Gregson had dropped his cigarette. His slim hands gripped the
edges of the table. He made no reply as he waited for Whittemore
to continue.





III


For a full minute Philip paced back and forth without speaking.
Then he stopped, and faced Gregson, who was staring at him.

"A million, Greggy," he repeated, in the same soft voice. "A
hundred thousand dollars to my credit--in a First National Bank!
While I was up here hustling to get affairs on a working basis,
eager to show the government and the people what we could do and
would do, triumphing in our victory over the trust, and figuring
each day on my scheme of making this big, rich north deal a
staggering blow to those accursed combinations down there, they
were at work, too. While I was dreaming and doing these things,
Brokaw and the others had formed the Great Northern Fish and
Development Company, had incorporated it under the laws of New
Jersey, and had already sold over a million dollars' worth of
stock! The thing was in full swing when I reached headquarters. I
had authorized Brokaw to act for me, and I found that I was vice-
president of one of the biggest legalized robbery combinations of
recent years. More money had been spent in advertising than in