Trueman jumps on a car, climbs across it and jumps to the street. At a
run he makes for the ferry house.
As he passes the gateman he throws down a silver piece for ferry fare
and rushes toward the boat. Half a minute later the boat draws out of
the slip. When he enters the train, Trueman seats himself in the
smoking-car. The man next to him is reading a late extra which he has
bought at Cortlandt street.
Glancing over the man's shoulder, Trueman reads of the deaths of
financiers, statesmen, manufacturers. All have met sudden and violent
deaths, and in each instance there is announced the suicide or
accidental death of an unknown companion.
Under a seven-column head, printed in red, is a suggestive paragraph. It
asks if the wave of annihilation can have any connection with the
Committee of Forty. And as if to answer the interrogation affirmatively,
the paragraph concludes in these words:
"On the cards of six of the men whose bodies have been found with the
murdered multi-millionaires, reference to the Committee of Forty is made
point-blank. One asserts: 'In the future, arrogant capitalists will not
sneer at the protestations of a committee of the people. As a
deliberative body the Committee of Forty was impotent; as the avenger of
the downtrodden, it will never be forgotten.' Another bears this strange
inscription: 'When anarchy seems imminent, take courage, for an honest
leader will deliver you from harm.
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