hile you are still a rich man. It is
further asserted that you sold out all your stock at a high price, with
the exception of that in the leased lines, which are guaranteed heavy
dividends."

"Have you finished?" demanded Eldon Parr.

"Not quite, on this subject," replied the rector. "Two nights after
that, the man threw himself in the river. His body was pulled out by men
on a tugboat, and his worthless stock certificate was in his pocket. It
is now in the possession of Mr. Horace Bentley. Thanks to Mr. Bentley,
the widow found a temporary home, and the child has almost recovered."

Hodder paused. His interest had suddenly become concentrated upon the
banker's new demeanour, and he would not have thought it within the
range of possibility that a man could listen to such a revelation
concerning himself without the betrayal of some feeling. But so it
was,--Eldon Parr had been coldly attentive, save for the one scarcely
perceptible tremor when the boy was mentioned. His interrogatory gesture
gave the very touch of perfection to this attitude, since it proclaimed
him to have listened patiently to a charge so preposterous that a less
reasonable man would have cut it short.

"And what leads you to suppose," he inquired, "that I am responsible
in this matter? What leads you to infer that the Consolidated Tractions
Company was not organized in good faith? Do you think that business men
are always infallible? The street-car lines of this city were at
sixes and sevens, fighting each other; money was being wasted by poor
management. The idea behind the company was a public-spirited one,
to give the citizens cheaper and better service, by a more modern
equipment, by a wider system of transfer. It seems to me, Mr. Hodder,
that you put yourself in a more quixotic position than the so-called
reformers when you assume that the men who organize a company in good
faith are personally responsible for every share of stock that is sold,
and for the welfare of every individual who may buy the stock. We force
no one to buy it. They do so at their own risk. I myself have thousands
of dollars of worthless stock in my safe. I have never complained."

The full force of Hodder's indignation went into his reply.

"I am not talking about the imperfect code of human justice under which
we live, Mr. Parr," he cried. "This is not a case in which a court of
law may exonerate you, it is between you and your God. But I have taken
the trouble to fin