Page:The council of seven.djvu/68

 in New York she had received exceptional kindness and consideration at his hands.

As far as Saul Hartz himself was concerned, he had known from the outset that she had first-rate abilities. None understood better than he the value of the feminine mind with its faculty of taking short cuts to deep conclusions. By its intuitive "scrapping" of a thousand-and-one considerations that are apt to fetter the slow-moving male it was able to save time and expenditure of spirit and yet "to get there" just the same.

Helen Sholto, over and beyond an exceptionally quick perception, had now become a highly trained woman of the modern world, a brilliant writer and speaker who understood her own sex. Already she counted with that important but elusive entity, the woman voter. She had, too, powers of organization, a real capacity for handling large affairs. Saul Hartz with his flair in such matters saw that her combination of rare qualities was likely to carry her far.

To the Colossus no one was indispensable, but in certain ways he had come to lean rather heavily on Helen Sholto; and he had made up his mind that she must not be allowed to serve in the enemy's camp.

"I've been making plans for you." Those strange eyes measured hers. "Let me tell you what they are." The husky whisper was now a caress. "Stay with us here and you shall have something big—a plum worth having. As you know, we are planning a new paper for women that we hope to make the finest property