gesture of dismissal and the little dark
figure tremblingly withdrew.

It was not until he had reached the seclusion of his own office that
the magnitude of the crisis through which he had passed fully dawned on
Bivens. One of the dreams of his life had been to touch elbows with
this mighty ruler at whose name he had often trembled. To-day he had
joined the magic circle of those about the throne. The place had been
bought at a fearful price. But the end would justify the means. No one
knew with clearer perception than he what the king meant by his
"suggestions." They were orders. He had been ordered to stab his
associates.

At first he had raged in silent fury, but as the king continued his
wonderful speech and revealed his generous intentions, his anger had
melted into glowing gratitude.

"After all, business means war!" he exclaimed, "a war in which dog eat
dog and devil take the hindmost becomes sooner or later the supreme
law."

It hurt to break his word--the pledge he had made the president of the
Van Dam Company--but it was unavoidable. Their death warrant had
already been signed. His money would only be sunk in the bottomless pit
the king had dug beneath them. He felt himself for the moment in the
grip of forces beyond human control, blind, inevitable, overwhelming.
The only thing for a sane man to do was to ride the storm and take care
of himself. He had found a place of safety. And such a place--at the
right hand of the king himself.

He had dreamed of making a paltry five millions when the raid on the
market had ended. Now his very soul stood blinded by the splendour of
the vision before him. Beyond a doubt in the holocaust which would
follow the day's work he would more than treble his entire fortune,
perhaps multiply it by four. He could see it all before it happened.
His slender hands trembled as he fumbled his beard and his bead eyes
became two scintillating points of light. The thirst for gold was now a
raging fever and his blood molten fire. The lust for gain had ceased to
be a human passion--it was the hunger of a beast.

Without a moment's hesitation he gave the cruel orders that sent his
associates hurling over the precipice. As the day progressed he stood
with one hand on the tape of his private ticker and the other holding
the receiver of the telephone which connected him with the floor of the
Stock Exchange. He received no word from friend or foe without. Only
the king's messenger could rea