The Lever | Page 5

must be a prince in disguise."
"That isn't what his father calls him," laughed Gorham.
"What are you going to advise him?" Eleanor asked.
"I can't tell until I see him and discover how much imagination he has."
"Imagination?" his wife queried.
"Yes; is that a new idea to you? Ability never asserts itself to its utmost
unless fed by the imagination, and I don't know yet whether Allen
possesses either. Success in any line depends upon the extent of a man's
power of imagination."
"Then why don't poets make business successes? They have
imaginative ideas," argued Alice, thinking of her remarks upon this
subject earlier in the afternoon.
"True"--Gorham smiled at her earnestness--"great poets are inspired,
but rarely, if ever, do they apply those inspirations to practical purposes.
That is why they so seldom enter business, and still more rarely
succeed if they do."
His face sobered as the idea took firmer possession of him.
"I differ from the poet only in that I make use of my imaginative ideas
in solving the great business problems of the present and the future
instead of in forming rhymes and metres. To do this I must command
unlimited resources; but what does money mean except the opportunity
to gratify ideals? With this I can force my imagination to produce
utilitarian results."
This would have been Robert Gorham's exposition of his conception of
the Archimedes lever, as opposed to that which Allen Sanford had
heard his father give. To Gorham the power of the lever depended upon

the strength of the imaginative ideals, and the "cold, hard cash" was
simply the necessary fulcrum upon which the lever rested.

II
"The proposition is too gigantic for me even to comprehend."
The Hon. Mr. Kenmore, member of the United States Senate, laid
down the bulky prospectus of the "Consolidated Companies," and
looked up into his caller's genial face.
Gorham flicked the ash from his cigar and smiled good-naturedly.
"That is, perhaps, a natural statement, Mr. Kenmore," he replied,
deliberately. "I am not surprised that you find it difficult to comprehend
the vast possibilities of our enterprise; yet its success, already
established, must convince you that no good argument can be advanced
against its practicability."
"But see what it contemplates!" The Senator again took the prospectus
in his hand and opened the pages. "You propose to control the building
and the manufacturing of the world," he continued, reading aloud from
the prospectus, "and all the allied trades, to construct and deal in all
kinds of machinery, to carry on any other kinds of businesses, to
acquire patents and concessions, to erect and maintain gas and electric
works, to enter into any arrangement with any government, to promote
companies, to lend money--"
"It is summed up in that last clause," Gorham interrupted, quietly; "'to
do all such other things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment
of the above objects.' You see, I know the articles by heart. May I ask
you to glance over the names of the present stockholders?"
Gorham handed a leather-covered record-book to his companion and
then walked to the window, where he quietly smoked his cigar, looking
out on the broad avenue while the Senator scanned the names written in
the small volume. He appeared indifferent to the smothered
exclamations which escaped involuntarily from Kenmore's lips as the

latter's eye passed on from page to page, and for the time being he
seemed more deeply interested in the people passing below on the
street. His calmness was in striking contrast to the Senator's growing
excitement.
"By George!" Kenmore exclaimed at length, rising and advancing
toward the window. "This list of names is even more extraordinary than
your stupendous plans."
"Does not each one explain the other?" asked Gorham.
"But how did you ever persuade such men as these to lend themselves
to any enterprise--no matter how attractive? Why, there is hardly an
omission--the leaders of the world in finance, politics, diplomacy,
literature, art, and science."
"There are many omissions, as you would discover if you examined the
list more carefully," Gorham answered; "not the least of which is the
name of the Hon. Mr. Kenmore!"
"I know, I know," the Senator replied, impatiently; "but how did you
get them?"
Gorham looked at his questioner attentively for a moment before he
answered. "The proposition itself appeals to that human instinct which
is more or less developed in us all--self-interest--"
"But that, my dear sir, is nothing more or less than--"
Gorham held up a protesting hand. "Let me save you from using so
ugly a word as you have in mind, Senator. You are fully justified in
having this thought suggest itself to you--such is the business code of
morals of to-day. Yet I consider myself an idealist, and the whole plan