He looked over the ground carefully, and could see no way by which Weeks could save himself from defeat, for the control of Tillman City gave C. & S.C. a majority of the stock. Weeks's allies were deserting him, so that he now had a bare majority in the Board of Directors. Anyway, McNally would be on the ground in case Jim should try to do anything. “Well,” thought Porter, “I'll go. I guess it's safe enough.” He had closed his desk when the door opened and an office boy came in with a telegram. Porter tore it open listlessly, but his indolence vanished as he read the first line. The message was from Manchester, and it read as follows:-- M. & T. subscription book stubs show issue of nine thousand shares new stock to Weeks, Myers, and Spencer, ten per cent paid, dated yesterday. POWERS. When a man finds himself in an ambush, or when an utterly unexpected attack is made upon him, he shows what he is. It was characteristic of Porter that after the moment of dazed unrealization had passed he began almost mechanically to plan a break for cover; he wished that he had not gone into the fight, and berated his stupidity in not foreseeing the move; it had not occurred to him that the subscription for the stock had not closed long ago. After a few minutes of vain search for an avenue of retreat, he saw that it was too late to do anything but fight it out; Jim Weeks was not likely to let an antagonist off easily. He called to his secretary: “Telephone Shields to come over here, will you, as soon as he can? And ask McNally to come too.” While he was waiting for them he sat quite still in his big chair and thought hard, but he could see no way of countering the blow. The two men he had sent for came into the office together. Porter did not rise. With a nod of greeting he handed the yellow envelope to McNally, who whistled softly as he caught its import, and passed it on to Shields, an attorney for the C. & S.C., an emotionless, noncommittal man. “Hm--it looks as though that beat you,” he said slowly. Porter lost his nerve and his temper too for a moment. He rose quickly and took a step toward the lawyer. “Hell, man!” he exclaimed angrily. “We can't be beat. We've got to get out of this some way. That's what you're here for.” Then he recovered himself. “I beg your pardon, Shields. Sit down, and we'll talk this business over.” For nearly an hour the three men sat in earnest consultation; then the secretary was called in. “Find out if Judge Black is in Truesdale,” said Porter. “If he is, I want to talk to him.” Then he turned to Shields. “That's our move,” he said. “We can allege fraud on the ground that the stock was issued secretly and with the purpose of influencing the election. Black's the man for that business.” “It isn't much of a case, mind you,” said Shields. “I'm afraid that Weeks's action is not illegal, and that a court would sustain it, but it's possible to raise a question that it will take time to decide.”