He knew enough about old Westlake to "copper" his especially emphatic statements.
"Are you agreeable to Princeman's plan to pool all stock but Turner's ?" "Well--we can talk about that later." "Huh!" grunted Mr.Stevens, and together the two heavy-weights, Stevens with his aggressive beard suddenly pointed a trifle more straight out, and Mr.Westlake with his placidity even more marked than usual, stalked on into the parlor, where Mr.Blackstone, taking the chair _pro tem_., read them the preliminary agreement he had drawn up; upon which Sam Turner immediately started to wrangle, a proceeding which proved altogether in vain.
The best he could get for patents and promotion was two thousand out of the five thousand shares of common stock, and finally he gave in, knowing that he could not secure the right kind of men on better terms.
Mr.Blackstone thereupon offered a subscription list, to which every man present solemnly appended his name opposite the number of shares he would take.

Sam, at the last moment, put down his own name for a block of stock which meant a cash investment of considerably more than he had originally figured upon.

He cast up the list hurriedly.

Five hundred shares of preferred, carrying half that much common, were still to be subscribed.

With whom could he combine to obtain control?
The only men who had subscribed enough for that purpose were Princeman, who was out of the question, and, in fact, would be the leader of the opposition, and Westlake.