"I know your demands," said Slade instantly. "Oh, there is no informer present. Nothing difficult. I know you and the way your minds work. You have three conditions: first, I am to resign the presidency of the Associated Trust; second, sell my stock control to a syndicate you have organized, which will stand as a guarantee to the public; third, the taking over of all my holdings in the Osaba territory by the United Mining Company. Am I right?" He did not need to wait for a reply; the answer was plain upon their countenances. "Now, gentlemen, I’m going to finish up," he said, pursuing his advantage. "Remember one thing: I’m not a Majendie. I fight to the last breath and when I’m downed I carry everything I get my hands on down with me. "Now, let’s be perfectly plain. I know where I stand. If Majendie and the Atlantic Trust hadn’t gone to smash, there wouldn’t be a ghost of a show for me; you’d squeeze every last cent I had. I know it. I knew it then when I knew it was Majendie or me. But you see Majendie’s dead and the Atlantic Trust—three hundred and eighty millions—has closed its doors. That makes all the difference in the world. You don’t want to trim me—not primarily. Forscheim and the United Mining do—that’s their private affair. What you men who count want, I repeat, is to stop this panic—to get me out of the way and stop the panic if you can; if you can’t get me out of the way, to stop the panic at once—now—within twenty-four hours! Now, gentlemen, I defy you to let the Associated Trust close its doors tomorrow and prevent, with all your money, the wreck of every industry in the country." "You overestimate the importance of such a failure," said Fontaine slowly, but without aggressiveness. Slade’s attack had made a profound impression. "I have taken particular care that if the Associated fails, it’ll be the biggest smash on record," said Slade, ready now to play his trump card. "What do you mean?" demanded Haggerty, startled, while the others waited expectantly. "Just that," said Slade, not unwilling that they should know the depth of his game. "If the Associated fails, sixty-seven institutions fail from here to San Francisco. I have taken care of that in the last two months." "You haf ingreased your oplications at sooch a time!" fairly shrieked Forscheim, who saw his victory eluding him. "You bet I did," said Slade. "I made sure that I couldn’t be _allowed_ to fail." He took from his pocket a folded sheet and handed it to Steele, who had a moment before finally determined to come to his support. "That’s what failure means. Pass it around," he said. The lawyer elevated his eyebrows in astonishment. The disclosure of how Slade by negotiating loans with a number of subsidiary institutions throughout the country had made them united in his general fate, completed the dawning recognition of a master which had been forming in his mind.