is here right now for you and me to have a show down. I hold a bunch of your obligations coming due during the next thirty days, and I have a right to know whether you're going to meet them."

"Of course we'll meet them hold?"

How much do you

"Oh, a little matter of between two hundred and three hundred thousand."

"What!" Norton cried, surprised into showing his "I don't believe you hold twenty thou

amazement.

sand!"

"Thought you might need convincing," Cross drew a package of papers from his pocket, "so I brought these along."

"Let me look at them."

Cross hesitated a moment, and then handed the package to Norton.

"Guess I can trust you," he remarked, dryly.

Norton started to make a retort, but he was more interested in the papers before him. He rapidly tabulated the dates and the amounts.

"Not far from right, was I?" Cross inquired. "Two hundred and sixty-eight thousand, isn't it?"

"Yes," Norton acknowledged; a calmness coming over him which was in strange contrast with his previous attitude.

"That's a lot of money to raise in thirty days with the market the way it is," the caller suggested.

Norton started suddenly as he turned the notes over in his hand. Then he reached for his magnifying glass and scrutinized them carefully, checking off certain

items on his list. Treadway watched him with obvious interest.

"Aren't they big enough without putting a magnifying glass on them?" Cross inquired jocosely; but Norton paid no attention to him . . . "If you care to sell enough of your bank stock to give me control," he continued, "I might be inclined to extend some of those notes."

Norton handed the package back to him. Then his choler returned, and he shook his fist menacingly in Cross's face.

"You'll be paid every cent that's due you on the day it matures," he declared, . . "every cent that's due you," Norton repeated with careful emphasis. "That's all I wanted to hear you say." Cross restored the notes to his pocket and rose. "But if anything happens between now and then you might remember my proposition. It will still hold good. Good night."

III

Norton watched him as he departed. As the door closed behind him he turned excitedly to his secretary. "Treadway," he cried, "at last we've got that old rascal where we want him! On four of those notes both signatures are forged! We'll wait until he presents the first one of these, and then . . ."

It was not necessary for Norton to complete his sentence. Treadway understood him perfectly.

CHAPTER XIV

W

I

'HEN Lola undertook to make good her promise to interest her father on Richard's behalf, she encountered a well-defined reluctance to depart from his invariable practice of leaving the solution of business problems to others. When he yielded, as he always did to his daughter's persuasion, the concession was to his affection for her rather than to any interest in the subject. Richard on his part had asked for the interview because he was grasping at straws which might prove of service to his cause, and not from any real confidence that Mr. Stewart would prove of the slightest assistance.

The interview developed unexpected surprises for both. Beneath the polished, diléttante exterior, which Richard had admired but which he supposed to express the personality of the man, he discovered a quick sympathy, a clear understanding, a latent force which he had never suspected. It was obvious that these characteristics might have been combined to make William Stewart a power except for his established habit of moving along the line of least resistance. The elder man found in the younger an idealism and a purpose en

tirely at variance with the impression he had formed by casual observation, colored, it is true, by the caustic comments made by Richard's father. Each left the conference with greater respect for the other.

Whether or not Richard's idealism could be made practical was another matter, and to a consideration of this Stewart devoted much time and thought. Moving along the line of least resistance had caused him to be misjudged by others as well as Richard. To oppose methods of administration required time and effort, and so long as affairs proceeded in orderly fashion and in such a way as to yield satisfactory returns upon his investment, Stewart preferred to devote himself to more congenial subjects.

Richard, however, left him with a sense of obligation to take a definite stand in this crisis. The demands outlined by the men were entirely at variance with the present policy of the Company, but Stewart kept himself well-informed, and was sufficiently in touch with the trend of the times to realize that some change would inevitably be required in order to reconcile relations between employers and employed. If there was to be a change, why not recognize the necessity promptly, and, as Richard urged, turn it from a liability into an asset? All that Richard asked of him was his influence to secure a hearing before the Board. Knowing James Norton as he did, he understood why the committee desired a jury verdict rather than the decision of a biased judge. His own final conclusion need not be rendered until after all the evidence on both sides had been presented.

II

"So the boy has hypnotized you, has he?" Norton commented, when Stewart broached the subject. "Well, it won't do him any good. I'm the general manager of this concern, and it's my job to handle these affairs. If the Directors don't agree with me, it's time I stepped down and out, and let the men take over the management. You'll get your chance to talk, William, when I refer the matter to the Board, but if the men have anything to say, let them say it to me. And remember ... if there are any signs of going over my head, the Directors must act on my resignation first. That boy is crazy and stubborn, and he's bound to stir up all the trouble for me he can."

"I'm wondering if you are not doing more to make trouble for yourself and for all of us than he is," Stewart surprised Norton by taking a stand in opposition to him. "Richard knows you won't listen to him, and that when you present the question to the Board, you will give the answer first. If you have been reading the papers lately, you must realize that managers are thinking more about men than they used to. I'm not sure that these demands Richard outlined to me are sound or just, but I do know that the workman today wants to be treated as an intelligent participator in the concern which employs him instead of merely as a seller of a commodity. He believes he has a right to be consulted, to have things explained to him instead of being the target for orders thrown at him arbitrarily. He has self-respect, just as you and I have, James, and