“Well, sir, I would like to say this: It seems to me that you of all men should keep off the grass.” Mr. Gage did not underrate his own prescience, and he knew that Saul Hartz did not underrate it either. But as the editor of the _Planet_ uttered these significant words, he had the look of a man who anticipates an explosion. In this, he was not disappointed. But the explosion, when it came, was less devastating than he had feared. “Oh, be damned to that, Gage!” The Chief brought his fist down solidly upon the table at which he sat. “We don’t allow ourselves here to be intimidated by anything or anybody.” “Quite!” The assent was a little uneasy. “But knowing what we do, knowing what is behind all this, is it altogether politic...?” “Politic!” “To take such risks--particularly when they are unnecessary.” “We shall not agree that the risks are unnecessary. It’s our clear duty to keep the police--or why not say the Government?--up to the collar.” The editor of the _Planet_ cordially agreed, but in the choice of the words which followed he showed great care. “I do feel very strongly,” he said, “that faced as we are with two evils, it is our duty to choose the less. The police have asked us to walk delicately, and I really think we ought to do so.” “Why?” “In the public interest.” The laugh of the Colossus was derisive. “In other words, Bennet Gage finds life too agreeable to endanger it lightly.” That went to the root of the matter, no doubt. But Mr. Hartz softened the thrust a little by offering his cigar case with the air of a good fellow which he had the valuable faculty of assuming on all occasions. As he chose a cigar for himself, he became the soul of geniality, but Mr. Gage who knew him only too well was not able to respond. “Why, you are worse than those duds at Scotland Yard, my friend.” The gayety, if not exactly forced, did not seem altogether spontaneous. “If you like, I’ll make you a present of a pair of snowboots lined with fur. They are the only things for your complaint. And I hear you can get bedsocks at a reasonable price at Selfridge’s white sale.” The Chief lit his cigar. Suddenly he began to smoke furiously. Mr. Gage, who had declined a cigar, indulged in odd, nervous little fumbles with his hands. “The _Planet_ must take a strong line to-morrow.” Saul Hartz’s tone was plenary. “Report the inquest fully. Have all the known facts in this case and the other two cases got up carefully, and embody them in a series of articles, to synchronize with the inquest. _The Murder of William Garland_ will make a good caption. Norton or Lewis--I think perhaps Norton had better write it. Let him come to me in half an hour and I’ll give him my ideas on the subject.”