He could open telegraph stations and post offices when they were closed
to the native nobility, convert the eager curiosity of port officials
into a trance-like indifference, or monopolize the services of a whole
administration, if the comfort, convenience, or caprice of his master
demanded it.
More than this; if, any of these things having been done, they should
appear undesirable to Mr. Pulitzer, Dunningham could undo them with the
same magician-like ease as had marked their achievement. A wave of Mr.
Pulitzer's hand was translated into action by Dunningham, and the whole
of his arrangements disappeared as completely as if they had never
existed. The slate was wiped clean, ready in an instant to receive the
new message from Mr. Pulitzer's will.
Dunningham had come to offer me advice. I must not be disturbed by the
apparent eccentricity of Mr. Pulitzer's conduct; it was merely part of
Mr. Pulitzer's fixed policy to make things as complicated and difficult
as possible for a candidate. By adopting this plan he was able to
discover very quickly whether there was any possibility that a new man
would suit him. If the candidate showed impatience or bad temper he
could be got rid of at once; if he showed tact and good humor he would
graduate into another series of tests, and so on, step by step, until
the period of his trying out was ended and he became one of the staff.
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