“We are talking of unusual things,” Gorham replied.  “No individual before has been able to found so mammoth or so successful a corporation as the Consolidated Companies.  No individual before this has found himself strong enough to force the immediate capitulation, against their wills, of so powerful an Executive Committee.  With these precedents before me, I state my determination not as a threat, or as a boast, but as a fact.”

“Are you counting on the stockholders for support?”

“Absolutely.”

“You will find them as unanimously against you as you have just found the committee.”

“Do you know this?”

“They all know it; they would not have taken their position otherwise.  Next time, the stockholders will be put in evidence.”

Gorham again became silent.  This second shock, following so soon after the first, for a moment paralyzed his power to think, but he quickly recovered his optimism.

“I do not believe it—­I will not believe it.  But why do you tell me this?” he again asked.  “There must be some purpose behind it all.”

“There is.  It is necessary for you to realize the exact position we are in.  Your work has been with those about to become stockholders, or with the consolidations; I have been brought in personal contact with the stockholders and the directors.  You have met the ideals, while I have come face to face with the actualities.  For this reason I tell you that you are undertaking a more serious campaign than you realize, and I also tell you that, strong as you are, compromise and conciliation will eventually be required.”

“Do I, then, stand alone?”

Covington resented the suggestion.

“There should be no question in your mind as to where I stand,” he said.  “My personal relations with you, and my hope of an even closer relationship, make any discussion unnecessary.  But I see the situation from a viewpoint which you cannot, and my duty clearly demands that I express myself to you with complete frankness.  I do not suggest that you give up your ideals—­I simply urge you to compromise with them in order to win greater victories in the future.”

“Covington,” replied Gorham, with decision, “you know how much I value your judgment, how firmly I rely upon your loyalty.  Because of this, I shall move with even greater care than so serious a crisis as this inevitably demands.  Yet it is only fair to say to you now that I can see but one outcome.  There are many conflicts which arise in life which admit of compromise—­but you cannot compromise with truth, with virtue, or with honor.  These attributes either exist, or they do not—­there are no half-ways.  Suppose you do a little thinking, too, along my line.  Then we’ll join together, taking advantage of this new knowledge which has come to us, and force the issue where we see the necessity.  We are both trying to accomplish the same results, but are considering different routes.  Think it over, my friend, and I feel sure that you will see that I am right.”