d by a dull,
ashen gray, the lines had deepened, and the general aspect was that of a
man ten years older.

"Everything is all right, Mr. Gorham," Covington remarked,
encouragingly. "They passed the resolutions you demanded."

"John."

It was the first time Gorham had ever addressed him by his Christian
name, and this fact, together with the tone in which it was spoken,
aroused a novel sensation in the younger man. He took the outstretched
hand, and accepted the friendly pressure, conscious of a feeling not
altogether pleasant.

"John," Gorham repeated, "you and I are the only ones who can save the
Companies to its stockholders. We have a tremendous responsibility
thrust upon us."

"But you won out," Covington exclaimed, amazed that Gorham seemed not to
have comprehended his words. "Everything is all right."

"Everything is all wrong," the older man corrected, his eyes flashing
with a fire at variance with his general bearing. "Of course I won out,
but that is the least of my concern. My life-work bids fair to be a
failure, unless you and I together can build this structure over, using
material which this time will prove strong enough to withstand the
unholy strain of money, money, money. Of course I won out, because they
dare not risk my antagonism; but I have failed--miserably failed--in my
efforts to instil into those associated with me the basic principles of
a successful altruistic business. Oh, the pity of it! The greater the
returns the greater the greed, and their blindness in killing the goose
which lays the golden egg! But in you, John, at least, I have a tower of
strength."

Covington found himself being rapidly forced into an equivocal position.
No one knew so well as he that the present conditions were the direct
result of his skilful and persistent manipulation, yet the result of
this first issue had not been what he had foreseen. In fact, it had
turned out better than he had expected, in that Gorham now leaned on him
as his sole support. Yet it was dangerous, Covington realized, to be
placed where he could be accused of carrying water on both shoulders, so
he hastened to put himself on record, midway between the two factions.

"They had no idea that you laid so much stress on the moral side, in
your own mind--" he began.

"How could they have known me at all and thought otherwise?"

"The whole scheme of the Consolidated Companies is so unusual that
perhaps it isn't to be wondered at. What you