ho sat bolt-upright beside their wives and tried to look
like millionaires. For every passerby Henderson had a quick word of
characterization sufficiently amusing, and about many a story which
illuminated the social life of the day. It was wonderful how many of
this chance company had little "histories"--comic, tragic, pitiful,
interesting enough for the pages of a novel.

"There is a young lady"--Henderson touched his hat, and I caught
a glimpse of golden hair and a flash of dark eyes out of a mass of
furs--"who has no history: the world is all before her."

"Who is that?"

"The daughter of old Eschelle--Carmen Eschelle--the banker and
politician, you remember; had a diplomatic position abroad, and the girl
was educated in Europe. She is very clever. She and her mother have more
money than they ought to know what to do with."

"That was the celebrated Jay Hawker" ( a moment after), "in the modest
coupe--not much display about him."

"Is he recognized by respectable people?"

"Recognized?" Henderson laughed. "He's a power. There are plenty of
people who live by trying to guess what he is going to do. Hawker isn't
such a bad fellow. Other people have used the means he used to get
rich and haven't succeeded. They are not held up to point a moral. The
trouble is that Hawker succeeded. Of course, it's a game. He plays as
fair as anybody."

"Yes," Henderson resumed, walking his horses in sight of the obelisk,
which suggested the long continuance of the human race, "it is the same
old game, and it is very interesting to those who are in it. Outsiders
think it is all greed. In the Chamber it is a good deal the love of the
game, to watch each other, to find out a man's plans, to circumvent him,
to thwart him, to start a scheme and manipulate it, to catch somebody,
to escape somebody; it is a perpetual excitement."

"The machine in the Chamber appears to run very smoothly," I said.
"Oh, that is a public register and indicator. The system back of it
is comprehensive, and appears to be complicated, but it is really very
simple. Spend an hour some day in the office of Flamm and Slamm, and
you will see a part of the system. There are, always a number of men
watching the blackboard, figures on which are changed every minute by
the attendants. Telegrams are constantly arriving from every part of
the Union, from all over the continent, from all the centres in Europe,
which are read by some one connected with the firm, and then