"Good old A-Z", Cap said.
"You know, I've got one of your cars at home.
As a prominent industrialist, you ought to be interested in his nibs' support group.
Isn't his racket down your alley"?

Once it was, William thought.
But not any more.

A rush of memory swept him back, and he forgot Cap.
How did he start on such a ride to brief glory?
Simply enough, through the inadvertent agency of his brother-in-law.
General Hershey's draft and Doc Eddyman and Cap were responsible for his first eminence, but Fearless Freddy Bryan could take credit, if he cared to (and he did), for the second time.
Freddy needed a job, having been detached from a rather dangerous career in real estate and skyscraper financing by Gerry, and it was up to Arthur Willis to provide him with one.

Mr. Willis bought Zenith Plastic Products, a skeleton corporation of sorts which had undergone many vicissitudes and whose principal assets were a couple of electronics plants on Long Island engaged in working out government contracts, and installed Freddy in an executive position.
Shortly after, Freddy had his usual proliferation of bold ideas.
Willis listened patiently, and once in a while William was exposed to them at a family gathering;
he generally heard Freddy's suggestions without interest, being absorbed by his own prospering concerns.

Probably Mr. Willis was influenced toward deeper involvement by familial loyalty and a concern for his grandchildren.
Gerry began to aid Freddy with her father, prodded, no doubt, by Joan's open contempt for Freddy and William's irritating competency.
Another factor must have been the eventual disposal of Willis' fortune;
she unquestionably assumed that the more he was entwined with Freddy, the more likely he was to reward Freddy richly upon his death.

Whatever the reasons, Willis and Bryan started expanding Zenith.
They acquired another electronics factory, a specialized ceramics company, an organization that built -- very experimentally -- high-speed research calculators.
Since they were hunting for national defense contracts, Adam Herberet, a man of surprising resources, entered the combination as a silent partner because of his political connections.

Feeling his power, Freddy looked for additional worlds to conquer.
Heavy industry, slanted toward inexhaustible government coffers, attracted him.
The Allstates Auto Company, a medium-sized firm which manufactured four-wheel-drive vehicles and other off-road equipment, had recently constructed an over-large, modern plant in a burst of misguided optimism.
Cursed with a shaky management and dissatisfied stockholders, it was ripe for amalgamation, and Freddy's instinct was to keep growing by stock mergers and small expenditure of cash, and never mind inevitable consequences.
With Herberet's blessing, he was convinced that Allstates' Wisconsin folly would be ideal for conversion to airplane sub-assembly, tanks, missiles or ordnance of some kind.

At that point William came into the picture.
Although not much desiring the account, he had been appointed advertising head of Zenith.
Freed of routine by having his own firm and a complaisant partner, his work in New York had given him a broader overall knowledge of business administration and corporate structure;
and if he wasn't entirely committed to what he did, he was at least fascinated by the chance of wider opportunities.
Mr. Willis, eager to have him allied with the family, wanted advice beyond the confines of his field, and William set out on a serious study of the situation, including trips to Wisconsin and Washington.

In the end, he said: "I'm not enchanted by the proposition, sir.
I know a guy named Jack Hamrick, a very bright young engineer who was with Chrysler, and I took him with me to Allstates.
It's his expert opinion that the plant isn't well suited to what you have in mind.
The conversion will cost a fortune.
Besides that, I'm acquainted more or less with the defense hardware situation through my contacts in the Air Force.
I think Adam Herberet is guilty of being too hopeful and better informed on defense financing than on the technical side.
Missiles have thrown everything up for grabs, and nobody seems to be sure where we go from here.
The future of manned aircraft is in doubt, which affects government procurement, and jet transports have revolutionized the airline trade -- one jet can take the place of three compound-engine planes.
This means the aircraft companies are going to tear into the government market, looking for anything they can get and making the competition tough.
Here are a few facts and figures I've assembled.
Can't you stay with what you have and wait till the dust settles"?

Willis glanced at the bound pages given him and shrugged.
"Well", he said, "there is Freddy, you know.
And Gerry.
Freddy is deeply committed to our plans already.
He assures me he has people to handle the money raising, and Ham Richert, my lawyer, says the legal aspects of the wedding of Zenith and Allstates are no problem.
I don't like to exhibit the deadly dampening effect of an elderly man's caution".

"Yes, I appreciate that.
I wish you wouldn't tell Freddy I'm lukewarm;
I've caused him trouble before, and he's beginning to resent me.
If we don't take care, the sisters will be entering the fray on opposite sides, brandishing their cudgels".

"Which is a frightful prospect, Bill".
Willis laughed.
"One shouldn't mix commercial affairs with patriarchy, but in this case I have no choice.
Let me think about it.
I'm most grateful to you, so grateful I wish you were my principal aide instead of Freddy".

Not to William's surprise, Freddy, Adam and Hamilton Richert prevailed;
allied to them was Gerry, devoting much time to swaying her father, and Joan dismissed all thought of the project and William was unwilling to interfere further.
Zenith absorbed Allstates, stock transfers were arranged, and Freddy became president of the hyphenated combination.
Through Jack Hamrick, William fell into the world of automobile promotion and got several accounts for Shoals and Clay.

He forgot about A-Z till, unhappily, he and Hamrick were proved correct.
Freddy's backing dropped away from him and Mr. Willis was forced to make up the deficit.
Adam, beset by changing defense conditions and the open secret that he was part of the new corporation, couldn't deliver from his end.
The Wisconsin plant turned out to be a white elephant.
Stock Willis held in abundance fell sharply in value.
Confronted by a grim future, Freddy lost his nerve and plumped for a drastic liquidation.

Once more Willis summoned William.
"You were right", he said -- "you and your engineer -- and I'm in something of a bind.
Freddy's solution doesn't appeal to me.
In addition to other defects, I'm a stubborn man and hate to admit to the common garden variety of bad judgment.
Will you see if you can help me"?

William spent a long week end closeted with Hamrick.
His recent experience in motor car advertising, a love for cars of themselves, the existence of A-Z's useless Wisconsin set-up, exposure to exciting conceptions of Hamrick's that nobody would buy, and the coincidental recent failure of a respected but out-dated small-car manufacturer called Ticonderoga Motors had given him an idea of such dimensions he was almost afraid to broach it.
Initially, Hamrick's reaction to A-Z going into the passenger car market was discouraging.
He thought the financing, the advertising, the production of new models, the founding of a nationwide chain of dealerships was simply too difficult.
Then he caught fire.
If A-Z could buy Ticonderoga cheaply and use their presses and dies and other equipment, if William could hit precisely the right promotion note, if the money hurdle was not insurmountable.

They took nearly a month to investigate, marshal statistics, and put their arguments down in black and white.
Taking Hamrick with him, William went to Mr. Willis.
He was surprised and dubious, but impressed by the engineer and the report.

"Your alternative is breathtaking", he said, "and, I'm frank in saying, a bit mad.
I wish I was younger and less timid.
Well, I can't resolve this myself.
I'll have to call in the brain trust.
Are you willing to run the gantlet?
I can't guarantee you a sympathetic audience".

"We'll be in there swinging", William said, "but in a way, sir, you've got to decide it yourself.
You have the controlling interest and the principal expenditure is yours -- and, besides, nobody else is going to have the courage.
If they follow anyone, it'll have to be you".
He paused.
"I should explain: there's more here for me than advocating my little dream, there's you.
You mustn't take a fall, or publicly back away.
I hate that.
You're -- you're Arthur Willis.
Forgive the hearts and flowers theme".

"I rather like the music", Willis replied quietly.
"Thank you".

At the meeting, attended by Freddy, Richert, Herberet and the A-Z executive staff, with Mr. Willis presiding, William and Hamrick did indeed run the gantlet.
From shock and incredulity, most of the listeners went on to open resistance and animosity.

"Oh, my God", Ham Richert said, "a little child shall lead them.
Move over, General Motors".

"It's absurd, Bill", Freddy said, from a pale face.
"You're leading Dad down the garden path".

"Your garden, God damn it"!
William said.

"I don't enjoy family quarrels", Adam said.
"Nor crazy relatives.
We're here to transact business.
Can't we put an end to this, Arthur"?

"Hear me out, please", William begged.
"I'm an advertising hustler, I admit, but I have to get hot once in a larger sphere.
Sure, Ticonderoga went broke in the low-priced market bucking the Big Three.
Their cars weren't small enough, they didn't have the power, they were old-fashioned.
They tried to sell 'em on economy and simple merit.
We've arrived at an age for romance and snobbery.
We've all been rich and spoiled long enough to hate the machine age.
Look what those little European jobs are doing.
We'll woo the consumer with a product, not bludgeon him with chromed excess length and weight.
Let's make it moonlight and the call of far places and a seduction, at reasonable rates.
Ticonderoga folded a few minutes too soon, before the tide changed, still honest and stupid -- and the network of dealers the company had is around waiting to be signed up again -- waiting for us, ready-made.
We've got rid of the steam yachts and Georgian houses, and the bloated, too-expensive automobile is next.
Why not come down smartly in the world, in a chic fashion, with an Allstates-Zenith"?

He swayed them somewhat, but the debate raged on.
Financing emerged as the main obstacle.
Mr. Willis made it evident that he had contributed his maximum.

"Nobody will underwrite it, I'm telling you", Freddy said.
"I know what I'm talking about in that department".

"There's plenty of risk money", Ham Richert added, "but not for anything this risky".

"All right", William said.
"We'll try to swing the deal on that basis.
If we can't raise the capital, we're through.
Nothing has been lost.
You're up against it anyhow.
Why won't you give me a chance"?

A silence fell.
Heads instinctively turned in Willis' direction.
He smiled at William and slowly rubbed his hands together.

"I feel I must answer the question", he said, "since the onus later, if any, should fall on me -- I don't relish recriminations spread broadcast outside my family.
I'm not giving you a chance, Bill, but availing myself of your generous offer of assistance.
Good luck to you".

"All the in-laws have got to have their day", Adam said, and glared at William and Freddy in turn.

Sweat started out on William's forehead, whether from relief or disquietude he could not tell.
Across the table, Hamrick saluted him jubilantly with an encircled thumb and forefinger.
Nobody else showed pleasure.

Spike-haired, burly, red-faced, decked with horn-rimmed glasses and an Ivy League suit, Jack Hamrick awaited William at the officers' club.
"Hello, boss", he said, and grinned.
"I suppose I can never expect to call you 'General' after that Washington episode".

"I'm afraid not".