Odnośniki
- Indeks
- West_Frances_Gwiazdy_Swieca_dla_wszystkich_RPP069
- Loius L'Amour Reilly's_Luck_v1.5_(BD)
- Loius L'Amour Last of the Breed
- Cisco BGP4 Case Studies
- Fr
- Meg Alexander Debiutantka
- Historia Prawa Sć dowego skrypt podrćÂcznika
- Diana Palmer Maggie's Dad (pdf)
- 012. Wood Carol MiśÂośÂć zwycićÂśźa wszystko
- Chmielewska_Joanna_ _Wielki_diament__T_1
- zanotowane.pl
- doc.pisz.pl
- pdf.pisz.pl
- szostka.htw.pl
with this material."
Simon Tate paused when he had finished reading, then reread the message again
to himself.
"So I've come to you, Mr. Tate. You are an innkeeper and a cattle dealer, but
you are also a man with wide knowledge of affairs. What should we do about
this."
Tate looked at the message again, then looked at her. "What do you believe it
means?"
"Mr. Tate, the plants and other wild life listed were all known to my brother
before he left home. There would be no purpose in his sending me such a list
except to lend obscurity to what follows, which is the real message.
"My brother has come upon some plot, some people he believes are dangerous to
the country. This is his way of communicating that information to me.
Obviously, he suspected his letter would be opened and read, and he wished it
to sound harmless while yet telling us what he wished us to know."
Tate stared thoughtfully at the letter.
"Mr. Tate, the Louisiana Territory once belonged to France. It also belonged
to Spain. There are those in both countries who might regret that it has
fallen into our hands.
"There is unrest in Mexico, Mr. Tate, and I know enough of what is happening
in New Orleans to know that every loose-footed adventurer in that part of the
world is gathering there or in St. Louis or Pittsburgh or Lexington ...
expecting something to happen."
"You seem well informed."
She was intelligent, and she was assured. I was surprised to see how assured.
Page 19
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Yet as she continued to talk, I could see why she had reason to be.
"Mr. Tate, you knew my father?"
"Of course. I respected him very much, a very astute businessman and trader.
He made few mistakes."
"He madeno mistakes. And he made none because he had information, the very
best information and much more information than anyone else. He took care to
see that his news was not only the latest but the best."
"How do you mean?"
"Mr. Tate, did you ever hear of the Fuggers?"
"Yes ... I believe so. Weren't they a very old people, merchants of some
sort?"
"They were. Merchants, moneylenders, men who financed trade and even financed
Charles V, an emperor and one of the most powerful men of his time.
"The Fuggers began as simple weavers, Mr. Tate. They were peasants, weaving
in their cottages. Then, in the fourteenth century, one of them became a
merchant. Within a few years they achieved great wealth, partly because one of
them created fustian, a weaving of cotton and linen, but mostly because they
gathered information.
"They were a large family and soon scattered over Europe, but they exchanged
their information. Their agents sent them information, their ship captains did
likewise. It was the major reason for their wealth and power they always knew
a good deal more than those with whom they dealt.
"If there was a crop failure in Russia, they knew it. If a ship with valuable
cargo sank off the coast of Greece, they were the first to hear of it. They
knew what was in surplus and what was likely to be scarce, and they bought or
sold accordingly."
"But what has this to do with us?"
"Simply that my father took a leaf from their book. He financed traders among
the Indians; he had friends among the soldiers, among the flatboat men, among
itinerant preachers. He received letters from all over the country, letters
that told him who was going where and what was happening.
"There was no mystery about it. He wrote letters, he requested answers, he
even paid for information. At the time of my father's death, he had over one
hundred correspondents in this country and in Europe."
"I see."
"Youbegin to see, Mr. Tate. This correspondence grew too large for my father
to handle, so my brother and I helped. We opened the letters, read them,
listed the information in ledgers, and passed the most important letters on to
my father.
"Since my father's death I've continued this correspondence. Despite the fact
that we no longer live in New York and Boston, the letters have come, and I
have maintained contact with all these sources and have helped to operate my
father's business."
Page 20
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"I was not aware of that."
"We have excellent managers. They never knew the source of my father's
information, nor have I told anyone but you, now. I have continued to advise
them to buy and sell, and we have continued to profit."
I don't think she knew I was present.
"And you have information that something is wrong in the South, in the West?"
"Let me say I had grounds for suspicion. And then this letter from my
brother. When I received it, I acted at once. I got out the ledgers and read
all the information we had on the Louisiana Territory, read the reports of
Lewis and Clark and the letters from James Mackay. My father had an agent in [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]