Ryder and whispered something in his ear.

[Pencil illustration of the meeting]

He had come to this meeting to-day to tell them of his
triumph.--_Page 46._

With an acquiescent gesture, John Ryder tapped the table with his
gavel and rose to address his fellow directors. Instantly the room
was silent again as the tomb. One might have heard a pin drop, so
intense was the attention. All eyes were fixed on the chairman.
The air itself seemed charged with electricity, that needed but a
spark to set it ablaze.

Speaking deliberately and dispassionately, the Master Dissembler
began.

They had all listened carefully, he said, to what had been stated
by previous speakers. The situation no doubt was very critical,
but they had weathered worse storms and he had every reason to
hope they would outlive this storm. It was true that public
opinion was greatly incensed against the railroads and, indeed,
against all organized capital, and was seeking to injure them
through the courts. For a time this agitation would hurt business
and lessen the dividends, for it meant not only smaller annual
earnings but that a lot of money must be spent in Washington.

The eyes of the listeners, who were hanging on every word,
involuntarily turned in the direction of Senator Roberts, but the
latter, at that moment busily engaged in rummaging among a lot of
papers, seemed to have missed this significant allusion to the
road's expenses in the District of Columbia. Ryder continued:

In his experience such waves of reform were periodical and soon
wear themselves out, when things go on just as they did before.
Much of the agitation, doubtless, was a strike for graft. They
would have to go down in their pockets, he supposed, and then
these yellow newspapers and these yellow magazines that were
barking at their heels would let them go. But in regard to the
particular case now at issue--this Auburndale decision--there had
been no way of preventing it. Influence had been used, but to no
effect. The thing to do now was to prevent any such disasters in
future by removing the author of them.

The directors bent eagerly forward. Had Ryder really got some plan
up his sleeve after all? The faces around the table looked
brighter, and the directors cleared their throats and settled
themselves down in their chairs as audiences do in the theatre
when the drama is reaching its climax.

The board, continued Ryder with icy calmness, had perhaps hea