he meeting was held in a huge auditorium in the Robling administration
building. Since every member of the union owned stock in the company,
every member had the right to vote for members of the board of
directors. But in the early days of the switchover, the idea of a board
of directors smacked too strongly of the old system of corporate
organization to suit the men. The solution had been simple, if a trifle
ungainly. Everyone who owned stock in Robling Titanium was automatically
a member of the board of directors, with Torkleson as chairman of the
board. The stockholders numbered over ten thousand.

They were all present. They were packed in from the wall to the stage,
and hanging from the rafters. They overflowed into the corridors. They
jammed the lobby. Ten thousand men rose with a howl of anger when Walter
Towne walked out on the stage. But they quieted down again as Dan
Torkleson started to speak.

It was a masterful display of rabble-rousing. Torkleson paced the stage,
his fat body shaking with agitation, pointing a chubby finger again and
again at Walter Towne. He pranced and he ranted. He paused at just the
right times for thunderous peals of applause.

"This morning in my office we offered to compromise with these jackals,"
he cried, "and they rejected compromise. Even at the cost of lowering
dividends, of taking food from the mouths of your wives and children, we
made our generous offers. They were rejected with scorn. These thieves
have one desire in mind, my friends, to starve you all, and to destroy
your company and your jobs. To every appeal they heartlessly refused to
divulge the key to the lock-in. And now this man--the ringleader who
keeps the key word buried in secrecy--has the temerity to ask an
audience with you. You're angry men; you want to know the man to blame
for our hardship."

He pointed to Towne with a flourish. "I give you your man. Do what you
want with him."

The hall exploded in angry thunder. The first wave of men rushed onto
the stage as Walter stood up. A tomato whizzed past his ear and
splattered against the wall. More men clambered up on the stage,
shouting and shaking their fists.

Then somebody appeared with a rope.

Walter gave a sharp nod to the side of the stage. Abruptly the roar of
the men was drowned in another sound--a soul-rending, teeth-grating,
bone-rattling screech. The men froze, jaws sagging, eyes wide, hardly
believing their ears. In the instant of silence a