“This man, gentlemen,” pursued Blacarda, loudly, wheeling to face the rest, “has, by dirty chicanery, absorbed all the Independent Steeloid Companies,--my own among the number,--in his iniquitous Trust. Let him deny it if he dares to.” “Deny it?” laughed Caleb, “Not me! Best day’s work of my life. Cleaned up an easy million on the deal. Watcher you goin’ to do about it?” “Do about it?” gasped Blacarda. “_Do_ about it? There’s a law in the land and--” “That’s so,” assented Caleb, “A Fed’ral law an’ a law of States, too. It’s lucky those two laws ain’t the same. Otherwise, you’d have been outlawed from the whole country instead of only from Iowa, the time you promoted that fake Des Moines Improvement Comp’ny. But that’s neither here nor there. I’m told you’re goin’ to carry our Steeloid squabble to the Legislature. I tell you in advance, you’ll lose. You may be able to swing part of the Assembly, but I can do a little swingin’ myself, up there. You’ll find the Steeloid Trust is goin’ to win at the Capital as easy as it won to-day at--” “We have Right behind us,” blustered Blacarda, “and--” “An’ the Steeloid Trust has Caleb Conover behind it,” retorted Caleb. “I guess he’s as good a backer as ‘Right,’ any day. I’m expectin’ a tough scramble in order to beat you at the Capital, Blacarda. But I’ll do it. I’ll be on the ground myself. An’ I’ll beat you as sure as I beat you to-day. It’ll mean a fight--a big fight. I know that. But a fight’s somethin’ I don’t generally run ki-yi-in’ away from.” “All this is somewhat beside the point, gentlemen,” interposed Standish. “Is there any further--?” He paused and glanced about the table. But no one cared to couch lance at the brute who had thus far held the lists so successfully against the Arareek’s doughtiest champions. At length Caine spoke. “It appears to me,” he drawled in his lazy, half-bantering way, “that these proceedings have been decidedly informal; even for an avowedly informal meeting. Also, that we have made little real progress on either side. There are several broken heads, and the atmosphere is somewhat heavy with the reek of battle. But I fail to hear any shout of victory. Certainly not from our Honorable Committee. Perhaps you will all pardon me if I suggest that our learned body has gone about the present business in a less tactful way that one might have expected from such natural diplomats. Mr. Conover, you have had to answer some extremely impertinent--_unnecessarily_ impertinent--questions this afternoon. If you have answered them in their own key, I am sure no one can honestly blame you. Unless you care to say anything more, I think the Committee may as well go at once into executive session and put the matter to vote. I so move, Mr. Chairman.”