the goody-goody kind, are you? Fare you
well. I'll see you in church Sunday."

The girl was now at the inner office door. She turned and eyed Druce
narrowly.

"Thank you," she replied without anger.

"Perhaps, some day, I'll see you wearing stripes and looking through iron
bars!"

The door shut swiftly behind her, leaving Druce staring at the panels.

"What do you know about that," he spoke aloud, though there was no one in
the outer office to hear him.

"Never mind, kid--you're no boob, anyway." He turned on his heel and
walked out.

CHAPTER XIV

IN WHICH THE WOLF IS BITTEN BY THE LAMB

John Boland was a very capable business man. He possessed the combination
of shrewdness, ability to grasp and marshal details, and that utter
selfishness which the world from time immemorial has rewarded with huge
accumulations of money. He had one of those minds which find their
recreation in intrigue. Unembarrassed by a conscience and unhampered by
scruples he drove directly to his goal--success.

As head of the Electric Trust Boland was compelled to be at once a
financier and a politician. The faculties for success in both fields are
closely allied; in both Boland was eminently triumphant. Sitting in his
office day after day, unmoved by events that might have disturbed other
men and unstirred by emotions that might have turned other men from their
paths, he looked out over the city and "played his game" with all the
cold impassiveness of a gambler operating an infallible system in
roulette. No detail was too small to escape his notice, no agent too
ignoble to serve his purpose.

These facts are mentioned to explain the relationship that existed
between John Boland and Martin Druce. In these two men, the social
extremes of the city met--Boland, the financial power and leading
citizen; Druce, the dive keeper and social outcast. They met because
Boland wished it. Druce was one of the creatures that he could and often
did use in his business.

Although ostensibly ignorant of the very existence of Druce, Boland in
reality had the man often in his thoughts. He kept these thoughts hidden
in that inner chamber of his mind from which, from time to time, emerged
those inspirations that had made his name a by-word on La Salle street
for supernatural astuteness. Not even the most intimate of his coworkers
guessed them.

For nearly a month now Druce had been calling at Bola