"Look here, Gilhooly," said I in my most persuasive tones, "that building you have in your hands is the imperial exchequer. Put it down, there’s a good fellow. Don’t juggle with it in that way. Suppose you were to drop it!" Gilhooly had begun shaking it up and down as though it were one of those cast-iron banks in which children sometimes deposit their coppers The jingle of the exchequer’s contents appeared to please him. "If you want this road you have got to bid up for it," said he. "I’m not so young that I don’t know a good thing when I’ve got it in my grip." "That road has gone into the hands of a receiver," I returned, humoring his fancy, "and I’m the receiver. Give it here, Gilhooly." "I was not consulted when the receiver was appointed," he answered. "I have rights in the matter and those rights must be protected. It’s a deal framed up to beat the pool. My, how it rattles!" and he shook the exchequer again. I was at my wits’ end. I knew that tact was far and away more effective than violence when dealing with a crazed person. "Put it down for a moment, Gilhooly," I wheedled, "and come over to the directors’ meeting." "Who are the directors?" he asked suspiciously. "Well, there are only two. I’m one, you know, and you’re the other." He exploded a laugh, tossed the exchequer in the air like a strong man playing with a cannon ball, and then caught it deftly as it came down. "I’m the boy to juggle with railroads!" he boasted. "Ask any one in the Street and they’ll tell you." "Look out!" I gasped, "or you’ll drop it." "Not I!" he mumbled. "I never yet wrecked a railroad." "Where did you come from, Gilhooly?" I asked, seeking to get him into conversation while I edged closer to him by degrees. "From distant parts," he replied. "I’ve been the whole thing for a big transcontinental line that I’m adding to the Gilhooly System." He chuckled craftily. "They thought they had me, but I got out from under with the rolling stock. I’ve hid the cars in a gully, and my next move will be to steal the right of way. I’m the big railroad man of the country. Just ask anybody who knows what’s what in transportation circles and they’ll tell you the same thing." I had arrived within a few feet of him, and suddenly I leaped forward. But he was wary and sprang aside, the exchequer jingling sharply. "No, you don’t," said he. "You’re trying to serve a subpoena on me and I’m too foxy for you. Get out of here or I’ll have you thrown downstairs." "Come over to the directors’ meeting, Gilhooly," I urged, turning and walking away from him. "You’ve got to look after your interests, you know." But the vagaries of a shattered mind are hard to deal with. Gilhooly laughed at me, sat down on a rock and took the exchequer on his knees. He was wary, and never for an instant permitted me to lose his eyes.