thing about him?"

"Oh, yes," replied Mr. Wintermuth, with a smile. "You mean Charles
Lyon. He is President of the Liberty Fire--quite a new company. He
_is_ a clever talker--they say he can talk a bird out of a tree. To
have organized the Liberty and gotten it started with real cash paid in
was a distinct personal achievement. But I'm afraid he's a better
promoter than an underwriter; the Liberty has been losing money at an
astonishing rate ever since it actually commenced to write business.
If he succeeds in cutting the fire waste of the country in two, his own
company may survive and may even share in the benefits, although
probably not to a disproportionate extent. But I'm afraid he's too
much of a philanthropist--a little too unselfish for us. We want an
underwriter, not a philanthropist--some one more interested in keeping
down the losses of the Guardian Fire Insurance Company than those of
the United States of America. And I imagine that Lyon at present would
stick to the Liberty anyway, although I fancy he will be open for a new
position before very long."

"Well, I move that the President be empowered to hunt up the most
likely candidate he can find for Mr. O'Connor's position," said Mr.
Whitehill, and the motion was carried. An adjournment was taken for a
week, or until such time as Mr. Wintermuth should have a candidate
ready for consideration.

There was one decided drawback to the successful accomplishment of the
task to which Mr. Wintermuth now addressed himself. This was the fact
that the Guardian was not disposed to pay exorbitantly for an
underwriting head. It was willing to pay a reasonable salary, but it
was not a corporation of unlimited resources or gigantic income, and
the expense ratio had perforce to be considered. Plenty of men whose
names occurred to the President would have been competent and in every
way eligible, but they were men of recognized standing in the
profession, and already occupied positions of trust. It is not often
that highly capable men are open to change without unusual inducement,
and Mr. Wintermuth, scanning the ranks of possibilities, found them
dishearteningly scanty. All the men he wanted, he knew perfectly well
could not be detached from their present allegiances, and the men who
were detachable he didn't want. Moreover, it had been a good many
years since Mr. Wintermuth had been actively at work in the field. The
men with whose character and ability