Norfleet: the actual experiences of a Texas rancher's 30,000-mile transcontinental chase after five confidence men. Page: 42 of 369
4 p. l., 344 p. front., plates, ports. 22 cm.View a full description of this book.
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24
N OR FLEET
which is just north of Dallas. Nothing definite came of
their tour of inspection but now that I found myself
minus $45,000 and in debt to Slaughter $90,000, I made
up my mind to go to Ladonia and reopen the deal.
It is a good thing I was born with a sense of humor,
for while I was in the home of these Ladonia prospective
purchasers, an account of my swindling was published in
the daily paper. Fortunately for me my name was
spelled incorrectly. This was once a paper was thanked
for a typographical error.
The family and friends joked freely in my presence
about the old fellow who had been skinned; "How easy
it was to get some people," and that P. T. Barnum was
right, "There's a sucker born every minute."
Silently acknowledging the compliments, I verbally
joined in the fun of swatting myself. I kept the secret
that this "easy mark" was in the bosom of their family
as I thought if they knew it, it would complicate my
deal with them.
If ever a man used all his persuasive powers, I did.
I talked land, soil, crops, stock, cotton and everything
advantageous about my property for days. All the time
I could feel the pressure of the ninety thousand dollar
debt to Slaughter. It was a case of a goat being "led
to slaughter" if I could not raise the money in time to
save myself from total ruin.
Another problem presented itself: If I did not sell
to these people, where would I get any money to carry
out my intention of going after the "bunk"? This
thought and the magnitude of my debt spurred my determination
to put this deal over. But to no avail. I
simply could not "close" and the dotted line remained
unsigned.
I was not discouraged, but my enthusiasm was a
little dampened. I decided to return to Dallas at once
and see if anything had turned up which would encourage
me. I called Captain Gunning of the Police Force before
leaving, in case he might have leads that would send
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Norfleet, J. Frank, 1864-. Norfleet: the actual experiences of a Texas rancher's 30,000-mile transcontinental chase after five confidence men., book, 1924; Ft. Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5864/m1/42/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .