“It is; always providing it can dominate its own majority.  But this is by no means certain.  The political earthquake is essentially a popular protest against hard conditions brought about, as the voters seem to believe, by the oppressions of the alien corporations and extortionate railroad rates.  Yet there are plenty of steady-going, conservative men in the movement; men who have no present idea of revolutionizing things.  Marston, the lieutenant-governor, is one of that kind.  It all depends on whether these men will allow themselves to be whipped into line by the leaders, who, as I am very well convinced, are a set of conscienceless demagogues, fighting solely for their own hand.”

Ormsby nodded again.

“You are likely to have good hunting this winter, Mr. Kent.  It hasn’t begun yet, I take it?”

“Oh, no; the Assembly does not convene for a fortnight, and nobody short of an inspired prophet can foretell what legislation will be sprung.  But one thing is safe to count on:  the leaders are out for spoils.  They mean to rob somebody, and, if my guess is worth anything, they are sharp enough to try first to get their schemes legalized by having enabling laws passed by the Assembly.”

“Um,” said the eastern man.  Then he took the measure of his companion in a shrewd overlook.  “You are the man on the ground, Mr. Kent, and I’ll ask a straightforward question.  If you had a friend owning stock in one of the involved railways, what would you advise?”

Kent smiled.

“We needn’t make it a hypothetical case.  If I had the right to advise Mrs. Brentwood and her daughters, I should counsel them to sit tight in the boat for the present.”

“Would you?  But Western Pacific has gone off several points already.”

“I know it has; and unfortunately, Mrs. Brentwood bought in at the top of the market.  That is why I counsel delay.  If she sells now, she is sure to lose.  If she holds on, there is an even chance for a spasmodic upward reaction before worse things happen.”

“Perhaps:  you know more about the probabilities than I pretend to.  But on the other hand, she may lose more if she holds on.”

Kent bit deep into his cigar.

“We must see to it that she doesn’t lose, Mr. Ormsby.”

The club-man laughed broadly.

“Isn’t that a good bit like saying that the shallop must see to it that the wind doesn’t blow too hard for it?”

“Possibly.  But in the sorriest wreck there is usually some small chance for salvage.  I understand Mrs. Brentwood’s holding is not very large?”

“A block of some three thousand shares, held jointly by her and her two daughters, I believe.”

“Exactly:  not enough to excite anybody’s cupidity; and yet enough to turn the scale if there should ever be a fight for a majority control.”

“There is no such fight in prospect, is there?”

“No; not that I know of.  But I was thinking of the possibilities.  If a smash comes there will be a good deal of horse-swapping in the middle of the stream—­buying up of depressed stocks by people who need the lines worse than the original owners do.”