"With a muddled brain I walked on and on until I found I had reached the entrance of the Park at Fifty-ninth street and Fifth avenue. I entered the park and sank exhausted upon a bench.

"Then I began to review the words of our interview.

"It all became clear to me. I was in the power of an unscrupulous man.

He could throw me into prison at a word; if this was not to be desired he could have me declared insane and put in an insane asylum. My word was as naught against his. So I determined to work in his bank until I could get the evidence that I needed to prove my case.

"I had misjudged my man, for a week later he called me into his private office and informed me that he had no further use for me.

"_His bank wrecking scheme was successfully carried out._

"In vain I sought to awaken the interest of the press. The story I told was not credited. I lacked doc.u.mentary proof. When the crash came the editors realized that I had told the truth. But it was too late.

"When I began to look for employment, I found that my name had been blacklisted. Wherever I go, from Maine to California, I am confronted by an agent of my arch enemy. I cannot even hold a position as a day laborer.

"The d.a.m.ning brand of the magnate is on me, and employers are warned against me. And all because I possess a conscience that would not stoop to crime. I have stood out against retaliating as long as I can. Now my vow is given to be avenged on Steel and his ilk."

Of all the committeemen none has a more distinguished bearing than Professor Herbert Talbot. He is a scion of an honorable New England family; the advantages of refined home surroundings and a college education have combined to give him a polish that should win him the respect and admiration of all who know him.

From the day of his graduation from one of the leading universities he had begun to teach his favorite study, political economy. At fifty years of age he found himself the recognized authority on economics, a professor in his alma mater, and the recipient of honors at home and abroad.

That was in 1894. What a difference a few years has wrought. Now he is an outcast, driven from his position in the faculty by the order of Rufus Vanpeldt, the Woolen King, the patron of the university. Talbot is reviled by his fellow-collegians, and ostracized from the society in which he had always been a leader; and all because he has had the manliness to express the truth on the political conditions of the country.

He has advocated the reduction of the tariff to a reasonable point; he has been a staunch supporter of the income tax; his views on the money question are deemed heretical and he is dismissed from the circles of learning.

From being the submissive hireling and servitor of the educational inst.i.tution, he entered the political field as their most powerful adversary. He is one of the leaders of the Anti-Trust movement. When the committee of Forty was organized, he had been one of the first selected.

Many of the committee await his speech with lively interest. Whatever view he takes of the proposition they determine to adopt. He is the next member to be called upon.

In an impressive, convincing argument he approves of the proposition.

Not that it is faultless, but because it offers the only remedy for the vicious condition of the country's social condition.

In presenting the arguments in favor of the adoption of the proposition, Professor Talbot demonstrates that the centralization of capital in the hands of a few men is the gravest mistake that a republic can permit to occur. It creates an oligarchy that is more pernicious than one of cla.s.s distinction, since such a one can be coped with, while an oligarchy of wealth possesses so many ramifications that it is practically una.s.sailable except by direct and physical means.

"It is the common belief that labor-saving inventions are accountable for much of the distress that exists in this country," he says, "but this is not so in so far as the inventions themselves are concerned.

"The evils that have followed the introduction of labor-saving machinery are the results of capitalists seeking to squeeze the last cent of profit out of their enterprises.

"When an inventor produces any improvement in manufacture he does the world a good; when the manufacturer who adopts this invention, at the same time discharges his adult male operatives and subst.i.tutes child labor, he vitiates the good that has been done and works a great harm to society.

"The crying evil of to-day is _child labor_, and the labor of women in trades and at work that is manifestly fit only for men.

"I shall make no lengthy appeal to you to adopt a direct means of securing your rights. I shall set you an example by announcing that I pledge my support to Mr. Nevins in anything that he may do that has for its object the emanc.i.p.ation of the women, children and men of this country from industrial slavery.

"There is a living to be had for every inhabitant on the earth if he will work. We in America should guarantee more than subsistence to our citizens. A life of plenty is here for all if the social conditions can be readjusted."

Peter Bergen, a socialist who represents Kansas, is the last to speak.

His views are those of the radical. Nothing but instant centralization of all the land and property of the country to be owned and operated by the people as a whole, appear to him to offer an adequate solution of the social problem. He is ready to aid in any movement that is calculated to bring this condition about. He rails against the tyranny of landlordism.

"What justification is there to the laws that will permit an alien to hold land idle in this country until American energy improves the surrounding property? What justification is there in permitting an alien to withdraw rents from this country without paying a tax toward the support of the Federal government?

"I have fought for this country; I have paid a land tax on my farm and a tax on everything I consume. What does the alien land-holder pay?

Nothing.

"I am ready to defend my home and country now. I will ever be loyal to it, for it is the best in the world.

"Its government is not perfect; it is our duty to make it so.

"Let us confiscate the lands of expatriated Americans as an initial step.

"The man who will not contribute to the support of the government does not deserve its protection." His words are uttered with vehemence.

When he concludes this recital of personal grievances against the Trusts, the chairman announces that at the next meeting the members will be given full particulars of the purpose of the syndicate.

The forty men separate, each carrying with him the conviction that at length the time has come when something definite is to be decided upon in the war against Trusts.

CHAPTER XI.

MARTHA'S PREMONITION.

Trueman remains in Chicago after the close of the Anti-Trust conference so as to be present at the National convention of the Independence party. He is one of the delegates at large to this convention, and hopes to be able to exert an influence over its deliberations, now that he has won some renown as a speaker.

In the rush of the sessions of the Anti-Trust conference he had had no time to keep his promise to Martha. Once only had he sent her a note telling her of his safe arrival in the city. It had not occurred to him that she would be anxiously awaiting a letter from him containing his views on the results of the conference. Why should a woman be interested in such matters?

It is with unbounded surprise therefore that he receives the following letter from her:

WILKES-BARRE, JUNE 13.

_My Dear Friend:_

It has been so long since I have heard from you that I take the initiative and write to ask you to forward to me as soon as possible, an article embodying your views on the recent Anti-Trust conference. I have a special reason for wishing this before the a.s.sembling of the Independence convention. To be frank with you, I have a premonition that you will be honored with the nomination for the Vice-presidency. Your friends in Pennsylvania, and in the other Eastern states, are working for you. I am handicapped by being a woman, yet in some ways it has proven advantageous to me.

By my peculiar intimacy with the families of this district, I became acquainted with the fact that your name is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the office. As soon as I learned this, I set to work to 'boom,' as the politicians would say, the incipient movement. Last night I was a.s.sured by O'Connor, the local leader, that you were sure of the support of the delegations of Pennsylvania and New York. For this reason I can wait no longer for a letter from you.

Let me know at once if you look favorably on the proposition of being a candidate for the high office.

Are you a member of the Committee of Forty? And what is this body?

As ever your friend,

MARTHA.

Here is a revelation.

Unknown to him, his friends, and especially Martha, are at work planning for his nomination as a candidate for the office of Vice-president. The idea of his achieving such a success has never entered his mind.