THE TRANSGRESSORS. 

STORY OF A GREAT SIN. 

A Political Novel of the TwentiethCentury. 

By FRANCIS A. ADAMS, Author of "WHO RULES AMERICA?"

Philadelphia:Independence Publishing Company. 

CONTENTS

BOOK I. 

HAIL TO THE SHERIFF OF LUZERNE. PAGE. 

CHAPTER I. Clouds Gather at Wilkes-Barre 1 " II. Harvey Trueman, Attorney 16 " III. Conflicting Opinions 23 " IV. A Quiet Afternoon at Woodward 32 " V. An Unquiet Day at Hazleton 48 " VI. A Stand For Conscience Sake 63

BOOK II. 

THE SYNDICATE INCORPORATES. PAGE. 

CHAPTER VII. An Anti-Trust Conference 74 " VIII. A Startling Proposal 81 " IX. Arraignment of The Transgressors 89 " X. The Secret Session 110 " XI. Martha's Premonition 124 " XII. Taking the Secret Oath 135 " XIII. The List of Transgressors 150

BOOK III. 

THE SYNDICATE DECLARES A DIVIDEND. PAGE. 

CHAPTER XIV. Birth of a New Party 163 " XV. Choosing a Leader 169 " XVI. Two Points of View 183 " XVII. Opening the Campaign 189 " XVIII. On to New York 197 " XIX. Departure of the Committee 206 " XX. In the Enemy's Stronghold 212 " XXI. The Committee Reports Progress 224 " XXII. Millionaires Sowing the Wind 230 " XXIII. A Day Ahead of Schedule 241

BOOK IV. 

IN FREEDOM'S NAME. PAGE. 

CHAPTER XXIV. The Syndicate in Liquidation 256 " XXV. Big News in the Javelin Office 263 " XXVI. On to Wilkes-Barre 276 " XXVII. Sister Martha Averts a Calamity 284 " XXVIII. At the Dead Coal King's Mansion 298 " XXIX. Peace Hath Her Victories 309 " XXX. A Double Funeral 324 " XXXI. The New Era 333

BOOK I. 

Hail to the Sheriff of Luzerne!

THE TRANSGRESSORS. 

CHAPTER I. 

CLOUDS GATHER AT WILKES-BARRE. 

There are few valleys to compare with that of the Susquehanna. In pointof picturesque scenery and modern alteration attained by the unceasinglabor of man, the antithesis between the natural and the artificial ispronounced in many respects; especially at that place in the river whereit runs through the steep banks on which is situated the thriving cityof Wilkes-Barre. Here may be seen the majestic hills standing assentinels over the marts of men that crowd the river edge. The verdureof these hills during the greater part of the year is the one sight thatgladdens the eyes of the miners whose lives, for the most part, arespent in the coal pits. 

The picture would be perfect were it not for the presence of theCoal-Breakers. These sombre, grizzly structures stand in a long line onthe west bank of the river, and appear to the eye of one who knows theirpurpose, as the gibbets that dotted the shores of England and Francemust have loomed up before the mariners of the Channel during theSeventeenth Century, and when the supply of pirates exceeded the numberof gibbets, large as this number was in both lands. 

The breaker is a truly modern invention, which, had it existed in thedays of the Spanish inquisition, would have placed in the hands of themalevolent fanatics an instrument of exquisite torture. It isconstructed to effect a double purpose, the achievement of the maximumof production and the expenditure of the minimum of human effort. It isthe acme of inventive genius. To work the breakers, a man need have nomore intelligence than the tow-mule that plods a beaten path; and such aman is the ideal laborer from the standpoint of the owners of thebreakers. 

But such men are not indigenous to America; they must be imported, andthat, too, from the most benighted lands of Europe. 

What an incubator of warped humanity the breaker has become! It sapseven the attenuated manhood of the aliens it attracts, and when they arerendered useless for its ends, emits them to be a scourge on the earth. 

But the breakers are the monument of the civilization of the NineteenthCentury, which esteems commercial as superior to mental advancement. 

As the drama to be unfolded will be enacted largely in this spot, whichnature fashioned on its fairest pattern, and which man has seared withhis cruel tool, a description of the town of Wilkes-Barre and itsenvirons is essential. The town is the creation of the Mines. Coalabounds in the valley of the Susquehanna, and from the first impetusgiven the coal industry by the establishment of railroads, the mines atthis place have been worked without intermission. The population of thetown has been increasing steadily for the past thirty years, untilto-day it reaches the proportions of a populous city. There is littlevariety in the citizens; but the contrast they present makes up for thisdeficiency. Broadly speaking there are but two classes, the magnates andtheir mercenaries. The former live in the mansions on the esplanade andconstitute the governing minority. The coal miners and the workers onthe breakers, who eke out their lives in slavery, and who sleep inquarters that make the huts of the peasants of Europe seem actuallyinviting, constitute the vast majority. 

The most prosperous business of the town outside of the Coal industry, which is, of course, monopolized by the magnates, is the Undertakingbusiness. There are almost as many establishments for the burial of manas there are saloons to cater to his cheer. In contradistinction to thecustom in this country, the business has been taken up by others thanthe worthy order of sextons. That this condition should be, is accountedfor by the fact that there is a paucity of churches in the town, andthat the sextons were unable to accomplish the work that devolved upontheir craft. Death is not attributable, in the main, to natural causesin Wilkes-Barre; it is brought about by the engines of destruction whichthe magnates are pleased to term, Modern Machinery. 

Association makes the mind incapable of appreciating nice distinctionsin regard to familiar objects or persons. Thus to the residents of thetown there is nothing abnormal in their condition. It is only to theobserver from without that the horrors of the Pennsylvania town areapparent. That such a spot should develop in a State high in rank, andamong the oldest of those comprising the greatest republic, seemsincomprehensible. In the very State where the Declaration ofIndependence was sent to the world, proclaiming that men are createdfree and equal, and that the right of the majority is the supreme law, how comes it that a settlement can be maintained where the rights of themajority can be ignored and suppressed at the point of the bayonet? Foran answer to this question, comes the monosyllable--Trusts!

Wilkes-Barre is a typical specimen community which may be taken as thesample unit for a microscopic investigation of the conditions that havecreated the modern institution of _voluntary slavery_. The scrutiny ofthe specimen is given through the eyes of a resident of the town, andthe observations are his. 

"In a month then, they will shut down three of the mines, and will closethe Jumbo Breaker. You know what that means. I have asked the men ofShaft Fifteen if they intend to starve, and they answered to a man thatthey would sooner be shot than starve like rats in their homes. "

"What is that to me? Am I to look after every man who has ever blasted aton of coal in my pits or crushed in the breakers?

"You tell the men of Shaft Fifteen, and of every other shaft in thevalley, that if they make a single move that threatens the property ofthe Paradise Coal Company I will see that they don't 'starve in theirhomes. '"

"Then you will not arbitrate?"

"There is nothing to arbitrate. I have no more work for the men. Thatsettles it. The world is big, and if they can find no work inWilkes-Barre, let them hunt for it elsewhere. "

"Mr. Purdy, I give you ample warning. The miners will declare a generalstrike if you persist in locking out half of them now that the winterweather has set in. The pits and the breakers can stand idle while thedemand for coal at an advanced price is created by an artificial coalfamine; but the miners have to be fed. They work like machines; but asyet they have not learned the lesson of living without food. "

"Metz, I have given you my final answer. The mines and breakers close onthe day I stated. "

Carl Metz is the foreman of the largest of the Paradise Company's Coalshafts, the "Big Horn. " He is in consultation with Mr. Gorman Purdy, thepresident of the company. Their closing remarks as just quoted areuttered as they stand on the steps leading to the street from theoffices on the main square of Wilkes-Barre. 

The men nod to each other, and separate. 

"What did he say?" a man demands of Metz, in a weak voice. Thequestioner is a typical miner. Death has placed its irrevocable stampupon him; he has served his three years in the pits; has beentransferred to the breakers when the signs of failing strength areperceived by the mine overseer. In another year he will be in the handsof the mortuary vulture; his last week's earnings will go to pay for thehard earned grave that is grudgingly given "A Miner. "

"He says the mines will close. "

"Yes, and we will starve. Well, you can tell him that we won't. "

"I told him that the men were desperate. "

"And he laughed at you. Why wouldn't he? We have threatened to strikefor three years. It's getting to be an old story. This time it's ourturn to laugh. "

"What do you mean, Eric?" is the anxious query of Metz. He detects ahidden significance in the miner's words. 

"Mean! Why I mean that we are _going_ to strike this time, and that itwill be the biggest fight the coal region has ever seen. 

"We can't get the mine owners to arbitrate, but we can get the coalminers to unite. If one man is shut out to starve we will all go out. "

"And our places will be filled by imported miners, " interjects theforeman. 

"Not this time. We will have our pickets out in all directions, andevery train will be boarded. The men the mine owners bring on will betold to keep away. "

As the men speak they are unconscious of the approach of the Sheriff ofLuzerne County. He has apparently been watching the movements of Metz. All the morning he has shadowed the mine foreman, now he steals upbehind the two and stands within earshot. He overhears their words. 

"Let me tell you one thing, " he calls out in a shrill voice, as he stepsup to them, "you don't want to forget that there is a Sheriff in LuzerneCounty when you count on winning out in this strike. "

"We will do nothing that will require your attention, " sententiouslyretorts the miner. "We have had one taste of Pennsylvania justice, atHomestead, and don't want another. "

"I have my eye on you two, and if there is any trouble I'll know whom tohold responsible, " continues the Sheriff. Then he walks on towards theoffice of the Paradise Coal Company. He enters the building and is soonin the private office of the President. 

The miners walk on in silence towards their homes in the East End of thetown across the Bridge. It is not a time to talk. These sturdy men havea reverence for words; they use them only when the occasion requires. Atthe door of the ramshackle hut that serves as the abode of Eric Neilson, the men halt. 

"Eric!" says Metz, "I hope you will let me know of any steps that are tobe taken by the miners in your section. I have been in this region fortwenty years, and know where the rights of the miners end and the rightsof the mine owners begin. To back our rights we have nothing but ourbare fists; the mine owners have the city, state and Federalauthorities. "

"If there is anything to be done that will be of importance to us all, you will hear from me, " are Eric's reassuring words. 

Carl Metz knows the value of a promise from his fellow-workman. He issatisfied. 

In the homely parlance of the mines, these men agreed "to keep tabs foreach other on the square. " They will let no event of importance go bywithout reporting it to each other, and in this way give each fullparticulars of the movements of the miners. 

Metz turns back towards the centre of the city. He is bent on seeingPurdy again, and of appealing to him to reconsider his "shut down"orders. 

Hardly has he reached Market Street when he runs across the Attorney ofthe Paradise Coal Company, a young and brilliant man who is one of theproducts of the town school and academy, Harvey Trueman. 

"Good day, Mr. Trueman, " is his salutation. 

"How now, Metz?" responds the preoccupied lawyer. "Have you some troubleon your hands?"

"It's the same old story, sir, only this time the men are determined tostrike. I have spoken to Mr. Purdy to-day. He refuses to yield a singleinch. 

"I thought it might be a wise thing to see him again and make the truthclear to him, that the men will unquestionably resort to violence ifthey are locked out at the opening of winter. "

"You let this matter stand as it is. I shall see Mr. Purdy in an hour orso, and shall make it my duty to explain the situation. I know what themen are likely to do, and what concessions will satisfy them. Metz, Iassure you we do not want trouble. If I have any influence with theCompany, matters will be satisfactorily settled. "

"When can the men have an answer?"

"Not for a day or two, I suppose. "

"But they must know immediately, Mr. Trueman. You are aware that theyare dependent upon the Company Stores for their food. Well, the noticehas been posted that no more credit shall be extended after nextSaturday. This means that, for the men who are laid off, there isnothing left but starvation. "

Trueman is troubled at this statement. He has always been an opponent ofthe "Company Store" system; now he sees that it is likely to be thepotent factor in exciting the miners to revolt. 

"All I can promise you, is that I shall work in your interests and getas speedy a reply as possible, " he repeats. "By the by, " he adds, "willyou come with me to my office now, I want you to go over some of thedetails of the 'Homestead Strike' with me. I want to see what lessons Ican gather from it which will help me to advise Purdy in the presenttrouble. You were in the Homestead strike, were you not?"

By a nod of his head, Metz answers in the affirmative. 

They are seated in the office of the young attorney for the next hour, during which period they review the events of the great iron strike of'92; the reasons that led to it, and the similarity of the conditionsthat exist in Wilkes-Barre. 

Having given Trueman the details of the Homestead affair, Metz explainsthe existing grievances of the miners of Wilkes-Barre as follows:

"The question raised by the miners is not one for advanced wages; it isnot one of reduced hours; it is not a demand for proper protection forthemselves in the mines. These things they have asked for time andagain--little enough for men who wear out their lives in the darknessand damp of the mines. But these things they have never been able toobtain. 

"A bare living is all that the mine owners would concede to the miners. This living, meagre as it was, sufficed to keep life in the miners andtheir families. 

"Now the miners are to be deprived of the crust of bread. You cannotsnatch the bone from a hungry dog, without danger. Do you imagine that aman has less spirit than a beast?

"The whole trouble, Mr. Trueman, arises from the formation of the CoalTrust. I have all the facts in regard to this matter. And so far as thatgoes, there is not a man in the labor organizations of this country whodoes not keep in touch with the events of the day. The education of themasses is a dangerous thing in a land that is ruled by force, fraud andfinesse, as the United States is to-day. 

"It is the Coal Trust that has brought on this threatened strike. 

"When there were independent coal companies, the condition of the minerswas better by far than it is to-day. The unrestricted operation of minesmade it impossible for any two, or even a considerable number, of themine owners to unite for the purpose of reducing the wages of the mineoperatives, and of increasing the price of the coal to the consumer. 

"But with the Trust in operation all restraints are removed. 

"The illegal traffic rates that the Trust secures, make it impossiblefor any mine to be successfully worked that is out of the combine. 

"The first step that the Coal Trust took was to limit the supply of coalat the height of the summer season, when big shipments are ordinarilymade. This afforded a pretext for an advance in the retail price. 

"To limit the supply, the Trust shut down work in half of the mines. 

"For the past seven years this practice has been followed. Now thesimple miners know what to expect. They have been submissive, becausethe suspension of work came in the summer time when they could live onlittle, and did not have to withstand the rigor of a Pennsylvaniawinter. 

"Now the Paradise Coal Company announces that it will close down thework on three of the mines next Saturday. This throws the men out in thecold of November. If this plan is carried out it will bring on a longand bitter strike. "

"I quite agree with you, " assents Trueman. He puffs meditatively at acigar. 

"You are too young a man to remember the days of the Molly Maguires, those awful days when murderers lurked on every road in the anthracitecoal field of this state. It was back in 1876 that the last of theMaguires was hunted down. Of course there is no excuse for murder; yetthe Maguires were the result of a pernicious condition of wagedepression and degradation of humanity. 

"When the just demands of the miners were recognized the reign of terrorceased. 

"But the Trusts have produced another organization of societies in thisstate, bent on murder and arson. The Irish, English and Welsh miners, who predominated in the region twenty years ago, are now supplanted byPoles, Hungarians, Italians and the worst types of Lithuanians andSlavs. These newcomers have brought with them the racial prejudices andinstitutions that caused them to be enemies in their native lands; theyconstitute a dangerous element in the population of this country. Solong as they are able to get food they remain passive, except for thefeuds they carry on amongst themselves. These immigrants are notinspired to come to this land by reason of an appreciation of theliberty that our Constitution vouchsafes to all mankind. They have beenbrought here by the agents of the Trusts, because they are willing towork for pauper wage. 

"I can tell you, Mr. Trueman, that in the strike that I feel will followthe lock-out, there will be bloodshed. It may not be at the initiativeof the miners. But the fear of the magnates is now aroused and they willnot hesitate to employ force. Once the appeal to force is made, where isit to end?"

"All that you have told me, I shall report to Mr. Purdy, " Trueman says, as he extends his hand to grasp that of the plain, earnest miner. 

Metz departs, well satisfied with the progress he has made in advancingthe cause of the miners. 

Harvey Trueman goes at once to the private office of the President ofthe Paradise Coal Company. 

He brings the strike matter up for consideration at once; and also thecase of a widow who is bringing suit against the company for therecovery of damages for the loss of her husband who had been killed inthe mines. 

"You are to press the defence of this case for damages to a successfultermination for the company, " are Mr. Purdy's last words, supplementedby the remark, "I shall attend to the strike in person. "

CHAPTER II. 

HARVEY TRUEMAN, ATTORNEY. 

Harvey Trueman steps from the County Clerk's office into the corridor, on the second floor of the Court House at Wilkes-Barre, with theabsolute knowledge that the case in hand is won. 

As he pushes his way down the stairway to the first floor where thecourtroom is located, he elbows through a throng of rough dressedminers--Polaks, Magyars, and here and there a man of half-Irishparentage, whose Irish name is all that is left from the Molly Maguiredays to indicate the one-time ascendency of that race in the lands ofthe coal region. 

Certain victory within his grasp--a minor victory in the long line oflegal fights he has conducted for the Paradise Coal Company--he does notsmile. It is a cruel thing he is about to do. Cruel? He asks himself ifthe sanctity of the law does not make the contemplated move right. Harvey Trueman has a code of morals, an austere code, that has made himenemies even among the people whose champion he has grown to be in threeyears' practice of the law in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. 

He is a tall, slender, square-jawed man of thirty-six. His forehead ishigh and broad and his hair is worn longer than that of other youngmen--parted on the side and brushed back. He has thin lips and a mouthof unusual width. His mouth-line is as straight as a bowstring, and whenhe speaks, which is often, or smiles, which is not so frequent, he showsan even line of large white teeth. 

There is something very earnest in the expression of Harvey Trueman'sface--a soberness that is seldom found in men under fifty. A straight, strong nose, large nostrils and clean shaven upper lip that isabnormally long; cheek bones that stand out prominently; gray eyes setrather deep in his head for so young a man; a square chin protrudingslightly; and wearing a frock coat that falls to his knees in limpfolds, Trueman is a commanding figure, full of character. 

He is an inch over six feet in height. Among the miners who lookstraight into the eye to read character, Harvey Trueman has beenpronounced an unflinching tool of the coal barons--one whose unbendingwill means the ultimate accomplishment of any undertaking. 

Not one of the miners employed by the Paradise Coal Company has everknown the young lawyer to take an unfair advantage. But he has upheldthe law for the proprietors of the mines when the men have made a fightagainst the "company stores, " where they are forced to spend the wagesmade by the sweat of their brows down in the mines or on the breakers. 

Trueman is looked upon by all the miners of the region as a part andparcel of the law, and all law is regarded by them as a thing made tooppress the poor and aggrandize the wealthy. 

A simple investigation on the eve of the present battle has placed inthe hands of the young lawyer ammunition which will rout the enemy onthe first volley. 

But such an enemy! Above all things, Harvey Trueman is a magnanimousfoe. Now that he has his case won, he feels half humiliated. In thecourt room, occupying a front seat while she awaits the arrival of herlawyer, sits the widow of Marcus Braun, the Magyar miner. 

The miner was killed in Shaft Fifteen of the Paradise Company, which isthree miles down the river from the wagon bridge at Wilkes-Barre. Standing at the bottom of the shaft when an elevator cage fell, uponwhich were two loaded coal cars, he was crushed to a pulp. His widow issuing for damages for the death of her husband. In the front seat withher, in the court room, is her five-year-old boy, whom she must support, perhaps by taking boarders at the mines, if the mine superintendent willpermit her to go in debt for the rent of a house in case her litigationagainst the company is not successful. 

True, the rope by which the cage had been lifted and lowered had wornthin, and the foreman had warned the superintendent the morning of theaccident that a new one was needed. But the poor Magyar at the bottom ofthe shaft did not know it. He had in no way contributed to thenegligence which brought about his death. He knew his work was perilous. In the law, it is a question whether or not the case can be successfullydefended by the coal company. 

Trueman's trip to the Clerk's office has been for the purpose ofascertaining the miner's standing with reference to his citizenship atthe time of his death. With his experience in the practice, the lawyersurmised that the Magyar was never naturalized. If he was notnaturalized, his widow has no standing in the court where the suit hasbeen brought. In that case, it belongs to the Federal Court, and hiswidow and orphan, as well as the impecunious lawyer who has taken thewidow's case on a contingent fee, will not have the means nor thefortitude to begin action in the higher court. 

Trueman discovers after a few moments of investigation in the Clerk'soffice that his suspicion is well founded. The miner had never taken outnaturalization papers. 

Cruel? In the concrete, perhaps. The law is made for the multitude. 

"It is a legitimate defense!" Trueman murmurs to himself, as he passesdown the stairs. "The Magyar bore none of the burdens of citizenship. Neither should he or his, share in the protection which the State ofPennsylvania affords her citizens. "

"Will the Magyar's widow get anything?" asks O'Connor, one of thehalf-Irish, half-Italian miners, whose elbow Trueman brushes as he walkstowards the court room. 

Trueman befriended O'Connor once in the matter of rent. 

"No. He was not naturalized!"

"His blood be on old Purdy's head, then!" says O'Connor. "The mine bosshas said he will put her out in the street. She's already months back inher rent. "

Trueman passes on as if he has not heard O'Connor, who is at the CourtHouse as one of the witnesses. 

As the young lawyer pushes his way into the court room his quick glancecatches the bent form of the woman in the front seat, clad in thecheapest of black, and the open-eyed boy at her side. 

The proceedings are short. Trueman sits down at one of the tables insidethe bar enclosure and hastily dashes off an affidavit containing thefacts he has discovered, and a formal motion to dismiss. The Judge hearsthe motion, which is opposed to in a half-hearted way by the lawyer onthe other side. The suit is dismissed. 

When she is finally made to understand what has happened, the widowburst into tears. The boy, at sight of his mother's distress, sets up awailing that echoes through the whole Court House. In the hallway, thebunch of miners from Shaft Fifteen gather about the weeping woman as shecomes out. One more instance of the heartlessness of the law which ismade by the men elected by the Coal Barons, is brought home to them. 

To these ignorant men, to whom the first principle of self-preservationis that limit of erudition set by the coal barons themselves, whosefirst and last lessons in life are to read correctly the checks of thetime-keeper and the figures on the "company store" checks which theyreceive in payment for their work, what difference does it make that thedead miner was a Magyar--not a full fledged American?

He lost his life down in a coal mine where he went to dig coal that someAmerican, way off beyond the hills, might toast his toes on a winter'sevening. His life's work was to help keep the American public warm. Inreturn, all he asked was very poor food, a straw bed in a hovel, and acrust for his wife should he be killed in the undertaking. 

There is much grumbling already on account of the company stores. Thewalking delegate of the miners' union has ordered a strike in CarbonCounty, adjoining, unless the Paradise Company shall reduce the price ofblasting powder sold to the miners, fifteen cents a pound. 

The miners leave the Court House grumbling. Soothing the Magyar's widowin their rough way, they form a grim procession and trudge back over thedusty road to the breaker and the row of hovels on either side of it. 

CHAPTER III. 

CONFLICTING OPINIONS. 

An hour afterward Trueman is seated in his office, in the Commercebuilding, on the public square of Wilkes-Barre, in the middle of whichis situated the Court House. On the same floor with his office are thegeneral offices of the Paradise Coal Company. 

Besides giving him distinction as a "corporation lawyer, " which has itseffect in drawing outside clients, this proximity to the general officesof the Coal Barons' syndicate relieves the young lawyer from the paymentof rent. For the convenience of having a shrewd attorney always at hisbeck and call, Gorman Purdy, president of the company, is willing thatTrueman shall occupy the office rent free in addition to the liberalsalary which is paid him. 

While Trueman is successfully managing the legal affairs of the ParadiseCoal Company and achieving a brilliant reputation at the bar ofPennsylvania, Gorman Purdy is "trying him out" with an entirelydifferent object in view. He desires to test the young man's mettle as aman even more than as a lawyer. To accomplish this end it is mostimportant that Trueman shall occupy the office next the suite of thegreat coal corporation. 

Lying on the lawyer's desk is an open envelope, by the side of which isa check for one thousand dollars, being the amount of his salary fromthe coal company for two months. In his ears still ring the plaintivesobs of the Magyar's widow and the denunciation of O'Connor. 

"The mine boss will put her in the street!"

In his mind's eye he pictures the dusty road separating the two rows ofminers' huts, down around the bend in the Susquehanna. He sees themountain beyond and the column of steam rising from a more distantbreaker, half way up the slope--a beautiful vision from the distance, but how squalid in its dull gray misery to those who spend their livesin its midst. 

At this moment the miners who were in attendance at court are trudgingalong this highway, chattering their grievances to one another. Thewidow and her boy bring up the rear, while the men march solemnly onahead, talking of their right to live--just to live. 

Across these mountains, in the city of Philadelphia, six score years andmore ago a convention once uttered the identical sentiments being voicedby these serfs of the coal seams. Harvey Trueman has been a deep studentof the teachings of that convention. On the shelves of his library arethe well-thumbed writings of Washington and the Adamses and ThomasJefferson. He is a firm believer of the doctrines enunciated at FaneuilHall, and by Henry in Virginia. 

To-morrow, perhaps to-night, the widow's paltry chattels will be set inthe middle of that road by the sheriff. She will be dispossessed by theParadise Coal Company. A frail woman, pale with poverty of the blood, shrinking with every breath she draws, because she knows the very airshe breathes comes to her over the lands of the Coal Barons--a haggardwidow of the mines will be deprived of her miserable shelter, not fitfor a beast of burden, by the richest coal corporation on earth. Why?Because her abject misery is a lesson too graphic in its horribledetails to be constantly before the miners. Allowed to remain there, thewidow will breed trouble among the men who are all risking their livesevery minute of every working day, even as her husband risked his. Dispossess proceedings do not come under the supervision of HarveyTrueman, but he has ever been observant. A blind man may not remain inignorance of the human suffering in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. Men in the general offices of the Paradise Coal Company see only thepapers and receive the returns. They ask not "Who put the widow of ourlatest victim in the street?"

The sheriff sees to the rest. All hail to the Sheriff of Luzerne! ButHarvey Trueman knows of these things. He has a mind that pierces thethin walls of the miners' cabins and sees beyond the papers placed inthe sheriff's hands. 

"I suppose she will be hungry for three or four days, " he tells himself, "except for the crusts the other women give her. But in a month she willbe married again. If she had recovered a thousand dollars damages forthe life of her husband, one of the other miners would have had it in aweek. "

He picks up the check and glances at it for the third time. Then hefolds it and places it in his pocketbook. 

"I am paid the thousand dollars, " he continues, "for keeping her fromgetting it--for two months of my life spent in throwing up legalbarricades to prevent the miners from approaching too near to thecoffers of the Paradise Coal Company. If the Magyar's widow hadcollected damages for her husband's death, there would be twenty moresuits filed in a fortnight. "

And so he appeases his conscience. He tries to be flippant, as he hasseen the officers of the great corporation flippant about such matters, but in spite of himself his heartstrings tighten. Harvey Trueman isacting a lie, and his heart knows it, though his brain has not yet foundit out. 

The office door swings open. A man of fifty-five enters--a short manwith a stubby red beard, a round face, and hair well sprinkled withgray. He is dressed in a gray cutaway business suit and wears a silkhat. His neckscarf is of English make, his collar is of the thickestlinen and neatest pattern, and his general appearance that of thearistocratic business man whose evenings in a provincial city are spentat a club, and in the metropolis at the opera. 

It is Gorman Purdy. Trueman's fondest hope--next to the one that at somedistant day, say ten or fifteen years in the future, he may sit in theUnited States Senate--is that this man's daughter, Ethel Purdy, renownedin more than one city for her beauty, may become his wife. Indeed, thehope of the Senate and of Ethel go hand in hand. With either, he wouldnot know what to do without the other, and without the one he would notwant the other. 

"Trueman, we are going to have trouble with the men. " Purdy draws achair up to Trueman's desk. 

"I've just been talking over the telephone to the mine boss at Harleigh. The men there and at Hazleton hold a meeting to-night to decide whetheror not they will strike in sympathy with the Carbon County miners, because of the shut-down. 

"Now, we've got to strike the first blow! The men over at Pittsfield andat the Woodward mines will join the strikers if the Harleigh andHazleton men go out. We must get an injunction to prevent the committeefrom the affected mines from visiting the other men. If they come it isfor the sole purpose of inducing the men to strike. Isn't thatsufficient grounds for an injunction?"

"You can get your injunction, Mr. Purdy, " Trueman replies, "but whateffect will it have if you haven't a regiment to back it up?"

"We have the regiment! The Coal and Iron Police have been drilling inthe Hazleton armory. We can put three hundred men in the field from theoffices of the several works, armed with riot guns. "

"You may rely on me to get the injunction, Mr. Purdy, " the younger mansays, after a moment's pause, "but I would not advise calling out theCoal and Iron Police until some act of violence is committed by theminers themselves. It may lead to bloodshed, may it not?"

"Lead to bloodshed? Why not? For what have we been training the Coal andIron Police? The miners of the Pennsylvania coal region need a wholesomelesson. They have no respect for property rights. Let them be incited toa strike by the walking delegates and their battle cry is 'Burn!Destroy!'

"We want no repetition of the Homestead and Latimer riots. They were toocostly to the employers! Coal breakers and company stores are noplaythings for the whimsical notions of so-called labor leaders who donot know the conditions prevailing in this region. They are tooexpensive to be made the food of the strikers' torch. 

"Stop the strikers before they have a chance to blacken Luzerne Countywith the charred ruins of the breakers! They'll be sacking our homesnext. Already their attitude is almost insufferable. People beyond thesehills do not understand the reign of terror under which theseforeign-born men hold the Wyoming Valley!

"It has come a time when _we_ must shoot first, if there is to be anyshooting! I've had a talk to-day with Sheriff Marlin. It is fortunatethat we have a sheriff who has the grit to stand his ground. He says atelegram or telephone message will summon him to Harleigh or Hazleton ata moment's notice, and he will swear our Coal and Iron Policemen in asdeputies. 

"Whatever they do then will be legal--_Understand?_"

Trueman looks straight at Purdy several seconds before he replies. 

"No, " he says, flushing, "not every thing they do. I do not set myjudgment against yours, but I do counsel great caution in placingSheriff Marlin in command of the Coal and Iron Police. While you may becorrect in saying we must administer a quick and salutary lesson to theminers, as deputy sheriffs your men might be tempted to shoot too soon. "

"Shoot too soon? If these men gather on mischief bent, we can't shoottoo soon!"

Purdy in turn flushes, as he carefully scrutinizes Trueman's seriousface, which has grown suddenly pale. It is the first time his talentedyoung protege has ever shown the white feather. 

"Oh, yes, yes, Mr. Purdy--they--they can shoot too soon. Even deputysheriffs cannot commit murder with impunity. Fight these men with thelaw. It's all in your favor! Sheriff Marlin could not step out there inthe street and shoot my fox terrier unless he could show someone's lifewas in danger. "

With a show of impatience Gorman Purdy arises from his chair. He isdispleased beyond measure with the attitude assumed by Trueman. 

"Well, sir!" he says, "you should know there is a difference betweenHarvey Trueman's fox terrier, so long as you are general counsel for theParadise Coal Company, and a man who marches along the highway with arevolver in one hand and a torch in the other, his cowardly heart filledwith murder and arson! I am greatly disappointed with your views. Perhaps it were better that I place the injunction proceedings in otherhands!"

A sharp retort is on Trueman's lips, words not sarcastic, but stingingin their earnest truthfulness, and wise beyond the years of the manabout to utter them. Each man has discovered that which is repugnant tohim in the other--that which has remained hidden through years offriendship. 

The door of the office is unceremoniously opened, and a girlish voicesays:

"Ah, father--I thought you must be keeping Mr. Trueman. Don't youremember you promised me at breakfast you would not? Our ride was fixedfor three o'clock. It is now nearly four. Why, you both look positivelyserious!"

Ethel Purdy, gowned in a black riding habit which displays a dainty, enamelled bootleg, and wearing a gray felt hat of the rough rider type, gracefully poised on one side of her head, smiles incredulously as shestands, one hand on the knob, looking in through the door at the twomen. 

CHAPTER IV. 

A QUIET AFTERNOON AT WOODWARD. 

Ethel enters Harvey's office just in time to avert a quarrel between theCoal King and his attorney. In her presence both men resume their normalreserve of manner. 

"So you have come for your afternoon ride?" Purdy inquires, in apleasant tone. 

"Well, my dear, you shall not be disappointed. The matter Harvey and Iwere discussing can be deferred. Go and enjoy an hour's exercise. Ishall be home when you arrive. "

"Won't you go with us, papa?"

"Not to-day. I have a Board meeting to attend. "

"I do wish you would pay as much attention to your health as you do tobusiness. You are not looking well. Have you forgotten what the doctortold you about over-working?"

"No, my dear; I remember his advice; but he does not know what aresponsibility rests upon me as the President of the Paradise CoalCompany. If I did not attend to the details of this business, therewould be a dozen competitors in the coal industry within a year. Even ifI cannot go with you every day, you have Harvey as an escort. You twowill not miss me. When I courted your mother, I should not have insistedupon a third party accompanying us on our rambles. "

"Then we will join you at dinner, " says Harvey, as he walks towards thedoor. 

At the curb in front of the entrance of the office building, a groomstands holding the bridles of three magnificent hunters. 

Harvey assists Ethel to her saddle and springs on to his horse. "TakeNero back to the stables, " Harvey instructs the groom. "Mr. Purdy willnot use him this afternoon. "

The riders are soon out on the turnpike that leads to Woodward. For aNovember afternoon, the weather is delightful. The prospects of abracing canter over the mountain roads could not be brighter. The highcolor on the cheeks of Harvey and Ethel show that they are not strangersto outdoor exercise. Indeed they are types of perfect physicalcondition. 

Since the day Harvey Trueman became the attorney of the Paradise CoalCompany, and the protege of Gorman Purdy, the young couple have beenconstant companions. They have been encouraged to seek each other'scompany by Mr. Purdy, who appreciated the worth of Harvey and whosecretly hoped that the brilliant young lawyer would become one of hishousehold. 

"I have spoken to your father, " Harvey says, as the horses climb slowlyup one of the rough hills on the pike. "He has given his consent to ourengagement. "

"He's such a dear, good fellow, I knew he would not stand in the lightof making me happy!" exclaims Ethel. 

"Tell me all he said?" she inquires eagerly. 

"He told me that he was glad you thought enough of me to wish to have meas your partner in life; that he had never had but one fear that youmight fall in love with some worthless snob, who would make you unhappyand seek only the fortune which you would bring him. 

"Your father was kind enough to say that he believed I would continue tobe attentive to my business, and to his interests. What do you think heis going to give you as a marriage dot?"

"Don't make me guess. You know I am never able to guess a riddle. "

"He is going to present you with his new villa at Newport. "

"How could he have known that I was wishing for just that one thing? O, won't it be jolly to go there and spend our honeymoon, " Ethel exclaimsgleefully. 

"We will make your father come there and spend the summer. He reallymust take better care of his health. "

Discussing the details of their cloudless future, the lovers enter thedingy mining town of Woodward. The weather-beaten cottages, which neverhave known a coat of paint, do not attract their attention. The groupsof ragged children playing in the dusty road, scurry out of the path ofthe horses. On the hillside to the left stands the Jumbo Breaker, thelargest coal crusher in the world. Its rambling walls rise to a heightof several hundred feet up a steep incline. The noise of the machinerywithin can be heard distinctly from the roadway. The grind, grind, grindof the mammoth crushers, which sound as a perpetual monotone to thetownspeople, is lost on the ears of Ethel and Harvey. 

Not until they reach the center of the town do they realize they are atthe end of their ride. 

"We never rode those five miles so quickly before, " says Ethel. 

"O, yes we have. Why, it has taken us longer to-day than ever, " Harveyreplies, as he looks at his watch. 

"But of course it has not seemed long. We have had so much to talkabout. We must make good time on the ride home or we will be late fordinner. "

They turn their horses and are off at a brisk trot back towardWilkes-Barre. 

On passing through the upper end of Woodward they have not noticed aclump of men and women standing at the doorway of a miserable hovel, setting back from the road. 

Now the men and women are in the road and block the way. 

"I wonder what can have happened, " exclaims Ethel. 

"Another accident, I presume, " is Harvey's answer. "It does seem asthough the Jumbo Breaker injures more men than any other in thedistrict. It's all through using the new crusher. It's dangerous. I saidso from the moment I inspected the model. But it saves a hundred men'slabor; the company will not abolish its use. "

They are now so near the crowd that the horses have to be reigned in. 

"Who's hurt?" Harvey asks of a miner. 

"Nobody hurt, sir, only the Sheriff putting out Braun's widow. "

The scene in the court room looms up before Harvey. He sees the bentform of the miners' widow as she had bent over her little boy, weepingat the decision of the Judge who had said that she could not claimdamages for the killing of her husband. He thinks of the check that isin his pocket--the reward he has gained for winning the case for theParadise Company. A blush comes to his cheeks; his inner conscience isawakened. 

In the doorway of the hovel stands Sheriff Marlin. He is superintendingthe eviction. 

There are several miners in the group who had been at the court house. They look at Harvey with glances which speak the thoughts they dare notutter. 

Then, as a hunted fawn which will seek shelter of the huntsmen who areto slay her, the widow rushes from the house. She runs to the head ofEthel's horse and falls prostrate at the animal's feet. 

"In mercy's name, don't let them put me out to freeze, " she wails. "Itis not for myself. I don't mind the cold; but little Eric, he willfreeze to death. 

"You give your horses shelter; will you let a child die on the roadside?It is not my fault that the rent is not paid. My husband never owed acent in his life. He was killed in the mines, and the company will giveme nothing--nothing. I won't ask for charity. All I ask for is a chanceto work. I can break coal. I can dig it. I am willing to work even inthe Jumbo, till it kills me. Anything to get food and a roof for mychild. "

This tragic scene is enacted, before Sheriff Marlin and his deputiesgrasp the situation. They do not long stand idly by and see the daughterof the great Purdy subjected to this annoyance. With a bound thesheriff, himself, is upon the woman. 

"What do you mean by stopping this lady?" he shouts, at the same timegrabbing the poor creature by the throat. "Back to your house and takeout your goods, or I'll burn them on the road. "

"Take your hands off that woman, " cries Harvey. He stands in his saddleand waves his hand menacingly at the sheriff. 

"Stop choking her! Do you hear!"

With savage energy Marlin hurls the widow to the ground. 

"Do not be frightened, Miss Purdy, " he says, in obsequious tone. "Thiswoman will not annoy you again. " "You must excuse me, Mr. Trueman, " headds, turning to Harvey. "But these mining folk cannot be handled likeordinary people. "

The blush of shame has passed from Harvey's face; he is ashen. 

"Are you evicting this woman for non-payment of rent?" he asks. 

"She has not paid a cent since her husband's death, ten months ago. Ireceived orders from the company to turn her out to-day. She has beenmaking trouble here for the past month, and now that she has lost hersuit it's time she got out. "

"Mamma, mamma, " cries the five year old boy, as he runs to his mother, laying prostrate in the weeds at the side of the road. 

"Are you hurt, mamma, tell me?" and then he bursts into a flood oftears. 

"Take that brat away, " Sheriff Marlin says under his breath to a man. Asthe deputy starts to pick up the child, it utters a piercing shriek. 

"Don't let them hurt the child!" cries Ethel, in utter horror. She hastill now been a mute witness to the heartless acts of the agents of thelaw. 

Harvey jumps from his saddle, and is at the deputy's side. 

"Put that child down. I shall see that it is taken care of, " hedeclares. 

"Excuse me, Mr. Trueman, " interposes Sheriff Marlin, "you must notinterfere with us in the execution of our duty. "

"Execution of your duty! You mean the execution of a woman and herchild. I shall not stand by and see the law violated. You have authorityto evict the widow for her debts; but you have no authority to assaulther. 

"How much does she owe?"

"Eighty dollars, " is the surly reply. 

"Here is the money, " says Harvey, as he takes a roll of bills from hispocket. 

"I cannot accept the money now, " protests the sheriff. 

Then stepping up to Harvey he says in an undertone:

"Mr. Trueman, the fact is, I have been told to put this woman out oftown; she will cause trouble if she remains. The miners are all insympathy with her because she lost the suit. "

"Who gave you such orders?"

"Mr. Purdy. "

"When?"

"This afternoon. I saw him just after you left the office. He told me toget the widow out of town this very day, so I took the switch engine andcame out here. "

"Well, you will let the matter stand as it is. I intend to pay the rentfor the woman and see that she is placed back in the house. "

"You will be opposing Mr. Purdy. He explained the case to me and askedmy advice. We decided that with the widow in the town, the miners wouldbe more likely to carry out their threat than with her out of sight. Youhad better let me carry out my orders. "

"I have made up my mind to see the widow restored to her home, " Harveyrepeats. "Here is the rent money. I know the spirit of the miners betterthan either you or Mr. Purdy. "

The sheriff takes the money reluctantly. 

Widow Braun is now sitting up, vainly trying to comfort her child. 

"You may go back to your home, " says Trueman, as he bends over and helpsher to arise. "I have paid your rent and here is some money for food, and for your next month's rent. I shall see that you get work. "

"May God bless you, " cries the widow, bursting into tears. 

"You are my prisoner, " Sheriff Marlin declares, as he places his hand onthe trembling figure. 

"On what charge, " Trueman demands. 

"For getting goods from the company's store on her husband's card whenhe was dead, and she had no money to pay for them, " the sheriff asserts, triumphantly. 

"But she has money to pay for the food she bought. And her husband'scard is valid until cancelled. You had better take care that you do notoverstep your authority. It is not the Widow Braun you have to deal withnow. I am interested in this case. I am the widow's counsel. She has onethousand dollars to her credit on the books of the company's store. "

Sheriff Marlin is in a fury. He realizes that he cannot serve twomasters and he decides to be faithful to Gorman Purdy. 

"It is not my will that you are opposing, Mr. Trueman, " he says withemphasis. "It is your employer's. "

The word "employer's" grates on Harvey's ears. 

"Mr. Purdy is my employer, but he is not my master. I shall serve myconscience before I do any man. But I do not believe that Mr. Purdywould countenance this outrage. "

"What do you mean by saying that the widow has a thousand dollars to hercredit?" the sheriff asks. 

"I mean that she has this thousand dollars, " and Trueman drew the checkfrom his pocket. "It is to be placed to her credit. I have something tosay about the company stores. "

"I shall take this business direct to Mr. Purdy, " the sheriff threatensas he walks off. 

The miners and their wives who have witnessed the quarrel betweenTrueman and Marlin give expression to their feelings in whispered wordsof praise for the young lawyer who bid defiance to the Sheriff ofLuzerne County, the most dreaded man in that part of Pennsylvania. 

The widow grasps Harvey's hand and before he can withdraw it she coversit with kisses. Her tears of gratitude fall on his hand. He appreciatesthat it is but tardy justice that he is doing to the poor woman. 

"You need have no fear of being turned out of your home, " he tells her. Then he springs back into the saddle. 

"Come, Ethel, let us start for home. "

The ride is finished in silence. Neither Harvey nor Ethel feels in themood to talk. On reaching the Purdy mansion the riders dismount, and goat once to the library, where Gorman Purely is waiting for them. 

"Harvey, I am surprised that you should interfere with my orders, " isMr. Purdy's salutation. "Sheriff Marlin has just telephoned me. He tellsme that you opposed his evicting the widow, and that the miners are nowlikely to make serious trouble. This is the second time to-day you haveattempted to defeat my plans. I cannot understand what object you havein antagonizing me. "

"You certainly misunderstand my motives, " replies Trueman. "It isbecause I have your interests at heart that I cannot see you pursue acourse that will lead to disastrous consequences. "

"Do you put your judgment above mine?" asks the Coal King, sarcastically. 

"In ordinary business matters, in affairs of finance and in the conductof the mines I should not presume to dispute your judgment. But on thepropriety of assembling the Coal and Iron Police and of evicting a womanwho has the sympathy of the entire mining district I believe that I ambetter able to judge of the effect these acts will have than you are, for I come into close contact with the people. "

"The sheriff tells me you have placed a thousand dollars to the creditof the widow at the Company's store. Is this so?"

"I intend to do so. "

"It shall not be done, sir, not if I have the power to prevent it, "declares the Coal King emphatically, rising and pacing the floor. "Youmust be out of your mind to make such a move, now, of all times, tooffer encouragement to the lawless element. "

"He did nothing wrong, " interposes Ethel. "He prevented the sheriff andhis men from injuring the woman and her child. "

"Not another word!" Gorman Purdy speaks in a tone he has never employedwhen addressing his daughter. 

"This matter must be settled, once and for all, " he continues, addressing Harvey. "There can be but one head of the Paradise CoalCompany. I wish to know if you will cease interfering with my orders?"

"I have never objected to carrying out any order of yours that waslegal. As long as I am in your employ I shall continue to do as I havedone. But to tell you that I will do your bidding, whether legal or not, that is something I cannot bring myself to do, " Trueman replies, lookingthe Coal King squarely in the eye. 

"I shall have no one in my employ who cannot obey me, " Purdy says. Hethen rehearses what he has done for Trueman; how he has advanced him tothe position of counsel to the company. "And all the thanks I receive isyour opposition, now that I need your support, " he states, and withoutwaiting for a reply hurries from the room. 

When Ethel and Harvey go to the dining room they find that the irateCoal King has gone to his private apartment, where his dinner is beingserved. 

Harvey spends the evening at the mansion. 

As he and Ethel sit in the drawing room they discussed the events of theday, and speculate on the result that will follow the quarrel with herfather. 

"My father will regret his hasty words, " Ethel says. "He admires you andplaces absolute confidence in you. Only yesterday he told me that therewas not another man in the world to whom he would confide his businesssecrets as he has done to you. "

The lovers go to the music room. Harvey's voice is a remarkably richbaritone. At Ethel's request he sings a ballad which he has recentlycomposed. 

Standing at her side as she plays the accompaniment, he sings. 

 "THE SEA OF DREAMS. 

 "Sing me of love and dear days gone; Sing me of joys that are fled; Strike no chord of the now forlorn; None of the future dread, Ah, let thy music ring with tone That speaks the budding year; The Winter's blast too soon will moan Through the forest bleak and drear. 

 Then sing but a line from the dear old days We sang 'neath the moon's soft beams, When we were young, in those gladsome days, While we sailed on the sea of dreams. 

 There are no songs that reach the heart, Like those sung long ago. New singers and their songs depart; The old ones ne'er shall go. 

 Nor is it strange that they should be As balm to the sad heart; They tell of love when it was young, And all its joys impart. "

At eleven o'clock Trueman leaves the Purdy mansion and goes to hishotel. To him it is clear that an irreparable breach has been made inthe relations between himself and Gorman Purdy. He knows the unrelentingcharacter of the President of the Paradise Coal Company. 

"It was a question of right and wrong, " he muses. "I could not see awoman and her child thrown out in the highway, when I knew that it wasthrough my skill as a lawyer that just damages were kept from them. Thelaw was on the side of the company; but justice was certainly on theside of the widow. 

"Every day I have some nasty work of this kind to perform. It is makinga heartless wretch of me. A man can make money sometimes that comes toodear. "

The next day, at the office, Purdy and Trueman have a long talk. Itresults in Trueman withdrawing his objections to the assembling of theCoal and Iron Police. As to the widow, a compromise is effected. She isto be set up in business in a neighboring town where her case isunknown. 

The thought that to break with Purely would mean to lose Ethel, turnsHarvey's decision when the moment comes to choose between duty andpolicy. 

The work of preparing to defeat the pending strike is at once taken up, Purdy and Trueman working in perfect accord. 

CHAPTER V. 

AN UNQUIET DAY AT HAZLETON. 

Nearly two months have passed, and a mantle of snow covers the ground. The rigorous December weather has come and is causing widespreaddistress among the mining population of Pennsylvania. Forty per cent ofthe operatives of the Paradise Coal Company have been laid off, as Purdydeclared they would be. This means that starvation is the grim spectrein six thousand homes. 

The anomaly of miners in one town working at full time, and those of anadjacent town shut out, must be explained as one of the insidiousmethods of the Trust to create an artificial coal famine. 

Gorman Purdy, whose word is law in the Paradise Company, had determinedto exact an advance of twenty-five cents a ton from the retail coaldealers. To do this he had to make it appear that the supply of coal wasscarce. This led him to close the mines in Hazleton. The miners in thetown sought to force the opening of the mines by bringing about asympathetic strike in the neighboring towns. To prevent this, the Coaland Iron Police have been brought to Hazleton to intimidate the minersand to suppress them by force if they make any concerted move lookingtoward bringing on a strike. 

Preliminary to enforcing the order that debars such an army of men ofthe means of support, the Coal Magnates, at Purdy's suggestion, havemassed three hundred of the Coal and Iron Police in the town ofHazleton. This mercenary force occupies the armory, built two yearsbefore by the benevolent multi-millionaire Iron King of Pennsylvania, whose immense mills and foundries are situated some two hundred milesdistant. 

Sheriff Marlin is in command of the Coal and Iron Police. He has swornthem in as deputies, and each bears on his breast the badge ofauthority. 

The propinquity of Woodward and the other small towns to Wilkes-Barresaved them from suffering the effects of a close-down. The Magnates didnot desire to have the scenes of distress brought too near their ownhomes. So Hazleton and the outlying districts were selected to besacrificed to the arbitrary coal famine. Day after day the idle minerscongregate in the Town Hall to discuss their situation and to devisesome means of relieving the starving families. These meetings are underthe strict surveillance of Sheriff Marlin. Every letter that is sentfrom the hall is subjected to his scrutiny. 

There will be no incendiary appeals addressed to the miners of otherdistricts. 

The newspaper correspondents, though they send accurate stories of theawful condition of the miners and their families, are disappointed toreceive copies of their respective papers with their articles revamped, and the essential points expurgated, to meet the approval of the"conservative reader. "

"The committee on rations reports that the allowance for each miner andhis family must henceforth be reduced to two loaves of black bread aday. As some of the miners have eight and ten children, an idea of theactual need of relief from some source may be formed. "

Paragraphs like the above never reach the printed page of a newspaperthat has sworn allegiance to or is bound to support the Magnates. 

It is now December twentieth. The miners resolve to make a final appealto the Paradise Coal Company to at least start the mines on half time. If the company grants this appeal, there will be joy in the miners'homes for Christmas. 

Christmas is no more to the Magnates than any other calender day. Thenecessary time for the creation of the coal famine has not elapsed, anduntil it has there will not be another ton of coal taken from the pits. 

Harvey Trueman is expected to confer with the leaders in the afternoon. He will deliver the appeal to the company, and the following day, Sunday, the miners will know if they are to go back to work. 

"In the event of Purdy, the final arbiter, refusing to start up on halftime, " says Metz, who is now the leader of the Miner's Union, "we can goto Latimer and Harleigh, to-morrow. The mines will be closed; they areonly working them six days a week now. We will appeal to the men to quitwork unless the Paradise Company gives us a chance to earn our bread. "

"If the Harleigh men won't go out, they will at least give us some foodfor a Christmas dinner, " says a miner whose hollow cheeks tell of longfasting. 

"Peter Gick died last night, " a miner states as he enters the hall. "Hewent to the ash dumps to pick a basket of _cinders_; on his way back tohis house he fell. He was so weak that he could not get up. The snow istwo feet deep on the road, and it was drifting then; it soon covered himup. This morning his son, Ernst, found him. Of course he was frozenstiff. "

"Where is his body?" Metz asks. 

"Sheriff ordered it buried by the police. "

"A public funeral might prove dangerous to the Magnates, " observes Metz. "Our modern rulers have profited by the experience of the ancients. "

Promptly at two o'clock Trueman arrives at the hall. 

The committee on resolutions present him with their petition. 

"I shall do all that I can to make the Company appreciate the conditionin which you are placed. You may depend upon it, there will be work foryou before Christmas, " Trueman assures them at parting. 

"We shall want an answer by to-morrow morning at ten o'clock, " theminers urge in chorus. 

Harvey Trueman leaves for Wilkes-Barre on the mission of appealing tothe humanity of the Coal Magnates. 

Miners' wives and children stream to the Town Hall, to receive theirbread and rations. 

It is at such times as these, where the miners are ruthlessly shut outof the mines, that the highest value of the Miner's Union isdemonstrated. From the slender treasury, which is enriched only by thepennies of the miners during their weeks of employment, the money isdrawn to purchase the rations that must be had to keep the miners andtheir families from actually starving when they can no longer buy fromthe company store. 

To supplement the rations distributed by the Union, the Hazleton minershave a small supply of medicine. This is as important as food. Themedicine chest was given them by Sister Martha, the ministering angel ofthe mines. 

Martha Densmore was the daughter of Hiram Densmore, who had owned greattracts of the coal lands. He had been forced out of the industry byrefusing to enter the combine which resulted in the formation of theCoal Trust. At the time of his death, of all his fortune there remainedbut a small part. Mrs. Densmore had not survived her husband a year. Martha was left an orphan. 

She has an income of $6000, and could live a life of idleness did she sodesire. But it was her purpose from girlhood to be always on missions ofcharity. She had loved Harvey Trueman. They had been schoolmates, andwould undoubtedly have wed had not the wreck of Densmore's fortune beenaccomplished just as Trueman was leaving college. Gorman Purdy had beenquick to perceive the calibre of the young man and had brought him intothe Paradise Company. With father and mother dead, and with her heart'slonging unappeased, Martha determined to join a sisterhood, and devoteher entire time to ministering to the poor and the sick. 

The suffering of the miners of Hazleton attracts her sympathy and shehas come to the town from Wilkes-Barre. 

It is her presence in the town hall that makes even Sheriff Marlin curbhis blasphemous tongue. 

Her calm face, which wears an expression of contentment, if not ofhappiness, is a solace to the miserable men and women who come to askfor medicine. She always has a word of cheer. 

The life she has led for eight years has not aged her, and to judge fromher manner she would not be taken for a woman more than thirty. She is, however, six and thirty; her natal day being in the month of March, thesame as Trueman's. And they are both the same age. In the school daysthey celebrated their birthdays together. 

There is not a miner or one of his family who would not give up theirlife, if such a sacrifice were necessary, to keep Sister Martha frombeing injured. They have seen her enter a mine where an explosion hadoccurred, when even the bravest of the rescuing party hesitated. Theyhave seen her in their own hovels, bending over the forms of their sickand dying children. The yellow flag of pestilence never makes herhesitate. 

By her practical acts of charity and humanity, she has come to exert awonderful influence over the humble citizens of Luzerne County. In thispresent crisis Sister Martha is the central figure. 

In the Armory the Coal and Iron Police are playing cards and enjoyingthemselves as men always can in comfortable barracks. 

So the winter night closes. The hearths of the miners are cold, theirlarders empty; but the armory is warm, the police are well fed. 

"The Company refused to open the mines. They will, however, send thirtybarrels of flour to be distributed for Christmas. " This is the messagereturned by Trueman, on Sunday morning. 

There are sixty miners in the Hall. They decide to go at once toHarleigh, to exert "moral suasion" on their fellow miners there. 

They start from the Hall unarmed, walking two by two. At the head of theline of sixty men, one carries the Stars and Stripes; another a whiteflag. There is nothing revolutionary about the procession. It is a sharpcontrast to the armed force of the Culpepper Minute Men, who, under theleadership of Patrick Henry, marched to Williamsburg, Virginia, todemand instant restoration of powder to an old magazine, or payment forit by the Colonial Governor, Dunmore. The Minute Men carried as theirstandard a flag bearing the celebrated rattlesnake, and the inscription"Liberty or Death: Don't tread on me. "

The route to Harleigh is in an opposite direction to the armory. Thelittle column passes out of the town of Hazleton and is a mile distantwhen the Coal and Iron Police learn of their departure. 

Instantly there is a bustle in the armory. 

"Form your company, Captain Grout, " the sheriff orders. 

"Give each man twenty rounds. Tell them not to fire until I give theorder. When they do open fire, have them shoot to kill. "

The company is formed on the floor of the armory. It receives theorders; one-third of the force is left to guard the armory. 

In column of fours the main body marches out, Captain Grout and SheriffMarlin in the lead. 

To catch up with the miners the column marches in route step. 

"We will head them off at the cross roads this side of Harleigh, " thesheriff explains. "There is a cut in the road there, and we can put ourmen on either side. When the miners come within range I shall challengethem. If they do not turn back, it will be your duty to compel them todo so. "

Unconscious of the approach of the sheriff and his posse, the minersmarch on. The road is heavy and they are so much run down by long weeksof short rations that they cannot make rapid headway. 

Sheriff Marlin and his men are now at the cut near the cross roads. 

Captain Grout stations his men to command either side of the road. Thebanks of the cut are fringed with brush, which affords a complete coverfor the men. 

"You keep out of sight, too, Captain, " Sheriff Marlin orders. "I willstop the miners. If they see you and the Coal and Iron Police they mayscatter, and some of them reach Harleigh. "

The ambuscade is complete. Five minutes passes. There is no sign of theminers. 

"Can they have been told of our plan to head them off?" asks thesheriff. 

At this moment the head of the procession of miners turns the corner ofthe road. The American Flag and the White Flag are still in the van. 

The sheriff takes up a position on the side of the road. As the minerscome up to him, he calls them to "halt. "

"Where are you going?" he demands. 

"To Harleigh, " replies Metz. 

"Who gave you permission to parade?"

"We are exercising our rights as freemen. "

"Well, you cannot march in a body on the highways of Pennsylvania. "

"Then we can break up our procession and walk individually. "

"_In the direction of Hazelton_, " Sheriff Marlin says, significantly. "Iknow what you are up to; do you think that I am going to let you cause asympathetic strike in Harleigh because you are locked out? Not if I knowmyself. "

When the miners come to a halt, the men in advance cluster about Metzand the sheriff. 

Now thirty men surround the sheriff. 

Some of them are, of course, in advance of him. 

"Get back to Hazleton, " Sheriff Marlin cries, at the same time raisinghis arms above his head and waving them. 

He pushes his way through the crowd of miners to the edge of the road. 

Off comes his hat

It is the signal which Captain Grout has been expecting. 

"Company, attention!"

Two hundred Coal and Iron Police jump to their feet. 

"Get back to Hazleton or I'll take you prisoners, " shouts the sheriff. 

But his words are lost. The miners are terror-stricken. The sight of thepolice, armed with deadly rifles, has made the miners insensible toevery thought and impulse but that of self-preservation. 

They scatter up and down the road. 

"Don't let them escape to Harleigh, " shouts the sheriff. Taking this asan order, the police open fire on the men who have passed the sheriff. 

Crack! crack! go the rifles. 

Each shot fells a miner. They are practically at the muzzles of theweapons. 

A miner rushes up the bank on the left to get out of the range of thepolice on that side. He is riddled by the bullets from the oppositeside. 

Another dives into a snow bank; it affords him no protection. "Pot thatwoodchuck, " shouts Captain Grout to one of his men. 

A bullet is sent into the hole. The miner springs to his feet; thendrops dead. 

The line of carnage is now stretched out for two hundred yards. 

There is no return fire. So the armed police come out from cover andpursue their victims. 

The police have lost all self-control. Each man is acting on his ownresponsibility. 

Of the ten miners who run toward Harleigh, not one is spared. Three liein the road; the snow about them tinged with their life's blood. Anotheris clinging with a death grip to a stunted tree, which he caught as hestaggered forward, with three bullets in the back. 

"Mercy! mercy!" cry several of the miners. But their wail is lost on theears of the Coal and Iron Police. The police are there to kill, not togrant mercy. 

Now a miner falls on his knees and prays to God for protection. 

This attitude of submission is not heeded; a bullet topples him over. 

With their hands above their head, some of the men walk deliberatelytoward the deputies. Indians will recognize this as the sign ofsurrender, and will give quarter. But the deputies, with unerring aim, shoot down the voluntary captive. 

It would not be so terrible if the miners were returning the fire, ifthey were offering any resistance. But they are absolutely unarmed. Their mission has been to present a petition to the miners of Harleigh. The slaves of the South had enjoyed the right of petition. How couldthese twentieth century miners anticipate that the sheriff wouldmassacre them on the highway for seeking to present a petition?

"Have you shot any one?" asks one of the deputies of his nearestcompanion. 

"Shot any one! Well, I should think I had. I've seen four drop. Heregoes a fifth. "

To stand, to run, to fall to the ground, all are equally futile as meansof escape. Extermination is all that will stay the fire of the police. 

Sheriff Marlin and Captain Grout stand in the middle of the road. Metz, O'Connor, and Nevins, a mine foreman, are standing beside them. 

O'Connor carries the white flag; Nevins the National emblem. 

"Disarm those men, " Marlin directs the Captain. 

"Disarm them?" Captain Grout repeats, inquiringly. 

"Certainly. They have sticks in their hands. "

Two deputies, who have exhausted their supply of cartridges in theirmagazine rifles, stop reloading and rush upon Nevins. They beat him overthe head with their rifle butts. The flag is snatched out of his hands. 

O'Connor is dealt a blow an instant later. 

The subjugation of the unarmed miners is accomplished. 

One by one the Coal and Iron Police return. 

Some of them bring in captives who have escaped death, but who stillhave felt the sting of the bullets. 

Of the sixty miners, twenty-three are killed outright; ten are mortallywounded; twenty-one have less serious wounds. 

Six have run the gauntlet and are fleeing back to Hazleton. 

The triumphant march of the police to Hazleton is begun. 

"We will carry the wounded, " says the sheriff. "They might get throughto Harleigh and Latimer. "

"We will round up the six who escaped, " Captain Grout assures thesheriff. He then details ten men to run down the miners who have eludedcapture. 

This is an easy matter, as the footprints of the miners are perfectlydistinct in the soft snow. On the six trails the men set off, as a packof hounds on the scent of game. 

This man-hunt results in an addition of _six_ to the list of the slain. 

Gorman Purdy's orders have been carried out. 

His police have been sworn in as deputies; they have met the miners andhave "fired first. "

The sanctity of the law enveloped their act. They shot as _Deputies_. 

They dispersed a band of miners who were on the highway, armed, according to the sheriff's version, "with sticks, " and bent on creatingtrouble in Harleigh. 

Did it matter that the "sticks" were flag staffs on which were displayedthe White Flag of truce, and the Emblem of Liberty?

CHAPTER VI. 

A STAND FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE. 

News of the massacre on the highway can not be suppressed. A wave ofindignation sweeps over the country. Newspapers, clergymen, statesmen, ordinary citizens are of one opinion, that the sheriff and his deputiesshould be made to suffer for their dastardly acts. The result of theagitation is a call for trial for a case of murder. The Grand Jury ofLuzerne County find an indictment against Sheriff Marlin and CaptainGrout. These men are placed on trial. 

Gorman Purdy at first is highly elated over the result of the sheriff'ssummary action against the miners. "It has taught the miners a goodlesson, " he asserts openly. 

The morning after the Grand Jury returns its indictment, Purdy entersHarvey Trueman's office. 

The relationship between Purdy and Trueman is no longer strained. Inthree months time Harvey will marry Ethel. He is to live at the Purdymansion until his own house can be built. 

"You have read the papers this morning?" Purdy asks. 

"Yes. It begins to look serious for the sheriff and Grout. I understandthat they are to be imprisoned to-day. "

"Now I want to have a talk with you about defending them. "

"Defending them!" exclaims Trueman. "You want me to defend them?"

"It was in our interests that they acted, " says Purdy, "and the least wecan do is to defend them. "

"It was not in my interests, nor was it at my suggestion that the Coaland Iron Police were sent to Hazleton. You must remember that Ideprecated that step. "

"Well, we won't go over that matter anew, Harvey; the defense of theSheriff and Captain Grout is essential to the interests of the ParadiseCoal Company. You are the chief counsel of the Company, and I look toyou to secure their acquittal. "

"But you cannot want me to defend two men who are guilty of cold bloodedmurder, " protests Trueman. "I am the last man in the world to ignore thesanctity of the law. When I see the highest law of the land troddenunder foot by an ignorant and arrogant sheriff, I wish to see the lawenforced against him as it should be against the commonest offender. "

"It's all very well to have high ideals of law and justice, " Purdyobserves, with a cynical smile, "but you cannot be guided by them when acommercial interest is involved. The conviction of the sheriff would layus open to the violence of the mob. "

"You can find a more capable man than I to defend the prisoners. "

"There is no one who is as familiar with the mining life as you are; Ihave thought the matter over carefully before broaching it to you. Thereis no way out of it, Harvey, you must take the case in hand. It is notthe company's request. I make it personal. I want you to do your best toget these men off. "

"Mr. Purdy, I cannot comply with your request. "

"You refuse to oblige me?"

"I refuse to defend men who I believe have committed murder. "

"I am an older man than you, Harvey Trueman, and I caution you to thinktwice before you refuse to obey the request of the man who has made youwhat you are. " Purdy is white with rage, for he feels that Trueman willremain obdurate. 

"It may seem an act of ingratitude, but I cannot suffer my conscience tobe outraged by defending the perpetrators of an atrocious crime. "

"Your conscience will cost you dear. If you do not defend this case youmay consider your connection with the Paradise Coal Company at an end. You sever all bonds that have united us, and your marriage to mydaughter will be impossible. Is the gratification of a supersensitiveconscience to be bought at such a price?"

"There must be something back of your demand, " Trueman declares. 

"There is only the just claim that I have on you to work for myinterests. "

"Mr. Purdy, I was a man before I met you. I am indebted to you for mypresent position; yet I am not willing to pay for its retention byforfeiting my honor. If you insist on me defending the case, I tell youI would sooner pay the penalty you name. "

Trueman's voice is tremulous. He realizes that his decision has cost himnot alone a position of great value, but all chance of wedding EthelPurdy. 

"You will live to regret this day, Harvey Trueman, " Purdy criesmenacingly. "Whatever is due you from the Paradise Coal Company will bepaid you to-day. Henceforth you will find office room elsewhere. Remember, sir, I forbid you to have any communication with my daughter. "

With these words Purdy walks out of Trueman's office. 

"It may be better for me to get out of this damnable atmosphere while Istill have a spark of manhood left, " Trueman muses, as he sits at hisdesk. "If I remained here many years more I should be as heartless asPurdy himself. 

"I wonder how Ethel will act in this crisis? She loves me, that I wouldswear to with my life, but can she sacrifice her fortune to marry me? Icannot expect her to do so. No, it would be too much. I have moneyenough to live but I could not support her in the style to which she hasbeen accustomed from her birth. "

For an hour he sits intently thinking. He reviews the past. At therecollection of his school days and the first love he had experiencedfor Martha Densmore, a sigh escapes his lips. 

"I might have been happy, had I married her, " he says to himself. 

"But then I should not have become a lawyer. What good have I done inthe law? I have been the buffer for a heartless corporation. Thepresident of the corporation demands of me to do an act that is againstmy manhood. I refuse and I am turned out like a worthless old horse. 

"I shall henceforth use my talents to some good. The Paradise CoalCompany and every other concern that is waxing rich at the expense ofthe people will find that I can be as formidable an antagonist as I havebeen defender. How could I have been blind to my duty so long?"

Trueman arises and walks from his office. A thought is forming in hismind. 

"I'll do it, " he says aloud, as he reaches the elevator. 

"The miners have no one who is capable of prosecuting the case of thepeople. The District Attorney and his staff have been bought off. Anyone of the injured miners has standing in the court, and can berepresented by counsel. Yes, there is O'Connor, I shall be his counsel. "

Trueman hurries to the east side of the town and hunts up the quartersof Patrick O'Connor. The miner is still in bed; the fractured skull hehad received by the blow from the rifle barrel nearly proved fatal. 

In a few words Trueman explains how he had been driven to leave theParadise Coal Company; and how he is now determined to be the championof the people. 

"I believe you, sir, " says O'Connor, feebly, "for you have always beenkind to me. But the rest of the miners think you are to blame for all oftheir troubles; especially when they face you in court. "

"You will tell them to put faith in me, won't you, O'Connor?"

"Indeed I will, sir. "

The door opens to admit Sister Martha. 

Harvey Trueman has not been face to face with Martha for eight years. 

"You here, Martha!" he exclaims. 

"I am here every day. My duty brings me among the sick. "

The two playmates of the happy school days walk over to the window andtalk in low tones for half an hour. Trueman tells of his determinationto be an antagonist of the Magnates, one of whom has attempted to buyhis soul for the sordid interests of a corporation. 

"You may be sure I shall be pleased to help you all I can, " SisterMartha assures him. "And I have many friends among the miners. It willbe some time before they will accept your protestations in good faith. You must know that your masterful knowledge of the law has kept many ofthem from winning their suit for damages against the Paradise Company. If you do something to prove your sincerity it will win you manyfriends. "

"If I appear as the counsel of one of the miners and prosecute theSheriff of Luzerne County, will that be sufficient to demonstrate mysincerity?" Trueman asks. 

"It will make you their champion. "

"Well, you may tell the miners of Wilkes-Barre that I am to appear ascounsel for Patrick O'Connor in the coming trial. We will meet oftennow, I hope?" Harvey asks as he leaves the room. 

"Whenever you come to this quarter of the city you will be able to findme, " Sister Martha responds. 

Events move rapidly. The trial is set for February first. Between theday Harvey Trueman left the employ of the Paradise Company and theopening of the trial he wins the name of "Miner's Friend. " Eight damagesuits against the Paradise Coal Company are won for miners by hissagacity and eloquence. 

He has been able to learn of the effect of the break in the friendshipbetween the Purdy's and himself. Ethel had been prostrated by the event. For many days she had been actually ill. As soon as her health permittedshe had been sent abroad. She is now in the south of France. 

At the trial of Sheriff Marlin and his lieutenants, Truemandistinguishes himself by the searching line of questions he puts to thesheriff's deputies and two lieutenants, who are placed on the witnessstand. In cross-examination he succeeds in eliciting the fact that theonly "weapons" carried by the miners were the two flag staffs. 

He brings to court as witnesses men who had been shot in the back asthey had run to escape the deadly fire of the deputies. 

One of these men, carried to the court room on a cot, testifies that heran up the embankment and had fallen at the feet of one of the deputies. 

"I begged of him to spare my life; that I had a wife and six children. He stepped back a pace and pointing his rifle at my head, fired. Thebullet grazed my temple. I rolled over. He thought I was dead. I laythere motionless for several minutes. Then I was struck in the shoulderby another bullet. "

This testimony causes a tremendous sensation. 

The defendants counsel asks for the recall of the witness the followingday. He is brought to court and answers two questions. Then with a groanhe turns on his side and dies in the presence of the crowded court andbefore the very eyes of his assassin. 

The trial is a travesty on justice. The jury is composed of men known tobe in sympathy with the prisoners. The deputies are in court each dayfully armed. They make no pretext to conceal their pistols. This is doneto influence the jury to believe that the deputies had shot inself-defense. Both Sheriff Marlin and Captain Grout are acquitted; butthey are not vindicated in the eyes of the people of the United Statesor of Wilkes-Barre. 

Trueman emerges from the trial as the recognized champion of the people. 

It has taken twelve weeks to try the case. The cost of this victory forthe Coal Barons is one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. 

Sister Martha and Harvey meet frequently. She is a great aid to him ingetting information from the miners. She is inspired by the grandresults that Trueman realizes for the poor miners whose cases hehandles. She hears him mentioned as the candidate for some office, andasks him if he would accept it. 

"I do not wish to mix in local politics, " Trueman tells her. "I mightaccept the office of Congressman; but it is impossible to elect acandidate of the miners in Pennsylvania. "

Early in May a call is sent out through the several States for delegatesto attend an Anti-Trust Conference in Chicago. This Conference is deemedurgent as the outgrowth of an atrocious move on the part of the Magnateswho seek to vitiate the laws of the United States as applied to capital. 

Martha asks Trueman if he will accept the appointment as a delegate fromthe State of Pennsylvania. He signifies his willingness to do so; butdoubts if the miners outside of Wilkes-Barre hold him in high enoughesteem to so honor him. 

"I have not done enough yet to redeem myself for the years that I stoodas the barrier to the poor getting their deserts, " he declares. 

But the election shows that he is recognized as a faithful friend of thepeople. At the Conference it is believed he will win recognition for theclaims of the miners, for justice, and for the Federal enforcement ofthe laws of common safety in the mines. 

The ten months that have passed since the afternoon he won the caseagainst the Magyar's widow, have been the most momentous in his life. They have taken him out of the service of a soulless Company and put himin the position of leader of a million miners. 

BOOK II. 

The Syndicate Incorporates. 

CHAPTER VII. 

AN ANTI-TRUST CONFERENCE. 

From the hour that Trueman was selected as a delegate to the greatAnti-Trust Conference to convene in the city of Chicago, he has devotedhis hours, day and night, to study. In making his advent in theconference, he enters the arena of national politics; he means to goprepared. Martha has prevailed upon him to accept the nomination as acandidate for the State of Pennsylvania, and he has been elected by theunanimous vote of the Unions. This exhibition of confidence on the partof the toilers of the state has made a deep impression on him, and hasfixed his resolve to do something that will be worthy of hisconstituents. 

The sudden transition he has undergone from being the staunch supporterof the coal barons, to becoming their bitterest opponent, has left manyof the opinion that he is working some deep scheme for the undoing ofthe unionists. Nor is this opinion confined to any small number. "Hechanged his views too quickly, " is the general sentiment in the ranks ofthe small unions where Trueman is not personally known. This lurkingsuspicion was what had operated strongly at first against securingTrueman's consent to be a candidate. Martha has worked quietly, assiduously, among the men she knew, and who placed absolute faith inher advice. She has been the direct means of bringing about hiselection. 

Now he is to leave her, and must face the supreme opportunity of hislife. 

It is not without a pang that he bids her farewell. She has come to be asource of great comfort to him since his enlistment in the ranks of thehumble. The schoolday acquaintance has been renewed. He has learned toappreciate the fact that he was the cause of her having donned the dressof the sisterhood. His ambition to rise in the world made it impossiblefor him to yield to the dictates of his heart and the mental vista thatopened before him at the close of his college course, did not have herin it. The woman he saw there must be the favorite of fortune. He hadselfishly abandoned certain love for possible fortune and in the activelife to which he was at once introduced, all thoughts of Martha had beendriven from his mind. 

But Martha had had no counteractant to soften or obliterate the thoughtsof her blasted hopes. The refuge of the convent appealed to her as theone remaining avenue by which she might escape from her youth and itsrecollections. 

It is impossible for Trueman and Martha Densmore to ever again belovers; the inexorable ban of the church is between them. Yet they canbe friends. And Trueman feels that in Martha he has found his firmestfriend and advisor. 

"You will hear from me from time to time, " she says as they part. "I amconfident that you will do your duty; that you will awaken the finerinstincts in the delegates. With the scenes that have surrounded you inWilkes-Barre, you cannot be an advocate of violence as a means ofsettling the struggle for the restoration of the rights of the people. "

"It shall be my untiring labor to avert the adoption of any measure thatentails an appeal to force, " Trueman assures her. 

On his arrival at Chicago he finds the convention already in session. Anhour in the hall convinces him that the result will be nugatory. Theradicals are in the majority and the proposals they make are temporaryexpedients that look only to appeasing the demand of the masses foraction against the usurpers of the public rights. 

With a view to defeating the objects of the conference, the Magnateshave contrived to send a number of their hirelings as delegates. Theseare among the loudest in demanding impossible remedies. It is not longbefore Trueman discovers who these spies are, and he loses no time inexposing them in open conference. 

This action brings him into prominence. 

"Who is this delegate from Pennsylvania?" asks Professor Talbot, avenerable scholar sent by the Governor of Missouri to represent thatstate, of Nevins, a neighboring delegate. 

"He is a convert to the cause of the people, " comes the quick reply. 

"A tool of the Coal Barons, you mean, " observes a New Yorker. "I knewhim three years ago when he was the attorney for the Paradise CoalCompany, " he continues, "and a more relentless man to the miners neverwas known in Pennsylvania. "

"Yes, I know. He was once a counsel for the Paradise Company, " assentsthe champion of Trueman. "I know his record from A to Z. You can't finda straighter man in this conference. He has come out for the people andI believe he is sincere. "

"Whoever he is, or whatever he has been, " says the Professor, "it isevident that he has the power of reading character. He was not here twohours before he detected the presence of the goats in our fold. "

"Would you like to meet him?" asks Nevins. 

"Indeed, I should be pleased to do so. "

Professor Talbot and the friendly delegate approach Trueman. 

For an hour or more the three are engrossed in animated conversation. Professor Talbot is delighted to find that Trueman is conversant withthe most complex questions of the hour. 

"I shall make it a point to have the chairman call upon you for anaddress, " he assures Trueman at parting. 

For three days the sessions of the conference are devoted to partisandiscourses. There seems to be no hope of reaching middle ground. Thenewspapers ridicule the utterances of the speakers as the vaporings ofdemagogues. And they are little else. 

On the fourth day, true to his promise, Professor Talbot gets thechairman to call upon Trueman for a fifteen-minute speech. 

From his first words Trueman wins the attention of the audience. Hisvoice is full and far-reaching; his language simple, and it is possiblefor every one to grasp his meaning instantly. He chooses to win thedelegates to his way of reasoning by force of the truth he utters ratherthan by appealing to their senses by a display of forensic andoratorical ability. 

In the few minutes allotted to him, he reviews the industrial conditionsof a decade and shows where the insidious principle of class legislationhas undermined the prosperity of the people to bestow it upon the few. In an unanswerable argument he pleads for the restoration of the rightsof the majority; by a rapid review of the causes that have led to thedownfall of the nations of the past, he shows that the unjustdistribution of the fruits of labor must inevitably lead to thedisintegration of the state. 

His peroration is a fervent appeal to the delegates to reaffirm theequality of man; it calls upon them to adopt resolutions advocating thegovernment control of all avenues of transportation and communication, and for the strict regulation of all industries that affect the commonnecessities of life. 

"There is no law above that of the Creator. He did not fashion some ofhis children to be damned with the brand of perpetual servitude; He didnot anoint some with omnipotence to place them as rulers over the many. When He made mankind in His image, it was to have them live in fraternalrelationship. There should be no competition for the mere right to live. Until God's design is declared to be wrong, I shall never cease tocounsel my brothers to live true to the Divine principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. "

With these words he closes his address. 

There is no means for measuring the exact effect of his words. Theplaudits of an audience are an uncertain criterion. 

In the final vote that is taken, after three other delegates havespoken, a resolution is adopted calling for the appointment of astanding committee of three to continue the investigation of the Trustquestion until another year. 

This result is not satisfactory to the radicals, yet they make no openobjection. To Trueman it is a source of gratification to know that theheretical proposals of some of the delegates have been voted down. 

The conference is on the point of closing when Delegate William Nevinsmoves that the chairman of the special committee be empowered toincrease the number of the committee to forty at his own discretion. This motion is adopted. 

The conference ends. It has exemplified the old adage of the conventionof the mice to discuss the advisability of putting a bell on the cat. All agreed that it would be for the good of micedom; yet no mouse had afeasible method to advance for affixing the bell. The papers in everycity tell of the failure of the Anti-Trust conference to agree upon aplan of action. 

The millions of toilers bend lower under their burdens; the Magnatestighten their grasp on the throat of labor. 

In all the United States there is but one man who holds a solution ofthe problem of emancipating mankind from commercial servitude. This manhas been a delegate. He has spoken but a few words; he has been presentas an auditor. 

His hour for action is soon to come. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

A STARTLING PROPOSAL. 

The special committee has been directed to hold meetings at intervals ofa month and to have a report ready by the first of the followingJanuary. Thirty-seven of the most intelligent and earnest of theAnti-Trust members have been placed on this committee by its chairman. The meetings are now secret. 

The first meeting is held in the hall that had been used for the bigmeetings of the conference. After this the meetings are clandestine. 

The comment that was provoked by the conference of the radical leadersof the Trust opposition died out in the usual way, and then the interestin the efforts of the special committee was confined to the few peoplewho realized the earnestness of the men who had decided to take theTrust problem up and bring it to a speedy settlement. 

Day by day the members of the committee met to discuss the phases of theall absorbing question. 

The managers of some of the largest corporations are warned of thesesecret deliberations and institute a vigorous investigation. The aid ofthe police is secured, and the officers of a dozen of the shrewdestprivate detective bureaus are put in possession of the few facts thathave been ascertained. In a hundred directions public and privatesleuths are set in motion. But their untiring efforts are unavailing. They have to combat a more adroit, more nervy and more intelligent forcethan they have ever before been brought in contact with. 

The Committee of Forty has its ever watchful sentinels on guard, andevery move of the detectives is anticipated and provided against. 

Thus matters progress until on the night of June tenth a startlingclimax is brought about by the report of the secretary of the committee. 

At this memorable meeting there is a full attendance. The chairman, inhis call for the meeting, has intimated that very important businesswill be transacted. He has in mind the discussion of a plan forawakening the interest of the wage-earners in the effete Eastern States, and the reading of a report. 

What actually transpires is a surprise to him, as it is to all but threeof the committee. 

When the routine of business has been gone through with, the chairmanannounces that the meeting will proceed to the consideration of newbusiness, if there is any. 

William Nevins, the man who had carried the Stars and Stripes atHazleton, now a committeeman who has always taken a subordinate part inthe work, asks to be heard. 

Supposing that he is to speak on the one subject uppermost in the mindsof the committee, the chair recognizes him. Rising from his seat in theback of the room Nevins walks to the front of the hall, and standingbefore the chairman, half turns so as to face the men in the assembly. 

From his first words it is apparent that he has a matter of graveconcern to impart. The attention of all is engaged. 

"Mr. Chairman, " he begins, "I am unaccustomed to speech-making; yet onthis occasion I feel that I am capable of expressing myself in a mannerthat will be clear and forceful. I am to tell you a few truths, and inuttering the truth there is no need of depending on rhetoric or oratory. 

"As you all know, I am a poor man. How I came to be reduced to aposition little better than beggary is not known by any of you, for Ihave studiously avoided airing my troubles to any one. To-day I intendto tell the story. It will cast some light on the subject that we willbe called upon to discuss later. 

"We have no time to hear the life-story of any one, " sententiouslyobserves a man in the front seat. 

"But you will have to take time to hear me, " retorts Nevins, and hecontinues. 

"I was a graduate of Yale, in the class of 1884. My name was not Nevins, then. After a year spent in travel in Europe I returned to the UnitedStates and began to practice my profession of a civil engineer, in thecity of New York. My father had died when I was a child and had left mymother a fortune of about $40, 000. From this sum she derived an incomeof $2000 a year. She gave me an allowance of $800 up to the time that Ibegan to work as an engineer. 

"Two years after I had entered the office of a leading railroad Iplanned an extensive change in the working of the road and submitted itto the president. He approved of the suggested changes and put thematter before the board of directors. Shortly afterward I was informedthat I could proceed with the work. The work was accomplished and theofficials were more than pleased. They made me chief engineer of theroad and a stockholder. I soon had a considerable block of stock. Then agreat Magnate looked at the road with covetous eyes, and ruin came uponus. 

"The stock of the road was depreciated and borne down on the Exchangeuntil the road became insolvent. All my money was in the road, and whenthe crisis came I found myself stranded. The King of the Rail RoadTrust, Jacob L. Vosbeck, bought up the stock and then raised it to evena higher figure than it had ever before attained. 

"Ill-luck followed me and I have gone down, down, until I can scarcemake a living as a draughtsman in a shop. The curse of monopoly hascaused my ruin. I did not succumb to fair competition. I am now enlistedin a fight against the usurpers of the free rights of the people, and Ideclare to you all, that I am in this fight in dead earnest. By anappeal to justice we can gain nothing. 

"I was one of the sixty miners who were attacked on the highway atHazleton by the High Sheriff of Luzerne County. I witnessed the mocktrial in Wilkes-Barre. I have thought of all the possible means theTrusts have left to us, and find that there is but one available. 

"They have all the money and all the agencies of the law; they haveintimidated the humble and ignorant workingmen until these poorcreatures are no better than serfs, and to be assured of bread, theywork as voluntary slaves. 

"What is there for us to do but to fight the magnates with their ownweapons? Intimidation is their deadliest method. The horrible picture ofa starving family is held up before the wage-earner, and he is asked ifhe will vote to put his wife and children on the street. He is told thatif he will accept starvation wages, the Trust will let him make suchwages. In desperation he accepts the terms. 

"What I propose is to intimidate the criminal aggressors so that theywill fear to make their fortunes at the expense of the honest, hardworking and credulous people. 

"How shall it be done? Ah! it is a simple matter. "

Here the voice of the speaker becomes husky, and he turns to face thechairman of the committee. In almost a whisper he exclaims: "I proposeto give them an object lesson. They have given many to us. " Again heresumes his normal voice. 

"Have you not seen mills closed before election time so as to coerce mento vote as the mill owners directed? Has not this suspension of workbrought distress, starvation, death, to thousands of homes? Is it notmurder for men of wealth to resort to such means to win an election in afree country?

"Well, I now propose to form a syndicate--a Syndicate of Annihilation!"

"Mr. Chairman, " cry half a dozen voices. "Mr. Chairman, Point of order!Point of order!"

Before the chair can recognize any of the speakers a general commotionensues. Men begin discussing with one another excitedly; there is aperfect bedlam. 

All the while Nevins remains standing as if awaiting an opportunity toresume his speech. 

At the expiration of some minutes order is restored so that his voicecan be heard. "Permit me to explain, " he cries. 

The committeemen, as if acting by a common impulse, cease to squabble, and are attentive again. 

"I propose to hear the circumstances under which each of you has beenbrought to the condition that leads you to combine against the Trust;and if there is sufficient ground for belief that you will be zealousworkers in my syndicate, I will admit you to membership. No man who hasnot had a more serious grievance against the Robber Barons than I haveoutlined, will be eligible. _I have told you but one incident of mycase. _

"The work that I shall outline to you after hearing your stories, willrequire stout hearts to carry it into execution. 

"It cannot be accomplished by fanatics. It requires the concertedefforts of men of sound judgment; men of courage. The assassin is acoward at heart--the political martyr must be valiant. "

The novelty of the suggestion that has just been made is the first thingthat appeals to the minds of the committee. They begin to realize thehorrid character of the proposition. Much discussion follows. Men wantto know what Nevins means by a Syndicate of Annihilation. Whom does heintend to murder? Annihilation and murder are considered synonymous. 

To all questions Nevins replies that the details will be given as soonas the men recite their grievances. 

Professor Talbot and Hendrick Stahl, the two men who are in the secretwith Nevins, advise the members of the committee to comply with thedemands. 

Then begins the strange, startling recital of the stories of humandistress. Of the forty men of varying professions and trades, there arethose who tell of their efforts to stand up under the weight of the yokeof commercial despotism. Each man is of impressing character and strongindividuality. 

The chairman, Albert Chadwick, is the first to tell his story. It is theprelude to the concerted cry of the oppressed--the cry which has soundedthrough the ages as the one never varying note in the music of theuniverse; the dread inharmonic monotone that marks the limitation ofhumanity, exhibiting man's inability to convert the world into aparadise. 

CHAPTER IX. 

ARRAIGNMENT OF THE TRANSGRESSORS. 

Standing upon the little platform which serves as a rostrum, Chadwick, aman of fifty, seared and bent, lifts his hand to command the attentionof the committee. 

He is a figure that would do credit to the brush of a great artist. Hisappearance is that of a man who has been deprived of the power oflooking at the world as a place of rest; he is a bundle of nerves, andat the slightest provocation bursts into a storm of irascibility. Atortured spirit lurks in his soul and is visible in his stern, tensefeatures. 

As he begins the recital of his grievances against the Trust, it isapparent that he means to give the audience an embittered story. So theattention of all is centered upon him. 

"Human liberty is the boon which man has sought since the dawn ofcreation; it has furnished the incentive for his struggle to reclaim theearth from the domination of brute force; it is the inherent idea thatthe founders of this Republic sought to embody in the Constitution. ButLiberty must have as a complement unhampered opportunity, " are hisopening words. 

"The man who is dependent upon another for his livelihood is not capableof enjoying real liberty, or of attaining happiness. When the men of anation are debased to a position of minor importance, where they canonly act as servants, they lose the stamina necessary to make them goodcitizens. This condition now prevails in the United States. 

"My own experience will exemplify this statement. 

"Forty years ago I attained my majority. I was a citizen of the state ofPennsylvania, and considered that I was a freeman. By the death of myfather I had come into a fortune of fifty thousand dollars. I lived inthe oil region, and sought to engage in the oil industry. To this end Ipurchased land contiguous to a railroad. On my holdings a well waslocated which yielded three hundred barrels of oil a day. 

"No sooner had I begun to operate my well than the agents of the OilTrust, which had then but recently sprung into existence as a menace toindividual refining, came to me with a proposition to incorporate mywell in the Trust's system. The well was capable of earning a net profitof seventy thousand dollars a year. The Trust offered me a paltry twohundred and thirty thousand dollars for my plant. This I refused toaccept, for the actual value was one million dollars. 

"Then by crafty insinuation the agents of the Trust intimated thatunless I sold my property and accepted inflated stock in the Trust andallowed my well to be absorbed in the system, I would find myselfopposed by the mighty consolidation. Still I refused to abrogate myright to conduct an independent business. 

"Failing to allure me by their offers, which would have proved valuelessin the end; or of intimidating me by their threats, the agents reportedto the office of the Trust that I was obdurate and must be disciplined. 

"Accordingly pressure was brought to bear on the railroad over which Isent my product to a market. The railroad discriminated against me; itgave the Trust a rebate on all oil shipped over the road and made me paythe full schedule rates. Even against this detrimental condition I wasable to sell my oil at a small profit. 

"I might have survived the unequal struggle had not the 'pipe line'system been introduced. By this the Oil Trust transports its oil to thesea-board at a cost that enables it to undersell all competitors. Andfor a time the price of oil was reduced, and all the minor competitorswere driven into bankruptcy or forced to sell out to the Trust at aridiculously low figure. 

"Owing to my well being centrally located I was able to hold out longerthan many others. 

"John D. Savage, the Oil King, realized that some more potent means hadto be devised to crush me. This means was found in the expedient of'Sacrifice' sales. At every depot where I sold, the agents of the Trustoffered to sell oil at figures lower than I could possibly sell it. Ilost my trade. In an effort to retrench, my fortune was consumed, andfrom a position of affluence I descended to beggary, and had to join theranks as an employee. So bitter was the animosity of the Trust that itsought to rob me even of the opportunity to earn a living. I have beenhounded from post to pillar; my life has been made miserable. I haveseen my family want for bread. 

"And all because I withstood the assault of the Oil King. 

"As an American I protest against the existence of a corporation thatcan set at naught the mandates of the law; a corporation that can, withutter impunity, resort to arson as a final means of gaining its illegalend, as the oil Trust has done, again and again. 

"I thank God that I still possess my fore-fathers' spirit of resistanceagainst oppression. There are few men who are in want, or in actualdread of being thrown out of employment, however unremunerative, whowill assert their right. A nation composed of such men is not free, nomatter what its form of government may be. 

"I am ready to do anything that will restore the right to the individualcitizen to engage in business; I am ready to make a stand against thefew plutocrats who now usurp the avenues of human activity; and Ibelieve that we will be able to enlist men in support of the idea thatthe rights of the majority transcend the aggressions of the oligarchy ofAmerican capitalists. "

As Chadwick concludes his statement, Hiram Goodel, a delegate from NewHampshire, obtains the floor. 

"Coercion is the word that epitomizes my grievance against the Trusts, "he begins. "It was by the exercise of coercion that I was driven out ofbusiness. I conducted a retail tobacco store in Concord, in my nativestate. My business sufficed to insure me a decent living, and acomfortable margin to be husbanded as a safeguard for my decliningyears. I had a wife and three sons. My sons were all under age, and Ikept them at school to provide them with good educations. 

"There was competition in my business; such natural competition as ismet with in all pursuits. It did not, however, prevent my making asuccess of my business. 

"Then came the Tobacco Trust. It set out to control the retail trade. This was to be effected by the inauguration of a system of "consigning"goods to the retail stores with strict provisos that the retailer wouldnot handle the product of any concern out of the Tobacco Combine. Inorder to ingratiate themselves with the store-keepers, the Trustmanagers at first offered terms that were so far below the currentprices that a majority of the stores bound themselves to handle theTrust goods exclusively. 

"Three years passed, in which the independent tobacco manufacturersstrove to hold out against the ring. Then came a crash. 

"I had opposed the innovation of binding myself to buy from one concern;for I felt intuitively that as soon as the Trust was all-powerful itwould begin to exercise dictatorial sway over the retailer. 

"My fears were soon justified. 

"The Trust advanced the price of its goods to the retailer, andcompelled the trade to sell at the same retail figures. 

"When this system of extortion was successfully launched the Trustdetermined to reward its patrons, as a means of pacifying them forreduced profits. 

"The reward came in the shape of discriminating against thestore-keepers who still handled the goods made by the fast vanishingopposition concerns. 

"I was informed that unless I signed an agreement to use only the Trustbrands of cigarettes and tobacco no more goods would be sold to me. Asthe Trust embraced all of the leading brands, that meant that I must goout of business. 

"My puritan blood boiled at the thought that I must submit to thetyranny of a band of robbers. I determined to fight to the last. Fouryears of business at a net loss, drove me into insolvency; then amortgage was placed upon my freehold, to be followed by foreclosure. Istill struggled on, under the delusion that I was in a free land andthat the Trust iniquities would not be permitted to crush the individualcitizen forever. The decision of the courts of the several states wherethe Tobacco Trust was arraigned, upholding the Trust, disillusioned me. But it was too late, I was a ruined man. 

"My sons were forced to work in the cigar factory of the local branch ofthe Trust; and I was obliged to apply for a patrimony from theGovernment, as a veteran of the war for the emancipation of man fromslavery. On this slender pension I now live. 

"Can anyone blame me for being a volunteer in the crusade against themost insidious and dangerous foe that has ever assailed a land; a foethat seeks to entrench itself by emasculating the citizens and degradingthem to a position of servants of mighty and intolerant masters?"

There is a pause. The aged speaker trembles with emotion. 

"I am an old man, over seventy years of age, yet whatever vigor remainsin me will be expended in my last battle with the destroyers of freegovernment. 

"What right has Amos Tweed, the Tobacco King, to tax me?

"I was born a free man; I fought to free an inferior race. Alas, I havelived to see the shackles placed upon the wrists of my own sons. So helpme God, I shall strike a blow to make them free once more. "

Overcome with the exertion of delivering his fervent speech, HiramGoodel totters. He would fall, did not the strong arms of Carl Metzsupport him. 

"Where is the man who can view this picture of patriarchal devotion, andhesitate to give significance to the prayer that freedom may again bethe inheritance of the youth of America, " demands Nevins in thrillingtones. 

It is apparent that the recital of the grievances of the members of thecommittee is making a deep impression on every man. 

Horace Turner, a farmer from Wisconsin, who had migrated to that statewhen it was in its infancy, preferring its fertile plains to the rockyhillside homestead in Vermont, is the next to speak. He is sixty yearsof age, well preserved, temperate and fairly well educated. 

"I can quote no higher authority than the Holy Bible, " are his openingwords. "If in that book we can find authority for complaining againsttyrants; if we can find a prayer that has come down from age to age, shall we not be justified in uttering it?

"Are these words from the Psalms meaningless? 'Deliver me from theoppression of Man; so will I keep thy precepts. '

"There is vitality in this cry from the oppressed; because the oppressorexists. You and I are both victims of oppression. 

"I am a producer of wheat, the great staple of this country. You are allconsumers of my product. When I cannot make a living by producing wheat, and you cannot purchase it without paying tribute to a band ofspeculators, there must be in operation a damnable system of oppressionto bring about this condition, for it is not natural. 

"The Wheat Trust determines what price I shall receive for my wheat; itsets the price at which you shall buy it in the form of bread. 

"Whether there is a bounteous crop or a short one, the Trust stillcontrols the wheat and flour and arbitrarily fixes their price. 

"When the newspapers assert that the farmers enjoy the advance of theprice of a season's crop, they state an absolute falsehood. 

"By the system that prevails in this country to-day, as a result of theWheat Trust, crops are sold a year in advance. There are never two yearsof exceptionally large crops; so the benefit of the advance of one yeardoes not go over to the next. 

"The farmers of this country are compelled, by the present system, topledge their next year's crop to the local wheat factors who control theelevators. The purchase price is determined by the factor. The farmerreceives a certain number of bushels of 'seed' wheat from the factor, agreeing to repay him with two or two and a half bushels of the comingcrop; a large percentage of the remainder of the crop is pledged to thelocal store-keeper for the goods that the farmer must have to do hiswork and to live upon. 

"Wheat is the medium of exchange. The Trust's price is the measure ofvalue. Why? Because the farmer cannot sell to any one except to an agentof the Trusts, as the Trust has arranged traffic rates with everyrailroad; and the wheat, if bought by any one outside of the Trust, could not be transported to a market and sold at a profit. Thisstatement is indisputable. 

"The Wheat King, David Leach, depresses the market when the crop is tobe sold, and so gives a semblance of reason for the inadequate price heallows the farmer. 

"It is the farmer who does the planting; he has to run the risk of theloss of the crop by drought, or excessive rain; he has to do theharvesting. Yet he does not share in the just profits of the sale of hisproduct. 

"And the consumer is made to pay exorbitantly for the bread that keepslife in his body. 

"If there were no Wheat Trust, no speculation in wheat and nodiscriminating traffic rates, bread could be sold at a fair profit forthree cents a loaf, and the farmer would still be able to get a higherprice than he averages now. 

"I have toiled as a farmer for two score years, and all I have in thisworld is a farm of two hundred acres, valued at thirty-six hundreddollars, on which there is a two thousand dollar mortgage at six percent. When the interest is paid and my yearly expenses are defrayed, Iam lucky to have one hundred dollars to my credit in the bank. For thepast six years I have been obliged to send whatever I had remaining tomy son, who has married and who is struggling to live in Milwaukee. Heis engaged as a brakeman on the railroad that exacts thirty per cent. Ofthe value of every bushel of wheat I raise. 

"I am not one of the discontented, homeless vagabonds who the Plutocratsdeclare are alone demanding the destruction of Monopoly. I am a citizenwho can foresee the inevitable result that will come from a perpetuationof Commercial Despotism. I am not afraid to assert my opinions, nor willI fear to act on any suggestion, that will insure independence to thefarmer and to all the citizens of the Republic. "

Donald Harrington, a delegate accredited to Maryland, now begins hisarraignment:

"It will not be necessary for me to take the story of my ruin back tothe beginning; you are interested only in that part which has to do withthe effect of the Trusts upon me. 

"I could say that they were the sole cause of my downfall, but in thisstatement I should be doing the Trusts an injustice. I felt the firstdownward impulse given me when I was a lad of sixteen. I had entered theemploy of a banking house and was a clerk in their counting room. It wasmy especial duty to see that the books of the company were put in thesafes at night. This duty I faithfully performed for more than threeyears. 

"One day I was tempted to steal. 

"It was an easy matter for me to take a sum of money from the drawer andmake away with it. I was not detected in the first peculation; thisencouraged me to take more. So matters went on until I was guilty ofhaving stolen a sum aggregating ten thousand dollars. I knew that Icould not keep the game up much longer, for the annual accounting woulddisclose the deficit. 

"Of the sums I had taken, I had less than half saved. I did not know howI was to get out of the position in which I was placed. Then the ideastruck me that I might make the entire sum good if I could make asuccessful turn on the Exchange. 

"This I determined to try. 

"From the first I was successful. Soon I had three times the sumrequired to make up my peculations. 

"I restored the money to the safe and breathed easily. 

"This was my first venture in dealing with other peoples' money. 

"The experience led to my entering upon a career as a banker and broker. 

"For eight years I was actively engaged in rolling up a fortune. I wassought out by the Magnates of many of the largest Trusts, and theyextended me unlimited credit. 

"When the country was precipitated into a panic in 1893, I was not oneof the sufferers; I was one of the scoundrels active in bringing thedistress upon the people. I aided in the establishment of theall-powerful Money Trust. 

"Later I was interested in a big mining scheme. It appeared to me to beone of the best things in which to invest money. I put the bulk of myfortune in the mining stocks, and lost. 

"In attempting to retrieve my losses I dissipated my fortune to the lastcent. 

"The whole of my career as a banker was of a criminal nature. Nearlyeverything I had touched was a speculative venture. The cursed practiceof watering stocks to three and four times their actual value was thecommon work of my days. 

"At the end I was caught in the net which I had so often thrown out toensnare others. My former partner, James Golding, the Napoleon ofFinance, wrought my undoing. 

"All of this leads to this conclusion:

"I am an enemy of the Trusts now, because I know their methods; I knowthe results that follow the practice of fictitious speculation. Beforeyou all I acknowledge that my past has been of the darkest and mostdisreputable nature. 

"I also wish to state that I have experienced a change of heart. It hasnot come upon me solely because I have lost my fortune; I have felt itcreeping upon me for the past three years. In my inmost heart I feel abeating that will not be stilled unless I am engaged in the work ofdestroying the power of the accursed Trusts. 

"That there is a chance on earth for a man to redeem himself, I amconfident. I have heard the call and have responded to it. I am resolvedto use the rest of my strength in battling with the enemies of thepeople. And I am the more in earnest since I can never forget that I ampersonally responsible for the distress of hundreds. Widows and orphans, young and old, all have been my victims. 

"What object Nevins may have in getting us to recount our grievances, Ido not know; but if it will lead to any good result, he may depend uponme to give my untiring aid. 

"I have but a word to add. Since my ruin, I have seen my wife and onlychild, a daughter of twenty, languish and die before my very eyes. Thishas embittered me against the men who have worked the ruin of the massesmore than anything else. I have pledged myself to avenge the sufferingsof humanity. I shall be doing something for the good of the race;something to atone for the evil deeds I myself have done. "

There is nothing in the recital of Harrington's life's history that isof an exceptional nature. True, no one present is aware that he had atone time been the head of the great bond issue plot. 

But the delegates are looking for something of a far different tone thana mere recital of crime and a fall from affluence to penury. Several ofthe committeemen are on their feet demanding the floor. 

Cyrus Fielding, the delegate representing the federation of stonemasons, is recognized by the chair. 

Fielding is a man of short stature, his eyes betray a lacklustre thatmight be the result of over-indulgence in liquor or want of rest; he isthin and poorly clad, his face is cleanly shaven. At every pause in hisspeech he runs his fingers through his thick dishevelled black hair, andfinishes this mannerism with wiping his forehead with the back of hishand. His delivery is awkward and these repeated movements intensifythis awkwardness. 

"I have a grievance against the Trusts that dates back as far as mybirth. I never had a fair start. My father was a victim of the power ofgold and I inherited his misfortune. 

"My first work was as a helper in the great Pennsylvania Iron Trust'sworks that are owned by that old man, the self-styled philanthropist, Ephraim Barnaby, a hypocrite of the first water, who goes about theworld asking people how he can best dispose of his fabulous fortune. 

"From the rank of helper I soon rose to the position of foreman of themoulding shop. This was a most important place and I felt proud that Ihad attained it in so short a period as three years. 

"It was my ambition to learn all I could relating to the work in theiron industry. Toward this end I spent four hours every night in readingand experimenting. At the end of another three years I had a fund ofknowledge that put me in the front rank as a constructing engineer. 

"But I was not a graduate of a college of engineering, so I could notget the degree. The opportunity of utilizing my practical knowledge byforming a competing company was closed by the bar of traffic rates. 

"My employers advanced me to the rank of superintendent of the shops inthe largest iron manufacturing city in the state. I had to be satisfiedwith a position under the iron masters. 

"Then came the memorable strike that led to the killing of the men bythe paid detectives of the Iron Masters. 

"The claims of the men were just, and as a man I could not side againstthem. I put my fortune in with them. The details of the strike are knownto you all. The story of the shooting of unarmed mill hands at theinstance of the mill owners will never be forgotten; it has marked anera in the history of this country. 

"Well, I was a conspicuous figure in those days. The strikers hailed meas a champion; the mill owners first sought to win me over; then theycontrived to do away with me. Three times I was assaulted by murderousmen who had been hired to kill me. 

"When their schemes of violence failed they resorted to the mosteffective method of destroying me. They discharged me and refused to letme return after the strike was declared off. Not satisfied with havingturned me away from their mills they dogged my every step. Since thatday I have been unable to get employment in any mill in this country. 

"As I am acquainted with the methods of the iron trade I have been ableto give the trade Union many valuable points. It was upon my suggestionthat the amalgamation of the unions was effected. 

"From my intimate knowledge of the manufacture of iron I know that theitem of wage is less than fifteen per cent. Of the cost of the completedcasting, yet the tariff on manufactured iron is on the average thirtyper cent. Where does the additional fifteen per cent. Go? To fatten thepockets of the favored manufacturer. But that is only half the story. The fifteen per cent. That is supposed to protect the American laborer, does it go for this end? Not at all. All of you are familiar with thewage schedules in the iron industry. They have not been advanced fiveper cent. Since the imposition of the high tariff. So the manufacturergobbles more than ninety per cent. Of the tariff bounty. 

"It is because I keep telling the iron workers this truth that I amhounded by the minions of the Trusts. 

"We have allowed ourselves to be robbed long enough. I am an American tothe back-bone, and I propose to fight the men who have disputed thiscountry till I die. 

"Let me say that to whatever Nevins may propose I am willing to lend mysupport, provided the ends he seeks to obtain are honorable and themeans reasonable. 

"As I am talking I cannot keep out of my mind the home which the IronMasters destroyed. I had a wife and two children who loved me and werethe idols of my heart. I saw this home destroyed. I saw my childrenturned adrift and their mother forced to work to support them; forduring the first three years after the strike I could get nothing to do. 

"With these memories which had as a climax the deaths of two nearest anddearest to me, I have nothing left to live for but the fulfillment of myresolve to break the power of the Monopolists who have control of thiscountry. "

"This meeting will be protracted to the middle of next week if we alltake a half hour or more to tell our tale of woe, " observes one of thecommittee who cannot foresee the end of the discussion. 

The chairman asks if the members wish to limit the time of the speakersto five minutes, and this proposition meets with the approval of all. 

So the remaining stories are told in short intensive sentences whichdescribe the heart-breaking history of men who have been trodden downunder the heel of monopoly. 

There are examples of every type that can be imagined. Men who have beendefrauded of their ideas and patents; others who have been the victimsof unjust legislation, the dupes of the speculator, the betrayed friendsof men who have ridden to fortune on the backs of those who gave themtheir first start. 

Under the new ruling, the first man to be recognized is HermanNettinger, a man known to all the assemblage as an anarchist. He hadbeen admitted to the councils on the supposition that the best way topacify and placate the Anarchistic element was to offer them fullrepresentation in the work of regenerating the government. 

Nettinger had been one of the few men who succeeded in eluding thepolice during the days of the reign of anarchy in Chicago in 1885. 

He is a man of gigantic build, and of imperturbable placidity. When asoldier in the German army had provoked him to the point where he had tofight, this modern Titan had seized his tormenter and without apparenteffort had dashed the man's brains out by butting him against the wallof the barracks. For this episode Nettinger had been compelled to serveeleven years in the military prison. 

During these years he had familiarized himself with the teachings of thesocialists, for his companions were, many of them, students ofsociology. Upon his release he had come to this country. He invented acompressed air motor, but the American Motor Trust robbed him of hispatents. 

In the space of five minutes Nettinger strives to defend the theory ofanarchy. He denounces all government as a make-shift, and asserts thatman should accordingly dispense with the forms of government and dependupon animal instinct to regulate the social community. He names SamuelL. Bell, chairman of the International Patent Commission, as the man whocontrived to rob him of his patent rights. 

The meeting adjourns at the conclusion of this harangue. 

In the hour that has passed the elements for a political revolution havebeen brought together and combined by a master mind. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE SECRET SESSION. 

It is apparent that the views of the men who have the most seriousgrievances against the Trusts are yet to be heard. Most of the membersare glad that the meeting of the previous night had adjourned so as toafford time for them to consider the salient points of the remarkableproposal that had been sprung by Nevins. 

One of the members, who was conspicuous at all of the meetings, a man ofpinched features and diminutive form, a veritable Pope Leo, as it were, makes a motion, as soon as the meeting opens, that three of the membersbe heard, and if their stories in any way coincide with the generalviews of the others, the pledge of the remaining men, that they holdequally strong opinions, be sufficient to admit them to the standingnecessary for the exposition of the plan. 

As a means of expediting matters, the committee adopts this resolutionand the three men who are to tell their life's history are chosen. Thefirst of these is a man of the world, a fallen idol of society, who hadlately joined the ranks of the oppressed as a consequence of direfinancial difficulties. 

When he made his advent in the company of the desperate men of Chicago, he had adopted the name of Stephen Marlow. 

This name is sufficient, for the men with whom he comes in contact arenot occupied in searching genealogies. They are working for results. Marlow is in every sense of the word a leader. He has the grace ofmanner and the personal charm that at once attracts men. His physicaldevelopment makes him the envy of the male sex and the idol of thefeminine. In stature he is slightly under six feet, with broad shouldersand a fullness of figure that impresses one with the fact that he is agood liver, yet withall muscular. 

A pale complexion, strongly marked features and high forehead, with darkbrown hair and clear brown eyes, make him a conspicuous figure in anyassemblage. 

As he rises to address his fellow-committeemen on this momentousoccasion, a flush of excitement adds to his attractiveness. He is a manof thirty-five, with the experience of a man of fifty. 

"Were I to take the course pursued by those who have already spoken toyou, " he begins, "I might take you back to the scenes of my childhoodand portray pictures of affluence and luxury that few of you could quiteappreciate. But the days of my childhood are gone; I am a man and haveto fight the battles of men, so I shall limit myself to the few factsthat are pertinent to the discussion before us. 

"In the past six months I have made the sudden transition from thehighest stratum of society to the one in which I am to-day. We cannot, and do not desire to pose as contented men, or as men who are lookingfor mild solutions of the problems that are now pressing for settlement. I cannot, therefore, affront you when I say that by being among you Iprove that I am a radical reformer. 

"What you will be interested in learning will be the reasons thatimpelled me to come here. 

"There is not a single thing to be hidden from you. I am here for thepurpose of satisfying a revenge. 

"My every fibre is quickened by the desire to see the men who caused mydownfall brought to my level. 

"I am selfish in my purpose; so deeply rooted are my resolves to beavenged that I here and now state to you that any thing radical that maybe proposed by this committee shall receive my full support. 

"And do you blame me? Listen to my reasons:

"Six years ago I entered the employ of Stephen Steel, the New Yorkbanker. He is a man whom the people of the city and the country at largelook upon as a paragon. His words are constantly quoted in the papers;his advice is sought by men of affairs. 

"My friends told me I was indeed fortunate to be associated with such aprominent man. 

"Well, he was a schemer. At every turn he was on the lookout for achance to get at the wealth of others. I had not been in his employ morethan a month when I discovered that he was at the bottom of a plot toloot the treasuries of three of the largest banks. His scheme wasdiabolical. It would have entailed the loss of the savings of thousandsof small depositors. 

"With this knowledge in my possession, I did not know just what my dutywas. To shut my eyes to the affair and let it culminate in disaster toinnocent thousands, would have been a simple matter. For several days Iwas in a quandary, but my conscience at length conquered. I mustered upcourage enough to speak to my employer. I chose for my time the hourafter his return from church on Sunday. He had passed the plate with theunction of a saint. Men and women had looked at him and inwardly said:'What a fine man Mr. Steel is; if there were only more like him. '

"At the first intimation I gave him that I looked upon his plans asillegal and immoral, if not absolutely criminal, he attempted to proveto me in a plausible argument that bankers have a right to look out forthemselves, no matter who it hits. 

"'This plan of mine, ' he said, 'is just a stroke of financiering; it iswhat any man would do if put in my place. '

"This did not satisfy me, and the expression of scorn that came over myface did not escape him. 

"From attempting to prove the righteousness of the case, he then took toberating me for interfering with his business. Had I not enough to do toattend to my affairs in his office, without prying into his outsidedealing? Was it a matter that he must lay before his manager? These werethe questions he put to me in sharp tones. 

"I saw that it would be useless to argue with him so I arose and said:

"'As you will not listen to reason, as you are a hypocrite and avillain, I shall be compelled to quit your employ. But I wish to informyou that I shall expose this diabolical plan. It shall not be carriedout if I can prevent it, and you know that I am in possession of thefacts. '

"At this statement his anger knew no bounds. He railed at me as atrickster. He charged me with wishing to blackmail him. Then seeing thatthis was not the way to gain his point, he adroitly shifted his lines. 

"Would I not take a share in the profits that were to be made? Did I notsee that banking was a business in which every advantage was to beseized and worked for all that was in it? At length he offered to let mein his firm as a partner. This last offer was one that a man would havebeen more than human to set aside without weighing. 

"He saw me hesitate. It was not the hesitation that comes as aforerunner of surrender; it was the pause that a man will make when hehas to confront a momentous problem that is to have an effect on hisafter-life. I did not intend to accept his alluring terms; it had beenmy resolve at the outset to leave his employ should he refuse to abandonhis scheme of loot. 

"In the few seconds that I stood facing him, the light of lust came inhis eyes, he became the incarnation of greed. A snake that sees itsquarry edging inch by inch toward the fangs of death could not have hada more exultant, triumphant look shoot from its treacherous eyes. 

"'You will be a man, ' said he; 'you will listen to reason. ' He utteredthese words not as a query, but as an assertion of fact. 

"'I shall do as I have said, ' was my reply, and I walked toward thedoor. 

"'But you do not mean to say that you refuse to become a partner?' heejaculated in amazement. 

"'That is just what I mean. I tell you once for all that I will not be aparty to such crimes as you propose to commit. ' "'Then I warn you, youngman, ' he thundered, losing his self control, 'that if you attempt tothwart me in my business I shall make it uncomfortable for you in thiscity. 

"'Yes, I tell you now once for all, that you will find me the mostunmerciful enemy that was ever known. I have too much at stake to let afool of a man upset me. 

"'Do you think that the world will credit the utterances of a nobody asagainst mine? Why, you will be lodged in an insane asylum. I shall havethat matter fixed at once. 

"'By the way, where are the bonds that I entrusted to your care lastweek?'

"'What bonds?' I demanded hotly. For even then I saw the purport of thequestion. 

"'What bonds? Ah, that will not satisfy a jury. '

"And the banker chuckled at the thought that he had struck upon theproper weapon with which to crush me. 

"In the confidence of his own power, and no doubt as a means of avoidingpublicity, he thought that the affair had gone to a point where he mightappear magnanimous. "'I do not hold any ill will toward you, ' hecontinued, 'it is as a friend that I speak. You are suffering from asensitive conscience, which is out of place in this age and generation. 

"'I can pity you, but of course it would be impossible for me to allowsentiment to rule me in business. 

"'We will let this evening pass out of our minds. You will return toyour duties, and in the future let my outside matters be distinct fromyour work and concern. But remember, not a word of this to any one. '

"As the last few words were spoken we walked as if by common impulsetoward the door. 

"I bade him good-night, and the next minute I found myself on thesidewalk. It was winter, and the cold bracing air soon made me alive tothe events that had occurred in such quick succession in the banker'sparlor. 

"My mind was in a flurry. What was I now to do? Did my silence atparting indicate that I had accepted his offer to return to work as hisclerk?

"With a muddled brain I walked on and on until I found I had reached theentrance of the Park at Fifty-ninth street and Fifth avenue. I enteredthe park and sank exhausted upon a bench. 

"Then I began to review the words of our interview. 

"It all became clear to me. I was in the power of an unscrupulous man. He could throw me into prison at a word; if this was not to be desiredhe could have me declared insane and put in an insane asylum. My wordwas as naught against his. So I determined to work in his bank until Icould get the evidence that I needed to prove my case. 

"I had misjudged my man, for a week later he called me into his privateoffice and informed me that he had no further use for me. 

"_His bank wrecking scheme was successfully carried out. _

"In vain I sought to awaken the interest of the press. The story I toldwas not credited. I lacked documentary proof. When the crash came theeditors realized that I had told the truth. But it was too late. 

"When I began to look for employment, I found that my name had beenblacklisted. Wherever I go, from Maine to California, I am confronted byan agent of my arch enemy. I cannot even hold a position as a daylaborer. 

"The damning brand of the magnate is on me, and employers are warnedagainst me. And all because I possess a conscience that would not stoopto crime. I have stood out against retaliating as long as I can. Now myvow is given to be avenged on Steel and his ilk. "

Of all the committeemen none has a more distinguished bearing thanProfessor Herbert Talbot. He is a scion of an honorable New Englandfamily; the advantages of refined home surroundings and a collegeeducation have combined to give him a polish that should win him therespect and admiration of all who know him. 

From the day of his graduation from one of the leading universities hehad begun to teach his favorite study, political economy. At fifty yearsof age he found himself the recognized authority on economics, aprofessor in his alma mater, and the recipient of honors at home andabroad. 

That was in 1894. What a difference a few years has wrought. Now he isan outcast, driven from his position in the faculty by the order ofRufus Vanpeldt, the Woolen King, the patron of the university. Talbot isreviled by his fellow-collegians, and ostracized from the society inwhich he had always been a leader; and all because he has had themanliness to express the truth on the political conditions of thecountry. 

He has advocated the reduction of the tariff to a reasonable point; hehas been a staunch supporter of the income tax; his views on the moneyquestion are deemed heretical and he is dismissed from the circles oflearning. 

From being the submissive hireling and servitor of the educationalinstitution, he entered the political field as their most powerfuladversary. He is one of the leaders of the Anti-Trust movement. When thecommittee of Forty was organized, he had been one of the first selected. 

Many of the committee await his speech with lively interest. Whateverview he takes of the proposition they determine to adopt. He is the nextmember to be called upon. 

In an impressive, convincing argument he approves of the proposition. Not that it is faultless, but because it offers the only remedy for thevicious condition of the country's social condition. 

In presenting the arguments in favor of the adoption of the proposition, Professor Talbot demonstrates that the centralization of capital in thehands of a few men is the gravest mistake that a republic can permit tooccur. It creates an oligarchy that is more pernicious than one of classdistinction, since such a one can be coped with, while an oligarchy ofwealth possesses so many ramifications that it is practicallyunassailable except by direct and physical means. 

"It is the common belief that labor-saving inventions are accountablefor much of the distress that exists in this country, " he says, "butthis is not so in so far as the inventions themselves are concerned. 

"The evils that have followed the introduction of labor-saving machineryare the results of capitalists seeking to squeeze the last cent ofprofit out of their enterprises. 

"When an inventor produces any improvement in manufacture he does theworld a good; when the manufacturer who adopts this invention, at thesame time discharges his adult male operatives and substitutes childlabor, he vitiates the good that has been done and works a great harm tosociety. 

"The crying evil of to-day is _child labor_, and the labor of women intrades and at work that is manifestly fit only for men. 

"I shall make no lengthy appeal to you to adopt a direct means ofsecuring your rights. I shall set you an example by announcing that Ipledge my support to Mr. Nevins in anything that he may do that has forits object the emancipation of the women, children and men of thiscountry from industrial slavery. 

"There is a living to be had for every inhabitant on the earth if hewill work. We in America should guarantee more than subsistence to ourcitizens. A life of plenty is here for all if the social conditions canbe readjusted. "

Peter Bergen, a socialist who represents Kansas, is the last to speak. His views are those of the radical. Nothing but instant centralizationof all the land and property of the country to be owned and operated bythe people as a whole, appear to him to offer an adequate solution ofthe social problem. He is ready to aid in any movement that iscalculated to bring this condition about. He rails against the tyrannyof landlordism. 

"What justification is there to the laws that will permit an alien tohold land idle in this country until American energy improves thesurrounding property? What justification is there in permitting an aliento withdraw rents from this country without paying a tax toward thesupport of the Federal government?

"I have fought for this country; I have paid a land tax on my farm and atax on everything I consume. What does the alien land-holder pay?Nothing. 

"I am ready to defend my home and country now. I will ever be loyal toit, for it is the best in the world. 

"Its government is not perfect; it is our duty to make it so. 

"Let us confiscate the lands of expatriated Americans as an initialstep. 

"The man who will not contribute to the support of the government doesnot deserve its protection. " His words are uttered with vehemence. 

When he concludes this recital of personal grievances against theTrusts, the chairman announces that at the next meeting the members willbe given full particulars of the purpose of the syndicate. 

The forty men separate, each carrying with him the conviction that atlength the time has come when something definite is to be decided uponin the war against Trusts. 

CHAPTER XI. 

MARTHA'S PREMONITION. 

Trueman remains in Chicago after the close of the Anti-Trust conferenceso as to be present at the National convention of the Independenceparty. He is one of the delegates at large to this convention, and hopesto be able to exert an influence over its deliberations, now that he haswon some renown as a speaker. 

In the rush of the sessions of the Anti-Trust conference he had had notime to keep his promise to Martha. Once only had he sent her a notetelling her of his safe arrival in the city. It had not occurred to himthat she would be anxiously awaiting a letter from him containing hisviews on the results of the conference. Why should a woman be interestedin such matters?

It is with unbounded surprise therefore that he receives the followingletter from her:

 WILKES-BARRE, JUNE 13. _My Dear Friend:_

 It has been so long since I have heard from you that I take the initiative and write to ask you to forward to me as soon as possible, an article embodying your views on the recent Anti-Trust conference. I have a special reason for wishing this before the assembling of the Independence convention. To be frank with you, I have a premonition that you will be honored with the nomination for the Vice-presidency. Your friends in Pennsylvania, and in the other Eastern states, are working for you. I am handicapped by being a woman, yet in some ways it has proven advantageous to me. 

 By my peculiar intimacy with the families of this district, I became acquainted with the fact that your name is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the office. As soon as I learned this, I set to work to 'boom, ' as the politicians would say, the incipient movement. Last night I was assured by O'Connor, the local leader, that you were sure of the support of the delegations of Pennsylvania and New York. For this reason I can wait no longer for a letter from you. 

 Let me know at once if you look favorably on the proposition of being a candidate for the high office. 

 Are you a member of the Committee of Forty? And what is this body?

 As ever your friend, MARTHA. 

Here is a revelation. 

Unknown to him, his friends, and especially Martha, are at work planningfor his nomination as a candidate for the office of Vice-president. Theidea of his achieving such a success has never entered his mind. 

How can an unknown delegate hope to receive the support of theconvention. It seems unreasonable, and he is on the point of writing toMartha that the effort could not help but end in a ridiculous farce, when an interruption prevents him from doing so. A card is brought tohis room. It bears the simple inscription:

A FRIEND. 

"Invite the person up, " Trueman tells the servant. 

The apartments he occupies are in a quiet boarding house on LincolnAvenue. He has been in the house six weeks, during which time no one hasever called to see him. 

A minute passes in which he ransacks his mind in an attempt to think whocan have any business with him. It is half-past eight at night. 

A loud rap at the door announces the visitor. 

"Come in, " calls Trueman. 

"Good evening, Mr. Trueman. " It is William Nevins who speaks. 

"O, it is you, Mr. Nevins, " exclaims Trueman. 

"I owe you an apology, " he continues, "for being surprised at seeingyou; but the fact is I am a stranger in Chicago and have had novisitors. When your card came I could not imagine who could wish to seeme. "

"I am well aware that you are a stranger in this city, " Nevins replies. "And as I am little better off I thought that I would drop in to have achat with you. "

"We were delegates at the Anti-Trust Conference and will have much todiscuss, " says Trueman, in his most affable manner. "I certainly am gladyou thought of me. Take a seat, and make yourself as comfortable as thequarters will permit. "

They seat themselves near the table. A pipe and a jar of tobacco lie onthe table. 

"Will you smoke?"

Nevins shakes his head negatively, saying as he does so:

"I cannot talk and smoke at the same time. To-night I want to talk. 

"The fact is I have become interested in you since your speech at theclose of the conference. 

"You will remember it was I who suggested that the committee appointedto investigate the Trust question be increased to forty. 

"When I made that motion I had an object in view. I was anxious to haveyou become one of the committeemen. "

"Then the full committee has been appointed?" Trueman asks. 

"The forty committeemen have been named. You are not among them, and thereason is that the chairman is jealous of you. "

"He can have no reason to be jealous of me. "

"The fact remains that he is. I strove to get him to appoint you. Heflatly refused to do so. I could get no reason from him. So I concludedthat he fears you would outshine him in the work that the committeecontemplates doing. Your speech was masterly. I am not given toflattery. I say candidly that it was the best delivered at theconference. 

"Since I failed to get you on the committee of forty, I come to see ifyou will aid me in a project that will make the committee superfluous; Ihave an idea that the trust question, monopoly and the other socialproblems can be speedily solved. "

"You did not speak at the conference; that was the place to propoundsuch an idea, " interposes Trueman. 

"Quite true. But I held my peace there, because it was not a place tobring forth the plan that I have evolved. You will agree with me if youwill hear me through. 

"My plan requires in the first place the services of an honest man--onewho is proof against the blandishments of the Plutocrats--who will spurnthe offers of gold and office that will be tendered him by the men ofwealth when they perceive that he is on the eve of winning the popularsupport. 

"Such a man is hard to find in this age of commercialism which has allbut quenched the spark of true patriotism in the hearts of the people. Ihave sought for the ideal leader in all the States and was on the pointof giving up the quest in despair when I suddenly came upon him. Once Idetermined that the man had been found, I set about learning his record. It appears that he is the product of evolution. From the servant of thePlutocrats he has come to be their most powerful adversary. In him thepeople will recognize the long-looked-for deliverer. "

Here Nevins pauses for a moment to let his words sink into the mind ofhis interested listener. 

"Mr. Trueman, " he resumes, "I have decided that you are the man to leadthe people out of their bondage. "

"I certainly feel complimented at your estimate of my integrity, "Trueman replies, "but you greatly overestimate my ability and the holdwhich I have upon the people. 

"It was by the merest chance that I was elected to the position ofdelegate to the conference. I have really little influence with the menof my own State. This you must know if you have made a carefulinvestigation. "

"I know why you are not the recipient of the full support of the men ofPennsylvania. They cannot conceive of a man changing his views sothoroughly as you have. But this lack of perception they will overcome. 

"I want you to assure me that you will become the leader of theIndependence Party. If you do this I, in turn, will assure you of thenomination for the Presidency. 

"That I am not speaking of impossibilities you will be able tounderstand when I show you the proof of the power I hold to elect theman I decide upon. 

"If I am not mistaken, you are opposed to violence as a means ofrectifying the social conditions of the people of this country. "

"It has been my purpose to defeat every proposition that advised force, "comes the quick response. "I am too vividly acquainted with the horridresults that follow an appeal to force. 

"My hope is that the people will regain their rights by the properexercise of the ballot. 

"If they discard their all-powerful weapon to take up the sword or thetorch, the end must be the destruction of popular government. "

"Were you in the position of the chief executive you would follow thisview? You would be as determined in suppressing violence as you were inpreventing crime of any other sort? Your gratitude to the people forelecting you would not blind you to your duty in preventing them frominstituting a reign of anarchy? I am correct in this supposition?"

Nevins looks Trueman in the eyes with a glance that seems intent onreading his inmost thoughts. 

"I should do my full duty under the constitution, " Trueman declaresemphatically. 

"But, really, " he adds, "I cannot appreciate this situation. It isinexplicable why you should interest yourself in my behalf to the extentof seeking to bring about my nomination for the Presidency. "

"My reason is not hard to divine. It is not you whom I am working for;it is the people. 

"In you I find the proper agent to fulfil the mission of a leader in anhour of grave importance. 

"Older men lack the power of attracting the masses. Of the young menwhom I have studied, none has the ability, the needed environment thatyou have. 

"Men are creatures of circumstances only when they permit themselves todrift. If one cannot propel himself to a given haven of success heshould at least anchor in a place of safety. 

"With you it is only necessary that you give me the sign, and you willbecome the master of circumstances. You will be the man to lead thepeople to the plane of high civilization that their government makes itpossible for them to attain. "

For three hours Nevins continues to unfold in detail the plan he has foraccomplishing the nomination of Trueman at the coming convention. Heshows his prospective candidate letters pledging the support of amajority of the State delegations to the man whom he should designate. In explanation of his power as a leader Nevins states that he has beenthe secret agent of the Allied Unions for three years, that he has beendeputized to select a man to be presented to the convention as apossible candidate. If the man proves acceptable the delegatesrepresenting the unions will support him. 

"The Committee of Forty is working for you, " he says in conclusion. "Their work will bring them in all sections of the country and they willbe able to influence a great number of the people. "

He gives no hint of the true mission of the committee. He knows thatTrueman would repudiate the party that would resort to so drastic ameans of rescuing the people. 

"Have I your consent to bring about your nomination?" he asks. 

"I shall have to give this matter much thought. You shall have myanswer--

"To-morrow night, " Nevins interjects. "Delays are dangerous. Theconvention meets in two weeks time. "

"To-morrow night, then, " assents Trueman. 

Nevins leaves abruptly. He does not wish to weaken the effect he hasproduced on Trueman by further discussion. 

When he finds himself alone Trueman walks back and forth in the crampedroom. He is weighing a question that has never before been put to a man. 

There is no doubt in his mind as to the sincerity of Nevins. It is clearthat this strange man, who, in a matter-of-fact way, asserts that heholds the power of a great convention in his grasp, could have used itfor base ends; he could have chosen a man of less inflexible characterthan Trueman. 

"If I can bring myself to believe that it is because of my honesty thatNevins has selected me, I shall give him my consent. "

Trueman makes this mental reservation, then turns to the table andwrites a long letter to Martha. He sets the matter before her, tells herhe will enter politics, and asks for her advice. Regarding the Committeeof Forty, he tells her all he knows, which is to the effect that it hasbeen appointed to investigate the work of the Trusts and to make a fullreport at the next Anti-Trust Conference. 

He then goes to his bed. It is daylight before his mind has exhausteditself. He sleeps until midday. On awakening he renews the considerationof Nevins' proposal. At eight o'clock in the evening Nevins arrives. 

Where Nevins had been the one to speak the night before, Trueman nowenters upon an exhaustive interrogatory. He asks for the most minuteparticulars of the events that have brought him to the notice of Nevins. To all his questions there is an instant reply. At the conclusion ofthree hours Trueman definitely makes up his mind to try for thecandidacy. 

"You may work for my nomination, " he says, "and be assured if I amnominated I shall strive to be elected. 

"If it is the will of the people to elect me I shall be faithful to thehigh duties of the office. "

Nevins bids his protege good night, assuring him that they will keep inconstant communication. 

The Committee of Forty, which is in session in a hall on the outskirtsof the city in the vicinity of the stock yards, is surprised when, atmidnight, Nevins appears before them to announce that he has selectedHarvey Trueman to be the candidate for the Presidency on theIndependence ticket. 

CHAPTER XII. 

TAKING THE SECRET OATH. 

Eternal vigilance is the policy of the Magnates in keeping their sleuthsever on the alert for the unearthing of the plans of the anti-trustadvocates. In every city detectives are untiring in their efforts todiscover the work of the Committee of Forty. It is suspected that thecommittee is to obtain damaging evidence against some of the mostoppressive of the monopolies and bring the full story of the wholesalerobbery of the people out as a climax in the coming campaign. 

By diligent investigation the detectives learn the names of thethirty-seven men who have been added to the committee by the appointivepower of the chairman. It is also ascertained that the forty men arestill in the city of Chicago. 

This fact is open to several interpretations. It may indicate that thecommittee has determined to work from a central office; or that thecommittee is a blind, intended to mislead the detectives into watchingit while another agency is at work. The importance of discovering thetrue mission of the committee is therefore most urgent. 

To inspire the detectives to solve the question, the PlutocraticNational Committee secretly offers a reward of $5000 to the man who willobtain the desired information. 

In holding their daily meetings the Forty observe the greatest caution. Each member goes to the appointed place alone, avoiding as much aspossible attracting the attention of the detectives whom they know areon the lookout. It is not their intention to have any mystery connectedwith their existence, yet they wish to work unhampered by the servantsof the Magnates. 

For its semi-monthly conference the committee meets at Drover's hall. The deliberations are not open to the public; still, no attempt is madeto conceal the fact that there is a meeting. 

Nevins and the other leading members decide that the secret meeting atwhich he is to develop his plan shall be held in a place where therewill be no possible way for a spy to creep in. 

They select a deserted rolling mill on the edge of the river in NorthChicago. This mill was one of the most prosperous in the city prior tothe consolidation of the iron industries. Immediately following thecombine the mill had been closed and the work that should have gone toit was transferred to the Trust's great plant in Pittsburg. 

For eight years the fires in the furnaces have been extinguished; theincompleted iron work that lies about the ground has been given over tothe ravages of rust; desolation is the master of the mill. 

The spot is an ideal one for a secret meeting place. The police neverenter the grounds except at long intervals, when the inspector of theprecinct is on his rounds. This official makes a perfunctory survey ofthe mausoleum of dead industry. In his report the entry, "Iron worksvacant, " sufficiently describes the place. 

On the night of the secret meeting the members arrive at the mill byvarious routes. There are three entrances on land and a wharf extendsalong the eastern limit of the enclosure. Five of the delegates crossthe river in a skiff. 

At nine o'clock all the men are present. They gather on the second floorof the storage shed, a brick structure one hundred by one hundred andfifty feet in area, and three stories high. There are no windows in itsbleak walls. On each floor in the wall that faces the interior court ofthe mill enclosure are two corrugated iron doors. These doors areclosed, and effectually exclude the light from without, as well as anylight that might be made within. On the floor where the committee meetthere is a rough plank table that was used by the machinists of themill. 

At this improvised tribunal the Forty meet to discuss the regenerationof the nation. 

Two candles at either end of the ten foot table serve to reveal thedense darkness rather than to dispel it. The flickering-lights fall onthe faces of the men as they sit on the floor in a semi-circle. Theireyes are alone perceptible, and the several members are unable todistinguish one another. 

The voice of one speaker after another issues from the darkness, producing a supernatural effect upon the assemblage. The nerves of eventhe most intrepid are at a high tension. 

A gust of wind rattling the iron doors causes the men to start; thelowest whisper is intensified to what seems a sonorous shout. In thisstrange theatre, the actors in what is to be the greatest world-drama, wait to be assigned their parts and to play the first act. 

Nevins is the stage manager; he has chosen the settings; has assembledthe caste. Now it is his duty to give the signal for the curtain torise. As with the dramatists of old, he decides to introduce hisproduction with a prologue. 

Advancing to the centre of the semi-circle he begins the explanation ofhis plan of salvation. 

Is it destined to end as many thousands have done, in miserable failure?

"What I propose will strike you as the ravings of a man who has lost hislast grain of sense, " he begins. "Yet I am prepared to demonstrate thatthe plan is not only feasible, but that it is the only one which can beput into execution and carried through to a successful issue. The greedand the power of the Trust Magnates is insatiable. They will not makethe least concession to the people. The day for arbitration is at anend; the time for the people to act is at hand. 

"Every means of defence against the Trusts has been absorbed by them. What are we to do, surrender meekly, or fight?

"History shows us how terrible a thing war is--especially revolutionarywar. Now, I have thought out a plan by which war and its attendantcalamity can be averted and the people be reinstated in their power. 

"There is not a man here who would not enlist to-day at the call fortroops. Many of you have already proven yourselves patriots by yourservice in the field and on the ships of the United States. 

"Now, it is not always necessary to be on a battlefield in order to showcourage. Men can be heroes in the humble walks of life. 

"What I want of you is a pledge that you will stand by me to put out ofexistence the deadly foes of this country. I want you to swear that youwill not flinch when the moment comes for you to fight, even to thedeath. 

"Are any of you unwilling to swear that you would fight the foes of ourcountry to the bitter end?"

No one speaks. The excited condition of the speaker impresses the menstrangely. They do not know just how to take him. 

"I shall at the next meeting name forty men, each of whom has been anenemy of the United States; each of whom has seen the growth of hisprivate fortune built upon the ruin of homes; each of whom has opposedevery measure for the alleviation of the condition of the masses of thepeople. 

"Many of them are known to you as offenders of national notoriety. Youhave mentioned them in your recital of grievances. 

"You all know of the bloody history of the Czar of the Lakes, AnthonyMarcus. The graves of the murdered sailors and longshoremen are asufficient indictment against him. 

"Need I tell you of the horrors that have been daily perpetrated by theruthless oil magnate, Savage, in my own State of Pennsylvania?

"Is the right to check competition by the use of the torch to beconceded to him? Is murder for the sake of commercial advantage to besanctioned as our national policy?

"The ancients were never so free or so powerful as when their citizensexercised the right to proscribe unworthy citizens. 

"Let us constitute this meeting into a forum and issue our list of theproscribed. When the list is read I shall be glad to substitute othersfor the names I have selected. 

"The people are too subservient to aid us in carrying out the edict; soI propose that we each select a man from this list of forty, and that wethen see that the edict is enforced. _We shall thus rid the earth of itschief transgressors_. 

"When the French revolution was brought on, the world knew nothing ofthe possibilities of combined wealth as an agency for the improvement ofthe condition of the human race. Now we are familiar with all of thewonders that can be accomplished by the combining of money intocorporate form. 

"We also know that at the present time all of the combined capital ofthe world is held in the hands of a mighty ring of magnates. Thecivilized world's billion of people slave for the benefit of a fewthousands, who have usurped the prerogatives and the rights of thewhole. Nowhere is this condition more aggravated than in this country. We were all born freemen and we find ourselves to-day at the mercy of afew thousand plutocrats. The advantage of improved production is beingkept from the people. We are denied our heritage. 

"We cannot fight the magnates in the open, for they have attainedcontrol of the army and the judicial forces of the government. We facethe alternative of submission or revolution. 

"What does it avail if we send Representatives to Congress who are toolsof the magnates? What does it avail if Congress enacts laws which theexecutive refuses to enforce?

"The ballot has become a weapon to destroy those it should protect. Elections ruled by coercion are a mockery. 

"I am in favor of inaugurating a scientific revolution. There is no needto raise a guillotine in the city's square and drag to their death thosewho are living upon the life's blood of the many. This is the crude wayto reach a desired end. 

"The world is never lastingly horrified and deterred from evil by themere letting of blood. Crime can be obliterated only by reformation ofthe criminal element of society. Condemnation of individuals who arecaught is productive of little good. 

"The destruction even of an army momentarily shocks; but in the onebreath the people will cry, 'war is hell; let us have war, for peacesake. ' And when war comes it never affects the cowards, the usurers, therogues; they stay at a safe distance from the scenes of action, and, with the instinct of the hyena, they profit on the nation's calamity. Our trusts are the result of the jobbing that was started during theCivil War, and which has never lagged since. 

"The fight that I would have you make is against forty cowards andscoundrels who are sucking the very life out of the country--the fortywho represent the high council of the magnates. Let it be a personalfight, a tourney; you the Knights Errant who ride against the dragons. 

"When the world awakens some morning and reads that at a given hour theforty Robbers of America were sent to their eternal resting place withtheir crimes on their heads, the shock will not pass away in a day. Itwill be far different from reading of a battle fought six thousand milesfrom Washington. Then will be the time for the men who have the good ofthe people at heart to reestablish them in their rights. 

"Money is the god that the Nation is asked to worship. It makes fools ofthe majority and knaves of the rest. 

"It will take some unprecedented occurrence to stir the masses. Thefiring on Fort Sumter shook the Nation more than the carnage ofGettysburg. The Nation has come to be apathetic on a vital question;even more so than in the ante-bellum days. The dry-rot of Commercialismis consuming us. We are governed by dividend worshipers. We must act, ifour manifest destiny to be a lasting republic is to be fulfilled. 

"If the taking off of the forty men would do the work that I wish to seedone I would be glad; but it will require a sacrifice on our part ofmore than our prejudice against taking of life. We shall each have tokill our man, and then commit suicide. "

"What!" ejaculate several. 

"We shall be obliged to commit suicide. There is no other course openfor us, for if, on the announcement that the forty men have beenmurdered, there is not the still more surprising statement that themurderer of each is found dead beside the slain, the effect will becommon-place, and everyone will say it is a cowardly plot to kill fortyof the 'best citizens. ' There is no way out of it. You would all gladlyfight with an enemy of the country to the death. To rescue the flag fromthe enemy you would face a hail of lead. 

"This flag of Freedom is defiled to-day by the Magnates. You are askedto rescue it. It was snatched from my hands on the highway as I went topresent a petition to my fellow citizens. 

"When each of us has been allotted his man we will work to theaccomplishment of the plan at the given time. On each there will befound a letter explaining what led to the killing of the public enemy. These forty letters will appear in the papers throughout the land; theywill be compared and found to be counterparts; then the public mind willgrasp the significance of the seeming murders. It will then be regardedas an act of deliverance. In place of being regarded as murderers weshall be recognized as men whose love of country impelled us tosacrifice our lives unhesitatingly. 

"By the blotting out of forty of the chief despots, and the publicationof the reasons; and by the announcement that the people are determinedto regain their rights, the road to National Ownership and Control ofPublic Utilities, and the regulation of the finances and commerce by thegovernment, will be materially cleared. 

"In fact, I am confident that the next election after this object lessonwill find the robbers ready to sell at a just price and the people eagerto come into possession of their own?"

"We will time the execution of our design so that it shall occur on the13th of October, four weeks before the National election. TheIndependence Party will have as its candidate a man who is known for hishonesty and ability; who is an avowed opponent to force either by themagnates or the people. The people will be eager to entrust their safetyin his hands. 

"The dread of a repetition of the edict of Proscription will cause eventhe supporters of the Robber Barons to prefer the election of thepeople's candidates, than to face the results of the election of aPlutocrat. "

The Chairman interrupts the speaker: "We will not take a vote on thisquestion to-night, so I should suggest that the meeting be brought to aclose. This will afford us all time to further consider theproposition. "

The meeting closes in silence. There is a stern anxious look on thefaces of many of the men; others look as if they are on the point offainting. They reach the court-yard and seem relieved to get a breath offresh air. 

The two members who represent the Anarchistic element are the mostdepressed. They speak to several of the men from the socialistic ordersand try to get at the reason why they shall have to commit suicide fordoing what they believe to be the best thing for the world. No one isable to give any very good reason, so the two anarchists go to theirhomes in any thing but a serene frame of mind. 

At the meeting held the following night, the members discuss themomentous proposition in all its details, the result being that they allagree to pledge themselves to the carrying out of the edict ofannihilation. 

Without unnecessary ceremony each member of the committee takes thepreliminary oath that Nevins demands. The reading of the list of theproscribed is postponed for a week. 

From the time the committee decides to take the serious step, there is adecided change in the attitude of many of them toward William Nevins. Some of the men have a vague notion that he is not sincere; that he isan agent of the Magnates. 

Not that he has said a word that would lend color to this belief, for, on the contrary, it was he who expressed his views freely as originatorof the drastic plan. It comes rather as the result of his being superiorto his colleagues in many ways. His reserve of manner, his invariablegood judgment and the exhibition of his erudition, instead of endearinghim to the members, make them distrustful of him. 

A free expression of the feeling that exists is not made, however, untilthe evening of the allotment. This is the occasion which the men whohold Nevins in disfavor have determined shall be made the moment for hisdismissal from the council and for a change in his plan, if not a totalrejection of it. 

Before the appointed hour of the meeting, these skeptics meet in secretconclave. 

"It will be our duty to-night to decide upon the means by which the planwe have been considering may be carried into execution, or abandoned, "states the chairman of this impromptu meeting in a perfunctory tone. "Ifthere is any preliminary matter to be discussed, I am ready to entertainit. "

This brings three of the men to their feet. 

Coleman, the delegate from California, is recognized. 

"Mr. Chairman, I am opposed to allowing any man to take part in thiswork who is not in thorough sympathy with the rest of the committee. Itwould be a manifest impossibility for this very dangerous andunprecedented undertaking to be launched with the possible danger ofthere being a spy in our company. 

"I am not prepared to say that there is such a spy here, yet until it issatisfactorily demonstrated that we are all of us true friends of thelaboring men of the country, I shall be against proceeding to thefurther outlining of the plan. 

"It is not enough that a man profess friendship. He must be able to showby his acts that he has done something for his fellow-men besidestheorize. "

These views are quickly seconded. Then follows a talk among the men asto what each of them has done to establish a record as a friend of themasses. From the statements and the corroborating testimony ofdissenters, all of the members, with the exception of Nevins, passsatisfactorily. He has no acts to his credit. No one admits knowing ofhim outside of his work as a committeeman. Not one of those inattendance at this special meeting will speak a word in his behalf. 

At this juncture, when it looks as though he is to be ruled out of thecommittee and his plan repudiated, Hendrick Stahl asks to be heard. 

As Stahl is a member of high standing and the leader of a strong laborparty in Minnesota, he is permitted to speak. In a few forceful words hedenounces the men for their ungenerous suspicion; he tells them that hehas known Nevins as a friend and co-worker for years. 

Not without a visible degree of dissatisfaction the objecting membersaccept the situation and agree to attend the meeting to hear the readingof the list of proscribed. The men present do not know that Nevins hadplanned the seeming rebellion to test the sincerity of the men whom heis to take into his full confidence; that he has Professor Talbot andHendrick Stahl working as his lieutenants. 

Nothing now standing in the way of the plan, the men await the hour forthe night session. They are eager to hear the reading of the list. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE LIST OF TRANSGRESSORS. 

At length the hour arrives in which the men are to be given the names ofthe transgressors. It would be disastrous to have any knowledge of theaffair fall into the possession of the sleuths of the Trusts; so everyprecaution for secrecy is observed. The loft of the deserted mill isagain chosen as the place of meeting. A thorough search of thestorehouse is made, and then the committee assembles in the narrowsemi-circle. 

After the meeting is called to order, there is an apparent apathy on thepart of a number of the Eastern members. When questioned they freelyadmit that they do not believe their constituents would sanction thedrastic measure. 

Nevins is absent on his visit to Trueman. He has arranged with ProfessorTalbot and Stahl to delay the meeting and put the members throughanother test. 

The proposition is argued anew. 

It is explained that each man is called upon to make an equal sacrifice;that there is no difference in declaring one's patriotism by enlistingin the army or navy to fight a common foe, or in being one of anumerically small and intrinsically strong army of forty. The Trusts andMonopolies have proven a menace to the people, and can consequently belooked upon as a foe to the government, to be dealt with accordingly. 

A unanimous decision to carry out the plan is reached. 

At this juncture Nevins appears. 

He asks permission to proceed with the reading of the list of theproscribed. He is recognized and begins his startling speech. 

"In the lapse of years one is apt to forget the springs from which thewells of human action are fed; it is commonly the lot of man to sinkinto a state of mind that is at once unreceptive and unretentive. Theresult is that at the age of thirty he finds himself incapable ofgrasping new and difficult conceptions. This is the reason why so manyinjustices are permitted to exist in the world. Men in their youth arethoughtless; in their mature and old age they are neglectful orwillingly negligent. 

"A degree of success or a degree of failure has a like tendency to bluntthe finer qualities of the mind. A man with a competency will not takethe troubles of his fellow man to heart. The unfortunate man who has notthe wherewithal to support his family is in no position to take theinitiative in a labor movement or in a political revolution. 

"So the work devolves upon the few men who have the means and theinclination to strive for the betterment of humanity. 

"Yet even these men are not always capable of judging events by theirtrue proportions and relations. 

"Advancement is the one thing that reformers fear. The ends they wouldattain are almost always reconstructive; they are never creative. "Nevins utters these words with impressive emphasis. 

"These remarks I have made by way of prelude to the matter I shall nowproceed to discuss directly and earnestly. 

"We are each and all convinced that the pernicious system of fosteringmonopolies that has been instituted in this country can have but oneresult, the undermining of our popular institutions, and in their placethe substitution of moneyed Plutocracy. This result is abhorrent toevery true American. 

"Now, there is no way to put an end to monopolies except by the peoplerising in their might and reassuming their own. 

"The hypocritical advice of the leaders of the great universities, thatthe people ostracize the Magnates, has now ceased to satisfy theexigencies of the case. What sort of ostracism would the President of aUniversity endowed by the millions of a Magnate, propose to haveenforced against his master?

"Another of the proposals emanating from the hireling counsels of theTrusts, is that the methods of the Trusts be placed under thesearchlight of publicity. A pretty programme, indeed, were it not forthe fact that the very men who propose this method of dealing withmonopolies would be engaged by the Magnates to defend them fromexposure. 

"To invoke the aid of the courts is to be brought face to face with theservants of the Trusts. Where is the Attorney-General who cansuccessfully prosecute a Trust? The only one who was ever sincere in hisattempt met an insurmountable barrier in the courts before which hearraigned the guilty. 

"And the votes of the people, do they avail?

"The executives and legislators whom they elect are false to theirpledges. 

"The great sin of this country is the worship of gold. Human life isheld as secondary to the dollar. 

"Who then shall deliver the people from the bondage that has come uponthem?

"Unguided, they are as a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Falseprophets, mercenary leaders, are an abomination. They have been and areto this day, the clogs in the wheels of progress. 

"The work of rejuvenation must be done by an intrepid few. It cannot beentrusted to visionary men, to fanatics, to men who detest government ofany form or to men who are willing to suffer present ills rather thanface temporary discomfiture. 

"To carry on a crusade one must surrender self. 

"If our plan did not embrace more than the annihilation of forty of theTransgressors it would not be raised to a higher plane than wholesalehomicide. 

"But we are to follow the course which the Plutocrats have traversed. They have destroyed individual liberty; they have entrenched themselvesin our halls of legislature by bribery; our executives are theirpuppets; our courts are their final buttress. To reclaim the rights ofthe people we must reach the powers in control; the actual men whoengineer the scheme of public loot. These men have sacrificed humanlives to attain their ascendency. We must demand, we must enforce anatonement. 

"Because we are to deal with the chief transgressors, who represent asmall number, our deed will be regarded in the light of murder. 

"Were the magnates in the field as an open foe our assault upon themwould be hailed as an act of heroism. Shall we be deterred byconsideration of a difference in mere words?

"I propose to vindicate these so-called murders, which we are to commit. The atonement will be frightful. Will it be more so than the conditionswhich necessitate it?

"Are the lives of forty soulless men to be compared with those ofthousands who are yearly sacrificed to sordid commercialism?

"Are we to extend our commerce at the price of a life for every dollarof foreign trade?

"Men prospered in this country before the reign of the Trust Magnates;men grew rich through ordinate profits, and the prosperity of thecountry was the prosperity of all. To-day men seek to enrich themselvesby preying on the necessities of their fellowmen. 

"Can the cry of tyrants and sycophants drown the wail of the innocentchildren and women who have been chained to the wildcat car of ModernCommercialism?

"In compiling the list of Transgressors, I have selected no man merelybecause he is possessed of great wealth. There are many millionaires whohave earned their fortunes by honest endeavor and in strict conformitywith the laws of the land. I have discriminated against those who haveprostituted the laws of God and man; not a man whom I shall declareproscribed but he is known to all men as stained with the blood ofinnocents. 

"'The voice of the people is the voice of God. ' This voice cries to usfrom four million mothers' mouths for deliverance from tyrants whocompel them to work for a living even in the hours of their pregnancy. The child laborers of this land of freedom raise a piteous plea. 

"Do you wait for an actual rain of hell-fire as a sign that God's willis not being done?

"It is our duty to strike a blow at Plutocracy that shall destroy it forall time. We will act as sovereigns of the land. In us resides thesupreme rights of mankind. Our edict cannot be enforced by the courts, so we will act for ourselves. 

"The names I read are not given in any fixed order; each man is equallyguilty. "

Here Nevins takes a slip of paper from his pocket and begins to read:

"By reason of his treasonable act in furnishing the Nation's defenderspoisonous food while they were engaged in actual war, and for continuedvending of deleterious food to the citizens at large; for hisconspicuous participation in the formation of the monopoly of the meatproducts of the country, for the purpose of extorting tribute from themasses, I name Tingwell Fang as one of the transgressors. This man has afortune of $200, 000, 000; more than the life earnings of 2, 000 menengaged in ordinary pursuits for a period of thirty years each. 

"Judge if God ordained that one man should be possessed of such fabulouswealth when His Son gave as our prayer, 'Give us this day our dailybread. '

"As the controller of the Wheat Trust, by which the grim hand of famineis laid on the nation, and a tax levied on our subsistence, I name DavidLeach as another of the transgressors. He has collected $100, 000, 000, insums of one and two cents from the millions of men, women and childrenof this country. He stands between us and our daily bread. 

"I need not portray the sufferings that are inflicted on the nation bythe presence of the Coal Trust. From the miners to the consumers thetale is one of ever-increasing awfulness. Man to-day, who must live inthe northern and temperate regions of our country, cannot endure thecold of winter without artificial heat. He cannot go to the virginforests, for the land is owned by private individuals; he cannot go tothe mines, for they are the property of the coal barons. He mustpurchase the coal that is needed to heat his home. 

"This makes coal not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life. 

"In the hands of the Trust the price is raised to the highest possiblepoint. The monopoly is complete; the demand perpetual. 

"Every home where coal is consumed is a witness to the rapacity of theCoal Trust. I therefore name as one of the transgressors, Gorman Purdy, President of the Coal Trust, the man who ordered the massacre of theminers at Hazleton; who has driven widows and orphans from the miningtowns to let them starve on the highways. He is the possessor of$160, 000, 000, the equivalent of the earnings of 10, 000 miners forforty-five years. 

"I name as a transgressor, Ebenezer J. Sloat, President of the LeatherCombine. His single fortune is $80, 000, 000. This man succeeded ineffecting a consolidation of all of the leather producers; now thenation pays the Trust a royalty on every pair of shoes that is sold. 

"He has driven the cobbler out of existence and has set children andwomen at the machines which turn out completed shoes, on which not asingle part has to be made by skilled labor. 

"It is not in the trades alone that the Transgressors are to be found. They have developed in high places. 

"I name as one of the proscribed, ex-Supreme Court Justice Elias M. Turner, who, at the demand of the Magnates, recanted his judgment on thequestion of constitutional taxation, and left the humble citizens tobear the burden of taxes while the Trusts and Monopolies go practicallyexempt. This act of betrayal to the public weal is the more atrocious asit was done by a man who had been invested with the highest honor thatthe nation could bestow upon the ermine. 

"If the wearer of the robe of justice outrages his garment is it toremain an invulnerable shield against our righteous condemnation? He whodoles justice, must himself be its chief exemplar. 

"Another of the high servants of the people who has betrayed his fellowcountrymen, is ex-Attorney General Lax. It was his masterful policy ofinaction that permitted the trusts and monopolies to intrench themselvesduring the four years that he stood as their buffer, against all effortsof the several states to curb them. 

"Entering the office as a man of moderate means he left it possessed ofa fabulous fortune--the bribe money of the Magnates. And not content toretire from office, and cease his nefarious trade, he is to-day thecounsel for the Money Trust. It is his mind that conceives theinterminable means for forcing the Government to issue bonds for thebenefit of the Banking Syndicate?"

"It was Herbert Lax who made me a bankrupt, " exclaims one of thecommittee. "He caused my brother to commit suicide. If ever there was acold-blooded villain, Lax is the man. "

"His acts were those of charity compared to some of the Transgressors, "observes Nevins, before he continues to announce the list. "Is thebankrupting of men to be compared with the heinous crime of enslavingchildren?

"The Cotton King, Herod Butcher of Fall River, who thrives on the life'sblood of ten thousand minors--pitiable slaves of his looms, is one ofthe transgressors who must atone for a life-long career as a mercilessinfanticide. 

"No man is so base that he would stand by and see a child ruthlesslyslain. Yet the nation stands supinely in the presence of a system offactory labor which tolerates the inhuman employment of children. Thehazy halo of legality is between the transgressor and the people; andmen remain unmoved. 

"It was for humanity's sake that our countrymen gave their lifeungrudgingly on the battle-fields of Cuba. But what of the inhumanity athome? A word spoken against an American manufacturer is a crime in theeyes of the Magnates, and the offender is chastised accordingly. "

"I have three sons who grew to manhood, stunted and untutored, who hadto work for their daily bread in the mills of Herod Butcher, " declaresMartin Stark, the Rhode Island committeeman. 

"Judas D. Savage is another of the transgressors. A hundred flaming oilwells lit by the torch of the incendiary, hired by his gold, wrote hisproscription on the scroll of high heaven. 

"And Roger Q. Alger, of the defaulting Savings Bank dynasty comes to yourecommended by the cries of anguish that have been uttered by thousandsof widows, orphans, struggling husbands and provident wives, who haveawakened to find their savings distributed as booty to the Barons. 

"But what need have I to recount the misdeeds of this list of men. Ifthe first man or woman whom you meet on the street cannot give you adescription of them that will stand as an indictment, then consider themen I name innocent!"

He then completes the reading of the list. There is a painful silencewhen he ceases to speak. The Forty seem absorbed in deep thought. Thechairman finally speaks:

"You have heard the reading of the list, " he says. "If it is your desireto substitute names for those mentioned, now is the time to propose thechange. "

"I move that the list be adopted as read, " Carl Metz suggests. 

"I second the motion, " says Professor Talbot. 

Every committeeman votes for the adoption of the list. 

The names are written on slips of paper and placed in a hat. As eachcommitteeman passes the table he draws a slip. 

"You have all signified your willingness to carry out the terms of theedict of annihilation, " the chairman explains. "It now remains for youto redeem your pledges. If there is one of you who regrets the step hehas taken it is not too late to withdraw. "

There is profound silence, and the men stand immovable. 

"Two months from to-day then, October 13th, our Syndicate ofAnnihilation will declare its dividend; this will require the summarytaking off of the Forty Transgressors and our self-immolation. " Chadwickpronounces these words slowly, impressively:

"We will separate to-night never to meet again in this life. 

"If we are true to our purpose we will not have died in vain. " Withoutformal partings the men leave the store-house. 

Nevins is the last to depart; he draws the remaining slip. It bears thename of "James Golding, Bond King; capital, $400, 000, 000; occupation, United States Treasury Looter. "

BOOK III. 

The Syndicate Declares a Dividend. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

BIRTH OF A NEW PARTY. 

"You will soon find that my assertion was based on absolute knowledge, for your nomination will be unanimous, " Nevins declares to Trueman asthey sit in private conference, on the eve of the Independence Party'sconvention. 

"Then you do not credit the statement that the Eastern delegations havebecome disaffected?"

"That's only one of the rumors which the Plutocrats have set afloatsince they unearthed the fact that you are to be a candidate for thevice-presidential nomination. Gorman Purdy is the instigator of allthese adverse stories. He has not forgotten that you were once his mostpromising pupil. "

The President-maker and his intended candidate are in dailycommunication; they have become firmly attached to each other in theshort period of their acquaintanceship. This is not to be wondered at, for there is a striking similarity in their temperaments. Each isendowed with keen perception and wonderful magnetism. Their combinedinfluence has brought to their support the most contumacious of thedelegates. On the issue of the following day the hopes of each arecentered. Nevins has asked his young champion to visit him at his roomsin an unpretentious hotel on Clark street; there are details for thework of the morrow that have to be carefully planned. 

"In your speech you must dwell upon the causes which led to theformation of the new party, " Nevins explains. "This must be donebriefly; but it will pave the way for your demonstration that a new, ayoung man must be called upon to make the fight against the intrenchedrobbers. 

"As you know, I have striven for ten years to bring about the presentpropitious circumstances; it has been an almost impossible task to get aconvention of men who are susceptible of being made to nominate a youngand untried man for so exalted an office. 

"But all of the political conditions of the hour indicate that the boldproposal will be accepted. "

"I have caused a most thorough canvas of the delegates to be made, " saysTrueman, "and they are almost unanimous in declaring that they willsupport me for the second place on the ticket. When sounded on theproposition of voting for a young man for the head of the ticket, theydemur. "

"That is just as I have planned matters should stand before theconvening of the delegates, " replies Nevins, with a self-complacentsmile. 

"All of the older men will have spoken before you are called upon. Thesharp contrast that will be presented in the staid and uninspiringspeeches of your predecessors, and your fervid, fluent and convincingcall to action, will lift you to the position of the logical candidate. 

"No successful statesman has ever been unmindful of the practical sideof politics. A speech may create a whirlwind of enthusiasm for anorator; yet if there is no one to guide the tempest it is soon spent. Ishall be on the watch for the moment that must see your name put innomination. 

"When it comes, I shall put you in nomination. "

"Day by day I am learning that politics is not a game of chance, "observes Trueman, meditatively. "It is a science, with as much to masteras the science of war, which it resembles most strikingly. 

"A year ago I should have scoffed at the idea that I would be engaged inplanning and in carrying out a campaign to capture a convention. Yet itis absolutely necessary to make these preparations. "

"How many hours did I spend in convincing you that politics is an exactscience?" Nevins inquires, with a faint smile, as he recalls thestruggle he has gone through with before he could get Trueman to consentto the methods that had to be adopted to effect his nomination. 

"I know that you had an obstinate pupil. I hope that I have not beeninstructed in vain. "

"I have no fear on that score. You will fulfil the mission that ismanifestly set for you. Keep the thought of the people uppermost in yourmind when you are speaking, and it will give you the needed inspiration. 

"Come, we will review the bill of complaint which the people findagainst the Trusts. "

They rapidly name, in chronological order, the events that have beeninstrumental in bringing about the degradation of labor. There is theprimal generator of universal distress--the private corporation--whichoperates with all the functions of an individual, yet is free from eventhe most ordinary obligations that are enforced upon the individual;from the private corporation has sprung the Trust, a consolidation ofcorporate bodies which intensifies the evils that exist under the formerinstitution, and as an inevitable consequence of Trusts comes privateMonopolies. These last have been the direct cause of awakening thepeople to a realization of their condition. For each aggression ofcorporate wealth the people have been forced from their position as freemen to that of servants. The climax is reached when the Monopolies adoptthe paternal principle of pensioning their employees, thus making ofthem retainers in name, as they have long been in fact. 

"I shall leave you to your thoughts, " says Nevins, in parting. He walksto the entrance of the hotel with Trueman. When his friend departs hereturns to his room. 

Three of the Committee of Forty are awaiting him. They have come for ashort consultation. At the convention they are to be the trustedlieutenants of Nevins. 

There is no money to be distributed; no patronage to be pledged for thesupport of delegates. The preliminary arrangements of battle arestrangely dissimilar to those of any preceding convention that has beenheld in this country for half a century. 

The magnitude of the cause that brought forth the Democracy in the daysof Jefferson, and the Republican party in the days of Lincoln, is againattracting true patriots; the cry of a people which has long beenoutraged is demanding to be heard; it has reached the ears of a faithfulfew who put country above price. It is of such material that the newparty is composed. 

A young and untried soldier was called by the sage of the Revolution of1776 to take command of the Continental army. What is to prevent arepetition of our history, now that another crisis has to be faced? Ofthe committee there are few who do not feel assured that Trueman will becapable of fulfilling the duties of the office to which they seek toelevate him; they are not certain, however, that they can secure thenomination for him. 

Trueman is hopeful; yet he cannot drive from his mind the rumors ofdisloyalty that are constantly brought to him. 

In the minds of the Plutocrats it seems utterly impossible for Truemanto even obtain the vice-presidential nomination. It never occurs to themto regard him as a probable candidate for the higher office. Nevins, alone of all men, is confident of the result of the morrow. 

CHAPTER XV. 

CHOOSING A LEADER. 

Chicago, the city of immeasurable possibilities, the twice risenPhoenix, scene of the fairyland of 1893, when the wonders of the worldwere assembled for the fleeting admiration of man, is the arena in whicha battle is to be waged that shall be remembered when the other eventsthat add to the fame of the municipality shall have passed intooblivion. 

To the citizens of Chicago a convention has come to be regarded as anevery-day occurrence. If it is not a convention of one of the greatparties, then some lesser body is in session; always some band ofdelegates is reported as either arriving in or departing from the city. There had been little stir when the Plutocratic convention was inprogress three weeks before. The result of the proceedings wasforeordained. 

But with the convening of the delegates of the Independence Party theapathy of the people gives way to intense interest. They realize that atleast there will be a lively contest over the choice of a leadingcandidate. 

Political forecasters have been chary of expressing opinions, for themuch depended on precedent is lacking. Here is a new party, which is tomake its second appeal to the people. Where its strength will lay, whomit will select to be the standard-bearer of its radical platform, theseare questions that baffle the most astute observers. 

The morning of the opening session of the convention finds the vastauditorium of the Music Hall where the meetings are to be held, crowdedwith spectators. It is impossible for one-tenth of those present to hearthe speakers; they come not to hear so much as to breathe the surchargedair of the political storm which it is known will be fostered. The thinblood of the modern civilian is acted upon by less boisterous and goryscenes than those which sufficed to stir the audiences of the Romancircus; yet the human susceptibilities are the same in all ages, anddiffer only in expression. In the battle of voices, the audience willshout its approval or hiss its disapproval; at the pleasure of thethrong a speaker can be silenced, his victory snatched from his verygrasp. 

Six thousand people are in their places by ten o'clock. The police havebeen compelled to shut the doors to exclude the crowds who would besatisfied merely to get inside of the building. A murmur fills theplace, although no one is speaking above the normal tone; the combinedsound resembles the distant boom of a cataract. Here and there in thegalleries a splash of color indicates the presence of a woman. The valueof feminine headgear is for once clearly demonstrated; it serves todifferentiate the sexes. 

On the floor of the auditorium the long avenues of chairs are vacant; adozen men are busy arranging the location of the state delegations. Guidons bearing the names of the states are put in position. At thepress tables, at the foot of the speakers' platform, hundreds ofreporters are industriously grinding out "copy" for their papers. Aformidable army of messenger boys is lined up along the base of theplatform. They are a reserve, to be used in case the telegraph serviceshould break down. 

Immediately in the rear of the speaker's table is the indispensableadjunct of American politics, the brass band. At 10. 15 o'clock theleader of the band gives a signal, and the "Star Spangled Banner" isplayed, six thousand voices joining in the best known phases and thechorus. 

Now the delegates arrive. The New York contingent walks to its place inthe middle of the hall. Ex-Senator Sharp is at their head, followed bythe prominent county leaders. Their appearance is the signal for anoutburst from the galleries. Cheers and hisses are about evenly divided. The conservatism of the New Yorkers makes them the bone of contention. 

"They will try to rule this convention in the interests of Wall Street, as they did in the Democratic convention of '96, " observes a man in theWest gallery, to the man next to him. "The theory of majority rule thatwas good enough for the founders of the country, does not seem to holdmuch force now-a-days. "

"No, " replies the first speaker. "The rule of the majority has beenrepudiated. It would have been inimical to monopolies, so the Magnateshave nullified it. They did the same thing with silver in '73. Therecould be no money trust with bi-metalism. "

"Do you think the Eastern delegations are strong enough to dominate thisconvention?"

A tumultuous shout drowns the reply. 

"Texas! Texas!" cry a thousand voices. 

"California, she's all right!" cry as many more. 

Delegates from the above-named states appear at two entrances. 

By eleven o'clock the convention is assembled. The chairman rises andpounds on the table with his gavel to quiet the audience. 

"We will open this convention with prayer. It is the desire of our partyto lift itself out of the mire of partisan politics, and nothing is morefitting than that an invocation to the Almighty should constitute ourinitial performance. "

An unknown clergyman from Iowa is called to offer prayer. He is listenedto in absolute silence; the great horde of men and women hold theirbreath; religion at least is not extinct in the people. Following theprayer comes the routine work of passing on credentials and appointingcommittees. This is done with celerity. The men are anxious to begin thereal business. 

As the last committee is named, a delegate from every one of the Statesis on his feet clamoring for recognition. 

"Illinois has the floor, " the chairman announces. This is done as amatter of courtesy to the state in which the convention is being held. 

Congressman Blanchard, representing a Chicago district, is the man whoreceives recognition. 

As he steps upon the rostrum the cheering is deafening. He is thefavorite son of the state and this is the supreme moment in which he maylaunch his boom for the presidential nomination. 

The power of his oratory is of a high order. He makes the fatal error ofbeing non-committal; his friends see that the chance has passed him. 

Favorite sons from a dozen states strive for the prize; yet for onereason or another are unsuccessful in carrying the convention, or ofawakening the enthusiasm of the audience. 

"No one has spoken from Pennsylvania, " remarks the man in the gallery. 

"There are few orators of note in that state now, " he adds. 

"There are very few; but their small number is counterbalanced by thequality of the men. Have you ever heard Trueman?"

"I never heard him speak, but I have read his speeches. He seems to be atrue friend of the people. "

"Let us call for a speech from Pennsylvania, " suggests the observantauditor. 

"Pennsylvania! Pennsylvania!" shouts the impulsive man beside him. 

"Pennsylvania!" comes the instant response in every quarter of theauditorium. The audience realizes that the great Keystone State has notbeen heard from. 

The uproar increases. Men stand on their chairs and wave their hats, shouting themselves hoarse. 

"Pennsylvania, what's the matter with Pennsylvania? She's all right!"

The man in the gallery draws a flag from beneath his coat and waves itfrantically. 

"Trueman, Trueman! Speech!"

The cry changes instantly. 

From his eyrie, Nevins, the omnipresent, flutters his commands. Underhis spell the tumult rises. Delegates from Nebraska and Louisiana rushto the Pennsylvania section and seize Trueman. He is borne to therostrum across a veritable sea of men. 

Now Nevins hides the flag, and as though a switch key had cut off thecurrent from a dynamo, the confusion subsides. 

Now only fitful shouts can be heard; they come like the final riflecracks in a battle. 

Trueman has gained his feet and stands erect, facing an audience that isalready fired to the white heat of spontaneous combustion. 

He is saved the necessity of working for a climax; it is prepared. 

"Pennsylvania has come to this convention to be heard, " he cries. 

This happy introduction catches the crowd. They give a long, heartycheer and then are silent. 

"The delegates from the Keystone State are here to aid in producing aplatform that shall contain the declaration of the right of mankind tolabor. 

"The work of this convention is not to be the single effort of one Statedelegation; it is not to be that of any prescribed body; but mustreflect the united opinions of the American people. 

"I shall speak, therefore, as a representative of all liberty-lovingmen, and shall express their hopes and aspirations as I have found themto exist. 

"It is the ever constant belief of the people that popular government isthe only form that is compatible with Divine ordination; that all menshall be protected in the right to live, to labor and to prosperaccording to their deeds and deserts. 

"These principles are the basis upon which our republic was built; theyhave served as the inspiration of our lives; for their perpetuation menhave given up their lives on the field of battle, on the altar ofmartyrdom, and for these principles the vast majority of the citizens ofthis country are to-day ready to make any sacrifice. "

A storm of applause momentarily checks the speaker. 

"When a man devotes his energy to honest toil it is for the purpose ofsecuring to himself and to his family the blessings of thrift; thesafeguard for honorable old age. In his effort he should be protected byevery means that a strong government can devise. The 'millstone' shouldnot be pledged or pillaged; the struggle of life should not be madehopeless by compelling a man to slave for mere subsistence. "

"Hear, hear!" come shouts from the galleries. 

"Our people have seen the Republic dragged from the line of righteousprogress and diverted into the unnatural path of Plutocracy. Insidiousmethods have been resorted to by those who have wrought thistransformation. Sophists have told the plain, credulous workers thatindustrial combination in the form of Corporations and Trusts is theresult of a natural law of evolution. But what is the truth? The greatconsolidations that have been effected during the past few years haveresulted from the enactment of statutory laws. These laws have emanatedfrom the brains of men, paid by the Trust magnates to undermine therepublic. No more treasonable acts were ever committed than by the menwho have sold the rights of a free people to a band of unscrupulousmoney worshipers. 

"The continuance of this country as a Republic depends upon therestoration of the independent citizen. To-day there are fewer menengaged in independent work, as manufacturers and merchants, than therewere ten years ago; to-day the great bulk of the wealth of the countryis concentrated in the hands of a few thousand men. These men havebecome the masters of the Nation; on their payrolls are to be foundthree-fourths of all the working inhabitants of the land, men, women, and children. 

"Men, women and children, I repeat, for where is the man who can earn asufficient wage to provide proper food and raiment for his family by hissingle effort?

"As the hope of the people rests on the recovery of the independence ofthe individual, the platform of this party must declare unequivocallyfor the abolition of all forms of private monopoly. This must be themain plank in our platform. "

These words, uttered in a voice that reaches the remotest corners of theauditorium, call forth a tumultuous shout. 

"With private Monopolies destroyed and the channels they control openedto the people, the billions of revenue that now go to increase thefortunes of the Masters of Commerce, will be enjoyed by the toilers whocreate our National prosperity. 

"The statistics of the future shall record the existence in this land ofthousands, hundreds of thousands of independent business men. Thecolumns devoted to enumerating the Child Labor of the land will bedispensed with; there will be an increase in the number of mothers and adecrease in the number of women who are forced to earn a living bymanual toil. 

"The platform we adopt must contain a plank providing for the impositionof a tax on a man according to his ability to pay. There is no sanctionfor a law to govern a community, however large, however populous, ifthis law is in contradiction of the principles that govern a household;for we cannot conceive of a government that is not built on thehousehold as the unit. 

"Where is the father so inhuman that he will demand of the stripling, the infirm, the feminine members of his family to procure the means ofsupport, before he has exhausted every other effort that can be made byhimself and his stalwart sons? Even the insatiate Trust Magnates, werethey suddenly to be reduced to penury, would shield their wives, theirdaughters and their indigent. 

"Then who shall say that this Republic, a household on a mammoth scale, is not justified in collecting the taxes necessary for its maintenancefrom the incomes of the rich, and not from the paltry possessions of thewage-earner? The hundredth part of the income of the rich will more thanpay for the legitimate expenses of the Government. 

"I am a firm believer in 'vested rights' and carry my adherenceback to the dawn of creation. Then it was that God vested mankindwith the right to live upon this earth. He endowed man with theability to earn a living, and gave to each and every man an equalinheritance--opportunity. 

"Any laws that man has made which abridge this right of equalopportunity are unconstitutional in the broad sense of being at variancewith God's will. Applied to our Constitution, the vested right of thepeople to the equal opportunity to labor is higher than the right of thefew to retain the fruits of the labor of the many. 

"I advocate the taxing of the incomes of our citizens before we taxtheir wages, which is their capital. " Cheers interrupt the speaker for afull minute. 

"It is my hope, the people's hope, that the bulwark of this country beonce more as it was for a century, not a standing army of idle soldiers, but an active army of free men, busied by day in the fields and in theworkshops; resting by night under cover of their homes, surrounded bytheir happy families; an army that is ready at an instant's call tofight for the protection of their Flag and their Homes. "

"The united armies of the world would hesitate to face the legions ofcontented freemen. Our power in the world will be increased more by afleet of merchant ships than by squadrons of steel battleships. 

"We want a National Militia, to be composed of every able bodied man, who in the hours of peace prepares against the possibility of war. Wewant a Navy strong enough to represent our interest on every sea; aNaval Reserve strong enough to convert our Merchant Marine into thegreatest fleet in the world, should need arise. 

"We want, and we will succeed in getting the Army of the Unemployedmustered out. 

"With us rests the duty of selecting a mustering officer; a man to carryout the wishes of the people; a man who is temperate in his judgment, unswerving in his purpose and unimpeachable in his integrity; a man inwhom the people may place full confidence. With such a man as acandidate on the platform we shall adopt, the will of the people cannotbe thwarted. 

"We can frame the platform. Where is the man?"

"Trueman! Trueman!" comes the cry. 

From mouth to mouth the name passes; now it is shrieked by an entirestate delegation; now by the entire assemblage. Louder and louderbecomes the cry. It is chanted, sung, shouted, shrieked. Men who haveshouted themselves hoarse utter it inarticulately. 

In the centre of the floor there is a movement; the guidon of New Yorkis moving. It is being borne toward the Pennsylvania delegation. 

Another and another state guidon follows in its wake. The convention isin an uproar. 

Ten, twenty of the delegations are now swarming about the standard ofPennsylvania. The galleries keep up the incessant shout of "Trueman!Trueman!"

A hundred men are clustered about the speaker as he stands, awed by theoutburst of enthusiasm. He is picked up and placed on the shoulders ofhis friends. 

The delegations who have rallied to his support now number forty; theyare moving toward the platform. The men carrying Trueman go to meetthem. 

The climax is reached. Trueman is carried round and round the hall, theenthusiasm of the delegates reaching the point of frenzy. Everydelegation is now in line. Without waiting for the formality of a motionto adjourn, the convention marches from the building; its candidate atits head. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

TWO POINTS OF VIEW. 

On the way to the hotel after the exciting incidents of the day, whichhave culminated in his nomination, Trueman has time to reflect. Thepoise of a man of his sterling character is not easily disturbed; yet hefeels misgivings as to the ultimate result of the pending campaign. Theodds are so uneven. On the one side the millions of concentratedcapital, commanding the servile votes of the dependent operatives; onthe other, eternal principles, supported by a few resolute men who willhave to inspire the Nation to action. 

"If I only had the encouragement of Ethel, " Harvey soliloquizes, "itwould be nothing to face the foes of my country. But I must make thefight alone. She is separated from me now by a wider barrier than ever. As the champion of the people of Wilkes-Barre I became the antagonist ofher father, and she had no choice but to remain with him. 

"And yet, at our parting, there was a tremor in her voice which told methat her love for me was not utterly dispelled. 

"Sister Martha tells me that Ethel is not happy, that she has ceased tobe the social butterfly, the cynosure of the fashionable set inPhiladelphia and New York. 

"As the inconspicuous leader of the working men of a Pennsylvania miningtown I might have won her, even against the opposition of Gorman Purdy. As a candidate for the Presidency, on the Independence party's ticket, my hopes are idle. "

He enters his room and finds a telegram on the table. 

 "VENETIA, L. I. 

 "As a friend I congratulate you on the honor you have achieved; I wish that circumstances would permit me to aid you in attaining victory. E. P. "

In all the world there is no treasure more precious than the yellow slipof paper which Harvey holds in his hand. It is a proof that Ethel hasnot forgotten him; it even foretells that if victory were to rest on hisstandards, he might claim a double prize--the Presidency and a bride. 

"What right had I to expect that Ethel could descend from her sphere toshare the uncertain fortunes of a social reformer?" he muses. 

"The conditions of life that have been fostered in the United Statessince the era of the multi-millionaire make the problem of marriage morecomplicated than ever before. How can a woman, born to luxury, hope tofind marital felicity with a man dependent on his daily wages for themeans of supporting himself and family?

"To say that she may bestow her wealth upon her husband, does not solvethe problem; it modifies it by adding a potent deterrent; for a man whowill be dependent upon his wife for support, lacks the essentialqualifications of a good husband. 

"The sharp lines of class distinction now drawn in the country are thecause of most of the unhappiness that attend matrimony. It is theopinion of others, not the needs of self, that engender discontent. 

"I must win a position in the world which will demand the respect of allmen; then I shall offer Ethel, in place of the ill-gotten millions ofher father's fortune, the name and love of an honest and respected man. And I will be honest and respected, even as President. 

"What a commentary on human frailty the records of our latter day ChiefMagistrates present. Each has been of humble origin. He has risen byvirtue of fearless championship of the cause of the masses. Once in theoffice of the Presidency, all uprightness and independence has left himand he has worshiped at the feet of the Idol of Gold. 

"To win the Presidency will be to inaugurate an era of real Nationalprosperity, in which the labor of the people will be insured justremuneration. To win Ethel will be to abolish the distinction of class. "

At the very hour Harvey Trueman is pondering over the grave conditionsthat keep him from making Ethel his wife, she is thinking of the mockeryof her riches, which furnish her with every attribute to happiness butone--that eclipses all others--the heart's desire. 

From the days that she had first known Harvey as the brilliantcounsellor, she has felt that inextinguishable love which thrives onhope, and which will not diminish, even when hope is banished. Harveyand she had been friends. His brains had won him admittance to thesocial class in which she moved. When their attachment had grown tolove, and he had asked her father's consent to their marriage, GormanPurdy, the man of millions, had not hesitated to sanction the union. 

What a joy had filled her heart when Harvey told her of his love! Whathappiness could have equalled hers when she received the news fromHarvey that her father was willing that they should marry?

What has caused their separation?

This is the question that remains as yet unanswered in her mind. 

"Is it possible that there can be such a divergence in the views of twomen on a question of right and wrong, " she asks herself, "that they willsacrifice the happiness of the one woman they profess to love, ratherthan agree upon a compromise, or one or the other change his views?"

"My father loves me; he lavishes his wealth upon me; I am his onlychild, his only comfort. He remains a widower so as to give me anundivided love. Yet he will not consent to my speaking of wedding HarveyTrueman. He tells me that Harvey is an enemy of mankind; a man who isseeking to disrupt civilization; that every word he utters is intendedto inflame the minds of the people; to incite them to anarchy. 

"And Harvey, can his words be false when his actions are so generous?What prompted him to give the miner's widow a thousand dollars? Was it adesire to do an act of charity, or was it as my father tells me, the actof a demagogue?

"How am I, a woman who knows nothing of politics or the principles ofgovernment, to decide a question that divides nations?

"What does all the advanced civilization of to-day amount to when itstands as a barrier to happy marriages?

"I cannot exchange places with a woman of the mining districts. My lifehas been so different that I should be miserable. "

As she philosophises Ethel glances about her boudoir. It is midnight. From her open window a refreshing breeze comes from the sea. Venetia, onthe Long Island shore, where Gorman Purdy has built his palatialresidence, is always fanned by ocean breezes. On this particular nightin August the moon shines full and bright. It gives a soft tone to theluxurious apartment in which America's richest heiress lies tossingrestlessly on her bed. 

"How impossible it would be for a miner's wife to exchange places withme, " Ethel sighs. 

"I am envied by every woman in the land. And still I am unhappy; O, sounhappy. 

"The fetters of wealth are as binding as those of poverty; they are notappreciated by the world, and those who wear them are never pitied. Ifonly Harvey is elected President, and my father's fears are notverified, perhaps--"

Ethel does not dare to express the hope that wells in her heart. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

OPENING THE CAMPAIGN. 

A National Headquarters at the height of a Presidential election is ofall places in the world the busiest. Men there seem to concentrate thepent-up energy of four years in the four months that are devoted to thecampaigning; they work day and night, regardless of sleep or food. A fewhours rest, taken when a momentary lull will permit, must suffice; ahurried meal must appease their appetite. Meetings have to be arranged;funds distributed to the various committees; literature has to beprepared and distributed; doubtful districts need the attention of theablest spell-binders; the movements of the opposing parties have to bemet and counteracted. 

Especially is the present campaign an exciting one. The strain on oldparty lines has at length snapped. The two leading parties in the Westand South are disrupted. While not utterly disorganized, the sameparties have suffered serious disintegration in the manufacturingdistricts of the East. 

On the virtual ruins of the effete political organizations, the spiritof the people finds utterance through the agency of the new party whichchooses as its name the "Independence Party. " Vitalized by the infusionin its body of the energetic and patriotic young men of the country, thenew party sprang into the lists, as it were, full grown. Its period ofadolescence has been as rapid as the transit of a comet. Yesterday ithad not existed, even in the minds of dreamers; to-day, in theconvention of one of the great political organizations an attempt wasmade to throttle the voice of the majority. The voice of a single manrose high and clear above the tumult; it was the voice of a Moses cometo lead his people from bondage. And that people were quick toappreciate the importance of the presence of a great leader. Theconvention cast aside all conservatism and cant; it produced a platformthat offered to mankind the direct and constitutional means for therestoration of general prosperity and the re-establishment of theprinciples of equality. 

In the first struggle against the entrenched power of corruption, thenew party had been defeated, not by reason of a disinclination on thepart of the people to support it, but because of the coercive methodsemployed by the Trust Magnates. In the momentous campaign of 1900, thevote of the people being divided, the candidate of the Democracy waselected. He was a man of worth and was eager to do the people's bidding. This, however, was not productive of any good to the people, as thePresident had a House and Senate hostile to him. Thrice his firstCongress had attempted to impeach him, and they were deterred fromcarrying out their partisan measure only by the ominous demonstration ofthe laboring men in all sections of the land. 

Now, the greatest election ever held in this country is on; the forceshave met on three occasions and know each other's methods; they knowalso that the result of the vote at this election will decide the futureof the country--it will continue to be a Republic in fact as in name;or, if the Plutocratic party dominates, the dynasty of the first emperorwill be established. 

The Chicago Auditorium is selected as the quarters of the Plutocraticcontingent. The corridors of this magnificent hotel are crowded nightand day by throngs of visitors. Men from every state are there toconsult with the campaign committee. The grim visaged chairman of thefinance committee, Anthony Marcus, is always at his desk in an innerroom. Millionaires troop into his presence in a ceaseless stream; theycome with their bankbooks in hand and after a short interview with thePowerful One, they depart, reassured that their millions are safe. Theypay their tithe to the Protector of American Plunderers. 

Anthony Marcus is in many ways a remarkable man; he is exempt from theimputation of being a little man in any sense. His ideas are daring;they can contemplate the debauchery of the Senate; the purchase of thePresident, and the disruption of the Supreme Court; they cannot stoop tothe committal of petty larceny. So every dollar of the funds raised forthe expenses of the campaign is spent in purchasing votes or in buyingoff dangerous leaders of the opposition. 

As fast as the funds are received they are distributed, and the methodof their final disposal is outlined by the great moving spirit. He seemsto possess infinite power of grasping the minutia of politics. None ofhis lieutenants dares to misappropriate the funds turned over to him. All know that their master has a disagreeable faculty of unexpectedlyasking for an accounting. 

"We will win by a margin of thirty-one votes in the Electoral College, "Chairman Marcus tells every one who inquires as to the probable result. "This figure is based upon the canvass I have had made in the doubtfulstates; it will not vary from the count by one vote. "

It is impossible to get the chairman to give an amplified statement asto which he considers the doubtful states and as to how the canvass hasbeen conducted. 

One of the morning papers in Chicago, which takes an impartial stand, and accordingly seeks to publish all of the news, creates a sensation bythe publication of a tabulated statement of the contributions paid intothe treasury of the Plutocratic party. This table shows a total offorty-seven millions of dollars. 

With such a sum to expend, and with the knowledge that the chairman ofthe finance committee will see that every dollar is properlydistributed, it is not unreasonable to suppose that a house to housecanvass of the doubtful states has actually been made. The corruptionfund provides more than three dollars for each voter in the land. 

Did Marcus think that one hundred million dollars will be necessary, hewould demand that sum, and it would not be withheld by the prosperousband that derives its wealth from the law-makers whom Marcus elects. 

What a contrast is presented by the headquarters of the Independenceparty. It is in a dilapidated hall in the western part of the city. Theonly feature of the furnishings in keeping with the times, is the Bureauof Publicity. This provides the campaign committee with telegraphic andtelephonic communication with the country at large. 

The instruments are arranged on two plain deal tables. In its appearancethe room is more like the editorial room of a hustling Western newspaperthan the headquarters of a political organization that is aspiring toelect a President of the United States. The floor is bare; obsolete gasfixtures afford the artificial light that is made necessary day andnight. The chairs and benches that are scattered about the room, are ofthe type commonly seen in cheap music halls. There are no ante-rooms, nocouncil chambers and no secret cabinets. 

A campaign fund of but two hundred and sixty thousand dollars has beenraised through the agency of the labor organizations. This comparativelypaltry sum is being doled out in niggardly fashion by a financecommittee who feel reluctant to part with a single dollar unless assuredthat it will have a hundred fold its natural effect on the result. 

There are some causes that do not need money to make them successful, and the people's fight against Plutocracy is one of this kind. It needsonly the awakening of the people's interest to make victory certain. 

The surest way of gaining the public ear is by sending out speakers. There is no dearth in the supply of brilliant orators who offer theirservices. They foresee that the crucial test is to be given theInstitution of Popular Government and they wisely align themselves onthe side of the people. 

No stream of Millionaires comes to the Independence Party'sHeadquarters; no line of retainers Stand with open hands to receive thefunds of fraud; there is as sharp a contrast between the twoheadquarters as there is between the platforms and candidates of theparties. 

Harvey Trueman is the guiding spirit at Drover's Hall. It is Tuesday, amonth before election. He visits the Hall for the last time before theverdict of the people shall be recorded. 

"I am going to New York to-night, " he tells his friend Maxwell, theChairman of the Speakers' Committee. "You had better notify the leadersall along the line that I am prepared to make short speeches at everyavailable place. "

"Have you made arrangements with the railroads?" asks Maxwell. 

"It will not be necessary for me to consult with them; I have outlinedmy route so that I can make connections on one road or another and gothrough to New York in sixty hours. This will give me time to maketwenty short speeches. "

"When do you reach New York city?"

"Friday night. It will be about seven o'clock. I want you to arrange fora meeting in Madison Square Garden. It may cost us two thousand dollars, but it will be money well spent. "

"We cannot get the Garden; not if we offered five thousand dollars. Ithas been leased for three months straight by the Plutocrats, " Maxwellreplies. 

"Then get the New York Committee to obtain a permit for an out-doormeeting. I will speak to twenty thousand people in New York on Friday ifI have to address them from a house-top. "

"One of the best places for an out-door meeting in New York is on Weststreet, between Cortlandt and Spring streets, " suggests an operator whohas overheard the conversation. "That's the broadest thoroughfare in thecity. "

"Yes, that is a splendid place, " acquiesces Trueman. 

"Have the meeting located there, Maxwell. "

Maxwell departs to carry out the order. 

A dozen men are soon receiving final instructions from their leader. They hear the plan for the invasion of the East, and all agree that itwill be a wise move, and one which the enemy cannot counteract in soshort a time as will be left. 

The Judas that is present in almost all human conclaves, is among theloudest in his remarks of approval. 

"You could do nothing that would give the Plutocrats a harder rub thanto speak on the eve, as it were, of election, in the hotbed ofPlutocracy, " he assures Trueman. 

After a few minutes of further conversation on this line, the betrayerdeparts. He is closeted with Marcus an hour later. The scheme for acounter demonstration in New York is quickly formulated. 

Unconscious of the treachery that has been practiced, Trueman preparesfor the trip East. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

ON TO NEW YORK. 

In all the evening papers the announcement appears that Harvey Truemanis to start on a tour of the East. The fact that he will leave the cityby train from the Union Depot is carefully suppressed, except in the twocomparatively unimportant journals which advocate the election of thepeople's candidate. 

But the managers of Trueman's campaign have come to know what has to becombatted. Handbills are hurriedly printed and distributed in the lateafternoon along State, Clark and Dearborn streets, and on theintersecting streets in the centre of the business locality. Thesehand-bills announce that Trueman will deliver his farewell speech toChicagoans that night at seven o'clock at the Adams street Bridge. 

At six o'clock the crowds begin congregating; they come from allsections of the city; they are of every type, from the cowboy of theStock Yards to the Street Railway Magnate. All are intent on hearing thecaptivating orator. 

Ten thousand people huddle in an area of five blocks. They know thatthey all cannot hear Trueman; yet they hope to catch a glimpse of him, and perhaps hear him make a short speech in their immediateneighborhood. 

It is 6. 50 when a hansom conveying Trueman hurries down Adams streetfrom State. The crowds cheer and yell. From a trot the horse attached tothe vehicle is forced to proceed at a walk. 

"Speech! speech!" cry the excited men as they surge through the narrowthoroughfare. 

Trueman stands up in the hansom and leaning forward explains that hecannot stop to make a speech at every corner. 

The few words he addresses to the crowd seem to satisfy their demands, and they at once subside. 

Slowly the speaker approaches the throng at the Depot steps. In crossingthe bridge he twice has to comply with the persistent demand for aspeech. 

Now he is on the platform. 

His voice works a magic spell on the audience. They have beenboisterous, fretful, even at times disorderly. Not a dozen words areuttered by Trueman and the silence, save for his ringing voice, isintense. 

"I am leaving you that we may be assured of the support of the East, " hebegins. 

"That you are with me and are determined to vote for your rights I donot doubt for a moment. You are men who have learned the lesson of lifein the school of experience. A truth once grasped by you is not soonforgotten. You all know who are your enemies. "

"Down with the Plutocrats!" howl the people. 

"As you stand before me, men of might, one a mechanic, one a laborer, another a tradesman, another a railway employee, is there any one of youwho wishes to vote to deprive his fellow-workmen of the right to earn aliving? Is there a single man among you who is striving night and day tocorner the food of the land that he may starve his brother-workmen intopaying him tribute? Is there a man among you who is living on thedistress of his fellows, brought about by his wrecking the bank in whichthey have hoarded their savings?

"No, there is none such here. 

"Then there should not be a voter here who will cast a ballot to put inpower men who seek in public office only their personal ends. ThePlutocratic ticket has not a man on it who is not an agent of theTrusts. Do not take this assertion on my authority. Investigate theticket for yourselves. "

Here the assembly cheer wildly. 

"I want you to roll up a majority in the city of Chicago which shalldemonstrate to the world that the citizens of the Star of the West areamong the staunchest patriots in the Union. "

With the whistling and shrieking of the crowd in his ears, Trueman stepsfrom the platform and makes his way to the train. The trip East isunique. It differs from the ordinary Presidential campaign tour in somuch as there is no attempt to have reception committees meet the trainson which the candidate travels; there is no speaking from the rearplatform of the trains. The depots are owned by the Plutocrats and nocrowds are permitted to congregate to hail Trueman. 

At Toledo, Columbus, Philadelphia and Newark, Trueman changes trains andgoes to a public square where he addresses the populace. As he nears NewYork the enthusiasm of the crowds abates. In Newark the Plutocraticmissionaries have spread the seeds of falsehood and have made suchtelling use of coercive threats that the people are actually hostile toTrueman and his party, deeming them Anarchists. The protection of thepolice is needed to prevent the most violent of the men from attackingthe speakers. In the attempt to suppress supposed law-breakers, thesemisguided citizens become lawless themselves. 

At Jersey City there is a great crowd blocking the passageways of theterminal. Trueman is forced to mount one of the mail cars and make aspeech. No sooner has he finished, then he is surrounded by thereporters of the New York papers. 

"Mr. Trueman, are you aware that the Plutocrats have arranged for atorchlight parade for to-night, as a counter demonstration to yourmeeting?" one of the reporters asks. 

"Yes, I received a telegram at Philadelphia informing me to thateffect. "

"The line of march is from the Battery north on Broadway to Cortlandtstreet; west on Cortlandt to Harrison street, and north on that streetto Spring, " explains another reporter. 

"This means that they will run the parade parallel with the river frontand one block from West street. It will be timed so as to pass just asyou are making your address, " he adds. 

"You may inform the managers of the parade that I will be delighted tohave them send their army of intimidated workmen down to West street, and I may be able to entertain them. 

"Those who come within reach of my voice will, I think, hear news thatwill hold them, as against a brass band and fireworks. If not, then theywould be better off in the wake of the procession, " exclaims Truemanicily. 

"Where do you propose to make your first speech?" asks a youthfulreporter. 

It is a superfluous question in the minds of all the older newspapermen. They smile inwardly; but the answer this query evokes sends themall flying to telephones. 

"I shall make my first speech at the Battery, where the paraders mayhave the benefit of a little plain truth. "

The group of Independents are now on the ferryboat. 

Across the river the myriad lights of the metropolis give the scene airappearance as of fairyland. The night is overcast and the clouds act asa reflector to the million lights in the city below; the sky line ofBrooklyn is a dull salmon color. A chill October wind sweeps from eastto west. It is a bad night to speak out of doors. Upon reachingCortlandt slip Trueman descends to the lower deck and is among the firstto leave the boat. He crosses West street unobserved, and on reachingthe Elevated Station at Cortlandt street, boards a down-town train. Withhim are three of the committee of arrangements. The remainder of theparty go to the platform at the foot of Barclay street to address thecrowd and announce the cause of Trueman's delay. 

When the South Ferry is reached Trueman sees that Battery Park is packedwith people. He descends to the street and wedges his way to the musicstand in the centre of the park. Without much difficulty he manages toclimb upon the stand. 

As a piece of good fortune an electric light shines full on his face ashe turns to the crowd. 

Up to this moment people think that the tall man with the slouch hat isseeking a point of vantage from which to view the formation of theparade. 

It does not require two glances, however, to assure the people that theman before them is Harvey Trueman. 

"That's Trueman, or I'm a liar!" shouts an Irishman. 

"That's who it is, " blurts a man beside him. 

"What is he doing down here? I thought he was to speak on West Street?"

Some of the men in the crowd now begin cheering. They cry:

"Trueman! Trueman! Rah! rah! rah! Speech! speech!"

The proper moment has arrived. Trueman takes off his hat and waves it asa sign for silence. The cheering and the rumor that Trueman has suddenlyappeared, turns a sea of people in the direction of the music stand. Fully eight thousand men are within the radius of his voice. He speaksat first in a high metallic key; but after the first minute or so hereaches his normal voice, which with its fullness and exquisitemodulation makes his oratory remarkable. 

Here is an occasion where rhetoric will prove available; the crowdbefore him is composed for the most part of the better element, socalled for reason of its disinclination to change existing conditions. If a sense of justice in this great mass of humanity can be aroused itwill impel each and all to yield to the will of the orator. With sharpsarcasm he refers to the precautionary action of the Plutocrats toprevent his addressing a New York audience. Do they fear he may convertit?

Rapidly he pictures the scenes of intimidation he has witnessed in thewest and northwest. Is New York chained to the wheels of the Plutocraticchariot?

As the first sign of sympathy answers his appeal, he urges upon hisaudience the necessity of declaring anew the independence of the people. The fervor of his speech affects the crowd; the indescribable impulse toyield to the will of a fellow-man who commands the power of oratory, asserts itself. At the declaration of a principle of government which istrite in itself, there is a scattered cheer; an apt epigram evokes astorm of applause. Trueman wins the full sympathy of his audience; theyare his to command. 

"I am expected to address an audience at the foot of Barclay street. Itwill afford me unbounded pleasure if I may tell them that the meetingwill not be disturbed; that you have decided to apply to politics thesame spirit of fair play that you would demand in a street brawl. "

"We're with you, " cries a man. "You're all right. " Trueman steps fromthe music stand. The crowd gather about him, shouting and cheering forhim. 

"This is an Independence parade, " some one shouts. 

"Forward, march, for Barclay street!" becomes the general shout. Truemanis pushed on toward the edge of the Battery Park till the line ofcarriages in which some of the members of the parade were to ride isreached. He is lifted into one of the carriages and the march for theWest street stand is begun. The line of march leads along State streetto Battery Place; here it turns west to the river, and thence up Weststreet. The traffic which chokes that thoroughfare in the day is absentand the broad expanse of street affords an excellent concourse. 

With the clashing strains of three bands, the shouts of thousands ofmen, the flickering lights of torches and Roman candles, Truemanapproaches the audience which has been impatiently awaiting him. Flushedwith the pride of his victory he mounts the stand to address tenthousand men in the citadel of Plutocracy. His advent in New York is asignal triumph. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

DEPARTURE OF THE COMMITTEE. 

By the last election for President a man has been put in office who isthe acknowledged tool of the Trusts and Monopolies. He has avowedlysealed his independence by accepting a nomination brought about by thering leader of a syndicate of Railroad Magnates and Steel and Oil Kings. 

The people are in such a depressed condition that it is believed nodetermined opposition to the dominant party can be conducted. So thisman is a candidate for re-election. The few intrepid men who succeed inkeeping the people's party in the field are derided and denounced asanarchists. Their very lives are threatened, and in one instance aGovernor of the people being elected, he is immediately assassinated. But for the certainty of the Plutocrats that their money will win them avictory, all the leaders of the Independence party would be forciblydone away with. 

The prospects of the coming election look dubious for the people. OnAugust thirteenth the Committee of Forty determined to take the step forre-emancipation. The time to strike the telling blow at monopoly isapproaching. The men all know what the work outlined will entail, andthey have brought themselves to look at the matter in much the samelight as the originator of the unparalleled expedient. 

"We have been forced into adopting the plan of annihilation, " ProfessorTalbort declares to Henry Neilson, a fellow committeeman with whom he istraveling to the Pacific coast. 

"I agree with you, " replies Neilson, "it is the only course open to us;we have given every other proposal careful consideration. They wouldonly temporarily avert a conflict. "

"I have pondered on the question of how our acts will be accepted by thepeople, " the Professor resumes. "I believe they will hail our acts asthose of deliverance. "

"They will appreciate that we gave our lives for them, " Neilson declaresunhesitatingly. 

All of the Forty act with similar coolness. 

Men of action are not as a usual thing great talkers; so it is with themembers of this committee. They waive much that would be deemedessential by less resolute and active men. How the several annihilationsare to be effected is a matter left for each man to decide for himself. He will have to carry out any plan he devises, and it is considered asthe best policy to let his method be known to no one else. This is thesurest way of avoiding a possible miscarriage of the plan. 

The failure of one of the forty men will not then involve the remainingthirty-nine. Every contingency is weighed. The chance of one or more ofthe men going insane because of the frightful secret, is taken intoaccount and the idea that each man shall decide the details of thecourse he is to pursue is adopted. 

"I am glad that we parted without formality, " Nettinger declares to thegroup of committeemen who are his companions on a train that leavesChicago for the South. 

"It would have unnerved us to speak of our meeting as '_the last_'" saysanother of the group. "I have faced danger in my life, but I regard thisas the most astounding departure that has ever been made in theinterests of humanity. "

"The future of the Republic is at stake, " observes a third. "How will itall end?"

This is the question that is uppermost in the minds of all. 

"There is no time left to weigh the effects of defeat, " Nettingerasserts. "Each of us has but one thing to do, and to do thissuccessfully he has pledged his life. No man can do more. "

The eleven disciples, as they separated after the crucifixion, each topursue a separate course, inaugurated the preaching of a great andpotential religion, and their work is the most momentous in history. Soit may prove that this Nineteenth Century aggregation of men united forthe purpose of benefiting their fellowmen, is of tantamount influence onthe human race. 

From acting as component parts in a body that exists as a moral protestagainst the wrongs of the world and the unrelenting hands of theusurpers of the right of the people, these forty men go forth as an armyof crusaders. 

On the committee of forty there is not a man who has not argued hisconscience into a state of appreciation of the worthiness of the actionhe is to perform. 

It is past midnight. Two months from this date, on October thirteenth, the fulfillment of the vows the men have taken, must be made. In thesixty days that are to intervene will any of these intrepid wills bendunder the pressure of mental anxiety? Will any of them prove a modernJudas?

Nevins is the last to quit the store-room. He is nervous, almosthysterical; his thin classical features are distorted and tense, asthough he were undergoing actual physical pain. And indeed to hissensitive nature, the events of the night are sufficient to unnerve hismind and body. 

He is to meet Carl Metz and Hendrick Stahl in the morning, to start forthe East. 

"The syndicate of annihilation is now incorporated, " he observes, halfaloud. "I am no longer the promoter; now I assume a place as one of theavengers of the people. God alone knows how repugnant this plan forphysical vengeance is to me, yet it is better than to permit a storm ofanarchy to come upon us. And the conditions that exist cannot longcontinue. "

Although every man has been called upon to make a personal sacrificethere is none who makes a greater one than he. It is not alone therelinquishment of his position in the world as a patient and industriousworker; his sacrifice of love; the obliteration of his hope forpreferment, but the extinction of life itself at an age when all mencherish it most highly. 

Nevins is in the heyday of manhood; his forty years and six having beenspent in the perfection of his mental and physical forces. He isequipped with a quick, perceptive brain that grasps the intricacies of aproblem almost intuitively; his logic is profound. Years of study havemade his mind a storehouse of knowledge. 

To Nevins, in the allotment of the proscribed, has fallen the head ofthe money trust, a multi-millionaire banker, a financial Magnate knownthroughout the civilized world as the most rapacious miser on record. This man has repeatedly shown that he has no regard for honesty ofpurpose, and his moral appreciation is imperceptible. To recount thedeeds of cunning, of fraud, of gigantic robbery that he has committed inhis relentless quest for wealth, would be to retell the story of wreckedrailroads, enormously profitable bond issues and Wall street panics ofthe past decade. The obituaries of the hundreds he has ruined afford thebest method of arriving at a partial conception of his power for evil. 

"What a privilege to rid the world of this genius of evil!" is Nevins'sinward comment as he reads the fatal slip and sees that upon him hasfallen the lot to execute the sentence of annihilation upon JamesGolding, the King of Wall street. 

CHAPTER XX. 

IN THE ENEMY'S STRONGHOLD. 

After an absence of weeks, during which time Harvey Trueman carries thewar into the very heart of the Magnates' strongholds, he returns toChicago. His first mission is to visit Sister Martha. She had been keptin touch with his movements by short notes and aggravatingly brieftelegrams, which he sent her as occasion permitted. In the papers shefinds but meagre notice of the progress which the Independence party ismaking, for the censor of the press has effectually silenced all theimportant mediums. The News Associations, even, are brought under theban and are given to understand that a violation of the orders of thePlutocratic Party will mean a forfeiture of all privileges oftransportation to papers using the offensive news. 

The meeting of these two ardent patriots is fraught with emotion. Trueman is the more moved by reason of the knowledge that he is regardedby Martha as the embodiment of all virtue, wisdom and power. He feelshis incapacity to fill this exalted role, especially as the unrequitedlove he bears for Ethel Purdy is still burning in his heart. 

"You do not seem yourself to-night, " Martha tells him frankly. 

"No, that is true; I have so much to think about; so many details tokeep in mind that I suffer from abstraction when I am not under thestress of actual labor. "

Trueman is seated beside a table in the centre of the Sisters' Home, which has come to be the only haven of rest he knows in the whole world. He is in a communicative mood, and appreciating that the woman beforehim is an interested listener he is ready to review the events of thecampaign. 

"I have so many evidences of treachery in my own camp that at times Idespair of the result of the struggle, " he says, half despondently. 

"It is the accursed power of gold that is fighting you, " Martha breaksin vehemently. "O, if we could only have a few thousand dollars to fightthem with their own weapon. "

At the mention of so paltry a sum to be pitted against the unlimitedmillions of the Magnates, Trueman cannot repress a smile. 

"I know it may seem ludicrous for a woman to talk politics, " continueshis gentle adviser, apologetically. "Yet it would not take as much asyou imagine to nullify the effect of the millions of bribe money andtribute money that the Plutocrats are spending. 

"What would you have me do with the money?"

"Use it in enlightening the people as to their true condition. It isimpossible to conceive of men who would knowingly sell their birthright. The perfidy of the press is the sin of sins in this age of unbridlediniquity, " she declares, her face flushing with indignation. "Freespeech has not yet been totally interdicted. Speak to the people; tellthem to emancipate themselves. "

"You make me wish, almost, that your sex was not debarred from theexercise of suffrage, " Trueman declares. "If I receive as staunchsupport from the men of the land as I have already been accorded by thewomen I shall triumph at the polls. 

"Let me recount the events of the past few days that I have only hintedat in my letters. It will make you glad that you were born a woman. 

"When I reached Milwaukee, ten days ago, " continues Trueman, "I foundthat the committee of coercion had anticipated my arrival and had issuedits edict against the citizens turning out to see me. The police hadreceived their instructions to keep the streets clear, and they wereuntiring in their efforts to earn the approbation of their masters. Thetrain arrived at one-thirty in the afternoon. Ordinarily there wouldhave been a large crowd at the depot; to our surprise we found the depotand the adjoining streets practically deserted. 

"As our party moved in the direction of the hotel, I noticed that awoman was keeping pace with us on the opposite side of the street. Shewas dressed in a modest gown and would not have attracted attention hadshe not continually turned her head to look behind her. 

"Yielding to an impulse of curiosity I turned my head and saw that atthe distance of a block a squad of police was following us. Then itdawned upon me that the woman was endeavoring to give our party the cue. When the steps of the hotel were reached I felt impelled to see wherethe woman would go. She stood on the corner of the street for half aminute and then disappeared around the corner. 

"Half an hour later I was handed the card of a 'Mrs. Walton. ' Upon goingto the reception room I found that the strange woman had come to see me. 

"Her first words, 'Are we alone?' made me feel that I should have a newelement to meet. I suspected a trap of the enemy. When I assured herthat she was at liberty to speak, Mrs. Walton went directly to thepoint. 

"'I have come to offer you the support of the women of Milwaukee, ' shebegan, 'and that means a great deal at a time when the men are afraid tosay their souls are their own. 

"'The women of this city are not under the yoke and they trust to you toput off the day of their subjugation, if you cannot put them in safetyfor all time. 

"'We have realized that the hour for woman to assert her power has come;she cannot vote, nor does she aspire to that questionable right, but shecan influence the votes of the men with whom she comes in contact. 

"'You have come to a city that is as effectually closed to you as if itwere walled and the gates were shut in your face. The press, the police, the labor organizations, every power has been subsidized to work againstyou. I know every move that has been made. For there's not a worduttered that is not brought to the council of women's clubs. 

"'The moment it was known that you were to visit this city the orderwent forth that you were not to be permitted to hold a public meeting. You were not to be refused the right to speak; that would have been toobold and brazen an act for even the Plutocrats to carry out. It wasdecided that the same ends could be accomplished by preventing the armyof mercenaries and wage-slaves to parade the streets. The corps of"spotters" were sent out. 

"'You are a witness to what end. The streets were deserted. They willremain so during your stay. '

"I was on the point of interrupting the woman, but she exclaimed, 'Don'tinterrupt me. '

"'I was appointed a committee of one to wait upon you and extend you theoffices of the Women's League, ' she continued. 'While waiting in thedepot I overheard the orders of the Captain of Police to the Sergeant. He told his subordinate not to allow you to collect a crowd on thestreet, and detailed a squad to follow you to your hotel. 

"'If you have any message to deliver to the men of Milwaukee you maydepend upon the seven thousand women who are enrolled in the League toscatter it for you. I can tell you that there is no other way open toyou. '

"I was too surprised to reply for a moment. When I finally formulated aresponse, I told her that the facts she had just furnished me were ofsuch an extraordinary nature that I should be obliged to give them mymost careful consideration, and that if she would call again in an hourI should be able to tell her what use I could make of her offer. 

"When I was alone I hastened to rejoin the members of the Committee whohad accompanied me on my trip. 

"I asked them if they were aware of the conditions that existed in thecity. They told me that the Chief of Police had just informed them thatwe could not hold a meeting outside of a hall. 'Public safety' was givenas the cause of this order. 

"Then I hastily recounted the incident of the visit of Mrs. Walton. Someof the committeemen were skeptical and advised me not to have anydealings with the woman. I, however, was favorably impressed with her. 

"At the expiration of two hours she returned. I had a long talk withher, in which I told her how her League could be of benefit to me if itwould impress upon the men the necessity of voting for their rights. Sheassured me that my messages would be carried into every mill and factoryin the city. 

"I held a meeting in the hall that the local Independence party hadsecured. The attendance was made up exclusively of staunch party men. Outside of the hall stood a dozen policemen and a half dozen spotters. 

"None of the workmen of the city dared to attend the meeting. "

"And this is Free America!" exclaims Martha, under her breath. 

"Yes, this is America; but, is it free?" asks Trueman. 

"From Milwaukee I went to St. Paul and Minneapolis. The same conditionexisted in these places. I turned to Detroit; the result was the same. 

"I resolved to advance into the one State that the Magnates believe theycontrol absolutely. From Detroit I went to Philadelphia. The receptionthat awaited me there is one that I shall never forget. My native Stateis so utterly dominated by the Trust Magnates that the free-borncitizens do not dare to attend public meetings. "

"What is the use of the secret ballot if men cannot go to the polls andregister there the opinion they hold?" Martha asks, with irony in hervoice. 

"Ah, the secret ballot is but another of the illusive baits which therich wisely throw out to the poor to keep them in submission. It issecret only in name. The results of an election are what count. TheMagnates have so intimidated the masses that they are no longerpossessed of the spirit to vote according to their thoughts, " Truemanreplies sadly. 

"The Pharisees have preached the doctrine of the sacredness of 'vestedrights' until the people, in many sections of the country, have come toregard the right of property as paramount to the right of mankind tolife and liberty. 

"Every act that would alleviate the sufferings of the people is at oncestigmatized as anarchistic; while the aggressions of the men of money inthe legislatures, and through executives, are upheld as justifiablemeans for the proper protection of property. 

"My trip to the West and East has made me doubtful as to the result ofthe election. In New York City alone is there a tendency to support me. "

"Oh, do not say that you have lost hope, " expostulates Sister Martha. 

"It is not my intention to intimate that I have done so, to any one, other than to you. "

"Ah, I cannot believe that a just God will see you defeated!"

"As matters stand now it will take almost a miracle to elect me. I havestudied all the elements that enter into this campaign. It will be thelast one that can be conducted with the semblance of order. Four yearsfrom now, if not before then, the conditions will be ripe for arevolution; the oligarchy of American manufacturers and bankers willhave reached its height and will be on the point of dissolution. Theperfected mechanism of government that it will have established, will bein readiness to be turned over to the people. 

"Socialism of a rational sort will result from the sudden and sharprevolution. History will not be enriched by a new chapter, but be markedby the repetition of its most frequent story--the fall of empire and theestablishment of a new government. In the end of all governments at thesame point, is the strongest argument in support of the theory ofreincarnation; a state, as a being, has its birth, mature age, anddecay. None seemingly is endowed with the attribute of immutability. Itwas the fond hope of our forefathers that the United States should provethe exception. Imperialism was the reef on which the classic empireswere wrecked; commercialism is the danger that threatens our ship ofstate. "

"You must take a brighter view of the situation, " insists the sensitivewoman, to whom these lugubrious words are as dagger thrusts. "You mustfight as if there was not the shadow of a doubt but that you will besuccessful. I have a premonition (woman's intuition, if you prefer), that you will be the victor in this struggle. "

With these words of encouragement ringing in his ears, Trueman departs. He has yielded to the human weakness which prompts a man to confide hisinmost thoughts to woman. Kingdoms have been destroyed, empires havecrumbled in a day; the world's greatest generals have seen theircarefully designed campaigns fall flat, all through the treachery ofwomen in failing to keep secret the confessions of their confidants. 

The admission that Trueman has made of his misgivings as to the resultof the election, if it were made public, would shatter his every chance. The world will not lend its support to a man or a cause that admits itshopelessness. A forlorn hope, however forlorn, has never wantedvolunteers. 

Fortunately Trueman has made a confidant of a woman unselfishly anddevotedly his friend, and who has the good sense to realize that hisuntrammeled utterances to her are for her alone. 

It is eleven o'clock when Trueman reaches his party's headquarters. Hefinds his supporters working with the feverish energy that attaches to adesperate situation. The soldiers of a beleaguered fortress man the gunswith a disregard to fatigue and danger that is inspiring; the men at thepumps, when the word goes forth that the ship is sinking, work with afrenzy that defies nature; so it is with the leaders of the Independenceparty. They are fighting against appalling odds, yet they do not stop toquestion the result. "Work, work, work!" is the command they obey. 

"The indications from the Southern States are brighter than ever, " oneof the committeemen tells Trueman. 

"Judge for yourself, " adds another, and he hands the candidate atelegram. It is from New Orleans. Trueman reads it aloud:

 "CHAIRMAN BAILEY, National Headquarters, Independence Party, Chicago, Ill. :

 From a canvass of the cotton belt the indications are that our party will carry all the Southern States with the possible exception of Louisiana. This doubtful state can be carried if speakers are sent there. 

 (Signed) EDWARD B. MASON. "

"Is there any way of complying with this request?" Trueman asks. 

"We may be able to send three speakers down there the latter part of theweek, " says the Chairman of the Speakers Committee, after consulting hisschedule. 

"Have you heard from New York to-day?" Trueman is asked by theTreasurer. "You know we have been expecting to hear the result of theforecast there. "

"No, I have had no word. It is barely possible that the message has beenintercepted. "

As Trueman speaks the telegraph operator approaches and hands him amessage. 

"Here is the message!" cries Trueman. "It is from Faulkner. He says thatthe city of New York will be about evenly divided; and that in the statewe can rely upon the counties along the canal. He ends up by statingthat the result in Greater New York may be assured if I can go there andfight in person. "

"Then you will go?" inquires Mr. Bailey. 

"Yes, I shall go there at once and try to be there for the close of thecampaign. "

The routine of the night's work is resumed. Trueman leaves to take amuch needed rest. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE COMMITTEE REPORTS PROGRESS. 

As the time approaches for the carrying out of the plan of annihilation, the spirits of the forty vacillate from joyousness to despair at thethought, now of the glorious page they are to give to the history of theworld and now, of the terrible means that an inexorable fate compelsthem to use. Each passes through varying moods. The ever present thoughtthat the day will soon arrive on which each will have to commit twodeeds of violence, the one, to take a public enemy out of the world'sarena once and forever; the other, the extinction of self, is enough tokeep the mental tension at the snapping point. 

Yet, not a man weakens. The stolid march of trained men towardinevitable death is the only counterpart to their action. And theirunfaltering fulfillment of the work allotted them is the more remarkableas each works independently. It is one thing to be impelled forward bythe frenzy and madness of battle; to be nerved to deeds of valor andself-sacrifice in the face of impending disaster, such as shipwreck andfire; but it is quite another thing to deliberately carry out a planthat taxes the will, the heart and the conscience, and that too, totallyunaided by the presence or sympathy of others. This is what these fortymen have determined it is their duty to perform. 

Nevins is in New York to receive reports from the members of theCommittee. A month has passed since their departure from Chicago. Frommost of the men he receives letters in which they tell of their success. No mention is made of the men to whom they are assigned, yet the reportsseem to assure Nevins that the plan will not miscarry. 

"I have twice been sorely tempted to abandon my mission, " writes HoraceTurner, the plain, honest Wisconsin farmer. "My heart and not myconscience has been weak. But strength of purpose has come to me. Irealize that our undertaking is one that the populace will not sanctionat the start; it is not one that we can hope to make acceptable to thepublic mind until it comes to a successful issue. 

"The world does not look with favor upon reforms or revolutions untilthey are accomplished facts. And this is the reason history records theevents of every advance of man in letters of blood. This advance is notto be an exception in this point so far as the spilling of blood isconcerned; it is to be exceptional in regard to the quantity that is tobe sacrificed. 

"The revolutions in politics that have preceded it, the reformations inreligion, have necessitated the butchery of thousands of men and women;the overturning of existing conditions and the impediment of the humanrace for generations. 

"This reformation will measure its sacrificial blood in drops. It willhave as many martyrs as it had tyrants. "

It is the preponderance of reasons in favor of their adhering to theiroaths that prevents the members of the Committee of Annihilation fromfaltering. 

At forty points through the world these unheralded crusaders aresilently arranging their campaigns against the enemies of the commonweal. For the most part the men who have been named on the proscribedlist are residents of the chief city of their respective states; theyare men who have walked the path of life rough-shod and have stepped totheir exalted positions over the prostrate forms of their fellowmen. They are what the world is pleased to call the "Princes of Commerce. "

To become acquainted with the habits of his quarry; to fix upon a planfor inflicting death upon him, which will be certain, and to be preparedto carry this programme out at the appointed time, these are mattersthat each of the forty has to arrange. 

They call into requisition all of their talents, all of the skill thathas made them men of mark in their respective professions and vocations. 

When Hendrick Stahl became sponsor for Nevins he felt that he had notmisplaced his confidence, yet it was impossible for him to beunacquainted with the movements of the originator of the Committee ofForty. He so arranges his affairs as to be in New York at the end of themonth to meet him. On his visits he seeks Nevins and spends the nightwith him. 

"I have perfected my plans, " Stahl tells his friend. "At first it lookedas though I could not get acquainted with my man, but I finally struckupon a course that led me directly to him. I perfected the details of amechanism to do away with manual labor on a machine which he employs inhis factory. When I suggested the adoption of it and proved that I couldmake the improvement, he became interested. I meet him every day. On thethirteenth of October we will examine the model. "

Nevins opens a letter bearing a postmark, "Edinburgh, Scotland. " Theletter simply states:

"I am enjoying the hospitality of one of the Transgressors. He and I aregreat friends. We are arranging to substitute a counterfeit substancefor the new armor plate ordered by the government. 

"By our plan the government will be defrauded of thirty million dollars. The armor plate will not stand the test of heavy projectiles. But we can'fix' the inspectors. My _friend_ is delighted at the prospect of givingthe United States Government another batch of worthless armor plate. "

This particular Transgressor is Ephraim Barnaby, the Pennsylvania ironking. He is the master of the greatest iron and steel concern in theworld. His wealth is counted by scores of millions; he has palaces inthis country and abroad. His domination over the lives of the thousandswho slave in his foundries is kept unshaken by reason of the fact thathe coats the bitter acts of oppression of which he is constantly guilty, with ostentatious gifts in the name of benevolence. He presents thecities of the country with public libraries. 

This philanthrophic iron master has erected an armory for his privatedetectives for every library he has established for the people. To makea life of unparalleled achievement as an amasser of money terminate inglory is well within his power, but avarice is the chief occupant of hisheart. With sixty and more years on his head and so much wealth that hecannot by any possibility spend one twentieth part of his yearly income, the iron master still has an insatiable thirst for gold. To the Fortywho know every detail of his career, this man above all others is theone whom they despise. His hypocrisy makes him the most despicable ofthe proscribed. Chadwick is proud that to him has fallen the lot ofexterminating this Transgressor. 

From other letters received by Nevins it develops that not one of themen has failed in locating his man and in laying the net which is toenmesh him. 

The proposal of a supposed inventor to create a machine that will reducecost of manufacture, leads the merchant prince into a trap. He rejoicesat the thought of reducing the expense of wage and of maintaining theprice of goods to the consumer. 

An improved explosive interests the mine owner It will cost him less andcan be sold to the operatives at the same price. It is more dangerous touse, but that does not deter him from seeking to utilize it; for it isthe operatives who will have to run the risk in the mines. 

A substitute for oil is the lure that compels the Oil King to payrespectful attention to another of the committee. The same prospect of asubstitute for sugar demands the attention of the Sugar King. To each ofthe Transgressors there is held out as a bait the needed promise of gainat the public expense. 

Thus the details of the pending tragedy are perfected. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

MILLIONAIRES SOWING THE WIND. 

While the work of the Independence party is being conducted with all thevigor that its scanty financial resources will permit, the opponents ofpopular government are pushing their campaign in all directions, aidedby inexhaustible money, and all the influence that attaches to the partyin power. The Plutocratic convention which had been held in Chicagopromulgated a platform that pledges the party to institute every form oflegislation calculated to appease the demands of the people. 

That the pretences of the platform are insincere is a fact that everyone is well acquainted with; yet so potential is the power of the partythat it is able to persuade men against their best judgment, and thosewhom it cannot bring to its support by argument are forced to alignthemselves on the side of phitocratic government by the force ofcoercion. 

Where in 1900 the Trusts employed four million men, they now have ontheir pay rolls more than ten millions. This represents seventy-five percent. Of all the able-bodied men in the country. The tradesmen in everycity are as effectually dominated by the Trust magnates as if they wereon their payrolls. Through the general establishment of the system of"consignment, " by which goods are placed on sale in small shops, undercovenants with the Trusts, the retailers are made to sell at the pricesdictated by the manufacturers. It is useless for a retailer to rebel; hehas either to handle the goods of the Trusts or go out of businessaltogether. 

To realize how far-reaching this system is, it will suffice to cite thecase of the retail grocers. Their staple articles, such as sugar, flour, salt, coffee, tea, spices and canned meats are all controlled by Trusts. If the retailer attempts to sell any article not manufactured by theTrusts, his contumacy is taken as a cause for all the staples he has "onsale" to be reclaimed by the Trusts. This leaves him with practicallynothing to sell. 

Where a man, more pugnacious than the majority, attempts to fight theTrusts, his stand is made futile by the Trust immediately establishing arival store in his neighborhood, where goods are sold at an actual lossuntil ruin comes upon the recalcitrant tradesman. 

This is the story of all trades. It is the condition that exists in alllines of manufacture as well, and the system reaches even to thefarmers. They have either to sell their products at the prices offeredby the Trusts or run themselves into inevitable bankruptcy. They maydispose of one year's crop, but the next year they are doomed to findthemselves without a purchaser. Failing to intimidate the farmer, theTrust will bring its influence to bear upon the purchaser--he willeither be absorbed or annihilated. 

From being a nation of independent producers, the people of the UnitedStates have been slowly and insidiously pushed back to a position wheremore than nine-tenths of the people are the servants of the remainingfew. With the changed condition has come a deterioration in the spiritof the masses. They are apathetic, and take the scant wage that theTrusts condescend to pay them. The efforts to regain a place ofhonorable independence are becoming weaker and weaker. 

The enervating effects of urban life have told on the millions who livein the great cities. The number of men who can stand the rigor ofout-door life, and the exigencies of labor afield, grows smaller year byyear. 

Adulterated food, sedentary work at machines which require practicallyno skill to operate, and dispiriting home surroundings have broughtmillions of men to a mental and physical condition which makes themlittle better than slaves. 

These truths Trueman and his co-workers endeavor to impress upon thepeople. In some districts the audiences evince interest in thearguments. In others the speakers are met with open derision. 

"We are content to work in our present places, " some of the laborersassert. "Are we not sure of getting our bread as it is? If we were tobring on a revolution where would our next day's wage come from?"

To this argument, which exhibits to what a debased position thewage-earner has sunk, the Independence party leaders who have formed theparty of the fragment of free-minded men that still remains, marshal allthe arguments of logic and political economy. They appeal to the pride, the decency of the men, to drag themselves from the slough into whichthey have fallen. The appeals are fervent, yet their effect seemsuncertain. 

The terror of "lock-outs, " of massacres done under the seal of the law, is vividly recalled. 

In 1900 the people had made a desperate effort to throw off the yoke ofthe Trusts. They had failed and been made to feel the lash of theirvictors. Eight years have passed, during which the Trusts have becomeimpregnable, the people impotent. 

Trueman is in St. Louis on a flying trip. This city of two millions isthe great centre of the labor organizations. 

It is Friday night, and the local headquarters is the scene of wildexcitement. It resembles nothing more closely than a camp on the eve ofbattle. Leaders from all districts of the city are on hand to receivefinal instructions, as in a camp they would be given ammunition, rationsand assignment of positions. The determined expression that marks theface of a man who is set at a task which involves his entire future, isupon every man who enters the headquarters. The fountain of theirinspiration is Trueman, who has a word for everyone. He seems to beeverywhere and to be able to do all things. 

From the hour of his triumph at Chicago he has won the support of therural districts. Mass meetings have been held in villages, hamlets andcross-roads in all the States. In the smaller towns the people havelikewise hailed Trueman as their deliverer. It is the good fortune ofthose dwelling outside of the cities to be still in possession of thedormant spirit of independence. They have been crushed, yet not cowed bythe Trusts. 

The fact that they are self-supporting in so far as procuring the actualnecessities of food and shelter, make them capable of retaining a hopefor emancipation from Trust domination. 

The wage-slaves of the cities are in a condition actually appalling. Itis part of Trueman's campaign to go amongst the shops and factories inthe environs of the cities to talk with the men, and to picture to themthe results that will follow their voting in their own interests. He hasseen poverty in its most direful forms. 

The evening has worn on until it is within an hour of midnight. Reporters come and go; the last of the committeemen has said good night. Trueman is alone with his secretary, Herbert Benson. 

Benson, a young newspaperman, volunteered his services at the opening ofthe campaign. He is a brilliant writer, and what is of more consequence, he is beyond doubt an ardent supporter of popular government. There arefew men in the journalistic field who are free thinkers. Theuniversities, colleges and academies in which the higher branches ofstudy can be pursued, have all been brought under the power of theMagnates. Endowments are only to be obtained by observing the commandsof the donors. The chief offence which an institution of learning cancommit is to tell the truth regarding social conditions. For this reasonthe men who enter journalism from college, are unfitted to grasp thesocial problem; or if, in the case of a few, the true conditions arerealized, they find it expedient to remain silent. Excommunication fromthe craft is sure to follow any radical expression in favor ofsocialism. The press is free only in name. 

A strong friendship exists between Trueman and Benson. 

"Tell me candidly, Benson, " Trueman inquires, "do you think there is achance of my carrying New York City and St. Louis?"

"I am satisfied that you will have a clean majority in both. My beliefis based on personal observations. I have been in all quarters of thecities, and have questioned workmen in every industry. They seem of onemind. Your Convention speech converted them. "

"What do they say about it?"

"Why, it makes it clear to them that with a fearless and noble leader, the masses can express their will. You showed to the world that reason_can_ rule passion. It needed but a word from you to have precipitated arevolt in the party which would have spread through every state. To mostmen in your position it would have appeared that out of the tumult andconfusion, they would have come out with a decided advantage. But yougave no thought to a personal advantage; it was the good of the peoplethat actuated you. And now you are to reap your reward. What was plainto the inhabitants of the rural districts from the start, is nowmanifest to the toilers in the cities, especially in this city andChicago. "

"This condition must be known at the Plutocratic Headquarters. What isbeing done by the managers there, to overcome the sudden change in thepublic mind? I hear so many stories that I am at a loss to tell which istrue and which false. "

"The local committee of the Plutocrats has abandoned all hope ofcoercing the people. This evening it sent out a letter of instruction tothe manufacturers calling upon them to exercise drastic measures toprevent their operatives from voting; but this is only a blind, " repliesBenson. 

"The Chairman of the National executive committee at the same time helda conference with the chief labor leaders. These leaders were offered aflat bribe if they prevent the men whom they represented from voting. Eight out of the ten who were present accepted the bribe, which was$50, 000, in cash. Two declined. One of these afterwards went to thelocal treasurer and agreed to deliver his people into bondage for$100, 000. His terms were acceded to. 

"The one who spurned the bribe has been given to understand that if hedivulges the nature of the meeting, his life will be the penalty. Notwithstanding this, he has just informed me of the matter. I had topledge not to make public the information he gave me. But we cancounteract the influence of the labor leaders. "

"In what way?" Trueman asks, with deep interest. 

"You have made a great mistake, " he continues, before Benson has time toreply. "You never should promise to keep a secret. Publicity would havebeen our sure means of thwarting their design. "

"If I had not promised to keep the secret I should not have learned ofthe plot, " protests Benson. "I have an idea that we can bring the laborleaders to terms. We are driven to the wall by the Trust Magnates, whowill stop at nothing. We must do what instinct would suggest. The laborleaders shall receive notice that if they attempt to prevent the peoplefrom voting, their blow at public suffrage will bring on a revolution. It will be on treacherous leaders of the people that the vengeance willfall. "

"No, no, that will never do. I cannot consent to the use of a threat ofviolence, " declares Trueman, with emphasis. 

"But this is not a question of what you may or may not consent to, "replies Benson. "It is what I will do. I know what I say is certain tobe true. To avert an uprising I shall warn the labor leaders myself. Youwill have no part in this matter. I am determined that the vote of thepeople shall be recorded at this election. " Benson hurries from theroom. 

He is soon in secret conference with the leaders at Liberty Hall. Theyare inclined to scoff at his assertion that the people will resort toviolence if they discover that they have again been betrayed; but whenBenson repeats the circumstances of the compact between the Magnates andthe Labor leaders, with every detail and word, they realize that theirpositions as leaders are endangered. 

With threat and bribe they seek to win Benson to silence. He withstandstheir blandishments; at the suggestion of a bribe he flies into apassion. 

These men are cowards at heart; they have taken the gifts of theMagnates for years, and have contrived to pacify their followers. Nowthat they are brought face to face with the possibility of exposure, they tremble at the thought of the popular denouncement that will comeupon them. They even weigh the chances of physical harm that may befallthem. Secretly planning to get the bribe money, they agree to make noattempt to coerce the vote of the people. 

"The first word of intimidation or coercion which is spoken will be mysignal to expose you, " Benson tells them at parting. 

The Trust Magnates remain ignorant that they are sowing the wind. Theyreceive daily reports from the leaders telling of their success inintimidating the masses. To every demand for money the Magnateswillingly respond. It is an election where money is not to be spared. Benson and his faithful corps of workers keep a vigilant watch over theLabor leaders. 

When the Magnates arrange for a great parade, Benson warns the Laborleaders not to attempt to force any workingman to march. This causes theparade to turn out a dismal failure. 

"We must have more money, " the leaders assert. 

Two millions of dollars is set aside for use in St. Louis alone. Againstsuch odds can the Independence party win?

CHAPTER XXIII. 

A DAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. 

It is two o'clock P. M. , on October twelfth. In sixty minutes the NewYork Stock 'Change will close. The day has been exceedingly quiet;brokers are standing in groups discussing the whys and wherefores ofthis and that stock scheme; all are of little consequence. Indeed, therehas been nothing done on the floor since the abrupt departure of JamesGolding, the Head of the Banking Syndicate for Europe, three weeksbefore this pleasant twelfth day of October. 

Golding's mission abroad is vaguely guessed to be the floating of a bondissue for the government, as there has been an alarming shrinkage in themoney market, and the Secretary of the Treasury has called upon theBanking interests to relieve the strain on the Treasury. 

The slightest indication of weakness in the money market has its instanteffect on stocks. New York quotations are looked upon as the criterionof the country, and for that reason the brokers are disposed to becautious. Wall street traditions make it seem proper for the brokers towait the result of the European trip. 

Since the inauguration of the system of bank favoritism, which, was oneof the strong features of the previous Plutocratic Platform, and onwhich the Party was able to raise an enormous Campaign fund, the secretsof the Government and its favorite bankers are not shared with thebrokers in ordinary stocks and industrials. For this reason the timidityof the brokers is more pronounced than ever before. 

To them it seems inexplicable that the Government should seek to float abond issue on the eve of an election. They do not grasp the full importof this scheme to force the people to support the Plutocratic candidatesas the preservers of the country's credit. 

A broker, running the tape through his fingers listlessly, reads thissentence: "London, Oct. 12, --James Golding announces his intention tofloat $245, 000, 000 three per cent. U. S. Gold bonds in London. "

In an instant he realizes that the confidence of the market will berestored. Rushing to the pit he begins to buy everything that isoffered. Half a hundred tickers in the Exchange convey the same news toas many brokerage firms. 

A wild scramble is started; everyone is anxious to go "long" on stockswhich they have been cautiously selling for days past. Point by pointthe listed stocks advance. 

The clock strikes half-past two. Will half an hour suffice to readjustthe market?

An exceptional, an unprecedented bull panic is in progress. Brokers, messengers, clerks, every one connected with the Stock Exchange is in aflurry. Tickers are for the time being utterly forgotten. 

In a corner of the Exchange sits the operator who has to send the doingsof the day to the Press Association. He is unmoved by any excitementthat may occur on the floor; it is an every-day experience with him. Stolidly he reads the tape, and jots down the advance in the stocks as amatter of course. 

He has sent word to his office that Golding is to float the bond issue;but he knows that this news has reached the office through anotherchannel before his belated report. He sends the message because it is apart of his routine. 

"Calais, Oct. 12th, " are the words that now appear on the slip of paperhe is scanning. "James Golding, accompanied by M. Tabort, French bankingmagnate, entered rear car Paris Express from London to cross theChannel. Car uncoupled in tunnel; explosion; both men instantly killed;submarine tunnel wrecked. "

Here _is_ news. The instinct of the broker is awakened in the operator. He leaves his desk and walks rapidly to the pit. He places his hand onthe shoulder of a prominent broker. In a few words he tells this man thenews, and asks that the broker make him a "little something" for thetip. 

With the news of Golding's death this broker enters the pit as a seller. There are now but twenty minutes left before the closing of 'Change, yetby cautious work he will be able to sell out his holdings at theinflated prices that prevail. He alone of all the members of theExchange knows that the greatest American financier is dead. On themorrow every stock on the list will depreciate. Now is the time for himto unload. 

A hundred bidders are eager to buy the stock he offers. He reaps afortune in the quarter of an hour before the 'Change closes; the rest ofthe brokers heap up trouble for the morrow. Five minutes before threethe news of Golding's death is brought to the brokers. It is too late. In their frenzy the men fear either to buy or sell. The floor is averitable bear pit. Men swear and rage in impotent grief as they realizethat they have brought ruin upon themselves by their rash speculation. 

While this scene is in progress the world is being told of the death ofthe great Financier. 

It will be recalled that to William Nevins was assigned the task ofending the career of James Golding. He has worked secretly, as have allthe other members of the Committee of Forty. Now his role as shadow ofthe financier leads him to New York, while some banking scheme is beingconsummated; now he is rushing across the continent to be near theMagnate in San Francisco; the last trip takes him to Europe. 

At the time he began to study the movements of Golding, the Magnate wasin London and thither Nevins went; he was detained there, on thatoccasion, but three days. On the voyage back to the United States he wasafforded an excellent opportunity to observe Golding. Nevins becameacquainted with the man whose life he was to take, through a businessproposition in regard to an investment. He professed to represent asyndicate of French investors which was negotiating to purchase and worka gold mine in Lower California. According to his story, he had securedthe necessary privileges from the Mexican government. Golding wasinvited to be a participant in the enterprise, which was destined toprove a bonanza. 

Plausible, suave, intelligent, Nevins has impressed the Magnate mostfavorably. So when Nevins proposes that he accompany Golding to Europeto introduce him to the French capitalists, the financier readilyagrees. 

As traveling companions on the millionaire's yacht, the two men leaveNew York on September twentieth. Golding is bent on the successfullaunching of the big bond issue, with the gold mining scheme as asecondary consideration; Nevins has only the awful work before him toconsider. London becomes the permanent abode of the two, their trips toFrance being short and frequent. 

The newly constructed Channel tunnel connecting England with thecontinent is a transportation improvement which makes it possible forone to leave London, at ten o'clock in the morning and be in Paris atone in the afternoon. The Air line to Paris enters the sub-marine tunnelat a point twelve miles north of Dover and emerges on the plains eightmiles south of Calais. As an engineering feat the construction of thetunnel has been heralded as unparalleled. 

It is by this speedy route that Golding and Nevins make three trips toParis. The Committeeman contrives to interest several French bankers inhis supposititious mine, and by artful manipulation he brings thesebankers and the American Money King together in preliminarynegotiations. 

On October twelfth the two are to effect a final understanding with themembers of the French syndicate. The newspapers have given an inkling ofthe transactions, and have run stories to the effect that Golding isnegotiating with a French banker for rich gold lands in Mexico. 

Independently of Nevins, the bond issue plan has been developed byGolding and the time for announcing the fact is this same twelfth day ofOctober. 

Knowing the result that will be produced on American securities, hedelays the announcement until the London Exchange closes for the day. Heknows that immediately after making the news public, he is to leaveLondon, for Paris to be gone until the twentieth. Thus he will avoidbeing interviewed. 

Golding has calculated that the difference in time of five hours betweenLondon, and New York will result in the announcement being cabled forthe opening of the New York Exchange. This would be the result did not anumber of large London speculators, who hold American securities, determine to hold back the messages until they apprise their New Yorkrepresentatives of the matter and advise them how to act. 

The monopoly of the cable is obtainable by an easy means. All four ofthe lines which communicated with the United States are leased. Messagesrumoring important developments in the China alliance question aretransmitted and suffice to explain the cessation of other news--theGovernment is supposed to be using the cables. 

Despite the efforts of the speculators, an enterprising correspondent ofa New York News Association succeeds in sending the news of the bondissue announcement, so that it is received on 'Change at two o'clock. From another source the message of death is cabled fifteen minutesbefore the closing of the market. 

Golding and Nevins lunch together before starting for Paris. 

"I have closed a deal to-day that will net me twenty-five milliondollars within six weeks, " Golding confides to Nevins with an air ofsatisfaction. He might be a retail merchant discussing trade with aneighbor and relating the result of a barter which will net him a profitof a hundred dollars, for there is no stronger emotion in his speech ormanner than would be evoked by such a commonplace transaction. Yet thisman has just arranged a financial deal which is to maintain thestability of the currency of a Nation of a hundred millions of people. 

"Then it is true that you are to shoulder the responsibility ofdisposing of the United States bond issue?" Nevins inquires with asemblance of interest. "What would that Republic do if it were not forits public spirited men of wealth? Republics are all right when they arecurbed by the conservative elements, but when the riff-raff gets thereins in hand, then there is always trouble. "

"The days of mob rule in America are over, " Golding declares. "It was noeasy matter to wean the people of the fallacious idea that a proletariatcould manage the finances of the country. "

"When our mine is in operation you will not have to seek the aid ofEngland in taking bonds off the hands of the Treasurer of the UnitedStates, will we?" Nevins asks. 

"That's just the point, " exclaims Golding. They talk on in this strainuntil the meal is finished. 

"We have ten minutes to get to the terminal, " says Nevins, consultinghis watch. 

"O, that will be ample time. It only takes five minutes to ride there. "

When the train is reached, Golding looks at his watch. "There, I toldyou we could make it in five minutes. I am always just on time. Never aminute too soon or a minute too late. Time is money. Perhaps I am thewealthiest man in America, if not in the world, because I know the valueof time. "

"That certainly is the secret of your success, " Nevins declares blandly. 

The Special Paris Express is composed of six coaches and the motor; thistrain runs at an average speed of sixty-two miles an hour. It is thefastest train on the continent. So that they may not be disturbed, themine promoters have arranged to occupy a private car attached to therear of the train. This car they enter. Nevins carries a smallhand-satchel which he declines to give over to the willing porter. 

The superintendent of the road is on hand to see that the influentialpatrons are properly cared for; he has received his instructions fromthe president, who is an intimate friend of James Golding. 

The signal is given and the express starts. 

In an incredibly short time the tunnel is reached. As the train rushesinto the darkness, Golding notices that the electric lights have notbeen turned on. 

"Ring for the porter, will you, Mr. Tabort, " he asks of Nevins, whom heknows only as M. Emile Tabort. 

"But where is the button? Ah, I have an idea, " replies Nevins. "I shallgo into the forward car and find the porter; it will not take a minute. "

The car is engulfed in pitchy darkness, save for a glimmer of diffusedlight that comes from the cars ahead. 

"Hurry, won't you; I hate to be in darkness, " says Golding, uneasily. 

"I won't keep you waiting long, " calls back Nevins, who is half way tothe door. 

He turns to look at the Magnate. A vague shadowy form is all that he candiscern in the gloom. 

"So here is where you are to end a life of mammon-worship, " Nevinsmutters as he steps upon the platform of the forward car. 

He bends down, and with a strong, quick jerk uncouples the rear car. 

For a few seconds the detached car keeps up with the train, then as itsmomentum is exhausted, a rapidly widening gap is made. 

"In five minutes you will have light, " Nevins calls grimly, as he looksat the fading car. 

The train rushes ahead with speed that is imperceptibly increased. Nevins climbs to the top of the car and crawls toward the front of thetrain. He works his way to the coach immediately behind the motor. Standing on the platform he removes his coat and trousers and reappearsarrayed in the common suit of a train hand. A soft cap completes thedisguise. 

A faint rumble reaches his ears. 

"_The first Magnate has fallen_" he whispers, as if confiding a secret. 

"Yes; I have carried out my plan. James Golding is buried at the bottomof the Channel. The time-fuse worked. "

When the train emerges from the tunnel it is stopped by the signals ofthe Block station. The operator inquires if anything has gone wrong. Hehas been unable to communicate with the English station for more thanfifteen minutes, and supposes that the wires have been deranged. Then itis that the loss of the rear car is discovered. 

While the trainmen and passengers discuss the matter, a sound from thetunnel reaches their ears; a roar resembling a series of dynamiteexplosions. 

"The tunnel has caved in!" exclaimed the conductor. "Get aboard, foryour lives!"

A rush is made for the train, and in half a minute it pulls away fromthe mouth of the tunnel at top speed. 

From the rear car the tunnel is visible. The train is five hundred yardsaway when the waters burst from the mouth of the tunnel. 

Loosed from the confining walls, the gigantic column subsides in height, spreading on either side of the tracks. It inundates a vast area of thelow country surrounding the station. 

Through the employment of the block system, but one train in eachdirection is permitted to enter the tunnel at the same time. 

A partition wall bisects the tunnel into 'parallel sections, eachcontaining a single track. The left-hand section, on which areeast-bound tracks, is the one in which the telegraph wires run. Theexplosion wrecks the walls of the tunnel and breaks the wires. 

The only explanation that can be offered is that the compressed aircylinder on the car exploded. On each of the tunnel cars a compressedair apparatus is attached, to insure against the trains being stalled inthe tunnel in the event of the electric motor giving out. 

Nevins experiences no difficulty in losing himself in the crowd when thetrain reaches Calais. He goes at once to a cheap furnished room which hehas previously engaged. He still wears the attire of a train hand. Oncein his room he sinks upon the bed, his mind and body thoroughly fatiguedby the strain that has been placed upon them. 

For more than an hour he is motionless; then his reserve graduallyreturns. 

"I have fulfilled my pledge, " he says to himself. "It had to be doneto-day, for otherwise I should have been compelled to die with Golding. I have started the execution of the edict of proscription a day inadvance of the schedule. 

"This will be the signal for the thirty-nine to do their duty. They musthear of Golding's death to-day. I shall cable the news to New York; oncethere it will be heralded through the country. 

"And they will suppose that Golding and a French financier met deathaccidentally. Yes, the people will accept this view; but the Committee!ah! it will know the truth. To the Thirty-nine it will mean that one oftheir brothers has gone to his fate with one of the Transgressors. Itwill dispel any symptom of hesitancy on their part. 

"Two men are supposed to have died in the explosion. The tunnel isdestroyed. Who can say that one of the occupants of the car escaped?"

He sits on the edge of the bed bending forward, and rests his head inhis hands. In this attitude he remains for several minutes. 

"Good God, forgive me!" he cries, fervently. "I cannot die in ignoranceof to-morrow! I must hear that my plan is faithfully carried out; thatthe Transgressors are annihilated, and the committee have kept theirpledge. Is it false in me to wait? No; for I do not fear death; I wouldhave faced it forty times could I have done so. The Transgressors wouldall have fallen by my hand had such a thing been possible. I shall keepmy pledge, to-morrow. "

A few minutes later Nevins leaves the house dressed in a plain suit. Heenters the cable office and writes the following message:

"James Golding, accompanied by M. Tabort, French Banking Magnate, entered rear car, Paris express for London, to cross the channel. Caruncoupled in tunnel. Explosion. Both men instantly killed. Sub-marinetunnel wrecked. "

"Send this message to the New York Javelin, " are his instructions to theoperator. "Rush it, and I will give you a hundred francs. "

"Cable is engaged, " is the reply. "Orders from London. "

"What news is London sending over this cable?"

"None. It seems strange to keep the cable tied up, when there is suchimportant news to be sent. But the instructions are, 'Send no messagesto the United States. ' I'm sending an unimportant House of Commonsspeech. "

"Your wire is free, then? I'll give you a thousand francs if you willsend this one message through, " Nevins urges persuasively. "I want toget the news to my paper. They will pay royally for it. "

The operator hesitates. A thousand francs is a tempting offer. 

"When will you pay?" he asks. 

"I will pay you now, on the very spot. "

As he speaks Nevins counts out the bills. 

It is twenty minutes of eight by the local clock in the cable office. The clock indicating New York time registers two-forty P. M. 

A glance at the Bank of France notes decides the question in theoperator's mind. He takes the money and transmits the message. 

Nevins returns to his room to await the developments of the thirteenthof October. 

BOOK IV. 

In Freedom's Name. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE SYNDICATE IN LIQUIDATION. 

The crisis has arrived. On the bulletins in front of the leadingnewspaper offices in New York crowds congregate. Men discuss thestartling tidings that come from all points of the compass and askthemselves what the next report will be. Golding's death is theforerunner of a long list of fatalities. 

 JAVELIN BULLETIN. 

 United States Senator Warwick, of California, was assassinated at his villa in San Diego. 

 The murderer, after shooting the Senator, turned the smoking pistol upon himself and died with his victim. 

This bulletin is posted on the board in front of the Javelin office. 

"What's happening?" asks one of the crowd of the man at his side. "Isthis a wholesale butchery planned by Anarchists, or is it a plot of theMafia?"

"God only knows, " is the reply. 

And to the thousands who stand waiting with breathless excitement forthe next announcement the inability to locate the source of the outburstof violence is quite as complete as this man's. They realize that aseries of appalling crimes has been committed; yet none can ascribe theleast pretext for them. 

The name of one after another of the leading magnates of the land isposted as the victim of a simultaneous homicide, and the notion that itis the work of anarchists begins to prevail. 

 JAVELIN BULLETIN. 

 Robert Drew, the Sugar King, while riding in Central Park, was stabbed to death by an assassin. 

 The man jumped into his carriage as it was descending the hill leading to the One Hundred and Tenth Street entrance at Seventh Avenue. 

 No sooner had the dagger been buried in the heart of Mr. Drew than the fanatic withdrew it and plunged it into his own heart. 

 The murderer fell forward and died even before his victim. 

When this notice is displayed it causes a shudder to run through thecrowd. This is the first of the deaths to be inflicted in New York. 

With the apprehension of men who feel that danger is imminent, the crowdin front of the bulletin shifts uneasily. There is the thought in allminds that some awful calamity may come upon them as they stand there. Then, too, there is the thought that they may not be safe elsewhere. Insuch a state of mind men become susceptible to emotion. A word can thensway a multitude. 

From five o'clock, when the first bulletin appeared, until theannouncement of the killing of Mr. Drew, a period of two hours and ahalf, the list has grown to frightful proportions. 

From Chicago comes the report that Tingwell Fang, the Beef King, hasbeen killed in his private office by the explosion of a dynamite bomb orsome other infernal machine brought there by a man who for weeks hadbeen transacting important business with Mr. Fang. The explosionentirely demolished the office, and when the police succeeded in gettingat the bodies it was found that the bomb-thrower had paid for his deedwith his life. 

In a bundle of papers which the man left in the outer office a note isfound which gives his address as the Palmer House. At his room in thehotel a card is found addressed to the public: It read as follows:

 I have fulfilled my oath; my self-destruction is proof that I am sincere in the belief that I have acted for the good of mankind. 

 BENTON S. MARVIN. 

Almost as soon as the papers are on the street announcing the tragedy, another message comes from Chicago telling of the strange death ofSenator Gold. His body and that of a man who had been with him at theAuditorium are found in the Senator's room. Death has been caused by anunknown agency. There are no signs of violence on either. The money andjewelry of both are undisturbed. Neither man appears to have been thevictim of the other's hand, for the apparel of each is unruffled. One isfound lying on the floor near the window; the other is found stretchedacross the table in the room. 

Following these early bulletins come others from Philadelphia, St. Louisand Boston, successively announcing the mysterious deaths of PresidentVosbeck of the National Transportation Trust, Captain Blood of the St. Louis Steamship Association, and of ex-U. S. Supreme Court Justice EliasM. Turner of Massachusetts. 

"President Vosbeck met his death while on a tour of inspection in thenew power house of his company in the western part of the city. With himwere his private secretary and a stranger from New York whom he wastaking on a tour of inspection. The secretary was sent to find thesuperintendent of the power house. He returned to find both PresidentVosbeck and the stranger in the throes of death on the floor near thegreat dynamo. In the stranger's hand a cane was clutched. This cane wasone of those that are commonly made at penitentiaries. It was of leatherrings strung on a steel rod. "

The above dispatch is spread on the bulletin board, followed by thesedetails:

"As soon as the hospital surgeons and the electrical experts arrivedthey decided that the cane must have come in contact with the deadlycurrent; and that at that instant Steel and the stranger were standingupon the metal flooring which made a perfect conductor. " The death ofCaptain Blood was even more astounding than that of President Vosbeck. 

"In company with the newly appointed Superintendent of the grainelevators, of which the Captain had a monopoly, he descended into thehold of the steamboat that was taking on a cargo of wheat at the BigThree Elevator. The two men were hardly below deck when, by someinexplicable error the engineer received the signal to open the shoot. An avalanche of golden grain rushed upon the two captives. There was acry of dismay from the hold, and then only the sound of the rushingstream of grain. 

"The engine was reversed and the bucket chain began to take up thegrain; but it was too late. When the bodies of the men were reached theywere contorted in the agony of death. Suffocation had come as a tardyrelief to them. "

This bulletin adds to the excitement of the crowd. While the people arereading the extras that tell of the series of strange deaths of men ofsuch national importance as Vosbeck and Captain Blood, the news comesfrom Boston that a double murder has been committed in Brookline, asuburb of that city. 

Ex-Chief Justice Turner of the United States Supreme Court and a friendwho was visiting him at his country house, were set upon by highwaymenas they were strolling through a strip of woodland, and had been hangedto trees. It was not known how much money the road agents got. TheJustice had never been in the habit of carrying any large sums. As towhat money Mr. Burton, his friend, might have had on his person, therewas no way of ascertaining. 

"The Supreme Court, the Senate, and three of the leading-men in thecountry, this is pretty big game, " remarks one of the crowd. 

"It will be well if it ends there, " says another. 

"This will cause 'Industrials' to take a slump, " observes a stout, sleek, well dressed man. 

"Yes, " replies a voice at his elbow, "and it may be that a slump of themarket is at the bottom of most of this. I wouldn't trust these brokers. They'd kill a regiment to get a flurry on the market if they wereshort. "

The stout man, who happens to be a stock broker, says no more. 

"Get yer extra, all about six millionaires killed; get yer extra!" crythe newsboys. 

"Make it seven, " shouts a coarse voice from the very heart of the massof humanity. 

And seven it is to be. 

The bulletin is being cleared for a fresh notice. 

"Bet you it's a Banker this time, " a book-keeper, who had deserted hisdesk to get the latest news, says jestingly. 

"Ah, it'll be a dead shoemaker next, " laughingly exclaims a messengerboy who has heard the book-keeper's remark. 

By a strange coincidence the name that appears the following instant isthat of Henry Hide, the head of the leather Trust. The ribald jest ofthe boy proves to be all too true. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

BIG NEWS IN THE JAVELIN OFFICE. 

Inside the newspaper offices there is even greater excitement than onthe streets. The editors are non-plussed at the appalling news thatcomes pouring in from every section of the laud. 

How is the news to be conveyed to the people? is the question that theoldest journalist is unable to answer. 

In selecting the leading feature of the day's terrible news, what is tobe considered? The fact that an astounding number of murders oraccidents have simultaneously stricken with death a score of the leadingmen of the country, is in itself a matter of unprecedented importance. But the end is not in sight. Every half hour brings tidings of stillother deaths and murders. 

The peculiar feature of the news is, however, that in every instancewhere a banker, mine owner or financier is murdered, the evil-doer hascommitted suicide. What does this indicate? Is it a concerted move onthe part of some society; or is it the result of an inexplicablefatalistic phenomenon?

Just as a decision on these points is arrived at, and the editors havegiven their orders for the make-up of the extras, some account, eitherof the death of a railroad magnate or the head of some one of the greattrusts, is received. The necessity of a change in the form of the paperis made imperative. For the thought that a rival sheet may feature thenews forces a change. 

Extras of the evening papers are being issued every half hour. Theexcitement on the streets exceeds even that of the days when the reportsof our wars was the all absorbing topic. 

In the present calamity men know not what to think. To some it isapparent that a modern juggernaut is abroad; others hold the belief thata conspiracy is being carried to its bloody fulfillment. 

No more accurate idea of the confused condition of the public mind canbe gathered than from a study of the action in the editorial rooms ofthe great New York newspaper, the Javelin. 

The editorial staff of this paper is composed of the brainiest men injournalism; men who have won distinction in their profession by reasonof their ability to handle the news of the day in a manner that willsatisfy the demands of the public. 

On the large reportorial staff are men who have been brought fromvarious cities; each is competent to gather news and present it in themost interesting fashion. 

In the composing room sixty of the most skilled linotypists sit at theirmachines ready to set the words as they fall from the pencils of thewriters. 

Still other men are at the presses, awaiting to put the great mechanismsin motion, to pour out a stream of a hundred thousand papers an hour. 

All is in readiness to turn out the news with unerring accuracy andincredible speed. 

Year in and year out the routine of publication has been gone throughwith. Now one man who is advanced or discharged vacates a position, which is immediately filled by the man next in line for promotion. Themachinery of the office never clogs. But on this night, turmoil takesthe place of system. 

A crisis in the history of the paper is being reached. The heads ofdepartments are all present, having been summoned by telegram ortelephone. They are ready to act. Yet the signal for action is delayed. 

To run off the edition of a morning paper is a far different thing fromgetting out an edition of an evening paper. 

The morning newspaper must contain the "_news_" in its first edition ifit is to reach distant points; if it is even to reach the suburbantowns. In these towns, by far the largest percentage of the readers arelocated. They will be anxious for the latest and most complete news. Theevening papers give hurried accounts of the events that are stirring thecountry. For the full details the readers depend upon the morningpapers. The newspaper which fails to satisfy their demands will lose itspopularity. 

So the editor-in-chief and the proprietor of the Javelin are in aquandary. 

"It is now 1. 30, " says the editor-in-chief, as he consults the clock. "If we are to get out a paper we must start the presses. " "What is theleader?" inquires the proprietor anxiously. 

"A general review of the casualties; the summary of the result of theannouncements of the sudden deaths of so many leading men. This isfollowed by the story of the deaths of six Senators. The head runsacross the page. The head-line reads 'Death's Harvest, Thirty-Six!' Thebanks tell of the sudden deaths that have come upon Senators, Judges, Manufacturers, Railroad Magnates, and a score of multi-millionaires. "

"We can't tell everything in a line, or in one edition, " observes theproprietor, "so I think it is safe to 'go to press. ' Is there nothing ofimportance left out?"

Before an answer can be given to this query the telegraph editor rushesfrom his desk waving a slip of paper. 

"Hold the press!" he exclaims. "Here's the biggest news yet. AttorneyGeneral Bradley of the United States has been assassinated as he wasleaving his office. 

"The man who killed him made no attempt to escape, but, waiting to seethat the three shots he had fired point-blank at the Attorney Generalhad done their work, he deliberately turned the pistol on himself. Heplaced it at his right temple and fired, dropping dead in his tracks. "

"Wait a minute; wait!" cries the editor-in-chief. "Don't say anotherword. "

Turning to the night editor he says, "It will be necessary to change thefirst page. A new head will have to be run, and the leading story willhave to tell of the murder of the Attorney General. This news isnational. I think I had better go to the press room and do this workmyself. The press will start in twenty minutes, if you give me the word'Go ahead!'"

"Go ahead, " is the laconic reply. 

Down the winding staircase that leads to the composing room, and then tothe basement where the presses are located, the chief runs. He setsabout his work with a calmness and speed that is remarkable. The firstpage is put on the composing table and the form opened. The head linesare removed and the copy that the editor is turning out a dozen words ata time on a page, are instantly set up and put in place. 

In eight minutes the form is keyed up and the stereotypers have it intheir hands. Three minutes later the pressman has the stereotype plate. A minute later the press is in motion. 

With the first half dozen copies of the edition wet from the press, theeditor rushes back to his office. 

In his absence there has been nothing startling reported. He breathes asigh of relief and sinks exhausted into his chair. 

At a score of desks men are writing special portions of the news. One istelling of the startling murders, another of the unusual accidents thathave claimed a dozen prominent men as victims. 

The strange story of the hanging of an Ex-Justice of the Supreme CourtJudge is being written by one of the sporting reporters; theassassination of six Senators is the theme of another special writer. Every one is busy. 

The chance that always comes to the young reporter is at hand. He isentrusted with the important work of writing the story of the deaths offive railroad magnates. His face is a study. It is scarlet and beads ofperspiration run down his cheeks. 

Even the copy-boys are alive to the fact that a night of unusual importis passing, and they carry copy without being called. A boy stands atthe side of every reporter and runs with the pages to the desks wherethe copy readers scan it and write the head lines; it is not a nightwhen copy is carefully read and "cut. " Everything is news, and theresponsibility for the accuracy of the writing is upon the heads of thereporters. 

Surrounding the bulletin board in the City Hall square, a crowd of fromone hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand has gathered. 

The lateness of the hour is forgotten. Men and women stand through thechill hours of the late night and early morning waiting for news. Thereis an ever varying stream passing in front of the _Javelin_ office. Early in the afternoon the police have taken control of the streets andcompelled the people to keep moving. There is fear that the disorderlyelement will start a riot. 

Fortunately the first of the calamitous telegrams of the day has beenreceived after the close of the Exchanges. This has prevented a panic. Brokers and bankers receive the tidings with consternation; they dreadthe opening on the morrow. Many of them are in the crowd anxiouslywaiting for further details of the deaths of the controllers of railroadand industrial stocks. 

At midnight a bulletin announces that Senator Barker, who had been thestaunch advocate of Bi-metallism until the recent session, and who hadthen voted with the Gold element, has been found murdered in hispalatial home at Lakewood, N. J. His private secretary has also beenkilled, evidently because he had attempted to rescue his employer. Bothhave been stabbed. 

After this the only news that is posted is of a confirmatory nature. Ittells of the development of the national wave of death. Then, too, itbegins to give the first positive information that the majority of thedeaths have been the result of a plot. 

Either on the body of each of the assassins or in his effects have beenfound papers that show conclusively that the men acted in concert. Whilethe phraseology of each of the letters differ, there is a similaritywhich is very apparent when they are compared. 

"I have kept my word. The world will judge if I was justified, " is foundon one of the suicides. 

"If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, " is all that the card onanother bears. 

"A part is not greater than the whole, " is the inscription on the cardthat is found in the breast-pocket of the man who has killed the SugarKing. 

When the news of the assassination of the Attorney General is given tothe people, there is a reaction in the spirit of the multitudeimmediately surrounding the _Javelin_ bulletin. They have previouslyreceived the notices with expressions of wonderment. Now all realizethat the Nation itself is imperilled. 

"This is another Suratt conspiracy, " says one man to another. 

"Will it reach the President?" is the question that men do not dare ask, though they think it. 

"This is not the work of cranks, you may depend upon it, " observes aCentral office detective, who has a reputation for sagacity. Hisfellow-officer, who stands a pace in advance of him, turns and inquiresif the detective thinks he could run the gang down. 

"If I am set on the case I shall not waste much time in looking forordinary crooks, " replies the detective. "It will be my aim to unearth asociety of malcontents. "

At another point a party of club men, who have come down town from theirFifth avenue haunt, stand discussing the terrible events. 

"Do you remember the night that the news was received here that Lincolnhas been shot?" asks a patriarchal New Yorker of an equally ancientcitizen. 

"Indeed I do. You and I were at the Niblo's Garden, weren't we?"

"That's right. It's strange that history should repeat itself; and thatwe should be together to-night?"

"There is quite a difference between the murder of Lincoln and thisseries of crimes, " observes one of the younger men. "This night's, orrather day's, work is aimed at all classes of wealth. It is evident thatit is an attack on capital. And the inexplicable part of the news is, that in every instance the murderers have cheated the gallows. "

"Come, move on there, " gruffly shouts a policeman. 

"Hallo, Mason, " cries one of the club men as he pushes his way to theside of the policeman. 

"O! How do you do, Mr. Castor, " says the blue-coat, in deferential tone. 

"Mason, these are my friends; we want to stand here for a few minutes. It's all right, isn't it?"

"Certainly, it's all right. I thought that you were a lot of the idlecrowd, sir, and we have had orders to keep everyone on the move. Butyou're all right. "

Mason had been appointed to the force by the Clubman's influence. 

Turning from his patron the policeman roughs his way through the crowdand makes the men and women "move on. "

"Nothing like having a friend at court, eh?" laughingly cries one of Mr. Castor's friends. 

"It is this custom of privilege that has brought on this calamity, "soberly observes the philosopher of the group. 

A riot breaks out at this moment at the foot of the Franklin statue; andthe shouts and curses of the men who are being beaten by the police senda thrill through the multitude. 

The people on the fringe of the swaying thousands begin a retreat. Theiraction is quickly imitated. 

The Clubmen decide that they have seen all that they want of the crowd. But the matter of getting out is not easy of accomplishment. 

"What are you plug hats looking for?" sneers a rough from the slums. Andhis arm swings out and hits the foremost man in the face. This seems tobe the cue for a dozen ruffians to fall upon the party of well dressedmen. 

Two policemen who stand nearby come to the rescue of the party andconduct them to a place of safety. From thence the sightseers are gladto make their way up-town. 

The ambulances from the Hudson Street Hospital take four of the rioterswho have been beaten with the night sticks of the police, to the stationhouse. Under ordinary circumstances the prisoners would be taken to thehospital; but the Inspector of Police, who is on the scene, deems itadvisible to take them to the Station house. 

A sullen crowd of young men from the neighboring streets follow theambulances, shouting execrations at the policemen who have made thearrests. 

The hands on the clock in the cupola of the City Hall point to 2. 15 A. M. 

The news wagons are wedging their way through the sea of humanity. Morning papers are being sold by the ever vigilant newsboys. Still thepeople linger. 

An event of graver nature than any that has preceded is what the crowdcraves. The appetite of a man, or of a collection of men, is the same;if it is fed to repletion, it cannot resist the desire for an excess. 

"Let's wait for one more bulletin, " an engineer suggests to his fireman. 

"All right; we can stay until 2. 30. That will give us time to get to thebuilding. "

Before the fifteen minutes elapse all thoughts of tending in the engineroom are driven from their minds. 

The first bulletin announcing the tidings of the Wilkes-Barre uprisingis posted by the _Javelin_ at 2. 35 o'clock. From this moment the crowdsin City Hall increase. No one who can get within range of the blackboardthinks of leaving. There is a subtle fascination in waiting for thedetails of the momentous events. 

At daybreak the evening edition of the day's papers containing news ofthe transcendent occurrences of the hour are on the street. In thesepapers the first intimation of the full scope of the blow that has beendealt the Magnates is given to the public. Link by link the chain ofevidence that the accidents and murders are each part of a general andconcerted movement is built. 

"Martyrs or Murderers?" This is the interrogatory headline that appearsin every paper. 

The events of the past twenty-four hours have been so unparalleled thatmen dare not jump at conclusions. To proclaim the forty agents of theSyndicate of Annihilation martyrs, may lead to an instant uprising ofthe anarchistic element. To denounce them as murderers may have the sameeffect. Fear prompts the people to take a conservative stand, they waitfor full evidence before pronouncing a verdict. 

They do not know that Harvey Trueman is pleading the cause of justiceand right to a mob at Wilkes-Barre. 

The case is now in the hands of the great public as a jury. 

A verdict that will shake the world is about to be tendered. 

This verdict is to be entered at Wilkes-Barre. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

ON TO WILKES-BARRE. 

When the first news of the Act of Annihilation reaches the IndependenceParty's Headquarters, Trueman is out on an important mission, aconference with the American Mothers' League for the Abolition of ChildLabor. This League, it is believed, can influence scores of thousands ofvoters. 

A telephone call from Benson brings Trueman back to the headquarters. Onthe way down town he hears loud cries in the street. 

"Get y'er Extra! All about the big murders!" the newsboys are calling infront of the headquarters. Trueman buys a paper. He reads about themurder in Central Park. "This is an unfortunate occurrence, " he says, half aloud. "The people will put more credence in the assertions of theMagnates, that there are anarchists working to disrupt the Government. "

Once in the rooms of the Campaign Committee he receives the messagesdirect from the _Javelin_ office over a special wire. 

He is as ignorant of the true condition of affairs as any of the public. What to think of the wholesale destruction of the leading magnates, is ariddle to him. 

 "WILKES-BARRE, PA. , Oct. 13th. 

 Gorman Purdy was murdered in his house at 2 o'clock this afternoon, by Carl Metz. After shooting Purdy, Metz committed suicide. Come to Wilkes-Barre at once. Miners are threatening to sack the palaces on the esplanade. Ethel is in great danger. MARTHA. "

This telegram is handed to Trueman. He reads it; re-reads it. The fullimport flashes upon him. He knows the character of the miners; knowsthat there is an element which will take advantage of every opportunityto commit acts of violence. He pictures Ethel at her home, besieged bythe mob of miners. 

"I must get to Wilkes-Barre immediately, " he declares. 

"Mr. Benson, will you telephone to the Inter-State Railroad and ask whenthe next train leaves for Wilkes-Barre? If there is not one within anhour, ask if it is possible to engage a special. I must reachWilkes-Barre as quickly as possible. 

"Here, read this, " and he hands his secretary the telegram. 

"Send this message to Martha Densmore. Address it, 'Sister Martha, Careof the Mount Hope Seminary, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. , I leave for Wilkes-Barreat once. ' If you can find out the time the train will leave, state it inthe message to Martha. "

In five minutes Benson returns to inform Trueman that the KeystoneExpress will leave at 3. 30 P. M. This gives Trueman thirty minutes tocatch the train. He hurries to the street and jumps into a cab. 

"Drive to the Twenty-third street ferry as fast as you can. I'll giveyou an extra dollar if you make the four o'clock boat, " he tells the cabdriver. 

"All right Mr. Trueman, " replies the man, who recognizes the people'scandidate. "You'll get the boat. Don't worry about that. "

From Twenty-third street and Broadway the cab starts. It turns west onTwenty-fourth street. Then the driver whips up his horse. At EleventhAvenue a freight train is passing. It will delay Trueman for fiveminutes. He jumps from the cab. 

"Mr. Benson will pay you, " he calls to the cab-man. The train moves downthe street at a slow rate of speed. 

Trueman jumps on a car, climbs across it and jumps to the street. At arun he makes for the ferry house. 

As he passes the gateman he throws down a silver piece for ferry fareand rushes toward the boat. Half a minute later the boat draws out ofthe slip. When he enters the train, Trueman seats himself in thesmoking-car. The man next to him is reading a late extra which he hasbought at Cortlandt street. 

Glancing over the man's shoulder, Trueman reads of the deaths offinanciers, statesmen, manufacturers. All have met sudden and violentdeaths, and in each instance there is announced the suicide oraccidental death of an unknown companion. 

Under a seven-column head, printed in red, is a suggestive paragraph. Itasks if the wave of annihilation can have any connection with theCommittee of Forty. And as if to answer the interrogation affirmatively, the paragraph concludes in these words:

"On the cards of six of the men whose bodies have been found with themurdered multi-millionaires, reference to the Committee of Forty is madepoint-blank. One asserts: 'In the future, arrogant capitalists will notsneer at the protestations of a committee of the people. As adeliberative body the Committee of Forty was impotent; as the avenger ofthe downtrodden, it will never be forgotten. ' Another bears this strangeinscription: 'When anarchy seems imminent, take courage, for an honestleader will deliver you from harm. '

"There are two cards which quote direct from the Scriptures: 'The wickedin his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devicesthat they have imagined. ' This gives the motive which supplied theassassin of the Sugar King with courage to commit a double crime. He wasa religious fanatic. The name George M. Watson was scribbled on the backof the card. This is the name of one of the Committee of Forty. 

"The other card reads: 'And the destruction of the transgressors and ofthe sinners _shall_ be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall beconsumed. '"

Here is a matter which sets Trueman thinking. He knows every member ofthe Committee of Forty; they are men who would not take part in adastardly crime. 

But is this terrible annihilation to be looked at in the light of anordinary crime?

"Metz is a member of the committee. " Trueman resolves this thought forseveral minutes. 

The train rolls on at a rapid rate; the towns of Jersey are entered andpassed so quickly that no idea of the excitement that is stirring themcan be formed. It is not until Trenton is reached that Trueman hears thenews of the deaths of still other prominent men. 

He buys a paper and returns to his seat. This extra contains the detailsof the threatened uprising in Wilkes-Barre, and the statement that theCommittee of Forty has converted itself into a Syndicate ofAnnihilation. 

When the train reaches Philadelphia a battalion of the State Militiagoes on board. The Major in command has instructions to report to theSheriff of Luzerne County. This means that the militia is to be handedover to the Magnates. 

As the train is about to leave the depot a telegram is received at thedispatcher's office, which causes a delay. A freight on the Wilkes-Barredivision has jumped the track. The wrecking train is called for. Afterthe departure of the wrecking train the express pulls out. The accidenthas occurred thirty miles east of Wilkes-Barre. It causes the Keystoneto be two hours late. 

During his enforced wait, Trueman improves the time by telegraphing toNew York. He gets from Benson the latest details of the news; the fullimport of the terrible atonement dawns upon him. The Committee of Fortyhad come to the conclusion that it must meet force with force. This wasa step which Trueman would never have sanctioned. He realizes that theopprobrium for the act of the committee will be placed on him. He hasbeen associated with the committee; has been the one candidate which itindorsed. And for all that he has known absolutely nothing of itsintention to carry out a wholesale annihilation. 

"Who will believe that I am not an accomplice?" he asks himself. 

"I have but one way to clear my name of such an imputation. I must standout as the advocate for rational action. I must bring the people, thosewho know me and who will obey my wishes, to unite to suppress anarchy. "

As this thought shapes itself, the words on the card of one of thecommittee obtrude themselves on Trueman: "When anarchy seems imminent, take courage, for an honest leader will deliver you from harm. " Is theresomething prophetic in these words?

Reinforcements are arriving on trains that are obliged to stop in therear of the express. One of the new arrivals is a part of the infamousCoal and Iron Police. As these men are familiar with the miningdistrict, the Sheriff of Luzerne requests that they be placed on theKeystone and rushed through first. This request is complied with. Whenthe train starts, after the track is cleared, the three hundred andfifty members of the Coal and Iron Police have exchanged places with themilitia. 

From the intemperate speech of the men, Trueman foresees that theconflict between the miners and the police will be sanguinary. Heresolves to keep the two bodies of men apart, if anything in his powercan effect this result. 

As the twilight deepens the train reaches the ten-mile grade that leadsto Wilkes-Barre. The powerful engine responds to the utmost of itscapacity and begins the ascent at a speed of fifty miles an hour. 

"We shall be doing business in fifteen minutes, " remarks one of the Coaland Iron Police, as he pulls his rifle from under the seat. 

"Thank God, we don't have to stand up and receive a shower of sticks andstones, as the militia did in the old days. We have the right on ourside now, and we can shoot without waiting to be shot, " asserts adyspeptic clerk, who has quit his desk for "_a day's shooting_. "

CHAPTER XXVII. 

SISTER MARTHA AVERTS A CALAMITY. 

When the tidings of the murder of Gorman Purdy reach the mines, therejoicing of the miners and their families is undisguised. They feelthat an avenging hand has been raised against the man who has causedthem so many days of suffering. 

"The devil has a new recruit, " says a brawny miner. 

"Hell is too good for a man like Purdy, " another declares. 

In all of Wilkes-Barre not a man or a woman except those who live underthe Coal King's roof has a word of pity to express. 

Sister Martha is silent; she feels shocked at the news; yet even in herheart there is no room for sympathy for the Magnate. The thought comesto her that Ethel will need comforting. Ethel Purdy is the woman whoeclipsed Sister Martha in Harvey's mind. It is not to be supposed thatMartha has forgotten this; yet it does not deter her from hastening tothe place. She finds Ethel on the verge of hysteria. 

Under the soothing influence of the Sister of Charity, Ethel's composureis restored. 

"What is to become of me?" she asks, despairingly. "How am I to face theworld? I have wealth; but will it restore my father?"

"Have faith, my dear, and you will find your troubles lightened. "

Martha prays with the late Magnate's daughter. They are on their kneesin the sumptuous bed-room of Ethel's suite when a servant abruptlyenters. 

"O, Miss Purdy, run for your life, " cries the maid. "The miners arecoming to burn the house. "

Ethel utters a cry of terror. 

"Leave the room!" sister Martha orders. And the frightened servantretires. 

"Do not feel alarmed. I shall stay here and the miners will do you noinjury. They love me and will obey me. "

Ethel clasps the hand of her defender and crouches at her feet. A knockat the door startles the two women. Sister Martha remains in possessionof her faculties; Ethel swoons. 

"Come in, " calls Sister Martha. 

The butler enters. 

"I have come to inform you that the miners are on their way to thehouse. They have sworn to sack it. What shall we do?"

"Who told you that the miners intend to come here?"

"I have just received the warning from the office; one of the clerkstelephoned. He says the Superintendent is on his way here, but willprobably be cut off. "

Fear has anticipated the actual trend which events are to take. Theminers are parading the streets but have not formulated any definiteplan to attack the Purdy palace. 

Superintendent Judson arrives and assumes charge of the house. He bringsdefinite news of the intention of the miners. They are bent on claimingthe body of Carl Metz to give it a public funeral. "We shall never beable to prevent violence, " he declares. 

"The police and the militia have been summoned; but it will be hoursbefore they arrive. "

"If there was some one here who could pacify the mob until the troopscome; there is no one they will heed. "

"Perhaps I can pacify them, " suggests Sister Martha. 

"You can try, " says the Superintendent, scrutinizing her closely. "Youare known as the friend of the miners; they may respect your wishes. "

Inwardly he doubts her ability to check the mob; he feels, even, thatshe may meet with physical violence at their hands. Yet his nature is sosmall that he is eager to sacrifice her if it will keep the miners atbay for an hour. 

"I shall try to keep them in the town, " Sister Martha assures him as shedeparts. On reaching the centre of the town Sister Martha meets some ofthe miner folk. A woman comes up to her and whispers:

"They have sent for the police. The work will be done before they gethere. "

"What work?"

"Why, we are going to give Metz a decent funeral. He died for us. Hesaid in a letter, --died to set us free from Purdy. "

"When are you going to demand the body?"

"This evening when the mines and shops close. We will all get togetherand then the sheriff can't stop us. "

An inspiration comes to Martha. She hurries to a telegraph station, andsends the message to Trueman calling him to Wilkes-Barre. 

"If he only gets here before the police or the troops, he can preventtrouble, " is the thought that consoles her. The hour that passes beforeshe receives word that he will arrive on the Keystone Express, seems aneternity. 

With the knowledge that Trueman will arrive at five o'clock she breathesa sigh of relief. Again she mingles with the crowds which fill thestreets. Here and there she goes, begging of the men and women torefrain from doing anything that they will regret later. 

The afternoon wears on, and as rumors float through the town that theGovernor has called out the State Guard, the excitement increases. 

At four o'clock Sister Martha hears that the miners have determined towreck the express, as it is bringing the Coal and Iron Police. 

This news appalls her. Can she tell them that Trueman is on this train, and hope to have his arrival effective? No. He must come unexpectedly. 

The plot to wreck the train must be defeated. 

She hurries to the house of one of the miners who she knows will be insympathy with any movement that has for its object the destruction ofthe Police. His two sons were shot at the Massacre of Hazleton. One ofthe young men died from the effects of his wounds. The other is aconfirmed invalid. 

On reaching the miner's cottage, Sister Martha finds that her intuitionis correct. Henry Osling is telling his son the plan of vengeance. 

"We will wipe out the old score to-night, " he is saying. "When theexpress starts up the grade, we will send a ton of Paradise Powder downto meet it. "

"How will it explode?" asks the son. 

"How? Why, by the collision with the engine. "

"But it may not go off, " suggests the invalid. "You had better make sureby using dynamite. No! that won't do either. 

"Use nitro. You can get it from the Horton shaft. They have to use itthere to blast the slate. "

"That's what we'll do, 'sonny. ' Just lie still 'til you hear the bang, then you can get up and dance, for the Police will be blown to pieces. "

Sister Martha waits for no further details. Her plan of action isdecided upon. She knows every foot of ground in the mountains. A shortcut will bring her to the home of Widow Braun. This woman will doanything in the world for Harvey Trueman. She will help Sister Martha tosave the train; for by so doing she will save Trueman's life. 

The widow is at home. In a few words Martha tells her what she must doif she would save the life of the men who rescued her boy and herselffrom the sheriff. 

"Do you have to ask me twice to help you?" cries the woman. "I would liedown on the track and let the cars run over me if it would protect Mr. Trueman. "

Martha and her ally start for the long grade. On the way they discussthe manner in which they may derail the car with the nitro-glycerine. 

"We will put rocks on the track, " suggests Sister Martha. "But theminers will see us;" objects the widow, "it won't be dark when the trainarrives. "

"I heard the miners say the train would be late. A freight was off thetrack east of Mathews and the wrecking crew was at work, " Martha goes onto explain. 

When the rescuers arrive at the track they realize that in their hastethey have neglected to bring a lantern, the one thing that may be neededto signal the train, for now a dilemma confronts them. If they place apile of rocks on the track, the train may reach that point before thecar of destruction, and in this event the obstruction will cause thewrecking of the train. 

The roadway is along the side of the mountain. 

On one side of the tracks the rocks rise in a sheer wall; on the otheris a steep embankment that in places is almost as precipitous as thecrags above. 

"We will have to separate, " Martha advises. "You go up the track. No, Iwill go up and you down. If it is possible, you must stop the train. Iwill wait till the last moment and then put rocks on the track. When yousee Mr. Trueman, tell him to hasten to the Purdy house, for Ethel is ingreat danger. Tell him I will be there to aid him in pacifying theminers. "

"But you can never pile rocks enough on the track to stop the car, "Widow Braun says compassionately, glancing at the frail form before her. 

"Have no fear. I can do my part of the work. God will give me strength. And you, He will guide you, as well. Come, let us set about our work. "

With a parting blessing from Sister Martha, the widow hurries down thetrack. She can discern the station five miles below at the beginning ofthe ten-mile grade. This station is her objective. If she can reach itbefore the arrival of the express, the life of Harvey Trueman and thoseof all the passengers will be saved. 

The nature of her mission gives her strength to travel over the roughroadbed with incredible speed. Her eyes are upon the station, whichmomentarily becomes more and more indistinct; she knows that if thetrain starts up the grade she can see the headlight. Her lips move in anarticulate prayer that she may not see the light. So absorbed is she inthe thought of how to stop the train in the event of its passing thestation that she fails to see a culvert bridge. At the bridge theroadbed terminates and a trestle carries the tracks for a distance offifteen yards. The culvert is dry nine mouths in the year, and is araging mountain torrent only in the spring. 

Widow Braun rushes upon the trestle. Her steps are not regulated by theties, and almost instantly she falls between them. Her hands grasp therails on either side; but she has not sufficient strength to supportherself. With an agonizing cry she drops twenty feet upon the jaggedrocks below. Her head strikes a rock and she lies motionless. 

Several minutes pass; then she regains consciousness. On attempting torise she finds that her ankle is sprained. Despite the agony it causesher, the brave woman struggles to climb back to the track. It is nowquite dark and she realizes that the train must be along in a fewminutes. She cannot reach the station. But she may yet stop the train atthe culvert bridge. 

A long shrill whistle sounds. It is the familiar signal of the KeystoneExpress. 

Regardless of the acute pain which every step causes her, the widowscrambles over the rocks. 

As she reaches the roadbed the express rumbles over the trestle. With acry of despair she sinks to the ground. 

Sister Martha is acting her role of heroine at a point a mile and a halffurther up the grade. She has posted herself where she can observe thestation and the summit of the grade. 

At the side of the track she collects a dozen boulders, the heaviest shecan move. These she determines to put on the track to derail the carwhich the miners are to send down the grade to wreck the train. 

"Will the widow Braun stop the express?" Martha asks herself again andagain, as the terrible minutes of suspense pass. "Perhaps I should havegone down the track instead of sending her. "

Through the darkness a glimmer of light shines from the summit of themountain. 

"The miners are in readiness. What shall I do?"

For an answer, the whistle of the train falls upon her ears. 

She hesitates, then with an energy born of desperation she begins topile the rocks on the track. The ragged edges cut her tender fingers. She works on unmindful of cuts and bruises. 

Higher and higher the pyramid rises. 

Only once does she glance down the track to see the train. Its greatheadlight looks like a beacon. It is approaching nearer and nearer. 

"Have they started the car?" Martha wonders. She can hear the rumble ofthe train, but not a sound from the road above. 

"The train will reach this spot first, " she cries aloud. "The miners arewaiting for it to get nearer to them. "

Acting upon a sudden impulse, she runs up the track a distance of ahundred yards. There are rocks lying on the side of the track nearestthe mountain. 

One, two, three big rocks she places on the track. 

A faint cheer reaches her. 

"They have started the car, " she laughs hysterically. 

"It will not harm the Keystone. No, it will stop here. "

Another and another rock is placed on the rails. 

She knows that these boulders are a poor impediment to a wildcat car;but they are the only things available. 

A whirring sound rings in her ears. It is the car rolling down the gradewith the velocity of a thunder-bolt. 

In a minute or two at the most, the car will be upon her. 

Still she does not falter. The second pyramid must be completed. 

Again she turns to look down the track. The headlight of the engineseems to be upon her. It is, in fact, just crossing the culvert. 

A glance at the pile of rocks makes them appear insignificant. 

"They will never be able to stop the car, " she moans. 

Then with a final effort she tugs at a boulder larger than any of theothers. She has it on the rail when the whistling of the engine startlesher. 

The engineer has seen the lower pyramid of rocks on the track and haswhistled "down brakes. "

The train is stopping; it will be saved, for one of the two obstructionswill derail the motor-car. 

Sister Martha starts to run down the track. She has not taken a dozensteps when the juggernaut dashes into the pyramid of rocks. 

Instantly there is a flash and an explosion, that shakes the mountain. Great ledges of rock slide from the overhanging crags. 

In a shower of splintered stone, Martha is literally entombed. Her lifeis sacrificed on the altar of devotion. She has lived a Christian anddies a martyr. 

But the Keystone Express is saved. 

Its passengers and crew, when they recover from the fright occasioned bythe explosion, hasten from the cars. Trainmen are sent up the track toinvestigate. Brakemen are also sent down the track to carry the news tothe station. 

One of these men stumbles across Widow Braun. He returns to the traincarrying her. 

From her, Trueman and the other passengers, including the Coal and IronPolice, learn of the plot to wreck the train and of the heroic effortmade by Sister Martha and the widow herself, to avert the calamity. 

Trueman starts in quest of Sister Martha. Accompanied by one of thetrainmen with a lamp, he reaches the scene of the explosion. 

The trainman discovers the body of Martha. 

Bending over the prostrate body Harvey Trueman weeps. It is the manlyexpression of deep emotion. 

"She died to save my life and the lives of the hundreds on the train. Was there ever a more noble sacrifice? It cannot be that she has givenher life in vain. I must do the work she has begun. If I can prevent theminers from committing acts of violence it will atone for the loss ofSister Martha. "

From the top of the mountain, Trueman catches a glimpse of the torchesand miners' lamps. The miners are moving toward the town. Trueman isfamiliar with every inch of ground about Wilkes-Barre. He has played onthe mountain as a boy. He now recollects a by-path which will bring himto the town in advance of the miners who are on the wagon road. 

"Have the body of Sister Martha taken to the Mount Hope Seminary, " hesays to the trainman, and away he speeds for Wilkes-Barre. 

The Coal and Iron Police are thrown into utter consternation. They darenot advance upon the town in the darkness for fear that there is anotherplot to destroy them. 

The captain orders them to march across the mountain so as to enter thetown from a direction opposite to that by which they are expected. Toaffect this detour will delay their arrival several hours, but their ownsafety is more to be considered than that of the townspeople. 

And the miners? They have heard the explosion and believe that the Coaland Iron Police have been sent to their doom. 

With the police out of their way there is nothing to check the miners inthe accomplishment of their design to recover the body of Carl Metz. 

It is the radical element that has conceived the idea of wrecking thetrain. They take full control of the miners and lead the way to jointheir comrades on the Esplanade. As they pass through the streetshundreds of men and women who have known nothing of the plot to wreckthe train, fall in line and march on in the procession. The number ofminers and townspeople soon reaches the thousands. By the time theyarrive at the Esplanade there are ten thousand in line. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

AT THE DEAD COAL KING'S MANSION. 

Along the Esplanade the hurrying thousands begin to move in thedirection of the Terrace; miners who have been in the shafts foreighteen hours; yard-hands from the railroads; iron founders, naked savefor their breeches, have quit their furnaces; townspeople whom fearimpels to see what the night will bring forth; this heterogeneous hordepresses on to the scene of the murder. 

It is a night that lends an appropriate setting to so strange anduncanny an event. The sky is leaden except for a streak on the westernhorizon where the fading, sinister light of the sun gives token of astormy morrow. Through the walled banks, the river rushes turbulently, swollen by recent rains; its waters tinged by the dyes and other refusefrom the city above. 

On the further bank, the groups of breakers and foundries loom up asvague shadow creations. From fifty chimney mouths thick black smokecurls unceasingly; now soaring to a considerable height, now driven downto earth by fitful gusts of wind. In their sinuous course thesesmoke-clouds resemble the genii of fable, who spread over the earthcarrying death and devastation. 

In sharp contrast to this picture is the Avenue of Opulence on the sideof the river which boasts of the Esplanade. Here is a line of fiftypalatial residences; the homes of the owners of a hundred mines andfactories and the task-masters of fifty thousand men, their wives andtheir progeny. 

Clustered about the breakers and furnaces are the squalid huts andramshackle cottages of the operatives; there too, a little removed fromthe river are the caves in which the Huns and Scandinavians dwell, evenas their prehistoric ancestors dwelt before the light of civilizationdawned. 

Nero thrumming his violin from the vantage point of the crowning hill ofRome, had no such portraiture of the degradation of humanity as thatwhich the Magnates nightly view from their balconies. A stranger wouldbe struck with surprise that the thousands should be huddled in densthat wild animals would find uninhabitable, while the sons of greed andavarice flaunt their trappings of mammon from the hilltops. 

This is the arena in which is to be enacted a scene of this great drama. The actors, the audience are gathering. 

Mingled sounds of strange nature are on the air. The murmur alwayspresent where multitudes are assembled runs as an undertone; the sharpnotes of frightened women and terrified children rise as the tones of anoratorio; steady, full, vibrant are the sounds of the men's voices. 

On the countenances of the men can be read the exultation of theirhearts, that at least one of their tyrants has encountered his Nemesis. Faces here and there are wreathed in smiles, as though their possessorswere hastening to a fete. Some are grave, for the thought of theretribution that the Magnates will demand, and which they knew so wellhow to secure, is enough to bring a pallor to the cheek. There are menin the eddying thousands who have felt the hot lead of Latimer andHazleton burn into their backs and the recollection makes them shudder. They are again upon a highway, but is this a protection against theviolence of their masters? They are now, as then, unarmed, but is this asafeguard against the rifles of the hirelings?

From the bridge that connects the shores of the river, to the mansion ofthe Coal King, is a distance of two miles. The broad avenue affords anexcellent concourse and down it the throng fairly runs. They traversethe distance in twenty minutes. 

An army advancing into an enemy's country could not preserve betterorder. Far in advance of the main body of the toilers is the vanguard, agroup of twenty of the acknowledged leaders of the men. It is at theirsuggestion that the cowed wretches have mustered up courage enough tocross the bridge and enter upon the interdicted boulevard. So it isincumbent upon them to show no trepidation. 

Immediately behind them are the more adventurous ones, followed by thewomen and children, who, like angels, tread where men fear to go. Thegreat mass of the crowd is composed of the workmen of the town. Thefaint-hearted and the cowardly bring up the rear. When the marble stepsthat lead up to the mansion are reached, the vanguard halts. The impetusof the entire line is arrested as if by magic. An unheard, invisiblesignal is obeyed, the signal of fear. Then the men in advance beckon tothe people to come forward. 

A score of young men respond as if to a summons for volunteers, and intheir wake press the multitude. 

The tumult ceases. The moment for action is approaching and menconcentrate their attention on what is being done by the leaders. 

"I have come for the body of Carl Metz, " shouts Foreman O'Neil, from thefoot of the terrace; his voice ringing with a tone of defiance. 

"I have come for the body, and if you do not bring it out we will go inafter it. "

This ultimatum is addressed to the private detective who stands on thepiazza of the Coal Magnate's palace, as a sentinel. 

He does not seem disconcerted at the sight of so great a number ofpeople. On the contrary his mouth curls in a derisive smile. 

"O, you had better all go back to the breakers, " he retorts. "We willsee that Metz's body is buried. "

Then he pauses, waiting to see the effect his words will produce. On andon comes the tidal wave of humanity. If it is not checked soon it willdeluge the palace. 

"I will shoot the first man who sets a foot on this piazza, " defiantlycries the detective, at the same time drawing his revolver. "Get back toyour breakers. If the superintendent sees you on this side of the river, you'll all get _sacked_, " he adds as a threat more terrible than theshooting of one of them. 

"We don't want to make trouble, " explains O'Neil. "All that we ask isthat we may take the body of Metz and give it decent burial. Has thesuperintendent said we could not have it?"

Mr. Judson, the superintendent of the Giant Breakers, appears at thedoor. He steps out on the piazza. 

A sullen roar greets him. 

"Until the coroner has disposed of the case, " he begins, "no one will bepermitted to touch the body. You have heard my decision. Now go back toyour work. "

The recollection of the treachery practiced on them in the riot of 1900, when their dead fellow-workmen were put in crates and buried by thepolice at night, without religious rites, comes to the minds of all. They have sworn then that never again would they be cheated of the rightto bury their martyred brothers. 

"Give us the body, " cry a hundred voices in chorus. 

"Go on, go on, " shout the pressing thousands. "Go in and get it. "

The forces for a storm have been gathering since the first tidings ofthe tragedy reached the people. 

When they heard that Carl Metz, the foreman of the Keystone furnace, hadkilled Gorman Purdy and had then ended his own life, they weredumbfounded. Then as a lightning flash the information had spread thatMetz had left a note explaining that he had killed the tyrannical CoalMagnate for the good of mankind. This word of explanation had clarifiedthe confused thoughts in the minds of all. They read in that messagetheir emancipation. The hour to strike a blow for their long lost rightshad come. 

The opposition offered by the detective and Judson, proves to be theshock needed to precipitate the storm. 

By a single impulse the crowd rushes up the terrace. Its advance isirresistible. Both Judson and his hireling see the futility ofattempting to resist the mob. They, therefore, withdraw within thehouse. As they enter they close the massive oak doors. Even as the doorsswing to, the weight of a dozen powerful shoulders is thrown againstthem. 

For a moment the advance is checked. 

Turning to the windows, the infuriated men shatter them one by one, andlike the sea pouring into a breach in a ship, they enter the house. Oneof the first to enter runs to the doors and flings them open. "Come in!"he shouts. "This is ours for to-day. "

A marble staircase leads from the first floor to the one above. Thismarvellous masterpiece had been made in Europe and imported. It cost twohundred thousand dollars--more than the appraised value of the twothousand hovels of the crowd that now trample upon its polished steps. 

Up this staircase the impetuous leaders run. At the head of the stairsis the library, the room in which the tragedy has been enacted. 

On the floor in this room is the body of Metz. It has not beendisturbed. 

The body of the Magnate has been removed to his bed-room to be preparedfor burial. 

O'Neil and two members of the Committee of Labor take up the prostrateform of their friend and make their way toward the door. It is not theirintention to commit any violence in the house. Yet, as is always thecase when men are under high mental tension, there is an element thatcannot resist the instinctive craving of the animal spirit for blood. 

"The sewer was good enough for Metz, " exclaims an ironworker, ferociously. It's good enough for Purdy. "

"Where is Purdy's body?"

This question now presents itself to the invaders. It serves as thekeynote for future action. 

"Let's find it, " suggests the ironworker. And the search of the mansionis begun. 

Anticipating that the crowd might demand the body of themulti-millionaire, his faithful attendants have hurriedly removed it tothe top of the building. It is concealed in the apartments of the chiefbutler. A superficial hunt fails to reveal its place of concealment. This intensifies the eagerness of the people to find it. They arepositive it was on the premises, for the crowd without completelysurrounds the palace. 

Again are the gorgeous furnishings of the forty rooms thrownhelter-skelter. Costly cabinets that refuse to yield to first pressure, are wrenched open. The frightened butler and the corps of other servantsare impressed into the search. They are compelled to give up the keys toall closets and rooms. As case after case of silver and gold service aredisclosed, the vulture element pounces upon them. For every piece thereare fifty contestants, and the result is a wild scrimmage which preventsany one getting so much as a spoon without paying dearly for it. 

Half an hour of vain search heats the tempers of the men to the feverpoint. Those with the butler finally threaten him with instant death ifhe does not disclose the whereabouts of the body, and reluctantly heobeys. Hounds falling upon their quarry could not exhibit more ferocitythan the mob as it pounces upon the corpse. 

Gorman Purdy had been seated in his library when his last summons came. He was attired in full evening dress. On his shirt bosom, over theheart, is a spot of blood. It shows where the bullet had found its mark. 

A hurried consultation is held. It is decided that the body be carriedto the Potter's field and thrown into the open grave that is kept forpaupers. 

Three men pick up the body and start to leave the house. 

All this while the impatience of the throng outside has found vent inribald jests. 

"One dead millionaire is better than an army of workmen, " jeers one man. 

"He has come to life and has offered to arbitrate, " sneers another. 

"Bring him out!" is the incessant cry of the thousands. 

And now the cortege appears. O'Neil and three committeemen carry thebody of Metz. They pass between an avenue of men, who give waydeferentially. 

On reaching the Esplanade the pall-bearers pause. They face toward thebridge and wait for the procession to form. Then the trio who carry--orto be precise, drag the body of Purdy--emerge. 

A great shout is given as the masses catch a glimpse of the body of theman who in his lifetime was their unmerciful master. 

Darkness has supplanted the twilight. Now the contrast between light andshade is sharp. At intervals of fifty feet along the Esplanade, wroughtiron gothic flambeaux support powerful electric lights. Objects beyondthe immediate radius of the lights are indistinguishable. The windows ofall the palaces are all closed and barricaded. From across the river theaccustomed flare of the furnaces is missing. The fires are extinguished. 

The uncouth countenances of the men and women can be studied inintermittent flashes as they pass under the strong glare of the lights. The utter absence of men and women of gentility makes the processionseem like the invasion of the Huns into the Empire. Among the thousandsthere are descendants of those very men who made the legions of Romeflee in terror. The torch of progress is again in the hands of theuncultured, and as history proves the race is to undergo anotherevolution. 

That it is to be effected by internecine revolution none doubts. Themarch of carnage is on. Whither will it tend?

A leader of genius is wanted. The plastic emotions of the multitude willyield to his command. 

Already the peaceable character of the visitation of the humble to thehabitation of the haughty, has changed to one of violence. 

O'Neil has been able to create the storm, but he lacks the capacity todirect it. The man of might has stepped forward and has been hailed aschief. 

Just as the body of Purdy is to be brought down the terrace the sound ofdistant cheering is heard. It comes from the direction of the bridge. The men who have hold of the millionaire's body, drop it. 

Do the shouts come from the militia?

With ever-increasing magnitude the cheering continues. Whatever theobject may be, it is approaching the palace. 

A reflex movement in the crowds indicates that danger is upon them. 

"It's the Pinkertons!" is the terror-stricken cry that arises. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

PEACE HATH HER VICTORIES. 

Now the shouting swells into a general outburst of enthusiasm. "Trueman!Trueman!" are the words that reach the ears of the men at the foot ofthe terrace. 

It is not the militia then, that is swooping down upon the people tocrush them for demanding the body of their dead; it is not thePinkertons. It is the champion of the people come to their aid!

Breathless from the three miles he has traversed at a run, Trueman sinksexhausted on the stone steps in front of Purdy's house. 

The excited leaders cluster about him and tell him of the events thathave transpired during the afternoon and early evening. "It was fouro'clock when we first heard that Metz had shot and killed Purdy. Thenews spread to all the mills and furnaces, " explains Chester, one of theyard hands of the local depot. 

"Some one started the story that the police had been instructed to buryMetz secretly for fear there would be trouble if he was given a publicfuneral. You know there was a note found on him which said he had killedPurdy for the good of the workingmen. "

"Yes, " breaks in O'Neil, "the folks all over town said they were boundto see Metz given decent burial. A committee came to me and asked if Iwould head a procession to come here and demand the body. We came andwere refused it. Then we broke into the house and got Metz's body. 

"Some one started the cry, 'Find Purdy's body and bury it in Potter'sfield!' This set the crowd crazy. I could not prevent their seizing it. "

Harvey Trueman listens to the stories of the men. He realizes that nohalf-measure can be proposed. It will either be necessary for him toacquiesce to their plan to throw the multi-millionaire's body into thePotter's field or else oppose them to the last point. 

With the knowledge of the various events that have occurred he canestimate the effect that such an act of violence will have upon thecountry. Should the people of the other mining districts hear that theminers of Wilkes-Barre have risen in revolt against their masters it mayprecipitate a general uprising. 

The deaths of the leading financiers and manufacturers throughout thecountry have made a panic inevitable. If to this is added rioting, thecountry will be plunged into a state of veritable anarchy. Why shouldnot Wilkes-Barre be the centre of this national movement for a peaceablesolution of the question of the rights of labor? One clear note ofconfidence sounded amid the general babel may serve as the signal forrational action. 

Reasoning thus, he determines to make a grand effort to convert thecrowd to moderation. 

As he passed through the larger cities on his way to the town he heardthat the people of Wilkes-Barre were up in arms. The militia have beenordered out and will arrive at any moment. The Coal and Iron Police arecrossing the mountain and will show no mercy to the miners. If they findthe people engaged in mischief, the story of past massacres will berepeated. 

"Come with me, " says Trueman to his lieutenants. They move quickly upthe steps to the piazza of the magnate's palace. 

Here Trueman turns to the crowd. 

The cheering and shouting has been kept up during the two or threeminutes that he has been resting. The people have again massedthemselves about the grounds surrounding the house. 

"Speech! speech!" they cry. 

Trueman raises his hands before his face and lowers them in a sign forsilence. The buzz of the thousands is instantly hushed. In a clear fullvoice that increases in volume as he proceeds, he begins hisnever-to-be-forgotten oration. 

"Women and men of Wilkes-Barre:

"That you are; testified in claiming the body of the man who sacrificedhis life that you might live as freemen in this land of equal rightsnone can deny; that you should be moved to seek revenge upon the body ofthe man who has of all men been the most intolerant, tyrannical andmerciless to you and the hundreds whom death has claimed, during thepast twenty years, is nothing more than human. 

"I believe, as have the philosophers and statesmen of all ages, that thepeople can do no wrong; for the voice of the people is, in fact, thevoice of God. "

As these words fall upon the ears of the multitude a great shout isgiven. Men wave their hats; women flutter their vari-colored shawls, which serve them as headgear; the sense of righteousness is awakened inthem. 

"With an abiding faith in the justice of the Almighty, you have bidedyour time; tolerance has ever been your actuating principle; reason hasdictated every appeal that you have made to your masters. 

"To-day you feel that the hour for your deliverance has come; that thefetters have fallen from your wrists. You stand here as emancipated menof a great nation. That your hearts should be filled with rejoicing, shows that you are alive to the importance of the occasion. 

"Metz, who this day sacrificed his life for you, is worthy of youradmiration. He is one of the world's heroes, one of its martyrs. It isfor you to say if he shall have a monument worthy of his memorable act. 

"The peoples of all ages have had their heroes and their martyrs. Theprogress of the world is marked by the monuments that have commemoratedthe deeds of these men. 

"It remains for you to erect a monument for the martyr of the TwentiethCentury. 

"Shall it be of brass or of enduring granite?

"Either of these would be a prey to the long lapse of time. 

"You may choose as a monument, a mound that shall endure as long as theworld rolls through space; you may convert those piles of brick and ironon the further side of the river into a mass of ruins; you may set theindignant torch to this fine line of palaces. 

"Whatever you do you may be sure that your example will be the signalfor your fellow workmen throughout the land. "

"Burn down the breakers!" cries a thousand voices. 

"Those breakers as they stand to-day are fit only to be destroyed, "continues Trueman. 

"They have consumed a pound of human flesh for every ton of coal thatfed them. They have afforded money to a few Plutocrats, with which tosatisfy the rapacious desires of greed; they have been the source ofrevenue that made these palaces possible. Those breakers have given youin return for your long days of toil, only enough to keep life in yourbodies; they have bound you to this spot with fetters stronger thanthose of steel. If you should flee from this bondage you would findstarvation awaiting you on the roads. "

These sentences have an electrical effect upon the audience. The passivetemperaments of the men and women are being quickened. 

"Should you destroy the breakers and furnaces, and these homes of youroppressors, your own losses would outweigh those of the millionaires. 

"Yet your acts would be justifiable. 

"Do not move till I have delivered the message I bear. 

"I come to you with tidings that will make the blood in your veins flowfaster in a delirium of joy. 

"I come to tell you that your fellow workmen in every state in thisRepublic are to-day emancipated, even as you yourselves have been. Thesword has been wrested from the hands of tyrants, and has been placed inthe hands of the people. 

"The centuries that have come and gone since Christianity was firstpreached have seen the sword turned upon the humble, the meek, theworthy. Now it is to be turned upon the craven few who have fattened atthe expense of the many. 

"At the very hour when Melz sent Gorman Purdy to his doom, avengingangels, disguised as men, were abroad in our land weeding out the seedof iniquity. 

"In San Diego, California, Senator Warwick was killed by the hand of aman who, when he had rid the earth of the most avaricious man who everworked a mine, completed the chapter by taking his own life. 

"Henceforth men will not slave in the mines of California or elsewherefor the sole benefit of misers. The miner will enjoy the fruits of hislabor. He will make significant the words 'The laborer is worthy of hishire. '

"In St. Louis at the same hour, the owner of the grain elevators, inwhich is stored the crops of the great plains, there to be kept untilthe needs of the people shall place an exorbitant price upon everybushel, was smothered to death in the hold of one of his own ships. Withhim died the martyr who had succeeded in bringing a just retributionupon the head of an insatiate oppressor. 

"Henceforth bread shall not be made a product of speculation. The hungrymouths of women and children shall not go unfed that the stock brokerand the grain speculator may amass fortunes. 

"The Cotton King of Massachusetts, who has kept men and women out ofemployment, and in their stead has worked children in his mills, waskilled in his office as he refused the fifth appeal for an advance ofthree cents a day in the pay of the six thousand half-grown children, most of them girls, who tended his looms and spindles for pauper wages. 

"The man who thus abolished for all time the further slaughter ofinnocents, went to eternity with the dragon he had slain. The mill ownerwent to expiate his sins; the martyr to receive his reward. 

"And in New York, the city which I have just left, the ruler of theNation's money, the President of the Consolidated Banker's Exchange, died in a pot of molten lead which he had been brought to hope would beturned into gold under the touch of an alchemist. The lust of gold thatin life had been his only incentive, proved the means of his undoing. 

"Bond syndicates will no longer be formed to corner the people's money, that millions may be squeezed from the public treasury. 

"My fellow-countrymen, this is indeed a great day. 

"The full story cannot be told you at a single meeting. 

"Know that you are once again free men, not in name only, but inreality; that your children will never suffer the degradation throughwhich you have passed. 

"The story of your deliverance you will soon know in its entirety. To-night I can only give you a summary. "

"Tell us all! Tell us everything!" thunder the astonished masses. Theyforget Metz and Purdy in the presence of this greater news. 

"I have only just learned the true facts of this remarkable movement. The representatives of the people who met in Chicago six months ago toformulate plans for the protection of labor, found that little could beaccomplished against the combined wealth of the Trusts. 

"A permanent committee of forty was elected to carry out the purposes ofthe convention. For several weeks the committee occupied itself inroutine work. Its sub-committees reported that they could make noheadway. 

"Then at one of the meetings a committeeman named Nevins proposed thatinasmuch as the committee had to deal with a wily and unscrupulous foe, it constitute itself into a secret body. 

"At the first secret meeting he submitted the plan which was carriedinto effect to-day. 

"It required that every one of the forty men should pledge himself torid the world of one of its chief tyrants. He proved to the satisfactionof the men that by so doing they would be securing the blessings ofliberty and happiness to mankind. 

"He counselled them to strip their acts of any semblance of selfishnessby sacrificing themselves with their vanquished enemies. 

"At this moment the news is being flashed around the world that theforty tyrants and the forty martyrs have been gathered to their Maker ina single day. 

"Again is the message that was first uttered in the Garden of Eden sentto the world: 'Labor is the God-given heritage of man. ' Nor shall anyonekeep man from his inheritance. 

"To you, men and women of this Trust-ridden community, is given theopportunity to reap the full benefit of to-day's atonement. 

"That you should waste your efforts on the mere gratification ofrevenge, was but natural when you did but know of the result of one deedin the plan of emancipation. Then it might have been enough that youshould destroy the breakers and tear down these palaces. 

"But now that you have heard of the National blow that has been struckfor you, all thoughts of violence must be swept from your minds. Now youmust realize that a greater triumph awaits you than to watch the flameslick up the property of your tormentors. 

"That property is now yours!

"These breakers, furnaces, factories; these houses, the mines beneaththe earth's surface, the lands above them, all, all, are yours. It needsbut for you to take possession of your own; for you to enjoy the fullmeasure of the profit of your labor. 

"Return to your homes, filled with rejoicing that you have not beencalled upon to stain your hands with blood; that your rights have beenrestored through the sacrifice of forty men to whom you and yourposterity shall give immortal fame. 

"You will have to work as hirelings only until you yourselves place yourgovernment in the hands of trusted men of your own selection. 

"Fraud will no longer seek for public office; avarice will no longerscheme to gain possession of the world's wealth for the satisfaction ofinordinate desires; inhumanity will no longer vaunt itself in our mills, our mines, our fields, for to-day the edict has been sent to the worldthat death awaits those who shall again seek to enslave labor. Therewill be forty martyrs ready for another sacrifice. Who will dare to betheir foe?

"Choose your leaders with care; see that they are sincere in theirdetermination to work your will. 

"When this is done the hovels you now live in will be supplanted bydecent homes; the poor food you now eat will be kept for your swine;your children will grow up to manhood and womanhood without having hadtheir minds and bodies stunted by premature toil. 

"A Republic of universal happiness and comfort will be yours. 

"Such a Republic will be a monument to endure for all time to the memoryof Carl Metz and his thirty-nine co-workers, to the honor of yourselvesand to the security to future generations of the liberty that thisRepublic will afford all men. 

"Pick up the body of Metz, and I shall help you bury it. I leave thebody of Purdy for whomsoever may be inclined to care for it. 

"Men of Wilkes-Barre, again I tell you, to-day you have been deliveredfrom serfdom. Act as men, not as brutes. 

"Choose some one to be your leader and let him direct you until to eachof you is given the opportunity to vote for the laws that you maydesire. 

 "With blare of trumpet and with tap of drum Barbaric nations pay to Mars his due, When victory crowns their arms. To him they sue For privilege to war, though Mercy's thumb Bids them as victors, rather to be mum, And show a noble spirit to the foe; To vaunt not at their fellow-creature's woe: O'er victory only doth the savage thrum! They conquer twice who from excess abstain; The gentle nation that is forced to war, In triumph seeks to hide, and put afar All vestiges of carnage, and restore Peace in the land, that men may turn again To worthy toil, as they were wont before. 

"Labour is your heritage; return to it. "

He ends in a tumult of enthusiasm. 

The multitude has been led from one emotion to another with suchrapidity that they are fairly bewildered. 

Two things only are clear in all minds. Trueman, the man who has becometheir most faithful champion, assures them that now they are to be free;that they are to be made the sharers in the wealth they create; he alsotells them to select a leader. 

By a spontaneous decision Trueman is the name that comes to every lip. 

"Trueman! Trueman! You are the man to lead us. "

The cry "Trueman!" sweeps through the crowd. It rises in an acclaim thelike of which has never been heard before. 

Men rush toward the orator and pick him off his feet. He is placed onthe shoulders of the stalwart miners whom his eloquence and logic haswon, and is borne in triumph at the head of the procession that goes tobury Carl Metz. 

The millionaire's corpse lies on the steps of his late mansion. Clingingto it in the desperation of outraged womanhood, is Ethel. She had creptfrom the house while the eloquence of Trueman's words held the mobenraptured. 

As Trueman is being borne in triumph down the steps his eyes rest on theterrible picture presented by the dead magnate and his daughter. In aninstant the champion of justice forms a resolve. His heart and mind havea common impulse--Purdy's body must be saved from desecration; it mustbe buried with that of Metz. 

"Pick up that body, " he orders of the men who surround him. "It must beburied with Metz. "

In his voice there is a ring of command that none dares to question. Asthe miners stoop to lift the corpse Ethel utters a cry of anguish thatpierces the hearts of even the most hardened men. It is the wail ofhumanity protesting against anarchy. 

By a vigorous effort Trueman frees himself from the miners who arecarrying him on their shoulders. He is at the side of Ethel in a moment. 

"Do not be frightened. I am here and will protect you and your father'sremains. "

His words are spoken in a loud decisive tone and reach the ears of thecrowd that press around the corpse. 

Yielding to his indomitable will Ethel arises. She wavers an instant;then stretches out her arms toward her protector. 

Trueman seizes the delicate hands and draws her to his side. 

"You are safe in my charge, " he whispers to her soothingly. "Come withme and you shall witness your father's burial. If it is done now the mobwill be pacified and will cease to clamor for vengeance. "

Ethel walks by his side in silence. 

The magnate's body is picked up and placed on the improvised litter ofboards which serves to support the body of Metz. In silence theprocession moves on toward the town. 

The battle for moderation is won. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

A DOUBLE FUNERAL. 

It is in an utterly hopeless frame of mind that Ethel walks besideHarvey Trueman. She cannot conceive that one man will have sufficientpower over the passions of the multitude to prevent a violentdemonstration when the graveyard is reached. 

"They will tear my father's body to pieces, " she sobs. 

"Take my word for it, there will be no disorder, " Trueman assures her. He walks with Ethel at the head of the motley crowd that only an hourago was clamoring for the body of Purdy; this same crowd is nowtransformed into an orderly procession. The absence of music, or of anysound other than the tramp of feet on the smooth hard roadway, makes theprocession unusual. There is deep silence, save for the occasional wordsthat are spoken by the principal actors. 

"This is a sad reunion, Ethel; one that could never have been predicted. When we parted that afternoon, two years ago, you said you never wishedto see me again. I have remained away, until now. You are not sorry thatI have come to protect you. Tell me that you are not. " Harvey's wordsare spoken earnestly; he has kept the love of all the months ofseparation pent up in his heart. Now he is in the presence of the onewoman in all the world, he adores. Her imperfections are not unknown tohim; he has felt the sting of her long silence, broken only by hertelegram sent at the hour of his triumph in Chicago; yet for all this befeels his heart throb as quickly as in the old days. 

"O, Harvey, can you forgive me for my heartlessness?" she asks in afaint whisper. 

"I could not decide against my father that horrid day, when you and heparted enemies. And after you had departed I was urged by all my familyand friends to put you out of my thoughts; I was told that you had swornto be an enemy to all men and women of wealth; that if I were tocommunicate with you it would necessitate my disowning all my home ties. I am only a woman--a woman born to wealth. How could I foretell that youare not an enemy to the rich, but a true friend of humanity?"

"Then you know me by my true character and not as I am depicted by thePlutocrats?" Trueman asks, joyfully. 

He has heard the word "Harvey, " and feels the exultation of the loverwho hears his name pronounced in endearing tones by the woman he loves. 

"Yes, I know you as you really are and I have felt the power of yourwords; it was not to the mob alone that you spoke. I stood in the shadowof my father's palace and heard your words. Harvey, you made me feel adeep pang of sympathy for my fellowmen and women. "

The events of the day have been of such a momentous nature that it isnot strange that Ethel should collapse. She has sustained the shock ofher father's murder; the visitation of the citizens, bent on vengeance;then the unexpected appearance of Harvey Trueman. 

She clings to her companion's arm, struggling to control her emotions. When she ceases to speak a great sob escapes her; then she begins to cryhysterically. 

Trueman cannot bear to hear her heartbreaking sobs. With the impulse ofa father soothing a child he lifts her from the ground, and holding herin his strong embrace, strides on at the head of the cortege. 

When the town is reached the perfect order of the procession ispreserved. It winds through unfrequented streets to the bridge; crossingthe river it continues until checked by the closed gates of thecemetery. 

At the sight of so vast an assemblage and at such an unheard of hour, the gate-keeper flees in terror. Two or three men enter the house toemerge with the keys of the great gates and a lamp. 

By the fitful rays of this single lamp the movements of the burial partyare conducted. 

"Where shall we bury the bodies?" O'Connor asks Trueman. 

"As near the gates as possible. I should suggest that the grave be dugin the circle of the main driveway. The grave of Metz and Purdy willbecome one of the most famous in Pennsylvania; it should not be put inan obscure place. "

So the circle is decided upon as the proper place for the common graveof the millionaire transgressor and the martyr. 

As the throng passes through the gates many of the men seize spades andpicks, implements which they know only too well how to use. 

It does not take twenty minutes to dig the grave. 

When the work is completed, the fact dawns upon the minds of the leadersthat they have neglected to provide a coffin for the bodies. 

"What shall we do for coffins?" one of the grave-diggers asks, as hesmooths over the edges of the grave. 

"Give them soldiers' burial, " suggests one of the bystanders. 

"Here, take my shawl, " says a shivering woman, as she pulls a thin fadedgray shawl from her shoulders. 

Her suggestion is followed by a score of other trembling wretches. Thestrangest shroud that ever wrapped mortal remains is used in theinterment. 

The bodies of Metz and Purdy are still being carried by the miners. Nowa priest who has accompanied the funeral from the time it crossed thebridge, is escorted through the crowd to the edge of the grave. 

"Will you conduct the burial service over these two bodies?" Truemanasks of the man of God. 

"Neither was prepared for death, " protests the priest. 

"That is all the more reason for your offering up prayers for theirsouls. "

"Were they of my faith?" inquires the priest. 

"They are dead now and faith has nothing to do with the matter. We wantyou as a Christian to pronounce the words of the burial service overthese bodies. "

"One of these men was a murderer, " further protests the priest. 

"Which one?" demands Trueman. 

"They say Mete killed German Purdy, " is the response. 

"And a hundred men within call of us will tell you that Gorman Purdykilled fifty men in his time, " retorts a bystander. These words, sobitter yet so just, would be cruel indeed for the ears of Ethel Purdy;but she has lapsed into semi-consciousness. Harvey still holds her inhis arms; he seems oblivious of the burden he has borne for more than amile and a half. 

"I cannot go through the forms of the church over the grave of thesemen, " the priest declares emphatically. "It would be a sacrilege. But Iwill say a prayer for their departed spirits. "

On the tombs that range in a wide semi-circle from the entrance, thecrowd has taken points of vantage. Those who cannot force their way tothe inner circle about the grave, stand aloof, yet where they canobserve the simple, impressive ceremonies. 

In a thin, querulous voice the prayer is asked. It is such an invocationas might have been uttered over the remains of two gladiators. Blood isupon the head of each; the prayer craves forgiveness. As the priestconcludes, the bodies are wrapped in the shawls and lowered into thegrave. 

While the earth is being replaced, Trueman speaks to Ethel. Shepartially revives, and seems to understand that her father's body isbeing interred. When this thought has been fully grasped she realizesthat she is being supported in Harvey's arms. She makes an instinctiveeffort to escape from his clasp; an instant later she looks up into hisface and asks: "You will not leave me?" She pauses. "Give my millions tothe people. I hate the thought of money. Only tell me that you will notdesert me!"

"No, my darling, " comes the whisper, "I shall never be parted from youagain, so long as we live. The priest could not perform the burialservice; he can, however, make us man and wife. "

As he speaks, Harvey places Ethel gently on her feet. 

Standing side by side at the grave which holds victor and vanquished inthe great war for the recovery of the rights of man, Harvey Trueman andEthel Purdy present a strange contrast. He is the acknowledged leader ofthe plain people; she is the richest woman in America. For him, everyone within reach of his voice has the deepest love and admiration; forthe hapless woman beside him, there is not a man or woman who would turna hand to keep her from starving. 

If the men and women of Wilkes-Barre can be made to sanction the unionof Trueman and Ethel Purdy, is there any reason to doubt that thequestion of social inequalities can be settled without bloodshed?Trueman determines to venture his election, his future, his life, to winthe greatest triumph of his career, a wife whom the world despises asthe favorite of fatuous fortune. 

With a voice vibrant with emotion he addresses the multitude. Now bysubtle argument, now by impassioned appeal he pictures the conditionsthat made Ethel's life so utterly different from theirs; how it wasimpossible for her to sympathize with them when she had known no sorrow, when her every wish had always been gratified. He pictures her as sheappears before them; a daughter whose father has been stricken, as if bya blow from Heaven; a woman left friendless; for the friends ofprosperity are never those of adversity. Thus he awakens a feeling ofpity in the hearts of the people for the woman they have so recentlyreviled. Pity gives place to love as he tells them that Ethel Purdywishes to give to the citizens of Wilkes-Barre the millions that herfather has hoarded; when he concludes by telling them that she is tobecome his wife, an acclaim of rejoicing is given. 

The priest, this time without reluctance, pronounces Harvey Trueman andEthel Purdy man and wife. 

"Go to your homes, my good brothers and sisters, " Trueman counsels, "forto-morrow you enter upon your inheritance through the speedy channel ofvoluntary restoration; you are blessed of all men and women, perhaps, because you have long been the most grievously sinned against. 

"Let no one commit an act of violence. It is from you that the countryis to take its signal; you have curbed the hand of anarchy. What youhave done will strengthen others to be patient. No one will have to waitlonger than the next election to have wrongs set right. "

The silence that awe induces takes possession of the people. Theydisperse quietly to their homes. At two o'clock there is no one on thestreets. 

The Coal and Iron Police, who have been lost in the mountains, enter thetown at that hour to find it, to all appearances, deserted. 

Harvey and Ethel accompany the priest to the parish house, where theyremain for the night. 

All the events of the afternoon and night have been telegraphed abroad. When morning dawns the people of the country and the world at large readof the uprising of the miners of Wilkes-Barre, of the attempt to wreckthe train bearing the militia; of the rescue by Sister Martha at thesacrifice of her life; the stirring scene at the palace and the finalobsequies and marriage ceremonial. All are known to the world. In thechaotic state of the public mind, this example of reasonable action isneeded. Spread by the power of the pen, it wins man's greatest victory, a victory of peace. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE NEW ERA. 

From every section of the country the news of the pending election givespromise of a victory for the Independence party. The people haveaccepted the assurances of Harvey Trueman that he will not countenanceviolence on the part of the radical element of either the people or thePlutocrats. His conspicuous action at Wilkes-Barre is an incontestibleproof of his sincerity, and also demonstrates that the masses are notdesirous of reverting to an appeal to force in order to regain theirrights. If the man whom the public hails as a deliverer can be elected, all the evils of the Trusts and monopolies, it is believed, can besettled amicably. 

So strong has the sentiment in favor of the Independence party become, that for days before the election great parades of the workingmen in theprincipal cities celebrate the coming victory of the people. 

Yet the subsidized press maintains a defiant position, and gloomilypredicts that anarchy will prevail upon the announcement of the electionof the Independence party's candidates. 

This foreboding has little or no effect on the minds of the earnestworkers; they are ready to trust their interests to men who have proventhemselves honest champions of right, rather than suffer the bondageimposed by the Magnates. 

Trueman, since the hour of his marriage, has spent much of his time inWilkes-Barre. He decides that it is better for him to guide the closingdays of the campaign from his home. 

After settling the estate of Gorman Purdy, and turning over to theworkingmen the mines, furnaces and breakers that were owned by the lateCoal King, Harvey and his wife go to live in a comfortable villa in thesuburbs. 

By her voluntary surrender of the $160, 000, 000 which the criminalpractices of Gorman Purdy had amassed, Ethel becomes the idol of thepeople, not only of Wilkes-Barre, but of the entire country. She givessubstantial proof of the sincerity of her promise made at the grave ofher father. This act of altruism does much to avert any reaction of theturbulent elements of the large cities. 

The prospect of regaining the public utilities by purchase and theestablishment of governmental departments to control them in theinterests of the people as a whole, is made bright by the magnificentexample that is furnished by the towns of Pennsylvania. 

Harvey Trueman establishes the leaders of the Unions as the managers ofthe mines and breakers. Under his direction the profits of the businessare divided proportionately among all the inhabitants of the town inwhich the works are located; those who work receive as their wageone-half of the net proceeds from the sale of their products. Theremaining fifty per cent, is turned into the public treasury. 

Had the millions of the Purdy fortune been distributed to the people bya per capita allotment, each man and woman of Wilkes-Barre might havebeen made independently rich. But this would defeat the ends which Etheland Harvey wish to attain. They desire to see every citizen prosperaccording to his or her personal effort. So when every one inWilkes-Barre is set to work at a profitable trade or occupation, theresidue of the fortune, some $125, 000, 000, is used to establish asimilar system of co-operation in neighboring mining districts. 

In the thirty days that intervenes between the acts of annihilation andthe election, two hundred and fifty thousand miners and other operativesin Pennsylvania are benefiting by the disbursement of the Purdymillions. This army of prosperous men makes the state certain of goingto the Independents. The electoral votes of the Keystone state, it iscertain, will decide the election. 

As an object lesson which speaks more eloquently than words, Harveyadopts a suggestion which Sister Martha had made at the opening of thecampaign and which had not been used because of lack of funds. 

Biograph pictures of happy and contented miners in Pennsylvania, underthe co-operative system, showing them at their work and at their decenthomes, surrounded by their families, well fed, and clothed, are obtainedin manifold sets. To contrast with these, there are pictures taken fromthe actual scenes in other parts of the country, showing women harnessedto the plow with oxen; women at work in the shoe factories, the tobaccofactories, the sweat-shops. Pictures of the children who operate thelooms in the cotton mills and the carpet factories are obtained to becontrasted with those which exhibit children at their proper places inthe school room and on the lawns of the city parks. 

The pomp of the Plutocrats and the destitution of the masses isportrayed by these striking contrasts. 

With this terrible evidence the Independents carry their crusade intoevery city. The principal public squares of the cities are used toexhibit the biograph pictures. Night after night the crowds congregateto view the pictorial history of the Plutocratic National Prosperity. That which arguments cannot do in the way of weaning men from partyprejudice the picture crusade accomplishes. 

One of the side lights of the great drama that is being enacted is thesentiment that develops for the Committee of Forty. Memorial societiesin the states from which the several committeemen hailed, are formed togive the martyrs, as the forty are now called, a decent burial. Thirty-nine of the martyrs are thus honored by public interment. 

The one missing committeeman is William Nevins. He is supposed to beburied in the wrecked tunnel under the English channel. It is impossibleto repair the damage done by the explosion; futile efforts are made bysub-marine divers to locate the exact point at which the break in thetunnel was made. The action of the water has totally obliterated thebreach. So to the public this watery grave must remain the resting placeof the genius who conceived the plan for the restoration of the rightsof man. 

All of the details of the committee come to light through the papersfound on the body of Hendrick Stahl, secretary of the committee. Thefact that Nevins was alone responsible for the plan of annihilation andthat Trueman knew absolutely nothing of it, is incontestiblyestablished. 

This takes away the last argument of the Plutocrats who seek to connectTrueman with the act of Proscription. 

And Nevins? What of him?

He has not kept his pledge to the committee by dying with theTransgressor who was assigned to him. His pledge to God, to follow thecommittee the day after the atonement, has not been kept. 

When October fourteenth dawned, the news of the uprising of the peopleof Wilkes-Barre and of the part played by Trueman and Ethel, were readby Nevins from the cable dispatches at Calais. 

A fear arose in his heart that the plan for the election of Truemanmight fail. He delayed ending his life and hastened to New York. Uponhis arrival he went as a lodger to a room in a lofty Bowery hotel. Fromthis watch-tower he reviewed the political field. "I shall redeem mypledge to-morrow, " he said to himself each day. 

The night would find him irresolute, not for his fear of death, but forthe dread that some unexpected occurrence might arise to thwart thepeople in their effort to carry the election by the peaceable use of theballot. 

On the flight before the election Nevins hastens to Chicago. In thecrowd at the Independence Headquarters he mingles unobserved. "What newshave you from California?" he asks of one of the press committee. Thisis thought to be the pivotal State. At least this is the claim made bythe Plutocrats. 

"The indications are that the State will go against us. "

"And why so?"

"Because we have not been able to send speakers there, and thePlutocrats wrecked the train which was conveying the biograph pictures. You know the Press of the slope, with but few exceptions, are owned bythe Magnates and suppress every bit of news that would be detrimental tothem. They have distorted the acts of the Committee of Forty. Out inCalifornia the great mass of the people look upon the Independents as aparty of Anarchists. "

"Trueman can be elected without California, can he not?"

"Elected! Why, he will carry forty States. "

"You really believe it?" asks Nevins, earnestly. 

"I would wager my life on it, " is the instant reply. 

Nevins hurries from the headquarters and goes to his room. He writes aletter to Trueman, setting forth his hopes that the interests of thepeople will ever remain Trueman's actuating principle. With absolutefidelity he tells of the struggle he has undergone since the day he sentGolding to his death, and his reason for procrastinating in ending hislife. 

When the letter is finished Nevins reads it with evident satisfaction. 

"Now I will go to the committee, " is his resolve. 

A pistol lies on the table. He picks up the weapon. There is nohesitancy in his manner. Death has been a matter which he hascontemplated for months, and it holds no terror for him. 

"If I have sinned against Thee, O, God, " he murmurs, "death would be toomild a punishment for me. I would deserve to be everlastingly damned, tolive on this earth and bear the denunciation of my fellowmen. 

"My death, like those of the committee who have already fulfilled theirpledge, is not suicide, but part of the inevitable price of liberty. "

The pistol is raised to his temple. Then a thought flashes upon him. "Your death will come as an ante-climax to the election. It may be themeans of defeating the Independents. "

This thought causes him to lower the pistol. 

"To-morrow, " he mutters. 

At daybreak Nevins is at the headquarters and remains near the chiefoperator, eager for every detail of the election. 

"What is the weather prediction?" he inquires. 

"Generally clear; light local rains on Pacific seaboard. "

"I am most intensely interested in the result of the election, " Nevinsconfided to the operator, to explain his presence at headquarters. "Ihave come all the way from San Francisco to congratulate Trueman on hiselection. "

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Mr. Trueman is at his home inWilkes-Barre. "

"Well, I shall telegraph him my congratulations. I want to be the firstman in the United States to send him an authoritative message confirminghis election. If you can arrange to let me have the news first, when itcomes in, and will send my message, I shall be glad to pay you for theservice. "

"I have the wire that will send him the news, " the operator states as hepats a transmitter on the desk before him. "What do you call a fairpayment for the message?"

"Twenty-five dollars. "

"I'll send your message. "

Nevins gives the required sum, and sits at the elbow of the man who isto flash the news of victory to Trueman. 

In Wilkes-Barre the day has dawned auspiciously. Trueman is among thefirst to perform his duty as a citizen. After voting he returns to hishome. 

With his wife at his side he reads the dispatches that come in by aprivate wire from headquarters. 

"I am happier to-day than I ever was in my life before, " Ethel tellshim. "And I know that you will be elected. "

"I hope your words come true. But whether I am President or not mycampaign has not been in vain. I have won the fairest bride in theworld, and she and I are doing a real good with a fortune that mighthave been a curse. "

"Now I can understand the words that are a mystery to so many of therich: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive, '" Ethel says, as sheplaces her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Now I can appreciate theemotion that impelled you to give the one thousand dollar check to theminer's widow. " As they sit together, through the long day, they discusswhat they will do for the improvement of the people, there is noprovision for the repayment of anti-election promises to the managers oftrusts; no talk of rewarding henchmen with high offices. 

By five in the afternoon the messages begin to announce the forecast inthe extreme Eastern states. 

"Rhode Island has polled the largest vote in its history. TheIndependence Party claims the state by fifteen thousand. " Harvey readsthis with an incredulous smile. 

"We can hardly hope to carry Rhode Island, " he declares frankly. 

"You told me only yesterday that Fall River is going wild over thebiograph pictures, " Ethel protests. 

"The rural vote in Maine is believed to have caused the state to go tothe Independents, " is the next message that causes Harvey to doubt hissenses. 

"New Jersey washes its hands of trusts. Trueman carries Newark, Trenton, and Jersey City by overwhelming majorities. "

Thus the story of state after state is wired to Wilkes-Barre. 

"Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio are claimed to have voted for the people'scandidate. The Plutocrats ridicule the assertion, yet have no figures toquote. "

At nine o'clock the returns by election districts in the populouscities, begin to arrive. 

"In 1238 districts, Greater New York, Trueman leads by a clear majorityof 75, 000. " Harvey reads without comment. 

Ten minutes later, this message is received: "Total of 2200 electiondistricts, Greater New York, Trueman's majority 180, 000. This makes thestate Independent by a safe margin of 100, 000. "

Harvey Trueman feels for the first time since his nomination that hewill be elected. Joy is written on his face. 

"Pennsylvania casts its vote for Trueman and co-operation. "

It is eleven-thirty. The proverbial "landslide" of politics hasoccurred. Already the townspeople of Wilkes-Barre are surging about thevilla, cheering their champion. 

A dozen times Harvey goes to the window to bow his acknowledgments. 

Ethel is excited, almost hysterical. With a woman's quick perception sherealizes that her husband has triumphed. 

Again they stand at the elbow of the telegraph operator who is receivingthe messages. 

"Chicago--" then there was a break. 

"Trueman, have Trueman come to the instrument. Answer. Is Trueman atyour elbow?" This message is sent by the operator at headquarters. Hehas indicated that it is a private message and only the word Chicago iswritten. 

"What's the matter?" asks Trueman, who has noticed the pause. 

"It's all right, sir; the operator want's you to get this messageimmediately. " There is another pause. 

 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, INDEPENDENCE PARTY HEADQUARTERS. 

 To HARVEY TRUEMAN, Greeting:

 "You are elected President of the United States by popular acclamation of forty States. I congratulate you. Keep your faith with the people; place them always above the dollar; remember that your office was bought by the blood of patriots, as true as the founders of the Republic; that you owe it to the majority to keep their rights inviolate. I go to inform the Committee of Forty that the Revolution of Reason is victorious. 

 WILLIAM NEVINS. "

As Trueman reads these words and grasps their meaning, Nevins, at theother end of the wire, in distant Chicago, redeems his pledge and dropsdead. 

The curtain falls on the Tragedy of Life. The struggle for mereexistence that has retarded mankind from creation, is at an end. Manenters into possession of his God-given inheritance, _equalopportunity_, with a valiant leader, and the fairest land in the worldin which to begin the building up of a Republic that insures to all menLife, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.