To hustle
successfully it was often necessary for Crane to cut some sharp
corners.
This dock, as McGaw knew perfectly well, had been leased to
another party--the Fertilizing Company--for two years, and could
not possibly be placed at Crane's disposal. But he said nothing
of this to Crane.
When the day of payment to McGaw arrived, Dempsey of the executive
committee and Walking Delegate Quigg met McGaw at the ferry on his
return from New York. McGaw had Crane's money in his pocket.
That night he paid two hundred dollars into the Union, two hundred
to his feed-man on an account long overdue, and the balance to
Quigg in a poker game in the back room over O'Leary's bar.
Tom also had an interview with Mr. Crane shortly after his
interview with McGaw. Something she said about the dock having
been leased to the Fertilizing Company caused Crane to leave his
chair in a hurry, and ask his clerk in an angry voice if McGaw had
yet been paid the money on his chattel mortgage. When his cashier
showed him the stub of the check, dated two days before, Crane
slammed the door behind him, his teeth set tight, little puffs of
profanity escaping between the openings. As he walked with Tom to
the door, he said:--
"Send your papers up, Tom, I'll go bond any day in the year for
you, and for any amount; but I'll get even with McGaw for that lie
he told me about the dock, if it takes my bank account.
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