Adventure Magazine, March 1916 — page 126: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

: 124 Presently he went up to his room, leaving word at ‘the desk for Mitchell, and fell to figuring costs in systematic detail. He had finished, and was reviewing his computations, when the messenger from | the pottery entered with the jardiniére. Mitchell was at his heels. ‘Well, how is the merry war progress- ing?” he questioned when the boy had gone. Matt tossed him Pilkins’s wire and began stripping the wrapping from the jardiniére. “Look at it, Luke!”’ he begged. ‘“‘Isn’t it a beauty? They are bound to fall for it. I can’t lose!”’ “Tf you don’t mind,” said Mitchell pa- tiently, “‘I’d like the English of that. You are talking Dutch tome. And what about this telegram? It seems to put a crimp in your activities in this neck of the woods. You’ve got to move on.’ “Oh, I don’t know. Sit down. Shove this cigar in your mouth and listen. If you see a hole anywhere in my logic stick a fin- ger through and wiggle it. First run your _eye over this—Exhibit A.” Matt handed Mitchell his contract with Andrew Shifter. Mitchell read it carefully and passed it back. He was interested, but refrained from comment. ss “Exhibit B—this prize pot,” continued Matt. “Any one who will contract to give ten dollars’ worth of work within ten weeks to the White Star Laundry will get a jar- _diniére free of cost. They’ll be mostly wom- -en, and they’ll fall for the jar like father for the prodigal son. It’s the way with ’ém with pottery; they can’t help it.” “Go on,’ said Mitchell. “You see,” complied Matt, “they can give out the work to suit themselves—the whole ten dollars’ worth at once, a dollar’s worth a week, or any old way. "The aver- age laundry bundle, Shifter says, is worth _ forty cents to him; but he was thinking only of collars and ‘shirts. He forgot the family wash, the flat-rate stuff. A dollar a week is not excessive for a family. And the statistics show there are thirty-eight thou- sand families in this city. Are you begin- ning to get me, Luke?” Mitchell nodded. “Go on,” he urged. “Exhibit C—customer’s order, to be sign- ed in duplicate. Drawn by alawyer. Short and simple, but water-tight. Say only half the number of registered families are eligi- ble for my purpose; and, to be safe, cut that Adventure in two. What have you got? : Ninety-five hundred families at ten dollars each is how much? What?” Matt came to an exultant pause. He leaned back with his thumbs in his vest and surveyed his companion with a conqueror’s air. Mitchell smiled. Great!’ he applauded. ‘“‘You are push- ing our good friend Colonel Mulberry Sel- lers hard. It’s pretty near as cute as his eye-water scheme.” Matt waved this aside with a scornful gesture. “Do you think,” he demanded, “I’m go- ing off half-cocked on this? Listen! I have parceled out this town into ten districts, and I shall advertise for ten high-grade specialty salesmen to work it—men who can talk the birds off the trees. “Each man will take along a sample jar in a baize bag, and he’ll turn me in fifteen orders a day if he has to work from six A. M. to midnight. Why? Because I’m going to pay him six dollars a day cash wages, and a bonus of a twenty - five - dollar suit of clothes if he sticks to the finish. I guess that won’t bring me business-getters. Oh, no!” » “CO on,” time. “Do a little figuring in your head, Luke; it won’t wreck the works,” Matt resumed. “Ten men—one hundred and fifty orders— fifteen hundred dollars a day—nine thou- sand dollars a week — my gross profits, twenty-two hundred and fifty a week. And I’m betting two weeks will see a clean-up. Don’t make me laugh.” “Two weeks? Why, your contract calls for ten. What’s the catch?” Mitchell was sitting up stiffly erect, his eyes intent. “T’ll come to that, ” Matt answered. He had a sense of the dramatic, and there was in Mitchell’s attitude an earnestness which inspired him. If he could sweep him off his feet Mitchell might “Let’s have a look at the costs,” he said abruptly. ‘The jars will stand me in forty- two cents apiece. Fifteen jars per day per man, plus wages, is twelve dollars and thirty cents; ten men one week, seven hundred and thirty-eight dollars; my net profit per week, fifteen hundred and twelve beauteous bucks. Bad, ain’t it?” “But the jar deliveries-to customers? That will take time and money.” Mitchell put the question anxiously. said Mitchell, for the third (E(0) IOOK (E@)