Mike's Willed Testament

Mike's power of attorney is the legal instrument at the center of Jubal Harshaw's effort to secure Mike's wealth without surrendering Mike's freedom or leaving his estate vulnerable to political maneuvering. Jubal gives Joseph E. Douglas authority to manage the money, but arranges the power so that it is not irrevocable: Douglas's stewardship depends on his good behavior, and it reverts to Ben Caxton. The document thus converts a financial delegation into a safeguard against both a contest over the inheritance and Douglas's temptation to make the arrangement permanent.

Purpose and Negotiation

Jubal explains that the group is waiting for word from the Secretary General rather than continuing to bargain at the Palace. Remaining at home, he says, lets them refuse to dicker if the government tries to improve its position. The immediate issue is not simply whether Douglas will handle Mike's affairs; it is what authority he receives and on what terms. By keeping the party away from the Palace, Jubal tries to deny officials the setting and leverage for another round of negotiation.

Captain Willem van Tromp observes that Jubal has already given Douglas what he wanted. Jubal's answer identifies the limitation that matters: Douglas would prefer an utterly irrevocable power of attorney, but the document instead makes his control conditional and provides for it to return to Ben. Jubal regards Ben as someone Douglas despises and fears, a choice that helps ensure Douglas cannot treat the office as an unanswerable personal possession. The possibility of further offers from other political figures also shapes the strategy. Jubal names Kung as a likely rival negotiator and says the party is eating and drinking only what it brought with it, a practical precaution while they wait outside the Palace's influence.

The Safeguard and Its Political Design

The power of attorney is part of a broader plan to prevent a struggle over Mike's money. Jubal tells his companions that the financial problem was comparatively simple: the assets had to be tied up so that a fight over them could not take place. His arrangement makes Douglas responsible for stewardship, yet gives him a reason to behave properly: if he does not, control returns to Ben. The document's importance lies as much in this conditional structure as in the authority it grants.

Jubal also reveals that he has given different people different accounts of the consequences of Mike's death. He has privately told Douglas that death ends his stewardship, while allowing a rumor to reach Kung and others that Mike's death would give Douglas permanent control. The misinformation is calculated to affect how interested parties assess the stakes, not to alter the document itself. It makes the power of attorney a component of political misdirection: Jubal uses uncertainty about the inheritance to discourage others from treating Mike's estate as an easy prize.

Jubal's Decision to Delegate

Jubal says that, if he had been able to do so, he would have removed not only Mike's political significance but also every penny of his inheritance. The remark describes the scale of the danger as Jubal sees it: Mike's money and public importance attract pressures that threaten his well-being and liberty. Jubal does not present himself as eager to acquire wealth or to become a permanent financial officer. He says he wants to live his own life, sleep in his own bed, and avoid the office work he had feared would consume his remaining years.

His solution is to make Douglas bear the administrative burden. Douglas already has the staff and institutional arrangements to work behind the sort of barricades the job requires. Jubal therefore hands him the entire load of managing the money, while insisting that he was not afraid Douglas would steal from Mike. Jubal dismisses money hunger as characteristic of small-time politicians and distinguishes Douglas's faults from that kind of pettiness. The delegation is pragmatic rather than an expression of uncomplicated trust: the conditional terms protect Mike, while the workload is assigned to someone already equipped to carry it.

Execution and Meaning

Once the final package arrives, Jubal has everyone examine its copies for loopholes, traps, or ambiguity, offering a prize for any defect. The group finds none. Jubal concludes that Douglas has kept the document simple and straightforward, implementing their earlier agreement rather than adding hidden conditions. Before Mike signs, Jubal orders every copy to be witnessed, with particular attention to Captain Willem van Tromp, Sven Nelson, and Mahmoud, and has Miriam prepare her seal. The procedure surrounds the signature with multiple witnesses and seals, making the formal execution a collective check on the written terms.

Mike takes pleasure in signing his name, drawing each letter carefully. The signing therefore has a personal dimension within the legal machinery: the person whose property and political position have occasioned the negotiations performs the decisive act himself. After the copies are signed and sealed, Jubal writes an approval for payment on the hotel bill on Mike's behalf and tells Bradley that the expense is now his boss's worry. That small transfer of responsibility echoes the larger one embodied by the power of attorney. The document settles who must manage Mike's financial affairs, but its deeper purpose is to keep the administration of the inheritance from becoming another means of controlling Mike.