"Does
Sharon win or lose?"
"Well," the other man admitted, "I must say he wins...."
"Then he's just the man I want," Ralston spoke with emphasis. He rose,
held out his hand toward the flustered visitor. "Thanks for telling
me.... And now we'll all go for a drink together."
* * * * *
"That's Bill Ralston!" said Benito to his wife. They laughed about the
anecdote which Windham had related at the dinner table. Robert, in his
new letter-carrier's uniform, spoke up. "I saw him at the bank this
afternoon.... There was a letter from Virginia City and he kept me
waiting till he opened it. Then he slapped me on the shoulder. 'If the
contents of that letter had been known to certain people, son,' he told
me, 'they'd have cleaned up a fortune on the information.' Then he
handed me a gold-piece. But I wouldn't take it. 'Don't be proud,' he
said and poked me in the ribs. 'And don't forget that Bill Ralston's
your friend.'"
"Everybody calls him 'Bill,'" his mother added. "Washerwomen,
teamsters, beggars, millionaires. If ever there was a friend of the
people it is he."
"Some day, though, he'll overplay his game," Benito prophesied.
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