"As soon as the coroner’s jury lets ’em down easy," he said, "we’ve got to see that everybody’s fired, from the division-superintendent to the president of the road; that’s what we’ve got to do. There’s one kind of carelessness that’s not much better than murder." "Twenty-five people!" repeated Rivington. The numbers seemed to hypnotize him; he made a futile gesture. "And the morning papers—— Their tone—— I don’t like it." The man at the head of the table watched them both, but said nothing. "Oh, the newspapers never worry me," said Hallett. "We can stop all but one or two, and nobody cares what they say, anyhow. They’ve been talkin’ for years. They’ve got to fill their columns." "Then there’s the Board meeting," said Rivington. "Next Thursday—— I don’t see—— Really I don’t." "The Board of Directors of the M. & N.’s all right," Hallett reassured him. "Perhaps. But then, too, there is this new reform element in town. Talk of a fusion movement: a fourth candidate for District-Attorney—— They will be only too eager to get hold of something, and this terrible accident—— It will give them just what they want." "They can’t elect." "I am not so sure. The people—they aren’t what they used to be. Something—I don’t know what—has taken possession of them." Hallett bobbed assent to that. "Yes," he said, "nowadays as soon as a man gets a vote he stops minding his own business. But we’ve still got our grip on the wires." "They may break." Rivington’s fingers returned to their tugging at his mustache. "The wires, I mean. It’s ugly. Twenty-five dead and a hundred hurt——" "_We_ didn’t hurt ’em." Rivington looked toward the man at the head of the table, but he sat crouched and silent. "No," said Rivington; "but——" His sentence ended in a helpless waving of the hand. "Then what are you worryin’ about?" Hallett challenged. "We were only tryin’ to keep up dividends. We had to choose between a little risk and protecting the stockholders. Lots of the stockholders are widows and orphans. Besides, it wasn’t a real risk; it was a recognized, legitimate business risk. Lots of other roads do it right along. Our own roads do." "That bridge——" said Rivington. "The state inspectors passed it a month ago. And they passed the rails, too. It’s all up to them." In his turn, Hallett glanced at the man at the head of the table. He saw the man’s hairy hands, fat and white against the mahogany, begin to move as they always began to move before he made a verbal attack upon conversation; but the man did not speak. "I know," Rivington was saying, "but with the four candidates for the district-attorneyship all looking for vote-getting material——" "Buy ’em," said Hallett. "Four?" "Who’s the fourth?" "They haven’t chosen him yet; but——" "Buy ’em," repeated Hallett. "Out of the four there might be one we couldn’t——" "Anybody can buy anybody. There are more ways than one. Anyhow, we’re not even directors."