panied H. R. to the room
where the reporters were waiting.

"I have heard Mr. Rutgers's question. The word of five letters beginning
with an 'A' I think answers it, from his point of view, which is not
unreasonable. I cannot say that the inability to guess proves the
non-possession of brains--"

"The Cardinal knew at once," put in H. R.

"But that nobody should have guessed is astonishing."

"They were not all Christians," explained H. R.

"What is the answer?" asked a reporter.

"A word of five letters beginning with 'A,'" said H. R.

"Can't we publish it?"

"It is our secret now. New York is very rich. When it discovers that one
word--or its synonym of four letters--it will be infinitely richer in
every way."

The reporters brightened up. They saw columns and columns of guesses.
But the Cardinal looked thoughtful. Then he said to H. R.:

"Come and see me again."

"Thank you. I will, your Eminence."

The Cardinal bowed his head gravely and H. R. and the newspaper men
left.

"Are you a Catholic?" the _World_ man asked.

"No," answered H. R., doubtfully.

"All roads lead to Rome," interrupted Lubin, with a sneer.

"Excepting one, Lubin," said H. R., pleasantly. "Keep on going, my boy.
It's nice and warm there."

XXV

The newspapers did nobly. Too many prominent names were involved for
them not to print the news. There was an opportunity for using real
humor and impressive statistics in describing the new labor-saving
machinery. The marvelous efficiency of H. R. as a practical
philanthropist, demonstrated by his elimination of people who had money
with which to buy food, and the simple but amazing efficacy of his
Thirst-Detector raised the story to the realm of pure literature.

There was also a serious aspect to the entire affair. All the hungry
men, women, and children in Greater New York that had no money had been
fed. Assuming, as was probable, that most of the hungry were not
bona-fide residents of New York, it showed that in the metropolis of the
Western World less than one-thousandth of the total population were
hungry and penniless. No other city in the world could boast of such
statistics.

But H. R.'s work was not done. Before he retired for the night, knowing
that his position in society and in the world of affairs was established
on an adamant base, he nevertheless composed thirty-eight communications
for the Public Sentiment Corps to send out the next day to the
newspapers.