scover, gives rise to the survival of the tough
and the domination of the pugnacious--the annihilation of the tender and
the subjugation of the sensitive.

When Millard entered the bank there existed a conflict in the board of
directors, and a division of opinion extending to the stockholders,
between those who sustained and those who opposed the policy of the
Masters-Farnsworth administration. But the administration proved
fortunate and successful to such a degree that the opposition and
rivalry presently died away or lost hope. Once the opposition to the two
managers had disappeared, the lack of adjustment between the president
and cashier became more pronounced. Farnsworth was the victim of a
chronic asthma, and he was as ambitious as he was restless. The wan
little man was untiring in his exertions because the trouble he had to
get breath left him no temptation to repose. He contrived to find vent
for his uneasiness by communicating a great deal of it to others.
Masters, the president, was a man of sixty-five, with neither disease
nor ambition preying on his vitals. For a long while he allowed
Farnsworth to have his way in most things, knowing that if one entered
into contention with Farnsworth there was no hope of ever making an end
of it except by death or surrender. That which was decided yesterday
against Farnsworth was sure to be reopened this morning; and though
finally settled again to-day, it was all to be gone over to-morrow; nor
would it be nearer to an adjustment next week. Compromise did no good:
Farnsworth accepted your concession to-day, and then higgled you to
split the difference on the remainder to-morrow, until you had so small
a dividend left that it was not worth holding to.

But in dealing with a man like Masters it was possible to carry the
policy of grand worry too far. When at length this rather phlegmatic man
made up his mind that Farnsworth was systematically bullying him--a
conclusion that Mrs. Masters helped him to reach--he became the very
granite of obstinacy, offering a quiet but unyielding resistance to the
cashier's aggressiveness. But an ease-loving man could not keep up this
sort of fight forever. Masters knew this as well as any one, and he
therefore felt the need of some buffer between him and his associate.
There were two positions contemplated in the organization of the bank
that had never yet been filled. One was that of vice-president, the
other that of assistant cashier. By