"Mr. Osgood," said the other, "you've given me what I need to make what I suspected stand on a solid bottom. I can see the motive now for what's being done. It's the fact that O'Connor wants the Guardian's business. Now, I want to tell you something--or rather ask you something. Do you think your refusal to consider his proposition closed up the whole business completely?" "Well, no," Mr. Osgood replied; "I suppose not. In fact, when he left, he rather intimated that I might look for further developments." "That was temper," Hancher commented judicially. "Not good judgment, at all. Ordinarily he'd never have said such a thing. But he meant it, all right--you can believe that. If he can't get the Guardian business one way, he'll try it another. And the second way he has chosen is this--after the meeting of the Boston Board next Wednesday you will be obliged to choose between resigning either the Guardian or all your other companies." "You mean that a separation rule will be put through?" Mr. Osgood inquired quickly. "Surest thing you know," the journalist declared. "That is, unless somebody puts a little sand on the slide pretty all-fired soon. I say, Mr. Osgood,--I'm a non-combatant, but I like to see fair play,--why don't you write the Guardian people?--or wire them? I think this is something your friend Wintermuth ought to know." Mr. Osgood reached toward the button that summoned his stenographer, and then drew back his hand. "No," he said slowly. "What's the use? If it's decided, I can't stop it. And I fancy the best of my fighting days are over. That's for the younger men to do. I'll talk to Cole about it, and see what he thinks we'd better do." The journalist glanced at him somewhat skeptically. "Well, you needn't fight, yourself--let the Guardian people attend to that. And if you take my advice, you'll write Wintermuth. Good-by." Mr. Osgood wrote, and on Monday morning his letter came to the hand of Mr. Wintermuth, whose eye brightened at the sight of his friend's signature. But there was no pleasure in his tone when a moment later he sent for Mr. Gunterson. "Look here," he said, "I'm afraid these Eastern Conference people mean trouble. We've been assuming that the excepted cities were safe--nothing could happen there. Well, I don't believe they're as safe as we thought. Read what Osgood says about Boston. Boston! where we've got as fine a business as any company of our size in the field. Look at that!" With a dignified reticence Mr. Gunterson took the letter, and in a rich silence he perused it. Then, with a calm smile, he gave his decision. "Mr. Osgood's evident alarm may be well founded--perhaps not. But at all events, I believe our interests at Boston should be protected by some one of authority, and I shall go up myself on the five o'clock this afternoon."