in
glory is well within his power, but avarice is the chief occupant of his
heart. With sixty and more years on his head and so much wealth that he
cannot by any possibility spend one twentieth part of his yearly income,
the iron master still has an insatiable thirst for gold. To the Forty
who know every detail of his career, this man above all others is the
one whom they despise. His hypocrisy makes him the most despicable of
the proscribed. Chadwick is proud that to him has fallen the lot of
exterminating this Transgressor.

From other letters received by Nevins it develops that not one of the
men has failed in locating his man and in laying the net which is to
enmesh him.

The proposal of a supposed inventor to create a machine that will reduce
cost of manufacture, leads the merchant prince into a trap. He rejoices
at the thought of reducing the expense of wage and of maintaining the
price of goods to the consumer.

An improved explosive interests the mine owner It will cost him less and
can be sold to the operatives at the same price. It is more dangerous to
use, but that does not deter him from seeking to utilize it; for it is
the operatives who will have to run the risk in the mines.

A substitute for oil is the lure that compels the Oil King to pay
respectful attention to another of the committee. The same prospect of a
substitute for sugar demands the attention of the Sugar King. To each of
the Transgressors there is held out as a bait the needed promise of gain
at the public expense.

Thus the details of the pending tragedy are perfected.

CHAPTER XXII.

MILLIONAIRES SOWING THE WIND.

While the work of the Independence party is being conducted with all the
vigor that its scanty financial resources will permit, the opponents of
popular government are pushing their campaign in all directions, aided
by inexhaustible money, and all the influence that attaches to the party
in power. The Plutocratic convention which had been held in Chicago
promulgated a platform that pledges the party to institute every form of
legislation calculated to appease the demands of the people.

That the pretences of the platform are insincere is a fact that every
one is well acquainted with; yet so potential is the power of the party
that it is able to persuade men against their best judgment, and those
whom it cannot bring to its support by argument are forced to align
themselves on the side of phitocratic government