For Jim Hegan was one of the wreckers. His fortune had been made by
the methods which Major Venable had outlined, by buying aldermen and
legislatures and governors; by getting franchises for nothing and
selling them for millions; by organising huge swindles and unloading
them upon the public. And here he sat upon the veranda of his home,
in the twilight of an August evening, smoking a cigar and telling
about an orphan asylum he had founded!
He was cheerful and kindly; he was even benevolent. And could it be
that he had no idea of the trail of ruin and distress which he had
left behind him? Montague found himself possessed by a sudden desire
to penetrate beneath that reserve; to spring at the man and surprise
him with some sudden question; to get at the reality of him, to know
him as he was. This air of power and masterfulness, surely that must
be the mask that he wore. And how was he to himself? When he was
alone with his own conscience? Surely there must come doubt and
wonder, unhappiness and loneliness! Surely, then, the lives that he
had wrecked must come back to plague him! Surely the memories of
treachery and cruelty must make him wince!
And from Hegan, Montague's thoughts went to his daughter.
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