e was in it, and was seeing that it could be made profitable, he was
rather gratified by the situation. His wife liked it, for people were
always talking to her about the United Magazines Corporation, its
periodicals, its books, its art products and that was flattering. While
it might not be as profitable as soap and woolens and railway stocks
with which her husband was identified, it was somewhat more
distinguished. She wanted him to keep it directly under his thumb and to
shine by its reflected light.

In looking about for a club wherewith to strike Eugene, White discovered
this. He sounded Colfax on various occasions by innuendo, and noted his
sniffing nostrils. If he could first reach Eugene's advertising,
circulation and editorial men and persuade them to look to him instead
of to Eugene, he might later reach and control Eugene through Colfax. He
might humble Eugene by curbing his power, making him see that he, White,
was still the power behind the throne.

"What do you think of this fellow Witla?" Colfax would ask White from
time to time, and when these occasions offered he was not slow to drive
in a wedge.

"He's an able fellow," he said once, apparently most open-mindedly.
"It's plain that he's doing pretty well with those departments, but I
think you want to look out for his vanity. He's just the least bit in
danger of getting a swelled head. You want to remember that he's still
pretty young for the job he holds (White was eight years older). These
literary and artistic people are all alike. The one objection that I
have to them is that they never seem to have any real practical
judgment. They make splendid second men when well governed, and you can
do almost anything with them, if you know how to handle them, but you
have to govern them. This fellow, as I see him, is just the man you
want. He's picking some good people and he's getting some good results,
but unless you watch him he's apt to throw them all out of here sometime
or go away and take them all with him. I shouldn't let him do that if I
were you. I should let him get just the men you think are right, and
then I should insist that he keep them. Of course, a man has got to have
authority in his own department, but it can be carried too far. You're
treating him pretty liberally, you know."

This sounded very sincere and logical to Colfax, who admired White for
it, for in spite of the fact that he liked Eugene greatly and went about
with him a great