It is a reasonable theory that every man of genius is two men, one
visible, one unseen and often unsuspected by his counterpart. For who
has not felt the shadow's influence in dealing with such as have the
Spark? Napoleon spoke of stars, being Corsican and a mystic. Those
who met him in his last days were uneasily conscious that the second
Bonaparte had died on the eve of Waterloo, leaving derelict his
brother, a stout and commonplace man who was in turn sycophantic,
choleric, and pathetic, but never great.
Noticeable is the influence of the Shadow in the process of
money-making. It is humanly impossible for some men to be fortunate.
They may amass wealth by sheer hard work and hard reasoning, but if
they seek a shorter cut to opulence, be sure that short cut ends in a
cul-de-sac where sits a Bankruptcy Judge and a phalanx of stony-faced
creditors. "Luck" is not for them--they were born single.
For others, the whole management of life is taken from their hands by
their busy Second, who ranges the world to discover opportunities for
his partner.
So it comes about that there are certain men, and Augustus
Tibbetts--or, as he was named, "Bones"--was one of these, to whom the
increments of life come miraculously. They could come in no other way,
be he ever so learned and experienced.
Rather would a greater worldliness have hampered his familiar and in
time destroyed its power, just as education destroys the more subtle
instincts. Whilst the learned seismographer eats his dinner,
cheerfully unconscious of the coming earthquake, his dog shivers
beneath the table.
By this preamble I am not suggesting that Bones was a fool. Far from
it. Bones was wise--uncannily wise in some respects. His success was
due, as to nine-tenths, to his native sense. His x supplied the
other fraction.
No better illustration of the working of this concealed quantity can be
given than the story of the great jute sale and Miss Bertha Stegg.
The truth about the Government speculation in jute is simply told. It
is the story of an official who, in the middle of the War, was seized
with the bright idea of procuring enormous quantities of jute for the
manufacture of sand-bags. The fact that by this transaction he might
have driven the jute lords of Dundee into frenzy did not enter into his
calculations. Nor did it occur to him that the advantageous position
in which he hoped to place his Department depended for its attainment
upon a total lack of foresight on the part of the Dundee merchants.
As a matter of fact, Dundee had bought well and wisely. It had
sufficient stocks to meet all the demands which the Government made
upon it; and when, after the War, the Department offered its purchase
at a price which would show a handsome profit to the Government, Dundee
laughed long and loudly.