most--well, discreet."

During the next few minutes Gray received and swiftly tabulated
in his mind a deal of inside information usually denied to the
average stranger; the impression his swift, searching questions
made upon the hotel manager was evident when the latter told him
as he rose to go:

"Don't feel that you have to identify yourself at the banks to-
day. If we can accommodate you--cash a check or the like--"

"Thank you." The caller shook his head and smiled his appreciation
of the offer. "Your manner of conducting a hotel impresses me
deeply, and I shall speak of it to some of my Eastern friends.
Live executives are hard to find."

It is impossible to analyze or to describe that quality of
magnetic charm which we commonly term personality, nevertheless it
is the most potent influence in our social and our business lives.
It is a gift of the gods, and most conspicuous successes, in
whatever line, are due to it. Now and then comes an individual who
is cold, even repellent, and yet who rises to full accomplishment
by reason of pure intellectual force or strength of character; but
nine times out of ten the man who gets ahead, be he merchant,
banker, promoter, or crook, does so by reason of this abstract
asset, this intangible birthright.

Gray possessed that happy quality. It had made itself felt by the
waiter who brought his breakfast and by the manager of the hotel;
its effect was equally noticeable upon the girl behind the cigar