The Lion and the Mouse | Page 4

had been some idea of laying the land out as a park. But
real estate values had increased in astonishing fashion, the road could
no longer afford to carry out the original scheme, and had attempted to
dispose of the property for building purposes, including a right of way
for a branch road. The news, made public in the newspapers, had raised
a storm of protest. The people in the vicinity claimed that the railroad
secured the land on the express condition of a park being laid out, and
in order to make a legal test they had secured an injunction, which had
been sustained by Judge Rossmore of the United States Circuit Court.
These details were hastily told and re-told by one clerk to another as the
babel of voices in the inner room grew louder, and more directors kept
arriving from the ever-busy elevators. The meeting was called for three
o'clock. Another five minutes and the chairman would rap for order. A
tall, strongly built man with white moustache and kindly smile emerged
from the directors room and, addressing one of the clerks, asked:
"Has Mr. Ryder arrived yet?"
The alacrity with which the employe hastened forward to reply would
indicate that his interlocutor was a person of more than ordinary
importance.
"No, Senator, not yet. We expect him any minute." Then with a
deferential smile he added: "Mr. Ryder usually arrives on the stroke,
sir."
The senator gave a nod of acquiescence and, turning on his heel,
greeted with a grasp of the hand and affable smile his fellow- directors
as they passed in by twos and threes.
Senator Roberts was in the world of politics what his friend John

Burkett Ryder was in the world of finance--a leader of men. He started
life in Wisconsin as an errand boy, was educated in the public schools,
and later became clerk in a dry-goods store, finally going into business
for his own account on a large scale. He was elected to the Legislature,
where his ability as an organizer soon gained the friendship of the men
in power, and later was sent to Congress, where he was quickly
initiated in the game of corrupt politics. In 1885 he entered the United
States Senate. He soon became the acknowledged leader of a
considerable majority of the Republican senators, and from then on he
was a figure to be reckoned with. A very ambitious man, with a great
love of power and few scruples, it is little wonder that only the practical
or dishonest side of politics appealed to him. He was in politics for all
there was in it, and he saw in his lofty position only a splendid
opportunity for easy graft.
He did not hesitate to make such alliances with corporate interests
seeking influence at Washington as would enable him to accomplish
this purpose, and in this way he had met and formed a strong friendship
with John Burkett Ryder. Each being a master in his own field was
useful to the other. Neither was troubled with qualms of conscience, so
they never quarrelled. If the Ryder interests needed anything in the
Senate, Roberts and his followers were there to attend to it. Just now
the cohort was marshalled in defence of the railroads against the attacks
of the new Rebate bill. In fact, Ryder managed to keep the Senate busy
all the time. When, on the other hand, the senators wanted
anything--and they often did--Ryder saw that they got it, lower rates for
this one, a fat job for that one, not forgetting themselves. Senator
Roberts was already a very rich man, and although the world often
wondered where he got it, no one had the courage to ask him.
But the Republican leader was stirred with an ambition greater than
that of controlling a majority in the Senate. He had a daughter, a
marriageable young woman who, at least in her father's opinion, would
make a desirable wife for any man. His friend Ryder had a son, and this
son was the only heir to the greatest fortune ever amassed by one man,
a fortune which, at its present rate of increase, by the time the father
died and the young couple were ready to inherit, would probably

amount to over SIX BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Could the human
mind grasp the possibilities of such a colossal fortune? It staggered the
imagination. Its owner, or the man who controlled it, would be master
of the world! Was not this a prize any man might well set himself out
to win? The senator was thinking of it now as he stood exchanging
banal remarks with the men who accosted him. If he could only bring
off that marriage he would be content. The ambition of his life would
be