n a victim.

The article carried the implication that the modern, practical, American
business man was the highest type as yet evolved by civilization: and
Ditmar, referred to as "a wizard of the textile industry," was
emphatically one who had earned the gratitude of the grand old
Commonwealth. By the efforts of such sons she continued to maintain her
commanding position among her sister states. Prominent among the
qualities contributing to his success was open-mindedness, "a willingness
to be shown," to scrap machinery when his competitors still clung to
older methods. The Chippering Mill had never had a serious strike,
--indication of an ability to deal with labour; and Mr. Ditmar's views on
labour followed: if his people had a grievance, let them come to him, and
settle it between them. No unions. He had consistently refused to
recognize them. There was mention of the Bradlaugh order as being the
largest commission ever given to a single mill, a reference to the
excitement and speculation it had aroused in trade circles. Claude
Ditmar's ability to put it through was unquestioned; one had only to look
at him,--tenacity, forcefulness, executiveness were written all over
him.... In addition, the article contained much material of an
autobiographical nature that must--Janet thought--have been supplied by
Ditmar himself, whose modesty had evidently shrunk from the cruder
self-eulogy of an interview. But she recognized several characteristic
phrases.

Caldwell, watching her as she read, was suddenly fascinated. During a
trip abroad, while still an undergraduate, he had once seen the face of
an actress, a really good Parisian actress, light up in that way; and it
had revealed to him, in a flash, the meaning of enthusiasm. Now Janet
became vivid for him. There must be something unusual in a person whose
feelings could be so intense, whose emotions rang so true. He was not
unsophisticated. He had sometimes wondered why Ditmar had promoted her,
though acknowledging her ability. He admired Ditmar, but had no illusions
about him. Harvard, and birth in a social stratum where emphasis is
superfluous, enabled him to smile at the reporter's exuberance; and he
was the more drawn toward her to see on Janet's flushed face the hint of
a smile as she looked up at him when she had finished.

"The Colonel hypnotized that reporter," he said, as he took the paper;
and her laugh, despite its little tremor, betrayed in her an unsuspected,
h