etly left the
room. The president fell back a step. Had Mrs. Goodchild ever spoken to
this creature? Then he realized it was merely a fashion of speaking, and
he approached, one pudgy fist uplifted. The uplift was more for
rhetorical effect than for practical purposes, which has been a habit
with most uplifts since money-making became an exact science. But
Hendrik smiled pleasantly, as his forebears always did in battle, and
said:

"If I hit you once on the point of the jaw it'll be the death-chair for
mine. I am young. Please control yourself."

"You infernal scoundrel!"

"What has Mrs. Goodchild ever done to me, that I should make her a
widow?" You could see he was sincerely trying to be not only just, but
judicial.

The president of the bank gathered himself together. Then, as one flings
a dynamite bomb, he utterly destroyed this creature. "You are
_discharged_!"

"Tut, tut! I discharged the bank ages ago; I'm only waiting for the bank
to pack up. Now you listen to me."

"Leave this room, sir!" He said it in that exact tone of voice.

But Hendrik did not vanish into thin air. He commanded, "Take a good
look at me!"

The president of the bank could not take orders from a clerk in class B.
Discipline must be maintained at any cost. He therefore promptly turned
away his head. But Hendrik drew near and said:

"Do you hear?"

There was in the lunatic's voice something that made Mr. George G.
Goodchild instantly bethink himself of all the hold-up stories he had
ever heard. He stared at Hendrik with the fascination of fear.

"What do you see?" asked Rutgers, tensely. "A human soul? No. You see
K-L. You think machinery means progress, and therefore you don't want
men, but machines, hey?"

The president did not see K-L, as at the beginning of the interview.
Instead of the two enslaving letters he saw two huge, emancipating
fists. This man was far too robust to be a safe clerk. He had square
shoulders. Yes, he had!

The president was not the ass that Hendrik had called him. His
limitations were the limitations of all irreligious people who regularly
go to church. He thus attached too much importance to To-day, though
perhaps his demand loans had something to do with it. His sense of humor
was altogether phrasal, like that of most multimillionaires. But if he
was too old a man to be consistently intelligent, he was also an
experienced banker. He knew he had to listen or be licked. He decided to
listen. He als