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The Chief turned again to his letters. That which he opened next was not the one that was really going to interest him. The place for it was still the bottom of the pile. He felt this bonne bouche was going to interest him so much that he would keep it until the very end.

All the same a mild surprise was contained in the second letter. It was an invitation for a week-end in the country, "to meet some rather interesting people." Mr. Hartz permitted himself a faint smile. The socially gifted Mrs. Carburton was a power in the land, but emphatically she belonged to "the other camp." Strictly speaking, the Colossus was far too big to belong to a camp. Mrs. Carburton did not belong to one either; but of late years they had not set each other's genius. The famous châtelaine of Doe Hill made no secret of her belief that the U. P. had deliberately wrought the ruin of one of her rather numerous protégées. She was known to have a deep dislike for Saul Hartz. But she was important enough as the world went for an invitation to Doe Hill to be not without piquancy even for him.