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diff --git a/32243.txt b/32243.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6144b04 --- /dev/null +++ b/32243.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1263 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Confidence Game, by James McKimmey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Confidence Game + +Author: James McKimmey + +Release Date: May 4, 2010 [EBook #32243] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFIDENCE GAME *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, David Wilson and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +--------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | + | Transcriber's note: | + | | + | This story was published in _If: Worlds of Science Fiction_, | + | September, 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any | + | evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was | + | renewed. | + | | + +--------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +[Illustration] + +_Illustrated by Ed Emsh_ + + + + +CONFIDENCE GAME + + _Cutter demanded more and more and more efficiency--and got it! But, + as in anything, enough is enough, and too much is..._ + +By JAMES McKIMMEY, JR. + + + + +George H. Cutter wheeled his big convertible into his reserved space in +the Company parking lot with a flourish. A bright California sun drove +its early brightness down on him as he strode toward the square, +four-story brick building which said _Cutter Products, Inc._ over its +front door. A two-ton truck was grinding backward, toward the loading +doors, the thick-shouldered driver craning his neck. Cutter moved +briskly forward, a thick-shouldered man himself, though not very tall. A +glint of light appeared in his eyes, as he saw Kurt, the truck driver, +fitting the truck's rear end into the tight opening. + +"Get that junk out of the way!" he yelled, and his voice roared over the +noise of the truck's engine. + +Kurt snapped his head around, his blue eyes thinning, then recognition +spread humor crinkles around his eyes and mouth. "All right, sir," he +said. "Just a second while I jump out, and I'll lift it out of your +way." + +"With bare hands?" Cutter said. + +"With bare hands," Kurt said. + +Cutter's laugh boomed, and as he rounded the front of the truck, he +struck the right front fender with his fist. Kurt roared back from the +cab with his own laughter. + +He liked joking harshly with Kurt and with the rest of the truck +drivers. They were simple, and they didn't have his mental strength. But +they had another kind of strength. They had muscle and energy, and most +important, they had guts. Twenty years before Cutter had driven a truck +himself. The drivers knew that, and there was a bond between them, the +drivers and himself, that seldom existed between employer and employee. + +The guard at the door came to a reflex attention, and Cutter bobbed his +head curtly. Then, instead of taking the stairway that led up the front +to the second floor and his office, he strode down the hallway to the +left, angling through the shop on the first floor. He always walked +through the shop. He liked the heavy driving sound of the machines in +his ears, and the muscled look of the men, in their coarse work shirts +and heavy-soled shoes. Here again was strength, in the machines and in +the men. + +[Illustration] + +And here again too, the bond between Cutter and his employees was a +thing as real as the whir and grind and thump of the machines, as real +as the spray of metal dust, spitting away from a spinning saw blade. He +was able to drive himself through to them, through the hard wall of +unions and prejudices against business suits and white collars and soft +clean hands, because they knew that at one time he had also been a +machinist and then tool and die operator and then a shop foreman. He got +through to them, and they respected him. They were even inspired by him, +Cutter knew, by his energy and alertness and steel confidence. It was +one good reason why their production continually skimmed along near the +top level of efficiency. + +Cutter turned abruptly and started up the metal-lipped concrete steps to +the second floor. He went up quickly, his square, almost chunky figure +moving smoothly, and there was not the faintest shortening in his breath +when he reached the level of his own office. + +Coming up the back steps required him to cross the entire administration +office which contained the combined personnel of Production Control, +Procurement, and Purchasing. And here, the sharp edge of elation, +whetted by the walk past the loading dock and the truck drivers and the +machine shop and the machinists, was dulled slightly. + +On either side of him as he paced rapidly across the room, were the rows +of light-oak desks which contained the kind of men he did not like: +fragile men, whether thin or fat, fragile just the same, in the eyes and +mouth, and pale with their fragility. They affected steel postures +behind those desks, but Cutter knew that the steel was synthetic, that +there was nothing in that mimicked look of alertness and virility but +posing. They were a breed he did not understand, because he had never +been a part of them, and so this time, the invisible but very real +quality of employer-employee relationship turned coldly brittle, like +frozen cellophane. + +The sounds now, the clicking of typewriters, the sliding of file +drawers, the squeak of adjusted swivel chairs--all of it--irritated him, +rather than giving him inspiration, and so he hurried his way, +especially when he passed that one fellow with the sad, frightened eyes, +who touched his slim hands at the papers on his desk, like a cautious +fawn testing the soundness of the earth in front of him. What was his +name? Linden? God, Cutter thought, the epitome of the breed, this man: +sallow and slow and so hesitant that he appeared to be about to leap +from his chair at the slightest alarm. + +Cutter broke his aloofness long enough to glare at the man, and Linden +turned his frightened eyes quickly to his desk and began shuffling his +papers nervously. Some day, Cutter promised himself, he was going to +stop in front of the man and shout, "Booo!" and scare the poor devil to +hell and back. + +He pushed the glass doors that led to his own offices, and moving into +Lucile's ante-room restored his humor. Lucile, matronly yet quick and +youthfully spirited, smiled at him and met his eyes directly. Here was +some strength again, and he felt the full energy of his early-morning +drive returning fully. Lucile, behind her desk in this plain but +expensive reception room, reminded him of fast, hard efficiency, the +quality of accomplishment that he had dedicated himself to. + +"Goddamned sweet morning, eh, Lucy?" he called. + +"Beautiful, George," she said. She had called him by his first name for +years. He didn't mind, from her. Not many could do it, but those who +could, successfully, he respected. + +"What's up first?" he asked, and she followed him into his own office. +It was a high-ceilinged room, with walls bare except for a picture of +Alexander Hamilton on one wall, and an award plaque from the State +Chamber of Commerce on the opposite side of the room. He spun his +leather-cushioned swivel chair toward him and sat down and placed his +thick hands against the surface of the desk. Lucile took the only other +chair in the office, to the side of the desk, and flipped open her +appointment pad. + +"Quay wants to see you right away. Says it's important." + +Cutter nodded slightly and closed his eyes. Lucile went on, calling his +appointments for the day with clicking precision. He stored the +information, leaning back in his chair, adjusting his mind to each, so +that there would be no energy wasted during the hard, swift day. + +"That's it," Lucile said. "Do you want to see Quay?" + +"Send him in," Cutter said, and he was already leaning into his desk, +signing his name to the first of a dozen letters which he had dictated +into the machine during the last ten minutes of the preceding day. + +Lucile disappeared, and three minutes later Robert Quay took her place +in the chair beside Cutter's desk. He was a taller man than Cutter, and +thinner. Still, there was an athletic grace about him, a sureness of +step and facial expression, that made it obvious that he was physically +fit. He was single and only thirty-five, twelve years younger than +Cutter, but he had been with Cutter Products, Inc. for thirteen years. +In college he had been a Phi Beta Kappa and lettered three years on the +varsity as a quarterback. He was the kind of rare combination that +Cutter liked, and Cutter had offered him more than the Chicago Cardinals +to get him at graduation. + +Cutter felt Quay's presence, without looking up at him. "Goddamned sweet +morning, eh, Bob?" + +"It really is, George," Quay said. + +"What's up?" Cutter stopped signing, having finished the entire job, and +he stared directly into Quay's eyes. Quay met the stare unflinchingly. + +"I've got a report from Sid Perry at Adacam Research." + +"Your under-cover agent again, eh?" + +Quay grinned. Adacam Research conducted industrial experimentation which +included government work. The only way to find out what really went on +there, Cutter had found out, was to find a key man who didn't mind +talking for a certain amount of compensation, regardless of sworn oaths +and signatures to government statements. You could always get somebody, +Cutter knew, and Quay had been able to get a young chemist, Sidney +Perry. + +"Okay," Cutter said. "What are they doing over there?" + +"There's a fellow who's offered Adacam his project for testing. They're +highly interested, but they're not going to handle it." + +"Why not?" + +Quay shrugged. "Too touchy. It's a device that's based on electronics--" + +"What the hell is touchy about electronics?" + +"This deals with the human personality," Quay said, as though that were +explanation enough. + +Cutter understood. He snorted. "Christ, anything that deals with the +human personality scares them over there, doesn't it?" + +Quay spread his hands. + +"All right," Cutter said. "What's this device supposed to do?" + +"The theory behind it is to produce energy units which reach a plane of +intensity great enough to affect the function of the human ego." + +"Will it?" Cutter never wasted time on surprise or curiosity or theory. +His mind acted directly. Would it or wouldn't it? Performance versus +non-performance. Efficiency versus inefficiency. Would it improve +production of Cutter Products, Inc., or would it not? + +"Sid swears they're convinced it will. The factors, on paper, check out. +But there's been no experimentation, because it involves the human +personality. This thing, when used, is supposed to perform a definite +personality change on the individual subjected." + +"How?" + +"You know the theory of psychiatric therapy--the theory of shock +treatment. The effect is some what similar, but a thousand times more +effective." + +"What _is_ the effect?" + +"A gradual dissolving of inferiority influences, or inhibitions, from +the personality. A clear mind resulting. A healthy ego." + +"And?" + +"Confidence." + +Cutter stared at Quay's eyes, assimilating the information. "That's all +very damned nice. Now where does it fit in with Cutter Products?" + +Quay drew a notebook from his coat pocket swiftly. "You remember that +efficiency check we had made two months ago--the rating of individual +departments on comparable work produced?" + +Cutter nodded. + +Quay looked at his notebook. "All administrative personnel departments +showed an average of--" + +"Thirty-six point eight less efficiency than the skilled and unskilled +labor departments," Cutter finished. + +Quay smiled slightly. He snapped the notebook shut. "Right. So that's +our personnel efficiency bug." + +"Christ, I've known that for twenty years," Cutter snapped. + +"Okay," Quay said quickly, alerting himself back to the serious effort. +"Now then, you'll remember we submitted this efficiency report to +Babcock and Steele for analysis, and their report offered no answer, +because their experience showed that you _always_ get that kind of +ratio, because of personality differences. The administrative personnel +show more inferiority influences per man, thus less confidence, thus +less efficiency." + +"I remember all that," Cutter said. + +"Their report also pointed out that this inevitable loss of efficiency +is leveled out, by proportionately smaller wage compensation. The +administrative personnel gets approximately twenty-five percent less +compensation than the skilled labor personnel, and the remaining eleven +point eight percent loss of efficiency is made up by the more highly +efficient unskilled labor receiving approximately the same compensation +as the administrative personnel." + +"I remember all that nonsense, too," Cutter reddened faintly with a +sudden anger. He did not believe the statistics were nonsense, only that +you should expect to write off a thirty-six point eight efficiency loss +on the basis of adjusted compensation. A thirty-six point eight +efficiency loss was a comparable loss in profits. You never compensated +a loss in profits, except by erasing that loss. "And so this is supposed +to fix it?" + +Quay's head bobbed. "It's worth a try, it seems to me. I've talked to +Sid about it extensively, and he tells me that Bolen, who's developed +this thing, would be willing to install enough units to cover the entire +administrative force, from the department-head level down." + +"How?" + +Quay motioned a hand. "It's no larger than a slightly thick saucer. It +could be put inside the chairs." Quay smiled faintly. "They sit on it, +you see, and--" + +Cutter was not amused. "How much?" + +"Nothing," Quay said quickly. "Absolutely nothing. Bolen wants actual +tests badly, and the Institute wouldn't do it. Snap your fingers, and +give him a hundred and fifty people to work on, and it's yours to use +for nothing. He'll do the installing, and he _wants_ to keep it secret. +It's essential, he says, to get an accurate reaction from the subjects +affected. For him it's perfect, because we're running a continuous +efficiency check, and if this thing does the job like it's supposed to +do it, we'll have gained the entire benefits for nothing. How can we +lose?" + +Cutter stared at Quay for a moment, his mind working swiftly. "Call +Horner in on this, but nobody else. Absolutely nobody else. Tell Horner +to write up a contract for this fellow to sign. Get a clause in there to +the effect that this fellow, Bolen, assumes all responsibility for any +effects not designated in the defining part of the contract. Fix it up +so that he's entirely liable, then get it signed, and let's see what +happens." + +Quay smiled fully and stood up. "Right, sir." He had done a good job, he +knew. This was the sort of thing that would keep him solidly entrenched +in Cutter's favor. "Right, George," he said, remembering that he didn't +need to call Cutter sir anymore, but he knew he wouldn't hear any more +from Cutter, because Cutter was already looking over a blueprint, eyes +thin and careful, mind completely adjusted to a new problem. + + * * * * * + +Edward Bolen called the saucer-sized disk, the Confidet. He was a thin, +short, smiling man with fine brown hair which looked as though it had +just been ruffled by a high wind, and he moved, Cutter noticed, with +quick, but certain motions. The installing was done two nights after +Cutter's lawyer, Horner, had written up the contract and gotten it +signed by Bolen. Only Quay, Bolen, and Cutter were present. + +Bolen fitted the disks into the base of the plastic chair cushions, and +he explained, as he inserted one, then another: + +"The energy is inside each one, you see. The life of it is indefinite, +and the amount of energy used is proportionate to the demand created." + +"What the hell do you mean by energy?" Cutter demanded, watching the +small man work. + +Bolen laughed contentedly, and Quay flushed with embarrassment over +anyone laughing at a question out of Cutter's lips. But Cutter did not +react, only looked at Bolen, as though he could see somehow, beneath +that smallness and quietness, a certain strength. Quay had seen that +look on Cutter's face before, and it meant simply that Cutter would +wait, analyzing expertly in the meantime, until he found his advantage. +Quay wondered, if this gadget worked, how long Bolen would own the +rights to it. + + +Cutter drove the Cadillac into Hallery Boulevard, as though the +automobile were an English Austin, and just beyond the boundaries of the +city, cut off into the hills, sliding into the night and the relative +darkness of the exclusive, sparsely populated Green Oaks section. + +Ten minutes later, his house, a massive stone structure which looked as +though it had been shifted intact from the center of some medieval moat, +loomed up, gray and stony, and Capra, his handyman, took over the car +and drove it into the garage, while Cutter strode up the wide steps to +the door. + +Niels took his hat, and Mary was waiting for him in the library. + +She was a rather large woman, although not fat, and when she wore high +heels--which she was not prone to do, because although Cutter would not +have cared, she kept trying to project into other people's minds and +trying, as she said, "Not to do anything to them, that I wouldn't want +them to do to me."--she rose a good inch above Cutter. She was pleasant +humored, and cooperative, and the one great irritant about her that +annoyed Cutter, was the fact that she was not capable of meeting life +wholeheartedly and with strength. + +She steadily worried about other people's feelings and thoughts, so that +Cutter wondered if she were capable of the slightest personal +conviction. Yet that weakness was an advantage at the same time, to him, +because she worked constantly toward making him happy. The house was run +to his minutest liking, and the servants liked her, so that while she +did not use a strong enough hand, they somehow got things done for her, +and Cutter had no real complaint. Someday, he knew, he would be able to +develop her into the full potential he knew she was capable of +achieving, and then there wouldn't be even that one annoyance about her. + +He sat down in the large, worn, leather chair, and she handed him a +Scotch and water, and kissed his cheek, and then sat down opposite him +in a smaller striped-satin chair. + +"Did you have a nice day, dear?" she asked. + +She was always pleasant and she always smiled at him, and she was +indeed a handsome woman. They had been married but five years, and she +was almost fifteen years younger than he, but they had a solid +understanding. She respected his work, and she was careful with the +money he allowed her, and she never forgot the Scotch and water. "The +day was all right," he said. + +"My goodness," she said, "you worked late. Do you want dinner right +away?" + +"I had some sandwiches at the office," he said, drinking slowly. + +"That isn't enough," she said reproachfully, and he enjoyed her concern +over him. "You'd better have some nice roast beef that Andre did just +perfectly. And there's some wonderful dressing that I made myself, for +just a small salad." + +He smiled finally. "All right," he said. "All right." + +She got up and kissed him again, and he relaxed in the large chair, +sipping contentedly at his drink, listening to her footsteps hurrying +away, the sound another indication that she was doing something for him. +He felt tired and easy. He let his mind relax with his body. The gadget, +the Confidet; that was going to work, he knew. It would erase the last +important bug in his operational efficiency, and then he might even +expand, the way he had wanted to all along. He closed his eyes for a +moment, tasting of his contentment, and then he heard the sound of his +dinner being placed on the dining room table, and he stood up briskly +and walked out of the library. He really was hungry, he realized. Not +only hungry but, he thought, he might make love to Mary that evening. + + * * * * * + +The first indication that the Confidet might be working, came three +weeks later, when Quay handed Cutter the report showing an efficiency +increase of 3.7 percent. "I think that should tell the story," Quay said +elatedly. + +"Doesn't mean anything," Cutter said. "Could be a thousand other factors +besides that damned gimmick." + +"But we've never been able to show more than one point five variance on +the administrative checks." + +"The trouble with you, Quay," Cutter said brusquely, "is you keep +looking for miracles. You think the way to get things in this world is +to hope real hard. Nothing comes easy, and I've got half a notion to get +those damned silly things jerked out." He bent over his work, obviously +finished with Quay, and Quay, deflated, paced out of the office. + +Cutter smiled inside the empty office. He liked to see Quay's enthusiasm +broken now and then. It took that, to mold a really good man, because +that way he assumed real strength after a while. If he got knocked down +and got up enough, he didn't fall apart when he hit a really tough +obstacle. Cutter was not unhappy about the efficiency figures at all, +and he knew as well as Quay that they were decisive. + +Give it another two weeks, he thought, and if the increase was +comparable, then they might have a real improvement on their hands. +Those limp, jumpy creatures on the desks out there might actually start +earning their keep. He was thinking about that, what it would mean to +the total profit, when Lucile opened his door and he caught a glimpse of +the office outside, including the clerk with the sad, frightened eyes. +Even you, Linden, Cutter thought, we might even improve you. + + +The increase _was_ comparable after another two weeks. In fact, the +efficiency figure jumped to 8.9. Quay was too excited to be knocked down +this time, and Cutter was unable to suppress his own pleasure. + +"This is really it this time, George," Quay said. "It really is. And +here." He handed Cutter a set of figures. "Here's what accounting +estimates the profit to be on this eight-nine figure." + +Cutter nodded, his eyes thinning the slightest bit. "We won't see that +for a while." + +"No," Quay said, "but we'll see it! We'll sure as hell see it! And if it +goes much higher, we'll absolutely balance out!" + +"What does Bolen figure the top to be?" + +"Ten percent." + +"Why not thirty-six point eight?" Cutter said, his eyes bright and +narrow. + +Quay whistled. "Even at ten, at the wage we're paying--" + +"Never settle for quarters or thirds," Cutter said. "Get the whole +thing. Send for Bolen. I want to talk to him. And in the meantime, Bob, +this is such a goddamned sweet morning, what do you say we go to lunch +early?" + +Quay blinked only once, which proved his adaptability. Cutter had just +asked him to lunch, as though it were their habit to lunch together +regularly, when in reality, Quay had never once gone to lunch with +Cutter before. Quay was quite nonchalant, however, and he said, "Why, +fine, George. I think that's a good idea." + + * * * * * + +Bolen appeared in Cutter's office the next morning, smiling, his eyes +darting quickly about Cutter's desk and walls, so that Cutter felt, for +a moment, that showing Bolen anything as personal as his office, was a +little like letting the man look into his brain. + +"Quay tells me you've set ten percent as the top efficiency increase we +can count on, Bolen." Cutter said it directly, to the point. + +Bolen smiled, examining Cutter's hands and suit and eyes. "That's right, +Mr. Cutter." + +"Why?" + +Bolen placed his small hands on his lap, looked at the tapered fingers, +then up again at Cutter. He kept smiling. "It's a matter of saturation." + +"How in hell could ten percent more efficiency turn into saturation?" + +"Not ten percent more efficiency," Bolen said quietly. "Ten percent +_effect_ on the individual who _creates_ the efficiency. Ten percent +effect of that which _causes_ him to be ten percent more efficient." + +Cutter snorted. "Whatever the hell that damned gimmick does, it creates +confidence, drive, strength, doesn't it? Isn't that what you said?" + +"Yes," Bolen said politely. "Approximately." + +"Can you explain to me then, how ten percent more confidence in a man is +saturation?" + +Bolen studied what he was going to say carefully, smiling all the while. +"Some men," he said very slowly, "are different than others, Mr. Cutter. +Some men will react to personality changes as abrupt as this in +different ways than others. You aren't too concerned, are you, with what +those changes might already have done to any of the individuals +affected?" + +"Hell, no," Cutter said loudly. "Why should I be? All I'm interested in +is efficiency. Tell me about efficiency, and I'll know what you're +talking about." + +"All right," Bolen said. "We have no way of knowing right now which men +have been affected more than others. All we have is an average. The +average right now is eight and nine-tenths percent. But perhaps you have +some workers who do not react, because they really do not suffer the +lacks or compulsions or inhibitions that the Confidet is concerned with. +Perhaps they are working at top efficiency right now, and no amount of +further subjection to the Confidet will change them." + +"All right then," Cutter said quickly, "we'll ferret that kind of +deadwood out, and replace them!" + +"How will you know which are deadwood?" Bolen asked pleasantly. + +"Individual checks, of course!" + +Bolen shook his head, looking back at his tapering fingers. "It won't +necessarily work. You see, the work that these men are concerned with is +not particularly demanding work, is it? And that means you want to +strike a balance between capability and demand. It's the unbalance of +these things that creates trouble, and in your case, the demand +outweighed the capability. Now, if you get a total ten-percent increase, +then you're balanced. If you go over that, you'll break the balance all +over again, except that you'll have, in certain cases, capability +outweighing the demand of the work." + +"Good," Cutter said. "Any man whose capability outweighs the work he's +doing will simply keep increasing his efficiency." + +Bolen shook his head. "No. He'll react quite the other way. He'll lose +interest, because the work will no longer be a challenge, and then the +efficiency will drop." + +Cutter's jaw hardened. "All right then. I'll move that man up, and fill +his place with someone else." + +Bolen looked at Cutter's eyes, examined them curiously. "Some men have a +great deal of latent talent, Mr. Cutter. This talent released--" + +Cutter frowned, studying Bolen carefully. Then he laughed suddenly. "You +think I might not be able to handle it?" + +"Well, let's say that you've got a stable of gentle, quiet mares, and +you turn them suddenly into thoroughbreds. You have to make allowances +for that, Mr. Cutter. The same stalls, the same railings, the same +stable boys might not be able to do the job anymore." + +"Yes," Cutter said, smiling without humor, "but the _owner_ has nothing +to do with stalls and railings and stable boys, only in the sense that +they are subsidiary. The owner is the owner, and if he has to make a few +subsidiary changes, all right. But nothing really affects the owner, no +matter whether you've got gentle mares or thoroughbreds." + +Bolen nodded, as though he had expected that exact answer. "You are a +very certain man, aren't you, Mr. Cutter?" + +"Would I be here, in this office, heading this company, if I weren't, +Bolen?" + +Bolen smiled. + +Cutter straightened in his chair. "All right, do we go on? Do we shoot +for the limit?" + +Bolen chose his words carefully. "I am interested in testing my +Confidet, Mr. Cutter. This is the most important thing in the world to +me. I don't recommend what you want to do. But, as long as you'll give +me accurate reports on the effects of the Confidet, I'll go along with +you. Providing you grant me one concession." + +Cutter frowned. + +"I want our written contract dissolved." + +Cutter reddened faintly. Nobody ever demanded anything of him and got it +easily, but his mind turned over rapidly, judging the increase in +efficiency, the increase in profits. He would not necessarily have to +stop with administrative personnel. There were other departments, too, +that could stand a little sharpening. Finally he nodded, reluctantly. +"All right, Bolen." + +Bolen smiled and left quickly, and Cutter stared at his desk for a +moment, tense. Then, he relaxed and the hard sternness of his face +softened a bit. He put his finger on his desk calendar, and looked at a +date Lucile had circled for him. He grinned, and picked up the +telephone, and dialed. + +"This is George H. Cutter," he said to the man who answered. "My wife's +birthday is next Saturday. Do you remember that antique desk I bought +her last year? Good. Well, the truth is, she uses it all the time, so +this year I'd like a good chair to match it. She's just using an +occasional chair right now, and..." + + * * * * * + +Like everything he gave her, Mary liked his gift extremely well, and +night after night, after the birthday, he came home to find her at the +desk, using the chair, captaining her house and her servant staff. And +the improvement was noticeable in her, almost from the first day. Within +a month, he could detect a remarkable change, and for the first time, +since they had been married, Mary gave a dinner for thirty people +without crying just before it started. + +There were other changes. + +Quay brought in efficiency report after efficiency report, and by the +end of three months, they had hit eighteen and seven-tenths percent +increase. The administrative office was no longer the dull, listless +place it had been; now it thrived and hummed like the shop below. Cutter +could see the difference with his own eyes, and he could particularly +see the differences in certain individuals. + +Brown and Kennedy showed remarkable improvement, but it was really Harry +Linden who astonished Cutter. An individual check showed a sixty-percent +increase by Linden, and there was a definite change in the man's looks. +He walked differently, with a quick, virile step, and the look of his +face and eyes had become strong and alive. He began appearing early in +the morning, ahead of the starting hour, and working late, and the only +time he missed any work hours, was one afternoon, during which, Lucile +informed Cutter, he had appeared in court for his divorce trial. + +Within a month, Cutter had fired Stole and Lackter and Grant, as +department heads, and replaced them with Brown, Kennedy, and Linden. He +had formulated plans for installation of the Confidets in the drafting +department and the supply department, and already the profits of +increased efficiency were beginning to show in the records. Cutter was +full of new enthusiasm and ambition, and there was only one thorn in the +entire development. + +Quay had resigned. + +Cutter had been startled and extremely angry, but Quay had been +unperturbed and stubborn. "I've enjoyed working with you immensely, +George, but my mind is made up. No hard feelings?" + +Cutter had not even shaken his hand. + +It had bothered him for days, and he checked every industrial company in +the area, to see where Quay had found a better position. He was highly +surprised, when he learned, finally, that Quay had purchased a small +boat and was earning his living by carrying fishermen out onto the Bay. +Quay had also married, four days after his resignation, and Cutter +pushed the entire thing out of his mind, checking it off to partial +insanity. + +By February of the next year, he had promoted Harry Linden to Quay's old +job, gotten rid of the deadwood that showed up so plainly on the +individual checks, and the total efficiency average had reached +thirty-three percent. His and Mary's anniversary was on the fourth of +March, and when that day arrived, he was certain that he had reached +that point where he could expand to another plant. + +He was about to order her a mink stole in celebration, but it was also +that day that he was informed that she was suing him for divorce. He +rushed home, furious, but she was gone. She had taken her clothes and +jewelry and the second Cadillac. In fact, all that she had left of her +personal possessions were the antique desk and chair. When the trial was +over, months later, she had won enough support to take her to France, +where, he learned, she purchased a chateau at Cannes. + +He tried to lose himself in his work, but for the first time in his +life, he had begun to get faintly worried. It was only a sliver of +worry, but it kept him from going on with the expansion. Stocks in the +company had turned over at an amazingly rapid rate, and while it was +still nothing more than intuition on his part, he began to tighten up, +readying himself to meet anything. + +The explosion came in July. + +Drindor Products had picked up forty-nine percent of the stock on the +market, by using secondary buyers. There had been a leak somewhere, +Cutter realized, that had told his competitor, Drindor, the kind of +profit he was making. He knew who it had been instantly, but before he +could fire Harry Linden, all of his walls crashed down. Four months +before, to put more _esprit de corps_ into Linden, he had allowed +Linden eight shares of his own stock, intending to pick it up later from +the market. Linden had coerced with Drindor. Cutter lost control. + +A board of directors was elected by Drindor, and Drindor assumed the +presidency by proxy. Harry Linden took over Cutter's office, as Vice +President In Charge. + +Cutter had wildly ordered Edward Bolen to remove the Confidets one week +before, but even then he had known that it was too late, and the +smiling, knowing look on Bolen's face had infuriated him to a screaming +rage. Bolen remained undisturbed, and quietly carried the disks away. +Cutter, when he left his office that final day, moved slowly, very +slowly. + + * * * * * + +He brooded for many long days after that, searching his mind for a way +to counterattack. He still had enough stock to keep him comfortable if +he lived another hundred years. But he no longer had the power, and he +thirsted for that. He turned it around and around in his brain, trying +to figure out how he could do it, and the one thing he finally knew, the +one certain thing, was that if he used enough drive, enough strength, +then he would regain control of the company he had built with his own +hands and mind. + +He paced the library and the long living room and the dining room, and +his eyes were lost, until he saw, through the doorway of the sewing +room, that desk and that chair, and he remembered he hadn't done +anything about that. + +He paused only briefly, because he had not lost an ounce of his ability +to make a sudden decision, and then he removed that disk and carried it +to the library and fitted it under the cushion of the large, worn, +leather chair. + + +By fall, he had done nothing to regain control, and he was less certain +of how he should act than he had been months before. He kept driving by +the plant and looking at it, but he did so carefully, so that no one +would see him, and he was surprised to find that, above all, he didn't +want to face Harry Linden. The memory of the man's firm look, the sharp, +bold eyes, frightened him, and the knowledge of his fright crushed him +inside. He wished desperately that Mary were back with him, and he even +wrote her letters, pleading letters, but they came back, unopened. + +Finally he went to see Robert Quay, because Quay was the only man in his +memory whom he somehow didn't fear talking to. He found Quay in a small +cottage near the beach. There was a six-day old infant in a crib in the +bedroom, and Quay's wife was a sparkling-eyed girl with a smile that +made Cutter feel relatively at ease for the first time in weeks. + +She politely left them alone, and Cutter sat there, embarrassed faintly, +but glad to be in Quay's home and presence. They talked of how it had +been, when Quay was with the company, and finally Cutter pushed himself +into asking about it: + +"I've often wondered, Bob, why you left?" + +Quay blushed slightly, then grinned. "I might as well admit it. I got +one of those things from Bolen, and had it installed in my own chair." + +Cutter thought about it, surprised. He cleared his throat. "And then you +quit?" + +"Sure," Quay said. "All my life, I'd wanted to do just what I'm doing. +But things just came easy to me, and the opportunities were always +there, and I just never had the guts to pass anything by. Finally I +did." + +Quay smiled at him, and Cutter shifted in his chair. "The Confidet did +that." + +Cutter nodded. + +It came to him suddenly, something he'd never suspected until that +moment. There was something very definitely wrong with what had happened +to him. The Confidet had affected everyone but him; there must have been +something wrong with the one he had been using. It had worked with Mary, +but hadn't Bolen said something about the energy being used in +proportion to the demand? Mary had certainly created a demand. Bolen +said the life of it was indefinite, but couldn't the energy have been +used up? + +"Ah," he said carefully, smiling, to Quay. "You wouldn't have it around, +would you? That Confidet of yours?" + +"Oh, hell, no," Quay said. "I gave it to Bolen a long time ago. He came +around for it, in fact. Said he had to keep track of all of them." + +Cutter left hurriedly, with Quay and his wife following him to his car. +He drove straight to Bolen's house. + +Fury built inside of him. All this time, Bolen had kept track of his +Confidet, the one that Mary had used, and all this time, he had known +Cutter still had it. Cutter was furious over the realization that Bolen +had been using him for experimentation, and also because the Confidet +that he had tried to use had turned worthless. + +All his hatred, all his anger churned inside of him like the heat from +shaken coals, but when he walked up the path to Bolen's small house, he +did so quietly, with extreme care. + +When he saw Bolen's face in the doorway, he wanted to strike the man, +but he kept his hands quietly at his sides; and though he hated himself +for it, he even smiled a little at the man. + +"Come in," Bolen smiled, and he spoke softly, and at the same time he +examined Cutter with quick, penetrating eyes. "Come in, Mr. Cutter." + +Cutter wanted to stand there and demand another Confidet, a good one, +and not walk inside, politely, like he did. And he wished that his voice +would come out, quickly, with the power and hate in it that he had once +been capable of. But for some reason, he couldn't say a word. + +Bolen was extremely polite. "You've been using that Confidet, haven't +you?" He spoke gently, almost as though he were speaking to a frightened +child. + +"Yes," Cutter managed to say. + +"And what you expected to happen, didn't. That's what you want to tell +me, isn't it?" + +Cutter's insides quivered with rage, but he was able only to nod. + +"Would you like to know why?" Bolen said. + +Cutter rubbed his damp palms over his knees. He nodded. + +Bolen smiled, his eyes sparkling. "Very simple really. It wasn't the +fault of the Confidet so much, Mr. Cutter, as you. You see, you are a +rare exception. What you are, or possibly I should say, what you were, +was a complete super ego. There are very few of those, Mr. Cutter, in +this world, but you happened to be one of them. A really absolute, +complete super ego, and the Confidet's effect was simply the reverse of +what it would have been with anyone else." Bolen shook his head, +sympathetically, but he didn't stop smiling, and his eyes didn't stop +their infuriating exploration of Cutter's face and eyes and hands. "It's +really a shame, because I was almost certain you were a super ego, Mr. +Cutter. And when you didn't return that last Confidet, I somehow felt +that you might use it, after all that nasty business at the company and +all. + +"But while I was fairly certain of the effects, Mr. Cutter, I wasn't +absolutely _sure_, you see, and so like the rest of the experiments, I +had to forget my conscience. I'm really very sorry." + +The anger was a wild thing inside Cutter now, and it made his hands +tremble and sweat, and his mouth quiver, and he hated the man in front +of him, the man who was responsible for what had happened to him, the +smiling man with the soft voice and exploring eyes. But he didn't say +anything, not a word. He didn't show his anger or his frustration or his +resentment. He didn't indicate to Bolen a particle of his inner +wildness. + +He didn't have the nerve. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Confidence Game, by James McKimmey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFIDENCE GAME *** + +***** This file should be named 32243.txt or 32243.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/2/4/32243/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, David Wilson and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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