ould make a blind rush for their homes. Then
at the entrances to bridges and ferries and trams, would be seen sights
of madness and terror; throngs of men and women swept hither and
thither, pushing and struggling, shouting, cursing--fighting, now and
then, in sudden panic fear. All decency was forgotten here--people
would be mashed into cars like football players in a heap, and guards
and policemen would jam the gates tight--or like as not be swept away
themselves in the pushing, grunting, writhing mass of human beings.
Women would faint and be trampled; men would come out with clothing
torn to shreds, and sometimes with broken arms or ribs. And thinking
people would gaze at the sight and shudder, wondering--how long a city
could hold together, when the masses of its population were thus forced
back, day after day, habitually, upon the elemental brute within them.

In this vast business district Montague would have felt utterly lost
and helpless, if it had not been for that fifty thousand dollars, and
the sense of mastery which it gave him. He sought out General Prentice,
and under his guidance selected his suite of rooms, and got his
furniture and books in readiness. And a day or two later, by
appointment, came Mr. Hasbrook.

He was a wiry, nervous little man, who did not impress one as much of a
personality; but he had the insurance situation at his fingers'
ends--his grievance had evidently wrought upon him. Certainly, if half
of what he alleged were true, it was time that the courts took hold of
the affair.

Montague spent the whole day in consultation, going over every aspect
of the case, and laying out his course of procedure. And then, at the
end, Mr. Hasbrook remarked that it would be necessary for them to make
some financial arrangement. And the other set his teeth together, and
took a tight grip upon himself, and said, "Considering the importance
of the case, and all the circumstances, I think I should have a
retainer of fifty thousand dollars."

And the little man never turned a hair! "That will be perfectly
satisfactory," he said. "I will attend to it at once." And the other's
heart gave a great leap.

And sure enough, the next morning's mail brought the money, in the
shape of a cashier's cheque from one of the big banks. Montague
deposited it to his own account, and felt that the city was his!

And so he flung himself into the work. He went to his office every day,
and he shut himself up in his own