for justice," pursued H. R., addressing himself to Mrs.
Vandergilt; "but it is at the ignoble side of man that you must shoot.
It is a larger target--easier to hit."

"But--" began Mrs. Vandergilt.

"If I were a woman my dream should be to serve under you and implicitly
obey all orders. I'd distribute dynamite as cheerfully as handbills.
Without competent marshals do you imagine Napoleon could have done what
he did?

"Don't I know it?" said Mrs. Vandergilt, bitterly.

"How would you go about it?" interjected Ethel, who had grown weary of
her own silence.

"I'd get the marshals. I'd get subordinates that, when your mother said
'Do thus and so!' she could feel sure would obey orders. The general
strategy must come from her."

"I've said that until I was black in the face," said Mrs. Vandergilt.
"I've told them--" And the great leader talked and talked, while H. R.
stopped eating to listen with his very soul. With such a listener Mrs.
Vandergilt was at her best.

"Mother, the squab is getting cold," said Ethel.

"The next time it will be cold in advance," said H. R., impatiently. "Go
on, Mrs. Vandergilt!"

But Mrs. Vandergilt, knowing she could not finish at one luncheon, shook
her head graciously and invited H. R. to dinner the next evening.

"I can hardly wait!" murmured H. R.

XXXII

The dinner at Mrs. Vandergilt's home was H. R.'s initial social triumph.
The first thing he did was to confess to Mrs. Vandergilt that what he
desired above all things was to be her military secretary. All he asked
was to serve the Cause so long as she led, and no longer.

"I hate failures," he told her. "I don't propose to be identified with
any. If I did not see in you what I do I should not be here. I know
creative genius when I see it. You paint the picture. I am only the
frame-maker--necessary, but not among the immortals."

"You are more than that," she assured him, with a smile. He shook his
head.

"I can fool the rabble; but you know the trick! Organize your personal
staff. Fire them with your own enthusiasm. Of course they won't all have
brains; but they will do to stop gaps and follow instructions."

And Mrs. Vandergilt, in order that all might know that great minds
acknowledged a greater mind, cracked up H. R. to the sky. H. R.'s
success was all the greater since he made a point of declining most
invitations. He was seen only where most people wished to be seen. That
made him talked about.

Grace he