made
secondary to the work of those whom he was managing. He had brought all
these men here and keyed the situation up. Was Colfax going to turn on
him? "Oh, very well," he said sweetly.

"Don't look so hurt," returned Colfax easily. "I know what you're
thinking. I'm not going to turn on you. You hired this man. I'm simply
telling you that if anything should happen to you I'd like to keep him
right where he is."

Eugene thought this remark over seriously. It was tantamount to serving
notice on him that he could not discharge Hayes. Colfax did not actually
so mean it at the moment, though it was the seed of such a thought. He
simply left the situation open for consideration, and Eugene went away
thinking what an extremely unfavorable twist this gave to everything. If
he was to go on finding good men and bringing them in here but could not
discharge them, and if then, later, they became offensive to him, where
would he be? Why, if they found that out, as they might through White,
they could turn on him as lions on a tamer and tear him to pieces! This
was a bad and unexpected twist to things, and he did not like it.

On the other hand, while it had never occurred to Colfax before in this
particular connection, for he liked Eugene, it fitted in well with
certain warnings and suggestions which had been issuing from White who
was malevolently opposed to Eugene. His success in reorganizing the
place on the intellectual and artistic sides was too much. Eugene's work
was giving him a dignity and a security which was entirely
disproportionate to what he was actually doing and which was threatening
to overshadow and put in the limbo of indifference that of every other
person connected with the business. This must be broken. Colfax, for the
time being, was so wrapped up in what he considered Eugene's shining
intellectual and commercial qualities that he was beginning to ignore
White. The latter did not propose that any such condition should
continue. It was no doubt a rare thing to find a man who could pick good
men and make the place successful, but what of himself? Colfax was
naturally very jealous, he knew, and suspicious. He did not want to be
overshadowed in any way by any of his employees. He did not feel that he
was, so far. But now White thought it would be a fine thing to stir him
up on this score if he could--to arouse his jealousy. He knew that
Colfax did not care so much about the publishing world, though now that
h