financial morality, and the battle for dollars is the bitterest of all
contests. Of course, being a woman, they couldn't very well attack me
personally, but they tried everything except physical violence, and I
don't know how long they will refrain from that. These plants are owned
separately, but they operate under an agreement, with one man at the head.
His name is Marsh--Willis Marsh, and, of course, he's not my friend."

"Sort of 'United we stand, divided we fall.'"

"Exactly. That spreads the responsibility, and seems to leave nobody
guilty for their evil deeds. The first thing they did was to sink my
schooner--in the morning you will see her spars sticking up through the
ice out in front there. One of their tugs 'accidentally' ran her down,
although she was at anchor fully three hundred feet inside the channel
line. Then Marsh actually had the effrontery to come here personally and
demand damages for the injury to his towboat, claiming there were no
lights on the schooner."

Cherry Malotte's eyes grew dark with indignation as she continued: "Nobody
thinks of hanging lanterns to little crafts like her at anchor under such
conditions. Having allowed me to taste his power, that man first
threatened me covertly, and then proceeded to persecute me in a more open
manner. When I still remained obdurate, he--he"--she paused. "You may have
heard of it. He killed one of my men."

"Impossible!" ejaculated Boyd.

"Oh, but it isn't impossible. Anything is possible with unscrupulous men
where there is no law; they halt at nothing when in chase of money. They
are different from women in that. I never heard of a woman doing murder