ft Annixter's face, and for an instant sought the
ground. His frown lowered, but now it was in perplexity, rather than in
anger. His mind was troubled, harassed with a thousand dissensions.

But one of Magnus's strongest instincts, one of his keenest desires,
was to be, if only for a short time, the master. To control men had
ever been his ambition; submission of any kind, his greatest horror. His
energy stirred within him, goaded by the lash of his anger, his sense
of indignity, of insult. Oh for one moment to be able to strike back,
to crush his enemy, to defeat the railroad, hold the Corporation in the
grip of his fist, put down S. Behrman, rehabilitate himself, regain his
self-respect. To be once more powerful, to command, to dominate. His
thin lips pressed themselves together; the nostrils of his prominent
hawk-like nose dilated, his erect, commanding figure stiffened
unconsciously. For a moment, he saw himself controlling the situation,
the foremost figure in his State, feared, respected, thousands of
men beneath him, his ambition at length gratified; his career, once
apparently brought to naught, completed; success a palpable achievement.
What if this were his chance, after all, come at last after all these
years. His chance! The instincts of the old-time gambler, the most
redoubtable poker player of El Dorado County, stirred at the word.
Chance! To know it when it came, to recognise it as it passed fleet as a
wind-flurry, grip at it, catch at it, blind, reckless, staking all upon
the hazard of the issue, that was genius. Was this his Chance? All of
a sudden, it seemed to him that it was. But his honour! His cherished,
lifelong integrity, the unstained purity of his principles? At this late
date, were they to be sacrificed? Could he now go counter to all the
firm built fabric of his character? How, afterward, could he bear to
look Harran and Lyman in the face? And, yet--and, yet--back swung the
pendulum--to neglect his Chance meant failure; a life begun in promise,
and ended in obscurity, perhaps in financial ruin, poverty even. To
seize it meant achievement, fame, influence, prestige, possibly great
wealth.

"I am so sorry to interrupt," said Mrs. Derrick, as she came up. "I hope
Mr. Annixter will excuse me, but I want Magnus to open the safe for me.
I have lost the combination, and I must have some money. Phelps is going
into town, and I want him to pay some bills for me. Can't you come right
away, Magnus? Phe