the assignment of patent, just as a precaution—”Hartley, saying nothing, got up and in a very businesslike way walked out of the lobby, where this conversation had taken place.“Follow him!” urged Connorton, turning to Paulson. “You’re more active than I am. Follow the fool, and see what he does.”Paulson followed, and Connorton spent an unhappy two hours awaiting his return. The vagaries of the inventor, apparently, were again dominating his actions, and no one could tell what crazy thing he might do.He was the more troubled when Paulson returned alone. His report was at first mystifying, then startling, and finally perplexing.“He hunted up a cooper and bought a barrel,” said Paulson.“A barrel!” repeated Connorton.“A large barrel,” asserted Paulson.“Crazy as a loon!” declared Connorton.“I should think so!” returned Paulson. “He ordered the barrel shipped to Niagara Falls.”Connorton, large and lethargic as he was, almost jumped out of his chair.“Head him off! Head him off!” he cried. “Stop him! He’s going over the falls in a barrel. I knew he’d be up to some crazy thing.”“Oh, he’s safe enough just now,” said Paulson.“Where?” asked Connorton.“At police headquarters.”Connorton breathed more freely.“He talked so wildly about what he was going to do,” pursued Paulson, “that the cooper notified the police.”“Good thing!” commented Connorton.“He’s to be examined as to his sanity,” added Paulson.“He ought to be,” asserted Connorton.“But if he is pronounced insane,” said Paulson, significantly, “he can’t transfer any property rights.”“Great Scott!” exclaimed Connorton, again almost jumping out of his chair; “we’ve got to get him out, haven’t we?”“We have,” replied Paulson.“And if we get him out,” complained Connorton, dismally, “he’ll go over the falls in a barrel.”CONNORTONand Paulson had no difficulty in securing permission to talk with Hartley, and they approached with considerable confidence the cell in which he was detained. It had occurred to them, upon reflection, that they were now in a most advantageous position in the matter of their business relations with the inventor. He was friendless in a strange city. He was believed to be of unsound mind, and his actions had been erratic enough to give color to that belief. He could hardly hope to secure his release without their help, and, if so, they could impose their own terms before extending that help.To their surprise, they found him quite cheerful and apparently indifferent or blind to the seriousness of his predicament.Drawn by F. R. Gruger“HE COULD ONLY PLEAD WITH HARTLEY TO RETURN TO SHORE”“Hullo, Connorton!” he cried, when he saw them approaching. “Any other proposition to make now?”“Why, no, certainly not,” replied Connorton. “We came to see about you.”“Awfully good of you,” laughed Hartley. “How you do love me, Connorton!”Connorton’s face reddened, but he ignored the thrust. “You’ve got yourself in a nice fix, Hartley,” he remarked.“Oh, it’s of no consequence,” returned Hartley.“Of no consequence!” exclaimed Connorton.“Not to me,” asserted Hartley. “It may be to you, of course.”The impractical man appeared to beable to take a very practical view of some matters, and Connorton was the more perturbed and uneasy in consequence.“They say you’re crazy,” suggested Connorton.“And I guess they can prove it, too,” rejoined Hartley, cheerfully.“You’ve said the same thing yourself, and I know you wouldn’t lie about a mere trifle like that. Then the conductor, the engineer, and the fireman of the train we came down on will swear to it, and so will the bartender I had words with over my highball on the up trip, not to mention the cooper, the hotel clerk, a few bell-boys, and the policeman who arrested me. Yes, I guess I’m crazy, Connorton. Too bad, isn’t it?”Drawn by F. R. Gruger“APOLOGIZING PROFUSELY AS HE JANGLED DOWN THE INCLINE”“It’s likely to be bad for you,” said Connorton.“Oh, no,” returned Hartley, easily. “I’m not violent, you know, just mentally defective; unable to transact business, as you might say. They’ll find that out and let me go; but there will be the taint, the suspicion, the doubt. Very likely a conservator will be appointed when I get back home—some shrewd, sharp fellow, with a practical mind.”Such a very impractical man was the inventor, and so very troublesome in his impracticality! Connorton could only begin at the beginning again, and go slow.“Suppose we get you out,” he ventured, “what would you be willing to do?”“What wouldyoube willing to do?” retorted Hartley.“What do you mean by that?” demanded Connorton.“I’m sure I don’t know,” replied Hartley, with an air of the utmost frankness. “I seldom mean anything, of course, and it is such a lot of trouble to find out what I do mean when I mean anything that I usually give it up. But you are so deeply interested in me—so much more interested in me than I am in myself—that I thought you might want to keep me sane; that you might not like to feel that you had driven me crazy.”Paulson was about to interrupt, but Connorton motioned to him to be silent. Connorton was in the habit of handling his own business matters, and he wanted his lawyer to speak only when a legal proposition was put directly up to him. It may be admitted that he was sorely perplexed now; but he found nothing in the inventor’s face but a bland smile, and he did not think Paulson could help him to interpret that.“Hartley,” he said at last, “I’ll get you out of here and add five thousand to what you’ve already had the moment that patent is properly transferred to me.”“Connorton,” returned the inventor, “I believe I’m crazy. When I think of the events of the last few days—of your more than brotherly interest in me, which I have pleasurably exploited during our delightful association—I believe I am crazy enough to say, Come again!”Connorton drew a long breath and conceded another point. “Hartley,” he proposed, “you may keep the money I have already given you—”“Thank you,” said Hartley; “I shall.”“—and you may also have a quarter interest in the patent,” concluded Connorton.“It’s all mine now,” suggested Hartley.“If so,” argued Connorton, who well knew that much of the money had been spent, “you owe me twenty-five thousand dollars.”“If so,” returned Hartley, the impractical man, “I infer from your anxiety and extraordinary generosity that I can sell it for enough to pay you and make a little margin for myself. Besides, you can’t collect from a crazy man, Connorton; and I’m getting crazier every minute. Business always goes to my head, Connorton. You must have noticed that up in the woods. I’m really becoming alarmed about myself. But perhaps you’d rather do business with a conservator, Connorton.”“A half interest,” urged Connorton, desperately, as he mentally reviewed the weakness of his own position in view of the unsuspected perspicacity of the inventor. “Consider that I have paid you twenty-five thousand dollars for a half interest, and the other half is yours. I’ll defray whatever expense is incurred in marketing the invention, too.”Hartley reflected, seeming in doubt. “Connorton,” he said at last, “I think I am still getting the worst of it somewhere, but an impractical fellow like me deserves to get the worst of it. Go ahead! Have that agreement put in legal form, and then you may get me out while there is yet time to save my reason.”CONNORTONhad finished his appeal for the release of Hartley.“Of course,” he was told, “if you and Mr. Paulson will assume the responsibility, and will immediately take him away, we shall be glad to let you have him; but he is undoubtedly demented.”“Demented!” snorted Connorton. “Say! you try to do business with him, and you’ll think he’s the sanest man that ever lived!”
Drawn by F. R. Gruger“A MAN WILL FOLLOW HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A LONG, LONG WAY, AND OVER ALL SORTS OF OBSTRUCTIONS”
Drawn by F. R. Gruger
“A MAN WILL FOLLOW HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A LONG, LONG WAY, AND OVER ALL SORTS OF OBSTRUCTIONS”
At Toronto, however, he began again to take some interest in life and insisted upon staying there a day, saying that he couldn’t stand so much continuous traveling. On their first morning there, he again asked Connorton whether he had any new proposition to make.
“No-o, I think not,” replied Connorton; “but, as you have brought up the subject, I would suggest that we might go ahead along the line already proposed. We can get a notary here, and if you will execute the assignment of patent, just as a precaution—”
Hartley, saying nothing, got up and in a very businesslike way walked out of the lobby, where this conversation had taken place.
“Follow him!” urged Connorton, turning to Paulson. “You’re more active than I am. Follow the fool, and see what he does.”
Paulson followed, and Connorton spent an unhappy two hours awaiting his return. The vagaries of the inventor, apparently, were again dominating his actions, and no one could tell what crazy thing he might do.
He was the more troubled when Paulson returned alone. His report was at first mystifying, then startling, and finally perplexing.
“He hunted up a cooper and bought a barrel,” said Paulson.
“A barrel!” repeated Connorton.
“A large barrel,” asserted Paulson.
“Crazy as a loon!” declared Connorton.
“I should think so!” returned Paulson. “He ordered the barrel shipped to Niagara Falls.”
Connorton, large and lethargic as he was, almost jumped out of his chair.“Head him off! Head him off!” he cried. “Stop him! He’s going over the falls in a barrel. I knew he’d be up to some crazy thing.”
“Oh, he’s safe enough just now,” said Paulson.
“Where?” asked Connorton.
“At police headquarters.”
Connorton breathed more freely.
“He talked so wildly about what he was going to do,” pursued Paulson, “that the cooper notified the police.”
“Good thing!” commented Connorton.
“He’s to be examined as to his sanity,” added Paulson.
“He ought to be,” asserted Connorton.
“But if he is pronounced insane,” said Paulson, significantly, “he can’t transfer any property rights.”
“Great Scott!” exclaimed Connorton, again almost jumping out of his chair; “we’ve got to get him out, haven’t we?”
“We have,” replied Paulson.
“And if we get him out,” complained Connorton, dismally, “he’ll go over the falls in a barrel.”
CONNORTONand Paulson had no difficulty in securing permission to talk with Hartley, and they approached with considerable confidence the cell in which he was detained. It had occurred to them, upon reflection, that they were now in a most advantageous position in the matter of their business relations with the inventor. He was friendless in a strange city. He was believed to be of unsound mind, and his actions had been erratic enough to give color to that belief. He could hardly hope to secure his release without their help, and, if so, they could impose their own terms before extending that help.
To their surprise, they found him quite cheerful and apparently indifferent or blind to the seriousness of his predicament.
Drawn by F. R. Gruger“HE COULD ONLY PLEAD WITH HARTLEY TO RETURN TO SHORE”
Drawn by F. R. Gruger
“HE COULD ONLY PLEAD WITH HARTLEY TO RETURN TO SHORE”
“Hullo, Connorton!” he cried, when he saw them approaching. “Any other proposition to make now?”
“Why, no, certainly not,” replied Connorton. “We came to see about you.”
“Awfully good of you,” laughed Hartley. “How you do love me, Connorton!”
Connorton’s face reddened, but he ignored the thrust. “You’ve got yourself in a nice fix, Hartley,” he remarked.
“Oh, it’s of no consequence,” returned Hartley.
“Of no consequence!” exclaimed Connorton.
“Not to me,” asserted Hartley. “It may be to you, of course.”
The impractical man appeared to beable to take a very practical view of some matters, and Connorton was the more perturbed and uneasy in consequence.
“They say you’re crazy,” suggested Connorton.
“And I guess they can prove it, too,” rejoined Hartley, cheerfully.“You’ve said the same thing yourself, and I know you wouldn’t lie about a mere trifle like that. Then the conductor, the engineer, and the fireman of the train we came down on will swear to it, and so will the bartender I had words with over my highball on the up trip, not to mention the cooper, the hotel clerk, a few bell-boys, and the policeman who arrested me. Yes, I guess I’m crazy, Connorton. Too bad, isn’t it?”
Drawn by F. R. Gruger“APOLOGIZING PROFUSELY AS HE JANGLED DOWN THE INCLINE”
Drawn by F. R. Gruger
“APOLOGIZING PROFUSELY AS HE JANGLED DOWN THE INCLINE”
“It’s likely to be bad for you,” said Connorton.
“Oh, no,” returned Hartley, easily. “I’m not violent, you know, just mentally defective; unable to transact business, as you might say. They’ll find that out and let me go; but there will be the taint, the suspicion, the doubt. Very likely a conservator will be appointed when I get back home—some shrewd, sharp fellow, with a practical mind.”
Such a very impractical man was the inventor, and so very troublesome in his impracticality! Connorton could only begin at the beginning again, and go slow.
“Suppose we get you out,” he ventured, “what would you be willing to do?”
“What wouldyoube willing to do?” retorted Hartley.
“What do you mean by that?” demanded Connorton.
“I’m sure I don’t know,” replied Hartley, with an air of the utmost frankness. “I seldom mean anything, of course, and it is such a lot of trouble to find out what I do mean when I mean anything that I usually give it up. But you are so deeply interested in me—so much more interested in me than I am in myself—that I thought you might want to keep me sane; that you might not like to feel that you had driven me crazy.”
Paulson was about to interrupt, but Connorton motioned to him to be silent. Connorton was in the habit of handling his own business matters, and he wanted his lawyer to speak only when a legal proposition was put directly up to him. It may be admitted that he was sorely perplexed now; but he found nothing in the inventor’s face but a bland smile, and he did not think Paulson could help him to interpret that.
“Hartley,” he said at last, “I’ll get you out of here and add five thousand to what you’ve already had the moment that patent is properly transferred to me.”
“Connorton,” returned the inventor, “I believe I’m crazy. When I think of the events of the last few days—of your more than brotherly interest in me, which I have pleasurably exploited during our delightful association—I believe I am crazy enough to say, Come again!”
Connorton drew a long breath and conceded another point. “Hartley,” he proposed, “you may keep the money I have already given you—”
“Thank you,” said Hartley; “I shall.”
“—and you may also have a quarter interest in the patent,” concluded Connorton.
“It’s all mine now,” suggested Hartley.
“If so,” argued Connorton, who well knew that much of the money had been spent, “you owe me twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“If so,” returned Hartley, the impractical man, “I infer from your anxiety and extraordinary generosity that I can sell it for enough to pay you and make a little margin for myself. Besides, you can’t collect from a crazy man, Connorton; and I’m getting crazier every minute. Business always goes to my head, Connorton. You must have noticed that up in the woods. I’m really becoming alarmed about myself. But perhaps you’d rather do business with a conservator, Connorton.”
“A half interest,” urged Connorton, desperately, as he mentally reviewed the weakness of his own position in view of the unsuspected perspicacity of the inventor. “Consider that I have paid you twenty-five thousand dollars for a half interest, and the other half is yours. I’ll defray whatever expense is incurred in marketing the invention, too.”
Hartley reflected, seeming in doubt. “Connorton,” he said at last, “I think I am still getting the worst of it somewhere, but an impractical fellow like me deserves to get the worst of it. Go ahead! Have that agreement put in legal form, and then you may get me out while there is yet time to save my reason.”
CONNORTONhad finished his appeal for the release of Hartley.
“Of course,” he was told, “if you and Mr. Paulson will assume the responsibility, and will immediately take him away, we shall be glad to let you have him; but he is undoubtedly demented.”
“Demented!” snorted Connorton. “Say! you try to do business with him, and you’ll think he’s the sanest man that ever lived!”