I would
write down all the circumstances just as they happened--give the name of
the young man who called upon you, tell exactly the price he demanded for
his silence, and I will have that printed in an opposition paper
to-morrow. Then it will be our friend the _Financial Field's_ turn to
squirm! He will say it is all a lie, of course, but nobody will believe
him, and we can tell him, from the opposition paper, that if it is a lie
he is perfectly at liberty to sue us for libel. Let him begin the suit if
he wants to do so. Let him defend his reputation. Sue him for libel! I
know a game worth two of that. Could you get out the statement before the
meeting this afternoon?'
Kenyon, who had been looking, for the first time in his life, gratefully
at Longworth, said he could.
'Very well; just set it down in your own words as plainly as possible,
and give date, hour, and full particulars. Sign your name to it, and I
will take it when I come to the meeting this afternoon. It would not be
a bad plan to read it to those who are here. There is nothing like
fighting the devil with fire. Fight a paper with another paper. Nothing
new, I suppose?'
'No,' said Kenyon; 'nothing new except what we are discussing.'
'Well, don't let that trouble you. Do as I say, and we will begin an
interesting controversy. People like a fight, and it will attract
attention to the mine. Good-bye. I shall see you this afternoon.'
He left both Kenyon and Wentworth in a much happier frame of mind than
that in which he had found them.
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