diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 10844-0.txt | 6089 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10844-8.txt | 6511 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10844-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 106397 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10844.txt | 6511 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/10844.zip | bin | 0 -> 106346 bytes |
8 files changed, 19127 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10844-0.txt b/10844-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16dbfee --- /dev/null +++ b/10844-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6089 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10844 *** + +[Illustration: THE SENATOR AND "BUD" HAINES.] + + + + +A GENTLEMAN FROM MISSISSIPPI + +A NOVEL + +Founded on the popular play of the same title + + +PRODUCED UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF WM.A. BRADY AND JOS.R. GRISMER + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +THE SENATOR AND BUD HAINES + +"FROM NEW YORK, EH? THE VICKSBURG OF THE NORTH" + +"STRANGE, HOW THE LANGDON'S TREAT HIM AS A FRIEND" + +THE SENATOR ACCEPTS AN INVITATION TO TEA + +THE LANGDON FAMILY + +"YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE LIKE A MAN" + +"TO-MORROW, AT 12.30" + +"AFTER I HAVE FINISHED, I DARE ONE OF YOU TO DENY A WORD" + + + + +_INTRODUCTION_ + + +_Here is a story of an epoch-making battle of right against wrong, +of honesty against corruption, of simplicity and sincerity against +deceit, bribery and intrigue. It is the story of to-day in this +country. It vitally concerns every man, woman and child in the United +States, so far-reaching is its influence. + +The warfare is now going on--the warfare of honest men against corrupt +political machines. + +The story tells the "inside" of the political maneuvers in Washington +and of the workings of bosses there and elsewhere--how they shape men +and women to their ends, how their cunning intrigues extend into the +very social life of the nation's capital. You will find inspiration in +the career of the honest old Southern planter elected to the United +States Senate and the young newspaper reporter who becomes his private +secretary and political pilot. Your heart will beat in sympathy with +the love of the secretary and the Senator's youngest daughter. + +You will read of the lobbyists and find that not all of them are men. +You will see how avarice causes a daughter to conspire against her +father. You will hear the note of a gripping national tragedy in the +words of Peabody, the "boss of the Senate." But cause for laughter as +well will not be found lacking in this truly many-sided narrative._ + + + + +A Gentleman from Mississippi + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PRACTICAL POLITICS + + That bids him flout the law he makes; + That bids him make the law he flouts. + +_--Kipling_. + + +In buoyant spirit the Hon. Charles Norton rode up the bridle path +leading through the Langdon plantation to the old antebellum homestead +which, on a shaded knoll, overlooked the winding waters of the Pearl +River. No finer prospect was to be had in all Mississippi than greeted +the eye from the wide southwest porch, where on warm evenings the +Langdons and their frequent guests gathered to dine or to watch the +golden splendor of the dying sun. + +The Langdon family had long been a power in the South. Its sons fought +under Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, under Zachary Taylor in the war +with Mexico, and in the Civil War men of that name left their blood +on the fields of Antietam, Shiloh, the Wilderness and Gettysburg. But +this family of fighting men, of unselfish patriots, had also marked +influence in the ways of peace, as real patriots should. Generations +of Langdons had taken deepest pride in developing the hundreds of +acres of cotton land, whose thousands of four-foot rows planted each +April spread open the silvery lined bolls in July and August, and the +ripened cotton fiber, pure white beneath the sun, gave from a distance +the picture of an expanse of driven snow. + +The Hon. Charles Norton had reason for feeling well pleased with the +world as he fastened his bay Virginia hunter to a convenient post +and strode up the steps of the mansion, which was a characteristic +survivor of the "old South," the South of gilded romance and of +gripping tragedy. Now in this second year of his first term as +Congressman and a promising member of the younger set of Southern +lawyers, he had just taken active part in securing the election of +Colonel William H. Langdon, present head of the family, to the United +States Senate, though the ultimate action of the Legislature had been +really brought about by a lifelong friend of Colonel Langdon, the +senior Senator from the State, James Stevens, who had not hesitated to +flatter Norton and use him as a cat's-paw. This use the Hon. Charles +Norton seemed to consider an honor of large proportions. Not every +first-term Congressman can hope for intimacy with a Senator. Norton +believed that his work for Langdon would win him the family's +gratitude and thus further his ambition to marry Carolina, the +planter's oldest daughter, whose beauty made her the recipient of many +attentions. + +A complacent gleam shone in Norton's eyes as they swept over the +fertile acres of the plantation. He thought of the material interest +he might one day have in them if his suit for the hand of Carolina +progressed favorably. Suddenly his reverie was interrupted by the +voice of young Randolph Langdon, a spirited lad in his early twenties, +who had just been made plantation manager, by his father. + +"Well, how is the honorable to-day?" said Randolph, approaching from +the doorway. "I didn't think a Congressman could be spared from +Washington but rarely, especially when the papers say the country +needs such a lot of saving." + +"Oh, this 'saving the country' talk goes all right in the story +books," replied Norton, who exercised considerable influence over the +youth through a long acquaintanceship and by frequently taking him +into his confidence, "but this country can take pretty good care of +itself. In Congress we representatives put the job of saving it over +on the Senate, and the Senate hands back the job to us. So what's +everybody's business isn't anybody's; a fine scheme so long as we have +a President who keeps his hands off and doesn't--" + +"But how about the speeches and the bills?" broke in Randolph. "I +thought--" + +"Yes, yes; to be sure," the Congressman quickly added. "Nearly all of +us introduce these so-called reform bills. When they're printed at +government expense we send copies, carried free by the Post-office +Department, to our constituents, and when we allow the bills to die in +some committee we can always blame the committee. But if there's a big +fight by our constituents over the bill we let it pass the House, but +arrange to kill it in the Senate. Then we do the same thing for the +Senators. Like in every other business, my boy," continued Norton as +he led the way into the house, "it's a case of 'you tickle me and I'll +tickle you' in politics. And don't let any one fool you about the +speeches either. They are pretty things to mail to the voters, but all +the wise boys in Washington know they aren't meant seriously. It's +all play acting, and there are better actors in the Senate than Henry +Irving or Edwin Booth ever were." + +"I don't think my father looks at things in the way you do, Charlie." + +"No? Well, maybe he doesn't now, but he will later on when he takes +his seat in the Senate. If he isn't wise enough to play around with +the rest of the Senators he won't get any bills passed, especially any +bill carrying an appropriation or of any other particular importance." + +"What!" ejaculated the planter's son. "Do you mean to say that if +father won't do what the other Senators want him to do they will +combine against him and destroy his usefulness, make him powerless--a +failure?" + +The Congressman smiled patronizingly on the youth. "Why, of course +they will. That's politics, practical politics, the only kind that's +known in Washington. You see--" + +"But the leaders of the great parties!" cried the young plantation +manager, in amazement. "Why don't they prevent this?" + +"Because they invented the system and because political party +differences don't amount to a whole lot much of the time in +Washington. The politicians do most of their criticizing of the other +party away from Washington, where the voters can hear them. But when +circumstances sometimes force a man to rise to assail the other side +in Congress he afterward apologizes in secret for his words. Or, +sometimes he apologizes beforehand, saying: 'I've got to hand out some +hot shot to you fellows just to please a crowd of sovereign voters +from my district who have come up to Washington to see me perform. So, +of course, I've got to make a showing. Don't mind what I say. You know +I don't mean it, but the old fogies will go back home and tell their +neighbors what a rip-snortin' reformer I be.'" + +"Is that the way you represent your district; Norton?" asked Planter +Langdon, who at this juncture entered the room. + +"No, no, Mr. Langdon--I should say Senator now, I suppose. I was +merely telling Randolph how some legislators conduct themselves." + +The Senator-elect paused momentarily, gazing at the Congressman, who, +dark-visaged, tall, black-haired, broad-shouldered and athletic, was +visibly uneasy at having his conversation with Randolph overheard by +the father. + +"No doubt it won't be all plain sailing in Washington for an +old-fashioned man like me, but I believe in the American people and +the men they send to Congress," slowly spoke the planter. "There's +Senator Stevens, for instance. He has always stood for the rights of +the people. I've read all his speeches. Just why he brought about my +election it is hard to tell, for I've been a planter all my life, +except when I fought under Beauregard. I feel that he did it out of +friendship, and I simply can't say how much I appreciate the honor. I +am indebted to you, too, Congressman." + +Tactfully disclaiming any credit for his work, only Norton's +congressional training in repression enabled him to refrain from +smiling at Langdon's innocence, his belief in Stevens' sincerity and +his wonder over his election. Stevens, the keen, cold and resourceful, +who forced his officeholders to yield him parts of their government +salaries; Stevens, who marketed to railway companies his influence +with the Department of Justice; Stevens, who was a Republican in +the committee room in Washington and a Democrat on the platform +in Mississippi; Stevens, who had consummated the deal with Martin +Sanders, boss of seven counties, to elect Langdon because of the +planter's trustfulness and simplicity of character, which should make +him easy to influence and to handle in the all-important matter of the +gulf naval base project! + +The entry of Carolina Langdon and her younger sister, Hope Georgia, +gave Norton a welcome opportunity to shift the trend of conversation. + +"You ladies will have a gay time in Washington," he began, after +directing a particularly enthusiastic greeting to Carolina. "You will +be in great demand at all the big affairs, and I don't think you +will ever want to come back to old Mississippi, forty miles from a +railroad, with few chances to wear your New York gowns." + +Carolina spoke quickly, her face flushing at the thought of the new +vista of life now opening. "Yes, I have always longed to be a part of +the real life of this world; the life of constant action--meeting +new people every day, and prominent people. Balls, receptions, teas, +theater parties, afternoon drives, plenty of money and plenty of +gayety are what I want. I'm not a bit like Hope Georgia, who thinks +these ideas are extravagant because she has not seen real life yet--" + +"Carolina, you must not think me 'only your little sister' now. I have +seen life. Haven't I spent a week in Jackson?" + +"That's enough proof. You know all about life, I'm sure, Miss Hope +Georgia," smilingly remarked Norton. + +Later, rising to join Planter Langdon on the veranda, where he had +gone to smoke, the Congressman gazed intently at Carolina. "You will +probably forget your old friends when you enter the dizzy social race +in Washington." + +"No, Charlie, I couldn't forget you, anyhow. You will be there, too. I +shall depend on you a great deal to take me about, unless you are too +busy making speeches and fighting your opponents." + +Again it was Norton's turn to be inwardly amused at the political +ignorance of the Langdon family. Speeches? The first-term Congressman +doesn't make speeches in Washington, because no one cares what he +thinks--except the lobbyists, whose business it is to provide new +members with a complete set of thoughts. Neither does he have +opponents--he is not considered important enough by the veterans to be +opposed. + +Skilfully approaching the subject which next to Carolina Langdon +had been uppermost in his mind during his visit, Norton asked the +Senator-elect on joining him if he did not believe that the entire +South would benefit if the plan to establish a naval base on the gulf +was successfully carried through. + +"Most certainly I do, and, as I said during the senatorial fight, the +whole country as well will be the gainer," responded Langdon. + +"Don't you think the people who want Altacoola chosen as the site have +the best arguments?" was the visitor's next question, the reply to +which he anxiously awaited. + +"Yes, I do, from what I've already heard; but I haven't heard very +much of what the folks who advocate other sites have to say. So, until +I've heard all sides and made my own examination, I couldn't give +any one my final answer, but Altacoola seems to have the necessary +qualifications." + +"Senator Stevens is in favor of Altacoola," eagerly suggested Norton. + +"Yes, and that's a pretty good argument in its favor," responded +Langdon. + +Norton now excused himself, pleading an appointment with a client at a +neighboring village. Waving farewell to Carolina and Hope Georgia, +who stood at a window, he rode away. "The old man is sure to be +all right," he muttered. "He leans toward Altacoola and believes in +Stevens. He'll lean some more until he falls over--into the trap. +There's a fortune in sight--within reach. Langdon has faith in his +friends. He won't suspect a thing." + +Still another thought occurred to the Hon. Charles Norton. "Stevens +elected Langdon out of friendship," he chuckled, gleefully. "That will +be well worth telling in Washington." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE WARS OF PEACE + + +"Big Bill" Langdon was the term by which the new Senator from +Mississippi had been affectionately known to his intimates for years. +He carried his 230 pounds with ease, bespeaking great muscular power +in spite of his gray hairs. His rugged courage, unswerving honesty and +ready belief in his friends won him a loyal following, some of whom +frequently repeated what was known as "Bill Langdon's Golden Rule": + +"There never was a man yet who didn't have some good in him, but most +folks don't know this because their own virtues pop up and blind 'em +when they look at somebody else." + +At the reunions of his old war comrades Langdon was always depended +on to describe once again how the Third Mississippi charged at +Crawfordsville and defeated the Eighth Illinois. But the stirring +events of the past had served to increase the planter's fondness for +his home life and his children, whose mother had died years before. At +times he regretted that his unexpected political duties would take him +away from the old plantation even though the enthusiastic approval of +Carolina and Hope Georgia proved considerable compensation. + +Although not sworn in as Senator, Colonel Langdon's political duties +were already pressing. A few days after Congressman Norton's visit he +sat in his library conferring with several prominent citizens of his +county regarding a plan to ask Congress to appropriate money to dredge +a portion of the channel of the Pearl River, which would greatly aid a +large section of the State. + +During the deliberations the name of Martin Sanders was announced by +Jackson, the Colonel's gravely decorous negro bodyguard, who boasted +that he "wuz brung up by Cunel Marse Langdon, suh, a fightin' +Mississippi cunel, suh, sence long befo' de wah and way befo' dat, +suh." + +"Show Mr. Sanders right in," commanded Colonel Langdon. + +"Good-day, Senator," spoke Sanders, the boss of seven counties, as he +entered. Glancing around the room, he continued, bending toward the +Colonel and muffling his now whispering voice with his hand: "I want +to speak to you alone. I'm here on politics." + +"That's all right; but these gentlemen here are my friends and +constituents," was the reply in no uncertain voice. "When I talk +politics they have a perfect right to hear what I, as their Senator, +say. Out with it, Mr. Sanders." + +As Sanders was introduced to the members of the conference he grew red +in the face and stared at Langdon, amazed. At last he had discovered +something new in politics. "Say," he finally blurted out, "when I talk +business I--" + +"Are you in politics as a business?" quickly spoke Colonel Langdon. + +"Why--I--er--no, of course not," the visitor stammered. "I am in +politics for my party's sake, just like everybody else," and Sanders +grinned suggestively at his questioner. + +"Have you anything further to say?" asked Langdon, in a tone hinting +that he would like to be rid of his caller. + +"Well, since you are so very new in this game, Senator, I'll talk +right out in meetin', as they call it. I came to ask about an +appointment an' to tip you off on a couple o' propositions. I want +Jim Hagley taken care of--you've heard of Jim--was clerk o' Fenimore +County. A $2,000 a year job'll do for him; $500 o' that he gives to +the organization." + +"You're the organization, aren't you?" queried Langdon. + +"Why, yes. Are you just gettin' wise?" cried Sanders. "Haven't I got +fellers, voters, VOTERS, VOTERS, d--n it, hangin' on to me that needs +to be taken care of! An' so I make the fellers that work help those +that don't. Why, Langdon, what'n h--l are you kickin' an' questioning' +about? Didn't you get my twelve votes in the Legislature? Did you have +a chance for Senator without 'em? Answer me that, will you? Why, with +'em you only had two more than needed to elect, an' the opposition +crowd was solid for Wilson," cried the angry boss, pounding the long +table before which Langdon sat. + +"I'll answer you almighty quick," retorted the now thoroughly aroused +Senator-elect, rising and shaking his clenched fist at Sanders. "Those +twelve votes you say were yours--yours?" + +"Yes, mine. Them noble legislators that cast 'em was an' is mine, +mine. I tell you, jest like I had 'em in my pocket, an' that's where I +mostly carry 'em, so as they won't go strayin' aroun' careless like." + +"You didn't have to vote those men for me. I told you at the Capitol +that I would not make you or anybody else any promises. You voted them +for me of your own accord. That's my answer." + +At this point the gentlemen of the county present when Sanders entered +and who had no desire to witness further the unpleasant episode, rose +to leave, in spite of the urgent request of Colonel Langdon that they +remain. The only one reluctant to go was Deacon Amos Smallwood, who, +coming to the plantation to seek employment for his son, had not been +denied of his desire to join the assemblage of his neighbors. + +Last to move toward the door, he stopped in front of Sanders, +stretched his five feet three inches of stature on tiptoe, and shook a +withered fist in the boss' firmly set, determined face. + +"Infamous!" shrieked the deacon. "You're a monster! You're +unrighteous! You should have belonged to the political machine of +Cataline or Pontius Pilate!" + +"Never heard tell o' them," muttered Sanders, deeply puzzled. "Guess +they was never in Mississippi in my time." + +His accompanying gesture of perplexity caused the deacon to hasten his +exit. Tripping over the leg of a chair, he fell headlong into the +arms of the watchful Jackson, who received the deacon's blessing for +"uplifting the righteous in the hour of their fall." + +Relieved at the departure of the witnesses, Sanders showed increased +aggressiveness. "To be sure, Senator, you were careful not to +personally promise me anything for my support at the election, as you +say," the leader sneered; "but you had Jim Stevens to make promises +for you, which was smooth, absolute an' artistic smooth--" + +"Stop, sir!" Langdon furiously shouted. "You forget, sir, that your +insinuation is an insult to a man elected Senator from Mississippi, an +insult to my State and to my friend Senator Stevens, who I know would +make you no promises for me, for he had not my authority." + +"Certainly you're a Senator, but what's a Senator, anyhow? I'll tell +you, Mr. Colonel Langdon, a Senator is a man who holds out for his own +pocket as much as us fellows that make him will stand for. When we +don't get our rightful share, he's through." + +With a sudden start, as though to spring at Sanders' throat, Langdon, +with compressed lips and eyes blazing, grasped the edge of the +table with a grip that threatened to rend the polished boards. With +intensest effort he slowly regained control of himself. His fury had +actually weakened him. His knees shook, and he sank weakly into a +chair. When he finally spoke his voice was strained and laborious. +"Sanders, you and I, sir, must never meet again, because I might not +succeed in keeping my hands off you. What would my old comrades of the +Third Mississippi say if they saw me sitting here and you there with +a whole body, sir, after what you have said? They would not believe +their eyes, thank God, sir. They would all go over to Stuart City and +buy new glasses, sir." A suspicious moisture appeared on the Colonel's +cheeks which he could not dry too quickly to escape Sanders' +observation. + +"But I had to let you stay, sir, because you, the sole accuser, are +the only one who can tell me what I must know." + +"What do you want to know?" asked Sanders, who had realized his great +mistake in losing his temper, in talking as openly and as violently +as he had and in dragging the name of Senator Stevens into the +controversy. He must try to keep Stevens from hearing of this day's +blunder, for Jim Stevens knew as well as he, didn't he, that the man +who loses his temper, like the man who talks too much, is of no use in +politics. + +"I want to know how you formed your opinion of political matters--of +Senators. Is it possible, sir, that you have actual knowledge of +actual happenings that give you the right to talk as you have? I want +to know if I must feel shame, feel disgrace, sir, to be a Senator from +Mississippi; that State, sir, that the Almighty himself, sir, would +choose to live in if he came to earth." + +"There, there, Senator, don't take too seriously what I have said," +Sanders replied in reassuring tone, having outlined his course of +action. "I lost my head because you wouldn't promise me something I +needed--that appointment for Hagley. What I said about Senators an' +such was all wild words--nothin' in 'em. Why, how could there be, +Senator?" This query was a happy afterthought which Sanders craftily +suggested in a designedly artless manner. + +"Just what I thought and know!" exclaimed Langdon, sharply. "It +couldn't be; it isn't possible. Now you go, sir, and let it be your +greatest disgrace that you are not fit to enter any gentleman's +house." + +"Oh, don't rub it in too hard, Senator. You may need my help some day, +but you'll have to deliver the goods beforehand." + +"I said, 'Go!'" + +"I'm goin', but here's a tip. Don't blame me for fightin' you. I've +got to fight to live. I'm a human bein', an' humans are pretty much +the same all over the world; all except you--you're only half natural. +The rest of you is reformer." + +After Sanders' departure the Colonel sat at his table, his head +resting in his hand, the events of the day crowding his brain +bewilderingly. + +"The battles of peace are worse than any Beauregard ever led me into," +he murmured. "Fighting o conquer oneself is harder than turning the +left flank of the Eighth Illinois in an enfilading fire." + +But the new Senator from Mississippi did not know that for him the +wars of peace had only just begun, that perhaps his own flesh and +blood and that of the wife and mother who had gone before would turn +traitor to his colors in the very thickest of the fray. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HOW TO PLEASE A SENATOR + + +The International Hotel in Washington was all hustle and bustle. Was +it not preparing for its first Senator since 1885? No less a personage +than the Hon. William H. Langdon of Mississippi, said to be a warm +personal friend of Senator Stevens, one of the leading members of his +party at the capital, had engaged a suit of rooms for himself and two +daughters. + +"Ain't it the limit?" remarked the chief clerk to Bud Haines, +correspondent of the New York _Star_. "The Senator wrote us that he +was coming here because his old friend, the late Senator Moseley, said +back in '75 that this was the best hotel in Washington and where all +the prominent men ought to stay." + +Haines, the ablest political reporter in Washington, had come to the +International to interview the new Senator, to describe for his paper +what kind of a citizen Langdon was. He glanced around at the dingy +woodwork, the worn cushions, the nicked and uneven tiles of the hotel +lobby, and smiled at the clerk. "Well, if this is the new Senator's +idea of princely luxury he will fit right into the senatorial +atmosphere." Both laughed derisively. "By the way," added Haines, "I +suppose you'll raise your rates now that you've got a Senator here." + +The clerk brought his fist down on the register with a thud. + +"We could have them every day if we wanted them. This fellow, though, +we'll have all winter, I guess. His son's here now. Been breaking all +records for drinking. Congressman Norton of Mississippi has been down +here with him a few times. There young Langdon is now." + +Haines turned quickly, just in time to bump into a tall, slender young +man, who was walking unevenly in the direction of the café. + +"Well, can't you see what you're doing?" muttered the tall young man +thickly. + +Haines smiled. The chap who has played halfback four years on his +college eleven and held the boxing championship in his class is apt +to be good-natured. He does not have to take offense easily. Besides, +Randolph Langdon was plainly under the influence of whisky. So Haines +smiled pleasantly at the taller young man. + +"Beg your pardon--my fault," Haines said. + +"Well, don't let it occur again," mumbled Langdon, as he strolled with +uneven dignity toward the door. Bud Haines laughed. + +"I guess young Langdon is going to be one of the boys, isn't he?" + +"He's already one of them when it comes to a question of fluid +capacity," laughed some one behind him, and Bud whirled to meet the +gaze of his friend, Dick Gullen, representative of one of the big +Chicago dailies. + +"You down here to see Langdon, too?" commented Bud. + +Cullen nodded. "Queer roost where this Senator is to hang out, isn't +it?" + +"He can't be a rich one, then," suggested Haines. + +Cullen chuckled. + +"Perhaps he's an honest one." + +"I hadn't thought of that. You always were original, Dickie," +commented Haines, dryly. "By the way, what do you know about him?" + +"Nothing, except that the _Evening Call_ printed a picture of his +eldest daughter--says she's the queen daughter of the South, a famous +beauty, rich planter for a father, mother left her a fortune--" + +"She'll cut quite a social caper with this hotel's name on her cards, +won't she?" broke in Haines, as he led Cullen to a seat to await the +expected legislator, whose train was late. + +"I don't know very much about him myself," said Haines. "All I've been +able to discover is that Stevens said the word which elected him, and +that looks bad. Great glory! When I think what a Senator of the +right sort has a chance to do here in Washington--a nonpartisan, +straight-out-from-the-shoulder man!" He paused to shake his head in +disgust. "You know these fellows here in the Senate don't even see +their chance. Why, if you and I didn't do any more to hold our jobs +than they do, we'd be fired by wire the first day. They know just the +old political game, that's all." + +"Its a great game, though, Bud," sighed Cullen, longingly, for, like +many newspaper men, he had the secret feeling that he was cut out to +be a great politician. + +"Sure, it's a great game, as a game," agreed Haines. "So is bridge, +and stud poker, and three-card monte, and flim-flam generally. Take +this new man Langdon, for instance. Chosen by Stevens, he'll probably +be perfectly obedient, perfectly easy going, perfectly blind +and--perfectly useless. What's wanted now is to get the work done, not +play the game." + +Thoroughly a cynic through his years of experience as a newspaper man, +which had shown the inside workings of many important phases of the +seemingly conventional life of this complex world, Cullen pretended +unbounded enthusiasm. + +"Hear! hear!" he shouted. "All you earnest citizens come vote for +Reformer Haines. I'm for you, Bud. What do I get in your cabinet? I've +joined the reformers, too, and, like all of them, me for P-U-R-I-T-Y +as long as she gives me a meal ticket." + +But not even Cullen could make Haines consider his views on the +necessity of political regeneration to be ridiculous. His optimism +could not be snuffed out, for he was a genuine believer that the +natural tendency of humankind was to do right. Wrong he believed to +be the outcome of unnatural causes. This quality, combined with +his practical knowledge of the world and his courage, made him a +formidable man, one who would one day accomplish big things--if he got +the chance. + +"You know you can't shut me up, Dick," was his response to Cullen's +oratorical flight. "I'm going to have my say. I don't see why a +Senator shouldn't be honest. All I want them to do is to play a new +game. Let 'em at least seem to be honest, attend to their business, +forget politics. The country sends them here to work, and if they do +the work the people really don't care a hang what party they belong +to." + +"Come out of it, Bud. Your brain is wabbly," yawned Cullen, wearily. +"I'll buy a drink if you'll quiet down. Let's be comfortable till this +fellow Langdon appears." He caught his friend by the arm and in spite +of protest dragged him off to the café just as young Langdon and +Congressman Norton came down through the lobby. + +Though but few years older than Randolph Langdon, Charles Norton +had long exercised strong influence over him because of his wider +experience in the world's affairs. Like his father, young Langdon had +stayed close to the plantation most of his life, particularly after +leaving school, devoting his attention to studying the business of +conducting the family's big estate. Norton brought him the atmosphere +of the big outside world he yearned to see even as did his sister +Carolina, and he imitated Norton's manners, his dress and mode of +speech. The Congressman's habit of confiding in Randolph, a subtle +compliment, was deeply appreciated by the lad, who unconsciously +became a continual advertiser of Norton's many virtues to Carolina and +to his father, all of which the Congressman knew. + +That Norton's political career was the outcome of Carolina Langdon's +ambition to shine in gay society was known to his friends as well as +his family, and his desire to win her and place her where she could +satisfy every whim had developed almost to a frenzy. Seeing evidences +of Senator Stevens' vast influence, he did not hesitate to seek a +close relationship with him, and the Senator was clever enough to lead +Norton to consider him his friend. + +At the start of his political career Norton had higher ideas of honor +than guided his actions now that he had become a part of the political +machine that controlled his native State of Mississippi, and of the +bipartisan combination that dominated both houses of Congress in the +interest of the great railway and industrial corporations. Senator +Stevens and other powers had so distorted Norton's view of the +difference between public and private interests and their respective +rights that he had come to believe captial to be the sacred heritage +of the nation which must be protected at any cost. The acceptance of +a retainer from the C. St. and P. Railroad Company for wholly +unnecessary services in Washington--only another way of buying a +man--a transaction arranged by Senator Stevens, was but another stage +in the disintegration of the young Congressman's character, but it +brought him just that much closer to the point where he could claim +Carolina Langdon as his own. And opportunity does not knock twice at a +man's door--unless he is at the head of the machine. + +Norton, the persevering young law student who loved the girl who had +been his boyhood playmate, was now Norton who coveted her father's +lands, who boasted that he was on the "inside" in Washington, who was +on the way to fortune--if the new Senator from Mississippi would or +could be forced to stand in favor of the Altacoola naval base. + +His conversation with Randolph Langdon, as Haines and Cullen saw them +pass through the hotel lobby, illustrated the nature of the Norton of +the present and his interest in the Altacoola scheme. + +"There's no reason why you shouldn't come in on the ground floor in +this proposition, Randolph," he was urging in continuance of the +conversation begun over a table in the café. "No reason why you +shouldn't do it, my boy. Why, are you still a child, or are you really +a man? You have now drafts for $50,000, haven't you?" + +"Yeah," agreed Langdon, chagrined at Norton's insinuation of +youthfulness and anxious to prove that he was really a man of affairs, +"I've got the fifty thousand, Charlie, but--but, you see, that's the +money for improvements on the plantation. As father has put me in as +manager I want to make a showing." + +"You can't make it until spring," urged Norton. "The money's got to +lie in the bank all winter. Now, why don't you make a hundred thousand +with it instead of letting it lie idle? Isn't that simple?" + +The younger man's eyes opened wide, and his imagination, stimulated by +the special brand of Bourbon whisky Norton had ordered for him, took +rapid bounds. + +"One hundred thousand! You mean I could make a hundred thousand with +my fifty between now and spring?" + +"Sure as a nigger likes gin," replied Norton, confidently. + +"How?" asked Langdon. + +The young Congressman leaned over confidentially. + +"This is under your hat, Randolph. You can keep quiet?" + +Langdon nodded eagerly. + +"Then put it into Altacoola land." + +"The naval base?" gasped Langdon. + +Norton nodded. + +"Now you've hit it. The Government will select Altacoola for a naval +base. Then land will jump 'way up to never, and you'll clean up a +hundred thousand at the least. Isn't it simple? There are, a thousand +people with money who would just love to have this chance. And I'm +giving it to you because of our friendship. I want to do you a good +turn. I've got my money in there." + +Young Langdon was visibly impressed. + +"You've always--treated me right, Charlie; you've been for me, I know. +But suppose the Government doesn't select Altacoola. Gulf City's in +the running." + +Norton laughed sarcastically. + +"Gulf City is a big bunch of mud flats. Besides, I'll tell you +something else. Just between us, remember." He waited for the boy's +eager nod before he went on. "The big men are behind Altacoola. +Standard Steel wants Altacoola, and what Standard Steel wants from +Congress you can bet your bottom dollar Standard Steel gets. They know +their business at No. 10 Broadway. Now, then, are you satisfied?" + +Randolph was more than satisfied. Already he felt himself rich, and +honestly rich, too, for Norton had convinced him that there was no +reason why he should not use the $50,000 of his father's, when it had +to lie in the bank anyhow all winter, and he would have it back in +time to use on the plantation in the spring when it was needed. How +proud of him his father would be when he showed him a clear profit of +$100,000! + +"I'll go get the drafts at once, Charlie, and I'm mighty much obliged +to you," he said, with gratitude in his voice. + +Norton's smile was one of deep satisfaction. + +"That's all right, Randolph. You know I want to do anything I can for +you." + +Randolph was starting for his room when Haines and Cullen turned +sharply around the corner of the hotel desk. Again Bud and the young +Southerner accidentally collided. + +"Where are you going? Can't you look out?" blurted Langdon. + +Haines grinned. + +"Guess it's your fault this time." + +"Oh, it is, is it?" irritably replied Randolph, who as the "young +marse" had been accustomed to considerable deference on the +plantation. "Well, take that," he angrily cried, aiming a savage swing +at Haines. + +The reporter's athletic training proved of ready service. Dodging +under the clenched fist, he turned dexterously, seized young Langdon's +outstretched wrist and bent the arm down over his (Haines') shoulder +as though to throw the young attacker with the wrestler's "flying +mare." Langdon was helpless, as Haines had also secured his free hand, +but instead of completing the "throw" the reporter walked away with +his foe held securely on his back--to put him to bed, a kindly +service, in view of Randolph's mental state. + +From across the lobby Charles Norton had watched Randolph's +discomfiting encounter with Haines with amusement. + +"Now that I've got the young fellow to sew up his old man's money in +Altacoola land," he chuckled, "reckon Senator William H. Langdon won't +see anything wrong with that same noble tract of universe when he +comes to vote for the naval base. Senator Stevens will be pleased." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"JUST THE MAN WE NEED" + + +As Bud Haines returned from young Langdon's room, where he had left +the latter in bed, with a towel filled with cracked ice around his +head, he saw two familiar figures standing in a secluded corner of the +lobby. They were talking earnestly in a low voice. + +"Whew!" whistled the newspaper man. "It must be something important +that brings both the boss of the Senate and Stevens of Mississippi +here." + +"Good-afternoon, Haines. How are you?" Senator Stevens said, +cordially, as, looking up, he saw the newspaper man approaching. +"Senator Peabody, you know Haines, don't you? The brightest young +correspondent in Washington." + +Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania, the leading power in the upper house, +was a man of commanding character and of strong personality. The +fact he used these attributes to advance in the Senate the financial +interests of himself, of Standard Steel and other commercial +organizations met with very little protest in Washington. That he +deserved the title frequently used in referring to him, "boss of the +Senate," none would deny who had knowledge of the inner workings of +the Senate and the various committees. + +Senator Peabody was very affable to the reporters, especially to those +of Haines' stamp, who had never accepted any favors from him and who +opposed his methods. He aimed to win the friendship of these opponents +by diplomacy--as he had found that reporters of the Haines sort could +not be influenced by money. He considered a reporter who would take +a bribe as a constructive, conservative member of society, and +frequently regretted that so many of the correspondents sent to +Washington could not be bought nor had bills they wanted passed or +defeated. He extended his hand to Haines as Stevens concluded and +said, warmly: + +"Of course I know the representative of the _Morning Star_! How do you +do, Haines?" + +"I wonder if we're not all here on the same errand," suggested the +newspaper man. + +Senator Peabody appeared to be all candor. + +"We came to call on Senator Langdon, Senator Stevens' new colleague," +he said. + +Bud Haines opened his eyes wide. "By Jove! Langdon stock is going up +when the chairman of the naval committee drops in to welcome him." + +"You see, Langdon went in on a naval base platform," explained +Stevens. "Our section of the South is red hot in favor of the +Government spending its naval base appropriation right there." + +"Certainly," interrupted Haines, "but--" + +"And, there being a vacancy on the committee on naval affairs," +continued Stevens, whose dignity was offended by the reporter's +interruption, "the friends of Senator Langdon are working to have him +appointed on that committee, because he comes from the State where the +naval base will be located and will, like myself, be more familiar +with the availability of the various sites suggested than a man from +another State." + +Haines nodded. + +"Yes, of course. What town's going to get it, Senator?" + +Senator Stevens paused judiciously. + +"Well," he said, "Altacoola and Gulf City are the chief candidates. I +suppose you had better talk to Langdon about it." + +The reporter smiled. + +"That's just what I came for, Senator, but I have to go up to the War +Department now. When Senator Langdon comes will you be kind enough to +tell him I want to interview him?" + +Stevens bowed cordially. + +"Indeed I shall. I'll tell him he's in luck to have the smartest young +man in Washington on the job." + +"All right," laughed Bud, "only don't make it so strong that he won't +recognize me when he sees me. Good-day." And he hurried away to keep a +belated appointment. + +"Clever boy," said Stevens as the newspaper man disappeared. + +The boss of the Senate agreed. + +"Yes, only I'm not sure it's a good thing for a newspaper man to be +too clever. Spoils his usefulness. Makes him ask too many confounded +questions." + +Stevens acquiesced, for it would never do to disagree with the boss. + +"It's very kind of you, Senator," he began, changing the subject, "to +come with me to welcome the new Senator from my State, my old friend +and colleague." + +An inscrutable smile--a smile, yet a cold one--accompanied Peabody's +answer. + +"I have always found, Stevens," he said, "that a little attention +like this to a new man is never wasted, and I make it a rule not to +overlook opportunities." + +Again the senior Senator from Mississippi acquiesced, and he laughed +heartily at Peabody's keen insight into human nature. + +"I think you'll like Langdon," Stevens remarked after a pause, "and +you'll find him easy to deal with. Just put up any measure for the +benefit of the South and Langdon will go the limit on it. Even a +Republican majority doesn't mind a little Democratic support, you +know. I think he's just the man you can use in this gulf naval base +bill." + +"You can swing him?" asked Peabody, sharply. + +Stevens drew closer to Peabody. + +"I elected him, and he knows it," he chuckled. + +The boss nodded. + +"And it's likely that a man like Langdon, new to politics--a simple +gentleman of the old school, as you describe him--might have +considerable influence on opinion throughout the country." + +Langdon's colleague grasped the arm of the senatorial dictator. + +"He's just the man we want, Senator. He's one of those old fellows you +just have to believe when he talks. He'll do what I suggest, and he +can make the public believe what we think." + +"Then you guarantee him?" snapped the boss. + +"Unreservedly, Senator." + +"All right," said Peabody. "He goes on the naval committee. That ought +to be enough honor for a man who a year ago was growing cotton on an +old plantation miles away from civilization." + +"We have control now of all the land about Altacoola that can be +used," said Stevens. "I have had Norton, the Congressman from +Langdon's district, working on it. There isn't a foot of land there +which we do not now control under options, and," he added, with a +chuckle, "the options were dirt cheap." + +Peabody grunted approvingly. + +"There won't be any New York fortune in it, but it ought to be +a pretty tidy bit," he said. "Now, if we could only get Langdon +interested, directly or indirectly, in a financial way, that would +clinch everything." + +The senior Senator from Mississippi shook his head. + +"It's too risky. He's old-fashioned, you know--has about as much idea +about practical politics as--well, as we have of the Golden Rule. Fact +is, he rather lives by that antiquated standard. That's where we get +him. He owes everything to me, you see, so naturally he'll do anything +I want him to. By the way, there's Norton now. Perhaps he can tell us +something." + +"Call him over," said Peabody. + +Norton had been strolling about the lobby, hoping to be noticed. The +flame had lured the moth, and it liked the manner of the singeing. The +Congressman hurried precipitately across at Stevens' summons. + +"I've been wanting to speak to you, gentlemen," said Norton, full of +the good trick he had turned, "but I didn't like to interrupt you. I +think I've done a big stroke for Altacoola to-day." + +Even Peabody pricked up his ears. + +"Yes?" said both Senators together. + +With a keen sense of the dramatic, the Congressman let his next words +drawl out with full effect. + +"I've got Senator Langdon interested--financially interested," he +said. + +His two hearers exchanged a significant glance. + +"How?" asked Peabody, sharply. + +Norton smiled shrewdly. + +"Well, I just let his son invest $50,000 of the Senator's money in +Altacoola land. That ought to help some." + +Stevens stared in amazement at his Congressman, his eyes threatening +to bulge out of his head. + +"What!" he gasped. "You got Langdon's money in Altacoola, through his +son?" + +"I sure have, Senator," chuckled Norton. "He's in to the extent of +fifty thousand, and I've promised that the fifty shall make a hundred +by spring." + +"It'll make three hundred thousand at least," snapped Peabody. +"Norton, you've done a good day's work. By the way, a New York client +of mine has a little business that I cannot attend to handily. Doesn't +involve much work, and a young, hustling lawyer like you ought to take +charge of it easily. The fee, I should say, would be about $10,000. +Have you the time to undertake it?" + +The Congressman drew a long breath. His eyes beamed with gratitude. + +"I should say I have, Senator. Of course, it won't interfere with any +of my duties as a Congressman." + +Peabody smiled. + +"Of course not, Norton. I see that your sense of humor is improving. +If convenient, run over to New York the last of the week. I'll give +you a card. My client's office is at 10 Broadway." + +The ruler of the Senate nodded a curt dismissal. + +"Thank you, Senator; thank you very much." And Norton bowed and left, +rejoicing. + +Peabody turned to Stevens. + +"You see, even a Congressman can be useful sometimes," remarked +Stevens, dryly. + +"Keep your eye on that young man, Stevens. He's the most valuable +Congressman we've had from your State in a long while. Does just what +he is told and doesn't ask any fool questions. This was good work. +Langdon's on the naval committee now sure. Come, Stevens; let's go to +some quiet corner in the smoking-room. I want to talk to you about +something else the Standard has on hand for you to do." + +Hardly had they departed from the lobby when resounding commotion at +the entrance, followed by the rushing of porters and bellboys and +an expectant pose on the part of the clerk, indicated that the new +Senator from Mississippi had arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE BOSS OF THE SENATE INSPECTS A NEW MEMBER + + +An actor playing the rôle of a high type of Southern planter would +score a decided success by picturing the character exactly after the +fashion of Senator William H. Langdon as he strode to the desk of the +International Hotel. A wide-brimmed black hat thrust back on his head, +a long black perfecto in his mouth, coattails spreading out behind as +he walked, and the "Big Bill" Langdon smile on his face that carried +sunshine and good will wherever he went, he was good to look on, an +inspiration, particularly in Washington. + +Following the Senator were Miss Langdon and Hope Georgia, leading a +retinue of hotel attendants staggering under a large assortment of +luggage. Both beautiful girls, they caused a sensation all of their +own. Carolina, a different type from the younger, had an austere +loveliness denoting pride and birth, a brunette of the quality that +has contributed so much to the fame of Southern women. Hope Georgia, +more girlish, and a vivacious blonde, was the especial pet of her +father, and usually succeeded in doing with him what she chose. + +A real Senator and two such young women handsomely gowned seemed to +take the old hotel back a score of years--back to the times when such +sights were of daily occurrence. The ancient greatness of the now +dingy International lived again. + +"How are you, Senator? Glad to welcome you, sir," was the clerk's +greeting. + +The genial Senator held out his hand. Everybody was his friend. + +"Glad to meet you, sir; glad to meet you," he exclaimed. "Must make +you acquainted with my daughters. This is Miss Carolina Langdon, this +Miss Hope Georgia Langdon." + +The two girls, with their father's idea of courtesy, shook hands with +the clerk, who was not at all taken aback by the unexpected honor. + +Hope Georgia was thoroughly delighted with everything, but Carolina +looked at the worn and faded walls and furnishings with evident +distaste. + +"Oh, this is Washington," murmured Hope Georgia ecstatically, clasping +her hands and gazing at a vista of artificial palms in a corridor. + +"Ah, this is Washington," sighed the new Senator contentedly, as he +gazed across a hall at the biggest and most gorgeous cigar stand he +had ever seen or ever hoped to see--the only new thing added to the +hotel since Grant was President. + +"Truly magnificent establishment you have here, sir; magnificent!" he +exclaimed as an imitation marble column came within his purview. "I +remember my friend Senator Moseley speaking to me of it thirty years +ago. Are our rooms ready?" + +The clerk, hugely pleased, hastened to assure him that everything was +in first-class order, waiting. + +"You better go up, girls, while I look around a bit and sort of get +the hang of things." + +"Yes, I think we had better look around a bit, too, before we decide, +father," said Carolina, diplomatically. + +Her father patted her affectionately on the arm. + +"Now, don't you worry, Carolina. I see you think this place too +expensive from its looks--too good for us. But I tell you the best, +even this, isn't too good for you girls and your dad. Run away, and +I'll come up and see you soon." + +The new Senator leaned his elbow on the desk, surveying the place. + +"I understand this is a favorite haunt for the big men of Washington," +he said. + +The clerk eagerly agreed. + +"Yes, indeed, Senator; we have them all. Senator Peabody and Senator +Stevens were here just a moment ago. Boy, find Senator Peabody and +Senator Stevens and tell them Senator Langdon is here." + +The two Senators came quickly. + +"I'm glad to see you, Langdon; glad to see you," exclaimed Stevens, +with an assumption of effusiveness. "I want to introduce you to +Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania." + +Peabody bowed, and Langdon held out his hand. + +"I'm delighted to meet you, Senator. This is a proud day for me, sir." + +Peabody had put on his smoothest and most polished manner. + +"I came especially to meet you, Senator Langdon," he said. "Although +we are on different sides we may be interested in the same things. I +hope we shall see a great deal of each other." + +Langdon chuckled. + +"That's mighty good of you, Senator. I'm depending on you experienced +fellows to put me through. Don't know much about this lawmaking +business, you know. Raising cotton, arguing the Government and bossing +niggers have been about the extent of my occupation for the last forty +years, so I reckon I'm not much of a practical lawmaker." + +"Oh, you'll learn; you'll learn quickly," assured Peabody. "With +Stevens, here, for a guide you can't go wrong. We all look up to +Stevens. He's one of the powers on your side. He's an able man, is +Stevens." + +The new Senator from Mississippi gladly corroborated this. + +"You're right, sir. A great man! I tell you, when he told that +Legislature what they ought to do, Senator Peabody, they did it. If it +wasn't for Stevens I wouldn't be here now." + +In mock protest the senior Senator from Mississippi raised his hands. + +"Now, now, Langdon, don't say that. Your worth, your integrity, your +character and our old friendship got you the senatorship." + +The old planter laughed gleefully. + +"Sure, Stevens, I have the character and the integrity, but I reckon +the character and integrity wouldn't have done much business if you +hadn't had the Legislature." + +Clearly delighted, Peabody considered it certain that this new Senator +knew just the way he should go and would cause no difficulty. His +keen sense of gratitude made him appreciate how he had been elected. +Peabody literally beamed on Langdon. + +"I hope we shall be able to work a good deal together, Senator," he +said. "I have the interests of the South at heart, particularly with +regard to this new naval base. Perhaps we may be able to get you on +the naval committee." + +"Me!" laughed Langdon. "Well, that would be going strong! But I tell +you I'm for the naval base." + +"For Altacoola?" suggested Stevens. + +Langdon hesitated. Peabody and Stevens watched him as eagles watch +their prey from the mountain crag. + +"Well, it looks to me like Altacoola ought to be a fine site. But the +actual place isn't so important to me. I tell you, gentlemen," he said +in impressive seriousness that rang with sturdy American manhood--"I +tell you that what is important is that the great, sweeping curve of +the gulf shall hold some of those white ships of ours to watch over +the Indies and the canal and to keep an eye on South America. + +"And right there on our own Southern coast I want these ships built +and equipped and the guns cast and the men found to man them. I want +the South to have her part in the nation's defense. I want her to have +this great naval city as the living proof that there is again just +one country--the United States--and the North and the South both have +forgiven." + +Senator Peabody clapped the new member on the back. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "You've got to make some speeches like that. +We'll have you as the orator for the naval base." + +Langdon's eyes opened wide. + +"Orator!" he gasped. "Me! An orator!" + +"Why, that was oratory, good oratory," exclaimed Stevens, with +enthusiasm. + +"Huh!" grunted the planter. "You call that oratory. Why, that was only +the truth." + +"We'll see that you do some more of it, then," laughed Peabody. +"Remember, we count on you for the naval base." + +"For rural simplicity he's perfection," whispered Peabody to Stevens +as they left the planter. "He's a living picture of innocence. We'll +push him forward and let him do the talking for the naval affairs +committee. Hiding behind him, we could put through almost any kind of +a proposition." + +Once more did the senior Senator from Mississippi acquiesce. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +NEW FRIENDS--AND AN OLD ENEMY + + +Langdon gazed at the two departing Senators with varied emotions. He +sat down to think over what they had said and to carefully consider +what manner of man was Peabody, who showed such an interest in him. He +realized that he would have considerable intercourse with Peabody in +the processes of legislation, and finally had to admit to himself +that he did not like the Senator from Pennsylvania. Just what it was +Langdon could not at this time make certain, but he was mystified by +traces of contradictions in the Senator's character--slight traces, +true, but traces nevertheless. Peabody's cordiality and sympathy were +to Langdon's mind partly genuine and partly false. Just what was the +cause of or the necessity for the alloy in the true metal he could not +fathom. + +His talk with these famous lawmakers was unsatisfactory also in that +it had conveyed to Langdon the suggestion that the Senate was not +primarily a great forum for the general and active consideration of +weighty measures and of national policies. It had been his idea that +the Senate was primarily such a forum, but the attitude of Peabody +and Stevens had hinted to him that there were matters of individual +interest that outweighed public or national considerations. For +instance, they were anxious that Altacoola should have the naval base +regardless of the claims or merits of any other section. That was +unusual, puzzling to Langdon. Moreover, it was poor business, yet +there were able business men in the Senate. Not one of them would, +for instance, think of buying a site for a factory until he had +investigated many possible locations and then selected the most +favorable one. Why was it, he pondered, that the business of the great +United States of America was not conducted on business lines? + +He must study the whole question intelligently; that was imperative. +He must have advice, help. To whom was he to go for it? Stevens? Yes, +his old friend, who knew all "the ropes." Yet even Stevens seemed +different in Washington than Stevens in Mississippi. Here he played +"second fiddle." He was even obsequious, Langdon had observed, to +Peabody. In Mississippi he was a leader, and a strong one, too. But +Senator Langdon had not yet learned of the many founts from which +political strength and political leadership may be gained. + +What he finally decided on was the engaging of a secretary, but he +must be one with knowledge of political operations, one who combined +wisdom with honesty. Such an aid could prevent Langdon from making the +many mistakes that invariably mark the new man in politics, and he +could point out the most effective modes of procedure under given +circumstances. It might prove difficult to find a man of the necessary +qualifications who was not already employed, but in the meantime +Langdon would watch the playing of the game himself and make his own +deductions as best he could. + +The Senator started toward the hotel desk to ask regarding the +whereabouts of his son Randolph, when his attention was caught by the +sight of three powerful negro porters endeavoring to thrust outdoors +a threadbare old man. The victim's flowing white hair, white mustache +and military bearing received short shrift. + +"Come along, Colonel! Yo' can't sit heah all day. Them chairs is for +the guests in the hotel," the head porter was urging as he jerked the +old man toward the door. + +The Mississippian's fighting blood was instantly aroused at such +treatment of a respectable old white man by negroes. His lips tightly +compressed as he hurried to the rescue. He cried sharply: + +"Take your hands off that gentleman! What do you mean by touching a +friend of mine?" + +The negroes stepped back amazed. + +"'Scuse me, Senator, is this gent'man a friend of yours?" the head +porter gasped apologetically. + +Langdon looked at him. + +"You heard what I said," he drawled in the slow way natural to some +men of the South when trouble threatens. "I'd like to have you down in +Mississippi for about ten minutes." + +The head porter turned quickly on his assistants and drove them away, +shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Get about yo' wuk. How dare yo' intehfere wid a friend of de +Senator's? I'll teach yo' to be putting yoh nose in where it ain't got +no business." + +The old man, astonished at the turn of events, came forward +hesitatingly to Langdon. + +"I'm very much obliged to you, sir," he said. "I'm Colonel Stoneman, +an old soldier." + +The Mississippian stretched forth his hand. + +"My name is Langdon, sir--Senator Langdon of Mississippi. I am an old +soldier, too." + +"Delighted, Senator," exclaimed the seedy-looking old man, taking the +offered hand gratefully. + +Langdon's easy method of making friends was well illustrated as he +clapped his new companion on the back. Everybody he met was the +Mississippian's friend until he had proved himself the contrary. That +had been his rule through life. + +"Come right over, Colonel; have a cigar, sir." Then, as they lighted +their cigars, he inquired, "What army corps were you with, Colonel?" + +"I was under Grant along the Tennessee," replied the old G.A.R. man. + +Familiarity with a Senator was something new for him, and already he +was straightening up and becoming more of a man every moment. Langdon +was thoroughly interested. + +"I was along the Tennessee under Beauregard," he said. + +"Great generals, sir! Great generals!" exclaimed Colonel Stoneman. + +"And great fighting, I reckon!" echoed the Confederate. "You remember +the battle of Crawfordsville?" + +The old Federal smiled with joyous recollection. + +"Do I? Well, I should say I did! Were you there, Senator?" + +"Was I there? Why, I remember every shot that was fired. I was under +Kirby, who turned your left wing." + +The attitude of the Northern soldier changed instantly. He drew +himself up with cold dignity. Plainly he felt that he had the honor of +his army to sustain. + +"Our left wing was never turned, sir!" he exclaimed with dignity. + +Langdon stared at him with amazement. This was a point of view the +Confederate had never heard before. + +"Never turned!" he gasped. "Don't tell me that! I was there, and, +besides, I've fought this battle on an average of twice a week ever +since '65 down in Mississippi, and in all these years I never heard +such a foolish statement." + +"What rank were you, sir?" asked the Union soldier, haughtily. + +"I was a captain that morning," confessed the Southerner. + +His old enemy smiled with superiority. + +"As a colonel I've probably got more accurate information," he said. + +"I was a colonel that evening," came the dry retort. + +"But in an inferior army. We licked you, sir!" cried Stoneman, hotly. + +The Mississippian drew himself up with all the dignity common to the +old Confederate soldier explaining the war. + +"The South was never whipped, sir. We honorably surrendered, sir. We +surrendered to save the country, sir, but we were never whipped." + +"Did you not run at Kenyon Hill?" taunted Stoneman. + +Langdon brought down his fist in the palm of the other hand violently. + +"Yes, sir; we ran at you. I ought to remember. I got my wound there. +You remember that long lane--" He pulled off his hat and threw it on +the floor, indicating it with one hand--"Here was the Second Alabama." + +The hat of the old Federal dropped on the floor opposite the hat of +the Confederate. + +"And here the Eighth Illinois," exclaimed Stoneman. + +Langdon excitedly seized a diminutive bellboy passing by and planted +him alongside his hat. + +"Stay there a moment, sonny," he cried. "You are the Fourth Virginia." + +The newspaper Stoneman was carrying came down opposite the startled +bellboy, who was trying not to appear frightened. + +"This is the clump of cedars," he exclaimed. + +Both, in their eagerness, were bending down over their improvised +battle plan, their heads close together. + +"And here a farmhouse beside your cedars," cried Langdon. + +"That's where the rebels charged us," echoed the Union man. + +Langdon brought down his fist again with emphatic gesture. + +"You bet we charged you! The Third Mississippi charged you! I charged +you, sir!" + +Stoneman nodded. + +"I remember a young fool of a Johnnie reb dashing up the hill fifty +yards ahead of his men, waving his sword and yelling like a wild +Indian." + +The Southerner straightened up. + +"Well, where in thunderation would you expect me to be, sir?" he +exclaimed. "Behind them? I got my wound there. Laid me up for three +months; like to have killed me." + +Then a new idea struck him. "Why, Colonel, it must have been a bullet +from one of your men--from your regiment, sir!" + +The old Northerner pushed his fingers through his hair and shook his +head apologetically. + +"Why, Senator, I'm afraid it was," he hesitated. + +Langdon's eyes were big with the afterglow of a fighter discussing the +mighty struggles of the past, those most precious of all the jewels in +the treasure store of a soldier's memory. + +"Why, it might have been a bullet fired by you, sir," he cried. "It +might be that you were the man who almost killed me. Why, confound +you, sir, I'm glad to meet you!" + +Each old veteran of tragic days gone by had quite unconsciously +awakened a responsive chord in the heart of the other. A Senator and +a penniless old "down and outer" are very much the same in the human +scale that takes note of the inside and not the outside of a man. +And they fell into each other's arms then and there, for what strong +fighter does not respect another of his kind? + +There they stood, arms around each other, clapping each other on the +back, actually chortling in the pure ecstasy of comradeship, now +serious, again laughing, when on the scene appeared Bud Haines, the +correspondent, who had returned to interview the new Senator from +Mississippi. + +"Great heavens!" ejaculated the newspaper man. "A Senator, a United +States Senator, hugging a broken-down old 'has-been!' What is the +world coming to?" Haines suddenly paused. "I wonder if it can be a +pose;--merely for effect. It's getting harder every day to tell what's +genuine and what isn't in this town." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LANGDON LEARNS OF THINGS UNPLEASANT + + +Haines quickly walked over and touched the Southerner on the arm. + +"Well, my boy, what can I do for you?" asked the new Senator, turning +with a pleasant smile. + +"My name is Haines. Senator Stevens was to speak to you about me. I'm +the first of the newspaper correspondents come to interview you." + +Langdon's familiar smile broadened. + +"Well, you don't look as though you'd bite. Reckon I can stand for it. +Is it very painful?" + +"I hope it won't be, Senator," Haines said, feeling instinctively that +he was going to like this big, hearty citizen. + +"All right, Mr. Haines, just as soon as I've said good-by to my old +friend, Colonel Stoneman, I'll be with you." + +And to his continued amazement Haines saw the Senator walk away with +the old Union Colonel, slap him on the back, cheer him up and finally +bid him good-by after extending a cordial invitation to come around to +dinner, meet his daughters and talk over old times. + +The antiquated Federal soldier marched away more erect, more brisk, +than in years, completely restored to favor in the eyes of the hotel +people. Langdon turned to the reporter. + +"All right, Mr. Haines; my hands are up. Do your worst. Senator +Stevens spoke to me about you; said you were the smartest young +newspaper man in Washington. You must come from the South." + +Bud shook his head. + +"No, just New York," he said. + +"Well, that's a promising town," drawled the Southerner. "They tell me +that's the Vicksburg of the North." + +"I suppose you haven't been to New York of late, Senator?" suggested +the newspaper man. + +"Well, I started up there with General Lee once," responded Langdon +reminiscently, "but we changed our minds and came back. You may have +heard about that trip." + +Haines admitted that he had. + +"Since that time," went on Langdon, "I've confined my travels to New +Orleans and Vicksburg. Ever been in New Orleans about Mardi Gras time, +Mr. Haines?" + +"Sorry, but I don't believe I have," confessed the reporter +reluctantly. + +The Senator seemed surprised. + +"Well, sir, you have something to live for. I'll make it my special +business to personally conduct you through one Mardi Gras, with a +special understanding, of course, that you don't print anything in the +paper. I'm a vestryman in my church, but since misfortune has come +upon our State I have to be careful." + +Haines searched his brain. He knew of no grave calamity that had +happened recently in Mississippi. + +"Misfortune?" he questioned. + +Senator Langdon nodded. + +[Illustration: "FROM NEW YORK, EH? THE VICKSBURG OF THE NORTH,"] + +"Yes, sir, the great old State of Mississippi went prohibition at the +last election. I don't know how it happened. We haven't found anybody +in the State that says he voted for it, but the fact is a fact. I +assure you, Mr. Haines, that prohibition stops at my front door, in +Mississippi. So I've been living a quiet life down on my plantation." + +"This new life will be a great change for you, then?" suggested the +reporter. + +"Change! It's revolutionary, sir! When you've expected to spend your +old days peacefully in the country, Mr. Haines, suddenly to find that +your State has called on you--" + +A flavor of sarcasm came into Haines' reply. + +"The office seeking the man?" He could not help the slight sneer. Was +a man never to admit that he had sought the office? Haines knew only +too well of the arduous work necessary to secure nominations for high +office in conventions and to win an election to the Senate from a +State Legislature. In almost every case, he knew, the candidate must +make a dozen different "deals" to secure votes, might promise the same +office to two or three different leaders, force others into line +by threats, send a trusted agent to another with a roll of bank +bills--the recipient of which would immediately conclude that this +candidate was the only man in the State who could save the nation from +destruction. Had not Haines seen men who had sold their unsuspecting +delegates for cash to the highest bidder rise in the convention hall +and in impassioned, dramatic voice exclaim in praise of the buyer, +"Gentlemen, it would be a crying shame, a crime against civilization, +if the chosen representatives of our grand old State of ---- did not +go on record in favor of such a man, such a true citizen, such an +inspired patriot, as he whose name I am about to mention"? So +the reporter may be forgiven for the ironical tinge in his hasty +interruption of the new Senator's remarks. + +Langdon could not suppress a chuckle at the doubting note in Haines' +attitude. + +"I think the man would be pretty small potatoes who wouldn't seek the +office of United States Senator, Mr. Haines," he said, "if he could +get it. When I was a young man, sir, politics in the South was a +career for a gentleman, and I still can't see how he could be better +engaged than in the service of his State or his country." + +"That's right," agreed the reporter, further impressed by the frank +sincerity of the Mississippian. + +"The only condition in my mind, Mr. Haines, is that the man should ask +himself searchingly whether or not he's competent to give the service. +But I seem to be talking a good deal. Suppose we get to the interview. +Expect your time is short. We'd better begin." + +"I thought we were in the interview?" smiled the correspondent. + +"In it!" exclaimed Langdon. "Well, if this is it, it isn't so bad. I +see you use a painless method. When I was down in Vicksburg a reporter +backed me up in a corner, slipped his hand in his hip pocket and +pulled out a list of questions just three feet four inches long. + +"He wanted to know what I thought concerning the tariff on aluminium +hydrates, and how I stood about the opening of the Tento Pu +Reservation of the Comanche Indians, and what were my ideas about the +differential rate of hauls from the Missouri River. + +"He was a wonder, that fellow! Kinder out of place on a Mississippi +paper. I started to offer him a job, but he was so proud I was afraid +he wouldn't accept it. However, it gives you my idea of a reporter." + +"If you've been against that, I ought to thank you for talking to me," +laughed Haines. + +"Then you don't want to know anything about that sort of stuff?" said +Langdon, with a huge sigh of relief. + +"No, Senator," was the amused reply. "I think generally if I know what +sort of a man a man is I can tell a great deal about what he will +think on various questions." + +Langdon started interestedly. + +"You mean, Mr. Haines, if you know whether I'm honest or not you can +fit me up with a set of views. Is that the idea? Seems to me you're +the sort of man I'm looking for." + +The other smilingly shook his head. + +"I wouldn't dare fix up a United States Senator with a set of views," +he said. "I only mean that I think what a man is is important. I've +been doing Washington for a number of years. I've had an exceptional +opportunity to see how politics work. I don't believe in party +politics. I don't believe in parties, but I do believe in men." + +Langdon nodded approvingly, then a twinkle shone in his eyes. + +"We don't believe in parties in Mississippi," he drawled. "We've only +one--the Democratic party,--and a few kickers." + +Haines grinned broadly at this description of Southern politics. + +"What was this you were saying about national politics?" continued +the Mississippian. "I'm a beginner, you know, and I'm always ready to +learn." + +"This is a new thing--a reporter teaching a Senator politics," laughed +Haines. + +Senator Langdon joined in the merriment. + +"I reckon reporters could teach United States Senators lots of things, +Mr. Haines, if the Senators had sense enough to go to school. Now, I +come up here on a platform the chief principle of which is the naval +base for the gulf. Now, how are we going to put that through? My State +wants it." + +"You're probably sure it will be a wonderful thing for the country and +the South," suggested Haines. + +"Of course." + +"But why do you think most of the Congressmen and Senators will vote +for it?" + +The Southerner took off his hat, leaned back and gazed across the +lobby thoughtfully. + +"Seems to me the benefit to the South and country would be sufficient +reason, Mr. Haines," he finally replied. + +The newspaper man's brain worked rapidly. Going over the entire +conversation with Langdon and what he had seen of him, he was certain +that the Mississippian believed what he said--that, moreover, the +belief was deeply rooted. His long newspaper training had educated +Haines in the ways of men, their actions and mental processes--what +naturally to expect from a given set of circumstances. He felt a +growing regard, an affection, for this unassuming old man before +him, who did not know and probably would be slow to understand the +hypocrisy, the cunning trickery of lawmakers who unmake laws. + +"Sufficient reason for you, Senator," Haines added. "You have not been +in politics very long, have you?" he queried dryly. + +A wry smile wrinkled the Mississippian's face. + +"Been in long enough to learn some unpleasant things I didn't know +before." He remembered Martin Sanders. + +"Will you allow me to tell you a few more?" asked Haines. + +Langdon inclined his head in acquiescence. "Reckon I'd better know the +worst and get through with it." + +"Well, then, Senator, somebody from Nebraska will vote for what you +want in the way of the naval base because he'll think then you'll help +him demand money to dredge some muddy creek that he has an interest +in. + +"Somebody in Pennsylvania will vote for it because he owes a grudge +and wants to hurt the Philadelphia ship people. + +"You'll get the Democrats because it's for the South, but if your bill +was for the west coast they might fight it tooth and nail, even with +the Japanese fleet cruising dangerously near. + +"And the Republicans may vote for it because they see a chance to +claim glory and perhaps break the solid South in the next presidential +campaign. You catch the idea?" + +"What!" exclaimed the astounded Langdon. "Well, who in hades will vote +for it because it's for the good of the United States?" he gasped. + +"I believe you will, Senator," replied Haines, with ready confidence. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOW SENATOR LANGDON GETS A SECRETARY + + +Langdon leaned over and seized the arm of his interviewer. + +"See here, young man, why aren't you in politics?" he said. + +"Too busy, Senator," replied Haines. "Besides, I like the newspaper +game." + +"Game?" queried Langdon. + +"Oh, I use the word in a general sense, Senator," replied Haines. +"Pretty much everything is a 'game'--society, politics, newspaper +work, business of every sort. Men and women make 'moves' to meet the +moves of other men and women. Why, even in religion, the way some +people play a--" + +The speaker was interrupted by the appearance of Hope Georgia, who was +searching for her father. + +"Stay here and listen to what a hard task your old father has got," +said the Mississippian to his daughter, whom he presented to Haines +with a picturesque flourish reminiscent of the pride and chivalry of +the old South. "He has the idea that those New Yorkers who read his +paper would actually like to know something about me." + +Hope Georgia stole many glances at the reporter as he talked with her +father. He made a deep impression on her young mind. She had spent +almost all her life on the plantation, her father providing her with +a private tutor instead of sending her to boarding-school, where her +elder sister had been educated. Owing to the death of her mother the +planter had desired to keep Hope Georgia at home for companionship. +This good-looking, clean-cut, well-built young man who was taking +so big and so active a part of the world's work brought to her the +atmosphere that her spirit craved. He gave one an impression of +ability, of earnestness, of sincerity, and she was glad that her +father approved of him. + +Hope Georgia, by the same token, did not escape the attention of the +interviewer. Her appealing charm of face and figure was accentuated +by her daintiness and a fleeting suggestion of naïveté in poise and +expression when she was amused. His first glance revealed to Haines +that her eyes were gray, the gray that people say indicates the +possessor to have those priceless qualities--the qualities that make +the sweetest women true, that make the maiden's eyes in truth the +windows of her soul, the qualities that make women womanly. + +She sat close to her father, her hand in his, listening intently to +the unfolding of a story of what to her was a mysterious world--the +man's world, the strong man's world--which many a woman would give her +all to enter and play a part therein. + +"What else have you against a political career, Mr. Haines?" went on +the Senator, taking up their conversation. + +"Well, my age, for one thing. I haven't any gray hairs." + +Langdon waved this objection aside. + +"I might arrange to pool ages with you. Sometimes I think we want +young men in politics, like you." + +The reporter shook his head. + +"Old in age and young in politics, like you, Senator Langdon," he +replied. "Politics I sometimes think is pure hypocrisy and sometimes +something worse. A man gets disgusted with the trickery and dishonesty +and corruption." + +"Then," drawled Langdon, "the thing to do is to jump in and stop it! I +read in the newspapers a great deal about corruption. The gentlemen +in national politics whom I have had the honor of knowing--Senator +Moseley, an intimate friend of thirty years; my present colleague, +Senator Stevens, and others--have been as honest as the day is long." + +"But the days do get short in November, when Congress meets, don't +they?" laughed Haines, rising. "I'm afraid I've taken too much of your +time, and I seem to have talked a lot." + +Langdon was amused. + +"Does look like I'd been interviewing you. I reckon each one of us has +got a pretty good notion of what the other man's like. I wanted it +that way, and I like you, Mr. Haines. I've got a proposition to make +to you. They tell me I'll need a secretary. Now, I think I need just +such a young man as you. I don't know just exactly what the work would +be or what the financial arrangements should be, but I think you and +I would make a pretty good team. I wish you'd come." He turned to his +daughter, with a smile. "What do you think of that, Hope Georgia? +Isn't your dad right?" + +Smiling her approval, the young girl squeezed her father's hand in her +enthusiasm. + +"I think it's a splendid idea, dad; just great! Won't you come, Mr. +Haines? We--eh--I--I know my father would like to have you." + +As he stood before his two new-found friends--for such Haines now +considered the Mississippian and his daughter--he could not suppress +feelings of surprise tinged with uncertainty. He had, like other +newspaper men, received offers of employment from politicians who +desired to increase their influence with the press. Sometimes the +salary offered had been large, the work so light that the reporter +could "earn" the money and yet retain his newspaper position, a +scantily disguised species of bribery, which had wrecked the careers +of several promising reporters well known to Haines, young men who had +been thus led into "selling their columns" by unscrupulous machine +dictators. + +Haines knew that the Mississippian had no ulterior purpose to serve in +his offer, yet he must have time to think over the proposal. + +"I thank you, Senator," he finally said. "I appreciate the +opportunity, coming from you, but I've never thought of giving up the +newspaper profession. It's a fascinating career, one that I am too +fond of to leave." + +Langdon started to reply, when a delightfully modulated Southern voice +interrupted: + +"Father, I've been out with Mrs. Spangler to look for some other +rooms. I don't like this hotel, and I found some that I do like." + +Haines turned to see a handsomely gowned young woman who had the +stamp of a patrician's daughter in her bearing and her countenance--a +brunette, with delicate features, though determination shone in her +eyes and appeared in the self-contained poise of her head. She was +the imperious type of beauty and suggested to Haines the dry point +etchings of Paul Helleu. He instinctively conceived her to be +intensely ambitious, and of this Haines was soon to have unexpected +evidence. Gazing at her with a sense of growing admiration, Haines +gave an involuntary start as Senator Langdon spoke. + +"My daughter, Miss Carolina Langdon, Mr. Haines," said the Senator. + +Carolina was interested. + +"Are you the newspaper man who is interviewing father? I hope you'll +do a nice one. We want him to be a successful and popular Senator. +We'd like to help him if we could." + +The correspondent bowed. + +"I should say you certainly would help him to be a popular Senator," +he declared, emphatically, failing to notice that Hope Georgia was +somewhat annoyed at the enthusiasm displayed over her elder sister. In +fact, Hope Georgia was suffering a partial, if not total, eclipse. + +"I'm leaving it to Mr. Haines to put down the things I ought to say," +broke in the Senator. "He knows." + +"Yes, he knows everything about Washington, Carolina," exclaimed Hope +Georgia, spiritedly. + +The older girl spoke eagerly. + +"I wish you'd interview me, Mr. Haines. Ask me how I like Washington. +I feel as though I must tell some one just how much I do like it! It +is too wonderful!" + +"I'd like mighty well to interview you, Miss Langdon," +enthusiastically exclaimed Haines. + +"I hope you will some time, Mr. Haines," remarked Carolina, as she +said good-by. + +Watching her as she turned away, Haines saw her extend a warm greeting +to Congressman Charles Norton, who had advanced toward the group. + +[Illustration: "STRANGE HOW THE LANGDONS TREAT HIM AS A FRIEND."] + +"Strange how the Langdons treat him as a friend--intimate one, too," +he thought. "What if they should learn of Norton's questionable +operations at the Capitol; of his connection with two unsavory +'deals,' one of which resulted in an amendment to the pure food law so +that manufacturers of a valueless 'consumption cure' could continue to +mislead the victims of the 'white plague'; Norton, who had uttered an +epigram now celebrated in the tap-rooms of Washington, 'The paths of +glory lead but to the graft.'" + +"Miss Langdon is very beautiful and attractive, sir," said Haines, +resuming with the Senator. + +"Yes," drawled the Mississippian. "Girls in the South generally are." + +"Well, I must be going. I'll think about your secretaryship, Senator +Langdon. Perhaps I can find some one." + +"Wish you'd think about it for yourself," observed the Senator, while +Hope Georgia again nodded approval. "It would be a hard job. There +are so many matters of political detail about which I am sadly +inexperienced that really most of the work would fall on the +secretary." + +Bud Haines paused. Again he thought over Langdon's offer. Its +genuineness appealed to him. Suddenly there dawned on him an idea of +just what it might mean to be associated with this honest old citizen +who had asked for his help--who needed it, as Haines knew only too +well. He would be the Senator's guide and confidant--his adviser +in big matters. Why, he would practically be United States Senator +himself. He knew the "inside" as few others in Washington. Here was +a chance to match his wit against that of Peabody, the boss of the +Senate; a chance to spoil some of the dishonest schemes of those who +were adroitly "playing the game." He could bother, too, the intriguing +members of the "third house," as the lobbyists are called. + +He could direct a lightning bolt into the camp of Andy Corrigan, +who claimed the honor of being "speaker of the third house." These +thoughts crowded into his mind. Then, too, he would become practically +a member of the Langdon family and have association with the two +charming daughters--with Carolina Langdon. + +"It would be a great chance," he murmured half aloud; "next thing to +being a Senator." + +The old Mississippian heard the young man's words. + +"I reckon it would," he drawled, in agreement. + +"You feel sure you want me?" urged the other. + +Langdon chuckled. + +"I asked you," he said. + +Haines came abruptly to decision. + +"I've thought it over, Senator, and it seems to me it will be a great +chance in every way. I'll accept. We'll fix it up to-morrow, and I'll +try to make you a good secretary." + +Langdon held forth his hand. + +"And I'll try to make you a good Senator, my boy. Fix up nothing +to-morrow. Your duties begin to-night. You are to come to dinner with +me and my daughters." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A NEW KIND OF POLITICAL PARTNERSHIP + + +The combination of the forces of Langdon and Haines did not find much +favor among the powers that are--at the Capitol. Senator Peabody +peremptorily demanded an explanation from Stevens as to how he had +allowed "his Senator" to engage as his secretary "this inquisitive man +Haines, a reporter who didn't know his place." + +"Here we've put Langdon on naval affairs because we knew he didn't +understand what's going on, and you, Stevens, supposed to be the +finished, product of the political mill, _you_ fall asleep and let +him take up a man whom nobody can control, one who knows the inside +workings of Washington and who will take par-tic-u-lar pleasure in +teaching your fellow Mississippian far too much for our good." + +Stevens' reply, to effect that probably Haines would consent to +be "taken care of" if judiciously approached, was derided by the +observant Peabody. "A young reformer grows fat on notoriety," he +laughed, "and think what a scandal he would have for his newspaper if +we took a chance on disclosing our hand to him. No, no, Stevens; we +must have him watched and try to discredit him in some way. Perhaps we +can make Langdon believe that his secretary is dishonest." + +Congressman Norton was another man who was dismayed at the formation +of the firm of Langdon and Haines. Young Randolph, too, could not +forget the defeat and humiliation he had previously suffered at +Haines' hands and grew more bitter as the reporter's influence over +his father grew stronger. But Haines' most effective enemy had arisen +in the person he would be the last to suspect; one whom he unceasingly +admired, one whose very words he had come to cherish. And possibly +it was not all her own fault that Carolina Langdon had enlisted her +services, subtle and quite overwhelming (owing to Haines' fervent +worship of her), against the secretary. Perhaps the social system of +which she had become a part in Washington had something to do with the +craving to become a leader in that fascinating world whose dazzling +variety and infinite diversion seemed to fill her soul with all +that it yearned for. Love she had, for she had now promised to wed +Congressman Norton. She loved him fondly, she had confessed to him, +and gradually she came to work desperately against Haines, who, +she had been convinced by Norton and Randolph, would prove a +stumbling-block to them, to her father, to herself in her career at +the capital, if his influence over the Senator should be permitted to +exist or to increase. And so on the surface Carolina Langdon was most +amiable to the secretary, encouraged him in his attentions to her, led +him surely into her power, Norton having prevailed, on her to keep the +knowledge of their engagement secret from every one, even her father. + +The days and nights became filled with important work for Senator +Langdon and his secretary. Together they went over the important +measures, outlined what appeared to be the best course of procedure, +and carried it into effect as far as possible. Langdon became a +prominent figure in the Senate, owing to his consistent support of +measures that fitted in with the public policy, or what should be the +public policy, of the nation. He had learned that the only practicable +way to outwit or to cope with the members of the dominating machine, +made up, he was surprised to see, of members of both the parties--the +only two in Washington--was to oppose what the machine wanted with +enough power to force it to grant him what he believed the public +ought to have. He was described by some of the hide-bound "insiders" +on Capitol Hill as "the only brainy man who had fought the machine in +thirty years." + +At the home he had later established in Washington as preferable +to the International Hotel were frequently seen a small coterie of +Senators and Congressmen who had become known to the sarcastic party +bosses in both houses of Congress as the "Langdon crowd," which crowd +was admitted to be somewhat a factor when it finally prevailed on the +President to take over 11,000 postmasters from the appointment class +and put them under the control of the Civil Service Commission, +resulting in the necessity of a competitive examination for these +postmasters instead of their securing positions through political +favoritism. + +Those who did not know Langdon intimately suggested that "this fellow +ought to be 'taken care of.' What in God's name does he want? A +committee chairmanship? An ambassadorship for some Mississippi +charcoal burner? A couple of Federal judgeships for his friends? Well, +whatever it is, give it to him and get him in with the rest of us!" + +Again it was Peabody who had the deciding say. + +"There's only one thing worse than a young reformer, and that's an old +one," he laughed bitterly at a secret conclave at his apartment in the +luxurious Louis Napoleon Hotel. "The young one thinks he is going to +live and wants our future profits for himself. The old one thinks he's +going to die, and he's sore at leaving so much graft behind him." + +Heads and hearts thinking and throbbing together, Langdon and his +secretary had learned to lean on each other, the young gaining +inspiration from the old, the old gaining strength from the young. +They loved each other, and, more than any love, they trusted one +another. And Hope Georgia watched it all and rejoiced, for she +believed with all the accrued erudition of eighteen years of innocent +girlhood that Mr. Bud Haines was quite the finest specimen of young +manhood this world had ever produced. How could he have happened? She +was sure that she had never met his equal, not even in that memorable +week she had spent in Jackson. + +The passing weeks taught Haines that he was deeply in love with +Carolina, and, though he had endeavored to keep the knowledge of this +from her, her woman's intuition had told her his secret, and she +stifled the momentary regrets that flitted into her mind, because she +was now in "the game" herself, the Washington game, that ensnares the +woman as well as the man and makes her a slave to its fancy. No one +but herself and Norton knew how deeply she had "plunged" on a certain +possible turn of the political cards. She must not, she could not, +lose if life itself were to remain of value to her, and on her sway +over this secretary she was told it all depended. + +A subject that for some unexplained reason frequently lodged in +Haines' mind was that of the apparent assiduity with which Mrs. +Spangler cultivated Senator Langdon's friendship. For several years +she had occupied a high social position at the capital, he well knew, +but various indefinite, intangible rumors he had heard, he could not +state exactly where, had made him regret her growing intimacy with +the girls and with the Senator. They had met her through letters of +introduction of the most trustworthy and assuring character from +people of highest social rank in Virginia, where the Langdons had many +friends; but even so, Haines realized, people who write introductory +letters are sometimes thoughtless in considering all the circumstances +of the parties they introduce, and residents of Virginia who had not +been in the capital for years might be forgiven for not knowing of +all the more recent developments in the lives of those they knew +in Washington. While not wishing to have the Senator know of his +intention, the secretary determined to investigate Mrs. Spangler and +her present mode of life at his first opportunity, hoping the while +that his quest would reveal her to be what the Langdons considered +her--a widow of wealth, fashion and reserve who resided at the capital +because the memories of her late husband, a former Congressman of high +standing, were associated with it. + +Calling at the Langdons' house one evening in February to receive +directions regarding important work for the next day, Haines was +somewhat puzzled at the peculiar smile on the Senator's face. +Answering the secretary's look of inquiry, the Mississippian said: + +"I've been told that I can name the new holder of a +five-thousand-dollar-a-year position in the Department of Commerce +and Labor, and that if I have no one in particular from my State to +name--that--that you would be a good man for the job. First I was +glad for your sake, my boy, for if you wanted it you could have the +position. But on thinking it over it seemed there might be something +behind it not showing on the surface." + +"It's a trick," said Haines. "Who made the offer?" + +"Senator Stevens." + +"I might have known," hotly responded the secretary. "There's a crowd +that wants you and me separated. Thought this bait too much for me to +resist, did they?" Then he paused, rubbing his fingers through his +hair in a perplexed manner. "Strange, isn't it, Senator, that a man +of your party is offered this desirable piece of patronage, entirely +unsolicited on your part, from the administration of another, a +different political party? Especially when that other party has so +many hungry would-be 'tax eaters' clamoring to enter the 'land of milk +and honey.' I think Stevens deliberately--" + +"There, there, Bud," broke in Langdon, "you mustn't say anything +against Senator Stevens to me. True, he associates with some folks I +don't approve of, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything wrong, +and I myself have always found him thoroughly honest." + +"Yes," muttered the secretary, following the Senator into the library, +"you've always found him honest because you think everybody's +honest--but Stevens is just the doctor who will cure you of this +ailment--this chronic trustfulness." + +Haines laughed softly. "When Peabody's little Stevie gets through +hacking at the prostrate body of political purity his two-handed sword +of political corruption will need new edges." + +Thus far neither the Senator nor his secretary had suspicion of any +questionable deal in regard to the gulf naval base. The rush of other +events, particularly the fight over the reduction of the tariff, had +pushed this project temporarily into the background so far as they +were concerned, though the "boss of the Senate" and his satellites had +been losing no time in perfecting their plans regarding the choice of +Altacoola as the site. + +Peabody and Stevens had ingeniously exploited Langdon at every +possible opportunity in relation to the naval base. Asked about new +developments in the committee on naval affairs, the ready answer was: +"Better see Senator Langdon. He knows all about the naval base; has +the matter in full charge. I really know little about it." + +So, by hiding behind the unsuspecting old hero of Crawfordsville, they +diverted from themselves any possible suspicion and placed Langdon +where he would have to bear the brunt of the great scandal that +would, they well knew, come out at some future time--after their foul +conspiracy against the nation had been consummated, after the fruits +of their betrayal had been secured. + +What, after all, the schemers concluded, is the little matter of an +investigation among Senators to guilty Senators who, deeply versed +in the law, have destroyed every compromising document that could be +admissible as evidence? + +Why, the Senate would appoint an investigating committee and +investigate itself, would it not, when the ridiculous scandal came? + +And what Senator would fear himself, or for himself, as he +investigated himself, when the blame had already been put publicly on +some one else, some simple-minded old soul who could go back to his +cotton fields in Mississippi and forget all about it, strong in his +innocence, even though shorn of reputation, and desire to live? + + + + +CHAPTER X + +WHEN SENATORS DISAGREE + + +The wiseacres of Washington had rightly predicted, that the site of +the hundred-million-dollar gulf naval base would be decided on in +March, after the excitement and gayety attending the presidential +inauguration had subsided. + +On the morning of the day before this action of the committee on naval +affairs was to be taken Secretary Haines sat at his desk in Senator +Langdon's committee room in the Capitol. Richard Cullen, the favorite +associate of Haines in his journalistic days, out earlier than usual +on his daily round of the departments for news for his Chicago paper, +had strolled in and attempted a few of his characteristic cynicisms. +Haines usually found them entertaining, but these were directed at +Senator Langdon. + +"Now, let me tell you something, Dick," the secretary answered, +firmly. "Don't you work off all your dyspeptic ideas in this +neighborhood. My Senator is a great man. They can't appreciate him up +here because he's honest--crystal clear. I used to think I knew what a +decent citizen, a real man, ought to be, but he's taught me some new +things. He'll teach them all something before he gets through." + +Cullen hung one leg over Haines' desk. + +"You're a nice, quiet, gentlemanly little optimist, and I like you, +old fellow," retorted Cullen. "But don't deceive yourself too much. +Your Senator Langdon is personally one of the best ever. But he was +born a mark, and a mark he'll be to the end of time. + +"He looks good now. Sure, I like his speeches, and all that, but just +wait. When some of those old foxes in the Senate want to put his head +in the bag and tie it down, they won't have any trouble at all." + +Smiling, Haines looked up at his cynical friend. + +"The bag'll have to go over my head, too," he said, with a nod. + +"Well, I don't know that Peabody'd have to strain himself very much to +get such an awful big bag to drop you both in, if it comes right down +to that, old chap. You're making a mistake. You're as bad as your old +man. You're a beautiful pair of optimists, and you a good newspaper +man, too--it's a shame!" + +After momentary hesitation, Cullen continued, thoroughly serious. + +"But, my old friend," he said in low tone, glancing quickly about, +"there's one thing that you've got to put a stop to. It's hurting +you." + +The secretary's face showed his bewilderment. + +"What do you mean?" he snapped, abruptly. "Out with it!" + +"I mean," replied Cullen, "that rumors are going around that you are +keeping Langdon away from the crowd of 'insiders' in the Senate for +your own purposes--that, in short, you plan to--" + +"I understand," was the quick interruption. "I am accused of wanting +to 'deliver' Senator Langdon, guarantee his vote, on some graft +proposition, so that I can get the money and not he himself. +Consequently I'm tipping him off on what measures are honest, so that +he'll vote for them, until--until I'm offered my price, then influence +him to vote for some big crooked scheme, telling him it is all right. +He votes as I suggest, and I get the money!" + +"That's what 'delivering a man' means in Washington," dryly answered +the Chicago correspondent. "It means winning a man's confidence, his +support, his vote, through friendship, and then selling it for cash--" + +"But you, Dick, you have--" + +"Of course, old man, I have denied the truth of this. I knew you too +well to doubt you. Still, the yarn is hurting you. Remember that +Western Senator who was 'delivered' twice, both ways, on a graft +bill?" he laughingly asked the secretary. + +"Should say I did, Dick. That is the record for that game. It was a +corporation measure. One railroad wanted it; another opposed it. The +Senator innocently told an Eastern Senator that he was going to vote +for the bill. Then the Easterner went to the railroad wanting the +bill passed and got $7,000 on his absolute promise that he would get +Senator X. to vote for it, who, of course, did vote for it." + +"Yes," said Cullen, "and later, when Senator X. heard that Senator Z. +had got money for his vote, he was wild. Then when another effort +was made to pass the bill (which had been defeated) the 'delivered' +Senator said to Z. as he met him unexpectedly: 'You scoundrel, here's +where I get square with you to some extent. Anyway, I'm going to vote +against that bill this time and make a long speech against it, too.' +Senator Z. then hustled to the lobbyist of the railroad that wanted +the bill killed and guaranteed him that for $10,000 he could get +Senator X. to change his vote, to vote against the bill." + +"And he got the money, too, both ways," added Haines, as Cullen +concluded, "and both railroads to this day think that X. received the +money from Z." + +"Of course," said Cullen, "but X. was to blame, though. He didn't know +enough to keep to himself how he was going to vote. Any man that talks +that way will be 'delivered.'" + +"I know how to stop those rumors, for I'm sure it's Peabody's work, he +thinking Langdon will hear the talk and mistrust me," began Haines, +when in came Senator Langdon himself, his face beaming contentedly. +Little did the junior Senator from Mississippi realize that he was +soon to face the severest trial, the most vital crisis, of his entire +life. + +Cullen responded to the Senator's cheery greeting of "Mornin', +everybody!" + +"Senator," he asked, "my paper wants your opinion on the question of +the election of Senators by popular vote. Do you think the system of +electing Senators by vote of State Legislatures should be abolished?" + +The Mississippian cocked his head to one side. + +"I reckon that's a question that concerns future Senators, and not +those already elected," he chuckled. + +Haines laughed at Cullen, who thrust his pad into his pocket and +hurried away. + +"It is to-day that I appear before the ways and means committee, isn't +it?" Langdon queried of his secretary. + +"Yes," said Haines, consulting his memorandum book. "At 11 o'clock you +go before ways and means to put forward the needs of your State on +the matter of the reduction of the tariff on aluminium hydrates. The +people of Mississippi believe it has actually put back life into the +exhausted cotton lands. In Virginia they hope to use it on the tobacco +fields." + +"Where does the pesky stuff come from?" asked the Senator. + +"From South America," coached the secretary. "The South is in a hurry +for it, so the duty must come down. You'll have to bluff a +bit, because Peabody and his crowd will try to make a kind of +bargain--wanting you to keep up iron and steel duties. But you don't +believe that iron and steel need help, you will tell them, don't you +see, so that they will feel the necessity of giving you what you want +for the South in order to gain your support for the iron and steel +demands." + +The office door opened and Senator Peabody appeared. + +"Peabody," whispered the secretary. + +Instantly the Mississippian had his cue. His back to Peabody, he +rose, brought down his fist heavily upon the desk, and expounded +oratorically to Haines: + +"What we can produce of aluminium hydrates, my boy, is problematical, +but the South is in a hurry for it, and the duty must come down. It's +got to come down, and I'm not going to do anything else until it +does." + +The secretary stretched across the desk. + +"Excuse me, Senator; Senator Peabody is here," he said, loudly and +surprisedly, as though he had just sighted the boss of the Senate. + +The Mississippian turned. + +"Oh, good-morning, Senator. I was just talking with my secretary about +that hydrate clause." + +Peabody bowed slightly. + +"Yes, I knew it was coming up," he said, "so I just dropped over. +I'm not opposed to it or any Southern measure; but it makes it more +difficult for me when you Southern people oppose certain Pittsburg +interests that I have to take care of." + +Langdon smiled. + +"I've never been in Pittsburg, but they tell me it looks as if it +could take care of itself." + +The visitor shrugged his shoulders. + +"That's true enough; but give and take is the rule in political +matters, Langdon." + +This remark brought a frown to Langdon's face. + +"I don't like bargaining between gentlemen, Peabody. More important +still, I don't believe American politics has to be run on that plan. +Why can't we change a lot of things now that we are here?" + +Langdon became so enthused that he paced up and down the room as he +spoke. + +"Peabody, you and Stevens and I," continued Langdon, "could get our +friends together and right now start to make this great capital of our +great country the place of the 'square deal,' the place where give and +take, bargain and sale, are unknown. We could start a movement that +would drive out all secret influences--" + +The secretary noticed Peabody's involuntary start. + +"The newspapers would help us," went on Langdon. "Public opinion would +be with us, and both houses of Congress would have to join in the work +if we went out in front, led the way and showed them their plain duty. +And I tell you, Senator Peabody, that the principles that gave birth +to this country, the principles of truth, honesty, justice and +independence, would rule in Washington--" + +"If Washington cared anything about them, Langdon," interjected the +Pennsylvanian. + +"That's my point," cried the Mississippian--"let us teach Washington +to care about them!" + +"Langdon, Langdon," said Peabody, patronizingly, "you've seized on a +bigger task than you know. After you reform Washington you will have +to go on and reform human nature, human instincts, every human being +in the country, if you want to make politics this angelic thing you +describe. It isn't politics, it's humanity, that's wrong," waving +aside a protest from Langdon. + +"Anyway, your idea is not constitutional, Langdon," continued Peabody. +"You want everybody to have a share in the national government. That +wouldn't meet the theory of centralization woven into our political +system by its founders. They intended that our Government should be +controlled by a limited number of representatives, so that authority +can be fixed and responsibility ascertained." + +"You distort my meaning!" cried Langdon. "And, Senator, I would like +to ask why so many high-priced constitutional lawyers who enter +Congress spend so much time in placing the Constitution of the United +States between themselves and their duty, sir, between the people and +their Government, sir, between the nation and its destiny? I want to +know if in your opinion the Constitution was designed to throttle +expression of the public will?" + +"Of course not. That's the reason you and I, Langdon, and the others +are elected to the Senate," added Peabody, starting to leave. Then he +halted. "By the way, Senator," he said, "I'll do my best to arrange +what you want regarding aluminium hydrates for the sake of the South, +and I'll also stand with you for Altacoola for the naval base. Our +committee is to make its report to-morrow." + +Langdon observed the penetrating gaze that Peabody had fixed on him. +It seemed to betray that the Pennsylvanian's apparently careless +manner was assumed. + +"H'm!" coughed Langdon, glancing at Haines. "I'm not absolutely +committed to Altacoola until I'm sure it's the best place. I'll make +up my mind to-day definitely, and I _think_ it will be for Altacoola." + +The boss of the Senate went out, glaring venomously at Haines, +slamming the door. + +A moment later a page boy brought in a card. "Colonel J.D. Telfer, +Gulf City," read the Senator. + +"Bud," he remarked to the secretary, "I'm going to send my old +acquaintance, Telfer, Mayor of Gulf City, in here for you to talk to. +He'll want to know about his town's chances for being chosen as the +naval base. I must hurry away, as I have an appointment with my +daughters and Mrs. Spangler before going before ways and means." + +[Illustration: THE SENATOR ACCEPTS AN INVITATION TO TEA.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ON THE TRAIL OF THE "INSIDERS" + + +Colonel J.D. Telfer (J.D. standing for Jefferson Davis, he explained +proudly to Haines) proved a warm advocate of the doubtful merits of +Gulf City as a hundred-million-dollar naval base. His flushed face +grew redder, his long white hair became disordered, and he tugged at +his white mustache continually as he waxed warmer in his efforts to +impress the Senator's secretary. + +"I tell you, Mr. Haines, Gulf City, sah, leads all the South when it +comes to choosin' ground fo' a naval base. Her vast expanse of crystal +sea, her miles upon miles of silvah sands, sah, protected by a natural +harbor and th' islands of Mississippi Sound, make her th' only spot +to be considered. She's God's own choice and the people's, too, for a +naval base." + +"But, unfortunately, Congress also has something to say about choosing +it," spoke Haines. + +"To be shuah they do," said Gulf City's Mayor, "but--" + +"And there was a man here from Altacoola yesterday," again interrupted +the secretary, "who said that Gulf City was fit only to be the State +refuge for aged and indigent frogs." + +"Say, they ain't a man in Altacoola wot can speak th' truth," +indignantly shrieked the old Colonel, almost losing control of +himself; "because their heads is always a-buzzin' and a-hummin' from +th' quinine they have to take to keep th' fever away, sah!" + +The Mayor sat directly in front of Haines, at the opposite side of his +desk. Regaining his composure, he suddenly leaned forward and half +whispered to the secretary: + +"Mah young friend, don't let Senator Langdon get switched away from +Gulf City by them cheap skates from Altacoola. Now, if you'll get th' +Senator to vote fo' Gulf City we'll see--I'll see, sah, as an officer +of th' Gulf City Lan' Company--that you get taken ca-ah of." + +Haines' eyes opened wide. + +"Go on, Colonel; go on with your offer," he said. + +"Well, I'll see that a block of stock, sah--a big block--is set +aside fo' Senator Langdon an' another fo' you, too. We've made this +ah-rangomont else-wheah. We'll outbid Altacoola overall time. They're +po' sports an' hate to give up." + +"So Altacoola is bidding, too?" excitedly asked Haines. + +"Why, of co'se it is. Ah yo' as blind as that o' ah yo' foolin' with +me?" questioned Telfer, suspiciously. "Seems to me yo' ought to know +more about that end of it than a fellah clear from th' gulf." + +"Certainly, certainly," mumbled Haines, impatiently, as he endeavored +to associate coherently, intelligently, in his mind those startling +new revelations of Telfer with certain incidents he had previously +noted in the operations of the committee on naval affairs. + +Then he looked across at the Mayor and smiled. Apparently he had heard +nothing to amaze him. + +"Colonel," he returned calmly, dropping into a voice that sounded of +pity for the gray hairs of the lobbyist, "about fifty men a day come +to me with propositions like that. There is nothing doing, Colonel. I +couldn't possibly interest Senator Langdon, because he has the faculty +of judging for himself, and he would be prejudiced against either town +that came out with such, a proposition." + +"Lan' speculation is legitimate," protested, the Colonel, cunningly. + +Haines agreed. + +"Certainly--by outsiders. But it's d--d thievery when engaged in by +any one connected with putting a bill through. If I were to tell +Senator Langdon what you have told me it would decide him unalterably +in favor of Altacoola. Senator Langdon, sir, is one of the few men in +Washington who would rather be thought a fool than a grafter if it +came down to that." + +The Mayor of Gulf City jumped to his feet, his face blazing in rage, +not in shame. + +"Seems to me yo're mighty fresh, young man," he blustered. "What kind +of politics is Langdon playin'?" + +"Not fresh, Colonel; only friendly. I'm just tipping you off how not +to be a friend to Altacoola. As to his politics, the Senator will +answer you himself." + +A scornful laugh accompanied Telfer's reply. + +"Altacoola, huh! I reckon yo' must be a fool, after all. Why, +everybody knows of the speculatin' in land around Altacoola, and +everybody knows it ain't outsiders that's doin' it. It's the insiders, +right here in Washington. If yo' ain't in, yo' can easy get a +latchkey. Young man, yo'll find out things some day, and yo'll drop to +it all. + +"I guess I was too late with yo'. That's about the size of it. I +guess Altacoola'll talk to yo'," went on the Mayor. "If that feller +Fairbrother of Altacoola had been able to hold his tongue maybe I +wouldn't know so much. But now I know what's what. I know this--that +yo're either a big fool or--an insider. Yo're a nice young feller. I +have kind-a taken a fancy to yo'. I like to see yo' young fellers get +along and not miss yo'r chances. Come, my boy, get wise to yo'rself, +get wise to yo'rself! Climb on to the band wagon with yo' friends." + +Bud concluded that he might be able to get more definite information +out of Telfer if he humored him a bit. + +"I tell you, Colonel," he finally said, "these are pretty grave +charges you're making, but I'll tell you confidentially, owing to your +liking for me, that it is not yet too late to do something for Gulf +City. Now, just suppose you and I dine together to-night early, and +we'll go over the whole ground to see how things lie. Will you?" + +The Colonel held out his hand, smiling broadly. He felt that at last +he had won the secretary over; that the young man was at heart anxious +to take money for his influence with the Senator. + +"All right, my boy, yo're on. We'll dine together. Yo' are absolutely +certain that it won't be too late to get to Senator Langdon?" + +"Absolutely positive. I wouldn't make a mistake in a matter like this, +would I, unless I was what you said I was--a fool?" + +"Of course not. Oh, yo're a slick one. I like to do business with +folks like yo'. It's mighty educatin'!" + +"Thanks," answered Bud, dryly. "It's certain that Langdon won't decide +which place he's for until to-morrow. I promise you that he won't +decide until after I have my talk with you." + +"Yo' see," said Telfer, "I asked that question because, as yo' +probably know, Congressman Norton and his crowd is pretty close to +Senator Langdon--" + +Haines cut him short with a gasp of surprise. + +"Norton!" + +Telfer, wrinkling his forehead incredulously, looked at Haines. +"Surest thing you know, my boy." + +Bud turned his head away in thought. + +"Oh, leave the Norton outfit to me. I'll fool them," he finally said. + +"Good." + +Telfer shook the secretary's hand heartily. + +"Yo're no fool, my boy. Anybody can see that--after they get to know +yo' all. That's what comes of bein' one of them smooth New Yorkers. +They 'pear mighty sanctimonious on th' outside, but on th' inside +they're the real goods, all right." + +The lobbyist hurried away, his bibulous soul swelling with +satisfaction. He was sure of triumphing over Altacoola, and he was +willing to pay the price. + +Haines sank back into his chair. "I wonder what Washington +'insiders,'" he murmured, "are speculating in Altacoola land. Telfer +mentions Norton's name. I wonder--" + +The door opened, and before him stood Carolina Langdon. + +"Ah, Miss Langdon," he exclaimed, "I am glad to see you!" + +She walked to him and extended cordially a slender gloved hand. + +"This is a real pleasure, Mr. Haines," she began. "I've been waiting +to talk to you for some time. It's about something important." + +"Something important," smiled Haines. "You want to see me about +something important? Well, let me tell you a secret. Every time I see +you it is an important occasion to me." + +Carolina Langdon had never appeared more charming, more beautiful +to young Haines than she did that day. Perhaps she appeared more +inspiring because of the contrast her presence afforded to the +unpleasant episodes through which he had just passed; also, Carolina +was dressed in her most becoming street gown, which she well realized, +as she was enacting a carefully planned part with the unfortunate +secretary. + +His frankness and the sincere admiration that shone in his eyes caused +her to falter momentarily, almost made her weaken in her purpose, but +she made an effort and secured a firmer grip on herself, for she must +play a rôle that would crush to earth the air castles this young +secretary was building, a rôle that would crush the ideals of this +young optimist as well. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CURE OF A WOMAN'S LOVE + + +Carolina had come to find out from Haines, if possible, how her father +was going to vote on the naval base and to induce the secretary to +persuade him to stand for Altacoola--if there seemed danger that he +would vote for another site. That was her scheme, for Carolina had +put $25,000 into Altacoola land--money left by her mother. Norton +had persuaded Carolina to invest in the enterprise to defraud the +Government, promising her $50,000 clear profit. How much she could do +in Washington society with that! + +The continued uncertainty over her father's final attitude had +strained her nerves almost to the breaking, for the success of the +conspiracy depended on his vote. Not even the words of Norton, her +future husband, could reassure her. Her worry was increased by the +knowledge of Randolph's investment of her father's $50,000. + +That Carolina must sacrifice Haines on the altar of her consuming +desire for money, for a higher worldly position, was an unimportant +consideration. He stood in the way. Any moment he might discover the +existence of the Altacoola scheme, he would immediately tell her +father, and she knew her father would immediately decide against +Altacoola--the bright hopes of her future would turn to ashes. +Norton's money as well was invested in Altacoola. He, too, would be +ruined. She was sure that she loved Norton, but she could not marry a +penniless man. + +Carolina resumed the conversation. + +"It isn't anything so very important, Mr. Haines. It's about father." + +Haines beamed. + +"I have the honor to report, Miss Langdon," he bowed, "that your +father is making the very best kind of a Senator." + +The girl hesitated. + +"Yes; he might, if he had some ambition." + +"Don't worry! If it comes down to that, I have ambition for two. You +want him to be a success, don't you? Well, he is the biggest kind of a +success." + +"I never believed that he would be," confessed the daughter. + +Haines laughed. + +"Why, do you realize that to-day he is one of the most popular men in +public life throughout the country; that 'What does Langdon think?' +has become the watchword of the big body of independents who want +honesty and decent government without graft? + +"I tell you that's a big thing, Miss Langdon. That's success--real +success in politics, especially in Washington politics. + +"Now, if there's anything else you want him to have, I'll see that he +gets it I'll try to get it for him"--he paused a minute, then added, +with heartfelt meaning in his voice--"and for you, Miss Langdon." + +Carolina played coquettishly with the secretary. + +"For me, Mr. Haines?" she questioned, archly, with an effective glance +into his eyes. + +Bud's pulses began to throb violently--to leap. + +"Yes," he exclaimed, unsteadily, "for you, and you know it. That's the +inspiration now, my inspiration--the chance of winning your belief in +me, of winning something more, the biggest thing I ever thought to +win--because, Miss Langdon--Carolina--I love you." He bent over and +seized the girl's hand. "Ever since the day I first saw you I--" + +She shook her head indulgently and in a moment drew her hand from his. + +"You mustn't be so serious, Mr. Haines. You don't understand Southern +girls at all. We are not just like Northern girls. We are used to +being made love to from the time we are knee-high. Sometimes, I fear, +we flirt a little, but we don't mean any harm. All girls flirt--a +little." + +"But somebody wins even the Southern girls," declared Haines, eagerly. + +The girl's face became serious, earnest, sincere. + +"Yes, somebody does, always," she said. "And when a Southern girl is +won she stays won, Mr. Haines." + +"And I have a chance to win?" questioned the determined young +Northerner. + +Carolina smiled sweetly and expressively. + +"Who knows? First make my father even a bigger success--that's first. +Oh, I wonder if you can realize what all this life means to me! If you +can realize what those years of stagnating on the plantation meant to +me! No man would have endured it!" she exclaimed bitterly. "I am more +of a man than a woman in some ways; I'm ambitious. From the time I was +a little girl I've wanted the world, power, fame, money. I want them +still. I mean to get them somehow, anyhow. If I can't get them myself, +some one must get them for me." + +"And love?" suggested the man. "You are leaving love out. Suppose I +get all these things for you?" + +Bud's pounding heart almost stopped. He could scarcely gain his breath +as he saw creep into Carolina's eyes what he believed to be the light +of hope for him, the light even of a woman's promise. + +"Who knows, Mr. Haines? There's no reward guaranteed. There may be +others trying," she answered. + +Haines laughed--the strong, hopeful, fighting laugh of the man who +would combat the boss of the Senate on ground of the boss' own +choosing. + +"All right!" he cried. "If it's an open fight I'll enlist. I'll give +them all a run. What are your orders?" + +Carolina appeared indifferent. + +"I don't know that I have any particular orders, sir knight, except to +see that my father does all he can for the Altacoola naval base." + +Haines paused, seized by a sudden tremor. + +"The Altacoola naval base?" he stammered. "Well, all I can say is that +the Senator will do what he thinks right. That might bring power and +fame--a right decision in this case--but it can't bring money." + +Carolina shrugged her shoulders. + +"Money?" She laughed with affected carelessness. "Well, we'll have to +let the money take care of itself for a time. But I do want him to +vote for Altacoola, because I believe that will be the best for him. +You believe in Altacoola, don't you?" + +Haines hesitated, then answered: + +"Well, between the two sites merely as sites Altacoola seems to me +rather better." + +Miss Langdon held out her hand impulsively. + +"Then it will be Altacoola!" she cried. "Thank you, Mr. Haines. We are +partners, then, for Altacoola." + +The young man grasped her hand earnestly. + +"I'd like to be your partner for good, Carolina!" he cried. + +They stood there close together, holding each other's hands, looking +into each other's eyes, when the door opened and in came Charles +Norton. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +AN OLD-FASHIONED FATHER + + +Congressman Norton was startled at the sight of Carolina and Haines +apparently so wrapped up in each other. Perhaps she was getting +interested in the handsome, interfering secretary. That a woman +sometimes breaks her promise to wed he well knew. Plainly Carolina +was carrying things too far for a girl who was the promised wife of +another. + +Carolina and Haines showed surprise at Norton's entrance. + +The Congressman advanced and spoke sneeringly, his demeanor marking +him to be in a dangerous mood. + +"Do I intrude?" he drawled, deliberately. + +Carolina drew away her hands from Haines and faced the newcomer. + +"Intrude!" she exclaimed, contemptuously, in a tone that Norton +construed as in his favor and Haines in his own. + +"Intrude!" Haines laughed, sarcastically, feeling that now he was +leader in the race for love against this Mississippi representative, +who was, he knew, a subservient tool and a taker of bribes. "You +surely do intrude, Norton. Wouldn't any man who had interrupted a +tête-á-tête another man was having with Miss Langdon be intruding?" + +"I suppose I can't deny that," he replied. + +The secretary smiled again. + +"I'll match you to see who stays," he said. + +But Norton's turn to defeat his rival had come. He held out a paper to +Haines. + +"Senator Langdon gave me this for you. I reckon I don't have to +match." + +The secretary opened the note to read: + + "Where in thunder does that hydrate come from--South America or + Russia? How much off on the tariff on the creature do we want? + Come over to the committee room, where I am, right away. Say it's + an urgent message and get in with a tip." + +The secretary looked up, with a laugh. + +"You win, Norton. I'm off. Good-by." And he started on a run to the +Senator's aid. + +Norton turned angrily on the girl as the door closed. + +"See here, Carolina," he cried, "what do you mean by letting that +fellow make love to you?" + +Carolina Langdon would not permit rebuke, even from the man she cared +for. She tossed back her head and said, coolly: + +"Why shouldn't I let him make love to me if I choose?" + +"You know why," exclaimed Norton, his dark face flushing sullenly. +"Because I love you and you love me!" And he seized her and pressed +her to him. "That is why!" he cried, and he kissed her again and +again. + +"Yes, I love you, Charlie; you know that," Carolina said, simply. She +was conquered by the Southerner's masterfulness. + +"Then why do you stand for that whippersnapper's talk?" asked Norton, +perplexedly. + +Carolina laughed. + +"Don't you see, Charlie, I have to stand for it? I have to stand for +it for your sake, for Randolph's sake, for my own sake, for all our +sakes. You know the influence he has over father. + +"He can make father do anything he wants, and suppose I don't lead him +on? Where's our project? Let him suspect a thing and let him go to +father, and you know what will happen. Father would turn against +that Altacoola scheme in a moment. He'd beggar himself, if it were +necessary, rather than let a single one of us make a dollar out of a +thing he had to decide." + +"You're right, I reckon, Carolina," said Norton, dejectedly. "Your +father is a real type of the Southern gentleman. He hasn't seen any +real money in so long he can't even bear to think of it. Somebody's +got to make money out of this, and we should be the ones." + +"We'd lose frightfully, Charlie, if they changed to Gulf City, +wouldn't we?" said the girl, apprehensively. "I'm horribly afraid +sometimes, Charlie. That's why I came here to-day. I wanted to +influence Haines, to keep him straight. Is there any danger that +they'll change? You don't think there is, do you?" + +"Of course not, child. Stevens has got his money in, and Peabody. +There are only five on the committee. It's bound to go through." + +"Then why is father so important to them?" asked Carolina. + +"It's past my understanding, Carolina. I don't see how he's done it, +but the whole country has come to believe whatever your father does is +right, and they've got to have him." + +"And father is completely under the domination of this secretary," +murmured the girl, thoughtfully. + +Norton nodded. + +"We've got to get rid of him, Carolina. That's all there is to it. He +has to go! When it comes to bossing the Senator and making love to +you, too, he's getting too strong." + +"How can you do it?" she asked. "You know when father likes any one he +won't believe a thing against him." + +Norton agreed, sorrowfully. + +"That's right. Seems like the Senator's coming to think more of this +fellow than he does of his own family. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if +he'd even let one of you girls marry him if he wanted to marry you." + +"We'd have something to say about that," Carolina laughed, amusedly. +"Do you think that Hope or I could ever care for a man like this +fellow? Of course not. This Altacoola business must go through right. +It would be too cruel not to have it so. And then--" + +"And then you and I'll be married at once, Carolina, whether your +father likes it or not," ended Norton for her. "With Altacoola safe, +we can do as we please, as between us we'll be rich. What does it +matter how we get the money, as long as we get it?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WHEN A DAUGHTER BETRAYS HER FATHER + + +Bud returned to find Miss Langdon and Norton still in the room. New +buoyancy, new courage, thrilled in his veins. He would give this +Congressman the battle of his life for this prize, of that he was +confident. + +"I have an engagement with Mrs. Holcomb, Senator Holcomb's wife," she +said, "so I must hurry away, but I expect to be back to see father." + +"I think I'll just wait," suggested Norton. "I have to see the Senator +as soon as possible, and he ought to return from that ways and means +committee meeting pretty soon." + +When Carolina had gone a slight feeling of constraint settled over the +two. + +"The Senator's pretty busy these days with his naval base matter +coming up, isn't he?" + +"Yes; keeps him pretty busy receiving delegations from Altacoola and +Gulf City and patting them both on the back," said Haines. "Had a man +from Gulf City in this morning with some pretty strong arguments." + +The secretary watched Norton keenly to note the effect of this hint in +favor of Gulf City." + +"Gulf City!" Norton sneered. "Shucks! Who'd put a naval base on a +bunch of mud flats? I reckon those Gulf City fellows are wasting their +time." + +"Think so?" suggested Haines. "Are you absolutely sure?" + +Norton started. + +"Why, you don't mean to tell me," he exclaimed, "that Senator Langdon +would vote for Gulf City for the naval base?" + +"I don't mean to tell you anything, Congressman," was the cool +rejoinder. "It's not my business. The Senator's the one who does the +talking." + +An ugly sneer wrinkled the Congressman's face. + +"Well, I'm glad he attends to his own business and doesn't trust too +many people," he said pointedly. + +The secretary smiled in puzzling fashion. + +"That's exactly why I don't talk, Congressman," he said pleasantly. +"The Senator doesn't trust too many people. If he did, there might be +too much money made out of land speculation. Senator Langdon doesn't +happen to be one of those Senators who care for that kind of thing." + +"I suppose you think you're pretty strong with the Senator," ventured +the Mississippian. + +"Tell you the truth, I haven't thought very much about it," replied +Haines, "but, if you come right down to it, I guess I am pretty +strong." + +"Suppose you've influenced him in the naval base business, then." + +Still the secretary smiled, keeping his temper under the adroit +attack. + +"Well, I think he'd listen to me with considerable interest." + +"But you're for Altacoola, of course." + +Haines shook his head. + +"No, I can't say that I'm for Altacoola. Fellow who was in here this +morning put up a pretty good argument, to my mind, for Gulf City. +In fact, he made it pretty strong. Seemed to show it was all to my +interest to go in with Gulf City. Think I'll have to investigate a +little more. I tell you, Norton," spoke Haines in a confidential +manner, "this land speculation fever is a frightful thing. While I +was talking to this fellow from Gulf City I almost caught it myself. +Probably if I met the head of the Altacoola speculation I might catch +the fever from him too." + +"Why don't you put your money into Gulf City and lose it, then?" +replied Norton, nodding his head scornfully. "That'd be a good lesson +for a rising young politician like you." + +Senator Langdon's secretary peered straight into Norton's eyes. + +"Because, Congressman," he said, "if I were to put my money in Gulf +City perhaps I wouldn't lose it." + +The Southerner took a step forward, leaned over and glared angrily at +Haines. His face whitened. + +"You don't mean that you could swing Langdon into Gulf City?" he +gasped. + +Haines smiled. + +"I can't say that, Norton, but I guess people interested in Altacoola +would hate to have me try." + +"I didn't know you were that kind, Haines," said Norton, his virtue +aroused at the thought of losing his money. "So you're playing the +game like all the rest?" + +"Why shouldn't I?" shrugged the secretary. "I guess perhaps I'm a +little sore because the Altacoola people haven't even paid me the +compliment of thinking I had any influence, so they can't expect me to +work for them. The Gulf City people have. As things stand, Gulf City +looks pretty good to me." + +"Is this straight talk?" exclaimed Norton. + +"Take it or leave it," retorted Bud. + +The Mississippian leaned with his hands on the desk. + +"Well, Haines, if you're like the rest and are really interested in +Altacoola, I don't know that you'd have to go very far to talk." + +"You know something of Altacoola lands, then, Norton?" said Robert, +tingling with suppressed excitement. He felt that he was getting close +to real facts in a colossal "deal." + +Norton was sure of his man now. + +"Well, I am in touch with some people who've got lands and options on +more. I might fix it for you to come in," he whispered. + +Haines shook his head. + +"You know I haven't much money, Norton. All I could put in would be my +influence. Who are these people? Are they cheap little local folks or +are they real people here who have some power and can do something +that is worth while?" + +"Do I look like I'd fool with cheap skates, Haines? They're the real +people. I think, Haines, that either Senator Stevens or Senator +Peabody would advise you that you are safe." + +"Ah! Then Stevens and Peabody are the ones. They'll make it Altacoola, +then sell to the Government at a big advance and move to 'Easy +Street.'" + +"That's right," agreed Norton. + +Bud Haines straightened abruptly. The expression on his face gave +Norton a sudden chill--made him tremble. + +"Now I've got you," cried the secretary. "You've given yourself dead +away. I've known all along you're a d--d thief, Norton, and you've +just proved it to me yourself." + +"What do you mean?" Norton was clenching his fist. "Words like that +mean fight to a Southerner!" + +"I mean that before Senator Langdon goes one step further in this +matter he shall know that his colleagues and you are thieves, Mr. +Norton, trying to use him for a cat's-paw to steal for them from the +Government. I suspected something this morning when Gulf City tried +to bribe me and a visitor from there gave me what turns out to be a +pretty good tip." + +"So that was your dirty trick," exclaimed the Congressman as he +regained his composure. + +"Set a make-believe thief to catch a real one," laughed the secretary. +"Very good trick, I think." + +"I'll make you pay for that!" cried Norton, shaking his fist. + +"All right. Send in your bill any old time," laughed Haines. "The +sooner the better. Meantime I'm going to talk to Langdon." + +He had started for the door when Carolina Langdon re-entered, followed +by her brother Randolph. + +"Wait a minute," said Norton, with unexpected quietness. "I wouldn't +do what you're about to do, Mr. Haines." + +"Of course you wouldn't," sneered Haines. + +"I mean that you will be making a mistake, Haines, to tell the Senator +what you have learned," rejoined the Southerner, struggling to keep +calm at this critical moment when all was at stake. He realized, +further, that now was the time to put Haines out of the way--if that +were possible. "A mistake, Mr. Haines," he continued, "because, you +see, you don't know as much as you think. I wouldn't talk to Langdon +if I were you. It will only embarrass him and do no good, because +Langdon's money is in this scheme, too, and Langdon's in the same boat +with the rest of us." + +Haines stopped short at this astounding charge against his chief. + +"Norton, you lie! I'll believe it of Langdon when he tells me so; not +otherwise." + +Norton turned to Randolph. + +"Perhaps you'll believe Mr. Langdon's son, Mr. Haines?" + +Randolph Langdon stepped forward. + +"It's true, Haines," he said; "my father's money is in Altacoola +lands." + +Haines looked him up and down, with a sneer. + +"_Your_ money may be," he said. "I don't think you're a bit too good +for it, but your father is a different kind." + +Carolina Langdon stood at the back of the room, nervously awaiting +the moment when, she knew, she would be forced into the unpleasant +discussion. + +"I reckon you can't refuse to believe Miss Langdon," drawled Norton, +with aggravated deliberation. + +"Of course," stammered Haines, "I'd believe it if Miss Langdon says +it's so." + +The Congressman turned toward Carolina as he spoke and fixed on her +a tense look which spelled as plainly as though spoken, "It's all in +your hands, my fortune--yours." + +She slowly drew across the room. Haines could hardly conceal the +turmoil of his mind. The world seemed suddenly snatched from around +him, leaving her figure alone before him. Would she affirm what +Norton and Randolph had said? He must believe her. But surely it was +impossible that she-- + +Carolina played for time. She feared the making of a false move. + +"I don't understand?" she said inquiringly to Norton. + +He calmly began an elaborate explanation. + +"Miss Langdon, this secretary has discovered that there is a certain +perfectly legitimate venture in Altacoola lands being carried on +through certain influential people we know and by me. The blood of the +young reformer is boiling. He is going straight to your father with +the facts. + +"I have tried to explain to him how it will needlessly embarrass +the Senator and spoil his own future. He won't believe me. He won't +believe your brother. Perhaps you can make it clear." + +At last Carolina nerved herself to speak. + +"You had better not go to my father, Mr. Haines. It will do no good. +He--is--in--the deal! You must believe me when I tell you so." + +The girl took her eyes from the secretary. He was plainly suffering. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CAROLINA LANGDON'S ADVICE + + +"Let me speak to Mr. Haines alone," said Carolina to Norton and her +brother. + +Norton turned a triumphant grin at Randolph as he beckoned him out and +whispered: "Leave him to her. It's all right. That New York dude has +been riding for a fall--he's going to get it now." + +"I am sorry, so sorry this should have occurred, Mr. Haines," Carolina +said gently. + +The secretary looked up slowly, his face drawn. It was an effort for +him to speak. + +"I can't understand it," he said. "I mightn't have thought so much of +this a month ago, but I have come to love the Senator almost as a son, +and to think that he could be like the rest of that bunch is awful." + +"You are too much of an idealist, Mr. Haines," said the girl. + +"And you? What do you think of it?" he demanded. + +The girl's glance wavered. + +"Don't idealize me too much, either, Mr. Haines. I didn't think it was +much. Perhaps I don't understand business any too well." + +"But you see now?" insisted the man. + +The girl looked up at him sorrowfully. + +"Yes; I see at least that you and father can never work together now." + +Haines nodded affirmatively. + +"I suppose so. I'm thinking of that. How am I to leave him? We've been +so close. I've been so fond of him. I don't know how I could tell +him." + +In girlish, friendly fashion Carolina rested her hand on his arm. + +"Won't you take my advice, Mr. Haines? Go away without seeing him. +Just leave a note to say you have gone. He will understand. It will be +easier for both that way--easier for him, easier for you." She paused, +looking at him appealingly as she ended very softly, "And easier for +me, Mr. Haines." + +He looked at her thoughtfully. + +"Easier for you?" he said. "Very well, I'll do it that way." + +The secretary stepped slowly to his desk, sat down and started to +write the note. Carolina watched him curiously. + +"What will you do," she asked, "now that you have given up this +position?" + +"Oh, I can always go back to newspaper work," he answered without +looking up. + +The term "newspaper work" gave Carolina a shock. She had forgotten +that this man had been a reporter. Here he was turned loose with the +knowledge of this "deal," which she knew would be popular material for +newspapers to print. She must gain still another point, and she felt +that she had enough power to win against him. + +"I'm going to ask you still another favor," she said. + +Bud returned her look with a bitter smile. + +"What is it?" + +"You have learned about this--this land matter and--" + +"Oh, yes! I can guess. You want me to keep quiet about it--to hush it +up," a shade of scorn in his tone. + +"I only asked this so that you would not disgrace me," she pleaded. + +Disillusioned at last, robbed of his lifelong optimism, shorn of +his ideals, even his love--for he began to despise this beautiful, +misguided woman--Haines sat broken in spirit, thinking how quickly the +brightness of life fades to blackness. + +"Very well," he said sadly. "I suppose _you_ are innocent. I'll save +you. If they're all--your father, too--crooked, why shouldn't I be +crooked? All right; I won't say anything." + +"I only ask you not to disgrace me," pleaded the girl. "You will +promise that?" + +"It's a promise." + +She sighed in relief. + +"Father will be coming back soon," she said. "You won't want to see +him." + +Haines arose. + +"No, I won't want to see him. Give him this note. I'll have to come +back while he's away to clear up some things. Good-by." + +Haines bowed and hurried from the room through a side doorway just as +Senator Langdon came in through the main entrance. + +"Bud! Bud!" he called, but the secretary did not halt. + +Carolina Langdon stood with Haines' note in her hand, wondering at +what she had done. She regretted having become entangled in the wars +of men in Washington. She saw that the man's game was played too +strongly, too furiously fast, for most women to enter, yet she +rejoiced that the coveted fortune had not been lost. She was sorry +that her means of saving it had not been less questionable. She saw +that ambition and honesty, ambition and truth, with difficulty follow +the same path. + +Senator Langdon's face was unusually grave as he came to greet +Carolina. Lines showed in his face that the daughter had never noticed +before. + +She saw Norton and Randolph, who had followed him, exchange +significant glances--jubilant glances--and wondered what new +development they had maneuvered. + +"He's gone without a word," the Senator sighed. "Well, perhap's that's +best." + +"He left a note for you," said the girl, handing him the letter which +Haines had given her. + +Langdon opened it and read: + +"I am giving up the job. You can understand why. The least said about +it between us the better. I am sorry. That's all. BUD HAINES." + +Slowly he read the letter a second time. + +"And he was making the best kind of a secretary, I thought." + +Divining that something against Haines had been told her father, +Carolina glanced at Norton. + +"I told your father how we caught Mr. Haines," he spoke as an answer +to her. + +The girl was startled. She had not thought that things would go this +far. + +"I told him how Haines wanted to get in some land speculation scheme +with Altacoola, how we tricked him and caught him with the goods when +he made the proposition to me and how we forced him to confess." + +"You told father that?" gasped Carolina. + +Norton nodded. + +"I don't understand it," said Langdon. "To think that he was that +kind!" + +Son Randolph now took his turn in the case against the secretary. + +"We were both here, father. I heard him--Carolina heard him," he said. +"Didn't you, Carolina?" + +"Yes," said the girl weakly, "I was here." Then she turned abruptly. +"I must go," she said, "must go right away. Mrs. Holcomb is waiting +for me." + +The Senator turned to his desk bent and discouraged. + +"I suppose I should have taken a secretary who was a Southerner and a +gentleman. Well, Randolph, you'll have to act now. Take this letter--" + +The young man sat down and took the following from the Senator's +diction: + + "MR. HAINES-- + + "Sir: I quite understand your feelings and the impossibility of + your continuing in my employ. The least said about it the better. + I am sorry, too. + + "WILLIAM H. LANGDON." + +"You boys run away. I've got to think," said the Senator. + +When the pair had gone the old man drew the letter to him, and below +his signature he added a postscript: "Don't forget there's some money +coming to you." + +Walking across the room to leave, he sighed: + +"He was making the best kind of a secretary." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A RESCUE IN THE NICK OF TIME + + +Later in that never-to-be-forgotten day Bud Haines ventured back to +his desk in the committee room, after first ascertaining that Senator +Langdon would not return. Some of the Senator's papers must be +straightened out, and he wanted personal documents of his own. + +The secretary regretfully, sorrowfully performed these final duties +and found himself stopping at various intervals to try to explain to +himself how he had been deceived in both the Langdons, father and +daughter. He had to give up both problems. To him neither was +explainable. "I've known enough Senators to know that I'd never meet +an honest one," he muttered. "But as to women--well, there's too much +carefully selected wisdom in their innocence to suit me." + +This cynic, new born from the shell of the chronic idealist that was, +suddenly was disturbed in his ruminations by a sound at the door. +Looking up, he saw Hope Georgia Langdon standing, shyly, embarrassed, +in the main entrance. + +"Mr. Haines," she said, timidly. + +Bud jumped to his feet. + +"Yes, Miss Hope Georgia." + +As the Senator's younger daughter came toward him he noticed that +she was excited over something, and for a newly made cynic he took +altogether too much notice of her youthful beauty, her fresh, rosy +complexion and her dancing, sparkling eyes. The thought occurred to +him, "What a woman she will make--if she doesn't imitate her sister!" + +"I couldn't let you go, Mr. Haines, without telling you good-by and +letting you know that, no matter what the others say, I don't think +there has been anything wrong." + +Before Haines could reply, the young girl rushed on, excitedly: + +"That's why I came. I know father and Carolina won't like it--they +won't think it's nice--but I wanted to say to you that I don't think +one ought to believe things against one you've liked and trusted." + +"You think one ought not," said Haines. "So do I; but in this case +the proofs were very strong. What are you going to do when people you +can't doubt pledge their word?" + +The girl tossed her head. + +"Well, the only one's word I'd like to take would be the person +accused. I know I'm only a girl, Mr. Haines, and I'm not grown up, but +you've made a mistake. Do try to clear things up. Why don't you see +father and talk with him? Please do, Mr. Haines." + +Little realizing that the girl was speaking in his own favor, for he +knew not the need for such speaking, he believed her to be defending +her father. He grasped her hands impulsively. + +"You have grown up very much since you came to the capital, haven't +you?" he said. "And you are right, Miss Hope. I ought to have known +even when the facts were against him that your father couldn't have +been really crooked. He can't be." + +Hope Langdon's face flushed indignantly. + +"Father crooked? Who said so? Who dared say that?" she exclaimed. + +"Why, they told me he had sold out on the Altacoola bill. They said he +was trying to make money on Altacoola. That's why I quit." + +The flame of anger still was spread on the girl's face. + +"They said that!" she exclaimed. "Then they lied. They said you were +the crooked one. Why, father thinks you sold out on Altacoola. They +said you were trying to make money on that navy yard." + +"What! They said I was crooked!" Haines fairly shouted. He rushed +around the desk and caught the girl by both hands. + +"I see it!" he cried. "I see it! There's something I'm not just on to. +You thought it was I; your father thinks--" + +"Of course," exclaimed Hope, quite as excited as he. "I couldn't +believe it. That's why I came back to get you to explain. I wanted you +to disprove the charge." + +"I should say I would," cried the secretary. + +"I knew it! I knew it! They couldn't make me believe anything against +you. I knew you were all I thought you. Oh, Mr. Haines, prove you are +that for my--" + +Then Hope Georgia abruptly stopped. She had lost her head, and in the +enthusiasm of the moment had revealed her real feelings--something +she would never do presumably when she grew more wise in the ways of +women. + +She suddenly thrust Haines' hands from her own and stood staring at +him, wondering--wondering if he had guessed. + +Strangely enough, under the circumstances, the girl was the first to +recover and break the awkward silence. + +"Come to our house to-night, Mr. Haines. There's to be a dinner and a +musicale, as you know; but that won't matter. No matter who says no, I +promise you that you shall see father. There shall be an explanation." + +"Thank you, Miss Hope. You don't realize all you've done for me," said +Bud, seriously. "It's a wonderful thing to find a girl who believes in +a man. You've taught me a lot, Miss Hope. Thank you." + +"Good-by, Mr. Haines. Come to-night," she said, as she turned and +hurried away. + +Bud Haines stood looking after her, thoughtfully. + +"What a stunning girl she is! I've seemed to overlook her, with the +rush of events--and Carolina," he murmured, softly. "We never were +such very great friends, yet she believes in me. What a beauty she +is!" + +A messenger boy broke in on his musings with a letter for Senator +Langdon marked "Important." + +"Guess I'm secretary enough yet to answer this," he thought, tearing +it open. + +"Great heavens!" he exclaimed as he read it. "Here's the chance to get +to the bottom of this Altacoola proposition. It's from Peabody." + +Haines read the following: + +"DEAR SENATOR LANGDON: I am going to Philadelphia to-night. Urgent +call from a company for which I am counsel, so I probably won't be +able to confer with you regarding the committee's choice for the naval +base. But I know you are for Altacoola and trust to you to do all +you can for that site. I, of course, consider the matter definitely +settled." + + * * * * * + +"This situation will enable Langdon to bluff Peabody and draw out of +him all the inside of the Altacoola business--ought to, anyway. Guess +some Gulf City talk will smoke him out." + +Haines rushed out and across the hall, to reappear literally hauling +in a stenographer by the scruff of the neck. "Here, you, take this +dictation--record time," he cried: + + "SENATOR HORATIO PEABODY, Louis Napoleon Hotel: You are going to + Philadelphia to-night, I know, leaving the report on the naval + base to me. I have just come on various aspects of the situation + which make me incline very favorably toward Gulf City. I am + looking into the matter and, of course, shall act according to + my best judgment. That is what you will want me to do, I know. + Sincerely yours, + + "WILLIAM H. LANGDON." + +"I don't think Senator Peabody will go to Philadelphia to-night," +laughed Haines grimly, as he addressed the envelope, "and I think that +when the 'boss of the Senate' hurries around to the Langdon house +instead there will be more than one kind of music, more than one kind +of food eaten--perhaps crow--before the evening is over." + +Seizing his hat, Bud rushed to the door to look up a messenger. + +"It's all in Langdon's hands now," he cried. "Here's where I resign my +position as United States Senator." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE CONSPIRATORS OUTWITTED + + +Senator Langdon's dinners had well won popularity in Washington. +Invitations to them were rarely answered by the sending of "regrets." +He had brought his old Mississippi cook from the plantation, whose +Southern dishes had caused the Secretary of State himself to make the +Senator an offer for the chef's services. "No use bidding for old +General Washington," said the Senator on that notable occasion. "He +wouldn't leave my kitchen, sir, even to accept the presidency itself. +Why, I couldn't even discharge him if I wanted to. I tried to let him +go once, sir, and the old general made me feel so ashamed of myself +that I actually cried, sir." + +Peabody and Stevens were the dinner guests to-night, as they were to +confer afterward with Langdon and settle on the action of the naval +affairs committee regarding the naval base. The three, being a +majority, could control the action of the committee. + +Senator Peabody had finally postponed leaving for Philadelphia until +the midnight train in order to be present, he assured Langdon as the +trio entered the library. The girls, Norton and Randolph were left +to oversee preparations for the prominent Washingtonians invited to +attend the musicale to be given later in the evening. + +Carolina and Hope Georgia were in distinctly different moods--the +elder, vivacious, elated over the bright outlook for her future; +the younger, cast down and wearing a worried expression. Norton and +Randolph in jubilant spirit tried to cheer her, and failing, resorted +to taunts about some imaginary love affair. + +The courage of the afternoon, which had enabled her to speak to Haines +as she had, was gone; girlish fears now swept over her as to the +outcome of the evening. Haines had not come! Was he really guilty and +had promised to come merely to get rid of her? Why was he late? If he +did come, would she be able to have her father see him, as she had +promised? If she failed, and she might, she would never see this young +man again. + +"If I looked as unhappy as you, Hope, I'd go to bed and not discourage +our guests as they arrive," Carolina suggested. "Our floral +decorations alone for to-night cost $700, and the musical program cost +over $3,000. The most fashionable folks in Washington coming--what +more could you want, Hope? Isn't it perfectly glorious? Why--" + +"Mr. Haines is below, asking to see Senator Langdon," announced a +servant, entering. + +"Oh, I knew he'd come! I knew it! I knew it!" cried Hope Georgia in +pure ecstasy, clapping her hands. + +The three plotters turned on the girl in amazement; then they stared +at each other. + +"Mr. Haines!" ejaculated Carolina. + +"Haines!" exclaimed Randolph, hurriedly leaving the room. + +"Haines!" sneered Norton. "We can take care of him. The Senator won't +see him." + +Carolina caught the suggestion. + +"Tell Mr. Haines that Senator Langdon regrets that he cannot possibly +receive him," she directed. + +"Carolina!" + +There was a ring of protest and pain in Hope Georgia's voice as she +darted out of the door after the servant. + +"What's the matter with that girl?" asked Norton, trying to be calm. + +Carolina shook her head. + +"I don't know. She's queer to-day. I believe she imagines herself in +love with Mr. Haines." + +"Aren't you afraid she'll make trouble?" + +The other sister laughed confidently. + +"Little Hope make trouble? Of course not. If she does, we can always +frighten her into obedience." + +The door reopened and Hope entered, followed by Bud Haines. The girl's +head was high; her cheeks were red; her eyes glittered ominously. + +"I brought him back, Carolina," she said coolly. "Father will want to +see him. I know there has been some mistake." + +"Yes," supplemented Bud, "there has been a decided mistake, and I must +refuse to accept the word that came to me from Senator Langdon." + +Carolina Langdon drew herself up in her most dignified manner. + +"I'm sorry, Mr. Haines, but you must accept it," she said. + +"Exactly," seconded Norton. "Senator Langdon entirely declines to +receive you." + +"I don't trust anything you say, Congressman Norton, and I may say +also that I recognize no right of yours to interfere in any affair +between me and the Langdon family." + +"Perhaps I can explain my right, Mr. Haines," Norton said coolly, +stepping beside Carolina. "I have just had the pleasure of announcing +to Miss Hope Georgia Langdon my engagement to Miss Carolina Langdon." + +Haines, entirely unprepared for such a dénoûement, shot a searching +glance at Carolina. She bowed her head in affirmation. + +"So that's why you tried to ruin me!" he cried. "You're both from the +same mold," turning from Carolina Langdon to Congressman Norton, then +back to the girl. + +They stood facing each other when Randolph Langdon returned. At sight +of Bud Haines he started, stopped short a second, then came forward +quickly. + +"Mr. Haines, my father has declared that he will not see you, and +either you leave this house at once or I shall call the servants." + +Bud looked at young Langdon contemptuously. + +"Yes, I think you would need some help," he sneered, feeling in his +veins the rush of red blood, the determination in his heart that had +a few years back carried him through eighty yards of struggling Yale +football players to a touchdown. + +The Senator's son drew back his arm, but the confident look of the New +Yorker restrained him. + +"Mr. Haines, in the South gentlemen do not make scenes of violence +before ladies." + +The cold rebuke of Carolina cut into the silence. + +Haines stood in perplexity. He did not know what to do or how to get +to the Senator. It was Hope who came to his rescue. + +"I'll tell father you are here. I'll make him come, Mr. Haines. He +shall see you." + +With the air of a defiant little princess she started for the door. + +"Hope, I forbid you doing any such thing," exclaimed her older sister, +but the younger girl paid no attention. Randolph caught her arm. + +"You shall not, Hope," he cried. + +Hope Georgia struggled and pulled her arm free. + +"I reckon I just got to do what seems right to me, Randolph," she +exclaimed. "I reckon I've grown up to-night, and I tell you--I tell +all of you"--she whirled and faced them--"there's something wrong +here, and father is going to see Mr. Haines to-night, and they are +going to settle it." + +Norton alone was equal to the situation, temporarily at least. + +"I'll be fair with you, Hope," he said reassuringly, and she stopped +in her flight to the hall door. "I'll take Carolina and Randolph in to +see the Senator, and we'll tell him Mr. Haines is here. Perhaps we had +better tell the Senator," Norton suggested, beckoning to Carolina and +her brother. "Let Mr. Haines wait here, and we will make the situation +clear to the Senator." + +"You'd better make it very clear," exclaimed the younger girl, "for +I'm going to stay here with Mr. Haines until he has seen father." + +The guilty trio, fearful of this new and unexplainable activity of +Hope Georgia, slowly departed in search of Senator Langdon to make a +last desperate attempt to prevent him from meeting this pestilential +secretary that was--and might be again. + +When the door closed after them Hope came down to the table where Bud +Haines was standing. + +"Won't you sit down, Mr. Haines?" she said. "I'll--I'll try to +entertain you until father comes," she said weakly, realizing that +again she was alone with the man she loved. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +HOPE LANGDON'S HOUR OF TRIUMPH + + +Haines sat at a table in the reception-room, across from Hope +Georgia, and his gratitude for her battle in his favor mingled with a +realization of qualities in this young lady that he had never before +noticed. Probably he did not know that what he had really seen in her +that day and that evening was the sudden transition from girlhood to +womanhood, her casting aside of thoughtless, irresponsive youth and +the shouldering of the responsibilities of the grown woman who would +do her share in the world's work. + +He stared across in astonishment at this slip of a girl who had +outwitted two resourceful men and an older sister of unquestioned +ability. + +"I do not recognize you, Miss Hope," he said finally. + +"Perhaps you never looked at me before," she suggested archly, feeling +instinctively that this was her hour; that the man she loved was at +this moment thinking more about her than of anything else in the +world. + +Haines made a gesture of regret. + +"That must be it," he agreed. Then he leaned forward eagerly. "But I'm +looking at you now, and I like looking at you. I like what you've done +for me." + +"Oh, that was nothing, Mr. Haines," she exclaimed airily, her +intuition telling her of her sway over the man. + +"Nothing!" he exclaimed. "Well, it's more than any one ever did for me +before. I've known lots of girls--" + +"I don't doubt that, Mr. Haines," Hope interjected, with a light +laugh. + +"Yes, I say I've known lots of girls, but there's never been one who +showed herself such a true friend as you have been. There's never been +any one who believed in me this way when I was practically down and +out." + +"Perhaps you've never been down and out before, Mr. Haines, so they +never had a chance to show whether they believed in you or not." + +"That may be one reason," he answered. "I wonder why"--he paused--"I +wonder why your sister Carolina did not believe in me." + +"You were quite fond of her, weren't you?" the girl began, then +stopped and turned away her head. + +Haines gazed curiously at Hope. + +"I was, yes. I even thought I loved her, but I soon saw my mistake. It +wasn't love. It was only a kind of--" + +Suddenly pausing, Bud Haines shot a swift glance at the girl. + +"What wonderful hair you have, Miss Hope." + +The girl smiled invitingly. + +"Think so?" + +"Yes," he declared earnestly. "I know so. I never noticed it before, +but I guess lots of fellows down in Mississippi have." + +Hope's tantalizing smile worried him. "I hope you are not secretly +engaged too!" he exclaimed. + +"No, oh, no!" she answered quickly, before she thought. + +"Or in love?" he asked seriously. + +Haines had stood up and was now leaning intently over the table. He +realized the difference between the feeling he had had for Carolina +and the tender emotion that thrilled him as he thought of the sweet +girl before him. This time he knew he was not mistaken. He knew that +he truly loved Hope Langdon. + +"Or in love?" he asked again, anxious at her silence. + +Hope looked at him slowly. A faint blush illumined her face. + +"Oh, don't let's talk about me," she exclaimed. + +"But I want to talk about you," he cried. "I don't want to talk about +anything else. I must talk about you, and I'm going to talk whether +you want to hear or not. You've believed in me when nobody else +believed. You've fought for me when everybody else was fighting +against me. You've shown that you think I am honest and worthy of a +woman's faith. You fought your own family for me. Nobody has ever done +for me what you have, and--and--" + +He faltered, full of what he was about to say. + +"And you're grateful," she ended. + +He looked her squarely in the eyes as though to fathom her thoughts. +Then he reached toward the girl and seized both her hands. + +"Grateful nothing!" he cried. "I'm not grateful. I'm in love--in love +with you. I want you--want you as I never wanted anything or anybody +before, and I tell you I'm going to have you. Do you hear?" + +Hope could not hide her agitation. The light in her eyes showed she +was all a woman. + +[Illustration: THE LANGDON FAMILY.] + +"Oh, nothing in the world could happen as quickly as that, Mr. +Haines!" she protested, with her last attempt at archness. + +"Nothing could?" he threatened. "I'll show you." + +He advanced quickly around the table, but the girl darted just beyond +his grasp. Then she paused--and her lover gathered her in his arms. + +"Hope, my dear, you are my own," was all he could say as he bent over +to kiss the lips that were not refused to him. + +Hope released herself from his fervent grasp. + +"I love you, I do love you," she said fondly. "I believe in you, and +father must too. You've got to straighten this tangle out now, for my +sake as well as your own. Father will listen." + +"It's all so strange, so wonderful, I can hardly understand it," began +Haines slowly, as he held the girl's hands. + +Unknown to both, the door leading from the hall had opened to admit +Senator Langdon into the lower end of the room. Surprised at the sight +of the couple, so seriously intent on each other, he made a sudden +gesture of anger, then, apparently changing his mind, advanced toward +them. + +"I believe you want to see me, sir," he said to Haines. "I hope you'll +be brief. I have very little time to spare from my guests." + +Hope's bosom fluttered timorously at the interruption. The man +nervously stepped forward. + +"I sha'n't take much of your time, Senator Langdon," he said. "There +has been a misunderstanding, a terrible mistake. I am sure I can +convince you." + +Senator Langdon hesitated doubtfully, half turned toward Carolina, +Randolph and Norton, who had followed him, and again faced Haines. + +Hope pressed her father's arm and looked up into his face +entreatingly. Randolph, observing this, quickly stepped close to the +Senator's side, saying, "I can settle with this Mr. Haines for you." + +Waving his son aside, the Senator finally spoke. + +"I reckon there's been too many attending to my business and settling +my affairs, Randolph," he said. "I think for a change I'll settle a +few of my own. All of you children go out and leave me here with Mr. +Haines." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +SENATOR LANGDON LEARNS THE TRUTH + + +When they were alone Haines faced the Senator and spoke determinedly. + +"They told you I was not running straight," he said. + +The Senator nodded, and the lines about his mouth deepened. + +"Yes." + +Bud Haines stiffened at the word. Every muscle in his body seemed to +become rigid as he mentally vowed that he would retaliate against his +traducers if it cost him his life to do it. Hope had informed him only +too accurately, he now realized. Little did the Senator know that what +he was now about to hear would give him one of the severest shocks of +his life. + +"They told me you weren't running straight," said Haines deliberately. +"Now, neither one of us has been crooked, but somebody else has been, +and this was the plan to keep us apart." + +"Norton told me you were speculating in Altacoola lands," said +Langdon. + +"And Norton told me the same of you," retorted Bud. + +The Senator's face grew very serious. + +"But my daughter, Miss Carolina Langdon, confirmed Norton's story." + +Haines here faced the most difficult part of his interview. He hardly +knew how to answer. His manhood rebelled against placing any blame on +a woman. He revolted at the thought of ruining a father's faith in his +daughter's honesty, especially when that father was the man he most +admired, a man for whom he had genuine, deep-rooted affection. But it +was necessary that the words be spoken. + +"I hate to tell you, sir," he said in a low, uncertain voice, "that it +was your daughter Carolina who made me believe this story told about +you and vouched for by your son Randolph." + +Langdon started back aghast. He stared at Haines and knew that he +spoke the truth. Then his white head sank pathetically. Tears welled +into the eyes of the planter, and this sturdy old fighting man dropped +weakly into a chair, sobbing convulsively, broken in spirit and +wearied in body. + +At length Haines spoke to his stricken chief. + +"I know it hurts," he said. "It hurt me to have to say it. Don't +believe it until you get it out of Norton, but then you must do +something." + +Langdon came to his feet, mopping his cheeks. But there was no +weakness in him now. Yes, he would do something. He would go after the +thieves that had turned his own flesh and blood against him and root +them all out--show them all up. + +"Oh, I'll do something," he said grimly. "I'm going to make up for +lost time. Of course, Norton is speculating. Who's behind him?" + +"Stevens and Peabody, I'm positive," answered Haines, "and behind them +is Standard Steel." + +"What!" exclaimed Langdon. "Stevens in a swindle like this! Are you +sure? How do you know?" + +"A Gulf City man who couldn't carry his liquor gave me some clues, +and I worked Norton into telling some more," answered the secretary. +"Where is Peabody?" + +"He's here now." + +"Then he hasn't got my letter yet. I sent him a note and signed your +name, Senator, to the effect that the Gulf City claims have been +brought before you so strongly that you might vote for Gulf City." + +Langdon was amazed. + +"You sent that note," he exclaimed, "when you know Altacoola is the +only proper place and Gulf City is a mud bank?" + +The newspaper man smiled. + +"Of course," he agreed, "but I had to get a rise out of Peabody. This +will show where he stands." + +"Oh," said Langdon, "I understand. Thanks, boy." + +A servant entered with a note. + +"For Senator Peabody, sir, marked 'Urgent.' The messenger's been +hunting him for some hours." + +Langdon looked shrewdly at Bud, then turned to the servant. + +"You keep that note until I ring for you, then bring it to Senator +Peabody. Understand? No matter how urgent it's marked." + +The man bowed. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now tell Mr. Norton, Miss Langdon and Mr. Randolph to come here." + +The Senator turned back to his secretary. + +"I expect I'm going to be pretty busy the rest of the evening, Bud, so +in case I forget to mention it again, remember to show up at your old +desk in the morning." + +"I will. Thank you, sir." + +"You sent for us, Senator," said Norton, approaching with his two +dupes. + +"You are interested in Altacoola lands," the Senator angrily charged. + +"I am, sir," he said. + +"And you told Mr. Haines that I was interested in Altacoola lands?" + +The schemer hesitated, and the Senator broke in on him in rage. + +"Speak out, man! Tell the truth, if you can." + +"I did," admitted the Congressman finally. + +"Was there any particular reason for your not telling the truth?" +demanded the Mississippian in threatening tone. + +"I told the truth," replied Norton. "You are interested in them." + +For an instant Langdon seemed about to step toward him, then he +controlled himself. + +"I didn't know it," he said. + +"You have several things to learn, Senator," declared the Congressman. + +"I have things to learn and things to teach," he said. "But go on. Why +am I interested?" + +"You are interested, Senator," replied the trickster, making his big +play, "through your son, Randolph, who invested $50,000 of your money +in Altacoola, and also through your daughter, Miss Carolina, who, +acting on my advice, has put her own money--$25,000--in Altacoola land +also." + +For a moment Langdon was speechless. It was too much at first for the +honest old Southerner to comprehend. + +"You mean," he gasped at last, "that you induce a boy to put $50,000 +in Altacoola land when you knew I had to vote on the bill? And you +even let my daughter put her money in the same scheme?" + +"Of course, I did. It was a splendid chance, and I let your son in +for friendship and your daughter because she has done me the honor to +promise to become my wife." + +"What! You have my daughter's promise to marry you, you--" + +"She admits it herself." + +"Then I reckon here's where I lose a prospective son-in-law," sneered +Langdon. "But that's unimportant. Now, Norton, who's behind you?" + +"I must decline to answer that." + +Langdon looked at him sternly. + +"Very well," he said. "You are too small to count. I'll find out for +myself. Now you go to my study and wait there until I send for you. I +must be alone with my children." + +When Norton and Haines had left them, Langdon turned sadly to the two +children who had disgraced him. + +"Can you understand?" he said. "Do you know what you've done to me?" + +"What, father? We've done nothing wrong!" protested Carolina. + +"They told me it was perfectly legitimate," urged Randolph. "They said +everybody--Peabody and Stevens and the rest--were in it, and Peabody +is the boss of the Senate." + +"Yes, my boy," assented the old planter, "he's the leader in the +Senate, and that's the shameful part of all this--that a man of his +high standing should set you so miserable an example." + +Randolph Langdon was not a vicious lad, not a youth who preferred or +chose wrongdoing for the increased rewards it offered. He was at heart +a chivalrous, straightforward, trustful Southern boy who believed in +the splendid traditions of his family and loved his father as a +son should a parent having the qualities of the old hero of +Crawfordsville. Jealous of his honor, he had been a victim of Norton's +wiles because of the Congressman's position and persuasiveness, +because this companion of his young days had won his confidence and +had not hesitated to distort the lad's idea of what was right and what +was wrong. + +Randolph began an indignant protest against his father's reproof when +the Senator cut him short. + +"Don't you see?" said the Senator. "I can understand there being +rascals in the outside world and that they should believe your +careless, foolish old father lawful game, but that he should be +thought a tool for dishonest thieving by members of his own family is +incomprehensible. + +"Randolph, my son, Carolina, my daughter, through all their +generations the Langdons have been honorable. Your mother was a +Randolph, and this from you! Oh, Carolina! And you, Randolph! How +could you? How could you betray or seek to betray your father, who +sees in you the image of your dear mother, who has gone?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CALL TO ARMS + + +Both Randolph, and Carolina were deeply affected by their father's +words. + +The daughter attempted to take on herself the blame for her brother's +action. + +"I was the older one. I might have stopped him if I had wished, and +should bear the burden." + +"No, no, father," exclaimed the youth, his inborn self-reliance +prompting him to shoulder the consequences of his own mistakes. "I, +and I alone, am responsible for what I did. I did not realize that it +was wrong. I will not hide behind Carolina." + +Carolina Langdon bore herself better than was to have been expected +under the strain of the painful interview. She saw more clearly now +how she had erred. She was undergoing an inward revolution that would +make it impossible for her ever again to veer so far from the line of +duty to her father, her family and to herself. + +When Randolph had finished Carolina took up her own defense, and +eloquently she pleaded the defense of many a woman who yearns for what +she has not got, for what may be beyond her reach--the defense of the +woman who chafes under the limitations of worldly position, of sex and +of opportunity. It was the defense of an ambitious woman. + +"Perhaps I ought to have been a man of the Langdon family," she +exclaimed. "Father, oh, can't you understand that I couldn't doze my +life away down on those plantations? You don't know what ambition is. +I had to have the world. I had to have money. If I had been a man I +would have tried big financial enterprises. I should have liked to +fight for a fortune. You wouldn't have condemned me then. You might +have said my methods were bold, but if I succeeded I would have been +a great man. But just because I am a woman you think I must sit home +with my knitting. No, father, the world does move. Women must have an +equal chance with men, but I wish I had been a man!" + +"Even then I hope you would have been a gentleman," rebuked her father +sternly. "Women should have an equal chance, Carolina. They should +have an equal chance for the same virtues as men, not for the same +vices." + +"But an equal chance," returned the girl fervidly. "There, father, you +have admitted what I have tried to prove. The woman with the spirit of +a man, the spirit that cries to a woman. 'Advance,' 'Accomplish,' 'Be +something,' 'Strike for yourself,' cannot sit idly by while all the +world moves on. If it is true that I have chosen the wrong means, +the wrong way, to better my lot I did it through ignorance, and that +ignorance is the fault of the times in which I live, of the system +that guides the era in which I live. + +"I am what the world calls 'educated,' but the world, the world of +men, knows better. It laughs at me. It has cheated me because I am +a woman. The world of men has fenced me in and hobbled me with +convention, with precedent, with fictitious sentiment. If I pursue +the business of men as they themselves would pursue it I am called an +ungrateful daughter. If I should adopt the morals of men I would be +called a fallen woman. If I adopted the religion of men I would have +no religion at all. Turn what way I will--" + +[Illustration: "YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE LIKE A MAN."] + +"But not every woman feels the way you do, my daughter," broke in the +Senator. + +"No, you are right, because their spirit has been crushed by +generations, by centuries of forced subserviency to men. They tell us +we should be thankful that we do not live in China, where women are +physical slaves to men. In our country they are forced to be mental +and social slaves to men. Is one very much worse than the other?" + +"Then, dear," and her father's tone was very gentle, "if you want an +equal chance--want to be equal to a man--you must take your medicine +with Randolph, like a man." + +"What are you going to do, sir?" she asked, afraid. + +"I'm going to spoil all your little scheme, dear," he returned, +smiling sadly. "I'm going, I fear, to make you lose all your money. +I'd like to make it easy for you, but I can't. You've got to take your +medicine, children, and when it's all over back there in Mississippi I +shall be able, I hope, to patch up your broken lives, and together we +will work out your mistakes. I can't think of that now. The honor of +the Langdons calls. This is the time for the fight, and any one who +fights against me must take the consequences." + +He walked over and touched the bell. + +"Thomas," he said to the servant who responded, "take that letter at +once to Senator Peabody, in the library." + +"What is it, sir?" asked Randolph. + +"It's the call to arms," responded his father grimly. + +Senator Peabody read the letter to which Haines had signed Langdon's +name and jumped up from his chair in the library in astonishment. +Without a word to the startled Stevens he rushed to confront Langdon. + +"What's the meaning of this?" he shouted as he burst in on the junior +Senator from Mississippi. + +"Of what?" asked the Southerner, with a blandness that added fuel to +Peabody's irritation. + +"Don't trifle with me, sir!" cried "the boss of the Senate." "This +letter. You sent it. Explain it! I'm in no mood to joke." + +Langdon looked at him calmly. + +"I think the letter is quite plain, Senator," he said. "You can read." +Then he turned to his daughter. "This discussion cannot possibly +interest you, my dear. Will you go to the drawing-room to receive our +guests?" + +Carolina obeyed. She seemed to be discovering new qualities in this +father whom she had considered to be too old-fashioned for his time. + +"Now, Senator, go ahead, and, Randolph, you bring Stevens." + +"You're switching to Gulf City?" demanded Peabody. + +"I'm considering Gulf City," agreed Langdon. + +Peabody brought down his fist on the table. + +"It's too late to consider anything, Langdon," he cried. "We're +committed to Altacoola, and Altacoola it is. I don't care what you +heard of Gulf City. Now, I'd like to settle this thing in a friendly +manner, Langdon. I like always for every member of the Senate to have +his share of the power and the patronage. We've been glad to put +you forward in this naval base matter. We appreciate the +straightforwardness, the honesty of your character. You look well. +You're the kind of politician the public thinks it wants nowadays, but +you've been in the Senate long enough to know that bills have to pass, +and you know you can't get through anything without my friends, and I +tell you now I'll throttle any Gulf City plan you bring up." + +"Then if you are as sure of that you can't object to my being for Gulf +City?" asked Langdon. + +"Are you financially interested in Gulf City?" demanded Peabody. + +"Senator Peabody!" exclaimed Langdon. + +"Don't flare up, Langdon," retorted Peabody. "That sort of thing has +happened in the Senate. There are often perfectly legitimate profits +to be made in some regular commercial venture by a man who has inside +information as to what's doing up on Capitol Hill." + +"Senator Peabody," asked Langdon, "why are you so strong for +Altacoola?" + +The Pennsylvanian hesitated. + +"Its natural advantages," he said at last. + +The Southerner shook his head. + +"Oh, that's all? Well, if natural advantages are going to settle +it, and not influence, go ahead and vote, and I'll just bring in a +minority report for Gulf City." + +"The boss of the Senate" was in a corner now. + +"Confound it, Langdon, if you will have it, I am interested in +Altacoola." + +Langdon nodded. + +"That's all I wanted to know," he said. + +"Now you see why it's got to be Altacoola," persisted the boss. + +"I don't mind telling you, then, Senator Peabody," answered Langdon +calmly, "that my being for Gulf City was a bluff. I've been trying to +draw you out. Gulf City is a mud bank and no more fitted to be a naval +base than Keokuk, Ia. Altacoola it's got to be, for the good of the +country and the honor of Mississippi. + +"And one thing more, Senator. I'd just like to add that not a single +man connected with that committee is going to make a cent out of the +deal. You get that straight?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"IF YOU CAN'T BUY A SENATOR, THREATEN HIM" + + +Senator Peabody was the most surprised man in Washington when he heard +the junior Senator from Mississippi state that no one was to enrich +himself out of the government naval base project. + +He heaped a mental anathema on the head of Stevens for saddling such +a man on the Senate "machine," for Langdon would of course never had +been put on "naval affairs" (just now very important to the machine) +without the "O.K." of Stevens, who had won a heretofore thoroughly +reliable reputation as a judge of men, or of what purported to be men. +The thought that at this time, of all times, there should be a man +on the committee on naval affairs that could not be "handled" was +sufficient to make him who reveled in the title of "boss of the +Senate" determine that he must get another chief lieutenant to replace +Stevens, who had proved so trustworthy in the past. Stevens had lost +his cunning! + +As the vote of Langdon could not be secured by humbug or in exchange +for favors and as it could not be "delivered," Peabody, of course, was +willing to pay in actual cash for the vote. This was the final step +but one in political conspiracies of this nature?--cash. But Langdon +would not take cash, so Peabody had to resort to the last agency of +the trained and corrupt manipulator of legislation. + +He would threaten. + +Moreover, he knew that to make threats effective, if it is possible to +do so, they must be led up to systematically--that is, they should be +made at the right time. The scene must be set, as in a play. + +Senator Peabody glared at Langdon as though to convince the latter +that to stand in his way would mean political destruction. + +"So nobody is going to make a cent, eh? Well, I suppose you want all +the profits for yourself." Turning to Stevens, who had just entered, +the Pennsylvanian cried: + +"Do you but listen to our suddenly good friend Langdon. He wants to be +the only man to make money out of the naval base. He won't listen to +any other member of the naval committee making a cent out of it. Why, +he--" + +"Great God, sir!" exclaimed Langdon. "You are going too far, Peabody. +You state what is false, and you know it, you--you--" + +"Then you are willing that others should have their rightful share?" +put in Stevens. "Oh, I understand now, Senator." + +"No, no, no!" cried Langdon. "You do not understand, Senator Stevens, +and I must say I am ashamed to speak of you by the honorable title of +Senator, sir. I will not listen to any person enriching himself at +the Government's expense, and I am your enemy, you, Peabody, and you, +Stevens, beyond recall. You both know you misrepresent me." + +Langdon walked over to Stevens and faced him. + +"Do you remember, Stevens, Lorimer Hawkslee, back in wartime?" + +"Yes," said Stevens, puzzled, "I remember him--a very fine gentleman." + +The old planter sneered. + +"Yes, a very fine gentleman! You remember he got rich out of contracts +for supplies furnished to the Confederate Government when it wasn't +any too easy for the Confederate Government to pay and when he was +in that Government himself. I never quite thought that the act of a +gentleman, Stevens. It seemed to me to be very like dishonesty. +I refused to speak to Lorimer Hawkslee in the Carroll Hotel at +Vicksburg, and when the people there asked me why I told them. I want +to warn you, Stevens, that I'm likely to meet you some time in the +Carroll Hotel at Vicksburg." + +Stevens backed away angrily. "I catch your insinuation, but"--he +received a warning glance from Peabody and broke into a pleasant smile +calculated to deceive the old planter--"this once I will overlook it +because of our old friendship and the old days in Mississippi." + +"You are a fine talker, Langdon," said Peabody, coming to Stevens' +rescue, "but I can readily see what you are driving at. You want an +investigation. You think you will catch some of us with what you +reformers call 'the goods,' but forget evidently the entirely simple +facts that your family has invested in Altacoola lands more heavily +probably than any one else among us. You want to raise a scandal, do +you? Well, go on and raise it, but remember that you will have to +explain how it happened that there is $50,000 invested in the name of +your son, and $25,000 in the name of your daughter, Miss Carolina, not +to mention a few thousands put in by the gentleman who, I am given to +understand, is to be your son-in-law, Congressman Norton. + +"How about that, Norton?" Peabody asked, turning to the Congressman, +who had followed Stevens. + +"I corroborate all you've said," remarked Norton. "I can state +positively that Senator Langdon knew that his money was going into +Altacoola land. I will swear to it if necessary," and he glared +bitterly at Carolina's father, feeling certain that the girl would +cling to him as opposed to her parent. + +Langdon made a threatening move at the Congressman. + +"I consider my riddance of you mighty cheap at the price," he cried. + +"Come, come, Langdon," fumed Peabody, "I must get away from here to +catch the midnight train. Let's get through with this matter. You must +realize that you cannot fight me in Washington. You must know that +men call me the 'king of the Senate.' I can beat any measure you +introduce. I can pass any measure you want passed. I can make you a +laughing-stock or a power. + +"Why, my friend from Mississippi, I can even have your election to the +Senate contested, have a committee appointed to investigate the manner +of your election, have that committee decide that you bought your way +into the honorable body, the Senate of the United States, and on the +strength of that decision have you forfeit your seat! What a pretty +heritage to hand down to posterity such a disgrace will be! Why, the +very school children of the future will hear about you as 'Looter +Langdon,' and their parents will tell them how particularly degrading +it was for a man of your reputation to drag into your dishonest +schemes your son, sir, and your daughter. For who will believe that +this money was not put in these lands without your consent, without +your direction, your order? Did you not sign the mortgage on which +this $50,000 was raised?" + +Senator Langdon waved his hand deprecatingly. "I'm learning the +under-handed ways of you professional politicians. I'm getting wise. +I'm learning 'the game,' so I know you're bluffing me, Peabody. But +you forget that the game of poker was invented in Mississippi--my +native State." + +Pressing a button, Langdon summoned a servant and said: "Send in Mr. +Haines. I guess I've got to have a witness for my side." + +"It's no bluff," spoke Stevens as Haines entered. "Peabody can and +will break you like a pipestem; he's done it to other men before you +who--who tried to dispute his power. But I'll try to save you. I'll +ask him to be merciful. You are not of any importance in the Senate. +We do not need to deal with you--" + +"Then why do you both spend so much time on me?" asked Langdon +innocently. "Why doesn't Peabody go to Philadelphia?" + +"Langdon," said Peabody, "you know my control of the Senate is no +piece of fiction. But I will forgive your obstinacy, even forget it. +I--" + +"Look here," cried Langdon, "just because I'm a fat man don't think +that I can't lose my temper." He stopped and gazed at his two +colleagues. + +"Now, you two men stay still one moment, and I'll tell you what really +will happen to-morrow," he exploded, "and I'm only a beginner in the +game that's your specialty. The naval base is going to Altacoola--" + +"Good!" simultaneously cried both Peabody and Stevens. "You're coming +in with us?" + +"No, I'm not, but I'll pass the bill so that nobody makes a cent, just +as I said I would. I'll fool you both and make you both honest for +once in spite of your natural dispositions." + +Stevens and the Pennsylvanian stared at each other in disgust. + +"Furthermore," continued Langdon, "Altacoola must have the base +because I've known for some time that Gulf City was impossible. But +some crooked Senators would have made money if they'd known it, so +they didn't learn it. Altacoola, that proud arm of our great gulf, +will have those battleships floating on her broad bosom and the +country will be the better off, and so will the sovereign State of +Mississippi--God bless it--but neither Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania +nor Senator Stevens of Mississippi is going to be any better because +of it. No, and if you men come to my committee room at 12:30 to-morrow +noon you'll have a chance to hear how all that's coming about. If you +are not there by that time I'll bring in a minority report in favor +of Gulf City, just to show you that I know how to play the game--this +Washington game--" + +"Come, let's go. We can do nothing with him," said Peabody to the +senior Senator from Mississippi. + +"Well, Senator, in the name of goodness, what are you going to do? How +can you win for Altacoola without letting these grafters make money +out of it?" asked Haines in astonishment as the other two walked away. +"What are you going to do at 12:30 to-morrow?" + +Langdon turned to him and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling +despairingly. + +"I'm blamed if I know!" he exclaimed. + +[Illustration: "TO-MORROW AT 12:30."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +LOBBYISTS--AND ONE IN PARTICULAR + + +Washington has known many lobbyists in its time, and it keeps on +knowing them. The striking increase in legislation that aims to +restrict unlawful or improper practices in business, the awakening +of the public conscience, has caused a greater demand than ever for +influence at the national capital, for these restrictive measures must +be either killed or emasculated to a point of uselessness by that +process which is the salvation of many a corrupt manipulator, the +process of amendment. + +Predatory corporations, predatory business associations of different +sorts and predatory individuals have their representatives on the +field at Washington to ward off attack by any means that brains can +devise or money procure and to obtain desired favors at a cost that +will leave a profitable balance for the purchaser. When commercial +tricksters, believing in the lobbyists' favorite maxim, "The People +Forget," feel that they have outlived the latest reform movement +and see "the good old days" returning, the professional politicians +introduce a few reform measures themselves, most stringent measures. +They push these measures ahead until somebody pays up, then the bills +die. The lobbyist knows all about these "strike" bills, but does not +frown on them. No, no. Per-haps he helped draw up one of these bills +so that, with the aid of his inside knowledge of his employer's +business, the measure is made to give a greater scare than might +otherwise have resulted. The bigger the scare the bigger the fund +advanced, of course, for the lobbyist to handle. All this also helps +the lobbyist to secure and retain employment. + +Not all the Washington lobbyists are outside of Congress. The Senator +or Congressman has unequaled facilities for oiling or blocking the +course of a bill. Sometimes he confines himself to the interests of +his own clients, whoever they may be. But sometimes he notices a bill +that promises to be a pretty good thing for the client of some other +member if it passes. Then he begins to fight this bill so actively +that he must be "let in on the deal" himself. This is very annoying +to the other member, but the experience is worth something. He has +learned the value of observing other people's legislation. + +The outsiders (members of the "third house") and the insiders have a +bond of freemasonry uniting them; they exchange information as to what +members of both houses can be "reached," how they can be "got to" +(through whom) and how much they want. This information is carefully +tabulated, and now prices for passing or defeating legislation can be +quoted to interested parties just as the price of a carload of pork +can be ascertained at a given time and place. Perhaps it is this +system that leads grafting members of short experience to wonder how +knowledge of their taking what is termed "the sugar" got out and +became known to their associates. Did they not have pledge of absolute +secrecy? Yes, but the purchaser never intended to keep the information +from those of his kind. Lobbyists must be honest with each other. + +Not all lobbyists are men. The woman legislative agent has been known +to occupy an important position in Washington, and she does yet. +She is hard to detect and frequently more unprincipled than the men +similarly engaged, if that is possible. + +A woman with a measure of social standing would naturally prove +the most successful as a lobbyist in Washington because of the +opportunities her position would afford her to meet people of +prominence. And just such a one was Mrs. Cora Spangler, with whom +the Langdons had been thrown in contact quite intimately since their +arrival at the capital. + +Pretty and vivacious, Mrs. Spangler bore her thirty-seven years with +uncommon ease, aided possibly by the makeup box and the modiste. +Her dinners and receptions were attended by people of acknowledged +standing. Always a lavish spender of money, this was explained +as possible because of a fortune left her by her late husband, +Congressman Spangler of Pennsylvania. That this "fortune" had +consisted largely of stock and bonds of a bankrupt copper smelting +plant in Michigan remained unknown, except to her husband's family, +one or two of her own relatives and Senator Peabody, who, coming from +Pennsylvania, had known her husband intimately. + +He it was who had suggested to her that she might make money easily +by cultivating the acquaintance of the new members of both houses +and their families, exerting her influence in various "perfectly +legitimate ways," he argued, for or against matters pending in +legislation. The Standard Steel corporation kept Mrs. Spangler well +supplied with funds deposited monthly to her account in a Philadelphia +trust company. + +She avoided suspicion by reason of her sex and her many acquaintances +of undisputed rank. Senator Peabody was never invited to her home, had +never attended a single dinner, reception or musicale she had given, +all of which was a part of the policy they had mutually agreed on to +deaden any suspicion that might some time arise as to her relation to +the Standard Steel Company. It was well known that Peabody had been +put into the Senate by Standard Steel to look after its interests. + +He had found Mrs. Spangler chiefly valuable thus far as a source of +information regarding the members of Congress, which she obtained +largely from their families. He was thus able to gain an idea of their +associations, their particular interests and their aspirations in +coming to Congress, which proved of much use to him in forming and +promoting acquaintances, all for the glory of Standard Steel. + +Senator Holcomb of Missouri told Mrs. Spangler at an afternoon tea +confidentially that he was going to vote against the ship subsidy +bill. Senator Peabody was informed of this two hours later by a note +written in cipher. When the vote was called two days later Senator +Holcomb voted for the bill. Standard Steel supplies steel for ocean +liners, and their building must be encouraged. + +Mrs. Windsor, wife of Congressman Windsor of Indiana, remarked to Mrs. +Spangler at a reception that she was "so glad Jimmie is going to do +something for us women at last. He says we ought to get silk gowns +ever so much cheaper next year," Jimmie Windsor was a member of the +House committee on ways and means and was busily engaged in the matter +of tariff revision. When President Anders of the Federal Silk Company +heard from Senator Peabody that Windsor favored lowering the tariff +on silk a way was found to convince the Congressman that the American +silk industry was a weakling, and many investors would suffer if the +foreign goods should be admitted any cheaper than at present. + +President Anders would be willing to do Senator Peabody a favor some +day. + +Sometimes Cora Spangler shuddered at the thought of what would +become of her if she should make some slip, some fatal error, and be +discovered to her friends as a betrayer of confidences for money. +A secret agent of Standard Steel! What a newspaper story she would +make--"Society Favorite a Paid Spy"; "Woman Lobbyist Flees Capital." +The sensational headlines flitted through her mind. Then she would +grit her teeth and dig her finger nails into her palms. She had to +have money to carry on the life she loved so well. She must continue +as she had begun. After all, she reasoned, nothing definite could ever +be proved regarding the past. Let the future care for itself. She +might marry again and free herself from this mode of life--who knows? + +So reasoned Cora Spangler for the hundredth time during the last two +years as she sat in her boudoir at her home. She had spent part of the +day with Carolina and Hope Langdon and in the evening had attended the +musicale at their house. But she had been forced to leave early owing +to a severe headache. Now, after an hour or two of rest, she felt +better and was about to retire. Suddenly the telephone bell rang at a +writing-table near a window. She had two telephones, one in the lower +hall and one in her boudoir--to save walking downstairs unnecessarily, +she explained to her woman friends. But the number of this upstairs +telephone was not in the public book. It had a private number, known +to but two people except herself. + +Taking down the receiver, she asked in low voice, "Hello! Who is it?" + +"Mr. Wall." + +It was the name Senator Peabody used in telephone conversation with +her. + +"Yes, Congressman!" she responded. + +She always said, "Yes, Congressman," in replying to "Mr. Wall," a +prearranged manner of indicating that he was talking to the desired +person. + +"I will need your services to-morrow," Senator Peabody said, "on a +very important matter, I am afraid. Decline any engagements and hold +yourself in readiness." + +"Yes." + +"I may send my friend S. to explain things at 10:30 in the morning. If +he does not arrive at that time, telephone me at 10:35 sharp. You know +where. Understand? I have put off going to Philadelphia to-night." + +"Yes." + +"That is all; good-by." + +"Something very important," she murmured nervously as she turned from +the desk. + +"I don't like his tone of voice; sounds strained and +worried--something unusual for the cold, flinty gentleman from +Pennsylvania. And his 'friend S.,' of course, means Stevens! Great +heavens! then Stevens must now have knowledge of my--my--business!" + +She calmed herself and straightened a dainty, slender finger against +her cheek. + +"It must be something about that naval base bill, I'm sure. That's +been worrying Peabody all session," she mused as she pressed a button +to summon her maid. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +"THE BOSS OF THE SENATE" GAINS A NEW ALLY + + +Mrs. Spangler would have flattered herself on guessing correctly as to +Senator Peabody's uneasiness had she heard and seen all that had taken +place in his apartment at the Louis Napoleon Hotel, where he had +hurriedly taken Senator Stevens on leaving the Langdon house. + +Not only would the two Senators lose their immense profits on the +Altacoola transaction if Langdon persisted in his opposition, but they +would lose as well the thousands of dollars spent by their agents in +purchasing options on hundreds of acres, and where they could not +get options, the land itself. This land would be on their hands, +unsalable, if the base went somewhere else. Moreover, they feared that +Langdon's revolt would bring unpleasant newspaper publicity to their +operations. + +"There's only one course to pursue, Stevens," snapped Peabody as they +took off their overcoats. "That is to be prepared as best we can for +the very worst and meet it in some way yet to be determined. But first +we must try to figure out what Langdon is going to do--what it can be +that he says he will tell us to-morrow at 12:30 if we appear. He must +have something very startling up his sleeve if he makes good his +assertions. I can't see how--" + +"Nor I," frowned Stevens, "and my political eyesight is far better +than that fool Langdon's. Under ordinary circumstances we could let +him go ahead with his minority report for Gulf City, but as things +stand he'll have every newspaper reporter in Washington buzzing around +and asking impertinent questions--" + +"Yes, and you and I would have to go to Paris to live with our life +insurance friends from New York, wouldn't we?" laughed Peabody +sarcastically. "I'm going to send for Jake Steinert," he added. + +"Steinert?" Stevens ejaculated. "What--" + +"Oh, that's all right. Maybe he can suggest something," said Peabody, +going to the telephone. "We've too much at stake to make a mistake, +and Jake may see a point that we've overlooked. Luckily I saw him +downstairs in the grill-room as we came through to the elevator." + +"Steinert is all right himself," continued Stevens, "but his +methods--" + +"Can't be too particular now about his methods--or ours, Stevens, when +a bull like Langdon breaks loose in the political china shop. Fortune +and reputation are both fragile." + +A ring of a bell announced the arrival of Jake Steinert, whose +reputation as a lobbyist of advanced ability had spread wide in the +twenty years he had spent in Washington. Of medium height, sallow +complexion, dark hair and dark eyes, his broad shoulders filled the +doorway as he entered. An illy kept mustache almost hid a thin-lipped, +forceful mouth, almost as forceful as some of the language he used. +His eyes darted first to Peabody and then to Stevens, waiting for +either of them to open the conversation. + +The highest class lobbyists, those who "swing" the "biggest deals," +concern themselves only with men who can "handle" or who control +lawmakers. They get regular reports and outline the campaign. Like +crafty spiders they hide in the center of a great web, a web of +bribery, threat, cajolery and intrigue, intent on every victim that is +lured into the glistening meshes. + +Only the small fry mingle freely with the legislators in the open, in +the hotels and cafés and in the Capitol corridors. + +Jake Steinert did not belong in either of these classes; he ranked +somewhere between the biggest and the smallest. He coupled colossal +boldness with the most expert knowledge of all the intricate workings +of the congressional mechanism. Given money to spend among members to +secure the defeat of a bill, he would frequently put most of the money +in his own pocket and for a comparatively small sum defeat it by +influencing the employees through whose hands it must pass. + +"Sit down, Jake. Something to drink?" asked Peabody, reaching for a +decanter. + +"No," grunted the lobbyist; "don't drink durin' business hours; only +durin' the day." + +"Well, Jake," said the Pennsylvanian, "you probably know something of +what's going on in the naval affairs committee." + +"You mean the biggest job of the session?" + +"Yes." + +"Sure thing, Senator. It's the work of an artist." + +"The boss of the Senate" smiled grimly. + +"Now, suppose a committeeman named Langdon absolutely refused to be +taken care of, and insisted on handing in a minority report to-morrow, +with a speech that read like the Declaration of Independence?" + +Steinert jerked his head forward quickly. + +"You mean what would I do if I was--er--if I was runnin' the job?" + +"Yes." + +Steinert leaned toward Peabody. + +"Where do I come in on this?" he asked, suspiciously. + +"Come, come, man," was the irritable retort. "I never let a few +dollars stand between myself and my friends." + +"All right, Senator." + +The lobbyist thrust himself down in his chair, puffed slowly at a +cigar, and gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. + +"Few years ago," he began, after a minute or two, "there was a feller +who was goin' to squeal about a bond issue. He had his speech all +really to warn the country that he thought a crowd of the plutocracy +was goin' to get the bonds to resell to the public at advanced rates. +Well, sir, I arranged to have a carriage, a closed carriage, call that +night to take him to see the President, for he was told the President +sent the carriage for him. When he got out he was at the insane +asylum, an' I can tell you he was bundled into a padded cell in jig +time, where he stayed for three days. 'He thinks he's a member of +Congress,' I told the two huskies that handled him, an' gave 'em each +a twenty-case note. The doctor that signed the necessary papers got +considerable more." + +Stevens' gasp of amazement caused the narrator genuine enjoyment. + +"I know of a certain Senator who was drunk an' laid away in a Turkish +bath when the roll was called on a certain bill. He was a friend of +Peabody's," laughed the lobbyist to the Mississippian. + +"But in this case," said Stevens, "we must be very careful. Possibly +some of your methods in handling the men you go after--" + +"Say," interposed Steinert, "you know I don't do all pursuin', all the +goin' after, any more than others in my business. Why, Senator, some +of these Congressmen worry the life out of us folks that sprinkle +the sugar. They accuse us of not lettin' 'em in on things when +they haven't been fed in some time. They come down the trail like +greyhounds coursin' a coyote." + +The speaker paused and glanced across at Peabody, who, however, was +too busily engaged in writing in a memorandum book to notice him. + +"Why, Senator Stevens," went on the lobbyist, "only to-day a Down East +member held me up to tell me that he was strong for that proposition +to give the A.K. and L. railroad grants of government timber land in +Oregon. He says to me, he says: 'What'n h--l do my constituents in New +England care about things 'way out on the Pacific Coast? I'd give 'em +Yellowstone National Park for a freight sidin' if 'twas any use to +'em,' he says. So you see--" + +"I must go," broke in Stevens, rising and glancing at his watch. "It +will soon be daylight." + +"If you must have sleep, go; but you must be here at 9 o'clock sharp +in the morning," said Peabody. "Steinert will sleep here with me. +We'll all have breakfast together here in my rooms and a final +consultation." + +"You won't plan anything really desperate, Peabody, will you? I think +I'd rather--" + +"Nonsense, Stevens, of course not. Our game will be to try to weaken +Langdon, to prove to him in the morning that he alone will suffer, +because our names do not appear in the land deals. The options were +signed and the deeds signed by our agents. Don't you see? Whereas his +daughter and son and future son-in-law actually took land in their own +names." + +"How clumsy!" + +"Yes. Such amateurism lowers the dignity of the United States Senate," +Peabody answered, dryly. + +"But suppose Langdon does not weaken?" asked Stevens, anxiously, as he +picked up his hat and coat. + +"Then we will go into action with our guns loaded," was the reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE HONEYBIRD + + +In the African jungle dwells a pretty little bird that lives on honey. +The saccharine dainty is there found in the hollows of trees and under +the bark, where what is known as the carpenter bee bores and deposits +his extract from the buds and blossoms of the tropical forest. + +The bird is called the "honeybird" because it is a sure guide to the +deposits of the delicacy. The bird dislikes the laborious task of +pecking its way through the bark to reach the honey, and so, wise in +the ways of men, it procures help. It locates a nest of honey, then +flies about until it sees some natives or hunters, to whom it shows +itself. They know the honeybird and know that it will lead them to the +treasure store. Following the bird, which flits just in advance, they +reach the cache of dripping sweetness and readily lay it open with +hatchets or knives. Taking what they want, there is always enough left +clinging to the tree and easily accessible to satisfy the appetite of +the clever little bird. + +Senator Stevens of Mississippi bears a marked resemblance to the +honeybird--so much so that he has well won the bird's appellation for +himself. Abnormally keen at locating possibilities for extracting +"honey" from the governmental affairs in Washington, he invariably led +Peabody, representing the hunter with the ax, to the repository. He +would then rely on the Pennsylvanian's superior force to break down +the barriers. Stevens would flutter about and gather up the leavings. + +Equally as mercenary as "the boss of the Senate," he lacked Peabody's +iron nerve, determination, resourcefulness and daring. He needed many +hours of sleep. Peabody could work twenty hours at a stretch. He had +to have his meals regularly or else suffer from indigestion. Peabody +sometimes did a day's work on two boiled eggs and a cup of coffee. + +The senior Senator from Mississippi had been the first to point out to +Peabody the possibilities for profit in the gulf naval base project, +but the morning following the conference with Steinert when he +rejoined them for breakfast at the Louis Napoleon he was far from +comfortable. He did not mind fighting brain against brain, even though +unprincipled methods were resorted to, but indications were that more +violent agencies would be called into play owing to the complications +that had arisen. + +Stevens ate heartily to strengthen his courage. Steinert ate hugely +to strengthen his body. Peabody ate scarcely anything at all--to +strengthen his brain. + +Waving away the hotel waiter who had brought the breakfast to his +apartment, Senator Peabody outlined the probable campaign of the day. + +"If our best efforts to weaken and scare off Langdon fail to-day," he +said, "it will naturally develop that we must render it impossible in +some way for him to appear in the Senate at all, or we must delay his +arrival until after the report of the committee on naval affairs has +been made. In either event he would not have another opportunity to +speak on that subject. + +"Of course, later, at 12:30, we will know his plan of action. Then we +can act to the very point, but we must be prepared for any situation +that can arise." + +"Cannot the President of the Senate be persuaded not to recognize +Langdon on the floor? Then we could adjourn and shut him off," asked +Stevens. + +"No," responded Peabody; "he has already promised Langdon to recognize +him, and the President of the Senate cannot be persuaded to break his +word. I am painfully aware of this fact." + +But Stevens was not yet dissuaded from the hope of defeating the +junior Senator from Mississippi by wit alone. + +"Can we not have a speaker get the floor before Langdon and have him +talk for hours--tire out the old kicker--and await a time when he +leaves the Senate chamber to eat or talk to some visitor we could have +call on him, then shove the bill through summarily?" he suggested. + +"I've gone over all that." answered Peabody, quickly. "It would only +be delaying the evil hour. You wouldn't be able to move that old +codger away from the Senate chamber with a team of oxen--once he +gets to his seat. His secretary, Haines--another oversight of yours, +Stevens"--the latter winced--"will warn him. Langdon would stick pins +through his eyelids to keep from falling asleep." + +"I've been thinkin'," put in Steinert, slowly, "that a little +fine-esse like this might keep him away: When Langdon's in his +committee room before goin' to the Senate send him a telegram signed +by one of his frien's' name that one of his daughters is dyin' from +injuries in a automobile collision a few miles out o' town. That +'ud--" + +"Ridiculous," snorted Peabody. "He'd know where they were. They're +always--" + +"Huh! then put in more fine-esse." + +"How? What?" + +"Hev some 'un take 'em out a-autoin'--" + +"No, no, man!" snapped Peabody. "They'd stick in town to hear their +father's wonderful speech." + +"Well," went on the lobbyist, "I'll hev Langd'n watched by a careful +picked man, a nigger that won't talk. He'll pick a row with the +Colonel on some street, say, w'en he's comin' from his home after +lunch. The coon kin bump into Langd'n an' call him names. Then +w'en ole fireworks sails into 'im, yellin' about what 'e'd do in +Mississippi, the coon pulls a gun on the Colonel an' fires a couple o' +shots random. Cops come up, an' our pertickeler copper'll lug Langd'n +away as a witness, refusin' to believe 'e's a Senator. I kin arrange +to hev him kept in the cooler a couple o' hours without gettin' any +word out, or I'll hev 'im entered up as drunk an' disorderly. He'll +look drunk, he'll be so mad." + +"But the negro--how could you get a man to undergo arrest on such a +serious charge, attempted murder!" exclaimed Stevens. + +"There, there," said Steinert, patronizingly; "coons has more genteel +home life in jail than they does out. An' don't forget the District of +Columbia is governed by folks that ain't residents of it, only durin' +the session. Th' politicians don't leave their frien's in the cooler +very long. Say, Senator Stevens, are you kiddin' me? Is it any +different down in your--" + +The Mississippian choked and spluttered over a gulp of unusually hot +coffee, and Peabody again decided Steinert to be on the wrong tack. + +"That proceeding would attract too much attention from the +newspapers," he added. + +"Well, I thought you wanted to win," grunted Steinert. "I've been +offerin' you good stuff, too--new stuff. None of yer druggin' with +chloroform or ticklin' with blackjacks. Why, I've gone from fine-esse +to common sense. But, come to think of it, how about some woman? I c'n +get one to introduce to--" + +"This is the wrong kind of a man," interrupted Peabody. + +"Unless you got the right kind of a woman," went on Steinert. + +Senator Stevens choked some more. + +"The boss of the Senate" sank down in his chair, crossed one knee +over the other and drummed his fingers lightly on the table. He gazed +thoughtfully at Stevens. + +"Yes," he observed, slowly, "unless you've got the right sort of a +woman." + +Rising, he led the Mississippian to one side. + +The lobbyist heard the Southerner give a short exclamation of +astonishment as Peabody whispered to him. + +"It's all right. It's all right," he then heard the Pennsylvanian say, +irritably. "She'll understand. She can be trusted. _She expects you_." + +Stevens gave a violent start at the last assurance, but his colleague +hurriedly helped him into his coat. + +"Go in a closed carriage," was Peabody's final warning. "Be sure to +tell her to get hold of his two daughters on some pretext at once. She +knows them well. Maybe we can influence the old man through his girls, +don't you see?" + +And while Senator Peabody and Jake Steinert recurred to a previous +discussion concerning one J.D. Telfer, Mayor of Gulf City, Senator +Stevens started on the most memorable drive of his career on +this bright winter morning, to the house of the fascinating Mrs. +Spangler--who for the past week had been considering his proposal of +marriage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +CAROLINA LANGDON'S RENUNCIATION + + +Senator Langdon's committee room at the Capitol presented a busy scene +at an unusually early hour the morning after the entertainment at his +home. Bud Haines, reinstated as secretary, was picking up the thread +of routine where he had dropped it the day before, though his frequent +thought of Hope and the words that had thrilled him--"I love you, I +love you fondly"--made this task unusually difficult. He impatiently +wished the afternoon to hasten along, as he knew he would then see her +in the Senate gallery, where she would go to hear her father's speech. + +This speech had to be revised in some particulars by Bud, and the work +he knew would take up much of the morning. The Senator's speech was +"The South of the Future," which he would deliver when recognized by +the President of the Senate in connection with the naval base bill, +that officer having agreed to recognize Langdon at 3:30, at which time +the report of the naval affairs committee would be received. Just how +Langdon would turn the tables on Peabody and Stevens and yet win for +the Altacoola site not even the ex-newspaper man, experienced in +politics, had solved. Clearly the Senator would have to do some tall +thinking during the morning. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi burst into the office with his +habitual cheery greeting, his broad-brimmed black felt hat in its +usual position on the back of his head, like a symbol of undying +defiance. + +"A busy day for us, eh, Senator?" queried Bud. + +"Now, look here, my boy, don't begin to remind me of work right off," +he said, with a humorous gleam in his eye. "Go easy on me. Don't +forget I'm her father." + +Bud laughed through the flush that rose in his cheeks. + +"No, I won't forget that. But have you decided what to tell Peabody +and Stevens as your plan of action if they come in here at 12:30?" + +"If they come?" exclaimed Langdon. "They'll come. Watch 'em." + +Then he hesitated, worriedly. + +"I'll have to incubate an idea between now and noon, somehow. But +don't forget this, Bud--we're worried about them, true enough, but +they're worried a heap more about us." + +Senator Langdon stepped into an adjoining room, where he could be +alone, to "incubate." + +As Haines resumed his work Carolina Langdon entered. + +Avoiding the secretary's direct gaze, she asked for her father. + +"He ought to be back shortly, Miss Langdon," responded Haines. "You +can wait here. I must ask pardon for leaving, as I must run over to +the library." + +As the secretary bowed himself out of the door he almost collided with +Congressman Norton. Both glared at each other and remained silent. + +"Carolina," spoke Norton, as he entered, "I hope--I know you won't +allow your father to influence you against me--because of last night. +I--" + +Carolina would rather not have met Charles Norton on this morning. She +had hardly slept for the night. She had fought a battle with herself. +Her father had shown her plainly the mistake she had made. She saw +that her influence had not been without effect on Randolph. Probably +for the first time she realized that there are glory and luxury, +pleasure and prestige for which too big a price can be paid. + +The Senator's daughter turned slowly and faced the man she had +promised to marry. + +"Charlie, I have come to a decision. I came here to talk with father +about it." + +Norton started toward Carolina, a look of apprehension on his face. +He gathered from the trend of her words and her demeanor that she had +turned against him. + +"You couldn't be so cruel, Carolina," he protested. + +"Charlie," she went on, determinedly, "I will always cherish our +friendship, our happy younger days down in Mississippi, but, I must +give up thinking of you as my future husband. We've both made a +mistake, mine probably greater than yours, but I now am convinced that +I should not marry you. Your way of thinking about life is all wrong, +and you are too deeply entangled with the dishonest men in Washington +to draw back. I cannot love you." + +"But I am doing it all for your sake, Carolina. Don't let an +old-fashioned father come between a man and a woman and their love," +he cried. + +"Charlie, I must give you up." + +The girl turned to one side, as though to give Norton a chance to +leave. + +He looked at her in silence for a moment or two. Then a change came +into his bearing. Wrinkling his face into a sneer, he stepped before +the girl. + +"You've been converted mighty sudden, I reckon, from land speculating +to preaching--and preaching, too, against folks who tried to make a +fortune for you." + +Norton stopped, expecting a reply, but the girl remained silent. + +"You think I'm done for, that I've lost my money; that's why you +turned from me so quickly," he laughed, scornfully. "But I'll show +you, you and your blundering old father. I'll win you yet, and I'll +ruin your father's political reputation. I'll--" + +"Are you quite sure about that?" spoke a voice, sharply, behind the +Congressman. He swung around vigorously. Bud Haines had returned in +time to hear Norton's threat. + +"Yes; and while I'm doing that I'll take time to show you up, too, +somehow. I guess a Congressman's word will count against that of a +cheap secretary--that's what Miss Langdon said you were." + +Carolina looked appealingly to Haines to rid her of the presence of +this man, whose last words she knew Haines would not believe. + +But Norton had had his say. He retreated to the door. + +"Miss Langdon," he cried, as he backed out and away, "you have an idea +that I am dishonest, but kindly remember that, whatever you think I +am, I never was a hypocrite." + +Haines advanced and procured a chair for Miss Langdon. + +"I'm very sorry to have come back at such a time," he began. + +The girl cut him short with a gesture. + +"I want to say to you," she said, then halted--"that I want to +be friends with you. I want you to forget the happenings of +yesterday--last evening--so far as I was concerned in them. I want to +work together with you and father--and so does Randolph. Father and +you are standing together to uphold the honor of the Langdons of +Mississippi, and Randolph and I, no matter the cost of our former +folly, want to share in that work." + +Before Haines could reply Senator Langdon burst into the room. + +"Bud! Bud!" he cried, "I've got it! I've got it!" + +"You've got what, Senator?" exclaimed the secretary. + +"That idea, my boy, that idea! It's incubated all right, and Peabody +and Stevens can come just as soon as they want to." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE BATTLES OF WASHINGTON + + +At twenty minutes after 12 Senator Langdon and Secretary Haines were +still undisturbed by any move on the part of Peabody and Stevens, +who maintained a silence that to Haines was distinctly ominous. His +experience at the Capitol had taught him that when the Senate machine +was quiet it was time for some one to get out from under. + +Miss Williams, the naval committee's stenographer, entered. + +"Senator Langdon," she said, "Senator Peabody and Senator Stevens are +in committee room 6, and they told me to tell you that they'd be--I +can't say it. Please, sir, I--" + +"D--d," interpolated Langdon, laughing. + +"Yes, sir, that's it. They'll be--that--if they come in here at 12:30. +You must come to them, they say." + +"Tell the gentlemen I'm sitting here with my hat on the back of my +head, smoking a good see-gar, with nails driven through both shoes +into the floor--and looking at the clock." + +At 12:25 Senator Stevens entered. + +"I came to warn you, Langdon," he said, "that Senator Peabody's +patience is nearly exhausted. You must come to see him at once if you +expect the South to get a naval base at Altacoola or anywhere else. If +you do not agree to take his advice this naval bill and any other that +you are interested in now or in future will be trampled underfoot in +the Senate. Mississippi will have no use for a Senator who cannot +produce results in Washington, and that will prove the bitterest +lesson you have ever learned." + +"I'm waiting for Peabody here, Stevens." + +"Oh, ridiculous! Of course he's not coming. Why, Langdon, he's the +king of the Senate. He has the biggest men of the country at his call. +He's--" + +"He's got one minute left," observed Langdon, looking at the clock, +"but he'll come. I trust Peabody more than the best clock made at a +time like this, when--" + +The figure of the senior Senator from Pennsylvania appeared in the +doorway. + +"Good-day, Senator Langdon," he remarked, icily. + +"Same to you. Have a see-gar, Senator?" said Langdon. He turned and +winked significantly at Haines. + +The three Senators seated themselves. + +"I suppose you wouldn't consider yourself so important, Langdon, if +you knew that we now find we can get another member of the naval +affairs committee over to our side for Altacoola?" began Peabody. +"That gives us a majority of the committee without your vote." + +"That wouldn't prevent me from making a minority report for Gulf City +and explaining why I made that report, would it?" the Mississippian +asked, blandly. + +Peabody and Stevens both knew that it wouldn't. Stevens exchanged +glances with "the boss of the Senate," and in low voice began making +to Langdon a proposition to which Peabody's assent had been gained. + +"Langdon, we would like to be alone," and he nodded toward Haines. + +"Sorry can't oblige, Senator," Langdon replied. "Bud and I together +make up the Senator from Mississippi." + +"All right. What I want to say is this: The President is appointing a +commission to investigate the condition of the unemployed. The members +are to go to Europe, five or six countries, and look into conditions +there, leisurely, of course, so as to formulate a piece of legislation +that will solve the existing problems in this country. A most generous +expense account will be allowed by the Government. A member can take +his family. A son, for instance, could act as financial secretary +under liberal pay." + +"I've heard of that commission," said Langdon. + +"Well, Senator Peabody has the naming of two Senators who will go on +that commission, and I suggested that your character and ability would +make you--" + +"Good glory!" exclaimed Langdon. "You mean that my character and +ability would make me something or other if I kept my mouth shut in +the Senate this afternoon! Stevens, I've been surprised so many times +since I came to the capital that it doesn't affect me any more. I'm +just amused at your offer or Senator Peabody's. + +"I want to tell you two Senators that there's only one thing that I +want in Washington--and you haven't offered it to me yet. When you do +I'll do business with you." + +"What's that? Speak out, man!" said Peabody, quickly. + +"A square deal for the people of the United States." + +"Good Lord!" exclaimed "the boss of the Senate. Is this Washington or +is it heaven?" + +"It is not heaven, Senator," put in Haines. + +"Man alive!" cried Peabody, "I've been in Washington so long that--" + +"So long that you've forgotten that the American people really exist," +retorted Langdon; "and there are more like you in the Senate, all +because the voters have no chance to choose their own Senators. The +public in most States have to take the kind of a Senator that the +Legislature, made up mostly of politicians, feels like making them +take. You, Peabody, wouldn't be in the Senate to-day if the voters had +anything to say about it." + +The Pennsylvanian shrugged his shoulders. + +"And now I'll tell you honorable Senators," went on Langdon, +thoroughly aroused, "something to surprise you. I have discovered that +you were not working for yourselves alone in the Altacoola deal, but +that you intend to turn your land over to the Standard Steel Company +at a big profit as soon as this naval base bill is passed. Then that +company will squeeze the Government for the best part of the hundred +millions that are to be spent." + +The Senator sank back in his chair and gazed at his two opponents. + +Those two statesmen jumped to their feet. + +"Come, Stevens, let him do what he will. We cannot stay here to be +insulted by the ravings of a madman," cried the Pennsylvanian. But he +brought his associate to a standstill midway to the door. "By the way, +Langdon, what is it you are going to do in the Senate this afternoon?" +he asked, "You said you were going to make us honest against our will. +You know you can't do anything." + +Bud Haines turned his face toward the speaker and grinned broadly, to +the Senator's intense discomfort. + +"I'll do more than that," announced Langdon, rising and pounding a +fist into his open hand. "I'll make you and Stevens more popular than +you ever were in your lives before." + +"Bah!" shouted Peabody. + +"I'll do even more yet. I'm going to make you generous--patriots. And, +I regret to say, I'll give you the chance to make the hits of your +careers." + +The polished hypocrites looked at him, too astonished to move. + +"How? What?" they gasped. + +Swept on by his own enthusiasm and the force of his own courageous +honesty, the voice of the Southerner rose to oratorical height. + +"This afternoon," he exclaimed, "when the naval base committee makes +its report, I will rise in my place and declare that for once in the +history of the Senate men have been found who place the interests of +the Government they serve above any chance of pecuniary reward. These +men are the members of the naval base committee. + +"With this idea in view, realizing that dishonest men would try to +make money out of the Government, these members of the naval base +committee, after they settled on Altacoola, went out quietly and +secured control of all the land that will be needed for the naval +base, and these men secured this at a very nominal figure. Now they +are ready to turn over their land to the Government at exactly what +they paid for it, without a cent of profit. + +"Then they're going to sit up over there in that Senate. They're going +to realize that a new kind of politics has arrived in Washington--the +kind that I and lots of others always thought there was here. + +"And, gentlemen"--he advanced on his colleagues triumphantly--"when +I, Senator Langdon of Mississippi, your creation in politics, have +finished that speech, I dare one of you to get up and deny a word!" + +"The boss of the Senate" and his satellite were dumfounded. Firmly +believing that Langdon could find no way to pass the bill for +Altacoola and yet spoil their crooked scheme, they were totally +unprepared for any such dénoûement. To think that a simple, +old-fashioned planter from the cotton fields of Mississippi could +originate such a plan to outwit the two ablest political tricksters in +the Senate! + +Langdon eyed his colleagues triumphantly. + +Peabody, however, was thinking quickly. He was never beaten until the +last vote was counted on a roll call. He knew that, no matter how +apparently insurmountable an opposition was, a way to overcome it +might often be found by the man who exercises strong self-control and +a trained brain. This corrupt victor in scores of bitter political +engagements on the battlefield of Washington was now in his most +dangerous mood. He would marshal all his forces. The man to defeat him +now must defeat the entire Senate machine and the allies it could gain +in an emergency; he must overcome the power of Standard Steel; he must +fight the resourceful brain of the masterful Peabody himself. + +Peabody whispered to Stevens, "We must pretend to be beaten," + +[Illustration: "AFTER I HAVE FINISHED I DARE ONE OF YOU TO DENY A +WORD!"] + +Then the Pennsylvanian advanced, smiling, to Langdon and held out his +hand. + +"Senator Langdon," he said, "I'm beaten. You've beaten the leader of +the Senate, something difficult to believe. What's more, you've given +me the chance of a lifetime to become known as a public benefactor. As +soon as you've finished your speech in the Senate I will get up and +make another one--to second yours. Here's my hand. Anything you may +ever want out of Peabody in the future shall be yours for the asking." + +Langdon refused to grasp the proffered hand. + +Senator Stevens made a show of protesting against his superior's +seeming surrender. + +"But," he objected, "look here--" + +Peabody turned upon him instantly. + +"Oh, shut up, Stevens; don't be a fool. Come on in. The water's fine." + +The pair of schemers, with Norton at their heels, turned away. + +The Pennsylvanian drew Stevens into committee room 6 and, ordering the +stenographer to leave, drew up chairs where both could sit, facing the +door. + +"We've thrown dust in that old gander's eyes," whispered Peabody. +"It's now ten after 1. He is to be recognized to make his speech at +3:30. That gives us two hours and twenty minutes--" + +"Yes, but for what?" asked Stevens, excitedly. "I've been trying +myself to think of something. What will you do--what _can_ you do?" + +"The boss of the Senate" smiled patronizingly on the senior Senator +from Mississippi, as though amused and scornful of his limitations as +a strategist, as a tenacious fighter. Then his jaw set hard, and his +brows contracted. + +"I will not do anything. I cannot do anything"--he hesitated a full +ten seconds--"but Jake Steinert can." + +Stevens' hands twitched nervously. + +"And," continued Peabody, "I'm expecting a 'phone call from him any +moment. I told him this morning that he might be able to make $1,000 +before night if--" + +The telephone bell at the desk interrupted him. + +Peabody leaned over and eagerly clutched the receiver. + +The senior Senator from Mississippi jerked himself to his feet. He +stood at a window and looked out over the roof tops of the city. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +MRS. SPANGLER GIVES A LUNCHEON + + +When Senators Peabody and Stevens had gone Langdon and Bud went over +the situation together and concluded that their opponents had no means +of defeating Langdon's program--that, after all, Peabody might really +have meant his words of surrender. + +"But they might try foul play. Better stay right here in the Capitol +the rest of the day," suggested Bud. + +Langdon scoffed at the idea. + +Haines bustled away to get a few mouthfuls of lunch to fortify himself +for a busy afternoon--one that was going to be far busier than he +imagined. + +The telephone bell rang at the Senator's desk. It was Mrs. Spangler's +voice that spoke. + +"Senator Langdon," she said, "Carolina and Hope Georgia are here at my +home for luncheon, and we all want you to join us." + +"Sorry I cannot accept," answered the Mississippian, "but I am to make +an important speech this afternoon--" + +"Oh, yes, I know. The girls and I are coming to hear it. But you have +two hours' time, and if you come we can all go over to the Senate +together. Now, Senator, humor us a little. Don't disappoint the girls +and me. We can all drive over to the Capitol in my carriage." + +The planter hesitated, then replied: "All right. I'll be over, but it +mustn't be a very long luncheon." + +"Gone to eat; back by 3 o'clock," he scratched quickly on a pad on the +secretary's desk, and departed. + +Mrs. Spangler's luncheons were equally as popular in Washington as +Senator Langdon's dinners. The Mississippian and his daughters enjoyed +the delicacies spread lavishly before them. + +Time passed quickly. The old planter enjoyed seeing his daughters +have so happy a time, and he was not insensible to the charm of his +hostess' conversation, for Mrs. Spangler had studied carefully the art +of ingratiating herself with her guests. + +Suddenly realizing that he had probably reached the limit of the time +he could spare, the Senator drew out his watch. + +"What a stunning fob you wear," quickly spoke Mrs. Spangler, reaching +out her hand and taking the watch from her guest's hands as the case +snapped open. + +"Oh, that's Carolina's doings," laughed Langdon. "She said the old +gold chain that my grandfather left me was--" + +"Why, how lovely," murmured Mrs. Spangler, glancing at the watch. "We +have plenty of time yet. Won't have to hurry. Your time is the same as +mine," she added, nodding her head toward a French renaissance clock +on the black marble mantel. + +As the hostess did this she deftly turned back the hands of the +Senator's watch thirty-five minutes. + +"Do you care to smoke, Senator," Mrs. Spangler asked, as her guests +concluded their repast, "if the young ladies do not object?" + +Langdon inclined his head gratefully, and laughed. + +"They wouldn't be Southern girls, I reckon, if they didn't want to +see a man have everything to make him happy--er, I beg pardon, Mrs. +Spangler, I mean, comfortable. Nobody that's your guest could be +unhappy." + +The hostess beamed on the chivalrous Southerner. + +Langdon drew forth a thick black perfecto and settled back luxuriously +in his chair, after another glance at Mrs. Spangler's clock. He was +absorbed in a mental résumé of his forthcoming speech and did not hear +the next words of the woman, addressed pointedly to his daughters. + +"Do you know, really, why this luncheon was given to-day?" she +queried. Then she continued before Carolina and Hope Georgia could +formulate replies: + +"Because your father and I wanted to take this opportunity to announce +to you--our engagement." + +The speaker smiled her sweetest smile. + +The two girls gazed at each other in uncontrollable amazement, then at +Mrs. Spangler, then at their father, who had turned partly away from +the table and was gazing abstractedly at the ceiling. + +Hope Georgia was the first to regain her voice. + +"Oh, Mrs. Spangler," she ejaculated, "you are very kind to marry +father, but--" + +"What's that?" exclaimed the Senator, roused from his thoughts by his +youngest daughter's words and thrusting himself forward. + +Mrs. Spangler laid her hand on his arm. + +"Oh, Senator, I have just told the dear girls that you had asked me to +marry you--that we were soon to be married," she said, archly, looking +him straight in the eye. She clasped her hands and murmured: "I am so +happy!" + +The hero of Crawfordsville tried to speak, but he could not. He stared +at his hostess, who smiled the smile of the budding debutante. His own +open-mouthed astonishment was reflected in the faces of Carolina and +Hope Georgia as they observed their father's expression. He forgot he +was in Washington. He did not know he was a Senator. The fact that he +had ever even thought of making a speech was furthest from his mind. + +What did it all mean? Had Mrs. Spangler gone suddenly insane? His +daughters--what did they think? These thoughts surged through his +flustered brain. Then it flashed over him--she was joking in some new +fashionable way. He turned toward the fair widow to laugh, but her +face was losing its smile. A pained expression, a suggestion of +intense suffering, appeared in her face. + +"Why do you so hesitate, Senator Langdon?" she finally asked in low +voice, just loud enough for the two girls to overhear. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi looked at his hostess. She had +entertained him and had done much for his daughters in Washington. She +was alone in the world--a widow. He felt that he could not shame her +before Carolina and Hope Georgia. His Southern chivalry would not +permit that. Then, too, she was a most charming person, and the +thought, "Why not--why not take her at her word?" crept into his mind. + +"Yes, father, why do you hesitate?" asked Carolina. + +Senator Langdon mustered his voice into service at last. + +"I've been thinking," he said, slowly, "that--" + +"That your daughters did not know," interrupted Mrs. Spangler, "of +our--" + +"The telephone--upstairs--is ringing, madam," said a maid who had +entered to Mrs. Spangler. + +The adventuress could not leave the Senator and his daughters alone, +though she knew it must be Peabody calling her. At any moment he might +remember his speech and leave. Already late, he would still be later, +though, because he would have no carriage--hers would purposely be +delayed. + +"Tell the person speaking that you are empowered to bring me any +message--that I cannot leave the dining-hall," she said to the maid. + +To gain time and to hold the Senator's attention, Mrs. Spangler asked, +slowly: + +"Well, Senator, what was it that you were going to say when I +interrupted you a few moments ago?" + +Langdon had been racking his brain for some inspiration that would +enable him to save the feelings of his hostess, and yet indicate his +position clearly. He would not commit himself in any way. He would +jump up and pronounce her an impostor first. + +After a moment of silence his clouded face cleared. + +"Mrs. Spangler," he began, "your announcement to-day I have considered +to be--" + +"Premature," she suggested. + +The maid returned. + +"Mr. Wall says Senator Langdon is wanted at once at the Capitol." + +"Great heavens!" exclaimed Langdon, springing to his feet and glancing +at the clock. "I'm late! I'm late! I hope to God I'm not too late!" + +"Mr. Wall says a carriage is coming for Senator Langdon," concluded +the maid. + +"We must talk this matter over some other time, Mrs. Spangler," the +Mississippian cried, as he sent a servant for his hat and coat. "I +hope that carriage hurries, else I'll try it on the run for the +Capitol!" + +"It's a half hour away on foot," said Mrs. Spangler. "Better wait. +You'll save time." + +But to herself she muttered, as though mystified: + +"I wonder why Peabody changed his mind so suddenly? Why should he now +want the old fool at the Capitol?" + +The rumble of wheels was heard outside. + +"Hurry, father!" cried Hope Georgia. + +The Senator hurried down the stone steps of Mrs. Spangler's residence +as rapidly as his weight and the excitement under which he labored +would permit. Opening the coach door, he plunged inside--to come face +to face with Bud Haines, who had huddled down in a corner to avoid +observance from the Spangler windows. The driver started his horses +off on a run. + +Struggling to regain his breath, the Senator cried: + +"Well, what are--" + +"Never mind now. But first gather in all I say, Senator, as we've +no time to lose. When I couldn't locate you and I saw you probably +wouldn't be at the Senate chamber in time to make your speech on the +naval base bill, I persuaded Senator Milbank of Arkansas to rise and +make a speech on the currency question, which subject was in order. +He was under obligation to me for some important information I once +obtained for him, and he consented to keep the floor until you +arrived, though he knew he would earn the vengeance of Peabody. That +was over an hour and a half ago. He must be reading quotations from +'Pilgrim's Progress' to the Senate by now to keep the floor." + +Bud paused to look at his watch. + +The Senator stretched his head out of the window and cried: "Drive +faster!" + +"Got your speech all right?" called Bud above the din of the rattling +wheels. + +"Yes, here," was the response, the Senator tapping his inner breast +pocket. + +"Thought maybe she--" cried Bud, jerking his head back in the +direction from which they had come. + +The Mississippian shook his head negatively, and set his jaws +determinedly. + +The coach swung up to the Capitol entrance. + +"Tell me," asked Langdon, as both jumped out, "how did you find out +that--" + +"I 'phoned the house--gave a name Peabody uses--" + +"Great heavens! but how did you know where to 'phone?" + +They were at the door of the Senate chamber. + +"Norton gave me the tip--for your sake and Carolina's--for old times' +sake, he said," was Bud's reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE + + +Too much occupied in concentrating his thoughts on his speech, Langdon +failed to notice the consternation on the faces of Peabody and Stevens +as he walked to his seat in the Senate. They had failed to succeed in +getting Milbank to conclude, and consequently could not push the naval +base report through. But they noted the passing of over an hour after +their opponent's appointed time and had felt certain that he would not +appear at all. + +"The boss of the Senate" leaned across to Stevens and whispered, +hurriedly: + +"We must tear him to pieces now--discredit him publicly. It's his own +fault. Our agents can sell the land to Standard Steel. Our connection +with the scheme will be impossible to discover--after we have made the +public believe Langdon is a crook." + +"But how about our supposed combination to protect the Government +that Langdon will tell about?" asked Stevens. "We can't deny that, of +course." + +"No," answered Peabody. "We can't deny it, but we will not affirm it. +We will tell interviewers that we prefer not to talk about it." + +"It's our only chance," replied Stevens, cautiously. + +"Yes; and we owe it all to Jake Steinert," went on Peabody. "That +fellow Telfer will do anything to please Jake. Jake has convinced +Telfer that Langdon was responsible for the defeat of Gulf City, and +the Mayor is wild for revenge." + +"The boss of the Senate" rose and walked to the rear of the Senate +chamber to issue orders to two of his colleagues. + +"Report of the committee on naval affairs." droned the clerk, +mechanically. "House Bill No. 1,109 is amended to read as follows--" +And his voice sank to an unintelligible mumble, for every Senator +present he well knew was aware that the amendment named Altacoola as +the naval base site. + +Senator Langdon rose in his seat. + +"Mr. President," he called. + +"Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi," said the presiding +officer, as he leaned back to speak to Senator Winans of Kansas, who +had approached to the side of the rostrum. + +The Langdon speech on "The New South and the South of the Future" +proved more than a document suited only to a reverent burial in the +_Congressional Record_. Although wearied at the start owing to the +exciting happenings of the day, the Mississippian's enthusiasm for his +cause gave him strength and stimulation as he progressed. His voice +rose majestically as he came to the particular points he wished to +accentuate, and even those in the uppermost rows in the galleries +could hear every word. + +At the close of his formal speech he began on his statement of the +action of the naval affairs committee in buying control of the +Altacoola land to foil attempts to rob the Government. As he had +predicted, the Senate did "sit up." The Senate did agree that a new +kind of politics had arrived. + +During this latter part of the speech many curious glances were +directed at Peabody and Stevens, who sat in the same tier of seats, in +the middle of the chamber, only an aisle separating them. Through +this choice of seats they could confer without leaving their places. +Various senatorial associates of these two men in other deals found +it difficult to believe their ears--but was not old Langdon at this +moment narrating the amazing transaction on the floor of the Senate? +Would the statue on the pedestal step down? Would the sphinx of the +desert speak the story of the lost centuries? Would honor take the +place of expediency in the affairs of state? What might not happen, +thought the Senate machine, now that Peabody and Stevens had taken to +their bosoms what they termed the purple pup of political purity? + +Neither did the full portent of the situation escape the attention +of the reporters' gallery. Dick Cullen observed to Hansel of the +_Record_: + +"Virtue's getting so thick around here it's a menace to navigation." + +"Blocking the traffic, eh?" queried Hansel; and both laughed. + +"Hello! What's this?" exclaimed Cullen a few minutes later. "Horton +has been recognized, when the program was to adjourn when the naval +base bill was over with." + +Langdon's speech had proved the hit, the sensation of the session. +After he concluded, amid resounding applause, in which Senators +joined, as well as occupants of the galleries, Senator Horton of +Montana rose and caught the presiding officer's eye. + +"I ask unanimous consent to offer a resolution." + +Hearing no objection, he continued, in a manner that instantly +attracted unusual attention: + +"It is my unpleasant duty"--Peabody and Stevens exchanged glances--"to +place a matter before this body that to me, as a member of this +honorable body, is not only distasteful, but deeply to be regretted. + +"There has arisen ground to suspect a member of this body with having +endeavored to make money at the Government's expense out of land which +he is alleged to have desired his own committee to choose as the naval +base. + +"I therefore offer this resolution providing for the appointment of an +investigating committee to look into these charges." + +Langdon was intensely excited over this new development. "Some one has +learned something about Peabody or Stevens," he muttered. He feared +that this new complication might in some way affect the fate of the +naval base--that the South, and Mississippi, might lose it. He rose +slowly in his seat, while the Senate hummed with the murmur of +suppressed voices. + +"I ask for more definite information," he began, when recognized +and after the President of the Senate had pounded with the gavel to +restore quiet, "so that this house can consider this important matter +more intelligently." + +Senator Horton rose. He said: + +"I will take the liberty of adding that the Senator accused is none +other than the junior Senator from Mississippi." + +Langdon's eyes blazed. He strode swiftly into the aisle. + +"Mr. President," he cried, passionately, "I know this is not the time +or place for a discussion like this, but ask that senatorial courtesy +permit me to ask"--then he concluded strongly before he could be +stopped--"what is the evidence in support of this preposterous +charge?" + +"This is all out of order," said the presiding officer, after a pause, +"but in view of the circumstances I will entertain a motion to suspend +the rules." + +This motion passing, Horton replied to Langdon: + +"Your name is signed to a contract with J.D. Telfer, Mayor of Gulf +City, Miss., calling for 3,000 shares in the Gulf City Land Company, +and--" + +"A lie! a lie!" screamed Langdon. + +"That official," went on Horton, coolly, "is now in Washington. He +has the contract and will swear to conversations with you and your +secretary. His testimony will be corroborated by no less a personage +than Congressman Norton, of your own district, who says you asked him +to conduct part of the negotiations. + +"And I might add," cried Horton, "that it is known to more than one +member of this honorable body that you had drawn up a minority report +in favor of Gulf City because of your anger at the defeat of your plan +to lake the naval base away from Altacoola." + +Langdon sank into his chair, bewildered, even stunned. There was a +conspiracy against him, but how could he prove it? The ground seemed +crumbling from under him--not even a straw to grasp. Then the old +fighting blood that carried him along in Beauregard's van tugged at +the valves of his heart, revived his spirit, ran through his veins. He +leaped to his feet. + +A sound as of a scuffle--a body falling heavily--drew all eyes from +Langdon to the rear of the main aisle. An assistant sergeant-at-arms +was lying face downward on the carpet. Another was vainly trying to +hold Bud Haines, who, tearing himself free, rushed down to his chief, +waving a sheet of paper in the Senator's eyes. + +"Read that!" gasped the secretary, breathlessly, and he hurried away +up a side passageway and out to reach the stairs leading to the press +gallery. + +Langdon spread the paper before him with difficulty with his trembling +hands. Slowly his whirling brain gave him the ability to read. Slowly +what appeared to him as a jumbled nothing resolved into orderly lines +and words. He read and again stood before the Senate, which had +regained its usual composure after the fallen sergeant-at-arms had +regained his feet and rubbed his bruises. + +"I do not think there will be any investigation," he said, with +decided effort, struggling to down the emotion that choked him. "I ask +this house to listen to the following letter: + + "DEAR SENATOR LANGDON: When you receive this letter I shall be + well on my way to take a steamer for Cuba. I write to ask you not + to think too harshly of me, for I will always cherish thoughts of + the friendship you have shown me. + + "Peabody and Stevens have finally proved too much for me. When + they got old Telfer to swear to a forged contract and wanted me to + forge your name in the land records at Gulf City, I threw up my + hands. Their game will always go on, I suppose, but you gave them + a shock when you broke up their Altacoola graft scheme. And I'm + glad you did They cast me aside to-day, probably thinking they + could get me again if they needed me. + + "I am going on the sugar plantation of a friend, where I can make + a new start and forget that I ever went to Washington." + +Langdon paused deliberately. The Senate was hushed. The galleries were +stifled. Not even the rustle of a sheet of paper was heard in the +reporters' gallery. The Mississippian gazed around the Senate chamber. +He saw Stevens and Peabody craning their necks across the aisle and +talking excitedly to each other. + +Then he stepped forward and spoke, waving the paper in the air. + +"This letter is signed 'Charles Norton.'" + +The old Southerner gazed triumphantly at the men who had sought to +destroy him. It was with difficulty that the presiding officer could +hammer down the burst of handclapping that arose from the galleries. + +Senator Horton, however, was not satisfied with Langdon's sudden +ascendency. + +"How do we know that that letter is not a forgery, a trick?" he +exclaimed. + +"Go get Congressman Norton--if you can--and get his denial," responded +Langdon. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi hurriedly pushed his way out of +the Senate chamber. His day's work was done. + +Down on a broad plantation along the Pearl River an old planter, who +has borne his years well, as life goes nowadays, passes his days +contentedly. He delights in the rompings of his grandchildren as they +rouse the echoes of the mansion and prides himself on the achievements +of their father, Randolph, who has improved the plantation to a point +never reached before. + +Sometimes he receives a letter from his daughter. Hope Georgia, now +Mrs. Haines, telling him of her happy life, or perhaps it is a letter +from Carolina, describing the good times she is having in London with +the friends she is visiting. + +And the old planter goes out on the broad veranda in the warm Southern +twilight, and he thinks of the days that were. He remembers how the +Third Mississippi won the day at Crawfordsville. He thinks of the days +when he fought the good fight in Washington. His thoughts turn to the +memory of her who went before these many years and whom he is soon +to see again, and peace descends on the soul of the gentleman from +Mississippi as the world drops to slumber around him. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Gentleman from Mississippi, by Thomas A. Wise + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10844 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0bb5b92 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10844 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10844) diff --git a/old/10844-8.txt b/old/10844-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac5f463 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10844-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6511 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Gentleman from Mississippi, by Thomas A. Wise + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Gentleman from Mississippi + +Author: Thomas A. Wise + +Release Date: January 28, 2004 [EBook #10844] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A GENTLEMAN FROM MISSISSIPPI *** + + + + +Produced by Rick Niles, John Hagerson, Josephine Paolucci, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: THE SENATOR AND "BUD" HAINES.] + + + + +A GENTLEMAN FROM MISSISSIPPI + +A NOVEL + +Founded on the popular play of the same title + + +PRODUCED UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF WM.A. BRADY AND JOS.R. GRISMER + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +THE SENATOR AND BUD HAINES + +"FROM NEW YORK, EH? THE VICKSBURG OF THE NORTH" + +"STRANGE, HOW THE LANGDON'S TREAT HIM AS A FRIEND" + +THE SENATOR ACCEPTS AN INVITATION TO TEA + +THE LANGDON FAMILY + +"YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE LIKE A MAN" + +"TO-MORROW, AT 12.30" + +"AFTER I HAVE FINISHED, I DARE ONE OF YOU TO DENY A WORD" + + + + +_INTRODUCTION_ + + +_Here is a story of an epoch-making battle of right against wrong, +of honesty against corruption, of simplicity and sincerity against +deceit, bribery and intrigue. It is the story of to-day in this +country. It vitally concerns every man, woman and child in the United +States, so far-reaching is its influence. + +The warfare is now going on--the warfare of honest men against corrupt +political machines. + +The story tells the "inside" of the political maneuvers in Washington +and of the workings of bosses there and elsewhere--how they shape men +and women to their ends, how their cunning intrigues extend into the +very social life of the nation's capital. You will find inspiration in +the career of the honest old Southern planter elected to the United +States Senate and the young newspaper reporter who becomes his private +secretary and political pilot. Your heart will beat in sympathy with +the love of the secretary and the Senator's youngest daughter. + +You will read of the lobbyists and find that not all of them are men. +You will see how avarice causes a daughter to conspire against her +father. You will hear the note of a gripping national tragedy in the +words of Peabody, the "boss of the Senate." But cause for laughter as +well will not be found lacking in this truly many-sided narrative._ + + + + +A Gentleman from Mississippi + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PRACTICAL POLITICS + + That bids him flout the law he makes; + That bids him make the law he flouts. + +_--Kipling_. + + +In buoyant spirit the Hon. Charles Norton rode up the bridle path +leading through the Langdon plantation to the old antebellum homestead +which, on a shaded knoll, overlooked the winding waters of the Pearl +River. No finer prospect was to be had in all Mississippi than greeted +the eye from the wide southwest porch, where on warm evenings the +Langdons and their frequent guests gathered to dine or to watch the +golden splendor of the dying sun. + +The Langdon family had long been a power in the South. Its sons fought +under Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, under Zachary Taylor in the war +with Mexico, and in the Civil War men of that name left their blood +on the fields of Antietam, Shiloh, the Wilderness and Gettysburg. But +this family of fighting men, of unselfish patriots, had also marked +influence in the ways of peace, as real patriots should. Generations +of Langdons had taken deepest pride in developing the hundreds of +acres of cotton land, whose thousands of four-foot rows planted each +April spread open the silvery lined bolls in July and August, and the +ripened cotton fiber, pure white beneath the sun, gave from a distance +the picture of an expanse of driven snow. + +The Hon. Charles Norton had reason for feeling well pleased with the +world as he fastened his bay Virginia hunter to a convenient post +and strode up the steps of the mansion, which was a characteristic +survivor of the "old South," the South of gilded romance and of +gripping tragedy. Now in this second year of his first term as +Congressman and a promising member of the younger set of Southern +lawyers, he had just taken active part in securing the election of +Colonel William H. Langdon, present head of the family, to the United +States Senate, though the ultimate action of the Legislature had been +really brought about by a lifelong friend of Colonel Langdon, the +senior Senator from the State, James Stevens, who had not hesitated to +flatter Norton and use him as a cat's-paw. This use the Hon. Charles +Norton seemed to consider an honor of large proportions. Not every +first-term Congressman can hope for intimacy with a Senator. Norton +believed that his work for Langdon would win him the family's +gratitude and thus further his ambition to marry Carolina, the +planter's oldest daughter, whose beauty made her the recipient of many +attentions. + +A complacent gleam shone in Norton's eyes as they swept over the +fertile acres of the plantation. He thought of the material interest +he might one day have in them if his suit for the hand of Carolina +progressed favorably. Suddenly his reverie was interrupted by the +voice of young Randolph Langdon, a spirited lad in his early twenties, +who had just been made plantation manager, by his father. + +"Well, how is the honorable to-day?" said Randolph, approaching from +the doorway. "I didn't think a Congressman could be spared from +Washington but rarely, especially when the papers say the country +needs such a lot of saving." + +"Oh, this 'saving the country' talk goes all right in the story +books," replied Norton, who exercised considerable influence over the +youth through a long acquaintanceship and by frequently taking him +into his confidence, "but this country can take pretty good care of +itself. In Congress we representatives put the job of saving it over +on the Senate, and the Senate hands back the job to us. So what's +everybody's business isn't anybody's; a fine scheme so long as we have +a President who keeps his hands off and doesn't--" + +"But how about the speeches and the bills?" broke in Randolph. "I +thought--" + +"Yes, yes; to be sure," the Congressman quickly added. "Nearly all of +us introduce these so-called reform bills. When they're printed at +government expense we send copies, carried free by the Post-office +Department, to our constituents, and when we allow the bills to die in +some committee we can always blame the committee. But if there's a big +fight by our constituents over the bill we let it pass the House, but +arrange to kill it in the Senate. Then we do the same thing for the +Senators. Like in every other business, my boy," continued Norton as +he led the way into the house, "it's a case of 'you tickle me and I'll +tickle you' in politics. And don't let any one fool you about the +speeches either. They are pretty things to mail to the voters, but all +the wise boys in Washington know they aren't meant seriously. It's +all play acting, and there are better actors in the Senate than Henry +Irving or Edwin Booth ever were." + +"I don't think my father looks at things in the way you do, Charlie." + +"No? Well, maybe he doesn't now, but he will later on when he takes +his seat in the Senate. If he isn't wise enough to play around with +the rest of the Senators he won't get any bills passed, especially any +bill carrying an appropriation or of any other particular importance." + +"What!" ejaculated the planter's son. "Do you mean to say that if +father won't do what the other Senators want him to do they will +combine against him and destroy his usefulness, make him powerless--a +failure?" + +The Congressman smiled patronizingly on the youth. "Why, of course +they will. That's politics, practical politics, the only kind that's +known in Washington. You see--" + +"But the leaders of the great parties!" cried the young plantation +manager, in amazement. "Why don't they prevent this?" + +"Because they invented the system and because political party +differences don't amount to a whole lot much of the time in +Washington. The politicians do most of their criticizing of the other +party away from Washington, where the voters can hear them. But when +circumstances sometimes force a man to rise to assail the other side +in Congress he afterward apologizes in secret for his words. Or, +sometimes he apologizes beforehand, saying: 'I've got to hand out some +hot shot to you fellows just to please a crowd of sovereign voters +from my district who have come up to Washington to see me perform. So, +of course, I've got to make a showing. Don't mind what I say. You know +I don't mean it, but the old fogies will go back home and tell their +neighbors what a rip-snortin' reformer I be.'" + +"Is that the way you represent your district; Norton?" asked Planter +Langdon, who at this juncture entered the room. + +"No, no, Mr. Langdon--I should say Senator now, I suppose. I was +merely telling Randolph how some legislators conduct themselves." + +The Senator-elect paused momentarily, gazing at the Congressman, who, +dark-visaged, tall, black-haired, broad-shouldered and athletic, was +visibly uneasy at having his conversation with Randolph overheard by +the father. + +"No doubt it won't be all plain sailing in Washington for an +old-fashioned man like me, but I believe in the American people and +the men they send to Congress," slowly spoke the planter. "There's +Senator Stevens, for instance. He has always stood for the rights of +the people. I've read all his speeches. Just why he brought about my +election it is hard to tell, for I've been a planter all my life, +except when I fought under Beauregard. I feel that he did it out of +friendship, and I simply can't say how much I appreciate the honor. I +am indebted to you, too, Congressman." + +Tactfully disclaiming any credit for his work, only Norton's +congressional training in repression enabled him to refrain from +smiling at Langdon's innocence, his belief in Stevens' sincerity and +his wonder over his election. Stevens, the keen, cold and resourceful, +who forced his officeholders to yield him parts of their government +salaries; Stevens, who marketed to railway companies his influence +with the Department of Justice; Stevens, who was a Republican in +the committee room in Washington and a Democrat on the platform +in Mississippi; Stevens, who had consummated the deal with Martin +Sanders, boss of seven counties, to elect Langdon because of the +planter's trustfulness and simplicity of character, which should make +him easy to influence and to handle in the all-important matter of the +gulf naval base project! + +The entry of Carolina Langdon and her younger sister, Hope Georgia, +gave Norton a welcome opportunity to shift the trend of conversation. + +"You ladies will have a gay time in Washington," he began, after +directing a particularly enthusiastic greeting to Carolina. "You will +be in great demand at all the big affairs, and I don't think you +will ever want to come back to old Mississippi, forty miles from a +railroad, with few chances to wear your New York gowns." + +Carolina spoke quickly, her face flushing at the thought of the new +vista of life now opening. "Yes, I have always longed to be a part of +the real life of this world; the life of constant action--meeting +new people every day, and prominent people. Balls, receptions, teas, +theater parties, afternoon drives, plenty of money and plenty of +gayety are what I want. I'm not a bit like Hope Georgia, who thinks +these ideas are extravagant because she has not seen real life yet--" + +"Carolina, you must not think me 'only your little sister' now. I have +seen life. Haven't I spent a week in Jackson?" + +"That's enough proof. You know all about life, I'm sure, Miss Hope +Georgia," smilingly remarked Norton. + +Later, rising to join Planter Langdon on the veranda, where he had +gone to smoke, the Congressman gazed intently at Carolina. "You will +probably forget your old friends when you enter the dizzy social race +in Washington." + +"No, Charlie, I couldn't forget you, anyhow. You will be there, too. I +shall depend on you a great deal to take me about, unless you are too +busy making speeches and fighting your opponents." + +Again it was Norton's turn to be inwardly amused at the political +ignorance of the Langdon family. Speeches? The first-term Congressman +doesn't make speeches in Washington, because no one cares what he +thinks--except the lobbyists, whose business it is to provide new +members with a complete set of thoughts. Neither does he have +opponents--he is not considered important enough by the veterans to be +opposed. + +Skilfully approaching the subject which next to Carolina Langdon +had been uppermost in his mind during his visit, Norton asked the +Senator-elect on joining him if he did not believe that the entire +South would benefit if the plan to establish a naval base on the gulf +was successfully carried through. + +"Most certainly I do, and, as I said during the senatorial fight, the +whole country as well will be the gainer," responded Langdon. + +"Don't you think the people who want Altacoola chosen as the site have +the best arguments?" was the visitor's next question, the reply to +which he anxiously awaited. + +"Yes, I do, from what I've already heard; but I haven't heard very +much of what the folks who advocate other sites have to say. So, until +I've heard all sides and made my own examination, I couldn't give +any one my final answer, but Altacoola seems to have the necessary +qualifications." + +"Senator Stevens is in favor of Altacoola," eagerly suggested Norton. + +"Yes, and that's a pretty good argument in its favor," responded +Langdon. + +Norton now excused himself, pleading an appointment with a client at a +neighboring village. Waving farewell to Carolina and Hope Georgia, +who stood at a window, he rode away. "The old man is sure to be +all right," he muttered. "He leans toward Altacoola and believes in +Stevens. He'll lean some more until he falls over--into the trap. +There's a fortune in sight--within reach. Langdon has faith in his +friends. He won't suspect a thing." + +Still another thought occurred to the Hon. Charles Norton. "Stevens +elected Langdon out of friendship," he chuckled, gleefully. "That will +be well worth telling in Washington." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE WARS OF PEACE + + +"Big Bill" Langdon was the term by which the new Senator from +Mississippi had been affectionately known to his intimates for years. +He carried his 230 pounds with ease, bespeaking great muscular power +in spite of his gray hairs. His rugged courage, unswerving honesty and +ready belief in his friends won him a loyal following, some of whom +frequently repeated what was known as "Bill Langdon's Golden Rule": + +"There never was a man yet who didn't have some good in him, but most +folks don't know this because their own virtues pop up and blind 'em +when they look at somebody else." + +At the reunions of his old war comrades Langdon was always depended +on to describe once again how the Third Mississippi charged at +Crawfordsville and defeated the Eighth Illinois. But the stirring +events of the past had served to increase the planter's fondness for +his home life and his children, whose mother had died years before. At +times he regretted that his unexpected political duties would take him +away from the old plantation even though the enthusiastic approval of +Carolina and Hope Georgia proved considerable compensation. + +Although not sworn in as Senator, Colonel Langdon's political duties +were already pressing. A few days after Congressman Norton's visit he +sat in his library conferring with several prominent citizens of his +county regarding a plan to ask Congress to appropriate money to dredge +a portion of the channel of the Pearl River, which would greatly aid a +large section of the State. + +During the deliberations the name of Martin Sanders was announced by +Jackson, the Colonel's gravely decorous negro bodyguard, who boasted +that he "wuz brung up by Cunel Marse Langdon, suh, a fightin' +Mississippi cunel, suh, sence long befo' de wah and way befo' dat, +suh." + +"Show Mr. Sanders right in," commanded Colonel Langdon. + +"Good-day, Senator," spoke Sanders, the boss of seven counties, as he +entered. Glancing around the room, he continued, bending toward the +Colonel and muffling his now whispering voice with his hand: "I want +to speak to you alone. I'm here on politics." + +"That's all right; but these gentlemen here are my friends and +constituents," was the reply in no uncertain voice. "When I talk +politics they have a perfect right to hear what I, as their Senator, +say. Out with it, Mr. Sanders." + +As Sanders was introduced to the members of the conference he grew red +in the face and stared at Langdon, amazed. At last he had discovered +something new in politics. "Say," he finally blurted out, "when I talk +business I--" + +"Are you in politics as a business?" quickly spoke Colonel Langdon. + +"Why--I--er--no, of course not," the visitor stammered. "I am in +politics for my party's sake, just like everybody else," and Sanders +grinned suggestively at his questioner. + +"Have you anything further to say?" asked Langdon, in a tone hinting +that he would like to be rid of his caller. + +"Well, since you are so very new in this game, Senator, I'll talk +right out in meetin', as they call it. I came to ask about an +appointment an' to tip you off on a couple o' propositions. I want +Jim Hagley taken care of--you've heard of Jim--was clerk o' Fenimore +County. A $2,000 a year job'll do for him; $500 o' that he gives to +the organization." + +"You're the organization, aren't you?" queried Langdon. + +"Why, yes. Are you just gettin' wise?" cried Sanders. "Haven't I got +fellers, voters, VOTERS, VOTERS, d--n it, hangin' on to me that needs +to be taken care of! An' so I make the fellers that work help those +that don't. Why, Langdon, what'n h--l are you kickin' an' questioning' +about? Didn't you get my twelve votes in the Legislature? Did you have +a chance for Senator without 'em? Answer me that, will you? Why, with +'em you only had two more than needed to elect, an' the opposition +crowd was solid for Wilson," cried the angry boss, pounding the long +table before which Langdon sat. + +"I'll answer you almighty quick," retorted the now thoroughly aroused +Senator-elect, rising and shaking his clenched fist at Sanders. "Those +twelve votes you say were yours--yours?" + +"Yes, mine. Them noble legislators that cast 'em was an' is mine, +mine. I tell you, jest like I had 'em in my pocket, an' that's where I +mostly carry 'em, so as they won't go strayin' aroun' careless like." + +"You didn't have to vote those men for me. I told you at the Capitol +that I would not make you or anybody else any promises. You voted them +for me of your own accord. That's my answer." + +At this point the gentlemen of the county present when Sanders entered +and who had no desire to witness further the unpleasant episode, rose +to leave, in spite of the urgent request of Colonel Langdon that they +remain. The only one reluctant to go was Deacon Amos Smallwood, who, +coming to the plantation to seek employment for his son, had not been +denied of his desire to join the assemblage of his neighbors. + +Last to move toward the door, he stopped in front of Sanders, +stretched his five feet three inches of stature on tiptoe, and shook a +withered fist in the boss' firmly set, determined face. + +"Infamous!" shrieked the deacon. "You're a monster! You're +unrighteous! You should have belonged to the political machine of +Cataline or Pontius Pilate!" + +"Never heard tell o' them," muttered Sanders, deeply puzzled. "Guess +they was never in Mississippi in my time." + +His accompanying gesture of perplexity caused the deacon to hasten his +exit. Tripping over the leg of a chair, he fell headlong into the +arms of the watchful Jackson, who received the deacon's blessing for +"uplifting the righteous in the hour of their fall." + +Relieved at the departure of the witnesses, Sanders showed increased +aggressiveness. "To be sure, Senator, you were careful not to +personally promise me anything for my support at the election, as you +say," the leader sneered; "but you had Jim Stevens to make promises +for you, which was smooth, absolute an' artistic smooth--" + +"Stop, sir!" Langdon furiously shouted. "You forget, sir, that your +insinuation is an insult to a man elected Senator from Mississippi, an +insult to my State and to my friend Senator Stevens, who I know would +make you no promises for me, for he had not my authority." + +"Certainly you're a Senator, but what's a Senator, anyhow? I'll tell +you, Mr. Colonel Langdon, a Senator is a man who holds out for his own +pocket as much as us fellows that make him will stand for. When we +don't get our rightful share, he's through." + +With a sudden start, as though to spring at Sanders' throat, Langdon, +with compressed lips and eyes blazing, grasped the edge of the +table with a grip that threatened to rend the polished boards. With +intensest effort he slowly regained control of himself. His fury had +actually weakened him. His knees shook, and he sank weakly into a +chair. When he finally spoke his voice was strained and laborious. +"Sanders, you and I, sir, must never meet again, because I might not +succeed in keeping my hands off you. What would my old comrades of the +Third Mississippi say if they saw me sitting here and you there with +a whole body, sir, after what you have said? They would not believe +their eyes, thank God, sir. They would all go over to Stuart City and +buy new glasses, sir." A suspicious moisture appeared on the Colonel's +cheeks which he could not dry too quickly to escape Sanders' +observation. + +"But I had to let you stay, sir, because you, the sole accuser, are +the only one who can tell me what I must know." + +"What do you want to know?" asked Sanders, who had realized his great +mistake in losing his temper, in talking as openly and as violently +as he had and in dragging the name of Senator Stevens into the +controversy. He must try to keep Stevens from hearing of this day's +blunder, for Jim Stevens knew as well as he, didn't he, that the man +who loses his temper, like the man who talks too much, is of no use in +politics. + +"I want to know how you formed your opinion of political matters--of +Senators. Is it possible, sir, that you have actual knowledge of +actual happenings that give you the right to talk as you have? I want +to know if I must feel shame, feel disgrace, sir, to be a Senator from +Mississippi; that State, sir, that the Almighty himself, sir, would +choose to live in if he came to earth." + +"There, there, Senator, don't take too seriously what I have said," +Sanders replied in reassuring tone, having outlined his course of +action. "I lost my head because you wouldn't promise me something I +needed--that appointment for Hagley. What I said about Senators an' +such was all wild words--nothin' in 'em. Why, how could there be, +Senator?" This query was a happy afterthought which Sanders craftily +suggested in a designedly artless manner. + +"Just what I thought and know!" exclaimed Langdon, sharply. "It +couldn't be; it isn't possible. Now you go, sir, and let it be your +greatest disgrace that you are not fit to enter any gentleman's +house." + +"Oh, don't rub it in too hard, Senator. You may need my help some day, +but you'll have to deliver the goods beforehand." + +"I said, 'Go!'" + +"I'm goin', but here's a tip. Don't blame me for fightin' you. I've +got to fight to live. I'm a human bein', an' humans are pretty much +the same all over the world; all except you--you're only half natural. +The rest of you is reformer." + +After Sanders' departure the Colonel sat at his table, his head +resting in his hand, the events of the day crowding his brain +bewilderingly. + +"The battles of peace are worse than any Beauregard ever led me into," +he murmured. "Fighting o conquer oneself is harder than turning the +left flank of the Eighth Illinois in an enfilading fire." + +But the new Senator from Mississippi did not know that for him the +wars of peace had only just begun, that perhaps his own flesh and +blood and that of the wife and mother who had gone before would turn +traitor to his colors in the very thickest of the fray. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HOW TO PLEASE A SENATOR + + +The International Hotel in Washington was all hustle and bustle. Was +it not preparing for its first Senator since 1885? No less a personage +than the Hon. William H. Langdon of Mississippi, said to be a warm +personal friend of Senator Stevens, one of the leading members of his +party at the capital, had engaged a suit of rooms for himself and two +daughters. + +"Ain't it the limit?" remarked the chief clerk to Bud Haines, +correspondent of the New York _Star_. "The Senator wrote us that he +was coming here because his old friend, the late Senator Moseley, said +back in '75 that this was the best hotel in Washington and where all +the prominent men ought to stay." + +Haines, the ablest political reporter in Washington, had come to the +International to interview the new Senator, to describe for his paper +what kind of a citizen Langdon was. He glanced around at the dingy +woodwork, the worn cushions, the nicked and uneven tiles of the hotel +lobby, and smiled at the clerk. "Well, if this is the new Senator's +idea of princely luxury he will fit right into the senatorial +atmosphere." Both laughed derisively. "By the way," added Haines, "I +suppose you'll raise your rates now that you've got a Senator here." + +The clerk brought his fist down on the register with a thud. + +"We could have them every day if we wanted them. This fellow, though, +we'll have all winter, I guess. His son's here now. Been breaking all +records for drinking. Congressman Norton of Mississippi has been down +here with him a few times. There young Langdon is now." + +Haines turned quickly, just in time to bump into a tall, slender young +man, who was walking unevenly in the direction of the café. + +"Well, can't you see what you're doing?" muttered the tall young man +thickly. + +Haines smiled. The chap who has played halfback four years on his +college eleven and held the boxing championship in his class is apt +to be good-natured. He does not have to take offense easily. Besides, +Randolph Langdon was plainly under the influence of whisky. So Haines +smiled pleasantly at the taller young man. + +"Beg your pardon--my fault," Haines said. + +"Well, don't let it occur again," mumbled Langdon, as he strolled with +uneven dignity toward the door. Bud Haines laughed. + +"I guess young Langdon is going to be one of the boys, isn't he?" + +"He's already one of them when it comes to a question of fluid +capacity," laughed some one behind him, and Bud whirled to meet the +gaze of his friend, Dick Gullen, representative of one of the big +Chicago dailies. + +"You down here to see Langdon, too?" commented Bud. + +Cullen nodded. "Queer roost where this Senator is to hang out, isn't +it?" + +"He can't be a rich one, then," suggested Haines. + +Cullen chuckled. + +"Perhaps he's an honest one." + +"I hadn't thought of that. You always were original, Dickie," +commented Haines, dryly. "By the way, what do you know about him?" + +"Nothing, except that the _Evening Call_ printed a picture of his +eldest daughter--says she's the queen daughter of the South, a famous +beauty, rich planter for a father, mother left her a fortune--" + +"She'll cut quite a social caper with this hotel's name on her cards, +won't she?" broke in Haines, as he led Cullen to a seat to await the +expected legislator, whose train was late. + +"I don't know very much about him myself," said Haines. "All I've been +able to discover is that Stevens said the word which elected him, and +that looks bad. Great glory! When I think what a Senator of the +right sort has a chance to do here in Washington--a nonpartisan, +straight-out-from-the-shoulder man!" He paused to shake his head in +disgust. "You know these fellows here in the Senate don't even see +their chance. Why, if you and I didn't do any more to hold our jobs +than they do, we'd be fired by wire the first day. They know just the +old political game, that's all." + +"Its a great game, though, Bud," sighed Cullen, longingly, for, like +many newspaper men, he had the secret feeling that he was cut out to +be a great politician. + +"Sure, it's a great game, as a game," agreed Haines. "So is bridge, +and stud poker, and three-card monte, and flim-flam generally. Take +this new man Langdon, for instance. Chosen by Stevens, he'll probably +be perfectly obedient, perfectly easy going, perfectly blind +and--perfectly useless. What's wanted now is to get the work done, not +play the game." + +Thoroughly a cynic through his years of experience as a newspaper man, +which had shown the inside workings of many important phases of the +seemingly conventional life of this complex world, Cullen pretended +unbounded enthusiasm. + +"Hear! hear!" he shouted. "All you earnest citizens come vote for +Reformer Haines. I'm for you, Bud. What do I get in your cabinet? I've +joined the reformers, too, and, like all of them, me for P-U-R-I-T-Y +as long as she gives me a meal ticket." + +But not even Cullen could make Haines consider his views on the +necessity of political regeneration to be ridiculous. His optimism +could not be snuffed out, for he was a genuine believer that the +natural tendency of humankind was to do right. Wrong he believed to +be the outcome of unnatural causes. This quality, combined with +his practical knowledge of the world and his courage, made him a +formidable man, one who would one day accomplish big things--if he got +the chance. + +"You know you can't shut me up, Dick," was his response to Cullen's +oratorical flight. "I'm going to have my say. I don't see why a +Senator shouldn't be honest. All I want them to do is to play a new +game. Let 'em at least seem to be honest, attend to their business, +forget politics. The country sends them here to work, and if they do +the work the people really don't care a hang what party they belong +to." + +"Come out of it, Bud. Your brain is wabbly," yawned Cullen, wearily. +"I'll buy a drink if you'll quiet down. Let's be comfortable till this +fellow Langdon appears." He caught his friend by the arm and in spite +of protest dragged him off to the café just as young Langdon and +Congressman Norton came down through the lobby. + +Though but few years older than Randolph Langdon, Charles Norton +had long exercised strong influence over him because of his wider +experience in the world's affairs. Like his father, young Langdon had +stayed close to the plantation most of his life, particularly after +leaving school, devoting his attention to studying the business of +conducting the family's big estate. Norton brought him the atmosphere +of the big outside world he yearned to see even as did his sister +Carolina, and he imitated Norton's manners, his dress and mode of +speech. The Congressman's habit of confiding in Randolph, a subtle +compliment, was deeply appreciated by the lad, who unconsciously +became a continual advertiser of Norton's many virtues to Carolina and +to his father, all of which the Congressman knew. + +That Norton's political career was the outcome of Carolina Langdon's +ambition to shine in gay society was known to his friends as well as +his family, and his desire to win her and place her where she could +satisfy every whim had developed almost to a frenzy. Seeing evidences +of Senator Stevens' vast influence, he did not hesitate to seek a +close relationship with him, and the Senator was clever enough to lead +Norton to consider him his friend. + +At the start of his political career Norton had higher ideas of honor +than guided his actions now that he had become a part of the political +machine that controlled his native State of Mississippi, and of the +bipartisan combination that dominated both houses of Congress in the +interest of the great railway and industrial corporations. Senator +Stevens and other powers had so distorted Norton's view of the +difference between public and private interests and their respective +rights that he had come to believe captial to be the sacred heritage +of the nation which must be protected at any cost. The acceptance of +a retainer from the C. St. and P. Railroad Company for wholly +unnecessary services in Washington--only another way of buying a +man--a transaction arranged by Senator Stevens, was but another stage +in the disintegration of the young Congressman's character, but it +brought him just that much closer to the point where he could claim +Carolina Langdon as his own. And opportunity does not knock twice at a +man's door--unless he is at the head of the machine. + +Norton, the persevering young law student who loved the girl who had +been his boyhood playmate, was now Norton who coveted her father's +lands, who boasted that he was on the "inside" in Washington, who was +on the way to fortune--if the new Senator from Mississippi would or +could be forced to stand in favor of the Altacoola naval base. + +His conversation with Randolph Langdon, as Haines and Cullen saw them +pass through the hotel lobby, illustrated the nature of the Norton of +the present and his interest in the Altacoola scheme. + +"There's no reason why you shouldn't come in on the ground floor in +this proposition, Randolph," he was urging in continuance of the +conversation begun over a table in the café. "No reason why you +shouldn't do it, my boy. Why, are you still a child, or are you really +a man? You have now drafts for $50,000, haven't you?" + +"Yeah," agreed Langdon, chagrined at Norton's insinuation of +youthfulness and anxious to prove that he was really a man of affairs, +"I've got the fifty thousand, Charlie, but--but, you see, that's the +money for improvements on the plantation. As father has put me in as +manager I want to make a showing." + +"You can't make it until spring," urged Norton. "The money's got to +lie in the bank all winter. Now, why don't you make a hundred thousand +with it instead of letting it lie idle? Isn't that simple?" + +The younger man's eyes opened wide, and his imagination, stimulated by +the special brand of Bourbon whisky Norton had ordered for him, took +rapid bounds. + +"One hundred thousand! You mean I could make a hundred thousand with +my fifty between now and spring?" + +"Sure as a nigger likes gin," replied Norton, confidently. + +"How?" asked Langdon. + +The young Congressman leaned over confidentially. + +"This is under your hat, Randolph. You can keep quiet?" + +Langdon nodded eagerly. + +"Then put it into Altacoola land." + +"The naval base?" gasped Langdon. + +Norton nodded. + +"Now you've hit it. The Government will select Altacoola for a naval +base. Then land will jump 'way up to never, and you'll clean up a +hundred thousand at the least. Isn't it simple? There are, a thousand +people with money who would just love to have this chance. And I'm +giving it to you because of our friendship. I want to do you a good +turn. I've got my money in there." + +Young Langdon was visibly impressed. + +"You've always--treated me right, Charlie; you've been for me, I know. +But suppose the Government doesn't select Altacoola. Gulf City's in +the running." + +Norton laughed sarcastically. + +"Gulf City is a big bunch of mud flats. Besides, I'll tell you +something else. Just between us, remember." He waited for the boy's +eager nod before he went on. "The big men are behind Altacoola. +Standard Steel wants Altacoola, and what Standard Steel wants from +Congress you can bet your bottom dollar Standard Steel gets. They know +their business at No. 10 Broadway. Now, then, are you satisfied?" + +Randolph was more than satisfied. Already he felt himself rich, and +honestly rich, too, for Norton had convinced him that there was no +reason why he should not use the $50,000 of his father's, when it had +to lie in the bank anyhow all winter, and he would have it back in +time to use on the plantation in the spring when it was needed. How +proud of him his father would be when he showed him a clear profit of +$100,000! + +"I'll go get the drafts at once, Charlie, and I'm mighty much obliged +to you," he said, with gratitude in his voice. + +Norton's smile was one of deep satisfaction. + +"That's all right, Randolph. You know I want to do anything I can for +you." + +Randolph was starting for his room when Haines and Cullen turned +sharply around the corner of the hotel desk. Again Bud and the young +Southerner accidentally collided. + +"Where are you going? Can't you look out?" blurted Langdon. + +Haines grinned. + +"Guess it's your fault this time." + +"Oh, it is, is it?" irritably replied Randolph, who as the "young +marse" had been accustomed to considerable deference on the +plantation. "Well, take that," he angrily cried, aiming a savage swing +at Haines. + +The reporter's athletic training proved of ready service. Dodging +under the clenched fist, he turned dexterously, seized young Langdon's +outstretched wrist and bent the arm down over his (Haines') shoulder +as though to throw the young attacker with the wrestler's "flying +mare." Langdon was helpless, as Haines had also secured his free hand, +but instead of completing the "throw" the reporter walked away with +his foe held securely on his back--to put him to bed, a kindly +service, in view of Randolph's mental state. + +From across the lobby Charles Norton had watched Randolph's +discomfiting encounter with Haines with amusement. + +"Now that I've got the young fellow to sew up his old man's money in +Altacoola land," he chuckled, "reckon Senator William H. Langdon won't +see anything wrong with that same noble tract of universe when he +comes to vote for the naval base. Senator Stevens will be pleased." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"JUST THE MAN WE NEED" + + +As Bud Haines returned from young Langdon's room, where he had left +the latter in bed, with a towel filled with cracked ice around his +head, he saw two familiar figures standing in a secluded corner of the +lobby. They were talking earnestly in a low voice. + +"Whew!" whistled the newspaper man. "It must be something important +that brings both the boss of the Senate and Stevens of Mississippi +here." + +"Good-afternoon, Haines. How are you?" Senator Stevens said, +cordially, as, looking up, he saw the newspaper man approaching. +"Senator Peabody, you know Haines, don't you? The brightest young +correspondent in Washington." + +Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania, the leading power in the upper house, +was a man of commanding character and of strong personality. The +fact he used these attributes to advance in the Senate the financial +interests of himself, of Standard Steel and other commercial +organizations met with very little protest in Washington. That he +deserved the title frequently used in referring to him, "boss of the +Senate," none would deny who had knowledge of the inner workings of +the Senate and the various committees. + +Senator Peabody was very affable to the reporters, especially to those +of Haines' stamp, who had never accepted any favors from him and who +opposed his methods. He aimed to win the friendship of these opponents +by diplomacy--as he had found that reporters of the Haines sort could +not be influenced by money. He considered a reporter who would take +a bribe as a constructive, conservative member of society, and +frequently regretted that so many of the correspondents sent to +Washington could not be bought nor had bills they wanted passed or +defeated. He extended his hand to Haines as Stevens concluded and +said, warmly: + +"Of course I know the representative of the _Morning Star_! How do you +do, Haines?" + +"I wonder if we're not all here on the same errand," suggested the +newspaper man. + +Senator Peabody appeared to be all candor. + +"We came to call on Senator Langdon, Senator Stevens' new colleague," +he said. + +Bud Haines opened his eyes wide. "By Jove! Langdon stock is going up +when the chairman of the naval committee drops in to welcome him." + +"You see, Langdon went in on a naval base platform," explained +Stevens. "Our section of the South is red hot in favor of the +Government spending its naval base appropriation right there." + +"Certainly," interrupted Haines, "but--" + +"And, there being a vacancy on the committee on naval affairs," +continued Stevens, whose dignity was offended by the reporter's +interruption, "the friends of Senator Langdon are working to have him +appointed on that committee, because he comes from the State where the +naval base will be located and will, like myself, be more familiar +with the availability of the various sites suggested than a man from +another State." + +Haines nodded. + +"Yes, of course. What town's going to get it, Senator?" + +Senator Stevens paused judiciously. + +"Well," he said, "Altacoola and Gulf City are the chief candidates. I +suppose you had better talk to Langdon about it." + +The reporter smiled. + +"That's just what I came for, Senator, but I have to go up to the War +Department now. When Senator Langdon comes will you be kind enough to +tell him I want to interview him?" + +Stevens bowed cordially. + +"Indeed I shall. I'll tell him he's in luck to have the smartest young +man in Washington on the job." + +"All right," laughed Bud, "only don't make it so strong that he won't +recognize me when he sees me. Good-day." And he hurried away to keep a +belated appointment. + +"Clever boy," said Stevens as the newspaper man disappeared. + +The boss of the Senate agreed. + +"Yes, only I'm not sure it's a good thing for a newspaper man to be +too clever. Spoils his usefulness. Makes him ask too many confounded +questions." + +Stevens acquiesced, for it would never do to disagree with the boss. + +"It's very kind of you, Senator," he began, changing the subject, "to +come with me to welcome the new Senator from my State, my old friend +and colleague." + +An inscrutable smile--a smile, yet a cold one--accompanied Peabody's +answer. + +"I have always found, Stevens," he said, "that a little attention +like this to a new man is never wasted, and I make it a rule not to +overlook opportunities." + +Again the senior Senator from Mississippi acquiesced, and he laughed +heartily at Peabody's keen insight into human nature. + +"I think you'll like Langdon," Stevens remarked after a pause, "and +you'll find him easy to deal with. Just put up any measure for the +benefit of the South and Langdon will go the limit on it. Even a +Republican majority doesn't mind a little Democratic support, you +know. I think he's just the man you can use in this gulf naval base +bill." + +"You can swing him?" asked Peabody, sharply. + +Stevens drew closer to Peabody. + +"I elected him, and he knows it," he chuckled. + +The boss nodded. + +"And it's likely that a man like Langdon, new to politics--a simple +gentleman of the old school, as you describe him--might have +considerable influence on opinion throughout the country." + +Langdon's colleague grasped the arm of the senatorial dictator. + +"He's just the man we want, Senator. He's one of those old fellows you +just have to believe when he talks. He'll do what I suggest, and he +can make the public believe what we think." + +"Then you guarantee him?" snapped the boss. + +"Unreservedly, Senator." + +"All right," said Peabody. "He goes on the naval committee. That ought +to be enough honor for a man who a year ago was growing cotton on an +old plantation miles away from civilization." + +"We have control now of all the land about Altacoola that can be +used," said Stevens. "I have had Norton, the Congressman from +Langdon's district, working on it. There isn't a foot of land there +which we do not now control under options, and," he added, with a +chuckle, "the options were dirt cheap." + +Peabody grunted approvingly. + +"There won't be any New York fortune in it, but it ought to be +a pretty tidy bit," he said. "Now, if we could only get Langdon +interested, directly or indirectly, in a financial way, that would +clinch everything." + +The senior Senator from Mississippi shook his head. + +"It's too risky. He's old-fashioned, you know--has about as much idea +about practical politics as--well, as we have of the Golden Rule. Fact +is, he rather lives by that antiquated standard. That's where we get +him. He owes everything to me, you see, so naturally he'll do anything +I want him to. By the way, there's Norton now. Perhaps he can tell us +something." + +"Call him over," said Peabody. + +Norton had been strolling about the lobby, hoping to be noticed. The +flame had lured the moth, and it liked the manner of the singeing. The +Congressman hurried precipitately across at Stevens' summons. + +"I've been wanting to speak to you, gentlemen," said Norton, full of +the good trick he had turned, "but I didn't like to interrupt you. I +think I've done a big stroke for Altacoola to-day." + +Even Peabody pricked up his ears. + +"Yes?" said both Senators together. + +With a keen sense of the dramatic, the Congressman let his next words +drawl out with full effect. + +"I've got Senator Langdon interested--financially interested," he +said. + +His two hearers exchanged a significant glance. + +"How?" asked Peabody, sharply. + +Norton smiled shrewdly. + +"Well, I just let his son invest $50,000 of the Senator's money in +Altacoola land. That ought to help some." + +Stevens stared in amazement at his Congressman, his eyes threatening +to bulge out of his head. + +"What!" he gasped. "You got Langdon's money in Altacoola, through his +son?" + +"I sure have, Senator," chuckled Norton. "He's in to the extent of +fifty thousand, and I've promised that the fifty shall make a hundred +by spring." + +"It'll make three hundred thousand at least," snapped Peabody. +"Norton, you've done a good day's work. By the way, a New York client +of mine has a little business that I cannot attend to handily. Doesn't +involve much work, and a young, hustling lawyer like you ought to take +charge of it easily. The fee, I should say, would be about $10,000. +Have you the time to undertake it?" + +The Congressman drew a long breath. His eyes beamed with gratitude. + +"I should say I have, Senator. Of course, it won't interfere with any +of my duties as a Congressman." + +Peabody smiled. + +"Of course not, Norton. I see that your sense of humor is improving. +If convenient, run over to New York the last of the week. I'll give +you a card. My client's office is at 10 Broadway." + +The ruler of the Senate nodded a curt dismissal. + +"Thank you, Senator; thank you very much." And Norton bowed and left, +rejoicing. + +Peabody turned to Stevens. + +"You see, even a Congressman can be useful sometimes," remarked +Stevens, dryly. + +"Keep your eye on that young man, Stevens. He's the most valuable +Congressman we've had from your State in a long while. Does just what +he is told and doesn't ask any fool questions. This was good work. +Langdon's on the naval committee now sure. Come, Stevens; let's go to +some quiet corner in the smoking-room. I want to talk to you about +something else the Standard has on hand for you to do." + +Hardly had they departed from the lobby when resounding commotion at +the entrance, followed by the rushing of porters and bellboys and +an expectant pose on the part of the clerk, indicated that the new +Senator from Mississippi had arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE BOSS OF THE SENATE INSPECTS A NEW MEMBER + + +An actor playing the rôle of a high type of Southern planter would +score a decided success by picturing the character exactly after the +fashion of Senator William H. Langdon as he strode to the desk of the +International Hotel. A wide-brimmed black hat thrust back on his head, +a long black perfecto in his mouth, coattails spreading out behind as +he walked, and the "Big Bill" Langdon smile on his face that carried +sunshine and good will wherever he went, he was good to look on, an +inspiration, particularly in Washington. + +Following the Senator were Miss Langdon and Hope Georgia, leading a +retinue of hotel attendants staggering under a large assortment of +luggage. Both beautiful girls, they caused a sensation all of their +own. Carolina, a different type from the younger, had an austere +loveliness denoting pride and birth, a brunette of the quality that +has contributed so much to the fame of Southern women. Hope Georgia, +more girlish, and a vivacious blonde, was the especial pet of her +father, and usually succeeded in doing with him what she chose. + +A real Senator and two such young women handsomely gowned seemed to +take the old hotel back a score of years--back to the times when such +sights were of daily occurrence. The ancient greatness of the now +dingy International lived again. + +"How are you, Senator? Glad to welcome you, sir," was the clerk's +greeting. + +The genial Senator held out his hand. Everybody was his friend. + +"Glad to meet you, sir; glad to meet you," he exclaimed. "Must make +you acquainted with my daughters. This is Miss Carolina Langdon, this +Miss Hope Georgia Langdon." + +The two girls, with their father's idea of courtesy, shook hands with +the clerk, who was not at all taken aback by the unexpected honor. + +Hope Georgia was thoroughly delighted with everything, but Carolina +looked at the worn and faded walls and furnishings with evident +distaste. + +"Oh, this is Washington," murmured Hope Georgia ecstatically, clasping +her hands and gazing at a vista of artificial palms in a corridor. + +"Ah, this is Washington," sighed the new Senator contentedly, as he +gazed across a hall at the biggest and most gorgeous cigar stand he +had ever seen or ever hoped to see--the only new thing added to the +hotel since Grant was President. + +"Truly magnificent establishment you have here, sir; magnificent!" he +exclaimed as an imitation marble column came within his purview. "I +remember my friend Senator Moseley speaking to me of it thirty years +ago. Are our rooms ready?" + +The clerk, hugely pleased, hastened to assure him that everything was +in first-class order, waiting. + +"You better go up, girls, while I look around a bit and sort of get +the hang of things." + +"Yes, I think we had better look around a bit, too, before we decide, +father," said Carolina, diplomatically. + +Her father patted her affectionately on the arm. + +"Now, don't you worry, Carolina. I see you think this place too +expensive from its looks--too good for us. But I tell you the best, +even this, isn't too good for you girls and your dad. Run away, and +I'll come up and see you soon." + +The new Senator leaned his elbow on the desk, surveying the place. + +"I understand this is a favorite haunt for the big men of Washington," +he said. + +The clerk eagerly agreed. + +"Yes, indeed, Senator; we have them all. Senator Peabody and Senator +Stevens were here just a moment ago. Boy, find Senator Peabody and +Senator Stevens and tell them Senator Langdon is here." + +The two Senators came quickly. + +"I'm glad to see you, Langdon; glad to see you," exclaimed Stevens, +with an assumption of effusiveness. "I want to introduce you to +Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania." + +Peabody bowed, and Langdon held out his hand. + +"I'm delighted to meet you, Senator. This is a proud day for me, sir." + +Peabody had put on his smoothest and most polished manner. + +"I came especially to meet you, Senator Langdon," he said. "Although +we are on different sides we may be interested in the same things. I +hope we shall see a great deal of each other." + +Langdon chuckled. + +"That's mighty good of you, Senator. I'm depending on you experienced +fellows to put me through. Don't know much about this lawmaking +business, you know. Raising cotton, arguing the Government and bossing +niggers have been about the extent of my occupation for the last forty +years, so I reckon I'm not much of a practical lawmaker." + +"Oh, you'll learn; you'll learn quickly," assured Peabody. "With +Stevens, here, for a guide you can't go wrong. We all look up to +Stevens. He's one of the powers on your side. He's an able man, is +Stevens." + +The new Senator from Mississippi gladly corroborated this. + +"You're right, sir. A great man! I tell you, when he told that +Legislature what they ought to do, Senator Peabody, they did it. If it +wasn't for Stevens I wouldn't be here now." + +In mock protest the senior Senator from Mississippi raised his hands. + +"Now, now, Langdon, don't say that. Your worth, your integrity, your +character and our old friendship got you the senatorship." + +The old planter laughed gleefully. + +"Sure, Stevens, I have the character and the integrity, but I reckon +the character and integrity wouldn't have done much business if you +hadn't had the Legislature." + +Clearly delighted, Peabody considered it certain that this new Senator +knew just the way he should go and would cause no difficulty. His +keen sense of gratitude made him appreciate how he had been elected. +Peabody literally beamed on Langdon. + +"I hope we shall be able to work a good deal together, Senator," he +said. "I have the interests of the South at heart, particularly with +regard to this new naval base. Perhaps we may be able to get you on +the naval committee." + +"Me!" laughed Langdon. "Well, that would be going strong! But I tell +you I'm for the naval base." + +"For Altacoola?" suggested Stevens. + +Langdon hesitated. Peabody and Stevens watched him as eagles watch +their prey from the mountain crag. + +"Well, it looks to me like Altacoola ought to be a fine site. But the +actual place isn't so important to me. I tell you, gentlemen," he said +in impressive seriousness that rang with sturdy American manhood--"I +tell you that what is important is that the great, sweeping curve of +the gulf shall hold some of those white ships of ours to watch over +the Indies and the canal and to keep an eye on South America. + +"And right there on our own Southern coast I want these ships built +and equipped and the guns cast and the men found to man them. I want +the South to have her part in the nation's defense. I want her to have +this great naval city as the living proof that there is again just +one country--the United States--and the North and the South both have +forgiven." + +Senator Peabody clapped the new member on the back. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "You've got to make some speeches like that. +We'll have you as the orator for the naval base." + +Langdon's eyes opened wide. + +"Orator!" he gasped. "Me! An orator!" + +"Why, that was oratory, good oratory," exclaimed Stevens, with +enthusiasm. + +"Huh!" grunted the planter. "You call that oratory. Why, that was only +the truth." + +"We'll see that you do some more of it, then," laughed Peabody. +"Remember, we count on you for the naval base." + +"For rural simplicity he's perfection," whispered Peabody to Stevens +as they left the planter. "He's a living picture of innocence. We'll +push him forward and let him do the talking for the naval affairs +committee. Hiding behind him, we could put through almost any kind of +a proposition." + +Once more did the senior Senator from Mississippi acquiesce. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +NEW FRIENDS--AND AN OLD ENEMY + + +Langdon gazed at the two departing Senators with varied emotions. He +sat down to think over what they had said and to carefully consider +what manner of man was Peabody, who showed such an interest in him. He +realized that he would have considerable intercourse with Peabody in +the processes of legislation, and finally had to admit to himself +that he did not like the Senator from Pennsylvania. Just what it was +Langdon could not at this time make certain, but he was mystified by +traces of contradictions in the Senator's character--slight traces, +true, but traces nevertheless. Peabody's cordiality and sympathy were +to Langdon's mind partly genuine and partly false. Just what was the +cause of or the necessity for the alloy in the true metal he could not +fathom. + +His talk with these famous lawmakers was unsatisfactory also in that +it had conveyed to Langdon the suggestion that the Senate was not +primarily a great forum for the general and active consideration of +weighty measures and of national policies. It had been his idea that +the Senate was primarily such a forum, but the attitude of Peabody +and Stevens had hinted to him that there were matters of individual +interest that outweighed public or national considerations. For +instance, they were anxious that Altacoola should have the naval base +regardless of the claims or merits of any other section. That was +unusual, puzzling to Langdon. Moreover, it was poor business, yet +there were able business men in the Senate. Not one of them would, +for instance, think of buying a site for a factory until he had +investigated many possible locations and then selected the most +favorable one. Why was it, he pondered, that the business of the great +United States of America was not conducted on business lines? + +He must study the whole question intelligently; that was imperative. +He must have advice, help. To whom was he to go for it? Stevens? Yes, +his old friend, who knew all "the ropes." Yet even Stevens seemed +different in Washington than Stevens in Mississippi. Here he played +"second fiddle." He was even obsequious, Langdon had observed, to +Peabody. In Mississippi he was a leader, and a strong one, too. But +Senator Langdon had not yet learned of the many founts from which +political strength and political leadership may be gained. + +What he finally decided on was the engaging of a secretary, but he +must be one with knowledge of political operations, one who combined +wisdom with honesty. Such an aid could prevent Langdon from making the +many mistakes that invariably mark the new man in politics, and he +could point out the most effective modes of procedure under given +circumstances. It might prove difficult to find a man of the necessary +qualifications who was not already employed, but in the meantime +Langdon would watch the playing of the game himself and make his own +deductions as best he could. + +The Senator started toward the hotel desk to ask regarding the +whereabouts of his son Randolph, when his attention was caught by the +sight of three powerful negro porters endeavoring to thrust outdoors +a threadbare old man. The victim's flowing white hair, white mustache +and military bearing received short shrift. + +"Come along, Colonel! Yo' can't sit heah all day. Them chairs is for +the guests in the hotel," the head porter was urging as he jerked the +old man toward the door. + +The Mississippian's fighting blood was instantly aroused at such +treatment of a respectable old white man by negroes. His lips tightly +compressed as he hurried to the rescue. He cried sharply: + +"Take your hands off that gentleman! What do you mean by touching a +friend of mine?" + +The negroes stepped back amazed. + +"'Scuse me, Senator, is this gent'man a friend of yours?" the head +porter gasped apologetically. + +Langdon looked at him. + +"You heard what I said," he drawled in the slow way natural to some +men of the South when trouble threatens. "I'd like to have you down in +Mississippi for about ten minutes." + +The head porter turned quickly on his assistants and drove them away, +shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Get about yo' wuk. How dare yo' intehfere wid a friend of de +Senator's? I'll teach yo' to be putting yoh nose in where it ain't got +no business." + +The old man, astonished at the turn of events, came forward +hesitatingly to Langdon. + +"I'm very much obliged to you, sir," he said. "I'm Colonel Stoneman, +an old soldier." + +The Mississippian stretched forth his hand. + +"My name is Langdon, sir--Senator Langdon of Mississippi. I am an old +soldier, too." + +"Delighted, Senator," exclaimed the seedy-looking old man, taking the +offered hand gratefully. + +Langdon's easy method of making friends was well illustrated as he +clapped his new companion on the back. Everybody he met was the +Mississippian's friend until he had proved himself the contrary. That +had been his rule through life. + +"Come right over, Colonel; have a cigar, sir." Then, as they lighted +their cigars, he inquired, "What army corps were you with, Colonel?" + +"I was under Grant along the Tennessee," replied the old G.A.R. man. + +Familiarity with a Senator was something new for him, and already he +was straightening up and becoming more of a man every moment. Langdon +was thoroughly interested. + +"I was along the Tennessee under Beauregard," he said. + +"Great generals, sir! Great generals!" exclaimed Colonel Stoneman. + +"And great fighting, I reckon!" echoed the Confederate. "You remember +the battle of Crawfordsville?" + +The old Federal smiled with joyous recollection. + +"Do I? Well, I should say I did! Were you there, Senator?" + +"Was I there? Why, I remember every shot that was fired. I was under +Kirby, who turned your left wing." + +The attitude of the Northern soldier changed instantly. He drew +himself up with cold dignity. Plainly he felt that he had the honor of +his army to sustain. + +"Our left wing was never turned, sir!" he exclaimed with dignity. + +Langdon stared at him with amazement. This was a point of view the +Confederate had never heard before. + +"Never turned!" he gasped. "Don't tell me that! I was there, and, +besides, I've fought this battle on an average of twice a week ever +since '65 down in Mississippi, and in all these years I never heard +such a foolish statement." + +"What rank were you, sir?" asked the Union soldier, haughtily. + +"I was a captain that morning," confessed the Southerner. + +His old enemy smiled with superiority. + +"As a colonel I've probably got more accurate information," he said. + +"I was a colonel that evening," came the dry retort. + +"But in an inferior army. We licked you, sir!" cried Stoneman, hotly. + +The Mississippian drew himself up with all the dignity common to the +old Confederate soldier explaining the war. + +"The South was never whipped, sir. We honorably surrendered, sir. We +surrendered to save the country, sir, but we were never whipped." + +"Did you not run at Kenyon Hill?" taunted Stoneman. + +Langdon brought down his fist in the palm of the other hand violently. + +"Yes, sir; we ran at you. I ought to remember. I got my wound there. +You remember that long lane--" He pulled off his hat and threw it on +the floor, indicating it with one hand--"Here was the Second Alabama." + +The hat of the old Federal dropped on the floor opposite the hat of +the Confederate. + +"And here the Eighth Illinois," exclaimed Stoneman. + +Langdon excitedly seized a diminutive bellboy passing by and planted +him alongside his hat. + +"Stay there a moment, sonny," he cried. "You are the Fourth Virginia." + +The newspaper Stoneman was carrying came down opposite the startled +bellboy, who was trying not to appear frightened. + +"This is the clump of cedars," he exclaimed. + +Both, in their eagerness, were bending down over their improvised +battle plan, their heads close together. + +"And here a farmhouse beside your cedars," cried Langdon. + +"That's where the rebels charged us," echoed the Union man. + +Langdon brought down his fist again with emphatic gesture. + +"You bet we charged you! The Third Mississippi charged you! I charged +you, sir!" + +Stoneman nodded. + +"I remember a young fool of a Johnnie reb dashing up the hill fifty +yards ahead of his men, waving his sword and yelling like a wild +Indian." + +The Southerner straightened up. + +"Well, where in thunderation would you expect me to be, sir?" he +exclaimed. "Behind them? I got my wound there. Laid me up for three +months; like to have killed me." + +Then a new idea struck him. "Why, Colonel, it must have been a bullet +from one of your men--from your regiment, sir!" + +The old Northerner pushed his fingers through his hair and shook his +head apologetically. + +"Why, Senator, I'm afraid it was," he hesitated. + +Langdon's eyes were big with the afterglow of a fighter discussing the +mighty struggles of the past, those most precious of all the jewels in +the treasure store of a soldier's memory. + +"Why, it might have been a bullet fired by you, sir," he cried. "It +might be that you were the man who almost killed me. Why, confound +you, sir, I'm glad to meet you!" + +Each old veteran of tragic days gone by had quite unconsciously +awakened a responsive chord in the heart of the other. A Senator and +a penniless old "down and outer" are very much the same in the human +scale that takes note of the inside and not the outside of a man. +And they fell into each other's arms then and there, for what strong +fighter does not respect another of his kind? + +There they stood, arms around each other, clapping each other on the +back, actually chortling in the pure ecstasy of comradeship, now +serious, again laughing, when on the scene appeared Bud Haines, the +correspondent, who had returned to interview the new Senator from +Mississippi. + +"Great heavens!" ejaculated the newspaper man. "A Senator, a United +States Senator, hugging a broken-down old 'has-been!' What is the +world coming to?" Haines suddenly paused. "I wonder if it can be a +pose;--merely for effect. It's getting harder every day to tell what's +genuine and what isn't in this town." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LANGDON LEARNS OF THINGS UNPLEASANT + + +Haines quickly walked over and touched the Southerner on the arm. + +"Well, my boy, what can I do for you?" asked the new Senator, turning +with a pleasant smile. + +"My name is Haines. Senator Stevens was to speak to you about me. I'm +the first of the newspaper correspondents come to interview you." + +Langdon's familiar smile broadened. + +"Well, you don't look as though you'd bite. Reckon I can stand for it. +Is it very painful?" + +"I hope it won't be, Senator," Haines said, feeling instinctively that +he was going to like this big, hearty citizen. + +"All right, Mr. Haines, just as soon as I've said good-by to my old +friend, Colonel Stoneman, I'll be with you." + +And to his continued amazement Haines saw the Senator walk away with +the old Union Colonel, slap him on the back, cheer him up and finally +bid him good-by after extending a cordial invitation to come around to +dinner, meet his daughters and talk over old times. + +The antiquated Federal soldier marched away more erect, more brisk, +than in years, completely restored to favor in the eyes of the hotel +people. Langdon turned to the reporter. + +"All right, Mr. Haines; my hands are up. Do your worst. Senator +Stevens spoke to me about you; said you were the smartest young +newspaper man in Washington. You must come from the South." + +Bud shook his head. + +"No, just New York," he said. + +"Well, that's a promising town," drawled the Southerner. "They tell me +that's the Vicksburg of the North." + +"I suppose you haven't been to New York of late, Senator?" suggested +the newspaper man. + +"Well, I started up there with General Lee once," responded Langdon +reminiscently, "but we changed our minds and came back. You may have +heard about that trip." + +Haines admitted that he had. + +"Since that time," went on Langdon, "I've confined my travels to New +Orleans and Vicksburg. Ever been in New Orleans about Mardi Gras time, +Mr. Haines?" + +"Sorry, but I don't believe I have," confessed the reporter +reluctantly. + +The Senator seemed surprised. + +"Well, sir, you have something to live for. I'll make it my special +business to personally conduct you through one Mardi Gras, with a +special understanding, of course, that you don't print anything in the +paper. I'm a vestryman in my church, but since misfortune has come +upon our State I have to be careful." + +Haines searched his brain. He knew of no grave calamity that had +happened recently in Mississippi. + +"Misfortune?" he questioned. + +Senator Langdon nodded. + +[Illustration: "FROM NEW YORK, EH? THE VICKSBURG OF THE NORTH,"] + +"Yes, sir, the great old State of Mississippi went prohibition at the +last election. I don't know how it happened. We haven't found anybody +in the State that says he voted for it, but the fact is a fact. I +assure you, Mr. Haines, that prohibition stops at my front door, in +Mississippi. So I've been living a quiet life down on my plantation." + +"This new life will be a great change for you, then?" suggested the +reporter. + +"Change! It's revolutionary, sir! When you've expected to spend your +old days peacefully in the country, Mr. Haines, suddenly to find that +your State has called on you--" + +A flavor of sarcasm came into Haines' reply. + +"The office seeking the man?" He could not help the slight sneer. Was +a man never to admit that he had sought the office? Haines knew only +too well of the arduous work necessary to secure nominations for high +office in conventions and to win an election to the Senate from a +State Legislature. In almost every case, he knew, the candidate must +make a dozen different "deals" to secure votes, might promise the same +office to two or three different leaders, force others into line +by threats, send a trusted agent to another with a roll of bank +bills--the recipient of which would immediately conclude that this +candidate was the only man in the State who could save the nation from +destruction. Had not Haines seen men who had sold their unsuspecting +delegates for cash to the highest bidder rise in the convention hall +and in impassioned, dramatic voice exclaim in praise of the buyer, +"Gentlemen, it would be a crying shame, a crime against civilization, +if the chosen representatives of our grand old State of ---- did not +go on record in favor of such a man, such a true citizen, such an +inspired patriot, as he whose name I am about to mention"? So +the reporter may be forgiven for the ironical tinge in his hasty +interruption of the new Senator's remarks. + +Langdon could not suppress a chuckle at the doubting note in Haines' +attitude. + +"I think the man would be pretty small potatoes who wouldn't seek the +office of United States Senator, Mr. Haines," he said, "if he could +get it. When I was a young man, sir, politics in the South was a +career for a gentleman, and I still can't see how he could be better +engaged than in the service of his State or his country." + +"That's right," agreed the reporter, further impressed by the frank +sincerity of the Mississippian. + +"The only condition in my mind, Mr. Haines, is that the man should ask +himself searchingly whether or not he's competent to give the service. +But I seem to be talking a good deal. Suppose we get to the interview. +Expect your time is short. We'd better begin." + +"I thought we were in the interview?" smiled the correspondent. + +"In it!" exclaimed Langdon. "Well, if this is it, it isn't so bad. I +see you use a painless method. When I was down in Vicksburg a reporter +backed me up in a corner, slipped his hand in his hip pocket and +pulled out a list of questions just three feet four inches long. + +"He wanted to know what I thought concerning the tariff on aluminium +hydrates, and how I stood about the opening of the Tento Pu +Reservation of the Comanche Indians, and what were my ideas about the +differential rate of hauls from the Missouri River. + +"He was a wonder, that fellow! Kinder out of place on a Mississippi +paper. I started to offer him a job, but he was so proud I was afraid +he wouldn't accept it. However, it gives you my idea of a reporter." + +"If you've been against that, I ought to thank you for talking to me," +laughed Haines. + +"Then you don't want to know anything about that sort of stuff?" said +Langdon, with a huge sigh of relief. + +"No, Senator," was the amused reply. "I think generally if I know what +sort of a man a man is I can tell a great deal about what he will +think on various questions." + +Langdon started interestedly. + +"You mean, Mr. Haines, if you know whether I'm honest or not you can +fit me up with a set of views. Is that the idea? Seems to me you're +the sort of man I'm looking for." + +The other smilingly shook his head. + +"I wouldn't dare fix up a United States Senator with a set of views," +he said. "I only mean that I think what a man is is important. I've +been doing Washington for a number of years. I've had an exceptional +opportunity to see how politics work. I don't believe in party +politics. I don't believe in parties, but I do believe in men." + +Langdon nodded approvingly, then a twinkle shone in his eyes. + +"We don't believe in parties in Mississippi," he drawled. "We've only +one--the Democratic party,--and a few kickers." + +Haines grinned broadly at this description of Southern politics. + +"What was this you were saying about national politics?" continued +the Mississippian. "I'm a beginner, you know, and I'm always ready to +learn." + +"This is a new thing--a reporter teaching a Senator politics," laughed +Haines. + +Senator Langdon joined in the merriment. + +"I reckon reporters could teach United States Senators lots of things, +Mr. Haines, if the Senators had sense enough to go to school. Now, I +come up here on a platform the chief principle of which is the naval +base for the gulf. Now, how are we going to put that through? My State +wants it." + +"You're probably sure it will be a wonderful thing for the country and +the South," suggested Haines. + +"Of course." + +"But why do you think most of the Congressmen and Senators will vote +for it?" + +The Southerner took off his hat, leaned back and gazed across the +lobby thoughtfully. + +"Seems to me the benefit to the South and country would be sufficient +reason, Mr. Haines," he finally replied. + +The newspaper man's brain worked rapidly. Going over the entire +conversation with Langdon and what he had seen of him, he was certain +that the Mississippian believed what he said--that, moreover, the +belief was deeply rooted. His long newspaper training had educated +Haines in the ways of men, their actions and mental processes--what +naturally to expect from a given set of circumstances. He felt a +growing regard, an affection, for this unassuming old man before +him, who did not know and probably would be slow to understand the +hypocrisy, the cunning trickery of lawmakers who unmake laws. + +"Sufficient reason for you, Senator," Haines added. "You have not been +in politics very long, have you?" he queried dryly. + +A wry smile wrinkled the Mississippian's face. + +"Been in long enough to learn some unpleasant things I didn't know +before." He remembered Martin Sanders. + +"Will you allow me to tell you a few more?" asked Haines. + +Langdon inclined his head in acquiescence. "Reckon I'd better know the +worst and get through with it." + +"Well, then, Senator, somebody from Nebraska will vote for what you +want in the way of the naval base because he'll think then you'll help +him demand money to dredge some muddy creek that he has an interest +in. + +"Somebody in Pennsylvania will vote for it because he owes a grudge +and wants to hurt the Philadelphia ship people. + +"You'll get the Democrats because it's for the South, but if your bill +was for the west coast they might fight it tooth and nail, even with +the Japanese fleet cruising dangerously near. + +"And the Republicans may vote for it because they see a chance to +claim glory and perhaps break the solid South in the next presidential +campaign. You catch the idea?" + +"What!" exclaimed the astounded Langdon. "Well, who in hades will vote +for it because it's for the good of the United States?" he gasped. + +"I believe you will, Senator," replied Haines, with ready confidence. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOW SENATOR LANGDON GETS A SECRETARY + + +Langdon leaned over and seized the arm of his interviewer. + +"See here, young man, why aren't you in politics?" he said. + +"Too busy, Senator," replied Haines. "Besides, I like the newspaper +game." + +"Game?" queried Langdon. + +"Oh, I use the word in a general sense, Senator," replied Haines. +"Pretty much everything is a 'game'--society, politics, newspaper +work, business of every sort. Men and women make 'moves' to meet the +moves of other men and women. Why, even in religion, the way some +people play a--" + +The speaker was interrupted by the appearance of Hope Georgia, who was +searching for her father. + +"Stay here and listen to what a hard task your old father has got," +said the Mississippian to his daughter, whom he presented to Haines +with a picturesque flourish reminiscent of the pride and chivalry of +the old South. "He has the idea that those New Yorkers who read his +paper would actually like to know something about me." + +Hope Georgia stole many glances at the reporter as he talked with her +father. He made a deep impression on her young mind. She had spent +almost all her life on the plantation, her father providing her with +a private tutor instead of sending her to boarding-school, where her +elder sister had been educated. Owing to the death of her mother the +planter had desired to keep Hope Georgia at home for companionship. +This good-looking, clean-cut, well-built young man who was taking +so big and so active a part of the world's work brought to her the +atmosphere that her spirit craved. He gave one an impression of +ability, of earnestness, of sincerity, and she was glad that her +father approved of him. + +Hope Georgia, by the same token, did not escape the attention of the +interviewer. Her appealing charm of face and figure was accentuated +by her daintiness and a fleeting suggestion of naïveté in poise and +expression when she was amused. His first glance revealed to Haines +that her eyes were gray, the gray that people say indicates the +possessor to have those priceless qualities--the qualities that make +the sweetest women true, that make the maiden's eyes in truth the +windows of her soul, the qualities that make women womanly. + +She sat close to her father, her hand in his, listening intently to +the unfolding of a story of what to her was a mysterious world--the +man's world, the strong man's world--which many a woman would give her +all to enter and play a part therein. + +"What else have you against a political career, Mr. Haines?" went on +the Senator, taking up their conversation. + +"Well, my age, for one thing. I haven't any gray hairs." + +Langdon waved this objection aside. + +"I might arrange to pool ages with you. Sometimes I think we want +young men in politics, like you." + +The reporter shook his head. + +"Old in age and young in politics, like you, Senator Langdon," he +replied. "Politics I sometimes think is pure hypocrisy and sometimes +something worse. A man gets disgusted with the trickery and dishonesty +and corruption." + +"Then," drawled Langdon, "the thing to do is to jump in and stop it! I +read in the newspapers a great deal about corruption. The gentlemen +in national politics whom I have had the honor of knowing--Senator +Moseley, an intimate friend of thirty years; my present colleague, +Senator Stevens, and others--have been as honest as the day is long." + +"But the days do get short in November, when Congress meets, don't +they?" laughed Haines, rising. "I'm afraid I've taken too much of your +time, and I seem to have talked a lot." + +Langdon was amused. + +"Does look like I'd been interviewing you. I reckon each one of us has +got a pretty good notion of what the other man's like. I wanted it +that way, and I like you, Mr. Haines. I've got a proposition to make +to you. They tell me I'll need a secretary. Now, I think I need just +such a young man as you. I don't know just exactly what the work would +be or what the financial arrangements should be, but I think you and +I would make a pretty good team. I wish you'd come." He turned to his +daughter, with a smile. "What do you think of that, Hope Georgia? +Isn't your dad right?" + +Smiling her approval, the young girl squeezed her father's hand in her +enthusiasm. + +"I think it's a splendid idea, dad; just great! Won't you come, Mr. +Haines? We--eh--I--I know my father would like to have you." + +As he stood before his two new-found friends--for such Haines now +considered the Mississippian and his daughter--he could not suppress +feelings of surprise tinged with uncertainty. He had, like other +newspaper men, received offers of employment from politicians who +desired to increase their influence with the press. Sometimes the +salary offered had been large, the work so light that the reporter +could "earn" the money and yet retain his newspaper position, a +scantily disguised species of bribery, which had wrecked the careers +of several promising reporters well known to Haines, young men who had +been thus led into "selling their columns" by unscrupulous machine +dictators. + +Haines knew that the Mississippian had no ulterior purpose to serve in +his offer, yet he must have time to think over the proposal. + +"I thank you, Senator," he finally said. "I appreciate the +opportunity, coming from you, but I've never thought of giving up the +newspaper profession. It's a fascinating career, one that I am too +fond of to leave." + +Langdon started to reply, when a delightfully modulated Southern voice +interrupted: + +"Father, I've been out with Mrs. Spangler to look for some other +rooms. I don't like this hotel, and I found some that I do like." + +Haines turned to see a handsomely gowned young woman who had the +stamp of a patrician's daughter in her bearing and her countenance--a +brunette, with delicate features, though determination shone in her +eyes and appeared in the self-contained poise of her head. She was +the imperious type of beauty and suggested to Haines the dry point +etchings of Paul Helleu. He instinctively conceived her to be +intensely ambitious, and of this Haines was soon to have unexpected +evidence. Gazing at her with a sense of growing admiration, Haines +gave an involuntary start as Senator Langdon spoke. + +"My daughter, Miss Carolina Langdon, Mr. Haines," said the Senator. + +Carolina was interested. + +"Are you the newspaper man who is interviewing father? I hope you'll +do a nice one. We want him to be a successful and popular Senator. +We'd like to help him if we could." + +The correspondent bowed. + +"I should say you certainly would help him to be a popular Senator," +he declared, emphatically, failing to notice that Hope Georgia was +somewhat annoyed at the enthusiasm displayed over her elder sister. In +fact, Hope Georgia was suffering a partial, if not total, eclipse. + +"I'm leaving it to Mr. Haines to put down the things I ought to say," +broke in the Senator. "He knows." + +"Yes, he knows everything about Washington, Carolina," exclaimed Hope +Georgia, spiritedly. + +The older girl spoke eagerly. + +"I wish you'd interview me, Mr. Haines. Ask me how I like Washington. +I feel as though I must tell some one just how much I do like it! It +is too wonderful!" + +"I'd like mighty well to interview you, Miss Langdon," +enthusiastically exclaimed Haines. + +"I hope you will some time, Mr. Haines," remarked Carolina, as she +said good-by. + +Watching her as she turned away, Haines saw her extend a warm greeting +to Congressman Charles Norton, who had advanced toward the group. + +[Illustration: "STRANGE HOW THE LANGDONS TREAT HIM AS A FRIEND."] + +"Strange how the Langdons treat him as a friend--intimate one, too," +he thought. "What if they should learn of Norton's questionable +operations at the Capitol; of his connection with two unsavory +'deals,' one of which resulted in an amendment to the pure food law so +that manufacturers of a valueless 'consumption cure' could continue to +mislead the victims of the 'white plague'; Norton, who had uttered an +epigram now celebrated in the tap-rooms of Washington, 'The paths of +glory lead but to the graft.'" + +"Miss Langdon is very beautiful and attractive, sir," said Haines, +resuming with the Senator. + +"Yes," drawled the Mississippian. "Girls in the South generally are." + +"Well, I must be going. I'll think about your secretaryship, Senator +Langdon. Perhaps I can find some one." + +"Wish you'd think about it for yourself," observed the Senator, while +Hope Georgia again nodded approval. "It would be a hard job. There +are so many matters of political detail about which I am sadly +inexperienced that really most of the work would fall on the +secretary." + +Bud Haines paused. Again he thought over Langdon's offer. Its +genuineness appealed to him. Suddenly there dawned on him an idea of +just what it might mean to be associated with this honest old citizen +who had asked for his help--who needed it, as Haines knew only too +well. He would be the Senator's guide and confidant--his adviser +in big matters. Why, he would practically be United States Senator +himself. He knew the "inside" as few others in Washington. Here was +a chance to match his wit against that of Peabody, the boss of the +Senate; a chance to spoil some of the dishonest schemes of those who +were adroitly "playing the game." He could bother, too, the intriguing +members of the "third house," as the lobbyists are called. + +He could direct a lightning bolt into the camp of Andy Corrigan, +who claimed the honor of being "speaker of the third house." These +thoughts crowded into his mind. Then, too, he would become practically +a member of the Langdon family and have association with the two +charming daughters--with Carolina Langdon. + +"It would be a great chance," he murmured half aloud; "next thing to +being a Senator." + +The old Mississippian heard the young man's words. + +"I reckon it would," he drawled, in agreement. + +"You feel sure you want me?" urged the other. + +Langdon chuckled. + +"I asked you," he said. + +Haines came abruptly to decision. + +"I've thought it over, Senator, and it seems to me it will be a great +chance in every way. I'll accept. We'll fix it up to-morrow, and I'll +try to make you a good secretary." + +Langdon held forth his hand. + +"And I'll try to make you a good Senator, my boy. Fix up nothing +to-morrow. Your duties begin to-night. You are to come to dinner with +me and my daughters." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A NEW KIND OF POLITICAL PARTNERSHIP + + +The combination of the forces of Langdon and Haines did not find much +favor among the powers that are--at the Capitol. Senator Peabody +peremptorily demanded an explanation from Stevens as to how he had +allowed "his Senator" to engage as his secretary "this inquisitive man +Haines, a reporter who didn't know his place." + +"Here we've put Langdon on naval affairs because we knew he didn't +understand what's going on, and you, Stevens, supposed to be the +finished, product of the political mill, _you_ fall asleep and let +him take up a man whom nobody can control, one who knows the inside +workings of Washington and who will take par-tic-u-lar pleasure in +teaching your fellow Mississippian far too much for our good." + +Stevens' reply, to effect that probably Haines would consent to +be "taken care of" if judiciously approached, was derided by the +observant Peabody. "A young reformer grows fat on notoriety," he +laughed, "and think what a scandal he would have for his newspaper if +we took a chance on disclosing our hand to him. No, no, Stevens; we +must have him watched and try to discredit him in some way. Perhaps we +can make Langdon believe that his secretary is dishonest." + +Congressman Norton was another man who was dismayed at the formation +of the firm of Langdon and Haines. Young Randolph, too, could not +forget the defeat and humiliation he had previously suffered at +Haines' hands and grew more bitter as the reporter's influence over +his father grew stronger. But Haines' most effective enemy had arisen +in the person he would be the last to suspect; one whom he unceasingly +admired, one whose very words he had come to cherish. And possibly +it was not all her own fault that Carolina Langdon had enlisted her +services, subtle and quite overwhelming (owing to Haines' fervent +worship of her), against the secretary. Perhaps the social system of +which she had become a part in Washington had something to do with the +craving to become a leader in that fascinating world whose dazzling +variety and infinite diversion seemed to fill her soul with all +that it yearned for. Love she had, for she had now promised to wed +Congressman Norton. She loved him fondly, she had confessed to him, +and gradually she came to work desperately against Haines, who, +she had been convinced by Norton and Randolph, would prove a +stumbling-block to them, to her father, to herself in her career at +the capital, if his influence over the Senator should be permitted to +exist or to increase. And so on the surface Carolina Langdon was most +amiable to the secretary, encouraged him in his attentions to her, led +him surely into her power, Norton having prevailed, on her to keep the +knowledge of their engagement secret from every one, even her father. + +The days and nights became filled with important work for Senator +Langdon and his secretary. Together they went over the important +measures, outlined what appeared to be the best course of procedure, +and carried it into effect as far as possible. Langdon became a +prominent figure in the Senate, owing to his consistent support of +measures that fitted in with the public policy, or what should be the +public policy, of the nation. He had learned that the only practicable +way to outwit or to cope with the members of the dominating machine, +made up, he was surprised to see, of members of both the parties--the +only two in Washington--was to oppose what the machine wanted with +enough power to force it to grant him what he believed the public +ought to have. He was described by some of the hide-bound "insiders" +on Capitol Hill as "the only brainy man who had fought the machine in +thirty years." + +At the home he had later established in Washington as preferable +to the International Hotel were frequently seen a small coterie of +Senators and Congressmen who had become known to the sarcastic party +bosses in both houses of Congress as the "Langdon crowd," which crowd +was admitted to be somewhat a factor when it finally prevailed on the +President to take over 11,000 postmasters from the appointment class +and put them under the control of the Civil Service Commission, +resulting in the necessity of a competitive examination for these +postmasters instead of their securing positions through political +favoritism. + +Those who did not know Langdon intimately suggested that "this fellow +ought to be 'taken care of.' What in God's name does he want? A +committee chairmanship? An ambassadorship for some Mississippi +charcoal burner? A couple of Federal judgeships for his friends? Well, +whatever it is, give it to him and get him in with the rest of us!" + +Again it was Peabody who had the deciding say. + +"There's only one thing worse than a young reformer, and that's an old +one," he laughed bitterly at a secret conclave at his apartment in the +luxurious Louis Napoleon Hotel. "The young one thinks he is going to +live and wants our future profits for himself. The old one thinks he's +going to die, and he's sore at leaving so much graft behind him." + +Heads and hearts thinking and throbbing together, Langdon and his +secretary had learned to lean on each other, the young gaining +inspiration from the old, the old gaining strength from the young. +They loved each other, and, more than any love, they trusted one +another. And Hope Georgia watched it all and rejoiced, for she +believed with all the accrued erudition of eighteen years of innocent +girlhood that Mr. Bud Haines was quite the finest specimen of young +manhood this world had ever produced. How could he have happened? She +was sure that she had never met his equal, not even in that memorable +week she had spent in Jackson. + +The passing weeks taught Haines that he was deeply in love with +Carolina, and, though he had endeavored to keep the knowledge of this +from her, her woman's intuition had told her his secret, and she +stifled the momentary regrets that flitted into her mind, because she +was now in "the game" herself, the Washington game, that ensnares the +woman as well as the man and makes her a slave to its fancy. No one +but herself and Norton knew how deeply she had "plunged" on a certain +possible turn of the political cards. She must not, she could not, +lose if life itself were to remain of value to her, and on her sway +over this secretary she was told it all depended. + +A subject that for some unexplained reason frequently lodged in +Haines' mind was that of the apparent assiduity with which Mrs. +Spangler cultivated Senator Langdon's friendship. For several years +she had occupied a high social position at the capital, he well knew, +but various indefinite, intangible rumors he had heard, he could not +state exactly where, had made him regret her growing intimacy with +the girls and with the Senator. They had met her through letters of +introduction of the most trustworthy and assuring character from +people of highest social rank in Virginia, where the Langdons had many +friends; but even so, Haines realized, people who write introductory +letters are sometimes thoughtless in considering all the circumstances +of the parties they introduce, and residents of Virginia who had not +been in the capital for years might be forgiven for not knowing of +all the more recent developments in the lives of those they knew +in Washington. While not wishing to have the Senator know of his +intention, the secretary determined to investigate Mrs. Spangler and +her present mode of life at his first opportunity, hoping the while +that his quest would reveal her to be what the Langdons considered +her--a widow of wealth, fashion and reserve who resided at the capital +because the memories of her late husband, a former Congressman of high +standing, were associated with it. + +Calling at the Langdons' house one evening in February to receive +directions regarding important work for the next day, Haines was +somewhat puzzled at the peculiar smile on the Senator's face. +Answering the secretary's look of inquiry, the Mississippian said: + +"I've been told that I can name the new holder of a +five-thousand-dollar-a-year position in the Department of Commerce +and Labor, and that if I have no one in particular from my State to +name--that--that you would be a good man for the job. First I was +glad for your sake, my boy, for if you wanted it you could have the +position. But on thinking it over it seemed there might be something +behind it not showing on the surface." + +"It's a trick," said Haines. "Who made the offer?" + +"Senator Stevens." + +"I might have known," hotly responded the secretary. "There's a crowd +that wants you and me separated. Thought this bait too much for me to +resist, did they?" Then he paused, rubbing his fingers through his +hair in a perplexed manner. "Strange, isn't it, Senator, that a man +of your party is offered this desirable piece of patronage, entirely +unsolicited on your part, from the administration of another, a +different political party? Especially when that other party has so +many hungry would-be 'tax eaters' clamoring to enter the 'land of milk +and honey.' I think Stevens deliberately--" + +"There, there, Bud," broke in Langdon, "you mustn't say anything +against Senator Stevens to me. True, he associates with some folks I +don't approve of, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything wrong, +and I myself have always found him thoroughly honest." + +"Yes," muttered the secretary, following the Senator into the library, +"you've always found him honest because you think everybody's +honest--but Stevens is just the doctor who will cure you of this +ailment--this chronic trustfulness." + +Haines laughed softly. "When Peabody's little Stevie gets through +hacking at the prostrate body of political purity his two-handed sword +of political corruption will need new edges." + +Thus far neither the Senator nor his secretary had suspicion of any +questionable deal in regard to the gulf naval base. The rush of other +events, particularly the fight over the reduction of the tariff, had +pushed this project temporarily into the background so far as they +were concerned, though the "boss of the Senate" and his satellites had +been losing no time in perfecting their plans regarding the choice of +Altacoola as the site. + +Peabody and Stevens had ingeniously exploited Langdon at every +possible opportunity in relation to the naval base. Asked about new +developments in the committee on naval affairs, the ready answer was: +"Better see Senator Langdon. He knows all about the naval base; has +the matter in full charge. I really know little about it." + +So, by hiding behind the unsuspecting old hero of Crawfordsville, they +diverted from themselves any possible suspicion and placed Langdon +where he would have to bear the brunt of the great scandal that +would, they well knew, come out at some future time--after their foul +conspiracy against the nation had been consummated, after the fruits +of their betrayal had been secured. + +What, after all, the schemers concluded, is the little matter of an +investigation among Senators to guilty Senators who, deeply versed +in the law, have destroyed every compromising document that could be +admissible as evidence? + +Why, the Senate would appoint an investigating committee and +investigate itself, would it not, when the ridiculous scandal came? + +And what Senator would fear himself, or for himself, as he +investigated himself, when the blame had already been put publicly on +some one else, some simple-minded old soul who could go back to his +cotton fields in Mississippi and forget all about it, strong in his +innocence, even though shorn of reputation, and desire to live? + + + + +CHAPTER X + +WHEN SENATORS DISAGREE + + +The wiseacres of Washington had rightly predicted, that the site of +the hundred-million-dollar gulf naval base would be decided on in +March, after the excitement and gayety attending the presidential +inauguration had subsided. + +On the morning of the day before this action of the committee on naval +affairs was to be taken Secretary Haines sat at his desk in Senator +Langdon's committee room in the Capitol. Richard Cullen, the favorite +associate of Haines in his journalistic days, out earlier than usual +on his daily round of the departments for news for his Chicago paper, +had strolled in and attempted a few of his characteristic cynicisms. +Haines usually found them entertaining, but these were directed at +Senator Langdon. + +"Now, let me tell you something, Dick," the secretary answered, +firmly. "Don't you work off all your dyspeptic ideas in this +neighborhood. My Senator is a great man. They can't appreciate him up +here because he's honest--crystal clear. I used to think I knew what a +decent citizen, a real man, ought to be, but he's taught me some new +things. He'll teach them all something before he gets through." + +Cullen hung one leg over Haines' desk. + +"You're a nice, quiet, gentlemanly little optimist, and I like you, +old fellow," retorted Cullen. "But don't deceive yourself too much. +Your Senator Langdon is personally one of the best ever. But he was +born a mark, and a mark he'll be to the end of time. + +"He looks good now. Sure, I like his speeches, and all that, but just +wait. When some of those old foxes in the Senate want to put his head +in the bag and tie it down, they won't have any trouble at all." + +Smiling, Haines looked up at his cynical friend. + +"The bag'll have to go over my head, too," he said, with a nod. + +"Well, I don't know that Peabody'd have to strain himself very much to +get such an awful big bag to drop you both in, if it comes right down +to that, old chap. You're making a mistake. You're as bad as your old +man. You're a beautiful pair of optimists, and you a good newspaper +man, too--it's a shame!" + +After momentary hesitation, Cullen continued, thoroughly serious. + +"But, my old friend," he said in low tone, glancing quickly about, +"there's one thing that you've got to put a stop to. It's hurting +you." + +The secretary's face showed his bewilderment. + +"What do you mean?" he snapped, abruptly. "Out with it!" + +"I mean," replied Cullen, "that rumors are going around that you are +keeping Langdon away from the crowd of 'insiders' in the Senate for +your own purposes--that, in short, you plan to--" + +"I understand," was the quick interruption. "I am accused of wanting +to 'deliver' Senator Langdon, guarantee his vote, on some graft +proposition, so that I can get the money and not he himself. +Consequently I'm tipping him off on what measures are honest, so that +he'll vote for them, until--until I'm offered my price, then influence +him to vote for some big crooked scheme, telling him it is all right. +He votes as I suggest, and I get the money!" + +"That's what 'delivering a man' means in Washington," dryly answered +the Chicago correspondent. "It means winning a man's confidence, his +support, his vote, through friendship, and then selling it for cash--" + +"But you, Dick, you have--" + +"Of course, old man, I have denied the truth of this. I knew you too +well to doubt you. Still, the yarn is hurting you. Remember that +Western Senator who was 'delivered' twice, both ways, on a graft +bill?" he laughingly asked the secretary. + +"Should say I did, Dick. That is the record for that game. It was a +corporation measure. One railroad wanted it; another opposed it. The +Senator innocently told an Eastern Senator that he was going to vote +for the bill. Then the Easterner went to the railroad wanting the +bill passed and got $7,000 on his absolute promise that he would get +Senator X. to vote for it, who, of course, did vote for it." + +"Yes," said Cullen, "and later, when Senator X. heard that Senator Z. +had got money for his vote, he was wild. Then when another effort +was made to pass the bill (which had been defeated) the 'delivered' +Senator said to Z. as he met him unexpectedly: 'You scoundrel, here's +where I get square with you to some extent. Anyway, I'm going to vote +against that bill this time and make a long speech against it, too.' +Senator Z. then hustled to the lobbyist of the railroad that wanted +the bill killed and guaranteed him that for $10,000 he could get +Senator X. to change his vote, to vote against the bill." + +"And he got the money, too, both ways," added Haines, as Cullen +concluded, "and both railroads to this day think that X. received the +money from Z." + +"Of course," said Cullen, "but X. was to blame, though. He didn't know +enough to keep to himself how he was going to vote. Any man that talks +that way will be 'delivered.'" + +"I know how to stop those rumors, for I'm sure it's Peabody's work, he +thinking Langdon will hear the talk and mistrust me," began Haines, +when in came Senator Langdon himself, his face beaming contentedly. +Little did the junior Senator from Mississippi realize that he was +soon to face the severest trial, the most vital crisis, of his entire +life. + +Cullen responded to the Senator's cheery greeting of "Mornin', +everybody!" + +"Senator," he asked, "my paper wants your opinion on the question of +the election of Senators by popular vote. Do you think the system of +electing Senators by vote of State Legislatures should be abolished?" + +The Mississippian cocked his head to one side. + +"I reckon that's a question that concerns future Senators, and not +those already elected," he chuckled. + +Haines laughed at Cullen, who thrust his pad into his pocket and +hurried away. + +"It is to-day that I appear before the ways and means committee, isn't +it?" Langdon queried of his secretary. + +"Yes," said Haines, consulting his memorandum book. "At 11 o'clock you +go before ways and means to put forward the needs of your State on +the matter of the reduction of the tariff on aluminium hydrates. The +people of Mississippi believe it has actually put back life into the +exhausted cotton lands. In Virginia they hope to use it on the tobacco +fields." + +"Where does the pesky stuff come from?" asked the Senator. + +"From South America," coached the secretary. "The South is in a hurry +for it, so the duty must come down. You'll have to bluff a +bit, because Peabody and his crowd will try to make a kind of +bargain--wanting you to keep up iron and steel duties. But you don't +believe that iron and steel need help, you will tell them, don't you +see, so that they will feel the necessity of giving you what you want +for the South in order to gain your support for the iron and steel +demands." + +The office door opened and Senator Peabody appeared. + +"Peabody," whispered the secretary. + +Instantly the Mississippian had his cue. His back to Peabody, he +rose, brought down his fist heavily upon the desk, and expounded +oratorically to Haines: + +"What we can produce of aluminium hydrates, my boy, is problematical, +but the South is in a hurry for it, and the duty must come down. It's +got to come down, and I'm not going to do anything else until it +does." + +The secretary stretched across the desk. + +"Excuse me, Senator; Senator Peabody is here," he said, loudly and +surprisedly, as though he had just sighted the boss of the Senate. + +The Mississippian turned. + +"Oh, good-morning, Senator. I was just talking with my secretary about +that hydrate clause." + +Peabody bowed slightly. + +"Yes, I knew it was coming up," he said, "so I just dropped over. +I'm not opposed to it or any Southern measure; but it makes it more +difficult for me when you Southern people oppose certain Pittsburg +interests that I have to take care of." + +Langdon smiled. + +"I've never been in Pittsburg, but they tell me it looks as if it +could take care of itself." + +The visitor shrugged his shoulders. + +"That's true enough; but give and take is the rule in political +matters, Langdon." + +This remark brought a frown to Langdon's face. + +"I don't like bargaining between gentlemen, Peabody. More important +still, I don't believe American politics has to be run on that plan. +Why can't we change a lot of things now that we are here?" + +Langdon became so enthused that he paced up and down the room as he +spoke. + +"Peabody, you and Stevens and I," continued Langdon, "could get our +friends together and right now start to make this great capital of our +great country the place of the 'square deal,' the place where give and +take, bargain and sale, are unknown. We could start a movement that +would drive out all secret influences--" + +The secretary noticed Peabody's involuntary start. + +"The newspapers would help us," went on Langdon. "Public opinion would +be with us, and both houses of Congress would have to join in the work +if we went out in front, led the way and showed them their plain duty. +And I tell you, Senator Peabody, that the principles that gave birth +to this country, the principles of truth, honesty, justice and +independence, would rule in Washington--" + +"If Washington cared anything about them, Langdon," interjected the +Pennsylvanian. + +"That's my point," cried the Mississippian--"let us teach Washington +to care about them!" + +"Langdon, Langdon," said Peabody, patronizingly, "you've seized on a +bigger task than you know. After you reform Washington you will have +to go on and reform human nature, human instincts, every human being +in the country, if you want to make politics this angelic thing you +describe. It isn't politics, it's humanity, that's wrong," waving +aside a protest from Langdon. + +"Anyway, your idea is not constitutional, Langdon," continued Peabody. +"You want everybody to have a share in the national government. That +wouldn't meet the theory of centralization woven into our political +system by its founders. They intended that our Government should be +controlled by a limited number of representatives, so that authority +can be fixed and responsibility ascertained." + +"You distort my meaning!" cried Langdon. "And, Senator, I would like +to ask why so many high-priced constitutional lawyers who enter +Congress spend so much time in placing the Constitution of the United +States between themselves and their duty, sir, between the people and +their Government, sir, between the nation and its destiny? I want to +know if in your opinion the Constitution was designed to throttle +expression of the public will?" + +"Of course not. That's the reason you and I, Langdon, and the others +are elected to the Senate," added Peabody, starting to leave. Then he +halted. "By the way, Senator," he said, "I'll do my best to arrange +what you want regarding aluminium hydrates for the sake of the South, +and I'll also stand with you for Altacoola for the naval base. Our +committee is to make its report to-morrow." + +Langdon observed the penetrating gaze that Peabody had fixed on him. +It seemed to betray that the Pennsylvanian's apparently careless +manner was assumed. + +"H'm!" coughed Langdon, glancing at Haines. "I'm not absolutely +committed to Altacoola until I'm sure it's the best place. I'll make +up my mind to-day definitely, and I _think_ it will be for Altacoola." + +The boss of the Senate went out, glaring venomously at Haines, +slamming the door. + +A moment later a page boy brought in a card. "Colonel J.D. Telfer, +Gulf City," read the Senator. + +"Bud," he remarked to the secretary, "I'm going to send my old +acquaintance, Telfer, Mayor of Gulf City, in here for you to talk to. +He'll want to know about his town's chances for being chosen as the +naval base. I must hurry away, as I have an appointment with my +daughters and Mrs. Spangler before going before ways and means." + +[Illustration: THE SENATOR ACCEPTS AN INVITATION TO TEA.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ON THE TRAIL OF THE "INSIDERS" + + +Colonel J.D. Telfer (J.D. standing for Jefferson Davis, he explained +proudly to Haines) proved a warm advocate of the doubtful merits of +Gulf City as a hundred-million-dollar naval base. His flushed face +grew redder, his long white hair became disordered, and he tugged at +his white mustache continually as he waxed warmer in his efforts to +impress the Senator's secretary. + +"I tell you, Mr. Haines, Gulf City, sah, leads all the South when it +comes to choosin' ground fo' a naval base. Her vast expanse of crystal +sea, her miles upon miles of silvah sands, sah, protected by a natural +harbor and th' islands of Mississippi Sound, make her th' only spot +to be considered. She's God's own choice and the people's, too, for a +naval base." + +"But, unfortunately, Congress also has something to say about choosing +it," spoke Haines. + +"To be shuah they do," said Gulf City's Mayor, "but--" + +"And there was a man here from Altacoola yesterday," again interrupted +the secretary, "who said that Gulf City was fit only to be the State +refuge for aged and indigent frogs." + +"Say, they ain't a man in Altacoola wot can speak th' truth," +indignantly shrieked the old Colonel, almost losing control of +himself; "because their heads is always a-buzzin' and a-hummin' from +th' quinine they have to take to keep th' fever away, sah!" + +The Mayor sat directly in front of Haines, at the opposite side of his +desk. Regaining his composure, he suddenly leaned forward and half +whispered to the secretary: + +"Mah young friend, don't let Senator Langdon get switched away from +Gulf City by them cheap skates from Altacoola. Now, if you'll get th' +Senator to vote fo' Gulf City we'll see--I'll see, sah, as an officer +of th' Gulf City Lan' Company--that you get taken ca-ah of." + +Haines' eyes opened wide. + +"Go on, Colonel; go on with your offer," he said. + +"Well, I'll see that a block of stock, sah--a big block--is set +aside fo' Senator Langdon an' another fo' you, too. We've made this +ah-rangomont else-wheah. We'll outbid Altacoola overall time. They're +po' sports an' hate to give up." + +"So Altacoola is bidding, too?" excitedly asked Haines. + +"Why, of co'se it is. Ah yo' as blind as that o' ah yo' foolin' with +me?" questioned Telfer, suspiciously. "Seems to me yo' ought to know +more about that end of it than a fellah clear from th' gulf." + +"Certainly, certainly," mumbled Haines, impatiently, as he endeavored +to associate coherently, intelligently, in his mind those startling +new revelations of Telfer with certain incidents he had previously +noted in the operations of the committee on naval affairs. + +Then he looked across at the Mayor and smiled. Apparently he had heard +nothing to amaze him. + +"Colonel," he returned calmly, dropping into a voice that sounded of +pity for the gray hairs of the lobbyist, "about fifty men a day come +to me with propositions like that. There is nothing doing, Colonel. I +couldn't possibly interest Senator Langdon, because he has the faculty +of judging for himself, and he would be prejudiced against either town +that came out with such, a proposition." + +"Lan' speculation is legitimate," protested, the Colonel, cunningly. + +Haines agreed. + +"Certainly--by outsiders. But it's d--d thievery when engaged in by +any one connected with putting a bill through. If I were to tell +Senator Langdon what you have told me it would decide him unalterably +in favor of Altacoola. Senator Langdon, sir, is one of the few men in +Washington who would rather be thought a fool than a grafter if it +came down to that." + +The Mayor of Gulf City jumped to his feet, his face blazing in rage, +not in shame. + +"Seems to me yo're mighty fresh, young man," he blustered. "What kind +of politics is Langdon playin'?" + +"Not fresh, Colonel; only friendly. I'm just tipping you off how not +to be a friend to Altacoola. As to his politics, the Senator will +answer you himself." + +A scornful laugh accompanied Telfer's reply. + +"Altacoola, huh! I reckon yo' must be a fool, after all. Why, +everybody knows of the speculatin' in land around Altacoola, and +everybody knows it ain't outsiders that's doin' it. It's the insiders, +right here in Washington. If yo' ain't in, yo' can easy get a +latchkey. Young man, yo'll find out things some day, and yo'll drop to +it all. + +"I guess I was too late with yo'. That's about the size of it. I +guess Altacoola'll talk to yo'," went on the Mayor. "If that feller +Fairbrother of Altacoola had been able to hold his tongue maybe I +wouldn't know so much. But now I know what's what. I know this--that +yo're either a big fool or--an insider. Yo're a nice young feller. I +have kind-a taken a fancy to yo'. I like to see yo' young fellers get +along and not miss yo'r chances. Come, my boy, get wise to yo'rself, +get wise to yo'rself! Climb on to the band wagon with yo' friends." + +Bud concluded that he might be able to get more definite information +out of Telfer if he humored him a bit. + +"I tell you, Colonel," he finally said, "these are pretty grave +charges you're making, but I'll tell you confidentially, owing to your +liking for me, that it is not yet too late to do something for Gulf +City. Now, just suppose you and I dine together to-night early, and +we'll go over the whole ground to see how things lie. Will you?" + +The Colonel held out his hand, smiling broadly. He felt that at last +he had won the secretary over; that the young man was at heart anxious +to take money for his influence with the Senator. + +"All right, my boy, yo're on. We'll dine together. Yo' are absolutely +certain that it won't be too late to get to Senator Langdon?" + +"Absolutely positive. I wouldn't make a mistake in a matter like this, +would I, unless I was what you said I was--a fool?" + +"Of course not. Oh, yo're a slick one. I like to do business with +folks like yo'. It's mighty educatin'!" + +"Thanks," answered Bud, dryly. "It's certain that Langdon won't decide +which place he's for until to-morrow. I promise you that he won't +decide until after I have my talk with you." + +"Yo' see," said Telfer, "I asked that question because, as yo' +probably know, Congressman Norton and his crowd is pretty close to +Senator Langdon--" + +Haines cut him short with a gasp of surprise. + +"Norton!" + +Telfer, wrinkling his forehead incredulously, looked at Haines. +"Surest thing you know, my boy." + +Bud turned his head away in thought. + +"Oh, leave the Norton outfit to me. I'll fool them," he finally said. + +"Good." + +Telfer shook the secretary's hand heartily. + +"Yo're no fool, my boy. Anybody can see that--after they get to know +yo' all. That's what comes of bein' one of them smooth New Yorkers. +They 'pear mighty sanctimonious on th' outside, but on th' inside +they're the real goods, all right." + +The lobbyist hurried away, his bibulous soul swelling with +satisfaction. He was sure of triumphing over Altacoola, and he was +willing to pay the price. + +Haines sank back into his chair. "I wonder what Washington +'insiders,'" he murmured, "are speculating in Altacoola land. Telfer +mentions Norton's name. I wonder--" + +The door opened, and before him stood Carolina Langdon. + +"Ah, Miss Langdon," he exclaimed, "I am glad to see you!" + +She walked to him and extended cordially a slender gloved hand. + +"This is a real pleasure, Mr. Haines," she began. "I've been waiting +to talk to you for some time. It's about something important." + +"Something important," smiled Haines. "You want to see me about +something important? Well, let me tell you a secret. Every time I see +you it is an important occasion to me." + +Carolina Langdon had never appeared more charming, more beautiful +to young Haines than she did that day. Perhaps she appeared more +inspiring because of the contrast her presence afforded to the +unpleasant episodes through which he had just passed; also, Carolina +was dressed in her most becoming street gown, which she well realized, +as she was enacting a carefully planned part with the unfortunate +secretary. + +His frankness and the sincere admiration that shone in his eyes caused +her to falter momentarily, almost made her weaken in her purpose, but +she made an effort and secured a firmer grip on herself, for she must +play a rôle that would crush to earth the air castles this young +secretary was building, a rôle that would crush the ideals of this +young optimist as well. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CURE OF A WOMAN'S LOVE + + +Carolina had come to find out from Haines, if possible, how her father +was going to vote on the naval base and to induce the secretary to +persuade him to stand for Altacoola--if there seemed danger that he +would vote for another site. That was her scheme, for Carolina had +put $25,000 into Altacoola land--money left by her mother. Norton +had persuaded Carolina to invest in the enterprise to defraud the +Government, promising her $50,000 clear profit. How much she could do +in Washington society with that! + +The continued uncertainty over her father's final attitude had +strained her nerves almost to the breaking, for the success of the +conspiracy depended on his vote. Not even the words of Norton, her +future husband, could reassure her. Her worry was increased by the +knowledge of Randolph's investment of her father's $50,000. + +That Carolina must sacrifice Haines on the altar of her consuming +desire for money, for a higher worldly position, was an unimportant +consideration. He stood in the way. Any moment he might discover the +existence of the Altacoola scheme, he would immediately tell her +father, and she knew her father would immediately decide against +Altacoola--the bright hopes of her future would turn to ashes. +Norton's money as well was invested in Altacoola. He, too, would be +ruined. She was sure that she loved Norton, but she could not marry a +penniless man. + +Carolina resumed the conversation. + +"It isn't anything so very important, Mr. Haines. It's about father." + +Haines beamed. + +"I have the honor to report, Miss Langdon," he bowed, "that your +father is making the very best kind of a Senator." + +The girl hesitated. + +"Yes; he might, if he had some ambition." + +"Don't worry! If it comes down to that, I have ambition for two. You +want him to be a success, don't you? Well, he is the biggest kind of a +success." + +"I never believed that he would be," confessed the daughter. + +Haines laughed. + +"Why, do you realize that to-day he is one of the most popular men in +public life throughout the country; that 'What does Langdon think?' +has become the watchword of the big body of independents who want +honesty and decent government without graft? + +"I tell you that's a big thing, Miss Langdon. That's success--real +success in politics, especially in Washington politics. + +"Now, if there's anything else you want him to have, I'll see that he +gets it I'll try to get it for him"--he paused a minute, then added, +with heartfelt meaning in his voice--"and for you, Miss Langdon." + +Carolina played coquettishly with the secretary. + +"For me, Mr. Haines?" she questioned, archly, with an effective glance +into his eyes. + +Bud's pulses began to throb violently--to leap. + +"Yes," he exclaimed, unsteadily, "for you, and you know it. That's the +inspiration now, my inspiration--the chance of winning your belief in +me, of winning something more, the biggest thing I ever thought to +win--because, Miss Langdon--Carolina--I love you." He bent over and +seized the girl's hand. "Ever since the day I first saw you I--" + +She shook her head indulgently and in a moment drew her hand from his. + +"You mustn't be so serious, Mr. Haines. You don't understand Southern +girls at all. We are not just like Northern girls. We are used to +being made love to from the time we are knee-high. Sometimes, I fear, +we flirt a little, but we don't mean any harm. All girls flirt--a +little." + +"But somebody wins even the Southern girls," declared Haines, eagerly. + +The girl's face became serious, earnest, sincere. + +"Yes, somebody does, always," she said. "And when a Southern girl is +won she stays won, Mr. Haines." + +"And I have a chance to win?" questioned the determined young +Northerner. + +Carolina smiled sweetly and expressively. + +"Who knows? First make my father even a bigger success--that's first. +Oh, I wonder if you can realize what all this life means to me! If you +can realize what those years of stagnating on the plantation meant to +me! No man would have endured it!" she exclaimed bitterly. "I am more +of a man than a woman in some ways; I'm ambitious. From the time I was +a little girl I've wanted the world, power, fame, money. I want them +still. I mean to get them somehow, anyhow. If I can't get them myself, +some one must get them for me." + +"And love?" suggested the man. "You are leaving love out. Suppose I +get all these things for you?" + +Bud's pounding heart almost stopped. He could scarcely gain his breath +as he saw creep into Carolina's eyes what he believed to be the light +of hope for him, the light even of a woman's promise. + +"Who knows, Mr. Haines? There's no reward guaranteed. There may be +others trying," she answered. + +Haines laughed--the strong, hopeful, fighting laugh of the man who +would combat the boss of the Senate on ground of the boss' own +choosing. + +"All right!" he cried. "If it's an open fight I'll enlist. I'll give +them all a run. What are your orders?" + +Carolina appeared indifferent. + +"I don't know that I have any particular orders, sir knight, except to +see that my father does all he can for the Altacoola naval base." + +Haines paused, seized by a sudden tremor. + +"The Altacoola naval base?" he stammered. "Well, all I can say is that +the Senator will do what he thinks right. That might bring power and +fame--a right decision in this case--but it can't bring money." + +Carolina shrugged her shoulders. + +"Money?" She laughed with affected carelessness. "Well, we'll have to +let the money take care of itself for a time. But I do want him to +vote for Altacoola, because I believe that will be the best for him. +You believe in Altacoola, don't you?" + +Haines hesitated, then answered: + +"Well, between the two sites merely as sites Altacoola seems to me +rather better." + +Miss Langdon held out her hand impulsively. + +"Then it will be Altacoola!" she cried. "Thank you, Mr. Haines. We are +partners, then, for Altacoola." + +The young man grasped her hand earnestly. + +"I'd like to be your partner for good, Carolina!" he cried. + +They stood there close together, holding each other's hands, looking +into each other's eyes, when the door opened and in came Charles +Norton. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +AN OLD-FASHIONED FATHER + + +Congressman Norton was startled at the sight of Carolina and Haines +apparently so wrapped up in each other. Perhaps she was getting +interested in the handsome, interfering secretary. That a woman +sometimes breaks her promise to wed he well knew. Plainly Carolina +was carrying things too far for a girl who was the promised wife of +another. + +Carolina and Haines showed surprise at Norton's entrance. + +The Congressman advanced and spoke sneeringly, his demeanor marking +him to be in a dangerous mood. + +"Do I intrude?" he drawled, deliberately. + +Carolina drew away her hands from Haines and faced the newcomer. + +"Intrude!" she exclaimed, contemptuously, in a tone that Norton +construed as in his favor and Haines in his own. + +"Intrude!" Haines laughed, sarcastically, feeling that now he was +leader in the race for love against this Mississippi representative, +who was, he knew, a subservient tool and a taker of bribes. "You +surely do intrude, Norton. Wouldn't any man who had interrupted a +tête-á-tête another man was having with Miss Langdon be intruding?" + +"I suppose I can't deny that," he replied. + +The secretary smiled again. + +"I'll match you to see who stays," he said. + +But Norton's turn to defeat his rival had come. He held out a paper to +Haines. + +"Senator Langdon gave me this for you. I reckon I don't have to +match." + +The secretary opened the note to read: + + "Where in thunder does that hydrate come from--South America or + Russia? How much off on the tariff on the creature do we want? + Come over to the committee room, where I am, right away. Say it's + an urgent message and get in with a tip." + +The secretary looked up, with a laugh. + +"You win, Norton. I'm off. Good-by." And he started on a run to the +Senator's aid. + +Norton turned angrily on the girl as the door closed. + +"See here, Carolina," he cried, "what do you mean by letting that +fellow make love to you?" + +Carolina Langdon would not permit rebuke, even from the man she cared +for. She tossed back her head and said, coolly: + +"Why shouldn't I let him make love to me if I choose?" + +"You know why," exclaimed Norton, his dark face flushing sullenly. +"Because I love you and you love me!" And he seized her and pressed +her to him. "That is why!" he cried, and he kissed her again and +again. + +"Yes, I love you, Charlie; you know that," Carolina said, simply. She +was conquered by the Southerner's masterfulness. + +"Then why do you stand for that whippersnapper's talk?" asked Norton, +perplexedly. + +Carolina laughed. + +"Don't you see, Charlie, I have to stand for it? I have to stand for +it for your sake, for Randolph's sake, for my own sake, for all our +sakes. You know the influence he has over father. + +"He can make father do anything he wants, and suppose I don't lead him +on? Where's our project? Let him suspect a thing and let him go to +father, and you know what will happen. Father would turn against +that Altacoola scheme in a moment. He'd beggar himself, if it were +necessary, rather than let a single one of us make a dollar out of a +thing he had to decide." + +"You're right, I reckon, Carolina," said Norton, dejectedly. "Your +father is a real type of the Southern gentleman. He hasn't seen any +real money in so long he can't even bear to think of it. Somebody's +got to make money out of this, and we should be the ones." + +"We'd lose frightfully, Charlie, if they changed to Gulf City, +wouldn't we?" said the girl, apprehensively. "I'm horribly afraid +sometimes, Charlie. That's why I came here to-day. I wanted to +influence Haines, to keep him straight. Is there any danger that +they'll change? You don't think there is, do you?" + +"Of course not, child. Stevens has got his money in, and Peabody. +There are only five on the committee. It's bound to go through." + +"Then why is father so important to them?" asked Carolina. + +"It's past my understanding, Carolina. I don't see how he's done it, +but the whole country has come to believe whatever your father does is +right, and they've got to have him." + +"And father is completely under the domination of this secretary," +murmured the girl, thoughtfully. + +Norton nodded. + +"We've got to get rid of him, Carolina. That's all there is to it. He +has to go! When it comes to bossing the Senator and making love to +you, too, he's getting too strong." + +"How can you do it?" she asked. "You know when father likes any one he +won't believe a thing against him." + +Norton agreed, sorrowfully. + +"That's right. Seems like the Senator's coming to think more of this +fellow than he does of his own family. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if +he'd even let one of you girls marry him if he wanted to marry you." + +"We'd have something to say about that," Carolina laughed, amusedly. +"Do you think that Hope or I could ever care for a man like this +fellow? Of course not. This Altacoola business must go through right. +It would be too cruel not to have it so. And then--" + +"And then you and I'll be married at once, Carolina, whether your +father likes it or not," ended Norton for her. "With Altacoola safe, +we can do as we please, as between us we'll be rich. What does it +matter how we get the money, as long as we get it?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WHEN A DAUGHTER BETRAYS HER FATHER + + +Bud returned to find Miss Langdon and Norton still in the room. New +buoyancy, new courage, thrilled in his veins. He would give this +Congressman the battle of his life for this prize, of that he was +confident. + +"I have an engagement with Mrs. Holcomb, Senator Holcomb's wife," she +said, "so I must hurry away, but I expect to be back to see father." + +"I think I'll just wait," suggested Norton. "I have to see the Senator +as soon as possible, and he ought to return from that ways and means +committee meeting pretty soon." + +When Carolina had gone a slight feeling of constraint settled over the +two. + +"The Senator's pretty busy these days with his naval base matter +coming up, isn't he?" + +"Yes; keeps him pretty busy receiving delegations from Altacoola and +Gulf City and patting them both on the back," said Haines. "Had a man +from Gulf City in this morning with some pretty strong arguments." + +The secretary watched Norton keenly to note the effect of this hint in +favor of Gulf City." + +"Gulf City!" Norton sneered. "Shucks! Who'd put a naval base on a +bunch of mud flats? I reckon those Gulf City fellows are wasting their +time." + +"Think so?" suggested Haines. "Are you absolutely sure?" + +Norton started. + +"Why, you don't mean to tell me," he exclaimed, "that Senator Langdon +would vote for Gulf City for the naval base?" + +"I don't mean to tell you anything, Congressman," was the cool +rejoinder. "It's not my business. The Senator's the one who does the +talking." + +An ugly sneer wrinkled the Congressman's face. + +"Well, I'm glad he attends to his own business and doesn't trust too +many people," he said pointedly. + +The secretary smiled in puzzling fashion. + +"That's exactly why I don't talk, Congressman," he said pleasantly. +"The Senator doesn't trust too many people. If he did, there might be +too much money made out of land speculation. Senator Langdon doesn't +happen to be one of those Senators who care for that kind of thing." + +"I suppose you think you're pretty strong with the Senator," ventured +the Mississippian. + +"Tell you the truth, I haven't thought very much about it," replied +Haines, "but, if you come right down to it, I guess I am pretty +strong." + +"Suppose you've influenced him in the naval base business, then." + +Still the secretary smiled, keeping his temper under the adroit +attack. + +"Well, I think he'd listen to me with considerable interest." + +"But you're for Altacoola, of course." + +Haines shook his head. + +"No, I can't say that I'm for Altacoola. Fellow who was in here this +morning put up a pretty good argument, to my mind, for Gulf City. +In fact, he made it pretty strong. Seemed to show it was all to my +interest to go in with Gulf City. Think I'll have to investigate a +little more. I tell you, Norton," spoke Haines in a confidential +manner, "this land speculation fever is a frightful thing. While I +was talking to this fellow from Gulf City I almost caught it myself. +Probably if I met the head of the Altacoola speculation I might catch +the fever from him too." + +"Why don't you put your money into Gulf City and lose it, then?" +replied Norton, nodding his head scornfully. "That'd be a good lesson +for a rising young politician like you." + +Senator Langdon's secretary peered straight into Norton's eyes. + +"Because, Congressman," he said, "if I were to put my money in Gulf +City perhaps I wouldn't lose it." + +The Southerner took a step forward, leaned over and glared angrily at +Haines. His face whitened. + +"You don't mean that you could swing Langdon into Gulf City?" he +gasped. + +Haines smiled. + +"I can't say that, Norton, but I guess people interested in Altacoola +would hate to have me try." + +"I didn't know you were that kind, Haines," said Norton, his virtue +aroused at the thought of losing his money. "So you're playing the +game like all the rest?" + +"Why shouldn't I?" shrugged the secretary. "I guess perhaps I'm a +little sore because the Altacoola people haven't even paid me the +compliment of thinking I had any influence, so they can't expect me to +work for them. The Gulf City people have. As things stand, Gulf City +looks pretty good to me." + +"Is this straight talk?" exclaimed Norton. + +"Take it or leave it," retorted Bud. + +The Mississippian leaned with his hands on the desk. + +"Well, Haines, if you're like the rest and are really interested in +Altacoola, I don't know that you'd have to go very far to talk." + +"You know something of Altacoola lands, then, Norton?" said Robert, +tingling with suppressed excitement. He felt that he was getting close +to real facts in a colossal "deal." + +Norton was sure of his man now. + +"Well, I am in touch with some people who've got lands and options on +more. I might fix it for you to come in," he whispered. + +Haines shook his head. + +"You know I haven't much money, Norton. All I could put in would be my +influence. Who are these people? Are they cheap little local folks or +are they real people here who have some power and can do something +that is worth while?" + +"Do I look like I'd fool with cheap skates, Haines? They're the real +people. I think, Haines, that either Senator Stevens or Senator +Peabody would advise you that you are safe." + +"Ah! Then Stevens and Peabody are the ones. They'll make it Altacoola, +then sell to the Government at a big advance and move to 'Easy +Street.'" + +"That's right," agreed Norton. + +Bud Haines straightened abruptly. The expression on his face gave +Norton a sudden chill--made him tremble. + +"Now I've got you," cried the secretary. "You've given yourself dead +away. I've known all along you're a d--d thief, Norton, and you've +just proved it to me yourself." + +"What do you mean?" Norton was clenching his fist. "Words like that +mean fight to a Southerner!" + +"I mean that before Senator Langdon goes one step further in this +matter he shall know that his colleagues and you are thieves, Mr. +Norton, trying to use him for a cat's-paw to steal for them from the +Government. I suspected something this morning when Gulf City tried +to bribe me and a visitor from there gave me what turns out to be a +pretty good tip." + +"So that was your dirty trick," exclaimed the Congressman as he +regained his composure. + +"Set a make-believe thief to catch a real one," laughed the secretary. +"Very good trick, I think." + +"I'll make you pay for that!" cried Norton, shaking his fist. + +"All right. Send in your bill any old time," laughed Haines. "The +sooner the better. Meantime I'm going to talk to Langdon." + +He had started for the door when Carolina Langdon re-entered, followed +by her brother Randolph. + +"Wait a minute," said Norton, with unexpected quietness. "I wouldn't +do what you're about to do, Mr. Haines." + +"Of course you wouldn't," sneered Haines. + +"I mean that you will be making a mistake, Haines, to tell the Senator +what you have learned," rejoined the Southerner, struggling to keep +calm at this critical moment when all was at stake. He realized, +further, that now was the time to put Haines out of the way--if that +were possible. "A mistake, Mr. Haines," he continued, "because, you +see, you don't know as much as you think. I wouldn't talk to Langdon +if I were you. It will only embarrass him and do no good, because +Langdon's money is in this scheme, too, and Langdon's in the same boat +with the rest of us." + +Haines stopped short at this astounding charge against his chief. + +"Norton, you lie! I'll believe it of Langdon when he tells me so; not +otherwise." + +Norton turned to Randolph. + +"Perhaps you'll believe Mr. Langdon's son, Mr. Haines?" + +Randolph Langdon stepped forward. + +"It's true, Haines," he said; "my father's money is in Altacoola +lands." + +Haines looked him up and down, with a sneer. + +"_Your_ money may be," he said. "I don't think you're a bit too good +for it, but your father is a different kind." + +Carolina Langdon stood at the back of the room, nervously awaiting +the moment when, she knew, she would be forced into the unpleasant +discussion. + +"I reckon you can't refuse to believe Miss Langdon," drawled Norton, +with aggravated deliberation. + +"Of course," stammered Haines, "I'd believe it if Miss Langdon says +it's so." + +The Congressman turned toward Carolina as he spoke and fixed on her +a tense look which spelled as plainly as though spoken, "It's all in +your hands, my fortune--yours." + +She slowly drew across the room. Haines could hardly conceal the +turmoil of his mind. The world seemed suddenly snatched from around +him, leaving her figure alone before him. Would she affirm what +Norton and Randolph had said? He must believe her. But surely it was +impossible that she-- + +Carolina played for time. She feared the making of a false move. + +"I don't understand?" she said inquiringly to Norton. + +He calmly began an elaborate explanation. + +"Miss Langdon, this secretary has discovered that there is a certain +perfectly legitimate venture in Altacoola lands being carried on +through certain influential people we know and by me. The blood of the +young reformer is boiling. He is going straight to your father with +the facts. + +"I have tried to explain to him how it will needlessly embarrass +the Senator and spoil his own future. He won't believe me. He won't +believe your brother. Perhaps you can make it clear." + +At last Carolina nerved herself to speak. + +"You had better not go to my father, Mr. Haines. It will do no good. +He--is--in--the deal! You must believe me when I tell you so." + +The girl took her eyes from the secretary. He was plainly suffering. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CAROLINA LANGDON'S ADVICE + + +"Let me speak to Mr. Haines alone," said Carolina to Norton and her +brother. + +Norton turned a triumphant grin at Randolph as he beckoned him out and +whispered: "Leave him to her. It's all right. That New York dude has +been riding for a fall--he's going to get it now." + +"I am sorry, so sorry this should have occurred, Mr. Haines," Carolina +said gently. + +The secretary looked up slowly, his face drawn. It was an effort for +him to speak. + +"I can't understand it," he said. "I mightn't have thought so much of +this a month ago, but I have come to love the Senator almost as a son, +and to think that he could be like the rest of that bunch is awful." + +"You are too much of an idealist, Mr. Haines," said the girl. + +"And you? What do you think of it?" he demanded. + +The girl's glance wavered. + +"Don't idealize me too much, either, Mr. Haines. I didn't think it was +much. Perhaps I don't understand business any too well." + +"But you see now?" insisted the man. + +The girl looked up at him sorrowfully. + +"Yes; I see at least that you and father can never work together now." + +Haines nodded affirmatively. + +"I suppose so. I'm thinking of that. How am I to leave him? We've been +so close. I've been so fond of him. I don't know how I could tell +him." + +In girlish, friendly fashion Carolina rested her hand on his arm. + +"Won't you take my advice, Mr. Haines? Go away without seeing him. +Just leave a note to say you have gone. He will understand. It will be +easier for both that way--easier for him, easier for you." She paused, +looking at him appealingly as she ended very softly, "And easier for +me, Mr. Haines." + +He looked at her thoughtfully. + +"Easier for you?" he said. "Very well, I'll do it that way." + +The secretary stepped slowly to his desk, sat down and started to +write the note. Carolina watched him curiously. + +"What will you do," she asked, "now that you have given up this +position?" + +"Oh, I can always go back to newspaper work," he answered without +looking up. + +The term "newspaper work" gave Carolina a shock. She had forgotten +that this man had been a reporter. Here he was turned loose with the +knowledge of this "deal," which she knew would be popular material for +newspapers to print. She must gain still another point, and she felt +that she had enough power to win against him. + +"I'm going to ask you still another favor," she said. + +Bud returned her look with a bitter smile. + +"What is it?" + +"You have learned about this--this land matter and--" + +"Oh, yes! I can guess. You want me to keep quiet about it--to hush it +up," a shade of scorn in his tone. + +"I only asked this so that you would not disgrace me," she pleaded. + +Disillusioned at last, robbed of his lifelong optimism, shorn of +his ideals, even his love--for he began to despise this beautiful, +misguided woman--Haines sat broken in spirit, thinking how quickly the +brightness of life fades to blackness. + +"Very well," he said sadly. "I suppose _you_ are innocent. I'll save +you. If they're all--your father, too--crooked, why shouldn't I be +crooked? All right; I won't say anything." + +"I only ask you not to disgrace me," pleaded the girl. "You will +promise that?" + +"It's a promise." + +She sighed in relief. + +"Father will be coming back soon," she said. "You won't want to see +him." + +Haines arose. + +"No, I won't want to see him. Give him this note. I'll have to come +back while he's away to clear up some things. Good-by." + +Haines bowed and hurried from the room through a side doorway just as +Senator Langdon came in through the main entrance. + +"Bud! Bud!" he called, but the secretary did not halt. + +Carolina Langdon stood with Haines' note in her hand, wondering at +what she had done. She regretted having become entangled in the wars +of men in Washington. She saw that the man's game was played too +strongly, too furiously fast, for most women to enter, yet she +rejoiced that the coveted fortune had not been lost. She was sorry +that her means of saving it had not been less questionable. She saw +that ambition and honesty, ambition and truth, with difficulty follow +the same path. + +Senator Langdon's face was unusually grave as he came to greet +Carolina. Lines showed in his face that the daughter had never noticed +before. + +She saw Norton and Randolph, who had followed him, exchange +significant glances--jubilant glances--and wondered what new +development they had maneuvered. + +"He's gone without a word," the Senator sighed. "Well, perhap's that's +best." + +"He left a note for you," said the girl, handing him the letter which +Haines had given her. + +Langdon opened it and read: + +"I am giving up the job. You can understand why. The least said about +it between us the better. I am sorry. That's all. BUD HAINES." + +Slowly he read the letter a second time. + +"And he was making the best kind of a secretary, I thought." + +Divining that something against Haines had been told her father, +Carolina glanced at Norton. + +"I told your father how we caught Mr. Haines," he spoke as an answer +to her. + +The girl was startled. She had not thought that things would go this +far. + +"I told him how Haines wanted to get in some land speculation scheme +with Altacoola, how we tricked him and caught him with the goods when +he made the proposition to me and how we forced him to confess." + +"You told father that?" gasped Carolina. + +Norton nodded. + +"I don't understand it," said Langdon. "To think that he was that +kind!" + +Son Randolph now took his turn in the case against the secretary. + +"We were both here, father. I heard him--Carolina heard him," he said. +"Didn't you, Carolina?" + +"Yes," said the girl weakly, "I was here." Then she turned abruptly. +"I must go," she said, "must go right away. Mrs. Holcomb is waiting +for me." + +The Senator turned to his desk bent and discouraged. + +"I suppose I should have taken a secretary who was a Southerner and a +gentleman. Well, Randolph, you'll have to act now. Take this letter--" + +The young man sat down and took the following from the Senator's +diction: + + "MR. HAINES-- + + "Sir: I quite understand your feelings and the impossibility of + your continuing in my employ. The least said about it the better. + I am sorry, too. + + "WILLIAM H. LANGDON." + +"You boys run away. I've got to think," said the Senator. + +When the pair had gone the old man drew the letter to him, and below +his signature he added a postscript: "Don't forget there's some money +coming to you." + +Walking across the room to leave, he sighed: + +"He was making the best kind of a secretary." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A RESCUE IN THE NICK OF TIME + + +Later in that never-to-be-forgotten day Bud Haines ventured back to +his desk in the committee room, after first ascertaining that Senator +Langdon would not return. Some of the Senator's papers must be +straightened out, and he wanted personal documents of his own. + +The secretary regretfully, sorrowfully performed these final duties +and found himself stopping at various intervals to try to explain to +himself how he had been deceived in both the Langdons, father and +daughter. He had to give up both problems. To him neither was +explainable. "I've known enough Senators to know that I'd never meet +an honest one," he muttered. "But as to women--well, there's too much +carefully selected wisdom in their innocence to suit me." + +This cynic, new born from the shell of the chronic idealist that was, +suddenly was disturbed in his ruminations by a sound at the door. +Looking up, he saw Hope Georgia Langdon standing, shyly, embarrassed, +in the main entrance. + +"Mr. Haines," she said, timidly. + +Bud jumped to his feet. + +"Yes, Miss Hope Georgia." + +As the Senator's younger daughter came toward him he noticed that +she was excited over something, and for a newly made cynic he took +altogether too much notice of her youthful beauty, her fresh, rosy +complexion and her dancing, sparkling eyes. The thought occurred to +him, "What a woman she will make--if she doesn't imitate her sister!" + +"I couldn't let you go, Mr. Haines, without telling you good-by and +letting you know that, no matter what the others say, I don't think +there has been anything wrong." + +Before Haines could reply, the young girl rushed on, excitedly: + +"That's why I came. I know father and Carolina won't like it--they +won't think it's nice--but I wanted to say to you that I don't think +one ought to believe things against one you've liked and trusted." + +"You think one ought not," said Haines. "So do I; but in this case +the proofs were very strong. What are you going to do when people you +can't doubt pledge their word?" + +The girl tossed her head. + +"Well, the only one's word I'd like to take would be the person +accused. I know I'm only a girl, Mr. Haines, and I'm not grown up, but +you've made a mistake. Do try to clear things up. Why don't you see +father and talk with him? Please do, Mr. Haines." + +Little realizing that the girl was speaking in his own favor, for he +knew not the need for such speaking, he believed her to be defending +her father. He grasped her hands impulsively. + +"You have grown up very much since you came to the capital, haven't +you?" he said. "And you are right, Miss Hope. I ought to have known +even when the facts were against him that your father couldn't have +been really crooked. He can't be." + +Hope Langdon's face flushed indignantly. + +"Father crooked? Who said so? Who dared say that?" she exclaimed. + +"Why, they told me he had sold out on the Altacoola bill. They said he +was trying to make money on Altacoola. That's why I quit." + +The flame of anger still was spread on the girl's face. + +"They said that!" she exclaimed. "Then they lied. They said you were +the crooked one. Why, father thinks you sold out on Altacoola. They +said you were trying to make money on that navy yard." + +"What! They said I was crooked!" Haines fairly shouted. He rushed +around the desk and caught the girl by both hands. + +"I see it!" he cried. "I see it! There's something I'm not just on to. +You thought it was I; your father thinks--" + +"Of course," exclaimed Hope, quite as excited as he. "I couldn't +believe it. That's why I came back to get you to explain. I wanted you +to disprove the charge." + +"I should say I would," cried the secretary. + +"I knew it! I knew it! They couldn't make me believe anything against +you. I knew you were all I thought you. Oh, Mr. Haines, prove you are +that for my--" + +Then Hope Georgia abruptly stopped. She had lost her head, and in the +enthusiasm of the moment had revealed her real feelings--something +she would never do presumably when she grew more wise in the ways of +women. + +She suddenly thrust Haines' hands from her own and stood staring at +him, wondering--wondering if he had guessed. + +Strangely enough, under the circumstances, the girl was the first to +recover and break the awkward silence. + +"Come to our house to-night, Mr. Haines. There's to be a dinner and a +musicale, as you know; but that won't matter. No matter who says no, I +promise you that you shall see father. There shall be an explanation." + +"Thank you, Miss Hope. You don't realize all you've done for me," said +Bud, seriously. "It's a wonderful thing to find a girl who believes in +a man. You've taught me a lot, Miss Hope. Thank you." + +"Good-by, Mr. Haines. Come to-night," she said, as she turned and +hurried away. + +Bud Haines stood looking after her, thoughtfully. + +"What a stunning girl she is! I've seemed to overlook her, with the +rush of events--and Carolina," he murmured, softly. "We never were +such very great friends, yet she believes in me. What a beauty she +is!" + +A messenger boy broke in on his musings with a letter for Senator +Langdon marked "Important." + +"Guess I'm secretary enough yet to answer this," he thought, tearing +it open. + +"Great heavens!" he exclaimed as he read it. "Here's the chance to get +to the bottom of this Altacoola proposition. It's from Peabody." + +Haines read the following: + +"DEAR SENATOR LANGDON: I am going to Philadelphia to-night. Urgent +call from a company for which I am counsel, so I probably won't be +able to confer with you regarding the committee's choice for the naval +base. But I know you are for Altacoola and trust to you to do all +you can for that site. I, of course, consider the matter definitely +settled." + + * * * * * + +"This situation will enable Langdon to bluff Peabody and draw out of +him all the inside of the Altacoola business--ought to, anyway. Guess +some Gulf City talk will smoke him out." + +Haines rushed out and across the hall, to reappear literally hauling +in a stenographer by the scruff of the neck. "Here, you, take this +dictation--record time," he cried: + + "SENATOR HORATIO PEABODY, Louis Napoleon Hotel: You are going to + Philadelphia to-night, I know, leaving the report on the naval + base to me. I have just come on various aspects of the situation + which make me incline very favorably toward Gulf City. I am + looking into the matter and, of course, shall act according to + my best judgment. That is what you will want me to do, I know. + Sincerely yours, + + "WILLIAM H. LANGDON." + +"I don't think Senator Peabody will go to Philadelphia to-night," +laughed Haines grimly, as he addressed the envelope, "and I think that +when the 'boss of the Senate' hurries around to the Langdon house +instead there will be more than one kind of music, more than one kind +of food eaten--perhaps crow--before the evening is over." + +Seizing his hat, Bud rushed to the door to look up a messenger. + +"It's all in Langdon's hands now," he cried. "Here's where I resign my +position as United States Senator." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE CONSPIRATORS OUTWITTED + + +Senator Langdon's dinners had well won popularity in Washington. +Invitations to them were rarely answered by the sending of "regrets." +He had brought his old Mississippi cook from the plantation, whose +Southern dishes had caused the Secretary of State himself to make the +Senator an offer for the chef's services. "No use bidding for old +General Washington," said the Senator on that notable occasion. "He +wouldn't leave my kitchen, sir, even to accept the presidency itself. +Why, I couldn't even discharge him if I wanted to. I tried to let him +go once, sir, and the old general made me feel so ashamed of myself +that I actually cried, sir." + +Peabody and Stevens were the dinner guests to-night, as they were to +confer afterward with Langdon and settle on the action of the naval +affairs committee regarding the naval base. The three, being a +majority, could control the action of the committee. + +Senator Peabody had finally postponed leaving for Philadelphia until +the midnight train in order to be present, he assured Langdon as the +trio entered the library. The girls, Norton and Randolph were left +to oversee preparations for the prominent Washingtonians invited to +attend the musicale to be given later in the evening. + +Carolina and Hope Georgia were in distinctly different moods--the +elder, vivacious, elated over the bright outlook for her future; +the younger, cast down and wearing a worried expression. Norton and +Randolph in jubilant spirit tried to cheer her, and failing, resorted +to taunts about some imaginary love affair. + +The courage of the afternoon, which had enabled her to speak to Haines +as she had, was gone; girlish fears now swept over her as to the +outcome of the evening. Haines had not come! Was he really guilty and +had promised to come merely to get rid of her? Why was he late? If he +did come, would she be able to have her father see him, as she had +promised? If she failed, and she might, she would never see this young +man again. + +"If I looked as unhappy as you, Hope, I'd go to bed and not discourage +our guests as they arrive," Carolina suggested. "Our floral +decorations alone for to-night cost $700, and the musical program cost +over $3,000. The most fashionable folks in Washington coming--what +more could you want, Hope? Isn't it perfectly glorious? Why--" + +"Mr. Haines is below, asking to see Senator Langdon," announced a +servant, entering. + +"Oh, I knew he'd come! I knew it! I knew it!" cried Hope Georgia in +pure ecstasy, clapping her hands. + +The three plotters turned on the girl in amazement; then they stared +at each other. + +"Mr. Haines!" ejaculated Carolina. + +"Haines!" exclaimed Randolph, hurriedly leaving the room. + +"Haines!" sneered Norton. "We can take care of him. The Senator won't +see him." + +Carolina caught the suggestion. + +"Tell Mr. Haines that Senator Langdon regrets that he cannot possibly +receive him," she directed. + +"Carolina!" + +There was a ring of protest and pain in Hope Georgia's voice as she +darted out of the door after the servant. + +"What's the matter with that girl?" asked Norton, trying to be calm. + +Carolina shook her head. + +"I don't know. She's queer to-day. I believe she imagines herself in +love with Mr. Haines." + +"Aren't you afraid she'll make trouble?" + +The other sister laughed confidently. + +"Little Hope make trouble? Of course not. If she does, we can always +frighten her into obedience." + +The door reopened and Hope entered, followed by Bud Haines. The girl's +head was high; her cheeks were red; her eyes glittered ominously. + +"I brought him back, Carolina," she said coolly. "Father will want to +see him. I know there has been some mistake." + +"Yes," supplemented Bud, "there has been a decided mistake, and I must +refuse to accept the word that came to me from Senator Langdon." + +Carolina Langdon drew herself up in her most dignified manner. + +"I'm sorry, Mr. Haines, but you must accept it," she said. + +"Exactly," seconded Norton. "Senator Langdon entirely declines to +receive you." + +"I don't trust anything you say, Congressman Norton, and I may say +also that I recognize no right of yours to interfere in any affair +between me and the Langdon family." + +"Perhaps I can explain my right, Mr. Haines," Norton said coolly, +stepping beside Carolina. "I have just had the pleasure of announcing +to Miss Hope Georgia Langdon my engagement to Miss Carolina Langdon." + +Haines, entirely unprepared for such a dénoûement, shot a searching +glance at Carolina. She bowed her head in affirmation. + +"So that's why you tried to ruin me!" he cried. "You're both from the +same mold," turning from Carolina Langdon to Congressman Norton, then +back to the girl. + +They stood facing each other when Randolph Langdon returned. At sight +of Bud Haines he started, stopped short a second, then came forward +quickly. + +"Mr. Haines, my father has declared that he will not see you, and +either you leave this house at once or I shall call the servants." + +Bud looked at young Langdon contemptuously. + +"Yes, I think you would need some help," he sneered, feeling in his +veins the rush of red blood, the determination in his heart that had +a few years back carried him through eighty yards of struggling Yale +football players to a touchdown. + +The Senator's son drew back his arm, but the confident look of the New +Yorker restrained him. + +"Mr. Haines, in the South gentlemen do not make scenes of violence +before ladies." + +The cold rebuke of Carolina cut into the silence. + +Haines stood in perplexity. He did not know what to do or how to get +to the Senator. It was Hope who came to his rescue. + +"I'll tell father you are here. I'll make him come, Mr. Haines. He +shall see you." + +With the air of a defiant little princess she started for the door. + +"Hope, I forbid you doing any such thing," exclaimed her older sister, +but the younger girl paid no attention. Randolph caught her arm. + +"You shall not, Hope," he cried. + +Hope Georgia struggled and pulled her arm free. + +"I reckon I just got to do what seems right to me, Randolph," she +exclaimed. "I reckon I've grown up to-night, and I tell you--I tell +all of you"--she whirled and faced them--"there's something wrong +here, and father is going to see Mr. Haines to-night, and they are +going to settle it." + +Norton alone was equal to the situation, temporarily at least. + +"I'll be fair with you, Hope," he said reassuringly, and she stopped +in her flight to the hall door. "I'll take Carolina and Randolph in to +see the Senator, and we'll tell him Mr. Haines is here. Perhaps we had +better tell the Senator," Norton suggested, beckoning to Carolina and +her brother. "Let Mr. Haines wait here, and we will make the situation +clear to the Senator." + +"You'd better make it very clear," exclaimed the younger girl, "for +I'm going to stay here with Mr. Haines until he has seen father." + +The guilty trio, fearful of this new and unexplainable activity of +Hope Georgia, slowly departed in search of Senator Langdon to make a +last desperate attempt to prevent him from meeting this pestilential +secretary that was--and might be again. + +When the door closed after them Hope came down to the table where Bud +Haines was standing. + +"Won't you sit down, Mr. Haines?" she said. "I'll--I'll try to +entertain you until father comes," she said weakly, realizing that +again she was alone with the man she loved. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +HOPE LANGDON'S HOUR OF TRIUMPH + + +Haines sat at a table in the reception-room, across from Hope +Georgia, and his gratitude for her battle in his favor mingled with a +realization of qualities in this young lady that he had never before +noticed. Probably he did not know that what he had really seen in her +that day and that evening was the sudden transition from girlhood to +womanhood, her casting aside of thoughtless, irresponsive youth and +the shouldering of the responsibilities of the grown woman who would +do her share in the world's work. + +He stared across in astonishment at this slip of a girl who had +outwitted two resourceful men and an older sister of unquestioned +ability. + +"I do not recognize you, Miss Hope," he said finally. + +"Perhaps you never looked at me before," she suggested archly, feeling +instinctively that this was her hour; that the man she loved was at +this moment thinking more about her than of anything else in the +world. + +Haines made a gesture of regret. + +"That must be it," he agreed. Then he leaned forward eagerly. "But I'm +looking at you now, and I like looking at you. I like what you've done +for me." + +"Oh, that was nothing, Mr. Haines," she exclaimed airily, her +intuition telling her of her sway over the man. + +"Nothing!" he exclaimed. "Well, it's more than any one ever did for me +before. I've known lots of girls--" + +"I don't doubt that, Mr. Haines," Hope interjected, with a light +laugh. + +"Yes, I say I've known lots of girls, but there's never been one who +showed herself such a true friend as you have been. There's never been +any one who believed in me this way when I was practically down and +out." + +"Perhaps you've never been down and out before, Mr. Haines, so they +never had a chance to show whether they believed in you or not." + +"That may be one reason," he answered. "I wonder why"--he paused--"I +wonder why your sister Carolina did not believe in me." + +"You were quite fond of her, weren't you?" the girl began, then +stopped and turned away her head. + +Haines gazed curiously at Hope. + +"I was, yes. I even thought I loved her, but I soon saw my mistake. It +wasn't love. It was only a kind of--" + +Suddenly pausing, Bud Haines shot a swift glance at the girl. + +"What wonderful hair you have, Miss Hope." + +The girl smiled invitingly. + +"Think so?" + +"Yes," he declared earnestly. "I know so. I never noticed it before, +but I guess lots of fellows down in Mississippi have." + +Hope's tantalizing smile worried him. "I hope you are not secretly +engaged too!" he exclaimed. + +"No, oh, no!" she answered quickly, before she thought. + +"Or in love?" he asked seriously. + +Haines had stood up and was now leaning intently over the table. He +realized the difference between the feeling he had had for Carolina +and the tender emotion that thrilled him as he thought of the sweet +girl before him. This time he knew he was not mistaken. He knew that +he truly loved Hope Langdon. + +"Or in love?" he asked again, anxious at her silence. + +Hope looked at him slowly. A faint blush illumined her face. + +"Oh, don't let's talk about me," she exclaimed. + +"But I want to talk about you," he cried. "I don't want to talk about +anything else. I must talk about you, and I'm going to talk whether +you want to hear or not. You've believed in me when nobody else +believed. You've fought for me when everybody else was fighting +against me. You've shown that you think I am honest and worthy of a +woman's faith. You fought your own family for me. Nobody has ever done +for me what you have, and--and--" + +He faltered, full of what he was about to say. + +"And you're grateful," she ended. + +He looked her squarely in the eyes as though to fathom her thoughts. +Then he reached toward the girl and seized both her hands. + +"Grateful nothing!" he cried. "I'm not grateful. I'm in love--in love +with you. I want you--want you as I never wanted anything or anybody +before, and I tell you I'm going to have you. Do you hear?" + +Hope could not hide her agitation. The light in her eyes showed she +was all a woman. + +[Illustration: THE LANGDON FAMILY.] + +"Oh, nothing in the world could happen as quickly as that, Mr. +Haines!" she protested, with her last attempt at archness. + +"Nothing could?" he threatened. "I'll show you." + +He advanced quickly around the table, but the girl darted just beyond +his grasp. Then she paused--and her lover gathered her in his arms. + +"Hope, my dear, you are my own," was all he could say as he bent over +to kiss the lips that were not refused to him. + +Hope released herself from his fervent grasp. + +"I love you, I do love you," she said fondly. "I believe in you, and +father must too. You've got to straighten this tangle out now, for my +sake as well as your own. Father will listen." + +"It's all so strange, so wonderful, I can hardly understand it," began +Haines slowly, as he held the girl's hands. + +Unknown to both, the door leading from the hall had opened to admit +Senator Langdon into the lower end of the room. Surprised at the sight +of the couple, so seriously intent on each other, he made a sudden +gesture of anger, then, apparently changing his mind, advanced toward +them. + +"I believe you want to see me, sir," he said to Haines. "I hope you'll +be brief. I have very little time to spare from my guests." + +Hope's bosom fluttered timorously at the interruption. The man +nervously stepped forward. + +"I sha'n't take much of your time, Senator Langdon," he said. "There +has been a misunderstanding, a terrible mistake. I am sure I can +convince you." + +Senator Langdon hesitated doubtfully, half turned toward Carolina, +Randolph and Norton, who had followed him, and again faced Haines. + +Hope pressed her father's arm and looked up into his face +entreatingly. Randolph, observing this, quickly stepped close to the +Senator's side, saying, "I can settle with this Mr. Haines for you." + +Waving his son aside, the Senator finally spoke. + +"I reckon there's been too many attending to my business and settling +my affairs, Randolph," he said. "I think for a change I'll settle a +few of my own. All of you children go out and leave me here with Mr. +Haines." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +SENATOR LANGDON LEARNS THE TRUTH + + +When they were alone Haines faced the Senator and spoke determinedly. + +"They told you I was not running straight," he said. + +The Senator nodded, and the lines about his mouth deepened. + +"Yes." + +Bud Haines stiffened at the word. Every muscle in his body seemed to +become rigid as he mentally vowed that he would retaliate against his +traducers if it cost him his life to do it. Hope had informed him only +too accurately, he now realized. Little did the Senator know that what +he was now about to hear would give him one of the severest shocks of +his life. + +"They told me you weren't running straight," said Haines deliberately. +"Now, neither one of us has been crooked, but somebody else has been, +and this was the plan to keep us apart." + +"Norton told me you were speculating in Altacoola lands," said +Langdon. + +"And Norton told me the same of you," retorted Bud. + +The Senator's face grew very serious. + +"But my daughter, Miss Carolina Langdon, confirmed Norton's story." + +Haines here faced the most difficult part of his interview. He hardly +knew how to answer. His manhood rebelled against placing any blame on +a woman. He revolted at the thought of ruining a father's faith in his +daughter's honesty, especially when that father was the man he most +admired, a man for whom he had genuine, deep-rooted affection. But it +was necessary that the words be spoken. + +"I hate to tell you, sir," he said in a low, uncertain voice, "that it +was your daughter Carolina who made me believe this story told about +you and vouched for by your son Randolph." + +Langdon started back aghast. He stared at Haines and knew that he +spoke the truth. Then his white head sank pathetically. Tears welled +into the eyes of the planter, and this sturdy old fighting man dropped +weakly into a chair, sobbing convulsively, broken in spirit and +wearied in body. + +At length Haines spoke to his stricken chief. + +"I know it hurts," he said. "It hurt me to have to say it. Don't +believe it until you get it out of Norton, but then you must do +something." + +Langdon came to his feet, mopping his cheeks. But there was no +weakness in him now. Yes, he would do something. He would go after the +thieves that had turned his own flesh and blood against him and root +them all out--show them all up. + +"Oh, I'll do something," he said grimly. "I'm going to make up for +lost time. Of course, Norton is speculating. Who's behind him?" + +"Stevens and Peabody, I'm positive," answered Haines, "and behind them +is Standard Steel." + +"What!" exclaimed Langdon. "Stevens in a swindle like this! Are you +sure? How do you know?" + +"A Gulf City man who couldn't carry his liquor gave me some clues, +and I worked Norton into telling some more," answered the secretary. +"Where is Peabody?" + +"He's here now." + +"Then he hasn't got my letter yet. I sent him a note and signed your +name, Senator, to the effect that the Gulf City claims have been +brought before you so strongly that you might vote for Gulf City." + +Langdon was amazed. + +"You sent that note," he exclaimed, "when you know Altacoola is the +only proper place and Gulf City is a mud bank?" + +The newspaper man smiled. + +"Of course," he agreed, "but I had to get a rise out of Peabody. This +will show where he stands." + +"Oh," said Langdon, "I understand. Thanks, boy." + +A servant entered with a note. + +"For Senator Peabody, sir, marked 'Urgent.' The messenger's been +hunting him for some hours." + +Langdon looked shrewdly at Bud, then turned to the servant. + +"You keep that note until I ring for you, then bring it to Senator +Peabody. Understand? No matter how urgent it's marked." + +The man bowed. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now tell Mr. Norton, Miss Langdon and Mr. Randolph to come here." + +The Senator turned back to his secretary. + +"I expect I'm going to be pretty busy the rest of the evening, Bud, so +in case I forget to mention it again, remember to show up at your old +desk in the morning." + +"I will. Thank you, sir." + +"You sent for us, Senator," said Norton, approaching with his two +dupes. + +"You are interested in Altacoola lands," the Senator angrily charged. + +"I am, sir," he said. + +"And you told Mr. Haines that I was interested in Altacoola lands?" + +The schemer hesitated, and the Senator broke in on him in rage. + +"Speak out, man! Tell the truth, if you can." + +"I did," admitted the Congressman finally. + +"Was there any particular reason for your not telling the truth?" +demanded the Mississippian in threatening tone. + +"I told the truth," replied Norton. "You are interested in them." + +For an instant Langdon seemed about to step toward him, then he +controlled himself. + +"I didn't know it," he said. + +"You have several things to learn, Senator," declared the Congressman. + +"I have things to learn and things to teach," he said. "But go on. Why +am I interested?" + +"You are interested, Senator," replied the trickster, making his big +play, "through your son, Randolph, who invested $50,000 of your money +in Altacoola, and also through your daughter, Miss Carolina, who, +acting on my advice, has put her own money--$25,000--in Altacoola land +also." + +For a moment Langdon was speechless. It was too much at first for the +honest old Southerner to comprehend. + +"You mean," he gasped at last, "that you induce a boy to put $50,000 +in Altacoola land when you knew I had to vote on the bill? And you +even let my daughter put her money in the same scheme?" + +"Of course, I did. It was a splendid chance, and I let your son in +for friendship and your daughter because she has done me the honor to +promise to become my wife." + +"What! You have my daughter's promise to marry you, you--" + +"She admits it herself." + +"Then I reckon here's where I lose a prospective son-in-law," sneered +Langdon. "But that's unimportant. Now, Norton, who's behind you?" + +"I must decline to answer that." + +Langdon looked at him sternly. + +"Very well," he said. "You are too small to count. I'll find out for +myself. Now you go to my study and wait there until I send for you. I +must be alone with my children." + +When Norton and Haines had left them, Langdon turned sadly to the two +children who had disgraced him. + +"Can you understand?" he said. "Do you know what you've done to me?" + +"What, father? We've done nothing wrong!" protested Carolina. + +"They told me it was perfectly legitimate," urged Randolph. "They said +everybody--Peabody and Stevens and the rest--were in it, and Peabody +is the boss of the Senate." + +"Yes, my boy," assented the old planter, "he's the leader in the +Senate, and that's the shameful part of all this--that a man of his +high standing should set you so miserable an example." + +Randolph Langdon was not a vicious lad, not a youth who preferred or +chose wrongdoing for the increased rewards it offered. He was at heart +a chivalrous, straightforward, trustful Southern boy who believed in +the splendid traditions of his family and loved his father as a +son should a parent having the qualities of the old hero of +Crawfordsville. Jealous of his honor, he had been a victim of Norton's +wiles because of the Congressman's position and persuasiveness, +because this companion of his young days had won his confidence and +had not hesitated to distort the lad's idea of what was right and what +was wrong. + +Randolph began an indignant protest against his father's reproof when +the Senator cut him short. + +"Don't you see?" said the Senator. "I can understand there being +rascals in the outside world and that they should believe your +careless, foolish old father lawful game, but that he should be +thought a tool for dishonest thieving by members of his own family is +incomprehensible. + +"Randolph, my son, Carolina, my daughter, through all their +generations the Langdons have been honorable. Your mother was a +Randolph, and this from you! Oh, Carolina! And you, Randolph! How +could you? How could you betray or seek to betray your father, who +sees in you the image of your dear mother, who has gone?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CALL TO ARMS + + +Both Randolph, and Carolina were deeply affected by their father's +words. + +The daughter attempted to take on herself the blame for her brother's +action. + +"I was the older one. I might have stopped him if I had wished, and +should bear the burden." + +"No, no, father," exclaimed the youth, his inborn self-reliance +prompting him to shoulder the consequences of his own mistakes. "I, +and I alone, am responsible for what I did. I did not realize that it +was wrong. I will not hide behind Carolina." + +Carolina Langdon bore herself better than was to have been expected +under the strain of the painful interview. She saw more clearly now +how she had erred. She was undergoing an inward revolution that would +make it impossible for her ever again to veer so far from the line of +duty to her father, her family and to herself. + +When Randolph had finished Carolina took up her own defense, and +eloquently she pleaded the defense of many a woman who yearns for what +she has not got, for what may be beyond her reach--the defense of the +woman who chafes under the limitations of worldly position, of sex and +of opportunity. It was the defense of an ambitious woman. + +"Perhaps I ought to have been a man of the Langdon family," she +exclaimed. "Father, oh, can't you understand that I couldn't doze my +life away down on those plantations? You don't know what ambition is. +I had to have the world. I had to have money. If I had been a man I +would have tried big financial enterprises. I should have liked to +fight for a fortune. You wouldn't have condemned me then. You might +have said my methods were bold, but if I succeeded I would have been +a great man. But just because I am a woman you think I must sit home +with my knitting. No, father, the world does move. Women must have an +equal chance with men, but I wish I had been a man!" + +"Even then I hope you would have been a gentleman," rebuked her father +sternly. "Women should have an equal chance, Carolina. They should +have an equal chance for the same virtues as men, not for the same +vices." + +"But an equal chance," returned the girl fervidly. "There, father, you +have admitted what I have tried to prove. The woman with the spirit of +a man, the spirit that cries to a woman. 'Advance,' 'Accomplish,' 'Be +something,' 'Strike for yourself,' cannot sit idly by while all the +world moves on. If it is true that I have chosen the wrong means, +the wrong way, to better my lot I did it through ignorance, and that +ignorance is the fault of the times in which I live, of the system +that guides the era in which I live. + +"I am what the world calls 'educated,' but the world, the world of +men, knows better. It laughs at me. It has cheated me because I am +a woman. The world of men has fenced me in and hobbled me with +convention, with precedent, with fictitious sentiment. If I pursue +the business of men as they themselves would pursue it I am called an +ungrateful daughter. If I should adopt the morals of men I would be +called a fallen woman. If I adopted the religion of men I would have +no religion at all. Turn what way I will--" + +[Illustration: "YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE LIKE A MAN."] + +"But not every woman feels the way you do, my daughter," broke in the +Senator. + +"No, you are right, because their spirit has been crushed by +generations, by centuries of forced subserviency to men. They tell us +we should be thankful that we do not live in China, where women are +physical slaves to men. In our country they are forced to be mental +and social slaves to men. Is one very much worse than the other?" + +"Then, dear," and her father's tone was very gentle, "if you want an +equal chance--want to be equal to a man--you must take your medicine +with Randolph, like a man." + +"What are you going to do, sir?" she asked, afraid. + +"I'm going to spoil all your little scheme, dear," he returned, +smiling sadly. "I'm going, I fear, to make you lose all your money. +I'd like to make it easy for you, but I can't. You've got to take your +medicine, children, and when it's all over back there in Mississippi I +shall be able, I hope, to patch up your broken lives, and together we +will work out your mistakes. I can't think of that now. The honor of +the Langdons calls. This is the time for the fight, and any one who +fights against me must take the consequences." + +He walked over and touched the bell. + +"Thomas," he said to the servant who responded, "take that letter at +once to Senator Peabody, in the library." + +"What is it, sir?" asked Randolph. + +"It's the call to arms," responded his father grimly. + +Senator Peabody read the letter to which Haines had signed Langdon's +name and jumped up from his chair in the library in astonishment. +Without a word to the startled Stevens he rushed to confront Langdon. + +"What's the meaning of this?" he shouted as he burst in on the junior +Senator from Mississippi. + +"Of what?" asked the Southerner, with a blandness that added fuel to +Peabody's irritation. + +"Don't trifle with me, sir!" cried "the boss of the Senate." "This +letter. You sent it. Explain it! I'm in no mood to joke." + +Langdon looked at him calmly. + +"I think the letter is quite plain, Senator," he said. "You can read." +Then he turned to his daughter. "This discussion cannot possibly +interest you, my dear. Will you go to the drawing-room to receive our +guests?" + +Carolina obeyed. She seemed to be discovering new qualities in this +father whom she had considered to be too old-fashioned for his time. + +"Now, Senator, go ahead, and, Randolph, you bring Stevens." + +"You're switching to Gulf City?" demanded Peabody. + +"I'm considering Gulf City," agreed Langdon. + +Peabody brought down his fist on the table. + +"It's too late to consider anything, Langdon," he cried. "We're +committed to Altacoola, and Altacoola it is. I don't care what you +heard of Gulf City. Now, I'd like to settle this thing in a friendly +manner, Langdon. I like always for every member of the Senate to have +his share of the power and the patronage. We've been glad to put +you forward in this naval base matter. We appreciate the +straightforwardness, the honesty of your character. You look well. +You're the kind of politician the public thinks it wants nowadays, but +you've been in the Senate long enough to know that bills have to pass, +and you know you can't get through anything without my friends, and I +tell you now I'll throttle any Gulf City plan you bring up." + +"Then if you are as sure of that you can't object to my being for Gulf +City?" asked Langdon. + +"Are you financially interested in Gulf City?" demanded Peabody. + +"Senator Peabody!" exclaimed Langdon. + +"Don't flare up, Langdon," retorted Peabody. "That sort of thing has +happened in the Senate. There are often perfectly legitimate profits +to be made in some regular commercial venture by a man who has inside +information as to what's doing up on Capitol Hill." + +"Senator Peabody," asked Langdon, "why are you so strong for +Altacoola?" + +The Pennsylvanian hesitated. + +"Its natural advantages," he said at last. + +The Southerner shook his head. + +"Oh, that's all? Well, if natural advantages are going to settle +it, and not influence, go ahead and vote, and I'll just bring in a +minority report for Gulf City." + +"The boss of the Senate" was in a corner now. + +"Confound it, Langdon, if you will have it, I am interested in +Altacoola." + +Langdon nodded. + +"That's all I wanted to know," he said. + +"Now you see why it's got to be Altacoola," persisted the boss. + +"I don't mind telling you, then, Senator Peabody," answered Langdon +calmly, "that my being for Gulf City was a bluff. I've been trying to +draw you out. Gulf City is a mud bank and no more fitted to be a naval +base than Keokuk, Ia. Altacoola it's got to be, for the good of the +country and the honor of Mississippi. + +"And one thing more, Senator. I'd just like to add that not a single +man connected with that committee is going to make a cent out of the +deal. You get that straight?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"IF YOU CAN'T BUY A SENATOR, THREATEN HIM" + + +Senator Peabody was the most surprised man in Washington when he heard +the junior Senator from Mississippi state that no one was to enrich +himself out of the government naval base project. + +He heaped a mental anathema on the head of Stevens for saddling such +a man on the Senate "machine," for Langdon would of course never had +been put on "naval affairs" (just now very important to the machine) +without the "O.K." of Stevens, who had won a heretofore thoroughly +reliable reputation as a judge of men, or of what purported to be men. +The thought that at this time, of all times, there should be a man +on the committee on naval affairs that could not be "handled" was +sufficient to make him who reveled in the title of "boss of the +Senate" determine that he must get another chief lieutenant to replace +Stevens, who had proved so trustworthy in the past. Stevens had lost +his cunning! + +As the vote of Langdon could not be secured by humbug or in exchange +for favors and as it could not be "delivered," Peabody, of course, was +willing to pay in actual cash for the vote. This was the final step +but one in political conspiracies of this nature?--cash. But Langdon +would not take cash, so Peabody had to resort to the last agency of +the trained and corrupt manipulator of legislation. + +He would threaten. + +Moreover, he knew that to make threats effective, if it is possible to +do so, they must be led up to systematically--that is, they should be +made at the right time. The scene must be set, as in a play. + +Senator Peabody glared at Langdon as though to convince the latter +that to stand in his way would mean political destruction. + +"So nobody is going to make a cent, eh? Well, I suppose you want all +the profits for yourself." Turning to Stevens, who had just entered, +the Pennsylvanian cried: + +"Do you but listen to our suddenly good friend Langdon. He wants to be +the only man to make money out of the naval base. He won't listen to +any other member of the naval committee making a cent out of it. Why, +he--" + +"Great God, sir!" exclaimed Langdon. "You are going too far, Peabody. +You state what is false, and you know it, you--you--" + +"Then you are willing that others should have their rightful share?" +put in Stevens. "Oh, I understand now, Senator." + +"No, no, no!" cried Langdon. "You do not understand, Senator Stevens, +and I must say I am ashamed to speak of you by the honorable title of +Senator, sir. I will not listen to any person enriching himself at +the Government's expense, and I am your enemy, you, Peabody, and you, +Stevens, beyond recall. You both know you misrepresent me." + +Langdon walked over to Stevens and faced him. + +"Do you remember, Stevens, Lorimer Hawkslee, back in wartime?" + +"Yes," said Stevens, puzzled, "I remember him--a very fine gentleman." + +The old planter sneered. + +"Yes, a very fine gentleman! You remember he got rich out of contracts +for supplies furnished to the Confederate Government when it wasn't +any too easy for the Confederate Government to pay and when he was +in that Government himself. I never quite thought that the act of a +gentleman, Stevens. It seemed to me to be very like dishonesty. +I refused to speak to Lorimer Hawkslee in the Carroll Hotel at +Vicksburg, and when the people there asked me why I told them. I want +to warn you, Stevens, that I'm likely to meet you some time in the +Carroll Hotel at Vicksburg." + +Stevens backed away angrily. "I catch your insinuation, but"--he +received a warning glance from Peabody and broke into a pleasant smile +calculated to deceive the old planter--"this once I will overlook it +because of our old friendship and the old days in Mississippi." + +"You are a fine talker, Langdon," said Peabody, coming to Stevens' +rescue, "but I can readily see what you are driving at. You want an +investigation. You think you will catch some of us with what you +reformers call 'the goods,' but forget evidently the entirely simple +facts that your family has invested in Altacoola lands more heavily +probably than any one else among us. You want to raise a scandal, do +you? Well, go on and raise it, but remember that you will have to +explain how it happened that there is $50,000 invested in the name of +your son, and $25,000 in the name of your daughter, Miss Carolina, not +to mention a few thousands put in by the gentleman who, I am given to +understand, is to be your son-in-law, Congressman Norton. + +"How about that, Norton?" Peabody asked, turning to the Congressman, +who had followed Stevens. + +"I corroborate all you've said," remarked Norton. "I can state +positively that Senator Langdon knew that his money was going into +Altacoola land. I will swear to it if necessary," and he glared +bitterly at Carolina's father, feeling certain that the girl would +cling to him as opposed to her parent. + +Langdon made a threatening move at the Congressman. + +"I consider my riddance of you mighty cheap at the price," he cried. + +"Come, come, Langdon," fumed Peabody, "I must get away from here to +catch the midnight train. Let's get through with this matter. You must +realize that you cannot fight me in Washington. You must know that +men call me the 'king of the Senate.' I can beat any measure you +introduce. I can pass any measure you want passed. I can make you a +laughing-stock or a power. + +"Why, my friend from Mississippi, I can even have your election to the +Senate contested, have a committee appointed to investigate the manner +of your election, have that committee decide that you bought your way +into the honorable body, the Senate of the United States, and on the +strength of that decision have you forfeit your seat! What a pretty +heritage to hand down to posterity such a disgrace will be! Why, the +very school children of the future will hear about you as 'Looter +Langdon,' and their parents will tell them how particularly degrading +it was for a man of your reputation to drag into your dishonest +schemes your son, sir, and your daughter. For who will believe that +this money was not put in these lands without your consent, without +your direction, your order? Did you not sign the mortgage on which +this $50,000 was raised?" + +Senator Langdon waved his hand deprecatingly. "I'm learning the +under-handed ways of you professional politicians. I'm getting wise. +I'm learning 'the game,' so I know you're bluffing me, Peabody. But +you forget that the game of poker was invented in Mississippi--my +native State." + +Pressing a button, Langdon summoned a servant and said: "Send in Mr. +Haines. I guess I've got to have a witness for my side." + +"It's no bluff," spoke Stevens as Haines entered. "Peabody can and +will break you like a pipestem; he's done it to other men before you +who--who tried to dispute his power. But I'll try to save you. I'll +ask him to be merciful. You are not of any importance in the Senate. +We do not need to deal with you--" + +"Then why do you both spend so much time on me?" asked Langdon +innocently. "Why doesn't Peabody go to Philadelphia?" + +"Langdon," said Peabody, "you know my control of the Senate is no +piece of fiction. But I will forgive your obstinacy, even forget it. +I--" + +"Look here," cried Langdon, "just because I'm a fat man don't think +that I can't lose my temper." He stopped and gazed at his two +colleagues. + +"Now, you two men stay still one moment, and I'll tell you what really +will happen to-morrow," he exploded, "and I'm only a beginner in the +game that's your specialty. The naval base is going to Altacoola--" + +"Good!" simultaneously cried both Peabody and Stevens. "You're coming +in with us?" + +"No, I'm not, but I'll pass the bill so that nobody makes a cent, just +as I said I would. I'll fool you both and make you both honest for +once in spite of your natural dispositions." + +Stevens and the Pennsylvanian stared at each other in disgust. + +"Furthermore," continued Langdon, "Altacoola must have the base +because I've known for some time that Gulf City was impossible. But +some crooked Senators would have made money if they'd known it, so +they didn't learn it. Altacoola, that proud arm of our great gulf, +will have those battleships floating on her broad bosom and the +country will be the better off, and so will the sovereign State of +Mississippi--God bless it--but neither Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania +nor Senator Stevens of Mississippi is going to be any better because +of it. No, and if you men come to my committee room at 12:30 to-morrow +noon you'll have a chance to hear how all that's coming about. If you +are not there by that time I'll bring in a minority report in favor +of Gulf City, just to show you that I know how to play the game--this +Washington game--" + +"Come, let's go. We can do nothing with him," said Peabody to the +senior Senator from Mississippi. + +"Well, Senator, in the name of goodness, what are you going to do? How +can you win for Altacoola without letting these grafters make money +out of it?" asked Haines in astonishment as the other two walked away. +"What are you going to do at 12:30 to-morrow?" + +Langdon turned to him and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling +despairingly. + +"I'm blamed if I know!" he exclaimed. + +[Illustration: "TO-MORROW AT 12:30."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +LOBBYISTS--AND ONE IN PARTICULAR + + +Washington has known many lobbyists in its time, and it keeps on +knowing them. The striking increase in legislation that aims to +restrict unlawful or improper practices in business, the awakening +of the public conscience, has caused a greater demand than ever for +influence at the national capital, for these restrictive measures must +be either killed or emasculated to a point of uselessness by that +process which is the salvation of many a corrupt manipulator, the +process of amendment. + +Predatory corporations, predatory business associations of different +sorts and predatory individuals have their representatives on the +field at Washington to ward off attack by any means that brains can +devise or money procure and to obtain desired favors at a cost that +will leave a profitable balance for the purchaser. When commercial +tricksters, believing in the lobbyists' favorite maxim, "The People +Forget," feel that they have outlived the latest reform movement +and see "the good old days" returning, the professional politicians +introduce a few reform measures themselves, most stringent measures. +They push these measures ahead until somebody pays up, then the bills +die. The lobbyist knows all about these "strike" bills, but does not +frown on them. No, no. Per-haps he helped draw up one of these bills +so that, with the aid of his inside knowledge of his employer's +business, the measure is made to give a greater scare than might +otherwise have resulted. The bigger the scare the bigger the fund +advanced, of course, for the lobbyist to handle. All this also helps +the lobbyist to secure and retain employment. + +Not all the Washington lobbyists are outside of Congress. The Senator +or Congressman has unequaled facilities for oiling or blocking the +course of a bill. Sometimes he confines himself to the interests of +his own clients, whoever they may be. But sometimes he notices a bill +that promises to be a pretty good thing for the client of some other +member if it passes. Then he begins to fight this bill so actively +that he must be "let in on the deal" himself. This is very annoying +to the other member, but the experience is worth something. He has +learned the value of observing other people's legislation. + +The outsiders (members of the "third house") and the insiders have a +bond of freemasonry uniting them; they exchange information as to what +members of both houses can be "reached," how they can be "got to" +(through whom) and how much they want. This information is carefully +tabulated, and now prices for passing or defeating legislation can be +quoted to interested parties just as the price of a carload of pork +can be ascertained at a given time and place. Perhaps it is this +system that leads grafting members of short experience to wonder how +knowledge of their taking what is termed "the sugar" got out and +became known to their associates. Did they not have pledge of absolute +secrecy? Yes, but the purchaser never intended to keep the information +from those of his kind. Lobbyists must be honest with each other. + +Not all lobbyists are men. The woman legislative agent has been known +to occupy an important position in Washington, and she does yet. +She is hard to detect and frequently more unprincipled than the men +similarly engaged, if that is possible. + +A woman with a measure of social standing would naturally prove +the most successful as a lobbyist in Washington because of the +opportunities her position would afford her to meet people of +prominence. And just such a one was Mrs. Cora Spangler, with whom +the Langdons had been thrown in contact quite intimately since their +arrival at the capital. + +Pretty and vivacious, Mrs. Spangler bore her thirty-seven years with +uncommon ease, aided possibly by the makeup box and the modiste. +Her dinners and receptions were attended by people of acknowledged +standing. Always a lavish spender of money, this was explained +as possible because of a fortune left her by her late husband, +Congressman Spangler of Pennsylvania. That this "fortune" had +consisted largely of stock and bonds of a bankrupt copper smelting +plant in Michigan remained unknown, except to her husband's family, +one or two of her own relatives and Senator Peabody, who, coming from +Pennsylvania, had known her husband intimately. + +He it was who had suggested to her that she might make money easily +by cultivating the acquaintance of the new members of both houses +and their families, exerting her influence in various "perfectly +legitimate ways," he argued, for or against matters pending in +legislation. The Standard Steel corporation kept Mrs. Spangler well +supplied with funds deposited monthly to her account in a Philadelphia +trust company. + +She avoided suspicion by reason of her sex and her many acquaintances +of undisputed rank. Senator Peabody was never invited to her home, had +never attended a single dinner, reception or musicale she had given, +all of which was a part of the policy they had mutually agreed on to +deaden any suspicion that might some time arise as to her relation to +the Standard Steel Company. It was well known that Peabody had been +put into the Senate by Standard Steel to look after its interests. + +He had found Mrs. Spangler chiefly valuable thus far as a source of +information regarding the members of Congress, which she obtained +largely from their families. He was thus able to gain an idea of their +associations, their particular interests and their aspirations in +coming to Congress, which proved of much use to him in forming and +promoting acquaintances, all for the glory of Standard Steel. + +Senator Holcomb of Missouri told Mrs. Spangler at an afternoon tea +confidentially that he was going to vote against the ship subsidy +bill. Senator Peabody was informed of this two hours later by a note +written in cipher. When the vote was called two days later Senator +Holcomb voted for the bill. Standard Steel supplies steel for ocean +liners, and their building must be encouraged. + +Mrs. Windsor, wife of Congressman Windsor of Indiana, remarked to Mrs. +Spangler at a reception that she was "so glad Jimmie is going to do +something for us women at last. He says we ought to get silk gowns +ever so much cheaper next year," Jimmie Windsor was a member of the +House committee on ways and means and was busily engaged in the matter +of tariff revision. When President Anders of the Federal Silk Company +heard from Senator Peabody that Windsor favored lowering the tariff +on silk a way was found to convince the Congressman that the American +silk industry was a weakling, and many investors would suffer if the +foreign goods should be admitted any cheaper than at present. + +President Anders would be willing to do Senator Peabody a favor some +day. + +Sometimes Cora Spangler shuddered at the thought of what would +become of her if she should make some slip, some fatal error, and be +discovered to her friends as a betrayer of confidences for money. +A secret agent of Standard Steel! What a newspaper story she would +make--"Society Favorite a Paid Spy"; "Woman Lobbyist Flees Capital." +The sensational headlines flitted through her mind. Then she would +grit her teeth and dig her finger nails into her palms. She had to +have money to carry on the life she loved so well. She must continue +as she had begun. After all, she reasoned, nothing definite could ever +be proved regarding the past. Let the future care for itself. She +might marry again and free herself from this mode of life--who knows? + +So reasoned Cora Spangler for the hundredth time during the last two +years as she sat in her boudoir at her home. She had spent part of the +day with Carolina and Hope Langdon and in the evening had attended the +musicale at their house. But she had been forced to leave early owing +to a severe headache. Now, after an hour or two of rest, she felt +better and was about to retire. Suddenly the telephone bell rang at a +writing-table near a window. She had two telephones, one in the lower +hall and one in her boudoir--to save walking downstairs unnecessarily, +she explained to her woman friends. But the number of this upstairs +telephone was not in the public book. It had a private number, known +to but two people except herself. + +Taking down the receiver, she asked in low voice, "Hello! Who is it?" + +"Mr. Wall." + +It was the name Senator Peabody used in telephone conversation with +her. + +"Yes, Congressman!" she responded. + +She always said, "Yes, Congressman," in replying to "Mr. Wall," a +prearranged manner of indicating that he was talking to the desired +person. + +"I will need your services to-morrow," Senator Peabody said, "on a +very important matter, I am afraid. Decline any engagements and hold +yourself in readiness." + +"Yes." + +"I may send my friend S. to explain things at 10:30 in the morning. If +he does not arrive at that time, telephone me at 10:35 sharp. You know +where. Understand? I have put off going to Philadelphia to-night." + +"Yes." + +"That is all; good-by." + +"Something very important," she murmured nervously as she turned from +the desk. + +"I don't like his tone of voice; sounds strained and +worried--something unusual for the cold, flinty gentleman from +Pennsylvania. And his 'friend S.,' of course, means Stevens! Great +heavens! then Stevens must now have knowledge of my--my--business!" + +She calmed herself and straightened a dainty, slender finger against +her cheek. + +"It must be something about that naval base bill, I'm sure. That's +been worrying Peabody all session," she mused as she pressed a button +to summon her maid. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +"THE BOSS OF THE SENATE" GAINS A NEW ALLY + + +Mrs. Spangler would have flattered herself on guessing correctly as to +Senator Peabody's uneasiness had she heard and seen all that had taken +place in his apartment at the Louis Napoleon Hotel, where he had +hurriedly taken Senator Stevens on leaving the Langdon house. + +Not only would the two Senators lose their immense profits on the +Altacoola transaction if Langdon persisted in his opposition, but they +would lose as well the thousands of dollars spent by their agents in +purchasing options on hundreds of acres, and where they could not +get options, the land itself. This land would be on their hands, +unsalable, if the base went somewhere else. Moreover, they feared that +Langdon's revolt would bring unpleasant newspaper publicity to their +operations. + +"There's only one course to pursue, Stevens," snapped Peabody as they +took off their overcoats. "That is to be prepared as best we can for +the very worst and meet it in some way yet to be determined. But first +we must try to figure out what Langdon is going to do--what it can be +that he says he will tell us to-morrow at 12:30 if we appear. He must +have something very startling up his sleeve if he makes good his +assertions. I can't see how--" + +"Nor I," frowned Stevens, "and my political eyesight is far better +than that fool Langdon's. Under ordinary circumstances we could let +him go ahead with his minority report for Gulf City, but as things +stand he'll have every newspaper reporter in Washington buzzing around +and asking impertinent questions--" + +"Yes, and you and I would have to go to Paris to live with our life +insurance friends from New York, wouldn't we?" laughed Peabody +sarcastically. "I'm going to send for Jake Steinert," he added. + +"Steinert?" Stevens ejaculated. "What--" + +"Oh, that's all right. Maybe he can suggest something," said Peabody, +going to the telephone. "We've too much at stake to make a mistake, +and Jake may see a point that we've overlooked. Luckily I saw him +downstairs in the grill-room as we came through to the elevator." + +"Steinert is all right himself," continued Stevens, "but his +methods--" + +"Can't be too particular now about his methods--or ours, Stevens, when +a bull like Langdon breaks loose in the political china shop. Fortune +and reputation are both fragile." + +A ring of a bell announced the arrival of Jake Steinert, whose +reputation as a lobbyist of advanced ability had spread wide in the +twenty years he had spent in Washington. Of medium height, sallow +complexion, dark hair and dark eyes, his broad shoulders filled the +doorway as he entered. An illy kept mustache almost hid a thin-lipped, +forceful mouth, almost as forceful as some of the language he used. +His eyes darted first to Peabody and then to Stevens, waiting for +either of them to open the conversation. + +The highest class lobbyists, those who "swing" the "biggest deals," +concern themselves only with men who can "handle" or who control +lawmakers. They get regular reports and outline the campaign. Like +crafty spiders they hide in the center of a great web, a web of +bribery, threat, cajolery and intrigue, intent on every victim that is +lured into the glistening meshes. + +Only the small fry mingle freely with the legislators in the open, in +the hotels and cafés and in the Capitol corridors. + +Jake Steinert did not belong in either of these classes; he ranked +somewhere between the biggest and the smallest. He coupled colossal +boldness with the most expert knowledge of all the intricate workings +of the congressional mechanism. Given money to spend among members to +secure the defeat of a bill, he would frequently put most of the money +in his own pocket and for a comparatively small sum defeat it by +influencing the employees through whose hands it must pass. + +"Sit down, Jake. Something to drink?" asked Peabody, reaching for a +decanter. + +"No," grunted the lobbyist; "don't drink durin' business hours; only +durin' the day." + +"Well, Jake," said the Pennsylvanian, "you probably know something of +what's going on in the naval affairs committee." + +"You mean the biggest job of the session?" + +"Yes." + +"Sure thing, Senator. It's the work of an artist." + +"The boss of the Senate" smiled grimly. + +"Now, suppose a committeeman named Langdon absolutely refused to be +taken care of, and insisted on handing in a minority report to-morrow, +with a speech that read like the Declaration of Independence?" + +Steinert jerked his head forward quickly. + +"You mean what would I do if I was--er--if I was runnin' the job?" + +"Yes." + +Steinert leaned toward Peabody. + +"Where do I come in on this?" he asked, suspiciously. + +"Come, come, man," was the irritable retort. "I never let a few +dollars stand between myself and my friends." + +"All right, Senator." + +The lobbyist thrust himself down in his chair, puffed slowly at a +cigar, and gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. + +"Few years ago," he began, after a minute or two, "there was a feller +who was goin' to squeal about a bond issue. He had his speech all +really to warn the country that he thought a crowd of the plutocracy +was goin' to get the bonds to resell to the public at advanced rates. +Well, sir, I arranged to have a carriage, a closed carriage, call that +night to take him to see the President, for he was told the President +sent the carriage for him. When he got out he was at the insane +asylum, an' I can tell you he was bundled into a padded cell in jig +time, where he stayed for three days. 'He thinks he's a member of +Congress,' I told the two huskies that handled him, an' gave 'em each +a twenty-case note. The doctor that signed the necessary papers got +considerable more." + +Stevens' gasp of amazement caused the narrator genuine enjoyment. + +"I know of a certain Senator who was drunk an' laid away in a Turkish +bath when the roll was called on a certain bill. He was a friend of +Peabody's," laughed the lobbyist to the Mississippian. + +"But in this case," said Stevens, "we must be very careful. Possibly +some of your methods in handling the men you go after--" + +"Say," interposed Steinert, "you know I don't do all pursuin', all the +goin' after, any more than others in my business. Why, Senator, some +of these Congressmen worry the life out of us folks that sprinkle +the sugar. They accuse us of not lettin' 'em in on things when +they haven't been fed in some time. They come down the trail like +greyhounds coursin' a coyote." + +The speaker paused and glanced across at Peabody, who, however, was +too busily engaged in writing in a memorandum book to notice him. + +"Why, Senator Stevens," went on the lobbyist, "only to-day a Down East +member held me up to tell me that he was strong for that proposition +to give the A.K. and L. railroad grants of government timber land in +Oregon. He says to me, he says: 'What'n h--l do my constituents in New +England care about things 'way out on the Pacific Coast? I'd give 'em +Yellowstone National Park for a freight sidin' if 'twas any use to +'em,' he says. So you see--" + +"I must go," broke in Stevens, rising and glancing at his watch. "It +will soon be daylight." + +"If you must have sleep, go; but you must be here at 9 o'clock sharp +in the morning," said Peabody. "Steinert will sleep here with me. +We'll all have breakfast together here in my rooms and a final +consultation." + +"You won't plan anything really desperate, Peabody, will you? I think +I'd rather--" + +"Nonsense, Stevens, of course not. Our game will be to try to weaken +Langdon, to prove to him in the morning that he alone will suffer, +because our names do not appear in the land deals. The options were +signed and the deeds signed by our agents. Don't you see? Whereas his +daughter and son and future son-in-law actually took land in their own +names." + +"How clumsy!" + +"Yes. Such amateurism lowers the dignity of the United States Senate," +Peabody answered, dryly. + +"But suppose Langdon does not weaken?" asked Stevens, anxiously, as he +picked up his hat and coat. + +"Then we will go into action with our guns loaded," was the reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE HONEYBIRD + + +In the African jungle dwells a pretty little bird that lives on honey. +The saccharine dainty is there found in the hollows of trees and under +the bark, where what is known as the carpenter bee bores and deposits +his extract from the buds and blossoms of the tropical forest. + +The bird is called the "honeybird" because it is a sure guide to the +deposits of the delicacy. The bird dislikes the laborious task of +pecking its way through the bark to reach the honey, and so, wise in +the ways of men, it procures help. It locates a nest of honey, then +flies about until it sees some natives or hunters, to whom it shows +itself. They know the honeybird and know that it will lead them to the +treasure store. Following the bird, which flits just in advance, they +reach the cache of dripping sweetness and readily lay it open with +hatchets or knives. Taking what they want, there is always enough left +clinging to the tree and easily accessible to satisfy the appetite of +the clever little bird. + +Senator Stevens of Mississippi bears a marked resemblance to the +honeybird--so much so that he has well won the bird's appellation for +himself. Abnormally keen at locating possibilities for extracting +"honey" from the governmental affairs in Washington, he invariably led +Peabody, representing the hunter with the ax, to the repository. He +would then rely on the Pennsylvanian's superior force to break down +the barriers. Stevens would flutter about and gather up the leavings. + +Equally as mercenary as "the boss of the Senate," he lacked Peabody's +iron nerve, determination, resourcefulness and daring. He needed many +hours of sleep. Peabody could work twenty hours at a stretch. He had +to have his meals regularly or else suffer from indigestion. Peabody +sometimes did a day's work on two boiled eggs and a cup of coffee. + +The senior Senator from Mississippi had been the first to point out to +Peabody the possibilities for profit in the gulf naval base project, +but the morning following the conference with Steinert when he +rejoined them for breakfast at the Louis Napoleon he was far from +comfortable. He did not mind fighting brain against brain, even though +unprincipled methods were resorted to, but indications were that more +violent agencies would be called into play owing to the complications +that had arisen. + +Stevens ate heartily to strengthen his courage. Steinert ate hugely +to strengthen his body. Peabody ate scarcely anything at all--to +strengthen his brain. + +Waving away the hotel waiter who had brought the breakfast to his +apartment, Senator Peabody outlined the probable campaign of the day. + +"If our best efforts to weaken and scare off Langdon fail to-day," he +said, "it will naturally develop that we must render it impossible in +some way for him to appear in the Senate at all, or we must delay his +arrival until after the report of the committee on naval affairs has +been made. In either event he would not have another opportunity to +speak on that subject. + +"Of course, later, at 12:30, we will know his plan of action. Then we +can act to the very point, but we must be prepared for any situation +that can arise." + +"Cannot the President of the Senate be persuaded not to recognize +Langdon on the floor? Then we could adjourn and shut him off," asked +Stevens. + +"No," responded Peabody; "he has already promised Langdon to recognize +him, and the President of the Senate cannot be persuaded to break his +word. I am painfully aware of this fact." + +But Stevens was not yet dissuaded from the hope of defeating the +junior Senator from Mississippi by wit alone. + +"Can we not have a speaker get the floor before Langdon and have him +talk for hours--tire out the old kicker--and await a time when he +leaves the Senate chamber to eat or talk to some visitor we could have +call on him, then shove the bill through summarily?" he suggested. + +"I've gone over all that." answered Peabody, quickly. "It would only +be delaying the evil hour. You wouldn't be able to move that old +codger away from the Senate chamber with a team of oxen--once he +gets to his seat. His secretary, Haines--another oversight of yours, +Stevens"--the latter winced--"will warn him. Langdon would stick pins +through his eyelids to keep from falling asleep." + +"I've been thinkin'," put in Steinert, slowly, "that a little +fine-esse like this might keep him away: When Langdon's in his +committee room before goin' to the Senate send him a telegram signed +by one of his frien's' name that one of his daughters is dyin' from +injuries in a automobile collision a few miles out o' town. That +'ud--" + +"Ridiculous," snorted Peabody. "He'd know where they were. They're +always--" + +"Huh! then put in more fine-esse." + +"How? What?" + +"Hev some 'un take 'em out a-autoin'--" + +"No, no, man!" snapped Peabody. "They'd stick in town to hear their +father's wonderful speech." + +"Well," went on the lobbyist, "I'll hev Langd'n watched by a careful +picked man, a nigger that won't talk. He'll pick a row with the +Colonel on some street, say, w'en he's comin' from his home after +lunch. The coon kin bump into Langd'n an' call him names. Then +w'en ole fireworks sails into 'im, yellin' about what 'e'd do in +Mississippi, the coon pulls a gun on the Colonel an' fires a couple o' +shots random. Cops come up, an' our pertickeler copper'll lug Langd'n +away as a witness, refusin' to believe 'e's a Senator. I kin arrange +to hev him kept in the cooler a couple o' hours without gettin' any +word out, or I'll hev 'im entered up as drunk an' disorderly. He'll +look drunk, he'll be so mad." + +"But the negro--how could you get a man to undergo arrest on such a +serious charge, attempted murder!" exclaimed Stevens. + +"There, there," said Steinert, patronizingly; "coons has more genteel +home life in jail than they does out. An' don't forget the District of +Columbia is governed by folks that ain't residents of it, only durin' +the session. Th' politicians don't leave their frien's in the cooler +very long. Say, Senator Stevens, are you kiddin' me? Is it any +different down in your--" + +The Mississippian choked and spluttered over a gulp of unusually hot +coffee, and Peabody again decided Steinert to be on the wrong tack. + +"That proceeding would attract too much attention from the +newspapers," he added. + +"Well, I thought you wanted to win," grunted Steinert. "I've been +offerin' you good stuff, too--new stuff. None of yer druggin' with +chloroform or ticklin' with blackjacks. Why, I've gone from fine-esse +to common sense. But, come to think of it, how about some woman? I c'n +get one to introduce to--" + +"This is the wrong kind of a man," interrupted Peabody. + +"Unless you got the right kind of a woman," went on Steinert. + +Senator Stevens choked some more. + +"The boss of the Senate" sank down in his chair, crossed one knee +over the other and drummed his fingers lightly on the table. He gazed +thoughtfully at Stevens. + +"Yes," he observed, slowly, "unless you've got the right sort of a +woman." + +Rising, he led the Mississippian to one side. + +The lobbyist heard the Southerner give a short exclamation of +astonishment as Peabody whispered to him. + +"It's all right. It's all right," he then heard the Pennsylvanian say, +irritably. "She'll understand. She can be trusted. _She expects you_." + +Stevens gave a violent start at the last assurance, but his colleague +hurriedly helped him into his coat. + +"Go in a closed carriage," was Peabody's final warning. "Be sure to +tell her to get hold of his two daughters on some pretext at once. She +knows them well. Maybe we can influence the old man through his girls, +don't you see?" + +And while Senator Peabody and Jake Steinert recurred to a previous +discussion concerning one J.D. Telfer, Mayor of Gulf City, Senator +Stevens started on the most memorable drive of his career on +this bright winter morning, to the house of the fascinating Mrs. +Spangler--who for the past week had been considering his proposal of +marriage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +CAROLINA LANGDON'S RENUNCIATION + + +Senator Langdon's committee room at the Capitol presented a busy scene +at an unusually early hour the morning after the entertainment at his +home. Bud Haines, reinstated as secretary, was picking up the thread +of routine where he had dropped it the day before, though his frequent +thought of Hope and the words that had thrilled him--"I love you, I +love you fondly"--made this task unusually difficult. He impatiently +wished the afternoon to hasten along, as he knew he would then see her +in the Senate gallery, where she would go to hear her father's speech. + +This speech had to be revised in some particulars by Bud, and the work +he knew would take up much of the morning. The Senator's speech was +"The South of the Future," which he would deliver when recognized by +the President of the Senate in connection with the naval base bill, +that officer having agreed to recognize Langdon at 3:30, at which time +the report of the naval affairs committee would be received. Just how +Langdon would turn the tables on Peabody and Stevens and yet win for +the Altacoola site not even the ex-newspaper man, experienced in +politics, had solved. Clearly the Senator would have to do some tall +thinking during the morning. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi burst into the office with his +habitual cheery greeting, his broad-brimmed black felt hat in its +usual position on the back of his head, like a symbol of undying +defiance. + +"A busy day for us, eh, Senator?" queried Bud. + +"Now, look here, my boy, don't begin to remind me of work right off," +he said, with a humorous gleam in his eye. "Go easy on me. Don't +forget I'm her father." + +Bud laughed through the flush that rose in his cheeks. + +"No, I won't forget that. But have you decided what to tell Peabody +and Stevens as your plan of action if they come in here at 12:30?" + +"If they come?" exclaimed Langdon. "They'll come. Watch 'em." + +Then he hesitated, worriedly. + +"I'll have to incubate an idea between now and noon, somehow. But +don't forget this, Bud--we're worried about them, true enough, but +they're worried a heap more about us." + +Senator Langdon stepped into an adjoining room, where he could be +alone, to "incubate." + +As Haines resumed his work Carolina Langdon entered. + +Avoiding the secretary's direct gaze, she asked for her father. + +"He ought to be back shortly, Miss Langdon," responded Haines. "You +can wait here. I must ask pardon for leaving, as I must run over to +the library." + +As the secretary bowed himself out of the door he almost collided with +Congressman Norton. Both glared at each other and remained silent. + +"Carolina," spoke Norton, as he entered, "I hope--I know you won't +allow your father to influence you against me--because of last night. +I--" + +Carolina would rather not have met Charles Norton on this morning. She +had hardly slept for the night. She had fought a battle with herself. +Her father had shown her plainly the mistake she had made. She saw +that her influence had not been without effect on Randolph. Probably +for the first time she realized that there are glory and luxury, +pleasure and prestige for which too big a price can be paid. + +The Senator's daughter turned slowly and faced the man she had +promised to marry. + +"Charlie, I have come to a decision. I came here to talk with father +about it." + +Norton started toward Carolina, a look of apprehension on his face. +He gathered from the trend of her words and her demeanor that she had +turned against him. + +"You couldn't be so cruel, Carolina," he protested. + +"Charlie," she went on, determinedly, "I will always cherish our +friendship, our happy younger days down in Mississippi, but, I must +give up thinking of you as my future husband. We've both made a +mistake, mine probably greater than yours, but I now am convinced that +I should not marry you. Your way of thinking about life is all wrong, +and you are too deeply entangled with the dishonest men in Washington +to draw back. I cannot love you." + +"But I am doing it all for your sake, Carolina. Don't let an +old-fashioned father come between a man and a woman and their love," +he cried. + +"Charlie, I must give you up." + +The girl turned to one side, as though to give Norton a chance to +leave. + +He looked at her in silence for a moment or two. Then a change came +into his bearing. Wrinkling his face into a sneer, he stepped before +the girl. + +"You've been converted mighty sudden, I reckon, from land speculating +to preaching--and preaching, too, against folks who tried to make a +fortune for you." + +Norton stopped, expecting a reply, but the girl remained silent. + +"You think I'm done for, that I've lost my money; that's why you +turned from me so quickly," he laughed, scornfully. "But I'll show +you, you and your blundering old father. I'll win you yet, and I'll +ruin your father's political reputation. I'll--" + +"Are you quite sure about that?" spoke a voice, sharply, behind the +Congressman. He swung around vigorously. Bud Haines had returned in +time to hear Norton's threat. + +"Yes; and while I'm doing that I'll take time to show you up, too, +somehow. I guess a Congressman's word will count against that of a +cheap secretary--that's what Miss Langdon said you were." + +Carolina looked appealingly to Haines to rid her of the presence of +this man, whose last words she knew Haines would not believe. + +But Norton had had his say. He retreated to the door. + +"Miss Langdon," he cried, as he backed out and away, "you have an idea +that I am dishonest, but kindly remember that, whatever you think I +am, I never was a hypocrite." + +Haines advanced and procured a chair for Miss Langdon. + +"I'm very sorry to have come back at such a time," he began. + +The girl cut him short with a gesture. + +"I want to say to you," she said, then halted--"that I want to +be friends with you. I want you to forget the happenings of +yesterday--last evening--so far as I was concerned in them. I want to +work together with you and father--and so does Randolph. Father and +you are standing together to uphold the honor of the Langdons of +Mississippi, and Randolph and I, no matter the cost of our former +folly, want to share in that work." + +Before Haines could reply Senator Langdon burst into the room. + +"Bud! Bud!" he cried, "I've got it! I've got it!" + +"You've got what, Senator?" exclaimed the secretary. + +"That idea, my boy, that idea! It's incubated all right, and Peabody +and Stevens can come just as soon as they want to." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE BATTLES OF WASHINGTON + + +At twenty minutes after 12 Senator Langdon and Secretary Haines were +still undisturbed by any move on the part of Peabody and Stevens, +who maintained a silence that to Haines was distinctly ominous. His +experience at the Capitol had taught him that when the Senate machine +was quiet it was time for some one to get out from under. + +Miss Williams, the naval committee's stenographer, entered. + +"Senator Langdon," she said, "Senator Peabody and Senator Stevens are +in committee room 6, and they told me to tell you that they'd be--I +can't say it. Please, sir, I--" + +"D--d," interpolated Langdon, laughing. + +"Yes, sir, that's it. They'll be--that--if they come in here at 12:30. +You must come to them, they say." + +"Tell the gentlemen I'm sitting here with my hat on the back of my +head, smoking a good see-gar, with nails driven through both shoes +into the floor--and looking at the clock." + +At 12:25 Senator Stevens entered. + +"I came to warn you, Langdon," he said, "that Senator Peabody's +patience is nearly exhausted. You must come to see him at once if you +expect the South to get a naval base at Altacoola or anywhere else. If +you do not agree to take his advice this naval bill and any other that +you are interested in now or in future will be trampled underfoot in +the Senate. Mississippi will have no use for a Senator who cannot +produce results in Washington, and that will prove the bitterest +lesson you have ever learned." + +"I'm waiting for Peabody here, Stevens." + +"Oh, ridiculous! Of course he's not coming. Why, Langdon, he's the +king of the Senate. He has the biggest men of the country at his call. +He's--" + +"He's got one minute left," observed Langdon, looking at the clock, +"but he'll come. I trust Peabody more than the best clock made at a +time like this, when--" + +The figure of the senior Senator from Pennsylvania appeared in the +doorway. + +"Good-day, Senator Langdon," he remarked, icily. + +"Same to you. Have a see-gar, Senator?" said Langdon. He turned and +winked significantly at Haines. + +The three Senators seated themselves. + +"I suppose you wouldn't consider yourself so important, Langdon, if +you knew that we now find we can get another member of the naval +affairs committee over to our side for Altacoola?" began Peabody. +"That gives us a majority of the committee without your vote." + +"That wouldn't prevent me from making a minority report for Gulf City +and explaining why I made that report, would it?" the Mississippian +asked, blandly. + +Peabody and Stevens both knew that it wouldn't. Stevens exchanged +glances with "the boss of the Senate," and in low voice began making +to Langdon a proposition to which Peabody's assent had been gained. + +"Langdon, we would like to be alone," and he nodded toward Haines. + +"Sorry can't oblige, Senator," Langdon replied. "Bud and I together +make up the Senator from Mississippi." + +"All right. What I want to say is this: The President is appointing a +commission to investigate the condition of the unemployed. The members +are to go to Europe, five or six countries, and look into conditions +there, leisurely, of course, so as to formulate a piece of legislation +that will solve the existing problems in this country. A most generous +expense account will be allowed by the Government. A member can take +his family. A son, for instance, could act as financial secretary +under liberal pay." + +"I've heard of that commission," said Langdon. + +"Well, Senator Peabody has the naming of two Senators who will go on +that commission, and I suggested that your character and ability would +make you--" + +"Good glory!" exclaimed Langdon. "You mean that my character and +ability would make me something or other if I kept my mouth shut in +the Senate this afternoon! Stevens, I've been surprised so many times +since I came to the capital that it doesn't affect me any more. I'm +just amused at your offer or Senator Peabody's. + +"I want to tell you two Senators that there's only one thing that I +want in Washington--and you haven't offered it to me yet. When you do +I'll do business with you." + +"What's that? Speak out, man!" said Peabody, quickly. + +"A square deal for the people of the United States." + +"Good Lord!" exclaimed "the boss of the Senate. Is this Washington or +is it heaven?" + +"It is not heaven, Senator," put in Haines. + +"Man alive!" cried Peabody, "I've been in Washington so long that--" + +"So long that you've forgotten that the American people really exist," +retorted Langdon; "and there are more like you in the Senate, all +because the voters have no chance to choose their own Senators. The +public in most States have to take the kind of a Senator that the +Legislature, made up mostly of politicians, feels like making them +take. You, Peabody, wouldn't be in the Senate to-day if the voters had +anything to say about it." + +The Pennsylvanian shrugged his shoulders. + +"And now I'll tell you honorable Senators," went on Langdon, +thoroughly aroused, "something to surprise you. I have discovered that +you were not working for yourselves alone in the Altacoola deal, but +that you intend to turn your land over to the Standard Steel Company +at a big profit as soon as this naval base bill is passed. Then that +company will squeeze the Government for the best part of the hundred +millions that are to be spent." + +The Senator sank back in his chair and gazed at his two opponents. + +Those two statesmen jumped to their feet. + +"Come, Stevens, let him do what he will. We cannot stay here to be +insulted by the ravings of a madman," cried the Pennsylvanian. But he +brought his associate to a standstill midway to the door. "By the way, +Langdon, what is it you are going to do in the Senate this afternoon?" +he asked, "You said you were going to make us honest against our will. +You know you can't do anything." + +Bud Haines turned his face toward the speaker and grinned broadly, to +the Senator's intense discomfort. + +"I'll do more than that," announced Langdon, rising and pounding a +fist into his open hand. "I'll make you and Stevens more popular than +you ever were in your lives before." + +"Bah!" shouted Peabody. + +"I'll do even more yet. I'm going to make you generous--patriots. And, +I regret to say, I'll give you the chance to make the hits of your +careers." + +The polished hypocrites looked at him, too astonished to move. + +"How? What?" they gasped. + +Swept on by his own enthusiasm and the force of his own courageous +honesty, the voice of the Southerner rose to oratorical height. + +"This afternoon," he exclaimed, "when the naval base committee makes +its report, I will rise in my place and declare that for once in the +history of the Senate men have been found who place the interests of +the Government they serve above any chance of pecuniary reward. These +men are the members of the naval base committee. + +"With this idea in view, realizing that dishonest men would try to +make money out of the Government, these members of the naval base +committee, after they settled on Altacoola, went out quietly and +secured control of all the land that will be needed for the naval +base, and these men secured this at a very nominal figure. Now they +are ready to turn over their land to the Government at exactly what +they paid for it, without a cent of profit. + +"Then they're going to sit up over there in that Senate. They're going +to realize that a new kind of politics has arrived in Washington--the +kind that I and lots of others always thought there was here. + +"And, gentlemen"--he advanced on his colleagues triumphantly--"when +I, Senator Langdon of Mississippi, your creation in politics, have +finished that speech, I dare one of you to get up and deny a word!" + +"The boss of the Senate" and his satellite were dumfounded. Firmly +believing that Langdon could find no way to pass the bill for +Altacoola and yet spoil their crooked scheme, they were totally +unprepared for any such dénoûement. To think that a simple, +old-fashioned planter from the cotton fields of Mississippi could +originate such a plan to outwit the two ablest political tricksters in +the Senate! + +Langdon eyed his colleagues triumphantly. + +Peabody, however, was thinking quickly. He was never beaten until the +last vote was counted on a roll call. He knew that, no matter how +apparently insurmountable an opposition was, a way to overcome it +might often be found by the man who exercises strong self-control and +a trained brain. This corrupt victor in scores of bitter political +engagements on the battlefield of Washington was now in his most +dangerous mood. He would marshal all his forces. The man to defeat him +now must defeat the entire Senate machine and the allies it could gain +in an emergency; he must overcome the power of Standard Steel; he must +fight the resourceful brain of the masterful Peabody himself. + +Peabody whispered to Stevens, "We must pretend to be beaten," + +[Illustration: "AFTER I HAVE FINISHED I DARE ONE OF YOU TO DENY A +WORD!"] + +Then the Pennsylvanian advanced, smiling, to Langdon and held out his +hand. + +"Senator Langdon," he said, "I'm beaten. You've beaten the leader of +the Senate, something difficult to believe. What's more, you've given +me the chance of a lifetime to become known as a public benefactor. As +soon as you've finished your speech in the Senate I will get up and +make another one--to second yours. Here's my hand. Anything you may +ever want out of Peabody in the future shall be yours for the asking." + +Langdon refused to grasp the proffered hand. + +Senator Stevens made a show of protesting against his superior's +seeming surrender. + +"But," he objected, "look here--" + +Peabody turned upon him instantly. + +"Oh, shut up, Stevens; don't be a fool. Come on in. The water's fine." + +The pair of schemers, with Norton at their heels, turned away. + +The Pennsylvanian drew Stevens into committee room 6 and, ordering the +stenographer to leave, drew up chairs where both could sit, facing the +door. + +"We've thrown dust in that old gander's eyes," whispered Peabody. +"It's now ten after 1. He is to be recognized to make his speech at +3:30. That gives us two hours and twenty minutes--" + +"Yes, but for what?" asked Stevens, excitedly. "I've been trying +myself to think of something. What will you do--what _can_ you do?" + +"The boss of the Senate" smiled patronizingly on the senior Senator +from Mississippi, as though amused and scornful of his limitations as +a strategist, as a tenacious fighter. Then his jaw set hard, and his +brows contracted. + +"I will not do anything. I cannot do anything"--he hesitated a full +ten seconds--"but Jake Steinert can." + +Stevens' hands twitched nervously. + +"And," continued Peabody, "I'm expecting a 'phone call from him any +moment. I told him this morning that he might be able to make $1,000 +before night if--" + +The telephone bell at the desk interrupted him. + +Peabody leaned over and eagerly clutched the receiver. + +The senior Senator from Mississippi jerked himself to his feet. He +stood at a window and looked out over the roof tops of the city. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +MRS. SPANGLER GIVES A LUNCHEON + + +When Senators Peabody and Stevens had gone Langdon and Bud went over +the situation together and concluded that their opponents had no means +of defeating Langdon's program--that, after all, Peabody might really +have meant his words of surrender. + +"But they might try foul play. Better stay right here in the Capitol +the rest of the day," suggested Bud. + +Langdon scoffed at the idea. + +Haines bustled away to get a few mouthfuls of lunch to fortify himself +for a busy afternoon--one that was going to be far busier than he +imagined. + +The telephone bell rang at the Senator's desk. It was Mrs. Spangler's +voice that spoke. + +"Senator Langdon," she said, "Carolina and Hope Georgia are here at my +home for luncheon, and we all want you to join us." + +"Sorry I cannot accept," answered the Mississippian, "but I am to make +an important speech this afternoon--" + +"Oh, yes, I know. The girls and I are coming to hear it. But you have +two hours' time, and if you come we can all go over to the Senate +together. Now, Senator, humor us a little. Don't disappoint the girls +and me. We can all drive over to the Capitol in my carriage." + +The planter hesitated, then replied: "All right. I'll be over, but it +mustn't be a very long luncheon." + +"Gone to eat; back by 3 o'clock," he scratched quickly on a pad on the +secretary's desk, and departed. + +Mrs. Spangler's luncheons were equally as popular in Washington as +Senator Langdon's dinners. The Mississippian and his daughters enjoyed +the delicacies spread lavishly before them. + +Time passed quickly. The old planter enjoyed seeing his daughters +have so happy a time, and he was not insensible to the charm of his +hostess' conversation, for Mrs. Spangler had studied carefully the art +of ingratiating herself with her guests. + +Suddenly realizing that he had probably reached the limit of the time +he could spare, the Senator drew out his watch. + +"What a stunning fob you wear," quickly spoke Mrs. Spangler, reaching +out her hand and taking the watch from her guest's hands as the case +snapped open. + +"Oh, that's Carolina's doings," laughed Langdon. "She said the old +gold chain that my grandfather left me was--" + +"Why, how lovely," murmured Mrs. Spangler, glancing at the watch. "We +have plenty of time yet. Won't have to hurry. Your time is the same as +mine," she added, nodding her head toward a French renaissance clock +on the black marble mantel. + +As the hostess did this she deftly turned back the hands of the +Senator's watch thirty-five minutes. + +"Do you care to smoke, Senator," Mrs. Spangler asked, as her guests +concluded their repast, "if the young ladies do not object?" + +Langdon inclined his head gratefully, and laughed. + +"They wouldn't be Southern girls, I reckon, if they didn't want to +see a man have everything to make him happy--er, I beg pardon, Mrs. +Spangler, I mean, comfortable. Nobody that's your guest could be +unhappy." + +The hostess beamed on the chivalrous Southerner. + +Langdon drew forth a thick black perfecto and settled back luxuriously +in his chair, after another glance at Mrs. Spangler's clock. He was +absorbed in a mental résumé of his forthcoming speech and did not hear +the next words of the woman, addressed pointedly to his daughters. + +"Do you know, really, why this luncheon was given to-day?" she +queried. Then she continued before Carolina and Hope Georgia could +formulate replies: + +"Because your father and I wanted to take this opportunity to announce +to you--our engagement." + +The speaker smiled her sweetest smile. + +The two girls gazed at each other in uncontrollable amazement, then at +Mrs. Spangler, then at their father, who had turned partly away from +the table and was gazing abstractedly at the ceiling. + +Hope Georgia was the first to regain her voice. + +"Oh, Mrs. Spangler," she ejaculated, "you are very kind to marry +father, but--" + +"What's that?" exclaimed the Senator, roused from his thoughts by his +youngest daughter's words and thrusting himself forward. + +Mrs. Spangler laid her hand on his arm. + +"Oh, Senator, I have just told the dear girls that you had asked me to +marry you--that we were soon to be married," she said, archly, looking +him straight in the eye. She clasped her hands and murmured: "I am so +happy!" + +The hero of Crawfordsville tried to speak, but he could not. He stared +at his hostess, who smiled the smile of the budding debutante. His own +open-mouthed astonishment was reflected in the faces of Carolina and +Hope Georgia as they observed their father's expression. He forgot he +was in Washington. He did not know he was a Senator. The fact that he +had ever even thought of making a speech was furthest from his mind. + +What did it all mean? Had Mrs. Spangler gone suddenly insane? His +daughters--what did they think? These thoughts surged through his +flustered brain. Then it flashed over him--she was joking in some new +fashionable way. He turned toward the fair widow to laugh, but her +face was losing its smile. A pained expression, a suggestion of +intense suffering, appeared in her face. + +"Why do you so hesitate, Senator Langdon?" she finally asked in low +voice, just loud enough for the two girls to overhear. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi looked at his hostess. She had +entertained him and had done much for his daughters in Washington. She +was alone in the world--a widow. He felt that he could not shame her +before Carolina and Hope Georgia. His Southern chivalry would not +permit that. Then, too, she was a most charming person, and the +thought, "Why not--why not take her at her word?" crept into his mind. + +"Yes, father, why do you hesitate?" asked Carolina. + +Senator Langdon mustered his voice into service at last. + +"I've been thinking," he said, slowly, "that--" + +"That your daughters did not know," interrupted Mrs. Spangler, "of +our--" + +"The telephone--upstairs--is ringing, madam," said a maid who had +entered to Mrs. Spangler. + +The adventuress could not leave the Senator and his daughters alone, +though she knew it must be Peabody calling her. At any moment he might +remember his speech and leave. Already late, he would still be later, +though, because he would have no carriage--hers would purposely be +delayed. + +"Tell the person speaking that you are empowered to bring me any +message--that I cannot leave the dining-hall," she said to the maid. + +To gain time and to hold the Senator's attention, Mrs. Spangler asked, +slowly: + +"Well, Senator, what was it that you were going to say when I +interrupted you a few moments ago?" + +Langdon had been racking his brain for some inspiration that would +enable him to save the feelings of his hostess, and yet indicate his +position clearly. He would not commit himself in any way. He would +jump up and pronounce her an impostor first. + +After a moment of silence his clouded face cleared. + +"Mrs. Spangler," he began, "your announcement to-day I have considered +to be--" + +"Premature," she suggested. + +The maid returned. + +"Mr. Wall says Senator Langdon is wanted at once at the Capitol." + +"Great heavens!" exclaimed Langdon, springing to his feet and glancing +at the clock. "I'm late! I'm late! I hope to God I'm not too late!" + +"Mr. Wall says a carriage is coming for Senator Langdon," concluded +the maid. + +"We must talk this matter over some other time, Mrs. Spangler," the +Mississippian cried, as he sent a servant for his hat and coat. "I +hope that carriage hurries, else I'll try it on the run for the +Capitol!" + +"It's a half hour away on foot," said Mrs. Spangler. "Better wait. +You'll save time." + +But to herself she muttered, as though mystified: + +"I wonder why Peabody changed his mind so suddenly? Why should he now +want the old fool at the Capitol?" + +The rumble of wheels was heard outside. + +"Hurry, father!" cried Hope Georgia. + +The Senator hurried down the stone steps of Mrs. Spangler's residence +as rapidly as his weight and the excitement under which he labored +would permit. Opening the coach door, he plunged inside--to come face +to face with Bud Haines, who had huddled down in a corner to avoid +observance from the Spangler windows. The driver started his horses +off on a run. + +Struggling to regain his breath, the Senator cried: + +"Well, what are--" + +"Never mind now. But first gather in all I say, Senator, as we've +no time to lose. When I couldn't locate you and I saw you probably +wouldn't be at the Senate chamber in time to make your speech on the +naval base bill, I persuaded Senator Milbank of Arkansas to rise and +make a speech on the currency question, which subject was in order. +He was under obligation to me for some important information I once +obtained for him, and he consented to keep the floor until you +arrived, though he knew he would earn the vengeance of Peabody. That +was over an hour and a half ago. He must be reading quotations from +'Pilgrim's Progress' to the Senate by now to keep the floor." + +Bud paused to look at his watch. + +The Senator stretched his head out of the window and cried: "Drive +faster!" + +"Got your speech all right?" called Bud above the din of the rattling +wheels. + +"Yes, here," was the response, the Senator tapping his inner breast +pocket. + +"Thought maybe she--" cried Bud, jerking his head back in the +direction from which they had come. + +The Mississippian shook his head negatively, and set his jaws +determinedly. + +The coach swung up to the Capitol entrance. + +"Tell me," asked Langdon, as both jumped out, "how did you find out +that--" + +"I 'phoned the house--gave a name Peabody uses--" + +"Great heavens! but how did you know where to 'phone?" + +They were at the door of the Senate chamber. + +"Norton gave me the tip--for your sake and Carolina's--for old times' +sake, he said," was Bud's reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE + + +Too much occupied in concentrating his thoughts on his speech, Langdon +failed to notice the consternation on the faces of Peabody and Stevens +as he walked to his seat in the Senate. They had failed to succeed in +getting Milbank to conclude, and consequently could not push the naval +base report through. But they noted the passing of over an hour after +their opponent's appointed time and had felt certain that he would not +appear at all. + +"The boss of the Senate" leaned across to Stevens and whispered, +hurriedly: + +"We must tear him to pieces now--discredit him publicly. It's his own +fault. Our agents can sell the land to Standard Steel. Our connection +with the scheme will be impossible to discover--after we have made the +public believe Langdon is a crook." + +"But how about our supposed combination to protect the Government +that Langdon will tell about?" asked Stevens. "We can't deny that, of +course." + +"No," answered Peabody. "We can't deny it, but we will not affirm it. +We will tell interviewers that we prefer not to talk about it." + +"It's our only chance," replied Stevens, cautiously. + +"Yes; and we owe it all to Jake Steinert," went on Peabody. "That +fellow Telfer will do anything to please Jake. Jake has convinced +Telfer that Langdon was responsible for the defeat of Gulf City, and +the Mayor is wild for revenge." + +"The boss of the Senate" rose and walked to the rear of the Senate +chamber to issue orders to two of his colleagues. + +"Report of the committee on naval affairs." droned the clerk, +mechanically. "House Bill No. 1,109 is amended to read as follows--" +And his voice sank to an unintelligible mumble, for every Senator +present he well knew was aware that the amendment named Altacoola as +the naval base site. + +Senator Langdon rose in his seat. + +"Mr. President," he called. + +"Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi," said the presiding +officer, as he leaned back to speak to Senator Winans of Kansas, who +had approached to the side of the rostrum. + +The Langdon speech on "The New South and the South of the Future" +proved more than a document suited only to a reverent burial in the +_Congressional Record_. Although wearied at the start owing to the +exciting happenings of the day, the Mississippian's enthusiasm for his +cause gave him strength and stimulation as he progressed. His voice +rose majestically as he came to the particular points he wished to +accentuate, and even those in the uppermost rows in the galleries +could hear every word. + +At the close of his formal speech he began on his statement of the +action of the naval affairs committee in buying control of the +Altacoola land to foil attempts to rob the Government. As he had +predicted, the Senate did "sit up." The Senate did agree that a new +kind of politics had arrived. + +During this latter part of the speech many curious glances were +directed at Peabody and Stevens, who sat in the same tier of seats, in +the middle of the chamber, only an aisle separating them. Through +this choice of seats they could confer without leaving their places. +Various senatorial associates of these two men in other deals found +it difficult to believe their ears--but was not old Langdon at this +moment narrating the amazing transaction on the floor of the Senate? +Would the statue on the pedestal step down? Would the sphinx of the +desert speak the story of the lost centuries? Would honor take the +place of expediency in the affairs of state? What might not happen, +thought the Senate machine, now that Peabody and Stevens had taken to +their bosoms what they termed the purple pup of political purity? + +Neither did the full portent of the situation escape the attention +of the reporters' gallery. Dick Cullen observed to Hansel of the +_Record_: + +"Virtue's getting so thick around here it's a menace to navigation." + +"Blocking the traffic, eh?" queried Hansel; and both laughed. + +"Hello! What's this?" exclaimed Cullen a few minutes later. "Horton +has been recognized, when the program was to adjourn when the naval +base bill was over with." + +Langdon's speech had proved the hit, the sensation of the session. +After he concluded, amid resounding applause, in which Senators +joined, as well as occupants of the galleries, Senator Horton of +Montana rose and caught the presiding officer's eye. + +"I ask unanimous consent to offer a resolution." + +Hearing no objection, he continued, in a manner that instantly +attracted unusual attention: + +"It is my unpleasant duty"--Peabody and Stevens exchanged glances--"to +place a matter before this body that to me, as a member of this +honorable body, is not only distasteful, but deeply to be regretted. + +"There has arisen ground to suspect a member of this body with having +endeavored to make money at the Government's expense out of land which +he is alleged to have desired his own committee to choose as the naval +base. + +"I therefore offer this resolution providing for the appointment of an +investigating committee to look into these charges." + +Langdon was intensely excited over this new development. "Some one has +learned something about Peabody or Stevens," he muttered. He feared +that this new complication might in some way affect the fate of the +naval base--that the South, and Mississippi, might lose it. He rose +slowly in his seat, while the Senate hummed with the murmur of +suppressed voices. + +"I ask for more definite information," he began, when recognized +and after the President of the Senate had pounded with the gavel to +restore quiet, "so that this house can consider this important matter +more intelligently." + +Senator Horton rose. He said: + +"I will take the liberty of adding that the Senator accused is none +other than the junior Senator from Mississippi." + +Langdon's eyes blazed. He strode swiftly into the aisle. + +"Mr. President," he cried, passionately, "I know this is not the time +or place for a discussion like this, but ask that senatorial courtesy +permit me to ask"--then he concluded strongly before he could be +stopped--"what is the evidence in support of this preposterous +charge?" + +"This is all out of order," said the presiding officer, after a pause, +"but in view of the circumstances I will entertain a motion to suspend +the rules." + +This motion passing, Horton replied to Langdon: + +"Your name is signed to a contract with J.D. Telfer, Mayor of Gulf +City, Miss., calling for 3,000 shares in the Gulf City Land Company, +and--" + +"A lie! a lie!" screamed Langdon. + +"That official," went on Horton, coolly, "is now in Washington. He +has the contract and will swear to conversations with you and your +secretary. His testimony will be corroborated by no less a personage +than Congressman Norton, of your own district, who says you asked him +to conduct part of the negotiations. + +"And I might add," cried Horton, "that it is known to more than one +member of this honorable body that you had drawn up a minority report +in favor of Gulf City because of your anger at the defeat of your plan +to lake the naval base away from Altacoola." + +Langdon sank into his chair, bewildered, even stunned. There was a +conspiracy against him, but how could he prove it? The ground seemed +crumbling from under him--not even a straw to grasp. Then the old +fighting blood that carried him along in Beauregard's van tugged at +the valves of his heart, revived his spirit, ran through his veins. He +leaped to his feet. + +A sound as of a scuffle--a body falling heavily--drew all eyes from +Langdon to the rear of the main aisle. An assistant sergeant-at-arms +was lying face downward on the carpet. Another was vainly trying to +hold Bud Haines, who, tearing himself free, rushed down to his chief, +waving a sheet of paper in the Senator's eyes. + +"Read that!" gasped the secretary, breathlessly, and he hurried away +up a side passageway and out to reach the stairs leading to the press +gallery. + +Langdon spread the paper before him with difficulty with his trembling +hands. Slowly his whirling brain gave him the ability to read. Slowly +what appeared to him as a jumbled nothing resolved into orderly lines +and words. He read and again stood before the Senate, which had +regained its usual composure after the fallen sergeant-at-arms had +regained his feet and rubbed his bruises. + +"I do not think there will be any investigation," he said, with +decided effort, struggling to down the emotion that choked him. "I ask +this house to listen to the following letter: + + "DEAR SENATOR LANGDON: When you receive this letter I shall be + well on my way to take a steamer for Cuba. I write to ask you not + to think too harshly of me, for I will always cherish thoughts of + the friendship you have shown me. + + "Peabody and Stevens have finally proved too much for me. When + they got old Telfer to swear to a forged contract and wanted me to + forge your name in the land records at Gulf City, I threw up my + hands. Their game will always go on, I suppose, but you gave them + a shock when you broke up their Altacoola graft scheme. And I'm + glad you did They cast me aside to-day, probably thinking they + could get me again if they needed me. + + "I am going on the sugar plantation of a friend, where I can make + a new start and forget that I ever went to Washington." + +Langdon paused deliberately. The Senate was hushed. The galleries were +stifled. Not even the rustle of a sheet of paper was heard in the +reporters' gallery. The Mississippian gazed around the Senate chamber. +He saw Stevens and Peabody craning their necks across the aisle and +talking excitedly to each other. + +Then he stepped forward and spoke, waving the paper in the air. + +"This letter is signed 'Charles Norton.'" + +The old Southerner gazed triumphantly at the men who had sought to +destroy him. It was with difficulty that the presiding officer could +hammer down the burst of handclapping that arose from the galleries. + +Senator Horton, however, was not satisfied with Langdon's sudden +ascendency. + +"How do we know that that letter is not a forgery, a trick?" he +exclaimed. + +"Go get Congressman Norton--if you can--and get his denial," responded +Langdon. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi hurriedly pushed his way out of +the Senate chamber. His day's work was done. + +Down on a broad plantation along the Pearl River an old planter, who +has borne his years well, as life goes nowadays, passes his days +contentedly. He delights in the rompings of his grandchildren as they +rouse the echoes of the mansion and prides himself on the achievements +of their father, Randolph, who has improved the plantation to a point +never reached before. + +Sometimes he receives a letter from his daughter. Hope Georgia, now +Mrs. Haines, telling him of her happy life, or perhaps it is a letter +from Carolina, describing the good times she is having in London with +the friends she is visiting. + +And the old planter goes out on the broad veranda in the warm Southern +twilight, and he thinks of the days that were. He remembers how the +Third Mississippi won the day at Crawfordsville. He thinks of the days +when he fought the good fight in Washington. His thoughts turn to the +memory of her who went before these many years and whom he is soon +to see again, and peace descends on the soul of the gentleman from +Mississippi as the world drops to slumber around him. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Gentleman from Mississippi, by Thomas A. Wise + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A GENTLEMAN FROM MISSISSIPPI *** + +***** This file should be named 10844-8.txt or 10844-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/4/10844/ + +Produced by Rick Niles, John Hagerson, Josephine Paolucci, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/10844-8.zip b/old/10844-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e8db16 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10844-8.zip diff --git a/old/10844.txt b/old/10844.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..82dea0d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10844.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6511 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Gentleman from Mississippi, by Thomas A. Wise + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Gentleman from Mississippi + +Author: Thomas A. Wise + +Release Date: January 28, 2004 [EBook #10844] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A GENTLEMAN FROM MISSISSIPPI *** + + + + +Produced by Rick Niles, John Hagerson, Josephine Paolucci, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: THE SENATOR AND "BUD" HAINES.] + + + + +A GENTLEMAN FROM MISSISSIPPI + +A NOVEL + +Founded on the popular play of the same title + + +PRODUCED UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF WM.A. BRADY AND JOS.R. GRISMER + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +THE SENATOR AND BUD HAINES + +"FROM NEW YORK, EH? THE VICKSBURG OF THE NORTH" + +"STRANGE, HOW THE LANGDON'S TREAT HIM AS A FRIEND" + +THE SENATOR ACCEPTS AN INVITATION TO TEA + +THE LANGDON FAMILY + +"YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE LIKE A MAN" + +"TO-MORROW, AT 12.30" + +"AFTER I HAVE FINISHED, I DARE ONE OF YOU TO DENY A WORD" + + + + +_INTRODUCTION_ + + +_Here is a story of an epoch-making battle of right against wrong, +of honesty against corruption, of simplicity and sincerity against +deceit, bribery and intrigue. It is the story of to-day in this +country. It vitally concerns every man, woman and child in the United +States, so far-reaching is its influence. + +The warfare is now going on--the warfare of honest men against corrupt +political machines. + +The story tells the "inside" of the political maneuvers in Washington +and of the workings of bosses there and elsewhere--how they shape men +and women to their ends, how their cunning intrigues extend into the +very social life of the nation's capital. You will find inspiration in +the career of the honest old Southern planter elected to the United +States Senate and the young newspaper reporter who becomes his private +secretary and political pilot. Your heart will beat in sympathy with +the love of the secretary and the Senator's youngest daughter. + +You will read of the lobbyists and find that not all of them are men. +You will see how avarice causes a daughter to conspire against her +father. You will hear the note of a gripping national tragedy in the +words of Peabody, the "boss of the Senate." But cause for laughter as +well will not be found lacking in this truly many-sided narrative._ + + + + +A Gentleman from Mississippi + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PRACTICAL POLITICS + + That bids him flout the law he makes; + That bids him make the law he flouts. + +_--Kipling_. + + +In buoyant spirit the Hon. Charles Norton rode up the bridle path +leading through the Langdon plantation to the old antebellum homestead +which, on a shaded knoll, overlooked the winding waters of the Pearl +River. No finer prospect was to be had in all Mississippi than greeted +the eye from the wide southwest porch, where on warm evenings the +Langdons and their frequent guests gathered to dine or to watch the +golden splendor of the dying sun. + +The Langdon family had long been a power in the South. Its sons fought +under Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, under Zachary Taylor in the war +with Mexico, and in the Civil War men of that name left their blood +on the fields of Antietam, Shiloh, the Wilderness and Gettysburg. But +this family of fighting men, of unselfish patriots, had also marked +influence in the ways of peace, as real patriots should. Generations +of Langdons had taken deepest pride in developing the hundreds of +acres of cotton land, whose thousands of four-foot rows planted each +April spread open the silvery lined bolls in July and August, and the +ripened cotton fiber, pure white beneath the sun, gave from a distance +the picture of an expanse of driven snow. + +The Hon. Charles Norton had reason for feeling well pleased with the +world as he fastened his bay Virginia hunter to a convenient post +and strode up the steps of the mansion, which was a characteristic +survivor of the "old South," the South of gilded romance and of +gripping tragedy. Now in this second year of his first term as +Congressman and a promising member of the younger set of Southern +lawyers, he had just taken active part in securing the election of +Colonel William H. Langdon, present head of the family, to the United +States Senate, though the ultimate action of the Legislature had been +really brought about by a lifelong friend of Colonel Langdon, the +senior Senator from the State, James Stevens, who had not hesitated to +flatter Norton and use him as a cat's-paw. This use the Hon. Charles +Norton seemed to consider an honor of large proportions. Not every +first-term Congressman can hope for intimacy with a Senator. Norton +believed that his work for Langdon would win him the family's +gratitude and thus further his ambition to marry Carolina, the +planter's oldest daughter, whose beauty made her the recipient of many +attentions. + +A complacent gleam shone in Norton's eyes as they swept over the +fertile acres of the plantation. He thought of the material interest +he might one day have in them if his suit for the hand of Carolina +progressed favorably. Suddenly his reverie was interrupted by the +voice of young Randolph Langdon, a spirited lad in his early twenties, +who had just been made plantation manager, by his father. + +"Well, how is the honorable to-day?" said Randolph, approaching from +the doorway. "I didn't think a Congressman could be spared from +Washington but rarely, especially when the papers say the country +needs such a lot of saving." + +"Oh, this 'saving the country' talk goes all right in the story +books," replied Norton, who exercised considerable influence over the +youth through a long acquaintanceship and by frequently taking him +into his confidence, "but this country can take pretty good care of +itself. In Congress we representatives put the job of saving it over +on the Senate, and the Senate hands back the job to us. So what's +everybody's business isn't anybody's; a fine scheme so long as we have +a President who keeps his hands off and doesn't--" + +"But how about the speeches and the bills?" broke in Randolph. "I +thought--" + +"Yes, yes; to be sure," the Congressman quickly added. "Nearly all of +us introduce these so-called reform bills. When they're printed at +government expense we send copies, carried free by the Post-office +Department, to our constituents, and when we allow the bills to die in +some committee we can always blame the committee. But if there's a big +fight by our constituents over the bill we let it pass the House, but +arrange to kill it in the Senate. Then we do the same thing for the +Senators. Like in every other business, my boy," continued Norton as +he led the way into the house, "it's a case of 'you tickle me and I'll +tickle you' in politics. And don't let any one fool you about the +speeches either. They are pretty things to mail to the voters, but all +the wise boys in Washington know they aren't meant seriously. It's +all play acting, and there are better actors in the Senate than Henry +Irving or Edwin Booth ever were." + +"I don't think my father looks at things in the way you do, Charlie." + +"No? Well, maybe he doesn't now, but he will later on when he takes +his seat in the Senate. If he isn't wise enough to play around with +the rest of the Senators he won't get any bills passed, especially any +bill carrying an appropriation or of any other particular importance." + +"What!" ejaculated the planter's son. "Do you mean to say that if +father won't do what the other Senators want him to do they will +combine against him and destroy his usefulness, make him powerless--a +failure?" + +The Congressman smiled patronizingly on the youth. "Why, of course +they will. That's politics, practical politics, the only kind that's +known in Washington. You see--" + +"But the leaders of the great parties!" cried the young plantation +manager, in amazement. "Why don't they prevent this?" + +"Because they invented the system and because political party +differences don't amount to a whole lot much of the time in +Washington. The politicians do most of their criticizing of the other +party away from Washington, where the voters can hear them. But when +circumstances sometimes force a man to rise to assail the other side +in Congress he afterward apologizes in secret for his words. Or, +sometimes he apologizes beforehand, saying: 'I've got to hand out some +hot shot to you fellows just to please a crowd of sovereign voters +from my district who have come up to Washington to see me perform. So, +of course, I've got to make a showing. Don't mind what I say. You know +I don't mean it, but the old fogies will go back home and tell their +neighbors what a rip-snortin' reformer I be.'" + +"Is that the way you represent your district; Norton?" asked Planter +Langdon, who at this juncture entered the room. + +"No, no, Mr. Langdon--I should say Senator now, I suppose. I was +merely telling Randolph how some legislators conduct themselves." + +The Senator-elect paused momentarily, gazing at the Congressman, who, +dark-visaged, tall, black-haired, broad-shouldered and athletic, was +visibly uneasy at having his conversation with Randolph overheard by +the father. + +"No doubt it won't be all plain sailing in Washington for an +old-fashioned man like me, but I believe in the American people and +the men they send to Congress," slowly spoke the planter. "There's +Senator Stevens, for instance. He has always stood for the rights of +the people. I've read all his speeches. Just why he brought about my +election it is hard to tell, for I've been a planter all my life, +except when I fought under Beauregard. I feel that he did it out of +friendship, and I simply can't say how much I appreciate the honor. I +am indebted to you, too, Congressman." + +Tactfully disclaiming any credit for his work, only Norton's +congressional training in repression enabled him to refrain from +smiling at Langdon's innocence, his belief in Stevens' sincerity and +his wonder over his election. Stevens, the keen, cold and resourceful, +who forced his officeholders to yield him parts of their government +salaries; Stevens, who marketed to railway companies his influence +with the Department of Justice; Stevens, who was a Republican in +the committee room in Washington and a Democrat on the platform +in Mississippi; Stevens, who had consummated the deal with Martin +Sanders, boss of seven counties, to elect Langdon because of the +planter's trustfulness and simplicity of character, which should make +him easy to influence and to handle in the all-important matter of the +gulf naval base project! + +The entry of Carolina Langdon and her younger sister, Hope Georgia, +gave Norton a welcome opportunity to shift the trend of conversation. + +"You ladies will have a gay time in Washington," he began, after +directing a particularly enthusiastic greeting to Carolina. "You will +be in great demand at all the big affairs, and I don't think you +will ever want to come back to old Mississippi, forty miles from a +railroad, with few chances to wear your New York gowns." + +Carolina spoke quickly, her face flushing at the thought of the new +vista of life now opening. "Yes, I have always longed to be a part of +the real life of this world; the life of constant action--meeting +new people every day, and prominent people. Balls, receptions, teas, +theater parties, afternoon drives, plenty of money and plenty of +gayety are what I want. I'm not a bit like Hope Georgia, who thinks +these ideas are extravagant because she has not seen real life yet--" + +"Carolina, you must not think me 'only your little sister' now. I have +seen life. Haven't I spent a week in Jackson?" + +"That's enough proof. You know all about life, I'm sure, Miss Hope +Georgia," smilingly remarked Norton. + +Later, rising to join Planter Langdon on the veranda, where he had +gone to smoke, the Congressman gazed intently at Carolina. "You will +probably forget your old friends when you enter the dizzy social race +in Washington." + +"No, Charlie, I couldn't forget you, anyhow. You will be there, too. I +shall depend on you a great deal to take me about, unless you are too +busy making speeches and fighting your opponents." + +Again it was Norton's turn to be inwardly amused at the political +ignorance of the Langdon family. Speeches? The first-term Congressman +doesn't make speeches in Washington, because no one cares what he +thinks--except the lobbyists, whose business it is to provide new +members with a complete set of thoughts. Neither does he have +opponents--he is not considered important enough by the veterans to be +opposed. + +Skilfully approaching the subject which next to Carolina Langdon +had been uppermost in his mind during his visit, Norton asked the +Senator-elect on joining him if he did not believe that the entire +South would benefit if the plan to establish a naval base on the gulf +was successfully carried through. + +"Most certainly I do, and, as I said during the senatorial fight, the +whole country as well will be the gainer," responded Langdon. + +"Don't you think the people who want Altacoola chosen as the site have +the best arguments?" was the visitor's next question, the reply to +which he anxiously awaited. + +"Yes, I do, from what I've already heard; but I haven't heard very +much of what the folks who advocate other sites have to say. So, until +I've heard all sides and made my own examination, I couldn't give +any one my final answer, but Altacoola seems to have the necessary +qualifications." + +"Senator Stevens is in favor of Altacoola," eagerly suggested Norton. + +"Yes, and that's a pretty good argument in its favor," responded +Langdon. + +Norton now excused himself, pleading an appointment with a client at a +neighboring village. Waving farewell to Carolina and Hope Georgia, +who stood at a window, he rode away. "The old man is sure to be +all right," he muttered. "He leans toward Altacoola and believes in +Stevens. He'll lean some more until he falls over--into the trap. +There's a fortune in sight--within reach. Langdon has faith in his +friends. He won't suspect a thing." + +Still another thought occurred to the Hon. Charles Norton. "Stevens +elected Langdon out of friendship," he chuckled, gleefully. "That will +be well worth telling in Washington." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE WARS OF PEACE + + +"Big Bill" Langdon was the term by which the new Senator from +Mississippi had been affectionately known to his intimates for years. +He carried his 230 pounds with ease, bespeaking great muscular power +in spite of his gray hairs. His rugged courage, unswerving honesty and +ready belief in his friends won him a loyal following, some of whom +frequently repeated what was known as "Bill Langdon's Golden Rule": + +"There never was a man yet who didn't have some good in him, but most +folks don't know this because their own virtues pop up and blind 'em +when they look at somebody else." + +At the reunions of his old war comrades Langdon was always depended +on to describe once again how the Third Mississippi charged at +Crawfordsville and defeated the Eighth Illinois. But the stirring +events of the past had served to increase the planter's fondness for +his home life and his children, whose mother had died years before. At +times he regretted that his unexpected political duties would take him +away from the old plantation even though the enthusiastic approval of +Carolina and Hope Georgia proved considerable compensation. + +Although not sworn in as Senator, Colonel Langdon's political duties +were already pressing. A few days after Congressman Norton's visit he +sat in his library conferring with several prominent citizens of his +county regarding a plan to ask Congress to appropriate money to dredge +a portion of the channel of the Pearl River, which would greatly aid a +large section of the State. + +During the deliberations the name of Martin Sanders was announced by +Jackson, the Colonel's gravely decorous negro bodyguard, who boasted +that he "wuz brung up by Cunel Marse Langdon, suh, a fightin' +Mississippi cunel, suh, sence long befo' de wah and way befo' dat, +suh." + +"Show Mr. Sanders right in," commanded Colonel Langdon. + +"Good-day, Senator," spoke Sanders, the boss of seven counties, as he +entered. Glancing around the room, he continued, bending toward the +Colonel and muffling his now whispering voice with his hand: "I want +to speak to you alone. I'm here on politics." + +"That's all right; but these gentlemen here are my friends and +constituents," was the reply in no uncertain voice. "When I talk +politics they have a perfect right to hear what I, as their Senator, +say. Out with it, Mr. Sanders." + +As Sanders was introduced to the members of the conference he grew red +in the face and stared at Langdon, amazed. At last he had discovered +something new in politics. "Say," he finally blurted out, "when I talk +business I--" + +"Are you in politics as a business?" quickly spoke Colonel Langdon. + +"Why--I--er--no, of course not," the visitor stammered. "I am in +politics for my party's sake, just like everybody else," and Sanders +grinned suggestively at his questioner. + +"Have you anything further to say?" asked Langdon, in a tone hinting +that he would like to be rid of his caller. + +"Well, since you are so very new in this game, Senator, I'll talk +right out in meetin', as they call it. I came to ask about an +appointment an' to tip you off on a couple o' propositions. I want +Jim Hagley taken care of--you've heard of Jim--was clerk o' Fenimore +County. A $2,000 a year job'll do for him; $500 o' that he gives to +the organization." + +"You're the organization, aren't you?" queried Langdon. + +"Why, yes. Are you just gettin' wise?" cried Sanders. "Haven't I got +fellers, voters, VOTERS, VOTERS, d--n it, hangin' on to me that needs +to be taken care of! An' so I make the fellers that work help those +that don't. Why, Langdon, what'n h--l are you kickin' an' questioning' +about? Didn't you get my twelve votes in the Legislature? Did you have +a chance for Senator without 'em? Answer me that, will you? Why, with +'em you only had two more than needed to elect, an' the opposition +crowd was solid for Wilson," cried the angry boss, pounding the long +table before which Langdon sat. + +"I'll answer you almighty quick," retorted the now thoroughly aroused +Senator-elect, rising and shaking his clenched fist at Sanders. "Those +twelve votes you say were yours--yours?" + +"Yes, mine. Them noble legislators that cast 'em was an' is mine, +mine. I tell you, jest like I had 'em in my pocket, an' that's where I +mostly carry 'em, so as they won't go strayin' aroun' careless like." + +"You didn't have to vote those men for me. I told you at the Capitol +that I would not make you or anybody else any promises. You voted them +for me of your own accord. That's my answer." + +At this point the gentlemen of the county present when Sanders entered +and who had no desire to witness further the unpleasant episode, rose +to leave, in spite of the urgent request of Colonel Langdon that they +remain. The only one reluctant to go was Deacon Amos Smallwood, who, +coming to the plantation to seek employment for his son, had not been +denied of his desire to join the assemblage of his neighbors. + +Last to move toward the door, he stopped in front of Sanders, +stretched his five feet three inches of stature on tiptoe, and shook a +withered fist in the boss' firmly set, determined face. + +"Infamous!" shrieked the deacon. "You're a monster! You're +unrighteous! You should have belonged to the political machine of +Cataline or Pontius Pilate!" + +"Never heard tell o' them," muttered Sanders, deeply puzzled. "Guess +they was never in Mississippi in my time." + +His accompanying gesture of perplexity caused the deacon to hasten his +exit. Tripping over the leg of a chair, he fell headlong into the +arms of the watchful Jackson, who received the deacon's blessing for +"uplifting the righteous in the hour of their fall." + +Relieved at the departure of the witnesses, Sanders showed increased +aggressiveness. "To be sure, Senator, you were careful not to +personally promise me anything for my support at the election, as you +say," the leader sneered; "but you had Jim Stevens to make promises +for you, which was smooth, absolute an' artistic smooth--" + +"Stop, sir!" Langdon furiously shouted. "You forget, sir, that your +insinuation is an insult to a man elected Senator from Mississippi, an +insult to my State and to my friend Senator Stevens, who I know would +make you no promises for me, for he had not my authority." + +"Certainly you're a Senator, but what's a Senator, anyhow? I'll tell +you, Mr. Colonel Langdon, a Senator is a man who holds out for his own +pocket as much as us fellows that make him will stand for. When we +don't get our rightful share, he's through." + +With a sudden start, as though to spring at Sanders' throat, Langdon, +with compressed lips and eyes blazing, grasped the edge of the +table with a grip that threatened to rend the polished boards. With +intensest effort he slowly regained control of himself. His fury had +actually weakened him. His knees shook, and he sank weakly into a +chair. When he finally spoke his voice was strained and laborious. +"Sanders, you and I, sir, must never meet again, because I might not +succeed in keeping my hands off you. What would my old comrades of the +Third Mississippi say if they saw me sitting here and you there with +a whole body, sir, after what you have said? They would not believe +their eyes, thank God, sir. They would all go over to Stuart City and +buy new glasses, sir." A suspicious moisture appeared on the Colonel's +cheeks which he could not dry too quickly to escape Sanders' +observation. + +"But I had to let you stay, sir, because you, the sole accuser, are +the only one who can tell me what I must know." + +"What do you want to know?" asked Sanders, who had realized his great +mistake in losing his temper, in talking as openly and as violently +as he had and in dragging the name of Senator Stevens into the +controversy. He must try to keep Stevens from hearing of this day's +blunder, for Jim Stevens knew as well as he, didn't he, that the man +who loses his temper, like the man who talks too much, is of no use in +politics. + +"I want to know how you formed your opinion of political matters--of +Senators. Is it possible, sir, that you have actual knowledge of +actual happenings that give you the right to talk as you have? I want +to know if I must feel shame, feel disgrace, sir, to be a Senator from +Mississippi; that State, sir, that the Almighty himself, sir, would +choose to live in if he came to earth." + +"There, there, Senator, don't take too seriously what I have said," +Sanders replied in reassuring tone, having outlined his course of +action. "I lost my head because you wouldn't promise me something I +needed--that appointment for Hagley. What I said about Senators an' +such was all wild words--nothin' in 'em. Why, how could there be, +Senator?" This query was a happy afterthought which Sanders craftily +suggested in a designedly artless manner. + +"Just what I thought and know!" exclaimed Langdon, sharply. "It +couldn't be; it isn't possible. Now you go, sir, and let it be your +greatest disgrace that you are not fit to enter any gentleman's +house." + +"Oh, don't rub it in too hard, Senator. You may need my help some day, +but you'll have to deliver the goods beforehand." + +"I said, 'Go!'" + +"I'm goin', but here's a tip. Don't blame me for fightin' you. I've +got to fight to live. I'm a human bein', an' humans are pretty much +the same all over the world; all except you--you're only half natural. +The rest of you is reformer." + +After Sanders' departure the Colonel sat at his table, his head +resting in his hand, the events of the day crowding his brain +bewilderingly. + +"The battles of peace are worse than any Beauregard ever led me into," +he murmured. "Fighting o conquer oneself is harder than turning the +left flank of the Eighth Illinois in an enfilading fire." + +But the new Senator from Mississippi did not know that for him the +wars of peace had only just begun, that perhaps his own flesh and +blood and that of the wife and mother who had gone before would turn +traitor to his colors in the very thickest of the fray. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HOW TO PLEASE A SENATOR + + +The International Hotel in Washington was all hustle and bustle. Was +it not preparing for its first Senator since 1885? No less a personage +than the Hon. William H. Langdon of Mississippi, said to be a warm +personal friend of Senator Stevens, one of the leading members of his +party at the capital, had engaged a suit of rooms for himself and two +daughters. + +"Ain't it the limit?" remarked the chief clerk to Bud Haines, +correspondent of the New York _Star_. "The Senator wrote us that he +was coming here because his old friend, the late Senator Moseley, said +back in '75 that this was the best hotel in Washington and where all +the prominent men ought to stay." + +Haines, the ablest political reporter in Washington, had come to the +International to interview the new Senator, to describe for his paper +what kind of a citizen Langdon was. He glanced around at the dingy +woodwork, the worn cushions, the nicked and uneven tiles of the hotel +lobby, and smiled at the clerk. "Well, if this is the new Senator's +idea of princely luxury he will fit right into the senatorial +atmosphere." Both laughed derisively. "By the way," added Haines, "I +suppose you'll raise your rates now that you've got a Senator here." + +The clerk brought his fist down on the register with a thud. + +"We could have them every day if we wanted them. This fellow, though, +we'll have all winter, I guess. His son's here now. Been breaking all +records for drinking. Congressman Norton of Mississippi has been down +here with him a few times. There young Langdon is now." + +Haines turned quickly, just in time to bump into a tall, slender young +man, who was walking unevenly in the direction of the cafe. + +"Well, can't you see what you're doing?" muttered the tall young man +thickly. + +Haines smiled. The chap who has played halfback four years on his +college eleven and held the boxing championship in his class is apt +to be good-natured. He does not have to take offense easily. Besides, +Randolph Langdon was plainly under the influence of whisky. So Haines +smiled pleasantly at the taller young man. + +"Beg your pardon--my fault," Haines said. + +"Well, don't let it occur again," mumbled Langdon, as he strolled with +uneven dignity toward the door. Bud Haines laughed. + +"I guess young Langdon is going to be one of the boys, isn't he?" + +"He's already one of them when it comes to a question of fluid +capacity," laughed some one behind him, and Bud whirled to meet the +gaze of his friend, Dick Gullen, representative of one of the big +Chicago dailies. + +"You down here to see Langdon, too?" commented Bud. + +Cullen nodded. "Queer roost where this Senator is to hang out, isn't +it?" + +"He can't be a rich one, then," suggested Haines. + +Cullen chuckled. + +"Perhaps he's an honest one." + +"I hadn't thought of that. You always were original, Dickie," +commented Haines, dryly. "By the way, what do you know about him?" + +"Nothing, except that the _Evening Call_ printed a picture of his +eldest daughter--says she's the queen daughter of the South, a famous +beauty, rich planter for a father, mother left her a fortune--" + +"She'll cut quite a social caper with this hotel's name on her cards, +won't she?" broke in Haines, as he led Cullen to a seat to await the +expected legislator, whose train was late. + +"I don't know very much about him myself," said Haines. "All I've been +able to discover is that Stevens said the word which elected him, and +that looks bad. Great glory! When I think what a Senator of the +right sort has a chance to do here in Washington--a nonpartisan, +straight-out-from-the-shoulder man!" He paused to shake his head in +disgust. "You know these fellows here in the Senate don't even see +their chance. Why, if you and I didn't do any more to hold our jobs +than they do, we'd be fired by wire the first day. They know just the +old political game, that's all." + +"Its a great game, though, Bud," sighed Cullen, longingly, for, like +many newspaper men, he had the secret feeling that he was cut out to +be a great politician. + +"Sure, it's a great game, as a game," agreed Haines. "So is bridge, +and stud poker, and three-card monte, and flim-flam generally. Take +this new man Langdon, for instance. Chosen by Stevens, he'll probably +be perfectly obedient, perfectly easy going, perfectly blind +and--perfectly useless. What's wanted now is to get the work done, not +play the game." + +Thoroughly a cynic through his years of experience as a newspaper man, +which had shown the inside workings of many important phases of the +seemingly conventional life of this complex world, Cullen pretended +unbounded enthusiasm. + +"Hear! hear!" he shouted. "All you earnest citizens come vote for +Reformer Haines. I'm for you, Bud. What do I get in your cabinet? I've +joined the reformers, too, and, like all of them, me for P-U-R-I-T-Y +as long as she gives me a meal ticket." + +But not even Cullen could make Haines consider his views on the +necessity of political regeneration to be ridiculous. His optimism +could not be snuffed out, for he was a genuine believer that the +natural tendency of humankind was to do right. Wrong he believed to +be the outcome of unnatural causes. This quality, combined with +his practical knowledge of the world and his courage, made him a +formidable man, one who would one day accomplish big things--if he got +the chance. + +"You know you can't shut me up, Dick," was his response to Cullen's +oratorical flight. "I'm going to have my say. I don't see why a +Senator shouldn't be honest. All I want them to do is to play a new +game. Let 'em at least seem to be honest, attend to their business, +forget politics. The country sends them here to work, and if they do +the work the people really don't care a hang what party they belong +to." + +"Come out of it, Bud. Your brain is wabbly," yawned Cullen, wearily. +"I'll buy a drink if you'll quiet down. Let's be comfortable till this +fellow Langdon appears." He caught his friend by the arm and in spite +of protest dragged him off to the cafe just as young Langdon and +Congressman Norton came down through the lobby. + +Though but few years older than Randolph Langdon, Charles Norton +had long exercised strong influence over him because of his wider +experience in the world's affairs. Like his father, young Langdon had +stayed close to the plantation most of his life, particularly after +leaving school, devoting his attention to studying the business of +conducting the family's big estate. Norton brought him the atmosphere +of the big outside world he yearned to see even as did his sister +Carolina, and he imitated Norton's manners, his dress and mode of +speech. The Congressman's habit of confiding in Randolph, a subtle +compliment, was deeply appreciated by the lad, who unconsciously +became a continual advertiser of Norton's many virtues to Carolina and +to his father, all of which the Congressman knew. + +That Norton's political career was the outcome of Carolina Langdon's +ambition to shine in gay society was known to his friends as well as +his family, and his desire to win her and place her where she could +satisfy every whim had developed almost to a frenzy. Seeing evidences +of Senator Stevens' vast influence, he did not hesitate to seek a +close relationship with him, and the Senator was clever enough to lead +Norton to consider him his friend. + +At the start of his political career Norton had higher ideas of honor +than guided his actions now that he had become a part of the political +machine that controlled his native State of Mississippi, and of the +bipartisan combination that dominated both houses of Congress in the +interest of the great railway and industrial corporations. Senator +Stevens and other powers had so distorted Norton's view of the +difference between public and private interests and their respective +rights that he had come to believe captial to be the sacred heritage +of the nation which must be protected at any cost. The acceptance of +a retainer from the C. St. and P. Railroad Company for wholly +unnecessary services in Washington--only another way of buying a +man--a transaction arranged by Senator Stevens, was but another stage +in the disintegration of the young Congressman's character, but it +brought him just that much closer to the point where he could claim +Carolina Langdon as his own. And opportunity does not knock twice at a +man's door--unless he is at the head of the machine. + +Norton, the persevering young law student who loved the girl who had +been his boyhood playmate, was now Norton who coveted her father's +lands, who boasted that he was on the "inside" in Washington, who was +on the way to fortune--if the new Senator from Mississippi would or +could be forced to stand in favor of the Altacoola naval base. + +His conversation with Randolph Langdon, as Haines and Cullen saw them +pass through the hotel lobby, illustrated the nature of the Norton of +the present and his interest in the Altacoola scheme. + +"There's no reason why you shouldn't come in on the ground floor in +this proposition, Randolph," he was urging in continuance of the +conversation begun over a table in the cafe. "No reason why you +shouldn't do it, my boy. Why, are you still a child, or are you really +a man? You have now drafts for $50,000, haven't you?" + +"Yeah," agreed Langdon, chagrined at Norton's insinuation of +youthfulness and anxious to prove that he was really a man of affairs, +"I've got the fifty thousand, Charlie, but--but, you see, that's the +money for improvements on the plantation. As father has put me in as +manager I want to make a showing." + +"You can't make it until spring," urged Norton. "The money's got to +lie in the bank all winter. Now, why don't you make a hundred thousand +with it instead of letting it lie idle? Isn't that simple?" + +The younger man's eyes opened wide, and his imagination, stimulated by +the special brand of Bourbon whisky Norton had ordered for him, took +rapid bounds. + +"One hundred thousand! You mean I could make a hundred thousand with +my fifty between now and spring?" + +"Sure as a nigger likes gin," replied Norton, confidently. + +"How?" asked Langdon. + +The young Congressman leaned over confidentially. + +"This is under your hat, Randolph. You can keep quiet?" + +Langdon nodded eagerly. + +"Then put it into Altacoola land." + +"The naval base?" gasped Langdon. + +Norton nodded. + +"Now you've hit it. The Government will select Altacoola for a naval +base. Then land will jump 'way up to never, and you'll clean up a +hundred thousand at the least. Isn't it simple? There are, a thousand +people with money who would just love to have this chance. And I'm +giving it to you because of our friendship. I want to do you a good +turn. I've got my money in there." + +Young Langdon was visibly impressed. + +"You've always--treated me right, Charlie; you've been for me, I know. +But suppose the Government doesn't select Altacoola. Gulf City's in +the running." + +Norton laughed sarcastically. + +"Gulf City is a big bunch of mud flats. Besides, I'll tell you +something else. Just between us, remember." He waited for the boy's +eager nod before he went on. "The big men are behind Altacoola. +Standard Steel wants Altacoola, and what Standard Steel wants from +Congress you can bet your bottom dollar Standard Steel gets. They know +their business at No. 10 Broadway. Now, then, are you satisfied?" + +Randolph was more than satisfied. Already he felt himself rich, and +honestly rich, too, for Norton had convinced him that there was no +reason why he should not use the $50,000 of his father's, when it had +to lie in the bank anyhow all winter, and he would have it back in +time to use on the plantation in the spring when it was needed. How +proud of him his father would be when he showed him a clear profit of +$100,000! + +"I'll go get the drafts at once, Charlie, and I'm mighty much obliged +to you," he said, with gratitude in his voice. + +Norton's smile was one of deep satisfaction. + +"That's all right, Randolph. You know I want to do anything I can for +you." + +Randolph was starting for his room when Haines and Cullen turned +sharply around the corner of the hotel desk. Again Bud and the young +Southerner accidentally collided. + +"Where are you going? Can't you look out?" blurted Langdon. + +Haines grinned. + +"Guess it's your fault this time." + +"Oh, it is, is it?" irritably replied Randolph, who as the "young +marse" had been accustomed to considerable deference on the +plantation. "Well, take that," he angrily cried, aiming a savage swing +at Haines. + +The reporter's athletic training proved of ready service. Dodging +under the clenched fist, he turned dexterously, seized young Langdon's +outstretched wrist and bent the arm down over his (Haines') shoulder +as though to throw the young attacker with the wrestler's "flying +mare." Langdon was helpless, as Haines had also secured his free hand, +but instead of completing the "throw" the reporter walked away with +his foe held securely on his back--to put him to bed, a kindly +service, in view of Randolph's mental state. + +From across the lobby Charles Norton had watched Randolph's +discomfiting encounter with Haines with amusement. + +"Now that I've got the young fellow to sew up his old man's money in +Altacoola land," he chuckled, "reckon Senator William H. Langdon won't +see anything wrong with that same noble tract of universe when he +comes to vote for the naval base. Senator Stevens will be pleased." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"JUST THE MAN WE NEED" + + +As Bud Haines returned from young Langdon's room, where he had left +the latter in bed, with a towel filled with cracked ice around his +head, he saw two familiar figures standing in a secluded corner of the +lobby. They were talking earnestly in a low voice. + +"Whew!" whistled the newspaper man. "It must be something important +that brings both the boss of the Senate and Stevens of Mississippi +here." + +"Good-afternoon, Haines. How are you?" Senator Stevens said, +cordially, as, looking up, he saw the newspaper man approaching. +"Senator Peabody, you know Haines, don't you? The brightest young +correspondent in Washington." + +Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania, the leading power in the upper house, +was a man of commanding character and of strong personality. The +fact he used these attributes to advance in the Senate the financial +interests of himself, of Standard Steel and other commercial +organizations met with very little protest in Washington. That he +deserved the title frequently used in referring to him, "boss of the +Senate," none would deny who had knowledge of the inner workings of +the Senate and the various committees. + +Senator Peabody was very affable to the reporters, especially to those +of Haines' stamp, who had never accepted any favors from him and who +opposed his methods. He aimed to win the friendship of these opponents +by diplomacy--as he had found that reporters of the Haines sort could +not be influenced by money. He considered a reporter who would take +a bribe as a constructive, conservative member of society, and +frequently regretted that so many of the correspondents sent to +Washington could not be bought nor had bills they wanted passed or +defeated. He extended his hand to Haines as Stevens concluded and +said, warmly: + +"Of course I know the representative of the _Morning Star_! How do you +do, Haines?" + +"I wonder if we're not all here on the same errand," suggested the +newspaper man. + +Senator Peabody appeared to be all candor. + +"We came to call on Senator Langdon, Senator Stevens' new colleague," +he said. + +Bud Haines opened his eyes wide. "By Jove! Langdon stock is going up +when the chairman of the naval committee drops in to welcome him." + +"You see, Langdon went in on a naval base platform," explained +Stevens. "Our section of the South is red hot in favor of the +Government spending its naval base appropriation right there." + +"Certainly," interrupted Haines, "but--" + +"And, there being a vacancy on the committee on naval affairs," +continued Stevens, whose dignity was offended by the reporter's +interruption, "the friends of Senator Langdon are working to have him +appointed on that committee, because he comes from the State where the +naval base will be located and will, like myself, be more familiar +with the availability of the various sites suggested than a man from +another State." + +Haines nodded. + +"Yes, of course. What town's going to get it, Senator?" + +Senator Stevens paused judiciously. + +"Well," he said, "Altacoola and Gulf City are the chief candidates. I +suppose you had better talk to Langdon about it." + +The reporter smiled. + +"That's just what I came for, Senator, but I have to go up to the War +Department now. When Senator Langdon comes will you be kind enough to +tell him I want to interview him?" + +Stevens bowed cordially. + +"Indeed I shall. I'll tell him he's in luck to have the smartest young +man in Washington on the job." + +"All right," laughed Bud, "only don't make it so strong that he won't +recognize me when he sees me. Good-day." And he hurried away to keep a +belated appointment. + +"Clever boy," said Stevens as the newspaper man disappeared. + +The boss of the Senate agreed. + +"Yes, only I'm not sure it's a good thing for a newspaper man to be +too clever. Spoils his usefulness. Makes him ask too many confounded +questions." + +Stevens acquiesced, for it would never do to disagree with the boss. + +"It's very kind of you, Senator," he began, changing the subject, "to +come with me to welcome the new Senator from my State, my old friend +and colleague." + +An inscrutable smile--a smile, yet a cold one--accompanied Peabody's +answer. + +"I have always found, Stevens," he said, "that a little attention +like this to a new man is never wasted, and I make it a rule not to +overlook opportunities." + +Again the senior Senator from Mississippi acquiesced, and he laughed +heartily at Peabody's keen insight into human nature. + +"I think you'll like Langdon," Stevens remarked after a pause, "and +you'll find him easy to deal with. Just put up any measure for the +benefit of the South and Langdon will go the limit on it. Even a +Republican majority doesn't mind a little Democratic support, you +know. I think he's just the man you can use in this gulf naval base +bill." + +"You can swing him?" asked Peabody, sharply. + +Stevens drew closer to Peabody. + +"I elected him, and he knows it," he chuckled. + +The boss nodded. + +"And it's likely that a man like Langdon, new to politics--a simple +gentleman of the old school, as you describe him--might have +considerable influence on opinion throughout the country." + +Langdon's colleague grasped the arm of the senatorial dictator. + +"He's just the man we want, Senator. He's one of those old fellows you +just have to believe when he talks. He'll do what I suggest, and he +can make the public believe what we think." + +"Then you guarantee him?" snapped the boss. + +"Unreservedly, Senator." + +"All right," said Peabody. "He goes on the naval committee. That ought +to be enough honor for a man who a year ago was growing cotton on an +old plantation miles away from civilization." + +"We have control now of all the land about Altacoola that can be +used," said Stevens. "I have had Norton, the Congressman from +Langdon's district, working on it. There isn't a foot of land there +which we do not now control under options, and," he added, with a +chuckle, "the options were dirt cheap." + +Peabody grunted approvingly. + +"There won't be any New York fortune in it, but it ought to be +a pretty tidy bit," he said. "Now, if we could only get Langdon +interested, directly or indirectly, in a financial way, that would +clinch everything." + +The senior Senator from Mississippi shook his head. + +"It's too risky. He's old-fashioned, you know--has about as much idea +about practical politics as--well, as we have of the Golden Rule. Fact +is, he rather lives by that antiquated standard. That's where we get +him. He owes everything to me, you see, so naturally he'll do anything +I want him to. By the way, there's Norton now. Perhaps he can tell us +something." + +"Call him over," said Peabody. + +Norton had been strolling about the lobby, hoping to be noticed. The +flame had lured the moth, and it liked the manner of the singeing. The +Congressman hurried precipitately across at Stevens' summons. + +"I've been wanting to speak to you, gentlemen," said Norton, full of +the good trick he had turned, "but I didn't like to interrupt you. I +think I've done a big stroke for Altacoola to-day." + +Even Peabody pricked up his ears. + +"Yes?" said both Senators together. + +With a keen sense of the dramatic, the Congressman let his next words +drawl out with full effect. + +"I've got Senator Langdon interested--financially interested," he +said. + +His two hearers exchanged a significant glance. + +"How?" asked Peabody, sharply. + +Norton smiled shrewdly. + +"Well, I just let his son invest $50,000 of the Senator's money in +Altacoola land. That ought to help some." + +Stevens stared in amazement at his Congressman, his eyes threatening +to bulge out of his head. + +"What!" he gasped. "You got Langdon's money in Altacoola, through his +son?" + +"I sure have, Senator," chuckled Norton. "He's in to the extent of +fifty thousand, and I've promised that the fifty shall make a hundred +by spring." + +"It'll make three hundred thousand at least," snapped Peabody. +"Norton, you've done a good day's work. By the way, a New York client +of mine has a little business that I cannot attend to handily. Doesn't +involve much work, and a young, hustling lawyer like you ought to take +charge of it easily. The fee, I should say, would be about $10,000. +Have you the time to undertake it?" + +The Congressman drew a long breath. His eyes beamed with gratitude. + +"I should say I have, Senator. Of course, it won't interfere with any +of my duties as a Congressman." + +Peabody smiled. + +"Of course not, Norton. I see that your sense of humor is improving. +If convenient, run over to New York the last of the week. I'll give +you a card. My client's office is at 10 Broadway." + +The ruler of the Senate nodded a curt dismissal. + +"Thank you, Senator; thank you very much." And Norton bowed and left, +rejoicing. + +Peabody turned to Stevens. + +"You see, even a Congressman can be useful sometimes," remarked +Stevens, dryly. + +"Keep your eye on that young man, Stevens. He's the most valuable +Congressman we've had from your State in a long while. Does just what +he is told and doesn't ask any fool questions. This was good work. +Langdon's on the naval committee now sure. Come, Stevens; let's go to +some quiet corner in the smoking-room. I want to talk to you about +something else the Standard has on hand for you to do." + +Hardly had they departed from the lobby when resounding commotion at +the entrance, followed by the rushing of porters and bellboys and +an expectant pose on the part of the clerk, indicated that the new +Senator from Mississippi had arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE BOSS OF THE SENATE INSPECTS A NEW MEMBER + + +An actor playing the role of a high type of Southern planter would +score a decided success by picturing the character exactly after the +fashion of Senator William H. Langdon as he strode to the desk of the +International Hotel. A wide-brimmed black hat thrust back on his head, +a long black perfecto in his mouth, coattails spreading out behind as +he walked, and the "Big Bill" Langdon smile on his face that carried +sunshine and good will wherever he went, he was good to look on, an +inspiration, particularly in Washington. + +Following the Senator were Miss Langdon and Hope Georgia, leading a +retinue of hotel attendants staggering under a large assortment of +luggage. Both beautiful girls, they caused a sensation all of their +own. Carolina, a different type from the younger, had an austere +loveliness denoting pride and birth, a brunette of the quality that +has contributed so much to the fame of Southern women. Hope Georgia, +more girlish, and a vivacious blonde, was the especial pet of her +father, and usually succeeded in doing with him what she chose. + +A real Senator and two such young women handsomely gowned seemed to +take the old hotel back a score of years--back to the times when such +sights were of daily occurrence. The ancient greatness of the now +dingy International lived again. + +"How are you, Senator? Glad to welcome you, sir," was the clerk's +greeting. + +The genial Senator held out his hand. Everybody was his friend. + +"Glad to meet you, sir; glad to meet you," he exclaimed. "Must make +you acquainted with my daughters. This is Miss Carolina Langdon, this +Miss Hope Georgia Langdon." + +The two girls, with their father's idea of courtesy, shook hands with +the clerk, who was not at all taken aback by the unexpected honor. + +Hope Georgia was thoroughly delighted with everything, but Carolina +looked at the worn and faded walls and furnishings with evident +distaste. + +"Oh, this is Washington," murmured Hope Georgia ecstatically, clasping +her hands and gazing at a vista of artificial palms in a corridor. + +"Ah, this is Washington," sighed the new Senator contentedly, as he +gazed across a hall at the biggest and most gorgeous cigar stand he +had ever seen or ever hoped to see--the only new thing added to the +hotel since Grant was President. + +"Truly magnificent establishment you have here, sir; magnificent!" he +exclaimed as an imitation marble column came within his purview. "I +remember my friend Senator Moseley speaking to me of it thirty years +ago. Are our rooms ready?" + +The clerk, hugely pleased, hastened to assure him that everything was +in first-class order, waiting. + +"You better go up, girls, while I look around a bit and sort of get +the hang of things." + +"Yes, I think we had better look around a bit, too, before we decide, +father," said Carolina, diplomatically. + +Her father patted her affectionately on the arm. + +"Now, don't you worry, Carolina. I see you think this place too +expensive from its looks--too good for us. But I tell you the best, +even this, isn't too good for you girls and your dad. Run away, and +I'll come up and see you soon." + +The new Senator leaned his elbow on the desk, surveying the place. + +"I understand this is a favorite haunt for the big men of Washington," +he said. + +The clerk eagerly agreed. + +"Yes, indeed, Senator; we have them all. Senator Peabody and Senator +Stevens were here just a moment ago. Boy, find Senator Peabody and +Senator Stevens and tell them Senator Langdon is here." + +The two Senators came quickly. + +"I'm glad to see you, Langdon; glad to see you," exclaimed Stevens, +with an assumption of effusiveness. "I want to introduce you to +Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania." + +Peabody bowed, and Langdon held out his hand. + +"I'm delighted to meet you, Senator. This is a proud day for me, sir." + +Peabody had put on his smoothest and most polished manner. + +"I came especially to meet you, Senator Langdon," he said. "Although +we are on different sides we may be interested in the same things. I +hope we shall see a great deal of each other." + +Langdon chuckled. + +"That's mighty good of you, Senator. I'm depending on you experienced +fellows to put me through. Don't know much about this lawmaking +business, you know. Raising cotton, arguing the Government and bossing +niggers have been about the extent of my occupation for the last forty +years, so I reckon I'm not much of a practical lawmaker." + +"Oh, you'll learn; you'll learn quickly," assured Peabody. "With +Stevens, here, for a guide you can't go wrong. We all look up to +Stevens. He's one of the powers on your side. He's an able man, is +Stevens." + +The new Senator from Mississippi gladly corroborated this. + +"You're right, sir. A great man! I tell you, when he told that +Legislature what they ought to do, Senator Peabody, they did it. If it +wasn't for Stevens I wouldn't be here now." + +In mock protest the senior Senator from Mississippi raised his hands. + +"Now, now, Langdon, don't say that. Your worth, your integrity, your +character and our old friendship got you the senatorship." + +The old planter laughed gleefully. + +"Sure, Stevens, I have the character and the integrity, but I reckon +the character and integrity wouldn't have done much business if you +hadn't had the Legislature." + +Clearly delighted, Peabody considered it certain that this new Senator +knew just the way he should go and would cause no difficulty. His +keen sense of gratitude made him appreciate how he had been elected. +Peabody literally beamed on Langdon. + +"I hope we shall be able to work a good deal together, Senator," he +said. "I have the interests of the South at heart, particularly with +regard to this new naval base. Perhaps we may be able to get you on +the naval committee." + +"Me!" laughed Langdon. "Well, that would be going strong! But I tell +you I'm for the naval base." + +"For Altacoola?" suggested Stevens. + +Langdon hesitated. Peabody and Stevens watched him as eagles watch +their prey from the mountain crag. + +"Well, it looks to me like Altacoola ought to be a fine site. But the +actual place isn't so important to me. I tell you, gentlemen," he said +in impressive seriousness that rang with sturdy American manhood--"I +tell you that what is important is that the great, sweeping curve of +the gulf shall hold some of those white ships of ours to watch over +the Indies and the canal and to keep an eye on South America. + +"And right there on our own Southern coast I want these ships built +and equipped and the guns cast and the men found to man them. I want +the South to have her part in the nation's defense. I want her to have +this great naval city as the living proof that there is again just +one country--the United States--and the North and the South both have +forgiven." + +Senator Peabody clapped the new member on the back. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "You've got to make some speeches like that. +We'll have you as the orator for the naval base." + +Langdon's eyes opened wide. + +"Orator!" he gasped. "Me! An orator!" + +"Why, that was oratory, good oratory," exclaimed Stevens, with +enthusiasm. + +"Huh!" grunted the planter. "You call that oratory. Why, that was only +the truth." + +"We'll see that you do some more of it, then," laughed Peabody. +"Remember, we count on you for the naval base." + +"For rural simplicity he's perfection," whispered Peabody to Stevens +as they left the planter. "He's a living picture of innocence. We'll +push him forward and let him do the talking for the naval affairs +committee. Hiding behind him, we could put through almost any kind of +a proposition." + +Once more did the senior Senator from Mississippi acquiesce. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +NEW FRIENDS--AND AN OLD ENEMY + + +Langdon gazed at the two departing Senators with varied emotions. He +sat down to think over what they had said and to carefully consider +what manner of man was Peabody, who showed such an interest in him. He +realized that he would have considerable intercourse with Peabody in +the processes of legislation, and finally had to admit to himself +that he did not like the Senator from Pennsylvania. Just what it was +Langdon could not at this time make certain, but he was mystified by +traces of contradictions in the Senator's character--slight traces, +true, but traces nevertheless. Peabody's cordiality and sympathy were +to Langdon's mind partly genuine and partly false. Just what was the +cause of or the necessity for the alloy in the true metal he could not +fathom. + +His talk with these famous lawmakers was unsatisfactory also in that +it had conveyed to Langdon the suggestion that the Senate was not +primarily a great forum for the general and active consideration of +weighty measures and of national policies. It had been his idea that +the Senate was primarily such a forum, but the attitude of Peabody +and Stevens had hinted to him that there were matters of individual +interest that outweighed public or national considerations. For +instance, they were anxious that Altacoola should have the naval base +regardless of the claims or merits of any other section. That was +unusual, puzzling to Langdon. Moreover, it was poor business, yet +there were able business men in the Senate. Not one of them would, +for instance, think of buying a site for a factory until he had +investigated many possible locations and then selected the most +favorable one. Why was it, he pondered, that the business of the great +United States of America was not conducted on business lines? + +He must study the whole question intelligently; that was imperative. +He must have advice, help. To whom was he to go for it? Stevens? Yes, +his old friend, who knew all "the ropes." Yet even Stevens seemed +different in Washington than Stevens in Mississippi. Here he played +"second fiddle." He was even obsequious, Langdon had observed, to +Peabody. In Mississippi he was a leader, and a strong one, too. But +Senator Langdon had not yet learned of the many founts from which +political strength and political leadership may be gained. + +What he finally decided on was the engaging of a secretary, but he +must be one with knowledge of political operations, one who combined +wisdom with honesty. Such an aid could prevent Langdon from making the +many mistakes that invariably mark the new man in politics, and he +could point out the most effective modes of procedure under given +circumstances. It might prove difficult to find a man of the necessary +qualifications who was not already employed, but in the meantime +Langdon would watch the playing of the game himself and make his own +deductions as best he could. + +The Senator started toward the hotel desk to ask regarding the +whereabouts of his son Randolph, when his attention was caught by the +sight of three powerful negro porters endeavoring to thrust outdoors +a threadbare old man. The victim's flowing white hair, white mustache +and military bearing received short shrift. + +"Come along, Colonel! Yo' can't sit heah all day. Them chairs is for +the guests in the hotel," the head porter was urging as he jerked the +old man toward the door. + +The Mississippian's fighting blood was instantly aroused at such +treatment of a respectable old white man by negroes. His lips tightly +compressed as he hurried to the rescue. He cried sharply: + +"Take your hands off that gentleman! What do you mean by touching a +friend of mine?" + +The negroes stepped back amazed. + +"'Scuse me, Senator, is this gent'man a friend of yours?" the head +porter gasped apologetically. + +Langdon looked at him. + +"You heard what I said," he drawled in the slow way natural to some +men of the South when trouble threatens. "I'd like to have you down in +Mississippi for about ten minutes." + +The head porter turned quickly on his assistants and drove them away, +shouting at the top of his voice: + +"Get about yo' wuk. How dare yo' intehfere wid a friend of de +Senator's? I'll teach yo' to be putting yoh nose in where it ain't got +no business." + +The old man, astonished at the turn of events, came forward +hesitatingly to Langdon. + +"I'm very much obliged to you, sir," he said. "I'm Colonel Stoneman, +an old soldier." + +The Mississippian stretched forth his hand. + +"My name is Langdon, sir--Senator Langdon of Mississippi. I am an old +soldier, too." + +"Delighted, Senator," exclaimed the seedy-looking old man, taking the +offered hand gratefully. + +Langdon's easy method of making friends was well illustrated as he +clapped his new companion on the back. Everybody he met was the +Mississippian's friend until he had proved himself the contrary. That +had been his rule through life. + +"Come right over, Colonel; have a cigar, sir." Then, as they lighted +their cigars, he inquired, "What army corps were you with, Colonel?" + +"I was under Grant along the Tennessee," replied the old G.A.R. man. + +Familiarity with a Senator was something new for him, and already he +was straightening up and becoming more of a man every moment. Langdon +was thoroughly interested. + +"I was along the Tennessee under Beauregard," he said. + +"Great generals, sir! Great generals!" exclaimed Colonel Stoneman. + +"And great fighting, I reckon!" echoed the Confederate. "You remember +the battle of Crawfordsville?" + +The old Federal smiled with joyous recollection. + +"Do I? Well, I should say I did! Were you there, Senator?" + +"Was I there? Why, I remember every shot that was fired. I was under +Kirby, who turned your left wing." + +The attitude of the Northern soldier changed instantly. He drew +himself up with cold dignity. Plainly he felt that he had the honor of +his army to sustain. + +"Our left wing was never turned, sir!" he exclaimed with dignity. + +Langdon stared at him with amazement. This was a point of view the +Confederate had never heard before. + +"Never turned!" he gasped. "Don't tell me that! I was there, and, +besides, I've fought this battle on an average of twice a week ever +since '65 down in Mississippi, and in all these years I never heard +such a foolish statement." + +"What rank were you, sir?" asked the Union soldier, haughtily. + +"I was a captain that morning," confessed the Southerner. + +His old enemy smiled with superiority. + +"As a colonel I've probably got more accurate information," he said. + +"I was a colonel that evening," came the dry retort. + +"But in an inferior army. We licked you, sir!" cried Stoneman, hotly. + +The Mississippian drew himself up with all the dignity common to the +old Confederate soldier explaining the war. + +"The South was never whipped, sir. We honorably surrendered, sir. We +surrendered to save the country, sir, but we were never whipped." + +"Did you not run at Kenyon Hill?" taunted Stoneman. + +Langdon brought down his fist in the palm of the other hand violently. + +"Yes, sir; we ran at you. I ought to remember. I got my wound there. +You remember that long lane--" He pulled off his hat and threw it on +the floor, indicating it with one hand--"Here was the Second Alabama." + +The hat of the old Federal dropped on the floor opposite the hat of +the Confederate. + +"And here the Eighth Illinois," exclaimed Stoneman. + +Langdon excitedly seized a diminutive bellboy passing by and planted +him alongside his hat. + +"Stay there a moment, sonny," he cried. "You are the Fourth Virginia." + +The newspaper Stoneman was carrying came down opposite the startled +bellboy, who was trying not to appear frightened. + +"This is the clump of cedars," he exclaimed. + +Both, in their eagerness, were bending down over their improvised +battle plan, their heads close together. + +"And here a farmhouse beside your cedars," cried Langdon. + +"That's where the rebels charged us," echoed the Union man. + +Langdon brought down his fist again with emphatic gesture. + +"You bet we charged you! The Third Mississippi charged you! I charged +you, sir!" + +Stoneman nodded. + +"I remember a young fool of a Johnnie reb dashing up the hill fifty +yards ahead of his men, waving his sword and yelling like a wild +Indian." + +The Southerner straightened up. + +"Well, where in thunderation would you expect me to be, sir?" he +exclaimed. "Behind them? I got my wound there. Laid me up for three +months; like to have killed me." + +Then a new idea struck him. "Why, Colonel, it must have been a bullet +from one of your men--from your regiment, sir!" + +The old Northerner pushed his fingers through his hair and shook his +head apologetically. + +"Why, Senator, I'm afraid it was," he hesitated. + +Langdon's eyes were big with the afterglow of a fighter discussing the +mighty struggles of the past, those most precious of all the jewels in +the treasure store of a soldier's memory. + +"Why, it might have been a bullet fired by you, sir," he cried. "It +might be that you were the man who almost killed me. Why, confound +you, sir, I'm glad to meet you!" + +Each old veteran of tragic days gone by had quite unconsciously +awakened a responsive chord in the heart of the other. A Senator and +a penniless old "down and outer" are very much the same in the human +scale that takes note of the inside and not the outside of a man. +And they fell into each other's arms then and there, for what strong +fighter does not respect another of his kind? + +There they stood, arms around each other, clapping each other on the +back, actually chortling in the pure ecstasy of comradeship, now +serious, again laughing, when on the scene appeared Bud Haines, the +correspondent, who had returned to interview the new Senator from +Mississippi. + +"Great heavens!" ejaculated the newspaper man. "A Senator, a United +States Senator, hugging a broken-down old 'has-been!' What is the +world coming to?" Haines suddenly paused. "I wonder if it can be a +pose;--merely for effect. It's getting harder every day to tell what's +genuine and what isn't in this town." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LANGDON LEARNS OF THINGS UNPLEASANT + + +Haines quickly walked over and touched the Southerner on the arm. + +"Well, my boy, what can I do for you?" asked the new Senator, turning +with a pleasant smile. + +"My name is Haines. Senator Stevens was to speak to you about me. I'm +the first of the newspaper correspondents come to interview you." + +Langdon's familiar smile broadened. + +"Well, you don't look as though you'd bite. Reckon I can stand for it. +Is it very painful?" + +"I hope it won't be, Senator," Haines said, feeling instinctively that +he was going to like this big, hearty citizen. + +"All right, Mr. Haines, just as soon as I've said good-by to my old +friend, Colonel Stoneman, I'll be with you." + +And to his continued amazement Haines saw the Senator walk away with +the old Union Colonel, slap him on the back, cheer him up and finally +bid him good-by after extending a cordial invitation to come around to +dinner, meet his daughters and talk over old times. + +The antiquated Federal soldier marched away more erect, more brisk, +than in years, completely restored to favor in the eyes of the hotel +people. Langdon turned to the reporter. + +"All right, Mr. Haines; my hands are up. Do your worst. Senator +Stevens spoke to me about you; said you were the smartest young +newspaper man in Washington. You must come from the South." + +Bud shook his head. + +"No, just New York," he said. + +"Well, that's a promising town," drawled the Southerner. "They tell me +that's the Vicksburg of the North." + +"I suppose you haven't been to New York of late, Senator?" suggested +the newspaper man. + +"Well, I started up there with General Lee once," responded Langdon +reminiscently, "but we changed our minds and came back. You may have +heard about that trip." + +Haines admitted that he had. + +"Since that time," went on Langdon, "I've confined my travels to New +Orleans and Vicksburg. Ever been in New Orleans about Mardi Gras time, +Mr. Haines?" + +"Sorry, but I don't believe I have," confessed the reporter +reluctantly. + +The Senator seemed surprised. + +"Well, sir, you have something to live for. I'll make it my special +business to personally conduct you through one Mardi Gras, with a +special understanding, of course, that you don't print anything in the +paper. I'm a vestryman in my church, but since misfortune has come +upon our State I have to be careful." + +Haines searched his brain. He knew of no grave calamity that had +happened recently in Mississippi. + +"Misfortune?" he questioned. + +Senator Langdon nodded. + +[Illustration: "FROM NEW YORK, EH? THE VICKSBURG OF THE NORTH,"] + +"Yes, sir, the great old State of Mississippi went prohibition at the +last election. I don't know how it happened. We haven't found anybody +in the State that says he voted for it, but the fact is a fact. I +assure you, Mr. Haines, that prohibition stops at my front door, in +Mississippi. So I've been living a quiet life down on my plantation." + +"This new life will be a great change for you, then?" suggested the +reporter. + +"Change! It's revolutionary, sir! When you've expected to spend your +old days peacefully in the country, Mr. Haines, suddenly to find that +your State has called on you--" + +A flavor of sarcasm came into Haines' reply. + +"The office seeking the man?" He could not help the slight sneer. Was +a man never to admit that he had sought the office? Haines knew only +too well of the arduous work necessary to secure nominations for high +office in conventions and to win an election to the Senate from a +State Legislature. In almost every case, he knew, the candidate must +make a dozen different "deals" to secure votes, might promise the same +office to two or three different leaders, force others into line +by threats, send a trusted agent to another with a roll of bank +bills--the recipient of which would immediately conclude that this +candidate was the only man in the State who could save the nation from +destruction. Had not Haines seen men who had sold their unsuspecting +delegates for cash to the highest bidder rise in the convention hall +and in impassioned, dramatic voice exclaim in praise of the buyer, +"Gentlemen, it would be a crying shame, a crime against civilization, +if the chosen representatives of our grand old State of ---- did not +go on record in favor of such a man, such a true citizen, such an +inspired patriot, as he whose name I am about to mention"? So +the reporter may be forgiven for the ironical tinge in his hasty +interruption of the new Senator's remarks. + +Langdon could not suppress a chuckle at the doubting note in Haines' +attitude. + +"I think the man would be pretty small potatoes who wouldn't seek the +office of United States Senator, Mr. Haines," he said, "if he could +get it. When I was a young man, sir, politics in the South was a +career for a gentleman, and I still can't see how he could be better +engaged than in the service of his State or his country." + +"That's right," agreed the reporter, further impressed by the frank +sincerity of the Mississippian. + +"The only condition in my mind, Mr. Haines, is that the man should ask +himself searchingly whether or not he's competent to give the service. +But I seem to be talking a good deal. Suppose we get to the interview. +Expect your time is short. We'd better begin." + +"I thought we were in the interview?" smiled the correspondent. + +"In it!" exclaimed Langdon. "Well, if this is it, it isn't so bad. I +see you use a painless method. When I was down in Vicksburg a reporter +backed me up in a corner, slipped his hand in his hip pocket and +pulled out a list of questions just three feet four inches long. + +"He wanted to know what I thought concerning the tariff on aluminium +hydrates, and how I stood about the opening of the Tento Pu +Reservation of the Comanche Indians, and what were my ideas about the +differential rate of hauls from the Missouri River. + +"He was a wonder, that fellow! Kinder out of place on a Mississippi +paper. I started to offer him a job, but he was so proud I was afraid +he wouldn't accept it. However, it gives you my idea of a reporter." + +"If you've been against that, I ought to thank you for talking to me," +laughed Haines. + +"Then you don't want to know anything about that sort of stuff?" said +Langdon, with a huge sigh of relief. + +"No, Senator," was the amused reply. "I think generally if I know what +sort of a man a man is I can tell a great deal about what he will +think on various questions." + +Langdon started interestedly. + +"You mean, Mr. Haines, if you know whether I'm honest or not you can +fit me up with a set of views. Is that the idea? Seems to me you're +the sort of man I'm looking for." + +The other smilingly shook his head. + +"I wouldn't dare fix up a United States Senator with a set of views," +he said. "I only mean that I think what a man is is important. I've +been doing Washington for a number of years. I've had an exceptional +opportunity to see how politics work. I don't believe in party +politics. I don't believe in parties, but I do believe in men." + +Langdon nodded approvingly, then a twinkle shone in his eyes. + +"We don't believe in parties in Mississippi," he drawled. "We've only +one--the Democratic party,--and a few kickers." + +Haines grinned broadly at this description of Southern politics. + +"What was this you were saying about national politics?" continued +the Mississippian. "I'm a beginner, you know, and I'm always ready to +learn." + +"This is a new thing--a reporter teaching a Senator politics," laughed +Haines. + +Senator Langdon joined in the merriment. + +"I reckon reporters could teach United States Senators lots of things, +Mr. Haines, if the Senators had sense enough to go to school. Now, I +come up here on a platform the chief principle of which is the naval +base for the gulf. Now, how are we going to put that through? My State +wants it." + +"You're probably sure it will be a wonderful thing for the country and +the South," suggested Haines. + +"Of course." + +"But why do you think most of the Congressmen and Senators will vote +for it?" + +The Southerner took off his hat, leaned back and gazed across the +lobby thoughtfully. + +"Seems to me the benefit to the South and country would be sufficient +reason, Mr. Haines," he finally replied. + +The newspaper man's brain worked rapidly. Going over the entire +conversation with Langdon and what he had seen of him, he was certain +that the Mississippian believed what he said--that, moreover, the +belief was deeply rooted. His long newspaper training had educated +Haines in the ways of men, their actions and mental processes--what +naturally to expect from a given set of circumstances. He felt a +growing regard, an affection, for this unassuming old man before +him, who did not know and probably would be slow to understand the +hypocrisy, the cunning trickery of lawmakers who unmake laws. + +"Sufficient reason for you, Senator," Haines added. "You have not been +in politics very long, have you?" he queried dryly. + +A wry smile wrinkled the Mississippian's face. + +"Been in long enough to learn some unpleasant things I didn't know +before." He remembered Martin Sanders. + +"Will you allow me to tell you a few more?" asked Haines. + +Langdon inclined his head in acquiescence. "Reckon I'd better know the +worst and get through with it." + +"Well, then, Senator, somebody from Nebraska will vote for what you +want in the way of the naval base because he'll think then you'll help +him demand money to dredge some muddy creek that he has an interest +in. + +"Somebody in Pennsylvania will vote for it because he owes a grudge +and wants to hurt the Philadelphia ship people. + +"You'll get the Democrats because it's for the South, but if your bill +was for the west coast they might fight it tooth and nail, even with +the Japanese fleet cruising dangerously near. + +"And the Republicans may vote for it because they see a chance to +claim glory and perhaps break the solid South in the next presidential +campaign. You catch the idea?" + +"What!" exclaimed the astounded Langdon. "Well, who in hades will vote +for it because it's for the good of the United States?" he gasped. + +"I believe you will, Senator," replied Haines, with ready confidence. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOW SENATOR LANGDON GETS A SECRETARY + + +Langdon leaned over and seized the arm of his interviewer. + +"See here, young man, why aren't you in politics?" he said. + +"Too busy, Senator," replied Haines. "Besides, I like the newspaper +game." + +"Game?" queried Langdon. + +"Oh, I use the word in a general sense, Senator," replied Haines. +"Pretty much everything is a 'game'--society, politics, newspaper +work, business of every sort. Men and women make 'moves' to meet the +moves of other men and women. Why, even in religion, the way some +people play a--" + +The speaker was interrupted by the appearance of Hope Georgia, who was +searching for her father. + +"Stay here and listen to what a hard task your old father has got," +said the Mississippian to his daughter, whom he presented to Haines +with a picturesque flourish reminiscent of the pride and chivalry of +the old South. "He has the idea that those New Yorkers who read his +paper would actually like to know something about me." + +Hope Georgia stole many glances at the reporter as he talked with her +father. He made a deep impression on her young mind. She had spent +almost all her life on the plantation, her father providing her with +a private tutor instead of sending her to boarding-school, where her +elder sister had been educated. Owing to the death of her mother the +planter had desired to keep Hope Georgia at home for companionship. +This good-looking, clean-cut, well-built young man who was taking +so big and so active a part of the world's work brought to her the +atmosphere that her spirit craved. He gave one an impression of +ability, of earnestness, of sincerity, and she was glad that her +father approved of him. + +Hope Georgia, by the same token, did not escape the attention of the +interviewer. Her appealing charm of face and figure was accentuated +by her daintiness and a fleeting suggestion of naivete in poise and +expression when she was amused. His first glance revealed to Haines +that her eyes were gray, the gray that people say indicates the +possessor to have those priceless qualities--the qualities that make +the sweetest women true, that make the maiden's eyes in truth the +windows of her soul, the qualities that make women womanly. + +She sat close to her father, her hand in his, listening intently to +the unfolding of a story of what to her was a mysterious world--the +man's world, the strong man's world--which many a woman would give her +all to enter and play a part therein. + +"What else have you against a political career, Mr. Haines?" went on +the Senator, taking up their conversation. + +"Well, my age, for one thing. I haven't any gray hairs." + +Langdon waved this objection aside. + +"I might arrange to pool ages with you. Sometimes I think we want +young men in politics, like you." + +The reporter shook his head. + +"Old in age and young in politics, like you, Senator Langdon," he +replied. "Politics I sometimes think is pure hypocrisy and sometimes +something worse. A man gets disgusted with the trickery and dishonesty +and corruption." + +"Then," drawled Langdon, "the thing to do is to jump in and stop it! I +read in the newspapers a great deal about corruption. The gentlemen +in national politics whom I have had the honor of knowing--Senator +Moseley, an intimate friend of thirty years; my present colleague, +Senator Stevens, and others--have been as honest as the day is long." + +"But the days do get short in November, when Congress meets, don't +they?" laughed Haines, rising. "I'm afraid I've taken too much of your +time, and I seem to have talked a lot." + +Langdon was amused. + +"Does look like I'd been interviewing you. I reckon each one of us has +got a pretty good notion of what the other man's like. I wanted it +that way, and I like you, Mr. Haines. I've got a proposition to make +to you. They tell me I'll need a secretary. Now, I think I need just +such a young man as you. I don't know just exactly what the work would +be or what the financial arrangements should be, but I think you and +I would make a pretty good team. I wish you'd come." He turned to his +daughter, with a smile. "What do you think of that, Hope Georgia? +Isn't your dad right?" + +Smiling her approval, the young girl squeezed her father's hand in her +enthusiasm. + +"I think it's a splendid idea, dad; just great! Won't you come, Mr. +Haines? We--eh--I--I know my father would like to have you." + +As he stood before his two new-found friends--for such Haines now +considered the Mississippian and his daughter--he could not suppress +feelings of surprise tinged with uncertainty. He had, like other +newspaper men, received offers of employment from politicians who +desired to increase their influence with the press. Sometimes the +salary offered had been large, the work so light that the reporter +could "earn" the money and yet retain his newspaper position, a +scantily disguised species of bribery, which had wrecked the careers +of several promising reporters well known to Haines, young men who had +been thus led into "selling their columns" by unscrupulous machine +dictators. + +Haines knew that the Mississippian had no ulterior purpose to serve in +his offer, yet he must have time to think over the proposal. + +"I thank you, Senator," he finally said. "I appreciate the +opportunity, coming from you, but I've never thought of giving up the +newspaper profession. It's a fascinating career, one that I am too +fond of to leave." + +Langdon started to reply, when a delightfully modulated Southern voice +interrupted: + +"Father, I've been out with Mrs. Spangler to look for some other +rooms. I don't like this hotel, and I found some that I do like." + +Haines turned to see a handsomely gowned young woman who had the +stamp of a patrician's daughter in her bearing and her countenance--a +brunette, with delicate features, though determination shone in her +eyes and appeared in the self-contained poise of her head. She was +the imperious type of beauty and suggested to Haines the dry point +etchings of Paul Helleu. He instinctively conceived her to be +intensely ambitious, and of this Haines was soon to have unexpected +evidence. Gazing at her with a sense of growing admiration, Haines +gave an involuntary start as Senator Langdon spoke. + +"My daughter, Miss Carolina Langdon, Mr. Haines," said the Senator. + +Carolina was interested. + +"Are you the newspaper man who is interviewing father? I hope you'll +do a nice one. We want him to be a successful and popular Senator. +We'd like to help him if we could." + +The correspondent bowed. + +"I should say you certainly would help him to be a popular Senator," +he declared, emphatically, failing to notice that Hope Georgia was +somewhat annoyed at the enthusiasm displayed over her elder sister. In +fact, Hope Georgia was suffering a partial, if not total, eclipse. + +"I'm leaving it to Mr. Haines to put down the things I ought to say," +broke in the Senator. "He knows." + +"Yes, he knows everything about Washington, Carolina," exclaimed Hope +Georgia, spiritedly. + +The older girl spoke eagerly. + +"I wish you'd interview me, Mr. Haines. Ask me how I like Washington. +I feel as though I must tell some one just how much I do like it! It +is too wonderful!" + +"I'd like mighty well to interview you, Miss Langdon," +enthusiastically exclaimed Haines. + +"I hope you will some time, Mr. Haines," remarked Carolina, as she +said good-by. + +Watching her as she turned away, Haines saw her extend a warm greeting +to Congressman Charles Norton, who had advanced toward the group. + +[Illustration: "STRANGE HOW THE LANGDONS TREAT HIM AS A FRIEND."] + +"Strange how the Langdons treat him as a friend--intimate one, too," +he thought. "What if they should learn of Norton's questionable +operations at the Capitol; of his connection with two unsavory +'deals,' one of which resulted in an amendment to the pure food law so +that manufacturers of a valueless 'consumption cure' could continue to +mislead the victims of the 'white plague'; Norton, who had uttered an +epigram now celebrated in the tap-rooms of Washington, 'The paths of +glory lead but to the graft.'" + +"Miss Langdon is very beautiful and attractive, sir," said Haines, +resuming with the Senator. + +"Yes," drawled the Mississippian. "Girls in the South generally are." + +"Well, I must be going. I'll think about your secretaryship, Senator +Langdon. Perhaps I can find some one." + +"Wish you'd think about it for yourself," observed the Senator, while +Hope Georgia again nodded approval. "It would be a hard job. There +are so many matters of political detail about which I am sadly +inexperienced that really most of the work would fall on the +secretary." + +Bud Haines paused. Again he thought over Langdon's offer. Its +genuineness appealed to him. Suddenly there dawned on him an idea of +just what it might mean to be associated with this honest old citizen +who had asked for his help--who needed it, as Haines knew only too +well. He would be the Senator's guide and confidant--his adviser +in big matters. Why, he would practically be United States Senator +himself. He knew the "inside" as few others in Washington. Here was +a chance to match his wit against that of Peabody, the boss of the +Senate; a chance to spoil some of the dishonest schemes of those who +were adroitly "playing the game." He could bother, too, the intriguing +members of the "third house," as the lobbyists are called. + +He could direct a lightning bolt into the camp of Andy Corrigan, +who claimed the honor of being "speaker of the third house." These +thoughts crowded into his mind. Then, too, he would become practically +a member of the Langdon family and have association with the two +charming daughters--with Carolina Langdon. + +"It would be a great chance," he murmured half aloud; "next thing to +being a Senator." + +The old Mississippian heard the young man's words. + +"I reckon it would," he drawled, in agreement. + +"You feel sure you want me?" urged the other. + +Langdon chuckled. + +"I asked you," he said. + +Haines came abruptly to decision. + +"I've thought it over, Senator, and it seems to me it will be a great +chance in every way. I'll accept. We'll fix it up to-morrow, and I'll +try to make you a good secretary." + +Langdon held forth his hand. + +"And I'll try to make you a good Senator, my boy. Fix up nothing +to-morrow. Your duties begin to-night. You are to come to dinner with +me and my daughters." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A NEW KIND OF POLITICAL PARTNERSHIP + + +The combination of the forces of Langdon and Haines did not find much +favor among the powers that are--at the Capitol. Senator Peabody +peremptorily demanded an explanation from Stevens as to how he had +allowed "his Senator" to engage as his secretary "this inquisitive man +Haines, a reporter who didn't know his place." + +"Here we've put Langdon on naval affairs because we knew he didn't +understand what's going on, and you, Stevens, supposed to be the +finished, product of the political mill, _you_ fall asleep and let +him take up a man whom nobody can control, one who knows the inside +workings of Washington and who will take par-tic-u-lar pleasure in +teaching your fellow Mississippian far too much for our good." + +Stevens' reply, to effect that probably Haines would consent to +be "taken care of" if judiciously approached, was derided by the +observant Peabody. "A young reformer grows fat on notoriety," he +laughed, "and think what a scandal he would have for his newspaper if +we took a chance on disclosing our hand to him. No, no, Stevens; we +must have him watched and try to discredit him in some way. Perhaps we +can make Langdon believe that his secretary is dishonest." + +Congressman Norton was another man who was dismayed at the formation +of the firm of Langdon and Haines. Young Randolph, too, could not +forget the defeat and humiliation he had previously suffered at +Haines' hands and grew more bitter as the reporter's influence over +his father grew stronger. But Haines' most effective enemy had arisen +in the person he would be the last to suspect; one whom he unceasingly +admired, one whose very words he had come to cherish. And possibly +it was not all her own fault that Carolina Langdon had enlisted her +services, subtle and quite overwhelming (owing to Haines' fervent +worship of her), against the secretary. Perhaps the social system of +which she had become a part in Washington had something to do with the +craving to become a leader in that fascinating world whose dazzling +variety and infinite diversion seemed to fill her soul with all +that it yearned for. Love she had, for she had now promised to wed +Congressman Norton. She loved him fondly, she had confessed to him, +and gradually she came to work desperately against Haines, who, +she had been convinced by Norton and Randolph, would prove a +stumbling-block to them, to her father, to herself in her career at +the capital, if his influence over the Senator should be permitted to +exist or to increase. And so on the surface Carolina Langdon was most +amiable to the secretary, encouraged him in his attentions to her, led +him surely into her power, Norton having prevailed, on her to keep the +knowledge of their engagement secret from every one, even her father. + +The days and nights became filled with important work for Senator +Langdon and his secretary. Together they went over the important +measures, outlined what appeared to be the best course of procedure, +and carried it into effect as far as possible. Langdon became a +prominent figure in the Senate, owing to his consistent support of +measures that fitted in with the public policy, or what should be the +public policy, of the nation. He had learned that the only practicable +way to outwit or to cope with the members of the dominating machine, +made up, he was surprised to see, of members of both the parties--the +only two in Washington--was to oppose what the machine wanted with +enough power to force it to grant him what he believed the public +ought to have. He was described by some of the hide-bound "insiders" +on Capitol Hill as "the only brainy man who had fought the machine in +thirty years." + +At the home he had later established in Washington as preferable +to the International Hotel were frequently seen a small coterie of +Senators and Congressmen who had become known to the sarcastic party +bosses in both houses of Congress as the "Langdon crowd," which crowd +was admitted to be somewhat a factor when it finally prevailed on the +President to take over 11,000 postmasters from the appointment class +and put them under the control of the Civil Service Commission, +resulting in the necessity of a competitive examination for these +postmasters instead of their securing positions through political +favoritism. + +Those who did not know Langdon intimately suggested that "this fellow +ought to be 'taken care of.' What in God's name does he want? A +committee chairmanship? An ambassadorship for some Mississippi +charcoal burner? A couple of Federal judgeships for his friends? Well, +whatever it is, give it to him and get him in with the rest of us!" + +Again it was Peabody who had the deciding say. + +"There's only one thing worse than a young reformer, and that's an old +one," he laughed bitterly at a secret conclave at his apartment in the +luxurious Louis Napoleon Hotel. "The young one thinks he is going to +live and wants our future profits for himself. The old one thinks he's +going to die, and he's sore at leaving so much graft behind him." + +Heads and hearts thinking and throbbing together, Langdon and his +secretary had learned to lean on each other, the young gaining +inspiration from the old, the old gaining strength from the young. +They loved each other, and, more than any love, they trusted one +another. And Hope Georgia watched it all and rejoiced, for she +believed with all the accrued erudition of eighteen years of innocent +girlhood that Mr. Bud Haines was quite the finest specimen of young +manhood this world had ever produced. How could he have happened? She +was sure that she had never met his equal, not even in that memorable +week she had spent in Jackson. + +The passing weeks taught Haines that he was deeply in love with +Carolina, and, though he had endeavored to keep the knowledge of this +from her, her woman's intuition had told her his secret, and she +stifled the momentary regrets that flitted into her mind, because she +was now in "the game" herself, the Washington game, that ensnares the +woman as well as the man and makes her a slave to its fancy. No one +but herself and Norton knew how deeply she had "plunged" on a certain +possible turn of the political cards. She must not, she could not, +lose if life itself were to remain of value to her, and on her sway +over this secretary she was told it all depended. + +A subject that for some unexplained reason frequently lodged in +Haines' mind was that of the apparent assiduity with which Mrs. +Spangler cultivated Senator Langdon's friendship. For several years +she had occupied a high social position at the capital, he well knew, +but various indefinite, intangible rumors he had heard, he could not +state exactly where, had made him regret her growing intimacy with +the girls and with the Senator. They had met her through letters of +introduction of the most trustworthy and assuring character from +people of highest social rank in Virginia, where the Langdons had many +friends; but even so, Haines realized, people who write introductory +letters are sometimes thoughtless in considering all the circumstances +of the parties they introduce, and residents of Virginia who had not +been in the capital for years might be forgiven for not knowing of +all the more recent developments in the lives of those they knew +in Washington. While not wishing to have the Senator know of his +intention, the secretary determined to investigate Mrs. Spangler and +her present mode of life at his first opportunity, hoping the while +that his quest would reveal her to be what the Langdons considered +her--a widow of wealth, fashion and reserve who resided at the capital +because the memories of her late husband, a former Congressman of high +standing, were associated with it. + +Calling at the Langdons' house one evening in February to receive +directions regarding important work for the next day, Haines was +somewhat puzzled at the peculiar smile on the Senator's face. +Answering the secretary's look of inquiry, the Mississippian said: + +"I've been told that I can name the new holder of a +five-thousand-dollar-a-year position in the Department of Commerce +and Labor, and that if I have no one in particular from my State to +name--that--that you would be a good man for the job. First I was +glad for your sake, my boy, for if you wanted it you could have the +position. But on thinking it over it seemed there might be something +behind it not showing on the surface." + +"It's a trick," said Haines. "Who made the offer?" + +"Senator Stevens." + +"I might have known," hotly responded the secretary. "There's a crowd +that wants you and me separated. Thought this bait too much for me to +resist, did they?" Then he paused, rubbing his fingers through his +hair in a perplexed manner. "Strange, isn't it, Senator, that a man +of your party is offered this desirable piece of patronage, entirely +unsolicited on your part, from the administration of another, a +different political party? Especially when that other party has so +many hungry would-be 'tax eaters' clamoring to enter the 'land of milk +and honey.' I think Stevens deliberately--" + +"There, there, Bud," broke in Langdon, "you mustn't say anything +against Senator Stevens to me. True, he associates with some folks I +don't approve of, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything wrong, +and I myself have always found him thoroughly honest." + +"Yes," muttered the secretary, following the Senator into the library, +"you've always found him honest because you think everybody's +honest--but Stevens is just the doctor who will cure you of this +ailment--this chronic trustfulness." + +Haines laughed softly. "When Peabody's little Stevie gets through +hacking at the prostrate body of political purity his two-handed sword +of political corruption will need new edges." + +Thus far neither the Senator nor his secretary had suspicion of any +questionable deal in regard to the gulf naval base. The rush of other +events, particularly the fight over the reduction of the tariff, had +pushed this project temporarily into the background so far as they +were concerned, though the "boss of the Senate" and his satellites had +been losing no time in perfecting their plans regarding the choice of +Altacoola as the site. + +Peabody and Stevens had ingeniously exploited Langdon at every +possible opportunity in relation to the naval base. Asked about new +developments in the committee on naval affairs, the ready answer was: +"Better see Senator Langdon. He knows all about the naval base; has +the matter in full charge. I really know little about it." + +So, by hiding behind the unsuspecting old hero of Crawfordsville, they +diverted from themselves any possible suspicion and placed Langdon +where he would have to bear the brunt of the great scandal that +would, they well knew, come out at some future time--after their foul +conspiracy against the nation had been consummated, after the fruits +of their betrayal had been secured. + +What, after all, the schemers concluded, is the little matter of an +investigation among Senators to guilty Senators who, deeply versed +in the law, have destroyed every compromising document that could be +admissible as evidence? + +Why, the Senate would appoint an investigating committee and +investigate itself, would it not, when the ridiculous scandal came? + +And what Senator would fear himself, or for himself, as he +investigated himself, when the blame had already been put publicly on +some one else, some simple-minded old soul who could go back to his +cotton fields in Mississippi and forget all about it, strong in his +innocence, even though shorn of reputation, and desire to live? + + + + +CHAPTER X + +WHEN SENATORS DISAGREE + + +The wiseacres of Washington had rightly predicted, that the site of +the hundred-million-dollar gulf naval base would be decided on in +March, after the excitement and gayety attending the presidential +inauguration had subsided. + +On the morning of the day before this action of the committee on naval +affairs was to be taken Secretary Haines sat at his desk in Senator +Langdon's committee room in the Capitol. Richard Cullen, the favorite +associate of Haines in his journalistic days, out earlier than usual +on his daily round of the departments for news for his Chicago paper, +had strolled in and attempted a few of his characteristic cynicisms. +Haines usually found them entertaining, but these were directed at +Senator Langdon. + +"Now, let me tell you something, Dick," the secretary answered, +firmly. "Don't you work off all your dyspeptic ideas in this +neighborhood. My Senator is a great man. They can't appreciate him up +here because he's honest--crystal clear. I used to think I knew what a +decent citizen, a real man, ought to be, but he's taught me some new +things. He'll teach them all something before he gets through." + +Cullen hung one leg over Haines' desk. + +"You're a nice, quiet, gentlemanly little optimist, and I like you, +old fellow," retorted Cullen. "But don't deceive yourself too much. +Your Senator Langdon is personally one of the best ever. But he was +born a mark, and a mark he'll be to the end of time. + +"He looks good now. Sure, I like his speeches, and all that, but just +wait. When some of those old foxes in the Senate want to put his head +in the bag and tie it down, they won't have any trouble at all." + +Smiling, Haines looked up at his cynical friend. + +"The bag'll have to go over my head, too," he said, with a nod. + +"Well, I don't know that Peabody'd have to strain himself very much to +get such an awful big bag to drop you both in, if it comes right down +to that, old chap. You're making a mistake. You're as bad as your old +man. You're a beautiful pair of optimists, and you a good newspaper +man, too--it's a shame!" + +After momentary hesitation, Cullen continued, thoroughly serious. + +"But, my old friend," he said in low tone, glancing quickly about, +"there's one thing that you've got to put a stop to. It's hurting +you." + +The secretary's face showed his bewilderment. + +"What do you mean?" he snapped, abruptly. "Out with it!" + +"I mean," replied Cullen, "that rumors are going around that you are +keeping Langdon away from the crowd of 'insiders' in the Senate for +your own purposes--that, in short, you plan to--" + +"I understand," was the quick interruption. "I am accused of wanting +to 'deliver' Senator Langdon, guarantee his vote, on some graft +proposition, so that I can get the money and not he himself. +Consequently I'm tipping him off on what measures are honest, so that +he'll vote for them, until--until I'm offered my price, then influence +him to vote for some big crooked scheme, telling him it is all right. +He votes as I suggest, and I get the money!" + +"That's what 'delivering a man' means in Washington," dryly answered +the Chicago correspondent. "It means winning a man's confidence, his +support, his vote, through friendship, and then selling it for cash--" + +"But you, Dick, you have--" + +"Of course, old man, I have denied the truth of this. I knew you too +well to doubt you. Still, the yarn is hurting you. Remember that +Western Senator who was 'delivered' twice, both ways, on a graft +bill?" he laughingly asked the secretary. + +"Should say I did, Dick. That is the record for that game. It was a +corporation measure. One railroad wanted it; another opposed it. The +Senator innocently told an Eastern Senator that he was going to vote +for the bill. Then the Easterner went to the railroad wanting the +bill passed and got $7,000 on his absolute promise that he would get +Senator X. to vote for it, who, of course, did vote for it." + +"Yes," said Cullen, "and later, when Senator X. heard that Senator Z. +had got money for his vote, he was wild. Then when another effort +was made to pass the bill (which had been defeated) the 'delivered' +Senator said to Z. as he met him unexpectedly: 'You scoundrel, here's +where I get square with you to some extent. Anyway, I'm going to vote +against that bill this time and make a long speech against it, too.' +Senator Z. then hustled to the lobbyist of the railroad that wanted +the bill killed and guaranteed him that for $10,000 he could get +Senator X. to change his vote, to vote against the bill." + +"And he got the money, too, both ways," added Haines, as Cullen +concluded, "and both railroads to this day think that X. received the +money from Z." + +"Of course," said Cullen, "but X. was to blame, though. He didn't know +enough to keep to himself how he was going to vote. Any man that talks +that way will be 'delivered.'" + +"I know how to stop those rumors, for I'm sure it's Peabody's work, he +thinking Langdon will hear the talk and mistrust me," began Haines, +when in came Senator Langdon himself, his face beaming contentedly. +Little did the junior Senator from Mississippi realize that he was +soon to face the severest trial, the most vital crisis, of his entire +life. + +Cullen responded to the Senator's cheery greeting of "Mornin', +everybody!" + +"Senator," he asked, "my paper wants your opinion on the question of +the election of Senators by popular vote. Do you think the system of +electing Senators by vote of State Legislatures should be abolished?" + +The Mississippian cocked his head to one side. + +"I reckon that's a question that concerns future Senators, and not +those already elected," he chuckled. + +Haines laughed at Cullen, who thrust his pad into his pocket and +hurried away. + +"It is to-day that I appear before the ways and means committee, isn't +it?" Langdon queried of his secretary. + +"Yes," said Haines, consulting his memorandum book. "At 11 o'clock you +go before ways and means to put forward the needs of your State on +the matter of the reduction of the tariff on aluminium hydrates. The +people of Mississippi believe it has actually put back life into the +exhausted cotton lands. In Virginia they hope to use it on the tobacco +fields." + +"Where does the pesky stuff come from?" asked the Senator. + +"From South America," coached the secretary. "The South is in a hurry +for it, so the duty must come down. You'll have to bluff a +bit, because Peabody and his crowd will try to make a kind of +bargain--wanting you to keep up iron and steel duties. But you don't +believe that iron and steel need help, you will tell them, don't you +see, so that they will feel the necessity of giving you what you want +for the South in order to gain your support for the iron and steel +demands." + +The office door opened and Senator Peabody appeared. + +"Peabody," whispered the secretary. + +Instantly the Mississippian had his cue. His back to Peabody, he +rose, brought down his fist heavily upon the desk, and expounded +oratorically to Haines: + +"What we can produce of aluminium hydrates, my boy, is problematical, +but the South is in a hurry for it, and the duty must come down. It's +got to come down, and I'm not going to do anything else until it +does." + +The secretary stretched across the desk. + +"Excuse me, Senator; Senator Peabody is here," he said, loudly and +surprisedly, as though he had just sighted the boss of the Senate. + +The Mississippian turned. + +"Oh, good-morning, Senator. I was just talking with my secretary about +that hydrate clause." + +Peabody bowed slightly. + +"Yes, I knew it was coming up," he said, "so I just dropped over. +I'm not opposed to it or any Southern measure; but it makes it more +difficult for me when you Southern people oppose certain Pittsburg +interests that I have to take care of." + +Langdon smiled. + +"I've never been in Pittsburg, but they tell me it looks as if it +could take care of itself." + +The visitor shrugged his shoulders. + +"That's true enough; but give and take is the rule in political +matters, Langdon." + +This remark brought a frown to Langdon's face. + +"I don't like bargaining between gentlemen, Peabody. More important +still, I don't believe American politics has to be run on that plan. +Why can't we change a lot of things now that we are here?" + +Langdon became so enthused that he paced up and down the room as he +spoke. + +"Peabody, you and Stevens and I," continued Langdon, "could get our +friends together and right now start to make this great capital of our +great country the place of the 'square deal,' the place where give and +take, bargain and sale, are unknown. We could start a movement that +would drive out all secret influences--" + +The secretary noticed Peabody's involuntary start. + +"The newspapers would help us," went on Langdon. "Public opinion would +be with us, and both houses of Congress would have to join in the work +if we went out in front, led the way and showed them their plain duty. +And I tell you, Senator Peabody, that the principles that gave birth +to this country, the principles of truth, honesty, justice and +independence, would rule in Washington--" + +"If Washington cared anything about them, Langdon," interjected the +Pennsylvanian. + +"That's my point," cried the Mississippian--"let us teach Washington +to care about them!" + +"Langdon, Langdon," said Peabody, patronizingly, "you've seized on a +bigger task than you know. After you reform Washington you will have +to go on and reform human nature, human instincts, every human being +in the country, if you want to make politics this angelic thing you +describe. It isn't politics, it's humanity, that's wrong," waving +aside a protest from Langdon. + +"Anyway, your idea is not constitutional, Langdon," continued Peabody. +"You want everybody to have a share in the national government. That +wouldn't meet the theory of centralization woven into our political +system by its founders. They intended that our Government should be +controlled by a limited number of representatives, so that authority +can be fixed and responsibility ascertained." + +"You distort my meaning!" cried Langdon. "And, Senator, I would like +to ask why so many high-priced constitutional lawyers who enter +Congress spend so much time in placing the Constitution of the United +States between themselves and their duty, sir, between the people and +their Government, sir, between the nation and its destiny? I want to +know if in your opinion the Constitution was designed to throttle +expression of the public will?" + +"Of course not. That's the reason you and I, Langdon, and the others +are elected to the Senate," added Peabody, starting to leave. Then he +halted. "By the way, Senator," he said, "I'll do my best to arrange +what you want regarding aluminium hydrates for the sake of the South, +and I'll also stand with you for Altacoola for the naval base. Our +committee is to make its report to-morrow." + +Langdon observed the penetrating gaze that Peabody had fixed on him. +It seemed to betray that the Pennsylvanian's apparently careless +manner was assumed. + +"H'm!" coughed Langdon, glancing at Haines. "I'm not absolutely +committed to Altacoola until I'm sure it's the best place. I'll make +up my mind to-day definitely, and I _think_ it will be for Altacoola." + +The boss of the Senate went out, glaring venomously at Haines, +slamming the door. + +A moment later a page boy brought in a card. "Colonel J.D. Telfer, +Gulf City," read the Senator. + +"Bud," he remarked to the secretary, "I'm going to send my old +acquaintance, Telfer, Mayor of Gulf City, in here for you to talk to. +He'll want to know about his town's chances for being chosen as the +naval base. I must hurry away, as I have an appointment with my +daughters and Mrs. Spangler before going before ways and means." + +[Illustration: THE SENATOR ACCEPTS AN INVITATION TO TEA.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ON THE TRAIL OF THE "INSIDERS" + + +Colonel J.D. Telfer (J.D. standing for Jefferson Davis, he explained +proudly to Haines) proved a warm advocate of the doubtful merits of +Gulf City as a hundred-million-dollar naval base. His flushed face +grew redder, his long white hair became disordered, and he tugged at +his white mustache continually as he waxed warmer in his efforts to +impress the Senator's secretary. + +"I tell you, Mr. Haines, Gulf City, sah, leads all the South when it +comes to choosin' ground fo' a naval base. Her vast expanse of crystal +sea, her miles upon miles of silvah sands, sah, protected by a natural +harbor and th' islands of Mississippi Sound, make her th' only spot +to be considered. She's God's own choice and the people's, too, for a +naval base." + +"But, unfortunately, Congress also has something to say about choosing +it," spoke Haines. + +"To be shuah they do," said Gulf City's Mayor, "but--" + +"And there was a man here from Altacoola yesterday," again interrupted +the secretary, "who said that Gulf City was fit only to be the State +refuge for aged and indigent frogs." + +"Say, they ain't a man in Altacoola wot can speak th' truth," +indignantly shrieked the old Colonel, almost losing control of +himself; "because their heads is always a-buzzin' and a-hummin' from +th' quinine they have to take to keep th' fever away, sah!" + +The Mayor sat directly in front of Haines, at the opposite side of his +desk. Regaining his composure, he suddenly leaned forward and half +whispered to the secretary: + +"Mah young friend, don't let Senator Langdon get switched away from +Gulf City by them cheap skates from Altacoola. Now, if you'll get th' +Senator to vote fo' Gulf City we'll see--I'll see, sah, as an officer +of th' Gulf City Lan' Company--that you get taken ca-ah of." + +Haines' eyes opened wide. + +"Go on, Colonel; go on with your offer," he said. + +"Well, I'll see that a block of stock, sah--a big block--is set +aside fo' Senator Langdon an' another fo' you, too. We've made this +ah-rangomont else-wheah. We'll outbid Altacoola overall time. They're +po' sports an' hate to give up." + +"So Altacoola is bidding, too?" excitedly asked Haines. + +"Why, of co'se it is. Ah yo' as blind as that o' ah yo' foolin' with +me?" questioned Telfer, suspiciously. "Seems to me yo' ought to know +more about that end of it than a fellah clear from th' gulf." + +"Certainly, certainly," mumbled Haines, impatiently, as he endeavored +to associate coherently, intelligently, in his mind those startling +new revelations of Telfer with certain incidents he had previously +noted in the operations of the committee on naval affairs. + +Then he looked across at the Mayor and smiled. Apparently he had heard +nothing to amaze him. + +"Colonel," he returned calmly, dropping into a voice that sounded of +pity for the gray hairs of the lobbyist, "about fifty men a day come +to me with propositions like that. There is nothing doing, Colonel. I +couldn't possibly interest Senator Langdon, because he has the faculty +of judging for himself, and he would be prejudiced against either town +that came out with such, a proposition." + +"Lan' speculation is legitimate," protested, the Colonel, cunningly. + +Haines agreed. + +"Certainly--by outsiders. But it's d--d thievery when engaged in by +any one connected with putting a bill through. If I were to tell +Senator Langdon what you have told me it would decide him unalterably +in favor of Altacoola. Senator Langdon, sir, is one of the few men in +Washington who would rather be thought a fool than a grafter if it +came down to that." + +The Mayor of Gulf City jumped to his feet, his face blazing in rage, +not in shame. + +"Seems to me yo're mighty fresh, young man," he blustered. "What kind +of politics is Langdon playin'?" + +"Not fresh, Colonel; only friendly. I'm just tipping you off how not +to be a friend to Altacoola. As to his politics, the Senator will +answer you himself." + +A scornful laugh accompanied Telfer's reply. + +"Altacoola, huh! I reckon yo' must be a fool, after all. Why, +everybody knows of the speculatin' in land around Altacoola, and +everybody knows it ain't outsiders that's doin' it. It's the insiders, +right here in Washington. If yo' ain't in, yo' can easy get a +latchkey. Young man, yo'll find out things some day, and yo'll drop to +it all. + +"I guess I was too late with yo'. That's about the size of it. I +guess Altacoola'll talk to yo'," went on the Mayor. "If that feller +Fairbrother of Altacoola had been able to hold his tongue maybe I +wouldn't know so much. But now I know what's what. I know this--that +yo're either a big fool or--an insider. Yo're a nice young feller. I +have kind-a taken a fancy to yo'. I like to see yo' young fellers get +along and not miss yo'r chances. Come, my boy, get wise to yo'rself, +get wise to yo'rself! Climb on to the band wagon with yo' friends." + +Bud concluded that he might be able to get more definite information +out of Telfer if he humored him a bit. + +"I tell you, Colonel," he finally said, "these are pretty grave +charges you're making, but I'll tell you confidentially, owing to your +liking for me, that it is not yet too late to do something for Gulf +City. Now, just suppose you and I dine together to-night early, and +we'll go over the whole ground to see how things lie. Will you?" + +The Colonel held out his hand, smiling broadly. He felt that at last +he had won the secretary over; that the young man was at heart anxious +to take money for his influence with the Senator. + +"All right, my boy, yo're on. We'll dine together. Yo' are absolutely +certain that it won't be too late to get to Senator Langdon?" + +"Absolutely positive. I wouldn't make a mistake in a matter like this, +would I, unless I was what you said I was--a fool?" + +"Of course not. Oh, yo're a slick one. I like to do business with +folks like yo'. It's mighty educatin'!" + +"Thanks," answered Bud, dryly. "It's certain that Langdon won't decide +which place he's for until to-morrow. I promise you that he won't +decide until after I have my talk with you." + +"Yo' see," said Telfer, "I asked that question because, as yo' +probably know, Congressman Norton and his crowd is pretty close to +Senator Langdon--" + +Haines cut him short with a gasp of surprise. + +"Norton!" + +Telfer, wrinkling his forehead incredulously, looked at Haines. +"Surest thing you know, my boy." + +Bud turned his head away in thought. + +"Oh, leave the Norton outfit to me. I'll fool them," he finally said. + +"Good." + +Telfer shook the secretary's hand heartily. + +"Yo're no fool, my boy. Anybody can see that--after they get to know +yo' all. That's what comes of bein' one of them smooth New Yorkers. +They 'pear mighty sanctimonious on th' outside, but on th' inside +they're the real goods, all right." + +The lobbyist hurried away, his bibulous soul swelling with +satisfaction. He was sure of triumphing over Altacoola, and he was +willing to pay the price. + +Haines sank back into his chair. "I wonder what Washington +'insiders,'" he murmured, "are speculating in Altacoola land. Telfer +mentions Norton's name. I wonder--" + +The door opened, and before him stood Carolina Langdon. + +"Ah, Miss Langdon," he exclaimed, "I am glad to see you!" + +She walked to him and extended cordially a slender gloved hand. + +"This is a real pleasure, Mr. Haines," she began. "I've been waiting +to talk to you for some time. It's about something important." + +"Something important," smiled Haines. "You want to see me about +something important? Well, let me tell you a secret. Every time I see +you it is an important occasion to me." + +Carolina Langdon had never appeared more charming, more beautiful +to young Haines than she did that day. Perhaps she appeared more +inspiring because of the contrast her presence afforded to the +unpleasant episodes through which he had just passed; also, Carolina +was dressed in her most becoming street gown, which she well realized, +as she was enacting a carefully planned part with the unfortunate +secretary. + +His frankness and the sincere admiration that shone in his eyes caused +her to falter momentarily, almost made her weaken in her purpose, but +she made an effort and secured a firmer grip on herself, for she must +play a role that would crush to earth the air castles this young +secretary was building, a role that would crush the ideals of this +young optimist as well. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CURE OF A WOMAN'S LOVE + + +Carolina had come to find out from Haines, if possible, how her father +was going to vote on the naval base and to induce the secretary to +persuade him to stand for Altacoola--if there seemed danger that he +would vote for another site. That was her scheme, for Carolina had +put $25,000 into Altacoola land--money left by her mother. Norton +had persuaded Carolina to invest in the enterprise to defraud the +Government, promising her $50,000 clear profit. How much she could do +in Washington society with that! + +The continued uncertainty over her father's final attitude had +strained her nerves almost to the breaking, for the success of the +conspiracy depended on his vote. Not even the words of Norton, her +future husband, could reassure her. Her worry was increased by the +knowledge of Randolph's investment of her father's $50,000. + +That Carolina must sacrifice Haines on the altar of her consuming +desire for money, for a higher worldly position, was an unimportant +consideration. He stood in the way. Any moment he might discover the +existence of the Altacoola scheme, he would immediately tell her +father, and she knew her father would immediately decide against +Altacoola--the bright hopes of her future would turn to ashes. +Norton's money as well was invested in Altacoola. He, too, would be +ruined. She was sure that she loved Norton, but she could not marry a +penniless man. + +Carolina resumed the conversation. + +"It isn't anything so very important, Mr. Haines. It's about father." + +Haines beamed. + +"I have the honor to report, Miss Langdon," he bowed, "that your +father is making the very best kind of a Senator." + +The girl hesitated. + +"Yes; he might, if he had some ambition." + +"Don't worry! If it comes down to that, I have ambition for two. You +want him to be a success, don't you? Well, he is the biggest kind of a +success." + +"I never believed that he would be," confessed the daughter. + +Haines laughed. + +"Why, do you realize that to-day he is one of the most popular men in +public life throughout the country; that 'What does Langdon think?' +has become the watchword of the big body of independents who want +honesty and decent government without graft? + +"I tell you that's a big thing, Miss Langdon. That's success--real +success in politics, especially in Washington politics. + +"Now, if there's anything else you want him to have, I'll see that he +gets it I'll try to get it for him"--he paused a minute, then added, +with heartfelt meaning in his voice--"and for you, Miss Langdon." + +Carolina played coquettishly with the secretary. + +"For me, Mr. Haines?" she questioned, archly, with an effective glance +into his eyes. + +Bud's pulses began to throb violently--to leap. + +"Yes," he exclaimed, unsteadily, "for you, and you know it. That's the +inspiration now, my inspiration--the chance of winning your belief in +me, of winning something more, the biggest thing I ever thought to +win--because, Miss Langdon--Carolina--I love you." He bent over and +seized the girl's hand. "Ever since the day I first saw you I--" + +She shook her head indulgently and in a moment drew her hand from his. + +"You mustn't be so serious, Mr. Haines. You don't understand Southern +girls at all. We are not just like Northern girls. We are used to +being made love to from the time we are knee-high. Sometimes, I fear, +we flirt a little, but we don't mean any harm. All girls flirt--a +little." + +"But somebody wins even the Southern girls," declared Haines, eagerly. + +The girl's face became serious, earnest, sincere. + +"Yes, somebody does, always," she said. "And when a Southern girl is +won she stays won, Mr. Haines." + +"And I have a chance to win?" questioned the determined young +Northerner. + +Carolina smiled sweetly and expressively. + +"Who knows? First make my father even a bigger success--that's first. +Oh, I wonder if you can realize what all this life means to me! If you +can realize what those years of stagnating on the plantation meant to +me! No man would have endured it!" she exclaimed bitterly. "I am more +of a man than a woman in some ways; I'm ambitious. From the time I was +a little girl I've wanted the world, power, fame, money. I want them +still. I mean to get them somehow, anyhow. If I can't get them myself, +some one must get them for me." + +"And love?" suggested the man. "You are leaving love out. Suppose I +get all these things for you?" + +Bud's pounding heart almost stopped. He could scarcely gain his breath +as he saw creep into Carolina's eyes what he believed to be the light +of hope for him, the light even of a woman's promise. + +"Who knows, Mr. Haines? There's no reward guaranteed. There may be +others trying," she answered. + +Haines laughed--the strong, hopeful, fighting laugh of the man who +would combat the boss of the Senate on ground of the boss' own +choosing. + +"All right!" he cried. "If it's an open fight I'll enlist. I'll give +them all a run. What are your orders?" + +Carolina appeared indifferent. + +"I don't know that I have any particular orders, sir knight, except to +see that my father does all he can for the Altacoola naval base." + +Haines paused, seized by a sudden tremor. + +"The Altacoola naval base?" he stammered. "Well, all I can say is that +the Senator will do what he thinks right. That might bring power and +fame--a right decision in this case--but it can't bring money." + +Carolina shrugged her shoulders. + +"Money?" She laughed with affected carelessness. "Well, we'll have to +let the money take care of itself for a time. But I do want him to +vote for Altacoola, because I believe that will be the best for him. +You believe in Altacoola, don't you?" + +Haines hesitated, then answered: + +"Well, between the two sites merely as sites Altacoola seems to me +rather better." + +Miss Langdon held out her hand impulsively. + +"Then it will be Altacoola!" she cried. "Thank you, Mr. Haines. We are +partners, then, for Altacoola." + +The young man grasped her hand earnestly. + +"I'd like to be your partner for good, Carolina!" he cried. + +They stood there close together, holding each other's hands, looking +into each other's eyes, when the door opened and in came Charles +Norton. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +AN OLD-FASHIONED FATHER + + +Congressman Norton was startled at the sight of Carolina and Haines +apparently so wrapped up in each other. Perhaps she was getting +interested in the handsome, interfering secretary. That a woman +sometimes breaks her promise to wed he well knew. Plainly Carolina +was carrying things too far for a girl who was the promised wife of +another. + +Carolina and Haines showed surprise at Norton's entrance. + +The Congressman advanced and spoke sneeringly, his demeanor marking +him to be in a dangerous mood. + +"Do I intrude?" he drawled, deliberately. + +Carolina drew away her hands from Haines and faced the newcomer. + +"Intrude!" she exclaimed, contemptuously, in a tone that Norton +construed as in his favor and Haines in his own. + +"Intrude!" Haines laughed, sarcastically, feeling that now he was +leader in the race for love against this Mississippi representative, +who was, he knew, a subservient tool and a taker of bribes. "You +surely do intrude, Norton. Wouldn't any man who had interrupted a +tete-a-tete another man was having with Miss Langdon be intruding?" + +"I suppose I can't deny that," he replied. + +The secretary smiled again. + +"I'll match you to see who stays," he said. + +But Norton's turn to defeat his rival had come. He held out a paper to +Haines. + +"Senator Langdon gave me this for you. I reckon I don't have to +match." + +The secretary opened the note to read: + + "Where in thunder does that hydrate come from--South America or + Russia? How much off on the tariff on the creature do we want? + Come over to the committee room, where I am, right away. Say it's + an urgent message and get in with a tip." + +The secretary looked up, with a laugh. + +"You win, Norton. I'm off. Good-by." And he started on a run to the +Senator's aid. + +Norton turned angrily on the girl as the door closed. + +"See here, Carolina," he cried, "what do you mean by letting that +fellow make love to you?" + +Carolina Langdon would not permit rebuke, even from the man she cared +for. She tossed back her head and said, coolly: + +"Why shouldn't I let him make love to me if I choose?" + +"You know why," exclaimed Norton, his dark face flushing sullenly. +"Because I love you and you love me!" And he seized her and pressed +her to him. "That is why!" he cried, and he kissed her again and +again. + +"Yes, I love you, Charlie; you know that," Carolina said, simply. She +was conquered by the Southerner's masterfulness. + +"Then why do you stand for that whippersnapper's talk?" asked Norton, +perplexedly. + +Carolina laughed. + +"Don't you see, Charlie, I have to stand for it? I have to stand for +it for your sake, for Randolph's sake, for my own sake, for all our +sakes. You know the influence he has over father. + +"He can make father do anything he wants, and suppose I don't lead him +on? Where's our project? Let him suspect a thing and let him go to +father, and you know what will happen. Father would turn against +that Altacoola scheme in a moment. He'd beggar himself, if it were +necessary, rather than let a single one of us make a dollar out of a +thing he had to decide." + +"You're right, I reckon, Carolina," said Norton, dejectedly. "Your +father is a real type of the Southern gentleman. He hasn't seen any +real money in so long he can't even bear to think of it. Somebody's +got to make money out of this, and we should be the ones." + +"We'd lose frightfully, Charlie, if they changed to Gulf City, +wouldn't we?" said the girl, apprehensively. "I'm horribly afraid +sometimes, Charlie. That's why I came here to-day. I wanted to +influence Haines, to keep him straight. Is there any danger that +they'll change? You don't think there is, do you?" + +"Of course not, child. Stevens has got his money in, and Peabody. +There are only five on the committee. It's bound to go through." + +"Then why is father so important to them?" asked Carolina. + +"It's past my understanding, Carolina. I don't see how he's done it, +but the whole country has come to believe whatever your father does is +right, and they've got to have him." + +"And father is completely under the domination of this secretary," +murmured the girl, thoughtfully. + +Norton nodded. + +"We've got to get rid of him, Carolina. That's all there is to it. He +has to go! When it comes to bossing the Senator and making love to +you, too, he's getting too strong." + +"How can you do it?" she asked. "You know when father likes any one he +won't believe a thing against him." + +Norton agreed, sorrowfully. + +"That's right. Seems like the Senator's coming to think more of this +fellow than he does of his own family. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if +he'd even let one of you girls marry him if he wanted to marry you." + +"We'd have something to say about that," Carolina laughed, amusedly. +"Do you think that Hope or I could ever care for a man like this +fellow? Of course not. This Altacoola business must go through right. +It would be too cruel not to have it so. And then--" + +"And then you and I'll be married at once, Carolina, whether your +father likes it or not," ended Norton for her. "With Altacoola safe, +we can do as we please, as between us we'll be rich. What does it +matter how we get the money, as long as we get it?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WHEN A DAUGHTER BETRAYS HER FATHER + + +Bud returned to find Miss Langdon and Norton still in the room. New +buoyancy, new courage, thrilled in his veins. He would give this +Congressman the battle of his life for this prize, of that he was +confident. + +"I have an engagement with Mrs. Holcomb, Senator Holcomb's wife," she +said, "so I must hurry away, but I expect to be back to see father." + +"I think I'll just wait," suggested Norton. "I have to see the Senator +as soon as possible, and he ought to return from that ways and means +committee meeting pretty soon." + +When Carolina had gone a slight feeling of constraint settled over the +two. + +"The Senator's pretty busy these days with his naval base matter +coming up, isn't he?" + +"Yes; keeps him pretty busy receiving delegations from Altacoola and +Gulf City and patting them both on the back," said Haines. "Had a man +from Gulf City in this morning with some pretty strong arguments." + +The secretary watched Norton keenly to note the effect of this hint in +favor of Gulf City." + +"Gulf City!" Norton sneered. "Shucks! Who'd put a naval base on a +bunch of mud flats? I reckon those Gulf City fellows are wasting their +time." + +"Think so?" suggested Haines. "Are you absolutely sure?" + +Norton started. + +"Why, you don't mean to tell me," he exclaimed, "that Senator Langdon +would vote for Gulf City for the naval base?" + +"I don't mean to tell you anything, Congressman," was the cool +rejoinder. "It's not my business. The Senator's the one who does the +talking." + +An ugly sneer wrinkled the Congressman's face. + +"Well, I'm glad he attends to his own business and doesn't trust too +many people," he said pointedly. + +The secretary smiled in puzzling fashion. + +"That's exactly why I don't talk, Congressman," he said pleasantly. +"The Senator doesn't trust too many people. If he did, there might be +too much money made out of land speculation. Senator Langdon doesn't +happen to be one of those Senators who care for that kind of thing." + +"I suppose you think you're pretty strong with the Senator," ventured +the Mississippian. + +"Tell you the truth, I haven't thought very much about it," replied +Haines, "but, if you come right down to it, I guess I am pretty +strong." + +"Suppose you've influenced him in the naval base business, then." + +Still the secretary smiled, keeping his temper under the adroit +attack. + +"Well, I think he'd listen to me with considerable interest." + +"But you're for Altacoola, of course." + +Haines shook his head. + +"No, I can't say that I'm for Altacoola. Fellow who was in here this +morning put up a pretty good argument, to my mind, for Gulf City. +In fact, he made it pretty strong. Seemed to show it was all to my +interest to go in with Gulf City. Think I'll have to investigate a +little more. I tell you, Norton," spoke Haines in a confidential +manner, "this land speculation fever is a frightful thing. While I +was talking to this fellow from Gulf City I almost caught it myself. +Probably if I met the head of the Altacoola speculation I might catch +the fever from him too." + +"Why don't you put your money into Gulf City and lose it, then?" +replied Norton, nodding his head scornfully. "That'd be a good lesson +for a rising young politician like you." + +Senator Langdon's secretary peered straight into Norton's eyes. + +"Because, Congressman," he said, "if I were to put my money in Gulf +City perhaps I wouldn't lose it." + +The Southerner took a step forward, leaned over and glared angrily at +Haines. His face whitened. + +"You don't mean that you could swing Langdon into Gulf City?" he +gasped. + +Haines smiled. + +"I can't say that, Norton, but I guess people interested in Altacoola +would hate to have me try." + +"I didn't know you were that kind, Haines," said Norton, his virtue +aroused at the thought of losing his money. "So you're playing the +game like all the rest?" + +"Why shouldn't I?" shrugged the secretary. "I guess perhaps I'm a +little sore because the Altacoola people haven't even paid me the +compliment of thinking I had any influence, so they can't expect me to +work for them. The Gulf City people have. As things stand, Gulf City +looks pretty good to me." + +"Is this straight talk?" exclaimed Norton. + +"Take it or leave it," retorted Bud. + +The Mississippian leaned with his hands on the desk. + +"Well, Haines, if you're like the rest and are really interested in +Altacoola, I don't know that you'd have to go very far to talk." + +"You know something of Altacoola lands, then, Norton?" said Robert, +tingling with suppressed excitement. He felt that he was getting close +to real facts in a colossal "deal." + +Norton was sure of his man now. + +"Well, I am in touch with some people who've got lands and options on +more. I might fix it for you to come in," he whispered. + +Haines shook his head. + +"You know I haven't much money, Norton. All I could put in would be my +influence. Who are these people? Are they cheap little local folks or +are they real people here who have some power and can do something +that is worth while?" + +"Do I look like I'd fool with cheap skates, Haines? They're the real +people. I think, Haines, that either Senator Stevens or Senator +Peabody would advise you that you are safe." + +"Ah! Then Stevens and Peabody are the ones. They'll make it Altacoola, +then sell to the Government at a big advance and move to 'Easy +Street.'" + +"That's right," agreed Norton. + +Bud Haines straightened abruptly. The expression on his face gave +Norton a sudden chill--made him tremble. + +"Now I've got you," cried the secretary. "You've given yourself dead +away. I've known all along you're a d--d thief, Norton, and you've +just proved it to me yourself." + +"What do you mean?" Norton was clenching his fist. "Words like that +mean fight to a Southerner!" + +"I mean that before Senator Langdon goes one step further in this +matter he shall know that his colleagues and you are thieves, Mr. +Norton, trying to use him for a cat's-paw to steal for them from the +Government. I suspected something this morning when Gulf City tried +to bribe me and a visitor from there gave me what turns out to be a +pretty good tip." + +"So that was your dirty trick," exclaimed the Congressman as he +regained his composure. + +"Set a make-believe thief to catch a real one," laughed the secretary. +"Very good trick, I think." + +"I'll make you pay for that!" cried Norton, shaking his fist. + +"All right. Send in your bill any old time," laughed Haines. "The +sooner the better. Meantime I'm going to talk to Langdon." + +He had started for the door when Carolina Langdon re-entered, followed +by her brother Randolph. + +"Wait a minute," said Norton, with unexpected quietness. "I wouldn't +do what you're about to do, Mr. Haines." + +"Of course you wouldn't," sneered Haines. + +"I mean that you will be making a mistake, Haines, to tell the Senator +what you have learned," rejoined the Southerner, struggling to keep +calm at this critical moment when all was at stake. He realized, +further, that now was the time to put Haines out of the way--if that +were possible. "A mistake, Mr. Haines," he continued, "because, you +see, you don't know as much as you think. I wouldn't talk to Langdon +if I were you. It will only embarrass him and do no good, because +Langdon's money is in this scheme, too, and Langdon's in the same boat +with the rest of us." + +Haines stopped short at this astounding charge against his chief. + +"Norton, you lie! I'll believe it of Langdon when he tells me so; not +otherwise." + +Norton turned to Randolph. + +"Perhaps you'll believe Mr. Langdon's son, Mr. Haines?" + +Randolph Langdon stepped forward. + +"It's true, Haines," he said; "my father's money is in Altacoola +lands." + +Haines looked him up and down, with a sneer. + +"_Your_ money may be," he said. "I don't think you're a bit too good +for it, but your father is a different kind." + +Carolina Langdon stood at the back of the room, nervously awaiting +the moment when, she knew, she would be forced into the unpleasant +discussion. + +"I reckon you can't refuse to believe Miss Langdon," drawled Norton, +with aggravated deliberation. + +"Of course," stammered Haines, "I'd believe it if Miss Langdon says +it's so." + +The Congressman turned toward Carolina as he spoke and fixed on her +a tense look which spelled as plainly as though spoken, "It's all in +your hands, my fortune--yours." + +She slowly drew across the room. Haines could hardly conceal the +turmoil of his mind. The world seemed suddenly snatched from around +him, leaving her figure alone before him. Would she affirm what +Norton and Randolph had said? He must believe her. But surely it was +impossible that she-- + +Carolina played for time. She feared the making of a false move. + +"I don't understand?" she said inquiringly to Norton. + +He calmly began an elaborate explanation. + +"Miss Langdon, this secretary has discovered that there is a certain +perfectly legitimate venture in Altacoola lands being carried on +through certain influential people we know and by me. The blood of the +young reformer is boiling. He is going straight to your father with +the facts. + +"I have tried to explain to him how it will needlessly embarrass +the Senator and spoil his own future. He won't believe me. He won't +believe your brother. Perhaps you can make it clear." + +At last Carolina nerved herself to speak. + +"You had better not go to my father, Mr. Haines. It will do no good. +He--is--in--the deal! You must believe me when I tell you so." + +The girl took her eyes from the secretary. He was plainly suffering. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CAROLINA LANGDON'S ADVICE + + +"Let me speak to Mr. Haines alone," said Carolina to Norton and her +brother. + +Norton turned a triumphant grin at Randolph as he beckoned him out and +whispered: "Leave him to her. It's all right. That New York dude has +been riding for a fall--he's going to get it now." + +"I am sorry, so sorry this should have occurred, Mr. Haines," Carolina +said gently. + +The secretary looked up slowly, his face drawn. It was an effort for +him to speak. + +"I can't understand it," he said. "I mightn't have thought so much of +this a month ago, but I have come to love the Senator almost as a son, +and to think that he could be like the rest of that bunch is awful." + +"You are too much of an idealist, Mr. Haines," said the girl. + +"And you? What do you think of it?" he demanded. + +The girl's glance wavered. + +"Don't idealize me too much, either, Mr. Haines. I didn't think it was +much. Perhaps I don't understand business any too well." + +"But you see now?" insisted the man. + +The girl looked up at him sorrowfully. + +"Yes; I see at least that you and father can never work together now." + +Haines nodded affirmatively. + +"I suppose so. I'm thinking of that. How am I to leave him? We've been +so close. I've been so fond of him. I don't know how I could tell +him." + +In girlish, friendly fashion Carolina rested her hand on his arm. + +"Won't you take my advice, Mr. Haines? Go away without seeing him. +Just leave a note to say you have gone. He will understand. It will be +easier for both that way--easier for him, easier for you." She paused, +looking at him appealingly as she ended very softly, "And easier for +me, Mr. Haines." + +He looked at her thoughtfully. + +"Easier for you?" he said. "Very well, I'll do it that way." + +The secretary stepped slowly to his desk, sat down and started to +write the note. Carolina watched him curiously. + +"What will you do," she asked, "now that you have given up this +position?" + +"Oh, I can always go back to newspaper work," he answered without +looking up. + +The term "newspaper work" gave Carolina a shock. She had forgotten +that this man had been a reporter. Here he was turned loose with the +knowledge of this "deal," which she knew would be popular material for +newspapers to print. She must gain still another point, and she felt +that she had enough power to win against him. + +"I'm going to ask you still another favor," she said. + +Bud returned her look with a bitter smile. + +"What is it?" + +"You have learned about this--this land matter and--" + +"Oh, yes! I can guess. You want me to keep quiet about it--to hush it +up," a shade of scorn in his tone. + +"I only asked this so that you would not disgrace me," she pleaded. + +Disillusioned at last, robbed of his lifelong optimism, shorn of +his ideals, even his love--for he began to despise this beautiful, +misguided woman--Haines sat broken in spirit, thinking how quickly the +brightness of life fades to blackness. + +"Very well," he said sadly. "I suppose _you_ are innocent. I'll save +you. If they're all--your father, too--crooked, why shouldn't I be +crooked? All right; I won't say anything." + +"I only ask you not to disgrace me," pleaded the girl. "You will +promise that?" + +"It's a promise." + +She sighed in relief. + +"Father will be coming back soon," she said. "You won't want to see +him." + +Haines arose. + +"No, I won't want to see him. Give him this note. I'll have to come +back while he's away to clear up some things. Good-by." + +Haines bowed and hurried from the room through a side doorway just as +Senator Langdon came in through the main entrance. + +"Bud! Bud!" he called, but the secretary did not halt. + +Carolina Langdon stood with Haines' note in her hand, wondering at +what she had done. She regretted having become entangled in the wars +of men in Washington. She saw that the man's game was played too +strongly, too furiously fast, for most women to enter, yet she +rejoiced that the coveted fortune had not been lost. She was sorry +that her means of saving it had not been less questionable. She saw +that ambition and honesty, ambition and truth, with difficulty follow +the same path. + +Senator Langdon's face was unusually grave as he came to greet +Carolina. Lines showed in his face that the daughter had never noticed +before. + +She saw Norton and Randolph, who had followed him, exchange +significant glances--jubilant glances--and wondered what new +development they had maneuvered. + +"He's gone without a word," the Senator sighed. "Well, perhap's that's +best." + +"He left a note for you," said the girl, handing him the letter which +Haines had given her. + +Langdon opened it and read: + +"I am giving up the job. You can understand why. The least said about +it between us the better. I am sorry. That's all. BUD HAINES." + +Slowly he read the letter a second time. + +"And he was making the best kind of a secretary, I thought." + +Divining that something against Haines had been told her father, +Carolina glanced at Norton. + +"I told your father how we caught Mr. Haines," he spoke as an answer +to her. + +The girl was startled. She had not thought that things would go this +far. + +"I told him how Haines wanted to get in some land speculation scheme +with Altacoola, how we tricked him and caught him with the goods when +he made the proposition to me and how we forced him to confess." + +"You told father that?" gasped Carolina. + +Norton nodded. + +"I don't understand it," said Langdon. "To think that he was that +kind!" + +Son Randolph now took his turn in the case against the secretary. + +"We were both here, father. I heard him--Carolina heard him," he said. +"Didn't you, Carolina?" + +"Yes," said the girl weakly, "I was here." Then she turned abruptly. +"I must go," she said, "must go right away. Mrs. Holcomb is waiting +for me." + +The Senator turned to his desk bent and discouraged. + +"I suppose I should have taken a secretary who was a Southerner and a +gentleman. Well, Randolph, you'll have to act now. Take this letter--" + +The young man sat down and took the following from the Senator's +diction: + + "MR. HAINES-- + + "Sir: I quite understand your feelings and the impossibility of + your continuing in my employ. The least said about it the better. + I am sorry, too. + + "WILLIAM H. LANGDON." + +"You boys run away. I've got to think," said the Senator. + +When the pair had gone the old man drew the letter to him, and below +his signature he added a postscript: "Don't forget there's some money +coming to you." + +Walking across the room to leave, he sighed: + +"He was making the best kind of a secretary." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A RESCUE IN THE NICK OF TIME + + +Later in that never-to-be-forgotten day Bud Haines ventured back to +his desk in the committee room, after first ascertaining that Senator +Langdon would not return. Some of the Senator's papers must be +straightened out, and he wanted personal documents of his own. + +The secretary regretfully, sorrowfully performed these final duties +and found himself stopping at various intervals to try to explain to +himself how he had been deceived in both the Langdons, father and +daughter. He had to give up both problems. To him neither was +explainable. "I've known enough Senators to know that I'd never meet +an honest one," he muttered. "But as to women--well, there's too much +carefully selected wisdom in their innocence to suit me." + +This cynic, new born from the shell of the chronic idealist that was, +suddenly was disturbed in his ruminations by a sound at the door. +Looking up, he saw Hope Georgia Langdon standing, shyly, embarrassed, +in the main entrance. + +"Mr. Haines," she said, timidly. + +Bud jumped to his feet. + +"Yes, Miss Hope Georgia." + +As the Senator's younger daughter came toward him he noticed that +she was excited over something, and for a newly made cynic he took +altogether too much notice of her youthful beauty, her fresh, rosy +complexion and her dancing, sparkling eyes. The thought occurred to +him, "What a woman she will make--if she doesn't imitate her sister!" + +"I couldn't let you go, Mr. Haines, without telling you good-by and +letting you know that, no matter what the others say, I don't think +there has been anything wrong." + +Before Haines could reply, the young girl rushed on, excitedly: + +"That's why I came. I know father and Carolina won't like it--they +won't think it's nice--but I wanted to say to you that I don't think +one ought to believe things against one you've liked and trusted." + +"You think one ought not," said Haines. "So do I; but in this case +the proofs were very strong. What are you going to do when people you +can't doubt pledge their word?" + +The girl tossed her head. + +"Well, the only one's word I'd like to take would be the person +accused. I know I'm only a girl, Mr. Haines, and I'm not grown up, but +you've made a mistake. Do try to clear things up. Why don't you see +father and talk with him? Please do, Mr. Haines." + +Little realizing that the girl was speaking in his own favor, for he +knew not the need for such speaking, he believed her to be defending +her father. He grasped her hands impulsively. + +"You have grown up very much since you came to the capital, haven't +you?" he said. "And you are right, Miss Hope. I ought to have known +even when the facts were against him that your father couldn't have +been really crooked. He can't be." + +Hope Langdon's face flushed indignantly. + +"Father crooked? Who said so? Who dared say that?" she exclaimed. + +"Why, they told me he had sold out on the Altacoola bill. They said he +was trying to make money on Altacoola. That's why I quit." + +The flame of anger still was spread on the girl's face. + +"They said that!" she exclaimed. "Then they lied. They said you were +the crooked one. Why, father thinks you sold out on Altacoola. They +said you were trying to make money on that navy yard." + +"What! They said I was crooked!" Haines fairly shouted. He rushed +around the desk and caught the girl by both hands. + +"I see it!" he cried. "I see it! There's something I'm not just on to. +You thought it was I; your father thinks--" + +"Of course," exclaimed Hope, quite as excited as he. "I couldn't +believe it. That's why I came back to get you to explain. I wanted you +to disprove the charge." + +"I should say I would," cried the secretary. + +"I knew it! I knew it! They couldn't make me believe anything against +you. I knew you were all I thought you. Oh, Mr. Haines, prove you are +that for my--" + +Then Hope Georgia abruptly stopped. She had lost her head, and in the +enthusiasm of the moment had revealed her real feelings--something +she would never do presumably when she grew more wise in the ways of +women. + +She suddenly thrust Haines' hands from her own and stood staring at +him, wondering--wondering if he had guessed. + +Strangely enough, under the circumstances, the girl was the first to +recover and break the awkward silence. + +"Come to our house to-night, Mr. Haines. There's to be a dinner and a +musicale, as you know; but that won't matter. No matter who says no, I +promise you that you shall see father. There shall be an explanation." + +"Thank you, Miss Hope. You don't realize all you've done for me," said +Bud, seriously. "It's a wonderful thing to find a girl who believes in +a man. You've taught me a lot, Miss Hope. Thank you." + +"Good-by, Mr. Haines. Come to-night," she said, as she turned and +hurried away. + +Bud Haines stood looking after her, thoughtfully. + +"What a stunning girl she is! I've seemed to overlook her, with the +rush of events--and Carolina," he murmured, softly. "We never were +such very great friends, yet she believes in me. What a beauty she +is!" + +A messenger boy broke in on his musings with a letter for Senator +Langdon marked "Important." + +"Guess I'm secretary enough yet to answer this," he thought, tearing +it open. + +"Great heavens!" he exclaimed as he read it. "Here's the chance to get +to the bottom of this Altacoola proposition. It's from Peabody." + +Haines read the following: + +"DEAR SENATOR LANGDON: I am going to Philadelphia to-night. Urgent +call from a company for which I am counsel, so I probably won't be +able to confer with you regarding the committee's choice for the naval +base. But I know you are for Altacoola and trust to you to do all +you can for that site. I, of course, consider the matter definitely +settled." + + * * * * * + +"This situation will enable Langdon to bluff Peabody and draw out of +him all the inside of the Altacoola business--ought to, anyway. Guess +some Gulf City talk will smoke him out." + +Haines rushed out and across the hall, to reappear literally hauling +in a stenographer by the scruff of the neck. "Here, you, take this +dictation--record time," he cried: + + "SENATOR HORATIO PEABODY, Louis Napoleon Hotel: You are going to + Philadelphia to-night, I know, leaving the report on the naval + base to me. I have just come on various aspects of the situation + which make me incline very favorably toward Gulf City. I am + looking into the matter and, of course, shall act according to + my best judgment. That is what you will want me to do, I know. + Sincerely yours, + + "WILLIAM H. LANGDON." + +"I don't think Senator Peabody will go to Philadelphia to-night," +laughed Haines grimly, as he addressed the envelope, "and I think that +when the 'boss of the Senate' hurries around to the Langdon house +instead there will be more than one kind of music, more than one kind +of food eaten--perhaps crow--before the evening is over." + +Seizing his hat, Bud rushed to the door to look up a messenger. + +"It's all in Langdon's hands now," he cried. "Here's where I resign my +position as United States Senator." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE CONSPIRATORS OUTWITTED + + +Senator Langdon's dinners had well won popularity in Washington. +Invitations to them were rarely answered by the sending of "regrets." +He had brought his old Mississippi cook from the plantation, whose +Southern dishes had caused the Secretary of State himself to make the +Senator an offer for the chef's services. "No use bidding for old +General Washington," said the Senator on that notable occasion. "He +wouldn't leave my kitchen, sir, even to accept the presidency itself. +Why, I couldn't even discharge him if I wanted to. I tried to let him +go once, sir, and the old general made me feel so ashamed of myself +that I actually cried, sir." + +Peabody and Stevens were the dinner guests to-night, as they were to +confer afterward with Langdon and settle on the action of the naval +affairs committee regarding the naval base. The three, being a +majority, could control the action of the committee. + +Senator Peabody had finally postponed leaving for Philadelphia until +the midnight train in order to be present, he assured Langdon as the +trio entered the library. The girls, Norton and Randolph were left +to oversee preparations for the prominent Washingtonians invited to +attend the musicale to be given later in the evening. + +Carolina and Hope Georgia were in distinctly different moods--the +elder, vivacious, elated over the bright outlook for her future; +the younger, cast down and wearing a worried expression. Norton and +Randolph in jubilant spirit tried to cheer her, and failing, resorted +to taunts about some imaginary love affair. + +The courage of the afternoon, which had enabled her to speak to Haines +as she had, was gone; girlish fears now swept over her as to the +outcome of the evening. Haines had not come! Was he really guilty and +had promised to come merely to get rid of her? Why was he late? If he +did come, would she be able to have her father see him, as she had +promised? If she failed, and she might, she would never see this young +man again. + +"If I looked as unhappy as you, Hope, I'd go to bed and not discourage +our guests as they arrive," Carolina suggested. "Our floral +decorations alone for to-night cost $700, and the musical program cost +over $3,000. The most fashionable folks in Washington coming--what +more could you want, Hope? Isn't it perfectly glorious? Why--" + +"Mr. Haines is below, asking to see Senator Langdon," announced a +servant, entering. + +"Oh, I knew he'd come! I knew it! I knew it!" cried Hope Georgia in +pure ecstasy, clapping her hands. + +The three plotters turned on the girl in amazement; then they stared +at each other. + +"Mr. Haines!" ejaculated Carolina. + +"Haines!" exclaimed Randolph, hurriedly leaving the room. + +"Haines!" sneered Norton. "We can take care of him. The Senator won't +see him." + +Carolina caught the suggestion. + +"Tell Mr. Haines that Senator Langdon regrets that he cannot possibly +receive him," she directed. + +"Carolina!" + +There was a ring of protest and pain in Hope Georgia's voice as she +darted out of the door after the servant. + +"What's the matter with that girl?" asked Norton, trying to be calm. + +Carolina shook her head. + +"I don't know. She's queer to-day. I believe she imagines herself in +love with Mr. Haines." + +"Aren't you afraid she'll make trouble?" + +The other sister laughed confidently. + +"Little Hope make trouble? Of course not. If she does, we can always +frighten her into obedience." + +The door reopened and Hope entered, followed by Bud Haines. The girl's +head was high; her cheeks were red; her eyes glittered ominously. + +"I brought him back, Carolina," she said coolly. "Father will want to +see him. I know there has been some mistake." + +"Yes," supplemented Bud, "there has been a decided mistake, and I must +refuse to accept the word that came to me from Senator Langdon." + +Carolina Langdon drew herself up in her most dignified manner. + +"I'm sorry, Mr. Haines, but you must accept it," she said. + +"Exactly," seconded Norton. "Senator Langdon entirely declines to +receive you." + +"I don't trust anything you say, Congressman Norton, and I may say +also that I recognize no right of yours to interfere in any affair +between me and the Langdon family." + +"Perhaps I can explain my right, Mr. Haines," Norton said coolly, +stepping beside Carolina. "I have just had the pleasure of announcing +to Miss Hope Georgia Langdon my engagement to Miss Carolina Langdon." + +Haines, entirely unprepared for such a denouement, shot a searching +glance at Carolina. She bowed her head in affirmation. + +"So that's why you tried to ruin me!" he cried. "You're both from the +same mold," turning from Carolina Langdon to Congressman Norton, then +back to the girl. + +They stood facing each other when Randolph Langdon returned. At sight +of Bud Haines he started, stopped short a second, then came forward +quickly. + +"Mr. Haines, my father has declared that he will not see you, and +either you leave this house at once or I shall call the servants." + +Bud looked at young Langdon contemptuously. + +"Yes, I think you would need some help," he sneered, feeling in his +veins the rush of red blood, the determination in his heart that had +a few years back carried him through eighty yards of struggling Yale +football players to a touchdown. + +The Senator's son drew back his arm, but the confident look of the New +Yorker restrained him. + +"Mr. Haines, in the South gentlemen do not make scenes of violence +before ladies." + +The cold rebuke of Carolina cut into the silence. + +Haines stood in perplexity. He did not know what to do or how to get +to the Senator. It was Hope who came to his rescue. + +"I'll tell father you are here. I'll make him come, Mr. Haines. He +shall see you." + +With the air of a defiant little princess she started for the door. + +"Hope, I forbid you doing any such thing," exclaimed her older sister, +but the younger girl paid no attention. Randolph caught her arm. + +"You shall not, Hope," he cried. + +Hope Georgia struggled and pulled her arm free. + +"I reckon I just got to do what seems right to me, Randolph," she +exclaimed. "I reckon I've grown up to-night, and I tell you--I tell +all of you"--she whirled and faced them--"there's something wrong +here, and father is going to see Mr. Haines to-night, and they are +going to settle it." + +Norton alone was equal to the situation, temporarily at least. + +"I'll be fair with you, Hope," he said reassuringly, and she stopped +in her flight to the hall door. "I'll take Carolina and Randolph in to +see the Senator, and we'll tell him Mr. Haines is here. Perhaps we had +better tell the Senator," Norton suggested, beckoning to Carolina and +her brother. "Let Mr. Haines wait here, and we will make the situation +clear to the Senator." + +"You'd better make it very clear," exclaimed the younger girl, "for +I'm going to stay here with Mr. Haines until he has seen father." + +The guilty trio, fearful of this new and unexplainable activity of +Hope Georgia, slowly departed in search of Senator Langdon to make a +last desperate attempt to prevent him from meeting this pestilential +secretary that was--and might be again. + +When the door closed after them Hope came down to the table where Bud +Haines was standing. + +"Won't you sit down, Mr. Haines?" she said. "I'll--I'll try to +entertain you until father comes," she said weakly, realizing that +again she was alone with the man she loved. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +HOPE LANGDON'S HOUR OF TRIUMPH + + +Haines sat at a table in the reception-room, across from Hope +Georgia, and his gratitude for her battle in his favor mingled with a +realization of qualities in this young lady that he had never before +noticed. Probably he did not know that what he had really seen in her +that day and that evening was the sudden transition from girlhood to +womanhood, her casting aside of thoughtless, irresponsive youth and +the shouldering of the responsibilities of the grown woman who would +do her share in the world's work. + +He stared across in astonishment at this slip of a girl who had +outwitted two resourceful men and an older sister of unquestioned +ability. + +"I do not recognize you, Miss Hope," he said finally. + +"Perhaps you never looked at me before," she suggested archly, feeling +instinctively that this was her hour; that the man she loved was at +this moment thinking more about her than of anything else in the +world. + +Haines made a gesture of regret. + +"That must be it," he agreed. Then he leaned forward eagerly. "But I'm +looking at you now, and I like looking at you. I like what you've done +for me." + +"Oh, that was nothing, Mr. Haines," she exclaimed airily, her +intuition telling her of her sway over the man. + +"Nothing!" he exclaimed. "Well, it's more than any one ever did for me +before. I've known lots of girls--" + +"I don't doubt that, Mr. Haines," Hope interjected, with a light +laugh. + +"Yes, I say I've known lots of girls, but there's never been one who +showed herself such a true friend as you have been. There's never been +any one who believed in me this way when I was practically down and +out." + +"Perhaps you've never been down and out before, Mr. Haines, so they +never had a chance to show whether they believed in you or not." + +"That may be one reason," he answered. "I wonder why"--he paused--"I +wonder why your sister Carolina did not believe in me." + +"You were quite fond of her, weren't you?" the girl began, then +stopped and turned away her head. + +Haines gazed curiously at Hope. + +"I was, yes. I even thought I loved her, but I soon saw my mistake. It +wasn't love. It was only a kind of--" + +Suddenly pausing, Bud Haines shot a swift glance at the girl. + +"What wonderful hair you have, Miss Hope." + +The girl smiled invitingly. + +"Think so?" + +"Yes," he declared earnestly. "I know so. I never noticed it before, +but I guess lots of fellows down in Mississippi have." + +Hope's tantalizing smile worried him. "I hope you are not secretly +engaged too!" he exclaimed. + +"No, oh, no!" she answered quickly, before she thought. + +"Or in love?" he asked seriously. + +Haines had stood up and was now leaning intently over the table. He +realized the difference between the feeling he had had for Carolina +and the tender emotion that thrilled him as he thought of the sweet +girl before him. This time he knew he was not mistaken. He knew that +he truly loved Hope Langdon. + +"Or in love?" he asked again, anxious at her silence. + +Hope looked at him slowly. A faint blush illumined her face. + +"Oh, don't let's talk about me," she exclaimed. + +"But I want to talk about you," he cried. "I don't want to talk about +anything else. I must talk about you, and I'm going to talk whether +you want to hear or not. You've believed in me when nobody else +believed. You've fought for me when everybody else was fighting +against me. You've shown that you think I am honest and worthy of a +woman's faith. You fought your own family for me. Nobody has ever done +for me what you have, and--and--" + +He faltered, full of what he was about to say. + +"And you're grateful," she ended. + +He looked her squarely in the eyes as though to fathom her thoughts. +Then he reached toward the girl and seized both her hands. + +"Grateful nothing!" he cried. "I'm not grateful. I'm in love--in love +with you. I want you--want you as I never wanted anything or anybody +before, and I tell you I'm going to have you. Do you hear?" + +Hope could not hide her agitation. The light in her eyes showed she +was all a woman. + +[Illustration: THE LANGDON FAMILY.] + +"Oh, nothing in the world could happen as quickly as that, Mr. +Haines!" she protested, with her last attempt at archness. + +"Nothing could?" he threatened. "I'll show you." + +He advanced quickly around the table, but the girl darted just beyond +his grasp. Then she paused--and her lover gathered her in his arms. + +"Hope, my dear, you are my own," was all he could say as he bent over +to kiss the lips that were not refused to him. + +Hope released herself from his fervent grasp. + +"I love you, I do love you," she said fondly. "I believe in you, and +father must too. You've got to straighten this tangle out now, for my +sake as well as your own. Father will listen." + +"It's all so strange, so wonderful, I can hardly understand it," began +Haines slowly, as he held the girl's hands. + +Unknown to both, the door leading from the hall had opened to admit +Senator Langdon into the lower end of the room. Surprised at the sight +of the couple, so seriously intent on each other, he made a sudden +gesture of anger, then, apparently changing his mind, advanced toward +them. + +"I believe you want to see me, sir," he said to Haines. "I hope you'll +be brief. I have very little time to spare from my guests." + +Hope's bosom fluttered timorously at the interruption. The man +nervously stepped forward. + +"I sha'n't take much of your time, Senator Langdon," he said. "There +has been a misunderstanding, a terrible mistake. I am sure I can +convince you." + +Senator Langdon hesitated doubtfully, half turned toward Carolina, +Randolph and Norton, who had followed him, and again faced Haines. + +Hope pressed her father's arm and looked up into his face +entreatingly. Randolph, observing this, quickly stepped close to the +Senator's side, saying, "I can settle with this Mr. Haines for you." + +Waving his son aside, the Senator finally spoke. + +"I reckon there's been too many attending to my business and settling +my affairs, Randolph," he said. "I think for a change I'll settle a +few of my own. All of you children go out and leave me here with Mr. +Haines." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +SENATOR LANGDON LEARNS THE TRUTH + + +When they were alone Haines faced the Senator and spoke determinedly. + +"They told you I was not running straight," he said. + +The Senator nodded, and the lines about his mouth deepened. + +"Yes." + +Bud Haines stiffened at the word. Every muscle in his body seemed to +become rigid as he mentally vowed that he would retaliate against his +traducers if it cost him his life to do it. Hope had informed him only +too accurately, he now realized. Little did the Senator know that what +he was now about to hear would give him one of the severest shocks of +his life. + +"They told me you weren't running straight," said Haines deliberately. +"Now, neither one of us has been crooked, but somebody else has been, +and this was the plan to keep us apart." + +"Norton told me you were speculating in Altacoola lands," said +Langdon. + +"And Norton told me the same of you," retorted Bud. + +The Senator's face grew very serious. + +"But my daughter, Miss Carolina Langdon, confirmed Norton's story." + +Haines here faced the most difficult part of his interview. He hardly +knew how to answer. His manhood rebelled against placing any blame on +a woman. He revolted at the thought of ruining a father's faith in his +daughter's honesty, especially when that father was the man he most +admired, a man for whom he had genuine, deep-rooted affection. But it +was necessary that the words be spoken. + +"I hate to tell you, sir," he said in a low, uncertain voice, "that it +was your daughter Carolina who made me believe this story told about +you and vouched for by your son Randolph." + +Langdon started back aghast. He stared at Haines and knew that he +spoke the truth. Then his white head sank pathetically. Tears welled +into the eyes of the planter, and this sturdy old fighting man dropped +weakly into a chair, sobbing convulsively, broken in spirit and +wearied in body. + +At length Haines spoke to his stricken chief. + +"I know it hurts," he said. "It hurt me to have to say it. Don't +believe it until you get it out of Norton, but then you must do +something." + +Langdon came to his feet, mopping his cheeks. But there was no +weakness in him now. Yes, he would do something. He would go after the +thieves that had turned his own flesh and blood against him and root +them all out--show them all up. + +"Oh, I'll do something," he said grimly. "I'm going to make up for +lost time. Of course, Norton is speculating. Who's behind him?" + +"Stevens and Peabody, I'm positive," answered Haines, "and behind them +is Standard Steel." + +"What!" exclaimed Langdon. "Stevens in a swindle like this! Are you +sure? How do you know?" + +"A Gulf City man who couldn't carry his liquor gave me some clues, +and I worked Norton into telling some more," answered the secretary. +"Where is Peabody?" + +"He's here now." + +"Then he hasn't got my letter yet. I sent him a note and signed your +name, Senator, to the effect that the Gulf City claims have been +brought before you so strongly that you might vote for Gulf City." + +Langdon was amazed. + +"You sent that note," he exclaimed, "when you know Altacoola is the +only proper place and Gulf City is a mud bank?" + +The newspaper man smiled. + +"Of course," he agreed, "but I had to get a rise out of Peabody. This +will show where he stands." + +"Oh," said Langdon, "I understand. Thanks, boy." + +A servant entered with a note. + +"For Senator Peabody, sir, marked 'Urgent.' The messenger's been +hunting him for some hours." + +Langdon looked shrewdly at Bud, then turned to the servant. + +"You keep that note until I ring for you, then bring it to Senator +Peabody. Understand? No matter how urgent it's marked." + +The man bowed. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now tell Mr. Norton, Miss Langdon and Mr. Randolph to come here." + +The Senator turned back to his secretary. + +"I expect I'm going to be pretty busy the rest of the evening, Bud, so +in case I forget to mention it again, remember to show up at your old +desk in the morning." + +"I will. Thank you, sir." + +"You sent for us, Senator," said Norton, approaching with his two +dupes. + +"You are interested in Altacoola lands," the Senator angrily charged. + +"I am, sir," he said. + +"And you told Mr. Haines that I was interested in Altacoola lands?" + +The schemer hesitated, and the Senator broke in on him in rage. + +"Speak out, man! Tell the truth, if you can." + +"I did," admitted the Congressman finally. + +"Was there any particular reason for your not telling the truth?" +demanded the Mississippian in threatening tone. + +"I told the truth," replied Norton. "You are interested in them." + +For an instant Langdon seemed about to step toward him, then he +controlled himself. + +"I didn't know it," he said. + +"You have several things to learn, Senator," declared the Congressman. + +"I have things to learn and things to teach," he said. "But go on. Why +am I interested?" + +"You are interested, Senator," replied the trickster, making his big +play, "through your son, Randolph, who invested $50,000 of your money +in Altacoola, and also through your daughter, Miss Carolina, who, +acting on my advice, has put her own money--$25,000--in Altacoola land +also." + +For a moment Langdon was speechless. It was too much at first for the +honest old Southerner to comprehend. + +"You mean," he gasped at last, "that you induce a boy to put $50,000 +in Altacoola land when you knew I had to vote on the bill? And you +even let my daughter put her money in the same scheme?" + +"Of course, I did. It was a splendid chance, and I let your son in +for friendship and your daughter because she has done me the honor to +promise to become my wife." + +"What! You have my daughter's promise to marry you, you--" + +"She admits it herself." + +"Then I reckon here's where I lose a prospective son-in-law," sneered +Langdon. "But that's unimportant. Now, Norton, who's behind you?" + +"I must decline to answer that." + +Langdon looked at him sternly. + +"Very well," he said. "You are too small to count. I'll find out for +myself. Now you go to my study and wait there until I send for you. I +must be alone with my children." + +When Norton and Haines had left them, Langdon turned sadly to the two +children who had disgraced him. + +"Can you understand?" he said. "Do you know what you've done to me?" + +"What, father? We've done nothing wrong!" protested Carolina. + +"They told me it was perfectly legitimate," urged Randolph. "They said +everybody--Peabody and Stevens and the rest--were in it, and Peabody +is the boss of the Senate." + +"Yes, my boy," assented the old planter, "he's the leader in the +Senate, and that's the shameful part of all this--that a man of his +high standing should set you so miserable an example." + +Randolph Langdon was not a vicious lad, not a youth who preferred or +chose wrongdoing for the increased rewards it offered. He was at heart +a chivalrous, straightforward, trustful Southern boy who believed in +the splendid traditions of his family and loved his father as a +son should a parent having the qualities of the old hero of +Crawfordsville. Jealous of his honor, he had been a victim of Norton's +wiles because of the Congressman's position and persuasiveness, +because this companion of his young days had won his confidence and +had not hesitated to distort the lad's idea of what was right and what +was wrong. + +Randolph began an indignant protest against his father's reproof when +the Senator cut him short. + +"Don't you see?" said the Senator. "I can understand there being +rascals in the outside world and that they should believe your +careless, foolish old father lawful game, but that he should be +thought a tool for dishonest thieving by members of his own family is +incomprehensible. + +"Randolph, my son, Carolina, my daughter, through all their +generations the Langdons have been honorable. Your mother was a +Randolph, and this from you! Oh, Carolina! And you, Randolph! How +could you? How could you betray or seek to betray your father, who +sees in you the image of your dear mother, who has gone?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CALL TO ARMS + + +Both Randolph, and Carolina were deeply affected by their father's +words. + +The daughter attempted to take on herself the blame for her brother's +action. + +"I was the older one. I might have stopped him if I had wished, and +should bear the burden." + +"No, no, father," exclaimed the youth, his inborn self-reliance +prompting him to shoulder the consequences of his own mistakes. "I, +and I alone, am responsible for what I did. I did not realize that it +was wrong. I will not hide behind Carolina." + +Carolina Langdon bore herself better than was to have been expected +under the strain of the painful interview. She saw more clearly now +how she had erred. She was undergoing an inward revolution that would +make it impossible for her ever again to veer so far from the line of +duty to her father, her family and to herself. + +When Randolph had finished Carolina took up her own defense, and +eloquently she pleaded the defense of many a woman who yearns for what +she has not got, for what may be beyond her reach--the defense of the +woman who chafes under the limitations of worldly position, of sex and +of opportunity. It was the defense of an ambitious woman. + +"Perhaps I ought to have been a man of the Langdon family," she +exclaimed. "Father, oh, can't you understand that I couldn't doze my +life away down on those plantations? You don't know what ambition is. +I had to have the world. I had to have money. If I had been a man I +would have tried big financial enterprises. I should have liked to +fight for a fortune. You wouldn't have condemned me then. You might +have said my methods were bold, but if I succeeded I would have been +a great man. But just because I am a woman you think I must sit home +with my knitting. No, father, the world does move. Women must have an +equal chance with men, but I wish I had been a man!" + +"Even then I hope you would have been a gentleman," rebuked her father +sternly. "Women should have an equal chance, Carolina. They should +have an equal chance for the same virtues as men, not for the same +vices." + +"But an equal chance," returned the girl fervidly. "There, father, you +have admitted what I have tried to prove. The woman with the spirit of +a man, the spirit that cries to a woman. 'Advance,' 'Accomplish,' 'Be +something,' 'Strike for yourself,' cannot sit idly by while all the +world moves on. If it is true that I have chosen the wrong means, +the wrong way, to better my lot I did it through ignorance, and that +ignorance is the fault of the times in which I live, of the system +that guides the era in which I live. + +"I am what the world calls 'educated,' but the world, the world of +men, knows better. It laughs at me. It has cheated me because I am +a woman. The world of men has fenced me in and hobbled me with +convention, with precedent, with fictitious sentiment. If I pursue +the business of men as they themselves would pursue it I am called an +ungrateful daughter. If I should adopt the morals of men I would be +called a fallen woman. If I adopted the religion of men I would have +no religion at all. Turn what way I will--" + +[Illustration: "YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE LIKE A MAN."] + +"But not every woman feels the way you do, my daughter," broke in the +Senator. + +"No, you are right, because their spirit has been crushed by +generations, by centuries of forced subserviency to men. They tell us +we should be thankful that we do not live in China, where women are +physical slaves to men. In our country they are forced to be mental +and social slaves to men. Is one very much worse than the other?" + +"Then, dear," and her father's tone was very gentle, "if you want an +equal chance--want to be equal to a man--you must take your medicine +with Randolph, like a man." + +"What are you going to do, sir?" she asked, afraid. + +"I'm going to spoil all your little scheme, dear," he returned, +smiling sadly. "I'm going, I fear, to make you lose all your money. +I'd like to make it easy for you, but I can't. You've got to take your +medicine, children, and when it's all over back there in Mississippi I +shall be able, I hope, to patch up your broken lives, and together we +will work out your mistakes. I can't think of that now. The honor of +the Langdons calls. This is the time for the fight, and any one who +fights against me must take the consequences." + +He walked over and touched the bell. + +"Thomas," he said to the servant who responded, "take that letter at +once to Senator Peabody, in the library." + +"What is it, sir?" asked Randolph. + +"It's the call to arms," responded his father grimly. + +Senator Peabody read the letter to which Haines had signed Langdon's +name and jumped up from his chair in the library in astonishment. +Without a word to the startled Stevens he rushed to confront Langdon. + +"What's the meaning of this?" he shouted as he burst in on the junior +Senator from Mississippi. + +"Of what?" asked the Southerner, with a blandness that added fuel to +Peabody's irritation. + +"Don't trifle with me, sir!" cried "the boss of the Senate." "This +letter. You sent it. Explain it! I'm in no mood to joke." + +Langdon looked at him calmly. + +"I think the letter is quite plain, Senator," he said. "You can read." +Then he turned to his daughter. "This discussion cannot possibly +interest you, my dear. Will you go to the drawing-room to receive our +guests?" + +Carolina obeyed. She seemed to be discovering new qualities in this +father whom she had considered to be too old-fashioned for his time. + +"Now, Senator, go ahead, and, Randolph, you bring Stevens." + +"You're switching to Gulf City?" demanded Peabody. + +"I'm considering Gulf City," agreed Langdon. + +Peabody brought down his fist on the table. + +"It's too late to consider anything, Langdon," he cried. "We're +committed to Altacoola, and Altacoola it is. I don't care what you +heard of Gulf City. Now, I'd like to settle this thing in a friendly +manner, Langdon. I like always for every member of the Senate to have +his share of the power and the patronage. We've been glad to put +you forward in this naval base matter. We appreciate the +straightforwardness, the honesty of your character. You look well. +You're the kind of politician the public thinks it wants nowadays, but +you've been in the Senate long enough to know that bills have to pass, +and you know you can't get through anything without my friends, and I +tell you now I'll throttle any Gulf City plan you bring up." + +"Then if you are as sure of that you can't object to my being for Gulf +City?" asked Langdon. + +"Are you financially interested in Gulf City?" demanded Peabody. + +"Senator Peabody!" exclaimed Langdon. + +"Don't flare up, Langdon," retorted Peabody. "That sort of thing has +happened in the Senate. There are often perfectly legitimate profits +to be made in some regular commercial venture by a man who has inside +information as to what's doing up on Capitol Hill." + +"Senator Peabody," asked Langdon, "why are you so strong for +Altacoola?" + +The Pennsylvanian hesitated. + +"Its natural advantages," he said at last. + +The Southerner shook his head. + +"Oh, that's all? Well, if natural advantages are going to settle +it, and not influence, go ahead and vote, and I'll just bring in a +minority report for Gulf City." + +"The boss of the Senate" was in a corner now. + +"Confound it, Langdon, if you will have it, I am interested in +Altacoola." + +Langdon nodded. + +"That's all I wanted to know," he said. + +"Now you see why it's got to be Altacoola," persisted the boss. + +"I don't mind telling you, then, Senator Peabody," answered Langdon +calmly, "that my being for Gulf City was a bluff. I've been trying to +draw you out. Gulf City is a mud bank and no more fitted to be a naval +base than Keokuk, Ia. Altacoola it's got to be, for the good of the +country and the honor of Mississippi. + +"And one thing more, Senator. I'd just like to add that not a single +man connected with that committee is going to make a cent out of the +deal. You get that straight?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"IF YOU CAN'T BUY A SENATOR, THREATEN HIM" + + +Senator Peabody was the most surprised man in Washington when he heard +the junior Senator from Mississippi state that no one was to enrich +himself out of the government naval base project. + +He heaped a mental anathema on the head of Stevens for saddling such +a man on the Senate "machine," for Langdon would of course never had +been put on "naval affairs" (just now very important to the machine) +without the "O.K." of Stevens, who had won a heretofore thoroughly +reliable reputation as a judge of men, or of what purported to be men. +The thought that at this time, of all times, there should be a man +on the committee on naval affairs that could not be "handled" was +sufficient to make him who reveled in the title of "boss of the +Senate" determine that he must get another chief lieutenant to replace +Stevens, who had proved so trustworthy in the past. Stevens had lost +his cunning! + +As the vote of Langdon could not be secured by humbug or in exchange +for favors and as it could not be "delivered," Peabody, of course, was +willing to pay in actual cash for the vote. This was the final step +but one in political conspiracies of this nature?--cash. But Langdon +would not take cash, so Peabody had to resort to the last agency of +the trained and corrupt manipulator of legislation. + +He would threaten. + +Moreover, he knew that to make threats effective, if it is possible to +do so, they must be led up to systematically--that is, they should be +made at the right time. The scene must be set, as in a play. + +Senator Peabody glared at Langdon as though to convince the latter +that to stand in his way would mean political destruction. + +"So nobody is going to make a cent, eh? Well, I suppose you want all +the profits for yourself." Turning to Stevens, who had just entered, +the Pennsylvanian cried: + +"Do you but listen to our suddenly good friend Langdon. He wants to be +the only man to make money out of the naval base. He won't listen to +any other member of the naval committee making a cent out of it. Why, +he--" + +"Great God, sir!" exclaimed Langdon. "You are going too far, Peabody. +You state what is false, and you know it, you--you--" + +"Then you are willing that others should have their rightful share?" +put in Stevens. "Oh, I understand now, Senator." + +"No, no, no!" cried Langdon. "You do not understand, Senator Stevens, +and I must say I am ashamed to speak of you by the honorable title of +Senator, sir. I will not listen to any person enriching himself at +the Government's expense, and I am your enemy, you, Peabody, and you, +Stevens, beyond recall. You both know you misrepresent me." + +Langdon walked over to Stevens and faced him. + +"Do you remember, Stevens, Lorimer Hawkslee, back in wartime?" + +"Yes," said Stevens, puzzled, "I remember him--a very fine gentleman." + +The old planter sneered. + +"Yes, a very fine gentleman! You remember he got rich out of contracts +for supplies furnished to the Confederate Government when it wasn't +any too easy for the Confederate Government to pay and when he was +in that Government himself. I never quite thought that the act of a +gentleman, Stevens. It seemed to me to be very like dishonesty. +I refused to speak to Lorimer Hawkslee in the Carroll Hotel at +Vicksburg, and when the people there asked me why I told them. I want +to warn you, Stevens, that I'm likely to meet you some time in the +Carroll Hotel at Vicksburg." + +Stevens backed away angrily. "I catch your insinuation, but"--he +received a warning glance from Peabody and broke into a pleasant smile +calculated to deceive the old planter--"this once I will overlook it +because of our old friendship and the old days in Mississippi." + +"You are a fine talker, Langdon," said Peabody, coming to Stevens' +rescue, "but I can readily see what you are driving at. You want an +investigation. You think you will catch some of us with what you +reformers call 'the goods,' but forget evidently the entirely simple +facts that your family has invested in Altacoola lands more heavily +probably than any one else among us. You want to raise a scandal, do +you? Well, go on and raise it, but remember that you will have to +explain how it happened that there is $50,000 invested in the name of +your son, and $25,000 in the name of your daughter, Miss Carolina, not +to mention a few thousands put in by the gentleman who, I am given to +understand, is to be your son-in-law, Congressman Norton. + +"How about that, Norton?" Peabody asked, turning to the Congressman, +who had followed Stevens. + +"I corroborate all you've said," remarked Norton. "I can state +positively that Senator Langdon knew that his money was going into +Altacoola land. I will swear to it if necessary," and he glared +bitterly at Carolina's father, feeling certain that the girl would +cling to him as opposed to her parent. + +Langdon made a threatening move at the Congressman. + +"I consider my riddance of you mighty cheap at the price," he cried. + +"Come, come, Langdon," fumed Peabody, "I must get away from here to +catch the midnight train. Let's get through with this matter. You must +realize that you cannot fight me in Washington. You must know that +men call me the 'king of the Senate.' I can beat any measure you +introduce. I can pass any measure you want passed. I can make you a +laughing-stock or a power. + +"Why, my friend from Mississippi, I can even have your election to the +Senate contested, have a committee appointed to investigate the manner +of your election, have that committee decide that you bought your way +into the honorable body, the Senate of the United States, and on the +strength of that decision have you forfeit your seat! What a pretty +heritage to hand down to posterity such a disgrace will be! Why, the +very school children of the future will hear about you as 'Looter +Langdon,' and their parents will tell them how particularly degrading +it was for a man of your reputation to drag into your dishonest +schemes your son, sir, and your daughter. For who will believe that +this money was not put in these lands without your consent, without +your direction, your order? Did you not sign the mortgage on which +this $50,000 was raised?" + +Senator Langdon waved his hand deprecatingly. "I'm learning the +under-handed ways of you professional politicians. I'm getting wise. +I'm learning 'the game,' so I know you're bluffing me, Peabody. But +you forget that the game of poker was invented in Mississippi--my +native State." + +Pressing a button, Langdon summoned a servant and said: "Send in Mr. +Haines. I guess I've got to have a witness for my side." + +"It's no bluff," spoke Stevens as Haines entered. "Peabody can and +will break you like a pipestem; he's done it to other men before you +who--who tried to dispute his power. But I'll try to save you. I'll +ask him to be merciful. You are not of any importance in the Senate. +We do not need to deal with you--" + +"Then why do you both spend so much time on me?" asked Langdon +innocently. "Why doesn't Peabody go to Philadelphia?" + +"Langdon," said Peabody, "you know my control of the Senate is no +piece of fiction. But I will forgive your obstinacy, even forget it. +I--" + +"Look here," cried Langdon, "just because I'm a fat man don't think +that I can't lose my temper." He stopped and gazed at his two +colleagues. + +"Now, you two men stay still one moment, and I'll tell you what really +will happen to-morrow," he exploded, "and I'm only a beginner in the +game that's your specialty. The naval base is going to Altacoola--" + +"Good!" simultaneously cried both Peabody and Stevens. "You're coming +in with us?" + +"No, I'm not, but I'll pass the bill so that nobody makes a cent, just +as I said I would. I'll fool you both and make you both honest for +once in spite of your natural dispositions." + +Stevens and the Pennsylvanian stared at each other in disgust. + +"Furthermore," continued Langdon, "Altacoola must have the base +because I've known for some time that Gulf City was impossible. But +some crooked Senators would have made money if they'd known it, so +they didn't learn it. Altacoola, that proud arm of our great gulf, +will have those battleships floating on her broad bosom and the +country will be the better off, and so will the sovereign State of +Mississippi--God bless it--but neither Senator Peabody of Pennsylvania +nor Senator Stevens of Mississippi is going to be any better because +of it. No, and if you men come to my committee room at 12:30 to-morrow +noon you'll have a chance to hear how all that's coming about. If you +are not there by that time I'll bring in a minority report in favor +of Gulf City, just to show you that I know how to play the game--this +Washington game--" + +"Come, let's go. We can do nothing with him," said Peabody to the +senior Senator from Mississippi. + +"Well, Senator, in the name of goodness, what are you going to do? How +can you win for Altacoola without letting these grafters make money +out of it?" asked Haines in astonishment as the other two walked away. +"What are you going to do at 12:30 to-morrow?" + +Langdon turned to him and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling +despairingly. + +"I'm blamed if I know!" he exclaimed. + +[Illustration: "TO-MORROW AT 12:30."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +LOBBYISTS--AND ONE IN PARTICULAR + + +Washington has known many lobbyists in its time, and it keeps on +knowing them. The striking increase in legislation that aims to +restrict unlawful or improper practices in business, the awakening +of the public conscience, has caused a greater demand than ever for +influence at the national capital, for these restrictive measures must +be either killed or emasculated to a point of uselessness by that +process which is the salvation of many a corrupt manipulator, the +process of amendment. + +Predatory corporations, predatory business associations of different +sorts and predatory individuals have their representatives on the +field at Washington to ward off attack by any means that brains can +devise or money procure and to obtain desired favors at a cost that +will leave a profitable balance for the purchaser. When commercial +tricksters, believing in the lobbyists' favorite maxim, "The People +Forget," feel that they have outlived the latest reform movement +and see "the good old days" returning, the professional politicians +introduce a few reform measures themselves, most stringent measures. +They push these measures ahead until somebody pays up, then the bills +die. The lobbyist knows all about these "strike" bills, but does not +frown on them. No, no. Per-haps he helped draw up one of these bills +so that, with the aid of his inside knowledge of his employer's +business, the measure is made to give a greater scare than might +otherwise have resulted. The bigger the scare the bigger the fund +advanced, of course, for the lobbyist to handle. All this also helps +the lobbyist to secure and retain employment. + +Not all the Washington lobbyists are outside of Congress. The Senator +or Congressman has unequaled facilities for oiling or blocking the +course of a bill. Sometimes he confines himself to the interests of +his own clients, whoever they may be. But sometimes he notices a bill +that promises to be a pretty good thing for the client of some other +member if it passes. Then he begins to fight this bill so actively +that he must be "let in on the deal" himself. This is very annoying +to the other member, but the experience is worth something. He has +learned the value of observing other people's legislation. + +The outsiders (members of the "third house") and the insiders have a +bond of freemasonry uniting them; they exchange information as to what +members of both houses can be "reached," how they can be "got to" +(through whom) and how much they want. This information is carefully +tabulated, and now prices for passing or defeating legislation can be +quoted to interested parties just as the price of a carload of pork +can be ascertained at a given time and place. Perhaps it is this +system that leads grafting members of short experience to wonder how +knowledge of their taking what is termed "the sugar" got out and +became known to their associates. Did they not have pledge of absolute +secrecy? Yes, but the purchaser never intended to keep the information +from those of his kind. Lobbyists must be honest with each other. + +Not all lobbyists are men. The woman legislative agent has been known +to occupy an important position in Washington, and she does yet. +She is hard to detect and frequently more unprincipled than the men +similarly engaged, if that is possible. + +A woman with a measure of social standing would naturally prove +the most successful as a lobbyist in Washington because of the +opportunities her position would afford her to meet people of +prominence. And just such a one was Mrs. Cora Spangler, with whom +the Langdons had been thrown in contact quite intimately since their +arrival at the capital. + +Pretty and vivacious, Mrs. Spangler bore her thirty-seven years with +uncommon ease, aided possibly by the makeup box and the modiste. +Her dinners and receptions were attended by people of acknowledged +standing. Always a lavish spender of money, this was explained +as possible because of a fortune left her by her late husband, +Congressman Spangler of Pennsylvania. That this "fortune" had +consisted largely of stock and bonds of a bankrupt copper smelting +plant in Michigan remained unknown, except to her husband's family, +one or two of her own relatives and Senator Peabody, who, coming from +Pennsylvania, had known her husband intimately. + +He it was who had suggested to her that she might make money easily +by cultivating the acquaintance of the new members of both houses +and their families, exerting her influence in various "perfectly +legitimate ways," he argued, for or against matters pending in +legislation. The Standard Steel corporation kept Mrs. Spangler well +supplied with funds deposited monthly to her account in a Philadelphia +trust company. + +She avoided suspicion by reason of her sex and her many acquaintances +of undisputed rank. Senator Peabody was never invited to her home, had +never attended a single dinner, reception or musicale she had given, +all of which was a part of the policy they had mutually agreed on to +deaden any suspicion that might some time arise as to her relation to +the Standard Steel Company. It was well known that Peabody had been +put into the Senate by Standard Steel to look after its interests. + +He had found Mrs. Spangler chiefly valuable thus far as a source of +information regarding the members of Congress, which she obtained +largely from their families. He was thus able to gain an idea of their +associations, their particular interests and their aspirations in +coming to Congress, which proved of much use to him in forming and +promoting acquaintances, all for the glory of Standard Steel. + +Senator Holcomb of Missouri told Mrs. Spangler at an afternoon tea +confidentially that he was going to vote against the ship subsidy +bill. Senator Peabody was informed of this two hours later by a note +written in cipher. When the vote was called two days later Senator +Holcomb voted for the bill. Standard Steel supplies steel for ocean +liners, and their building must be encouraged. + +Mrs. Windsor, wife of Congressman Windsor of Indiana, remarked to Mrs. +Spangler at a reception that she was "so glad Jimmie is going to do +something for us women at last. He says we ought to get silk gowns +ever so much cheaper next year," Jimmie Windsor was a member of the +House committee on ways and means and was busily engaged in the matter +of tariff revision. When President Anders of the Federal Silk Company +heard from Senator Peabody that Windsor favored lowering the tariff +on silk a way was found to convince the Congressman that the American +silk industry was a weakling, and many investors would suffer if the +foreign goods should be admitted any cheaper than at present. + +President Anders would be willing to do Senator Peabody a favor some +day. + +Sometimes Cora Spangler shuddered at the thought of what would +become of her if she should make some slip, some fatal error, and be +discovered to her friends as a betrayer of confidences for money. +A secret agent of Standard Steel! What a newspaper story she would +make--"Society Favorite a Paid Spy"; "Woman Lobbyist Flees Capital." +The sensational headlines flitted through her mind. Then she would +grit her teeth and dig her finger nails into her palms. She had to +have money to carry on the life she loved so well. She must continue +as she had begun. After all, she reasoned, nothing definite could ever +be proved regarding the past. Let the future care for itself. She +might marry again and free herself from this mode of life--who knows? + +So reasoned Cora Spangler for the hundredth time during the last two +years as she sat in her boudoir at her home. She had spent part of the +day with Carolina and Hope Langdon and in the evening had attended the +musicale at their house. But she had been forced to leave early owing +to a severe headache. Now, after an hour or two of rest, she felt +better and was about to retire. Suddenly the telephone bell rang at a +writing-table near a window. She had two telephones, one in the lower +hall and one in her boudoir--to save walking downstairs unnecessarily, +she explained to her woman friends. But the number of this upstairs +telephone was not in the public book. It had a private number, known +to but two people except herself. + +Taking down the receiver, she asked in low voice, "Hello! Who is it?" + +"Mr. Wall." + +It was the name Senator Peabody used in telephone conversation with +her. + +"Yes, Congressman!" she responded. + +She always said, "Yes, Congressman," in replying to "Mr. Wall," a +prearranged manner of indicating that he was talking to the desired +person. + +"I will need your services to-morrow," Senator Peabody said, "on a +very important matter, I am afraid. Decline any engagements and hold +yourself in readiness." + +"Yes." + +"I may send my friend S. to explain things at 10:30 in the morning. If +he does not arrive at that time, telephone me at 10:35 sharp. You know +where. Understand? I have put off going to Philadelphia to-night." + +"Yes." + +"That is all; good-by." + +"Something very important," she murmured nervously as she turned from +the desk. + +"I don't like his tone of voice; sounds strained and +worried--something unusual for the cold, flinty gentleman from +Pennsylvania. And his 'friend S.,' of course, means Stevens! Great +heavens! then Stevens must now have knowledge of my--my--business!" + +She calmed herself and straightened a dainty, slender finger against +her cheek. + +"It must be something about that naval base bill, I'm sure. That's +been worrying Peabody all session," she mused as she pressed a button +to summon her maid. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +"THE BOSS OF THE SENATE" GAINS A NEW ALLY + + +Mrs. Spangler would have flattered herself on guessing correctly as to +Senator Peabody's uneasiness had she heard and seen all that had taken +place in his apartment at the Louis Napoleon Hotel, where he had +hurriedly taken Senator Stevens on leaving the Langdon house. + +Not only would the two Senators lose their immense profits on the +Altacoola transaction if Langdon persisted in his opposition, but they +would lose as well the thousands of dollars spent by their agents in +purchasing options on hundreds of acres, and where they could not +get options, the land itself. This land would be on their hands, +unsalable, if the base went somewhere else. Moreover, they feared that +Langdon's revolt would bring unpleasant newspaper publicity to their +operations. + +"There's only one course to pursue, Stevens," snapped Peabody as they +took off their overcoats. "That is to be prepared as best we can for +the very worst and meet it in some way yet to be determined. But first +we must try to figure out what Langdon is going to do--what it can be +that he says he will tell us to-morrow at 12:30 if we appear. He must +have something very startling up his sleeve if he makes good his +assertions. I can't see how--" + +"Nor I," frowned Stevens, "and my political eyesight is far better +than that fool Langdon's. Under ordinary circumstances we could let +him go ahead with his minority report for Gulf City, but as things +stand he'll have every newspaper reporter in Washington buzzing around +and asking impertinent questions--" + +"Yes, and you and I would have to go to Paris to live with our life +insurance friends from New York, wouldn't we?" laughed Peabody +sarcastically. "I'm going to send for Jake Steinert," he added. + +"Steinert?" Stevens ejaculated. "What--" + +"Oh, that's all right. Maybe he can suggest something," said Peabody, +going to the telephone. "We've too much at stake to make a mistake, +and Jake may see a point that we've overlooked. Luckily I saw him +downstairs in the grill-room as we came through to the elevator." + +"Steinert is all right himself," continued Stevens, "but his +methods--" + +"Can't be too particular now about his methods--or ours, Stevens, when +a bull like Langdon breaks loose in the political china shop. Fortune +and reputation are both fragile." + +A ring of a bell announced the arrival of Jake Steinert, whose +reputation as a lobbyist of advanced ability had spread wide in the +twenty years he had spent in Washington. Of medium height, sallow +complexion, dark hair and dark eyes, his broad shoulders filled the +doorway as he entered. An illy kept mustache almost hid a thin-lipped, +forceful mouth, almost as forceful as some of the language he used. +His eyes darted first to Peabody and then to Stevens, waiting for +either of them to open the conversation. + +The highest class lobbyists, those who "swing" the "biggest deals," +concern themselves only with men who can "handle" or who control +lawmakers. They get regular reports and outline the campaign. Like +crafty spiders they hide in the center of a great web, a web of +bribery, threat, cajolery and intrigue, intent on every victim that is +lured into the glistening meshes. + +Only the small fry mingle freely with the legislators in the open, in +the hotels and cafes and in the Capitol corridors. + +Jake Steinert did not belong in either of these classes; he ranked +somewhere between the biggest and the smallest. He coupled colossal +boldness with the most expert knowledge of all the intricate workings +of the congressional mechanism. Given money to spend among members to +secure the defeat of a bill, he would frequently put most of the money +in his own pocket and for a comparatively small sum defeat it by +influencing the employees through whose hands it must pass. + +"Sit down, Jake. Something to drink?" asked Peabody, reaching for a +decanter. + +"No," grunted the lobbyist; "don't drink durin' business hours; only +durin' the day." + +"Well, Jake," said the Pennsylvanian, "you probably know something of +what's going on in the naval affairs committee." + +"You mean the biggest job of the session?" + +"Yes." + +"Sure thing, Senator. It's the work of an artist." + +"The boss of the Senate" smiled grimly. + +"Now, suppose a committeeman named Langdon absolutely refused to be +taken care of, and insisted on handing in a minority report to-morrow, +with a speech that read like the Declaration of Independence?" + +Steinert jerked his head forward quickly. + +"You mean what would I do if I was--er--if I was runnin' the job?" + +"Yes." + +Steinert leaned toward Peabody. + +"Where do I come in on this?" he asked, suspiciously. + +"Come, come, man," was the irritable retort. "I never let a few +dollars stand between myself and my friends." + +"All right, Senator." + +The lobbyist thrust himself down in his chair, puffed slowly at a +cigar, and gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. + +"Few years ago," he began, after a minute or two, "there was a feller +who was goin' to squeal about a bond issue. He had his speech all +really to warn the country that he thought a crowd of the plutocracy +was goin' to get the bonds to resell to the public at advanced rates. +Well, sir, I arranged to have a carriage, a closed carriage, call that +night to take him to see the President, for he was told the President +sent the carriage for him. When he got out he was at the insane +asylum, an' I can tell you he was bundled into a padded cell in jig +time, where he stayed for three days. 'He thinks he's a member of +Congress,' I told the two huskies that handled him, an' gave 'em each +a twenty-case note. The doctor that signed the necessary papers got +considerable more." + +Stevens' gasp of amazement caused the narrator genuine enjoyment. + +"I know of a certain Senator who was drunk an' laid away in a Turkish +bath when the roll was called on a certain bill. He was a friend of +Peabody's," laughed the lobbyist to the Mississippian. + +"But in this case," said Stevens, "we must be very careful. Possibly +some of your methods in handling the men you go after--" + +"Say," interposed Steinert, "you know I don't do all pursuin', all the +goin' after, any more than others in my business. Why, Senator, some +of these Congressmen worry the life out of us folks that sprinkle +the sugar. They accuse us of not lettin' 'em in on things when +they haven't been fed in some time. They come down the trail like +greyhounds coursin' a coyote." + +The speaker paused and glanced across at Peabody, who, however, was +too busily engaged in writing in a memorandum book to notice him. + +"Why, Senator Stevens," went on the lobbyist, "only to-day a Down East +member held me up to tell me that he was strong for that proposition +to give the A.K. and L. railroad grants of government timber land in +Oregon. He says to me, he says: 'What'n h--l do my constituents in New +England care about things 'way out on the Pacific Coast? I'd give 'em +Yellowstone National Park for a freight sidin' if 'twas any use to +'em,' he says. So you see--" + +"I must go," broke in Stevens, rising and glancing at his watch. "It +will soon be daylight." + +"If you must have sleep, go; but you must be here at 9 o'clock sharp +in the morning," said Peabody. "Steinert will sleep here with me. +We'll all have breakfast together here in my rooms and a final +consultation." + +"You won't plan anything really desperate, Peabody, will you? I think +I'd rather--" + +"Nonsense, Stevens, of course not. Our game will be to try to weaken +Langdon, to prove to him in the morning that he alone will suffer, +because our names do not appear in the land deals. The options were +signed and the deeds signed by our agents. Don't you see? Whereas his +daughter and son and future son-in-law actually took land in their own +names." + +"How clumsy!" + +"Yes. Such amateurism lowers the dignity of the United States Senate," +Peabody answered, dryly. + +"But suppose Langdon does not weaken?" asked Stevens, anxiously, as he +picked up his hat and coat. + +"Then we will go into action with our guns loaded," was the reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE HONEYBIRD + + +In the African jungle dwells a pretty little bird that lives on honey. +The saccharine dainty is there found in the hollows of trees and under +the bark, where what is known as the carpenter bee bores and deposits +his extract from the buds and blossoms of the tropical forest. + +The bird is called the "honeybird" because it is a sure guide to the +deposits of the delicacy. The bird dislikes the laborious task of +pecking its way through the bark to reach the honey, and so, wise in +the ways of men, it procures help. It locates a nest of honey, then +flies about until it sees some natives or hunters, to whom it shows +itself. They know the honeybird and know that it will lead them to the +treasure store. Following the bird, which flits just in advance, they +reach the cache of dripping sweetness and readily lay it open with +hatchets or knives. Taking what they want, there is always enough left +clinging to the tree and easily accessible to satisfy the appetite of +the clever little bird. + +Senator Stevens of Mississippi bears a marked resemblance to the +honeybird--so much so that he has well won the bird's appellation for +himself. Abnormally keen at locating possibilities for extracting +"honey" from the governmental affairs in Washington, he invariably led +Peabody, representing the hunter with the ax, to the repository. He +would then rely on the Pennsylvanian's superior force to break down +the barriers. Stevens would flutter about and gather up the leavings. + +Equally as mercenary as "the boss of the Senate," he lacked Peabody's +iron nerve, determination, resourcefulness and daring. He needed many +hours of sleep. Peabody could work twenty hours at a stretch. He had +to have his meals regularly or else suffer from indigestion. Peabody +sometimes did a day's work on two boiled eggs and a cup of coffee. + +The senior Senator from Mississippi had been the first to point out to +Peabody the possibilities for profit in the gulf naval base project, +but the morning following the conference with Steinert when he +rejoined them for breakfast at the Louis Napoleon he was far from +comfortable. He did not mind fighting brain against brain, even though +unprincipled methods were resorted to, but indications were that more +violent agencies would be called into play owing to the complications +that had arisen. + +Stevens ate heartily to strengthen his courage. Steinert ate hugely +to strengthen his body. Peabody ate scarcely anything at all--to +strengthen his brain. + +Waving away the hotel waiter who had brought the breakfast to his +apartment, Senator Peabody outlined the probable campaign of the day. + +"If our best efforts to weaken and scare off Langdon fail to-day," he +said, "it will naturally develop that we must render it impossible in +some way for him to appear in the Senate at all, or we must delay his +arrival until after the report of the committee on naval affairs has +been made. In either event he would not have another opportunity to +speak on that subject. + +"Of course, later, at 12:30, we will know his plan of action. Then we +can act to the very point, but we must be prepared for any situation +that can arise." + +"Cannot the President of the Senate be persuaded not to recognize +Langdon on the floor? Then we could adjourn and shut him off," asked +Stevens. + +"No," responded Peabody; "he has already promised Langdon to recognize +him, and the President of the Senate cannot be persuaded to break his +word. I am painfully aware of this fact." + +But Stevens was not yet dissuaded from the hope of defeating the +junior Senator from Mississippi by wit alone. + +"Can we not have a speaker get the floor before Langdon and have him +talk for hours--tire out the old kicker--and await a time when he +leaves the Senate chamber to eat or talk to some visitor we could have +call on him, then shove the bill through summarily?" he suggested. + +"I've gone over all that." answered Peabody, quickly. "It would only +be delaying the evil hour. You wouldn't be able to move that old +codger away from the Senate chamber with a team of oxen--once he +gets to his seat. His secretary, Haines--another oversight of yours, +Stevens"--the latter winced--"will warn him. Langdon would stick pins +through his eyelids to keep from falling asleep." + +"I've been thinkin'," put in Steinert, slowly, "that a little +fine-esse like this might keep him away: When Langdon's in his +committee room before goin' to the Senate send him a telegram signed +by one of his frien's' name that one of his daughters is dyin' from +injuries in a automobile collision a few miles out o' town. That +'ud--" + +"Ridiculous," snorted Peabody. "He'd know where they were. They're +always--" + +"Huh! then put in more fine-esse." + +"How? What?" + +"Hev some 'un take 'em out a-autoin'--" + +"No, no, man!" snapped Peabody. "They'd stick in town to hear their +father's wonderful speech." + +"Well," went on the lobbyist, "I'll hev Langd'n watched by a careful +picked man, a nigger that won't talk. He'll pick a row with the +Colonel on some street, say, w'en he's comin' from his home after +lunch. The coon kin bump into Langd'n an' call him names. Then +w'en ole fireworks sails into 'im, yellin' about what 'e'd do in +Mississippi, the coon pulls a gun on the Colonel an' fires a couple o' +shots random. Cops come up, an' our pertickeler copper'll lug Langd'n +away as a witness, refusin' to believe 'e's a Senator. I kin arrange +to hev him kept in the cooler a couple o' hours without gettin' any +word out, or I'll hev 'im entered up as drunk an' disorderly. He'll +look drunk, he'll be so mad." + +"But the negro--how could you get a man to undergo arrest on such a +serious charge, attempted murder!" exclaimed Stevens. + +"There, there," said Steinert, patronizingly; "coons has more genteel +home life in jail than they does out. An' don't forget the District of +Columbia is governed by folks that ain't residents of it, only durin' +the session. Th' politicians don't leave their frien's in the cooler +very long. Say, Senator Stevens, are you kiddin' me? Is it any +different down in your--" + +The Mississippian choked and spluttered over a gulp of unusually hot +coffee, and Peabody again decided Steinert to be on the wrong tack. + +"That proceeding would attract too much attention from the +newspapers," he added. + +"Well, I thought you wanted to win," grunted Steinert. "I've been +offerin' you good stuff, too--new stuff. None of yer druggin' with +chloroform or ticklin' with blackjacks. Why, I've gone from fine-esse +to common sense. But, come to think of it, how about some woman? I c'n +get one to introduce to--" + +"This is the wrong kind of a man," interrupted Peabody. + +"Unless you got the right kind of a woman," went on Steinert. + +Senator Stevens choked some more. + +"The boss of the Senate" sank down in his chair, crossed one knee +over the other and drummed his fingers lightly on the table. He gazed +thoughtfully at Stevens. + +"Yes," he observed, slowly, "unless you've got the right sort of a +woman." + +Rising, he led the Mississippian to one side. + +The lobbyist heard the Southerner give a short exclamation of +astonishment as Peabody whispered to him. + +"It's all right. It's all right," he then heard the Pennsylvanian say, +irritably. "She'll understand. She can be trusted. _She expects you_." + +Stevens gave a violent start at the last assurance, but his colleague +hurriedly helped him into his coat. + +"Go in a closed carriage," was Peabody's final warning. "Be sure to +tell her to get hold of his two daughters on some pretext at once. She +knows them well. Maybe we can influence the old man through his girls, +don't you see?" + +And while Senator Peabody and Jake Steinert recurred to a previous +discussion concerning one J.D. Telfer, Mayor of Gulf City, Senator +Stevens started on the most memorable drive of his career on +this bright winter morning, to the house of the fascinating Mrs. +Spangler--who for the past week had been considering his proposal of +marriage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +CAROLINA LANGDON'S RENUNCIATION + + +Senator Langdon's committee room at the Capitol presented a busy scene +at an unusually early hour the morning after the entertainment at his +home. Bud Haines, reinstated as secretary, was picking up the thread +of routine where he had dropped it the day before, though his frequent +thought of Hope and the words that had thrilled him--"I love you, I +love you fondly"--made this task unusually difficult. He impatiently +wished the afternoon to hasten along, as he knew he would then see her +in the Senate gallery, where she would go to hear her father's speech. + +This speech had to be revised in some particulars by Bud, and the work +he knew would take up much of the morning. The Senator's speech was +"The South of the Future," which he would deliver when recognized by +the President of the Senate in connection with the naval base bill, +that officer having agreed to recognize Langdon at 3:30, at which time +the report of the naval affairs committee would be received. Just how +Langdon would turn the tables on Peabody and Stevens and yet win for +the Altacoola site not even the ex-newspaper man, experienced in +politics, had solved. Clearly the Senator would have to do some tall +thinking during the morning. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi burst into the office with his +habitual cheery greeting, his broad-brimmed black felt hat in its +usual position on the back of his head, like a symbol of undying +defiance. + +"A busy day for us, eh, Senator?" queried Bud. + +"Now, look here, my boy, don't begin to remind me of work right off," +he said, with a humorous gleam in his eye. "Go easy on me. Don't +forget I'm her father." + +Bud laughed through the flush that rose in his cheeks. + +"No, I won't forget that. But have you decided what to tell Peabody +and Stevens as your plan of action if they come in here at 12:30?" + +"If they come?" exclaimed Langdon. "They'll come. Watch 'em." + +Then he hesitated, worriedly. + +"I'll have to incubate an idea between now and noon, somehow. But +don't forget this, Bud--we're worried about them, true enough, but +they're worried a heap more about us." + +Senator Langdon stepped into an adjoining room, where he could be +alone, to "incubate." + +As Haines resumed his work Carolina Langdon entered. + +Avoiding the secretary's direct gaze, she asked for her father. + +"He ought to be back shortly, Miss Langdon," responded Haines. "You +can wait here. I must ask pardon for leaving, as I must run over to +the library." + +As the secretary bowed himself out of the door he almost collided with +Congressman Norton. Both glared at each other and remained silent. + +"Carolina," spoke Norton, as he entered, "I hope--I know you won't +allow your father to influence you against me--because of last night. +I--" + +Carolina would rather not have met Charles Norton on this morning. She +had hardly slept for the night. She had fought a battle with herself. +Her father had shown her plainly the mistake she had made. She saw +that her influence had not been without effect on Randolph. Probably +for the first time she realized that there are glory and luxury, +pleasure and prestige for which too big a price can be paid. + +The Senator's daughter turned slowly and faced the man she had +promised to marry. + +"Charlie, I have come to a decision. I came here to talk with father +about it." + +Norton started toward Carolina, a look of apprehension on his face. +He gathered from the trend of her words and her demeanor that she had +turned against him. + +"You couldn't be so cruel, Carolina," he protested. + +"Charlie," she went on, determinedly, "I will always cherish our +friendship, our happy younger days down in Mississippi, but, I must +give up thinking of you as my future husband. We've both made a +mistake, mine probably greater than yours, but I now am convinced that +I should not marry you. Your way of thinking about life is all wrong, +and you are too deeply entangled with the dishonest men in Washington +to draw back. I cannot love you." + +"But I am doing it all for your sake, Carolina. Don't let an +old-fashioned father come between a man and a woman and their love," +he cried. + +"Charlie, I must give you up." + +The girl turned to one side, as though to give Norton a chance to +leave. + +He looked at her in silence for a moment or two. Then a change came +into his bearing. Wrinkling his face into a sneer, he stepped before +the girl. + +"You've been converted mighty sudden, I reckon, from land speculating +to preaching--and preaching, too, against folks who tried to make a +fortune for you." + +Norton stopped, expecting a reply, but the girl remained silent. + +"You think I'm done for, that I've lost my money; that's why you +turned from me so quickly," he laughed, scornfully. "But I'll show +you, you and your blundering old father. I'll win you yet, and I'll +ruin your father's political reputation. I'll--" + +"Are you quite sure about that?" spoke a voice, sharply, behind the +Congressman. He swung around vigorously. Bud Haines had returned in +time to hear Norton's threat. + +"Yes; and while I'm doing that I'll take time to show you up, too, +somehow. I guess a Congressman's word will count against that of a +cheap secretary--that's what Miss Langdon said you were." + +Carolina looked appealingly to Haines to rid her of the presence of +this man, whose last words she knew Haines would not believe. + +But Norton had had his say. He retreated to the door. + +"Miss Langdon," he cried, as he backed out and away, "you have an idea +that I am dishonest, but kindly remember that, whatever you think I +am, I never was a hypocrite." + +Haines advanced and procured a chair for Miss Langdon. + +"I'm very sorry to have come back at such a time," he began. + +The girl cut him short with a gesture. + +"I want to say to you," she said, then halted--"that I want to +be friends with you. I want you to forget the happenings of +yesterday--last evening--so far as I was concerned in them. I want to +work together with you and father--and so does Randolph. Father and +you are standing together to uphold the honor of the Langdons of +Mississippi, and Randolph and I, no matter the cost of our former +folly, want to share in that work." + +Before Haines could reply Senator Langdon burst into the room. + +"Bud! Bud!" he cried, "I've got it! I've got it!" + +"You've got what, Senator?" exclaimed the secretary. + +"That idea, my boy, that idea! It's incubated all right, and Peabody +and Stevens can come just as soon as they want to." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE BATTLES OF WASHINGTON + + +At twenty minutes after 12 Senator Langdon and Secretary Haines were +still undisturbed by any move on the part of Peabody and Stevens, +who maintained a silence that to Haines was distinctly ominous. His +experience at the Capitol had taught him that when the Senate machine +was quiet it was time for some one to get out from under. + +Miss Williams, the naval committee's stenographer, entered. + +"Senator Langdon," she said, "Senator Peabody and Senator Stevens are +in committee room 6, and they told me to tell you that they'd be--I +can't say it. Please, sir, I--" + +"D--d," interpolated Langdon, laughing. + +"Yes, sir, that's it. They'll be--that--if they come in here at 12:30. +You must come to them, they say." + +"Tell the gentlemen I'm sitting here with my hat on the back of my +head, smoking a good see-gar, with nails driven through both shoes +into the floor--and looking at the clock." + +At 12:25 Senator Stevens entered. + +"I came to warn you, Langdon," he said, "that Senator Peabody's +patience is nearly exhausted. You must come to see him at once if you +expect the South to get a naval base at Altacoola or anywhere else. If +you do not agree to take his advice this naval bill and any other that +you are interested in now or in future will be trampled underfoot in +the Senate. Mississippi will have no use for a Senator who cannot +produce results in Washington, and that will prove the bitterest +lesson you have ever learned." + +"I'm waiting for Peabody here, Stevens." + +"Oh, ridiculous! Of course he's not coming. Why, Langdon, he's the +king of the Senate. He has the biggest men of the country at his call. +He's--" + +"He's got one minute left," observed Langdon, looking at the clock, +"but he'll come. I trust Peabody more than the best clock made at a +time like this, when--" + +The figure of the senior Senator from Pennsylvania appeared in the +doorway. + +"Good-day, Senator Langdon," he remarked, icily. + +"Same to you. Have a see-gar, Senator?" said Langdon. He turned and +winked significantly at Haines. + +The three Senators seated themselves. + +"I suppose you wouldn't consider yourself so important, Langdon, if +you knew that we now find we can get another member of the naval +affairs committee over to our side for Altacoola?" began Peabody. +"That gives us a majority of the committee without your vote." + +"That wouldn't prevent me from making a minority report for Gulf City +and explaining why I made that report, would it?" the Mississippian +asked, blandly. + +Peabody and Stevens both knew that it wouldn't. Stevens exchanged +glances with "the boss of the Senate," and in low voice began making +to Langdon a proposition to which Peabody's assent had been gained. + +"Langdon, we would like to be alone," and he nodded toward Haines. + +"Sorry can't oblige, Senator," Langdon replied. "Bud and I together +make up the Senator from Mississippi." + +"All right. What I want to say is this: The President is appointing a +commission to investigate the condition of the unemployed. The members +are to go to Europe, five or six countries, and look into conditions +there, leisurely, of course, so as to formulate a piece of legislation +that will solve the existing problems in this country. A most generous +expense account will be allowed by the Government. A member can take +his family. A son, for instance, could act as financial secretary +under liberal pay." + +"I've heard of that commission," said Langdon. + +"Well, Senator Peabody has the naming of two Senators who will go on +that commission, and I suggested that your character and ability would +make you--" + +"Good glory!" exclaimed Langdon. "You mean that my character and +ability would make me something or other if I kept my mouth shut in +the Senate this afternoon! Stevens, I've been surprised so many times +since I came to the capital that it doesn't affect me any more. I'm +just amused at your offer or Senator Peabody's. + +"I want to tell you two Senators that there's only one thing that I +want in Washington--and you haven't offered it to me yet. When you do +I'll do business with you." + +"What's that? Speak out, man!" said Peabody, quickly. + +"A square deal for the people of the United States." + +"Good Lord!" exclaimed "the boss of the Senate. Is this Washington or +is it heaven?" + +"It is not heaven, Senator," put in Haines. + +"Man alive!" cried Peabody, "I've been in Washington so long that--" + +"So long that you've forgotten that the American people really exist," +retorted Langdon; "and there are more like you in the Senate, all +because the voters have no chance to choose their own Senators. The +public in most States have to take the kind of a Senator that the +Legislature, made up mostly of politicians, feels like making them +take. You, Peabody, wouldn't be in the Senate to-day if the voters had +anything to say about it." + +The Pennsylvanian shrugged his shoulders. + +"And now I'll tell you honorable Senators," went on Langdon, +thoroughly aroused, "something to surprise you. I have discovered that +you were not working for yourselves alone in the Altacoola deal, but +that you intend to turn your land over to the Standard Steel Company +at a big profit as soon as this naval base bill is passed. Then that +company will squeeze the Government for the best part of the hundred +millions that are to be spent." + +The Senator sank back in his chair and gazed at his two opponents. + +Those two statesmen jumped to their feet. + +"Come, Stevens, let him do what he will. We cannot stay here to be +insulted by the ravings of a madman," cried the Pennsylvanian. But he +brought his associate to a standstill midway to the door. "By the way, +Langdon, what is it you are going to do in the Senate this afternoon?" +he asked, "You said you were going to make us honest against our will. +You know you can't do anything." + +Bud Haines turned his face toward the speaker and grinned broadly, to +the Senator's intense discomfort. + +"I'll do more than that," announced Langdon, rising and pounding a +fist into his open hand. "I'll make you and Stevens more popular than +you ever were in your lives before." + +"Bah!" shouted Peabody. + +"I'll do even more yet. I'm going to make you generous--patriots. And, +I regret to say, I'll give you the chance to make the hits of your +careers." + +The polished hypocrites looked at him, too astonished to move. + +"How? What?" they gasped. + +Swept on by his own enthusiasm and the force of his own courageous +honesty, the voice of the Southerner rose to oratorical height. + +"This afternoon," he exclaimed, "when the naval base committee makes +its report, I will rise in my place and declare that for once in the +history of the Senate men have been found who place the interests of +the Government they serve above any chance of pecuniary reward. These +men are the members of the naval base committee. + +"With this idea in view, realizing that dishonest men would try to +make money out of the Government, these members of the naval base +committee, after they settled on Altacoola, went out quietly and +secured control of all the land that will be needed for the naval +base, and these men secured this at a very nominal figure. Now they +are ready to turn over their land to the Government at exactly what +they paid for it, without a cent of profit. + +"Then they're going to sit up over there in that Senate. They're going +to realize that a new kind of politics has arrived in Washington--the +kind that I and lots of others always thought there was here. + +"And, gentlemen"--he advanced on his colleagues triumphantly--"when +I, Senator Langdon of Mississippi, your creation in politics, have +finished that speech, I dare one of you to get up and deny a word!" + +"The boss of the Senate" and his satellite were dumfounded. Firmly +believing that Langdon could find no way to pass the bill for +Altacoola and yet spoil their crooked scheme, they were totally +unprepared for any such denouement. To think that a simple, +old-fashioned planter from the cotton fields of Mississippi could +originate such a plan to outwit the two ablest political tricksters in +the Senate! + +Langdon eyed his colleagues triumphantly. + +Peabody, however, was thinking quickly. He was never beaten until the +last vote was counted on a roll call. He knew that, no matter how +apparently insurmountable an opposition was, a way to overcome it +might often be found by the man who exercises strong self-control and +a trained brain. This corrupt victor in scores of bitter political +engagements on the battlefield of Washington was now in his most +dangerous mood. He would marshal all his forces. The man to defeat him +now must defeat the entire Senate machine and the allies it could gain +in an emergency; he must overcome the power of Standard Steel; he must +fight the resourceful brain of the masterful Peabody himself. + +Peabody whispered to Stevens, "We must pretend to be beaten," + +[Illustration: "AFTER I HAVE FINISHED I DARE ONE OF YOU TO DENY A +WORD!"] + +Then the Pennsylvanian advanced, smiling, to Langdon and held out his +hand. + +"Senator Langdon," he said, "I'm beaten. You've beaten the leader of +the Senate, something difficult to believe. What's more, you've given +me the chance of a lifetime to become known as a public benefactor. As +soon as you've finished your speech in the Senate I will get up and +make another one--to second yours. Here's my hand. Anything you may +ever want out of Peabody in the future shall be yours for the asking." + +Langdon refused to grasp the proffered hand. + +Senator Stevens made a show of protesting against his superior's +seeming surrender. + +"But," he objected, "look here--" + +Peabody turned upon him instantly. + +"Oh, shut up, Stevens; don't be a fool. Come on in. The water's fine." + +The pair of schemers, with Norton at their heels, turned away. + +The Pennsylvanian drew Stevens into committee room 6 and, ordering the +stenographer to leave, drew up chairs where both could sit, facing the +door. + +"We've thrown dust in that old gander's eyes," whispered Peabody. +"It's now ten after 1. He is to be recognized to make his speech at +3:30. That gives us two hours and twenty minutes--" + +"Yes, but for what?" asked Stevens, excitedly. "I've been trying +myself to think of something. What will you do--what _can_ you do?" + +"The boss of the Senate" smiled patronizingly on the senior Senator +from Mississippi, as though amused and scornful of his limitations as +a strategist, as a tenacious fighter. Then his jaw set hard, and his +brows contracted. + +"I will not do anything. I cannot do anything"--he hesitated a full +ten seconds--"but Jake Steinert can." + +Stevens' hands twitched nervously. + +"And," continued Peabody, "I'm expecting a 'phone call from him any +moment. I told him this morning that he might be able to make $1,000 +before night if--" + +The telephone bell at the desk interrupted him. + +Peabody leaned over and eagerly clutched the receiver. + +The senior Senator from Mississippi jerked himself to his feet. He +stood at a window and looked out over the roof tops of the city. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +MRS. SPANGLER GIVES A LUNCHEON + + +When Senators Peabody and Stevens had gone Langdon and Bud went over +the situation together and concluded that their opponents had no means +of defeating Langdon's program--that, after all, Peabody might really +have meant his words of surrender. + +"But they might try foul play. Better stay right here in the Capitol +the rest of the day," suggested Bud. + +Langdon scoffed at the idea. + +Haines bustled away to get a few mouthfuls of lunch to fortify himself +for a busy afternoon--one that was going to be far busier than he +imagined. + +The telephone bell rang at the Senator's desk. It was Mrs. Spangler's +voice that spoke. + +"Senator Langdon," she said, "Carolina and Hope Georgia are here at my +home for luncheon, and we all want you to join us." + +"Sorry I cannot accept," answered the Mississippian, "but I am to make +an important speech this afternoon--" + +"Oh, yes, I know. The girls and I are coming to hear it. But you have +two hours' time, and if you come we can all go over to the Senate +together. Now, Senator, humor us a little. Don't disappoint the girls +and me. We can all drive over to the Capitol in my carriage." + +The planter hesitated, then replied: "All right. I'll be over, but it +mustn't be a very long luncheon." + +"Gone to eat; back by 3 o'clock," he scratched quickly on a pad on the +secretary's desk, and departed. + +Mrs. Spangler's luncheons were equally as popular in Washington as +Senator Langdon's dinners. The Mississippian and his daughters enjoyed +the delicacies spread lavishly before them. + +Time passed quickly. The old planter enjoyed seeing his daughters +have so happy a time, and he was not insensible to the charm of his +hostess' conversation, for Mrs. Spangler had studied carefully the art +of ingratiating herself with her guests. + +Suddenly realizing that he had probably reached the limit of the time +he could spare, the Senator drew out his watch. + +"What a stunning fob you wear," quickly spoke Mrs. Spangler, reaching +out her hand and taking the watch from her guest's hands as the case +snapped open. + +"Oh, that's Carolina's doings," laughed Langdon. "She said the old +gold chain that my grandfather left me was--" + +"Why, how lovely," murmured Mrs. Spangler, glancing at the watch. "We +have plenty of time yet. Won't have to hurry. Your time is the same as +mine," she added, nodding her head toward a French renaissance clock +on the black marble mantel. + +As the hostess did this she deftly turned back the hands of the +Senator's watch thirty-five minutes. + +"Do you care to smoke, Senator," Mrs. Spangler asked, as her guests +concluded their repast, "if the young ladies do not object?" + +Langdon inclined his head gratefully, and laughed. + +"They wouldn't be Southern girls, I reckon, if they didn't want to +see a man have everything to make him happy--er, I beg pardon, Mrs. +Spangler, I mean, comfortable. Nobody that's your guest could be +unhappy." + +The hostess beamed on the chivalrous Southerner. + +Langdon drew forth a thick black perfecto and settled back luxuriously +in his chair, after another glance at Mrs. Spangler's clock. He was +absorbed in a mental resume of his forthcoming speech and did not hear +the next words of the woman, addressed pointedly to his daughters. + +"Do you know, really, why this luncheon was given to-day?" she +queried. Then she continued before Carolina and Hope Georgia could +formulate replies: + +"Because your father and I wanted to take this opportunity to announce +to you--our engagement." + +The speaker smiled her sweetest smile. + +The two girls gazed at each other in uncontrollable amazement, then at +Mrs. Spangler, then at their father, who had turned partly away from +the table and was gazing abstractedly at the ceiling. + +Hope Georgia was the first to regain her voice. + +"Oh, Mrs. Spangler," she ejaculated, "you are very kind to marry +father, but--" + +"What's that?" exclaimed the Senator, roused from his thoughts by his +youngest daughter's words and thrusting himself forward. + +Mrs. Spangler laid her hand on his arm. + +"Oh, Senator, I have just told the dear girls that you had asked me to +marry you--that we were soon to be married," she said, archly, looking +him straight in the eye. She clasped her hands and murmured: "I am so +happy!" + +The hero of Crawfordsville tried to speak, but he could not. He stared +at his hostess, who smiled the smile of the budding debutante. His own +open-mouthed astonishment was reflected in the faces of Carolina and +Hope Georgia as they observed their father's expression. He forgot he +was in Washington. He did not know he was a Senator. The fact that he +had ever even thought of making a speech was furthest from his mind. + +What did it all mean? Had Mrs. Spangler gone suddenly insane? His +daughters--what did they think? These thoughts surged through his +flustered brain. Then it flashed over him--she was joking in some new +fashionable way. He turned toward the fair widow to laugh, but her +face was losing its smile. A pained expression, a suggestion of +intense suffering, appeared in her face. + +"Why do you so hesitate, Senator Langdon?" she finally asked in low +voice, just loud enough for the two girls to overhear. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi looked at his hostess. She had +entertained him and had done much for his daughters in Washington. She +was alone in the world--a widow. He felt that he could not shame her +before Carolina and Hope Georgia. His Southern chivalry would not +permit that. Then, too, she was a most charming person, and the +thought, "Why not--why not take her at her word?" crept into his mind. + +"Yes, father, why do you hesitate?" asked Carolina. + +Senator Langdon mustered his voice into service at last. + +"I've been thinking," he said, slowly, "that--" + +"That your daughters did not know," interrupted Mrs. Spangler, "of +our--" + +"The telephone--upstairs--is ringing, madam," said a maid who had +entered to Mrs. Spangler. + +The adventuress could not leave the Senator and his daughters alone, +though she knew it must be Peabody calling her. At any moment he might +remember his speech and leave. Already late, he would still be later, +though, because he would have no carriage--hers would purposely be +delayed. + +"Tell the person speaking that you are empowered to bring me any +message--that I cannot leave the dining-hall," she said to the maid. + +To gain time and to hold the Senator's attention, Mrs. Spangler asked, +slowly: + +"Well, Senator, what was it that you were going to say when I +interrupted you a few moments ago?" + +Langdon had been racking his brain for some inspiration that would +enable him to save the feelings of his hostess, and yet indicate his +position clearly. He would not commit himself in any way. He would +jump up and pronounce her an impostor first. + +After a moment of silence his clouded face cleared. + +"Mrs. Spangler," he began, "your announcement to-day I have considered +to be--" + +"Premature," she suggested. + +The maid returned. + +"Mr. Wall says Senator Langdon is wanted at once at the Capitol." + +"Great heavens!" exclaimed Langdon, springing to his feet and glancing +at the clock. "I'm late! I'm late! I hope to God I'm not too late!" + +"Mr. Wall says a carriage is coming for Senator Langdon," concluded +the maid. + +"We must talk this matter over some other time, Mrs. Spangler," the +Mississippian cried, as he sent a servant for his hat and coat. "I +hope that carriage hurries, else I'll try it on the run for the +Capitol!" + +"It's a half hour away on foot," said Mrs. Spangler. "Better wait. +You'll save time." + +But to herself she muttered, as though mystified: + +"I wonder why Peabody changed his mind so suddenly? Why should he now +want the old fool at the Capitol?" + +The rumble of wheels was heard outside. + +"Hurry, father!" cried Hope Georgia. + +The Senator hurried down the stone steps of Mrs. Spangler's residence +as rapidly as his weight and the excitement under which he labored +would permit. Opening the coach door, he plunged inside--to come face +to face with Bud Haines, who had huddled down in a corner to avoid +observance from the Spangler windows. The driver started his horses +off on a run. + +Struggling to regain his breath, the Senator cried: + +"Well, what are--" + +"Never mind now. But first gather in all I say, Senator, as we've +no time to lose. When I couldn't locate you and I saw you probably +wouldn't be at the Senate chamber in time to make your speech on the +naval base bill, I persuaded Senator Milbank of Arkansas to rise and +make a speech on the currency question, which subject was in order. +He was under obligation to me for some important information I once +obtained for him, and he consented to keep the floor until you +arrived, though he knew he would earn the vengeance of Peabody. That +was over an hour and a half ago. He must be reading quotations from +'Pilgrim's Progress' to the Senate by now to keep the floor." + +Bud paused to look at his watch. + +The Senator stretched his head out of the window and cried: "Drive +faster!" + +"Got your speech all right?" called Bud above the din of the rattling +wheels. + +"Yes, here," was the response, the Senator tapping his inner breast +pocket. + +"Thought maybe she--" cried Bud, jerking his head back in the +direction from which they had come. + +The Mississippian shook his head negatively, and set his jaws +determinedly. + +The coach swung up to the Capitol entrance. + +"Tell me," asked Langdon, as both jumped out, "how did you find out +that--" + +"I 'phoned the house--gave a name Peabody uses--" + +"Great heavens! but how did you know where to 'phone?" + +They were at the door of the Senate chamber. + +"Norton gave me the tip--for your sake and Carolina's--for old times' +sake, he said," was Bud's reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE + + +Too much occupied in concentrating his thoughts on his speech, Langdon +failed to notice the consternation on the faces of Peabody and Stevens +as he walked to his seat in the Senate. They had failed to succeed in +getting Milbank to conclude, and consequently could not push the naval +base report through. But they noted the passing of over an hour after +their opponent's appointed time and had felt certain that he would not +appear at all. + +"The boss of the Senate" leaned across to Stevens and whispered, +hurriedly: + +"We must tear him to pieces now--discredit him publicly. It's his own +fault. Our agents can sell the land to Standard Steel. Our connection +with the scheme will be impossible to discover--after we have made the +public believe Langdon is a crook." + +"But how about our supposed combination to protect the Government +that Langdon will tell about?" asked Stevens. "We can't deny that, of +course." + +"No," answered Peabody. "We can't deny it, but we will not affirm it. +We will tell interviewers that we prefer not to talk about it." + +"It's our only chance," replied Stevens, cautiously. + +"Yes; and we owe it all to Jake Steinert," went on Peabody. "That +fellow Telfer will do anything to please Jake. Jake has convinced +Telfer that Langdon was responsible for the defeat of Gulf City, and +the Mayor is wild for revenge." + +"The boss of the Senate" rose and walked to the rear of the Senate +chamber to issue orders to two of his colleagues. + +"Report of the committee on naval affairs." droned the clerk, +mechanically. "House Bill No. 1,109 is amended to read as follows--" +And his voice sank to an unintelligible mumble, for every Senator +present he well knew was aware that the amendment named Altacoola as +the naval base site. + +Senator Langdon rose in his seat. + +"Mr. President," he called. + +"Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi," said the presiding +officer, as he leaned back to speak to Senator Winans of Kansas, who +had approached to the side of the rostrum. + +The Langdon speech on "The New South and the South of the Future" +proved more than a document suited only to a reverent burial in the +_Congressional Record_. Although wearied at the start owing to the +exciting happenings of the day, the Mississippian's enthusiasm for his +cause gave him strength and stimulation as he progressed. His voice +rose majestically as he came to the particular points he wished to +accentuate, and even those in the uppermost rows in the galleries +could hear every word. + +At the close of his formal speech he began on his statement of the +action of the naval affairs committee in buying control of the +Altacoola land to foil attempts to rob the Government. As he had +predicted, the Senate did "sit up." The Senate did agree that a new +kind of politics had arrived. + +During this latter part of the speech many curious glances were +directed at Peabody and Stevens, who sat in the same tier of seats, in +the middle of the chamber, only an aisle separating them. Through +this choice of seats they could confer without leaving their places. +Various senatorial associates of these two men in other deals found +it difficult to believe their ears--but was not old Langdon at this +moment narrating the amazing transaction on the floor of the Senate? +Would the statue on the pedestal step down? Would the sphinx of the +desert speak the story of the lost centuries? Would honor take the +place of expediency in the affairs of state? What might not happen, +thought the Senate machine, now that Peabody and Stevens had taken to +their bosoms what they termed the purple pup of political purity? + +Neither did the full portent of the situation escape the attention +of the reporters' gallery. Dick Cullen observed to Hansel of the +_Record_: + +"Virtue's getting so thick around here it's a menace to navigation." + +"Blocking the traffic, eh?" queried Hansel; and both laughed. + +"Hello! What's this?" exclaimed Cullen a few minutes later. "Horton +has been recognized, when the program was to adjourn when the naval +base bill was over with." + +Langdon's speech had proved the hit, the sensation of the session. +After he concluded, amid resounding applause, in which Senators +joined, as well as occupants of the galleries, Senator Horton of +Montana rose and caught the presiding officer's eye. + +"I ask unanimous consent to offer a resolution." + +Hearing no objection, he continued, in a manner that instantly +attracted unusual attention: + +"It is my unpleasant duty"--Peabody and Stevens exchanged glances--"to +place a matter before this body that to me, as a member of this +honorable body, is not only distasteful, but deeply to be regretted. + +"There has arisen ground to suspect a member of this body with having +endeavored to make money at the Government's expense out of land which +he is alleged to have desired his own committee to choose as the naval +base. + +"I therefore offer this resolution providing for the appointment of an +investigating committee to look into these charges." + +Langdon was intensely excited over this new development. "Some one has +learned something about Peabody or Stevens," he muttered. He feared +that this new complication might in some way affect the fate of the +naval base--that the South, and Mississippi, might lose it. He rose +slowly in his seat, while the Senate hummed with the murmur of +suppressed voices. + +"I ask for more definite information," he began, when recognized +and after the President of the Senate had pounded with the gavel to +restore quiet, "so that this house can consider this important matter +more intelligently." + +Senator Horton rose. He said: + +"I will take the liberty of adding that the Senator accused is none +other than the junior Senator from Mississippi." + +Langdon's eyes blazed. He strode swiftly into the aisle. + +"Mr. President," he cried, passionately, "I know this is not the time +or place for a discussion like this, but ask that senatorial courtesy +permit me to ask"--then he concluded strongly before he could be +stopped--"what is the evidence in support of this preposterous +charge?" + +"This is all out of order," said the presiding officer, after a pause, +"but in view of the circumstances I will entertain a motion to suspend +the rules." + +This motion passing, Horton replied to Langdon: + +"Your name is signed to a contract with J.D. Telfer, Mayor of Gulf +City, Miss., calling for 3,000 shares in the Gulf City Land Company, +and--" + +"A lie! a lie!" screamed Langdon. + +"That official," went on Horton, coolly, "is now in Washington. He +has the contract and will swear to conversations with you and your +secretary. His testimony will be corroborated by no less a personage +than Congressman Norton, of your own district, who says you asked him +to conduct part of the negotiations. + +"And I might add," cried Horton, "that it is known to more than one +member of this honorable body that you had drawn up a minority report +in favor of Gulf City because of your anger at the defeat of your plan +to lake the naval base away from Altacoola." + +Langdon sank into his chair, bewildered, even stunned. There was a +conspiracy against him, but how could he prove it? The ground seemed +crumbling from under him--not even a straw to grasp. Then the old +fighting blood that carried him along in Beauregard's van tugged at +the valves of his heart, revived his spirit, ran through his veins. He +leaped to his feet. + +A sound as of a scuffle--a body falling heavily--drew all eyes from +Langdon to the rear of the main aisle. An assistant sergeant-at-arms +was lying face downward on the carpet. Another was vainly trying to +hold Bud Haines, who, tearing himself free, rushed down to his chief, +waving a sheet of paper in the Senator's eyes. + +"Read that!" gasped the secretary, breathlessly, and he hurried away +up a side passageway and out to reach the stairs leading to the press +gallery. + +Langdon spread the paper before him with difficulty with his trembling +hands. Slowly his whirling brain gave him the ability to read. Slowly +what appeared to him as a jumbled nothing resolved into orderly lines +and words. He read and again stood before the Senate, which had +regained its usual composure after the fallen sergeant-at-arms had +regained his feet and rubbed his bruises. + +"I do not think there will be any investigation," he said, with +decided effort, struggling to down the emotion that choked him. "I ask +this house to listen to the following letter: + + "DEAR SENATOR LANGDON: When you receive this letter I shall be + well on my way to take a steamer for Cuba. I write to ask you not + to think too harshly of me, for I will always cherish thoughts of + the friendship you have shown me. + + "Peabody and Stevens have finally proved too much for me. When + they got old Telfer to swear to a forged contract and wanted me to + forge your name in the land records at Gulf City, I threw up my + hands. Their game will always go on, I suppose, but you gave them + a shock when you broke up their Altacoola graft scheme. And I'm + glad you did They cast me aside to-day, probably thinking they + could get me again if they needed me. + + "I am going on the sugar plantation of a friend, where I can make + a new start and forget that I ever went to Washington." + +Langdon paused deliberately. The Senate was hushed. The galleries were +stifled. Not even the rustle of a sheet of paper was heard in the +reporters' gallery. The Mississippian gazed around the Senate chamber. +He saw Stevens and Peabody craning their necks across the aisle and +talking excitedly to each other. + +Then he stepped forward and spoke, waving the paper in the air. + +"This letter is signed 'Charles Norton.'" + +The old Southerner gazed triumphantly at the men who had sought to +destroy him. It was with difficulty that the presiding officer could +hammer down the burst of handclapping that arose from the galleries. + +Senator Horton, however, was not satisfied with Langdon's sudden +ascendency. + +"How do we know that that letter is not a forgery, a trick?" he +exclaimed. + +"Go get Congressman Norton--if you can--and get his denial," responded +Langdon. + +The junior Senator from Mississippi hurriedly pushed his way out of +the Senate chamber. His day's work was done. + +Down on a broad plantation along the Pearl River an old planter, who +has borne his years well, as life goes nowadays, passes his days +contentedly. He delights in the rompings of his grandchildren as they +rouse the echoes of the mansion and prides himself on the achievements +of their father, Randolph, who has improved the plantation to a point +never reached before. + +Sometimes he receives a letter from his daughter. Hope Georgia, now +Mrs. Haines, telling him of her happy life, or perhaps it is a letter +from Carolina, describing the good times she is having in London with +the friends she is visiting. + +And the old planter goes out on the broad veranda in the warm Southern +twilight, and he thinks of the days that were. He remembers how the +Third Mississippi won the day at Crawfordsville. He thinks of the days +when he fought the good fight in Washington. His thoughts turn to the +memory of her who went before these many years and whom he is soon +to see again, and peace descends on the soul of the gentleman from +Mississippi as the world drops to slumber around him. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Gentleman from Mississippi, by Thomas A. Wise + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A GENTLEMAN FROM MISSISSIPPI *** + +***** This file should be named 10844.txt or 10844.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/4/10844/ + +Produced by Rick Niles, John Hagerson, Josephine Paolucci, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/10844.zip b/old/10844.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9c4e1d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10844.zip |