about Norton and Cross?" The historic Kentucky feuds perhaps contained more shooting and dramatics, but no more honest hatred.

II

When the armistice with Germany was declared, James Norton, in common with other far-sighted executives, made definite plans for curtailing production and reducing expenses; but contrary to his expectations the demand increased rather than diminished, and the question was how to meet it rather than how to maintain it. Labor made new demands and was in a position to enforce them. James Norton shook his head ominously, but to his amazement the consumer offered no objection to the increased prices, his only anxiety being lest his orders could not be filled. This condition continued month after month, until the manufacturer came to regard the abnormal as normal, and the laborer believed his marvelously increased stipend to be assured for all time. What had been looked upon as luxuries became necessities, and society had to change its classifications. The first stratum and the most arrogant was now the working class; the second included the manufacturers, somewhat less assuming, but possessing no lack of self-respect; and the third, a new creation, were the nouveaux pauvres, those gentle folk who before the war received a sufficient income from their investments in stocks and bonds to meet their varying demands of living. These unfortunate creatures in the third class found themselves between the Scylla of re

duced or vanished dividends and the Charybdis of enormously increased expenses and income taxes.

Then, without warning, came the economic condition for which the manufacturers had earlier prepared but later ignored. The buying public struck. As if business had been cut in two by a gigantic cleaver, orders in hand were suddenly canceled and new orders ceased. Before the industrial world grasped the fact that the reaction had actually arrived the enormous profits yielded by war prices had been wiped out by the continuing high cost of labor, which could no longer be passed on to the consumer, and by inventories of materials purchased at top prices and daily shrinking to lower values which meant appalling losses. James Norton was but one of the many executives who found themselves face to face with the greatest business crisis of their lives.

III

All this produced a condition for which Henry Cross had been patiently waiting for twenty years. The accumulated fortune of the Cross family was divided into three classes, . . land, mortgages, and government securities. The life-long principle of Henry Cross had been to keep a sufficient amount of his property in liquid form so that he could always gratify his quiet passion for bargains. This might take the form of a neat little farm whose owner found himself embarrassed through ill-luck or poor management, or Liberty Bonds ten to fifteen points below par. Cross never purchased a share of stock in the market, yet he lacked

no opportunity to make use of his native genius as a speculator. He would have told you that he "traded" sometimes, but never speculated. He bought only when the other man wanted to sell, and his business discussions were brief and to the point.

"You are the one asking me to buy, aren't you?" he would demand at the first symptom of an argument. "That's what I'll give you for it. Take it or leave it." But in any man's scheme of life there are always exceptions, and in this case there were two: every share of stock in the Norcross National Bank which changed hands interested Henry Cross from a buyer's standpoint, and during the last two years he had invested heavily in the commercial paper of the Norton Manufacturing Company. No one but his agent knew of these departures from his life-long practice, but share by share he came nearer to a controlling interest in the bank, and month by month increased his holdings of Norton's notes, waiting patiently for the inflated business airship to make its enforced landing. When that happened something told him there would be a bump.

The Cross household included Mrs. Cross and Miss Sarah Cross, Henry's maiden sister. For over thirtyfive years it had seen no changes except in the alterations in the house itself occasioned by the addition of material improvements as they came to be necessities. The telephone had been the greatest struggle, but Henry Cross had no intention of permitting any one in Norcross to possess what he lacked, so the instrument was installed, even though for over a year after its instal

lation no out-going calls were registered against it. It was an harmonious household with but a single mind, and that mind was Henry Cross's. The women had two distinct interests in life, Henry Cross and the Congregational Church, the first from habit and the second from inheritance. The Calvinistic doctrines had come to the Cross family in direct line from Jonathan Edwards. Such topics as original sin, bondage of the will, predestination, and the creation were still discussed with as much familiarity and enthusiasm as other families manifest today in baseball scores and rival types of automobiles. Where on some walls would hang a photograph of Theodore Roosevelt a visitor might observe an ancient sampler carrying the words, "In Adam's fall we sinned all." There was no compromise with wrong in the hearts of the Cross women, but their less righteous neighbors, who considered them strait-laced and bigoted, were scarcely warranted in saying that Sarah even blew her nose on high moral principles. Under these circumstances the routine of the Cross household possessed little variety, and there had been no thrill since the west end of the house caught fire ten years before.

"Henry," said Mrs. Cross to her husband when he returned to the house late one afternoon, "we've got to do something about that dog."

"Killed another cat, has he?"

"Yes; I'm getting a regular cemetery of cats out in the garden. If you can tell me why that dog pays no attention to cats on week-days and kills one and fetches it home every Sunday, I'd like to know."

"Takes 'em for heretics, I guess." Henry chuckled over his joke. "He can't drop his weekly donation into the contribution box on the Sabbath, so he brings it to you, Martha."

"He's awful vindictive about it. Even after he's killed 'em, he shakes 'em 'til it makes me sick."

"Probably wants to prove to 'em that there's punishment after death."

"What's got into you, Henry Cross," she demanded, "to make you so 'specially chipper and good-natured tonight?"

"Nothing to speak of," he disclaimed; "just trying to be cheerful, I suppose."

Mrs. Cross, however, was not to be diverted, and repeated her observations to her sister-in-law.

"We'll know in time," Sarah replied philosophically. "Henry won't open his mouth until he gets good and ready, so there isn't any use in wondering."

During supper Henry's good spirits continued. Mrs. Cross found it difficult to follow Sarah's advice, for her curiosity still flourished with undiminished vigor even though other personal characteristics had weakened from a hardening of the ideas.

I

"Land's sakes, Henry!" she exclaimed at length, "aren't you going to tell us what has happened? haven't seen you so chipper for years."

Henry Cross chuckled to himself.

"I am feeling pretty good," he admitted; "but there isn't much to talk about

yet."

"You aren't going to leave us hung up like that, are

you?"