He was a Glutton for Punishment, a Discounter from away back, and a Demon for applying the Acid Test to every Account. He was a Sure-Thinger, air-tight and playing naught but Cinches. No wonder they all took a slant at him and spotted him as a Comer. The Business Associates of Alexander liked to see Europe from the inside every summer and investigate the Cocktail Crop of Florida every winter, so they allowed him to be the Works. He began building the Skids which finally carried them to the Fresh Air and left only one name on the Gold Sign. Up to his Chin in Debt and with a Panic looming on the Horizon, it behooved Alexander to be on the job at 7:30 A.M. and hang around to scan the Pay-Roll until 9:30 P.M. Ofttimes while galloping from his Apartment to the Galleys or chasing homeward to grab off a few wasteful hours of Slumber, he would see People of the Lower Classes going out to the Parks with Picnic Baskets, or lined up at the Vaudeville Palaces, or watching a hard-faced Soubrette demonstrate something in a Show Window. It got him to think Dubs could frivol around and waste the golden Moments when they might be hopping on to a Ten-Cent Piece. His usual Gait was that of a man going for the Doctor, and he talked Numbers to himself as he sped along and mumbled over the important Letters he was about to dictate. [Illustration: He talked Numbers to himself as he sped along and mumbled over the important Letters he was about to dictate] Those who were pushed out of his way would overhear a scrap or two of the Raving and think he was Balmy. The answer is that every hard-working Business Guy acts as if he had Screech-Owls in the Tower. Aleck had his whole Staff so buffaloed that the Hirelings tried to keep up with him, so that Life in the Beehive was just one thing after another, with no Intermission. The Whip cracked every five minutes, and the Help would dig in their toes and take a fresh lean-up against the Collars, for the Main Squeeze was trying to be a Bank Director, and Rockefeller had stolen a long start on him. With a thousand important Details claiming his attention, Aleck had no time to monkey with side issues such as the general State of his Health or the multifarious plans for uplifting the Flat-Heads that he could see from his Window. Those who recommended Golf to him seemed to forget that no one ever laid by anything while on the Links. As for the Plain People, his only Conviction when he surveyed them in the Mass was that every Man-Jack was holding back Money that rightfully belonged to him (Alexander). Needless to say, the battling Financier was made welcome at the Directors' Table and handed a piece of a Trust Company and became an honored Guest when any Melon was to be sliced. All that he dreamt while sleeping in the cold room over the Store had eventuated for fair. The more Irons in the Fire, the more flip-flops he turned.