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and I thought about this for a while, and I wrote back, “Dear Mr. Scherman: This is really a fantastic thing to happen, and it renews one's faith in human nature. But I must tell you that if you had cut your guarantee from $5,000 to $2,500, I'm damned if I would have given you back $2,500. We made a deal at $5,000 and I must tell you we were so delighted we closed the office for a day. So with tears streaming down my cheeks, I am returning your check for $5,000.”

Well, they were pleased with this letter. And the check came back with an admonition that we shouldn't be damn fools and should cash it. And again we sent it back, saying, “This is not businesslike at all.”

So we all decided we'd better meet for lunch. Harry Scherman and Robert Haas and Donald and I had lunch together. By this time there was great mutual respect. And by the time that lunch was over we were friends for life--all of us--and we finally settled on $7,500. We took $2,500 more, splitting the difference down the middle, and everybody was very happy about it.

Well, it was the way you handled it. Everybody had respect--

Well, everybody was being decent. When people are decent things work out for everybody. This has been my theory all through life. If you're making money, let the other fellow make it, too. It's no fun when only one side is making it. If somebody's getting hurt, it's bad. So if you can work a