] If you will
pass my proposition by a good majority--I would like a two-thirds vote--I
will regard that as the town's consent, and that is all I ask. Rarities
are always helped by any device which will rouse curiosity and compel
remark. Now if I may have your permission to stamp upon the faces of
each of these ostensible coins the names of the eighteen gentlemen who--"
Nine-tenths of the audience were on their feet in a moment--dog and
all--and the proposition was carried with a whirlwind of approving
applause and laughter.
They sat down, and all the Symbols except "Dr." Clay Harkness got up,
violently protesting against the proposed outrage, and threatening to--
"I beg you not to threaten me," said the stranger calmly. "I know my
legal rights, and am not accustomed to being frightened at bluster."
[Applause.] He sat down. "Dr." Harkness saw an opportunity here. He
was one of the two very rich men of the place, and Pinkerton was the
other. Harkness was proprietor of a mint; that is to say, a popular
patent medicine. He was running for the Legislature on one ticket, and
Pinkerton on the other. It was a close race and a hot one, and getting
hotter every day.
Pages:
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81