But first, you and I must come to an agreement. You’re not going to give me the girl on loan, for no charges, for nothing. It’s against our policy. And then, I’m not really going to let you have him. The man’s not going to let you take him and he’s going to fight for his child, no matter what the man behind the counter says. Then, you want me to give you something worth your while… You have the wrong end of the stick. I want that child and I will do whatever it takes to get him. I’ll tell you what, though, it isn’t going to cost you a million dollars. It’s going to cost you one million one hundred and ten dollars. You didn’t even think I was serious, did you? Well, it’s no less serious than it would have been if you’d asked me for a hundred million. Well, come on in. I guess we’ve got a deal.’ “That sounds like a good deal to me,” said the man from Langley. “He wants ten million for a kid, no questions asked.” “He’s going to talk.” “He’s a businessman,” replied the man from Langley, “and if you think you can put one over on him you don’t know your trade at all. Ten million is a lot of money, but it’s also a lot of smoke. And in his line of business, you just can’t afford to have too much smoke in your atmosphere.” “What do you mean, ‘too much smoke’?” asked the man from Langley. “A million and a half? You’re not trying to tell me that man from that big company is going to buy ten million dollars worth of fake goods, are you? Why, that’s ridiculous. He isn’t a fool.” “Well, that’s where you’re wrong,” said the man from Langley. “He’s not a fool, not when it comes to that kind of thing. And he’s never been able to resist the money. In this case, he’s never been able to resist the money. He’s been asked before, but he’s never bought. Not only that, he hasn’t even met the people who try to sell him the goods. He lets others take care of it. But this time, it’s different. He knows they’ve got the goods, he knows they’re good goods. This time, he’s got to have them. He’s going to order six tons of them and only three tons of others. Then, he’ll cancel the order. Then, he’ll have them delivered and only ask for three tons of them. He’ll cancel that order. He’ll see they’re legitimate and he’ll buy. This is the man. Ten million dollars is a small figure in terms of what he spends a year.” “You know something? This one’s going to go the limit. He’ll go to the limit and he’ll come up with the goods.” “Now, wait a minute,” said the man from Langley. “We can’t be sure of that. He doesn’t think he’s buying goods that he doesn’t know the source of. That isn’t good business. And he’ll know he’s been scammed. I don’t think we should get him to go overboard this way. And this man isn’t a fool. Just the same, ten million is a lot of money. We want to make sure that it is going to be worth it to him and that it’s going to work out all right.” “Well, how are you going to stop it? You’re just two men, the guy from the department and me. I don’t see what you can do about it. There’s nothing you can do, is there?” “What do you mean, ‘stop it?’” asked the man from Langley. “He’s going to buy. That’s what I mean. Nothing else.” “But how are you going to stop him?” asked the man from Langley. “He’s in too deep, he can’t pull out now.” “No, but I can do something to stop it from being a million and a half.” “What can you do?” “Give you a little of it,” replied the man from Langley. “I didn’t come to you for a million and a half,” said the man from New York. “I came to you for ten million.” “The girl is of course going to be in on this one,” said the man from Langley. “We can’t afford to take any chances.” “That’s fine, that’s just fine,” replied the man from New York. “Just what I want to hear.” “If I see to it that she’s in on this deal, you’ll pull out ten million dollars from the account of the man who’s doing the running around?” “I think I can guarantee you that,” said the man from Langley. “I think you’re so valuable and valuable that we can leave some money over for her.” “That’s good enough for me,” said the man from New York. “I need that other million and a half.” “And what are you going to do for us?” asked the man from Langley. “If I was you, I’d be a little careful in saying how much you want.” “I just want to know how much you’re willing to give me and how you’re going to do it.” “I think I can answer that,” said the man from Langley. “I think you should be able to buy whatever you want, up to a million and a half. But, I don’t think you should be able to buy that much.” “Why not?” “Well, we won’t have any use for the money, if that’s the way you want it put. But I’ll tell you, I think you should be able to buy a million and a half, all right. How are you going to do it? Well, we’ll send out a couple of men and they’ll check on the goods and, if they’re real goods, they’ll report back and that’s all there is to it.” “Well, that’s not much help, is it?” “I don’t know, if you don’t know the right place to go, where to ask questions. What about it, then, could you put the man in a deal where he could buy a million and a half?” “What kind of deal? And where could I get the money?” “Well, I don’t know,” said the man from Langley. “Why don’t you go on back to your own department and think about that. And then, you can tell us what you want done with the money. In the meantime, we’ll send out a couple of men.” “Well, don’t do anything till I get back,” said the man from New York. “And don’t do anything to put me in the wrong with the other department, either. And don’t do anything that’ll break the rules. What do you think about them putting him through the training course first? I think they might get a little more out of him that way. And they might put a couple of their people on his account, too, who can get the goods for him. That’s what I think they ought to do. And, make him do it once in a while. Then, he’d get the hang of it. I can see it now. Maybe, I can get him in a good thing for us that way. That’d be something for him. If he gets into something like that, he’ll keep at it. And he’ll want to make good. That’s the way to do it.” “That’s very good, too,” said the man from Langley. “I think you’ve done a very good job. I like your thinking. I’m going to see that those recommendations get done. And then, I think it’ll go through. We need that man.” “Just give me a little help and I’ll make it.” “What about that account?” asked the man from Langley. “You just make it a hundred thousand dollars. You can use part of that to pay for the equipment. You’re the one who ought to be talking with the company about this. You’re the one who ought to be setting things up for them. You have the right connections. But let’s get this stuff done.” “Well, how are you going to get this done?” “I’m going to stay in touch with the man, from New York. If he needs anything, he calls me up. But I can get it done. I know what it takes.” “Well, of course, you can get it done. It will be all right, then, after that. We’re all right, that is, we