“I certainly do suppose it,” said Bates.

“But, man!  I can give you positive facts that prove they are.”

“For every fact that you bring,” laughed the other, “I can bring half a dozen to show you they are not.”

“But that is perfectly absurd!” began Montague.

“Hush,” said Bates, and he waited while the string jerked.

“I-c-e,” spelled Rodney.

“That’s Cummings—­another dead one,” said Bates.  “My Lord, but they did him up brown!”

“Who did it?” asked Montague.

“Waterman,” answered the other.  “The Steamship Trust was competing with his New England railroads, and now it’s in the hands of a receiver.  Before long you’ll hear that he’s gathered it in.”

“Then you think this last smash-up was planned?” said he.

“Planned!  My Heavens, man, it was the greatest gobbling up of the little fish that I have ever known since I’ve been in Wall Street!”

“And it was Waterman?”

“With the Oil Trust.  They were after young Stewart.  You see, he beat them out in Montana, and they had to buy him off for ten million dollars.  But he was fool enough to come to New York and go in for banking; and now they’ve got his banks, and a good part of his ten millions as well!”

“It takes a man’s breath away,” said Montague.

“Just save your breath-you’ll need it to-night,” said Bates, drily.

The other sat in thought for a moment.  “We were talking about Price,” he whispered.  “Do you mean John S. Price?”

“There is only one Price that I know of,” was the reply.

“And you don’t believe that he and Waterman are enemies?”

“I mean that Price is simply one of Waterman’s agents in every big thing he does.”

“But, man!  Doesn’t he own the Mississippi Steel Company?”

“He owns it for Waterman,” said Bates.

“But that is impossible,” cried Montague.  “Isn’t Waterman interested in the Steel Trust?  And isn’t Mississippi Steel its chief competitor?”

“It is supposed to be,” said the other.  “But that is simply a bluff to fool the public.  There has been no real competition between them ever since four years ago, when Price raided the stock and captured it for Waterman.”

Montague was staring at his friend, almost speechless with amazement.

“Mr. Bates,” he said, “it happens that I was very recently connected with Price and the Mississippi Steel Company in a very intimate way; and I know most positively that what you say is not true.”

“It’s very hard to answer a statement like that,” Bates responded.  “I’d have to know just what your facts are.  But they’d have to be very convincing indeed to make an impression upon me, for I ran that story down pretty thoroughly.  I got it straight from the inside, and I got all the details of it.  I nailed Price down, right in his own office.  The only trouble was that my people wouldn’t print the facts.”