reorganised, and put upon its feet. It is to have a vigorous and
honest administration, a new and adequate equipment, and a new
source of traffic. The business of the Mississippi Steel Company, as
you doubtless know, is growing with extraordinary rapidity. All
this, it seems to me, is a work about the advisability of which
there can be no question."

"That is very true," said Montague, "and I will meet the persons who
are interested and talk out matters with them; and if their plans
are such as I can approve, I should be very glad to join with them,
and to do everything in my power to make a success of the
enterprise. As you doubtless know, I have five hundred shares of the
stock myself, and I should be glad to become a member of the
syndicate."

"That is what I had in mind to propose to you," said the other. "I
anticipate no difficulty in satisfying you--the project is largely
of my own originating, and my own reputation will be behind it. The
Gotham Trust Company will lend its credit to the enterprise so far
as possible."

Ryder said this with just a trifle of hauteur, and Montague felt
that perhaps he had spoken too strenuously. No one could sit in
Ryder's office and not be impressed by its atmosphere of
magnificence; after all, it was here, and its seventy or eighty
million dollars of deposits were real, and this serene and
aristocratic gentleman was the master of them. And what reason had
Montague for his hesitation, except the gossip of idle and cynical
Society people?