Page:The council of seven.djvu/69

 of its kind in existence. Now suppose you take control at double your present salary and with a share in the profits?"

Helen was thrilled. Only a woman of ambition could have gone so far already upon the road. This was an opportunity she had foreseen and had been steadily working for. To be in charge of such an undertaking would not only gratify a keen desire; it would be fulfillment almost beyond what she had dared to hope.

She knew that the eyes of Saul Hartz were reading her soul. As far as he was concerned there was hardly such a thing as a secret. And with what uncanny skill he could use his knowledge! The bribe was great. For one of her mental outlook, the refusal of such a bait would be a going-back upon her whole philosophy of life.

"Don't decide at once." The whisper, faint though it was, had a curious power. "But keep the door open keep the door open, that's all we ask."

Helen remained silent. In the presence of this man, immediately under his gaze, within sound of his compelling speech, she was always less than herself. Everybody in the Office felt like that. The most potent members of the staff, and they included heads as hard and brains as "picked" as the world could produce, were seldom able to put up a fight against him. The Colossus dominated all alike.

"You see," Saul Hartz went on, "it was due to me