Page:The council of seven.djvu/93

 As the Chief spoke, he opened a drawer in his writing table and took out a printer's galley proof, with a number of corrections in his own forcible hand. "Instead of 'The Chinese Situation,' I've headed it 'Plain Words to the Celestial Empire,' and you'll see I've gingered it up generally. And Fuller might follow on in the Mercury with 'A Straight Tip to John Chinaman.'"

The editor cast an acute eye over the Chief's flamboyance. "A shade on the strong side, aren't we?" But his tone had lightened considerably. To the mind of Bennet Gage the mysterious death of an American labor leader was a far more significant matter than a calculated affront to several hundred million people.

"The stronger the better," was the curt answer of the Colossus. "I have very good reasons."

Mr. Gage did not question that.

"They can be bullied to any amount, dear souls!" The Chief smiled sardonically. "And a little demonstration of our power is called for just now. Every newspaper's first duty is to impress the groundlings. But even that is not our real aim." With an abrupt laugh, which to Bennet Gage had a meaning far deeper than mere irony, he suddenly dismissed the subject.

What an enigma the man was! That thought obsessed the mind of the editor of the Planet as he went out of the room.