assed since Bivens placed in the District Attorney's
hands the document which was destined to make sad history in the annals
of the metropolis. Stuart felt that the time had come to act. It was
his solemn duty to the people.

He sat in his private office in one of the great skyscrapers down town
holding in his hand a list of the men he was about to ask the Grand
Jury to indict for crimes which would send them to prison, exile and
dishonoured death. It was a glorious morning in May. The window was
open and a soft wind was blowing from the south. The view of the blue
expanse of the great harbour and towering hills of Staten Island in the
distance was entrancing. The south wind filled his heart with memories
of high ideals, and noble aspirations born in his own land of poverty
and want.

His people in the South had known the real horrors of want, had fought
the grim battle, won an honest living and kept their lives clean and
strong. And just because they had, his heart was filled with a great
pity as he read over and over again the illustrious names he was about
to blacken with the stain of crime. He thought of women in sheltered
homes up town whose necks would bend to the storm; of the anguish of
old-fashioned fathers and mothers who could think no evil of their own,
whose spirits would droop and die at the first breath of shame. He rose
at last with calm decision.

"I've got to do it--that's all. But before I do, I'm going to know one
or two things beyond the shadow of a doubt."

He seized his telephone and made an appointment to call at once on
Bivens.

The financier extended his delicate hand and with a cordial smile led
Stuart to a seat beside his desk. The only sign he betrayed of deep
emotion was the ice-like coldness of his slender fingers.

"Well, Jim, you've completed your very thorough investigation?"

"How did you know I was making a thorough investigation?"

Stuart looked at Bivens with a quick movement of surprise. The little
man was gazing intently at the ceiling.

"I make it my business to know things which vitally interest me. You
found my facts accurate?"

"Remarkably so."

"And you are ready to strike?"

The black eyes flashed.

"When I have confirmed some statements you have made in your story
concerning the private life of these men. How do you know the accuracy
of the facts you state in a single line, for instance, about the
private life and habits of the president of a certain trust