Mr. Early grew so excited by the strength of his new passion that he
sprang to his feet and walked up and down to luxuriate in the idea.

Proportionately great was his annoyance when a knock invaded his
self-communion, and his man's face appeared at the door to tell him that
Mr. Murdock would like to speak with him. While he was yet opening his
mouth to anathematize Mr. Murdock, that gentleman entered, familiar and
cheerful.

The man who came in was, in his way, a force almost as great and as
worthy of regard as Mr. Sebastian Early himself--in fact no less a
personage than the power behind the throne of that uncrowned king,
William Barry. Though he did not sit on Olympian heights and play with
the thunderbolts of jobs and contracts, as Barry did, yet he had an
occasional way of interfering in the game, just as in Greek legend Fate
loomed large behind the back of Zeus.

Mr. James Murdock was a business genius who dipped into politics, not
for office nor yet for glory, but only for gain. Originally a partner of
Mr. Early's, when, just as some one else invented a better hook-and-eye,
their business was sold out, Murdock let his many-sidedness run riot in
a dozen directions. While Mr. Early's abilities led him to "get all
there was in it" out of the public on its imaginative side, Murdock
worked out his fortune in more practical necessities. St. Etienne was a
western city, full of growth and therefore full of needs. There were
miles and miles of asphalt to be laid; there were wooden sidewalks
crying out to be replaced by stone; there were lighting and watering and
park-making; and it was astonishing in how many companies, doing these
things, Mr. Murdock had a share, and how frequently his companies
secured the contracts for doing them. When rival contractors attempted
these public works, there were apt to be strikes and complications which
seldom occurred when Murdock had the job. Then all went smoothly and
merrily. And this shows how friendship rules the world. For Murdock was
the friend of Barry; and Barry was the friend of the strike-ordering
walking-delegates. If these three elements, representing the city
fathers, the contractors and the laborers, were all satisfied with the
way the city's work was being done, who remained to cavil? Certainly not
the citizens. St. Etienne's wheels moved almost without friction.

But Murdock went further than this. His was a fine instinct for
organization. He used Barry like a fa