“An hour or two after the opening she’ll flop,” said Joe casually.

“How do you know?”

Taking a paper from his pocket, he spread it out on the table. It was the page proof of a Sunday article for the newspapers, embellished with photographs. Joe, grinning, read out the headlines:

“Cooper Gillett buys another big factory! The young financier hot-foot on the trail of the trust!”

“Me, young?” said Gillett grinning, too.

“It endears you to the public,” said Joe.

“I didn’t buy the factory. I only have an option on it.”

“What’s in a word! It ’ll all be forgotten in a couple of days. . . . This will appear to-morrow in five of the biggest cities in the country. A whole page, see? It recapitulates the story of our other three factories. . . .”

“Which have never manufactured anything . . .” put in Shriver.

“The public doesn’t know that.”