Philadelphia, and thousands, swayed as though by the
compelling voice of the rapids, plunged deeper. The discovery of iron
was but one of the inviting incentives which, from time to time,
stimulated support. Million after million was subscribed and sent to
this man who inspired such abounding faith in himself and his gigantic
plans. It may be that in one of those moments of profound insight
which Clark periodically experienced, he became finally convinced that
life was short and there must be, in his case at any rate, compressed
into it the maximum of human effort ere the day ran out. His brain
oscillated between the actual work itself and those extraneous affairs
which might at some time affect it.

Amongst those to whom his attention turned was Semple, member of the
provincial parliament, in whom he recognized the official voice of the
district in certain regions of authority. As the works grew in size
and their importance increased, Semple found himself more and more the
subject of attention. It flattered him, as well it might, for at this
time the Consolidated Company was the largest single undertaking in the
country. It did Semple good to refer to "my constituency" with the
reflection that in the midst of that wilderness was an undertaking
whose capital surpassed that of the greatest railway in the Dominion.
In the house of parliament he was listened to attentively, and in St.
Marys his office took on a new significance. It was on one of his
informal visits to the works that Clark expressed pleasure at the way
in which the community was represented.

"I'm all right as far as this company is concerned," said Semple, "but
you know the Liberal majority in Ontario is mighty slim--and I'm a
Liberal. It's here to-day and gone to-morrow."

"Not for you," answered Clark impressively, "and you haven't had much
trouble in getting what we wanted."

"No," grinned Semple, "our majority is too small. The Premier couldn't
very well refuse. But," he added with a little hesitation, "opinions
differ down there."

"About the works?"

Semple nodded. "Yes, and about you--they're not true believers by any
means, you must understand."

Clark grunted a little. "What do they say?"

"It's more what they don't say, since they're mostly Scotch. I mean
the financial crowd--most of Toronto is like that. The Scotch got
their hooks in long ago and it was a good thing for the country. They
reckon it should take twenty-fiv