e says for gospel. He probably--"

"Don't you fool yourself, V.V.! Heth's too smart a man to turn over his
principal business to anybody. And I'm sick and tried of jollying with
him. Say, remember that letter you wrote in the 'Post' last fall?"

It appeared that V.V. did recall the thing, now that Sam mentioned it.
He said introspectively:

"So you think he's still got a grudge about that?... Well, I'm sorry,
but that letter was all true, Sam, absolutely true, in all
particulars.... Why," said he, "what's the use of talking? You can't
have omelettes without breaking eggs. You cannot."

"That's right. 'S what I came to talk about. Now, what do you say to
another strong letter to-morrow, right in the same place. These--"

"_Another_ letter!..."

"You betcher--hurt their feelings, anyway, if it don't do anything else.
I guess you had it right, that a heavy dose of public opinion is--"

"Well, no," said V.V., frankly--"no.... Another letter would be a
mistake, at just this stage of the game--a great tactical blunder--"

"Why d'you think that?" said Sam O'Neill, rather taken aback.

"Why do I think it, you say? Well, I--I know it."

"Well, I don't know it. It's a blame good thing to make these swell
obstructionists feel ashamed of themselves. Let 'em see their names
right in print. As for damages, Heth's shown that he's afraid to go
into court--"

But V.V. waved aside the idea of a suit. "The whole thing," said he, "is
merely a question of tactics. Things are going along very satisfactorily
as they are. There's a drift on, a tendency--you might say. The clothing
people have come in. Magees have come in. Why, they've agreed to do
every blessed thing you asked--fireproofed stairways and fire-doors,
ventilators and rest-rooms--"

"That makes the attitude of these others all the worse. I tell you
they've practically told me to go to hell."

The good-natured Commissioner spoke with a rare touch of irritation. To
have bagged all four of the offending local plants, without the aid of
law and relying only on personal influence and tactful pressure, would
undoubtedly have been a great card for the O'Neill administration.
Moreover, Mr. Heth's manner of superior indifference yesterday had been
decidedly galling.

"Well, give 'em a little more time," counselled V.V., lighting a pipe
which looked as if it had had a hard life. "You must make some allowance
for their point of view, Sam. Here's Mr. Heth, just to take an
exa