Alexander Powers went back to his desk that afternoon much pleased with his plan and seeing much help in it for the men.  He knew where he could get some good tables from an abandoned eating house at one of the stations down the road, and he saw how the coffee arrangement could be made a very attractive feature.  The men had responded even better than he anticipated, and the whole thing could not help being a great benefit to them.

He took up the routine of his work with a glow of satisfaction.  After all, he wanted to do as Jesus would, he said to himself.

It was nearly four o’clock when he opened one of the company’s long envelopes which he supposed contained orders for the purchasing of stores.  He ran over the first page of typewritten matter in his usual quick, business-like manner, before he saw that what he was reading was not intended for his office but for the superintendent of the freight department.

He turned over a page mechanically, not meaning to read what was not addressed to him, but before he knew it, he was in possession of evidence which conclusively proved that the company was engaged in a systematic violation of the Interstate Commerce Laws of the United States.  It was as distinct and unequivocal a breaking of law as if a private citizen should enter a house and rob the inmates.  The discrimination shown in rebates was in total contempt of all the statutes.  Under the laws of the state it was also a distinct violation of certain provisions recently passed by the legislature to prevent railroad trusts.  There was no question that he had in his hands evidence sufficient to convict the company of willful, intelligent violation of the law of the commission and the law of the state also.

He dropped the papers on his desk as if they were poison, and instantly the question flashed across his mind, “What would Jesus do?” He tried to shut the question out.  He tried to reason with himself by saying it was none of his business.  He had known in a more or less definite way, as did nearly all the officers of the company, that this had been going on right along on nearly all the roads.  He was not in a position, owing to his place in the shops, to prove anything direct, and he had regarded it as a matter which did not concern him at all.  The papers now before him revealed the entire affair.  They had through some carelessness been addressed to him.  What business of his was it?  If he saw a man entering his neighbor’s house to steal, would it not be his duty to inform the officers of the law?  Was a railroad company such a different thing?  Was it under a different rule of conduct, so that it could rob the public and defy law and be undisturbed because it was such a great organization?  What would Jesus do?  Then there was his family.  Of course, if he took any steps to inform the commission it would mean the loss of his position.  His wife and daughter had always enjoyed luxury and a good