Page:The council of seven.djvu/216

 Slippery Sam undoubtedly was, with an insight almost uncanny into the workings of the minds of his chosen instruments, he had anticipated the need for some such compact, before making the offer. Indeed, John Endor's demand came to him as a subtle reminder of his own prescience.

Mr. Williams was the last man in the world to take a leap in the dark. His plans were laid pretty deep. This picturesque young visionary, with his ancient name, his family tradition, his virile enthusiasm, was the one man in that House or out of it to sweep the whole country if the cause that nerved him were great enough.

In the considered opinion of Mr. Williams the cry ''Break the Newspaper Trust and Bring Down the Price of Everything'' was the only possible counter to the massed and entrenched forces of the enemy. At least it would rally the cruelly overburdened upper and middle classes; and conceivably it might woo sufficient of the "workers" from the spells of the U. P. to rout the Colossus with all his stunts and all his wiles.

At all events, Mr. Williams had now reached the conclusion that the yoke of Saul Hartz was intolerable. The question of China was the final straw that had broken the back of the camel. In his own good time he would try a fall with the U. P. Sooner or later it would have to be. His chains had grown unbearable. If he failed, rather than endure the ignominy of serving such a tyrant, he would retire from politics.