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.’

“There are two cards which quote direct from the Scriptures:  ’The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor:  let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.’  This gives the motive which supplied the assassin of the Sugar King with courage to commit a double crime.  He was a religious fanatic.  The name George M. Watson was scribbled on the back of the card.  This is the name of one of the Committee of Forty.

“The other card reads:  ’And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.’”

Here is a matter which sets Trueman thinking.  He knows every member of the Committee of Forty; they are men who would not take part in a dastardly crime.

But is this terrible annihilation to be looked at in the light of an ordinary crime?

“Metz is a member of the committee.”  Trueman resolves this thought for several minutes.

The train rolls on at a rapid rate; the towns of Jersey are entered and passed so quickly that no idea of the excitement that is stirring them can be formed.  It is not until Trenton is reached that Trueman hears the news of the deaths of still other prominent men.

He buys a paper and returns to his seat.  This extra contains the details of the threatened uprising in Wilkes-Barre, and the statement that the Committee of Forty has converted itself into a Syndicate of Annihilation.

When the train reaches Philadelphia a battalion of the State Militia goes on board.  The Major in command has instructions to report to the Sheriff of Luzerne County.  This means that the militia is to be handed over to the Magnates.

As the train is about to leave the depot a telegram is received at the dispatcher’s office, which causes a delay.  A freight on the Wilkes-Barre division has jumped the track.  The wrecking train is called for.  After the departure of the wrecking train the express pulls out.  The accident has occurred thirty miles east of Wilkes-Barre.  It causes the Keystone to be two hours late.