"Supposing some of 'em should try to fix _you_?" he grinned. "I guess we've fixed _them_ for good and all." "Well, your nerve is all right." So I sat down to my desk, quite the cock of the walk, and felt so pleased with myself that you would think I had saved the whole town from being blown up. I was for society as it is, first, last, and all the time, and I felt good to be in it. [Illustration: _Big John was one of the first to welcome me back._] Once, some months later, I saw those eight men again, when they were brought into court to be sentenced. They all had a chance to speechify, and I listened to them for a time. I didn't take much stock in Spies and Parsons--long-winded, talky, wild fellows. But the others, who weren't as glib as those two, had a kind of simple sincerity about them. They had the courage to stand up there in the face of death and say what they believed. No one plead for mercy. I was sorry for them. But, nevertheless, it was comfortable to be of the strong. The world is for the strong, I said to myself as I left the court, and I am one of them! CHAPTER IX ANOTHER BOOST _I become of importance in Dround's--Making money--The end of Ma Pierson's--Rivals in sausage--I conclude to sell my business--Bluffing old Strauss--Carmichael regards me with respect_ After the trial came another boost at Dround's. Thanks to the big Irishman, I had done pretty well before; but now there was some one at the top watching me. I was given a chance to see what I could do to make markets in the new Southwest, which was developing rapidly and in my opinion offered a weak house like ours a better opportunity than the older fields. And my little venture with the brothers Schunemann was booming all the time. Ed and Sloco had looked out for my interests during the trial, and had kept my partners from robbing me. Pretty soon I was able to buy out their interest in the Aurora plant and get rid of them altogether, putting Ed in as my manager. The Schunemanns took to peddling our kosher meat in Chicago, and worked up a good trade. In my trips for Dround & Co. I was able to make a large business for the Duchess brand of sausage, which soon began to attract attention. One day Carmichael said to me:-- "So you're a sausage maker, after all, Van?" "Yes, and coining money, too," I replied. "Perhaps Mr. Dround would think differently now about the cat's-meat business." Carmichael grunted. I suspected that he might like to have me offer the firm a chance to come into my business, but I had no such idea. I saw a great future in sausage, and, after that, other things--down a long vista of golden years. * * * * *