Fascinated by the
spectacle, which doubtless suggested to him some analogy to his
own methods, Ryder sat motionless, his eyes fastened on the
ceiling, until the sudden stopping of the secretary's reading
aroused him and told him that the minutes were finished. Quickly
they were approved, and the chairman proceeded as rapidly as
possible with the regular business routine. That disposed of, the
meeting was ready for the chief business of the day. Ryder then
calmly proceeded to present the facts in the case.

Some years back the road had acquired as an investment some
thousands of acres of land located in the outskirts of Auburndale,
on the line of their road. The land was bought cheap, and there
had been some talk of laying part of it out as a public park. This
promise had been made at the time in good faith, but it was no
condition of the sale. If, afterwards, owing to the rise in the
value of real estate, the road found it impossible to carry out
the original idea, surely they were masters of their own property!
The people of Auburndale thought differently and, goaded on by the
local newspapers, had begun action in the courts to restrain the
road from diverting the land from its alleged original purpose.
They had succeeded in getting the injunction, but the road had
fought it tooth and nail, and finally carried it to the Supreme
Court, where Judge Rossmore, after reserving his opinion, had
finally sustained the injunction and decided against the railroad.
That was the situation, and he would now like to hear from the
members of the board.

Mr. Grimsby rose. Self-confident and noisily loquacious, as most
men of his class are in simple conversation, he was plainly
intimidated at speaking before such a crowd. He did not know where
to look nor what to do with his hands, and he shuffled uneasily on
his feet, while streams of nervous perspiration ran down his fat
face, which he mopped repeatedly with a big coloured handkerchief.
At last, taking courage, he began:

"Mr. Chairman, for the past ten years this road has made bigger
earnings in proportion to its carrying capacity than any other
railroad in the United States. We have had fewer accidents, less
injury to rolling stock, less litigation and bigger dividends. The
road has been well managed and"--here he looked significantly in
Ryder's direction--"there has been a big brain behind the manager.
We owe you that credit, Mr. Ryder!"

Cries of "Hear! Hear!" came from a