Bannon was sitting in the office chair with his feet on the draughting-table, figuring on the back of a blotter. The light from the wall lamp was indistinct, and Bannon had to bend his head forward to see the figures. He did not look up when the door opened and Max came to the railing gate. "Grady's been up on the distributing floor," said Max, breathlessly, for he had been running. "What did he want?" "He's going to call the men off at ten o'clock if we don't put in a runway and dollies on the distributing floor." Bannon looked at his watch. "Is that all he wants?" Max, in his excitement, did not catch the sarcasm in the question. "That's all he said, but it's enough. We can't do it." Bannon closed his watch with a snap. "No," he said, "and we won't throw away any good time trying. You'd better round up the committee that's supposed to run this lodge and send them here. That young Murphy's one of them--he can put you straight. Bring Pete back with you, and the new man, James." Max lingered, with a look of awe and admiration. "Are you going to stand out, Mr. Bannon?" he asked. Bannon dropped his feet to the floor, and turned toward the table. "Yes," he said. "We're going to stand out." Since Bannon's talk with President Carver a little drama had been going on in the local lodge, a drama that neither Bannon, Max, nor Peterson knew about. James had been selected by Carver for this work because of proved ability and shrewdness. He had no sooner attached himself to the lodge, and made himself known as an active member, than his personality, without any noticeable effort on his part, began to make itself felt. Up to this time Grady had had full swing, for there had been no one among the laborers with force enough to oppose him.