produce serious results in the vicinity of his cardiac region. He argued, therefore, that I should be only too glad to relinquish all claim to my commission on the "written contract" lands, amounting to $12,500, together with that on those embraced in the "oral contract," aggregating $5,000 more, or a total of $17,500. All this money, according to the Smithsonian idea of equity, 1 should be overjoyed to part with on condition that he reimburse me for the amount I had already expended in securing the options under the "written contract," amounting to $10,467.45.
Smith's conditions, under which I might again enjoy possession of my own, were not to my liking, but having in mind the advice given me by my brother, when he pointed out that Smith had a legal right to insist upon my securing an additional 3,500 acres for him, whatever the cost might be, and because of the fact that I had an opportunity for immediate investment of the money where the returns were almost certain to more than compensate me for all losses by this transaction. I decided that it would be the part of good judgment to accede to his terms, although I did not then let Smith know my intentions.
My object in discussing the matter with him at that time was to point out the extent of his gain in his dealings with me. In this I succeeded, but not so fully as desired. I likewise called his attention to the absurdity of the idea that I could conform strictly to my obligations in regard to furnishing him with the lacking 3.500 acres, as the larger portion of the lands I expected to secure for him, embraced in the claims constituting the shortage, had been sold to some millionaire lumbermen of Marrenette, Wisconsin, at prices ranging from $15 to $17 an acre, while I had planned to get them for Smith at $9.50 an acre. These same lumbermen refused $50 per acre immediately after purchase. All this he well knew, but it was my object in presenting the facts to him anew in order to show the impossibility of fulfilling my agreement with him.
Notwithstanding my arguments, he insisted that our settlement should be upon the basis of his own ideas, so I informed him that my books indicated that he owed me $10,467.45 for securing the options for him. These figures were disputed by Smith, but he was walling that I should go over the account with Charles Trabert, his private secretary.
Two days were consumed in adjusting the account, and when the task was completed, it was found that Smith owed me $54 more than I had asked him to pay. It is noteworthy that when the situation dawned upon him, he hastened to accept my original statement of account.
Before reaching a final settlement, I suggested that inasmuch as we had waived my claim to any fifty cents an acre commission, it was no more than right that he should also reimburse me for all my personal expenses involved in the deal, amounting to more than $2,000, and including several trips East; something over a dozen different trips to Humboldt county, California, and livery hire, covering a period of more than a year, all of which had been devoted to Smith's interests.
As usual, he declined to consider the proposition, but at this juncture I had the good fortune to meet his friend, J. A. Bohn, of Minneapolis, to whom I related all the circumstances connected with the matter. Bohn had been a witness to the amended "written contract," and was familiar with all the details. He lost no time in telephoning to Smith, requesting him to call at his office, and upon his arrival pleaded my cause with such earnest effect that Smith finally—although with great reluctance—yielded up his check for $1,000. This amount represents all the money I ever received from C. A. Smith in the shape of compensation of any sort for getting him 30,000 acres of valuable redwood timber lands in Humboldt county, at a net cost to him of $9 an acre, after he had bamboozled me out of my fifty cents an acre commission; and just how he figures out that he has lost "between $150,000 and $200,000" in his operations with me is more than I can comprehend, and I should feel greatly elated if he would undertake to explain his system of calculation under oath, in order to show the public where he would land
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