An Excerpt from
American Goliath
by Harvey Jacobs
(St. Martin's Press, 1997, $24.95)
WASHINGTON, D.C., JANUARY 25, 1870Two men, one formidable but fragile, wrapped in a sleek seal coat, crowned with a high hat, the other coatless, hatless, robust, and in his prime, strolled slowly down Pennsylvania Avenue. They paused at the gate to the White House. The older man snorted and coughed but recovered himself quickly. "You know how much I have admired your work, Alan," Commodore Vanderbilt said.
"I call you our invisible engine."
Alan Pinkerton nodded. "Invisible engine. I like that."
"Without the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, we'd have more pirates than passengers on my railroads. But the pirates still plague us."
"The Molly Maguires are marked for extinction. It's a matter of time. Troublemakers and brigands. Anarchists and bloodsuckers. Parasites with shovels."
"Coal is our blood. We can neither abide nor afford agitators corrupting our miners with talk of guilds and unions."
"My plans are in place," Pinkerton said. "Rest your mind, Commodore. Infiltration's the key to Molly's chastity belt. We'll soon have our key in the lock."
"You have my full trust. Alan. But there is another matter. A more personal concern."
"I understand. Speak freely, sir."
"Let's sit on that bench. My President can wait. I expect he'll find good use for his time."
"He'll find something to do," Pinkerton said. "The question is, do you need the Great White Father coherent?"
"Of course not. Sit down and we'll talk for a moment. I warn you. This may sound ludicrous."
"I never laugh at a problem."
"Laugh all you want. Split your sides. But please do it later. For the moment, indulge me."
"If I can be of service . . ."
"If anyone can, you're the one. And I won't insult you by invoking the need for discretion."
"I hope never," Pinkerton said. "Who else is discretion's godfather?"
"This is hard for me," Vanderbilt said.
"You have my attention and every resource."
"Alan," the old man said after a thunderous sneeze, "this has to do with a giant."
"A giant what?" Pinkerton asked, leaning closer.
American Goliath copyright © 1997 by Harvey Jacobs. Reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press and the author.
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