After one of these embassies the syndicate held a meeting in Cornish's elegant offices on the ground-floor of the new "Hotel Elkins" building. We sent Giddings away to prepare an optimistic news-story for to-morrow's _Herald_, and an editorial leader based upon it, both of which had been formulated among us before going into executive session on the state of the nation. Hinckley, who had an admirable power of seeing the crux of a situation, was making a rather grave prognosis for us. "If we can't get rates which will let us into a broader territory, we may as well prepare for reverses," said he. "Foreign cement comes almost to our doors, in competition with ours. Wheat and live-stock go from within twenty miles to points five hundred miles away. Who is furnishing the brick and stone for the new Fairchild court-house and the big normal-school buildings at Angus Falls? Not our quarries and kilns, but others five times as far away. If you want to figure out the reason of this, you will find it in nothing else in the world but the freight rates." "It's a confounded outrage," said Cornish. "Can't we get help from the legislature?" "I understand that some action is expected next winter," said I; "Senator Conley had in here the other day a bill he has drawn; and it seems to me we should send a strong lobby down at the proper time in support of it." "Ye-e-s," drawled Jim, "but I believe in still stronger measures; and rather than bother with the legislature, owned as it is by the roads, I'd favor writing cuss-words on the water-tanks, or going up the track a piece and makin' faces at one of their confounded whistling-posts or cattle-guards--or something real drastic like that!" Cornish, galled, as was I, by this irony, flushed crimson, and rose. "The situation," said he, "instead of being a serious one, as I have believed, seems merely funny. This conference may as well end. Having taken on things here under the impression that this was to be a city; it seems that we are to stay a village. It occurs to me that it's time to stand from under! Good-evening!" "Wait!" said Hinckley. "Don't go, Cornish; it isn't as bad as that!" As he spoke he laid his hand on Cornish's arm, and I saw that he was pale. He felt more keenly than did I the danger of division and strife among us. "Yes, Mr. Hinckley," said Jim, as Cornish sat down again, "it _is_ as bad as that! This thing amounts to a crisis. For one, I don't propose to adopt the 'stand-from-under' tactics. They make an unnecessary disaster as certain as death; but if we all stand under and lift, we can win more than we've ever thought. In the legislature they hold the cards and can beat us. It's no use fooling with that unless we seek martyrs' deaths in the bankruptcy courts. But there is a way to meet these men, and that is by bringing to our aid their greatest rival." "Do you mean--" said Hinckley.