he teachings of the
socialists, for his companions were, many of them, students of
sociology. Upon his release he had come to this country. He invented a
compressed air motor, but the American Motor Trust robbed him of his
patents.

In the space of five minutes Nettinger strives to defend the theory of
anarchy. He denounces all government as a make-shift, and asserts that
man should accordingly dispense with the forms of government and depend
upon animal instinct to regulate the social community. He names Samuel
L. Bell, chairman of the International Patent Commission, as the man who
contrived to rob him of his patent rights.

The meeting adjourns at the conclusion of this harangue.

In the hour that has passed the elements for a political revolution have
been brought together and combined by a master mind.

CHAPTER X.

THE SECRET SESSION.

It is apparent that the views of the men who have the most serious
grievances against the Trusts are yet to be heard. Most of the members
are glad that the meeting of the previous night had adjourned so as to
afford time for them to consider the salient points of the remarkable
proposal that had been sprung by Nevins.

One of the members, who was conspicuous at all of the meetings, a man of
pinched features and diminutive form, a veritable Pope Leo, as it were,
makes a motion, as soon as the meeting opens, that three of the members
be heard, and if their stories in any way coincide with the general
views of the others, the pledge of the remaining men, that they hold
equally strong opinions, be sufficient to admit them to the standing
necessary for the exposition of the plan.

As a means of expediting matters, the committee adopts this resolution
and the three men who are to tell their life's history are chosen. The
first of these is a man of the world, a fallen idol of society, who had
lately joined the ranks of the oppressed as a consequence of dire
financial difficulties.

When he made his advent in the company of the desperate men of Chicago,
he had adopted the name of Stephen Marlow.

This name is sufficient, for the men with whom he comes in contact are
not occupied in searching genealogies. They are working for results.
Marlow is in every sense of the word a leader. He has the grace of
manner and the personal charm that at once attracts men. His physical
development makes him the envy of the male sex and the idol of the
feminine. In stature he is slightly u