continuous wall, a
high brick wall. A servant came and told him he was wanted at the
telephone. It was Giddings, who said in a voice that was striving in
vain to be calm against the pressure of some intense excitement: "You
are coming down to-day, Mr. Dumont?"

"Why?" asked Dumont, snapping the word out as short and savage as the
crack of a lash.

"There are disquieting rumors of a raid on us."

"Who's to do the raiding?"

"They say it's Patterson and Fanning-Smith and Cassell and Herron.
It's a raid for control."

Dumont snorted scornfully. "Don't fret. We're all right. I'll be
down soon." And he hung up the receiver, muttering: "The ass! I must
kick him out! He's an old woman the instant I turn my back."

He had intended not to go down, but to shut himself in with the brandy
bottle until nightfall. This news made his presence in the Street
imperative. "They couldn't have sprung at me at a worse time," he
muttered. "But I can take care of 'em!"

He returned to the library, took another drink, larger than the first.
His blood began to pound through his veins and to rush along under the
surface of his skin like a sheet of fire. Waves of fury surged into
his brain, making him dizzy, confusing his sight--he could scarcely
refrain from grinding his teeth. He descended to the basement, his
step unsteady.

"A ladder," he ordered in a thick voice.

He led the way to the rear wall. A dozen men-servants swarming about,
tried to assist him. He ordered them aside and began to climb. As the
upper part of his body rose above the wall-line he heard a triumphant
shout, many voices crying: "There he is! There he is!"

The lot round the corner from his place was not built upon; and there,
in the side street, was a rapidly swelling crowd, the camera-bearers
hastily putting their instruments in position, the black cloths
fluttering like palls or pirate flags. With a roaring howl he released
his hold upon the ladder and shook both fists, his swollen face blazing
between them. He tottered, fell backward, crashed upon the stone
flooring of the area. His head struck with a crack that made the
women-servants scream. The men lifted him and carried him into the
house. He was not stunned; he tried to stand. But he staggered back
into the arms of his valet and his butler.

"Brandy!" he gasped.

He took a third drink--and became unconscious. When the doctor arrived
he was raving in a high fever. For years