“We will time the execution of our design so that it shall occur on the 13th of October, four weeks before the National election.  The Independence Party will have as its candidate a man who is known for his honesty and ability; who is an avowed opponent to force either by the magnates or the people.  The people will be eager to entrust their safety in his hands.

“The dread of a repetition of the edict of Proscription will cause even the supporters of the Robber Barons to prefer the election of the people’s candidates, than to face the results of the election of a Plutocrat.”

The Chairman interrupts the speaker:  “We will not take a vote on this question to-night, so I should suggest that the meeting be brought to a close.  This will afford us all time to further consider the proposition.”

The meeting closes in silence.  There is a stern anxious look on the faces of many of the men; others look as if they are on the point of fainting.  They reach the court-yard and seem relieved to get a breath of fresh air.

The two members who represent the Anarchistic element are the most depressed.  They speak to several of the men from the socialistic orders and try to get at the reason why they shall have to commit suicide for doing what they believe to be the best thing for the world.  No one is able to give any very good reason, so the two anarchists go to their homes in any thing but a serene frame of mind.

At the meeting held the following night, the members discuss the momentous proposition in all its details, the result being that they all agree to pledge themselves to the carrying out of the edict of annihilation.

Without unnecessary ceremony each member of the committee takes the preliminary oath that Nevins demands.  The reading of the list of the proscribed is postponed for a week.

From the time the committee decides to take the serious step, there is a decided change in the attitude of many of them toward William Nevins.  Some of the men have a vague notion that he is not sincere; that he is an agent of the Magnates.

Not that he has said a word that would lend color to this belief, for, on the contrary, it was he who expressed his views freely as originator of the drastic plan.  It comes rather as the result of his being superior to his colleagues in many ways.  His reserve of manner, his invariable good judgment and the exhibition of his erudition, instead of endearing him to the members, make them distrustful of him.

A free expression of the feeling that exists is not made, however, until the evening of the allotment.  This is the occasion which the men who hold Nevins in disfavor have determined shall be made the moment for his dismissal from the council and for a change in his plan, if not a total rejection of it.

Before the appointed hour of the meeting, these skeptics meet in secret conclave.

“It will be our duty to-night to decide upon the means by which the plan we have been considering may be carried into execution, or abandoned,” states the chairman of this impromptu meeting in a perfunctory tone.  “If there is any preliminary matter to be discussed, I am ready to entertain it.”