The Lion and the Mouse | Page 8

congratulated each other silently. The great
man was pleased to be in a good humour. And as Ryder turned with the
senator to enter the Directors Room the light from the big windows fell
full on his face, and they noticed that his eyes were of the softest blue.
"No squalls to-day," whispered one.
"Wait and see," retorted a more experienced colleague. "Those eyes are
more fickle than the weather."
Outside the sky was darkening, and drops of rain were already falling.
A flash of lightning presaged the coming storm.
Ryder passed on and into the Directors Room followed by Senator
Roberts and the other directors, the procession being brought up by the
dapper little secretary bearing the minutes.
The long room with its narrow centre table covered with green baize
was filled with directors scattered in little groups and all talking at once
with excited gesture. At the sight of Ryder the chattering stopped as if
by common consent, and the only sound audible was of the shuffling of
feet and the moving of chairs as the directors took their places around
the long table.
With a nod here and there Ryder took his place in the chairman's seat
and rapped for order. Then at a sign from the chair the dapper little
secretary began in a monotonous voice to read the minutes of the
previous meeting. No one listened, a few directors yawned. Others had
their eyes riveted on Ryder's face, trying to read there if he had devised
some plan to offset the crushing blow of this adverse decision, which
meant a serious loss to them all. He, the master mind, had served them
in many a like crisis in the past. Could he do so again? But John Ryder
gave no sign. His eyes, still of the same restful blue, were fixed on the
ceiling watching a spider marching with diabolical intent on a wretched
fly that had become entangled in its web. And as the secretary ambled

monotonously on, Ryder watched and watched until he saw the spider
seize its helpless prey and devour it. Fascinated by the spectacle, which
doubtless suggested to him some analogy to his own methods, Ryder
sat motionless, his eyes fastened on the ceiling, until the sudden
stopping of the secretary's reading aroused him and told him that the
minutes were finished. Quickly they were approved, and the chairman
proceeded as rapidly as possible with the regular business routine. That
disposed of, the meeting was ready for the chief business of the day.
Ryder then calmly proceeded to present the facts in the case.
Some years back the road had acquired as an investment some
thousands of acres of land located in the outskirts of Auburndale, on
the line of their road. The land was bought cheap, and there had been
some talk of laying part of it out as a public park. This promise had
been made at the time in good faith, but it was no condition of the sale.
If, afterwards, owing to the rise in the value of real estate, the road
found it impossible to carry out the original idea, surely they were
masters of their own property! The people of Auburndale thought
differently and, goaded on by the local newspapers, had begun action in
the courts to restrain the road from diverting the land from its alleged
original purpose. They had succeeded in getting the injunction, but the
road had fought it tooth and nail, and finally carried it to the Supreme
Court, where Judge Rossmore, after reserving his opinion, had finally
sustained the injunction and decided against the railroad. That was the
situation, and he would now like to hear from the members of the
board.
Mr. Grimsby rose. Self-confident and noisily loquacious, as most men
of his class are in simple conversation, he was plainly intimidated at
speaking before such a crowd. He did not know where to look nor what
to do with his hands, and he shuffled uneasily on his feet, while streams
of nervous perspiration ran down his fat face, which he mopped
repeatedly with a big coloured handkerchief. At last, taking courage, he
began:
"Mr. Chairman, for the past ten years this road has made bigger
earnings in proportion to its carrying capacity than any other railroad in

the United States. We have had fewer accidents, less injury to rolling
stock, less litigation and bigger dividends. The road has been well
managed and"--here he looked significantly in Ryder's direction--"there
has been a big brain behind the manager. We owe you that credit, Mr.
Ryder!"
Cries of "Hear! Hear!" came from all round the table.
Ryder bowed coldly, and Mr. Grimsby continued: "But during the last
year or two things have gone wrong. There has been a lot of litigation,
most