diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:22:06 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:22:06 -0700 |
| commit | 5073484f4933371e7cc3736b5b996a5e334f24a1 (patch) | |
| tree | 09b4464159d3161c8ec6e71d716c71d563902446 /old | |
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/wc09v10.txt | 19616 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/wc09v10.zip | bin | 0 -> 377052 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/wc09v11.txt | 19616 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/wc09v11.zip | bin | 0 -> 368279 bytes |
4 files changed, 39232 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/wc09v10.txt b/old/wc09v10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..88d3f73 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wc09v10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19616 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, complete +#9 in our series by this Winston Churchill + +This author is a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill the Prime Minister + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These Etexts Are Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below, including for donations. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 + + + +Title: Mr. Crewe's Career, complete + +Author: Winston Churchill + +Release Date: January, 2003 [Etext #3684] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] +[The actual date this file first posted = 07/17/01] +[Last modified date = 11/06/01] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, complete +****This file should be named wc09v11.txt or wc09v11.zip*** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, wc09v12.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wc09v11a.txt + +This etext was produced by Pat Castevans <Patcat@ctnet.net> +and David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +http://gutenberg.net +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 +or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 4,000 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of 10/28/01 contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, +Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, +Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, +New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, +Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, +Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming + +We have filed in about 45 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. Please feel +free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork +to legally request donations in all 50 states. If +your state is not listed and you would like to know +if we have added it since the list you have, just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in +states where we are not yet registered, we know +of no prohibition against accepting donations +from donors in these states who approach us with +an offer to donate. + + +International donations are accepted, +but we don't know ANYTHING about how +to make them tax-deductible, or +even if they CAN be made deductible, +and don't have the staff to handle it +even if there are ways. + +All donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541, +and has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal +Revenue Service (IRS). Donations are tax-deductible to the maximum +extent permitted by law. As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the +additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +*** + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp ftp.ibiblio.org +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + +[NOTE: This author is a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill the Prime Minister +of England during World War II.] + + + + + +MR. CREWE'S CAREER, complete + +By WINSTON CHURCHILL + + + +BOOK 1. + + +CHAPTER I + +THE HONOURABLE HILARY VANE SITS FOR HIS PORTRAIT + +I may as well begin this story with Mr. Hilary Vane, more frequently +addressed as the Honourable Hilary Vane, although it was the gentleman's +proud boast that he had never held an office in his life. He belonged to +the Vanes of Camden Street,--a beautiful village in the hills near +Ripton,--and was, in common with some other great men who had made a +noise in New York and the nation, a graduate of Camden Wentworth Academy. +But Mr. Vane, when he was at home, lived on a wide, maple-shaded street +in the city of Ripton, cared for by an elderly housekeeper who had more +edges than a new-fangled mowing machine. The house was a porticoed one +which had belonged to the Austens for a hundred years or more, for Hilary +Vane had married, towards middle age, Miss Sarah Austen. In two years he +was a widower, and he never tried it again; he had the Austens' house, +and that many-edged woman, Euphrasia Cotton, the Austens' housekeeper. + +The house was of wood, and was painted white as regularly as leap year. +From the street front to the vegetable garden in the extreme rear it was +exceedingly long, and perhaps for propriety's sake--Hilary Vane lived at +one end of it and Euphrasia at the other. Hilary was sixty-five, +Euphrasia seventy, which is not old for frugal people, though it is just +as well to add that there had never been a breath of scandal about either +of them, in Ripton or elsewhere. For the Honourable Hilary's modest +needs one room sufficed, and the front parlour had not been used since +poor Sarah Austen's demise, thirty years before this story opens. + +In those thirty years, by a sane and steady growth, Hilary Vane had +achieved his present eminent position in the State. He was trustee for I +know not how many people and institutions, a deacon in the first church, +a lawyer of such ability that he sometimes was accorded the courtesy- +title of "Judge." His only vice--if it could be called such--was in +occasionally placing a piece, the size of a pea, of a particular kind of +plug tobacco under his tongue,--and this was not known to many people. +Euphrasia could not be called a wasteful person, and Hilary had +accumulated no small portion of this world's goods, and placed them as +propriety demanded, where they were not visible to the naked eye: and be +it added in his favour that he gave as secretly, to institutions and +hospitals the finances and methods of which were known to him. + +As concrete evidence of the Honourable Hilary Vane's importance, when he +travelled he had only to withdraw from his hip-pocket a book in which +many coloured cards were neatly inserted, an open-sesame which permitted +him to sit without payment even in those wheeled palaces of luxury known +as Pullman cars. Within the limits of the State he did not even have to +open the book, but merely say, with a twinkle of his eyes to the +conductor, "Good morning, John," and John would reply with a bow and a +genial and usually witty remark, and point him out to a nobody who sat in +the back of the car. So far had Mr. Hilary Vane's talents carried him. + +The beginning of this eminence dated back to the days before the Empire, +when there were many little principalities of railroads fighting among +themselves. For we are come to a changed America. There was a time, in +the days of the sixth Edward of England, when the great landowners found +it more profitable to consolidate the farms, seize the common lands, and +acquire riches hitherto undreamed of. Hence the rising of tailor Ket and +others, and the leveling of fences and barriers, and the eating of many +sheep. It may have been that Mr. Vane had come across this passage in +English history, but he drew no parallels. His first position of trust +had been as counsel for that principality known in the old days as the +Central Railroad, of which a certain Mr. Duncan had been president, and +Hilary Vane had fought the Central's battles with such telling effect +that when it was merged into the one Imperial Railroad, its stockholders- +-to the admiration of financiers--were guaranteed ten per cent. It was, +indeed, rumoured that Hilary drew the Act of Consolidation itself. At +any rate, he was too valuable an opponent to neglect, and after a certain +interval of time Mr. Vane became chief counsel in the State for the +Imperial Railroad, on which dizzy height we now behold him. And he +found, by degrees, that he had no longer time for private practice. + +It is perhaps gratuitous to add that the Honourable Hilary Vane was a man +of convictions. In politics he would have told you--with some vehemence, +if you seemed to doubt--that he was a Republican. Treason to party he +regarded with a deep-seated abhorrence, as an act for which a man should +be justly outlawed. If he were in a mellow mood, with the right quantity +of Honey Dew tobacco under his tongue, he would perhaps tell you why he +was a Republican, if he thought you worthy of his confidence. He +believed in the gold standard, for one thing; in the tariff (left +unimpaired in its glory) for another, and with a wave of his hand would +indicate the prosperity of the nation which surrounded him,--a prosperity +too sacred to tamper with. + +One article of his belief, and in reality the chief article, Mr. Vane +would not mention to you. It was perhaps because he had never formulated +the article for himself. It might be called a faith in the divine right +of Imperial Railroads to rule, but it was left out of the verbal creed. +This is far from implying hypocrisy to Mr. Vane. It was his foundation- +rock and too sacred for light conversation. When he allowed himself to +be bitter against various "young men with missions" who had sprung up in +various States of the Union, so-called purifiers of politics, he would +call them the unsuccessful with a grievance, and recommend to them the +practice of charity, forbearance, and other Christian virtues. Thank +God, his State was not troubled with such. + +In person Mr. Hilary Vane was tall, with a slight stoop to his shoulders, +and he wore the conventional double-breasted black coat, which reached to +his knees, and square-toed congress boots. He had a Puritan beard, the +hawk-like Vane nose, and a twinkling eye that spoke of a sense of humour +and a knowledge of the world. In short, he was no man's fool, and on +occasions had been more than a match for certain New York lawyers with +national reputations. + +It is rare, in this world of trouble, that such an apparently ideal and +happy state of existence is without a canker. And I have left the +revelation of the canker to the last. Ripton knew it was there, Camden +Street knew it, and Mr. Vane's acquaintances throughout the State; but +nobody ever spoke of it. Euphrasia shed over it the only tears she had +known since Sarah Austen died, and some of these blotted the only letters +she wrote. Hilary Vane did not shed tears, but his friends suspected +that his heart-strings were torn, and pitied him. Hilary Vane fiercely +resented pity, and that was why they did not speak of it. This trouble +of his was the common point on which he and Euphrasia touched, and they +touched only to quarrel. Let us out with it--Hilary Vane had a wild son, +whose name was Austen. + +Euphrasia knew that in his secret soul Mr. Vane attributed this wildness, +and what he was pleased to designate as profligacy, to the Austen blood. +And Euphrasia resented it bitterly. Sarah Austen had been a young, +elfish thing when he married her,--a dryad, the elderly and learned Mrs. +Tredway had called her. Mr Vane had understood her about as well as he +would have understood Mary, Queen of Scots, if he had been married to +that lady. Sarah Austen had a wild, shy beauty, startled, alert eyes +like an animal, and rebellious black hair that curled about her ears and +gave her a faun-like appearance. With a pipe and the costume of Rosalind +she would have been perfect. She had had a habit of running off for the +day into the hills with her son, and the conventions of Ripton had been +to her as so many defunct blue laws. During her brief married life there +had been periods of defiance from her lasting a week, when she would not +speak to Hilary or look at him, and these periods would be followed by +violent spells of weeping in Euphrasia's arms, when the house was no +place for Hilary. He possessed by matrimony and intricate mechanism of +which his really admirable brain could not grasp the first principles; he +felt for her a real if uncomfortable affection, but when she died he +heaved a sigh of relief, at which he was immediately horrified. + +Austen he understood little better, but his affection for the child may +be likened to the force of a great river rushing through a narrow gorge, +and he vied with Euphrasia in spoiling him. Neither knew what they were +doing, and the spoiling process was interspersed with occasional and (to +Austen) unmeaning intervals of severe discipline. The boy loved the +streets and the woods and his fellow-beings; his punishments were a +series of afternoons in the house, during one of which he wrecked the +bedroom where he was confined, and was soundly whaled with an old slipper +that broke under the process. Euphrasia kept the slipper, and once +showed it to Hilary during a quarrel they had when the boy was grown up +and gone and the house was silent, and Hilary had turned away, choking, +and left the room. Such was his cross. + +To make it worse, the boy had love his father. Nay, still loved him. As +a little fellow, after a scolding for some wayward prank, he would throw +himself into Hilary's arms and cling to him, and would never know how +near he came to unmanning him. As Austen grew up, they saw the world in +different colours: blue to Hilary was red to Austen, and white, black; +essentials to one were non-essentials to the other; boys and girls, men +and women, abhorred by one were boon companions to the other. + +Austen made fun of the minister, and was compelled to go church twice on +Sundays and to prayer-meeting on Wednesdays. Then he went to Camden +Street, to live with his grandparents in the old Vane house and attend +Camden Wentworth Academy. His letters, such as they were, were +inimitable if crude, but contained not the kind of humour Hilary Vane +knew. Camden Wentworth, principal and teachers, was painted to the life; +and the lad could hardly wait for vacation time to see his father, only +to begin quarreling with him again. + +I pass over escapades in Ripton that shocked one half of the population +and convulsed the other half. Austen went to the college which his +father had attended,--a college of splendid American traditions,--and his +career there might well have puzzled a father of far greater tolerance +and catholicity. Hilary Vane was a trustee, and journeyed more than once +to talk the matter over with the president, who had been his classmate +there. + +"I love that boy, Hilary," the president had said at length, when pressed +for a frank opinion,--"there isn't a soul in the place, I believe, that +doesn't,--undergraduates and faculty,--but he has given me more anxious +thought than any scholar I have ever had." + +"Trouble," corrected Mr. Vane, sententiously. + +"Well, yes, trouble," answered the president, smiling, "but upon my soul, +I think it is all animal spirits." + +"A euphemism for the devil," said Hilary, grimly; "he is the animal part +of us, I have been brought up to believe." + +The president was a wise man, and took another tack. + +"He has a really remarkable mind, when he chooses to use it. Every once +in a while he takes your breath away--but he has to become interested. A +few weeks ago Hays came to me direct from his lecture room to tell me +about a discussion of Austen's in constitutional law. Hays, you know, is +not easily enthused, but he declares your son has as fine a legal brain +as he has come across in his experience. But since then, I am bound to +admit," added the president, sadly, "Austen seems not to have looked at a +lesson." + +"'Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel,'" replied Hilary. + +"He'll sober down," said the president, stretching his conviction a +little, "he has two great handicaps: he learns too easily, and he is too +popular." The president looked out of his study window across the +common, surrounded by the great elms which had been planted when Indian +lads played among the stumps and the red flag of England had flown from +the tall pine staff. The green was covered now with students of a +conquering race, skylarking to and fro as they looked on at a desultory +baseball game. "I verily believe," said the president, "at a word from +your son, most of them would put on their coats and follow him on any mad +expedition that came into his mind." + +Hilary Vane groaned more than once in the train back to Ripton. It meant +nothing to him to be the father of the most popular man in college. + +"The mad expedition" came at length in the shape of a fight with the +townspeople, in which Austen, of course, was the ringleader. If he had +inherited his mother's eccentricities, he had height and physique from +the Vanes, and one result was a week in bed for the son of the local +plumber and a damage suit against the Honourable Hilary. Another result +was that Austen and a Tom Gaylord came back to Ripton on a long +suspension, which, rumour said, would have been expulsion if Hilary were +not a trustee. Tom Gaylord was proud of suspension in such company. +More of him later. He was the son of old Tom Gaylord, who owned more +lumber than any man in the State, and whom Hilary Vane believed to be the +receptacle of all the vices. + +Eventually Austen went back and graduated--not summa cum laude, honesty +compels me to add. Then came the inevitable discussion, and to please +his father he went to the Harvard Law School for two years. At the end +of that time, instead of returning to Ripton, a letter had come from him +with the postmark of a Western State, where he had fled with a classmate +who owned ranch. Evidently the worldly consideration to be derived from +conformity counted little with Austen Vane. Money was a medium only--not +an end. He was in the saddle all day, with nothing but the horizon to +limit him; he loved his father, and did not doubt his father's love for +him, and he loved Euphrasia. He could support himself, but he must see +life. The succeeding years brought letters and quaint, useless presents +to both the occupants of the lonely house,--Navajo blankets and Indian +jeweler and basket-work,--and Austen little knew how carefully these were +packed away and surreptitiously gazed at from time to time. But to +Hilary the Western career was a disgrace, and such meagre reports of it +as came from other sources than Austen tended only to confirm him in this +opinion. + +It was commonly said of Mr. Paul Pardriff that not a newspaper fell from +the press that he did not have a knowledge of its contents. Certain it +was that Mr. Pardriff made a specialty of many kinds of knowledge, +political and otherwise, and, the information he could give--if he chose- +-about State and national affairs was of a recondite and cynical nature +that made one wish to forget about the American flag. Mr. Pardriff was +under forty, and with these gifts many innocent citizens of Ripton +naturally wondered why the columns of his newspaper, the Ripton Record, +did not more closely resemble the spiciness of his talk in the office of +Gales' Hotel. The columns contained, instead, such efforts as essays on +a national flower and the abnormal size of the hats of certain great men, +notably Andrew Jackson; yes, and the gold standard; and in times of +political stress they were devoted to a somewhat fulsome praise of +regular and orthodox Republican candidates,--and praise of any one was +not in character with the editor. Ill-natured people said that the +matter in his paper might possibly be accounted for by the gratitude of +the candidates, and the fact that Mr. Pardriff and his wife and his maid- +servant and his hired man travelled on pink mileage books, which could +only be had for love--not money. On the other hand, reputable witnesses +had had it often from Mr. Pardriff that he was a reformer, and not at all +in sympathy with certain practices which undoubtedly existed. + +Some years before--to be exact, the year Austen Vane left the law school- +-Mr. Pardriff had proposed to exchange the Ripton Record with the editor +of the Pepper County Plainsman in afar Western State. The exchange was +effected, and Mr. Pardriff glanced over the Plainsman regularly once a +week, though I doubt whether the Western editor ever read the Record +after the first copy. One day in June Mr. Pardriff was seated in his +sanctum above Merrill's drug store when his keen green eyes fell upon the +following:-- + +"The Plainsman considers it safe to say that the sympathy of the people +of Pepper County at large is with Mr. Austen Vane, whose personal +difficulty with Jim Blodgett resulted so disastrously for Mr. Blodgett. +The latter gentleman has long made himself obnoxious to local ranch +owners by his persistent disregard of property lines and property, and it +will be recalled that he is at present in hot water with the energetic +Secretary of the Interior for fencing government lands. Vane, who was +recently made manager of Ready Money Ranch, is one of the most popular +young men in the county. He was unwillingly assisted over the State line +by his friends. Although he has never been a citizen of the State, the +Plainsman trusts that he may soon be back and become one of us. At last +report Mr. Blodgett was resting easily." + +This article obtained circulation in Ripton, although it was not copied +into the Record out of deference to the feelings of the Honourable Hilary +Vane. In addition to the personal regard Mr. Pardriff professed to have +for the Honourable Hilary, it maybe well to remember that Austen's father +was, among other, things, chairman of the State Committee. Mr. Tredway +(largest railroad stockholder in Ripton) pursed his lips that were +already pursed. Tom Gaylord roared with laughter. Two or three days +later the Honourable Hilary, still in blissful ignorance, received a +letter that agitated him sorely. + +"DEAR FATHER: I hope you don't object to receiving a little visit from a +prodigal, wayward son. To tell the truth, I have found it convenient to +leave the Ready Money Ranch for a while, although Bob Tyner is good +enough to say I may have the place when I come back. You know I often +think of you and Phrasie back in Ripton, and I long to see the dear old +town again. Expect me when you see me. + +"Your aff. son, + +"AUSTEN." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ON THE TREATMENT OF PRODIGALS + +While Euphrasia, in a frenzy of anticipation, garnished and swept the +room which held for her so many memories of Austen's boyhood, even +beating the carpet with her own hands, Hilary Vane went about his +business with no apparent lack of diligence. But he was meditating. He +had many times listened to the Reverend Mr. Weightman read the parable +from the pulpit, but he had never reflected how it would be to be the +father of a real prodigal. What was to be done about the calf? Was +there to be a calf, or was there not? To tell the truth, Hilary wanted a +calf, and yet to have one (in spite of Holy Writ) would seem to set a +premium on disobedience and riotous living. + +Again, Austen had reached thirty, an age when it was not likely he would +settle down and live an orderly and godly life among civilized beings, +and therefore a fatted calf was likely to be the first of many follies +which he (Hilary) would live to regret. No, he would deal with justice. +How he dealt will be seen presently, but when he finally reached this +conclusion, the clipping from the Pepper County Plainsman had not yet +come before his eyes. + +It is worth relating how the clipping did come before his eyes, for no +one in Ripton had the temerity to speak of it. Primarily, it was because +Miss Victoria Flint had lost a terrier, and secondarily, because she was +a person of strong likes and dislikes. In pursuit of the terrier she +drove madly through Leith, which, as everybody knows, is a famous colony +of rich summer residents. Victoria probably stopped at every house in +Leith, and searched them with characteristic vigour and lack of ceremony, +sometimes entering by the side door, and sometimes by the front, and +caring very little whether the owners were at home or not. Mr. Humphrey +Crewe discovered her in a boa-stall at Wedderburn,--as his place was +called,--for it made little difference to Victoria that Mr. Crewe was a +bachelor of marriageable age and millions. Full, as ever, of practical +suggestions, Mr. Crewe proposed to telephone to Ripton and put an +advertisement in the Record, which--as he happened to know--went to press +the next day. Victoria would not trust to the telephone, whereupon Mr. +Crewe offered to drive down with her. + +"You'd bore me, Humphrey," said she, as she climbed into her runabout +with the father and grandfather of the absentee. Mr. Crewe laughed as +she drove away. He had a chemical quality of turning invidious remarks +into compliments, and he took this one as Victoria's manner of saying +that she did not wish to disturb so important a man. + +Arriving in the hot main street of Ripton, her sharp eyes descried the +Record sign over the drug store, and in an astonishingly short time she +was in the empty office. Mr. Pardriff was at dinner. She sat down in +the editorial chair and read a great deal of uninteresting matter, but at +last found something on the floor (where the wind had blown it) which +made her laugh. It was the account of Austen Vane's difficulty with Mr. +Blodgett. Victoria did not know Austen, but she knew that the Honourable +Hilary had a son of that name who had gone West, and this was what +tickled her. She thrust the clipping in the pocket of her linen coat +just as Mr. Pardriff came in. + +Her conversation with the editor of the Record proved so entertaining +that she forgot all about the clipping until she had reached Fairview, +and had satisfied a somewhat imperious appetite by a combination of lunch +and afternoon tea. Fairview was the "summer place" of Mr. Augustus P. +Flint, her father, on a shelf of the hills in the town of Tunbridge, +equidistant from Leith and Ripton: and Mr. Flint was the president of the +Imperial Railroad, no less. + +Yes, he had once been plain Gus Flint, many years ago, when he used to +fetch the pocket-handkerchiefs of Mr. Isaac D. Worthington of Brampton, +and he was still "Gus" to his friends. Mr. Flint's had been the brain +which had largely conceived and executed the consolidation of +principalities of which the Imperial Railroad was the result and, as +surely as tough metal prevails, Mr. Flint, after many other trials and +errors of weaker stuff, had been elected to the place for which he was so +supremely fitted. We are so used in America to these tremendous rises +that a paragraph will suffice to place Mr. Flint in his Aladdin's palace. +To do him justice, he cared not a fig for the palace, and he would have +been content with the farmhouse under the hill where his gardener lived. +You could not fool Mr. Flint on a horse or a farm, and he knew to a dot +what a railroad was worth by travelling over it. Like his governor- +general and dependent, Mr. Hilary Vane, he had married a wife who had +upset all his calculations. The lady discovered Mr. Flint's balance in +the bank, and had proceeded to use it for her own glorification, and the +irony of it all was that he could defend it from everybody else. Mrs. +Flint spent, and Mr. Flint paid the bills; for the first ten years +protestingly, and after that he gave it up and let her go her own gait. + +She had come from the town of Sharon, in another State, through which Mr. +Flint's railroad also ran, and she had been known as the Rose of that +place. She had begun to rise immediately, with the kite-like +adaptability of the American woman for high altitudes, and the leaden +weight of the husband at the end of the tail was as nothing to her. She +had begun it all by the study of people in hotels while Mr. Flint was +closeted with officials and directors. By dint of minute observation and +reasoning powers and unflagging determination she passed rapidly through +several strata, and had made a country place out of her husband's farm in +Tunbridge, so happily and conveniently situated near Leith. In winter +they lived on Fifth Avenue. + +One daughter alone had halted, for a minute period, this progress, and +this daughter was Victoria--named by her mother. Victoria was now +twenty-one, and was not only of another generation, but might almost have +been judged of another race than her parents. The things for which her +mother had striven she took for granted, and thought of them not at all, +and she had by nature that simplicity and astonishing frankness of manner +and speech which was once believed to be an exclusive privilege of +duchesses. + +To return to Fairview. Victoria, after sharing her five o'clock luncheon +with her dogs, went to seek her father, for the purpose (if it must be +told) of asking him for a cheque. Mr. Flint was at Fairview on the +average of two days out of the week during the summer, and then he was +nearly always closeted with a secretary and two stenographers and a long- +distance telephone in two plain little rooms at the back of the house. +And Mr. Hilary Vane was often in consultation with him, as he was on the +present occasion when Victoria flung open the door. At sight of Mr. Vane +she halted suddenly on the threshold, and a gleam of mischief came into +her eye as she thrust her hand into her coat pocket. The two regarded +her with the detached air of men whose thread of thought has been broken. + +"Well, Victoria," said her father, kindly if resignedly, "what is it +now?" + +"Money," replied Victoria, promptly; "I went to Avalon this morning and +bought that horse you said I might have." + +"What horse?" asked Mr. Flint, vaguely. "But never mind. Tell Mr. +Freeman to make out the cheque." + +Mr. Vane glanced at Mr. Flint, and his eyes twinkled. Victoria, who had +long ago discovered the secret of the Honey Dew, knew that he was rolling +it under his tongue and thinking her father a fool for his indulgence. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane?" she said; "Austen's coming home, isn't he?" +She had got this by feminine arts out of Mr. Paul Pardriff, to whom she +had not confided the fact of her possession of the clipping. + +The Honourable Hilary gave a grunt, as he always did when he was +surprised and displeased, as though some one had prodded him with a stick +in a sensitive spot. + +"Your son? Why, Vane, you never told me that," said Mr. Flint. "I +didn't know that you knew him, Victoria." + +"I don't," answered Victoria, "but I'd like to. What did he do to Mr. +Blodgett?" she demanded of Hilary. + +"Mr. Blodgett!" exclaimed that gentleman. "I never heard of him. What's +happened to him?" + +"He will probably recover," she assured him. + +The Honourable Hilary, trying in vain to suppress his agitation, rose to +his feet. + +"I don't know what you're talking about, Victoria," he said, but his +glance was fixed on the clipping in her hand. + +"Haven't you seen it?" she asked, giving it to him. + +He read it in silence, groaned, and handed it to Mr. Flint, who had been +drumming on the table and glancing at Victoria with vague disapproval. +Mr. Flint read it and gave it back to the Honourable Hilary, who groaned +again and looked out of the window. + +"Why do you feel badly about it?" asked Victoria. "I'd be proud of him, +if I were you." + +"Proud of him" echoed Mr. Vane, grimly. "Proud of him!" + +"Victoria, what do you mean?" said Mr. Flint. + +"Why not?" said Victoria. "He's done nothing to make you ashamed. +According to that clipping, he's punished a man who richly deserved to be +punished, and he has the sympathy of an entire county." + +Hilary Vane was not a man to discuss his domestic affliction with +anybody, so he merely grunted and gazed persistently out of the window, +and was not aware of the fact that Victoria made a little face at him as +she left the room. The young are not always impartial judges of the old, +and Victoria had never forgiven him for carrying to her father the news +of an escapade of hers in Ripton. + +As he drove through the silent forest roads on his way homeward that +afternoon, the Honourable Hilary revolved the new and intensely +disagreeable fact in his mind as to how he should treat a prodigal who +had attempted manslaughter and was a fugitive from justice. In the +meantime a tall and spare young man of a red-bronze colour alighted from +the five o'clock express at Ripton and grinned delightedly at the +gentlemen who made the station their headquarters about train time. They +were privately disappointed that the gray felt hat, although broad- +brimmed, was not a sombrero, and the respectable, loose-fitting suit of +clothes was not of buckskin with tassels on the trousers; and likewise +that he came without the cartridge belt and holster which they had +pictured in anticipatory sessions on the baggage-trucks. There could be +no doubt of the warmth of their greeting as they sidled up and seized a +hand somewhat larger than theirs, but the welcome had in it an ingredient +of awe that puzzled the newcomer, who did not hesitate to inquire:-- + +"What's the matter, Ed? Why so ceremonious, Perley?" + +But his eagerness did not permit him to wait for explanations. Grasping +his bag, the only baggage he possessed, he started off at a swinging +stride for Hanover Street, pausing only to shake the hands of the few who +recognized him, unconscious of the wild-fire at his back. Hanover Street +was empty that drowsy summer afternoon, and he stopped under the well- +remembered maples before the house and gazed at it long and tenderly; +even at the windows of that room--open now for the first time in years-- +where he had served so many sentences of imprisonment. Then he went +cautiously around by the side and looked in at the kitchen door. To +other eyes than his Euphrasia might not have seemed a safe person to +embrace, but in a moment he had her locked in his arms and weeping. She +knew nothing as yet of Mr. Blodgett's misfortunes, but if Austen Vane had +depopulated a county it would have made no difference in her affection. + +"My, but you're a man," exclaimed Euphrasia, backing away at last and +staring at him with the only complete approval she had ever accorded to +any human being save one. + +"What did you expect, Phrasie?" + +"Come, and I'll show you your room," she said, in a gutter she could not +hide; "it's got all the same pictures in, your mother's pictures, and the +chair you broke that time when Hilary locked you in. It's mended." + +"Hold on, Phrasie," said Austen, seizing her by the apron-strings, "how +about the Judge?" It was by this title he usually designated his father. + +"What about him?" demanded Euphrasia, sharply. + +"Well, it's his house, for one thing," answered Austen, "and he may +prefer to have that room--empty." + +"Empty! Turn you out? I'd like to see him," cried Euphrasia. "It +wouldn't take me long to leave him high and dry." + +She paused at the sound of wheels, and there was the Honourable Hilary, +across the garden patch, in the act of slipping out of his buggy at the +stable door. In the absence of Luke, the hired man, the chief counsel +for the railroad was wont to put up the horse himself, and he already had +the reins festooned from the bit rings when he felt a heavy, hand on his +shoulder and heard a voice say:-- + +"How are you, Judge?" + +If the truth be told, that voice and that touch threw the Honourable +Hilary's heart out of beat. Many days he had been schooling himself for +this occasion: this very afternoon he had determined his course of +action, which emphatically did not include a fatted calf. And now surged +up a dryad-like memory which had troubled him many a wakeful night, of +startled, appealing eyes that sought his in vain, and of the son she had +left him flinging himself into his arms in the face of chastisement. For +the moment Hilary Vane, under this traitorous influence, was unable to +speak. But he let the hand rest on his shoulder, and at length was able +to pronounce, in a shamefully shaky voice, the name of his son. +Whereupon Austen seized him by the other shoulder and turned him round +and looked into his face. + +"The same old Judge," he said. + +But Hilary was startled, even as Euphrasia had been. Was this strange, +bronzed, quietly humorous young man his son? Hilary even had to raise +his eyes a little; he had forgotten how tall Austen was. Strange +emotions, unbidden and unwelcome, ran riot in his breast; and Hilary +Vane, who made no slips before legislative committees or supreme courts, +actually found himself saying:-- + +"Euphrasia's got your room ready." + +"It's good of you to take me in, Judge," said Austen, patting his +shoulder. And then he began, quite naturally to unbuckle the breechings +and loose the traces, which he did with such deftness and celerity that +he had the horse unharnessed and in the stall in a twinkling, and had +hauled the buggy through the stable door, the Honourable Hilary watching +him the while. He was troubled, but for the life of him could find no +adequate words, who usually had the dictionary at his disposal. + +"Didn't write me why you came home," said the Honourable Hilary, as his +son washed his hands at the spigot. + +"Didn't I? Well, the truth was I wanted to see you again, Judge." + +His father grunted, not with absolute displeasure, but suspiciously. + +"How about Blodgett?" he asked. + +"Blodgett? Have you heard about that? Who told you?" + +"Never mind. You didn't. Nothing in your letter about it." + +"It wasn't worth mentioning," replied Austen. "Tyner and the boys liked +it pretty well, but I didn't think you'd be interested. It was a local +affair." + +"Not interested! Not worth mentioning!" exclaimed the Honourable Hilary, +outraged to discover that his son was modestly deprecating an achievement +instead of defending a crime. "Godfrey! murder ain't worth mentioning, I +presume." + +"Not when it isn't successful," said Austen. "If Blodgett had succeeded, +I guess you'd have heard of it before you did." + +"Do you mean to say this Blodgett tried to kill you?" demanded the +Honourable Hilary. + +"Yes," said his son, "and I've never understood why he didn't. He's a +good deal better shot than I am." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted, and sat down on a bucket and carefully +prepared a piece of Honey Dew. He was surprised and agitated. + +"Then why are you a fugitive from justice if you were acting in self- +defence?" he inquired. + +"Well, you see there were no witnesses, except a Mexican of Blodgett's, +and Blodgett runs the Pepper County machine for the railroad out there. +I'd been wanting to come East and have a look at you for some time, and I +thought I might as well come now." + +"How did this--this affair start?" asked Mr. Vane. + +"Blodgett was driving in some of Tyner's calves, and I caught him. I +told him what I thought of him, and he shot at me through his pocket. +That was all." + +"All! You shot him, didn't you?" + +"I was lucky enough to hit him first," said Austen. + +Extraordinary as it may seem, the Honourable Hilary experienced a sense +of pride. + +"Where did you hit him?" he asked. + +It was Euphrasia who took matters in her own hands and killed the fatted +calf, and the meal to which they presently sat down was very different +from the frugal suppers Mr. Vane usually had. But he made no comment. +It is perhaps not too much to say that he would have been distinctly +disappointed had it been otherwise. There was Austen's favourite pie, +and Austen's favourite cake, all inherited from the Austens, who had +thought more of the fleshpots than people should. And the prodigal did +full justice to the occasion. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CONCERNING THE PRACTICE OF LAW + +So instinctively do we hark back to the primeval man that there was a +tendency to lionize the prodigal in Ripton, which proves the finished +civilization of the East not to be so far removed from that land of +outlaws, Pepper County. Mr. Paul Pardriff, who had a guilty conscience +about the clipping, and vividly bearing in mind Mr. Blodgett's mishap, +alone avoided young Mr. Vane; and escaped through the type-setting room +and down an outside stairway in the rear when that gentleman called. It +gave an ironical turn to the incident that Mr. Pardriff was at the moment +engaged in a "Welcome Home" paragraph meant to be propitiatory. + +Austen cared very little for lionizing. He spent most of his time with +young Tom Gaylord, now his father's right-hand man in a tremendous lumber +business. And Tom, albeit he had become so important, habitually fell +once more under the domination of the hero of his youthful days. +Together these two visited haunts of their boyhood, camping and fishing +and scaling mountains, Tom with an eye to lumbering prospects the while. + +After a matter of two or three months bad passed away in this pleasant +though unprofitable manner, the Honourable Hilary requested the presence +of his son one morning at his office. This office was in what had once +been a large residence, and from its ample windows you could look out +through the elms on to the square. Old-fashioned bookcases lined with +musty books filled the walls, except where a steel engraving of a legal +light or a railroad map of the State was hung, and the Honourable Hilary +sat in a Windsor chair at a mahogany table in the middle. + +The anteroom next door, where the clerks sat, was also a waiting-room for +various individuals from the different parts of the State who continually +sought the counsel's presence. + +"Haven't seen much of you since you've be'n home, Austen," his father +remarked as an opening. + +"Your--legal business compels you to travel a great deal," answered +Austen, turning from the window and smiling. + +"Somewhat," said the Honourable Hilary, on whom this pleasantry was not +lost. "You've be'n travelling on the lumber business, I take it." + +"I know more about it than I did," his son admitted. + +The Honourable Hilary grunted. + +"Caught a good many fish, haven't you?" + +Austen crossed the room and sat on the edge of the desk beside his +father's chair. + +"See here, Judge," he said, "what are you driving at? Out with it." + +"When are you--going back West?" asked Mr. Vane. + +Austen did not answer at once, but looked down into his father's +inscrutable face. + +"Do you want to get rid of me?" he said. + +"Sowed enough wild oats, haven't you?" inquired the father. + +"I've sowed a good many," Austen admitted. + +"Why not settle down?" + +"I haven't yet met the lady, Judge," replied his son. + +"Couldn't support her if you had," said Mr. Vane. + +"Then it's fortunate," said Austen, resolved not to be the necessary +second in a quarrel. He knew his father, and perceived that these +preliminary and caustic openings of his were really olive branches. + +"Sometimes I think you might as well be in that outlandish country, for +all I see of you," said the Honourable Hilary. + +"You ought to retire from business and try fishing," his son suggested. + +The Honourable Hilary sometimes smiled. + +"You've got a good brain, Austen, and what's the use of wasting it +chasing cattle and practising with a pistol on your fellow-beings? You +won't have much trouble in getting admitted to the bar. Come into the +office." + +Austen did not answer at once. He suspected that it had cost his father +not a little to make these advances. + +"Do you believe you and I could get along, Judge? How long do you think +it would last?" + +"I've considered that some," answered the Honourable Hilary, "but I won't +last a great while longer myself." + +"You're as sound as a bronco," declared Austen, patting him. + +"I never was what you might call dissipated," agreed Mr. Vane, "but men +don't go on forever. I've worked hard all my life, and got where I am, +and I've always thought I'd like to hand it on to you. It's a position +of honour and trust, Austen, and one of which any lawyer might be proud." + +"My ambition hasn't run in exactly that channel," said his son. + +"Didn't know as you had any precise ambition," responded the Honourable +Hilary, "but I never heard of a man refusing to be chief counsel for a +great railroad. I don't say you can be, mind, but I say with work and +brains it's as easy for the son of Hilary Vane as for anybody else." + +"I don't know much about the duties of such a position," said Austen, +laughing, "but at all events I shall have time to make up my mind how to +answer Mr. Flint when he comes to me with the proposal. To speak +frankly, Judge, I hadn't thought of spending the whole of what might +otherwise prove a brilliant life in Ripton." + +The Honourable Hilary smiled again, and then he grunted. + +"I tell you what I'll do," he said; "you come in with me and agree to +stay five years. If you've done well for yourself, and want to go to New +York or some large place at the end of that time, I won't hinder you. +But I feel it my duty to say, if you don't accept my offer, no son of +mine shall inherit what I've laid up by hard labour. It's against +American doctrine, and it's against my principles. You can go back to +Pepper County and get put in jail, but you can't say I haven't warned you +fairly." + +"You ought to leave your fortune to the railroad, Judge," said Austen. +"Generations to come would bless your name if you put up a new station in +Ripton and built bridges over Bunker Hill grade crossing and the other +one on Heath Street where Nic Adams was killed last month. I shouldn't +begrudge a cent of the money." + +"I suppose I was a fool to talk to you," said the Honourable Hilary, +getting up. + +But his son pushed him down again into the Windsor chair. + +"Hold on, Judge," he said, "that was just my way of saying if I accepted +your offer, it wouldn't be because I yearned after the money. Thinking +of it has never kept me awake nights. Now if you'll allow me to take a +few days once in a while to let off steam, I'll make a counter proposal, +in the nature of a compromise." + +"What's that?" the Honourable Hilary demanded suspiciously. + +"Provided I get admitted to the bar I will take a room in another part of +this building and pick up what crumbs of practice I can by myself. Of +course, sir, I realize that these, if they come at all, will be owing to +the lustre of your name. But I should, before I become Mr. Flint's +right-hand man, like to learn to walk with my own legs." + +The speech pleased the Honourable Hilary, and he put out his hand. + +"It's a bargain, Austen," he said. + +"I don't mind telling you now, Judge, that when I left the West I left it +for good, provided you and I could live within a decent proximity. And I +ought to add that I always intended going into the law after I'd had a +fling. It isn't fair to leave you with the impression that this is a +sudden determination. Prodigals don't become good as quick as all that." + +Ripton caught its breath a second time the day Austen hired a law office, +nor did the surprise wholly cease when, in one season, he was admitted to +the bar, for the proceeding was not in keeping with the habits and +customs of prodigals. Needless to say, the practice did not immediately +begin to pour in, but the little office rarely lacked a visitor, and +sometimes had as many as five or six. There was an irresistible +attraction about that room, and apparently very little law read there, +though sometimes its occupant arose and pushed the visitors into the hall +and locked the door, and opened the window at the top to let the smoke +out. Many of the Honourable Hilary's callers preferred the little room +in the far corridor to the great man's own office. + +These visitors of the elder Mr. Vane's, as has been before hinted, were +not all clients. Without burdening the reader too early with a treatise +on the fabric of a system, suffice it to say that something was +continually going on that was not law; and gentlemen came and went--fat +and thin, sharp-eyed and red-faced--who were neither clients nor lawyers. +These were really secretive gentlemen, though most of them had a hail- +fellow-well-met manner and a hearty greeting, but when they talked to the +Honourable Hilary it was with doors shut, and even then they sat very +close to his ear. Many of them preferred now to wait in Austen's office +instead of the anteroom, and some of them were not so cautious with the +son of Hilary Vane that they did not let drop certain observations to set +him thinking. He had a fanciful if somewhat facetious way of calling +them by feudal titles which made them grin. + +"How is the Duke of Putnam this morning?" he would ask of the gentleman +of whom the Ripton Record would frequently make the following +announcement: "Among the prominent residents of Putnam County in town +this week was the Honourable Brush Bascom." + +The Honourable Brush and many of his associates, barons and earls, albeit +the shrewdest of men, did not know exactly how to take the son of Hilary +Vane. This was true also of the Honourable Hilary himself, who did not +wholly appreciate the humour in Austen's parallel of the feudal system. +Although Austen had set up for himself, there were many ways--not legal-- +in which the son might have been helpful to the father, but the +Honourable Hilary hesitated, for some unformulated reason, to make use of +him; and the consequence was that Mr. Hamilton Tooting and other young +men of a hustling nature in the Honourable Hilary's office found that +Austen's advent did not tend greatly to lighten a certain class of their +labours. In fact, father and son were not much nearer in spirit than +when ode had been in Pepper County and the other in Ripton. Caution and +an instinct which senses obstacles are characteristics of gentlemen in +Mr. Vane's business. + +So two years passed,--years liberally interspersed with expeditions into +the mountains and elsewhere, and nights spent in the company of Tom +Gaylord and others. During this period Austen was more than once +assailed by the temptation to return to the free life of Pepper County, +Mr. Blodgett having completely recovered now, and only desiring vengeance +of a corporal nature. But a bargain was a bargain, and Austen Vane stuck +to his end of it, although he had now begun to realize many aspects of a +situation which he had not before suspected. He had long foreseen, +however, that the time was coming when a serious disagreement with his +father was inevitable. In addition to the difference in temperament, +Hilary Vane belonged to one generation and Austen to another. + +It happened, as do so many incidents which tend to shape a life, by a +seeming chance. It was a Tune evening, and there had been a church +sociable and basket picnic during the day in a grove in the town of +Mercer, some ten miles south of Ripton. The grove was bounded on one +side by the railroad track, and merged into a thick clump of second +growth and alders where there was a diagonal grade crossing. The picnic +was over and the people preparing to go home when they were startled by a +crash, followed by the screaming of brakes as a big engine flew past the +grove and brought a heavy train to a halt some distance down the grade. +The women shrieked and dropped the dishes they were washing, and the men +left their horses standing and ran to the crossing and then stood for the +moment helpless, in horror at the scene which met their eyes. The wagon +of one--of their own congregation was in splinters, a man (a farmer of +the neighbourhood) lying among the alders with what seemed a mortal +injury. Amid the lamentations and cries for some one to go to Mercer +Village for the doctor a young man drove up rapidly and sprang out of a +buggy, trusting to some one to catch his horse, pushed, through the ring +of people, and bent over the wounded farmer. In an instant he had +whipped out a knife, cut a stick from one of the alders, knotted his +handkerchief around the man's leg, ran the stick through the knot, and +twisted the handkerchief until the blood ceased to flow. They watched +him, paralyzed, as the helpless in this world watch the capable, and +before he had finished his task the train crew and some passengers began +to arrive. + +"Have you a doctor aboard, Charley?" the young man asked. + +"No," answered the conductor, who had been addressed; "my God, not one, +Austen." + +"Back up your train," said Austen, "and stop your baggage car here. And +go to the grove," he added to one of the picnickers, "and bring four or +five carriage cushions. And you hold this." + +The man beside him took the tourniquet, as he was bid. Austen Vane drew +a note-book from his pocket. + +"I want this man's name and address," he said, "and the names and +addresses of every person here, quickly." + +He did not lift his voice, but the man who had taken charge of such a +situation was not to be denied. They obeyed him, some eagerly, some +reluctantly, and by that time the train had backed down and the cushions +had arrived. They laid these on the floor of the baggage car and lifted +the man on to them. His name was Zeb Meader, and he was still +insensible. Austen Vane, with a peculiar set look upon his face, sat +beside him all the way into Ripton. He spoke only once, and that was to +tell the conductor to telegraph from Avalon to have the ambulance from +St. Mary's Hospital meet the train at Ripton. + +The next day Hilary Vane, returning from one of his periodical trips to +the northern part of the State, invaded his son's office. + +"What's this they tell me about your saving a man's life?" he asked, +sinking into one of the vacant chairs and regarding Austen with his +twinkling eyes. + +"I don't know what they tell you," Austen answered. "I didn't do +anything but get a tourniquet on his leg and have him put on the train." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted, and continued to regard his son. Then he +cut a piece of Honey Dew. + +"Looks bad, does it?" he said. + +"Well," replied Austen, "it might have been done better. It was bungled. +In a death-trap as cleverly conceived as that crossing, with a down grade +approaching it, they ought to have got the horse too." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted again, and inserted the Honey Dew. He +resolved to ignore the palpable challenge in this remark, which was in +keeping with this new and serious mien in Austen. + +"Get the names of witnesses?" was his next question. + +"I took particular pains to do so." + +"Hand 'em over to Tooting. What kind of man is this Meagre?" + +"He is rather meagre now," said Austen, smiling a little. "His name's +Meader." + +"Is he likely to make a fuss?" + +"I think he is," said Austen. + +"Well," said the Honourable Hilary, "we must have Ham Tooting hurry +'round and fix it up with him as soon as he can talk, before one of these +cormorant lawyers gets his claw in him." + +Austen said nothing, and after some desultory conversation, in which he +knew how to indulge when he wished to conceal the fact that he was +baffled, the Honourable Hilary departed. That student of human nature, +Mr. Hamilton Tooting, a young man of a sporting appearance and a free +vocabulary, made the next attempt. It is a characteristic of Mr. +Tooting's kind that, in their efforts to be genial, they often use an +awkward diminutive of their friends' names. + +"Hello, Aust," said Mr. Tooting, "I dropped in to get those witnesses in +that Meagre accident, before I forget it." + +"I think I'll keep 'em," said Austen, making a note out of the Revised +Statutes. + +"Oh, all right, all right," said Mr. Tooting, biting off a piece of his +cigar. "Going to handle the case yourself, are you?" + +"I may." + +"I'm just as glad to have some of 'em off my hands, and this looks to me +like a nasty one. I don't like those Mercer people. The last farmer +they ran over there raised hell." + +"I shouldn't blame this one if he did, if he ever gets well enough," said +Austen. Young Mr. Tooting paused with a lighted match halfway to his +cigar and looked at Austen shrewdly, and then sat down on the desk very +close to him. + +"Say, Aust, it sometimes sickens a man to have to buy these fellows off. +What? Poor devils, they don't get anything like what they ought to get, +do they? Wait till you see how the Railroad Commission'll whitewash that +case. It makes a man want to be independent. What?" + +"This sounds like virtue, Ham." + +"I've often thought, too," said Mr. Tooting, "that a man could make more +money if he didn't wear the collar." + +"But not sleep as well, perhaps," said Austen. + +"Say, Aust, you're not on the level with me." + +"I hope to reach that exalted plane some day, Ham." + +"What's got into you?" demanded the usually clear-headed Mr. Tooting, now +a little bewildered. + +"Nothing, yet," said Austen, "but I'm thinking seriously of having a +sandwich and a piece of apple pie. Will you come along?" + +They crossed the square together, Mr. Tooting racking a normally fertile +brain for some excuse to reopen the subject. Despairing of that, he +decided that any subject would do. + +"That Humphrey Crewe up at Leith is smart--smart as paint," he remarked. +"Do you know him?" + +"I've seen him," said Austen. "He's a young man, isn't he?" + +"And natty. He knows a thing or two for a millionaire that don't have to +work, and he runs that place of his right up to the handle. You ought to +hear him talk about the tariff, and national politics. I was passing +there the other day, and he was walking around among the flowerbeds. +'Ain't your name Tooting?' he hollered. "I almost fell out of the +buggy." + +"What did he want?" asked Austen, curiously. Mr. Tooting winked. + +"Say, those millionaires are queer, and no mistake. You'd think a fellow +that only had to cut coupons wouldn't be lookin' for another job, +wouldn't you? He made me hitch my horse, and had me into his study, as +he called it, and gave me a big glass of whiskey and soda. A fellow with +buttons and a striped vest brought it on tiptoe. Then this Crewe gave me +a long yellow cigar with a band on it and told me what the State needed,- +-macadam roads, farmers' institutes, forests, and God knows what. I told +him all he had to do was to get permission from old man Flint, and he +could have 'em." + +"What did he say to that?" + +"He said Flint was an intimate friend of his. Then he asked me a whole +raft of questions about fellows in the neighbourhood I didn't know he'd +ever heard of. Say, he wants to go from Leith to the Legislature." + +"He can go for all I care," said Austen, as he pushed open the door of +the restaurant. + +For a few days Mr. Meader hung between life and death. But he came of a +stock which had for generations thrust its roots into the crevices of +granite, and was not easily killed by steam-engines. Austen Vane called +twice, and then made an arrangement with young Dr. Tredway (one of the +numerous Ripton Tredways whose money had founded the hospital) that he +was to see Mr. Meader as soon as he was able to sustain a conversation. +Dr. Tredway, by the way, was a bachelor, and had been Austen's companion +on many a boisterous expedition. + +When Austen, in response to the doctor's telephone message, stood over +the iron bed in the spick-and-span men's ward of St. Mary's, a wave of +that intense feeling he had experienced at the accident swept over him. +The farmer's beard was overgrown, and the eyes looked up at him as from +caverns of suffering below the bandage. They were shrewd eyes, however, +and proved that Mr. Meader had possession of the five senses--nay, of the +six. Austen sat down beside the bed. + +"Dr. Tredway tells me you are getting along finely," he said. + +"No thanks to the railrud," answered Mr. Meader; "they done their best." + +"Did you hear any whistle or any bell?" Austen asked. + +"Not a sound," said Mr. Meader; "they even shut off their steam on that +grade." + +Austen Vane, like most men who are really capable of a deep sympathy, was +not an adept at expressing it verbally. Moreover, he knew enough of his +fellow-men to realize that a Puritan farmer would be suspicious of +sympathy. The man had been near to death himself, was compelled to spend +part of the summer, his bread-earning season, in a hospital, and yet no +appeal or word of complaint had crossed his lips. + +"Mr. Meader," said Austen, "I came over here to tell you that in my +opinion you are entitled to heavy damages from the railroad, and to +advise you not to accept a compromise. They will send some one to you +and offer you a sum far below that which you ought in justice to receive, +You ought to fight this case." + +"How am I going to pay a lawyer, with a mortgage on my farm?" demanded +Mr. Meader. + +"I'm a lawyer," said Austen, "and if you'll take me, I'll defend you +without charge." + +"Ain't you the son of Hilary Vane?" + +"Yes." + +"I've heard of him a good many times," said Mr. Meader, as if to ask what +man had not. "You're railroad, ain't ye?" + +Mr. Meader gazed long and thoughtfully into the young man's face, and the +suspicion gradually faded from the farmer's blue eyes. + +"I like your looks," he said at last. "I guess you saved my life. I'm-- +I'm much obliged to you." + +When Mr. Tooting arrived later in the day, he found Mr. Meader willing to +listen, but otherwise strangely non-committal. With native shrewdness, +the farmer asked him what office he came from, but did not confide in Mr. +Tooting the fact that Mr. Vane's son had volunteered to wring more money +from Mr. Vane's client than Mr. Tooting offered him. Considerably +bewildered, that gentleman left the hospital to report the affair to the +Honourable Hilary, who, at intervals during the afternoon, found himself +relapsing into speculation. + +Inside of a somewhat unpromising shell, Mr. Zeb Meader was a human being, +and no mean judge of men and motives. As his convalescence progressed, +Austen Vane fell into the habit of dropping in from time to time to chat +with him, and gradually was rewarded by many vivid character sketches of +Mr. Meader's neighbours in Mercer and its vicinity. One afternoon, when +Austen came into the ward, he found at Mr. Meader's bedside a basket of +fruit which looked too expensive and tempting to have come from any +dealer's in Ripton. + +"A lady came with that," Mr. Meader explained. "I never was popular +before I was run over by the cars. She's be'n here twice. When she +fetched it to-day, I kind of thought she was up to some, game, and I +didn't want to take it." + +"Up to some game?" repeated Austen. + +"Well, I don't know," continued Mr. Meader, thoughtfully, "the woman here +tells me she comes regular in the summer time to see sick folks, but from +the way she made up to me I had an idea that she wanted something. But l +don't know. Thought I'd ask you. You see, she's railrud." + +"Railroad!" + +"She's Flint's daughter." + +Austen laughed. + +"I shouldn't worry about that," he said. "If Mr. Flint sent his daughter +with fruit to everybody his railroad injures, she wouldn't have time to +do anything else. I doubt if Mr. Flint ever heard of your case." + +Mr. Meader considered this, and calculated there was something in it. + +"She was a nice, common young lady, and cussed if she didn't make me +laugh, she has such a funny way of talkin'. She wanted to know all about +you." + +"What did she want to know?" Austen exclaimed, not unnaturally. + +"Well, she wanted to know about the accident, and I told her how you druv +up and screwed that thing around my leg and backed the train down. She +was a good deal took with that." + +"I think you are inclined to make too much of it," said Austen. + +Three days later, as he was about to enter the ward, Mr. Meader being now +the only invalid there, he heard a sound which made him pause in the +doorway. The sound was feminine laughter of a musical quality that +struck pleasantly on Austen's ear. Miss Victoria Flint was sated beside +Mr. Meader's bed, and qualified friendship had evidently been replaced by +intimacy since Austen's last visit, for Mr. Meader was laughing, too. + +"And now I'm quite sure you have missed your vocation, Mr. Meader," said +Victoria. "You would have made a fortune on the stage." + +"Me a play-actor!" exclaimed the invalid. "How much wages do they git?" + +"Untold sums," she declared, "if they can talk like you." + +"He kind of thought that story funny--same as you," Mr. Meader ruminated, +and glanced up. "Drat me," he remarked, "if he ain't a-comin' now! +I callated he'd run acrost you sometime." + +Victoria raised her eyes, sparkling with humour, and they met Austen's. + +"We was just talkin' about you," cried Mr. Meader, cordially; "come right +in." He turned to Victoria. "I want to make you acquainted," he said, +"with Austen Vane." + +"And won't you tell him who I am, Mr. Meader?" said Victoria. + +"Well," said Mr. Meader, apologetically, "that was stupid of me--wahn't +it? But I callated he'd know. She's the daughter of the railrud +president--the 'one that was askin' about you." + +There was an instant's pause, and the colour stole into Victoria's +cheeks. Then she glanced at Austen and bit her lip-and laughed. Her +laughter was contagious. + +"I suppose I shall have to confess that you have inspired my curiosity, +Mr. Vane," she said. + +Austen's face was sunburned, but it flushed a more vivid red under the +tan. It is needless to pretend that a man of his appearance and +qualities had reached the age of thirty-two without having listened to +feminine comments of which he was the exclusive subject. In this remark +of Victoria's, or rather in the manner in which she made it, he +recognized a difference. + +"It is a tribute, then, to the histrionic talents of Mr. Meader, of which +you were speaking," he replied laughingly. + +Victoria glanced at him with interest as he looked down at Mr. Meader. + +"And how is it to-day, Zeb?" he said. + +"It ain't so bad as it might be--with sech folks as her and you araound," +admitted Mr. Meader. "I'd almost agree to get run over again. She was +askin' about you, and that's a fact, and I didn't slander you, neither. +But I never callated to comprehend wimmen-folks." + +"Now, Mr. Meader," said Victoria, reprovingly, but there were little +creases about her eyes, "don't be a fraud." + +"It's true as gospel," declared the invalid; "they always got the better +of me. I had one of 'em after me once, when I was young and prosperin' +some." + +"And yet you have survived triumphant," she exclaimed. + +"There wahn't none of 'em like you," said Mr. Meader, "or it might have +be'n different." + +Again her eyes irresistibly sought Austen's,--as though to share with him +the humour of this remark,--and they laughed together. Her colour, so +sensitive, rose again, but less perceptibly this time. Then she got up. + +"That's unfair, Mr. Meader!" she protested. + +"I'll leave it to Austen," said Mr. Meader, "if it ain't probable. He'd +ought to know." + +In spite of a somewhat natural embarrassment, Austen could not but +acknowledge to himself that Mr. Meader was right. With a womanly +movement which he thought infinitely graceful, Victoria leaned over the +bed. + +"Mr. Meader," she said, "I'm beginning to think it's dangerous for me to +come here twice a week to see you, if you talk this way. And I'm not a +bit surprised that that woman didn't get the better of you." + +"You hain't a-goin'!" he exclaimed. "Why, I callated--" + +"Good-by," she said quickly; "I'm glad to see that you are doing so +well." She raised her head and looked at Austen in a curious, +inscrutable way. "Good-by, Mr. Vane," she said; "I--I hope Mr. Blodgett +has recovered." + +Before he could reply she had vanished, and he was staring at the empty +doorway. The reference to the unfortunate Mr. Blodgett, after taking his +breath away, aroused in him an intense curiosity betraying, as it did, a +certain knowledge of past events in his life in the hitherto unknown +daughter of Augustus interest could she have in him? Such a Flint. What +question, from similar sources, has heightened the pulse of young men +from time immemorial. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"TIMEO DANAOS" + +The proverbial little birds that carry news and prophecies through the +air were evidently responsible for an official-looking letter which +Austen received a few mornings later. On the letter-head was printed +"The United Northeastern Railroads," and Mr. Austen Vane was informed +that, by direction of the president, the enclosed was sent to him in an +entirely complimentary sense. "The enclosed" was a ticket of red +cardboard, and its face informed him that he might travel free for the +rest of the year. Thoughtfully turning it over, he read on the back the +following inscription:-- + +"It is understood that this pass is accepted by its recipient as a +retainer." + +Austen stared at it and whistled. Then he pushed back his chair, with +the pass in his hand, and hesitated. He seized a pen and wrote a few +lines: "Dear sir, I beg to return the annual pass over the Northeastern +Railroads with which you have so kindly honoured me"--when he suddenly +changed his mind again, rose, and made his way through the corridors to +his father's office. The Honourable Hilary was absorbed in his daily +perusal of the Guardian. + +"Judge," he asked, "is Mr. Flint up at his place this week?" + +The Honourable Hilary coughed. + +"He arrived yesterday on the three. Er--why?" + +"I wanted to go up and thank him for this," his son answered, holding up +the red piece of cardboard. "Mr. Flint is a very thoughtful man." + +The Honourable Hilary tried to look unconcerned, and succeeded. + +"Sent you an annual, has he? Er--I don't know as I'd bother him +personally, Austen. Just a pleasant note of acknowledgment." + +"I don't flatter myself that my achievements in the law can be +responsible for it," said Austen. "The favour must be due to my +relationship with his eminent chief counsel." + +Hilary Vane's keen eyes rested on his son for an instant. Austen was +more than ever an enigma to him. + +"I guess relationship hasn't got much to do with business," he replied. +"You have be'n doing--er--better than I expected." + +"Thank you, Judge," said Austen, quietly. "I don't mind saying that I +would rather have your approbation than--this more substantial +recognition of merit." + +The Honourable Hilary's business was to deal with men, and by reason of +his ability in so doing he had made a success in life. He could judge +motives more than passably well, and play upon weaknesses. But he left +Austen's presence that morning vaguely uneasy, with a sense of having +received from his own son an initial defeat at a game of which he was a +master. Under the excuse of looking up some precedents, he locked his +doors to all comers for two hours, and paced his room. At one moment he +reproached himself for not having been frank; for not having told Austen +roundly that this squeamishness about a pass was unworthy of a strong man +of affairs; yes, for not having revealed to him the mysteries of railroad +practice from the beginning. But frankness was not an ingredient of the +Honourable Hilary's nature, and Austen was not the kind of man who would +accept a hint and a wink. Hilary Vane had formless forebodings, and +found himself for once in his life powerless to act. + +The cost of living in Ripton was not so high that Austen Vane could not +afford to keep a horse and buggy. The horse, which he tended himself, +was appropriately called Pepper; Austen had found him in the hills, and +he was easily the finest animal in Ripton: so good, in fact, that Mr. +Humphrey Crewe (who believed he had an eye for horses) had peremptorily +hailed Austen from a motorcar and demanded the price, as was Mr. Crewe's +wont when he saw a thing he desired. He had been somewhat surprised and +not inconsiderably offended by the brevity and force of the answer which +he had received. + +On the afternoon of the summer's day in which Austen had the conversation +with his father just related, Pepper was trotting at a round clip through +the soft and shady wood roads toward the town of Tunbridge; the word +"town" being used in the New England sense, as a piece of territory about +six miles by six. The fact that automobiles full of laughing people from +Leith hummed by occasionally made no apparent difference to Pepper, who +knew only the master hand on the reins; the reality that the wood roads +were climbing great hills the horse did not seem to feel. Pepper knew +every lane and by-path within twenty miles of Ripton, and exhibited such +surprise as a well-bred horse may when he was slowed down at length and +turned into a hard, blue-stone driveway under a strange granite arch with +the word "Fairview" cut in Gothic letters above it, and two great lamps +in wrought-iron brackets at the sides. It was Austen who made a note of +the gratings over the drains, and of the acres of orderly forest in a +mysterious and seemingly enchanted realm. Intimacy with domains was new +to him, and he began to experience an involuntary feeling of restraint +which was new to him likewise, and made him chafe in spite of himself. +The estate seemed to be the visible semblance of a power which troubled +him. + +Shortly after passing an avenue neatly labelled "Trade's Drive" the road +wound upwards through a ravine the sides of which were covered with a +dense shrubbery which had the air of having always been there, and yet +somehow looked expensive. At the top of the ravine was a sharp curve; +and Austen, drawing breath, found himself swung, as it were, into space, +looking off across miles of forest-covered lowlands to an ultramarine +mountain in the hazy south,--Sawanec. As if in obedience to a telepathic +command of his master, Pepper stopped. + +Drinking his fill of this scene, Austen forgot an errand which was not +only disagreeable, but required some fortitude for its accomplishment. +The son had this in common with the Honourable Hilary--he hated heroics; +and the fact that the thing smacked of heroics was Austen's only +deterrent. And then there was a woman in this paradise! These gradual +insinuations into his revery at length made him turn. A straight avenue +of pear-shaped, fifteen-year-old maples led to the house, a massive +colonial structure of wood that stretched across the shelf; and he had +tightened the reins and started courageously up the avenue when he +perceived that it ended in a circle on which there was no sign of a +hitching-post. And, worse than this, on the balconied, uncovered porch +which he would have to traverse to reach the doorway he saw the sheen and +glimmer of women's gowns grouped about wicker tables, and became aware +that his approach was the sole object of the scrutiny of an afternoon tea +party. + +As he reached the circle it was a slight relief to learn that Pepper was +the attraction. No horse knew better than Pepper when he was being +admired, and he arched his neck and lifted his feet and danced in the +sheer exhilaration of it. A smooth-faced, red-cheeked gentleman in gray +flannels leaned over the balustrade and made audible comments in a +penetrating voice which betrayed the fact that he was Mr. Humphrey Crewe. + +"Saw him on the street in Ripton last year. Good hock action, hasn't +he?--that's rare in trotters around here. Tried to buy him. Feller +wouldn't sell. His name's Vane--he's drivin' him now." + +A lady of a somewhat commanding presence was beside him. She was perhaps +five and forty, her iron-gray hair was dressed to perfection, her figure +all that Parisian art could make it, and she was regarding Austen with +extreme deliberation through the glasses which she had raised to a high- +bridged nose. + +"Politics is certainly your career, Humphrey," she remarked, "you have +such a wonderful memory for faces. I don't see how he does it, do you, +Alice?" she demanded of a tall girl beside her, who was evidently her +daughter, but lacked her personality. + +"I don't know," said Alice. + +"It's because I've been here longer than anybody else, Mrs. Pomfret," +answered Mr. Crewe, not very graciously, "that's all. Hello." This last +to Austen. + +"Hello," said Austen. + +"Who do you want to see?" inquired Mr. Crewe, with the admirable tact for +which he was noted. + +Austen looked at him for the first time. + +"Anybody who will hold my horse," he answered quietly. + +By this time the conversation had drawn the attention of the others at +the tables, and one or two smiled at Austen's answer. Mrs. Flint, with a +"Who is it?" arose to repel a social intrusion. She was an overdressed +lady, inclining to embonpoint, but traces of the Rose of Sharon were +still visible. + +"Why don't you drive 'round to the stables?" suggested Mr. Crewe, unaware +of a smile. + +Austen did not answer. He was, in fact, looking towards the doorway, and +the group on the porch were surprised to see a gleam of mirthful +understanding start in his eyes. An answering gleam was in Victoria's, +who had at that moment, by a singular coincidence, come out of the house. +She came directly down the steps and out on the gravel, and held her hand +to him in the buggy, and he flushed with pleasure as he grasped it. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane?" she said. "I am so glad you have called. +Humphrey, just push the stable button, will you?" + +Mr. Crewe obeyed with no very good grace, while the tea-party went back +to their seats. Mrs. Flint supposed he had come to sell Victoria the +horse; while Mrs. Pomfret, who had taken him in from crown to boots, +remarked that he looked very much like a gentleman. + +"I came to see your father for a few moments--on business," Austen +explained. + +She lifted her face to his with a second searching look. + +"I'll take you to him," she said. + +By this time a nimble groom had appeared from out o a shrubbery path and +seized Pepper's head. Austen alighted and followed Victoria into a +great, cool hallway, and through two darkened rooms, bewilderingly +furnished and laden with the scent of flowers, into a narrow passage +beyond. She led the way simply, not speaking, and her silence seemed to +betoken the completeness of an understanding between them, as of a long +acquaintance. + +In a plain white-washed room, behind a plain oaken desk, sat Mr. Flint--a +plain man. Austen thought he would have known him had he seen him on the +street. The other things in the room were letter-files, a safe, a long- +distance telephone, and a thin private secretary with a bend in his back. +Mr. Flint looked up from his desk, and his face, previously bereft of +illumination, lighted when he saw his daughter. Austen liked that in +him. + +"Well, Vic, what is it now?" he asked. + +"Mr. Austen Vane to see you," said Victoria, and with a quick glance at +Austen she left him standing on the threshold. Mr. Flint rose. His eyes +were deep-set in a square, hard head, and he appeared to be taking Austen +in without directly looking at him; likewise, one felt that Mr. Flint's +handshake was not an absolute gift of his soul. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane? I don't remember ever to have had the pleasure +of seeing you, although your father and I have been intimately connected +for many years." + +So the president's manner was hearty, but not the substance. It came, +Austen thought, from a rarity of meeting with men on a disinterested +footing; and he could not but wonder how Mr. Flint would treat the angels +in heaven if he ever got there, where there were no franchises to be had. +Would he suspect them of designs upon his hard won harp and halo? Austen +did not dislike Mr. Flint; the man's rise, his achievements, his +affection for his daughter, he remembered. But he was also well aware +that Mr. Flint had thrown upon him the onus of the first move in a game +which the railroad president was used to playing every day. The dragon +was on his home ground and had the choice of weapons. + +"I do not wish to bother you long," said Austen. + +"No bother," answered Mr. Flint, "no bother to make the acquaintance of +the son of my old friend, Hilary Vane. Sit down--sit down. And while I +don't believe any man should depend upon his father to launch him in the +world, yet it must be a great satisfaction to you, Mr. Vane, to have such +a father. Hilary Vane and I have been intimately associated for many +years, and my admiration for him has increased with every year. It is to +men of his type that the prosperity, the greatness, of this nation is +largely due,--conservative, upright, able, content to confine himself to +the difficult work for which he is so eminently fitted, without +spectacular meddling in things in which he can have no concern. +Therefore I welcome the opportunity to know you, sir, for I understand +that you have settled down to follow in his footsteps and that you will +make a name for yourself. I know the independence of young men--I was +young once myself. But after all, Mr. Vane, experience is the great +teacher, and perhaps there is some little advice which an old man can +give you that may be of service. As your father's son, it is always at +your disposal. Have a cigar." + +The thin secretary continued to flit about the room, between the letter- +files and the desk. Austen had found it infinitely easier to shoot Mr. +Blodgett than to engage in a duel with the president of the United +Railroad. + +"I smoke a pipe," he said. + +"Too many young men smoke cigars--and those disgusting cigarettes," said +Mr. Flint, with conviction. "There are a lot of worthless young men in +these days, anyhow. They come to my house and loaf and drink and smoke, +and talk a lot of nonsense about games and automobiles and clubs, and +cumber the earth generally. There's a young man named Crewe over at +Leith, for instance--you may have seen him. Not that he's dissipated-- +but he don't do anything but talk about railroads and the stock market to +make you sick, and don't know any more about 'em than my farmer." + +During this diatribe Austen saw his opening growing smaller and smaller. +If he did not make a dash for it, it would soon be closed entirely. + +"I received a letter this morning, Mr. Flint, enclosing me an annual +pass--" + +"Did Upjohn send you one?" Mr. Flint cut in; "he ought to have done so +long ago. It was probably an oversight that he did not, Mr. Vane. We +try to extend the courtesies of the road to persons who are looked up to +in their communities. The son of Hilary Vane is at all times welcome to +one." + +Mr. Flint paused to light his cigar, and Austen summoned his resolution. +Second by second it was becoming more and more difficult and seemingly +more ungracious to return a gift so graciously given, a gift of no +inconsiderable intrinsic value. Moreover, Mr. Flint had ingeniously +contrived almost to make the act, in Austen's eyes, that of a picayune +upstart. Who was he to fling back an annual pass in the face of the +president of the Northeastern Railroads? + +"I had first thought of writing you a letter, Mr. Flint," he said, "but +it seemed to me that, considering your relations with my father, the +proper thing to do was to come to you and tell you why I cannot take the +pass." + +The thin secretary paused in his filing, and remained motionless with his +body bent over the drawer. + +"Why you cannot take it, Mr. Vane?" said the railroad president. "I'm +afraid I don't understand." + +"I appreciate the--the kindness," said Austen, "and I will try to +explain." He drew the red cardboard from his pocket and turned it over. +"On the back of this is printed, in small letters, 'It is understood that +this pass is accepted by the recipient as a retainer.'" + +"Well," Mr. Flint interrupted, smiling somewhat blandly, "how much money +do you think that pass would save an active young lawyer in a year? Is +three hundred dollars too much? Three hundred dollars is not an +insignificant sum to a young man on the threshold of his practice, is +it?" + +Austen looked at Mr. Flint. + +"Any sum is insignificant when it restricts a lawyer from the acceptance +of just causes, Mr. Flint. As I understand the matter, it is the custom +of your railroad to send these passes to the young lawyers of the State +the moment they begin to give signs of ability. This past would prevent +me from serving clients who might have righteous claims against your +railroads, and--permit me to speak frankly--in my opinion the practice +tends to make it difficult for poor people who have been injured to get +efficient lawyers." + +"Your own father is retained by the railroad," said Mr. Flint. + +"As their counsel," answered Austen. "I have a pride in my profession, +Mr. Flint, as no doubt you have in yours. If I should ever acquire +sufficient eminence to be sought as counsel for a railroad, I should make +my own terms with it. I should not allow its management alone to decide +upon the value of my retainer, and my services in its behalf would be +confined strictly to professional ones." + +Mr. Flint drummed on the table. + +"What do you mean by that?" he demanded. + +"I mean that I would not engage, for a fee or a pass, to fight the +political battles of a railroad, or undertake any political manipulation +in its behalf whatever." + +Mr. Flint leaned forward aggressively. + +"How long do you think a railroad would pay dividends if it did not adopt +some means of defending itself from the blackmail politician of the State +legislatures, Mr. Vane? The railroads of which I have the honour to be +president pay a heavy tag in this and other States. We would pay a much +heavier one if we didn't take precautions to protect ourselves. But I do +not intend to quarrel with you, Mr. Vane," he continued quickly, +perceiving that Austen was about to answer him, "nor do I wish to leave +you with the impression that the Northeastern Railroads meddle unduly in +politics." + +Austen knew not how to answer. He had not gone there to discuss this +last and really great question with Mr. Flint, but he wondered whether +the president actually thought him the fledgling he proclaimed. Austen +laid his pass on Mr. Flint's desk, and rose. + +"I assure you, Mr. Flint, that the spirit which prompted my visit was not +a contentious one. I cannot accept the pass, simply because I do not +wish to be retained." + +Mr. Flint eyed him. There was a mark of dignity, of silent power, on +this tall scapegrace of a son of Hilary Vane that the railroad president +had missed at first--probably because he had looked only for the +scapegrace. Mr. Flint ardently desired to treat the matter in the +trifling aspect in which he believed he saw it, to carry it off genially. +But an instinct not yet formulated told the president that he was face to +face with an enemy whose potential powers were not to be despised, and he +bristled in spite of himself. + +"There is no statute I know of by which a lawyer can be compelled to +accept a retainer against his will, Mr. Vane," he replied, and overcame +himself with an effort. "But I hope that you will permit me," he added +in another tone, "as an old friend of your father's and as a man of some +little experience in the world, to remark that intolerance is a +characteristic of youth. I had it in the days of Mr. Isaac D. +Worthington, whom you do not remember. I am not addicted to flattery, +but I hope and believe you have a career before you. Talk to your +father. Study the question on both sides,--from the point of view of men +who are honestly trying, in the face of tremendous difficulties, to +protect innocent stockholders as well as to conduct a corporation in the +interests of the people at large, and for their general prosperity. Be +charitable, young man, and judge not hastily." + +Years before, when poor Sarah Austen had adorned the end of his table, +Hilary Vane had raised his head after the pronouncement of grace to +surprise a look in his wife's eyes which strangely threw him into a white +heat of anger. That look (and he at intervals had beheld it afterwards) +was the true presentment of the soul of the woman whose body was his. It +was not--as Hilary Vane thought it--a contempt for the practice of +thanking one's Maker for daily bread, but a contempt for cant of one who +sees the humour in cant. A masculine version of that look Mr. Flint now +beheld in the eyes of Austen Vane, and the enraging effect on the +president of the United Railroads was much the same as it had been on his +chief counsel. Who was this young man of three and thirty to agitate him +so? He trembled, though not visibly, yet took Austen's hand +mechanically. + +"Good day, Mr. Vane," he said; "Mr. Freeman will help you to find your +horse." + +The thin secretary bowed, and before he reached the door into the passage +Mr. Flint had opened another at the back of the room and stepped out on a +close-cropped lawn flooded with afternoon sunlight. In the passage +Austen perceived a chair, and in the chair was seated patiently none +other than Mr. Brush Bascom--political Duke of Putnam. Mr. Bascom's +little agate eyes glittered in the dim light. + +"Hello, Austen," he said, "since when have you took to comin' here?" + +"It's a longer trip from Putnam than from Ripton, Brush," said Austen, +and passed on, leaving Mr. Bascom with a puzzled mind. Something very +like a smile passed over Mr. Freeman's face as he led the way silently +out of a side entrance and around the house. The circle of the drive was +empty, the tea-party had gone--and Victoria. Austen assured himself that +her disappearance relieved him: having virtually quarrelled with her +father, conversation would have been awkward; and yet he looked for her. + +They found the buggy and Pepper in the paved courtyard of the stables. +As Austen took the reins the secretary looked up at him, his mild blue +eyes burning with an unsuspected fire. He held out his hand. + +"I want to congratulate you," he said. + +"What for?" asked Austen, taking the hand in some embarrassment. + +"For speaking like a man," said the secretary, and he turned on his heel +and left him. + +This strange action, capping, as it did, a stranger experience, gave +Austen food for thought as he let Pepper take his own pace down the +trade's road. Presently he got back into the main drive where it clung +to a steep, forest-covered side hill, when his attention was distracted +by the sight of a straight figure in white descending amidst the foliage +ahead. His instinctive action was to pull Pepper down to a walk, +scarcely analyzing his motives; then he had time, before reaching the +spot where their paths would cross, to consider and characteristically to +enjoy the unpropitious elements arrayed against a friendship with +Victoria Flint. + +She halted on a flagstone of the descending path some six feet above the +roadway, and stood expectant. The Rose of Sharon, five and twenty years +before, would have been coy--would have made believe to have done it by +accident. But the Rose of Sharon, with all her beauty, would have had no +attraction for Austen Vane. Victoria had much of her mother's good +looks, the figure of a Diana, and her clothes were of a severity and +correctness in keeping with her style; they merely added to the sum total +of the effect upon Austen. Of course he stopped the buggy immediately +beneath her, and her first question left him without any breath. No +woman he had ever known seized the essentials as she did. + +"What have you been doing to my father?" she asked. + +"Why?" exclaimed Austen. + +"Because he's in such a bad temper," said Victoria. "You must have put +him in it. It can't be possible that you came all the way up here to +quarrel with him. Nobody ever dares to quarrel with him." + +"I didn't come up to quarrel with him," said Austen. + +"What's the trouble?" asked Victoria. + +The humour of this question was too much for him, and he laughed. +Victoria's eyes laughed a little, but there was a pucker in her forehead. + +"Won't you tell me?" she demanded, "or must I get it out of him?" + +"I am afraid," said Austen, slowly, "that you must get it out of him--if +he hasn't forgotten it." + +"Forgotten it, dear old soul!" cried Victoria. "I met him just now and +tried to make him look at the new Guernseys, and he must have been +disturbed quite a good deal when he's cross as a bear to me. He really +oughtn't to be upset like that, Mr. Vane, when he comes up here to rest. +I am afraid that you are rather a terrible person, although you look so +nice. Won't you tell me what you did to him?" + +Austen was non-plussed. + +"Nothing intentional," he answered earnestly, "but it wouldn't be fair to +your father if I gave you my version of a business conversation that +passed between us, would it?" + +"Perhaps not," said Victoria. She sat down on the flagstone with her +elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, and looked at him +thoughtfully. He knew well enough that a wise general would have +retreated--horse, foot, and baggage; but Pepper did not stir. + +"Do you know," said Victoria, "I have an idea you came up here about Zeb +Meader." + +"Zeb Meader!" + +"Yes. I told my father about him,--how you rescued him, and how you went +to see him in the hospital, and what a good man he is, and how poor." + +"Oh, did you!" exclaimed Austen. + +"Yes. And I told him the accident wasn't Zeb's fault, that the train +didn't whistle or ring, and that the crossing was a blind one." + +"And what did he say?" asked Austen, curiously. + +"He said that on a railroad as big as his something of the kind must +happen occasionally. And he told me if Zeb didn't make a fuss and act +foolishly, he would have no cause to regret it." + +"And did you tell Zeb?" asked Austen. + +"Yes," Victoria admitted, "but I'm sorry I did, now." + +"What did Zeb say?" + +Victoria laughed in spite of herself, and gave a more or less exact +though kindly imitation of Mr. Meader's manner. + +"He said that wimmen-folks had better stick to the needle and the duster, +and not go pokin' about law business that didn't concern 'em. But the +worst of it was," added Victoria, with some distress, "he won't accept +any more fruit. Isn't he silly? He won't get it into his head that I +give him the fruit, and not my father. I suspect that he actually +believes my father sent me down there to tell him that." + +Austen was silent, for the true significance of this apparently obscure +damage case to the Northeastern Railroads was beginning to dawn on him. +The public was not in the best of humours towards railroads: there was +trouble about grade crossings, and Mr. Meader's mishap and the manner of +his rescue by the son of the corporation counsel had given the accident a +deplorable publicity. Moreover, if it had dawned on Augustus Flint that +the son of Hilary Vane might prosecute the suit, it was worth while +taking a little pains with Mr. Meader and Mr. Austen Vane. Certain small +fires have been known to light world-wide conflagrations. + +"What are you thinking about?" asked Victoria. "It isn't at all polite +to forget the person you are talking to." + +"I haven't forgotten you," said Austen, with a smile. How could he-- +sitting under her in this manner? + +"Besides," said Victoria, mollified, "you haven't an answered my +question." + +"Which question?" + +She scrutinized him thoughtfully, and with feminine art made the kind of +an attack that rarely fails. + +"Why are you such an enigma, Mr. Vane?" she demanded. "Is it because +you're a lawyer, or because you've been out West and seen so much of life +and shot so many people?" + +Austen laughed, yet he had tingling symptoms because she showed enough +interest in him to pronounce him a riddle. But he instantly became +serious as the purport of the last charge came home to him. + +"I suppose I am looked upon as a sort of Jesse James," he said. "As it +happens, I have never shot but one man, and I didn't care very much for +that." + +Victoria got up and came down a step and gave him her hand. He took it, +nor was he the first to relinquish the hold; and a colour rose delicately +in her face as she drew her fingers away. + +"I didn't mean to offend you," she said. + +"You didn't offend me," he replied quickly. "I merely wished you to know +that I wasn't a brigand." + +Victoria smiled. + +"I really didn't think so--you are much too solemn. I have to go now, +and--you haven't told me anything." + +She crossed the road and began to descend the path on the other side. +Twice he glanced back, after he had started, and once surprised her +poised lightly among the leaves, looking over her shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PARTING OF THE WAYS + +The next time Austen visited the hospital Mr. Meader had a surprise in +store for him. After passing the time of day, as was his custom, the +patient freely discussed the motives which had led him to refuse any more +of Victoria's fruit. + +"I hain't got nothing against her," he declared; "I tried to make that +plain. She's as nice and common a young lady as I ever see, and I don't +believe she had a thing to do with it. But I suspicioned they was up to +somethin' when she brought them baskets. And when she give me the +message from old Flint, I was sure of it." + +"Miss Flint was entirely innocent, I'm sure," said Austen, emphatically. + +"If I could see old Flint, I'd tell him what I thought of him usin' +wimmen-folks to save 'em money," said Mr. Meader. "I knowed she wahn't +that kind. And then that other thing come right on top of it." + +"What other thing?" + +"Say," demanded Mr. Meader, "don't you know?" + +"I know nothing," said Austen. + +"Didn't know Hilary Vane's be'n here?" + +"My father!" Austen ejaculated. + +"Gittin' after me pretty warm, so they be. Want to know what my price is +now. But say, I didn't suppose your fayther'd come here without lettin' +you know." + +Austen was silent. The truth was that for a few moments he could not +command himself sufficiently to speak. + +"He is the chief counsel for the road," he said at length; "I am not +connected with it." + +"I guess you're on the right track. He's a pretty smooth talker, your +fayther. Just dropped in to see how I be, since his son was interested. +Talked a sight of law gibberish I didn't understand. Told me I didn't +have much of a case; said the policy of the railrud was to be liberal, +and wanted to know what I thought I ought to have." + +"Well?" said Austen, shortly. + +"Well," said Mr. Mender, "he didn't git a mite of satisfaction out of me. +I've seen enough of his kind of folks to know how to deal with 'em, and I +told him so. I asked him what they meant by sending that slick Mr. +Tooting 'raound to offer me five hundred dollars. I said I was willin' +to trust my case on that crossin' to a jury." + +Austen smiled, in spite of his mingled emotions. + +"What else did Mr. Vane say?" he asked. + +Not a great sight more. Said a good many folks were foolish enough to +spend money and go to law when they'd done better to trust to the +liberality of the railrud. Liberality! Adams' widow done well to trust +their liberality, didn't she? He wanted to know one more thing, but I +didn't give him any satisfaction." + +"What was that?" + +"I couldn't tell you how he got 'raound to it. Guess he never did, +quite. He wanted to know what lawyer was to have my case. Wahn't none +of his affair, and I callated if you'd wanted him to know just yet, you'd +have toad him." + +Austen laid his hand on the farmer's, as he rose to go. + +"Zeb," he said, "I never expect to have a more exemplary client." + +Mr. Mender shot a glance at him. + +"Mebbe I spoke a mite too free about your fayther, Austen," he said; "you +and him seem kind of different." + +"The Judge and I understand each other," answered Austen. + +He had got as far as the door, when he stopped, swung on his heel, and +came back to the bedside. + +"It's my duty to tell you, Zeb, that in order to hush this thing up they +may offer you more than you can get from a jury. In that case I should +have to advise you to accept." + +He was aware that, while he made this statement, Zeb Meader's eyes were +riveted on him, and he knew that the farmer was weighing him in the +balance. + +"Sell out?" exclaimed Mr. Meader. "You advise me to sell out?" + +Austen did not get angry. He understood this man and the people from +which he sprang. + +"The question is for you to decide--whether you can get more money by a +settlement." + +"Money!" cried Zeb Meader, "I have found it pretty hard to git, but +there's some things I won't do for it. There's a reason why they want +this case hushed up, the way they've be'n actin'. I ain't lived in +Mercer and Putnam County all my life for nothin'. Hain't I seen 'em run +their dirty politics there under Brush Bascom for the last twenty-five +years? There's no man has an office or a pass in that county but what +Bascom gives it to him, and Bascom's the railrud tool." Suddenly Zeb +raised himself in bed. "Hev' they be'n tamperin' with you?" he demanded. + +"Yes," answered Austen, dispassionately. He had hardly heard what Zeb +had said; his mind had been going onward. "Yes. They sent me an annual +pass, and I took it back." + +Zeb Meader did not speak for a few moments. + +"I guess I was a little hasty, Austen," he said at length. + +"I might have known you wouldn't sell out. If you're' willin' to take +the risk, you tell 'em ten thousand dollars wouldn't tempt me." + +"All right, Zeb," said Austen. + +He left the hospital and struck out across the country towards the slopes +of Sawanec, climbed them, and stood bareheaded in the evening light, +gazing over the still, wide valley northward to the wooded ridges where +Leith and Fairview lay hidden. He had come to the parting of the ways of +life, and while he did not hesitate to choose his path, a Vane +inheritance, though not dominant, could not fail at such a juncture to +point out the pleasantness of conformity. Austen's affection for Hilary +Vane was real; the loneliness of the elder man appealed to the son, who +knew that his father loved him in his own way. He dreaded the wrench +there. + +And nature, persuasive in that quarter, was not to be stilled in a field +more completely her own. The memory and suppliance of a minute will +scarce suffice one of Austen's temperament for a lifetime; and his eyes, +flying with the eagle high across the valley, searched the velvet folds +of the ridges, as they lay in infinite shades of green in the level +light, for the place where the enchanted realm might be. Just what the +state of his feelings were at this time towards Victoria Flint is too +vague--accurately to be painted, but he was certainly not ready to give +way to the attraction he felt for her. His sense of humour intervened if +he allowed himself to dream; there was a certain folly in pursuing the +acquaintance, all the greater now that he was choosing the path of +opposition to the dragon. A young woman, surrounded as she was, could be +expected to know little of the subtleties of business and political +morality: let him take Zeb Meader's case, and her loyalty would naturally +be with her father,--if she thought of Austen Vane at all. + +And yet the very contradiction of her name, Victoria joined with Flint, +seemed to proclaim that she did not belong to her father or to the Rose +of Sharon. Austen permitted himself to dwell, as he descended the +mountain in the gathering darkness, upon the fancy of the springing of a +generation of ideals from a generation of commerce which boded well for +the Republic. And Austen Vane, in common with that younger and travelled +generation, thought largely in terms of the Republic. Pepper County and +Putnam County were all one to him--pieces of his native land. And as +such, redeemable. + +It was long past the supper hour when he reached the house in Hanover +Street; but Euphrasia, who many a time in days gone by had fared forth +into the woods to find Sarah Austen, had his supper hot for him. +Afterwards he lighted his pipe and went out into the darkness, and +presently perceived a black figure seated meditatively on the granite +doorstep. + +"Is that you, Judge?" said Austen. + +The Honourable Hilary grunted in response. + +"Be'n on another wild expedition, I suppose." + +"I went up Sawanec to stretch my legs a little," Austen answered, sitting +down beside his father. + +"Funny," remarked the Honourable Hilary, "I never had this mania for +stretchin' my legs after I was grown." + +"Well," said Austen, "I like to go into the woods and climb the hills and +get aired out once in a while." + +"I heard of your gettin' aired out yesterday, up Tunbridge way," said the +Honourable Hilary. + +"I supposed you would hear of it," answered Austen. + +"I was up there to-day. Gave Mr. Flint your pass did you?" + +"Yes." + +"Didn't see fit to mention it to me first--did you? Said you were going +up to thank him for it." + +Austen considered this. + +"You have put me in the wrong, Judge," he replied after a little. "I +made that remark ironically. I I am afraid we cannot agree on the motive +which prompted me." + +"Your conscience a little finer than your father's--is it?" + +"No," said Austen, "I don't honestly think it is. I've thought a good +deal in the last few years about the difference in our ways of looking at +things. I believe that two men who try to be honest may conscientiously +differ. But I also believe that certain customs have gradually grown up +in railroad practice which are more or less to be deplored from the point +of view of the honour of the profession. I think they are not perhaps-- +realized even by the eminent men in the law." + +"Humph!" said the Honourable Hilary. But he did not press his son for +the enumeration of these customs. After all the years he had disapproved +of Austen's deeds it seemed strange indeed to be called to account by the +prodigal for his own. Could it be that this boy whom he had so often +chastised took a clearer view of practical morality than himself? It was +preposterous. But why the uneasiness of the past few years? Why had he +more than once during that period, for the first time in his life, +questioned a hitherto absolute satisfaction in his position of chief +counsel for the Northeastern Railroads? Why had he hesitated to initiate +his son into many of the so-called duties of a railroad lawyer? Austen +had never verbally arraigned those duties until to-night. + +Contradictory as it may seem, irritating as it was to the Honourable +Hilary Vane, he experienced again the certain faint tingling of pride as +when Austen had given him the dispassionate account of the shooting of +Mr. Blodgett; and this tingling only served to stiffen Hilary Vane more +than ever. A lifelong habit of admitting nothing and a lifelong pride +made the acknowledgment of possible professional lapses for the benefit +of his employer not to be thought of. He therefore assumed the same +attitude as had Mr. Flint, and forced the burden of explanation upon +Austen, relying surely on the disinclination of his son to be specific. +And Austen, considering his relationship, could not be expected to fathom +these mental processes. + +"See here, Judge," he said, greatly embarrassed by the real affection he +felt, "I don't want to seem like a prig and appear to be sitting in +judgment upon a man of your experience and position especially since I +have the honour to be your son, and have made a good deal of trouble by a +not irreproachable existence. Since we have begun on the subject, +however, I think I ought to tell you that I have taken the case of Zeb +Meader against the Northeastern Railroads." + +"Wahn't much need of telling me, was there?" remarked the Honourable +Hilary, dryly. "I'd have found it out as soon as anybody else." + +"There was this need of telling you," answered Austen, steadily, +"although I am not in partnership with you, I bear your name. And in-as- +much as I am to have a suit against your client, it has occurred to me +that you would like me to move--elsewhere." + +The Honourable Hilary was silent for a long time. + +"Want to move--do YOU? Is that it?" + +"Only because my presence may embarrass you." + +"That wahn't in the contract," said the Honourable Hilary; "you've got a +right to take any fool cases you've a mind to. Folks know pretty well +I'm not mixed up in 'em." + +Austen did not smile; he could well understand his father's animus in +this matter. As he looked up at the gable of his old home against the +stars, he did not find the next sentence any easier. + +"And then," he continued, "in taking, a course so obviously against your +wishes and judgment it occurred to me--well, that I was eating at your +table and sleeping in your house." + +To his son's astonishment, Hilary Vane turned on him almost truculently. + +"I thought the time'd come when you'd want to go off again,--gypsying," +he cried. + +"I'd stay right here in Ripton, Judge. I believe my work is in this +State." + +The Honour could see through a millstone with a hole in it. The effect +of Austen's assertion on him was a declaration that the mission of the +one was to tear down what the other had so laboriously built up. And +yet a growing dread of Hilary Vane's had been the loneliness of declining +years in that house should Austen leave it again, never to return. + +"I knew you had this Meader business in mind," he said. "I knew you had +fanciful notions about--some things. Never told you I didn't want you +here, did I?" + +"No," said Austen, "but--" + +Would have told you if I hadn't wanted you--wouldn't I?" + +"I hope so, Judge," said Austen, who understood something of the feeling +which underlay this brusquenees. That knowledge made matters all the +harder for him. + +"It was your mother's house--you're entitled to that, anyway," said the +Honourable Hilary, "but what I want to know is, why you didn't advise +that eternal fool of a Meader to accept what we offered him. You'll +never get a county jury to give as much." + +"I did advise him to accept it," answered Austen. + +"What's the matter with him?" the Honourable Hilary demanded. + +"Well, judge, if you really want my opinion, an honest farmer like Meader +is suspicious of any corporation which has such zealous and loyal +retainers as Ham Tooting and Brush Bascom." And Austen thought with a +return of the pang which had haunted him at intervals throughout the +afternoon, that he might almost have added to these names that of Hilary +Vane. Certainly Zeb Meader had not spared his father. + +"Life," observed the Honourable Hilary, unconsciously using a phrase from +the 'Book of Arguments,' "is a survival of the fittest." + +"How do you define 'the fittest?'" asked Austen. "Are they the men who +have the not unusual and certainly not exalted gift of getting money from +their fellow creatures by the use of any and all weapons that may be at +hand? who believe the acquisition of wealth to be exempt from the +practice of morality? Is Mr. Flint your example of the fittest type to +exist and survive, or Gladstone or Wilberforce or Emerson or Lincoln?" + +"Emerson!" cried the Honourable Hilary, the name standing out in red +letters before his eyes. He had never read a line of the philosopher's +writings, not even the charge to "hitch your wagon to a star" (not in the +"Book of Arguments"). Sarah Austen had read Emerson in the woods, and +her son's question sounded so like the unintelligible but unanswerable +flashes with which the wife had on rare occasions opposed the husband's +authority that Hilary Vane found his temper getting the best of him--The +name of Emerson was immutably fixed in his mind as the synonym for +incomprehensible, foolish habits and beliefs. "Don't talk Emerson to +me," he exclaimed. "And as for Brush Bascom, I've known him for thirty +years, and he's done as much for the Republican party as any man in this +State." + +This vindication of Mr. Bascom naturally brought to a close a +conversation which had already continued too long. The Honourable Hilary +retired to rest; but--if Austen had known it--not to sleep until the +small hours of the morning. + +It was not until the ensuing spring that the case of Mr. Zebulun Meader +against the United Northeastern Railroads came up for trial in Bradford, +the county-seat of Putnam County, and we do not wish to appear to give it +too great a weight in the annals of the State. For one thing, the weekly +newspapers did not mention it; and Mr. Paul Pardriff, when urged to give +an account of the proceedings in the Ripton Record, said it was a matter +of no importance, and spent the afternoon writing an editorial about the +domestic habits of the Aztecs. Mr. Pardriff, however, had thought the +matter of sufficient interest personally to attend the trial, and for the +journey he made use of a piece of green cardboard which he habitually +carried in his pocket. The editor of the Bradford Champion did not have +to use his yellow cardboard, yet his columns may be searched in vain for +the event. + +Not that it was such a great event, one of hundreds of railroad accidents +that come to court. The son of Hilary Vane was the plaintiff's counsel; +and Mr. Meader, although he had not been able to work since his release +from the hospital, had been able to talk, and the interest taken in the +case by the average neglected citizen in Putnam proved that the weekly +newspaper is not the only disseminator of news. + +The railroad's side of the case was presented by that genial and able +practitioner of Putnam County, Mr. Nathaniel Billings, who travelled from +his home in Williamstown by the exhibition of a red ticket. Austen Vane +had to pay his own way from Ripton, but as he handed back the mileage +book, the conductor leaned over and whispered something in his ear that +made him smile, and Austen thought he would rather have that little drop +of encouragement than a pass. And as he left the car at Bradford, two +grizzled and hard-handed individuals arose and wished him good luck. + +He needed encouragement,--what young lawyer does not on his first +important case? And he did not like to think of the future if he lost +this. But in this matter he possessed a certain self-confidence which +arose from a just and righteous anger against the forces opposing him and +a knowledge of their tactics. To his mind his client was not Zeb Meader +alone, but the host of victims who had been maimed and bought off because +it was cheaper than to give the public a proper protection. + +The court room was crowded. Mr. Zeb Meader, pale but determined, was +surrounded by a knot of Mercer neighbours, many of whom were witnesses. +The agate eyes of Mr. Brush Bascom flashed from the audience, and Mr. Nat +Billings bustled forward to shake Austen's hand. Nat was one of those +who called not infrequently upon the Honourable Hilary in Ripton, and had +sat on Austen's little table. + +"Glad to see you, Austen," he cried, so that the people might hear; and +added, in a confidentially lower tone, "We lawyers understand that these +little things make no difference, eh?" + +"I'm willing to agree to that if you are, Nat," Austen answered. He +looked at the lawyer's fleshy face, blue-black where it was shaven, and +at Mr. Billings' shifty eyes and mouth, which its muscles could not quite +keep in place. Mr. Billings also had nicked teeth. But he did his best +to hide these obvious disadvantages by a Falstaffian bonhomie,--for Mr. +Billings was growing stout. + +"I tried it once or twice, my friend, when I was younger. It's noble, +but it don't pay," said Mr. Billings, still confidential. "Brush is +sour--look at him. But I understand how you feel. I'm the kind of +feller that speaks out, and what I can't understand is, why the old man +let you get into it." + +"He knew you were going to be on the other side, Nat, and wanted to teach +me a lesson. I suppose it is folly to contest a case where the Railroad +Commission has completely exonerated your client," Austen added +thoughtfully. + +Mr. Billings' answer was to wink, very slowly, with one eye; and shortly +after these pleasantries were over, the case was called. A fragrant wind +blew in at the open windows, and Nature outside was beginning to array +herself in myriad hues of green. Austen studied the jury, and wondered +how many points of his argument he could remember, but when he had got to +his feet the words came to him. If we should seek an emblem for King +David's smooth, round stone which he flung at Goliath, we should call it +the truth--for the truth never fails to reach the mark. Austen's opening +was not long, his words simple and not dramatic, but he seemed to charge +them with something of the same magnetic force that compelled people to +read and believe "Uncle Ton's Cabin" and the "Song of the Shirt." +Spectators and jury listened intently. + +Some twenty witnesses appeared for the plaintiff, all of whom declared +that they had heard neither bell nor whistle. Most of these witnesses +had been in the grove, two or three in the train; two, residents of the +vicinity, testified that they had complained to the Railroad Commission +about that crossing, and had received evasive answers to the effect that +it was the duty of citizens to look out for themselves. On cross- +examination they declared they had no objection to grade crossings which +were properly safeguarded; this crossing was a death-trap. (Stricken +out.) Mr. Billings made the mistake of trying to prove that one of these +farmers--a clear-eyed, full-chested man with a deep voice--had an animus +against the railroad dating from a controversy concerning the shipping of +milk. + +"I have an animus, your Honour," said the witness, quietly. "When the +railrud is represented by the kind of politicians we have in Putnam, it's +natural I should hain't it?" + +This answer, although stricken out, was gleefully received. + +In marked contrast to the earnestness of young Mr. Vane, who then rested, +Mr. Billings treated the affair from the standpoint of a man of large +practice who usually has more weighty matters to attend to. This was so +comparatively trivial as not to be dignified by a serious mien. He +quoted freely from the "Book of Arguments," reminding the jury of the +debt of gratitude the State owed to the Northeastern Railroads for doing +so much for its people; and if they were to eliminate all grade +crossings, there would be no dividends for the stockholders. Besides, +the law was that the State should pay half when a crossing was +eliminated, and the State could not afford it. Austen had suggested, in +his opening, that it was cheaper for the railroad as well as the State to +kill citizens. He asked permission to inquire of the learned counsel for +the defence by what authority he declared that the State could not afford +to enter into a policy by which grade crossings would gradually be +eliminated. + +"Why," said Mr. Billings, "the fact that all bills introduced to this end +never get out of committee." + +"May I ask," said Austen, innocently, "who has been chairman of that +particular committee in the lower House for the last five sessions?" + +Mr. Billings was saved the embarrassment of answering this question by a +loud voice in the rear calling out:-- + +"Brush Bascom!" + +A roar of laughter shook the court room, and all eyes were turned on +Brush, who continued to sit unconcernedly with his legs crossed and his +arm over the back of the seat. The offender was put out, order was +restored, and Mr. Billings declared, with an injured air, that he failed +to see why the counsel for the plaintiff saw fit to impugn Mr. Bascom. + +"I merely asked a question," said Austere; "far be it from me to impugn +any man who has held offices in the gift of the people for the last +twenty years." + +Another gale of laughter followed this, during which Mr. Billings +wriggled his mouth and gave a strong impression that such tactics and +such levity were to be deplored. + +For the defence, the engineer and fireman both swore that the bell had +been rung before the crossing was reached. Austen merely inquired +whether this was not when they had left the station at North Mercer, two +miles away. No, it was nearer. Pressed to name the exact spot, they +could only conjecture, but near enough to be heard on the crossing. +Other witnesses--among them several picnickers in the grove--swore that +they had heard the bell. One of these Austen asked if he was not the +member from Mercer in the last Legislature, and Mr. Billings, no longer +genial, sprang to his feet with an objection. + +"I merely wish to show, your Honour," said Austen, "that this witness +accepted a pass from the Northeastern Railroads when he went to the +Legislature, and that he has had several trip passes for himself and his +family since." + +The objection was not sustained, and Mr. Billings noted an exception. + +Another witness, upon whose appearance the audience tittered audibly, was +Dave Skinner, boss of Mercer. He had lived, he said, in the town of +Mercer all his life, and maintained that he was within a hundred yards of +the track when the accident occurred, and heard the bell ring. + +Is it not a fact," said Austen to this witness, "that Mr. Brush Bascom +has a mortgage on your farm?" + +"I can show, your Honour," Austen continued, when Mr. Billings had +finished his protest, "that this man was on his way to Riverside to pay +his quarterly instalment." + +Mr. Bascom was not present at the afternoon session. Mr. Billings' +summing up was somewhat impassioned, and contained more quotations from +the "Book of Arguments." He regretted, he said, the obvious appeals to +prejudice against a railroad corporation that was honestly trying to do +its duty-yes, and more than its duty. + +Misjudged, misused, even though friendless, it would continue to serve +the people. So noble, indeed, was the picture which Mr. Billings' +eloquence raised up that his voice shook with emotion as he finished. + +In the opinion of many of the spectators Austen Vane had yet to learn the +art of oratory. He might with propriety have portrayed the suffering and +loss of the poor farmer who was his client; he merely quoted from the +doctor's testimony to the effect that Mr. Meader would never again be +able to do physical labour of the sort by which he had supported himself, +and ended up by calling the attention of the jury to the photographs and +plans of the crossing he had obtained two days after the accident, +requesting them to note the facts that the public highway, approaching +through a dense forest and underbrush at an angle of thirty-three +degrees, climbed the railroad embankment at that point, and a train could +not be seen until the horse was actually on the track. + +The jury was out five minutes after the judge's charge, and gave Mr. +Zebulun Meader a verdict of six thousand dollars and costs,--a popular +verdict, from the evident approval with which it was received in the +court room. Quiet being restored, Mr. Billings requested, somewhat +vehemently, that the case be transferred on the exceptions to the Supreme +Court, that the stenographer write out the evidence, and that he might +have three weeks in which to prepare a draft. This was granted. + +Zeb Meader, true to his nature, was self-contained throughout the +congratulations he received, but his joy was nevertheless intense. + +"You shook 'em up good, Austen," he said, making his way to where his +counsel stood. "I suspicioned you'd do it. But how about this here +appeal?" + +"Billings is merely trying to save the face of his railroad," Austen +answered, smiling. "He hasn't the least notion of allowing this case to +come up again--take my word for it." + +"I guess your word's good," said Zeb. "And I want to tell you one thing, +as an old man. I've been talkin' to Putnam County folks some, and you +hain't lost nothin' by this." + +"How am I to get along without the friendship of Brush Bascom?" asked +Austen, soberly. + +Mr. Meader, who had become used to this mild sort of humour, relaxed +sufficiently to laugh. + +"Brush did seem a mite disgruntled," he remarked. + +Somewhat to Austen's embarrassment, Mr. Mender's friends were pushing +forward. One grizzled veteran took him by the hand and looked +thoughtfully into his face. + +"I've lived a good many years," he said, "but I never heerd 'em talked up +to like that. You're my candidate for governor." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ENTER THE LION + +It is a fact, as Shakespeare has so tersely hinted, that fame sometimes +comes in the line of duty. To be sure, if Austen Vane had been Timothy +Smith, the Mender case might not have made quite so many ripples in the +pond with which this story is concerned. Austen did what he thought was +right. In the opinion of many of his father's friends whom he met from +time to time he had made a good-sized stride towards ruin, and they did +not hesitate to tell him so--Mr. Chipman, president of the Ripton +National Bank; Mr. Greene, secretary and treasurer of the Hawkeye Paper +Company, who suggested with all kindness that, however noble it may be, +it doesn't pay to tilt at windmills. + +"Not unless you wreck the windmill," answered Austen. A new and very +revolutionary point of view to Mr. Greene, who repeated it to Professor +Brewer, urging that gentleman to take Austen in hand. But the professor +burst out laughing, and put the saying into circulation. + +Mr. Silas Tredway, whose list of directorships is too long to print, also +undertook to remonstrate with the son of his old friend, Hilary Vane. +The young lawyer heard him respectfully. The cashiers of some of these +gentlemen, who were younger men, ventured to say--when out of hearing-- +that they admired the championship of Mr. Mender, but it would never do. +To these, likewise, Austen listened good-naturedly enough, and did not +attempt to contradict them. Changing the angle of the sun-dial does not +affect the time of day. + +It was not surprising that young Tom Gaylord, when he came back from New +York and heard of Austen's victory, should have rushed to his office and +congratulated him in a rough but hearty fashion. Even though Austen had +won a suit against the Gaylord Lumber Company, young Tom would have +congratulated him. Old Tom was a different matter. Old Tom, hobbling +along under the maples, squinted at Austen and held up his stick. + +"Damn you, you're a lawyer, ain't you?" cried the old man. + +Austen, well used to this kind of greeting from Mr. Gaylord, replied that +he didn't think himself much of one. + +"Damn it, I say you are. Some day I may have use for you," said old Tom, +and walked on. + +"No," said young Tom, afterwards, in explanation of this extraordinary +attitude of his father, "it isn't principle. He's had a row with the +Northeastern about lumber rates, and swears he'll live till he gets even +with 'em." + +If Professor Brewer (Ripton's most clear-sighted citizen) had made the +statement that Hilary Vane--away down in the bottom of his heart--was +secretly proud of his son, the professor would probably have lost his +place on the school board, the water board, and the library committee. +The way the worldly-wise professor discovered the secret was this: he had +gone to Bradford to hear the case, for he had been a dear friend of Sarah +Austen. Two days later Hilary Vane saw the professor on his little +porch, and lingered. Mr. Brewer suspected why, led carefully up to the +subject, and not being discouraged--except by numerous grunts--gave the +father an account of the proceedings by no means unfavourable to the son. +Some people like paregoric; the Honourable Hilary took his without undue +squirming, with no visible effects to Austen. + +Life in the office continued, with one or two exceptions, the even tenor +of its way. Apparently, so far as the Honourable Hilary was concerned, +his son had never been to Bradford. But the Honourable Brush Bascom, +when he came on mysterious business to call on the chief counsel, no +longer sat on Austen's table; this was true of other feudal lords and +retainers: of Mr. Nat Billings, who, by the way, did not file his draft +after all. Not that Mr. Billings wasn't polite, but he indulged no +longer in slow winks at the expense of the honourable Railroad +Commission. + +Perhaps the most curious result of the Meader case to be remarked in +passing, was upon Mr. Hamilton Tooting. Austen, except when he fled to +the hills, was usually the last to leave the office, Mr. Tooting often +the first. But one evening Mr. Tooting waited until the force had gone, +and entered Austen's room with his hand outstretched. + +"Put her there, Aust," he said. + +Austen put her there. + +"I've been exercisin' my thinker some the last few months," observed Mr. +Tooting, seating himself on the desk. + +"Aren't you afraid of nervous prostration, Ham?" + +"Say," exclaimed Mr. Tooting, with a vexed laugh, "why are you always +jollying me? You ain't any older than I am." + +"I'm not as old, Ham. I don't begin to have your knowledge of the +world." + +"Come off," said Mr. Tooting, who didn't know exactly how to take this +compliment. "I came in here to have a serious talk. I've been thinking +it over, and I don't know but what you did right." + +"Well, Ham, if you don't know, I don't know how I am to convince you." + +"Hold on. Don't go twistin' around that way--you make me dizzy." He +lowered his voice confidentially, although there was no one within five +walls of them. "I know the difference between a gold brick and a +government bond, anyhow. I believe bucking the railroad's going to pay +in a year or so. I got on to it as soon as you did, I guess, but when a +feller's worn the collar as long as I have and has to live, it ain't easy +to cut loose--you understand." + +"I understand," answered Austen, gravely. + +"I thought I'd let you know I didn't take any too much trouble with +Meader last summer to get the old bird to accept a compromise." + +"That was good of you, Ham." + +"I knew what you was up to," said Mr. Tooting, giving Austen a friendly +poke with his cigar. + +"You showed your usual acumen, Mr. Tooting," said Austen, as he rose to +put on his coat. Mr. Tooting regarded him uneasily. + +"You're a deep one, Aust," he declared; "some day you and, me must get +together." + +Mr. Billings' desire for ultimate justice not being any stronger than +Austen suspected, in due time Mr. Meader got his money. His counsel +would have none of it,--a decision not at all practical, and on the whole +disappointing. There was, to be sure, an influx into Austen's office of +people who had been run over in the past, and it was Austen's unhappy +duty to point out to these that they had signed (at the request of +various Mr. Tootings) little slips of paper which are technically known +as releases. But the first hint of a really material advantage to be +derived from his case against the railroad came from a wholly unexpected +source, in the shape of a letter in the mail one August morning. + + "DEAR SIR: Having remarked with some interest the verdict for a + client of yours against the United Northeastern Railroads, I wish + you would call and see me at your earliest convenience. + + Yours truly, + + "HUMPHREY CREWE." + +Although his curiosity was aroused, Austen was of two minds whether to +answer this summons, the truth being that Mr. Crewe had not made, on the +occasions on which they had had intercourse, the most favourable of +impressions. However, it is not for the struggling lawyer to scorn any +honourable brief, especially from a gentleman. of stocks and bonds and +varied interests like Mr. Crewe, with whom contentions of magnitude are +inevitably associated. As he spun along behind Pepper on the Leith road +that climbed Willow Brook on the afternoon he had made the appointment, +Austen smiled to himself over his anticipations, and yet---being human- +let his fancy play. + +The broad acres of Wedderburn stretched across many highways, but the +manor-house (as it had been called) stood on an eminence whence one could +look for miles down the Yale of the Blue. It had once been a farmhouse, +but gradually the tail had begun to wag the dog, and the farmhouse +became, like the original stone out of which the Irishman made the soup, +difficult to find. Once the edifice had been on the road, but the road +had long ago been removed to a respectful distance, and Austen entered +between two massive pillars built of granite blocks on a musical gravel +drive. + +Humphrey Crewe was on the porch, his hands in his pockets, as Austen +drove up. + +"Hello," he said, in a voice probably meant to be hospitable, but which +had a peremptory ring, "don't stand on ceremony. Hitch your beast and +come along in." + +Having, as it were, superintended the securing of Pepper, Mr. Crewe led +the way through the house to the study, pausing once or twice to point +out to Austen a carved ivory elephant procured at great expense in China, +and a piece of tapestry equally difficult of purchase. The study itself +was no mere lounging place of a man of pleasure, but sober and formidable +books were scattered through the cases: "Turner's Evolution of the +Railroad," "Graham's Practical Forestry," "Eldridge's Finance"; while +whole shelves of modern husbandry proclaimed that Mr. Humphrey Crewe was +no amateur farmer. There was likewise a shelf devoted to road building, +several to knotty-looking pamphlets, and half a wall of neatly labelled +pigeonholes. For decoration, there was an oar garnished with a ribbon, +and several groups of college undergraduates, mostly either in puffed +ties or scanty attire, and always prominent in these groups, and always +unmistakable, was Mr. Humphrey Crewe himself. + +Mr. Crewe was silent awhile, that this formidable array of things might +make the proper impression upon his visitor. + +"It was lucky you came to-day, Vane," he said at length. "I am due in +New York to-morrow for a directors' meeting, and I have a conference in +Chicago with a board of trustees of which I am a member on the third. +Looking at my array of pamphlets, eh? I've been years in collecting +them,--ever since I left college. Those on railroads ought especially to +interest you--I'm somewhat of a railroad man myself." + +"I didn't know that," said Austen. + +"Had two or three blocks of stock in subsidiary lines that had to be +looked after. It was a nuisance at first," said Mr. Crewe, "but I didn't +shirk it. I made up my mind I'd get to the bottom of the railroad +problem, and I did. It's no use doing a thing at all unless you do it +well." Mr. Crewe, his hands still in his pockets, faced Austen +smilingly. "Now I'll bet you didn't know I was a railroad man until you +came in here. To tell the truth, it was about a railroad matter that I +sent for you." + +Mr. Crewe lit a cigar, but he did not offer one to Austen, as he had to +Mr. Tooting. "I wanted to see what you were like," he continued, with +refreshing frankness. "Of course, I'd seen you on the road. But you can +get more of an idea of a man by talkin' to him, you know." + +"You can if he'll talk," said Austen, who was beginning to enjoy his +visit. + +Mr. Crewe glanced at him keenly. Few men are fools at all points of the +compass, and Mr. Crewe was far from this. + +"You did well in that little case you had against the Northeastern. I +heard about it." + +"I did my best," answered Austen, and he smiled again. + +"As some great man has remarked," observed Mr. Crewe, "it isn't what we +do, it's how we do it. Take pains over the smaller cases, and the larger +cases will come of themselves, eh?" + +"I live in hope," said Austen, wondering how soon this larger case was +going to unfold itself. + +"Let me see," said Mr. Crewe, "isn't your father the chief attorney in +this State for the Northeastern? How do you happen to be on the other +side?" + +"By the happy accident of obtaining a client," said Austen. + +Mr. Crewe glanced at him again. In spite of himself, respect was growing +in him. He had expected to find a certain amount of eagerness and +subserviency--though veiled; here was a man of different calibre than he +looked for in Ripton. + +"The fact is," he declared, "I have a grievance against the Northeastern +Railroads, and I have made up my mind that you are the man for me." + +"You may have reason to regret your choice," Austen suggested. + +"I think not," replied Mr. Crewe, promptly; "I believe I know a man when +I see one, and you inspire me with confidence. This matter will have a +double interest for you, as I understand you are fond of horses." + +"Horses?" + +"Yes," Mr. Crewe continued, gaining a little heat at the word, "I bought +the finest-lookin' pair you ever saw in New York this spring,--all-around +action, manners, conformation, everything; I'll show 'em to you. One of +'em's all right now; this confounded railroad injured the other gettin' +him up here. I've put in a claim. They say they didn't, my man says +they did. He tells me the horse was thrown violently against the sides +of the car several times. He's internally injured. I told 'em I'd sue +'em, and I've decided that you are the man to take the case--on +conditions." + +Austen's sense of humour saved him,--and Mr. Humphrey Crewe had begun to +interest him. He rose and walked to the window and looked out for a few +moments over the flower garden before he replied:-- + +"On what conditions?" + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "frankly, I don't want to pay more than the horse +is worth, and it's business to settle on the fee in case you win. I +thought--" + +"You thought," said Austen, "that I might not charge as much as the next +man." + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "I knew that if you took the case, you'd fight it +through, and I want to get even with 'em. Their claim agent had the +impudence to suggest that the horse had been doctored by the dealer in +New York. To tell me that I, who have been buying horses all my life, +was fooled. The veterinary swears the animal is ruptured. I'm a citizen +of Avalon County, though many people call me a summer resident; I've done +business here and helped improve the neighbourhood for years. It will be +my policy to employ home talent Avalon County lawyers, for instance. I +may say, without indiscretion, that I intend from now on to take even a +greater interest in public affairs. The trouble is in this country that +men in my position do not feel their responsibilities." + +"Public spirit is a rare virtue," Austen remarked, seeing that he was +expected to say something. "Avalon County appreciates the compliment,-- +if I may be permitted to answer for it." + +"I want to do the right thing," said Mr. Crewe. "In fact, I have almost +made up my mind to go to the Legislature this year. I know it would be a +sacrifice of time, in a sense, and all that, but--" He paused, and +looked at Austen. + +"The Legislature needs leavening." + +"Precisely," exclaimed Mr. Crewe, "and when I look around me and see the +things crying to be done in this State, and no lawmaker with sense and +foresight enough to propose them, it makes me sick. Now, for instance," +he continued, and rose with an evident attempt to assault the forestry +shelves. But Austen rose too. + +"I'd like to go over that with you, Mr. Crewe," said he, "but I have to +be back in Ripton." + +"How about my case?" his host demanded, with a return to his former +abruptness. + +"What about it?" asked Austen. + +"Are you going to take it?" + +"Struggling lawyers don't refuse business." + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "that's sensible. But what are you going to +charge?" + +"Now," said Austen, with entire good humour, "when you get on that +ground, you are dealing no longer with one voracious unit, but with a +whole profession,--a profession, you will allow me to add, which in +dignity is second to none. In accordance with the practice of the best +men in that profession, I will charge you what I believe is fair--not +what I think you are able and willing to pay. Should you dispute the +bill, I will not stoop to quarrel with you, but, try to live on bread and +butter a while longer." + +Mr. Crewe was silent for a moment. It would not be exact to say +uncomfortable, for it is to be doubted whether he ever got so. But he +felt dimly that the relations of patron and patronized were becoming +somewhat jumbled. + +"All right," said he, "I guess we can let it go at that. Hello! What +the deuce are those women doing here again?" + +This irrelevant exclamation was caused by the sight through the open +French window--of three ladies in the flower garden, two of whom were +bending over the beds. The third, upon whose figure Austen's eyes were +riveted, was seated on a stone bench set in a recess of pines, and +looking off into the Yale of the Blue. With no great eagerness, but +without apology to Austen, Mr. Crewe stepped out of the window and +approached them; and as this was as good a way as any to his horse and +buggy, Austen followed. One of the ladies straightened at their +appearance, scrutinized them through the glasses she held in her hand, +and Austen immediately recognized her as the irreproachable Mrs. Pomfret. + +"We didn't mean to disturb you, Humphrey," she said. "We knew you would +be engaged in business, but I told Alice as we drove by I could not +resist stopping for one more look at your Canterbury bells. I knew you +wouldn't mind, but you mustn't leave your--affairs,--not for an instant." + +The word "affairs" was accompanied by a brief inspection of Austen Vane. + +"That's all right," answered Mr. Crewe; "it doesn't cost anything to look +at flowers, that's what they're for. Cost something to put 'em in. I +got that little feller Ridley to lay 'em out--I believe I told you. He's +just beginning. Hello, Alice." + +"I think he did it very well, Humphrey," said Miss Pomfret. + +"Passably," said Mr. Crewe. "I told him what I wanted and drew a rough +sketch of the garden and the colour scheme." + +"Then you did it, and not Mr. Ridley. I rather suspected it," said Mrs. +Pomfret; "you have such clear and practical ideas about things, +Humphrey." + +"It's simple enough," said Mr. Crewe, deprecatingly, "after you've seen a +few hundred gardens and get the general underlying principle." + +"It's very clever," Alice murmured. + +"Not at all. A little application will do wonders. A certain definite +colour massed here, another definite colour there, and so forth." + +Mr. Crewe spoke as though Alice's praise irritated him slightly. He +waved his hand to indicate the scheme in general, and glanced at Victoria +on the stone bench. From her (Austen thought) seemed to emanate a silent +but mirthful criticism, although she continued to gaze persistently down +the valley, apparently unaware of their voices. Mr. Crewe looked as if +he would have liked to reach her, but the two ladies filled the narrow +path, and Mrs. Pomfret put her fingers on his sleeve. + +"Humphrey, you must explain it to us. I am so interested in gardens I'm +going to have one if Electrics increase their dividend." + +Mr. Crewe began, with no great ardour, to descant on the theory of +planting, and Austen resolved to remain pocketed and ignored no longer. +He retraced his steps and made his way rapidly by another path towards +Victoria, who turned her head at his approach, and rose. He acknowledged +an inward agitation with the vision in his eye of the tall, white figure +against the pines, clad with the art which, in mysterious simplicity, +effaces itself. + +"I was wondering," she said, as she gave him her hand, "how long it would +be before you spoke to me." + +"You gave me no chance," said Austen, quickly. + +"Do you deserve one?" she asked. + +Before he could answer, Mr. Crewe's explanation of his theories had come +lamely to a halt. Austen was aware of the renewed scrutiny of Mrs. +Pomfret, and then Mr. Crewe, whom no social manacles could shackle, had +broken past her and made his way to them. He continued to treat the +ground on which Austen was standing as unoccupied. + +"Hello, Victoria," he said, "you don't know anything about gardens, do +you?" + +"I don't believe you do either," was Victoria's surprising reply. + +Mr. Crewe laughed at this pleasantry. + +"How are you going to prove it?" he demanded. + +"By comparing what you've done with Freddie Ridley's original plan," said +Victoria. + +Mr. Crewe was nettled. + +"Ridley has a lot to learn," he retorted. "He had no conception of what +was appropriate here." + +"Freddie was weak," said Victoria, but he needed the money. Don't you +know Mr. Vane?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Crewe, shortly, "I've been talking to him--on business." + +"Oh," said Victoria, "I had no means of knowing. Mrs. Pomfret, I want to +introduce Mr. Vane, and Miss Pomfret, Mr. Vane." + +Mrs. Pomfret, who had been hovering on the outskirts of this duel, +inclined her head the fraction of an inch, but Alice put out her hand +with her sweetest manner. + +"When did you arrive?" she asked. + +"Well, the fact is, I haven't arrived yet," said Austen. + +"Not arrived" exclaimed Alice, with a puzzled glance into Victoria's +laughing eyes. + +"Perhaps Humphrey will help you along," Victoria suggested, turning to +him. "He might be induced to give you his celebrated grievance about his +horses." + +"I have given it to him," said Mr. Crewe, briefly. + +"Cheer up, Mr. Vane, your fortune is made," said Victoria. + +"Victoria," said Mrs. Pomfret, in her most imperial voice, "we ought to +be going instantly, or we shan't have time to drop you at the Hammonds'." + +"I'll take you over in the new motor car," said Mr. Crewe, with his air +of conferring a special train. + +"How much is gasoline by the gallon?" inquired Victoria. + +"I did a favour once for the local manager, and get a special price," +said Mr. Crewe. + +"Humphrey," said Mrs. Pomfret, taking his hand, "don't forget you are +coming to dinner to-night. Four people gave out at the last minute, and +there will be just Alice and myself. I've asked old Mr. Fitzhugh." + +"All right," said Mr. Crewe, "I'll have the motor car brought around." + +The latter part of this remark was, needless to say, addressed to +Victoria. + +"It's awfully good of you, Humphrey," she answered, "but the Hammonds are +on the road to Ripton, and I am going to ask Mr. Vane to drive me down +there behind that adorable horse of his." + +This announcement produced a varied effect upon those who heard it, +although all experienced surprise. Mrs. Pomfret, in addition to an anger +which she controlled only as the result of long practice, was horrified, +and once more levelled her glasses at Austen. + +"I think, Victoria, you had better come with us," she said. "We shall +have plenty of time, if we hurry." + +By this time Austen had recovered his breath. + +"I'll be ready in an instant," he said, and made brief but polite adieus +to the three others. + +"Good-by," said Alice, vaguely. + +"Let me know when anything develops," said Mr. Crewe, with his back to +his attorney. + +Austen found Victoria, her colour heightened a little, waiting for him by +the driveway. The Pomfrets had just driven off, and Mr. Crewe was +nowhere to be seen. + +"I do not know what you will think of me for taking this for granted, Mr. +Vane," she said as he took his seat beside her, "but I couldn't resist +the chance of driving behind your horse." + +"I realized," he answered smilingly, "that Pepper was the attraction, and +I have more reason than ever to be grateful to him." + +She glanced covertly at the Vane profile, at the sure, restraining hands +on the reins which governed with so nice a touch the mettle of the horse. +His silence gave her time to analyze again her interest in this man, +which renewed itself at every meeting. In the garden she had been struck +by the superiority of a nature which set at naught what had been, to some +smaller spirits, a difficult situation. She recognized this quality as +inborn, but, not knowing of Sarah Austen, she wondered where he got it. +Now it was the fact that he refrained from comment that pleased her most. + +"Did Humphrey actually send for you to take up the injured horse case?" +she asked. + +Austen flushed. + +"I'm afraid he did. You seem to know all about it," he added. + +"Know all about it Every one within twenty miles of Leith knows about +it. I'm sure the horse was doctored when he bought him." + +"Take care, you may be called as a witness." + +"What I want to know is, why you accepted such a silly case," said +Victoria. + +Austen looked quizzically into her upturned face, and she dropped her +eyes. + +"That's exactly what I should have asked myself,--after a while," he +said. + +She laughed with a delicious understanding of "after a while." + +"I suppose you think me frightfully forward," she said, in a lowered +voice, "inviting myself to drive and asking you such a question when I +scarcely know you. But I just couldn't go on with Mrs. Pomfret,--she +irritated me so,--and my front teeth are too valuable to drive with +Humphrey Crewe." + +Austen smiled, and secretly agreed with her. + +"I should have offered, if I had dared," he said. + +"Dared! I didn't know that was your failing. I don't believe you even +thought of it." + +"Nevertheless, the idea occurred to me, and terrified me," said Austen. + +"Why?" she asked, turning upon him suddenly. "Why did it terrify you?" + +"I should have been presuming upon an accidental acquaintance, which I +had no means of knowing you wished to continue," he replied, staring at +his horse's head. + +"And I?" Victoria asked. "Presumption multiplies tenfold in a woman, +doesn't it?" + +"A woman confers," said Austen. + +She smiled, but with a light in her eyes. This simple sentence seemed to +reveal yet more of an inner man different from some of those with whom +her life had been cast. It was an American point of view--this choosing +to believe that the woman conferred. After offering herself as his +passenger Victoria, too, had had a moment of terror: the action had been +the result of an impulse which she did not care to attempt to define. +She changed the subject. + +"You have been winning laurels since I saw you last summer," she said. +"I hear incidentally you have made our friend Zeb Meader a rich man." + +"As riches go, in the town of Mercer," Austen laughed. "As for my +laurels, they have not yet begun to chafe." + +Here was a topic he would have avoided, and yet he was curious to +discover what her attitude would be. He had antagonized her father, and +the fact that he was the son of Hilary Vane had given his antagonism +prominence. + +"I am glad you did it for Zeb." + +"I should have done it for anybody--much as I like Zeb," he replied +briefly. + +She glanced at him. + +"It was--courageous of you," she said. + +"I have never looked upon it in that light," he answered. "May I ask you +how you heard of it?" + +She coloured, but faced the question. + +"I heard it from my father, at first, and I took an interest--on Zeb +Meader's account," she added hastily. + +Austen was silent. + +"Of course," she continued, "I felt a little like boasting of an +'accidental acquaintance' with the man who saved Zeb Meader's life." + +Austen laughed. Then he drew Pepper down to a walk, and turned to her. + +"The power of making it more than an accidental acquaintance lies with +you," he said quietly. + +"I have always had an idea that aggression was a man's prerogative," +Victoria answered lightly. "And seeing that you have not appeared at +Fairview for something over a year, I can only conclude that you do not +choose to exercise it in this case." + +Austen was in a cruel quandary. + +"I did wish to come," he answered simply, "but--the fact that I have had +a disagreement with your father has--made it difficult." +"Nonsense" exclaimed Victoria; "just because you have won a suit against +his railroad. You don't know my father, Mr. Vane. He isn't the kind of +man with whom that would make any difference. You ought to talk it over +with him. He thinks you were foolish to take Zeb Meader's side." + +"And you?" Austen demanded quickly. + +"You see, I'm a woman," said Victoria, "and I'm prejudiced--for Zeb +Meader. Women are always prejudiced,--that's our trouble. It seemed to +me that Zeb was old, and unfortunate, and ought to be compensated, since +he is unable to work. But of course I suppose I can't be expected to +understand." + +It was true that she could not be expected to understand. He might not +tell her that his difference with Mr. Flint was not a mere matter of +taking a small damage suit against his railroad, but a fundamental one. +And Austen recognized that the justification of his attitude meant an +arraignment of Victoria's father. + +"I wish you might know my father better, Mr. Vane," she went on, "I wish +you might know him as I know him, if it were possible. You see, I have +been his constant companion all my life, and I think very few people +understand him as I do, and realize his fine qualities. He makes no +attempt to show his best side to the world. His life has been spent in +fighting, and I am afraid he is apt to meet the world on that footing. +He is a man of such devotion to his duty that he rarely has a day to +himself, and I have known him to sit up until the small hours of the +morning to settle some little matter of justice. I do not think I am +betraying his confidence when I say that he is impressed with your +ability, and that he liked your manner the only time he ever talked to +you. He believes that you have got, in some way, a wrong idea of what he +is trying to do. Why don't you come up and talk to him again?" + +"I am afraid your kindness leads you to overrate my importance," Austen +replied, with mingled feelings. Victoria's confidence in her father made +the situation all the more hopeless. + +"I'm sure I don't," she answered quickly; "ever since--ever since I first +laid eyes upon you I have had a kind of belief in you." + +"Belief?" he echoed. + +"Yes," she said, "belief that--that you had a future. I can't describe +it," she continued, the colour coming into her face again; "one feels +that way about some people without being able to put the feeling into +words. And have a feeling, too, that I should like you to be friends +with my father." + +Neither of them, perhaps, realized the rapidity with which "accidental +acquaintance" had melted into intimacy. Austen's blood ran faster, but +it was characteristic of him that he tried to steady himself, for he was +a Vane. He had thought of her many times during the past year, but +gradually the intensity of the impression had faded until it had been so +unexpectedly and vividly renewed to-day. He was not a man to lose his +head, and the difficulties of the situation made him pause and choose his +words, while he dared not so much as glance at her as she sat in the +sunlight beside him. + +"I should like to be friends with your father," he answered gravely,--the +statement being so literally true as to have its pathetically humorous +aspect. + +"I'll tell him so, Mr. Vane," she said. + +Austen turned, with a seriousness that dismayed her. + +"I must ask you as a favour not to do that," he said. + +"Why?" she asked. + +"In the first place," he answered quietly, "I cannot afford to have Mr. +Flint misunderstand my motives. And I ought not to mislead you," he went +on. "In periods of public controversy, such as we are passing through at +present, sometimes men's views differ so sharply as to make intercourse +impossible. Your father and I might not agree--politically, let us say. +For instance," he added, with evident hesitation, "my father and I +disagree." + +Victoria was silent. And presently they came to a wire fence overgrown +with Virginia creeper, which divided the shaded road from a wide lawn. + +"Here we are at the Hammonds', and--thank you," she said. + +Any reply he might have made was forestalled. The insistent and +intolerant horn of an automobile, followed now by the scream of the +gears, broke the stillness of the country-side, and a familiar voice +cried out-- + +"Do you want the whole road?" + +Austen turned into the Hammonds' drive as the bulldog nose of a motor +forged ahead, and Mr. Crewe swung in the driver's seat. + +"Hello, Victoria," he shouted, "you people ought to have ear-trumpets." + +The car swerved, narrowly missed a watering fountain where the word +"Peace" was inscribed, and shot down the hill. + +"That manner," said Victoria, as she jumped out of the buggy, "is a +valuable political asset." + +"Does he really intend to go into politics?" Austen asked curiously. + +"'Intend' is a mild word applied to Humphrey," she answered; +"'determined' would suit him better. According to him, there is no game +that cannot be won by dynamics. 'Get out of the way' is his motto. Mrs. +Pomfret will tell you how he means to cover the State with good roads +next year, and take a house in Washington the year after." She held out +her hand. "Good-by,--and I am ever so much obliged to you for bringing +me here." + +He drove away towards Ripton with many things to think about, with a last +picture of her in his mind as she paused for an instant in the flickering +shadows, stroking Pepper's forehead. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE LEOPARD AND HIS SPOTS + +It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Mr. Humphrey Crewe, of +his value to the town of Leith, and to the State at large, and in these +pages only a poor attempt at an appreciation of him may be expected. Mr. +Crewe by no means underestimated this claim upon the community, and he +had of late been declaring that he was no summer resident. Wedderburn +was his home, and there he paid his taxes. Undoubtedly, they were less +than city taxes. + +Although a young man, Mr. Crewe was in all respects a model citizen, and +a person of many activities. He had built a farmers' club, to which the +farmers, in gross ingratitude, had never gone. Now it was a summer +residence and distinctly rentable. He had a standing offer to erect a +library in the village of Leith provided the town would furnish the +ground, the books, and permit the name of Crewe to be carved in stone +over the doorway. The indifference of the town pained him, and he was +naturally not a little grieved at the lack of proper feeling of the +country people of America towards those who would better their +conditions. He had put a large memorial window in the chapel to his +family. + +Mr. Crewe had another standing offer to be one of five men to start a +farming experiment station--which might pay dividends. He, was a church +warden; president of a society for turning over crops (which he had +organized); a member of the State Grange; president of the embryo State +Economic League (whatever that was); and chairman of the Local +Improvement Board--also a creation of his own. By these tokens, and +others too numerous to mention, it would seem that the inhabitants of +Leith would have jumped at the chance to make such a man one of the five +hundred in their State Legislature. + +To Whitman is attributed the remark that genius is almost one hundred per +cent directness, but whether or not this applied to Mr. Humphrey Crewe +remains to be seen. "Dynamics" more surely expressed him. It would not +seem to be a very difficult feat, to be sure, to get elected to a State +Legislature of five hundred which met once a year: once in ten years, +indeed, might have been more appropriate for the five hundred. The town +of Leith with its thousand inhabitants had one representative, and Mr. +Crewe had made up his mind he was to be that representative. + +There was, needless to say, great excitement in Leith over Mr. Crewe's +proposed venture into the unknown seas of politics. I mean, of course, +that portion of Leith which recognized in Mr. Crewe an eligible bachelor +and a person of social importance, for these qualities were not +particularly appealing to the three hundred odd farmers whose votes were +expected to send him rejoicing to the State capital. + +"It is so rare with us for a gentleman to go into politics, that we ought +to do everything we can to elect him," Mrs. Pomfret went about declaring. +"Women do so much in England, I wonder they don't do more here. I was +staying at Aylestone Court last year when the Honourable Billy Aylestone +was contesting the family seat with a horrid Radical, and I assure you, +my dear, I got quite excited. We did nothing from morning till night but +electioneer for the Honourable Billy, and kissed all the babies in the +borough. The mothers were so grateful. Now, Edith, do tell Jack instead +of playing tennis and canoeing all day he ought to help. It's the duty +of all young men to help. Noblesse oblige, you know. I can't understand +Victoria. She really has influence with these country people, but she +says it's all nonsense. Sometimes I think Victoria has a common streak +in her--and no wonder. The other day she actually drove to the Hammonds' +in a buggy with an unknown lawyer from Ripton. But I told you about it. +Tell your gardener and the people that do your haying, dear, and your +chicken woman. My chicken woman is most apathetic, but do you wonder, +with the life they lead?" + +Mr. Humphrey Crewe might have had, with King Charles, the watchword +"Thorough." He sent to the town clerk for a check-list, and proceeded to +honour each of the two hundred Republican voters with a personal visit. +This is a fair example of what took place in the majority of cases. + +Out of a cloud of dust emerges an automobile, which halts, with +protesting brakes, in front of a neat farmhouse, guarded by great maples. +Persistent knocking by a chauffeur at last brings a woman to the door. +Mrs. Jenney has a pleasant face and an ample figure. + +"Mr. Jenney live here?" cries Mr. Crewe from the driver's seat. + +"Yes," says Mrs. Jenney, smiling. + +"Tell him I want to see him." + +"Guess you'll find him in the apple orchard." + +"Where's that?" + +The chauffeur takes down the bars, Mr. Jenney pricks up his ears, and +presently--to his amazement--perceives a Leviathan approaching him, +careening over the ruts of his wood road. Not being an emotional person, +he continues to pick apples until he is summarily hailed. Then he goes +leisurely towards the Leviathan. + +"Are you Mr. Jenney?" + +"Callate to be," says Mr. Jenney, pleasantly. + +"I'm Humphrey Crewe." + +"How be you?" says Mr. Jenney, his eyes wandering over the Leviathan. + +How are the apples this year?" asks Mr. Crewe, graciously. + +"Fair to middlin'," says Mr. Jenney. + +"Have you ever tasted my Pippins?" says Mr. Crewe. "A little science in +cultivation helps along. I'm going to send you a United States +government pamphlet on the fruit we can raise here." + +Mr. Jenney makes an awkward pause by keeping silent on the subject of the +pamphlet until he shall see it. + +"Do you take much interest in politics?" + +"Not a great deal," answers Mr. Jenney. + +"That's the trouble with Americans," Mr. Crewe declares, "they don't care +who represents 'em, or whether their government's good or bad." + +"Guess that's so," replies Mr. Jenney, politely. + +"That sort of thing's got to stop," declares Mr. Crewe; "I'm a candidate +for the Republican nomination for representative." + +"I want to know!" ejaculates Mr. Jenney, pulling his beard. One would +never suspect that this has been one of Mr. Jenney's chief topics of +late. + +"I'll see that the interests of this town are cared for." + +"Let's see," says Mr. Jenney, "there's five hundred in the House, ain't +there?" + +"It's a ridiculous number," says Mr. Crewe, with truth. + +"Gives everybody a chance to go," says Mr. Jenney. "I was thar in '78, +and enjoyed it some." + +"Who are you for?" demanded Mr. Crewe, combating the tendency of the +conversation to slip into a pocket. + +"Little early yet, hain't it? Hain't made up my mind. Who's the +candidates?" asks Mr. Jenney, continuing to stroke his beard. + +"I don't know," says Mr. Crewe, "but I do know I've done something for +this town, and I hope you'll take it into consideration. Come and see me +when you go to the village. I'll give you a good cigar, and that +pamphlet, and we'll talk matters over." + +"Never would have thought to see one of them things in my orchard," says +Mr. Jenney. "How much do they cost? Much as a locomotive, don't they?" + +It would not be exact to say that, after some weeks of this sort of +campaigning, Mr. Crewe was discouraged, for such writhe vitality with +which nature had charged him that he did not know the meaning of the +word. He was merely puzzled, as a June-bug is puzzled when it bumps up +against a wire window-screen. He had pledged to him his own gardener, +Mrs. Pomfret's, the hired men of three of his neighbours, a few modest +souls who habitually took off their hats to him, and Mr. Ball, of the +village, who sold groceries to Wedderburn and was a general handy man for +the summer people. Mr. Ball was an agitator by temperament and a +promoter by preference. If you were a summer resident of importance and +needed anything from a sewing-machine to a Holstein heifer, Mr. Ball, the +grocer, would accommodate you. When Mrs. Pomfret's cook became inebriate +and refractory, Mr. Ball was sent for, and enticed her to the station and +on board of a train; when the Chillinghams' tank overflowed, Mr. Ball +found the proper valve and saved the house from being washed away. And +it was he who, after Mrs. Pomfret, took the keenest interest in Mr. +Crewe's campaign. At length came one day when Mr. Crewe pulled up in +front of the grocery store and called, as his custom was, loudly for Mr. +Ball. The fact that Mr. Ball was waiting on customers made no +difference, and presently that gentleman appeared, rubbing his hands +together. + +"How do you do, Mr. Crewe?" he said, "automobile going all right?" + +"What's the matter with these fellers?" said Mr. Crewe. "Haven't I done +enough for the town? Didn't I get 'em rural free delivery? Didn't I +subscribe to the meeting-house and library, and don't I pay more taxes +than anybody else?" + +"Certain," assented Mr. Ball, eagerly, "certain you do." It did not seem +to occur to him that it was unfair to make him responsible for the scurvy +ingratitude of his townsmen. He stepped gingerly down into the dust and +climbed up on the tool box. + +"Look out," said Mr. Crewe, "don't scratch the varnish. What is it?" + +Mr. Ball shifted obediently to the rubber-covered step, and bent his face +to his patron's ear. + +"It's railrud," he said. + +"Railroad!" shouted Mr. Crewe, in a voice that made the grocer clutch his +arm in terror. "Don't pinch me like that. Railroad! This town ain't +within ten miles of the railroad." + +"For the love of David," said Mr. Ball, "don't talk so loud, Mr. Crewe." + +"What's the railroad got to do with it?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +Mr. Ball glanced around him, to make sure that no one was within shouting +distance. + +"What's the railrud got to do with anything in this State?" inquired Mr. +Ball, craftily. + +"That's different," said Mr. Crewe, shortly, "I'm a corporation man +myself. They've got to defend 'emselves." + +"Certain. I ain't got anything again' 'em," Mr. Ball agreed quickly. "I +guess they know what they're about. By the bye, Mr. Crewe," he added, +coming dangerously near the varnish again, and drawing back, "you hain't +happened to have seen Job Braden, have you?" + +"Job Braden!" exclaimed Mr. Crewe, "Job Braden! What's all this mystery +about Job Braden? Somebody whispers that name in my ear every day. If +you mean that smooth-faced cuss that stutters and lives on Braden's Hill, +I called on him, but he was out. If you see him, tell him to come up to +Wedderburn, and I'll talk with him." + +Mr. Ball made a gesture to indicate a feeling divided between respect for +Mr. Crewe and despair at the hardihood of such a proposition. + +"Lord bless you, sir, Job wouldn't go." + +"Wouldn't go?" + +"He never pays visits,--folks go to him." + +"He'd come to see me, wouldn't he?" + +"I--I'm afraid riot, Mr. Crewe. Job holds his comb rather high." + +"Do you mean to say this two-for-a-cent town has a boss?" + +"Silas Grantley was born here," said Mr. Ball--for even the worm will +turn. "This town's got a noble history." + +"I don't care anything about Silas Grantley. What I want to know is, how +this rascal manages to make anything out of the political pickings of a +town like Leith." + +"Well, Job ain't exactly a rascal, Mr. Crewe. He's got a good many of +them hill farmers in a position of--of gratitude. Enough to control the +Republican caucus." + +"Do you mean he buys their votes?" demanded Mr. Crewe. + +"It's like this," explained Mr. Ball, "if one of 'em falls behind in his +grocery bill, for example, he can always get money from Job. Job takes a +mortgage, but he don't often close down on 'm. And Job has been +collectin' credentials in Avalon County for upward of forty years." + +"Collecting credentials?" + +"Yes. Gets a man nominated to State and county conventions that can't +go, and goes himself with a bunch of credentials. He's in a position to +negotiate. He was in all them railrud fights with Jethro Bass, and now +he does business with Hilary Vane or Brush Bascom when anything +especial's goin' on. You'd ought to see him, Mr. Crewe." + +"I guess I won't waste my time with any picayune boss if the United +Northeastern Railroads has any hand in this matter," declared Mr. Crewe. +"Wind her up." + +This latter remark was addressed to a long-suffering chauffeur who looked +like a Sicilian brigand. + +"I didn't exactly like to suggest it," said Mr. Ball, rubbing his hands +and raising his voice above the whir of the machine, "but of course I +knew Mr. Flint was an intimate friend. A word to him from you--" + +But by this Mr. Crewe had got in his second speed and was sweeping around +a corner lined with farmers' teams, whose animals were behaving like +circus horses. On his own driveway, where he arrived in incredibly brief +time, he met his stenographer, farm superintendent, secretary, +housekeeper, and general utility man, Mr. Raikes. Mr. Raikes was +elderly, and showed signs of needing a vacation. + +"Telephone Mr. Flint, Raikes, and tell him I would like an appointment at +his earliest convenience, on important business." + +Mr. Raikes, who was going for his daily stroll beside the river, wheeled +and made for the telephone, and brought back the news that Mr. Flint +would be happy to see Mr. Crewe the next afternoon at four o'clock. + +This interview, about which there has been so much controversy in the +newspapers, and denials and counter-denials from the press bureaus of +both gentlemen,--this now historic interview began at four o'clock +precisely the next day. At that hour Mr. Crewe was ushered into that +little room in which Mr. Flint worked when at Fairview. Like Frederick +the Great and other famous captains, Mr. Flint believed in an iron +bedstead regime. The magnate was, as usual, fortified behind his oak +desk; the secretary with a bend in his back was in modest evidence; and +an elderly man of comfortable proportions, with a large gold watch-charm +portraying the rising sun, and who gave, somehow, the polished impression +of a marble, sat near the window smoking a cigar. Mr. Crewe approached +the desk with that genial and brisk manner for which he was noted and +held out his hand to the railroad president. + +"We are both business men, and both punctual, Mr. Flint," he said, and +sat down in the empty chair beside his host, eyeing without particular +favour him of the watch-charm, whose cigar was not a very good one. "I +wanted to have a little private conversation with you which might be of +considerable interest to us both." And Mr. Crewe laid down on the desk a +somewhat formidable roll of papers. + +"I trust the presence of Senator Whitredge will not deter you," answered +Mr. Flint. "He is an old friend of mine." + +Mr. Crewe was on his feet again with surprising alacrity, and beside the +senator's chair. + +"How are you, Senator?" he said, "I have never had the pleasure of +meeting you, but I know you by reputation." + +The senator got to his feet. They shook hands, and exchanged cordial +greetings; and during the exchange Mr. Crewe looked out of the window, +and the senator's eyes were fixed on the telephone receiver on Mr. +Flint's desk. As neither gentleman took hold of the other's fingers very +hard, they fell apart quickly. + +"I am very happy to meet you, Mr. Crewe," said the senator. Mr. Crewe +sat down again, and not being hampered by those shrinking qualities so +fatal to success he went on immediately:-- + +"There is nothing which I have to say that the senator cannot hear. I +made the appointment with you, Mr. Flint, to talk over a matter which may +be of considerable importance to us both. I have made up my mind to go +to the Legislature." + +Mr. Crewe naturally expected to find visible effects of astonishment and +joy on the faces of his hearers at such not inconsiderable news. Mr. +Flint, however, looked serious enough, though the senator smiled as he +blew his smoke out of the window. + +"Have you seen Job Braden, Mr. Crewe?" he asked, with genial jocoseness. +"They tell me that Job is still alive and kicking over in your parts." + +"Thank you, Senator," said Mr. Crewe, "that brings me to the very point I +wish to emphasize. Everywhere in Leith I am met with the remark, 'Have +you seen Job Braden?' And I always answer, 'No, I haven't seen Mr. +Braden, and I don't intend to see him."' + +Mr. Whitredge laughed, and blew out a ring of smoke. Mr. Flint's face +remained sober. + +"Now, Mr. Flint," Mr. Crewe went on, "you and I understand each other, +and we're on the same side of the fence. I have inherited some interests +in corporations myself, and I have acquired an interest in others. I am +a director in several. I believe that it is the duty of property to +protect itself, and the duty of all good men in politics,--such as the +senator here,"--(bow from Mr. Whitredge) to protect property. I am a +practical man, and I think I can convince you, if you don't see it +already, that my determination to go to the Legislature is an +advantageous thing for your railroad." + +"The advent of a reputable citizen into politics is always a good thing +for the railroad, Mr. Crewe," said Mr. Flint. + +"Exactly," Mr. Crewe agreed, ignoring the non-committal quality of this +remark, "and if you get a citizen who is a not inconsiderable property +holder, a gentleman, and a college graduate,--a man who, by study and +predilection, is qualified to bring about improved conditions in the +State, so much the better." + +"So much the better," said Mr. Flint. + +"I thought you would see it that way," Mr. Crewe continued. "Now a man +of your calibre must have studied to some extent the needs of the State, +and it must have struck you that certain improvements go hand in hand +with the prosperity of your railroad." + +"Have a cigar, Mr. Crewe. Have another, Senator?" said Mr. Flint. "I +think that is safe as a general proposition, Mr. Crewe." + +"To specify," said Mr. Crewe, laying his hand on the roll of papers he +had brought, "I have here bills which I have carefully drawn up and which +I will leave for your consideration. One is to issue bonds for ten +millions to build State roads." + +"Ten millions!" said Mr. Flint, and the senator whistled mildly. + +"Think about it," said Mr. Crewe, "the perfection of the highways through +the State, instead of decreasing your earnings, would increase them +tremendously. Visitors by the tens of thousands would come in +automobiles, and remain and buy summer places. The State would have its +money back in taxes and business in no time at all. I wonder somebody +hasn't seen it before--the stupidity of the country legislator is +colossal. And we want forestry laws, and laws for improving the +condition of the farmers--all practical things. They are all there," Mr. +Crewe declared, slapping the bundle; "read them, Mr. Flint. If you have +any suggestions to make, kindly note them on the margin, and I shall be +glad to go over them with you." + +By this time the senator was in a rare posture for him--he was seated +upright. + +"As you know, I am a very busy man, Mr. Crewe," said the railroad +president. + +"No one appreciates that more fully than I do, Mr. Flint," said Mr. +Crewe; "I haven't many idle hours myself. I think you will find the +bills and my comments on them well worth your consideration from the +point of view of advantage to your railroad. They are typewritten, and +in concrete form. In fact, the Northeastern Railroads and myself must +work together to our mutual advantage--that has become quite clear to me. +I shall have need of your help in passing the measures." + +"I'm afraid I don't quite understand you, Mr. Crewe," said Mr. Flint, +putting down the papers. + +"That is," said Mr. Crewe, "if you approve of the bills, and I am +confident that I shall be able to convince you." + +"What do you want me to do?" asked the railroad president. + +"Well, in the first place," said Mr. Crewe, unabashed, "send word to your +man Braden that you've seen me and it's all right." + +"I assure you," answered Mr. Flint, giving evidence for the first time of +a loss of patience, "that neither the Northeastern Railroads nor myself, +have any more to do with this Braden than you have." + +Mr. Crewe, being a man of the world, looked incredulous. + +"Senator," Mr. Flint continued, turning to Mr. Whitredge, "you know as +much about politics in this State as any man of my acquaintance, have you +ever heard of any connection between this Braden and the Northeastern +Railroads?" + +The senator had a laugh that was particularly disarming. + +"Bless your soul, no," he replied. "You will pardon me, Mr. Crewe, but +you must have been listening to some farmer's tale. The railroad is the +bugaboo in all these country romances. I've seen old Job Braden at +conventions ever since I was a lad. He's a back number, one of the few +remaining disciples and imitators of Jethro Bass: talks like him and acts +like him. In the old days when there were a lot of little railroads, he +and Bijah Bixby and a few others used to make something out of them, but +since the consolidation, and Mr. Flint's presidency, Job stays at home. +They tell me he runs Leith yet. You'd better go over and fix it up with +him." + +A somewhat sarcastic smile of satisfaction was playing over Mr. Flint's +face as he listened to the senator's words. As a matter of fact, they +were very nearly true as regarded Job Braden, but Mr. Crewe may be +pardoned for thinking that Mr. Flint was not showing him quite the +confidence due from one business and corporation man to another. He was +by no means abashed,--Mr. Crewe had too much spirit for that. He merely +became--as a man whose watchword is "thorough" will--a little more +combative. + +"Well, read the bills anyway, Mr. Flint, and I'll come and go over them +with you. You can't fail to see my arguments, and all I ask is that you +throw the weight of your organization at the State capital for them when +they come up." + +Mr. Flint drummed on the table. + +"The men who have held office in this State," he said, "have always been +willing to listen to any suggestion I may have thought proper to make to +them. This is undoubtedly because I am at the head of the property which +pays the largest taxes. Needless to say I am chary of making +suggestions. But I am surprised that you should have jumped at a +conclusion which is the result of a popular and unfortunately prevalent +opinion that the Northeastern Railroads meddled in any way with the +government or politics of this State. I am glad of this opportunity of +assuring you that we do not," he continued, leaning forward and holding +up his hand to ward off interruption, "and I know that Senator Whitredge +will bear me out in this statement, too." + +The senator nodded gravely. Mr. Crewe, who was anything but a fool, and +just as assertive as Mr. Flint, cut in. + +"Look here, Mr. Flint," he said, "I know what a lobby is. I haven't been +a director in railroads myself for nothing. I have no objection to a +lobby. You employ counsel before the Legislature, don't you--" + +"We do," said Mr. Flint, interrupting, "the best and most honourable +counsel we can find in the State. When necessary, they appear before the +legislative committees. As a property holder in the State, and an +admirer of its beauties, and as its well-wisher, it will give me great +pleasure to look over your bills, and use whatever personal influence I +may have as a citizen to forward them, should they meet my approval. And +I am especially glad to do this as a neighbour, Mr. Crewe. As a +neighbour," he repeated, significantly. + +The president of the Northeastern Railroads rose as he spoke these words, +and held out his hand to Mr. Crewe. It was perhaps a coincidence that +the senator rose also. + +"All right," said Mr. Crewe, "I'll call around again in about two weeks. +Come and see me sometime, Senator." Thank you," said the senator, "I +shall be happy. And if you are ever in your automobile near the town of +Ramsey, stop at my little farm, Mr. Crewe. I trust to be able soon to +congratulate you on a step which I am sure will be but the beginning of a +long and brilliant political career." + +"Thanks," said Mr. Crewe; "by the bye, if you could see your way to drop +a hint to that feller Braden, I should be much obliged." + +The senator shook his head and laughed. + +"Job is an independent cuss," he said, "I'm afraid he'd regard that as an +unwarranted trespass on his preserves." + +Mr. Crewe was ushered out by the stooping secretary, Mr. Freeman; who, +instead of seizing Mr. Crewe's hand as he had Austen Vane's, said not a +word. But Mr. Crewe would have been interested if he could have heard +Mr. Flint's first remark to the senator after the door was closed on his +back. It did not relate to Mr. Crewe, but to the subject under +discussion which he had interrupted; namely, the Republican candidates +for the twenty senatorial districts of the State. + +On its way back to Leith the red motor paused in front of Mr. Ball's +store, and that gentleman was summoned in the usual manner. + +"Do you see this Braden once in a while?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +Mr. Ball looked knowing. + +"Tell him I want to have a talk with him," said Mr. Crewe. "I've been to +see Mr. Flint, and I think matters can be arranged. And mind you, no +word about this, Ball." + +"I guess I understand a thing or two," said Mr. Ball. "Trust me to +handle it." + +Two days later, as Mr. Crewe was seated in his study, his man entered and +stood respectfully waiting for the time when he should look up from his +book. + +"Well, what is it now, Waters?" + +"If you please, sir," said the man, "a strange message has come over the +telephone just now that you were to be in room number twelve of the +Ripton House to-morrow at ten o'clock. They wouldn't give any name, +sir," added the dignified Waters, who, to tell the truth, was somewhat +outraged, nor tell where they telephoned from. But it was a man's voice, +sir." + +"All right," said Mr. Crewe. + +He spent much of the afternoon and evening debating whether or not his +dignity would permit him to go. But he ordered the motor at half-past +nine, and at ten o'clock precisely the clerk at the Ripton House was +bowing to him and handing him, deferentially, a dripping pen. + +"Where's room number twelve?" said the direct Mr. Crewe. + +"Oh," said the clerk, and possessing a full share of the worldly wisdom +of his calling, he smiled broadly. "I guess you'll find him up there, +Mr. Crewe. Front, show the gentleman to number twelve." + +The hall boy knocked on the door of number twelve. + +"C--come in," said a voice. "Come in." + +Mr. Crewe entered, the hall boy closed the door, and he found himself +face to face with a comfortable, smooth-faced man seated with great +placidity on a rocking-chair in the centre of the room, between the bed +and the marble-topped table: a man to whom, evidently, a rich abundance +of thought was sufficient company, for he had neither newspaper nor book. +He rose in a leisurely fashion, and seemed the very essence of the benign +as he stretched forth his hand. + +"I'm Mr. Crewe," the owner of that name proclaimed, accepting the hand +with no exaggeration of cordiality. The situation jarred on him a +trifle. + +"I know. Seed you on the road once or twice. How be you?" + +Mr. Crewe sat down. + +"I suppose you are Mr. Braden," he said. + +Mr. Braden sank into the rocker and fingered a waistcoat pocket full of +cigars that looked like a section of a cartridge-belt. + +"T--try one of mine," he said. + +"I only smoke once after breakfast," said Mr. Crewe. + +"Abstemious, be you? Never could find that it did me any hurt." + +This led to an awkward pause, Mr. Crewe not being a man who found profit +in idle discussion. He glanced at Mr. Braden's philanthropic and beaming +countenance, which would have made the fortune of a bishop. It was not +usual for Mr. Crewe to find it difficult to begin a conversation, or to +have a companion as self-sufficient as himself. This man Braden had all +the fun, apparently, in sitting in a chair and looking into space that +Stonewall Jackson had, or an ordinary man in watching a performance of "A +Trip to Chinatown." Let it not be inferred, again, that Mr. Crewe was +abashed; but he was puzzled. + +"I had an engagement in Ripton this morning," he said, "to see about some +business matters. And after I received your telephone I thought I'd drop +in here." + +"Didn't telephone," said Mr. Braden, placidly. + +"What!" said Mr. Crewe, "I certainly got a telephone message." + +"N--never telephone," said Mr. Braden. + +"I certainly got a message from you," Mr. Crewe protested. + +"Didn't say it was from me--didn't say so--did they--" + +"No," said Mr. Crewe, "but--" + +"Told Ball you wanted to have me see you, didn't you?" + +Mr. Crewe, when he had unravelled this sentence, did not fancy the way it +was put. + +"I told Ball I was seeing everybody in Leith," he answered, "and that I +had called on you, and you weren't at home. Ball inferred that you had a +somewhat singular way of seeing people." + +"You don't understand," was Mr. Braden's somewhat enigmatic reply. + +"I understand pretty well," said Mr. Crewe. "I'm a candidate for the +Republican nomination for representative from Leith, and I want your vote +and influence. You probably know what I have done for the town, and that +I'm the biggest taxpayer, and an all-the-year-round resident." + +"S--some in Noo York--hain't you?" + +"Well, you can't expect a man in my position and with my interests to +stay at home all the time. I feel that I have a right to ask the town +for this nomination. I have some bills here which I'll request you to +read over, and you will see that I have ideas which are of real value to +the State. The State needs waking up-progressive measures. You're a +farmer, ain't you?" + +"Well, I have be'n." + +"I can improve the condition of the farmer one hundred per cent, and if +my road system is followed, he can get his goods to market for about a +tenth of what it costs him now. We have infinitely valuable forests in +the State which are being wasted by lumbermen, which ought to be +preserved. You read those bills, and what I have written about them." + +"You don't understand," said Mr. Braden, drawing a little closer and +waving aside the manuscript with his cigar. + +"Don't understand what?" + +"Don't seem to understand," repeated Mr. Braden, confidingly laying his +hand on Mr. Crewe's knee. "Candidate for representative, be you?" + +"Yes," replied Mr. Crewe, who was beginning to resent the manner in which +he deemed he was being played with, "I told you I was." + +"M--made all them bills out before you was chose?" said Mr. Braden. + +Mr. Crewe grew red in the face. + +"I am interested in these questions," he said stiffly. + +"Little mite hasty, wahn't it?" Mr. Braden remarked equably, "but you've +got plenty of time and money to fool with such things, if you've a mind +to. Them don't amount to a hill of beans in politics. Nobody pays any +attention to that sort of fireworks down to the capital, and if they was +to get into committee them Northeastern Railroads fellers'd bury 'em +deeper than the bottom of Salem pond. They don't want no such things as +them to pass." + +"Pardon me," said Mr. Crewe, "but you haven't read 'em." + +"I know what they be," said Mr. Braden, "I've be'n in politics more years +than you've be'n livin', I guess. I don't want to read 'em," he +announced, his benign manner unchanged. + +"I think you have made a mistake so far as the railroad is concerned, Mr. +Braden," said Mr. Crewe, "I'm a practical man myself, and I don't indulge +in moonshine. I am a director in one or two railroads. I have talked +this matter over with Mr. Flint, and incidentally with Senator +Whitredge." + +"Knowed Whitredge afore you had any teeth," said Mr. Braden, who did not +seem to be greatly impressed, "know him intimate. What'd you go to Flint +for?" + +"We have interests in common," said Mr. Crewe, "and I am rather a close +friend of his. My going to the Legislature will be, I think, to our +mutual advantage." + +"O--ought to have come right to me," said Mr. Braden, leaning over until +his face was in close proximity to Mr. Crewe's. "Whitredge told you to +come to me, didn't he?" + +Mr. Crewe was a little taken aback. + +"The senator mentioned your name," he admitted. + +"He knows. Said I was the man to see if you was a candidate, didn't he? +Told you to talk to Job Braden, didn't he?" + +Now Mr. Crewe had no means of knowing whether Senator Whitredge had been +in conference with Mr. Braden or not. + +"The senator mentioned your name casually, in some connection," said Mr. +Crewe. + +"He knows," Mr. Braden repeated, with a finality that spoke volumes for +the senator's judgment; and he bent over into Mr. Crewe's ear, with the +air of conveying a mild but well-merited reproof, "You'd ought to come +right to me in the first place. I could have saved you all that +unnecessary trouble of seein' folks. There hasn't be'n a representative +left the town of Leith for thirty years that I hain't agreed to. +Whitredge knows that. If I say you kin go, you kin go. You understand," +said Mr. Braden, with his fingers on Mr. Crewe's knee once more. + +Five minutes later Mr. Crewe emerged into the dazzling sun of the Ripton +square, climbed into his automobile, and turned its head towards Leith, +strangely forgetting the main engagement which he said had brought him to +town. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE TRIALS OF AN HONOURABLE + +It was about this time that Mr. Humphrey Crewe was transformed, by one of +those subtle and inexplicable changes which occur in American politics, +into the Honourable Humphrey Crewe. And, as interesting bits of news +about important people are bound to leak out, it became known in Leith +that he had subscribed to what is known as a Clipping Bureau. Two weeks +after the day he left Mr. Braden's presence in the Ripton House the +principal newspapers of the country contained the startling announcement +that the well-known summer colony of Leith was to be represented in the +State Legislature by a millionaire. The Republican nomination, which Mr. +Crewe had secured, was equivalent to an election. + +For a little time after that Mr. Crewe, although naturally an important +and busy man, scarcely had time to nod to his friends on the road. + +"Poor dear Humphrey," said Mrs. Pomfret, "who was so used to dropping in +to dinner, hasn't had a moment to write me a line to thank me for the +statesman's diary I bought for him in London this spring. They're in +that new red leather, and Aylestone says he finds his so useful. I +dropped in at Wedderburn to-day to see if I could be of any help, and the +poor man was buttonholed by two reporters who had come all the way from +New York to see him. I hope he won't overdo it." + +It was true. Mr. Crewe was to appear in the Sunday supplements. "Are +our Millionaires entering Politics?" Mr. Crewe, with his usual gracious +hospitality, showed the reporters over the place, and gave them +suggestions as to the best vantage-points in which to plant their +cameras. He himself was at length prevailed upon to be taken in a rough +homespun suit, and with a walking-stick in his hand, appraising with a +knowing eye a flock of his own sheep. Pressed a little, he consented to +relate something of the systematic manner in which he had gone about to +secure this nomination: how he had visited in person the homes of his +fellow-townsmen. "I knew them all, anyway," he is quoted as saying; "we +have had the pleasantest of relationships during the many years I have +been a resident of Leith." + +"Beloved of his townspeople," this part of the article was headed. No, +these were not Mr. Crewe's words--he was too modest for that. When urged +to give the name of one of his townsmen who might deal with this and +other embarrassing topics, Mr. Ball was mentioned. "Beloved of his +townspeople" was Mr. Ball's phrase. "Although a multi-millionaire, no man +is more considerate of the feelings and the rights of his more humble +neighbours. Send him to the Legislature! We'd send him to the United +States Senate if we could. He'll land there, anyway." Such was a random +estimate (Mr. Ball's) the reporters gathered on their way to Ripton. Mr. +Crewe did not hesitate to say that the prosperity of the farmers had +risen as a result of his labours at Wedderburn where the most improved +machinery and methods were adopted. His efforts to raise the +agricultural, as well as the moral and intellectual, tone of the +community had been unceasing. + +Then followed an intelligent abstract of the bills he was to introduce-- +the results of a progressive and statesmanlike brain. There was an +account of him as a methodical and painstaking business man whose +suggestions to the boards of directors of which he was a member had been +invaluable. The article ended with a list of the clubs to which he +belonged, of the societies which he had organized and of those of which +he was a member,--and it might have been remarked by a discerning reader +that most of these societies were State affairs. Finally there was a pen +portrait of an Apollo Belvidere who wore the rough garb of a farmer (on +the days when the press was present). + +Mr. Crewe's incessant trials, which would have taxed a less rugged +nature, did not end here. About five o'clock one afternoon a pleasant- +appearing gentleman with a mellifluous voice turned up who introduced +himself as ex (State) Senator Grady. The senator was from Newcastle, +that city out of the mysterious depths of which so many political stars +have arisen. Mr. Crewe cancelled a long-deferred engagement with Mrs. +Pomfret, and invited the senator to stay to dinner; the senator +hesitated, explained that he was just passing through Ripton, and, as it +was a pleasant afternoon, had called to "pay his respects"; but Mr. +Crewe's well-known hospitality would accept no excuses. Mr. Crewe opened +a box of cigars which he had bought especially for the taste of State +senators and a particular grade of Scotch whiskey. + +They talked politics for four hours. Who would be governor? The senator +thought Asa Gray would. The railroad was behind him, Mr. Crewe observed +knowingly. The senator remarked that Mr. Crewe was no gosling. Mr. +Crewe, as political-geniuses will, asked as many questions as the emperor +of Germany--pertinent questions about State politics. Senator Grady was +tremendously impressed with his host's programme of bills, and went over +them so painstakingly that Mr. Crewe became more and more struck with +Senator Grady's intelligence. The senator told Mr. Crewe that just such +a man as he was needed to pull the State out of the rut into which she +had fallen. Mr. Crewe said that he hoped to find such enlightened men in +the Legislature as the senator. The senator let it be known that he had +read the newspaper articles, and had remarked that Mr. Crewe was close to +the president of the Northeastern Railroads. + +"Such a man as you," said the senator, looking at the remainder of the +Scotch whiskey, "will have the railroad behind you, sure." + +"One more drink," said Mr. Crewe. + +"I must go," said Mr. Grady, pouring it out, but that reminds me. It +comes over me sudden-like, as I sit here, that you certainly ought to be +in the new encyclopeedie of the prominent men of the State. But sure you +have received an application." + +"It is probable that my secretary has one," said Mr. Crewe, "but he +hasn't called it to my attention." + +"You must get in that book, Mr. Crewe," said the senator, with an intense +earnestness which gave the impression of alarm; "after what you've told +me to-night I'll see to it myself that you get in. It may be that I've +got some of the sample pages here, if I haven't left them at home," said +Mr. Grady, fumbling in an ample inside pocket, and drawing forth a +bundle. "Sure, here they are. Ain't that luck for you? Listen! 'Asa +P. Gray was born on the third of August, eighteen forty-seven, the +seventh son of a farmer. See, there's a space in the end they left to +fill up when he's elicted governor! Here's another. The Honourable +Hilary Vane comes from one of the oldest Puritan families in the State, +the Vanes of Camden Street--' Here's another. 'The Honourable Brush +Bascom of Putnam County is the son of poor but honourable parents--' Look +at the picture of him. Ain't that a handsome steel-engravin' of the +gentleman?" + +Mr. Crewe gazed contemplatively at the proof, but was too busy with his +own thoughts to reflect that there was evidently not much poor or +honourable about Mr. Bascom now. + +"Who's publishing this?" he asked. + +"Fogarty and Company; sure they're the best publishers in the State, as +you know, Mr. Crewe. They have the State printing. Wasn't it fortunate +I had the proofs with me? Tim Fogarty slipped them into me pocket when I +was leavin' Newcastle. 'The book is goin' to press the day after +eliction,' says he, 'John,' says he, 'you know I always rely on your +judgment, and if you happen to think of anybody between now and then who +ought to go in, you'll notify me,' says he. When I read the bills to- +night, and saw the scope of your work, it came over me in a flash that +Humphrey Crewe was the man they left out. You'll get a good man to write +your life, and what you done for the town and State, and all them +societies and bills, won't you? 'Twould be a thousand pities not to have +it right." + +"How much does it cost?" Mr. Crewe inquired. + +"Sure I forgot to ask Tim Fogarty. Mebbe he has it here. I signed one +myself, but I couldn't afford the steelengravin'. Yes, he slipped one +in. Two hundred dollars for a two-page biography, and, three hundred for +the steelengravin'. Five hundred dollars. I didn't know it was so cheap +as that," exclaimed the senator, "and everybody in the State havin' to +own one in self-protection. You don't happen to have a pen about you?" + +Mr. Crewe waved the senator towards his own desk, and Mr. Grady filled +out the blank. + +"It's lucky we are that I didn't drop in after eliction, and the book in +press," he remarked; "and I hope you'll give him a good photograph. +This's for you, I'll take this to Tim myself," and he handed the pen for +Mr. Crewe to sign with. + +Mr. Crewe read over the agreement carefully, as a business man should, +before putting his signature to it. And then the senator, with renewed +invitations for Mr. Crewe to call on him when he came to Newcastle, took +his departure. Afterwards Mr. Crewe remained so long in reflection that +his man Waters became alarmed, and sought him out and interrupted his +revery. + +The next morning Mrs. Pomfret, who was merely "driving by" with her +daughter Alice and Beatrice Chillingham, spied Mr. Crewe walking about +among the young trees he was growing near the road, and occasionally +tapping them with his stout stick. She poked her coachman in the back +and cried:-- + +"Humphrey, you're such an important man now that I despair of ever seeing +you again. What was the matter last night?" + +"A politician from Newcastle," answered Mr. Crewe, continuing to tap the +trees, and without so much as a glance at Alice. + +"Well, if you're as important as this before you're elected, I can't +think what it will be afterwards," Mrs. Pomfret lamented. "Poor dear +Humphrey is so conscientious. When can you come, Humphrey?" + +"Don't know," said Mr. Crewe; "I'll try to come tonight, but I may be +stopped again. Here's Waters now." + +The three people in Mrs. Pomfret's victoria were considerably impressed +to see the dignified Waters hurrying down the slope from the house +towards them. Mr. Crewe continued to tap the trees, but drew a little +nearer the carriage. + +"If you please, sir," said Waters, "there's a telephone call for you from +Newcastle. It's urgent, sir." + +"Who is it?" + +"They won't give their names, sir." + +"All right," said Mr. Crewe, and with a grin which spoke volumes for the +manner in which he was harassed he started towards the house--in no great +hurry, however. Reaching the instrument, and saying "Hello" in his +usually gracious manner, he was greeted by a voice with a decided +Hibernian-American accent. + +"Am I talkin' to Mr. Crewe?" + +"Yes." + +"Mr. Humphrey Crewe?" + +"Yes--yes, of course you are. Who are you?" + +"I'm the president of the Paradise Benevolent and Military Association, +Mr. Crewe. Boys that work in the mills, you know," continued the voice, +caressingly. "Sure you've heard of us. We're five hundred strong, and +all of us good Republicans as the president. We're to have our annual +fall outing the first of October in Finney Grove, and we'd like to have +you come down." + +"The first of October?" said Mr. Crewe. "I'll consult my engagement +book." + +"We'd like to have a good picture of you in our programme, Mr. Crewe. We +hope you'll oblige us. You're such an important figure in State politics +now you'd ought to have a full page." + +There was a short silence. + +"What does it cost?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +"Sure," said the caressing voice of the president, "whatever you like." + +"I'll send you a check for five dollars, and a picture," said Mr. Crewe. + +The answer to this was a hearty laugh, which the telephone reproduced +admirably. The voice now lost a little of its caressing note and partook +of a harder quality. + +"You're a splendid humorist, Mr. Crewe. Five dollars wouldn't pay for +the plate and the paper. A gentleman like you could give us twenty-five, +and never know it was gone. You won't be wanting to stop in the +Legislature, Mr. Crewe, and we remember our friends in Newcastle." + +"Very well, I'll see what I can do. Good-by, I've got an engagement," +said Mr. Crewe, and slammed down the telephone. He seated himself in his +chair, and the pensive mood so characteristic (we are told) of statesmen +came over him once more. + +While these and other conferences and duties too numerous to mention were +absorbing Mr. Crewe, he was not too busy to bear in mind the pleasure of +those around him who had not received such an abundance of the world's +blessings as he. The townspeople of Leith were about to bestow on him +their greatest gift. What could he do to show his appreciation? +Wrestling with this knotty problem, a brilliant idea occurred to him,--he +would have a garden-party: invite everybody in town, and admit them to +the sanctities of Wedderburn; yes, even of Wedderburn house, that they +might behold with their own eyes the carved ivory elephants and other +contents of glass cabinets which reeked of the Sunday afternoons of +youth. Being a man of action, Mr. Pardriff was summoned at once from +Leith and asked for his lowest price on eight hundred and fifty +invitations and a notice of the party in the Ripton Record. + +"Goin' to invite Democrats, too?" demanded Mr. Pardriff, glancing at the +check-list. + +"Everybody," said Mr. Crewe, with unparalleled generosity. "I won't draw +any distinction between friends and enemies. They're all neighbours." + +"And some of 'em might, by accident, vote the Republican ticket," Mr. +Pardriff retorted, narrowing his eyes a little. + +Mr. Crewe evidently thought this a negligible suggestion, for he did not +reply to it, but presently asked for the political news in Ripton. + +"Well," said Mr. Pardriff, "you know they tried to get Austen Vane to run +for State senator, don't you?" + +"Vane Why, he ain't a full-fledged lawyer yet. I've hired him in an +unimportant case. Who asked him to run?" + +"Young Tom Gaylord and a delegation." + +"He couldn't have got it," said Mr. Crewe. + +"I don't know," said Mr. Pardriff, "he might have given Billings a hustle +for the nomination." + +"You supported Billings, I noticed," said Mr. Crewe. + +Mr. Pardriff winked an eye. + +"I'm not ready to walk the ties when I go to Newcastle," he remarked, +"and Nat ain't quite bankrupt yet. The Gaylords," continued Mr. +Pardriff, who always took the cynical view of a man of the world, "have +had some row with the Northeastern over lumber shipments. I understand +they're goin' to buck 'em for a franchise in the next Legislature, just +to make it lively. The Gaylords ain't exactly poverty-stricken, but they +might as well try to move Sawanec Mountain as the Northeastern." + +It was a fact that young Tom Gaylord had approached Austen Vane with a +"delegation" to request him to be a candidate for the Republican +nomination for the State senate in his district against the railroad +candidate and Austen's late opponent, the Honourable Nat Billings. It +was a fact also that Austen had invited the delegation to sit down, +although there were only two chairs, and that a wrestling match had +ensued with young Tom, in the progress of which one chair had been +broken. Young Tom thought it was time to fight the railroad, and +perceived in Austen the elements of a rebel leader. Austen had +undertaken to throw young Tom out of a front window, which was a large, +old-fashioned one,--and after Herculean efforts had actually got him on +the ledge, when something in the street caught his eye and made him +desist abruptly. The something was the vision of a young woman in a +brown linen suit seated in a runabout and driving a horse almost as +handsome as Pepper. + +When the delegation, after exhausting their mental and physical powers of +persuasion, had at length taken their departure in disgust, Austen opened +mechanically a letter which had very much the appearance of an +advertisement, and bearing a one-cent stamp. It announced that a garden- +party would take place at Wedderburn, the home of the Honourable Humphrey +Crewe, at a not very distant date, and the honour of the bearer's +presence was requested. Refreshments would be served, and the Ripton +Band would dispense music. Below, in small print, were minute directions +where to enter, where to hitch your team, and where to go out. + +Austen was at a loss to know what fairy godmother had prompted Mr. Crewe +to send him an invitation, the case of the injured horse not having +advanced with noticeable rapidity. Nevertheless, the prospect of the +garden-party dawned radiantly for him above what had hitherto been a +rather gloomy horizon. Since the afternoon he had driven Victoria to the +Hammonds' he had had daily debates with an imaginary man in his own +likeness who, to the detriment of his reading of law, sat across his +table and argued with him. The imaginary man was unprincipled, and had +no dignity, but he had such influence over Austen Vane that he had +induced him to drive twice within sight of Fairview gate, when Austen +Vane had turned round again. The imaginary man was for going to call on +her and letting subsequent events take care of themselves; Austen Vane, +had an uncomfortable quality of reducing a matter first of all to its +simplest terms. He knew that Mr. Flint's views were as fixed, +ineradicable, and unchangeable as an epitaph cut in a granite monument; +he felt (as Mr. Flint had) that their first conversation had been but a +forerunner of, a strife to come between them; and add to this the facts +that Mr. Flint was very rich and Austen Vane poor, that Victoria's +friends were not his friends, and that he had grave doubts that the +interest she had evinced in him sprang from any other incentive than a +desire to have communication with various types of humanity, his +hesitation as to entering Mr. Flint's house was natural enough. + +It was of a piece with Mr. Crewe's good fortune of getting what he wanted +that the day of the garden-party was the best that September could do in +that country, which is to say that it was very beautiful. A pregnant +stillness enwrapped the hills, a haze shot with gold dust, like the +filmiest of veils, softened the distant purple and the blue-black shadows +under the pines. Austen awoke from his dream in this enchanted +borderland to find himself in a long line of wagons filled with people in +their Sunday clothes,--the men in black, and the young women in white, +with gay streamers, wending their way through the rear-entrance drive of +Wedderburn, where one of Mr. Crewe's sprucest employees was taking up the +invitation cards like tickets,--a precaution to prevent the rowdy element +from Ripton coming and eating up the refreshments. Austen obediently +tied Pepper in a field, as he was directed, and made his way by a path +through the woods towards the house, where the Ripton Band could be heard +playing the second air in the programme, "Don't you wish you'd Waited?" + +For a really able account of that memorable entertainment see the Ripton +Record of that week, for we cannot hope to vie with Mr. Pardriff when his +heart is really in his work. How describe the noble figure of Mr. Crewe +as it burst upon Austen when he rounded the corner of the house? Clad in +a rough-and-ready manner, with a Gladstone collar to indicate the newly +acquired statesmanship, and fairly radiating geniality, Mr. Crewe stood +at the foot of the steps while the guests made the circuit of the +driveway; and they carefully avoided, in obedience to a warning sign, the +grass circle in the centre. As man and wife confronted him, Mr. Crewe +greeted them in hospitable but stentorian tones that rose above the +strains of "Don't you wish you'd Waited?" It was Mr. Ball who introduced +his townspeople to the great man who was to represent them. + +"How are you?" said Mr. Crewe, with his eyes on the geraniums. "Mr. and +Mrs. Perley Wright, eh? Make yourselves at home. Everything's free-- +you'll find the refreshments on the back porch--just have an eye to the +signs posted round, that's all." And Mr. and Mrs. Perley Wright, +overwhelmed by such a welcome, would pass on into a back eddy of +neighbours, where they would stick, staring at a sign requesting them +please not to pick the flowers. + +"Can't somebody stir 'em up?" Mr. Crewe shouted in an interval when the +band had stopped to gather strength for a new effort. "Can't somebody +move 'em round to see the cows and what's in the house and the automobile +and the horses? Move around the driveway, please. It's so hot here you +can't breathe. Some of you wanted to see what was in the house. Now's +your chance." + +This graceful appeal had some temporary effect, but the congestion soon +returned, when a man of the hour appeared, a man whose genius scattered +the groups and who did more to make the party a success than any single +individual,--Mr. Hamilton Tooting, in a glorious white silk necktie with +purple flowers. + +"I'll handle 'em, Mr. Crewe," he said; "a little brains'll start 'em +goin'. Come along here, Mr. Wright, and I'll show you the best cows this +side of the Hudson Riverall pedigreed prize winners. Hello, Aust, you +take hold and get the wimmen-folks interested in the cabinets. You know +where they are." + +"There's a person with some sense," remarked Mrs. Pomfret, who had been +at a little distance among a group of summer-resident ladies and watching +the affair with shining eyes. "I'll help. Come, Edith; come, Victoria +where's Victoria?--and dear Mrs. Chillingham. We American women are so +deplorably lacking in this kind of experience. Alice, take some of the +women into the garden. I'm going to interest that dear, benevolent man +who looks so helpless, and doing his best to have a good time." + +The dear, benevolent man chanced to be Mr. Job Braden, who was standing +somewhat apart with his hands in his pockets. He did not move as Mrs. +Pomfret approached him, holding her glasses to her eyes. + +"How are you?" exclaimed that lady, extending a white-gloved hand with a +cordiality that astonished her friends. "It is so pleasant to see you +here, Mr.--Mr.--" + +"How be you?" said Mr. Braden, taking her fingers in the gingerly manner +he would have handled one of Mr. Crewe's priceless curios. The giraffe +Mr. Barnum had once brought to Ripton was not half as interesting as this +immaculate and mysterious production of foreign dressmakers and French +maids, but he refrained from betraying it. His eye rested on the +lorgnette. + +"Near-sighted, be you?" he inquired,--a remark so unexpected that for the +moment Mrs. Pomfret was deprived of speech. + +"I manage to see better with--with these," she gasped, "when we get old-- +you know." + +"You hain't old," said Mr. Braden, gallantly. "If you be," he added, his +eye travelling up and down the Parisian curves, I wouldn't have +suspected it--not a mite." + +"I'm afraid you are given to flattery, Mr.--Mr.--" she replied hurriedly. +"Whom have I the pleasure of speaking to?" + +"Job Braden's my name," he answered, "but you have the advantage of me." + +"How?" demanded the thoroughly bewildered Mrs. Pomfret. + +"I hain't heard your name," he said. + +"Oh, I'm Mrs. Pomfret--a very old friend of Mr. Crewe's. Whenever he has +his friends with him, like this, I come over and help him. It is so +difficult for a bachelor to entertain, Mr. Braden." + +"Well," said Mr. Braden, bending alarmingly near her ear, "there's one +way out of it." + +"What's that?" said Mrs. Pomfret. + +"Git married," declared Mr. Braden. + +"How very clever you are, Mr. Braden! I wish poor dear Mr. Crewe would +get married--a wife could take so many burdens off his shoulders. You +don't know Mr. Crewe very well, do you?" + +"Callate to--so so," said Mr. Braden. + +Mrs. Pomfret was at sea again. + +"I mean, do you see him often?" + +"Seen him once," said Mr. Braden. "G-guess that's enough." + +"You're a shrewd judge of human nature, Mr. Braden," she replied, tapping +him on the shoulder with the lorgnette, "but you can have no idea how +good he is--how unceasingly he works for others. He is not a man who +gives much expression to his feelings, as no doubt you have discovered, +but if you knew him as I do, you would realize how much affection he has +for his country neighbours and how much he has their welfare at heart." + +"Loves 'em--does he--loves 'em?" + +"He is like an English gentleman in his sense of responsibility," said +Mrs. Pomfret; "over there, you know, it is a part of a country +gentleman's duty to improve the condition of his--his neighbours. And +then Mr. Crewe is so fond of his townspeople that he couldn't resist +doing this for them," and she indicated with a sweep of her eyeglasses +the beatitude with which they were surrounded. + +"Wahn't no occasion to," said Mr. Braden. + +"What!" cried Mrs. Pomfret, who had been walking on ice for some time. + +"This hain't England--is it? Hain't England?" + +"No," she admitted, "but--" + +"Hain't England," said Mr. Braden, and leaned forward until he was within +a very few inches of her pearl ear-ring. "He'll be chose all right--d- +don't fret--he'll be chose." + +"My dear Mr. Braden, I've no doubt of it--Mr. Crewe's so popular," she +cried, removing her ear-ring abruptly from the danger zone. "Do make +yourself at home," she added, and retired from Mr. Braden's company a +trifle disconcerted,--a new experience for Mrs. Pomfret. She wondered +whether all country people were like Mr. Braden, but decided, after +another experiment or two, that he was an original. More than once +during the afternoon she caught sight of him, beaming upon the +festivities around him. But she did not renew the conversation. + +To Austen Vane, wandering about the grounds, Mr. Crewe's party presented +a sociological problem of no small interest. Mr. Crewe himself +interested him, and he found himself speculating how far a man would go +who charged the fastnesses of the politicians with a determination not to +be denied and a bank account to be reckoned with. Austen talked to many +of the Leith farmers whom he had known from boyhood, thanks to his custom +of roaming the hills; they were for the most part honest men whose +occupation in life was the first thought, and they were content to leave +politics to Mr. Braden--that being his profession. To the most +intelligent of these Mr. Crewe's garden-party was merely the wanton whim +of a millionaire. It was an open secret to them that Job Braden for +reasons of his own had chosen Mr. Crewe to represent them, and they were +mildly amused at the efforts of Mrs. Pomfret and her assistants to secure +votes which were as certain as the sun's rising on the morrow. + +It was some time before Austen came upon the object of his search--though +scarce admitting to himself that it had an object. In greeting him, +after inquiring about his railroad case, Mr. Crewe had indicated with a +wave of his hand the general direction of the refreshments; but it was +not until Austen had tried in all other quarters that he made his way +towards the porch where the lemonade and cake and sandwiches were. It +was, after all, the most popular place, though to his mind the +refreshments had little to do with its popularity. From the outskirts of +the crowd he perceived Victoria presiding over the punchbowl that held +the lemonade. He liked to think of her as Victoria; the name had no +familiarity for him, but seemed rather to enhance the unattainable +quality of her. + +Surrounding Victoria were several clean-looking, freckled, and tanned +young men of undergraduate age wearing straw hats with coloured ribbons, +who showed every eagerness to obey and even anticipate the orders she did +not hesitate to give them. Her eye seemed continually on the alert for +those of Mr. Crewe's guests who were too bashful to come forward, and +discerning them she would send one of her lieutenants forward with +supplies. Sometimes she would go herself to the older people; and once, +perceiving a tired woman holding a baby (so many brought babies, being +unable to leave them), Victoria impulsively left her post and seized the +woman by the arm. + +"Do come and sit down," she cried; "there's a chair beside me. And oh, +what a nice baby! Won't you let me hold him?" + +"Why, yes, ma'am," said the woman, looking up at Victoria with grateful, +patient eyes, and then with awe at what seemed to her the priceless +embroidery on Victoria's waist, "won't he spoil your dress?" + +"Bless him, no," said Victoria, poking her finger into a dimple--for he +was smiling at her. "What if he does?" and forthwith she seized him in +her arms and bore him to the porch, amidst the laughter of those who +beheld her, and sat him down on her knee in front of the lemonade bowl, +the tired mother beside her. "Will a little lemonade hurt him? Just a +very, very little, you know?" + +"Why, no, ma'am," said the mother. + +"And just a teeny bit of cake," begged Victoria, daintily breaking off a +piece, while the baby gurgled and snatched for it. "Do tell me how old +he is, and how many more you have." + +"He's eleven months on the twenty-seventh," said the mother, "and I've +got four more." She sighed, her eyes wandering back to the embroidery. +"What between them and the housework and the butter makin', it hain't +easy. Be you married?" + +"No," said Victoria, laughing and blushing a little. + +"You'll make a good wife for somebody," said the woman. "I hope you'll +get a good man." + +"I hope so, too," said Victoria, blushing still deeper amidst the +laughter, "but there doesn't seem to be much chance of it, and good men +are very scarce." + +"I guess you're right," said the mother, soberly. "Not but what my man's +good enough, but he don't seem to get along, somehow. The farm's wore +out, and the mortgage comes around so regular." + +"Where do you live?" asked Victoria, suddenly growing serious. + +"Fitch's place. 'Tain't very far from the Four Corners, on the Avalon +road." + +"And you are Mrs. Fitch?" + +"Callate to be," said the mother. "If it ain't askin' too much, I'd like +to know your name." + +"I'm Victoria Flint. I live not very far from the Four Corners--that is, +about eight miles. May I come over and see you sometime?" + +Although Victoria said this very simply, the mother's eyes widened until +one might almost have said they expressed a kind of terror. + +"Land sakes alive, be you Mr. Flint's daughter? I might have knowed it +from the lace--that dress must have cost a fortune. But I didn't think +to find you so common." + +Victoria did not smile. She had heard the word "common" so used before, +and knew that it was meant for a compliment, and she turned to the woman +with a very expressive light in her eyes. + +"I will come to see you--this very week," she said. And just then her +glance, seemingly drawn in a certain direction, met that of a tall young +man which had been fixed upon her during the whole of this scene. She +coloured again, abruptly handed the baby back to his mother, and rose. + +"I'm neglecting all these people," she said, "but do sit there and rest +yourself and--have some more lemonade." + +She bowed to Austen, and smiled a little as she filled the glasses, but +she did not beckon him. She gave no further sign of her knowledge of his +presence until he stood beside her--and then she looked up at him. + +"I have been looking for you, Miss Flint," he said. + +"I suppose a man would never think of trying the obvious places first," +she replied. "Hastings, don't you see that poor old woman over there? +She looks so thirsty--give her this." + +The boy addressed, with a glance at Austen, did as he was bid, and she +sent off a second on another errand. + +"Let me help," said Austen, seizing the cake; and being seized at the +same time, by an unusual and inexplicable tremor of shyness, thrust it at +the baby. + +"Oh, he can't have anymore; do you want to kill him?" cried Victoria, +seizing the plate, and adding mischievously, "I don't believe you're of +very much use--after all!" + +"Then it's time I learned," said Austen. "Here's Mr. Jenney. I'm sure +he'll have a piece." + +"Well," said Mr. Jenney, the same Mr. Jenney of the apple orchard, but +holding out a horny hand with unmistakable warmth, "how be you, Austen?" +Looking about him, Mr. Jenney put his hand to his mouth, and added, +"Didn't expect to see you trailin' on to this here kite." He took a +piece of cake between his thumb and forefinger and glanced bashfully at +Victoria. + +"Have some lemonade, Mr. Jenney? Do," she urged. + +"Well, I don't care if I do," he said, "just a little mite." He did not +attempt to stop her as she filled the glass to the brim, but continued to +regard her with a mixture of curiosity and admiration. "Seen you nursin' +the baby and makin' folks at home. Guess you have the knack of it +better'n some I could mention." + +This was such a palpable stroke at their host that Victoria laughed, and +made haste to turn the subject from herself. + +"Mr. Vane seems to be an old friend of yours," she said. + +"Why," said Mr. Jenney, laying his hand on Austen's shoulder, "I callate +he is. Austen's broke in more'n one of my colts afore he went West and +shot that feller. He's as good a judge of horse-flesh as any man in this +part of the State. Hear Tom Gaylord and the boys wanted him to be State +senator." + +"Why didn't you accept, Mr. Vane?" + +"Because I don't think the boys could have elected me," answered Austen, +laughing. + +"He's as popular a man as there is in the county," declared Mr. Jenney. +He was a mite wild as a boy, but sence he's sobered down and won that +case against the railrud, he could get any office he'd a mind to. He's +always adoin' little things for folks, Austen is." + +"Did--did that case against the railroad make him so popular?" asked +Victoria, glancing at Austen's broad back--for he had made his escape +with the cake. + +"I guess it helped considerable," Mr. Jenney admitted. + +"Why?" asked Victoria. + +"Well, it was a fearless thing to do--plumb against his own interests +with old Hilary Vane. Austen's a bright lawyer, and I have heard it said +he was in line for his father's place as counsel." + +"Do--do people dislike the railroad?" + +Mr. Jenney rubbed his beard thoughtfully. He began to wonder who this +young woman was, and a racial caution seized him. + +"Well," he said, "folks has an idea the railrud runs this State to suit +themselves. I guess they hain't far wrong. I've be'n to the Legislature +and seen some signs of it. Why, Hilary Vane himself has charge of the +most considerable part of the politics. Who be you?" Mr. Jenney demanded +suddenly. + +"I'm Victoria Flint," said Victoria. + +"Godfrey!" exclaimed Mr. Jenney, "you don't say so! I might have known +it--seen you on the rud more than once. But I don't know all you rich +folks apart. Wouldn't have spoke so frank if I'd knowed who you was." + +"I'm glad you did, Mr. Jenney," she answered. "I wanted to know what +people think." + +"Well, it's almighty complicated," said Mr. Jenney, shaking his head. "I +don't know by rights what to think. As long as I've said what I have, +I'll say this: that the politicians is all for the railrud, and I hain't +got a mite of use for the politicians. I'll vote for a feller like +Austen Vane every time, if he'll run, and I know other folks that will." + +After Mr. Jenney had left her, Victoria stood motionless, gazing off into +the haze, until she was startled by the voice of Hastings Weare beside +her. + +"Say, Victoria, who is that man?" he asked. + +"What man?" + +Hastings nodded towards Austen, who, with a cake basket in his hand, +stood chatting with a group of country people on the edge of the porch. + +"Oh, that man!" said Victoria. "His name's Austen Vane, and he's a +lawyer in Ripton." + +"All I can say is," replied Hastings, with a light in his face, "he's one +I'd like to tie to. I'll bet he could whip any four men you could pick +out." + +Considering that Hastings had himself proposed--although in a very mild +form--more than once to Victoria, this was generous. + +"I daresay he could," she agreed absently. + +"It isn't only the way he's built," persisted Hastings, "he looks as if +he were going to be somebody some day. Introduce me to him, will you?" + +"Certainly," said Victoria. "Mr. Vane," she called, "I want to introduce +an admirer, Mr. Hastings Weare." + +"I just wanted to know you," said Hastings, reddening, "and Victoria--I +mean Miss Flint--said she'd introduce me." + +"I'm much obliged to her," said Austen, smiling. + +"Are you in politics?" asked Hastings. + +"I'm afraid not," answered Austen, with a glance at Victoria. + +"You're not helping Humphrey Crewe, are you?" + +"No," said Austen, and added with an illuminating smile, "Mr. Crewe +doesn't need any help." + +"I'm glad you're not," exclaimed the downright Hastings, with palpable +relief in his voice that an idol had not been shattered. "I think +Humphrey's a fakir, and all this sort of thing tommyrot. He wouldn't get +my vote by giving me lemonade and cake and letting me look at his cows. +If you ever run for office, I'd like to cast it for you. My father is +only a summer resident, but since he has gone out of business he stays +here till Christmas, and I'll be twenty-one in a year." + +Austen had ceased to smile; he was looking into the boy's eyes with that +serious expression which men and women found irresistible. + +"Thank you, Mr. Weare," he said simply. + +Hastings was suddenly overcome with the shyness of youth. He held out +his hand, and said, "I'm awfully glad to have met you," and fled. + +Victoria, who had looked on with a curious mixture of feelings, turned to +Austen. + +"That was a real tribute," she said. "Is this the way you affect +everybody whom you meet?" + +They were standing almost alone. The sun was nearing the western hills +beyond the river, and people had for some time been wending their way +towards the field where the horses were tied. He did not answer her +question, but asked one instead. + +"Will you let me drive you home?" + +"Do you think you deserve to, after the shameful manner in which you have +behaved?" + +"I'm quite sure that I don't deserve to," he answered, still looking down +at her. + +"If you did deserve to, being a woman, I probably shouldn't let you," +said Victoria, flashing a look upwards; "as it is, you may." + +His face lighted, but she halted in the grass, with her hands behind her, +and stared at him with a puzzled expression. + +"I'm sure you're a dangerous man," she declared. "First you take in poor +little Hastings, and now you're trying to take me in." + +"Then I wish I were still more dangerous," he laughed, "for apparently I +haven't succeeded." + +"I want to talk to you seriously," said Victoria; "that is the only +reason I'm permitting you to drive me home." + +"I am devoutly thankful for the reason then," he said,--"my horse is tied +in the field." + +"And aren't you going to say good-by to your host and hostess?" + +"Hostess?" he repeated, puzzled. + +"Hostesses," she corrected herself, "Mrs. Pomfret and Alice. I thought +you had eyes in your head," she added, with a fleeting glance at them. + +"Is Crewe engaged to Miss Pomfret?" he asked. + +"Are all men simpletons?" said Victoria. "He doesn't know it yet, but he +is." + +"I think I'd know it, if I were," said Austen, with an emphasis that made +her laugh. + +"Sometimes fish don't know they're in a net until--until the morning +after," said Victoria. "That has a horribly dissipated sound--hasn't it? +I know to a moral certainty that Mr. Crewe will eventually lead Miss +Pomfret away from the altar. At present," she could not refrain from +adding, "he thinks he's in love with some one else." + +"Who?" + +"It doesn't matter," she replied. "Humphrey's perfectly happy, because +he believes most women are in love with him, and he's making up his mind +in that magnificent, thorough way of his whether she is worthy to be +endowed with his heart and hand, his cows, and all his stocks and bonds. +He doesn't know he's going to marry Alice. It almost makes one a +Calvinist, doesn't it. He's predestined, but perfectly happy." + +"Who is he in love with?" demanded Austen, ungrammatically. + +"I'm going to say good-by to him. I'll meet you in the field, if you +don't care to come. It's only manners, after all, although the +lemonade's all gone and I haven't had a drop." + +"I'll go along too," he said. + +"Aren't you afraid of Mrs. Pomfret?" + +"Not a bit!" + +"I am," said Victoria, "but I think you'd better come just the same." + +Around the corner of the house they found them,--Mr. Crewe urging the +departing guests to remain, and not to be bashful in the future about +calling. + +"We don't always have lemonade and cake," he was saying, "but you can be +sure of a welcome, just the same. Good-by, Vane, glad you came. Did +they show you through the stables? Did you see the mate to the horse I +lost? Beauty, isn't he? Stir 'em up and get the money. I guess we +won't see much of each other politically. You're anti-railroad. I don't +believe that tack'll work--we can't get along without corporations, you +know. You ought to talk to Flint. I'll give you a letter of +introduction to him. I don't know what I'd have done without that man +Tooting in your father's office. He's a wasted genius in Ripton. What? +Good-by, you'll find your wagon, I guess. Well, Victoria, where have you +been keeping yourself? I've been so busy I haven't had time to look for +you. You're going to stay to dinner, and Hastings, and all the people +who have helped." + +"No, I'm not," answered Victoria, with a glance at Austen, before whom +this announcement was so delicately made, "I'm going home." + +"But when am I to see you?" cried Mr. Crewe, as near genuine alarm as he +ever got. You never let me see you. I was going to drive you home in +the motor by moonlight." + +"We all know that you're the most original person, Victoria," said Mrs. +Pomfret, "full of whims and strange fancies," she added, with the only +brief look at Austen she had deigned to bestow on him. "It never pays to +count on you for twenty-four hours. I suppose you're off on another wild +expedition." + +"I think I've earned the right to it," said Victoria;-- + +I've poured lemonade for Humphrey's constituents the whole afternoon. +And besides, I never said I'd stay for dinner. I'm going home. Father's +leaving for California in the morning." + +"He'd better stay at home and look after her," Mrs. Pomfret remarked, +when Victoria was out of hearing. + +Since Mrs. Harry Haynes ran off, one can never tell what a woman will do. +It wouldn't surprise me a bit if Victoria eloped with a handsome nobody +like that. Of course he's after her money, but he wouldn't get it, not +if I know Augustus Flint." + +"Is he handsome?" said Mr. Crewe, as though the idea were a new one. +"Great Scott, I don't believe she gives him a thought. She's only going +as far as the field with him. She insisted on leaving her horse there +instead of putting him in the stable." + +"Catch Alice going as far as the field with him," said Mrs. Pomfret, "but +I've done my duty. It's none of my affair." + +In the meantime Austen and Victoria had walked on some distance in +silence. + +"I have an idea with whom Mr. Crewe is in love," he said at length. + +"So have I," replied Victoria, promptly. "Humphrey's in love with +himself. All he desires in a wife--if he desires one--is an inanimate +and accommodating looking-glass, in whom he may see what he conceives to +be his own image daily. James, you may take the mare home. I'm going to +drive with Mr. Vane." + +She stroked Pepper's nose while Austen undid the hitch-rope from around +his neck. + +"You and I are getting to be friends, aren't we, Pepper?" she asked, as +the horse, with quivering nostrils, thrust his head into her hand. Then +she sprang lightly into the buggy by Austen's side. The manner of these +acts and the generous courage with which she defied opinion appealed to +him so strongly that his heart was beating faster than Pepper's hoof- +beats on the turf of the pasture. + +"You are very good to come with me," he said gravely, when they had +reached the road; "perhaps I ought not to have asked you." + +"Why?" she asked, with one of her direct looks. + +"It was undoubtedly selfish," he said, and added, more lightly, "I don't +wish to put you into Mrs. Pomfret's bad graces." + +Victoria laughed. + +"She thought it her duty to tell father the time you drove me to the +Hammonds'. She said I asked you to do it." + +"What did he say?" Austen inquired, looking straight ahead of him. + +"He didn't say much," she answered. "Father never does. I think he +knows that I am to be trusted." + +"Even with me?" he asked quizzically, but with a deeper significance. + +"I don't think he realizes how dangerous you are," she replied, avoiding +the issue. "The last time I saw you, you were actually trying to throw a +fat man out of your window. What a violent life you lead, Mr. Vane. I +hope you haven't shot any more people--" + +"I saw you," he said. + +"Is that the way you spend your time in office hours,--throwing people +out of the windows?" + +"It was only Tom Gaylord." + +"He's the man Mr. Jenney said wanted you to be a senator, isn't he?" she +asked. + +"You have a good memory," he answered her. "Yes. That's the reason I +tried to throw him out of the window." + +"Why didn't you be a senator?" she asked abruptly. "I always think of +you in public life. Why waste your opportunities?" + +"I'm not at all sure that was an opportunity. It was only some of Tom's +nonsense. I should have had all the politicians in the district against +me." + +"But you aren't the kind of man who would care about the politicians, +surely. If Humphrey Crewe can get elected by the people, I should think +you might." + +"I can't afford to give garden-parties and buy lemonade," said Austen, +and they both laughed. He did not think it worth while mentioning Mr. +Braden. + +"Sometimes I think you haven't a particle of ambition," she said. "I +like men with ambition." + +"I shall try to cultivate it," said Austen. + +"You seem to be popular enough." + +"Most worthless people are popular, because they don't tread on anybody's +toes." + +"Worthless people don't take up poor people's suits, and win them," she +said. "I saw Zeb Meader the other day, and he said you could be +President of the United States." + +"Zeb meant that I was eligible--having been born in this country," said +Austen. "But where did you see him?" + +"I--I went to see him." + +"All the way to Mercer?" + +"It isn't so far in an automobile," she replied, as though in excuse, and +added, still more lamely, "Zeb and I became great friends, you know, in +the hospital." + +He did not answer, but wondered the more at the simplicity and kindness +in one brought up as she had been which prompted her to take the trouble +to see the humblest of her friends: nay, to take the trouble to have +humble friends. + +The road wound along a ridge, and at intervals was spread before them the +full glory of the September sunset,--the mountains of the west in blue- +black silhouette against the saffron sky, the myriad dappled clouds, the +crimson fading from the still reaches of the river, and the wine-colour +from the eastern hills. Both were silent under the spell, but a yearning +arose within him when he glanced at the sunset glow on her face: would +sunsets hereafter bring sadness? + +His thoughts ran riot as the light faded in the west. Hers were not +revealed. And the silence between them seemed gradually to grow into a +pact, to become a subtler and more intimate element than speech. A faint +tang of autumn smoke was in the air, a white mist crept along the running +waters, a silver moon like a new-stamped coin rode triumphant in the sky, +impatient to proclaim her glory; and the shadows under the ghost-like +sentinel trees in the pastures grew blacker. At last Victoria looked at +him. + +"You are the only man I know who doesn't insist on talking," she said. +There are times when--" + +"When there is nothing to say," he suggested. + +She laughed softly. He tried to remember the sound of it afterwards, +when he rehearsed this phase of the conversation, but couldn't. + +"It's because you like the hills, isn't it?" she asked. "You seem such +an out-of-door person, and Mr. Jenney said you were always wandering +about the country-side." + +"Mr. Jenney also made other reflections about my youth," said Austen. + +She laughed again, acquiescing in his humour, secretly thankful not to +find him sentimental. + +"Mr. Jenney said something else that--that I wanted to ask you about," +she went on, breathing more deeply. "It was about the railroad." + +"I am afraid you have not come to an authority," he replied. + +"You said the politicians would be against you if you tried to become a +State senator. Do you believe that the politicians are owned by the +railroad?" + +"Has Jenney been putting such things into your head?" + +"Not only Mr. Jenney, but--I have heard other people say that. And +Humphrey Crewe said that you hadn't a chance politically, because you had +opposed the railroad and had gone against your own interests." + +Austen was amazed at this new exhibition of courage on her part, though +he was sorely pressed. + +"Humphrey Crewe isn't much of an authority, either," he said briefly. + +"Then you won't tell me?" said Victoria. "Oh, Mr. Vane," she cried, with +sudden vehemence, "if such things are going on here, I'm sure my father +doesn't know about them. This is only one State, and the railroad runs +through so many. He can't know everything, and I have heard him say that +he wasn't responsible for what the politicians did in his name. If they +are bad, why don't you go to him and tell him so? I'm sure he'd listen +to you." + +"I'm sure he'd think me a presumptuous idiot," said Austen. "Politicians +are not idealists anywhere--the very word has become a term of reproach. +Undoubtedly your father desires to set things right as much as any one +else--probably more than any one." + +"Oh, I know he does," exclaimed Victoria. + +"If politics are not all that they should be," he went on, somewhat +grimly, with an unpleasant feeling of hypocrisy, "we must remember that +they are nobody's fault in particular, and can't be set right in an +instant by any one man, no matter how powerful." + +She turned her face to him gratefully, but he did not meet her look. +They were on the driveway of Fairview. + +"I suppose you think me very silly for asking such questions," she said. + +"No," he answered gravely, "but politics are so intricate a subject that +they are often not understood by those who are in the midst of them. I +admire--I think it is very fine in you to want to know." + +"You are not one of the men who would not wish a woman to know, are you?" + +"No," he said, "no, I'm not." + +The note of pain in his voice surprised and troubled her. They were +almost in sight of the house. + +"I asked you to come to Fairview," she said, assuming a lightness of +tone, "and you never appeared. I thought it was horrid of you to forget, +after we'd been such friends." + +"I didn't forget," replied Austen. + +"Then you didn't want to come." + +He looked into her eyes, and she dropped them. + +"You will have to be the best judge of that," he said. + +"But what am I to think?" she persisted. + +"Think the best of me you can," he answered, as they drew up on the +gravel before the open door of Fairview house. A man was standing in the +moonlight on the porch. + +"Is that you, Victoria?" + +"Yes, father." + +"I was getting worried," said Mr. Flint, coming down on the driveway. + +"I'm all right," she said, leaping out of the buggy, "Mr. Vane brought me +home." + +"How are you, Hilary?" said Mr. Flint. + +"I'm Austen Vane, Mr. Flint," said Austen. + +"How are you?" said Mr. Flint, as curtly as the barest politeness +allowed. "What was the matter with your own horse, Victoria?" + +"Nothing," she replied, after an instant's pause. Austen wondered many +times whether her lips had trembled. "Mr. Vane asked me to drive with +him, and I came. Won't--won't you come in, Mr. Vane?" + +"No, thanks," said Austen, "I'm afraid I have to go back to Ripton." + +"Good-by, and thank you," she said, and gave him her hand. As he pressed +it, he thought he felt the slightest pressure in return, and then she +fled up the steps. As he drove away, he turned once to look at the great +house, with its shades closely drawn, as it stood amidst its setting of +shrubbery silent under the moon. + +An hour later he sat in Hanover Street before the supper Euphrasia had +saved for him. But though he tried nobly, his heart was not in the +relation, for her benefit, of Mr. Crewe's garden-party. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +Mr. CREWE ASSAULTS THE CAPITAL + +Those portions of the biographies of great men which deal with the small +beginnings of careers are always eagerly devoured, and for this reason +the humble entry of Mr. Crewe into politics may be of interest. Great +revolutions have had their origins in back cellars; great builders of +railroads have begun life with packs on their shoulders, trudging over +the wilderness which they were to traverse in after years in private +cars. The history of Napoleon Bonaparte has not a Sunday-school moral, +but we can trace therein the results of industry after the future emperor +got started. Industry, and the motto "nil desperandum" lived up to, and +the watchword "thorough," and a torch of unsuspected genius, and +"l'audace, toujours l'audace," and a man may go far in life. + +Mr. Humphrey Crewe possessed, as may have been surmised, a dash of all +these gifts. For a summary of his character one would not have used the +phrase (as a contemporary of his remarked) of "a shrinking violet." The +phrase, after all, would have fitted very few great men; genius is sure +of itself, and seeks its peers. + +The State capital is an old and beautiful and somewhat conservative town. +Life there has its joys and sorrows and passions, its ambitions, and +heart-burnings, to be sure; a most absorbing novel could be written about +it, and the author need not go beyond the city limits or approach the +state-house or the Pelican Hotel. The casual visitor in that capital +leaves it with a sense of peace, the echo of church bells in his ear, and +(if in winter) the impression of dazzling snow. Comedies do not +necessarily require a wide stage, nor tragedies an amphitheatre for their +enactment. + +No casual visitor, for instance, would have suspected from the faces or +remarks of the inhabitants whom he chanced to meet that there was +excitement in the capital over the prospective arrival of Mr. Humphrey +Crewe for the legislative session that winter. Legislative sessions, be +it known, no longer took place in the summer, a great relief to Mr. Crewe +and to farmers in general, who wished to be at home in haying time. + +The capital abounded in comfortable homes and boasted not a dwellings of +larger pretensions. Chief among these was the Duncan house--still so +called, although Mr. Duncan, who built it, had been dead these fifteen +years, and his daughter and heiress, Janet, had married an Italian +Marquis and lived in a Roman palace, rehabilitated by the Duncan money. +Mr. Duncan, it may be recalled by some readers of "Coniston," had been a +notable man in his day, who had married the heiress of the State, and was +president of the Central Railroad, now absorbed in the United +Northeastern. The house was a great square of brick, with a wide +cornice, surrounded by a shaded lawn; solidly built, in the fashion of +the days when rich people stayed at home, with a conservatory and a +library that had once been Mr. Duncan's pride. The Marchesa cared very +little about the library, or about the house, for that matter; a great +aunt and uncle, spinster and bachelor, were living in it that winter, and +they vacated for Mr. Crewe. He travelled to the capital on the +legislative pass the Northeastern Railroads had so kindly given him, and +brought down his horses and his secretary and servants from Leith a few +days before the first of January, when the session was to open, and laid +out his bills for the betterment of the State on that library table where +Mr. Duncan had lovingly thumbed his folios. Mr. Crewe, with +characteristic promptitude, set his secretary to work to make a list of +the persons of influence in the town, preparatory to a series of dinner- +parties; he dropped into the office of Mr. Ridout, the counsel of the +Northeastern and of the Winona Corporation in the capital, to pay his +respects as a man of affairs, and incidentally to leave copies of his +bills for the improvement of the State. Mr. Ridout was politely +interested, and promised to read the bills, and agreed that they ought to +pass. + +Mr. Crewe also examined the Pelican Hotel, so soon to be a hive, and +stood between the snow-banks in the capital park contemplating the statue +of the great statesman there, and repeating to himself the quotation +inscribed beneath. "The People's Government, made for the People, made +by the People, and answerable to the People." And he wondered, idly,-- +for the day was not cold,--how he would look upon a pedestal with the +Gladstone collar and the rough woollen coat that would lend themselves so +readily to reproduction in marble. Stranger things had happened, and +grateful States had been known to reward benefactors. + +At length comes the gala night of nights,--the last of the old year,--and +the assembling of the five hundred legislators and of the army that is +wont to attend them. The afternoon trains, steaming hot, are crowded to +the doors, the station a scene of animation, and Main Street, dazzling in +snow, is alive with a stream of men, with eddies here and there at the +curbs and in the entries. What handshaking, and looking over of new +faces, and walking round and round! What sightseeing by the country +members and their wives who have come to attend the inauguration of the +new governor, the Honourable Asa P. Gray! There he is, with the whiskers +and the tall hat and the comfortable face, which wears already a look of +gubernatorial dignity and power. He stands for a moment in the lobby of +the Pelican Hotel,--thronged now to suffocation,--to shake hands genially +with new friends, who are led up by old friends with two fingers on the +elbow. The old friends crack jokes and whisper in the ear of the +governor-to-be, who presently goes upstairs, accompanied by the +Honourable Hilary Vane, to the bridal suite, which is reserved for him, +and which has fire-proof carpet on the floor. The Honourable Hilary has +a room next door, connecting with the new governor's by folding doors, +but this fact is not generally known to country members. Only old +timers, like Bijah Bixby and Job Braden, know that the Honourable +Hilary's room corresponds to one which in the old Pelican was called the +Throne Room, Number Seven, where Jethro Bass sat in the old days and +watched unceasingly the groups in the street from the window. + +But Jethro Bass has been dead these twenty years, and his lieutenants +shorn of power. An empire has arisen out of the ashes of the ancient +kingdoms. Bijah and Job are old, all-powerful still in Clovelly and +Leith--influential still in their own estimations; still kicking up their +heels behind, still stuttering and whispering into ears, still "going +along by when they are talking sly." But there are no guerrillas now, no +condottieri who can be hired: the empire has a paid and standing army, as +an empire should. The North Country chiefs, so powerful in the clan +warfare of bygone days, are generals now,--chiefs of staff. The captain- +general, with a minute piece of Honey Dew under his tongue, sits in +Number Seven. A new Number Seven,--with electric lights and a bathroom +and a brass bed. Tempora mutantur. There is an empire and a feudal +system, did one but know it. The clans are part of the empire, and each +chief is responsible for his clan--did one but know it. One doesn't know +it. + +The Honourable Brush Bascom, Duke of Putnam, member of the House, has +arrived unostentatiously--as is his custom--and is seated in his own +headquarters, number ten (with a bathroom). Number nine belongs from +year to year to Mr. Manning, division superintendent of that part of the +Northeastern which was the old Central,--a thin gentleman with side- +whiskers. He loves life in the capital so much that he takes his +vacations there in the winter,--during the sessions of the Legislature,-- +presumably because it is gay. There are other rooms, higher up, of +important men, to be sure, but to enter which it is not so much of an +honour. The Honourable Bill Fleming, postmaster of Brampton in Truro +(Ephraim Prescott being long since dead and Brampton a large place now), +has his vacation during the session in room thirty-six (no bathroom); and +the Honourable Elisha Jane, Earl of Haines County in the North Country, +and United States consul somewhere, is home on his annual vacation in +room fifty-nine (no bath). Senator Whitredge has a room, and Senator +Green, and Congressmen Eldridge and Fairplay (no baths, and only +temporary). + +The five hundred who during the next three months are to register the +laws find quarters as best they can. Not all of them are as luxurious as +Mr. Crewe in the Duncan house, or the Honourable Brush Bascom in number +ten of the Pelican, the rent of either of which would swallow the +legislative salary in no time. The Honourable Nat Billings, senator from +the Putnam County district, is comfortably installed, to be sure. By +gradual and unexplained degrees, the constitution of the State has been +changed until there are only twenty senators. Noble five hundred! +Steadfast twenty! + +A careful perusal of the biographies of great men of the dynamic type +leads one to the conclusion that much of their success is due to an +assiduous improvement of every opportunity,--and Mr. Humphrey Crewe +certainly possessed this quality, also. He is in the Pelican Hotel this +evening, meeting the men that count. Mr. Job Braden, who had come down +with the idea that he might be of use in introducing the new member from +Leith to the notables, was met by this remark:-- + +"You can't introduce me to any of 'em--they all know who I am. Just +point any of 'em out you think I ought to know, and I'll go up and talk +to 'em. What? Come up to my house after a while and smoke a cigar. The +Duncan house, you know--the big one with the conservatory." + +Mr. Crewe was right--they all knew him. The Leith millionaire, the +summer resident, was a new factor in politics, and the rumours of the +size of his fortune had reached a high-water mark in the Pelican Hotel +that evening. Pushing through the crowd in the corridor outside the +bridal suite waiting to shake hands with the new governor, Mr. Crewe +gained an entrance in no time, and did not hesitate to interrupt the +somewhat protracted felicitations of an Irish member of the Newcastle +delegation. + +"How are you, Governor?" he said, with the bonhomie of a man of the +world. "I'm Humphrey Crewe, from Leith. You got a letter from me, +didn't you, congratulating you upon your election? We didn't do badly +for you up there. What?" + +"How do you do, Mr. Crewe?" said Mr. Gray, with dignified hospitality, +while their fingers slid over each other's; "I'm glad to welcome you +here. I've noticed the interest you've taken in the State, and the +number of ahem--very useful societies to which you belong." + +"Good," said Mr. Crewe, "I do what I can. I just dropped in to shake +your hand, and to say that I hope we'll pull together." + +The governor lifted his eyebrows a little. + +"Why, I hope so, I'm sere, Mr. Crewe," said he. + +"I've looked over the policy of the State for the last twenty years in +regard to public improvements and the introduction of modern methods as +concerns husbandry, and I find it deplorable. You and I, Governor, live +in a progressive age, and we can't afford not to see something done. +What? It is my desire to do what I can to help make your administration +a notable advance upon those of your predecessors." + +"Why--I greatly appreciate it, Mr. Crewe," said Mr. Gray. + +"I'm sure you do. I've looked over your record, and I find you've had +experience in State affairs, and that you are a successful and +conservative business man. That is the type we want--eh? Business men. +You've read over the bills I sent you by registered mail?" + +"Ahem," said Mr. Gray, "I've been a good deal occupied since election +day, Mr. Crewe." + +"Read 'em," said Mr. Crewe, "and I'll call in on you at the state-house +day after to-morrow at five o'clock promptly. We'll discuss 'em, +Governor, and if, by the light of your legislative experience, you have +any suggestions to make, I shall be glad to hear 'em. Before putting the +bills in their final shape I've taken the trouble to go over them with my +friend, Mr. Flint--our mutual friend, let us say." + +"I've had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Flint," said Mr. Gray. "I--ahem-- +can't say that I know him intimately." + +Mr. Crewe looked at Mr. Gray in a manner which plainly indicated that he +was not an infant. + +"My relations with Mr. Flint and the Northeastern have been very +pleasant," said Mr. Crewe. "I may say that I am somewhat of a practical +railroad and business man myself." + +"We need such men," said Mr. Gray. "Why, how do you do, Cary? How are +the boys up in Wheeler?" + +"Well, good-by, Governor. See you day after to-morrow at five +precisely," said Mr. Crewe. + +The next official call of Mr. Crewe was on the Speaker-to-be, Mr. Doby of +Hale (for such matters are cut and dried), but any amount of pounding on +Mr. Doby's door (number seventy-five) brought no response. Other rural +members besides Mr. Crewe came and pounded on that door, and went away +again; but Mr. Job Braden suddenly appeared from another part of the +corridor, smiling benignly, and apparently not resenting the refusal of +his previous offers of help. + +"W--want the Speaker?" he inquired. + +Mr. Crewe acknowledged that he did. + +"Ed only sleeps there," said Mr. Braden. "Guess you'll find him in the +Railroad-Room." + +"Railroad Room?" + +"Hilary Vane's, Number Seven." Mr. Braden took hold of the lapel of his +fellow-townsman's coat. "Callated you didn't know it all," he said; +"that's the reason I come down--so's to help you some." + +Mr. Crewe, although he was not wont to take a second place, followed Mr. +Braden down the stairs to the door next to the governor's, where he +pushed ahead of his guide, through the group about the doorway,--none of +whom, however, were attempting to enter. They stared in some surprise at +Mr. Crewe as he flung open the door without knocking, and slammed it +behind him in Mr. Braden's face. But the bewilderment caused by this act +of those without was as nothing to the astonishment of those within--had +Mr. Crewe but known it. An oil painting of the prominent men gathered +about the marble-topped table in the centre of the room, with an outline +key beneath it, would have been an appropriate work of art to hang in the +state-house, as emblematic of the statesmanship of the past twenty years. +The Honourable Hilary Vane sat at one end in a padded chair; Mr. Manning, +the division superintendent, startled out of a meditation, was upright on +the end of the bed; Mr. Ridout, the Northeastern's capital lawyer, was +figuring at the other end of the table; the Honourable Brush Bascom was +bending over a wide, sad-faced gentleman of some two hundred and fifty +pounds who sat at the centre in his shirt-sleeves, poring over numerous +sheets in front of him which were covered with names of the five hundred. +This gentleman was the Honourable Edward Doby of Hale, who, with the kind +assistance of the other gentlemen above-named, was in this secluded spot +making up a list of his committees, undisturbed by eager country members. +At Mr. Crewe's entrance Mr. Bascom, with great presence of mind, laid +down his hat over the principal list, while Mr. Ridout, taking the hint, +put the Revised Statutes on the other. There was a short silence; and +the Speaker-to-be, whose pencil had been knocked out of his hand; +recovered himself sufficiently to relight an extremely frayed cigar. + +Not that Mr. Crewe was in the least abashed. He chose this opportunity +to make a survey of the situation, nodded to Mr. Ridout, and walked up to +the padded armchair. + +"How are you, Mr. Vane?" he said. "I thought I'd drop in to shake hands +with you, especially as I have business with the Speaker, and heard he +was here. But I'm glad to have met you for many reasons. I want you to +be one of the vice-presidents of the State Economic League--it won't cost +you anything. Ridout has agreed to let his name go on." + +The Honourable Hilary, not being an emotional man, merely grunted as he +started to rise to his feet. What he was about to say was interrupted by +a timid knock, and there followed another brief period of silence. + +"It ain't anybody," said Mr. Bascom, and crossing the room, turned the +key in the lock. The timid knock was repeated. + +"I suppose you're constantly interrupted here by unimportant people," Mr. +Crewe remarked. + +"Well," said Mr. Vane, slowly, boring into Mr. Crewe with his eye, "that +statement isn't far out of the way." + +"I don't believe you've ever met me, Mr. Vane. I'm Humphrey Crewe. We +have a good friend in common in Mr. Flint." + +The Honourable Hilary's hand passed over Mr. Crewe's lightly. + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Crewe," he said, and a faint twinkle appeared in +his eye. "Job has told everybody you were coming down. Glad to welcome +a man of your ahem--stamp into politics." + +"I'm a plain business man," answered Mr. Crewe, modestly; "and although I +have considerable occupation, I believe that one in my position has +duties to perform. I've certain bills--" + +"Yes, yes," agreed the Honourable Hilary; "do you know Mr. Brush Bascom +and Mr. Manning? Allow me to introduce you,--and General Doby." + +"How are you, General?" said Mr. Crewe to the Speaker-to-be, "I'm always +glad to shake the hand of a veteran. Indeed, I have thought that a +society--" + +"I earned my title," said General Doby, somewhat sheepishly, "fighting on +Governor Brown's staff. There were twenty of us, and we were resistless, +weren't we, Brush?" + +"Twenty on a staff!" exclaimed Mr. Crewe. + +"Oh, we furnished our own uniforms and paid our own way--except those of +us who had passes," declared the General, as though the memory of his +military career did not give him unalloyed pleasure. "What's the use of +State sovereignty if you can't have a glittering army to follow the +governor round?" + +Mr. Crewe had never considered this question, and he was not the man to +waste time in speculation. + +"Doubtless you got a letter from me, General Doby," he said. "We did +what we could up our way to put you in the Speaker's chair." + +General Doby creased a little in the middle, to signify that he was +bowing. + +"I trust it will be in my power to reciprocate, Mr. Crewe," he replied. + +"We want to treat Mr. Crewe right," Mr. Bascom put in. + +"You have probably made a note of my requests," Mr. Crewe continued. "I +should like to be on the Judiciary Committee, for one thing. Although I +am not a lawyer, I know something of the principles of law, and I +understand that this and the Appropriations Committee are the most +important. I may say with truth that I should be a useful member of +that, as I am accustomed to sitting on financial boards. As my bills are +of some considerable importance and deal with practical progressive +measures, I have no hesitation in asking for the chairmanship of Public +Improvements,--and of course a membership in the Agricultural is +essential, as I have bills for them. Gentlemen," he added to the room at +large, "I have typewritten manifolds of those bills which I shall be +happy to leave here--at headquarters." And suiting the action to the +word, he put down a packet on the table. + +The Honourable Brush Bascom, accompanied by Mr. Ridout, walked to the +window and stood staring at the glitter of the electric light on the +snow. The Honourable Hilary gazed steadily at the table, while General +Doby blew his nose with painful violence. + +"I'll do what I can for you, certainly, Mr. Crewe," he said. "But--what +is to become of the other four hundred and ninety-nine? The ways of a +Speaker are hard, Mr. Crewe, and I have to do justice to all." + +"Well," answered Mr. Crewe, of course I don't want to be unreasonable, +and I realize the pressure that's put upon you. But when you consider +the importance of the work I came down here to do--" + +"I do consider it," said the Speaker, politely. "It's a little early to +talk about the make-up of committees. I hope to be able to get at them +by Sunday. You may be sure I'll do my best for you." + +"We'd better make a note of it," said Mr. Crewe; "give me some paper," +and he was reaching around behind General Doby for one of the precious +sheets under Mr. Bascom's hat, when the general, with great presence of +mind, sat on it. We have it, from a malicious and untrustworthy source, +that the Northeastern Railroads paid for a new one. + +"Here, here," cried the Speaker, "make the memorandum here." + +At this critical juncture a fortunate diversion occurred. A rap--three +times--of no uncertain quality was heard at the door, and Mr. Brush +Bascom hastened to open it. A voice cried out:-- + +"Is Manning here? The boys are hollering for those passes," and a wiry, +sallow gentleman burst in, none other than the Honourable Elisha Jane, +who was taking his consular vacation. When his eyes fell upon Mr. Crewe +he halted abruptly, looked a little foolish, and gave a questioning +glance at the Honourable Hilary. + +"Mountain passes, Lish? Sit down. Did I ever tell you that story about +the slide in Rickets Gulch?" asked the Honourable Brush Bascom. But +first let me make you acquainted with Mr. Humphrey Crewe of Leith. Mr. +Crewe has come down here with the finest lot of bills you ever saw, and +we're all going to take hold and put 'em through. Here, Lish, I'll give +you a set." + +"Read 'em, Mr. Jane," urged Mr. Crewe. "I don't claim much for 'em, but +perhaps they will help to set a few little matters right--I hope so." + +Mr. Jane opened the bills with deliberation, and cast his eyes over the +headings. + +I'll read 'em this very night, Mr. Crewe," he said solemnly; "this +meeting you is a particular pleasure, and I have heard in many quarters +of these measures." + +"Well," admitted Mr. Crewe, "they may help some. I have a few other +matters to attend to this evening, so I must say good-night, gentlemen. +Don't let me interfere with those I mountain passes, Mr. Manning." + +With this parting remark, which proved him to be not merely an idealist +in politics, but a practical man, Mr. Crewe took his leave. And he was +too much occupied with his own thoughts to pay any attention to the click +of the key as it turned in the lock, or to hear United States Senator +Whitredge rap (three times) on the door after he had turned the corner, +or to know that presently the sliding doors into the governor's bridal +suite--were to open a trifle, large enough for the admission of the body +of the Honourable Asa P. Gray. + +Number Seven still keeps up its reputation as the seat of benevolence, +and great public benefactors still meet there to discuss the welfare of +their fellow-men: the hallowed council chamber now of an empire, seat of +the Governor-general of the State, the Honourable Hilary Vane, and his +advisers. For years a benighted people, with a fond belief in their +participation of Republican institutions, had elected the noble five +hundred of the House and the stanch twenty of the Senate. Noble five +hundreds (biggest Legislature in the world) have come and gone; debated, +applauded, fought and on occasions denounced, kicked over the traces, and +even wept--to no avail. Behold that political institution of man, +representative government There it is on the stage, curtain up, a +sublime spectacle for all men to see, and thrill over speeches about the +Rights of Man, and the Forefathers in the Revolution; about Constituents +who do not constitute. The High Heavens allow it and smile, and it is +well for the atoms that they think themselves free American +representatives, that they do not feel the string of predestination +around their ankles. The senatorial twenty, from their high carved +seats, see the strings and smile, too; yes, and see their own strings, +and smile. Wisdom does not wish for flight. "The people" having changed +the constitution, the blackbirds are reduced from four and forty to a +score. This is cheaper--for the people. + +Democracy on the front of the stage before an applauding audience; +performers absorbed in their parts, forgetting that the landlord has to +be paid in money yet to be earned. Behind the stage, the real play, the +absorbing interest, the high stakes--occasional discreet laughter through +the peep-hole when an actor makes an impassioned appeal to the gods. +Democracy in front, the Feudal System, the Dukes and Earls behind--but in +plain clothes; Democracy in stars and spangles and trappings and +insignia. Or, a better figure, the Fates weaving the web in that mystic +chamber, Number Seven, pausing now and again to smile as a new thread is +put in. Proclamations, constitutions, and creeds crumble before +conditions; the Law of Dividends is the high law, and the Forum an open +vent through which the white steam may rise heavenward and be resolved +again into water. + +Mr. Crewe took his seat in the popular assemblage next day, although most +of the five hundred gave up theirs to the ladies who had come to hear his +Excellency deliver his inaugural. The Honourable Asa made a splendid +figure, all agreed, and read his speech in a firm and manly voice. A +large part of it was about the people; some of it about the sacred +government they had inherited from their forefathers; still another +concerned the high character and achievements of the inhabitants within +the State lines; the name of Abraham Lincoln was mentioned, and, with +even greater reverence and fervour, the Republican party which had +ennobled and enriched the people--and incidentally elected the governor. +There was a noble financial policy, a curtailment of expense. The +forests should be protected, roads should be built, and, above all, +corporations should be held to a strict accounting. + +Needless to say, the speech gave great satisfaction to all, and many old +friends left the hall exclaiming that they didn't believe Asa had it in +him. As a matter of fact (known only to the initiated), Asa didn't have +it in him until last night, before he squeezed through the crack in the +folding doors from room number six to room Number Seven. The inspiration +came to him then, when he was ennobled by the Governor-general, who +represents the Empire. Perpetual Governor-general, who quickens into +life puppet governors of his own choosing Asa has agreed, for the honour +of the title of governor of his State, to act the part, open the fairs, +lend his magnificent voice to those phrases which it rounds so well. It +is fortunate, when we smoke a fine cigar from Havana, that we cannot look +into the factory. The sight would disturb us. It was well for the +applauding, deep-breathing audience in the state-house that first of +January that they did not have a glimpse in room Number Seven the night +before, under the sheets that contained the list of the Speaker's +committees; it was well that they could not go back to Ripton into the +offices on the square, earlier in December, where Mr. Hamilton Tooting +was writing the noble part of that inaugural from memoranda given him by +the Honourable Hilary Vane. Yes, the versatile Mr. Tooting, and none +other, doomed forever to hide the light of his genius under a bushel! +The financial part was written by the Governor-general himself--the +Honourable Hilary Vane. And when it was all finished and revised, it was +put into a long envelope which bore this printed address: Augustus P. +Flint, Pres't United Northeastern Railroads, New York. And came back +with certain annotations on the margin, which were duly incorporated into +it. This is the private history (which must never be told) of the +document which on January first became, as far as fame and posterity is +concerned, the Honourable Asa P. Gray's--forever and forever. + +Mr. Crewe liked the inaugural, and was one of the first to tell Mr. Gray +so, and to express his pleasure and appreciation of the fact that his +request (mailed in November) had been complied with, that the substance +of his bills had been recommended in the governor's programme. + +He did not pause to reflect on the maxim, that platforms are made to get +in by and inaugurals to get started by. + +Although annual efforts have been made by various public-spirited +citizens to build a new state-house, economy--with assistance from room +Number Seven has triumphed. It is the same state-house from the gallery +of which poor William Wetherell witnessed the drama of the Woodchuck +Session, although there are more members now, for the population of the +State has increased to five hundred thousand. It is well for General +Doby, with his two hundred and fifty pounds, that he is in the Speaker's +chair; five hundred seats are a good many for that hall, and painful in a +long session. The Honourable Brush Bascom can stretch his legs, because +he is fortunate enough to have a front seat. Upon inquiry, it turns out +that Mr. Bascom has had a front seat for the last twenty years--he has +been uniformly lucky in drawing. The Honourable Jacob Botcher (ten +years' service) is equally fortunate; the Honourable Jake is a man of +large presence, and a voice that sounds as if it came, oracularly, from +the caverns of the earth. He is easily heard by the members on the back +seats, while Mr. Bascom is not. Mr. Ridout, the capital lawyer, is in +the House this year, and singularly enough has a front seat likewise. It +was Mr. Crewe's misfortune to draw number 415, in the extreme corner of +the room, and next the steam radiator. But he was not of the metal to +accept tamely such a ticketing from the hat of destiny (via the Clerk of +the House). He complained, as any man of spirit would, and Mr. Utter, +the polite clerk, is profoundly sorry,--and says it maybe managed. +Curiously enough, the Honourable Brush Bascom and the Honourable Jacob +Botcher join Mr. Crewe in his complaint, and reiterate that it is an +outrage that a man of such ability and deserving prominence should be +among the submerged four hundred and seventy. It is managed in a +mysterious manner we don't pretend to fathom, and behold Mr. Crewe in the +front of the Forum, in the seats of the mighty, where he can easily be +pointed out from the gallery at the head of the five hundred, between +those shining leaders and parliamentarians, the Honourables Brush Bascom +and Jake Botcher. + +For Mr. Crewe has not come to the Legislature, like the country members +in the rear, to acquire a smattering of parliamentary procedure by the +day the Speaker is presented with a gold watch, at the end of the +session. Not he! Not the practical business man, the member of boards, +the chairman and president of societies. He has studied the Rules of the +House and parliamentary law, you may be sure. Genius does not come +unprepared, and is rarely caught napping. After the Legislature +adjourned that week the following telegram was sent over the wires:-- + + Augustus P. Flint, New York. + + Kindly use your influence with Doby to secure my committee + appointments. Important as per my conversation with you. + + Humphrey Crewe. + +Nor was Mr. Crewe idle from Saturday to Monday night, when the committees +were to be announced. He sent to the State Tribune office for fifty +copies of that valuable paper, which contained a two-column-and-a-half +article on Mr. Crewe as a legislator and financier and citizen, with a +summary of his bills and an argument as to how the State would benefit by +their adoption; an accurate list of Mr. Crewe's societies was inserted, +and an account of his life's history, and of those ancestors of his who +had been born or lived within the State. Indeed, the accuracy of this +article as a whole did great credit to the editor of the State Tribune, +who must have spent a tremendous amount of painstaking research upon it; +and the article was so good that Mr. Crewe regretted (undoubtedly for the +editor's sake) that a request could not be appended to it such as is used +upon marriage and funeral notices: "New York, Boston, and Philadelphia +papers please copy." + +Mr. Crewe thought it his duty to remedy as much as possible the +unfortunate limited circulation of the article, and he spent as much as a +whole day making out a list of friends and acquaintances whom he thought +worthy to receive a copy of the Tribune--marked personal. Victoria Flint +got one, and read it to her father at the breakfast table. (Mr. Flint +did not open his.) Austen Vane wondered why any man in his obscure and +helpless position should have been honoured, but honoured he was. He +sent his to Victoria, too, and was surprised to find that she knew his +handwriting and wrote him a letter to thank him for it: a letter which +provoked on his part much laughter, and elements of other sensations +which, according to Charles Reade, should form the ingredients of a good +novel. But of this matter later. + +Mrs. Pomfret and Alice each got one, and each wrote Mr. Crewe appropriate +congratulations. (Alice's answer supervised.) Mrs. Chillingham got one; +the Honourable Hilary Vane got one--marked in red ink, lest he should +have skipped it in his daily perusal of the paper. Mr. Brush, Bascom got +one likewise. But the list of Mr. Crewe's acquaintances is too long and +too broad to dwell upon further in these pages. + +The Monday-night session came at last, that sensational hour when the +Speaker makes those decisions to which he is supposed to have given birth +over Sunday in the seclusion of his country home at Hale. Monday-night +sessions are, as a rule, confined in attendance to the Honourable Brush +Bascom and Mr. Ridout and a few other conscientious members who do not +believe in cheating the State, but to-night all is bustle and confusion, +and at least four hundred members are pushing down the aisles and +squeezing past each other into the narrow seats, and reading the State +Tribune or the ringing words of the governor's inaugural which they find +in the racks on the back of the seats before them. Speaker Doby, who has +been apparently deep in conference with the most important members (among +them Mr. Crewe, to whom he has whispered that a violent snow-storm is +raging in Hale), raps for order; and after a few preliminaries hands to +Mr. Utter, the clerk, amidst a breathless silence, the paper on which the +parliamentary career of so many ambitious statesmen depends. + +It is not a pleasure to record the perfidy of man, nor the lack of +judgment which prevents him, in his circumscribed lights, from +recognizing undoubted geniuses when he sees them. Perhaps it was +jealousy on General Doby's part, and a selfish desire to occupy the +centre of the stage himself, but at any rate we will pass hastily over +the disagreeable portions of this narrative. Mr. Crewe settled himself +with his feet extended, and with a complacency which he had rightly +earned by leaving no stone unturned, to listen. He sat up a little when +the Appropriations Committee, headed by the Honourable Jake Botcher, did +not contain his name--but it might have been an oversight of Mr. Utters; +when the Judiciary (Mr. Ridout's committee) was read it began to look +like malice; committee after committee was revealed, and the name of +Humphrey Crewe might not have been contained in the five hundred except +as the twelfth member of forestry, until it appeared at the top of +National Affairs. Here was a broad enough field, certainly,--the Trusts, +the Tariff, the Gold Standard, the Foreign Possessions,--and Mr. Crewe's +mind began to soar in spite of himself. Public Improvements was reached, +and he straightened. Mr. Beck, a railroad lawyer from Belfast, led it. +Mr. Crewe arose, as any man of spirit would, and walked with dignity up +the aisle and out of the house. This deliberate attempt to crush genius +would inevitably react on itself. The Honourable Hilary Vane and Mr. +Flint should be informed of it at once. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +"FOR BILLS MAY COME, AND BILLS MAY GO" + +A man with a sense of humour once went to the capital as a member of the +five hundred from his town, and he never went back again. One reason for +this was that he died the following year, literally, the doctors said, +from laughing too much. I know that this statement will be received +incredulously, and disputed by those who claim that laughter is a good +thing; the honourable gentleman died from too much of a good thing. He +was overpowered by having too much to laugh at, and the undiscerning +thought him a fool, and the Empire had no need of a court jester. But +many of his sayings have lived, nevertheless. He wrote a poem, said to +be a plagiarism, which contains the quotation at the beginning of this +chapter: "For bills may come, and bills may go, but I go on forever." +The first person singular is supposed to relate to the United +Northeastern Railroads. It was a poor joke at best. + +It is needless to say that the gentleman referred to had a back seat +among the submerged four hundred and seventy,--and that he kept it. No +discerning and powerful well-wishers came forward and said to him, +"Friend, go up higher." He sat, doubled up, in number, and the gods gave +him compensation in laughter; he disturbed the Solons around him, who +were interested in what was going on in front, and trying to do their +duty to their constituents by learning parliamentary procedure before the +Speaker got his gold watch and shed tears over it. + +The gentleman who laughed and died is forgotten, as he deserves to be, +and it never occurred to anybody that he might have been a philosopher, +after all. There is something irresistibly funny about predestination; +about men who are striving and learning and soberly voting upon measures +with which they have as little to do as guinea-pigs. There were certain +wise and cynical atheists who did not attend the sessions at all except +when they received mysterious hints to do so. These were chiefly from +Newcastle. And there were others who played poker in the state-house +cellar waiting for the Word to come to them, when they went up and voted +(prudently counting their chips before they did so), and descended again. +The man with a sense of humour laughed at these, too, and at the twenty +blackbirds in the Senate,--but not so heartily. He laughed at their +gravity, for no gravity can equal that of gentlemen who play with stacked +cards. + +The risible gentleman laughed at the proposed legislation, about which he +made the song, and he likened it to a stream that rises hopefully in the +mountains, and takes its way singing at the prospect of reaching the +ocean, but presently flows into a hole in the ground to fill the +forgotten caverns of the earth, and is lost to the knowledge and sight of +man. The caverns he labelled respectively Appropriations, Railroad, +Judiciary, and their guardians were unmistakably the Honourables Messrs. +Bascom, Botcher, and Ridout. The greatest cavern of all he called "The +Senate." + +If you listen, you can hear the music of the stream of bills as it is +rising hopefully and flowing now: "Mr. Crewe of Leith gives notice that +on to-morrow or some subsequent day he will introduce a bill entitled, +'An act for the Improvement of the State Highways.' Mr. Crewe of Leith +gives notice, etc. 'An act for the Improvement of the Practice of +Agriculture.' 'An act relating to the State Indebtedness.' 'An act to +increase the State Forest Area.' 'An act to incorporate the State +Economic League.' 'An act to incorporate the State Children's Charities +Association.' 'An act in relation to Abandoned Farms.'" These were some +of the most important, and they were duly introduced on the morrow, and +gravely referred by the Speaker to various committees. As might be +expected, a man whose watchword is, "thorough" immediately got a list of +those committees, and lost no time in hunting up the chairmen and the +various available members thereof. + +As a man of spirit, also, Mr. Crewe wrote to Mr. Flint, protesting as to +the manner in which he had been treated concerning committees. In the +course of a week he received a kind but necessarily brief letter from the +Northeastern's president to remind him that he persisted in a fallacy; as +a neighbour, Mr. Flint would help him to the extent of his power, but the +Northeastern Railroads could not interfere in legislative or political +matters. Mr. Crewe was naturally pained by the lack of confidence of his +friend; it seems useless to reiterate that he was far from being a fool, +and no man could be in the capital a day during the session without being +told of the existence of Number Seven, no matter how little the informant +might know of what might be going on there. Mr. Crewe had been fortunate +enough to see the inside of that mysterious room, and, being a +sufficiently clever man to realize the importance and necessity of +government by corporations, had been shocked at nothing he had seen or +heard. However, had he had a glimpse of the Speaker's lists under the +hopelessly crushed hat of Mr. Bascom, perhaps he might have been shocked, +after all. + +It was about this time that a touching friendship began which ought, in +justice, to be briefly chronicled. It was impossible for the Honourable +Brush Bascom and the Honourable Jacob Botcher to have Mr. Crewe sitting +between them and not conceive a strong affection for him. The Honourable +Brush, though not given to expressing his feelings, betrayed some +surprise at the volumes Mr. Crewe had contributed to the stream of bills; +and Mr. Botcher, in a Delphic whisper, invited Mr. Crewe to visit him in +room forty-eight of the Pelican that evening. To tell the truth, Mr. +Crewe returned the feeling of his companions warmly, and he had even +entertained the idea of asking them both to dine with him that evening. + +Number forty-eight (the Honourable Jake's) was a free-and-easy democratic +resort. No three knocks and a password before you turn the key here. +Almost before your knuckles hit the panel you heard Mr. Botcher's hearty +voice shouting "Come in," in spite of the closed transom. The Honourable +Jake, being a tee-totaller, had no bathroom, and none but his intimate +friends ever looked in the third from the top bureau drawer. + +The proprietor of the Pelican, who in common with the rest of humanity +had fallen a victim to the rough and honest charms and hearty good +fellowship of the Honourable Jake, always placed a large padded arm-chair +in number forty-eight before the sessions, knowing that the Honourable +Jake's constituency would be uniformly kind to him. There Mr. Botcher +was wont to sit (when he was not depressing one of the tiles in the +rotunda), surrounded by his friends and their tobacco smoke, discussing +in his frank and manly fashion the public questions of the day. + +Mr. Crewe thought it a little strange that, whenever he entered a room in +the Pelican, a silence should succeed the buzz of talk which he had heard +through the closed transom; but he very naturally attributed this to the +constraint which ordinary men would be likely to feel in his presence. +In the mouth of one presumptuous member the word "railroad" was cut in +two by an agate glance from the Honourable Brush, and Mr. Crewe noted +with some surprise that the Democratic leader of the House, Mr. Painter, +was seated on Mr. Botcher's mattress, with an expression that was in +singular contrast to the look of bold defiance which he had swept over +the House that afternoon in announcing his opposition policy. The vulgar +political suggestion might have crept into a more trivial mind than Mr. +Crewe's that Mr. Painter was being, "put to bed," the bed being very +similar to that of Procrustes. Mr. Botcher extracted himself from the +nooks and crannies of his armchair. + +"How are you, Crewe?" he said hospitably; "we're all friends here--eh, +Painter? We don't carry our quarrels outside the swinging doors. You +know Mr. Crewe--by sight, of course. Do you know these other gentlemen, +Crewe? I didn't expect you so early." + +The "other gentlemen" said that they were happy to make the acquaintance +of their fellow-member from Leith, and seemingly with one consent began +to edge towards the door. + +"Don't go, boys," Mr. Bascom protested. "Let me finish that story." + +Some of "the boys" seemed to regard this statement as humorous,--more +humorous, indeed, than the story itself. And when it was finished they +took their departure, a trifle awkwardly, led by Mr. Painter. + +"They're a little mite bashful," said Mr. Botcher, apologetically. + +"How many more of those bills have you got?" demanded Mr. Bascom, from +the steam radiator, with characteristic directness. + +"I put 'em all in this morning," said Mr. Crewe, "but I have thought +since of two or three other conditions which might be benefited by +legislation." + +"Well," said Mr. Bascom, kindly, "if you have any more I was going to +suggest that you distribute 'em round among the boys. That's the way I +do, and most folks don't guess they're your bills. See?" + +"What harm is there in that?" demanded Mr. Crewe. "I'm not ashamed of +'em." + +"Brush was only lookin' at it from the point of view of gettin' 'em +through," honest Mr. Botcher put in, in stentorian tones. "It doesn't do +for a new member to be thought a hog about legislation." + +Now the Honourable Jacob only meant this in the kindest manner, as we +know, and to give inexperience a hint from well-intentioned experience. +On the other hand, Mr. Crewe had a dignity and a position to uphold. He +was a personality. People who went too far with him were apt to be +rebuked by a certain glassy quality in his eye, and this now caused the +Honourable Jake to draw back perceptibly. + +"I see no reason why a public-spirited man should be open to such an +imputation," said Mr. Crewe. + +"Certainly not, certainly not," said Mr. Botcher, in stentorian tones of +apology, "I was only trying to give you a little friendly advice, but I +may have put it too strong. Brush and I--I may as well be plain about +it, Mr. Crewe--have taken a liking to you. Couldn't help it, sir, +sitting next to you as we do. We take an interest in your career, and we +don't want you to make any mistakes. Ain't that about it, Brush?" + +"That's about it," said Mr. Bascom. + +Mr. Crewe was to big a man not to perceive and appreciate the sterling +philanthropy which lay beneath the exteriors of his new friends, who +scorned to flatter him. + +"I understand the spirit in which your advice is given, gentlemen," he +replied magnanimously, "and I appreciate it. We are all working for the +same things, and we all believe that they must be brought about in the +same practical way. For instance, we know as practical men that the +railroad pays a large tax in this State, and that property must take a +hand--a very considerable hand--in legislation. You gentlemen, as +important factors in the Republican organization, are loyal to--er--that +property, and perhaps for wholly desirable reasons cannot bring forward +too many bills under your own names. Whereas I--" + +At this point in Mr. Crewe's remarks the Honourable Jacob Botcher was +seized by an appalling coughing fit which threatened to break his arm- +chair, probably owing to the fact that he had swallowed something which +he had in his mouth the wrong way. Mr. Bascom, assisted by Mr. Crewe, +pounded him relentlessly on the back. + +"I read that article in the 'Tribune' about you with great interest," +said Mr. Bascom, when Mr. Botcher's coughing had subsided. "I had no +idea you were so--ahem--well equipped for a political career. But what +we wanted to speak to you about was this," he continued, as Mr. Crewe +showed signs of breaking in, "those committee appointments you desired." + +"Yes," said Mr. Crewe, with some pardonable heat, "the Speaker doesn't +seem to know which side his bread's buttered on." + +"What I was going to say," proceeded Mr. Bascom, "was that General Doby +is a pretty good fellow. Personally, I happen to know that the general +feels very badly that he couldn't give you what you wanted. He took a +shine to you that night you saw him." + +"Yes," Mr. Botcher agreed, for he had quite recovered, the general felt +bad--feels bad, I should say. He perceived that you were a man of +ability, sir--" + +"And that was just the reason," said the Honourable Brush, "that he +couldn't make you more useful just now." + +"There's a good deal of jealousy, my dear sir, against young members of +ability," said Mr. Botcher, in his most oracular and impressive tones. +"The competition amongst those--er--who have served the party is very +keen for the positions you desired. I personally happen to know that the +general had you on the Judiciary and Appropriations, and that some of +your--er--well-wishers persuaded him to take you off for your own good." + +"It wouldn't do for the party leaders to make you too prominent all at +once," said Mr. Bascom. "You are bound to take an active part in what +passes here. The general said, 'At all events I will give Mr. Crewe one +chairmanship by which he can make a name for himself suited to his +talents,' and he insisted on giving you, in spite of some remonstrances +from your friends, National Affairs. The general urged, rightly, that +with your broad view and knowledge of national policy, it was his duty to +put you in that place whatever people might say." + +Mr. Crewe listened to these explanations in some surprise; and being a +rational man, had to confess that they were--more or less reasonable. + +"Scarcely any bills come before that committee," he objected. + +"Ah," replied Mr. Bascom, "that is true. But the chairman of that +committee is generally supposed to be in line for--er--national honours. +It has not always happened in the past, because the men have not proved +worthy. But the opportunity is always given to that chairman to make a +speech upon national affairs which is listened to with the deepest +interest. + +"Is that so?" said Mr. Crewe. He wanted to be of service, as we know. +He was a man of ideas, and the opening sentences of the speech were +already occurring to him. + +"Let's go upstairs and see the general now," suggested Mr. Botcher, +smiling that such a happy thought should have occurred to him. + +"Why, I guess we couldn't do any better," Mr. Bascom agreed. + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "I'm willing to hear what he's got to say, +anyway." + +Taking advantage of this generous concession, Mr. Botcher hastily locked +the door, and led the way up the stairway to number seventy-five. After +a knock or two here, the door opened a crack, disclosing, instead of +General Doby's cherubic countenance, a sallow face with an exceedingly +pointed nose. The owner of these features, having only Mr. Botcher in +his line of vision, made what was perhaps an unguarded remark. + +"Hello, Jake, the general's in number nine--Manning sent for him about +half an hour ago." + +It was Mr. Botcher himself who almost closed the door on the gentleman's +sharp nose, and took Mr. Crewe's arm confidingly. + +"We'll go up to the desk and see Doby in the morning,--he's busy," said +the Honourable Jake. + +"What's the matter with seeing him now?" Mr. Crewe demanded. "I know +Manning. He's the division superintendent, isn't he?" + +Mr. Botcher and Mr. Bascom exchanged glances. + +"Why, yes--"said Mr. Bascom, "yes, he is. He's a great friend of General +Doby's, and their wives are great friends." + +"Intimate friends, sir," said the Honourable Jake + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "we won't bother 'em but a moment." + +It was he who led the way now, briskly, the Honourable Brush and the +Honourable Jake pressing closely after him. It was Mr. Crewe who, +without pausing to knock, pushed open the door of number nine, which was +not quite closed; and it was Mr. Crewe who made the important discovery +that the lugubrious division superintendent had a sense of humour. Mr. +Manning was seated at a marble-topped table writing on a salmon-coloured +card, in the act of pronouncing these words:-- + +"For Mr. Speaker and Mrs. Speaker and all the little Speakers, to New +York and return." + +Mr. Speaker Doby, standing before the marble-topped table with his hands +in his pockets, heard the noise behind him and turned, and a mournful +expression spread over his countenance. + +"Don't mind me," said Mr. Crewe, waving a hand in the direction of the +salmon-coloured tickets; "I hope you have a good time, General. When do +you go?" + +"Why," exclaimed the Speaker, "how are you, Mr. Crewe, how are you? It's +only one of Manning's little jokes." + +"That's all right, General," said Mr. Crewe, "I haven't been a director +in railroads for nothing. I'm not as green as he thinks. Am I, Mr. +Manning?" + +"It never struck me that green was your colour, Mr. Crewe," answered the +division superintendent, smiling a little as he tore the tickets into +bits and put them in the waste-basket. + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "you needn't have torn 'em up on my account. I +travel on the pass which the Northeastern gives me as a legislator, and +I'm thinking seriously of getting Mr. Flint to send me an annual, now +that I'm in politics and have to cover the State." + +"We thought you were a reformer, Mr. Crewe," the Honourable Brush Bascom +remarked. + +"I am a practical man," said Mr. Crewe; "a railroad man, a business mark +and as such I try to see things as they are." + +"Well," said General Doby, who by this time had regained his usual genial +air of composure, I'm glad you said that, Mr. Crewe. As these gentlemen +will tell you, if I'd had my wish I'd have had you on every important +committee in the House." + +"Chairman of every important committee, General," corrected the +Honourable Jacob Botcher. + +"Yes, chairman of 'em," assented the general, after a glance at Mr. +Crewe's countenance to see how this statement fared. "But the fact is, +the boys are all jealous of you--on the quiet. I suppose you suspected +something of the kind." + +"I should have imagined there might be some little feeling," Mr. Crewe +assented modestly. + +"Exactly," cried the general, "and I had to combat that feeling when I +insisted upon putting you at the head of National Affairs. It does not +do for a new member, whatever his prominence in the financial world, to +be pushed forward too quickly. And unless I am mighty mistaken, Mr. +Crewe," he added, with his hand on the new member's shoulder, "you will +make yourself felt without any boosting from me." + +"I did not come here to remain idle, General," answered Mr. Crewe, +considerably mollified. + +"Certainly not," said the general, "and I say to some of those men, 'Keep +your eye on the gentleman who is Chairman of National Affairs.'" + +After a little more of this desultory and pleasant talk, during which +recourse was, had to the bathroom for several tall and thin glasses +ranged on the shelf there, Mr. Crewe took his departure in a most equable +frame of mind. And when the door was closed and locked behind him, Mr. +Manning dipped his pen in the ink, once more produced from a drawer in +the table the salmon-coloured tickets, and glanced again at the general +with a smile. + +"For Mr. Speaker and Mrs. Speaker and all the little Speakers, to New +York and return." + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Fame sometimes comes in the line of duty +Genius is almost one hundred percent directness +In a frenzy of anticipation, garnished and swept the room +It's noble, but it don't pay +Treason to party he regarded with a deep-seated abhorrence + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, V1 +by Winston Churchill + + + + + + +MR. CREWE'S CAREER + +By Winston Churchill + + + +BOOK 2. + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE HOPPER + +It is certainly not the function of a romance to relate, with the +exactness of a House journal, the proceedings of a Legislature. Somebody +has likened the state-house to pioneer Kentucky, a dark and bloody ground +over which the battles of selfish interests ebbed and flowed,--no place +for an innocent and unselfish bystander like Mr. Crewe, who desired only +to make of his State an Utopia; whose measures were for the public good-- +not his own. But if any politician were fatuous enough to believe that +Humphrey Crewe was a man to introduce bills and calmly await their fate; +a man who, like Senator Sanderson, only came down to the capital when he +was notified by telegram, that politician was entirely mistaken. + +No sooner had his bills been assigned to the careful and just +consideration of the committees in charge of the Honourable Brush Bascom, +Mr. Botcher, and others than Mr. Crewe desired of each a day for a +hearing. Every member of the five hundred was provided with a copy; nay, +nearly every member was personally appealed to, to appear and speak for +the measures. Foresters, road builders, and agriculturists (expenses +paid) were sent for from other States; Mr. Ball and others came down from +Leith, and gentlemen who for a generation had written letters to the +newspapers turned up from other localities. In two cases the largest +committee rooms proved too small for the gathering which was the result +of Mr. Crewe's energy, and the legislative hall had to be lighted. The +State Tribune gave column reports of the hearings, and little editorial +pushes besides. And yet, when all was over, when it had been proved +beyond a doubt that, if the State would consent to spend a little money, +she would take the foremost rank among her forty odd sisters for +progression, the bills were still under consideration by those hardheaded +statesmen, Mr. Bascom and Mr. Botcher and their associates. + +It could not be because these gentlemen did not know the arguments and +see the necessity. Mr. Crewe had had them to dinner, and had spent so +much time in their company presenting his case--to which they absolutely +agreed--that they took to a forced seclusion. The member from Leith also +wrote letters and telegrams, and sent long typewritten arguments and +documents to Mr. Flint. Mr. Crewe, although far from discouraged, began +to think there was something mysterious about all this seemingly +unnecessary deliberation. + +Mr. Crewe, though of great discernment, was only mortal, and while he was +fighting his battle single-handed, how was he to know that the gods above +him were taking sides and preparing for conflict? The gods do not give +out their declarations of war for publication to the Associated Press; +and old Tom Gaylord, who may be likened to Mars, had no intention of +sending Jupiter notice until he got his cohorts into line. The strife, +because it was to be internecine, was the more terrible. Hitherto the +Gaylord Lumber Company, like the Winona Manufacturing Company of +Newcastle (the mills of which extended for miles along the Tyne), had +been a faithful ally of the Empire; and, on occasions when it was needed, +had borrowed the Imperial army to obtain grants, extensions, and +franchises. + +The fact is that old Tom Gaylord, in the autumn previous, had quarreled +with Mr. Flint about lumber rates, which had been steadily rising. Mr. +Flint had been polite, but firm; and old Tom, who, with all his +tremendous properties, could ship by no other railroad than the +Northeastern, had left the New York office in a black rage. A more +innocent citizen than old Tom would have put his case (which was without +doubt a strong one) before the Railroad Commission of the State, but old +Tom knew well enough that the Railroad Commission was in reality an +economy board of the Northeastern system, as much under Mr. Flint's +orders as the conductors and brakemen. Old Tom, in consulting the map, +conceived an unheard-of effrontery, a high treason which took away the +breath of his secretary and treasurer when it was pointed out to him. +The plan contemplated a line of railroad from the heart of the lumber +regions down the south side of the valley of the Pingsquit to Kingston, +where the lumber could take to the sea. In short, it was a pernicious +revival of an obsolete state of affairs, competition, and if persisted +in, involved nothing less than a fight to a finish with the army, the +lobby of the Northeastern. Other favoured beings stood aghast when they +heard of it, and hastened to old Tom with timely counsel; but he had +reached a frame of mind which they knew well. He would listen to no +reason, and maintained stoutly that there were other lawyers in the world +as able in political sagacity and lobby tactics as Hilary Vane; the +Honourable Galusha Hammer, for instance, an old and independent and wary +war-horse who had more than once wrung compromises out of the Honourable +Hilary. The Honourable Galusha Hammer was sent for, and was now +industriously, if quietly and unobtrusively, at work. The Honourable +Hilary was likewise at work, equally quietly and unobtrusively. When the +powers fall out, they do not open up at once with long-distance +artillery. There is always a chance of a friendly settlement. The news +was worth a good deal, for instance, to Mr. Peter Pardriff (brother of +Paul, of Ripton), who refrained, with praiseworthy self-control, from +publishing it in the State Tribune, although the temptation to do so must +have been great. And most of the senatorial twenty saw the trouble +coming and braced their backs against it, but in silence. The capital +had seen no such war as this since the days of Jethro Bass. + +In the meantime Mr. Crewe, blissfully ignorant of this impending +conflict, was preparing a speech on national affairs and national issues +which was to startle an unsuspecting State. Mrs. Pomfret, who had +received many clippings and pamphlets, had written him weekly letters of +a nature spurring to his ambition, which incidentally contained many +references to Alice's interest in his career. And Mr. Crewe's mind, when +not intent upon affairs of State, sometimes reverted pleasantly to +thoughts of Victoria Flint; it occurred to him that the Duncan house was +large enough for entertaining, and that he might invite Mrs. Pomfret to +bring Victoria and the inevitable Alice to hear his oration, for which +Mr. Speaker Doby had set a day. + +In his desire to give other people pleasure, Mr. Crewe took the trouble +to notify a great many of his friends and acquaintances as to the day of +his speech, in case they might wish to travel to the State capital and +hear him deliver it. Having unexpectedly received in the mail a cheque +from Austen Vane in settlement of the case of the injured horse, Austen +was likewise invited. + +Austen smiled when he opened the letter, and with its businesslike +contents there seemed to be wafted from it the perfume and suppliance of +a September day in the Vale of the Blue. From the window of his back +office, looking across the railroad tracks, he could see Sawanec, pale in +her winter garb against a pale winter sky, and there arose in him the old +restless desire for the woods and fields which at times was almost +irresistible. His thoughts at length descending from the azure above +Sawanec, his eyes fell again on Mr. Crewe's typewritten words: "It may be +of interest to you that I am to deliver, on the 15th instant, and as the +Chairman of the House Committee on National Affairs, a speech upon +national policies which is the result of much thought, and which touches +upon such material needs of our State as can be supplied by the Federal +Government." + +Austen had a brief fancy, whimsical as it was, of going to hear him. Mr. +Crewe, as a type absolutely new to him, interested him. He had followed +the unusual and somewhat surprising career of the gentleman from Leith +with some care, even to the extent of reading of Mr. Crewe's activities +in the State Tribunes which had been sent him. Were such qualifications +as Mr. Crewe possessed, he wondered, of a kind to sweep their possessor +into high office? Were industry, persistency, and a capacity for taking +advantage of a fair wind sufficient? + +Since his return from Pepper County, Austen Vane had never been to the +State capital during a session, although it was common for young lawyers +to have cases before the Legislature. It would have been difficult to +say why he did not take these cases, aside from the fact that they were +not very remunerative. On occasions gentlemen from different parts of +the State, and some from outside of it who had certain favours to ask at +the hands of the lawmaking body, had visited his back office and closed +the door after them, and in the course of the conversation had referred +to the relationship of the young lawyer to Hilary Vane. At such times +Austen would freely acknowledge the debt of gratitude he owed his father +for being in the world--and refer them politely to Mr. Hilary Vane +himself. In most cases they had followed his advice, wondering not a +little at this isolated example of quixotism. + +During the sessions, except for a day or two at week ends which were +often occupied with conferences, the Honourable Hilary's office was +deserted; or rather, as we have seen, his headquarters were removed to +room Number Seven in the Pelican Hotel at the capital. Austen got many +of the lay clients who came to see his father at such times; and--without +giving an exaggerated idea of his income--it might be said that he was +beginning to have what may be called a snug practice for a lawyer of his +experience. In other words, according to Mr. Tooting, who took an +intense interest in the matter, "not wearing the collar" had been more of +a financial success for Austen than that gentleman had imagined. There +proved to be many clients to whom the fact that young Mr. Vane did not +carry a "retainer pass" actually appealed. These clients paid their +bills, but they were neither large nor influential, as a rule, with the +notable exception of the Gaylord Lumber Company, where the matters for +trial were not large. If young Tom Gaylord had had his way, Austen would +have been the chief counsel for the corporation. + +To tell the truth, Austen Vane had a secret aversion to going to the +capital during a session, a feeling that such a visit would cause him +unhappiness. In spite of his efforts, and indeed in spite of Hilary's, +Austen and his father had grown steadily apart. They met in the office +hallway, in the house in Hanover Street when Hilary came home to sleep, +and the elder Mr. Vane was not a man to thrive on small talk. His world +was the battlefield from which he directed the forces of the great +corporation which he served, and the cherished vision of a son in whom he +could confide his plans, upon whose aid and counsel he could lean, was +gone forever. Hilary Vane had troublesome half-hours, but on the whole +he had reached the conclusion that this son, like Sarah Austen, was one +of those inexplicable products in which an extravagant and inscrutable +nature sometimes indulged. On the rare evenings when the two were at +home together, the Honourable Hilary sat under one side of the lamp with +a pile of documents and newspapers, and Austen under the other with a +book from the circulating library. No public questions could be broached +upon which they were not as far apart as the poles, and the Honourable +Hilary put literature in the same category as embroidery. Euphrasia, +when she paused in her bodily activity to darn their stockings, used to +glance at them covertly from time to time, and many a silent tear of +which they knew nothing fell on her needle. + +On the subject of his protracted weekly absences at the State capital, +the Honourable Hilary was as uncommunicative as he would have been had he +retired for those periods to a bar-room. He often grunted and cleared +his throat and glanced at his son when their talk bordered upon these +absences; and he was even conscious of an extreme irritation against +himself as well as Austen because of the instinct that bade him keep +silent. He told himself fiercely that he had nothing to be ashamed of, +nor would he have acknowledged that it was a kind of shame that bade him +refrain even from circumstantial accounts of what went on in room Number +Seven of the Pelican. He had an idea that Austen knew and silently +condemned; and how extremely maddening was this feeling to the Honourable +Hilary may well be imagined. All his life long he had deemed himself +morally invulnerable, and now to be judged and ethically found wanting by +the son of Sarah Austen was, at times, almost insupportable. Were the +standards of a long life to be suddenly reversed by a prodigal son? + +To get back to Austen. On St. Valentine's Day of that year when, to tell +the truth, he was seated in his office scribbling certain descriptions of +nature suggested by the valentines in Mr. Hayman's stationery store, the +postman brought in a letter from young Tom Gaylord. Austen laughed as he +read it. "The Honourable Galusha Hammer is well named," young Tom wrote, +"but the conviction has been gaining ground with me that a hammer is +about as much use as a shovel would be at the present time. It is not +the proper instrument." "But the 'old man'" (it was thus young Tom was wont +to designate his parent) "is pig-headed when he gets to fighting, and +won't listen to reason. If he believes he can lick the Northeastern with +a Hammer, he is durned badly mistaken, and I told him so. I have been +giving him sage advice in little drops--after meals. I tell him there is +only one man in the State who has sense enough even to shake the +Northeastern, and that's you. He thinks this a pretty good joke. Of +course I realize where your old man is planted, and that you might have +some natural delicacy and wish to refrain from giving him a jar. But +come down for an hour and let me talk to you, anyway. The new statesman +from Leith is cutting a wide swath. Not a day passes but his voice is +heard roaring in the Forum; he has visited all the State institutions, +dined and wined the governor and his staff and all the ex-governors he +can lay his hands on, and he has that hard-headed and caustic journalist, +Mr. Peter Pardriff, of the State Tribune, hypnotized. He has some swells +up at his house to hear his speech on national affairs, among them old +Flint's daughter, who is a ripper to look at, although I never got nearer +to her than across the street. As you may guess, it is something of a +card for Crewe to have Flint's daughter here." + +Austen sat for a long time after reading this letter, idly watching the +snow-clouds gathering around Sawanec. Then he tore up the paper, on +which he had been scribbling, into very small bits, consulted a time- +table, and at noon, in a tumult of feelings, he found himself in a back +seat of the express, bound for the capital. + +Arriving at the station, amidst a hurry and bustle of legislators and +politicians coming and going, many of whom nodded to him, he stood for a +minute in the whirling snow reflecting. Now that he was here, where was +he to stay? The idea of spending the night at the Pelican was repellent +to him, and he was hesitating between two more modest hostelries when he +was hailed by a giant with a flowing white beard, a weather-beaten face, +and a clear eye that shone with a steady and kindly light. It was James +Redbrook, the member from Mercer. + +"Why, how be you, Austen?" he cried, extending a welcome hand; and, when +Austen had told him his dilemma: "Come right along up to my lodgings. I +live at the Widow Peasley's, and there's a vacant room next to mine." + +Austen accepted gratefully, and as they trudged through the storm up the +hill, he inquired how legislative matters were progressing. Whereupon +Mr. Redbrook unburdened himself. + +"Say, I just warmed up all over when I see you, Austen. I'm so glad to +run across an honest man. We ain't forgot in Mercer what you did for Zeb +Meader, and how you went against your interests. And I guess it ain't +done you any harm in the State. As many as thirty or forty members have +spoke to me about it. And down here I've got so I just can't hold in any +more." + +"Is it as bad as that, Mr. Redbrook?" asked Austen, with a serious glance +at the farmer's face. + +"It's so bad I don't know how to begin," said the member from Mercer, and +paused suddenly. "But I don't want to hurt your feelings, Austen, seeing +your father is--where he is." + +"Go on," said Austen, "I understand." + +"Well," said Mr. Redbrook, "it just makes me tremble as an American +citizen. The railrud sends them slick cusses down here that sit in the +front seats who know all this here parliamentary law and the tricks of +the trade, and every time any of us gets up to speak our honest minds, +they have us ruled out of order or get the thing laid on the table until +some Friday morning when there ain't nobody here, and send it along up to +the Senate. They made that fat feller, Doby, Speaker, and he's stuffed +all the important committees so that you can't get an honest measure +considered. You can talk to the committees all you've a mind to, and +they'll just listen and never do anything. There's five hundred in the +House, and it ain't any more of a Legislature than a camp-meetin' is. +What do you suppose they done last Friday morning, when there wahn't but +twenty men at the session? We had an anti-pass law, and all these +fellers were breakin' it. It forbid anybody riding on a pass except +railroad presidents, directors, express messengers, and persons in +misfortune, and they stuck in these words, 'and others to whom passes +have been granted by the proper officers.' Ain't that a disgrace to the +State? And those twenty senators passed it before we got back on +Tuesday. You can't get a bill through that Legislature unless you go up +to the Pelican and get permission of Hilary--" + +Here Mr. Redbrook stopped abruptly, and glanced contritely at his +companion. + +"I didn't mean to get goin' so," he said, "but sometimes I wish this +American government'd never been started." + +"I often feel that way myself, Mr. Redbrook," said Austen. + +"I knowed you did. I guess I can tell an honest man when I see one. +It's treason to say anything against this Northeastern louder than a +whisper. They want an electric railrud bad up in Greenacre, and when +some of us spoke for it and tried to get the committee to report it, +those cheap fellers from Newcastle started such a catcall we had to set +down." + +By this time they were at the Widow Peasley's, stamping the snow from off +their boots. + +"How general is this sentiment?" Austen asked, after he had set down his +bag in the room he was to occupy. + +"Why," said Mr. Redbrook, with conviction, "there's enough feel as I do +to turn that House upside down--if we only had a leader. If you was only +in there, Austen." + +"I'm afraid I shouldn't be of much use," Austen answered. "They'd have +given me a back seat, too." + +The Widow Peasley's was a frame and gabled house of Revolutionary days +with a little terrace in front of it and a retaining wall built up from +the sidewalk. Austen, on the steps, stood gazing across at a square +mansion with a wide cornice, half hidden by elms and maples and pines. +It was set far back from the street, and a driveway entered the picket- +fence and swept a wide semicircle to the front door and back again. +Before the door was a sleigh of a pattern new to him, with a seat high +above the backs of two long-bodied, deep-chested horses, their heads held +with difficulty by a little footman with his arms above him. At that +moment two figures in furs emerged from the house. The young woman +gathered up the reins and leaped lightly to the box, the man followed; +the little groom touched his fur helmet and scrambled aboard as the +horses sprang forward to the music of the softest of bells. The sleigh +swept around the curve, avoided by a clever turn a snow-pile at the +entrance, the young woman raised her eyes from the horses, stared at +Austen, and bowed. As for Austen, he grew warm as he took off his hat, +and he realized that his hand was actually trembling. The sleigh flew on +up the hill, but she turned once more to look behind her, and he still +had his hat in his hand, the snowflakes falling on his bared head. Then +he was aware that James Redbrook was gazing at him curiously. + +"That's Flint's daughter, ain't it?" inquired the member from Mercer. +"Didn't callate you'd know her." + +Austen flushed. He felt exceedingly foolish, but an answer came to him. + +"I met her in the hospital. She used to go there to see Zeb Meader." + +"That's so," said Mr. Redbrook; "Zeb told me about it, and she used to +come to Mercer to see him after he got out. She ain't much like the old +man, I callate." + +"I don't think she is," said Austen. + +"I don't know what she's stayin' with that feller Crewe for," the farmer +remarked; of all the etarnal darn idiots--why, Brush Bascom and that +Botcher and the rest of 'em are trailin' him along and usin' him for the +best thing that ever came down here. He sets up to be a practical man, +and don't know as much as some of us hayseeds in the back seats. Where +be you goin'?" + +"I was going to the Pelican." + +"Well, I've got a committee meetin' of Agriculture," said Mr. Redbrook. +"Could you be up here at Mis' Peasley's about eight to-night?" + +"Why, yes," Austen replied, "if you want to see me." + +"I do want to see you," said Mr. Redbrook, significantly, and waved a +farewell. + +Austen took his way slowly across the state-house park, threading among +the groups between the snow-banks towards the wide facade of the Pelican +Hotel. Presently he paused, and then with a sudden determination crossed +the park diagonally into Main Street, walking rapidly southward and +scrutinizing the buildings on either side until at length these began to +grow wide apart, and he spied a florist's sign with a greenhouse. behind +it. He halted again, irresolutely, in front of it, flung open the door, +and entered a boxlike office filled with the heated scents of flowers. A +little man eyed him with an obsequious interest which he must have +accorded to other young men on similar errands. Austen may be spared a +repetition of the very painful conversation that ensued; suffice it to +say that, after mature deliberation, violets were chosen. He had a +notion--not analyzed--that she would prefer violets to roses. The +information that the flowers were for the daughter of the president of +the Northeastern Railroads caused a visible quickening of the little +florist's regard, an attitude which aroused a corresponding disgust and +depression in Austen. + +"Oh, yes," said the florist, "she's up at Crewe's." He glanced at Austen +apologetically. "Excuse me," he said, "I ought to know you. Have you a +card?" + +"No," said Austen, with emphasis. + +"And what name, please?" + +"No name," said the donor, now heartily repenting of his rashness, and +slamming the glass door in a manner that made the panes rattle behind +him. + +As he stood hesitating on the curb of the crossing, he began to wish that +he had not left Ripton. + +"Hello, Austen," said a voice, which he recognized as the Honourable +Brush Bascom's, "didn't know you ever came down here in session time." + +"What are you doing down here, Brush?" Austen asked. + +Mr. Bascom grinned in appreciation of this pleasantry. + +"I came for my health," he said; "I prefer it to Florida." + +"I've heard that it agrees with some people," said Austen. + +Mr. Bascom grinned again. + +"Just arrived?" he inquired. + +"Just," said Austen. + +"I thought you'd get here sooner or later," said Mr. Bascom. "Some folks +try stayin' away, but it ain't much use. You'll find the honourable +Hilary doing business at the same old stand, next to the governor, in +Number Seven up there." And Mr. Bascom pointed to the well-known window +on the second floor. + +"Thanks, Brush," said Austen, indifferently. "To tell the truth, I came +down to hear that promising protege of yours speak on national affairs. +I understand you're pushing his bills along." + +Mr. Bascom, with great deliberation, shut one of his little eyes. + +"So long," he said, "come and see me when you get time." + +Austen went slowly down the street and entered the smoke-clouded lobby of +the Pelican. He was a man to draw attention, and he was stared at by +many politicians there and spoken to by some before he reached the +stairs. Mounting, he found the door with the numeral, and knocked. The +medley of voices within ceased; there were sounds of rattling papers, and +of closing of folding doors. The key turned in the lock, and State +Senator Nathaniel Billings appeared in the doorway, with a look of polite +inquiry on his convivial face. This expression, when he saw Austen, +changed to something like consternation. + +"Why, hello, hello," said the senator. "Come in, come in. The +Honourable Hilary's here. Where'd you come down?" + +"Hello, Nat," said Austen, and went in. + +The Honourable Hilary sat in his usual arm-chair; Mr. Botcher severely +strained the tensile strength of the bedsprings; Mr. Hamilton Tooting +stood before the still waving portieres in front of the folding doors; +and Mr. Manning, the division superintendent, sat pensively, with his pen +in his mouth, before the marble-topped table from which everything had +been removed but a Bible. Two gentlemen, whom Austen recognized as +colleagues of Mr. Billings in the State Senate, stood together in a +window, pointing out things of interest in the street. Austen walked up +to his father and laid a hand on his shoulder. + +"How are you, Judge?" he said. "I only came into pay my respects. I +hope I have not disturbed any--entertainment going on here," he added, +glancing in turn at the thoughtful occupants of the room, and then at the +curtains which hid the folding doors to the apartment of his Excellency. + +"Why, no," answered the Honourable Hilary, his customary grunt being the +only indication of surprise on his part; "didn't know you were coming +down." + +"I didn't know it myself until this morning," said Austen. + +"Legislative case, I suppose," remarked the Honourable Jacob Botcher, in +his deep voice. + +"No, merely a pleasure trip, Mr. Botcher." + +The Honourable Jacob rubbed his throat, the two State senators in the +window giggled, and Mr. Hamilton Tooting laughed. + +"I thought you took to the mountains in such cases, sir," said Mr. +Botcher. + +"I came for intellectual pleasure this time," said Austen. "I understand +that Mr. Crewe is to deliver an epoch-making speech on the national +situation to-morrow." + +This was too much even for the gravity of Mr. Manning; Mr. Tooting and +Mr. Billings and his two colleagues roared, though the Honourable Jacob's +laugh was not so spontaneous. + +"Aust," said Mr. Tooting, admiringly, you're all right." + +"Well, Judge," said Austen, patting his father's shoulder again, "I'm +glad to see you so comfortably fixed. Good-by, and give my regards to +the governor. I'm sorry to have missed him," he added, glancing at the +portieres that hid the folding doors. + +"Are you stopping here?" asked the Honourable Hilary. + +"No, I met Mr. Redbrook of Mercer, and he took me up to his lodgings. If +I can do anything for you, a message will reach me there." + +"Humph," said the Honourable Hilary, while the others exchanged +significant glances. + +Austen had not gone half the length of the hall when he was overtaken by +Mr. Tooting. + +"Say, Aust, what's up between you and Redbrook?" he asked. + +"Nothing. Why?" Austen asked, stopping abruptly. + +"Well, I suppose you know there's an anti-railroad feeling growing in +that House, and that Redbrook has more influence with the farmers than +any other man." + +"I didn't know anything about Mr. Redbrook's influence," said Austen. + +Mr. Tooting looked unconvinced. + +"Say, Aust, if anything's in the wind, I wish you'd let me know. I'll +keep it quiet." + +"I think I shall be safe in promising that, Ham," said Austen. "When +there's anything in the wind, you generally find it out first." + +"There's trouble coming for the railroad," said Mr. Tooting. "I can see +that. And I guess you saw it before I did." + +"They say a ship's about to sink when the rats begin to leave it," said +Austen. + +Although Austen spoke smilingly, Mr. Tooting looked pained. + +"There's no chance for young men in that system," he said. + +"Young men write the noble parts of the governor's inaugurals," said +Austen. + +"Yes," said Mr. Tooting, bitterly, "but you never get to be governor and +read 'em. You've got to be a 'come on' with thirty thousand dollars to +be a Northeastern governor and live next door to the Honourable Hilary in +the Pelican. Well, so long, Aust. If anything's up, give me the tip, +that's all I ask." + +Reflecting on the singular character of Mr. Tooting, Austen sought the +Gaylords' headquarters, and found them at the furthermost end of the +building from the Railroad Room. The door was opened by young Tom +himself, whose face became wreathed in smiles when he saw who the visitor +was. + +"It's Austen!" he cried. "I thought you'd come down when you got that +appeal of mine." + +Austen did not admit the self-sacrifice as he shook Tom's hand; but +remembered, singularly enough, the closing sentences of Tom's letter-- +which had nothing whatever to do with the Gaylord bill. + +At this moment a commotion arose within the room, and a high, tremulous, +but singularly fierce and compelling voice was heard crying out:-- + +"Get out! Get out, d-n you, all of you, and don't come back until you've +got some notion of what you're a-goin' to do. Get out, I say!" + +These last words were pronounced with such extraordinary vigour that four +gentlemen seemed to be physically impelled from the room. Three of them +Austen recognized as dismissed and disgruntled soldiers from the lobby +army of the Northeastern; the fourth was the Honourable Galusha Hammer, +whose mode of progress might be described as "stalking," and whose lips +were forming the word "intolerable." In the corner old Tom himself could +be seen, a wizened figure of wrath. + +"Who's that?" he demanded of his son, "another d-d fool?" + +"No," replied young Tom, "it's Austen Vane." + +"What's he doin' here?" old Tom demanded, with a profane qualification as +to the region. But young Tom seemed to be the only being capable of +serenity amongst the flames that played around him. + +"I sent for him because he's got more sense than Galusha and all the rest +of 'em put together," he said. + +"I guess that's so," old Tom agreed unexpectedly, "but it ain't sayin' +much. Bring him in--bring him in, and lock the door." + +In obedience to these summons, and a pull from young Tom, Austen entered +and sat down. + +"You've read the Pingsquit bill?" old Tom demanded. + +"Yes," said Austen. + +"Just because you won a suit against the Northeastern, and nearly killed +a man out West, Tom seems to think you can do anything. He wouldn't, +give me any peace until I let him send for you," Mr. Gaylord remarked +testily. "Now you're down here, what have you got to propose?" + +"I didn't come here to propose anything, Mr. Gaylord," said Austen. + +"What!" cried Mr. Gaylord, with one of his customary and forceful +exclamations. "What'd you come down for?" + +"I've been asking myself that question ever since I came, Mr. Gaylord," +said Austen, "and I haven't yet arrived at any conclusion." + +Young Tom looked at his friend and laughed, and Mr. Gaylord, who at first +gave every indication of being about to explode with anger, suddenly +emitted a dry cackle. + +"You ain't a d-n fool, anyway," he declared. + +"I'm beginning to think I am," said Austen. + +"Then you've got sense enough to know it," retorted old Tom. Most of +'em haven't." And his glance, as it fell upon the younger man, was +almost approving. Young Tom's was distinctly so. + +"I told you Austen was the only lawyer who'd talk common sense to you," +he said. + +"I haven't heard much of it yet," said old Tom. + +"Perhaps I ought to tell you, Mr. Gaylord," said Austen, smiling a +little, "that I didn't come down in any legal capacity. That's only one +of Tom's jokes." + +"Then what in h--l did you bring him in here for?" demanded old Tom of his +son. + +"Just for a quiet little powwow," said young Tom, "to make you laugh. +He's made you laugh before." + +"I don't want to laugh," said old Tom, pettishly. Nevertheless, he +seemed to be visibly cooling. "If you ain't in here to make money," he +added to Austen, "I don't care how long you stay." + +"Say, Austen," said young Tom, "do you remember the time we covered the +old man with shavings at the mills in Avalon, and how he chased us with a +two-by-four scantling?" + +"I'd made pulp out'n you if I'd got you," remarked Mr. Gaylord, with a +reminiscent chuckle that was almost pleasant. But you were always a +goldurned smart boy, Austen, and you've done well with them little +suits." He gazed at Austen a moment with his small, filmy-blue eye. "I +don't know but what you might take hold here and make it hot for those d- +d rascals in the Northeastern, after all. You couldn't botch it worsen +Hammer has, and you might do some good. I said I'd make 'em dance, and +by G-d, I'll do it, if I have to pay that Teller Levering in New York, +and it takes the rest of my life. Look the situation over, and come back +to-morrow and tell me what you think of it." + +"I can tell you what I think of it now, Mr. Gaylord," said Austen. + +"What's that?" old Tom demanded sharply. + +"That you'll never get the bill passed, this session or next, by +lobbying." + +For the moment the elder Mr. Gaylord was speechless, but young Tom +Gaylord clapped his hand heartily on his friend's shoulder. + +"That's the reason I wanted to get you down here, Austen," he cried; +that's what I've been telling the old man all along--perhaps he'll +believe you." + +"Then you won't take hold?" said Mr. Gaylord, his voice trembling on the +edge of another spasm. "You refuse business?" + +"I refuse that kind of business, Mr. Gaylord," Austen answered quietly, +though there was a certain note in his voice that young Tom knew well, +and which actually averted the imminent explosion from Mr. Gaylord, whose +eyes glared and watered. "But aside from that, you must know that the +Republican party leaders in this State are the heads of the lobby of the +Northeastern Railroads." + +"I guess I know about Number Seven as well as you do," old Tom +interjected. + +Austen's eye flashed. + +"Now hold on, father," said young Tom, "that's no way to talk to Austen." + +"Knowing Number Seven," Austen continued, "you probably realize that the +political and business future of nearly every one of the twenty State +senators depends upon the favour of the Northeastern Railroads." + +"I know that the d-d fools won't look at money," said Mr. Gaylord; +"Hammer's tried 'em." + +"I told you that before you started in," young Tom remarked, "but when +you get mad, you won't listen to sense. And then there's the Honourable +Asa Gray, who wants to represent the Northeastern some day in the United +States Senate." + +The bill ought to pass," shrieked old Tom; "it's a d-d outrage. There's +no reason why I shouldn't be allowed to build a railroad if I've got the +money to do it. What in blazes are we comin' to in this country if we +can't git competition? If Flint stops that bill, I'll buy a newspaper +and go to the people with the issue and throw his d-d monopoly into +bankruptcy." + +"It's all very well to talk about competition and monopolies and +lobbies," said young Tom, "but how about the Gaylord Lumber Company? How +about the time you used the lobby, with Flint's permission? This kind of +virtuous talk is beautiful to listen to when you and Flint get into a +row." + +At this remark of his son's, the intermittent geyser of old Tom's wrath +spouted up again with scalding steam, and in a manner utterly impossible +to reproduce upon paper. Young Tom waited patiently for the exhibition +to cease, which it did at length in a coughing fit of sheer exhaustion +that left his father speechless, if not expressionless, pointing a lean +and trembling finger in the direction of a valise on the floor. + +"You'll go off in a spell of that kind some day," said young Tom, opening +the valise and extracting a bottle. Uncorking it, he pressed it to his +father's lips, and with his own pocket-handkerchief (old Tom not +possessing such an article) wiped the perspiration from Mr. Gaylord's +brow and the drops from his shabby black coat. "There's no use gettin' +mad at Austen. He's dead right--you can't lobby this thing through, and +you knew it before you started. If you hadn't lost your temper, you +wouldn't have tried." + +"We'll see, by G-d, we'll see," said the indomitable old Tom, when he got +his breath. "You young men think you know a sight, but you haven't got +the stuff in you we old Tellers have. Where would I be if it wasn't for +fightin'? You mark my words, before this session's ended I'll scare h-l +out of Flint--see if I don't." + +Young Tom winked at his friend. + +"Let's go down to supper," he said. + +The dining room of the Pelican Hotel during a midweek of a busy session +was a scene of bustle and confusion not likely to be forgotten. Every +seat was taken, and gentlemen waited their turn in the marble-flagged +rotunda who had not the honour of being known to Mr. Giles, the head +waiter. If Mr. Hamilton Tooting were present, and recognized you, he +would take great pleasure in pointing out the celebrities, and especially +that table over which the Honourable Hilary Vane presided, with the +pretty, red-checked waitress hovering around it. At the Honourable +Hilary's right hand was the division superintendent, and at his left, Mr. +Speaker Doby--a most convenient and congenial arrangement; farther down +the board were State Senator Nat Billings, Mr. Ridout (when he did not +sup at home), the Honourables Brush Bascom and Elisha Jane, and the +Honourable Jacob Botcher made a proper ballast for the foot. This table +was known as the Railroad Table, and it was very difficult, at any +distance away from it, to hear what was said, except when the Honourable +Jacob Botcher made a joke. Next in importance and situation was the +Governor's Table--now occupied by the Honourable Asa Gray. Mr. Tooting's +description would not have stopped here. + +Sensations are common in the Pelican Hotel, but when Austen Vane walked +in that evening between the Gaylords, father and son, many a hungry guest +laid down his knife and fork and stared. Was the younger Vane (known to +be anti-railroad) to take up the Gaylords' war against his own father? +All the indications were that way, and a rumour flew from table to table- +leaping space, as rumours will--that the Gaylords had sent to Ripton for +Austen. There was but one table in the room the occupants of which +appeared not to take any interest in the event, or even to grasp that an +event had occurred. The Railroad Table was oblivious. + +After supper Mr. Tooting found Austen in the rotunda, and drew him +mysteriously aside. + +"Say, Aust, the Honourable Hilary wants to see you to-night," he +whispered. + +"Did he send you with the message?" Austen demanded. + +"That's right," said Mr. Tooting. "I guess you know what's up." + +Austen did not answer. At the foot of the stairway was the tall form of +Hilary Vane himself, and Austen crossed the rotunda. + +"Do you want to see me, Judge?" he asked. + +The Honourable Hilary faced about quickly. + +"Yes, if you've got any spare time." + +"I'll go to your room at half-past nine to-night, if that's convenient." + +"All right," said the Honourable Hilary, starting up the stairs. + +Austen turned, and found Mr. Hamilton Tooting at his elbow. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +Mr. REDBROOK'S PARTY + +The storm was over, and the bare trees, when the moon shone between the +hurrying clouds, cast lacelike shadows on the white velvet surface of the +snow as Austen forged his way up the hill to the Widow Peasley's in +keeping with his promise to Mr. Redbrook. Across the street he paused +outside the picket-fence to gaze at the yellow bars of light between the +slats of the windows of the Duncan house. It was hard to realize that +she was there, within a stone's throw of where he was to sleep; but the +strange, half-startled expression in her eyes that afternoon and the +smile--which had in it a curious quality he could not analyze--were so +vivid in his consciousness as to give him pain. The incident, as he +stood there ankle-deep in the snow, seemed to him another inexplicable +and uselessly cruel caprice of fate. + +As he pictured her in the dining room behind Mr. Crewe's silver and cut +glass and flowers, it was undoubtedly natural that he should wonder +whether she were thinking of him in the Widow Peasley's lamp-lit cottage, +and he smiled at the contrast. After all, it was the contrast between +his life and hers. As an American of good antecedents and education, +with a Western experience thrown in, social gulfs, although awkward, +might be crossed in spite of opposition from ladies like the Rose of +Sharon,--who had crossed them. Nevertheless, the life which Victoria led +seemingly accentuated--to a man standing behind a picket-fence in the +snow--the voids between. + +A stamping of feet in the Widow Peasley's vestibule awoke in him that +sense of the ridiculous which was never far from the surface, and he made +his way thither in mingled amusement and pain. What happened there is of +interest, but may be briefly chronicled. Austen was surprised, on +entering, to find Mrs. Peasley's parlour filled with men; and a single +glance at their faces in the lamplight assured him that they were of a +type which he understood--countrymen of that rugged New England stock to +which he himself belonged, whose sons for generations had made lawyers +and statesmen and soldiers for the State and nation. Some were talking +in low voices, and others sat silent on the chairs and sofa, not +awkwardly or uncomfortably, but with a characteristic self-possession and +repose. Mr. Redbrook, towering in front of the stove, came forward. + +"Here you be," he said, taking Austen's hand warmly and a little +ceremoniously; "I asked 'em here to meet ye." + +"To meet me!" Austen repeated. + +"Wanted they should know you," said Mr. Redbrook. + +"They've all heard of you and what you did for Zeb." + +Austen flushed. He was aware that he was undergoing a cool and critical +examination by those present, and that they were men who used all their +faculties in making up their minds. + +"I'm very glad to meet any friends of yours, Mr. Redbrook," he said. +"What I did for Meader isn't worth mentioning. It was an absolutely +simple case." + +"Twahn't so much what ye did as how ye did it," said Mr. Redbrook. "It's +kind of rare in these days," he added, with the manner of commenting to +himself on the circumstance, "to find a young lawyer with brains that +won't sell 'em to the railrud. That's what appeals to me, and to some +other folks I know--especially when we take into account the situation +you was in and the chances you had." + +Austen's silence under this compliment seemed to create an indefinable +though favourable impression, and the member from Mercer permitted +himself to smile. + +"These men are all friends of mine, and members of the House," he said, +"and there's more would have come if they'd had a longer notice. Allow +me to make you acquainted with Mr. Widgeon of Hull." + +"We kind of wanted to look you over," said Mr. Widgeon, suiting the +action to the word. "That's natural ain't it?" + +"Kind of size you up," added Mr. Jarley of Wye, raising his eyes. +"Callate you're sizable enough." + +"Wish you was in the House," remarked Mr. Adams of Barren. "None of us +is much on talk, but if we had you, I guess we could lay things wide +open." + +"If you was thar, and give it to 'em as hot as you did when you was +talkin' for Zeb, them skunks in the front seats wouldn't know whether +they was afoot or hossback," declared Mr. Williams of Devon, a town +adjoining Mercer. + +"I used to think railrud gov'ment wahn't so bad until I come to the House +this time," remarked a stocky member from Oxford; "it's sheer waste of +money for the State to pay a Legislature. They might as well run things +from the New York office--you know that." + +"We might as well wear so many Northeastern uniforms with brass buttons," +a sinewy hill farmer from Lee put in. He had a lean face that did not +move a muscle, but a humorous gray eye that twinkled. + +In the meantime Mr. Redbrook looked on with an expression of approval +which was (to Austen) distinctly pleasant, but more or less mystifying. + +"I guess you ain't disappointed 'em much," he declared, when the round +was ended; "most of 'em knew me well enough to understand that cattle and +live stock in general, includin' humans, is about as I represent 'em to +be." + +"We have some confidence in your judgment, Brother Redbrook," answered +Mr. Terry of Lee, "and now we've looked over the goods, it ain't set back +any, I callate." + +This observation, which seemed to meet with a general assent, was to +Austen more mystifying than ever. He laughed. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "I feel as though some expression of thanks were +due you for this kind and most unexpected reception." Here a sudden +seriousness came into his eyes which served, somehow, only to enhance his +charm of manner, and a certain determined ring into his voice. "You have +all referred to a condition of affairs," he added, "about which I have +thought a great deal, and which I deplore as deeply as you do. There is +no doubt that the Northeastern Railroads have seized the government of +this State for three main reasons: to throttle competition; to control +our railroad commission in order that we may not get the service and +safety to which we are entitled,--so increasing dividends; and to make +and maintain laws which enable them to bribe with passes, to pay less +taxes than they should, and to manipulate political machinery." + +"That's right," said Mr. Jarley of Wye, with a decided emphasis. + +"That's the kind of talk I like to hear," exclaimed Mr. Terry. + +"And nobody's had the gumption to fight 'em," said Mr. Widgeon. + +"It looks," said Austen, "as though it must come to a fight in the end. +I do not think they will listen to reason. I mean," he added, with a +flash of humour, "that they will listen to it, but not act upon it. +Gentlemen, I regret to have to say, for obvious reasons, something which +you all know, that my father is at the head of the Northeastern machine, +which is the Republican party organization." + +There was a silence. + +"You went again' him, and we honour you for it, Austen," said Mr. +Redbrook, at length. + +"I want to say," Austen continued, "that I have tried to look at things +as Mr. Vane sees them, and that I have a good deal of sympathy for his +point of view. Conditions as they exist are the result of an evolution +for which no one man is responsible. That does not alter the fact that +the conditions are wrong. But the railroads, before they consolidated, +found the political boss in power, and had to pay him for favours. The +citizen was the culprit to start with, just as he is the culprit now, +because he does not take sufficient interest in his government to make it +honest. We mustn't blame the railroads too severely, when they grew +strong enough, for substituting their own political army to avoid being +blackmailed. Long immunity has reenforced them in the belief that they +have but one duty to pay dividends. I am afraid," he added, "that they +will have to be enlightened somewhat as Pharaoh was enlightened." + +"Well, that's sense, too," said Mr. Widgeon; "I guess you're the man to +enlighten 'em." + +"Moderate talk appeals to me," declared Mr. Jarley. + +"And when that fails," said Mr. Terry, 'hard, tellin' blows." + +"Don't lose track of the fact that we've got our eye on you," said Mr. +Emerson of Oxford, who had a blacksmith's grip, and came back to renew it +after he had put on his overshoes. He was the last to linger, and when +the door had closed on him Austen turned to Mr. Redbrook. + +"Now what does all this mean?" he demanded. + +"It means," said Mr. Redbrook, "that when the time comes, we want you to +run for governor." + +Austen went to the mantelpiece, and stood for a long time with his back +turned, staring at a crayon portrait of Colonel Peasley, in the uniform +in which he had fallen at the battle of Gettysburg. Then he swung about +and seized the member from Mercer by both broad shoulders. + +"James Redbrook," he said, "until to-night I thought you were about as +long-headed and sensible a man as there was in the State." + +"So I be," replied Mr. Redbrook, with a grin. "You ask young Tom +Gaylord." + +"So Tom put you up to this nonsense." + +"It ain't nonsense," retorted Mr. Redbrook, stoutly, "and Tom didn't put +me up to it. It's the' best notion that ever came into my mind." + +Austen, still clinging to Mr. Redbrook's shoulders, shook his head +slowly. + +"James," he said, "there are plenty of men who are better equipped than I +for the place, and in a better situation to undertake it. I--I'm much +obliged to you. But I'll help. I've got to go," he added; "the +Honourable Hilary wants to see me." + +He went into the entry aud put on his overshoes and his coat, while James +Redbrook regarded him with a curious mingling of pain and benevolence on +his rugged face. + +"I won't press you now, Austen," he said, "but think on it. For God's +sake, think on it." + +Outside, Austen paused in the snow once more, his brain awhirl with a +strange exaltation the like of which he had never felt before. Although +eminently human, it was not the fact that honest men had asked him to be +their governor which uplifted him,--but that they believed him to be as +honest as themselves. In that hour he had tasted life as he had never +yet tasted it, he had lived as he might never live again. Not one of +them, he remembered suddenly, had uttered a sentence of the political +claptrap of which he had heard so much. They had spoken from the soul; +not bitterly, not passionately, but their words had rung with the +determination which had made their forefathers and his leave home, toil, +and kindred to fight and die at Bunker Hill and Gettysburg for a +principle. It had bean given him to look that eight into the heart of a +nation, and he was awed. + +As he stood there under the winter moon, he gradually became conscious of +music, of an air that seemed the very expression of his mood. His eyes, +irresistibly drawn towards the Duncan house, were caught by the +fluttering of lace curtains at an open window. The notes were those of a +piano,--though the instrument mattered little,--that with which they were +charged for him set the night wind quivering. It was not simple music, +although it had in it a grand simplicity. At times it rose, vibrant with +inexpressible feeling, and fell again into gentler, yearning cadences +that wrung the soul with a longing that was world-old and world-wide, +that reached out towards the unattainable stare--and, reaching, became +immortal. Thus was the end of it, fainting as it drifted heavenward. + +Then the window was closed. + +Austen walked on; whither, he knew not. After a certain time of which he +had no cognizance he found himself under the glaring arc-light that hung +over Main Street before the Pelican Hotel, in front of what was known as +the ladies' entrance. He slipped in there, avoiding the crowded lobby +with its shifting groups and its haze of smoke,--plainly to be seen +behind the great plates of glass,--went upstairs, and gained room Number. +Seven unnoticed. Then, after the briefest moment of hesitation, he +knocked. A voice responded--the Honourable Hilary's. There was but one +light burning in the room, and Mr. Vane sat in his accustomed chair in +the corner, alone. He was not reading, nor was he drowsing, but his head +was dropped forward a little on his breast. He raised it slowly at his +son's entrance, and regarded Austen fixedly, though silently. + +"You wanted to see me, Judge?" said Austen. + +"Come at last, have you?" said Mr. Vane. + +"I didn't intend to be late," said Austen. + +"Seem to have a good deal of business on hand these days," the Honourable +Hilary remarked. + +Austen took a step forward, and stopped. Mr. Vane was preparing a piece +of Honey Dew. + +"If you would like to know what the business was, Judge, I am here to +tell you." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted. + +"I ain't good enough to be confided in, I guess," he said; "I wouldn't +understand motives from principle." + +Austen looked at his father for a few moments in silence. To-night he +seemed at a greater distance than ever before, and more lonely than ever. +When Austen had entered the room and had seen him sitting with his head +bowed forward, the hostility of months of misunderstanding had fallen +away from the son, and he had longed to fly to him as he had as a child +after punishment. Differences in after life, alas, are not always to be +bridged thus. + +"Judge," he said slowly, with an attempt to control his voice, wouldn't +it have been fairer to wait awhile, before you made a remark like that? +Whatever our dealings may have been, I have never lied to you. Anything +you may want to know, I am here to tell you." + +"So you're going to take up lobbying, are you? I had a notion you were +above lobbying." + +Austen was angered. But like all men of character, his face became stern +under provocation, and he spoke more deliberately. + +"Before eve go any farther," he said, "would you mind telling me who your +informant is on this point?" + +"I guess I don't need an informant. My eyesight is as good as ever," +said the Honourable Hilary. + +"Your deductions are usually more accurate. If any one has told you that +I am about to engage in lobbying, they have lied to you." + +"Wouldn't engage in lobbying, would you?" the Honourable Hilary asked, +with the air of making a casual inquiry. + +Austen flushed, but kept his temper. + +"I prefer the practice of law," he replied. + +"Saw you were associatin' with saints," his father remarked. + +Austen bit his lip, and then laughed outright,--the canonization of old +Tom Gaylord being too much for him. + +"Now, Judge," he said, "it isn't like you to draw hasty conclusions. +Because I sat down to supper with the Gaylords it isn't fair to infer +that they have retained me in a legislative case." + +The Honourable Hilary did not respond to his son's humour, but shifted +the Honey Dew to the left cheek. + +"Old Tom going in for reform?" + +"He may bring it about," answered Austen, instantly becoming serious +again, "whether he's going in for it or not." + +For the first time the Honourable Hilary raised his eyes to his son's +face, and shot at him a penetrating look of characteristic shrewdness. +But he followed in conversation the same rule as in examining a witness, +rarely asking a direct question, except as a tactical surprise. + +"Old Tom ought to have his railroad, oughtn't he?" + +"So far as I can see, it would be a benefit to the people of that part of +the State," said Austen. + +"Building it for the people, is he?" + +"His motive doesn't count. The bill should be judged on its merits, and +proper measures for the safeguarding of public interests should be put +into it." + +"Don't think the bill will be judged on its merits, do you?" + +"No, I don't," replied Austen, "and neither do you." + +"Did you tell old Tom so?" asked Mr. Vane, after a pause. "Did you tell +old Tom so when he sent for you to take hold?" + +"He didn't send for me," answered Austen, quietly, "and I have no +business dealings with him except small suits. What I did tell him was +that he would never get the bill through this session or next by +lobbying." + +The Honourable Hilary never showed surprise. He emitted a grunt which +evinced at once impatience and amusement. + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Well, Judge, I'll tell you what I told him--although you both know. +It's because the Northeastern owns the Republican party machine, which is +the lobby, and because most of the twenty State senators are dependent +upon the Northeastern for future favours." + +"Did you tell Tom Gaylord that?" demanded Mr. Vane. "What did he say?" + +Austen braced himself. He did not find the answer easy. + +"He said he knew about Number Seven as well as I did." + +The Honourable Hilary rose abruptly--perhaps in some secret agitation-- +Austen could not discern. His father walked as far as the door, and +turned slowly and faced him, but he did not speak. His mouth was tightly +closed, almost as in pain, and Austen went towards him, appealingly. + +"Judge," he said, "you sent for me. You have asked me questions which I +felt obliged in honesty to answer. God knows I don't wish to differ with +you, but circumstances seem always against us. I will talk plainly, if +you will let me. I try to look at things from your point of view. I +know that you believe that a political system should go hand in hand with +the great commercial system which you are engaged in building. I +disagree with your beliefs, but I do not think that your pursuit of them +has not been sincere, and justified by your conscience. I suppose that +you sent for me to know whether Mr. Gaylord has employed me to lobby for +his bill. He has not, because I refused that employment. But I will +tell you that, in my opinion, if a man of any ability whatever should get +up on the floor of the House and make an argument for the Pingsquit bill, +the sentiment against the Northeastern and its political power is so +great that the House would compel the committee to report the bill, and +pass it. You probably know this already, but I mention it for your own +good if you do not, in the hope that, through you, the Northeastern +Railroads may be induced to relax their grip upon the government of this +State." + +The Honourable Hilary advanced, until only the marble-topped table was +between himself and his son. A slight noise in the adjoining room caused +him to turn his head momentarily. Then he faced Austen again. + +"Did you tell Gaylord this?" he asked. + +Austen made a gesture of distaste, and turned away. + +"No," he said, "I reserved the opinion, whatever it is worth, for your +ears alone." + +"I've heard that kind of calculation before," said the Honourable Hilary. +"My experience is that they never come to much. As for this nonsense +about the Northeastern Railroads running things," he added more +vigorously, "I guess when it's once in a man's head there's no getting it +out. The railroad employs the best lawyers it can find to look after its +interests. I'm one of 'em, and I'm proud of it. If I hadn't been one of +'em, the chances are you'd never be where you are, that you'd never have +gone to college and the law school. The Republican party realizes that +the Northeastern is most vitally connected with the material interests of +this State; that the prosperity of the road means the prosperity of the +State. And the leaders of the party protect the road from vindictive +assaults on it like Gaylord's, and from scatterbrains and agitators like +your friend Redbrook." + +Austen shook his head sadly as he gazed at his father. He had always +recognized the futility of arguments, if argument on this point ever +arose between them. + +"It's no use, Judge," he said. "If material prosperity alone were to be +considered, your contention would have some weight. The perpetuation of +the principle of American government has to be thought of. Government by +a railroad will lead in the end to anarchy. You are courting destruction +as it is." + +"If you came in here to quote your confounded Emerson--" the Honourable +Hilary began, but Austen slipped around the table and took him by the arm +and led him perforce to his chair. + +"No, Judge, that isn't Emerson," he answered. "It's just common sense, +only it sounds to you like drivel. I'm going now,--unless you want to +hear some more about the plots I've been getting into. But I want to say +this. I ask you to remember that you're my father, and that--I'm fond of +you. And that, if you and I happen to be on opposite sides, it won't +make any difference as far as my feelings are concerned. I'm always +ready to tell you frankly what I'm doing, if you wish to know. Good-by. +I suppose I'll see you in Ripton at the end of the week." And he pressed +his father's shoulder. + +Mr. Vane looked up at his son with a curious expression. Perhaps (as +when Austen returned from the shooting of Mr. Blodgett in the West) there +was a smattering of admiration and pride in that look, and something of +an affection which had long ceased in its strivings for utterance. It +was the unconscious tribute, too,--slight as was its exhibition,--of the +man whose life has been spent in the conquest of material things to the +man who has the audacity, insensate though it seem, to fling these to the +winds in his search after ideals. + +"Good-by, Austen," said Mr. Vane. + +Austen got as far as the door, cast another look back at his father,--who +was sitting motionless, with head bowed, as when he came,--and went out. +So Mr. Vane remained for a full minute after the door had closed, and +then he raised his head sharply and gave a piercing glance at the +curtains that separated Number Seven from the governor's room. In three +strides he had reached them, flung them open, and the folding doors +behind them, already parted by four inches. The gas was turned low, but +under the chandelier was the figure of a young man struggling with an +overcoat. The Honourable Hilary did not hesitate, but came forward with +a swiftness that paralyzed the young man, who turned upon him a face on +which was meant to be written surprise and a just indignation, but in +reality was a mixture of impudence and pallid fright. The Honourable +Hilary, towering above him, and with that grip on his arm, was a +formidable person. + +"Listening, were you, Ham?" he demanded. + +"No," cried Mr. Tooting, with a vehemence he meant for force. "No, I +wasn't. Listening to who?" + +"Humph!" said the Honourable Hilary, still retaining with one hand the +grip on Mr. Tooting 's arm, and with the other turning up the gas until +it flared in Mr. Tooting's face. "What are you doing in the governor's +room?" + +"I left my overcoat in here this afternoon when you sent me to bring up +the senator." + +"Ham," said Mr. Vane, "it isn't any use lying to me." + +"I ain't lying to you," said Mr. Tooting, "I never did. I often lied for +you," he added, "and you didn't raise any objections that I remember." + +Mr. Vane let go of the arm contemptuously. + +"I've done dirty work for the Northeastern for a good many years," cried +Mr. Tooting, seemingly gaining confidence now that he was free; "I've +slaved for 'em, and what have they done for me? They wouldn't even back +me for county solicitor when I wanted the job." + +"Turned reformer, Ham?" + +"I guess I've got as much right to turn reformer as some folks I know." + +"I guess you have," agreed the Honourable Hilary; unexpectedly. He +seated himself on a chair, and proceeded to regard Mr. Tooting in a +manner extremely disconcerting to that gentleman. This quality of +impenetrability, of never being sure when he was angry, had baffled more +able opponents of Hilary Vane than Mr. Hamilton Tooting. + +"Good-night, Ham." + +"I want to say--" Mr. Tooting began. + +"Good-night, Ham," said Mr. Vane, once more. + +Mr. Tooting looked at him, slowly buttoned up his overcoat, and departed. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE REALM OF PEGASUS + +The eventful day of Mr. Humphrey Crewe's speech on national affairs +dawned without a cloud in the sky. The snow was of a dazzling whiteness +and sprinkled with diamond dust; and the air of such transcendent +clearness that Austen could see--by leaning a little out of the Widow +Peasley's window--the powdered top of Holdfast Mountain some thirty miles +away. For once, a glance at the mountain sufficed him; and he directed +his gaze through the trees at the Duncan house, engaging in a pleasant +game of conjecture as to which was her window. In such weather the +heights of Helicon seemed as attainable as the peak of Holdfast; and he +had but to beckon a shining Pegasus from out a sun-shaft in the sky. +Obstacles were mere specks on the snow. + +He forgot to close the window, and dressed in a temperature which would +have meant, for many mortals, pneumonia. The events of yesterday; +painful and agitating as they had been, had fallen away in the prospect +that lay before him--he would see her to-day, and speak with her. These +words, like a refrain; were humming in his head as honest Mr. Redbrook +talked during breakfast, while Austen's answers may have been both +intelligent and humorous. Mr. Redbrook, at least; gave no sign that they +were not. He was aware that Mr. Redbrook was bringing arguments to bear +on the matter of the meeting of the evening before, but he fended these +lightly, while in spirit he flung a gem-studded bridle aver the neck of +Pegasus. + +And after breakfast--away from the haunts of men! Away from the +bickerings, the subjection of mean spirits; material loss and gain and +material passion! By eight o'clock (the Widow Peasley's household being +an early and orderly one) he was swinging across the long hills, cleaving +for himself a furrowed path in the untrodden snow, breathing deep as he +gazed across the blue spaces from the crests. Bellerophon or Perseus, +aided by immortals, felt no greater sense of achievements to come than +he. Out here, on the wind-swept hills that rolled onward and upward to +the mountains, the world was his. + +With the same speed he returned, still by untrodden paths until he +reached the country road that ended in the city street. Some who saw him +paused in their steps, caught unconsciously by the rhythmic perfection of +his motion. Ahead of him he beheld the state-house, its dial aflame in +the light, emblematic to him of the presence within it of a spirit which +cleansed it of impurities. She would be there; nay, when he looked at +the dial from a different angle, was there. As he drew nearer, there +rose out of the void her presence beside him which he had daily tried to +summon since that autumn afternoon--her voice and her eyes, and many of +the infinite expressions of each and both. Sprites that they were, they +had failed him until to-day, when he was to see her again! + +And then, somehow, he had threaded the groups beside the battle-flags in +the corridor, and mounted the stairway. The doorkeeper of the House +looked into his face, and, with that rare knowledge of mankind which +doorkeepers possess, let him in. There were many ladies on the floor +(such being the chivalrous custom when a debate or a speech of the +importance of Mr. Crewe's was going on), but Austen swept them with a +glance of disappointment. Was it possible, after all, that she had not +come, or--more agitating thought--had gone back to New York? + +At this disturbing point in his reflections Austen became aware that the +hall was ringing with a loud and compelling voice which originated in +front of the Speaker's desk. + +The Honourable Humphrey Crewe was delivering his long-heralded speech on +national affairs, and was arrayed for the occasion in a manner befitting +the American statesman, with the conventional frock coat, which he wore +unbuttoned. But the Gladstone collar and a tie gave the touch of +individuality to his dress which was needed to set him aside as a marked +man. Austen suddenly remembered, with an irresistible smile, that one of +the reasons which he had assigned for his visit to the capital was to +hear this very speech, to see how Mr. Crewe would carry off what appeared +to be a somewhat difficult situation. Whether or not this motive had +drawn others,--for the millionaire's speech had not lacked +advertisement,--it is impossible to say, but there was standing room only +on the floor of the House that day. + +The fact that Mr. Crewe was gratified could not be wholly concealed. The +thing that fascinated Austen Vane and others who listened was the aplomb +with which the speech was delivered. The member from Leith showed no +trace of the nervousness naturally to be expected in a maiden effort, but +spoke with the deliberation of an old campaigner, of the man of weight +and influence that he was. He leaned, part of the time, with his elbow +on the clerk's desk, with his feet crossed; again, when he wished to +emphasize a point, he came forward and seized with both hands the back of +his chair. Sometimes he thrust his thumb in his waistcoat pocket, and +turned with an appeal to Mr. Speaker Doby, who was apparently too +thrilled and surprised to indulge in conversation with those on the bench +beside him, and who made no attempt to quell hand-clapping and even +occasional whistling; again, after the manner of experts, Mr. Crewe +addressed himself forcibly to an individual in the audience, usually a +sensitive and responsive person like the Honourable Jacob Botcher, who on +such occasions assumed a look of infinite wisdom and nodded his head +slowly. There was no doubt about it that the compelling personality of +Mr. Humphrey Crewe was creating a sensation. Genius is sure of itself, +and statesmen are born, not made. + +Able and powerful as was Mr. Crewe's discourse, the man and not the words +had fastened the wandering attention of Austen Vane. He did not perceive +his friend of the evening before, Mr. Widgeon, coming towards him up the +side aisle, until he felt a touch on the arm. + +"Take my seat. It ain't exactly a front one," whispered the member from +Hull, "my wife's cousin's comin' on the noon train. Not a bad speech, is +it?" he added. "Acts like a veteran. I didn't callate he had it in +him." + +Thus aroused, Austen made his way towards the vacant chair, and when he +was seated raised his eyes to the gallery rail, and Mr. Crewe, the +legislative chamber, and its audience ceased to exist. It is quite +impossible--unless one is a poetical genius--to reproduce on paper that +gone and sickly sensation which is, paradoxically, so exquisite. The +psychological cause of it in this instance was, primarily, the sight, by +Austen Vane, of his own violets on a black, tailor-made gown trimmed with +wide braid, and secondarily of an oval face framed in a black hat, the +subtle curves of which no living man could describe. The face was turned +in his direction, and he felt an additional thrill when he realized that +she must have been watching him as he came in, for she was leaning +forward with a gloved hand on the railing. + +He performed that act of conventionality known as a bow, and she nodded +her head--black hat and all. The real salutation was a divine ray which +passed between their eyes--hers and his--over the commonplace mortals +between. And after that, although the patient legislative clock in the +corner which had marked the space of other great events (such as the +Woodchuck Session) continued to tick, undisturbed in this instance by the +pole of the sergeant-at-arms, time became a lost dimension for Austen +Vane. He made a few unimportant discoveries such as the fact that Mrs. +Pomfret and her daughter were seated beside Victoria, listening with a +rapt attention; and that Mr. Crewe had begun to read statistics; and that +some people were gaping and others leaving. He could look up at the +gallery without turning his head, and sometimes he caught her momentary +glance, and again, with her chin in her hand, she was watching Mr. Crewe +with a little smile creasing the corners of her eyes. + +A horrible thought crossed Austen's mind--perhaps they were not his +violets after all! Because she had smiled at him, yesterday and to-day, +he had soared heavenwards on wings of his own making. Perhaps they were +Mr. Crewe's violets. Had she not come to visit Mr. Crewe, to listen to +his piece de resistance, without knowing that he, Austen Vane, would be +in the capital? The idea that her interest in Austen Vane was possibly +connected with the study of mankind had a sobering effect on him; and the +notion that she had another sort of interest in Mr. Crewe seemed +ridiculous enough, but disturbing, and supported by feats. + +Austen had reached this phase in his reflections when he was aroused by a +metallic sound which arose above the resonant tones of the orator of the +day. A certain vessel, to the use of which, according to Mr. Dickens, +the satire male portion of the American nation was at one time addicted,- +-a cuspidor, in plain language,--had been started, by some unknown agency +in the back seats, rolling down the centre aisle, and gathering impetus +as it went, bumped the louder on each successive step until it hurled +itself with a clash against the clerk's desk, at the feet of the orator +himself. During its descent a titter arose which gradually swelled into +a roar of laughter, and Austen's attention was once more focused upon the +member from Leith. But if any man had so misjudged the quality of +Humphrey Crewe as to suppose for an instant that he could be put out of +countenance by such a manoeuvre, that man was mightily mistaken. Mr. +Crewe paused, with his forefinger on the page, and fixed a glassy eye on +the remote neighbourhood in the back seats where the disturbance had +started. + +"I am much obliged to the gentleman," he said coldly, "but he has sent me +an article which I never use, under any conditions. I would not deprive +him of its convenience." + +Whereupon, it is not too much to say, Mr. Crews was accorded an ovation, +led by his stanch friend and admirer, the Honourable Jacob Botcher, +although that worthy had been known to use the article in question. + +Mr. Speaker Doby glanced at the faithful clock, and arose majestically. + +"I regret to say," he announced, "that the time of the gentleman from +Leith is up." + +Mr. Botcher rose slowly to his feet. + +"Mr. Speaker," he began, in a voice that rumbled through the crevices of +the gallery, "I move you, sir, that a vote of thanks be accorded to the +gentleman from Leith for his exceedingly able and instructive speech on +national affairs." + +"Second the motion," said the Honourable Brush Bascom, instantly. + +"And leave to print in the State Tribune!" cried a voice from somewhere +among the submerged four hundred and seventy. + +"Gentlemen of the House," said Mr. Crewe, when the laughter had subsided, +"I have given you a speech which is the result of much thought and +preparation on my part. I have not flaunted the star-spangled banner in +your faces, or indulged in oratorical fireworks. Mine have been the +words of a plain business man, and I have not indulged in wild +accusations or flights of imagination. Perhaps, if I had," he added, +"there are some who would have been better pleased. I thank my friends +for their kind attention and approbation." + +Nevertheless, amidst somewhat of a pandemonium, the vote of thanks was +given and the House adjourned; while Mr. Crewe's friends of whom he had +spoken could be seen pressing around him and shaking him by the hand. +Austen got to his feet, his eyes again sought the gallery, whence he +believed he received a look of understanding from a face upon which +amusement seemed plainly written. She had turned to glance down at him, +despite the fact that Mrs. Pomfret was urging her to leave. Austen +started for the door, and managed to reach it long before his neighbours +had left the vicinity of their seats. Once in the corridor, his eye +singled her out amongst those descending the gallery stairs, and he had a +little thrill of pride and despair when he realized that she was the +object of the scrutiny, too, of the men around him; the women were +interested, likewise, in Mrs. Pomfret, whose appearance, although +appropriate enough for a New York matinee, proclaimed her as hailing from +that mysterious and fabulous city of wealth. This lady, with her +lorgnette, was examining the faces about her in undisguised curiosity, +and at the same time talking to Victoria in a voice which she took no +pains to lower. + +"I think it outrageous," she was saying. "If some Radical member had +done that in Parliament, he would have been expelled from the House. But +of course in Parliament they wouldn't have those horrid things to roll +down the aisles. Poor dear Humphrey! The career of a gentleman in +politics is a thankless one in this country. I wonder at his fortitude." + +Victoria's eyes alone betokened her amusement. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane?" she said. "I'm so glad to see you again." + +Austen said something which he felt was entirely commonplace and +inadequate to express his own sentiments, while Alice gave him an +uncertain bow, and Mrs. Pomfret turned her glasses upon him. + +"You remember Mr. Vane," said Victoria; "you met him at Humphrey's." + +"Did I?" answered Mrs. Pomfret. "How do you do? Can't something be done +to punish those rowdies?" + +Austen grew red. + +"Mr. Vane isn't a member of the House," said Victoria. + +"Oh," exclaimed Mrs. Pomfret. "Something ought to be done about it. In +England such a thing wouldn't be allowed to drop for a minute. If I +lived in this State, I think I should do something. Nobody in America +seems to have the spirit even to make a protest." + +Austen turned quietly to Victoria. + +"When are you going away?" he asked. + +"To-morrow morning--earlier than I like to think of. I have to be in New +York by to-morrow night." + +She flashed at him a look of approbation for his self-control, and then, +by a swift transition which he had often remarked, her expression changed +to one of amusement, although a seriousness lurked in the depths of her +eyes. Mrs. Pomfret had gone on, with Alice, and they followed. + +"And--am I not to see you again before you go?" he exclaimed. + +He didn't stop to reason than upon the probable consequences of his act +in seeking her. Nature, which is stronger than reason, was compelling +him. + +"That depends," said Victoria. + +"Upon whom?" + +"Upon you." + +They were on the lower stairs by this times, and there was silence +between then for a few moments as they descended,--principally because, +after this exalting remark, Austen could not trust himself to speak. + +"Will you go driving with me?" he asked, and was immediately +thunderstruck at his boldness. + +"Yes," she answered, simply. + +"How soon may I come?" he demanded, + +She laughed softly, but with a joyous note which was not hidden from him +as they stepped out of the darkened corridor into the dazzling winter +noonday. + +"I will be ready at three o'clock," she said. + +He looked at his watch. + +"Two hours and a half!" he cried. + +"If that is too early," she said mischievously, "we can go later." + +"Too early!" he repeated. But the rest of his protest was cut short by +Mr. Crewe. + +"Hello, Victoria, what did you think of my speech?" + +"The destinies of the nation are settled," said Victoria. "Do you know +Mr. Vane?" + +"Oh, yes, how are you?" said Mr, Crewe; "glad to see you," and he +extended a furred glove. "Were you there?" + +"Yes," said Austen. + +"I'll send you a copy. I'd like to talk it over with you. Come on, +Victoria, I've arranged for an early lunch. Come on, Mrs. Pomfret--get +in, Alice." + +Mrs. Pomfret, still protesting against the profane interruption to Mr. +Crewe's speech, bent her head to enter Mr. Crewe's booby sleigh, which +had his crest on the panel. Alice was hustled in next, but Victoria +avoided his ready assistance and got in herself, Mr. Crewe getting in +beside her. + +"Au revoir," she called out to Austen, as the door slammed. The coachman +gathered his horses together, and off they went at a brisk trot. Then +the little group which had been watching the performance dispersed. +Halfway across the park Austen perceived some one signaling violently to +him, and discovered his friend, young Tom Gaylord. + +"Come to dinner with me," said young Tom, "and tell me whether the speech +of your friend from Leith will send him to Congress. I saw you +hobnobbing with him just now. What's the matter, Austen? I haven't seen +that guilty expression on your face since we were at college together." + +"What's the best livery-stable in town?" Austen asked. + +"By George, I wondered why you came down here. Who are you going to take +out in a sleigh? There's a girl in it, is there?" + +"Not yet, Tom," said Austen. + +"I've often asked myself why I ever had any use for such a secretive cuss +as you," declared young Mr. Gaylord. "But if you're really goin' to get +interested in girls, you ought to see old Flint's daughter. I wrote you +about her. Why," exclaimed Tom, "wasn't she one of those that got into +Crewe's sleigh?" + +"Tom," said Austen, "where did you say that livery-stable was?" + +"Oh, dang the livery-stable!" answered Mr. Gaylord. "I hear there's +quite a sentiment for you for governor. How about it? You know I've +always said you could be United States senator and President. If you'll +only say the word, Austen, we'll work up a movement around the State +that'll be hard to beat." + +"Tom," said Austen, laying his hand on young Mr. Gaylord's farther +shoulder, "you're a pretty good fellow. Where did you say that livery- +stable was? + +"I'll go sleigh-riding with you," said Mr. Gaylord. "I guess the +Pingsquit bill can rest one afternoon." + +"Tom, I don't know any man I'd rather take than you," said Austen. + +The unsuspecting Tom was too good-natured to be offended, and shortly +after dinner Austen found himself in the process of being looked over by +a stout gentleman named Putter, proprietor of Putter's Livery, who +claimed to be a judge of men as well as horses. Austen had been through +his stalls and chosen a mare. + +"Durned if you don't look like a man who can handle a horse," said Mr. +Putter. And as long as you're a friend of Tom Gaylord's I'll let you +have her. Nobody drives that mare but me. What's your name?" + +"Vane." + +"Ain't any relation to old Hilary, be you?" + +"I'm his son," said Austen, "only he doesn't boast about it." + +"Godfrey!" exclaimed Mr. Putter, with a broad grin, "I guess you kin have +her. Ain't you the man that shot a feller out West? Seems to me I heerd +somethin' about it." + +"Which one did you hear about?" Austen asked. + +"Good Lord!" said Mr. Putter, "you didn't shoot more'n one, did you?" + +It was just three o'clock when Austen drove into the semicircle opposite +the Widow Peasley's, rang Mr. Crewe's door-bell, and leaped into the +sleigh once more, the mare's nature being such as to make it undesirable +to leave her. Presently Mr. Crewe's butler appeared, and stood dubiously +in the vestibule. + +"Will you tell Miss Flint that Mr. Vane has called for her, and that I +cannot leave the horse?" + +The man retired with obvious disapproval. Then Austen heard Victoria's +voice in the hallway:-- + +"Don't make a goose of yourself, Humphrey." Here she appeared, the +colour fresh in her cheeks, her slender figure clad in a fur which even +Austen knew was priceless. She sprang into the sleigh, the butler, with +annoying deliberation, and with the air of saying that this was an affair +of which he washed his hands, tucked in Mr. Putter's best robe about her +feet, the mare leaped forward, and they were off, out of the circle and +flying up the hill on the hard snow-tracks. + +"Whew!" exclaimed Victoria, "what a relief! Are you staying in that dear +little house?" she asked, with a glance at the Widow Peasley's. + +"Yes," said Austen. + +"I wish I were." + +He looked at her shyly. He was not a man to do homage to material gods, +but the pomp and circumstance with which she was surrounded had had a +sobering effect upon him, and added to his sense of the instability and +unreality of the present moment. He had an almost guilty feeling of +having broken an unwritten law, of abducting a princess, and the old +Duncan house had seemed to frown protestingly that such an act should +have taken place under its windows. If Victoria had been--to him--an +ordinary mortal in expensive furs instead of a princess, he would have +snapped his fingers at the pomp and circumstance. These typified the +comforts which, in a wild and forgetful moment, he might ask her to +leave. Not that he believed she would leave them. He had lived long +enough to know that an interest by a woman in a man--especially a man +beyond the beaten track of her observation--did not necessarily mean that +she might marry him if he asked her. And yet--oh, Tantalus! here she was +beside him, for one afternoon again his very own, their two souls ringing +with the harmony of whirling worlds in sunlit space. He sought refuge in +thin thought; he strove, in oblivion, to drain the cup of the hour of its +nectar, even as he had done before. Generations of Puritan Vanes (whose +descendant alone had harassed poor Sarah Austere) were in his blood; and +there they hung in the long gallery of Time, mutely but sternly +forbidding when he raised his hand to the stem. + +In silence they reached the crest where the little city ended abruptly in +view of the paradise of the silent hills,--his paradise, where there were +no palaces or thought of palaces. The wild wind of the morning was +still. In this realm at least, a heritage from his mother, seemingly +untrodden by the foot of man, the woman at his side was his. From +Holdfast over the spruces to Sawanec in the blue distance he was lord, a +domain the wealth of which could not be reckoned in the coin of Midas. +He turned to her as they flew down the slope, and she averted her face, +perchance perceiving in that look a possession from which a woman +shrinks; and her remark, startlingly indicative of the accord between +them, lent a no less startling reality to the enchantment. + +"This is your land, isn't it?" she said. + +"I sometimes feel as though it were," he answered. "I was out here this +morning, when the wind was at play," and he pointed with his whip at a +fantastic snowdrift, before I saw you." + +"You looked as though you had come from it," she answered. You seemed-- +I suppose you will think me silly--but you seemed to bring something of +this with you into that hail. I always think of you as out on the hills +and mountains." + +"And you," he said, "belong here, too." + +She drew a deep breath. + +"I wish I did. But you--you really do belong here. You seem to have +absorbed all the clearness of it, and the strength and vigour. I was +watching you this morning, and you were so utterly out of place in those +surroundings." Victoria paused, her colour deepening. + +His blood kept pace with the mare's footsteps, but he did not reply. + +"What did you think of Humphrey's speech?" she asked, abruptly changing +the subject. + +"I thought it a surprisingly good one,--what I heard of it," he answered. +"That wasn't much. I didn't think he'd do as well." + +"Humphrey's clever in a great many ways," Victoria agreed. "If he didn't +have such an impenetrable conceit, he might go far, because he learns +quickly, and has an industry that is simply appalling. But he hasn't +quite the manner for politics, has he?" + +"I think I should call his manner a drawback," said Austen, "though not +by any means an insurmountable one." + +Victoria laughed. + +"The other qualities all need to be very great," she said. "He was +furious at me for coming out this afternoon. He had it all arranged to +drive over to the Forge, and had an early lunch." + +"And I," said Austen, "have all the more reason to be grateful to you." + +"Oh, if you knew the favour you were doing me," she cried, "bringing me +out here where I can breathe. I hope you don't think I dislike +Humphrey," she went on. "Of course, if I did, I shouldn't visit him. +You see, I have known him for so long." + +"I hadn't a notion that you disliked him," said Austen. "I am curious +about his career; that's one reason I came down. He somehow inspires +curiosity." + +"And awe," she added. "Humphrey's career has all the fascination of a +runaway locomotive. One watches it transfixed, awaiting the inevitable +crash." + +Their eyes met, and they both laughed. + +"It's no use trying to be a humbug," said Victoria, "I can't. And I do +like Humphrey, in spite of his career." + +And they laughed again. The music of the bells ran faster and faster +still, keeping time to a wilder music of the sunlit hills and sky; nor +was it strange that her voice, when she spoke, did not break the spell, +but laid upon him a deeper sense of magic. + +"This brings back the fairy books," she said, "and all those wonderful +and never-to-be-forgotten sensations of the truant, doesn't it? You've +been a truant--haven't you?" + +"Yes," he laughed, "I've been a truant, but I never quite realized the +possibilities of the part--until to-day." + +She was silent a moment, and turned away her head, surveying the +landscape that fell away for miles beyond. + +"When I was a child," she said, "I used to think that by opening a door I +could step into an enchanted realm like this. Only I could never find +the door. Perhaps," she added, gayly pursuing the conceit, "it was +because you had the key, and I didn't know you in those days." She gave +him a swift, searching look, smiling, whimsical yet startled,--so elusive +that the memory of it afterwards was wont to come and go like a flash of +light. "Who are you?" she asked. + +His blood leaped, but he smiled in delighted understanding of her mood. +Sarah Austen had brought just such a magic touch to an excursion, and +even at that moment Austen found himself marvelling a little at the +strange resemblance between the two. + +"I am a plain person whose ancestors came from a village called Camden +Street," he replied. "Camden Street is there, on a shelf of the hills, +and through the arch of its elms you can look off over the forests of the +lowlands until they end in the blue reaches of the ocean,--if you could +see far enough." + +"If you could see far enough," said Victoria, unconsciously repeating his +words. "But that doesn't explain you," she exclaimed: "You are like +nobody I ever met, and you have a supernatural faculty of appearing +suddenly, from nowhere, and whisking me away like the lady in the fable, +out of myself and the world I live in. If I become so inordinately +grateful as to talk nonsense, you mustn't blame me. Try not to think of +the number of times I've seen you, or when it was we first met." + +"I believe," said Austen, gravely, "it was when a mammoth beast had his +cave on Holdfast, and the valleys were covered with cocoanut-palms." + +"And you appeared suddenly then, too, and rescued me. You have always +been uniformly kind," she said, "but--a little intangible." + +"A myth," he suggested, "with neither height, breadth, nor thickness." + +"You have height and breadth," she answered, measuring him swiftly with +her eye; "I am not sure about the thickness. Perhaps. What I mean to +say is, that you seem to be a person in the world, but not of it. Your +exits and entrances are too mysterious, and then you carry me out of it,- +-although I invite myself, which is not at all proper." + +"I came down here to see you," he said, and took a firmer grip on the +reins. "I exist to that extent." + +"That's unworthy of you," she cried. "I don't believe you--would have +known I was here unless you had caught eight of me." + +"I should have known it," he said. + +"How?" + +"Because I heard you playing. I am sure it was you playing." + +"Yes, it was I," she answered simply, "but I did not know that--you +heard. Where were you? + +"I suppose," he replied, "a sane witness would have testified that I was +in the street--one of those partial and material truths which are so +misleading." + +She laughed again, joyously. + +"Seriously, why did you come down here?" she insisted. "I am not so +absorbed in Humphrey's career that I cannot take an interest in yours. +In fact, yours interests me more, because it is more mysterious. +Humphrey's," she added, laughing, "is charted from day to day, and +announced in bulletins. He is more generous to his friends than--you." + +"I have nothing to chart," said Austen, "except such pilgrimages as +this,--and these, after all, are unchartable. Your friend, Mr. Crewe, on +the other hand, is well away on his voyage after the Golden Fleece. I +hope he is provided with a Lynceus." + +She was silent for a long time, but he was feverishly conscious of her +gaze upon him, and did not dare to turn his eyes to hers. The look in +them he beheld without the aid of physical vision, and in that look was +the world-old riddle of her sex typified in the image on the African +desert, which Napoleon had tried to read, and failed. And while wisdom +was in the look, there was in it likewise the eternal questioning of a +fate quite as inscrutable, against which wisdom would avail nothing. It +was that look which, for Austen, revealed in her in their infinite +variety all women who had lived; those who could resist, and those who +could yield, and yielding all, bestow a gift which left them still +priceless; those to whom sorrow might bring sadness, and knowledge +mourning, and yet could rob them of no jot of sweetness. And knowing +this, he knew that to gain her now (could such a high prize be gained!) +would be to lose her. If he were anything to her (realize it or not as +she might), it was because he found strength to resist this greatest +temptation of his life. Yield, and his guerdon was lost, and he would be +Austen Vane no longer--yield, and his right to act, which would make him +of value in her eyes as well as in his own, was gone forever. + +Well he knew what the question in her eyes meant or something of what it +meant, so inexplicably is the soul of woman linked to events. He had +pondered often on that which she had asked him when he had brought her +home over the hills in the autumn twilight. He remembered her words, and +the very inflection of her voice. "Then you won't tell me?" How could +he tell her? He became aware that she was speaking now, in an even tone. + +"I had an odd experience this morning, when I was waiting for Mrs. +Pomfret outside the state-house," she said. "A man was standing looking +up at the statue of the patriot with a strange, rapt expression on his +face,--such a good face,--and he was so big and honest and uncompromising +I wanted to talk to him. I didn't realize that I was staring at him so +hard, because I was trying to remember where I had seen him before,--and +then I remembered suddenly that it was with you." + +"With me?" Austen repeated. + +"You were standing with him, in front of the little house, when I save +you yesterday. His name was Redbrook. It appears that he had seen me," +Victoria replied, "when I went to Mercer to call on Zeb Meader. And he +asked me if I knew you." + +"Of course you denied it," said Austen. + +"I couldn't, very well," laughed Victoria, "because you had confessed to +the acquaintance first." + +"He merely wished to have the fact corroborated. Mr. Redbrook is a man +who likes to be sure of his ground." + +"He told me a very interesting thing about you," she continued slowly, +with her eye upon. Austen's profile. "He said that a great many men +wanted you to be their candidate for governor of the State,--more than +you had any idea of,--and that you wouldn't consent. Mr. Redbrook grew +so enthusiastic that he forgot, for the moment, my--relationship to the +railroad. He is not the only person with whom I have talked who has-- +forgotten it, or hasn't known of it." + +Austen was silent. + +"Why won't you be a candidate," she asked, in a low voice, "if such men +as that want you?" + +"I am afraid Mr. Redbrook exaggerates," he said. "The popular demand of +which he spoke is rather mythical. And I should be inclined to accuse +him, too, of a friendly attempt to install me in your good graces." + +"No," answered Victoria, smiling, with serious eyes, "I won't be put off +that way. Mr. Redbrook isn't the kind of man that exaggerates--I've seen +enough of his type to know that. And he told me about your--reception +last night at the Widow Peasley's. You wouldn't have told me," she added +reproachfully. + +He laughed. + +"It was scarcely a subject I could have ventured," he said. + +"But I asked you," she objected. "Now tell me, why did you refuse to be +their candidate? It wasn't because you were not likely to get elected, +was it?" + +He permitted himself a glance which was a tribute of admiration--a glance +which she returned steadfastly. + +"It isn't likely that I should have been elected," he answered, "but you +are right--that is not the reason I refused." + +"I thought not," she said, "I did not believe you were the kind of man to +refuse for that reason. And you would have been elected." + +"What makes you think so?" he asked curiously. + +"I have been thinking since I saw you last--yes, and I have been making +inquiries. I have been trying to find out things--which you will not +tell me." She paused, with a little catch of her breath, and went on +again. "Do you believe I came all the way up here just to hear Humphrey +Crewe make a speech and to drive with him in a high sleigh and listen to +him talk about his career? When serious men of the people like Mr. +Redbrook and that nice Mr. Jenney at Leith and a lot of others who do not +ordinarily care for politics are thinking and indignant, I have come to +the conclusion there must be a cause for it. They say that the railroad +governs them through disreputable politicians,--and I--I am beginning to +believe it is true. I have had some of the politicians pointed out to me +in the Legislature, and they look like it." + +Austen did not smile. She was speaking quietly, but he saw that she was +breathing deeply, and he knew that she possessed a courage which went far +beyond that of most women, and an insight into life and affairs. + +"I am going to find out," she said, "whether these things are true." + +"And then?" he asked involuntarily. + +"If they are true, I am going to tell my father about them, and ask him +to investigate. Nobody seems to have the courage to go to him." + +Austen did not answer. He felt the implication; he knew that, without +realizing his difficulties, and carried on by a feeling long pent up, she +had measured him unjustly, and yet he felt no resentment, and no shock. +Perhaps he might feel that later. Now he was filled only with a sympathy +that was yet another common bond between them. Suppose she did find out? +He knew that she would not falter until she came to the end of her +investigation, to the revelation of Mr. Flint's code of business ethics. +Should the revolt take place, she would be satisfied with nothing less +than the truth, even as he, Austen Vane, had not been satisfied. And he +thought of the life-long faith that would be broken thereby. + +They had made the circle of the hills, and the sparkling lights of the +city lay under them like blue diamond points in the twilight of the +valley. The crests behind them deepened in purple as the saffron faded +in the west, and a gossamer cloud of Tyrian dye floated over Holdfast. +In silence they turned for a last lingering look, and in silence went +down the slope into the world again, and through the streets to the +driveway of the Duncan house. It was only when they had stopped before +the door that she trusted herself to speak. + +"I ought not to have said what I did," she began, in a low voice; "I +didn't realize--but I cannot understand you." + +"You have said nothing which you need ever have cause to regret," he +replied. He was too great for excuses, too great for any sorrow save +what she herself might feel, as great as the silent hills from which he +came. + +She stood for a moment on the edge of the steps, her eyes lustrous,--yet +gazing into his with a searching, troubled look that haunted him for many +days. But her self-command was unshaken, her power to control speech was +the equal of his. And this power of silence in her revealed in such +instants--was her greatest fascination for Austen, the thing which set +her apart among women; which embodied for him the whole charm and mystery +of her sex. + +"Good-by," she said simply. + +"Good-by," he said, and seized her hand--and drove away. + +Without ringing the bell Victoria slipped into the hall,--for the latch +was not caught,--and her first impulse was to run up the staircase to her +room. But she heard Mrs. Pomfret's voice on the landing above and fled, +as to a refuge, into the dark drawing-room, where she stood for a moment +motionless, listening for the sound of his sleigh-bells as they fainted +on the winter's night. Then she seated herself to think, if she could, +though it is difficult to think when one's heart is beating a little +wildly. It was Victoria's nature to think things out. For the first +time in her life she knew sorrow, and it made it worse that that sorrow +was indefinable. She felt an accountable attraction for this man who had +so strangely come into her life, whose problems had suddenly become her +problems. But she did not connect the attraction for Austen Vane with +her misery. She recalled him as he had left her, big and strong and +sorrowful, with a yearning look that was undisguised, and while her faith +in him came surging back again, she could not understand. + +Gradually she became aware of men's voices, and turned with a start to +perceive that the door of the library was open, and that Humphrey Crewe +and another were standing in the doorway against the light. With an +effort of memory she identified the other man as the Mr. Tooting who had +made himself so useful at Mr. Crewe's garden party. + +"I told you I could make you governor, Mr. Crewe," Mr. Tooting was +saying. "Say, why do you think the Northeastern crowd--why do you think +Hilary Vane is pushing your bills down the sidings? I'll tell you, +because they know you're a man of ability, and they're afraid of you, and +they know you're a gentleman, and can't be trusted with their deals, so +they just shunted you off at Kodunk with a jolly about sendin' you to +Congress if you made a hit on a national speech. I've been in the +business a good many years, and I've seen and done some things for the +Northeastern that stick in my throat"--(at this point Victoria sat down +again and gripped the arms of her chair), "I don't like to see a decent +man sawbucked the way they're teeterin' you, Mr. Crewe. I know what I'm +talkin' about, and I tell you that Ridout and Jake Botcher and Brush +Bascom haven't any more notion of lettin' your bills out of committee +than they have Gaylord's. Why? Because they've got orders not to." + +"You're making some serious charges, Mr. Tooting," said Mr. Crewe. + +"And what's more, I can prove 'em. You know yourself that anybody who +talks against the Northeastern is booted down and blacklisted. You've +seen that, haven't you?" + +"I have observed," said Mr. Crewe, "that things do not seem to be as they +should in a free government." + +"And it makes your blood boil as an American citizen, don't it? It does +mine," said Mr. Tooting, with fine indignation. "I was a poor boy, and +had to earn my living, but I've made up my mind I've worn the collar long +enough--if I have to break rocks. And I want to repeat what I said a +little while ago," he added, weaving his thumb into Mr. Crewe's +buttonhole; "I know a thing or two, and I've got some brains, as they +know, and I can make you governor of this State if you'll only say the +word. It's a cinch." + +Victoria started to rise once more, and realized that to escape she would +have to cross the room directly in front of the two men. She remained +sitting where she was in a fearful fascination, awaiting Humphrey Crewe's +answer. There was a moment's pause. + +"I believe you made the remark, Mr. Tooting," he said, "that in your +opinion there is enough anti-railroad sentiment in the House to pass any +bill which the railroad opposes." + +"If a leader was to get up there, like you, with the arguments I could +put into his hands, they would make the committee discharge that +Pingsquit bill of the Gaylords', and pass it." + +"On what do you base your opinion?" asked Mr. Crewe. + +"Well," said Mr. Tooting, "I guess I'm a pretty shrewd observer and have +had practice enough. But you know Austen Vane, don't you?" + +Victoria held her breath. + +"I've a slight acquaintance with him," replied Mr. Crewe; "I've helped +him along in one or two minor legal matters. He seems to be a little-- +well, pushing, you might say." + +"I want to tell you one thing about Austen," continued Mr. Tooting. +"Although I don't stand much for old Hilary, I'd take Austen Vane's +opinion on most things as soon as that of any man in the State. If he +only had some sense about himself, he could be governor next time-- +there's a whole lot that wants him. I happen to know some of 'em offered +it to him last night." + +"Austen Vane governor!" exclaimed Mr. Crewe, with a politely deprecating +laugh. + +"It may sound funny," said Mr. Tooting, stoutly; "I never understood what +he has about him. He's never done anything but buck old Hilary in that +damage case and send back a retainer pass to old Flint, but he's got +something in his make-up that gets under your belt, and a good many of +these old hayseeds'll eat out of his hand, right now. Well, I don't want +this to go any farther, you're a gentleman,--but Austen came down here +yesterday and had the whole thing sized up by last night. Old Hilary +thought the Gaylords sent for him to lobby their bill through. They may +have sent for him, all right, but he wouldn't lobby for 'em. He could +have made a pile of money out of 'em. Austen doesn't seem to care about +money--he's queer. He says as long as he has a horse and a few books and +a couple of sandwiches a day he's all right. Hilary had him up in Number +Seven tryin' to find out what he came down for, and Austen told him +pretty straight--what he didn't tell the Gaylords, either. He kind of +likes old Hilary,--because he's his father, I guess,--and he said there +were enough men in that House to turn Hilary and his crowd upside down. +That's how I know for certain. If Austen Vane said it, I'll borrow money +to bet on it," declared Mr. Tooting. + +"You don't think young Vane is going to get into the race?" queried Mr. +Crewe. + +"No," said Mr. Tooting, somewhat contemptuously. "No, I tell you he +hasn't got that kind of sense. He never took any trouble to get ahead, +and I guess he's sort of sensitive about old Hilary. It'd make a good +deal of a scandal in the family, with Austen as an anti-railroad +candidate." Mr. Tooting lowered his voice to a tone that was +caressingly confidential. "I tell you, and you sleep on it, a man of +your brains and money can't lose. It's a chance in a million, and when +you win you've got this little State tight in your pocket, and a desk in +the millionaire's club at Washington. Well, so long," said Mr. Tooting, +"you think that over." + +"You have, at least, put things in a new and interesting light," said Mr. +Crewe. "I will try to decide what my duty is." + +"Your duty's pretty plain to me," said Mr. Tooting. "If I had money, I'd +know that the best way to use it is for the people,--ain't that so?" + +"In the meantime," Mr. Crewe continued, "you may drop in to-morrow at +three." + +"You'd better make it to-morrow night, hadn't you?" said Mr. Tooting, +significantly. "There ain't any back way to this house." + +"As you choose," said Mr. Crewe. + +They passed within a few feet of Victoria, who resisted an almost +uncontrollable impulse to rise and confront them. The words given her to +use were surging in her brain, and yet she withheld them why, she knew +not. Perhaps it was because, after such communion as the afternoon had +brought, the repulsion she felt for Mr. Tooting aided her to sit where +she was. She heard the outside door open and close, and she saw Humphrey +Crewe walk past her again into his library, and that door closed, and she +was left in darkness. Darkness indeed for Victoria, who throughout her +life had lived in light alone; in the light she had shed, and the light +which she had kindled in others. With a throb which was an exquisite +pain, she understood now the compassion in Austen's eyes, and she saw so +simply and so clearly why he had not told her that her face burned with +the shame of her demand. The one of all others to whom she could go in +this trouble was denied her, and his lips were sealed, who would have +spoken honestly and without prejudice. She rose and went quietly out +into the biting winter night, and stood staring through the trees at the +friendly reddened windows of the little cottage across the way with a +yearning that passed her understanding. Out of those windows, to +Victoria, shone honesty and truth, and the peace which these alone may +bring. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE DESCENDANTS OF HORATIUS + +So the twenty honourable members of the State Senate had been dubbed by +the man who had a sense of humour and a smattering of the classics, +because they had been put there to hold the bridge against the Tarquins +who would invade the dominions of the Northeastern. Twenty picked men, +and true they were indeed, but a better name for their body would have +been the 'Life Guard of the Sovereign.' The five hundred far below them +might rage and at times revolt, but the twenty in their shining armour +stood undaunted above the vulnerable ground and smiled grimly at the mob. +The citadel was safe. + +The real Horatius of the stirring time of which we write was that old and +tried veteran, the Honourable Brush Bascom; and Spurius Lartius might be +typified by the indomitable warrior, the Honourable Jacob Botcher, while +the Honourable Samuel Doby of Hale, Speaker of the House, was +unquestionably Herminius. How the three held the bridge that year will +be told in as few and as stirring words as possible. A greater than +Porsena confronted them, and well it was for them, and for the Empire, +that the Body Guard of the Twenty stood behind them. + + "Lars Porsena of Clusium, + By the Nine Gods he swore." + +The morning after the State Tribune had printed that memorable speech on +national affairs--statistics and all, with an editorial which gave every +evidence of Mr. Peter Pardriff's best sparkle--Mr. Crewe appeared on the +floor of the House with a new look in his eye which made discerning men +turn and stare at him. It was the look of the great when they are justly +indignant, when their trust--nobly given--has been betrayed. Washington, +for instance, must have had just such a look on the battlefield of +Trenton. The Honourable Jacob Botcher, pressing forward as fast as his +bulk would permit and with the newspaper in his hand, was met by a calm +and distant manner which discomposed that statesman, and froze his stout +index finger to the editorial which "perhaps Mr. Crewe had not seen." + +Mr. Crewe was too big for resentment, but he knew how to meet people who +didn't measure up to his standards. Yes, he had seen the editorial, and +the weather still continued fine. The Honourable Jacob was left behind +scratching his head, and presently he sought a front seat in which to +think, the back ones not giving him room enough. The brisk, cheery +greeting of the Honourable Brush Bascom fared no better, but Mr. Bascom +was a philosopher, and did not disturb the great when their minds were +revolving on national affairs and the welfare of humanity in general. +Mr. Speaker Doby and Mr. Ridout got but abstract salutations also, and +were correspondingly dismayed. + +That day, and for many days thereafter, Mr. Crewe spent some time--as was +entirely proper--among the back seats, making the acquaintance of his +humbler fellow members of the submerged four hundred and seventy. He had +too long neglected this, so he told them, but his mind had been on high +matters. During many of his mature years he had pondered as to how the +welfare of community and State could be improved, and the result of that +thought was embodied in the bills of which they had doubtless received +copies. If not, down went their names in a leather-bound memorandum, and +they got copies in the next mails. + +The delight of some of the simple rustic members at this unbending of a +great man may be imagined. To tell the truth, they had looked with +little favour upon the intimacy which had sprung up between him and those +tyrannical potentates, Messrs. Botcher and Bascom, and many who had the +courage of their convictions expressed then very frankly. Messrs. +Botcher and Bascom were, when all was said, mere train despatchers of the +Northeastern, who might some day bring on a wreck the like of which the +State had never seen. Mr. Crewe was in a receptive mood; indeed his +nature, like Nebuchadnezzar's, seemed to have experienced some +indefinable and vital change. Was this the Mr. Crewe the humble rural +members had pictured to themselves? Was this the Mr. Crewe who, at the +beginning of the session, had told them roundly it was their duty to vote +for his bills? + +Mr. Crewe was surprised, he said, to hear so much sentiment against the +Northeastern Railroads. Yes, he was a friend of Mr. Flint's--they were +neighbours in the country. But if these charges had any foundation +whatever, they ought to be looked into--they ought to be taken up. A +sovereign people should not be governed by a railroad. Mr. Crewe was a +business man, but first of all he was a citizen; as a business man he did +not intend to talk vaguely, but to investigate thoroughly. And then, if +charges should be made, he would make them specifically, and as a citizen +contend for the right. + +It is difficult to restrain one's pen in dealing with a hero, but it is +not too much to say that Mr. Crewe impressed many of the country members +favourably. How, indeed, could he help doing so? His language was +moderate, his poise that of a man of affairs, and there was a look in his +eye and a determination in his manner that boded ill for the Northeastern +if he should, after weighing the facts, decide that they ought to be +flagellated. His friendship with Mr. Flint and the suspicion that he +might be inclined to fancy Mr. Flint's daughter would not influence him +in the least; of that many of his hearers were sure. Not a few of them +were invited to dinner at the Duncan house, and shown the library and the +conservatory. + +"Walk right in," said Mr. Crewe. "You can't hurt the flowers unless you +bump against the pots, and if you walk straight you can't do that. I +brought the plants down from my own hothouse in Leith. Those are French +geraniums--very hard to get. They're double, you see, and don't look +like the scrawny things you see in this country. Yes (with a good- +natured smile), I guess they do cost something. I'll ask my secretary +what I paid for that plant. Is that dinner, Waters? Come right in, +gentlemen, we won't wait for ceremony." + +Whereupon the delegation would file into the dining room in solemn +silence behind the imperturbable Waters, with dubious glances at Mr. +Waters' imperturbable understudy in green and buff and silver buttons. +Honest red hands, used to milking at five o'clock in the morning, and +hands not so red that measured dry goods over rural counters for +insistent female customers fingered in some dismay what seemed an +inexplicable array of table furniture. + +"It don't make any difference which fork you take," said the good-natured +owner of this palace of luxury, "only I shouldn't advise you to use one +for the soup you wouldn't get much of it--what? Yes, this house suits me +very well. It was built by old man Duncan, you know, and his daughter +married an Italian nobleman and lives in a castle. The State ought to +buy the house for a governor's mansion. It's a disgrace that our +governor should have to live in the Pelican Hotel, and especially in a +room next to that of the chief counsel of the Northeastern, with only a +curtain and a couple of folding doors between." + +"That's right," declared an up-state member, the governor hadn't ought to +live next to Vane. But as to gettin' him a house like this--kind of +royal, ain't it? Couldn't do justice to it on fifteen hundred a year, +could he? Costs you a little mite more to live in it, don't it?" + +"It costs me something," Mr. Crewe admitted modestly. "But then our +governors are all rich men, or they couldn't afford to pay the +Northeastern lobby campaign expenses. Not that I believe in a rich man +for governor, gentlemen. My contention is that the State should pay its +governors a sufficient salary to make them independent of the +Northeastern, a salary on which they can live as befits a chief +executive." + +These sentiments, and others of a similar tenor, were usually received in +silence by his rural guests, but Mr. Crewe, being a broad-minded man of +human understanding, did not set down their lack of response to surliness +or suspicion of a motive, but rather to the innate caution of the hill +farmer; and doubtless, also, to a natural awe of the unwonted splendour +with which they were surrounded. In a brief time his kindly hospitality +became a byword in the capital, and fabulous accounts of it were carried +home at week ends to toiling wives and sons and daughters, to incredulous +citizens who sat on cracker boxes and found the Sunday papers stale and +unprofitable for weeks thereafter. The geraniums--the price of which Mr. +Crewe had forgotten to find out--were appraised at four figures, and the +conservatory became the hanging gardens of Babylon under glass; the +functionary in buff and green and silver buttons and his duties furnished +the subject for long and heated arguments. And incidentally everybody +who had a farm for sale wrote to Mr. Crewe. Since the motives of every +philanthropist and public benefactor are inevitably challenged by cynics, +there were many who asked the question, "What did Mr. Crewe want?" It is +painful even to touch upon this when we know that Mr. Crewe was merely +doing his duty as he saw it, when we know that he spelled the word, +mentally, with a capital D. + +There were many, too, who remarked that a touching friendship in the +front seats (formerly plainly visible to the naked eye from the back) had +been strained--at least. Mr. Crewe still sat with Mr. Botcher and Mr. +Bascom, but he was not a man to pretend after the fires had cooled. The +Honourable Jacob Botcher, with his eyes shut so tight, that his honest +face wore an expression of agony, seemed to pray every morning for the +renewal of that friendship when the chaplain begged the Lord to guide the +Legislature into the paths of truth; and the Honourable Brush Bascom wore +an air of resignation which was painful to see. Conversation languished, +and the cosey and familiar haunts of the Pelican knew Mr. Crewe no more. + +Mr. Crewe never forgot, of course, that he was a gentleman, and a certain +polite intercourse existed. During the sessions, as a matter of fact, +Mr. Bascom had many things to whisper to Mr. Botcher, and Mr. Butcher to +Mr. Bascom, and in order to facilitate this Mr. Crewe changed seats with +the Honourable Jacob. Neither was our hero a man to neglect, on account +of strained relations, to insist upon his rights. His eyes were open +now, and he saw men and things political as they were; he knew that his +bills for the emancipation of the State were prisoners in the maw of the +dragon, and not likely to see the light of law. Not a legislative day +passed that he did not demand, with a firmness and restraint which did +him infinite credit, that Mr. Bascom's and Mr. Butcher's committees +report those bills to the House either favourably or unfavourably. And +we must do exact justice, likewise, to Messrs. Bascom and Butcher; they, +too, incited perhaps thereto by Mr. Crewe's example, answered courteously +that the very excellent bills in question were of such weight and +importance as not to be decided on lightly, and that there were necessary +State expenditures which had first to be passed upon. Mr. Speaker Doby, +with all the will in the world, could do nothing: and on such occasions +(Mr. Crewe could see) Mr. Doby bore a striking resemblance to the picture +of the mockturtle in "Alice m Wonderland"--a fact which had been pointed +out by Miss Victoria Flint. In truth, all three of these gentlemen wore, +when questioned, such a sorrowful and injured air as would have deceived +a more experienced politician than the new member from Leith. The will +to oblige was infinite. + +There was no doubt about the fact that the session was rapidly drawing to +a close; and likewise that the committees guided by the Honourables Jacob +Butcher and Brush Bascom, composed of members carefully picked by that +judge of mankind, Mr. Doby, were wrestling day and night (behind closed +doors) with the intellectual problems presented by the bills of the +member from Leith. It is not to be supposed that a man of Mr. Crewe's +shrewdness would rest at the word of the chairmen. Other members were +catechized, and in justice to Messrs. Bascom and Botcher it must be +admitted that the assertions of these gentlemen were confirmed. It +appeared that the amount of thought which was being lavished upon these +measures was appalling. + +By this time Mr. Crewe had made some new friends, as was inevitable when +such a man unbent. Three of these friends owned, by a singular chance, +weekly newspapers, and having conceived a liking as well as an admiration +for him, began to say pleasant things about him in their columns--which +Mr. Crewe (always thoughtful) sent to other friends of his. These new +and accidental newspaper friends declared weekly that measures of +paramount importance were slumbering in committees, and cited the +measures. Other friends of Mr. Crewe were so inspired by affection and +awe that they actually neglected their business and spent whole days in +the rural districts telling people what a fine man Mr. Crewe was and +circulating petitions for his bills; and incidentally the committees of +Mr. Butcher and Mr. Bascom were flooded with these petitions, +representing the spontaneous sentiment of an aggrieved populace. + + "Just then a scout came flying, + All wild with haste and fear + To arms! to arms! Sir Consul + Lars Porsena is here. + On the low hills to westward + The Consul fixed his eye, + And saw the swarthy storm of dust + Rise fast along the sky." + +It will not do to push a comparison too far, and Mr. Hamilton Tooting, of +course, ought not to be made to act the part of Tarquin the Proud. Like +Tarquin, however, he had been deposed--one of those fatuous acts which +the wisest will commit. No more could the Honourable Hilary well be +likened to Pandora, for he only opened the box wide enough to allow one +mischievous sprite to take wings--one mischievous sprite that was to +prove a host. Talented and invaluable lieutenant that he was, Mr. +Tooting had become an exile, to explain to any audience who should make +it worth his while the mysterious acts by which the puppets on the stage +were moved, and who moved them; who, for instance, wrote the declamation +which his Excellency Asa Gray recited as his own. Mr. Tooting, as we +have seen, had a remarkable business head, and combined with it--as +Austen Vane remarked--the rare instinct of the Norway rat which goes down +to the sea in ships--when they are safe. Burrowing continually amongst +the bowels of the vessel, Mr. Tooting knew the weak timbers better than +the Honourable Hilary Vanes who thought the ship as sound as the day +Augustus Flint had launched her. But we have got a long way from +Horatius in our imagery. + +Little birds flutter around the capital, picking up what crumbs they may. +One of them, occasionally fed by that humanitarian, the Honourable Jacob +Botcher, whispered a secret that made the humanitarian knit his brows. +He was the scout that came flying (if by a burst of imagination we can +conceive the Honourable Jacob in this aerial act)--came flying to the +Consul in room Number Seven with the news that Mr. Hamilton Tooting had +been detected on two evenings slipping into the Duncan house. But the +Consul--strong man that he was--merely laughed. The Honourable Elisha +Jane did some scouting on his own account. Some people are so small as +to be repelled by greatness, to be jealous of high gifts and power, and +it was perhaps inevitable that a few of the humbler members whom Mr. +Crewe had entertained should betray his hospitality, and misinterpret his +pure motives. + +It was a mere coincidence, perhaps, that after Mr. Jane's investigation +the intellectual concentration which one of the committees had bestowed +on two of Mr. Crewe's bills came to an end. These bills, it is true, +carried no appropriation, and, were, respectively, the acts to +incorporate the State Economic League and the Children's Charities +Association. These suddenly appeared in the House one morning, with +favourable recommendations, and, mirabile dicta, the end of the day saw +them through the Senate and signed by the governor. At last Mr. Crewe by +his Excellency had stamped the mark of his genius on the statute books, +and the Honourable Jacob Botcher, holding out an olive branch, took the +liberty of congratulating him. + +A vainer man, a lighter character than Humphrey Crewe, would have been +content to have got something; and let it rest at that. Little Mr. +Butcher or Mr. Speaker Doby, with his sorrowful smile, guessed the iron +hand within the velvet glove of the Leith statesman; little they knew the +man they were dealing with. Once aroused, he would not be pacified by +bribes of cheap olive branches and laurels. When the proper time came, +he would fling down the gauntlet--before Rome itself, and then let +Horatius and his friends beware. + +The hour has struck at last--and the man is not wanting. The French +Revolution found Napoleon ready, and our own Civil War General Ulysses +Grant. Of that ever memorable session but three days remained, and those +who had been prepared to rise in the good cause had long since despaired. +The Pingsquit bill, and all other bills that spelled liberty, were still +prisoners in the hands of grim jailers, and Thomas Gaylord, the elder, +had worn several holes in the carpet of his private room in the Pelican, +and could often be descried from Main Street running up and down between +the windows like a caged lion, while young Tom had been spied standing, +with his hands in his pockets, smiling on the world. + +Young Tom had his own way of doing things, though he little dreamed of +the help Heaven was to send him in this matter. There was, in the lower +House, a young man by the name of Harper, a lawyer from Brighton, who was +sufficiently eccentric not to carry a pass. The light of fame, as the +sunset gilds a weathercock on a steeple, sometimes touches such men for +an instant and makes them immortal. The name of Mr. Harper is +remembered, because it is linked with a greater one. But Mr. Harper was +the first man over the wall. + +History chooses odd moments for her entrances. It was at the end of one +of those busy afternoon sessions, with a full house, when Messrs. +Bascom, Botcher, and Ridout had done enough of blocking and hacking and +hewing to satisfy those doughty defenders of the bridge, that a slight, +unprepossessing-looking young man with spectacles arose to make a motion. +The Honourable Jacob Botcher, with his books and papers under his arm, +was already picking his way up the aisle, nodding genially to such of the +faithful as he saw; Mr. Bascom was at the Speaker's desk, and Mr. Ridout +receiving a messenger from the Honourable Hilary at the door. The +Speaker, not without some difficulty, recognized Mr. Harper amidst what +seemed the beginning of an exodus--and Mr. Harper read his motion. + +Men halted in the aisles, and nudged other men to make them stop talking. +Mr. Harper's voice was not loud, and it shook a trifle with excitement, +but those who heard passed on the news so swiftly to those who had not +that the House was sitting (or standing) in amazed silence by the time +the motion reached the Speaker, who had actually risen to receive it. +Mr. Doby regarded it for a few seconds and raised his eyes mournfully to +Mr. Harper himself, as much as to say that he would give the young man a +chance to take it back if he could--if the words had not been spoken +which would bring the offender to the block in the bloom and enthusiasm +of youth. Misguided Mr. Harper had committed unutterable treason to the +Empire! + +"The gentleman from Brighton, Mr. Harper," said the Speaker, sadly, +"offers the following resolution, and moves its adoption: 'Resolved, that +the Committee on Incorporations be instructed to report House bill number +302, entitled "An act to incorporate the Pingsquit Railroad," by eleven- +thirty o'clock to-morrow morning'--the gentleman from Putnam, Mr. +Bascom." + +The House listened and looked on entranced, as though they were the +spectators to a tragedy. And indeed it seemed as though they were. +Necks were craned to see Mr. Harper; he didn't look like a hero, but one +never can tell about these little men. He had hurled defiance at the +Northeastern Railroads, and that was enough for Mr. Redbrook and Mr. +Widgeon and their friends, who prepared to rush into the fray trusting to +Heaven for speech and parliamentary law. O for a leader now! Horatius +is on the bridge, scarce concealing his disdain for this puny opponent, +and Lartius and Herminius not taking the trouble to arm. Mr. Bascom will +crush this one with the flat of his sword. + +"Mr. Speaker," said that gentleman, informally, "as Chairman of the +Committee on Incorporations, I rise to protest against such an unheard-of +motion in this House. The very essence of orderly procedure, of +effective business, depends on the confidence of the House in its +committees, and in all of my years as a member I have never known of such +a thing. Gentlemen of the House, your committee are giving to this bill +and other measures their undivided attention, and will report them at the +earliest practicable moment. I hope that this motion will be voted +down." + +Mr. Bascom, with a glance around to assure himself that most of the +hundred members of the Newcastle delegation--vassals of the Winona +Corporation and subject to the Empire--had not made use of their passes +and boarded, as usual, the six o'clock train, took his seat. A buzz of +excitement ran over the house, a dozen men were on their feet, including +the plainly agitated Mr. Harper himself. But who is this, in the lunar +cockpit before the Speaker's desk, demanding firmly to be heard--so +firmly that Mr. Harper, with a glance at him, sits down again; so firmly +that Mr. Speaker Doby, hypnotized by an eye, makes the blunder that will +eventually cost him his own head? + +"The gentleman from Leith, Mr. Crewe." + +As though sensing a drama, the mutterings were hushed once more. Mr. +Jacob Botcher leaned forward, and cracked his seat; but none, even those +who had tasted of his hospitality, recognized that the Black Knight had +entered the lists--the greatest deeds of this world, and the heroes of +them, coming unheralded out of the plain clay. Mr. Crewe was the calmest +man under the roof as he saluted the Speaker, walked up to the clerk's +desk, turned his back to it, and leaned both elbows on it; and he +regarded the sea of faces with the identical self-possession he had +exhibited when he had made his famous address on national affairs. He +did not raise his voice at the beginning, but his very presence seemed to +compel silence, and curiosity was at fever heat. What was he going to +say? + +"Gentlemen of the House," said Mr. Crewe, "I have listened to the +gentleman from Putnam with some--amusement. He has made the statement +that he and his committee are giving to the Pingsquit bill and other +measures--some other measures--their undivided attention. Of this I have +no doubt whatever. He neglected to define the species of attention he is +giving them--I should define it as the kindly care which the warden of a +penitentiary bestows upon his charges." + +Mr. Crewe was interrupted here. The submerged four hundred and seventy +had had time to rub their eyes and get their breath, to realize that +their champion had dealt Mr. Bascom a blow to cleave his helm, and a roar +of mingled laughter and exultation arose in the back seats, and there was +more craning to see the glittering eyes of the Honourable Brush and the +expressions of his two companions-in-arms. Mr. Speaker Doby beat the +stone with his gavel, while Mr. Crewe continued to lean back calmly until +the noise was over. + +"Gentlemen," he went on, "I will enter at the proper time into a +situation--known, I believe, to most of you--that brings about a +condition of affairs by which the gentleman's committee, or the gentleman +himself, with his capacious pockets, does not have to account to the +House for every bill assigned to him by the Speaker. I have taken the +trouble to examine a little into the gentleman's past record--he has been +chairman of such committees for years past, and I find no trace that +bills inimical to certain great interests have ever been reported back by +him. The Pingsquit bill involves the vital principle of competition. I +have read it with considerable care and believe it to be, in itself, a +good measure, which deserves a fair hearing. I have had no conversation +whatever with those who are said to be its promoters. If the bill is to +pass, it has little enough time to get to the Senate. By the gentleman +from Putnam's own statement his committee have given it its share of +attention, and I believe this House is entitled to know the verdict, is +entitled to accept or reject a report. I hope the motion will prevail." + +He sat down amidst a storm of applause which would have turned the head +of a lesser man. No such personal ovation had been seen in the House for +years. How the Speaker got order; how the Honourable Brush Bascom +declared that Mr. Crewe would be called upon to prove his statements; how +Mr. Botcher regretted that a new member of such promise should go off at +half-cock; how Mr. Ridout hinted that the new member might think he had +an animus; how Mr. Terry of Lee and Mr. Widgeon of Hull denounced, in +plain hill language, the Northeastern Railroads and lauded the man of +prominence who had the grit to oppose them, need not be gone into. Mr. +Crewe at length demanded the previous question, which was carried, and +the motion was carried, too, two hundred and fifty to one hundred and +fifty-two. The House adjourned. + +We will spare the blushes of the hero of this occasion, who was +threatened with suffocation by an inundation from the back seats. In +answer to the congratulations and queries, he replied modestly that +nobody else seemed to have had the sand to do it, so he did it himself. +He regarded it as a matter of duty, however unpleasant and unforeseen; +and if, as they said, he had been a pioneer, education and a knowledge of +railroads and the world had helped him. Whereupon, adding tactfully that +he desired the evening to himself to prepare for the battle of the morrow +(of which he foresaw he was to bear the burden), he extricated himself +from his admirers and made his way unostentatiously out of a side door +into his sleigh. For the man who had kindled a fire--the blaze of which +was to mark an epoch--he was exceptionally calm. Not so the only visitor +whom Waters had instructions to admit that evening. + +"Say, you hit it just right," cried the visitor, too exultant to take off +his overcoat. "I've been down through the Pelican, and there ain't been +such excitement since Snow and Giddings had the fight for United States +senator in the '80's. The place is all torn up, and you can't get a room +there for love or money. They tell me they've been havin' conferences +steady in Number Seven since the session closed, and Hilary Vane's sent +for all the Federal and State office-holders to be here in the morning +and lobby. Botcher and Jane and Bascom are circulatin' like hot water, +tellin' everybody that because they wouldn't saddle the State with a debt +with your bills you turned sour on 'em, and that you're more of a +corporation and railroad man than any of 'em. They've got their machine +to working a thousand to the minute, and everybody they have a slant on +is going into line. One of them fellers, a conductor, told me he had to +go with 'em. But our boys ain't idle, I can tell you that. I was in the +back of the gallery when you spoke up, and I shook 'em off the leash +right away." + +Mr. Crewe leaned back from the table and thrust his hands in his pockets +and smiled. He was in one of his delightful moods. + +"Take off your overcoat, Tooting," he said; "you'll find one of my best +political cigars over there, in the usual place." + +"Well, I guessed about right, didn't I?" inquired Mr. Tooting, biting off +one of the political cigars. "I gave you a pretty straight tip, didn't +I, that young Tom Gaylord was goin' to have somebody make that motion to- +day? But say, it's funny he couldn't get a better one than that feller +Harper. If you hadn't come along, they'd have smashed him to pulp. I'll +bet the most surprised man in the State to-night, next to Brush Bascom, +is young Tom Gaylord. It's a wonder he ain't been up here to thank you." + +"Maybe he has been," replied Mr. Crewe. "I told Waters to keep everybody +out to-night because I want to know exactly what I'm going to say on the +floor tomorrow. I don't want 'em to give me trouble. Did you bring some +of those papers with you?" + +Mr. Tooting fished a bundle from his overcoat pocket. The papers in +question, of which he had a great number stored away in Ripton, +represented the foresight, on Mr. Tooting's part, of years. He was a +young man with a praiseworthy ambition to get on in the world, and during +his apprenticeship in the office of the Honourable Hilary Vane many +letters and documents had passed through his hands. A less industrious +person would have neglected the opportunity. Mr. Tooting copied them; +and some, which would have gone into the waste-basket, he laid carefully +aside, bearing in mind the adage about little scraps of paper--if there +is one. At any rate, he now had a manuscript collection which was unique +in its way, which would have been worth much to a great many men, and +with characteristic generosity he was placing it at the disposal of Mr. +Crewe. + +Mr. Crewe, in reading them, had other sensations. He warmed with +indignation as an American citizen that a man should sit in a mahogany +office in New York and dictate the government of a free and sovereign +State; and he found himself in the grip of a righteous wrath when he +recalled what Mr. Flint had written to him. "As a neighbour, it will +give me the greatest pleasure to help you to the extent of my power, but +the Northeastern Railroads cannot interfere in legislative or political +matters." The effrontery of it was appalling! Where, he demanded of Mr. +Tooting, did the common people come in? And this extremely pertinent +question Mr. Tooting was unable to answer. + +But the wheels of justice had begun to turn. + +Mr. Tooting had not exaggerated the tumult and affright at the Pelican +Hotel. The private telephone in Number Seven was busy all evening, while +more or less prominent gentlemen were using continually the public ones +in the boxes in the reading room downstairs. The Feudal system was +showing what it could do, and the word had gone out to all the holders of +fiefs that the vassals should be summoned. The Duke of Putnam had sent +out a general call to the office-holders in that county. Theirs not to +reason why--but obey; and some of them, late as was the hour, were +already travelling (free) towards the capital. Even the congressional +delegation in Washington had received telegrams, and sent them again to +Federal office-holders in various parts of the State. If Mr. Crewe had +chosen to listen, he could have heard the tramp of armed men. But he was +not of the metal to be dismayed by the prospect of a great conflict. He +was as cool as Cromwell, and after Mr. Tooting had left him to take +charge once more of his own armies in the yield, the genlemon from Leith +went to bed and slept soundly. + +The day of the battle dawned darkly, with great flakes flying. As early +as seven o'clock the later cohorts began to arrive, and were soon as +thick as bees in the Pelican, circulating in the lobby, conferring in +various rooms of which they had the numbers with occupants in bed and +out. A wonderful organization, that Feudal System, which eould mobilize +an army overnight! And each unit of it, like the bee, working +unselfishly for the good of the whole; like the bee, flying straight for +the object to be attained. Every member of the House from Putnam County, +for instance, was seen by one of these indefatigable captains, and if the +member had a mortgage or an ambition, or a wife and family that made life +a problem, or a situation on the railroad or in some of the larger +manufacturing establishments, let him beware! If he lived in lodgings in +the town, he stuck his head out of the window to perceive a cheery +neighbour from the country on his doorstep. Think of a system which +could do this, not for Putnam County alone, but for all the counties in +the State! + +The Honourable Hilary Vane, captain-general of the Forces, had had but +four hours' sleep, and his Excellency, the Honourable Asa Gray, when he +arose in the twilight of the morning, had to step carefully to avoid the +cigar butts on the floor which--like so many empty cartridge shells were +unpleasant reminders that a rebellion of no mean magnitude had arisen +against the power to which he owed allegiance, and by the favour of which +he was attended with pomp and circumstance wherever he chose to go. + +Long before eleven o'clock the paths to the state-house were thronged +with people. Beside the office-holders and their friends who were in +town, there were many residents of the capital city in the habit of going +to hear the livelier debates. Not that the powers of the Empire had +permitted debates on most subjects, but there could be no harm in +allowing the lower House to discuss as fiercely as they pleased dog and +sheep laws and hedgehog bounties. But now! The oldest resident couldn't +remember a case of high treason and rebellion against the Northeastern +such as this promised to be, and the sensation took on an added flavour +from the fact that the arch rebel was a figure of picturesque interest, a +millionaire with money enough to rent the Duncan house and fill its long- +disused stable with horses, who was a capitalist himself and a friend of +Mr. Flint's; of whom it was said that he was going to marry Mr. Flint's +daughter! + +Long before eleven, too, the chiefs over tens and the chiefs over +hundreds had gathered their men and marched them into the state-house; +and Mr. Tooting, who was everywhere that morning, noticed that some of +these led soldiers had pieces of paper in their hands. The chaplain +arose to pray for guidance, and the House was crowded to its capacity, +and the gallery filled with eager and expectant faces--but the hero of +the hour had not yet arrived. When at length he did walk down the aisle, +as unconcernedly as though he were an unknown man entering a theatre, +feminine whispers of "There he is!" could plainly be heard above the +buzz, and simultaneous applause broke out in spots, causing the Speaker +to rap sharply with his gavel. Poor Mr. Speaker Doby! He looked more +like the mock-turtle than ever! and might have exclaimed, too, that once +he had been a real turtle: only yesterday, in fact, before he had made +the inconceivable blunder of recognizing Mr. Humphrey Crewe. Mr. Speaker +Doby had spent a part of the night in room Number Seven listening to +things about himself. Herminius the unspeakable has given the enemy a +foothold in Rome. + +Apparently unaware that he was the centre of interest, Mr. Crewe, +carrying a neat little bag full of papers, took his seat beside the +Honourable Jacob Botcher, nodding to that erstwhile friend as a man of +the world should. And Mr. Botcher, not to be outdone, nodded back. + +We shall skip over the painful interval that elapsed before the bill in +question was reached: painful, at least, for every one but Mr. Crewe, who +sat with his knees crossed and his arms folded. The hosts were facing +each other, awaiting the word; the rebels prayerfully watching their +gallant leader; and the loyal vassals--whose wavering ranks had been +added to overnight--with their eyes on Mr. Bascom. And in justice to +that veteran it must be said, despite the knock-out blow he had received, +that he seemed as debonair as ever. + + "Now while the three were tightening + The harness on their backs." + +Mr. Speaker Doby read many committee reports, and at the beginning of +each there was a stir of expectation that it might be the signal for +battle. But at length he fumbled among his papers, cleared away the lump +in his throat, and glanced significantly at Mr. Bascom. + +"The Committee on Incorporations, to whom was referred House bill number +302, entitled "An act to incorporate the Pingsquit Railroad," having +considered the same, report the same with the following resolution: +'Resolved, that it is inexpedient to legislate. Brush Bascom, for the +Committee.' Gentlemen, are you ready for the question? As many as are of +opinion that the report of the Committee should be adopted--the gentleman +from Putnam, Mr. Bascom." + +Again let us do exact justice, and let us not be led by our feelings to +give a prejudiced account of this struggle. The Honourable Brush Bascom, +skilled from youth in the use of weapons, opened the combat so adroitly +that more than once the followers of his noble opponent winced and +trembled. The bill, Mr. Bascom said, would have been reported that day, +anyway--a statement received with mingled cheers and jeers. Then +followed a brief and somewhat intimate history of the Gaylord Lumber +Company, not at all flattering to that corporation. Mr. Bascom hinted, +at an animus: there was no more need for a railroad in the Pingsquit +Valley than there was for a merry-go-round in the cellar of the state- +house. (Loud laughter from everybody, some irreverent person crying out +that a merry-go-round was better than poker tables.) When Mr. Bascom came +to discuss the gentleman from Leith, and recited the names of the +committees for which Mr. Crewe--in his desire to be of service to the +State had applied, there was more laughter, even amongst Mr. Crewe's +friends, and Mr. Speaker Doby relaxed so far as to smile sadly. Mr. +Bascom laid his watch on the clerk's desk and began to read the list of +bills Mr. Crewe had introduced, and as this reading proceeded some of the +light-minded showed a tendency to become slightly hysterical. Mr. Bascom +said that he would like to see all those bills grow into laws,--with +certain slight changes,--but that he could not conscientiously vote to +saddle the people with another Civil War debt. It was well for the +State, he hinted, that those committees were composed of stanch men who +would do their duty in all weathers, regardless of demagogues who sought +to gratify inordinate ambitions. + +The hope of the revolutionists bore these strokes and others as mighty +with complacency, as though they had been so manyplayful taps; and while +the battle surged hotly around him he sat calmly listening or making +occasional notes with a gold pencil. Born leader that he was, he was +biding his time. Mr. Bascom's attack was met valiantly, but +unskillfully, from the back seats. The Honourable Jacob Botcher arose, +and filled the hall with extracts from the "Book of Arguments"--in which +he had been coached overnight by the Honourable Hilary Vane. Mr. +Botcher's tone towards his erstwhile friend was regretful,--a good man +gone wrong through impulse and inexperience. "I am, sir," said Mr. +Bascom to the Speaker, "sincerely sorry--sincerely sorry that an +individual of such ability as the member from Leith should be led, by the +representations of political adventurers and brigands and malcontents, +into his present deplorable position of criticising a State which is his +only by adoption, the political conditions of which were as sound and as +free from corporate domination, sir, as those of any State in the broad +Union." (Loud cheers.) This appeal to State pride by Mr. Botches is a +master stroke, and the friends of the champion of the liberties of the +people are beginning (some of them) to be a little nervous and doubtful. + +Following Mr. Botches were wild and scattering speeches from the back +benches--unskillful and pitiable counter-strokes. Where was the +champion? Had he been tampered with overnight, and persuaded of the +futility of +rebellion? Persuaded that his head would be more useful on his own neck +in the councils of the nation than on exhibition to the populace from the +point of a pike? It looks, to a calm spectator from the gallery, as +though the rebel forces are growing weaker and more demoralized every +moment. Mr. Redbrook's speech, vehement and honest, helps a little; +people listen to an honest and forceful man, however he may lack +technical knowledge, but the majority of the replies are mere incoherent +denunciations of the Northeastern Railroads. + +On the other hand, the astounding discipline amongst the legions of the +Empire excites the admiration and despair even of their enemies; there is +no random fighting here and breaking of ranks to do useless hacking. A +grave farmer with a beard delivers a short and temperate speech (which he +has by heart), mildly inquiring what the State would do without the +Northeastern Railroads; and the very moderation of this query coming from +a plain and hard-headed agriculturist (the boss of Grenville, if one but +knew it!) has a telling effect. And then to cap the climax, to make the +attitude of the rebels even more ridiculous in the minds of thinking +people, Mr. Ridout is given the floor. Skilled in debate when he chooses +to enter it, his knowledge of the law only exceeded by his knowledge of +how it is to be evaded--to Lartius is assigned the task of following up +the rout. And Mr. Crewe has ceased taking notes. + +When the House leader and attorney for the Northeastern took his seat, +the victory to all appearances was won. It was a victory for +conservatism and established order against sensationalism and anarchy-- +Mr. Ridout had contrived to make that clear without actually saying so. +It was as if the Ute Indians had sought to capture Washington and conduct +the government. Just as ridiculous as that! The debate seemed to be +exhausted, and the long-suffering Mr. Doby was inquiring for the fiftieth +time if the House were ready for the question, when Mr. Crewe of Leith +arose and was recognized. In three months he had acquired such a +remarkable knowledge of the game of parliamentary tactics as to be able, +patiently, to wait until the bolt of his opponents had been shot; and a +glance sufficed to revive the drooping spirits of his followers, and to +assure them that their leader knew what he was about. + +"Mr. Speaker," he said, "I have listened with great care to the masterly +defence of that corporation on which our material prosperity and civic +welfare is founded (laughter); I have listened to the gentleman's learned +discussion of the finances of that road, tending to prove that it is an +eleemosynary institution on a grand scale. I do not wish to question +unduly the intellects of those members of this House who by their votes +will prove that they have been convinced by the gentleman's argument." +Here Mr. Crewe paused and drew a slip of paper from his pocket and +surveyed the back seats. "But I perceive," he continued, "that a great +interest has been taken in this debate--so great an interest that since +yesterday numbers of gentlemen have come in from various parts of the +State to listen to it (laughter and astonishment), gentlemen who hold +Federal and State offices. (Renewed laughter and searching of the +House.) I repeat, Mr. Speaker, that I do not wish to question the +intellects of my fellow-members, but I notice that many of them who are +seated near the Federal and State office-holders in question have in +their hands slips of paper similar to this. And I have reason to believe +that these slips were written by somebody in room Number Seven of the +Pelican Hotel." (Tremendous commotion, and craning to see whether one's +neighbour has a slip. The, faces of the redoubtable three a study.) + +"I procured one of these slips," Mr. Crewe continued, "through a fellow- +member who has no use for it--whose intelligence, in fact, is underrated +by the gentlemen in Number Seven. I will read the slip. + +"'Vote yes on the question. Yes means that the report of the Committee +will be accepted, and that the Pingsquit bill will not pass. Wait for +Bascom's signal, and destroy this paper."' + +There was no need, indeed, for Mr. Crewe to say any more than that--no +need for the admirable discussion of railroad finance from an expert's +standpoint which followed to controvert Mr. Ridout's misleading +statements. The reading of the words on the slip of paper of which he +had so mysteriously got possession (through Mr. Hamilton Tooting) was +sufficient to bring about a disorder that for a full minute--Mr. Speaker +Doby found it impossible to quell. The gallery shook with laughter, and +honourable members with slips of paper in their hands were made as +conspicuous as if they had been caught wearing dunces' caps. + +It was then only, with belated wisdom, that Mr. Bascom and his two noble +companions gave up the fight, and let the horde across the bridge--too +late, as we shall see. The populace, led by a redoubtable leader, have +learned their strength. It is true that the shining senatorial twenty of +the body-guard stand ready to be hacked to pieces at their posts before +the Pingsquit bill shall become a law; and should unutterable treason +take place here, his Excellency is prepared to be drawn and quartered +rather than sign it. It is the Senate which, in this somewhat inaccurate +repetition of history, hold the citadel if not the bridge; and in spite +of the howling mob below their windows, scornfully refuse even to discuss +the Pingsquit bill. The Honourable Hilary Vane, whose face they study at +dinner time, is not worried. Popular wrath does not continue to boil, +and many changes will take place in the year before the Legislature meets +again. + +This is the Honourable Hilary's public face. But are there not private +conferences in room Number Seven of which we can know nothing-- +exceedingly uncomfortable conferences for Horatius and his companions? +Are there not private telegrams and letters to the president of the +Northeastern in New York advising him that the Pingsquit bill has passed +the House, and that a certain Mr. Crewe is primarily responsible? And +are there not queries--which history may disclose in after years--as to +whether Mr. Crewe's abilities as a statesman have not been seriously +underrated by those who should have been the first to perceive them? +Verily, pride goeth before a fall. + +In this modern version of ours, the fathers throng about another than +Horatius after the session of that memorable morning. Publicly and +privately, Mr. Crewe is being congratulated, and we know enough of his +character to appreciate the modesty with which the congratulations are +accepted. He is the same Humphrey Crewe that he was before he became the +corner-stone of the temple; success is a mere outward and visible sign of +intrinsic worth in the inner man, and Mr. Crewe had never for a moment +underestimated his true value. + +"There's, no use wasting time in talking about it," he told the grateful +members who sought to press his hands. "Go home and organize. I've got +your name. Get your neighbours into line, and keep me informed. I'll +pay for the postage-stamps. I'm no impractical reformer, and if we're +going to do this thing, we'll have to do it right." + +They left him, impressed by the force of this argument, with an added +respect for Mr. Crewe, and a vague feeling that they were pledged to +something which made not a few of them a trifle uneasy. Mr. Redbrook was +one of these. + +The felicitations of his new-found friend and convert, Mr. Tooting, Mr. +Crewe cut short with the terseness of a born commander. + +"Never mind that," he said, "and follow 'em up and get 'em pledged if you +can." + +Get 'em pledged! Pledged to what? Mr. Tooting evidently knew, for he +wasted no precious moments in asking questions. + +There is no time at this place to go into the feelings of Mr. Tom Gaylord +the younger when he learned that his bill had passed the House. He, too, +meeting Mr. Crewe in the square, took the opportunity to express his +gratitude to the member from Leith. + +"Come in on Friday afternoon, Gaylord," answered Mr. Crewe. "I've got +several things to talk to you about. Your general acquaintance around +the State will be useful, and there must be men you know of in the lumber +sections who can help us considerably." + +"Help us?" repeated young Tom, in same surprise. + +"Certainly," replied Mr. Crewe; "you don't think we're going to drop the +fight here, do you? We've got to put a stop in this State to political +domination by a railroad, and as long as there doesn't seem to be anyone +else to take hold, I'm going to. Your bill's a good bill, and we'll pass +it next session." + +Young Tom regarded Mr. Crewe with a frank stare. + +"I'm going up to the Pingsquit Valley on Friday," he answered. + +"Then you'd better come up to Leith to see me as soon as you get back," +said Mr. Crewe. "These things can't wait, and have to be dealt with +practically." + +Young Tom had not been the virtual head of the Gaylord Company for some +years without gaining a little knowledge of politics and humanity. The +invitation to Leith he valued, of course, but he felt that it would not +do to accept it with too much ardour. He was, he said, a very busy man. + +"That's the trouble with most people," declared Mr. Crewe; "they won't +take the time to bother about politics, and then they complain when +things don't go right. Now I'm givin' my time to it, when I've got other +large interests to attend to." + +On his way back to the Pelican, young Tom halted several times +reflectively, as certain points in this conversation which he seemed to +have missed at the time--came back to him. His gratitude to Mr. Crewe as +a public benefactor was profound, of course; but young Tom's sense of +humour was peculiar, and he laughed more than once, out loud, at nothing +at all. Then he became grave again, and went into the hotel and wrote a +long letter, which he addressed to Mr. Austen Vane. + +And now, before this chapter which contains these memorable events is +closed, one more strange and significant fact is to be chronicled. On +the evening of the day which saw Mr. Crewe triumphantly leading the +insurgent forces to victory, that gentleman sent his private secretary to +the office of the State Tribune to leave an order for fifty copies of the +paper to be delivered in the morning. Morning came, and the fifty +copies, and Mr. Crewe's personal copy in addition, were handed to him by +the faithful Waters when he entered his dining room at an early hour. +Life is full of disillusions. Could this be the State Tribune he held in +his hand? The State Tribune of Mr. Peter Pardriff, who had stood so +stanchly for Mr. Crewe and better things? Who had hitherto held the +words of the Leith statesman in such golden estimate as to curtail +advertising columns when it was necessary to print them for the public +good? + +Mr. Crewe's eye travelled from column to column, from page to page, in +vain. By some incredible oversight on the part of Mr. Pardriff, the +ringing words were not there,--nay, the soul-stirring events of that +eventful day appeared, on closer inspection, to have been deliberately +edited out! The terrible indignation of the righteous arose as Mr. Crewe +read (in the legislative proceedings of the day before) that the +Pingsquit bill had been discussed by certain members--of whom he was one- +-and passed. This was all--literally all! If Mr. Pardriff had lived in +the eighteenth century, he would probably have referred as casually to +the Boston massacre as a street fight--which it was. + +Profoundly disgusted with human kind,--as the noblest of us will be at +times,--Mr. Crewe flung down the paper, and actually forgot to send the +fifty copies to his friends! + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE DISTURBANCE OF JUNE SEVENTH + +After Mr. Speaker Doby had got his gold watch from an admiring and +apparently reunited House, and had wept over it, the Legislature +adjourned. This was about the first of April, that sloppiest and +windiest of months in a northern climate, and Mr. Crewe had intended, as +usual, to make a little trip southward to a club of which he was a +member. A sense of duty, instead, took him to Leith, where he sat +through the days in his study, dictating letters, poring over a great map +of the State which he had hung on the wall, and scanning long printed +lists. If we could stand behind him, we should see that these are what +are known as check-lists, or rosters of the voters in various towns. + +Mr. Crewe also has an unusual number of visitors for this muddy weather, +when the snow-water is making brooks of the roads. Interested observers- +-if there were any--might have remarked that his friendship with Mr. +Hamilton Tooting had increased, that gentleman coming up from Ripton at +least twice a week, and aiding Mr. Crewe to multiply his acquaintances by +bringing numerous strangers to see him. Mr. Tooting, as we know, had +abandoned the law office of the Honourable Hilary Vane and was now +engaged in travelling over the State, apparently in search of health. +These were signs, surely, which the wise might have read with profit: in +the offices, for instance, of the Honourable Hilary Vane in Ripton +Square, where seismic disturbances were registered; but the movement of +the needle (to the Honourable Hilary's eye) was almost imperceptible. +What observer, however experienced, would have believed that such +delicate tracings could herald a volcanic eruption? + +Throughout the month of April the needle kept up its persistent +registering, and the Honourable Hilary continued to smile. The +Honourable Jacob Botcher, who had made a trip to Ripton and had cited +that very decided earthquake shock of the Pingsquit bill, had been +ridiculed for his pains, and had gone away again comforted by communion +with a strong man. The Honourable Jacob had felt little shocks in his +fief: Mr. Tooting had visited it, sitting with his feet on the tables of +hotel waiting-rooms, holding private intercourse with gentlemen who had +been disappointed in office. Mr. Tooting had likewise been a sojourner +in the domain of the Duke of Putnam. But the Honourable Brush was not +troubled, and had presented Mr. Tooting with a cigar. + +In spite of the strange omission of the State Tribune to print his speech +and to give his victory in the matter of the Pingsquit bill proper +recognition, Mr. Crewe was too big a man to stop his subscription to the +paper. Conscious that he had done his duty in that matter, neither +praise nor blame could affect him; and although he had not been mentioned +since, he read it assiduously every afternoon upon its arrival at Leith, +feeling confident that Mr. Peter Pardriff (who had always in private +conversation proclaimed himself emphatically for reform) would not +eventually refuse--to a prophet--public recognition. One afternoon +towards the end of that month of April, when the sun had made the last +snow-drift into a pool, Mr. Crewe settled himself on his south porch and +opened the State Tribune, and his heart gave a bound as his eye fell upon +the following heading to the leading editorial:-- + + A WORTHY PUBLIC SERVANT FOR GOVERNOR + +Had his reward come at last? Had Mr. Peter Pardriff seen the error of +his way? Mr. Crewe leisurely folded back the sheet, and called to his +secretary, who was never far distant. + +"Look here," he said, "I guess Pardriff's recovered his senses. Look +here!" + +The tired secretary, ready with his pencil and notebook to order fifty +copies, responded, staring over his employer's shoulder. It has been +said of men in battle that they have been shot and have run forward some +hundred feet without knowing what has happened to them. And so Mr. Crewe +got five or six lines into that editorial before he realized in full the +baseness of Mr. Pardriff's treachery. + +"These are times" (so ran Mr. Pardriff's composition) when the sure and +steadying hand of a strong man is needed at the helm of State. A man of +conservative, business habits of mind; a man who weighs the value of +traditions equally with the just demands of a new era; a man with a +knowledge of public affairs derived from long experience;" (!!!), a man +who has never sought office, but has held it by the will of the people, +and who himself is a proof that the conduct of State institutions in the +past has been just and equitable. One who has served with distinction +upon such boards as the Railroad Commission, the Board of Equalization, +etc., etc." (!!!) "A stanch Republican, one who puts party before--" here +the newspaper began to shake a little, and Mr. Crewe could not for the +moment see whether the next word were place or principle. He skipped a +few lines. The Tribune, it appeared, had a scintillating idea, which +surely must have occurred to others in the State. "Why not the +Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton for the next governor?" + +The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton! + +It is a pleasure to record, at this crisis, that Mr. Crewe fixed upon his +secretary as steady an eye as though Mr. Pardriff's bullet had missed its +mark. + +"Get me," he said coolly, "the 'State Encyclopaedia of Prominent Men.'" +(Just printed. Fogarty and Co., Newcastle, publishers.) + +The secretary fetched it, open at the handsome and lifelike steel- +engraving of the Honourable Adam, with his broad forehead and kindly, +twinkling eyes, and the tuft of beard on his chin; with his ample +statesman's coat in natural creases, and his white shirt-front and little +black tie. Mr. Crewe gazed at this work of art long and earnestly. The +Honourable Adam B. Hunt did not in the least have the appearance of a +bolt from the blue. And then Mr. Crewe read his biography. + +Two things he shrewdly noted about that biography; it was placed, out of +alphabetical order, fourth in the book, and it was longer than any other +with one exception that of Mr. Ridout, the capital lawyer. Mr. Ridout's +place was second in this invaluable volume, he being preceded only by a +harmless patriarch. These facts were laid before Mr. Tooting, who was +directed by telephone to come to Leith as soon as he should arrive in +Ripton from his latest excursion. It was nine o'clock at night when that +long-suffering and mud-bespattered individual put in an appearance at the +door of his friend's study. + +"Because I didn't get on to it," answered Mr. Tooting, in response to a +reproach for not having registered a warning--for he was Mr. Crewe's +seismograph. "I knew old Adam vas on the Railroads' governor's bench, +but I hadn't any notion he'd been moved up to the top of the batting +list. I told you right. Ridout was going to be their next governor if +you hadn't singed him with the Pingsquit bill. This was done pretty +slick, wasn't it? Hilary got back from New York day before yesterday, +and Pardriff has the editorial to-day. Say, I always told you Pardriff +wasn't a reformer, didn't I?" + +Mr. Crewe looked pained. + +"I prefer to believe the best of people until I know the worst," he said. +"I did not think Mr. Pardriff capable of ingratitude." + +What Mr. Crewe meant by this remark is enigmatical. + +"He ain't," replied Mr. Tooting, "he's grateful for that red ticket he +carries around with him when he travels, and he's grateful to the +Honourable Adam B. Hunt for favours to come. Peter Pardriff's a grateful +cuss, all-right, all right." + +Mr. Crewe tapped his fingers on the desk thoughtfully. + +"The need of a reform campaign is more apparent than ever," he remarked. + +Mr. Tooting put his tongue in his cheek; and, seeing a dreamy expression +on his friend's face, accidentally helped himself to a cigar out of the +wrong box. + +"It's up to a man with a sense of duty and money to make it," Mr. Tooting +agreed, taking a long pull at the Havana. + +"As for the money," replied Mr. Crewe, "the good citizens of the State +should be willing to contribute largely. I have had a list of men of +means prepared, who will receive notices at the proper time." + +Mr. Hamilton Tooting spread out his feet, and appeared to be studying +them carefully. + +"It's funny you should have mentioned cash," he said, after a moment's +silence, "and it's tough on you to have to be the public-spirited man to +put it up at the start. I've got a little memorandum here," he added, +fumbling apologetically in his pocket; "it certainly costs something to +move the boys around and keep 'em indignant." + +Mr. Tooting put the paper on the edge of the desk, and Mr. Crewe, without +looking, reached out his hand for it, the pained expression returning to +his face. + +"Tooting," he said, "you've got a very flippant way of speaking of +serious things. It strikes me that these expenses are out of all +proportion to the simplicity of the task involved. It strikes me--ahem +that you might find, in some quarters at least, a freer response to a +movement founded on principle." + +"That's right," declared Mr. Tooting, "I've thought so myself. I've got +mad, and told 'em so to their faces. But you've said yourself, Mr. +Crewe, that we've got to deal with this thing practically." + +"Certainly," Mr. Crewe interrupted. He loved the word. + +"And we've got to get workers, haven't we? And it costs money to move +'em round, don't it? We haven't got a bushel basket of passes. Look +here," and he pushed another paper at Mr. Crewe, "here's ten new ones +who've made up their minds that you're the finest man in the State. That +makes twenty." + +Mr. Crewe took that paper deprecatingly, but nevertheless began a fire of +cross-questions on Mr. Tooting as to the personality, habits, and +occupations of the discerning ten in question, making certain little +marks of his own against each name. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Crewe +knew perfectly what he was about--although no one else did except Mr. +Tooting, who merely looked mysterious when questioned on the streets of +Ripton or Newcastle or Kingston. It was generally supposed, however, +that the gentleman from Leith was going to run for the State Senate, and +was attempting to get a following in other counties, in order to push +through his measures next time. Hence the tiny fluctuations of Hilary +Vane's seismograph an instrument, as will be shown, utterly out-of-date. +Not so the motto toujours l'audace. Geniuses continue (at long +intervals) to be born, and to live up to that motto. + +That seismograph of the Honourable Hilary's persisted in tracing only a +slightly ragged line throughout the beautiful month of May, in which +favourable season the campaign of the Honourable Adam B. Hunt took root +and flourished--apparently from the seed planted by the State Tribune. +The ground, as usual, had been carefully prepared, and trained gardeners +raked, and watered, and weeded the patch. It had been decreed and +countersigned that the Honourable Adam B. Hunt was the flower that was to +grow this year. + +There must be something vitally wrong with an instrument which failed to +register the great earthquake shock of June the seventh! + +Now that we have come to the point where this shock is to be recorded on +these pages, we begin to doubt whether our own pen will be able +adequately to register it, and whether the sheet is long enough and broad +enough upon which to portray the relative importance of the disturbance +created. The trouble is, that there is nothing to measure it by. What +other event in the history of the State produced the vexation of spirit, +the anger, the tears, the profanity; the derision, the laughter of fools, +the contempt; the hope, the glee, the prayers, the awe, the dumb +amazement at the superb courage of this act? No, for a just comparison +we shall have to reach back to history and fable: David and Goliath; +Theseus and the Minotaur; or, better still, Cadmus and the Dragon! It +was Cadmus (if we remember rightly) who wasted no time whatever, but +actually jumped down the dragon's throat and cut him up from the inside! +And it was Cadmus, likewise, who afterwards sowed the dragon's teeth. + +That wondrous clear and fresh summer morning of June the seventh will not +be forgotten for many years. The trees were in their early leaf in +Ripton Square, and the dark pine patches on Sawanec looked (from Austen's +little office) like cloud shadows against the shimmer of the tender +green. He sat at his table, which was covered with open law-books and +papers, but his eyes were on the distant mountain, and every scent-laden +breeze wafted in at his open window seemed the bearer of a tremulous, +wistful, yet imperious message--" Come!" Throughout the changing +seasons Sawanec called to him in words of love: sometimes her face was +hidden by cloud and fog and yet he heard her voice! Sometimes her +perfume as to-day--made him dream; sometimes, when the western heavens +were flooded with the golden light of the infinite, she veiled herself in +magic purple, when to gaze at her was an exquisite agony, and she became +as one forbidden to man. Though his soul cried out to her across the +spaces, she was not for him. She was not for him! + +With a sigh he turned to his law-books again, and sat for a while staring +steadfastly at a section of the 'Act of Consolidation of the Northeastern +Railroads' which he had stumbled on that morning. The section, if he +read its meaning aright, was fraught with the gravest consequences for +the Northeastern Railroads; if he read its meaning aright, the +Northeastern Railroads had been violating it persistently for many years +and were liable for unknown sums in damages. The discovery of it had +dazed him, and the consequences resulting from a successful suit under +the section would be so great that he had searched diligently, though in +vain, for some modification of it since its enactment. Why had not some +one discovered it before? This query appeared to be unanswerable, until +the simple--though none the less remarkable--solution came to him, that +perhaps no definite occasion had hitherto arisen for seeking it. +Undoubtedly the Railroads' attorneys must know of its existence--his own +father, Hilary Vane, having been instrumental in drawing up the Act. And +a long period had elapsed under which the Northeastern Railroads had been +a law unto themselves. + +The discovery was of grave import to Austen. A month before, chiefly +through the efforts of his friend, Tom, who was gradually taking his +father's place in the Gaylord Lumber Company, Austen had been appointed +junior counsel for that corporation. The Honourable Galusha Hammer still +remained the senior counsel, but was now confined in his house at +Newcastle by an illness which made the probability of his return to +active life extremely doubtful; and Tom had repeatedly declared that in +the event of his non-recovery Austen should have Mr. Hammer's place. As +counsel for the Gaylord Lumber Company, it was clearly his duty to call +the attention of young Mr. Gaylord to the section; and in case Mr. Hammer +did not resume his law practice, it would fall upon Austen himself to +bring the suit. His opponent in this matter would be his own father + +The consequences of this culminating conflict between them, the coming of +which he had long dreaded--although he had not foreseen its specific +cause--weighed heavily upon Austen. It was Tom Gaylord himself who +abruptly aroused him from his revery by bursting in at the door. + +"Have you heard what's up?" he cried, flinging down a newspaper before +Austen's eyes. "Have you seen the Guardian?" + +"What's the matter now, Tom?" + +"Matter!" exclaimed Tom; "read that. Your friend and client, the +Honourable Humphrey Crewe, is out for governor." + +"Humphrey Crewe for governor!" + +"On an anti-railroad platform. I might have known something of the kind +was up when he began to associate with Tooting, and from the way he spoke +to me in March. But who'd have thought he'd have the cheek to come out +for governor? Did you ever hear of such tommyrot?" + +Austen looked grave. + +"I'm not sure it's such tommyrot," he said. + +"Not tommyrot?" Tom ejaculated. "Everybody's laughing. When I passed +the Honourable Hilary's door just now, Brush Bascom and some of the old +liners were there, reciting parts of the proclamation, and the boys down +in the Ripton House are having the time of their lives." + +Austen took the Guardian, and there, sure enough, filling a leading +column, and in a little coarser type than the rest of the page, he read: + + DOWN WITH RAILROAD RULE! + + The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith, at the request + of twenty prominent citizens, consents to become a candidate + for the Republican Nomination for Governor. + + Ringing letter of acceptance, in which he denounces the + political power of the Northeastern Railroads, and declares + that the State is governed from a gilded suite of offices in + New Pork. + +"The following letter, evincing as it does a public opinion thoroughly +aroused in all parts of the State against the present disgraceful +political conditions, speaks for itself. The standing and character of +its signers give it a status which Republican voters cannot ignore." + +The letter followed. It prayed Mr. Crewe, in the name of decency and +good government, to carry the standard of honest men to victory. Too +long had a proud and sovereign State writhed under the heel of an all- +devouring corporation! Too long had the Northeastern Railroads elected, +for their own selfish ends, governors and legislatures and controlled +railroad commissions The spirit of 1776 was abroad in the land. It was +eminently fitting that the Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith, who had +dared to fling down the gauntlet in the face of an arrogant power, should +be the leader of the plain people, to recover the rights which had been +wrested from them. Had he not given the highest proof that he had the +people's interests at heart? He was clearly a man who "did things." + +At this point Austen looked up and smiled. + +"Tom," he asked, "has it struck you that this is written in the same +inimitable style as a part of the message of the Honourable Asa Gray?" + +Tom slapped his knee. + +"That's exactly what I said I!" he cried. "Tooting wrote it. I'll swear +to it." + +"And the twenty prominent citizens--do you know any of 'em, Tom?" + +"Well," said Tom, in delighted appreciation, "I've heard of three of 'em, +and that's more than any man I've met can boast of. Ed Dubois cuts my +hair when I go to Kingston. He certainly is a prominent citizen in the +fourth ward. Jim Kendall runs the weekly newspaper in Grantley--I +understood it was for sale. Bill Clements is prominent enough up at +Groveton. He wanted a trolley franchise some years ago, you remember." + +"And didn't get it." + +Mr. Crewe's answer was characteristically terse and businesslike. The +overwhelming compliment of a request from such gentlemen must be treated +in the nature of a command--and yet he had hesitated for several weeks, +during which period he had cast about for another more worthy of the +honour. Then followed a somewhat technical and (to the lay mind) obscure +recapitulation of the iniquities the Northeastern was committing, which +proved beyond peradventure that Mr. Crewe knew what he was talking about; +such phrases as "rolling stock," "milking the road"--an imposing array +of facts and figures. Mr. Crewe made it plain that he was a man who "did +things." And if it were the will of Heaven that he became governor, +certain material benefits would as inevitably ensue as the day follows +the night. The list of the material benefits, for which there was a +crying need, bore a strong resemblance to a summary of the worthy +measures upon which Mr. Crewe had spent so much time and labour in the +last Legislature. + +Austen laid down the paper, leaned back in his chair, and thrust his +hands in his pockets, and with a little vertical pucker in his forehead, +regarded his friend. + +"What do you think of that?" Tom demanded. "Now, what do you think of +it?" + +"I think," said Austen, "that he'll scare the life out of the +Northeastern before he gets through with them." + +"What!" exclaimed Tom, incredulously. He had always been willing to +accept Austen's judgment on men and affairs, but this was pretty stiff. +"What makes you think so?" + +"Well, people don't know Mr. Crewe, for one thing. And they are +beginning to have a glimmer of light upon the Railroad." + +"Do you mean to say he has a chance for the nomination?" + +"I don't know. It depends upon how much the voters find out about him +before the convention." + +Tom sat down rather heavily. + +"You could have been governor," he complained reproachfully, "by raising +your hand. You've got more ability than any man in the State, and you +sit here gazin' at that mountain and lettin' a darned fool millionaire +walk in ahead of you." + +Austen rose and crossed over to Mr. Gaylord's chair, and, his hands still +in his pockets, looked down thoughtfully into that gentleman's square and +rugged face. + +"Tom," he said, "there's no use discussing this delusion of yours, which +seems to be the only flaw in an otherwise sane character. We must try to +keep it from the world." + +Tom laughed in spite of himself. + +"I'm hanged if I understand you," he declared, "but I never did. You +think Crewe and Tooting may carry off the governorship, and you don't +seem to care." + +"I do care," said Austen, briefly. He went to the window and stood for a +moment with his back to his friend, staring across at Sawanec. Tom had +learned by long experience to respect these moods, although they were to +him inexplicable. At length Austen turned. + +"Tom," he said, "can you come in to-morrow about this time? If you +can't, I'll go to your office if you will let me know when you'll be in. +There's a matter of business I want to talk to you about." + +Tom pulled out his watch. + +"I've got to catch a train for Mercer," he replied, "but I will come in +in the morning and see you." + +A quarter of an hour later Austen went down the narrow wooden flight of +stairs into the street, and as he emerged from the entry almost bumped +into the figure of a young man that was hurrying by. He reached out and +grasped the young man by the collar, pulling him up so short as almost to +choke him. + +"Hully gee!" cried the young man whose progress had been so rudely +arrested. "Great snakes!" (A cough.) "What're you tryin' to do? Oh," +(apologetically) "it's you, Aust. Let me go. This day ain't long enough +for me. Let me go." + +Austen kept his grip and regarded Mr. Tooting thoughtfully. + +"I want to speak to you, Ham," he said; "better come upstairs." + +"Say, Aust, on the dead, I haven't time. Pardriff's waitin' for some +copy now." + +"Just for a minute, Ham," said Austen; "I won't keep you long." + +"Leggo my collar, then, if you don't want to choke me. Say, I don't +believe you know how strong you are." + +"I didn't know you wore a collar any more, Ham," said Austen. + +Mr. Tooting grinned in appreciation of this joke. + +"You must think you've got one of your Wild West necktie parties on," he +gasped. "I'll come. But if you love me, don't let the boys in Hilary's +office see me." + +"They use the other entry," answered Austen, indicating that Mr. Tooting +should go up first--which he did. When they reached the office Austen +shut the door, and stood with his back against it, regarding Mr. Tooting +thoughtfully. + +At first Mr. Tooting returned the look with interest swagger--aggression +would be too emphatic, and defiance would not do. His was the air, +perhaps, of Talleyrand when he said, "There seems to be an inexplicable +something in me that brings bad luck to governments that neglect me:" the +air of a man who has made a brilliant coup d'etat. All day he had worn +that air--since five o'clock in the morning, when he had sprung from his +pallet. The world might now behold the stuff that was in Hamilton +Tooting. Power flowed out of his right hand from an inexhaustible +reservoir which he had had the sagacity to tap, and men leaped into +action at his touch. He, the once, neglected, had the destiny of a State +in his keeping. + +Gradually, however, it became for some strange reason difficult to +maintain that aggressive stare upon Austen Vane, who shook his head +slowly. + +"Ham, why did you do it?" he asked. + +"Why?" cried Mr. Tooting, fiercely biting back a treasonable smile. "Why +not? Ain't he the best man in the State to make a winner? Hasn't he got +the money, and the brains, and the get-up-and-git? Why, it's a sure +thing. I've been around the State, and I know the sentiment. We've got +'em licked, right now. What have you got against it? You're on our +side, Aust." + +"Ham," said Austen, "are you sure you have the names and addresses of +those twenty prominent citizens right, so that any voter may go out and +find 'em?" + +"What are you kidding about, Aust?" retorted Mr. Tooting, biting back the +smile again. "Say, you never get down to business with me. You don't +blame Crewe for comin' out, do you?" + +"I don't see how Mr. Crewe could have resisted such an overwhelming +demand," said Austen. "He couldn't shirk such a duty. He says so +himself, doesn't he?" + +"Oh, go on!" exclaimed Mr. Tooting, who was not able to repress a grin. + +"The letter of the twenty must have been a great surprise to Mr. Crewe. +He says he was astonished. Did the whole delegation go up to Leith, or +only a committee?" + +Mr. Tooting's grin had by this time spread all over his face--a flood +beyond his control. + +"Well, there's no use puffin' it on with you, Aust. That was done pretty +slick, that twenty-prominent-citizen business, if I do say it myself. +But you don't know that feller Crewe--he's a full-size cyclone when he +gets started, and nothin' but a range of mountains could stop him." + +"It must be fairly exciting to--ride him, Ham." + +"Say, but it just is. Kind of breathless, though. He ain't very well +known around the State, and he was bound to run--and I just couldn't let +him come out without any clothes on." + +"I quite appreciate your delicacy, Ham." + +Mr. Tooting's face took on once more a sheepish look, which changed +almost immediately to one of disquietude. + +"Say, I'll come back again some day and kid with you. I've got to go, +Aust--that's straight. This is my busy day." + +"Wouldn't you gain some time if you left by the window?" Austen asked. + +At this suggestion Mr. Tooting's expressive countenance showed genuine +alarm. + +"Say, you ain't going to put up any Wild West tricks on me, are you? I +heard you nearly flung Tom Gaylord out of the one in the other room." + +"If this were a less civilized place, Ham, I'd initiate you into what is +known as the bullet dance. As it is, I have a great mind to speed you on +your way by assisting you downstairs." + +Mr. Hamilton Tooting became ashy pale. + +"I haven't done anything to you, Aust. Say--you didn't--?" He did not +finish. + +Terrified by something in Austen's eye, which may or may not have been +there at the time of the Blodgett incident, Mr. Tooting fled without +completing his inquiry. And, his imagination being great, he reproduced +for himself such a vivid sensation of a bullet-hole in his spine that he +missed his footing near the bottom, and measured his length in the entry. +Such are the humiliating experiences which sometimes befall the +Talleyrands--but rarely creep into their biographies. + +Austen, from the top of the stairway, saw this catastrophe, but did not +smile. He turned on his heel, and made his way slowly around the corner +of the passage into the other part of the building, and paused at the +open doorway of the Honourable Hilary's outer office. By the street +windows sat the Honourable Brush Bascom, sphinx-like, absorbing wisdom +and clouds of cigar smoke which emanated from the Honourable Nat +Billings. + +"Howdy, Austen?" said Brush, genially, lookin' for the Honourable Hilary? +Flint got up from New York this morning, and sent for him a couple of +hours ago. He'll be back at two." + +"Have you read the pronunciamento?" inquired Mr. Billings. "Say, Austen, +knowin' your sentiments, I wonder you weren't one of the twenty prominent +citizens." + +"All you anti-railroad fellers ought to get together," Mr. Bascom +suggested; "you've got us terrified since your friend from Leith turned +the light of publicity on us this morning. I hear Ham Tooting's been in +and made you an offer." + +News travels fast in Ripton. + +"Austen kicked him downstairs," said Jimmy Towle, the office boy, who had +made a breathless entrance during the conversation, and felt it to be the +psychological moment to give vent to the news with which he was bursting. + +"Is that straight?" Mr. Billings demanded. He wished he had done it +himself. "Is that straight?" he repeated, but Austen had gone. + +"Of course it's straight," said Jimmy Towle, vigorously. A shrewd +observer of human nature, he had little respect for Senator Billings. +"Ned Johnson saw him pick himself up at the foot of Austen's stairway." + +The Honourable Brush's agate eyes caught the light, and he addressed Mr. +Billings in a voice which, by dint of long training, only carried a few +feet. + +"There's the man the Northeastern's got to look out for," he said. "The +Humphrey Crewes don't count. But if Austen Vane ever gets started, +there'll be trouble. Old man Flint's got some such idea as that, too. I +overheard him givin' it to old Hilary once, up at Fairview, and Hilary +said he couldn't control him. I guess nobody else can control him. I +wish I'd seen him kick Ham downstairs." + +"I'd like to kick him downstairs," said Mr. Billings, savagely biting off +another cigar. + +"I guess you hadn't better try it, Nat," said Mr. Bascom. + +Meanwhile Austen had returned to his own office, and shut the door. His +luncheon hour came and went, and still he sat by the open window gazing +out across the teeming plain, and up the green valley whence the Blue +came singing from the highlands. In spirit he followed the water to +Leith, and beyond, where it swung in a wide circle arid hurried between +wondrous hills like those in the backgrounds of the old Italians: hills +of close-cropped pastures, dotted with shapely sentinel oaks and maples +which cast sharp, rounded shadows on the slopes at noonday; with thin +fantastic elms on the gentle sky-lines, and forests massed here and +there--silent, impenetrable hills from a story-book of a land of mystery. +The river coursed between them on its rocky bed, flinging its myriad gems +to the sun. This was the Vale of the Blue, and she had touched it with +meaning for him, and gone. + +He drew from his coat a worn pocket-book, and from the pocket-book a +letter. It was dated in New York in February, and though he knew it by +heart he found a strange solace in the pain which it gave him to reread +it. He stared at the monogram on the paper, which seemed so emblematic +of her; for he had often reflected that her things--even such minute +insignia as this--belonged to her. She impressed them not only with her +taste, but with her character. The entwined letters, Y. F., of the +design were not, he thought, of a meaningless, frivolous daintiness, but +stood for something. Then he read the note again. It was only a note. + + "MY DEAR MR. VANE: I have come back to find my mother ill, and I am + taking her to France. We are sailing, unexpectedly, to-morrow, + there being a difficulty about a passage later. I cannot refrain + from sending you a line before I go to tell you that I did you an + injustice. You will no doubt think it strange that I should write + to you, but I shall be troubled until it is off my mind. I am + ashamed to have been so stupid. I think I know now why you would + not consent to be a candidate, and I respect you for it. + + Sincerely your friend, + + "VICTORIA FLINT." + +What did she know? What had she found out? Had she seen her father and +talked to him? That was scarcely possible, since her mother had been ill +and she had left at once. Austen had asked himself these questions many +times, and was no nearer the solution. He had heard nothing of her +since, and he told himself that perhaps it was better, after all, that +she was still away. To know that she was at Fairview, and not to be able +to see her, were torture indeed. + +The note was formal enough, and at times he pretended to be glad that it +was. How could it be otherwise? And why should he interpret her +interest in him in other terms than those in which it was written? She +had a warm heart--that he knew; and he felt for her sake that he had no +right to wish for more than the note expressed. After several +unsuccessful attempts; he had answered it in a line, "I thank you, and I +understand." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE "BOOK OF ARGUMENTS" IS OPENED + +The Honourable Hilary Vane returned that day from Fairview in no very +equable frame of mind. It is not for us to be present at the Councils on +the Palatine when the "Book of Arguments" is opened, and those fitting +the occasion are chosen and sent out to the faithful who own printing- +presses and free passes. The Honourable Hilary Vane bore away from the +residence of his emperor a great many memoranda in an envelope, and he +must have sighed as he drove through the leafy roads for Mr. Hamilton +Tooting, with his fertile mind and active body. A year ago, and Mr. +Tooting would have seized these memoranda of majesty, and covered their +margins with new suggestions: Mr. Tooting, on occasions, had even made +additions to the "Book of Arguments" itself--additions which had been +used in New York and other States with telling effect against Mr. Crewes +there. Mr. Tooting knew by heart the time of going to press of every +country newspaper which had passes (in exchange for advertising!). It +was two o'clock when the Honourable Hilary reached his office, and by +three all the edicts would have gone forth, and the grape-shot and +canister would have been on their way to demolish the arrogance of this +petty Lord of Leith.. + +"Tooting's a dangerous man, Vane. You oughtn't to have let him go," Mr. +Flint had said. "I don't care a snap of my finger for the other fellow." + +How Mr. Tooting's ears would have burned, and how his blood would have +sung with pride to have heard himself called dangerous by the president +of the Northeastern! + +He who, during all the valuable years of his services, had never had a +sign that that potentate was cognizant of his humble existence. + +The Honourable Brush Bascom, as we know, was a clever man; and although +it had never been given him to improve on the "Book of Arguments," he had +ideas of his own. On reading Mr. Crewe's defiance that morning, he had, +with characteristic promptitude and a desire to be useful, taken the +first train out of Putnam for Ripton, to range himself by the side of the +Honourable Hilary in the hour of need. The Feudal System anticipates, +and Mr. Bascom did not wait for a telegram. + +On the arrival of the chief counsel from Fairview other captains had put +in an appearance, but Mr. Bascom alone was summoned, by a nod, into the +private office. What passed between them seems too sacred to write +about. The Honourable Hilary would take one of the slips from the packet +and give it to Mr. Bascom. + +"If that were recommended, editorially, to the Hull Mercury, it might +serve to clear away certain misconceptions in that section. + +"Certain," Mr. Bascom would reply. + +"It has been thought wise," the Honourable Hilary continued, "to send an +annual to the Groveton News. Roberts, his name is. Suppose you +recommend to Mr. Roberts that an editorial on this subject would be +timely." + +Slip number two. Mr. Bascom marks it 'Roberts.' Subject: "What would +the State do without the Railroad?" + +"And Grenville, being a Prohibition centre, you might get this worked up +for the Advertiser there." + +Mr. Bascom's agate eyes are full of light as he takes slip number three. +Subject: "Mr. Humphrey Crewe has the best-stocked wine cellar in the +State, and champagne every night for dinner." Slip number four, taken +direct from the second chapter of the "Book of Arguments": "Mr. Crewe is +a reformer because he has been disappointed in his inordinate ambitions," +etc. Slip number five: "Mr. Crewe is a summer resident, with a house in +New York," etc., etc. + +Slip number six, "Book of Arguments," paragraph, chapter: "Humphrey +Crewe, Defamer of our State." Assigned, among others, to the Ripton +Record. + +"Paul Pardriff went up to Leith to-day," said Mr. Bascom. + +"Go to see him," replied the Honourable Hilary. "I've been thinking for +some time that the advertising in the Ripton Record deserves an +additional annual." + +Mr. Bascom, having been despatched on this business, and having +voluntarily assumed control of the Empire Bureau of Publication, the +chief counsel transacted other necessary legal business with State +Senator Billings and other gentlemen who were waiting. At three o'clock +word was sent in that Mr. Austen Vane was outside, and wished to speak +with his father as soon as the latter was at leisure. Whereupon the +Honourable Hilary shooed out the minor clients, leaned back in his chair, +and commanded that his son be admitted. + +"Judge," said Austen, as he closed the door behind him, "I don't want to +bother you." + +The Honourable Hilary regarded his son for a moment fixedly out of his +little eyes. + +"Humph" he said. + +Austen looked down at his father. The Honourable Hilary's expression was +not one which would have aroused, in the ordinary man who beheld him, a +feeling of sympathy or compassion: it was the impenetrable look with +which he had faced his opponents for many years. But Austen felt +compassion. + +"Perhaps I'd better come in another time--when you are less busy," he +suggested. + +"Who said I was busy?" inquired the Honourable Hilary. + +Austen smiled a little sadly. One would have thought, by that smile, +that the son was the older and wiser of the two. + +"I didn't mean to cast any reflection on your habitual industry, Judge," +he said. + +"Humph!" exclaimed Mr. Vane. "I've got more to do than sit in the window +and read poetry, if that's what you mean." + +"You never learned how to enjoy life, did you, Judge?" he said. "I don't +believe you ever really had a good time. Own up." + +"I've had sterner things to think about. I've had 'to earn my living-- +and give you a good time." + +"I appreciate it," said Austen. + +"Humph! Sometimes I think you don't show it a great deal," the Honourable +Hilary answered. + +"I show it as far as I can, Judge," said his son. "I can't help the way +I was made." + +"I try to take account of that," said the Honourable Hilary. + +Austen laughed. + +"I'll drop in to-morrow morning," he said. + +But the Honourable Hilary pointed to a chair on the other side of the +desk. + +"Sit down. To-day's as good as to-morrow," he remarked, with sententious +significance, characteristically throwing the burden of explanation on +the visitor. + +Austen found the opening unexpectedly difficult. He felt that this was a +crisis in their relations, and that it had come at an unfortunate hour. + +"Judge," he said, trying to control the feeling that threatened to creep +into his voice, "we have jogged along for some years pretty peaceably, +and I hope you won't misunderstand what I'm going to say." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted. + +"It was at your request that I went into the law. I have learned to like +that profession. I have stuck to it as well as my wandering, Bohemian +nature will permit, and while I do not expect you necessarily to feel any +pride in such progress as I have made, I have hoped--that you might feel +an interest." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted again. + +"I suppose I am by nature a free-lance," Austen continued. "You were +good enough to acknowledge the force of my argument when I told you it +would be best for me to strike out for myself. And I suppose it was +inevitable, such being the case, and you the chief counsel for the +Northeastern Railroads, that I should at some time or another be called +upon to bring suits against your client. It would have been better, +perhaps, if I had not started to practise in this State. I did so from +what I believe was a desire common to both of us to--to live together." + +The Honourable Hilary reached for his Honey Dew, but he did not speak. + +"To live together," Austen repeated. "I want to say that, if I had gone +away, I believe I should always have regretted the fact." He paused, and +took from his pocket a slip of paper. "I made up my mind from the start +that I would always be frank with you. In spite of my desire to amass +riches, there are some suits against the Northeastern which I have-- +somewhat quixotically--refused. Here is a section of the act which +permitted the consolidation of the Northeastern Railroads. You are no +doubt aware of its existence." + +The Honourable Hilary took the slip of paper in his hand and stared at +it. "The rates for fares and freights existing at the time of the +passage of this act shall mot be increased on the roads leased or united +under it." What his sensations were when he read it no man might have +read in his face, but his hand trembled a little, and along silence +ensued before he gave it back to his son with the simple comment:-- + +"Well?" + +"I do not wish to be understood to ask your legal opinion, although you +probably know that lumber rates have been steadily raised, and if a suit +under that section were successful the Gaylord Lumber Company could +recover a very large sum of money from the Northeastern Railroads," said +Austen. "Having discovered the section, I believe it to be my duty to +call it to the attention of the Gaylords. What I wish to know is, +whether my taking the case would cause you any personal inconvenience or +distress? If so, I will refuse it." + +"No," answered the Honourable Hilary, "it won't. Bring suit. Much use +it'll be. Do you expect they can recover under that section?" + +"I think it is worth trying," said Austen. + +"Why didn't somebody try it before?" asked the Honourable Hilary. + +"See here, Judge, I wish you'd let me out of an argument about it. Suit +is going to be brought, whether I bring it or another man. If you would +prefer for any reason that I shouldn't bring it--I won't. I'd much +rather resign as counsel for the Gaylords--and I am prepared to do so." + +"Bring suit," answered the Honourable Hilary, quickly, "bring suit by all +means. And now's your time. This seems to be a popular season for +attacking the property which is the foundation of the State's +prosperity." ("Book of Arguments," chapter 3.) + +In spite of himself, Austen smiled again. Long habit had accustomed +Hilary Vane to put business considerations before family ties; and this +habit had been the secret of his particular success. And now, rather +than admit by the least sign the importance of his son's discovery of the +statute (which he had had in mind for many years, and to which he had +more than once, by the way, called Mr. Flint's attention), the Honourable +Hilary deliberately belittled the matter as part and parcel of the +political tactics against the Northeastern. + +Sears caused by differences of opinion are soon healed; words count for +nothing, and it is the soul that attracts or repels. Mr. Vane was not +analytical, he had been through a harassing day, and he was unaware that +it was not Austen's opposition, but Austen's smile, which set the torch +to his anger. Once, shortly after his marriage, when he had come home in +wrath after a protracted quarrel with Mr. Tredway over the orthodoxy of +the new minister, in the middle of his indignant recital of Mr. Tredway's +unwarranted attitude, Sarah Austen had smiled. The smile had had in it, +to be sure, nothing of conscious superiority, but it had been utterly +inexplicable to Hilary Vane. He had known for the first time what it was +to feel murder in the heart, and if he had not rushed out of the room, he +was sure he would have strangled her. After all, the Hilary Vanes of +this world cannot reasonably be expected to perceive the humour in their +endeavours. + +Now the son's smile seemed the reincarnation of the mother's. That smile +was in itself a refutation of motive on Austen's part which no words +could have made more emphatic; it had in it (unconsciously, too) +compassion for and understanding of the Honourable Hilary's mood and +limitations. Out of the corner of his mental vision--without grasping +it--the Honourable Hilary perceived this vaguely. It was the smile in +which a parent privately indulges when a child kicks his toy locomotive +because its mechanism is broken. It was the smile of one who, +unforgetful of the scheme of the firmament and the spinning planets, will +not be moved to anger by him who sees but the four sides of a pit. + +Hilary Vane grew red around the eyes--a danger signal of the old days. + +"Take the suit," he said. "If you don't, I'll make it known all over the +State that you started it. I'll tell Mr. Flint to-morrow. Take it, do +you hear me? You ask me if I have any pride in you. I answer, yes. I'd +like to see what you can do. I've done what I could for you, and now I +wash my hands of you. Go,--ruin yourself if you want to. You've always +been headed that way, and there's no use trying to stop you. You don't +seem to have any notion of decency or order, or any idea of the principle +on which this government was based. Attack property destroy it. So much +the better for you and your kind. Join the Humphrey Crewes--you belong +with 'em. Give those of us who stand for order and decency as much +trouble as you can. Brand us as rascals trying to enrich ourselves with +politics, and proclaim yourselves saints nobly striving to get back the +rights of the people. If you don't bring that suit, I tell you I'll give +you the credit for it--and I mean what I say." + +Austen got to his feet. His own expression, curiously enough, had not +changed to one of anger. His face had set, but his eyes held the look +that seemed still to express compassion, and what he felt was a sorrow +that went to the depths of his nature. What he had so long feared--what +he knew they had both feared--had come at last. + +"Good-by, Judge," he said. + +Hilary Vane stared at him dumbly. His anger had not cooled, his eyes +still flamed, but he suddenly found himself bereft of speech. Austen put +his hand on his father's shoulder, and looked down silently into his +face. But Hilary was stiff as in a rigour, expressionless save for the +defiant red in his eye. + +"I don't think you meant all that, Judge, and I don't intend to hold it +against you." + +Still Hilary stared, his lips in the tight line which was the emblem of +his character, his body rigid. He saw his son turn and walk to the door, +and turn again with his handle on the knob, and Hilary did not move. The +door closed, and still he sat there, motionless, expressionless. + +Austen was hailed by those in the outer office, but he walked through +them as though the place were empty. Rumours sprang up behind him of +which he was unconscious; the long-expected quarrel had come; Austen had +joined the motley ranks of the rebels under Mr. Crewe. Only the office +boy, Jimmy Towle, interrupted the jokes that were flying by repeating, +with dogged vehemence, "I tell you it ain't so. Austen kicked Ham +downstairs. Ned Johnson saw him." Nor was it on account of this +particular deed that Austen was a hero in Jimmy's eyes. + +Austen, finding himself in the square, looked at his watch. It was four +o'clock. He made his way under the maples to the house in Hanover +Street, halted for a moment contemplatively before the familiar classic +pillars of its porch, took a key from his pocket, and (unprecedented +action!) entered by the front door. Climbing to the attic, he found two +valises--one of which he had brought back from Pepper County--and took +them to his own room. They held, with a little crowding, most of his +possessions, including a photograph of Sarah Austen, which he left on the +bureau to the last. Once or twice he paused in his packing to gaze at +the face, striving to fathom the fleeting quality of her glance which the +photograph had so strangely caught. In that glance nature had stamped +her enigma--for Sarah Austen was a child of nature. Hers was the gentle +look of wild things--but it was more; it was the understanding of--the +unwritten law of creation, the law by which the flowers grow, and wither; +the law by which the animal springs upon its prey, and, unerring, seeks +its mate; the law of the song of the waters, and the song of the morning +stars; the law that permits evil and pain and dumb, incomprehensible +suffering; the law that floods at sunset the mountain lands with colour +and the soul with light; and the law that rends the branches in the blue +storm. Of what avail was anger against it, or the puny rage of man? +Hilary Vane, not recognizing it, had spent his force upon it, like a hawk +against a mountain wall, but Austen looked at his mother's face and +understood. In it was not the wisdom of creeds and cities, but the +unworldly wisdom which comprehends and condones. + +His packing finished, with one last glance at the room Austen went +downstairs with his valises and laid them on the doorstep. Then he went +to the stable and harnessed Pepper, putting into the buggy his stable +blanket and halter and currycomb, and, driving around to the front of the +house, hitched the horse at the stone post, and packed the valises in the +back of the buggy. After that he walked slowly to the back of the house +and looked in at the kitchen window. Euphrasia, her thin arms bare to +the elbow, was bending over a wash-tub. He spoke her name, and as she +lifted her head a light came into her face which seemed to make her young +again. She dried her hands hastily on her apron as she drew towards him. +He sprang through the window, and patted her on the back--his usual +salutation. And as she raised her eyes to his (those ordinarily sharp +eyes of Euphrasia's), they shone with an admiration she had accorded to +no other human being since he had come into the world. Terms of +endearment she had, characteristically, never used, she threw her soul +into the sounding of his name. + +"Off to the hills, Austen? I saw you a-harnessing of Pepper." + +"Phrasie," he said, still patting her, "I'm going to the country for a +while." + +"To the country?" she repeated. + +"To stay on a farm for a sort of vacation." + +Her face brightened. + +"Goin' to take a real vacation, be you?" + +He laughed. + +"Oh, I don't have to work very hard, Phrasie. You know I get out a good +deal. I just thought--I just thought I'd like to--sleep in the country-- +for a while." + +"Well," answered Euphrasia, "I guess if you've took the notion, you've +got to go. It was that way with your mother before you. I've seen her +leave the house on a bright Sabbath half an hour before meetin' to be +gone the whole day, and Hilary and all the ministers in town couldn't +stop her." + +"I'll drop in once in a while to see you, Phrasie. I'll be at Jabe +Jenney's." + +"Jabe's is not more than three or four miles from Flint's place," +Euphrasia remarked. + +"I've thought of that," said Austen. + +"You'd thought of it!" + +Austen coloured. + +The distance is nothing," he said quickly, "with Pepper." + +"And you'll come and see me?" asked Euphrasia. + +"If you'll do something for me," he said. + +"I always do what you want, Austen. You know I'm not able to refuse +you." + +He laid his hands on her shoulders. + +"You'll promise?" he asked. + +"I'll promise," said Euphrasia, solemnly. + +He was silent for a moment, looking down at her. + +"I want you to promise to stay here and take care of the Judge." + +Fright crept into her eyes, but his own were smiling, reassuring. + +"Take care of him!" she cried, the very mention of Hilary raising the +pitch of her voice. "I guess I'll have to. Haven't I took care of him +nigh on forty years, and small thanks and recompense I get for it except +when you're here. I've wore out my life takin' care of him" (more +gently). "What do you mean by makin' me promise such a thing, Austen?" + +"Well," said Austen, slowly, "the Judge is worried now. Things are not +going as smoothly with him as usual." + +"Money?" demanded Euphrasia. "He ain't lost money, has he?" + +A light began to dance in Austen's eyes in spite of the weight within +him. + +"Now, Phrasie," he said, lifting her chin a little, "you know you don't +care any more about money than I do." + +"Lord help me," she exclaimed, "Lord help me if I didn't! And as long as +you don't care for it, and no sense can be knocked into your head about +it, I hope you'll marry somebody that does know the value of it. If +Hilary was to lose what he has now, before it comes rightly to you, he'd +ought to be put in jail." + +Austen laughed, and shook his head. + +"Phrasie, the Lord did you a grave injustice when he didn't make you a +man, but I suppose he'll give you a recompense hereafter. No, I believe +I am safe in saying that the Judge's securities are still secure. Not +that I really know--or care--" (shakes of the head from Euphrasia). +"Poor old Judge! Worse things than finance are troubling him now." + +"Not a woman!" cried Euphrasia, horror-stricken at the very thought. "He +hasn't took it into his head after all these years--" + +"No," said Austen, laughing, "no, no. It's not quite as bad as that, but +it's pretty bad." + +"In Heaven's name, what is it?" she demanded. +"Reformers," said Austen. + +"Reformers?" she repeated. "What might they be?" + +"Well," answered Austen, "you might call them a new kind of caterpillar-- +only they feed on corporations instead of trees." + +Euphrasia shook her head vigorously. + +"Go 'long," she exclaimed. "When you talk like that I never can follow +you, Austen. If Hilary has any worries, I guess he brought 'em on +himself. I never knew him to fail." + +"Ambitious and designing persons are making trouble for his railroad." + +"Well, I never took much stock in that railroad," said Euphrasia, with +emphasis. "I never was on it but an engine gave out, and the cars was +jammed, and it wasn't less than an hour late. And then they're eternally +smashin' folks or runnin' 'em down. You served 'em right when you made +'em pay that Meader man six thousand dollars, and I told Hilary so." She +paused, and stared at Austen fixedly as a thought came into her head. +"You ain't leavin' him because of this trouble, are you, Austen?" + +"Phrasie," he said, "I--I don't want to quarrel with him now. I think it +would be easy to quarrel with him." + +"You mean him quarrel with you," returned Euphrasia. "I'd like to see +him! If he did, it wouldn't take me long to pack up and leave." + +"That's just it. I don't want that to happen. And I've had a longing to +go out and pay a little visit to Jabe up in the hills, and drive his +colts for him. You see," he said, "I've got a kind of affection for the +Judge." + +Euphrasia looked at him, and her lips trembled. + +"He don't deserve it," she declared, "but I suppose he's your father." + +"He can't get out of that," said Austen. + +"I'd like to see him try it," said Euphrasia. "Come in soon, Austen," she +whispered, "come in soon." + +She stood on the lawn and watched him as he drove away, and he waved +good-by to her over the hood of the buggy. When he was out of sight she +lifted her head, gave her eyes a vigorous brush with her checked apron, +and went back to her washing. + +It was not until Euphrasia had supper on the table that Hilary Vane came +home, and she glanced at him sharply as he took his usual seat. It is a +curious fact that it is possible for two persons to live together for +more than a third of a century, and at the end of that time understand +each other little better than at the beginning. The sole bond between +Euphrasia and Hilary was that of Sarah Austen and her son. Euphrasia +never knew when Hilary was tired, or when he was cold, or hungry, or +cross, although she provided for all these emergencies. Her service to +him was unflagging, but he had never been under the slightest delusion +that it was not an inheritance from his wife. There must have been some +affection between Mr. Vane and his housekeeper, hidden away in the strong +boxes of both but up to the present this was only a theory--not quite as +probable as that about the inhabitants of Mars. + +He ate his supper to-night with his usual appetite, which had always been +sparing; and he would have eaten the same amount if the Northeastern +Railroads had been going into the hands of a receiver the next day. +Often he did not exchange a word with Euphrasia between home-coming and +bed-going, and this was apparently to be one of these occasions. After +supper he went, as usual, to sit on the steps of his porch, and to cut +his piece of Honey Dew, which never varied a milligram. Nine o'clock +struck, and Euphrasia, who had shut up the back of the house, was on her +way to bed with her lamp in her hand, when she came face to face with him +in the narrow passageway. + +"Where's Austen?" he asked. + +Euphrasia halted. The lamp shook, but she raised it to the level of his +eyes. + +"Don't you know?" she demanded. + +"No," he said, with unparalleled humility. + +She put down the lamp on the little table that stood beside her. + +"He didn't tell you he was a-goin'?" + +"No," said Hilary. + +"Then how did you know he wasn't just buggy-ridin'?" she said. + +Hilary Vane was mute. + +"You've be'n to his room!" she exclaimed. "You've seen his things are +gone!" + +He confessed it by his silence. Then, with amazing swiftness and vigour +for one of her age, Euphrasia seized him by the arms and shook him. + +"What have you done to him?" she cried; "what have you done to him? You +sent him off. You've never understood him--you've never behaved like a +father to him. You ain't worthy to have him." She flung herself away +and stood facing Hilary at a little distance. What a fool I was! What a +fool! I might have known it, and I promised him." + +"Promised him?" Hilary repeated. The shaking, the vehemence and anger, +of Euphrasia seemed to have had no effect whatever on the main trend of +his thoughts. + +"Where has he gone?" + +"You can find out for yourself," she retorted bitterly. "I wish on your +account it was to China. He came here this afternoon, as gentle as ever, +and packed up his things, and said he was goin' away because you was +worried. Worried!" she exclaimed scornfully. "His worry and his trouble +don't count--but yours. And he made me promise to stay with you. If it +wasn't for him," she cried, picking up the lamp, "I'd leave you this very +night." + +She swept past him, and up the narrow stairway to her bedroom. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +BUSY DAYS AT WEDDERBURN + +There is no blast so powerful, so withering, as the blast of ridicule. +Only the strongest men can withstand it, only reformers who are such in +deed, and not alone in name, can snap their fingers at it, and liken it +to the crackling of thorns under a pot. Confucius and Martin Luther must +have been ridiculed, Mr. Crewe reflected, and although he did not have +time to assure himself on these historical points, the thought stayed +him. Sixty odd weekly newspapers, filled with arguments from the Book, +attacked him all at once; and if by chance he should have missed the best +part of this flattering personal attention, the editorials which +contained the most spice were copied at the end of the week into the +columns of his erstwhile friend, the State Tribune, now the organ of that +mysterious personality, the Honourable Adam B. Hunt. 'Et tu, Brute!' + +Moreover, Mr. Peter Pardriff had something of his own to say. Some +gentlemen of prominence (not among the twenty signers of the new +Declaration of Independence) had been interviewed by the Tribune reporter +on the subject of Mr. Crewe's candidacy. Here are some of the answers, +duly tabulated. + +"Negligible."--Congressman Fairplay. + +"One less vote for the Honourable Adam B. Hunt."--The Honourable Jacob +Botcher. + +"A monumental farce."--Ex-Governor Broadbent. + +"Who is Mr. Crewe?"--Senator Whitredge. (Ah ha! Senator, this want shall +be supplied, at least.) + +"I have been very busy. I do not know what candidates are in the +field."--Mr. Augustus P. Flint, president of the Northeastern Railroads. +(The unkindest cut of all!) + +"I have heard that a Mr. Crewe is a candidate, but I do not know much +about him. They tell me he is a summer resident at Leith."--The +Honourable Hilary Vane. + +"A millionaire's freak--not to be taken seriously.--State Senator +Nathaniel Billings." + +The State Tribune itself seemed to be especially interested in the past +careers of the twenty signers. Who composed this dauntless band, whose +members had arisen with remarkable unanimity and martyr's zeal in such +widely scattered parts of the State? Had each been simultaneously +inspired with the same high thought, and--more amazing still--with the +idea of the same peerless leader? The Tribune modestly ventured the +theory that Mr. Crewe had appeared to each of the twenty in a dream, with +a flaming sword pointing to the steam of the dragon's breath. Or, +perhaps, a star had led each of the twenty to Leith. (This likening of +Mr. H--n T--g to a star caused much merriment among that gentleman's +former friends and acquaintances.) The Tribune could not account for this +phenomenon by any natural laws, and was forced to believe that the thing +was a miracle--in which case it behooved the Northeastern Railroads to +read the handwriting on the wall. Unless--unless the twenty did not +exist! Unless the whole thing were a joke! The Tribune remembered a +time when a signed statement, purporting to come from a certain Mrs. +Amanda P. Pillow, of 22 Blair Street, Newcastle, had appeared, to the +effect that three bottles of Rand's Peach Nectar had cured her of dropsy. +On investigation there was no Blair Street, and Mrs. Amanda P. Pillow was +as yet unborn. The one sure thing about the statement was that Rand's +Peach Nectar could be had, in large or small quantities, as desired. And +the Tribune was prepared to state; on its own authority, that a Mr. +Humphrey Crewe did exist, and might reluctantly consent to take the +nomination for the governorship. In industry and zeal he was said to +resemble the celebrated and lamented Mr. Rand, of the Peach Nectar. + +Ingratitude merely injures those who are capable of it, although it +sometimes produces sadness in great souls. What were Mr. Crewe's +feelings when he read this drivel? When he perused the extracts from the +"Book of Arguments" which appeared (with astonishing unanimity, too!) in +sixty odd weekly newspapers of the State--an assortment of arguments for +each county. + +"Brush Bascom's doin' that work now," said Mr. Tooting, contemptuously, +"and he's doin' it with a shovel. Look here! He's got the same squib in +three towns within a dozen miles of each other, the one beginning +'Political conditions in this State are as clean as those of any State in +the Union, and the United Northeastern Railroads is a corporation which +is, fortunately, above calumny. A summer resident who, to satisfy his +lust for office, is rolling to defame--'" + +"Yes," interrupted Mr. Crewe, "never mind reading any more of that rot." + +"It's botched," said Mr. Tooting, whose artistic soul was jarred. "I'd +have put that in Avalon County, and Weave, and Marshall. I know men that +take all three of those papers in Putnam." + +No need of balloonists to see what the enemy is about, when we have a Mr. +Tooting. + +"They're stung!" he cried, as he ran rapidly through the bundle of +papers--Mr. Crewe having subscribed, with characteristic generosity, to +the entire press of the State. "Flint gave 'em out all this stuff about +the railroad bein' a sacred institution. You've got 'em on the run right +now, Mr. Crewe. You'll notice that, Democrats and Republicans, they've +dropped everybody else, that they've all been sicked on to you. They're +scared." + +"I came to that conclusion some time ago," replied Mr. Crewe, who was +sorting over his letters. + +"And look there!" exclaimed Mr. Tooting, tearing out a paragraph, +"there's the best campaign material we've had yet. Say, I'll bet Flint +taken that doddering idiot's pass away for writing that." + +Mr. Crewe took the extract, and read:-- + + "A summer resident of Leith, who is said to be a millionaire + many times over, and who had a somewhat farcical career as a + legislator last winter, has announced himself as a candidate + for the Republican nomination on a platform attacking the + Northeastern Railroads. Mr. Humphrey Crewe declares that the + Northeastern Railroads govern us. What if they do? Every + sober-minded citizen, will agree that they give us a pretty + good government. More power to them." + +Mr. Crewe permitted himself to smile. + +"They are playing into our hands, sure enough. What?" + +This is an example of the spirit in which the ridicule and abuse was met. + +It was Senator Whitredge--only, last autumn so pleased to meet Mr. Crewe +at Mr. Flint's--who asked the hypocritical question, "Who is Humphrey +Crewe?" A biography (in pamphlet form, illustrated,--send your name and +address) is being prepared by the invaluable Mr. Tooting, who only sleeps +six hours these days. We shall see it presently, when it emerges from +that busy hive at Wedderburn. + +Wedderburn was a hive, sure enough. Not having a balloon ourselves, it +is difficult to see all that is going on there; but there can be no +mistake (except by the Honourable Hilary's seismograph) that it has +become the centre of extraordinary activity. The outside world has +paused to draw breath at the spectacle, and members of the metropolitan +press are filling the rooms of the Ripton House and adding to the +prosperity of its livery-stable. Mr. Crewe is a difficult man to see +these days--there are so many visitors at Wedderburn, and the +representatives of the metropolitan press hitch their horses and stroll +around the grounds, or sit on the porch and converse with gentlemen from +various counties of the State who (as the Tribune would put it) have been +led by a star to Leith. + +On the occasion of one of these gatherings, when Mr. Crewe had been +inaccessible for four hours, Mrs. Pomfret drove up in a victoria with her +daughter Alice. + +"I'm sure I don't know when we're going to see poor dear Humphrey again," +said Mrs. Pomfret, examining the group on the porch through her gold- +mounted lenses; these awful people are always here when I come. I wonder +if they sleep here, in the hammocks and lounging chairs! Alice, we must +be very polite to them--so much depends on it." + +"I'm always polite, mother," answered Alice, "except when you tell me not +to be. The trouble is I never know myself." + +The victoria stopped in front of the door, and the irreproachable Waters +advanced across the porch. + +"Waters," said Mrs. Pomfret, "I suppose Mr. Crewe is too busy to come +out." + +"I'm afraid so, madam," replied Waters; "there's a line of gentlemen +waitin' here" (he eyed them with no uncertain disapproval). and I've +positive orders not to disturb him, madam." + +"I quite understand, at a time like this," said Mrs. Pomfret, and added, +for the benefit of her audience, "when Mr. Crewe has been public-spirited +and unselfish enough to undertake such a gigantic task. Tell him Miss +Pomfret and I call from time to time because we are so interested, and +that the whole of Leith wishes him success." + +"I'll tell him, madam," said Waters, + +But Mrs. Pomfret did not give the signal for her coachman to drive on. +She looked, instead, at the patient gathering. + +"Good morning, gentlemen," she said. + +"Mother!" whispered Alice, "what are you going to do?" + +The gentlemen rose. + +"I'm Mrs. Pomfret," she said, as though that simple announcement were +quite sufficient,--as it was, for the metropolitan press. Not a man of +them who had not seen Mrs. Pomfret's important movements on both sides of +the water chronicled. "I take the liberty of speaking to you, as we all +seem to be united in a common cause. How is the campaign looking?" + +Some of the gentlemen shifted their cigars from one hand to the other, +and grinned sheepishly. + +"I am so interested," continued Mrs. Pomfret; "it is so unusual in +America for a gentleman to be willing to undertake such a thing, to +subject himself to low criticism, and to have his pure motives +questioned. Mr. Crewe has rare courage--I have always said so. And we +are all going to put our shoulder to the wheel, and help him all we can." + +There was one clever man there who was quick to see his opportunity, and +seize it for his newspaper. + +"And are you going to help Mr. Crewe in his campaign, Mrs. Pomfret?" + +"Most assuredly," answered Mrs. Pomfret. "Women in this country could do +so much if they only would. You know," she added, in her most winning +manner, "you know that a woman can often get a vote when a man can't." + +"And you, and--other ladies will go around to the public meetings?" + +"Why not, my friend; if Mr. Crewe has no objection? and I can conceive of +none." + +"You would have an organization of society ladies to help Mr. Crewe?" + +"That's rather a crude way of putting it," answered Mrs. Pomfret, with +her glasses raised judicially. "Women in what you call I society are, I +am glad to say, taking an increasing interest in politics. They are +beginning to realize that it is a duty." + +"Thank you," said the reporter; "and now would you mind if I took a +photograph of you in your carriage." + +"Oh, mother," protested Alice, "you won't let him do that!" + +"Be quiet, Alice. Lady Aylestone and the duchess are photographed in +every conceivable pose for political purposes. Wymans, just drive around +to the other side of the circle." + +The article appeared next day, and gave, as may be imagined, a tremendous +impetus to Mr. Crewe's cause. "A new era in American politics!" +"Society to take a hand in the gubernatorial campaign of Millionaire +Humphrey Crewe!" "Noted social leader, Mrs. Patterson Pomfret, declares +it a duty, and saga that English women have the right idea." And a +photograph of Mrs. Patterson Pomfret herself, in her victoria, occupied a +generous portion of the front page. + +"What's all this rubbish about Mrs. Pomfret?" was Mr. Crewe's grateful +comment when he saw it. "I spent two valuable hours with that reporter +givin' him material and statistics, and I can't find that he's used a +word of it." + +"Never you mind about that," Mr. Tooting replied. "The more advertising +you get, the better, and this shows that the right people are behind you. +Mrs. Pomfret's a smart woman, all right. She knows her job. And here's +more advertising," he continued, shoving another sheet across the desk, +"a fine likeness of you in caricature labelled, 'Ajax defying the +Lightning.' Who's Ajax? There was an Italian, a street contractor, with +that name--or something like it--in Newcastle a couple of years ago--in +the eighth ward." + +In these days, when false rumours fly apace to the injury of innocent +men, it is well to get at the truth, if possible. It is not true that +Mr. Paul Pardriff, of the 'Ripton Record,' has been to Wedderburn. Mr. +Pardriff was getting into a buggy to go--somewhere--when he chanced to +meet the Honourable Brush Bascom, and the buggy was sent back to the +livery-stable. Mr. Tooting had been to see Mr. Pardriff before the +world-quaking announcement of June 7th, and had found Mr. Pardriff a +reformer who did not believe that the railroad should run the State. +But the editor of the Ripton Record was a man after Emerson's own heart: +"a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"--and Mr. Pardriff +did not go to Wedderburn. He went off on an excursion up the State +instead, for he had been working too hard; and he returned, as many men +do from their travels, a conservative. He listened coldly to Mr. +Tooting's impassioned pleas for cleaner politics, until Mr. Tooting +revealed the fact that his pockets were full of copy. It seems that a +biography was to be printed--a biography which would, undoubtedly, be in +great demand; the biography of a public benefactor, illustrated with +original photographs and views in the country. Mr. Tooting and Mr. +Pardriff both being men of the world, some exceeding plain talk ensued +between them, and when two such minds unite, a way out is sure to be +found. One can be both a conservative and a radical--if one is clever. +There were other columns in Mr. Pardriff's paper besides editorial +columns; editorial columns, Mr. Pardriff said, were sacred to his +convictions. Certain thumb-worn schedules were referred to. Paul +Pardriff, Ripton, agreed to be the publisher of the biography. + +The next edition of the Record was an example of what Mr. Emerson meant. +Three columns contained extracts of absorbing interest from the +forthcoming biography and, on another page, an editorial. The +Honourable Humphrey Crewe, of Leith, is an estimable gentleman and a good +citizen, whose public endeavours have been of great benefit to the +community. A citizen of Avalon County, the Record regrets that it cannot +support his candidacy for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. We +are not among those who seek to impugn motives, and while giving Mr. +Crewe every credit that his charges against the Northeastern Railroads +are made in good faith, we beg to differ from him. That corporation is +an institution which has stood the test of time, and enriches every year +the State treasury by a large sum in taxes. Its management is in safe, +conservative hands. No one will deny Mr. Crewe's zeal for the State's +welfare, but it must be borne in mind that he is a newcomer in politics, +and that conditions, seen from the surface, are sometimes deceptive. We +predict for Mr. Crewe a long and useful career, but we do not think that +at this time, and on this platform, he will obtain the governorship." + +"Moral courage is what the age needs," had been Mr. Crewe's true and +sententious remark when he read this editorial. But, bearing in mind a +biblical adage, he did not blame Mr. Tooting for his diplomacy. "Send in +the next man." + +Mr. Tooting opened the study door and glanced over the public-spirited +citizens awaiting, on the porch, the pleasure of their leader. + +"Come along, Caldwell," said Mr. Tooting. "He wants your report from +Kingston. Get a hustle on!" + +Mr. Caldwell made his report, received many brief and business-like +suggestions, and retired, impressed. Whereupon Mr. Crewe commanded Mr. +Tooting to order his automobile--an occasional and rapid spin over the +country roads being the only diversion the candidate permitted himself. +Wishing to be alone with his thoughts, he did not take Mr. Tooting with +him on these excursions. + +"And by the way," said Mr. Crewe, as he seized the steering wheel a few +moments later, "just drop a line to Austen Vane, will you, and tell him I +want to see him up here within a day or two. Make an appointment. It +has occurred to me that he might be very useful." + +Mr. Tooting stood on the driveway watching the cloud of dust settle on +the road below. Then he indulged in a long and peculiarly significant +whistle through his teeth, rolled his eyes heavenward, and went into the +house. He remembered Austen's remark about riding a cyclone. + +Mr. Crewe took the Tunbridge road. On his excursion of the day before he +had met Mrs. Pomfret, who had held up her hand, and he had protestingly +brought the car to a stop. + +"Your horses don't frighten," he had said. + +"No, but I wanted to speak to you, Humphrey," Mrs. Pomfret had replied; +"you are becoming so important that nobody ever has a glimpse of you. I +wanted to tell you what an interest we take in this splendid thing you +are doing." + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "it was a plain duty, and nobody else seemed +willing to undertake it." + +Mrs. Pomfret's eyes had flashed. + +"Men of that type are scarce," she answered. "But you'll win. You're +the kind of man that wins." + +"Oh, yes, I'll win," said Mr. Crewe. + +"You're so magnificently sure of yourself," cried Mrs. Pomfret. "Alice +is taking such an interest. Every day she asks, 'When is Humphrey going +to make his first speech?' You'll let us know in time, won't you?" + +"Did you put all that nonsense in the New York Flare?" asked Mr. Crewe. + +"Oh, Humphrey, I hope you liked it," cried Mrs. Pomfret. "Don't make the +mistake of despising what women can do. They elected the Honourable +Billy Aylestone--he said so himself. I'm getting all the women +interested." + +"Who've you been calling on now?" he inquired. + +Mrs. Pomfret hesitated. + +"I've been up at Fairview to see about Mrs. Flint. She isn't much +better." + +"Is Victoria home?" Mr. Crewe demanded, with undisguised interest. + +"Poor dear girl!" said Mrs. Pomfret, "of course I wouldn't have mentioned +the subject to her, but she wanted to know all about it. It naturally +makes an awkward situation between you and her, doesn't it?" + +"Oh, Victoria's level-headed enough," Mr. Crewe had answered; "I guess +she knows something about old Flint and his methods by this time. At any +rate, it won't make any difference with me," he added magnanimously, and +threw in his clutch. He had encircled Fairview in his drive that day, +and was, curiously enough, headed in that direction now. Slow to make up +his mind in some things, as every eligible man must be, he was now coming +rapidly to the notion that he might eventually decide upon Victoria as +the most fitting mate for one in his position. Still, there was no +hurry. As for going to Fairview House, that might be awkward, besides +being open to misconstruction by his constituents. Mr. Crewe reflected, +as he rushed up the hills, that he had missed Victoria since she had been +abroad--and a man so continually occupied as he did not have time to miss +many people. Mr. Crewe made up his mind he would encircle Fairview every +day until he ran across her. + +The goddess of fortune sometimes blesses the persistent even before they +begin to persist--perhaps from sheer weariness at the remembrance of +previous importuning. Victoria, on a brand-new and somewhat sensitive +five-year-old, was coming out of the stone archway when Mr. Crewe +(without any signal this time!) threw on his brakes. An exhibition of +horsemanship followed, on Victoria's part, which Mr. Crewe beheld with +admiration. The five-year-old swung about like a weathercock in a gust +of wind, assuming an upright position, like the unicorn in the British +coat of arms. Victoria cut him, and he came down on all fours and danced +into the wire fence that encircled the Fairview domain, whereupon he got +another stinging reminder that there was some one on his back. + +"Bravo!" cried Mr. Crewe, leaning on the steering wheel and watching the +performance with delight. Never, he thought, had Victoria been more +appealing; strangely enough, he had not remembered that she was quite so +handsome, or that her colour was so vivid; or that her body was so +straight and long and supple. He liked the way in which she gave it to +that horse, and he made up his mind that she would grace any position, +however high. Presently the horse made a leap into the road in front of +the motor and stood trembling, ready to bolt. + +"For Heaven's sake, Humphrey," she cried, "shut off your power? Don't +sit there like an idiot--do you think I'm doing this for pleasure?" + +Mr. Crewe good-naturedly turned off his switch, and the motor, with a +dying sigh, was silent. He even liked the notion of being commanded to +do a thing; there was a relish about it that was new. The other women of +his acquaintance addressed him more deferentially. + +"Get hold of the bridle," he said to the chauffeur. "You've got no +business to have an animal like that," was his remark to Victoria. + +"Don't touch him!" she said to the man, who was approaching with a true +machinist's fear of a high-spirited horse. "You've got no business to +have a motor like that, if you can't handle it any better than you do." + +"You managed him all right. I'll say that for you," said Mr. Crewe. + +"No thanks to you," she replied. Now that the horse was comparatively +quiet, she sat and regarded Mr. Crewe with an amusement which was +gradually getting the better of her anger. A few moments since, and she +wished with great intensity that she had been using the whip on his +shoulders instead. Now that she had time to gather up the threads of the +situation, the irresistibly comic aspect of it grew upon her, and little +creases came into the corners of her eyes--which Mr. Crewe admired. She +recalled--with indignation, to be sure--the conversation she had +overheard in the dining room of the Duncan house, but her indignation was +particularly directed, on that occasion, towards Mr. Tooting. Here was +Humphrey Crewe, sitting talking to her in the road--Humphrey Crewe, whose +candidacy for the governorship impugned her father's management of the +Northeastern Railroads--and she was unable to take the matter seriously! +There must be something wrong with her, she thought. + +"So you're home again," Mr. Crewe observed, his eyes still bearing +witness to the indubitable fact. "I shouldn't have known it--I've been +so busy." + +"Is the Legislature still in session?" Victoria soberly inquired. + +"You are a little behind the times--ain't you?" said Mr. Crewe, in +surprise. "How long have you been home? Hasn't anybody told you what's +going on?" + +"I only came up ten days ago," she answered, "and I'm afraid I've been +something of a recluse. What is going on?" + +"Well," he declared, "I should have thought you'd heard it, anyway. I'll +send you up a few newspapers when I get back. I'm a candidate for the +governorship." + +Victoria bit her lip, and leaned over to brush a fly from the neck of her +horse. + +"You are getting on rapidly, Humphrey," she said. "Do you think you've +got--any chance?" + +"Any chance!" he repeated, with some pardonable force. "I'm sure to be +nominated. There's an overwhelming sentiment among the voters of this +State for decent politics. It didn't take me long to find that out. The +only wonder is that somebody hasn't seen it before." + +"Perhaps," she answered, giving him a steady look, "perhaps somebody has." + +One of Mr. Crewe's greatest elements of strength was his imperviousness +to this kind of a remark. + +"If anybody's seen it," he replied, "they haven't the courage of their +convictions." Such were the workings of Mr. Crewe's mind that he had +already forgotten that first talk with Mr. Hamilton Tooting. "Not that I +want to take too much credit on myself," he added, with becoming modesty, +"I have had some experience in the world, and it was natural that I +should get a fresh view. Are you coming down to Leith in a few days?" + +"I may," said Victoria. + +"Telephone me," said Mr. Crewe, "and if I can get off, I will. I'd like +to talk to you. You have more sense than most women I know." + +"You overwhelm me, Humphrey. Compliments sound strangely on your lips." + +"When I say a thing, I mean it," Mr. Crewe declared. "I don't pay +compliments. I'd make it a point to take a little time off to talk to +you. You see, so many men are interested in this thing from various +parts of the State, and we are so busy organizing, that it absorbs most +of my day." + +"I couldn't think of encroaching," Victoria protested. + +That's all right--you can be a great help. I've got confidence in your +judgment. By the way," he asked suddenly, "you haven't seen your friend +Austen Vane since you got back, have you?" + +"Why do you call him my friend?" said Victoria. Mr. Crew perceived that +the exercise had heightened her colour, and the transition appealed to +his sense of beauty. + +"Perhaps I put it a little strongly," he replied. "You seemed to take an +interest in him, for some reason. I suppose it's because you like new +types." + +"I like Mr. Vane very much,--and for himself," she said quietly. "But I +haven't seen him since I came back. Nor do I think I am likely to see +him. What made you ask about him?" + +"Well, he seems to be a man of some local standing, and he ought to be in +this campaign. If you happen to see him, you might mention the subject +to him. I've sent for him to come up and see me." + +"Mr. Vane doesn't seem to me to be a person one can send for like that," +Victoria remarked judicially. "As to advising him as to what course he +should take politically--that would even be straining my friendship for +you, Humphrey. On reflection," she added, smiling, "there may appear to +you reasons why I should not care to meddle with--politics, just now." + +"I can't see it," said Mr. Crewe; "you've got a mind of your own, and +you've never been afraid to use it, so far as I know. If you should see +that Vane man, just give him a notion of what I'm trying to do." + +"What are you trying to do?" inquired Victoria, sweetly. + +"I'm trying to clean up this State politically," said Mr. Crewe, "and I'm +going to do it. When you come down to Leith, I'll tell you about it, and +I'll send you the newspapers to-day. Don't be in a hurry," he cried, +addressing over his shoulder two farmers in a wagon who had driven up a +few moments before, and who were apparently anxious to pass. "Wind her +up, Adolphe." + +The chauffeur, standing by the crank, started the engine instantly, and +the gears screamed as Mr. Crewe threw in his low speed. The five-year- +old whirled, and bolted down the road at a pace which would have seemed +to challenge a racing car; and the girl in the saddle, bending to the +motion of the horse, was seen to raise her hand in warning. + +"Better stay whar you be," shouted one of the farmers; "don't go to +follerin' her. The hoes is runnin' away." + +Mr. Crewe steered his car into the Fairview entrance, and backed into the +road again, facing the other way. He had decided to go home. + +"That lady can take care of herself," he said, and started off towards +Leith, wondering how it was that Mr. Flint had not confided his recent +political troubles to his daughter. + +"That hoss is ugly, sure enough," said the farmer who had spoken before. + +Victoria flew on, down the narrow road. After twenty strides she did not +attempt to disguise from herself the fact that the five-year-old was in a +frenzy of fear, and running away. Victoria had been run away with +before, and having some knowledge of the animal she rode, she did not +waste her strength by pulling on the curb, but sought rather to quiet him +with her voice, which had no effect whatever. He was beyond appeal, his +head was down, and his ears trembling backwards and straining for a sound +of the terror that pursued him. The road ran through the forest, and +Victoria reflected that the grade, on the whole, was downward to the East +Tunbridge station, where the road crossed the track and took to the hills +beyond. Once among them, she would be safe--he might run as far, as he +pleased. But could she pass the station? She held a firm rein, and +tried to keep her mind clear. + +Suddenly, at a slight bend of the road, the corner of the little red +building came in sight, some hundreds of yards ahead; and, on the side +where it stood, in the clearing, was a white mass which Victoria +recognized as a pile of lumber. She saw several men on the top of the +pile, standing motionless; she heard one of them shout; the horse +swerved, and she felt herself flung violently to the left. + +Her first thought, after striking, was one of self-congratulation that +her safety stirrup and habit had behaved properly. Before she could +rise, a man was leaning over her--and in the instant she had the +impression that he was a friend. Other people had had this impression of +him on first acquaintance--his size, his genial, brick-red face, and his +honest blue eyes all doubtless contributing. + +"Are you hurt, Miss Flint?" he asked. + +"Not in the least," she replied, springing to her feet to prove the +contrary. What's become of my horse?" + +"Two of the men have gone after him," he said, staring at her with +undisguised but honest admiration. Whereupon he became suddenly +embarrassed, and pulled out a handkerchief the size of a table napkin. +"Let me dust you off." + +"Thank you," said Victoria, laughing, and beginning the process herself. +Her new acquaintance plied the handkerchief, his face a brighter brick- +red than ever. + +"Thank God, there wasn't a freight on the siding," he remarked, so +fervently that Victoria stole a glance at him. The dusting process +continued. + +"There," she exclaimed, at last, adjusting her stock and shaking her +skirt, "I'm ever so much obliged. It was very foolish in me to tumble +off, wasn't it?" + +"It was the only thing you could have done," he declared. "I had a good +view of it, and he flung you like a bean out of a shooter. That's a +powerful horse. I guess you're the kind that likes to take risks." + +Victoria laughed at his expressive phrase, and crossed the road, and sat +down on the edge of the lumber pile, in the shade. + +"There seems to be nothing to do but wait," she said, "and to thank you +again. Will you tell me your name?" + +"I'm Tom Gaylord," he replied. + +Her colour, always so near the surface, rose a little as she regarded +him. So this was Austen Vane's particular friend, whom he had tried to +put out of his window. A Herculean task, Victoria thought, from Tom's +appearance. Tom sat down within a few feet of her. + +"I've seen you a good many times, Miss Flint," he remarked, applying the +handkerchief to his face. + +"And I've seen you--once, Mr. Gaylord," some mischievous impulse prompted +her to answer. Perhaps the impulse was more deep-seated, after all. + +"Where?" demanded Tom, promptly. + +"You were engaged," said Victoria, "in a struggle in a window on Ripton +Square. It looked, for a time," she continued, "as if you were going to +be dropped on the roof of the porch." + +Tom gazed at her in confusion and surprise. + +"You seem to be fond, too, of dangerous exercise," she observed. + +"Do you mean to say you remembered me from that?" he exclaimed. "Oh, you +know Austen Vane, don't you?" + +"Does Mr. Vane acknowledge the acquaintance?" Victoria inquired. + +"It's funny, but you remind me of Austen," said Tom, grinning; you seem +to have the same queer way of saying things that he has." Here he was +conscious of another fit of embarrassment. "I hope you don't mind what I +say, Miss Flint." + +"Not at all," said Victoria. She turned, and looked across the track. + +"I suppose they are having a lot of trouble in catching my horse," she +remarked. + +"They'll get him," Tom assured her, "one of those men is my manager. He +always gets what he starts out for. What were we talking about? Oh, +Austen Vane. You see, I've known him ever since I was a shaver, and I +think the world of him. If he asked me to go to South America and get +him a zebra to-morrow, I believe I'd do it." + +"That is real devotion," said Victoria. The more she saw of young Tom, +the better she liked him, although his conversation was apt to be +slightly embarrassing. + +"We've been through a lot of rows together," Tom continued, warming to +his subject, "in school and college. You see, Austen's the kind of man +who doesn't care what anybody thinks, if he takes it into his head to do +a thing. It was a great piece of luck for me that he shot that fellow +out West, or he wouldn't be here now. You heard about that, didn't you?" + +"Yes," said Victoria, "I believe I did." + +"And yet," said Tom, "although I'm as good a friend as he has, I never +quite got under his skin. There's some things I wouldn't talk to him +about. I've learned that. I never told him, for instance, that I saw +him out in a sleigh with you at the capital." + +"Oh," said Victoria; and she added, "Is he ashamed of it?" + +"It's not that," replied Tom, hastily, "but I guess if he'd wanted me to +know about it, he'd have told me." + +Victoria had begun to realize that, in the few minutes which had elapsed +since she had found herself on the roadside, gazing up into young Tom's +eyes, she had somehow become quite intimate with him. + +"I fancy he would have told you all there was to tell about it--if the +matter had occurred to him again," she said, with the air of finally +dismissing a subject already too prolonged. But Tom knew nothing of the +shades and conventions of the art of conversation. + +"He's never told me he knew you at all!" he exclaimed, staring at +Victoria. Apparently some of the aspects of this now significant +omission on Austen's part were beginning to dawn on Tom. + +"It wasn't worth mentioning," said Victoria, briefly, seeking for a +pretext to change the subject. + +"I don't believe that," said Tom, "you can't expect me to sit here and +look at you and believe that. How long has he known you?" + +"I saw him once or twice last summer, at Leith," said Victoria, now +wavering between laughter and exasperation. She had got herself into a +quandary indeed when she had to parry the appalling frankness of such +inquiries. + +"The more you see of him, the more you'll admire him, I'll prophesy," +said Tom. "If he'd been content to travel along the easy road, as most +fellows are, he would have been counsel for the Northeastern. Instead of +that--" here Tom halted abruptly, and turned scarlet: "I forgot," he +said, "I'm always putting my foot in it, with ladies." + +He was so painfully confused that Victoria felt herself suffering with +him, and longed to comfort him. + +"Please go on, Mr. Gaylord," she said; "I am very much interested in my +neighbours here, and I know that a great many of them think that the +railroad meddles in politics. I've tried to find out what they think, +but it is so difficult for a woman to understand. If matters are wrong, +I'm sure my father will right them when he knows the situation. He has +so much to attend to." She paused. Tom was still mopping his forehead. +"You may say anything you like to me, and I shall not take offence." + +Tom's admiration of her was heightened by this attitude. + +"Austen wouldn't join Mr. Crewe in his little game, anyway," he said. +"When Ham Tooting, Crewe's manager, came to him he kicked him +downstairs." + +Victoria burst out laughing. + +"I constantly hear of these ferocious deeds which Mr. Vane commits," she +said, "and yet he seems exceptionally good-natured and mild-mannered." + +"That's straight--he kicked him downstairs. Served Tooting right, too." + +"There does seem to have been an element of justice in it," Victoria +remarked. + +"You haven't seen Austen since he left his father?" Mr. Gaylord inquired. + +"Left him! Where--has he gone?" + +"Gone up to live with Jabe Jenney. If Austen cared anything about money, +he never would have broken with the old man, who has some little put +away." + +"Why did he leave his father?" asked Victoria, not taking the trouble now +to conceal her interest. + +"Well," said Tom, "you know they never did get along. It hasn't been +Austen's fault--he's tried. After he came back from the West he stayed +here to please old Hilary, when he might have gone to New York and made a +fortune at the law, with his brains. But after Austen saw the kind of +law the old man practised he wouldn't stand for it, and got an office of +his own." + +Victoria's eyes grew serious. + +"What kind of law does Hilary Vane practise?" she asked. + +Tom hesitated and began to mop his forehead again. + +"Please don't mind me," Victoria pleaded. + +"Well, all right," said Tom, "I'll tell you the truth, or die for it. +But I don't want to make you-unhappy." + +"You will do me a kindness, Mr. Gaylord," she said, "by telling me what +you believe to be true." + +There was a note in her voice which young Tom did not understand. +Afterwards, when he reflected about the matter, he wondered if she were +unhappy. + +"I don't want to blame Hilary too much," he answered. "I know Austen +don't. Hilary's grown up with that way of doing things, and in the old +days there was no other way. Hilary is the chief counsel for the +Northeastern, and he runs the Republican organization in this State for +their benefit. But Austen made up his mind that there was no reason why +he should grow up that way. He says that'a lawyer should keep to his +profession, and not become a lobbyist in the interest of his clients. He +lived with the old man until the other day, because he has a real soft +spot for him. Austen put up with a good deal. And then Hilary turned +loose on him and said a lot of things he couldn't stand. Austen didn't +answer, but went up and packed his bags and made Hilary's housekeeper +promise to stay with him, or she'd have left, too. They say Hilary's +sorry, now. He's fond of Austen, but he can't get along with him." + +"Do--Do you know what they quarreled about?" asked Victoria, in a low +voice. + +"This spring," said Tom, "the Gaylord Lumber Company made Austen junior +counsel. He ran across a law the other day that nobody else seems to +have had sense enough to discover, by which we can sue the railroad for +excessive freight rates. It means a lot of money. He went right in to +Hilary and showed him the section, told him that suit was going to be +brought, and offered to resign. Hilary flew off the track--and said if +he didn't bring suit he'd publish it all over the State that Austen +started it. Galusha Hammer, our senior counsel, is sick, and I don't +think he'll ever get well. That makes Austen senior counsel. But he +persuaded old Tom, my father, not to bring this suit until after the +political campaign, until Mr. Crewe gets through with his fireworks. +Hilary doesn't know that." + +"I see," said Victoria. + +Down the hill, on the far side of the track, she perceived the two men +approaching with a horse; then she remembered the fact that she had been +thrown, and that it was her horse. She rose to her feet. + +"I'm ever so much obliged to you, Mr. Gaylord," she said; "you have done +me a great favour by--telling me these things. And thanks for letting +them catch the horse. I'm afraid I've put you to a lot of bother." + +"Not at all," said Tom, "not at all." He was studying her face. Its +expression troubled and moved him strangely, for he was not an analytical +person. "I didn't mean to tell you those things when I began," he +apologized, "but you wanted to hear them." + +"I wanted to hear them," repeated Victoria. She held out her hand to +him. + +"You're not going to ride home!" he exclaimed. "I'll take you up in my +buggy--it's in the station shed." + +She smiled, turned and questioned and thanked the men, examined the +girths and bridle, and stroked the five-year-old on the neck. He was wet +from mane to fetlocks. + +"I don't think he'll care to run much farther," she said. "If you'll +pull him over to the lumber pile, Mr. Gaylord, I'll mount him." + +They performed her bidding in silence, each paying her a tribute in his +thoughts. As for the five-year-old, he was quiet enough by this time. +When she was in the saddle she held out her hand once more to Tom. + +"I hope we shall meet soon again," she said, and smiling back at him, +started on her way towards Fairview. + +Tom stood for a moment looking after her, while the two men indulged in +surprised comments. + +"Andrews," said young Mr. Gaylord, "just fetch my buggy and follow her +until she gets into the gate." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A SPIRIT IN THE WOODS + +Empires crack before they crumble, and the first cracks seem easily +mended--even as they have been mended before. A revolt in Gaul or +Britain or Thrace is little to be minded, and a prophet in Judea less. +And yet into him who sits in the seat of power a premonition of something +impending gradually creeps--a premonition which he will not acknowledge, +will not define. Yesterday, by the pointing of a finger, he created a +province; to-day he dares not, but consoles himself by saying he does not +wish to point. No antagonist worthy of his steel has openly defied him, +worthy of recognition by the opposition of a legion. But the sense of +security has been subtly and indefinably shaken. + +By the strange telepathy which defies language, to the Honourable Hilary +Vane, Governor of the Province, some such unacknowledged forebodings have +likewise been communicated. A week after his conversation with Austen, +on the return of his emperor from a trip to New York, the Honourable +Hilary was summoned again to the foot of the throne, and his thoughts as +he climbed the ridges towards Fairview were not in harmony with the +carols of the birds in the depths of the forest and the joy of the bright +June weather. Loneliness he had felt before, and to its ills he had +applied the antidote of labour. The burden that sat upon his spirit to- +day was not mere loneliness; to the truth of this his soul attested, but +Hilary Vane had never listened to the promptings of his soul. He would +have been shocked if you had told him this. Did he not confess, with his +eyes shut, his sins every Sunday? Did he not publicly acknowledge his +soul? + +Austen Vane had once remarked that, if some keen American lawyer would +really put his mind to the evasion of the Ten Commandments, the High +Heavens themselves might be cheated. This saying would have shocked the +Honourable Hilary inexpressibly. He had never been employed by a +syndicate to draw up papers to avoid these mandates; he revered them, as +he revered the Law, which he spelled with a capital. He spelled the word +Soul with a capital likewise, and certainly no higher recognition could +be desired than this! Never in the Honourable Hilary's long, laborious, +and preeminently model existence had he realized that happiness is +harmony. It would not be true to assert that, on this wonderful June +day, a glimmering of this truth dawned upon him. Such a statement would +be open to the charge of exaggeration, and his frame of mind was +pessimistic. But he had got so far as to ask himself the question,--Cui +bono? and repeated it several times on his drive, until a verse of +Scripture came, unbidden, to his lips. "For what hate man of all his +labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under +the sun?" and "there is one event unto all." Austen's saying, that he +had never learned how to enjoy life, he remembered, too. What had Austen +meant by that? + +Hitherto Hilary Vane had never failed of self-justification in any event +which had befallen him; and while this consciousness of the rectitude of +his own attitude had not made him happier, there had been a certain grim +pleasure in it. To the fact that he had ruined, by sheer over- +righteousness, the last years of the sunny life of Sarah Austen he had +been oblivious--until to-day. The strange, retrospective mood which had +come over him this afternoon led his thoughts into strange paths, and he +found himself wondering if, after all, it had not been in his power to +make her happier. Her dryad-like face, with its sweet, elusive smile, +seemed to peer at him now wistfully out of the forest, and suddenly a new +and startling thought rose up within him--after six and thirty years. +Perhaps she had belonged in the forest! Perhaps, because he had sought +to cage her, she had pined and died! The thought gave Hilary unwonted +pain, and he strove to put it away from him; but memories such as these, +once aroused, are not easily set at rest, and he bent his head as he +recalled (with a new and significant pathos) those hopeless and pitiful +flights into the wilds she loved. + +Now Austen had gone. Was there a Law behind these actions of mother and +son which he had persisted in denouncing as vagaries? Austen was a man: +a man, Hilary could not but see, who had the respect of his fellows, +whose judgment and talents were becoming recognized. Was it possible +that he, Hilary Vane, could have been one of those referred to by the +Preacher? During the week which had passed since Austen's departure the +house in Hanover Street had been haunted for Hilary. The going of his +son had not left a mere void,--that would have been pain enough. Ghosts +were there, ghosts which he could but dimly feel and see, and more than +once, in the long evenings, he had taken to the streets to avoid them. + +In that week Hilary's fear of meeting his son in the street or in the +passages of the building had been equalled by a yearning to see him. +Every morning, at the hour Austen was wont to drive Pepper to the Ripton +House stables across the square, Hilary had contrived to be standing near +his windows--a little back, and out of sight. And--stranger still!--he +had turned from these glimpses to the reports of the Honourable Brush +Bascom and his associates with a distaste he had never felt before. + +With some such thoughts as these Hilary Vane turned into the last +straight stretch of the avenue that led to Fairview House, with its red +and white awnings gleaming in the morning sun. On the lawn, against a +white and purple mass of lilacs and the darker background of pines, a +straight and infinitely graceful figure in white caught his eye and held +it. He recognized Victoria. She wore a simple summer gown, the soft +outline of its flounces mingling subtly with the white clusters behind +her. She turned her head at the sound of the wheels and looked at him; +the distance was not too great for a bow, but Hilary did not bow. +Something in her face deterred him from this act,--something which he +himself did not understand or define. He sought to pronounce the +incident negligible. What was the girl, or her look, to him? And yet +(he found himself strangely thinking) he had read in her eyes a trace of +the riddle which had been relentlessly pursuing him; there was an odd +relation in her look to that of Sarah Austen. During the long years he +had been coming to Fairview, even before the new house was built, when +Victoria was in pinafores, he had never understood her. When she was a +child, he had vaguely recognized in her a spirit antagonistic to his own, +and her sayings had had a disconcerting ring. And now this simple glance +of hers had troubled him--only more definitely. + +It was a new experience for the Honourable Hilary to go into a business +meeting with his faculties astray. Absently he rang the stable bell, +surrendered his horse, and followed a footman to the retired part of the +house occupied by the railroad president. Entering the oakbound sanctum, +he crossed it and took a seat by the window, merely nodding to Mr. Flint, +who was dictating a letter. Mr. Flint took his time about the letter, +but when it was finished he dismissed the stenographer with an impatient +and powerful wave of the hand--as though brushing the man bodily out of +the room. Remaining motionless until the door had closed, Mr. Flint +turned abruptly and fixed his eyes on the contemplative figure of his +chief counsel. + +"Well?" he said. + +"Well, Flint," answered the Honourable Hilary. + +"Well," said Mr. Flint, "that bridge over Maple River has got loosened up +so by the freshet that we have to keep freight cars on it to hold it +down, and somebody is trying to make trouble by writing a public letter +to the Railroad Commission, and calling attention to the head-on +collision at Barker's Station." + +"Well," replied the Honourable Hilary, again, "that won't have any +influence on the Railroad Commission." + +"No," said Mr. Flint, "but it all goes to increase this confounded public +sentiment that's in the air, like smallpox. Another jackass pretends to +have kept a table of the through trains on the Sumsic division, and says +they've averaged forty-five minutes late at Edmundton. He says the +through express made the run faster thirty years ago." + +"I guess that's so," said the Honourable Hilary, "I was counsel for that +road then. I read that letter. He says there isn't an engine on the +division that could pull his hat off, up grade." + +Neither of the two gentlemen appeared to deem this statement humorous. + +"What these incendiaries don't understand," said Mr. Flint, "is that we +have to pay dividends." + +"It's because they don't get 'em," replied Mr. Vane, sententiously. + +"The track slid into the water at Glendale," continued Mr. Flint. "I +suppose they'll tell us we ought to rock ballast that line. You'll see +the Railroad Commission, and give 'em a sketch of a report." + +"I had a talk with Young yesterday," said Mr. Vane, his eyes on the +stretch of lawn and forest framed by the window. For the sake of the +ignorant, it may be well to add that the Honourable Orrin Young was the +chairman of the Commission. + +"And now," said Mr. Flint, "not that this Crewe business amounts to that" +(here the railroad president snapped his fingers with the intensity of a +small pistol shot), "but what's he been doing?" + +"Political advertising," said the Honourable Hilary. + +"Plenty of it, I guess," Mr. Flint remarked acidly. "That's one thing +Tooting can't teach him. He's a natural-born genius at it." + +"Tooting can help--even at that," answered Mr. Vane, ironically. +"They've got a sketch of so-called Northeastern methods in forty weekly +newspapers this week, with a picture of that public benefactor and +martyr, Humphrey Crewe. Here's a sample of it." + +Mr. Flint waved the sample away. + +"You've made a list of the newspapers that printed it?" Mr. Flint +demanded. Had he lived in another age he might have added, "Have the +malefactors burned alive in my garden." + +"Brush has seen some of 'em," said Mr. Vane, no doubt referring to the +editors, "and I had some of 'em come to Ripton. They've got a lot to say +about the freedom of the press, and their right to take political +advertising. Crewe's matter is in the form of a despatch, and most of +'em pointed out at the top of the editorial columns that their papers are +not responsible for despatches in the news columns. Six of 'em are out +and out for Crewe, and those fellows are honest enough." + +"Take away their passes and advertising," said Mr. Flint. ("Off with +their heads!" said the Queen of Hearts.) + +"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Flint; they might make capital out of +it. I think you'll find that five of 'em have sent their passes back, +anyway." + +"Freeman will give you some new ideas" (from the "Book of Arguments," +although Mr. Flint did not say so) "which have occurred to me might be +distributed for editorial purposes next week. And, by the way, what have +you done about that brilliant Mr. Coombes of the 'Johnstown Ray,' who +says 'the Northeastern Railroads give us a pretty good government'?" + +The Honourable Hilary shook his head. + +"Too much zeal," he observed. "I guess he won't do it again." + +For a while after that they talked of strictly legal matters, which the +chief counsel produced in order out of his bag. But when these were +finally disposed of, Mr. Flint led the conversation back to the +Honourable Humphrey Crewe, who stood harmless--to be sure--like a bull on +the track which it might be unwise to run over. + +"He doesn't amount to a soap bubble in a gale," Mr. Flint declared +contemptuously. "Sometimes I think we made a great mistake to notice +him. + +"We haven't noticed him," said Mr. Vane; "the newspapers have." + +Mr. Flint brushed this distinction aside. + +"That," he said irritably, "and letting Tooting go--" + +The Honourable Hilary's eyes began to grow red. In former days Mr. Flint +had not often questioned his judgment. + +"There's one thing more I wanted to mention to you," said the chief +counsel. "In past years I have frequently drawn your attention to that +section of the act of consolidation which declares that rates and fares +existing at the time of its passage shall not be increased." + +"Well," said Mr. Flint, impatiently, "well, what of it?" + +"Only this," replied the Honourable Hilary, "you disregarded my advice, +and the rates on many things are higher than they were." + +"Upon my word, Vane," said Mr. Flint, "I wish you'd chosen some other day +to croak. What do you want me to do? Put all the rates back because +this upstart politician Crewe is making a noise? Who's going to dig up +that section?" + +"Somebody has dug it up," said Mr. Vane: + +This was the last straw. + +"Speak out, man!" he cried. "What are you leading up to?" + +"Just this," answered the Honourable Hilary; "that the Gaylord Lumber +Company are going to bring suit under that section." + +Mr. Flint rose, thrust his hands in his pockets, and paced the room +twice. + +"Have they got a case?" he demanded. + +"It looks a little that way tome," said Mr. Vane. "I'm not prepared to +give a definite opinion as yet." + +Mr. Flint measured the room twice again. + +"Did that old fool Hammer stumble on to this?" + +"Hammer's sick," said Mr. Vane; "they say he's got Bright's disease. My +son discovered that section." + +There was a certain ring of pride in the Honourable Hilary's voice, and a +lifting of the head as he pronounced the words "my son," which did not +escape Mr. Flint. The railroad president walked slowly to the arm of the +chair in which his chief counsel was seated, and stood looking down at +him. But the Honourable Hilary appeared unconscious of what was +impending. + +"Your son!" exclaimed Mr. Flint. "So your son, the son of the man who +has been my legal adviser and confidant and friend for thirty years, is +going to join the Crewel and Tootings in their assaults on established +decency and order! He's out for cheap political preferment, too, is he? +By thunder! I thought that he had some such thing in his mind when he +came in here and threw his pass in my face and took that Meader suit. I +don't mind telling you that he's the man I've been afraid of all along. +He's got a head on him--I saw that at the start. I trusted to you to +control him, and this is how you do it." + +It was characteristic of the Honourable Hilary, when confronting an angry +man, to grow cooler as the other's temper increased. + +"I don't want to control him," he said. + +"I guess you couldn't," retorted Mr. Flint. + +"That's a better way of putting it," replied the Honourable Hilary, "I +couldn't." + +The chief counsel for the Northeastern Railroads got up and went to the +window, where he stood for some time with his back turned to the +president. Then Hilary Vane faced about. + +"Mr. Flint," he began, in his peculiar deep and resonant voice, "you've +said some things to-day that I won't forget. I want to tell you, first +of all, that I admire my son." + +"I thought so," Mr. Flint interrupted. + +"And more than that," the Honourable Hilary continued, "I prophesy that +the time will come when you'll admire him. Austen Vane never did an +underhanded thing in his life--or committed a mean action. He's be'n +wild, but he's always told me the truth. I've done him injustice a good +many times, but I won't stand up and listen to another man do him +injustice." Here he paused, and picked up his bag. "I'm going down to +Ripton to write out my resignation as counsel for your roads, and as soon +as you can find another man to act, I shall consider it accepted." + +It is difficult to put down on paper the sensations of the president of +the Northeastern Railroads as he listened to these words from a man with +whom he had been in business relations for over a quarter of a century, a +man upon whose judgment he had always relied implicitly, who had been a +strong fortress in time of trouble. Such sentences had an incendiary, +blasphemous ring on Hilary Vane's lips--at first. It was as if the sky +had fallen, and the Northeastern had been wiped out of existence. + +Mr. Flint's feelings were, in a sense, akin to those of a traveller by +sea who wakens out of a sound sleep in his cabin, with peculiar and +unpleasant sensations, which he gradually discovers are due to cold +water, and he realizes that the boat on which he is travelling is +sinking. + +The Honourable Hilary, with his bag, was halfway to the door, when Mr. +Flint crossed the room in three strides and seized him by the arm. + +"Hold on, Vane," he said, speaking with some difficulty; "I'm--I'm a +little upset this morning, and my temper got the best of me. You and I +have been good friends for too many years for us to part this way. Sit +down a minute, for God's sake, and let's cool off. I didn't intend to +say what I did. I apologize." + +Mr. Flint dropped his counsel's arm, and pulled out a handkerchief, and +mopped his face. "Sit down, Hilary," he said. + +The Honourable Hilary's tight lips trembled. Only three or four times in +their long friendship had the president made use of his first name. + +"You wouldn't leave me in the lurch now, Hilary," Mr. Flint continued, +"when all this nonsense is in the air? Think of the effect such an +announcement would have! Everybody knows and respects you, and we can't +do without your advice and counsel. But I won't put it on that ground. +I'd never forgive myself, as long as I lived, if I lost one of my oldest +and most valued personal friends in this way." + +The Honourable Hilary looked at Mr. Flint, and sat down. He began to cut +a piece of Honey Dew, but his hand shook. It was difficult, as we know, +for him to give expression to his feelings. + +"All right," he said. + +Half an hour later Victoria, from under the awning of the little balcony +in front of her mother's sitting room, saw her father come out bareheaded +into the sun and escort the Honourable Hilary Vane to his buggy. This +was an unwonted proceeding. + +Victoria loved to sit in that balcony, a book lying neglected in her lap, +listening to the summer sounds: the tinkle of distant cattle bells, the +bass note of a hurrying bee, the strangely compelling song of the hermit- +thrush, which made her breathe quickly; the summer wind, stirring +wantonly, was prodigal with perfumes gathered from the pines and the +sweet June clover in the fields and the banks of flowers; in the +distance, across the gentle foreground of the hills, Sawanec beckoned-- +did Victoria but raise her eyes!--to a land of enchantment. + +The appearance of her father and Hilary had broken her reverie, and a new +thought, like a pain, had clutched her. The buggy rolled slowly down the +drive, and Mr. Flint, staring after it a moment, went in the house. +After a few minutes he emerged again, an old felt hat on his head which +he was wont to wear in the country and a stick in his hand. Without +raising his eyes, he started slowly across the lawn; and to Victoria, +leaning forward intently over the balcony rail, there seemed an unwonted +lack of purpose in his movements. Usually he struck out briskly in the +direction of the pastures where his prize Guernseys were feeding, +stopping on the way to pick up the manager of his farm. There are signs, +unknown to men, which women read, and Victoria felt her heart beating, as +she turned and entered the sitting room through the French window. A +trained nurse was softly closing the door of the bedroom on the right. + +"Mrs. Flint is asleep," she said. + +"I am going out for a little while, Miss Oliver," Victoria answered, and +the nurse returned a gentle smile of understanding. + +Victoria, descending the stairs, hastily pinned on a hat which she kept +in the coat closet, and hurried across the lawn in the direction Mr. +Flint had taken. Reaching the pine grove, thinned by a famous landscape +architect, she paused involuntarily to wonder again at the ultramarine of +Sawanec through the upright columns of the trunks under the high canopy +of boughs. The grove was on a plateau, which was cut on the side nearest +the mountain by the line of a gray stone wall, under which the land fell +away sharply. Mr. Flint was seated on a bench, his hands clasped across +his stick, and as she came softly over the carpet of the needles he did +not hear her until she stood beside him. + +"You didn't tell me that you were going for a walk," she said +reproachfully. + +He started, and dropped his stick. She stooped quickly, picked it up for +him, and settled herself at his side. + +"I--I didn't expect to go, Victoria," he answered. + +"You see," she said, "it's useless to try to slip away. I saw you from +the balcony." + +"How's your mother feeling?" he asked. + +"She's asleep. She seems better to me since she's come back to +Fairview." + +Mr. Flint stared at the mountain with unseeing eyes. + +"Father," said Victoria, "don't you think you ought to stay up here at +least a week, and rest? I think so." + +"No," he said, "no. There's a directors' meeting of a trust company to- +morrow which I have to attend. I'm not tired." + +Victoria shook her head, smiling at him with serious eyes. + +"I don't believe you know when you are tired," she declared. "I can't +see the good of all these directors' meetings. Why don't you retire, and +live the rest of your life in peace? You've got--money enough, and even +if you haven't," she added, with the little quiver of earnestness that +sometimes came into her voice, "we could sell this big house and go back +to the farmhouse to live. We used to be so happy there." + +He turned abruptly, and fixed upon her a steadfast, searching stare that +held, nevertheless, a strange tenderness in it. + +"You don't care for all this, do you, Victoria?" he demanded, waving his +stick to indicate the domain of Fairview. + +She laughed gently, and raised her eyes to the green roof of the needles. + +"If we could only keep the pine grove!" she sighed. "Do you remember +what good times we had in the farmhouse, when you and I used to go off +for whole days together?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Flint, "yes." + +"We don't do that any more," said Victoria. "It's only a little drive +and a walk, now and then. And they seem to be growing--scarcer." + +Mr. Flint moved uneasily, and made an attempt to clear his voice. + +"I know it," he said, and further speech seemingly failed him. Victoria +had the greater courage of the two. + +"Why don't we?" she asked. + +"I've often thought of it," he replied, still seeking his words with +difficulty. "I find myself with more to do every year, Victoria, instead +of less." + +"Then why don't you give it up?" + +"Why?" he asked, "why? Sometimes I wish with my whole soul I could give +it up. I've always said that you had more sense than most women, but +even you could not understand." + +"I could understand," said Victoria. + +He threw at her another glance,--a ring in her words proclaimed their +truth in spite of his determined doubt. In her eyes--had he but known +it!--was a wisdom that exceeded his. + +"You don't realize what you're saying," he exclaimed; "I can't leave the +helm." + +"Isn't it," she said, "rather the power that is so hard to relinquish?" + +The feelings of Augustus Flint when he heard this question were of a +complex nature. It was the second time that day he had been shocked,-- +the first being when Hilary Vane had unexpectedly defended his son. The +word Victoria had used, power, had touched him on the quick. What had +she meant by it? Had she been his wife and not his daughter, he would +have flown into a rage. Augustus Flint was not a man given to the +psychological amusement of self-examination; he had never analyzed his +motives. He had had little to do with women, except Victoria. The Rose +of Sharon knew him as the fountainhead from which authority and money +flowed, but Victoria, since her childhood, had been his refuge from care, +and in the haven of her companionship he had lost himself for brief +moments of his life. She was the one being he really loved, with whom he +consulted on such affairs of importance as he felt to be within her scope +and province,--the cattle, the men on the place outside of the household, +the wisdom of buying the Baker farm; bequests to charities, paintings, +the library; and recently he had left to her judgment the European baths +and the kind of treatment which her mother had required. Victoria had +consulted with the physicians in Paris, and had made these decisions +herself. From a child she had never shown a disposition to evade +responsibility. + +To his intimate business friends, Mr. Flint was in the habit of speaking +of her as his right-hand man, but she was circumscribed by her sex,--or +rather by Mr. Flint's idea of her sex,--and it never occurred to him that +she could enter into the larger problems of his life. For this reason he +had never asked himself whether such a state of affairs would be +desirable. In reality it was her sympathy he craved, and such an +interpretation of himself as he chose to present to her. + +So her question was a shock. He suddenly beheld his daughter +transformed, a new personality who had been thinking, and thinking along +paths which he had never cared to travel. + +"The power!" he repeated. "What do you mean by that, Victoria?" + +She sat for a moment on the end of the bench, gazing at him with a +questioning, searching look which he found disconcerting. What had +happened to his daughter? He little guessed the tumult in her breast. +She herself could not fully understand the strange turn the conversation +had taken towards the gateway of the vital things. + +"It is natural for men to love power, isn't it?" + +"I suppose so," said Mr. Flint, uneasily. "I don't know what you're +driving at, Victoria." + +"You control the lives and fortunes of a great many people." + +"That's just it," answered Mr. Flint, with a dash at this opening; "my +responsibilities are tremendous. I can't relinquish them." + +"There is no--younger man to take your place? Not that I mean you are +old, father," she continued, "but you have worked very hard all your +life, and deserve a holiday the rest of it." + +"I don't know of any younger man," said Mr. Flint. "I don't mean to say +I'm the only person in the world who can safeguard the stockholders' +interests in the Northeastern. But I know the road and its problems. I +don't understand this from you, Victoria. It doesn't sound like you. +And as for letting go the helm now," he added, with a short laugh tinged +with bitterness, "I'd be posted all over the country as a coward." + +"Why?" asked Victoria, in the same quiet way. + +"Why? Because a lot of discontented and disappointed people who have +made failures of their lives are trying to give me as much trouble as +they can." + +"Are you sure they are all disappointed and discontented, father?" she +said. + +"What," exclaimed Mr. Flint, "you ask me that question? You, my own +daughter, about people who are trying to make me out a rascal!" + +"I don't think they are trying to make you out a rascal--at least most of +them are not," said Victoria. "I don't think the--what you might call +the personal aspect enters in with the honest ones." + +Mr. Flint was inexpressibly amazed. He drew a long breath. + +"Who are the honest ones?" he cried. "Do you mean to say that you, my +own daughter, are defending these charlatans?" + +"Listen, father," said Victoria. "I didn't mean to worry you, I didn't +mean to bring up that subject to-day. Come--let's go for a walk and see +the new barn." + +But Mr. Flint remained firmly planted on the bench. + +"Then you did intend to bring up the subject--some day?" he asked. + +"Yes," said Victoria. She sat down again. "I have often wanted to hear- +-your side of it." + +"Whose side have you heard?" demanded Mr. Flint. + +A crimson flush crept into her cheek, but her father was too disturbed to +notice it. + +"You know," she said gently, "I go about the country a good deal, and I +hear people talking,--farmers, and labourers, and people in the country +stores who don't know that I'm your daughter." + +"What do they say?" asked Mr. Flint, leaning forward eagerly and +aggressively. + +Victoria hesitated, turning over the matter in her mind. + +"You understand, I am merely repeating what they say--" + +"Yes, yes," he interrupted, "I want to know how far this thing has gone +among them." + +"Well," continued Victoria, looking at him bravely, "as nearly as I can +remember their argument it is this: that the Northeastern Railroads +control the politics of the State for their own benefit. That you +appoint the governors and those that go to the Legislature, and that-- +Hilary Vane gets them elected. They say that be manages a political +machine--that's the right word, isn't it?--for you. And that no laws can +be passed of which you do not approve. And they say that the politicians +whom Hilary Vane commands, and the men whom they put into office are all +beholden to the railroad, and are of a sort which good citizens cannot +support. They say that the railroad has destroyed the people's +government." + +Mr. Flint, for the moment forgetting or ignoring the charges, glanced at +her in astonishment. The arraignment betrayed an amount of thought on +the subject which he had not suspected. + +"Upon my word, Victoria," he said, "you ought to take the stump for +Humphrey Crewe." + +She reached out with a womanly gesture, and laid her hand upon his. + +"I am only telling you--what I hear," she said. + +"Won't you explain to me the way you look at it? These people don't all +seem to be dishonest men or charlatans. Some of them, I know, are +honest." And her colour rose again. + +"Then they are dupes and fools," Mr. Flint declared vehemently. "I don't +know how to explain it to you the subject is too vast, too far-reaching. +One must have had some business experience to grasp it. I don't mean to +say you're not intelligent, but I'm at a loss where to begin with you. +Looked at from their limited point of view, it would seem as if they had +a case. I don't mean your friend, Humphrey Crewe--it's anything to get +office with him. Why, he came up here and begged me--" + +"I wasn't thinking of Humphrey Crewe," said Victoria. Mr. Flint gave an +ejaculation of distaste. + +"He's no more of a reformer than I am. And now we've got that wild son +of Hilary Vane's--the son of one of my oldest friends and associates-- +making trouble. He's bitten with this thing, too, and he's got some +brains in his head. Why," exclaimed Mr. Flint, stopping abruptly and +facing his daughter, "you know him! He's the one who drove you home that +evening from Crewe's party." + +"I remember," Victoria faltered, drawing her hand away. + +"I wasn't very civil to him that night, but I've always been on the +lookout for him. I sent him a pass once, and he came up here and gave me +as insolent a talking to as I ever had in my life." + +How well Victoria recalled that first visit, and how she had wondered +about the cause of it! So her father and Austen Vane had quarrelled from +the first. + +"I'm sure he didn't mean to be insolent," she said, in a low voice. "He +isn't at all that sort." + +"I don't know what sort he is, except that he isn't my sort," Mr. Flint +retorted, intent upon the subject which had kindled his anger earlier in +the day. "I don't pretend to understand him. He could probably have +been counsel for the road if he had behaved decently. Instead, he starts +in with suits against us. He's hit upon something now." + +The president of the Northeastern dug savagely into the ground with his +stick, and suddenly perceived that his daughter had her face turned away +from his, towards the mountain. + +"Well, I won't bore you with that." + +She turned with a look in her eyes that bewildered him. + +"You're not--boring me," she said. + +"I didn't intend to go into all that," he explained more calmly, "but the +last few days have been trying, we've got to expect the wind to blow from +all directions." + +Victoria smiled at him faintly. + +"I have told you," she said, "that what you need is a trip abroad. +Perhaps some day you will remember it." + +"Maybe I'll go in the autumn," he answered, smiling back at her. "These +little flurries don't amount to anything more than mosquito-bites--only +mosquitoes are irritating. You and I understand each other, Victoria, +and now listen. I'll give you the broad view of this subject, the view +I've got to take, and I've lived in the world and seen more of it than +some folks who think they know it all. I am virtually the trustee for +thousands of stockholders, many of whom are widows and orphans. These +people are innocent; they rely on my ability, and my honesty, for their +incomes. Few men who have not had experience in railroad management know +one-tenth of the difficulties and obstructions encountered by a railroad +president who strives to do his duty by the road. My business is to run +the Northeastern as economically as is consistent with good service and +safety, and to give the stockholders the best return for their money. I +am the steward--and so long as I am the steward," he exclaimed, "I'm +going to do what I think is right, taking into consideration all the +difficulties that confront me." + +He got up and took a turn or two on the pine-needles. Victoria regarded +him in silence. He appeared to her at that moment the embodiment of the +power he represented. Force seemed to emanate from him, and she +understood more clearly than ever how, from a poor boy on an obscure farm +in Truro, he had risen to his present height. + +"I don't say the service is what it should be," he went on, "but give me +time--give me time. With all this prosperity in the country we can't +handle the freight. We haven't got cars enough, tracks enough, engines +enough. I won't go into that with you. But I do expect you to +understand this: that politicians are politicians; they have always been +corrupt as long as I have known them, and in my opinion they always will +be. The Northeastern is the largest property holder in the State, pays +the biggest tax, and has the most at stake. The politicians could ruin +us in a single session of the Legislature--and what's more, they would do +it. We'd have to be paying blackmail all the time to prevent measures +that would compel us to go out of business. This is a fact, and not a +theory. What little influence I exert politically I have to maintain in +order to protect the property of my stockholders from annihilation. It +isn't to be supposed," he concluded, "that I'm going to see the State +turned over to a man like Humphrey Crewe. I wish to Heaven that this and +every other State had a George Washington for governor and a majority of +Robert Morrises in the Legislature. If they exist, in these days, the +people won't elect 'em--that's all. The kind of man the people will +elect, if you let 'em alone, is--a man who brings in a bill and comes to +you privately and wants you to buy him off." + +"Oh, father," Victoria cried, "I can't believe that of the people I see +about here! They seem so kind and honest and high-principled." + +Mr. Flint gave a short laugh. + +"They're dupes, I tell you. They're at the mercy of any political +schemer who thinks it worth his while to fool 'em. Take Leith, for +instance. There's a man over there who has controlled every office in +that town for twenty-five years or more. He buys and sells votes and +credentials like cattle. His name is Job Braden." + +"Why," said Victoria, I saw him at Humphrey Crewe's garden-party." + +"I guess you did," said Mr. Flint, "and I guess Humphrey Crewe saw him +before he went." + +Victoria was silent, the recollection of the talk between Mr. Tooting and +Mr. Crewe running through her mind, and Mr. Tooting's saying that he had +done "dirty things" for the Northeastern. She felt that this was +something she could not tell her father, nor could she answer his +argument with what Tom Gaylord had said. She could not, indeed, answer +Mr. Flint's argument at all; the subject, as he had declared, being too +vast for her. And moreover, as she well knew, Mr. Flint was a man whom +other men could not easily answer; he bore them down, even as he had +borne her down. Involuntarily her mind turned to Austen, and she +wondered what he had said; she wondered how he would have answered her +father--whether he could have answered him. And she knew not what to +think. Could it be right, in a position of power and responsibility, to +acknowledge evil and deal with it as evil? That was, in effect, the gist +of Mr. Flint's contention. She did not know. She had never (strangely +enough, she thought) sought before to analyze the ethical side of her +father's character. One aspect of him she had shared with her mother, +that he was a tower of defence and strength, and that his name alone had +often been sufficient to get difficult things done. + +Was he right in this? And were his opponents charlatans, or dupes, or +idealists who could never be effective? Mr. Crewe wanted an office; Tom +Gaylord had a suit against the road, and Austen Vane was going to bring +that suit! What did she really know of Austen Vane? But her soul cried +out treason at this, and she found herself repeating, with intensity, "I +believe in him! I believe in him!" She would have given worlds to have +been able to stand up before her father and tell him that Austen would +not bring the suit at this time that Austen had not allowed his name to +be mentioned for office in this connection, and had spurned Mr. Crewe's +advances. But she had not seen Austen since February. + +What was his side of it? He had never told her, and she respected his +motives--yet, what was his side? Fresh from the inevitably deep +impressions which her father's personality had stamped upon her, she +wondered if Austen could cope with the argument before which she had been +so helpless. + +The fact that she made of each of these two men the embodiment of a +different and opposed idea did not occur to Victoria until that +afternoon. Unconsciously, each had impersonated the combatants in a +struggle which was going on in her own breast. Her father himself, +instinctively, had chosen Austen Vane for his antagonist without knowing +that she had an interest in him. Would Mr. Flint ever know? Or would +the time come when she would be forced to take a side? The blood mounted +to her temples as she put the question from her. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MR. JABE JENNEY ENTERTAINS + +Mr. Flint had dropped the subject with his last remark, nor had Victoria +attempted to pursue it. Bewildered and not a little depressed (a new +experience for her), she had tried to hide her feelings. He, too, was +harassed and tired, and she had drawn him away from the bench and through +the pine woods to the pastures to look at his cattle and the model barn +he was building for them. At half-past three, in her runabout, she had +driven him to the East Tunbridge station, where he had taken the train +for New York. He had waved her a good-by from the platform, and smiled: +and for a long time, as she drove through the silent roads, his words and +his manner remained as vivid as though he were still by her side. He was +a man who had fought and conquered, and who fought on for the sheer love +of it. + +It was a blue day in the hill country. At noon the clouds had crowned +Sawanec--a sure sign of rain; the rain had come and gone, a June +downpour, and the overcast sky lent (Victoria fancied) to the country- +side a new atmosphere. The hills did not look the same. It was the kind +of a day when certain finished country places are at their best--or +rather seem best to express their meaning; a day for an event; a day set +strangely apart with an indefinable distinction. Victoria recalled such +days in her youth when weddings or garden-parties had brought canopies +into service, or news had arrived to upset the routine of the household. +Raindrops silvered the pines, and the light winds shook them down on the +road in a musical shower. + +Victoria was troubled, as she drove, over a question which had recurred +to her many times since her talk that morning: had she been hypocritical +in not telling her father that she had seen more of Austen Vane than she +had implied by her silence? For many years Victoria had chosen her own +companions; when the custom had begun, her mother had made a protest +which Mr. Flint had answered with a laugh; he thought Victoria's judgment +better than his wife's. Ever since that time the Rose of Sharon had +taken the attitude of having washed her hands of responsibility for a +course which must inevitably lead to ruin. She discussed some of +Victoria's acquaintances with Mrs. Pomfret and other intimates; and Mrs. +Pomfret had lost no time in telling Mrs. Flint about her daughter's +sleigh-ride at the State capital with a young man from Ripton who seemed +to be seeing entirely too much of Victoria. Mrs. Pomfret had marked +certain danger signs, and as a conscientious woman was obliged to speak +of them. Mrs. Pomfret did not wish to see Victoria make a mesalliance. + +"My dear Fanny," Mrs. Flint had cried, lifting herself from the lace +pillows, "what do you expect me to do especially when I have nervous +prostration? I've tried to do my duty by Victoria--goodness knows--to +bring her up--among the sons and daughters of the people who are my +friends. They tell me that she has temperament--whatever that may be. +I'm sure I never found out, except that the best thing to do with people +who have it is to let them alone and pray for them. When we go abroad I +like the Ritz and Claridge's and that new hotel in Rome. I see my +friends there. Victoria, if you please, likes the little hotels in the +narrow streets where you see nobody, and where you are most +uncomfortable." (Miss Oliver, it's time for those seven drops.) "As I +was saying, Victoria's enigmatical hopeless, although a French comtesse +who wouldn't look at anybody at the baths this spring became wild about +her, and a certain type of elderly English peer always wants to marry +her. (I suppose I do look pale to-day.) Victoria loves art, and really +knows something about it. She adores to potter around those queer places +abroad where you see strange English and Germans and Americans with red +books in their hands. What am I to do about this young man of whom you +speak--whatever his name is? I suppose Victoria will marry him--it would +be just like her. But what can I do, Fanny? I can't manage her, and +it's no use going to her father. He would only laugh. Augustus actually +told me once there was no such thing as social position in this country!" + +"American men of affairs," Mrs. Pomfret judicially replied, "are too busy +to consider position. They make it, my dear, as a by-product." Mrs. +Pomfret smiled, and mentally noted this aptly technical witticism for use +again. + +"I suppose they do," assented the Rose of Sharon, "and their daughters +sometimes squander it, just as their sons squander their money." + +"I'm not at all sure that Victoria is going to squander it," was Mrs. +Pomfret's comforting remark. "She is too much of a personage, and she +has great wealth behind her. I wish Alice were more like her, in some +ways. Alice is so helpless, she has to be prodded and prompted +continually. I can't leave her for a moment. And when she is married, +I'm going into a sanatorium for six months." + +"I hear," said Mrs. Flint, "that Humphrey Crewe is quite epris." + +"Poor dear Humphrey!" exclaimed Mrs. Pomfret, "he can think of nothing +else but politics." + +But we are not to take up again, as yet, the deeds of the crafty Ulysses. +In order to relate an important conversation between Mrs. Pomfret and the +Rose of Sharon, we have gone back a week in this history, and have left +Victoria--absorbed in her thoughts--driving over a wood road of many +puddles that led to the Four Corners, near Avalon. The road climbed the +song-laden valley of a brook, redolent now with scents of which the rain +had robbed the fern, but at length Victoria reached an upland where the +young corn was springing from the, black furrows that followed the +contours of the hillsides, where the big-eyed cattle lay under the heavy +maples and oaks or gazed at her across the fences. + +Victoria drew up in front of an unpainted farm-house straggling beside +the road, a farm-house which began with the dignity of fluted pilasters +and ended in a tumble-down open shed filled with a rusty sleigh and a +hundred nondescript articles--some of which seemed to be moving. +Intently studying this phenomenon from her runabout, she finally +discovered that the moving objects were children; one of whom, a little +girl, came out and stared at her. + +"How do you do, Mary?" said Victoria. "Isn't your name Mary?" + +The child nodded. + +"I remember you," she said; "you're the rich lady, mother met at the +party, that got father a job." + +Victoria smiled. And such was the potency of the smile that the child +joined in it. + +"Where's brother?" asked Victoria. "He must be quite grown up since we +gave him lemonade." + +Mary pointed to the woodshed. + +"O dear!" exclaimed Victoria, leaping out of the runabout and hitching +her horse, "aren't you afraid some of those sharp iron things will fall +on him?" She herself rescued brother from what seemed untimely and +certain death, and set him down in safety in the middle of the grass +plot. He looked up at her with the air of one whose dignity has been +irretrievably injured, and she laughed as she reached down and pulled his +nose. Then his face, too, became wreathed in smiles. + +"Mary, how old are you?" + +"Seven, ma'am." + +"And I'm five," Mary's sister chimed in. + +"I want you to promise me," said Victoria, "that you won't let brother +play in that shed. And the very next time I come I'll bring you both the +nicest thing I can think of." + +Mary began to dance. + +"We'll promise, we'll promise!" she cried for both, and at this juncture +Mrs. Fitch, who had run from the washtub to get into her Sunday waist, +came out of the door. + +"So you hain't forgot me!" she exclaimed. "I was almost afeard you'd +forgot me." + +"I've been away," said Victoria, gently taking the woman's hand and +sitting down on the doorstep. + +"Don't set there," said Mrs. Fitch; "come into the parlour. You'll dirty +your dress--Mary!" This last in admonition. + +"Let her stay where she is," said Victoria, putting her arm around the +child. "The dress washes, and it's so nice outside." + +"You rich folks certainly do have strange notions," declared Mrs. Fitch, +fingering the flounce on Victoria's skirt, which formed the subject of +conversation for the next few minutes. + +"How are you getting on?" Victoria asked at length. + +A look of pain came into the woman's eyes. + +"You've be'n so good to us, and done so much gettin' Eben a job on your +father's place, that I don't feel as if I ought to lie to you. He done +it again--on Saturday night. First time in three months. The manager up +at Fairview don't know it. Eben was all right Monday." + +"I'm sorry," said Victoria, simply. "Was it bad?" + +"It might have be'n. Young Mr. Vane is stayin' up at Jabe Jenney's--you +know, the first house as you turn off the hill road. Mr. Vane heard some +way what you'd done for us, and he saw Eben in Ripton Saturday night, and +made him get into his buggy and come home. I guess he had a time with +Eben. Mr. Vane, he came around here on Sunday, and gave him as stiff a +talkin' to as he ever got, I guess. He told Eben he'd ought to be +ashamed of himself goin' back on folks who was tryin' to help him pay his +mortgage. And I'll say this for Eben, he was downright ashamed. He told +Mr. Vane he could lick him if he caught him drunk again, and Mr. Vane +said he would. My, what a pretty colour you've got to-day." + +Victoria rose. "I'm going to send you down some washing," she said. + +Mrs. Fitch insisted upon untying the horse, while Victoria renewed her +promises to the children. + +There were two ways of going back to Fairview,--a long and a short way,-- +and the long way led by Jabe Jenney's farm. Victoria came to the fork in +the road, paused,--and took the long way. Several times after this, she +pulled her horse down to a walk, and was apparently on the point of +turning around again: a disinterested observer in a farm wagon, whom she +passed, thought that she had missed her road. "The first house after you +turn off the hill road," Mrs. Fitch had said. She could still, of +course, keep on the hill road, but that would take her to Weymouth, and +she would never get home. + +It is useless to go into the reasons for this act of Victoria's. She did +not know them herself. The nearer Victoria got to Mr. Jenney's, the more +she wished herself back at the forks. Suppose Mrs. Fitch told him of her +visit! Perhaps she could pass the Jenneys' unnoticed. The chances of +this, indeed, seemed highly favourable, and it was characteristic of her +sex that she began to pray fervently to this end. Then she turned off +the hill road, feeling as though she had but to look back to see the +smoke of the burning bridges. + +Victoria remembered the farm now; for Mr. Jabe Jenney, being a person of +importance in the town of Leith, had a house commensurate with his +estate. The house was not large, but its dignity was akin to Mr. +Jenney's position: it was painted a spotless white, and not a shingle or +a nail was out of place. Before it stood the great trees planted by Mr. +Jenney's ancestors, which Victoria and other people had often paused on +their drives to admire, and on the hillside was a little, old-fashioned +flower garden; lilacs clustered about the small-paned windows, and a +bitter-sweet clung to the roof and pillars of the porch. These details +of the place (which she had never before known as Mr. Jenney's) flashed +into Victoria's mind before she caught sight of the great trees +themselves looming against the sombre blue-black of the sky: the wind, +rising fitfully, stirred the leaves with a sound like falling waters, and +a great drop fell upon her cheek. Victoria raised her eyes in alarm, and +across the open spaces, toward the hills which piled higher and higher +yet against the sky, was a white veil of rain. She touched with her whip +the shoulder of her horse, recalling a farm a quarter of a mile beyond-- +she must not be caught here! + +More drops followed, and the great trees seemed to reach out to her a +protecting shelter. She spoke to the horse. Beyond the farm-house, on +the other side of the road, was a group of gray, slate-shingled barns, +and here two figures confronted her. One was that of the comfortable, +middle-aged Mr. Jenney himself, standing on the threshold of the barn, +and laughing heartily, and crying: "Hang on to him That's right--get him +by the nose!" + +The person thus addressed had led a young horse to water at the spring +which bubbled out of a sugar-kettle hard by; and the horse, quivering, +had barely touched his nostrils to the water when he reared backward, +jerking the halter-rope taut. Then followed, with bewildering rapidity, +a series of manoeuvres on the part of the horse to get away, and on the +part of the person to prevent this, and inasmuch as the struggle took +place in the middle of the road, Victoria had to stop. By the time the +person had got the horse by the nose,--shutting off his wind,--the rain +was coming down in earnest. + +"Drive right in," cried Mr. Jenney, hospitably; "you'll get wet. Look +out, Austen, there's a lady comin'. Why, it's Miss Flint!" + +Victoria knew that her face must be on fire. She felt Austen Vane's +quick glance upon her, but she did not dare look to the right or left as +she drove into the barn. There seemed no excuse for any other course. + +"How be you?" said Mr. Jenney; "kind of lucky you happened along here, +wahn't it? You'd have been soaked before you got to Harris's. How be +you? I ain't seen you since that highfalutin party up to Crewe's." + +"It's very kind of you to let me come in, Mr. Jenney." + +"But I have a rain-coat and a boot, and--I really ought to be going on." + +Here Victoria produced the rain-coat from under the seat. The garment +was a dark blue, and Mr. Jenney felt of its gossamer weight with a good- +natured contempt. + +"That wouldn't be any more good than so much cheesecloth," he declared, +nodding in the direction of the white sheet of the storm. "Would it, +Austen." + +She turned her head slowly and met Austen's eyes. Fortunate that the +barn was darkened, that he might not see how deep the colour mantling in +her temples! His head was bare, and she had never really marked before +the superb setting of it on his shoulders, for he wore a gray flannel +shirt open at the neck, revealing a bronzed throat. His sinewy arms-- +weather-burned, too--were bare above the elbows. + +Explanations of her presence sprang to her lips, but she put them from +her as subterfuges unworthy of him. She would not attempt to deceive him +in the least. She had wished to see him again--nor did she analyze her +motives. Once more beside him, the feeling of confidence, of belief in +him, rose within her and swept all else away--burned in a swift consuming +flame the doubts of absence. He took her hand, but she withdrew it +quickly. + +"This is a fortunate accident," he said, "fortunate, at least, for me." + +"Perhaps Mr. Jenney will not agree with you," she retorted. + +But Mr. Jenney was hitching the horse and throwing a blanket over him. +Suddenly, before they realized it, the farmer had vanished into the +storm, and this unexplained desertion of their host gave rise to an +awkward silence between them, which each for a while strove vainly to +break. In the great moments of life, trivialities become dwarfed and +ludicrous, and the burden of such occasions is on the woman. + +"So you've taken to farming," she said,-"isn't it about haying time?" + +He laughed. + +"We begin next week. And you--you've come back in season for it. I hope +that your mother is better." + +"Yes," replied Victoria, simply, "the baths helped her. But I'm glad to +get back,--I like my own country so much better,--and especially this +part of it," she added. "I can bear to be away from New York in the +winter, but not from Fairview in the summer." + +At this instant Mr. Jenney appeared at the barn door bearing a huge green +umbrella. + +"Come over to the house--Mis' Jenney is expectin' you," he said. + +Victoria hesitated. To refuse would be ungracious; moreover, she could +risk no misinterpretation of her acts, and she accepted. Mrs. Jenney met +her on the doorstep, and conducted her into that sanctum reserved for +occasions, the parlour, with its Bible, its flat, old-fashioned piano, +its samplers, its crayon portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Jenney after their +honeymoon; with its aroma that suggested Sundays and best manners. Mrs. +Jenney, with incredible rapidity (for her figure was not what it had been +at the time of the crayon portrait), had got into a black dress, over +which she wore a spotless apron. She sat in the parlour with her guest +until Mr. Jenney reappeared with shining face and damp hair. + +"You'll excuse me, my dear," said Mrs. Jenney, "but the supper's on the +stove, and I have to run out now and then." + +Mr. Jenney was entertaining. He had the shrewd, humorous outlook upon +life characteristic of the best type of New England farmer, and Victoria +got along with him famously. His comments upon his neighbours were +kindly but incisive, except when the question of spirituous liquors +occurred to him. Austen Vane he thought the world of, and dwelt upon +this subject a little longer than Victoria, under the circumstances, +would have wished. + +"He comes out here just like it was home," said Mr. Jenney, "and helps +with the horses and cows the same as if he wasn't gettin' to be one of +the greatest lawyers in the State." + +"O dear, Mr. Jenney," said Victoria, glancing out of the window, "I'll +really have to go home. I'm sure it won't stop raining for hours. But I +shall be perfectly dry in my rain-coat,--no matter how much you may +despise it." + +"You're not a-going to do anything of the kind," cried Mrs. Jenney from +the doorway. "Supper's all ready, and you're going to walk right in." + +"Oh, I really have to go," Victoria exclaimed. + +" Now I know it ain't as grand as you'd get at home," said Mr. Jenney. +"It ain't what we'd give you, Miss Victoria,--that's only simple home +fare,--it's what you'd give us. It's the honour of having you," he +added,--and Victoria thought that no courtier could have worded an +invitation better. She would not be missed at Fairview. Her mother was +inaccessible at this hour, and the servants would think of her as dining +at Leith. The picture of the great, lonely house, of the ceremonious +dinner which awaited her single presence, gave her an irresistible +longing to sit down with these simple, kindly souls. Austen was the only +obstacle. He, too, had changed his clothes, and now appeared, smiling at +her behind Mrs. Jenney. The look of prospective disappointment in the +good woman's face decided Victoria. + +"I'll stay, with pleasure," she said. + +Mr. Jenney pronounced grace. Victoria sat across the table from Austen, +and several times the consciousness of his grave look upon her as she +talked heightened the colour in her cheek. He said but little during the +meal. Victoria heard how well Mrs. Jenney's oldest son was doing in +Springfield, and how the unmarried daughter was teaching, now, in the +West. Asked about Europe, that land of perpetual mystery to the native +American, the girl spoke so simply and vividly of some of the wonders she +had seen that she held the older people entranced long after the meal was +finished. But at length she observed, with a start, the gathering +darkness. In the momentary happiness of this experience, she had been +forgetful. + +"I will drive home with you, if you'll allow me," said Austen. + +"Oh, no, I really don't need an escort, Mr. Vane. I'm so used to driving +about at night, I never think of it," she answered. + +"Of course he'll drive home with you, dear," said Mrs. Jenney. "And, +Jabe, you'll hitch up and go and fetch Austen back." + +"Certain," Mr. Jenney agreed. + +The rain had ceased, and the indistinct outline of the trees and fences +betrayed the fact that the clouds were already thinning under the moon. +Austen had lighted the side lamps of the runabout, revealing the shining +pools on the road as they drove along--for the first few minutes in +silence. + +"It was very good of you to stay," he said; "you do not know how much +pleasure you have given them." + +Her feminine appreciation responded to the tact of this remark: it was so +distinctly what he should have said. + +How delicate, she thought, must be his understanding of her, that he +should have spoken so! + +"I was glad to stay," she answered, in a low voice. "I--enjoyed it, +too." + +"They have very little in their lives," he said, and added, with a +characteristic touch, "I do not mean to say that your coming would not be +an event in any household." + +She laughed with him, softly, at this sally. + +"Not to speak of the visit you are making them," she replied. + +"Oh, I'm one of the family," he said; "I come and go. Jabe's is my +country house, when I can't stand the city any longer." + +She saw that he did not intend to tell her why he had left Ripton on this +occasion. There fell another silence. They were like prisoners, and +each strove to explore the bounds of their captivity: each sought a +lawful ground of communication. Victoria suddenly remembered--with an +access of indignation--her father's words, "I do not know what sort he +is, but he is not my sort." A while ago, and she had blamed herself +vehemently for coming to Jabe Jenney's, and now the act had suddenly +become sanctified in her sight. She did not analyze her feeling for +Austen, but she was consumed with a fierce desire that justice should be +done him. "He was honourable--honourable!" she found herself repeating +under her breath. No man or woman could look into his face, take his +hand, sit by his side, without feeling that he was as dependable as the +stars in their courses. And her father should know this, must be made to +know it. This man was to be distinguished from opportunists and self- +seekers, from fanatics who strike at random. His chief possession was a +priceless one--a conscience. + +As for Austen, it sufficed him for the moment that he had been lifted, by +another seeming caprice of fortune, to a seat of torture the agony +whereof was exquisite. An hour, and only the ceaseless pricking memory +of it would abide. The barriers had risen higher since he had seen her +last, but still he might look into her face and know the radiance of her +presence. Could he only trust himself to guard his tongue! But the +heart on such occasions will cheat language of its meaning. + +"What have you been doing since I saw you last?" she asked. "It seems +that you still continue to lead a life of violence." + +"Sometimes I wish I did," he answered, with a laugh; "the humdrum +existence of getting practice enough to keep a horse is not the most +exciting in the world. To what particular deed of violence do you +refer?" + +"The last achievement, which is in every one's mouth, that of assisting +Mr. Tooting down-stairs." + +"I have been defamed," Austen laughed; "he fell down, I believe. But as +I have a somewhat evil reputation, and as he came out of my entry, people +draw their own conclusions. I can't imagine who told you that story." + +"Never mind," she answered. "You see, I have certain sources of +information about you." + +He tingled over this, and puzzled over it so long that she laughed. + +"Does that surprise you?" she asked. "I fail to see why I should be +expected to lose all interest in my friends--even if they appear to have +lost interest in me." + +"Oh, don't say that!" he cried so sharply that she wished her words +unsaid. "You can't mean it! You don't know!" + +She trembled at the vigorous passion he put into the words. + +"No, I don't mean it," she said gently. + +The wind had made a rent in the sheet of the clouds, and through it burst +the moon in her full glory, flooding field and pasture, and the black +stretches of pine forest at their feet. Below them the land fell away, +and fell again to the distant broadening valley, to where a mist of white +vapour hid the course of the Blue. And beyond, the hills rose again, +tier upon tier, to the shadowy outline of Sawanec herself against the +hurrying clouds and the light-washed sky. Victoria, gazing at the scene, +drew a deep breath, and turned and looked at him in the quick way which +he remembered so well. + +"Sometimes," she said, "it is so beautiful that it hurts to look at it. +You love it--do you ever feel that way?" + +"Yes," he said, but his answer was more than the monosyllable. "I can +see that mountain from my window, and it seriously interferes with my +work. I really ought to move into another building." + +There was a little catch in her laugh. + +"And I watch it," she continued, "I watch it from the pine grove by the +hour. Sometimes it smiles, and sometimes it is sad, and sometimes it is +far, far away, so remote and mysterious that I wonder if it is ever to +come back and smile again." + +"Have you ever seen the sunrise from its peak?" said Austen. + +"No. Oh, how I should love to see it!" she exclaimed. + +"Yes, you would like to see it," he answered simply. He would like to +take her there, to climb, with her hand in his, the well-known paths in +the darkness, to reach the summit in the rosy-fingered dawn: to see her +stand on the granite at his side in the full glory of the red light, and +to show her a world which she was henceforth to share with him. + +Some such image, some such vision of his figure on the rock, may have +been in her mind as she turned her face again toward the mountain. + +"You are cold," he said, reaching for the mackintosh in the back of the +trap. + +"No," she said. But she stopped the horse and acquiesced by slipping her +arms into the coat, and he felt upon his hand the caress of a stray wisp +of hair at her neck. Under a spell of thought and feeling, seemingly +laid by the magic of the night, neither spoke for a space. And then +Victoria summoned her forces, and turned to him again. Her tone bespoke +the subtle intimacy that always sprang up between them, despite bars and +conventions. + +"I was sure you would understand why I wrote you from New York," she +said, "although I hesitated a long time before doing so. It was very +stupid of me not to realize the scruples which made you refuse to be a +candidate for the governorship, and I wanted to--to apologize." + +"It wasn't necessary," said Austen, "but--I valued the note." The words +seemed so absurdly inadequate to express his appreciation of the treasure +which he carried with him, at that moment, in his pocket. "But, really," +he added, smiling at her in the moonlight, "I must protest against your +belief that I could have been an effective candidate! I have roamed +about the State, and I have made some very good friends here and there +among the hill farmers, like Mr. Jenney. Mr. Redbrook is one of these. +But it would have been absurd of me even to think of a candidacy founded +on personal friendships. I assure you," he added, smiling, "there was no +self denial in my refusal." + +She gave him an appraising glance which he found at once enchanting and +disconcerting. + +"You are one of those people, I think, who do not know their own value. +If I were a man, and such men as Mr. Redbrook and Mr. Jenney knew me and +believed sufficiently in me and in my integrity of purpose to ask me to +be their candidate" (here she hesitated an instant), "and I believed that +the cause were a good one, I should not have felt justified in refusing. +That is what I meant. I have always thought of you as a man of force and +a man of action. But I did not see--the obstacle in your way." + +She hesitated once more, and added, with a courage which did not fail of +its direct appeal, "I did not realize that you would be publicly opposing +your father. And I did not realize that you would not care to criticise +--mine." + +On the last word she faltered and glanced at his profile. + +Had she gone too far? + +"I felt that you would understand," he answered. He could not trust +himself to speak further. How much did she know? And how much was she +capable of grasping? + +His reticence served only to fortify her trust--to elevate it. It was +impossible for her not to feel something of that which was in him and +crying for utterance. She was a woman. And if this one action had been +but the holding of her coat, she would have known. A man who could keep +silent under these conditions must indeed be a rock of might and honour; +and she felt sure now, with a surging of joy, that the light she had seen +shining from it was the beacon of truth. A question trembled on her +lips--the question for which she had long been gathering strength. +Whatever the outcome of this communion, she felt that there must be +absolute truth between them. + +"I want to ask you something, Mr. Vane--I have been wanting to for a long +time." + +She saw the muscles of his jaw tighten,--a manner he had when earnest or +determined,--and she wondered in agitation whether he divined what she +was going to say. He turned his face slowly to hers, and his eyes were +troubled. + +"Yes," he said. + +"You have always spared my feelings," she went on. "Now--now I am asking +for the truth--as you see it. Do the Northeastern Railroads wrongfully +govern this State for their own ends?" + +Austen, too, as he thought over it afterwards, in the night, was +surprised at her concise phrasing, suggestive; as it was, of much +reflection. But at the moment, although he had been prepared for and had +braced himself against something of this nature, he was nevertheless +overcome by the absolute and fearless directness of her speech. + +"That is a question," he answered, "which you will have to ask your +father." + +"I have asked him," she said, in a low voice; "I want to know what--you +believe." + +"You have asked him!" he repeated, in astonishment. + +"Yes. You mustn't think that, in asking you, I am unfair to him in any +way--or that I doubt his sincerity. We have been" (her voice caught a +little) "the closest friends ever since I was a child." She paused. +"But I want to know what you believe." + +The fact that she emphasized the last pronoun sent another thrill through +him. Did it, then, make any difference to her what he believed? Did she +mean to differentiate him from out of the multitude? He had to steady +himself before he answered:-- + +"I have sometimes thought that my own view might not be broad enough." + +She turned to him again. + +"Why are you evading?" she asked. "I am sure it is not because yon have +not settled convictions. And I have asked you--a favour." + +"You have done me an honour," he answered, and faced her suddenly. "You +must see," he cried, with a power and passion in his voice that startled +and thrilled her in turn, "you must see that it's because I wish to be +fair that I hesitate. I would tell you--anything. I do not agree with +my own father,--we have been--apart--for years because of this. And I +do--not agree with Mr. Flint. I am sure that they both are wrong. But I +cannot help seeing their point of view. These practices are the result +of an evolution, of an evolution of their time. They were forced to cope +with conditions in the way they did, or go to the wall. They make the +mistake of believing that the practices are still necessary to-day." + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, a great hope rising within her at these words. "Oh, +and you believe they are not!" His explanation seemed so simple, so +inspiring. And above and beyond that, he was sure. Conviction rang in +every word. Had he not, she remembered, staked his career by disagreeing +with his father? Yes, and he had been slow to condemn; he had seen their +side. It was they who condemned him. He must have justice--he should +have it! + +"I believe such practices are not necessary now," he said firmly. "A new +generation has come--a generation more jealous of its political rights, +and not so willing to be rid of them by farming them out. A change has +taken place even in the older men, like Mr. Jenney and Mr. Redbrook, who +simply did not think about these questions ten years ago. Men of this +type, who could be leaders, are ready to assume their responsibilities, +are ready to deal fairly with railroads and citizens alike. This is a +matter of belief. I believe it--Mr. Flint and my father do not. They +see the politicians, and I see the people. I belong to one generation, +and they to another. With the convictions they have, added to the fact +that they are in a position of heavy responsibility toward the owners of +their property, they cannot be blamed for hesitating to try any +experiments." + +"And the practices are--bad?" Victoria asked. + +"They are entirely subversive of the principles of American government, +to say the least," replied Austen, grimly. He was thinking of the pass +which Mr. Flint had sent him, and of the kind of men Mr. Flint employed +to make the practices effective. + +They descended into the darkness of a deep valley, scored out between the +hills by one of the rushing tributaries of the Blue. The moon fell down +behind the opposite ridge, and the road ran through a deep forest. He no +longer saw the shades of meaning in her face, but in the blackness of +Erebus he could have sensed her presence at his side. Speech, though of +this strange kind of which neither felt the strangeness, had come and +gone between them, and now silence spoke as eloquently. Twice or thrice +their eyes met through the gloom,--and there was light. At length she +spoke with the impulsiveness in her voice that he found so appealing. + +"You must see my father--you must talk to him. He doesn't know how fair +you are!" + +To Austen the inference was obvious that Mr. Flint had conceived for him +a special animosity, which he must have mentioned to Victoria, and this +inference opened the way to a wide speculation in which he was at once +elated and depressed. Why had he been so singled out? And had Victoria +defended him? Once before he remembered that she had told him he must +see Mr. Flint. They had gained the ridge now, and the moon had risen +again for them, striking black shadows from the maples on the granite- +cropped pastures. A little farther on was a road which might have been +called the rear entrance to Fairview. + +What was he to say? + +"I am afraid Mr. Flint has other things to do than to see me," he +answered. "If he wished to see me, he would say so." + +"Would you go to see him, if he were to ask you?" said Victoria. + +"Yes," he replied, "but that is not likely to happen. Indeed, you are +giving my opinion entirely too much importance in your father's eyes," he +added, with an attempt to carry it off lightly; "there is no more reason +why he should care to discuss the subject with me than with any other +citizen of the State of my age who thinks as I do." + +"Oh, yes, there is," said Victoria; "he regards you as a person whose +opinion has some weight. I am sure of that. He thinks of you as a +person of convictions--and he has heard things about you. You talked to +him once," she went on, astonished at her own boldness, "and made him +angry. Why don't you talk to him again?" she cried, seeing that Austen +was silent. "I am sure that what you said about the change of public +opinion in the State would appeal to him. And oh, don't quarrel with +him! You have a faculty of differing with people without quarrelling +with them. My father has so many cares, and he tries so hard to do right +as he sees it. You must remember that he was a poor farmer's son, and +that he began to work at fourteen in Brampton, running errands for a +country printer. He never had any advantages except those he made for +himself, and he had to fight his way in a hard school against men who +were not always honourable. It is no wonder that he sometimes takes--a +material view of things. But he is reasonable and willing to listen to +what other men have to say, if he is not antagonized." + +"I understand," said Austen, who thought Mr. Flint blest in his advocate. +Indeed, Victoria's simple reference to her father's origin had touched +him deeply. "I understand, but I cannot go to him. There is every +reason why I cannot," he added, and she knew that he was speaking with +difficulty, as under great emotion. + +"But if he should send for you?" she asked. She felt his look fixed upon +her with a strange intensity, and her heart leaped as she dropped her +eyes. + +"If Mr. Flint should send for me," he answered slowly, "I would come--and +gladly. But it must be of his own free will." + +Victoria repeated the words over to herself, "It must be of his own free +will," waiting until she should be alone to seek their full +interpretation. She turned, and looked across the lawn at Fairview House +shining in the light. In another minute they had drawn up before the +open door. + +"Won't you come in--and wait for Mr. Jenney?" she asked. + +He gazed down into her face, searchingly, and took her hand. + +"Good night," he said; "Mr. Jenney is not far behind. I think--I think I +should like the walk." + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MR. CREWE: AN APPRECIATION (1) + +It is given to some rare mortals--with whom fame precedes grey hairs or +baldness to read, while still on the rising tide of their efforts, that +portion of their lives which has already been inscribed on the scroll of +history--or something like it. Mr. Crewe in kilts at five; and +(prophetic picture!) with a train of cars which--so the family tradition +runs--was afterwards demolished; Mr. Crewe at fourteen, in delicate +health; this picture was taken abroad, with a long-suffering tutor who +could speak feelingly, if he would, of embryo geniuses. Even at this +early period Humphrey Crewe's thirst for knowledge was insatiable: he +cared little, the biography tells us, for galleries and churches and +ruins, but his comments upon foreign methods of doing business were +astonishingly precocious. He recommended to amazed clerks in provincial +banks the use of cheques, ridiculed to speechless station-masters the +side-entrance railway carriage with its want of room, and the size of the +goods trucks. He is said to have been the first to suggest that soda- +water fountains might be run at a large profit in London. + +In college, in addition to keeping up his classical courses, he found +time to make an exhaustive study of the railroads of the United States, +embodying these ideas in a pamphlet published shortly after graduation. +This pamphlet is now, unfortunately, very rare, but the anonymous +biographer managed to get one and quote from it. If Mr. Crewe's +suggestions had been carried out, seventy-five per cent of the railroad +accidents might have been eliminated. Thorough was his watchword even +then. And even at that period he foresaw, with the prophecy of genius, +the days of single-track congestion. + +His efforts to improve Leith and the State in general, to ameliorate the +condition of his neighbours, were fittingly and delicately dwelt upon. A +desire to take upon himself the burden of citizenship led--as we know--to +further self-denial. He felt called upon to go to the Legislature--and +this is what he saw:-- + +(Mr. Crewe is quoted here at length in an admirable, concise, and hair- +raising statement given in an interview to his biographer. But we have +been with him, and know what he saw. It is, for lack of space, +reluctantly omitted.) + +And now we are to take up where the biography left off; to relate, in a +chapter if possible, one of the most remarkable campaigns in the history +of this country. A certain reformer of whose acquaintance the honest +chronicler boasts (a reformer who got elected!) found, on his first visit +to the headquarters he had hired--two citizens under the influence of +liquor and a little girl with a skip rope. Such are the beginnings that +try men's souls. + +The window of every independent shopkeeper in Ripton contained a large- +sized picture of the Leith statesman, his determined chin slightly thrust +down into the Gladstone collar. Underneath were the words, "I will put +an end to graft and railroad rule. I am a Candidate of the People. +Opening rally of the People's Campaign at the Opera House, at 8 P.M., +July 10th. The Hon. Humphrey Crewe, of Leith, will tell the citizens of +Ripton how their State is governed." + +"Father," said Victoria, as she read this announcement (three columns +wide, in the Ripton Record) as they sat at breakfast together, "do you +mind my going? I can get Hastings Weare to take me." + +"Not at all," said Mr. Flint, who had returned from New York in a better +frame of mind. "I should like a trustworthy account of that meeting. +Only," he added, "I should advise you to go early, Victoria, in order to +get a seat." + +"You don't object to my listening to criticism of you?" + +"Not by Humphrey Crewe," laughed Mr. Flint. + +Early suppers instead of dinners were the rule at Leith on the evening of +the historic day, and the candidate himself, in his red Leviathan, was +not inconsiderably annoyed, on the way to Ripton, by innumerable +carryalls and traps filled with brightly gowned recruits of that +organization of Mrs. Pomfret's which Beatrice Chillingham had nicknamed +"The Ladies' Auxiliary.". In vain Mr. Crewe tooted his horn: the sound +of it was drowned by the gay talk and laughter in the carryalls, and +shrieks ensued when the Leviathan cut by with only six inches to spare, +and the candidate turned and addressed the drivers in language more +forceful than polite, and told the ladies they acted as if they were +going to a Punch-and-Judy show. + +"Poor dear Humphrey!" said, Mrs. Pomfret, "is so much in earnest. I +wouldn't give a snap for a man without a temper." + +"Poor dear Humphrey" said Beatrice Chillingham, in an undertone to her +neighbour, "is exceedingly rude and ungrateful. That's what I think." + +The occupants of one vehicle heard the horn, and sought the top of a +grassy mound to let the Leviathan go by. And the Leviathan, with +characteristic contrariness, stopped. + +"Hello," said Mr. Crewe, with a pull at his cap. "I intended to be on +the lookout for you." + +"That is very thoughtful, Humphrey, considering how many things you have +to be on the lookout for this evening," Victoria replied. + +"That's all right," was Mr. Crewe's gracious reply. "I knew you'd be +sufficiently broad-minded to come, and I hope you won't take offence at +certain remarks I think it my duty to make." + +"Don't let my presence affect you," she answered, smiling; "I have come +prepared for anything." + +"I'll tell Tooting to give you a good seat," he called back, as he +started onward. + +Hastings Weare looked up at her, with laughter-brimming eyes. + +"Victoria, you're a wonder!" he remarked. "Say, do you remember that +tall fellow we met at Humphrey's party, Austen Vane?" + +Yes." + +"I saw him on the street in Ripton the other day, and he came right up +and spoke to me. He hadn't forgotten my name. Now, he'd be my notion of +a candidate. He makes you feel as if your presence in the world meant +something to him." + +"I think he does feel that way," replied Victoria. + +"I don't blame him if he feels that way about you," said Hastings, who +made love openly. + +"Hastings," she answered, "when you get a little older, you will learn to +confine yourself to your own opinions." + +"When I do," he retorted audaciously, "they never make you blush like +that." + +"It's probably because you have never learned to be original," she +replied. But Hastings had been set to thinking. + +Mrs. Pomfret, with her foresight and her talent for management, had given +the Ladies' Auxiliary notice that they were not to go farther forward +than the twelfth row. She herself, with some especially favoured ones, +occupied a box, which was the nearest thing to being on the stage. One +unforeseen result of Mrs. Pomfret's arrangement was that the first eleven +rows were vacant, with the exception of one old man and five or six +schoolboys. Such is the courage of humanity in general! On the arrival +of the candidate, instead of a surging crowd lining the sidewalk, he +found only a fringe of the curious, whose usual post of observation was +the railroad station, standing silently on the curb. Within, Mr. +Tooting's duties as an usher had not been onerous. He met Mr. Crewe in +the vestibule, and drew him into the private office. + +"The railroad's fixed 'em," said the manager, indignantly, but sotto +voce; "I've found that out. Hilary Vane had the word passed around town +that if they came, somethin' would fall on 'em. The Tredways and all the +people who own factories served notice on their men that if they paid any +attention to this meeting they'd lose their job. But say, the people are +watchin' you, just the same." + +"How many people are in there?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +"Twenty-seven, when I came out," said Mr. Tooting, with commendable +accuracy. "But it wants fifteen minutes to eight." + +"And who," asked Mr. Crewe, "is to introduce me?" + +An expression of indignation spread over Mr. Tooting's face. + +"There ain't a man in Ripton's got sand enough!" he exclaimed. "Sol +Gridley was a-goin' to, but he went to New York on the noon train. +I guess it's a pleasure trip," Mr. Tooting hinted darkly. + +"Why," said Mr. Crewe, "he's the fellow--" + +"Exactly," Mr. Tooting replied, "and he did get a lot of 'em, travelling +about. But Sol has got to work on the quiet, you understand. He feels +he can't come out right away." + +"And how about Amos Ricketts? Where's he?" + +"Amos," said Mr. Tooting, regretfully, "was taken very sudden about five +o'clock. One of his spells come on, and he sent me word to the Ripton +House. He had his speech all made up, and it was a good one, too. He +was going to tell folks pretty straight how the railroad beat him for +mayor." + +Mr. Crewe made a gesture of disgust. + +"I'll introduce myself," he said. "They all know me, anyhow." + +"Say," said Mr. Tooting, laying a hand on his candidate's arm. "You +couldn't do any better. I've bin for that all along." + +"Hold on," said Mr. Crewe, listening, "a lot of people are coming in +now." + +What Mr. Crewe had heard, however, was the arrival of the Ladies' +Auxiliary,--five and thirty strong, from Leith. But stay! Who are these +coming? More ladies--ladies in groups of two and three and five! ladies +of Ripton whose husbands, for some unexplained reason, have stayed at +home; and Mr. Tooting, as he watched them with mingled feelings, became a +woman's suffragist on the spot. He dived into the private office once +more, where he found Mr. Crewe seated with his legs crossed, calmly +reading a last winter's playbill. (Note for a more complete biography.) + +"Well, Tooting," he said, "I thought they'd begin to come." + +"They're mostly women," Mr. Tooting informed him. + +"Women!" + +"Hold on!" said Mr. Tooting, who had the true showman's instinct. "Can't +you see that folks are curious? They're afraid to come 'emselves, and +they're sendin' their wives and daughters. If you get the women tonight, +they'll go home and club the men into line." + +Eight strokes boomed out from the tower of the neighbouring town hall, +and an expectant flutter spread over the audience,--a flatter which +disseminated faint odours of sachet and other mysterious substances in +which feminine apparel is said to the laid away. The stage was empty, +save for a table which held a pitcher of water and a glass. + +"It's a pretty good imitation of a matinee," Hastings Weare remarked. +"I wonder whom the front seats are reserved for. Say, Victoria, there's +your friend Mr. Vane in the corner. He's looking over here." + +"He has a perfect right to look where he chooses," said Victoria. She +wondered whether he would come over and sit next to her if she turned +around, and decided instantly that he wouldn't. Presently, when she +thought Hastings was off his guard, she did turn, to meet, as she +expected, Austen's glance fixed upon her. Their greeting was the signal +of two people with a mutual understanding. He did not rise, and although +she acknowledged to herself a feeling of disappointment, she gave him +credit for a nice comprehension of the situation. Beside him was his +friend Tom Gaylord, who presented to her a very puzzled face. And then, +if there had been a band, it would have been time to play "See, the +Conquering Hero Comes!" + +Why wasn't there a band? No such mistake, Mr. Tooting vowed, should be +made at the next rally. + +It was Mrs. Pomfret who led the applause from her box as the candidate +walked modestly up the side aisle and presently appeared, alone, on the +stage. The flutter of excitement was renewed, and this time it might +almost be called a flutter of apprehension. But we who have heard Mr. +Crewe speak are in no alarm for our candidate. He takes a glass of iced +water; he arranges, with the utmost sangfroid, his notes on the desk and +adjusts the reading light. Then he steps forward and surveys the +scattered groups. + +"Ladies--" a titter ran through the audience,--a titter which started +somewhere in the near neighbourhood of Mr. Hastings Weare--and rose +instantly to several hysterical peals of feminine laughter. Mrs. +Pomfret, outraged, sweeps the frivolous offenders with her lorgnette; Mr. +Crewe, with his arm resting, on the reading-desk, merely raises the palm +of his hand to a perpendicular reproof,--and gentlemen." At this point +the audience is thoroughly cowed. Ladies and gentlemen and fellow +citizens. I thank you for the honour you have done me in coming here to +listen to the opening speech of my campaign to-night. It is a campaign +for decency and good government, and I know that the common people of the +State--of whom I have the honour to be one--demand these things. I +cannot say as much for the so-called prominent citizens," said Mr. Crewe, +glancing about him; "not one of your prominent citizens in Ripton would +venture to offend the powers that be by consenting to introduce me to- +night, or dared come into this theatre and take seats within thirty feet +of this platform." Here Mr. Crewe let his eyes rest significantly on the +eleven empty rows, while his hearers squirmed in terrified silence at +this audacity. Even the Ripton women knew that this was high treason +beneath the walls of the citadel, and many of them glanced furtively at +the strangely composed daughter of Augustus P. Flint. + +"I will show you that I can stand on my own feet," Mr. Crewe continued. +"I will introduce myself. I am Humphrey Crewe of Leith, and I claim to have +added something to the welfare and prosperity of this State, and I intend +to add more before I have finished." + +At this point, as might have been expected, spontaneous applause broke +forth, originating in the right-hand stage box. Here was a daring +defiance indeed, a courage of such a high order that it completely +carried away the ladies and drew reluctant plaudits from the male +element. "Give it to 'em, Humphrey!" said one of those who happened to +be sitting next to Miss Flint, and who received a very severe pinch in +the arm in consequence. + +"I thank the gentleman," answered Mr. Crewe, "and I propose to-- +(Handclapping and sachet.) I propose to show that you spend something +like two hundred thousand dollars a year to elect legislators and send +'em to the capital, when the real government of your State is in a room +in the Pelican Hotel known as the Railroad Room, and the real governor is +a citizen of your town, the Honourable Hilary Vane, who sits there and +acts for his master, Mr. Augustus P. Flint of New York. And I propose to +prove to you that, before the Honourable Adam B. Hunt appeared as that +which has come to be known as the 'regular' candidate, Mr. Flint sent for +him to go to New York and exacted certain promises from him. Not that it +was necessary, but the Northeastern Railroads never take any chances. +(Laughter.) The Honourable Adam B. Hunt is what they call a 'safe' man, +meaning by that a man who will do what Mr. Flint wants him to do. While +I am not 'safe' because I have dared to defy them in your name, and will +do what the people want me to do. (Clapping and cheers from a gentleman +in the darkness, afterwards identified as Mr. Tooting.) Now, my friends, +are you going to continue to allow a citizen of New York to nominate your +governors, and do you intend, tamely, to give the Honourable Adam B. Hunt +your votes?" + +"They ain't got any votes," said a voice--not that of Mr. Hastings Weare, +for it came from the depths of the gallery. + +"'The hand that rocks the cradle sways the world,'" answered Mr. Crewe, +and there was no doubt about the sincerity of the applause this time. + +"The campaign of the Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith," said the State +Tribune next day, "was inaugurated at the Opera House in Ripton last +night before an enthusiastic audience consisting of Mr. Austen Vane, Mr. +Thomas Gaylord, Jr., Mr. Hamilton Tooting, two reporters, and seventy- +four ladies, who cheered the speaker to the echo. About half of these +ladies were summer residents of Leith in charge of the well-known social +leader, Mrs. Patterson Pomfret,--an organized league which, it is +understood, will follow the candidate about the State in the English +fashion, kissing the babies and teaching the mothers hygienic cooking and +how to ondule the hair." + +After speaking for an hour and a half, the Honourable Humphrey Crewe +declared that he would be glad to meet any of the audience who wished to +shake his hand, and it was Mrs. Pomfret who reached him first. + +"Don't be discouraged, Humphrey,--you are magnificent," she whispered. + +"Discouraged!" echoed Mr. Crewe. "You can't kill an idea, and we'll see +who's right and who's wrong before I get through with 'em." + +"What a noble spirit!" Mrs. Pomfret exclaimed aside to Mrs. Chillingham. +Then she added, in a louder tone, "Ladies, if you will kindly tell me +your names, I shall be happy to introduce you to the candidate. Well, +Victoria, I didn't expect to see you here." + +"Why not?" said Victoria. "Humphrey, accept my congratulations." + +"Did you like it?" asked Mr. Crewe. "I thought it was a pretty good +speech myself. There's nothing like telling the truth, you know. And, +by the way, I hope to see you in a day or two, before I start for +Kingston. Telephone me when you come down to Leith." + +The congratulations bestowed on the candidate by the daughter of the +president of the Northeastern Railroads quite took the breath out of the +spectators who witnessed the incident, and gave rise to the wildest +conjectures. And the admiration of Mr. Hastings Weare was unbounded. + +"You've got the most magnificent nerve I ever saw, Victoria," he +exclaimed, as they made their way towards the door. + +"You forget Humphrey," she replied. + +Hastings looked at her and chuckled. In fact, he chuckled all the way +home. In the vestibule they met Mr. Austen Vane and Mr. Thomas Gaylord, +the latter coming forward with a certain palpable embarrassment. All +through the evening Tom had been trying to account for her presence at +the meeting, until Austen had begged him to keep his speculations to +himself. "She can't be engaged to him!" Mr. Gaylord had exclaimed more +than once, under his breath. "Why not?" Austen had answered; "there's a +good deal about him to admire." "Because she's got more sense," said +Tom doggedly. Hence he was at a loss for words when she greeted him. + +"Well, Mr. Gaylord," she said, "you see no bones were broken, after all. +But I appreciated your precaution in sending the buggy behind me, +although it wasn't necessary. + +"I felt somewhat responsible," replied Tom, and words failed him. +"Here's Austen Vane," he added, indicating by a nod of the head the +obvious presence of that gentleman. "You'll excuse me. There's a man +here I want to see." + +"What's the matter with Mr. Gaylord?" Victoria asked. "He seems so-- +queer." + +They were standing apart, alone, Hastings Weare having gone to the +stables for the runabout. + +"Mr. Gaylord imagines he doesn't get along with the opposite sex," Austen +replied, with just a shade of constraint. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Victoria; "we got along perfectly the other day +when he rescued me from the bushes. What's the matter with him?" + +Austen laughed, and their eyes met. + +"I think he is rather surprised to see you here," he said. + +"And you?" returned Victoria. "Aren't you equally out of place?" + +He did not care to go into an explanation of Tom's suspicion in regard to +Mr. Crewe. + +"My curiosity was too much for me," he replied, smiling. + +"So was mine," she replied, and suddenly demanded: "What did you think of +Humphrey's speech?" + +Their eyes met. And despite the attempted seriousness of her tone they +joined in an irresistible and spontaneous laughter. They were again on +that plane of mutual understanding and intimacy for which neither could +account. + +"I have no criticism to make of Mr. Crewe as an orator, at least," he +said. + +Then she grew serious again, and regarded him steadfastly. + +"And--what he said?" she asked. + +Austen wondered again at the courage she had displayed. All he had been +able to think of in the theatre, while listening to Mr. Crewe's words of +denunciation of the Northeastern Railroads, had been of the effect they +might have on Victoria's feelings, and from time to time he had glanced +anxiously at her profile. And now, looking into her face, questioning, +trustful--he could not even attempt to evade. He was silent. + +"I shouldn't have asked you that," she said. "One reason I came was +because--because I wanted to hear the worst. You were too considerate to +tell me--all." + +He looked mutely into her eyes, and a great desire arose in him to be +able to carry her away from it all. Many times within the past year, +when the troubles and complications of his life had weighed upon him, his +thoughts had turned to, that Western country, limited only by the bright +horizons where the sun rose and set. If he could only take her there, or +into his own hills, where no man might follow them! It was a primeval +longing, and, being a woman and the object of it, she saw its essential +meaning in his face. For a brief moment they stood as completely alone +as on the crest of Sawanec. + +"Good night," she said, in a low voice. + +He did not trust himself to speak at once, but went down the steps with +her to the curb, where Hastings Weare was waiting in the runabout. + +"I was just telling Miss Flint," said that young gentleman, "that you +would have been my candidate." + +Austen's face relaxed. + +"Thank you, Mr. Weare," he said simply; and to Victoria, "Good night." + +At the corner, when she turned, she saw him still standing on the edge of +the sidewalk, his tall figure thrown into bold relief by the light which +flooded from the entrance. The account of the Ripton meeting, +substantially as it appeared in the State Tribune, was by a singular +coincidence copied at once into sixty-odd weekly newspapers, and must +have caused endless merriment throughout the State. Congressman +Fairplay's prophecy of "negligible" was an exaggeration, and one +gentleman who had rashly predicted that Mr. Crewe would get twenty +delegates out of a thousand hid himself for shame. On the whole, the +"monumental farce" forecast seemed best to fit the situation. A +conference was held at Leith between the candidate, Mr. Tooting, and the +Honourable Timothy Watling of Newcastle, who was preparing the nominating +speech, although the convention was more than two months distant. Mr. +Watling was skilled in rounded periods of oratory and in other things +political; and both he and Mr. Tooting reiterated their opinion that +there was no particle of doubt about Mr. Crewe's nomination. + +"But we'll have to fight fire with fire," Mr. Tooting declared. It was +probably an accident that he happened to kick, at this instant, Mr. +Watling under cover of the table. Mr. Watling was an old and valued +friend. + +"Gentlemen," said Mr. Crewe, "I haven't the slightest doubt of my +nomination, either. I do not hesitate to say, however, that the expenses +of this campaign, at this early stage, seem to me out of all proportion. +Let me see what you have there." + +The Honourable Timothy Wading had produced a typewritten list containing +some eighty towns and wards, each followed by a name and the number of +the delegates therefrom--and figures. + +"They'd all be enthusiastic Crewe men--if they could be seen by the right +party," declared Mr. Tooting. + +Mr. Crewe ran his eye over the list. + +"Whom would you suggest to see 'em?" he asked coldly. + +"There's only one party I know of that has much influence over 'em," Mr. +Tooting replied, with a genial but deferential indication of his friend. + +At this point Mr. Crewe's secretary left the room on an errand, and the +three statesmen went into executive session. In politics, as in charity, +it is a good rule not to let one's right hand know what the left hand +doeth. Half an hour later the three emerged into the sunlight, Mr. +Tooting and Mr. Watling smoking large cigars. + +"You've got a great lay-out here, Mr. Crewe," Mr. Watling remarked. "It +must have stood you in a little money, eh? Yes, I'll get mileage books, +and you'll hear from me every day or two." + +And now we are come to the infinitely difficult task of relating in a +whirlwind manner the story of a whirlwind campaign--a campaign that was +to make the oldest resident sit up and take notice. In the space of four +short weeks a miracle had begun to show itself. First, there was the +Kingston meeting, with the candidate, his thumb in his watch-pocket, +seated in an open carriage beside Mr. Hamilton Tooting,--a carriage +draped with a sheet on which was painted "Down with Railroad Ring Rule." + +The carriage was preceded by the Kingston Brass Band, producing throbbing +martial melodies, and followed (we are not going to believe the State +Tribune any longer) by a jostling' and cheering crowd. The band halts +before the G.A.R. Hall; the candidate alights, with a bow of +acknowledgment, and goes to the private office until the musicians are +seated in front of the platform, when he enters to renewed cheering and +the tune of "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!" + +An honest historian must admit that there were two accounts of this +meeting. Both agree that Mr. Crewe introduced himself, and poured a +withering sarcasm on the heads of Kingston's prominent citizens. One +account, which the ill-natured declared to be in Mr. Tooting's style, and +which appeared (in slightly larger type than that of the other columns) +in the Kingston and local papers, stated that the hall was crowded to +suffocation, and that the candidate was "accorded an ovation which lasted +for fully five minutes." + +Mr. Crewe's speech was printed--in this slightly larger type. Woe to the +Honourable Adam B. Hunt, who had gone to New York to see whether he could +be governor! Why didn't he come out on the platform? Because he +couldn't. "Safe" candidates couldn't talk. His subservient and fawning +reports on accidents while chairman of the Railroad Commission were +ruthlessly quoted (amid cheers and laughter). What kind of railroad +service was Kingston getting compared to what it should have? Compared, +indeed, to what it had twenty years ago? An informal reception was held +afterwards. + +More meetings followed, at the rate of four a week, in county after +county. At the end of fifteen days a selectman (whose name will go down +in history) voluntarily mounted the platform and introduced the +Honourable Humphrey Crewe to the audience; not, to be sure, as the +saviour of the State; and from that day onward Mr. Crewe did not lack for +a sponsor. On the other hand, the sponsors became more pronounced, and +at Harwich (a free-thinking district) a whole board of selectmen and five +prominent citizens sat gravely beside the candidate in the town hall. + +(1) Paul Pardriff, Ripton. Sent post free, on application, to voters and +others. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Battles of selfish interests ebbed and flowed +A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds +His strength was his imperviousness to this kind of a remark +Many a silent tear of which they knew nothing +Politicians are politicians; they have always been corrupt + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, V2 +by Winston Churchill + + + + + +MR. CREWE'S CAREER + +By Winston Churchill + + + +BOOK 3. + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ST. GILES OF THE BLAMELESS LIFE + +The burden of the valley of vision: woe to the Honourable Adam B. Hunt! +Where is he all this time? On the porch of his home in Edmundton, +smoking cigars, little heeding the rising of the waters; receiving visits +from the Honourables Brush Bascom, Nat Billings, and Jacob Botcher, and +signing cheques to the order of these gentlemen for necessary expenses. +Be it known that the Honourable Adam was a man of substance in this +world's goods. To quote from Mr. Crewe's speech at Hull: "The +Northeastern Railroads confer--they do not pay, except in passes. Of +late years their books may be searched in vain for evidence of the use of +political funds. The man upon whom they choose to confer your +governorship is always able to pay the pipers." (Purposely put in the +plural.) + +Have the pipers warned the Honourable Adam of the rising tide against +him? Have they asked him to gird up his loins and hire halls and smite +the upstart hip and thigh? They have warned him, yes, that the expenses +may be a little greater than ordinary. But it is not for him to talk, or +to bestir himself in any unseemly manner, for the prize which he was to +have was in the nature of a gift. In vain did Mr. Crewe cry out to him +four times a week for his political beliefs, for a statement of what he +would do if he were elected governor. The Honourable Adam's dignified +answer was that he had always been a good Republican, and would die one. +Following a time-honoured custom, he refused to say anything, but it was +rumoured that he believed in the gold standard. + +It is August, and there is rejoicing in--Leith. There is no doubt now +that the campaign of the people progresses; no need any more for the true +accounts of the meetings, in large print, although these are still +continued. The reform rallies resemble matinees no longer, and two real +reporters accompany Mr. Crewe on his tours. Nay, the campaign of +education has already borne fruit, which the candidate did not hesitate +to mention in his talks Edmundton has more trains, Kingston has more +trains, and more cars. No need now to stand up for twenty miles on a hot +day; and more cars are building, and more engines; likewise some rates +have been lowered. And editors who declare that the Northeastern gives +the State a pretty good government have, like the guinea pigs, long been +suppressed. + +In these days were many councils at Fairview and in the offices of the +Honourable Hilary Vane at Ripton; councils behind closed doors, from +which the councillors emerged with smiling faces that men might not know +the misgivings in their hearts; councils, nevertheless, out of which +leaked rumours of dissension and recrimination conditions hitherto +unheard of. One post ran to meet another, and one messenger ran to meet +another; and it was even reported--though on doubtful authority--after +the rally in his town the Honourable Jacob Botcher had made the remark +that, under certain conditions, he might become a reformer. + +None of these upsetting rumours, however, were allowed by Mr. Bascom and +other gentlemen close to the Honourable Adam B. Hunt to reach that +candidate, who continued to smoke in tranquillity on the porch of his +home until the fifteenth day of August. At eight o'clock that morning +the postman brought him a letter marked personal, the handwriting on +which he recognized as belonging to the Honourable Hilary Vane. For some +reason, as he read, the sensations of the Honourable Adam were +disquieting; the contents of the letter, to say the least, were peculiar. +"To-morrow, at noon precisely, I shall be driving along the Broad Brook +road by the abandoned mill--three miles towards Edmundton from Hull. I +hope you will find it convenient to be there." + +These were the strange words the Honourable Hilary had written, and the +Honourable Adam knew that it was an order. At that very instant Mr. Hunt +had been reading in the Guardian the account of an overflow meeting in +Newcastle, by his opponent, in which Mr. Crewe had made some particularly +choice remarks about him; and had been cheered to the echo. The +Honourable Adam put the paper down, and walked up the street to talk to +Mr. Burrows, the postmaster whom, with the aid of Congressman Fairplay, +he had had appointed at Edmundton. The two racked their brains for +three hours; and Postmaster Burrows, who was the fortunate possessor of a +pass, offered to go down to Ripton in the interest of his liege lord and +see what was up. The Honourable Adam, however, decided that he could +wait for twenty-four hours. + +The morning of the sixteenth dawned clear, as beautiful a summer's day +for a drive as any man could wish. But the spirit of the Honourable Adam +did not respond to the weather, and he had certain vague forebodings as +his horse jogged toward Hull, although these did not take such a definite +shape as to make him feel a premonitory pull of his coat-tails. The +ruined mill beside the rushing stream was a picturesque spot, and the +figure of the Honourable Hilary Vane, seated on the old millstone, in the +green and gold shadows of a beech, gave an interesting touch of life to +the landscape. The Honourable Adam drew up and eyed his friend and +associate of many years before addressing him. + +"How are you, Hilary?" + +"Hitch your horse," said Mr. Vane. + +The Honourable Adam was some time in picking out a convenient tree. Then +he lighted a cigar, and approached Mr. Vane, and at length let himself +down, cautiously, on the millstone. Sitting on his porch had not +improved Mr. Hunt's figure. + +"This is kind of mysterious, ain't it, Hilary?" he remarked, with a tug +at his goatee. + +"I don't know but what it is," admitted Mr. Vane, who did not look as +though the coming episode were to give him unqualified joy. + +"Fine weather," remarked the Honourable Adam, with a brave attempt at +geniality. + +"The paper predicts rain to-morrow," said the Honourable Hilary. + +"You don't smoke, do you?" asked the Honourable Adam. + +"No," said the Honourable Hilary. + +A silence, except for the music of the brook over the broken dam. + +"Pretty place," said the Honourable Adam; "I kissed my wife here once-- +before I was married." + +This remark, although of interest, the Honourable Hilary evidently +thought did not require an answer: + +"Adam," said Mr. Vane, presently, "how much money have you spent so far?" + +"Well," said Mr. Hunt, "it has been sort of costly, but Brush and the +boys tell me the times are uncommon, and I guess they are. If that crazy +cuss Crewe hadn't broken loose, it would have been different. Not that +I'm uneasy about him, but all this talk of his and newspaper advertising +had to be counteracted some. Why, he has a couple of columns a week +right here in the Edmundton Courier. The papers are bleedin' him to +death, certain." + +"How much have you spent?" asked the Honourable Hilary. + +The Honourable Adam screwed up his face and pulled his goatee +thoughtfully. + +"What are you trying to get at, Hilary," he inquired, sending for me to +meet you out here in the woods in this curious way? If you wanted to see +me, why didn't you get me to go down to Ripton, or come up and sit on my +porch? You've been there before." + +"Times," said the Honourable Hilary, repeating, perhaps unconsciously, +Mr. Hunt's words, "are uncommon. This man Crewe's making more headway +than you think. The people don't know him, and he's struck a popular +note. It's the fashion to be down on railroads these days." + +"I've taken that into account," replied Mr. Hunt. + +"It's unlucky, and it comes high. I don't think he's got a show for the +nomination, but my dander's up, and I'll beat him if I have to mortgage +my house." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted, and ruminated. + +"How much did you say you'd spent, Adam?" + +"If you think I'm not free enough, I'll loosen up a little more," said +the Honourable Adam. + +"How free have you been?" said the Honourable Hilary. + +For some reason the question, put in this form, was productive of +results. + +"I can't say to a dollar, but I've got all the amounts down in a book. I +guess somewhere in the neighbourhood of nine thousand would cover it." + +Mr. Vane grunted again. + +"Would you take a cheque, Adam?" he inquired. + +"What for?" cried the Honourable Adam. + +"For the amount you've spent," said the Honourable Hilary, sententiously. + +The Honourable Adam began to breathe with apparent difficulty, and his +face grew purple. But Mr. Vane did not appear to notice these alarming +symptoms. Then the candidate turned about, as on a pivot, seized Mr. +Vane by the knee, and looked into his face. + +"Did you come up here with orders for me to get out?" he demanded, with +some pardonable violence. "By thunder, I didn't think that of my old +friend, Hilary Vane. You ought to have known me better, and Flint ought +to have known me better. There ain't a mite of use of our staying here +another second, and you can go right back and tell Flint what I said. +Flint knows I've been waiting to be governor for eight years, and each +year it's been just a year ahead. You ask him what he said to me when he +sent for me to go to New York. I thought he was a man of his word, and +he promised me that I should be governor this year." + +The Honourable Hilary gave no indication of being moved by this righteous +outburst. + +"You can be governor next year, when this reform nonsense has blown +over," he said. "You can't be this year, even if you stay in the race." + +"Why not?" the Honourable Adam asked pugnaciously. + +"Your record won't stand it--not just now," said Mr. Vane, slowly. + +"My record is just as good as yours, or any man's," said the Honourable +Adam. + +"I never run for office," answered Mr. Vane. + +"Haven't I spent the days of my active life in the service of that road-- +and is this my reward? Haven't I done what Flint wanted always?" + +"That's just the trouble," said the Honourable Hilary; too many folks +know it. If we're going to win this time, we've got to have a man who's +never had any Northeastern connections." + +"Who have you picked?" demanded the Honourable Adam, with alarming +calmness. + +"We haven't picked anybody yet," said Mr. Vane, "but the man who goes in +will give you a cheque for what you've spent, and you can be governor +next time." + +"Well, if this isn't the d-dest, coldest-blooded proposition ever made, I +want to know!" cried the Honourable Adam. "Will Flint put up a bond of +one hundred thousand dollars that I'll be nominated and elected next +year? This is the clearest case of going back on an old friend I ever +saw. If this is the way you fellows get scared because a sham reformer +gets up and hollers against the road, then I want to serve notice on you +that I'm not made of that kind of stuff. When I go into a fight, I go in +to stay, and you can't pull me out by the coat-tails in favour of a saint +who's never done a lick of work for the road. You tell Flint that." + +"All right, Adam," said Hilary. + +Some note in Hilary's voice, as he made this brief answer, suddenly +sobered the Honourable Adam, and sent a cold chill down his spine. He +had had many dealings with Mr. Vane, and he had always been as putty in +the chief counsel's hands. This simple acquiescence did more to convince +the Honourable Adam that his chances of nomination were in real danger +than a long and forceful summary of the situation could have +accomplished. But like many weak men, the Honourable Adam had a stubborn +streak, and a fatuous idea that opposition and indignation were signs of +strength. + +"I've made sacrifices for the road before, and effaced myself. But by +thunder, this is too much!" + +Corporations, like republics, are proverbially ungrateful. The +Honourable Hilary might have voiced this sentiment, but refrained. + +"Mr. Flint's a good friend of yours, Adam. He wanted me to say that he'd +always taken care of you, and always would, so far as in his power. If +you can't be landed this time, it's common sense for you to get out, and +wait--isn't it? We'll see that you get a cheque to cover what you've put +out." + +The humour in this financial sacrifice of Mr. Flint's (which the unknown +new candidate was to make with a cheque) struck neither the Honourable +Adam nor the Honourable Hilary. The transaction, if effected, would +resemble that of the shrine to the Virgin built by a grateful Marquis of +Mantua--which a Jew paid for. + +The Honourable Adam got to his feet. + +"You can tell Flint," he said, "that if he will sign a bond of one +hundred thousand dollars to elect me next time, I'll get out. That's my +last word." + +"All right, Adam," replied Mr. Vane, rising also. + +Mr. Hunt stared at the Honourable Hilary thoughtfully; and although the +gubernatorial candidate was not an observant man, he was suddenly struck +by the fact that the chief counsel was growing old. + +"I won't hold this against you, Hilary," he said. + +"Politics," said the Honourable Hilary, "are business matters." + +"I'll show Flint that it would have been good business to stick to me," +said the Honourable Adam. "When be gets panicky, and spends all his +money on new equipment and service, it's time for me to drop him. You +can tell him so from me." + +"Hadn't you better write him?" said the Honourable Hilary. + +The rumour of the entry of Mr. Giles Henderson of Kingston into the +gubernatorial contest preceded, by ten days or so, the actual event. It +is difficult for the historian to unravel the precise circumstances which +led to this candidacy. Conservative citizens throughout the State, it +was understood, had become greatly concerned over the trend political +affairs were taking; the radical doctrines of one candidate--propounded +for very obvious reasons--they turned from in disgust; on the other hand, +it was evident that an underlying feeling existed in certain sections +that any candidate who was said to have had more or less connection with +the Northeastern Railroads was undesirable at the present time. This was +not to be taken as a reflection on the Northeastern, which had been the +chief source of the State's prosperity, but merely as an acknowledgment +that a public opinion undoubtedly existed, and ought to be taken into +consideration by the men who controlled the Republican party. + +This was the gist of leading articles which appeared simultaneously in +several newspapers, apparently before the happy thought of bringing +forward Mr. Giles Henderson had occurred to anybody. He was mentioned +first, and most properly, by the editor of the "Kingston Pilot;" and the +article, with comments upon it, ran like wildfire through the press of +the State,--appearing even in those sheets which maintained editorially +that they were for the Honourable Adam B. Hunt first and last and, all +the time. Whereupon Mr. Giles Henderson began to receive visits from the +solid men--not politicians of the various cities and counties. For +instance, Mr. Silas Tredway of Ripton, made such a pilgrimage and, as a +citizen who had voted in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln (showing Mr. Tredway +himself to have been a radical once), appealed to Mr. Henderson to save +the State. + +At first Mr. Henderson would give no ear to these appeals, but shook his +head pessimistically. He was not a politician--so much the better, we +don't want a politician; he was a plain business man exactly what is +needed; a conservative, level-headed business man wholly lacking in those +sensational qualities which are a stench in the nostrils of good +citizens. Mr. Giles Henderson admitted that the time had come when a man +of these qualities was needed--but he was not the man. Mr. Tredway was +the man--so he told Mr. Tredway; Mr. Gates of Brampton was the man--so he +assured Mr. Gates. Mr. Henderson had no desire to meddle in politics; +his life was a happy and a full one. But was it not Mr. Henderson's +duty? Cincinnatus left the plough, and Mr. Henderson should leave the +ledger at the call of his countrymen. + +Mr. Giles Henderson was mild-mannered and blue-eyed, with a scanty beard +that was turning white; he was a deacon of the church, a member of the +school board, president of the Kingston National Bank; the main business +of his life had been in coal (which incidentally had had to be +transported over the Northeastern Railroads); and coal rates, for some +reason, were cheaper from Kingston than from many points out of the State +the distances of which were nearer. Mr. Henderson had been able to sell +his coal at a lower price than any other large dealer in the eastern part +of the State. Mr. Henderson was the holder of a large amount of stock in +the Northeastern, inherited from his father. Facts of no special +significance, and not printed in the weekly newspapers. Mr. Henderson +lived in a gloomy Gothic house on High Street, ate three very plain meals +a day, and drank iced water. He had been a good husband and a good +father, and had always voted the Republican ticket. He believed in the +gold standard, a high tariff, and eternal damnation. At last his +resistance was overcome, and he consented to allow his name to be used. + +It was used, with a vengeance. Spontaneous praise of Mr. Giles Henderson +bubbled up all over the State, and editors who were for the Honourable +Adam B. Hunt suddenly developed a second choice. No man within the +borders of the commonwealth had so many good qualities as the new +candidate, and it must have been slightly annoying to one of that +gentleman's shrinking nature to read daily, on coming down to breakfast, +a list of virtues attributed to him as long as a rate schedule. How he +must have longed for the record of one wicked deed to make him human! + +Who will pick a flaw in the character of the Honourable Giles Henderson? +Let that man now stand forth. + +The news of the probable advent of Mr. Giles Henderson on the field, as +well as the tidings of his actual consent to be a candidate, were not +slow in reaching Leith. And--Mr. Crewe's Bureau of Information being in +perfect working order--the dastardly attempt on the Honourable Adam B. +Hunt's coat-tails was known there. More wonders to relate: the +Honourable Adam B. Hunt had become a reformer; he had made a statement at +last, in which he declared with vigour that no machine or ring was behind +him; he stood on his own merits, invited the minutest inspection of his +record, declared that he was an advocate of good government, and if +elected would be the servant of no man and of no corporation. + +Thrice-blessed State, in which there were now three reform candidates for +governor! + +All of these happenings went to indicate confusion in the enemy's camp, +and corresponding elation in Mr. Crewe's. Woe to the reputation for +political sagacity of the gentleman who had used the words "negligible" +and "monumental farce"! The tide was turning, and the candidate from +Leith redoubled his efforts. Had he been confounded by the advent of the +Honourable Giles? Not at all. Mr. Crewe was not given to satire; his +methods, as we know, were direct. Hence the real author of the following +passage in his speech before an overflow meeting in the State capital +remains unknown: + +"My friends," Mr. Crewe had said, "I have been waiting for the time when +St. Giles of the Blameless Life would be pushed forward, apparently as +the only hope of our so-called 'solid citizens.' (Prolonged laughter, and +audible repetitions of Mr. Henderson's nickname, which was to stick.) I +will tell you by whose desire St. Giles became a candidate, and whose +bidding he will do if he becomes governor as blindly and obediently as +the Honourable Adam B. Hunt ever did. (Shouts of "Flint!" and, "The +Northeastern!") I see you know. Who sent the solid citizens to see Mr. +Henderson? ("Flint!") This is a clever trick--exactly what I should have +done if I'd been running their campaign--only they didn't do it early +enough. They picked Mr. Giles Henderson for two reasons: because he +lives in Kingston, which is anti-railroad and supported the Gaylord bill, +and, because he never in his life committed any positive action, good or +bad--and he never will. And they made another mistake--the Honourable +Adam B. Hunt wouldn't back out." (Laughter and cheers.) + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +IN WHICH EUPHRASIA TAKES A HAND + +Austen had not forgotten his promise to Euphrasia, and he had gone to +Hanover Street many times since his sojourn at Mr. Jabe Jenney's. +Usually these visits had taken place in the middle of the day, when +Euphrasia, with gentle but determined insistence, had made him sit down +before some morsel which she had prepared against his coming, and which +he had not the heart to refuse. In answer to his inquiries about Hilary, +she would toss her head and reply, disdainfully, that he was as +comfortable as he should be. For Euphrasia had her own strict ideas of +justice, and to her mind Hilary's suffering was deserved. That suffering +was all the more terrible because it was silent, but Euphrasia was a +stern woman. To know that he missed Austen, to feel that Hilary was +being justly punished for his treatment of her idol, for his callous +neglect and lack of realization of the blessings of his life--these were +Euphrasia's grim compensations. + +At times, even, she had experienced a strange rejoicing that she had +promised Austen to remain with his father, for thus it had been given her +to be the daily witness of a retribution for which she had longed during +many years. Nor did she strive to hide her feelings. Their intercourse, +never voluminous, had shrunk to the barest necessities for the use of +speech; but Hilary, ever since the night of his son's departure, had read +in the face of his housekeeper a knowledge of his suffering, an exultation +a thousand times more maddening than the little reproaches of language +would have been. He avoided her more than ever, and must many times have +regretted bitterly the fact that he had betrayed himself to her. As for +Euphrasia, she had no notion of disclosing Hilary's torture to his son. +She was determined that the victory, when it came, should be Austen's, +and the surrender Hilary's. + +"He manages to eat his meals, and gets along as common," she would reply. +"He only thinks of himself and that railroad." + +But Austen read between the lines. + +"Poor old Judge," he would answer; "it's because he's made that way, +Phrasie. He can't help it, any more than I can help flinging law-books +on the floor and running off to the country to have a good time. You +know as well as I do that he hasn't had much joy out of life; that he'd +like to be different, only he doesn't know how." + +"I can't see that it takes much knowledge to treat a wife and son like +human beings," Euphrasia retorted; "that's only common humanity. For a +man that goes to meetin' twice a week, you'd have thought he'd have +learned something by this time out of the New Testament. He's prayed +enough in his life, goodness knows!" + +Now Euphrasia's ordinarily sharp eyes were sharpened an hundred fold by +affection; and of late, at odd moments during his visits, Austen had +surprised them fixed on him with a penetration that troubled him. + +"You don't seem to fancy the tarts as much as you used to," she would +remark. "Time was when you'd eat three and four at a sittin'." + +"Phrasie, one of your persistent fallacies is, that I'm still a boy." + +"You ain't yourself," said Euphrasia, ignoring this pleasantry, "and you +ain't been yourself for some months. I've seen it. I haven't brought +you up for nothing. If he's troubling you, don't you worry a mite. He +ain't worth it. He eats better than you do." + +"I'm not worrying much about that," Austen answered, smiling. "The Judge +and I will patch it up before long--I'm sure. He's worried now over +these people who are making trouble for his railroad." + +"I wish railroads had never been invented," cried Euphrasia. "It seems +to me they bring nothing but trouble. My mother used to get along pretty +well in a stage-coach." + +One evening in September, when the summer days were rapidly growing +shorter and the mists rose earlier in the valley of the Blue, Austen, who +had stayed late at the office preparing a case, ate his supper at the +Ripton House. As he sat in the big dining room, which was almost empty, +the sense of loneliness which he had experienced so often of late came +over him, and he thought of Euphrasia. His father, he knew, had gone to +Kingston for the night, and so he drove up Hanover Street and hitched +Pepper to the stone post before the door. Euphrasia, according to an +invariable custom, would be knitting in the kitchen at this hour; and at +the sight of him in the window, she dropped her work with a little, +joyful cry. + +"I was just thinking of you!" she said, in a low voice of tenderness +which many people would not have recognized as Euphrasia's; as though her +thoughts of him were the errant ones of odd moments! "I'm so glad you +come. It's lonesome here of evenings, Austen." + +He entered silently and sat down beside her, in a Windsor chair which had +belonged to some remote Austen of bygone days. + +"You don't have as good things to eat up at Mis' Jenney's as I give you," +she remarked. "Not that you appear to care much for eatables any more. +Austen, are you feeling poorly?" + +"I can dig more potatoes in a day than any other man in Ripton," he +declared. + +"You'd ought to get married," said Euphrasia, abruptly. "I've told you +that before, but you never seem to pay any attention to what I say." + +"Why haven't you tried it, Phrasie?" he retorted. + +He was not prepared for what followed. Euphrasia did not answer at once, +but presently her knitting dropped to her lap, and she sat staring at the +old clock on the kitchen shelf. + +"He never asked me," she said, simply. + +Austen was silent. The answer seemed to recall, with infinite pathos, +Euphrasia's long-lost youth, and he had not thought of youth as a quality +which could ever have pertained to her. She must have been young once, +and fresh, and full of hope for herself; she must have known, long ago, +something of what he now felt, something of the joy and pain, something +of the inexpressible, never ceasing yearning for the fulfilment of a +desire that dwarfed all others. Euphrasia had been denied that +fulfilment. And he--would he, too, be denied it? + +Out of Euphrasia's eyes, as she gazed at the mantel-shelf, shone the +light of undying fires within--fires which at a touch could blaze forth +after endless years, transforming the wrinkled face, softening the +sterner lines of character. And suddenly there was a new bond between +the two. So used are the young to the acceptance of the sacrifice of the +old that they lose sight of that sacrifice. But Austen saw now, in a +flash, the years of Euphrasia's self-denial, the years of memories, the +years of regrets for that which might have been. + +"Phrasie," he said, laying a hand on hers, which rested on the arm of the +chair, I was only joking, you know." + +"I know, I know," Euphrasia answered hastily, and turned and looked into +his face searchingly. Her eyes were undimmed, and the light was still in +them which revealed a soul of which he had had no previous knowledge. + +"I know you was, dear. I never told that to a living being except your +mother. He's dead now--he never knew. But I told her--I couldn't help +it. She had a way of drawing things out of you, and you just couldn't +resist. I'll never forget that day she came in here and looked at me and +took my hand--same as you have it now. She wasn't married then. I'll +never forget the sound of her voice as she said, 'Euphrasia, tell me +about it.'" (Here Euphrasia's own voice trembled.) "I told her, just as +I'm telling you,--because I couldn't help it. Folks, had to tell her +things." + +She turned her hand and clasped his tightly with her own thin fingers. + +"And oh, Austen," she cried, "I want so that you should be happy! She +was so unhappy, it doesn't seem right that you should be, too." + +"I shall be, Phrasie," he said; "you mustn't worry about that." + +For a while the only sound in the room was the ticking of the old clock +with the quaint, coloured picture on its panel. And then, with a +movement which, strangely, was an acute reminder of a way Victoria had, +Euphrasia turned and searched his face once more. + +"You're not happy," she said. + +He could not put this aside--nor did he wish to. Her own confidence had +been so simple, so fine, so sure of his sympathy, that he felt it would +be unworthy to equivocate; the confessions of the self-reliant are sacred +things. Yes, and there had been times when he had longed to unburden +himself; but he had had no intimate on this plane, and despite the great +sympathy between them--that Euphrasia might understand had never occurred +to him. She had read his secret. + +In that instant Euphrasia, with the instinct which love lends to her sex, +had gone farther; indignation seized her--and the blame fell upon the +woman. Austen's words, unconsciously, were an answer to her thoughts. + +"It isn't anybody's fault but my own," he said. + +Euphrasia's lips were tightly closed. Long ago the idol of her youth had +faded into the substance of which dreams are made--to be recalled by +dreams alone; another worship had filled her heart, and Austen Vane had +become--for her--the fulness and the very meaning of life itself; one to +be admired of all men, to be desired of all women. Visions of Austen's +courtship had at times risen in her mind, although Euphrasia would not +have called it a courtship. When the time came, Austen would confer; and +so sure of his judgment was Euphrasia that she was prepared to take the +recipient of the priceless gift into her arms. And now! Was it possible +that a woman lived who would even hesitate? Curiosity seized Euphrasia +with the intensity of a passion. Who was this woman? When and where had +he seen her? Ripton could not have produced her--for it was +characteristic of Euphrasia that no girl of her acquaintance was worthy +to be raised to such a height; Austen's wife would be an unknown of ideal +appearance and attainments. Hence indignation rocked Euphrasia, and +doubts swayed her. In this alone she had been an idealist, but she might +have known that good men were a prey to the unworthy of the opposite sex. + +She glanced at Austen's face, and he smiled at her gently, as though he +divined something of her thoughts. + +"If it isn't your fault, that you're not happy, then the matter's easily +mended," she said. + +He shook his head at her, as though in reproof. + +"Was yours--easily mended?" he asked. + +Euphrasia was silent a moment. + +"He never knew," she repeated, in a low voice. + +"Well, Phrasie, it looks very much as if we were in the same boat," he +said. + +Euphrasia's heart gave a bound. + +"Then you haven't spoke!" she cried; "I knew you hadn't. I--I was a +woman--but sometimes I've thought I'd ought to have given him some sign. +You're a man, Austen; thank God for it, you're a man. If a man loves a +woman, he's only got to tell her so." + +"It isn't as simple as that," he answered. + +Euphrasia gave him a startled glance. + +"She ain't married?" she exclaimed. + +"No," he said, and laughed in spite of himself. + +Euphrasia breathed again. For Sarah Austen had had a morality of her +own, and on occasions had given expression to extreme views. + +"She's not playin' with you?" was Euphrasia's next question, and her tone +boded ill to any young person who would indulge in these tactics with +Austen. + +He shook his head again, and smiled at her vehemence. + +"No, she's not playing with me--she isn't that kind. I'd like to tell +you, but I can't--I can't. It was only because you guessed that I said +anything about it." He disengaged his hand, and rose, and patted her on +the cheek. "I suppose I had to tell somebody," he said, "and you seemed, +somehow, to be the right person, Phrasie." + +Euphrasia rose abruptly and looked up intently into his face. He thought +it strange afterwards, as he drove along the dark roads, that she had not +answered him. + +Even though the matter were on the knees of the gods, Euphrasia would +have taken it thence, if she could. Nor did Austen know that she shared +with him, that night, his waking hours. + +The next morning Mr. Thomas Gaylord, the younger, was making his way +towards the office of the Gaylord Lumber Company, conveniently situated +on Willow Street, near the railroad. Young Tom was in a particularly +jovial frame of mind, despite the fact that he had arrived in Ripton, on +the night express, as early as five o'clock in the morning. He had been +touring the State ostensibly on lumber business, but young Tom had a +large and varied personal as well as commercial acquaintance, and he had +the inestimable happiness of being regarded as an honest man, while his +rough and genial qualities made him beloved. For these reasons and +others of a more material nature, suggestions from Mr. Thomas Gaylord +were apt to be well received--and Tom had been making suggestions. + +Early as he was at his office--the office-boy was sprinkling the floor-- +young Tom had a visitor who was earlier still. Pausing in the doorway, +Mr. Gaylord beheld with astonishment a prim, elderly lady in a stiff, +black dress sitting upright on the edge of a capacious oak chair which +seemed itself rather discomfited by what it contained,--for its +hospitality had hitherto been extended to visitors of a very different +sort. + +"Well, upon my soul," cried young Tom, "if it isn't Euphrasia!" + +"Yes, it's me," said Euphrasia; "I've been to market, and I had a notion +to see you before I went home." + +Mr. Gaylord took the office-boy lightly by the collar of his coat and +lifted him, sprinkling can and all, out of the doorway and closed the +door. Then he drew his revolving chair close to Euphrasia, and sat down. +They were old friends, and more than once in a youth far from model Tom +had experienced certain physical reproof at her hands, for which he bore +no ill-will. There was anxiety on his face as he asked:-- + +"There hasn't been any accident, has there, Euphrasia?" + +"No," she said. + +"No new row?" inquired Tom. + +"No," said Euphrasia. She was a direct person, as we know, but true +descendants of the Puritans believe in the decency of preliminaries, and +here was certainly an affair not to be plunged into. Euphrasia was a +spinster in the strictest sense of that formidable and highly descriptive +term, and she intended ultimately to discuss with Tom a subject of which +she was supposed by tradition to be wholly ignorant, the mere mention of +which still brought warmth to her cheeks. Such a delicate matter should +surely be led up to delicately. In the meanwhile Tom was mystified. + +"Well, I'm mighty glad to see you, anyhow," he said heartily. "It was +fond of you to call, Euphrasia. I can't offer you a cigar." + +"I should think not," said Euphrasia. + +Tom reddened. He still retained for her some of his youthful awe. + +"I can't do the honours of hospitality as I'd wish to," he went on; "I +can't give you anything like the pies you used to give me." + +"You stole most of 'em," said Euphrasia. + +"I guess that's so," said young Tom, laughing, "but I'll never taste pies +like 'em again as long as I live. Do you know, Euphrasia, there were two +reasons why those were the best pies I ever ate?" + +"What were they?" she asked, apparently unmoved. + +"First," said Tom, "because you made 'em, and second, because they were +stolen." + +Truly, young Tom had a way with women, had he only been aware of it. + +"I never took much stock in stolen things," said Euphrasia. + +"It's because you never were tempted with such pie as that," replied the +audacious Mr. Gaylord. + +"You're gettin' almighty stout," said Euphrasia. + +As we see her this morning, could she indeed ever have had a love affair? + +"I don't have to use my legs as much as I once did," said Tom. And this +remark brought to an end the first phase of this conversation,--brought +to an end, apparently, all conversation whatsoever. Tom racked his brain +for a new topic, opened his roll-top desk, drummed on it, looked up at +the ceiling and whistled softly, and then turned and faced again the +imperturbable Euphrasia. + +"Euphrasia," he said, you're not exactly a politician, I believe." + +"Well," said Euphrasia, "I've be'n maligned a good many times, but nobody +ever went that far." + +Mr. Gaylord shook with laughter. + +"Then I guess there's no harm in confiding political secrets to you," he +said. "I've been around the State some this week, talking to people I +know, and I believe if your Austen wasn't so obstinate, we could make him +governor." + +"Obstinate?" ejaculated Euphrasia. + +"Yes," said Tom, with a twinkle in his eye, "obstinate. He doesn't seem +to want something that most men would give their souls for." + +"And why should he dirty himself with politics?" she demanded. "In the +years I've lived with Hilary Vane I've seen enough of politicians, +goodness knows. I never want to see another." + +"If Austen was governor, we'd change some of that. But mind, Euphrasia, +this is a secret," said Tom, raising a warning finger. "If Austen hears +about it now, the jig's up." + +Euphrasia considered and thawed a little. + +"They don't often have governors that young, do they?" she asked. + +"No," said Tom, forcibly, "they don't. And so far as I know, they +haven't had such a governor for years as Austen would make. But he won't +push himself. You know, Euphrasia, I have always believed that he will +be President some day." + +Euphrasia received this somewhat startling prediction complacently. She +had no doubt of its accuracy, but the enunciation of it raised young Tom +in her estimation, and incidentally brought her nearer her topic. + +"Austen ain't himself lately," she remarked. + +"I knew that he didn't get along with Hilary," said Tom, sympathetically, +beginning to realize now that Euphrasia had come to talk about her idol. + +"It's Hilary doesn't get along with him," she retorted indignantly. +"He's responsible--not Austen. Of all the narrow, pig-headed, selfish +men the Lord ever created, Hilary Vane's the worst. It's Hilary drove +him out of his mother's house to live with strangers. It's Austen that +comes around to inquire for his father--Hilary never has a word to say +about Austen." A trace of colour actually rose under Euphrasia's sallow +skin, and she cast her eyes downward. "You've known him a good while, +haven't you, Tom?" + +"All my life," said Tom, mystified again, "all my life. And I, think +more of him than of anybody else in the world." + +"I calculated as much," she said; "that's why I came." She hesitated. +Artful Euphrasia! We will let the ingenuous Mr. Gaylord be the first to +mention this delicate matter, if possible. "Goodness knows, it ain't +Hilary I came to talk about. I had a notion that you'd know if anything +else was troubling Austen." + +"Why," said Tom, "there can't be any business troubles outside of those +Hilary's mixed up in. Austen doesn't spend any money to speak of, except +what he gives away, and he's practically chief counsel for our company." + +Euphrasia was silent a moment. + +"I suppose there's nothing else that could bother him," she remarked. +She had never held Tom Gaylord's powers of comprehension in high +estimation, and the estimate had not risen during this visit. But she +had undervalued him; even Tom could rise to an inspiration--when the +sources of all other inspirations were eliminated. + +"Why," he exclaimed, with a masculine lack of delicacy, "he may be in +love--" + +"That's struck you, has it?" said Euphrasia. + +But Tom appeared to be thinking; he was, in truth, engaged in collecting +his cumulative evidence: Austen's sleigh-ride at the capital, which he +had discovered; his talk with Victoria after her fall, when she had +betrayed an interest in Austen which Tom had thought entirely natural; +and finally Victoria's appearance at Mr. Crewe's rally in Ripton. Young +Mr. Gaylord had not had a great deal of experience in affairs of the +heart, and he was himself aware that his diagnosis in such a matter would +not carry much weight. He had conceived a tremendous admiration for +Victoria, which had been shaken a little by the suspicion that she might +be intending to marry Mr. Crewe. Tom Gaylord saw no reason why Austen +Vane should not marry Mr. Flint's daughter if he chose--or any other +man's daughter; partaking, in this respect, somewhat of Euphrasia's view. +As for Austen himself, Tom had seen no symptoms; but then, he reflected, +he would not be likely to see any. However, he perceived the object now +of Euphrasia's visit, and began to take the liveliest interest in it. + +"So you think Austen's in love?" he demanded. + +Euphrasia sat up straighter, if anything. + +"I didn't say anything of the kind," she returned. + +"He wouldn't tell me, you know," said Tom; "I can only guess at it." + +"And the--lady?" said Euphrasia, craftily. + +"I'm up a tree there, too. All I know is that he took her sleigh-riding +one afternoon at the capital, and wouldn't tell me who he was going to +take. And then she fell off her horse down at East Tunbridge Station--" + +"Fell off her horse!" echoed Euphrasia, an accident comparable in her +mind to falling off a roof. What manner of young woman was this who fell +off horses? + +"She wasn't hurt," Tom continued, "and she rode the beast home. He was a +wild one, I can tell you, and she's got pluck. That's the first time I +ever met her, although I had often seen her and thought she was a stunner +to look at. She talked as if she took an interest in Austen." + +An exact portrayal of Euphrasia's feelings at this description of the +object of Austen's affections is almost impossible. A young woman who +was a stunner, who rode wild horses and fell off them and rode them +again, was beyond the pale not only of Euphrasia's experience but of her +imagination likewise. And this hoyden had talked as though she took an +interest in Austen! Euphrasia was speechless. + +"The next time I saw her," said Tom, "was when she came down here to +listen to Humphrey Crewe's attacks on the railroad. I thought that was a +sort of a queer thing for Flint's daughter to do, but Austen didn't seem +to look at it that way. He talked to her after the show was over." + +At this point Euphrasia could contain herself no longer, and in her +excitement she slipped off the edge of the chair and on to her feet. + +"Flint's daughter?" she cried; "Augustus P. Flint's daughter?" + +Tom looked at her in amazement. + +"Didn't you know who it was?" he stammered. But Euphrasia was not +listening. + +"I've seen her," she was saying; "I've seen her ridin' through Ripton in +that little red wagon, drivin' herself, with a coachman perched up beside +her. Flint's daughter!" Euphrasia became speechless once more, the +complications opened up being too vast for intelligent comment. +Euphrasia, however, grasped some of the problems which Austen had had to +face. Moreover, she had learned what she had come for, and the obvious +thing to do now was to go home and reflect. So, without further +ceremony, she walked to the door and opened it, and turned again with her +hand on the knob. "Look here, Tom Gaylord," she said, "if you tell Austen +I was here, I'll never forgive you. I don't believe you've got any more +sense than to do it." + +And with these words she took her departure, ere the amazed Mr. Gaylord +had time to show her out. Half an hour elapsed before he opened his +letters. + +When she arrived home in Hanover Street it was nine o'clock--an hour well +on in the day for Euphrasia. Unlocking the kitchen door, she gave a +glance at the stove to assure herself that it had not been misbehaving, +and went into the passage on her way up-stairs to take off her gown +before sitting down to reflect upon the astonishing thing she had heard. +Habit had so crystallized in Euphrasia that no news, however amazing, +could have shaken it. But in the passage she paused; an unwonted, or +rather untimely, sound reached her ears, a sound which came from the +front of the house--and at nine o'clock in the morning! Had Austen been +at home, Euphrasia would have thought nothing of it. In her remembrance +Hilary Vane, whether he returned from a journey or not, had never been +inside the house at that hour on a week-day; and, unlike the gentleman in +"La Vie de Boheme," Euphrasia did not have to be reminded of the Sabbath. + +Perhaps Austen had returned! Or perhaps it was a burglar! Euphrasia, +undaunted, ran through the darkened front hall to where the graceful +banister ended in a curve at the foot of the stairs, and there, on the +bottom step, sat a man with his head in his hands. Euphrasia shrieked. +He looked up, and she saw that it was Hilary Vane. She would have +shrieked, anyway. + +"What in the world's the matter with you?" she cried. + +"I--I stumbled coming down the stairs," he said. + +"But what are you doing at home in the middle of the morning?" she +demanded. + +He did not answer her. The subdued light which crept under the porch and +came in through the fan shaped window over the door fell on his face. + +"Are you sick?" said Euphrasia. In all her life she had never seen him +look like that. + +He shook his head, but did not attempt to rise. A Hilary Vane without +vigour! + +"No," he said, "no. I just came up here from the train to--get somethin' +I'd left in my room." + +"A likely story!" said Euphrasia. "You've never done that in thirty +years. You're sick, and I'm a-going for the doctor." + +She put her hand to his forehead, but he thrust it away and got to his +feet, although in the effort he compressed his lips and winced. + +"You stay where you are," he said; "I tell you I'm not sick, and I'm +going down to the square. Let, the doctors alone--I haven't got any use +for 'em." + +He walked to the door, opened it, and went out and slammed it in her +face. By the time she had got it open again--a crack--he had reached the +sidewalk, and was apparently in full possession of his powers and +faculties. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A FALLING-OUT IN HIGH PLACES + +Although one of the most exciting political battles ever fought is fast +coming to its climax, and a now jubilant Mr. Crewe is contesting every +foot of ground in the State with the determination and pertinacity which +make him a marked man; although the convention wherein his fate will be +decided is now but a few days distant, and everything has been done to +secure a victory which mortal man can do, let us follow Hilary Vane to +Fairview. Not that Hilary has been idle. The "Book of Arguments" is +exhausted, and the chiefs and the captains have been to Ripton, and +received their final orders, but more than one has gone back to his fief +with the vision of a changed Hilary who has puzzled them. Rumours have +been in the air that the harmony between the Source of Power and the +Distribution of Power is not as complete as it once was. Certainly, +Hilary Vane is not the man he was--although this must not even be +whispered. Senator Whitredge had told--but never mind that. In the old +days an order was an order; there were no rebels then. In the old days +there was no wavering and rescinding, and if the chief counsel told you, +with brevity, to do a thing, you went and did it straightway, with the +knowledge that it was the best thing to do. Hilary Vane had aged +suddenly, and it occurred for the first time to many that, in this +utilitarian world, old blood must be superseded by young blood. + +Two days before the convention, immediately after taking dinner at the +Ripton House with Mr. Nat Billings, Hilary Vane, in response to a +summons, drove up to Fairview. One driving behind him would have +observed that the Honourable Hilary's horse took his own gaits, and that +the reins, most of the time, drooped listlessly on his quarters. A +September stillness was in the air, a September purple clothed the +distant hills, but to Hilary the glories of the day were as things non- +existent. Even the groom at Fairview, who took his horse, glanced back +at him with a peculiar expression as he stood for a moment on the steps +with a hesitancy the man had never before remarked. + +In the meantime Mr. Flint, with a pile of letters in a special basket on +the edge of his desk, was awaiting his counsel; the president of the +Northeastern was pacing his room, as was his wont when his activities +were for a moment curbed, or when he had something on his mind; and every +few moments he would glance towards his mantel at the clock which was set +to railroad time. In past days he had never known Hilary Vane to be a +moment late to an appointment. The door was open, and five and twenty +minutes had passed the hour before he saw the lawyer in the doorway. Mr. +Flint was a man of such preoccupation of mind that he was not likely to +be struck by any change there might have been in his counsel's +appearance. + +"It's half-past three," he said. + +Hilary entered, and sat down beside the window. + +"You mean that I'm late," he replied. + +"I've got some engineers coming here in less than an hour," said Mr. +Flint. + +"I'll be gone in less than an hour," said Hilary. + +"Well," said Mr. Flint, "let's get down to hardtack. I've got to be +frank with you, Vane, and tell you plainly that this political business +is all at sixes and sevens." + +"It isn't necessary to tell me that," said Hilary. + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean that I know it." + +"To put it mildly," the president of the Northeastern continued, "it's +the worst mixed-up campaign I ever knew. Here we are with the convention +only two days off, and we don't know where we stand, how many delegates +we've got, or whether this upstart at Leith is going to be nominated over +our heads. Here's Adam Hunt with his back up, declaring he's a reformer, +and all his section of the State behind him. Now if that could have been +handled otherwise--" + +"Who told Hunt to go in?" Hilary inquired. + +"Things were different then," said Mr. Flint, vigorously. "Hunt had been +promised the governorship for a long time, and when Ridout became out of +the question--" + +"Why did Ridout become out of the question?" asked Hilary. + +Mr. Flint made a gesture of impatience. + +"On account of that foolishness in the Legislature, of course." + +"That foolishness in the Legislature, as you call it, represented a +sentiment all over the State," said Hilary. "And if I'd been you, I +wouldn't have let Hunt in this year. But you didn't ask my opinion. You +asked me when you begged me to get Adam out, and I predicted that he +wouldn't get out." + +Mr. Flint took a turn up and down the room. + +"I'm sorry I didn't send for him to go to New York," he said. "Well, +anyway, the campaign's been muddled, that's certain,--whoever muddled +it." And the president looked at his counsel as though he, at least, had +no doubts on this point. But Hilary appeared unaware of the implication, +and made no reply. + +"I can't find out what Bascom and Botcher are doing," Mr. Flint went on; +"I don't get any reports--they haven't been here. Perhaps you know. +They've had trip passes enough to move the whole population of Putnam +County. Fairplay says they're gettin' delegates for Adam Hunt instead of +Giles Henderson. And Whitredge says that Jake Botcher is talking +reform." + +"I guess Botcher and Bascom know their business," said Mr. Vane. If Mr. +Flint had been a less concentrated man, he might have observed that the +Honourable Hilary had not cut a piece of Honey Dew this afternoon. + +"What is their business?" asked Mr. Flint--a little irrelevantly for him. + +"What you and I taught 'em," said Mr. Vane. + +Mr. Flint considered this a moment, and decided to let it pass. He +looked at the Honourable Hilary more closely, however. + +"What's the matter with you, Vane? You're not sick, are you?" + +"No." + +Mr. Flint took another turn. + +"Now the question is, what are we going to do? If you've got any plan, I +want to hear it." + +Mr. Vane was silent. + +"Suppose Crewe goes into the convention with enough delegates to lock it +up, so that none of the three has a majority?" + +"I guess he'll do that," said Mr. Vane. He fumbled in his pocket, and +drew out a typewritten list. It must be explained that the caucuses, or +primaries, had been held in the various towns of the State at odd dates, +and that the delegates pledged for the different candidates had been +published in the newspapers from time to time--although very much in +accordance with the desires of their individual newspapers. Mr. Crewe's +delegates necessarily had been announced by what is known as political +advertising. Mr. Flint took the Honourable Hilary's list, ran his eye +over it, and whistled. + +"You mean he claims three hundred and fifty out of the thousand." + +"No," said Hilary, "he claims six hundred. He'll have three hundred and +fifty." + +In spite of the 'Book of Arguments,' Mr. Crewe was to have three hundred! +It was incredible, preposterous. Mr. Flint looked at his counsel once +more, and wondered whether he could be mentally failing. + +"Fairplay only gives him two hundred." + +"Fairplay only gave him ten, in the beginning," said Hilary. + +"You come here two days before the convention and tell me Crewe has three +hundred and fifty!" Mr. Flint exclaimed, as though Hilary Vane were +personally responsible for Mr. Crewe's delegates. A very different tone +from that of other times, when conventions were mere ratifications of +Imperial decrees. "Do you realize what it means if we lose control? +Thousands and thousands of dollars in improvements--rolling stock, better +service, new bridges, and eliminations of grade crossings. And they'll +raise our tax rate to the average, which means thousands more. A new +railroad commission that we can't talk to, and lower dividends--lower +dividends, do you understand? That means trouble with the directors, the +stockholders, and calls for explanations. And what explanations can I +make which can be printed in a public report?" + +"You were always pretty good at 'em, Flint," said Hilary. + +This remark, as was perhaps natural, did not improve the temper of the +president of the Northeastern. + +"If you think I like this political business any better than you do, +you're mightily mistaken," he replied. "And now I want to hear what plan +you've got for the convention. Suppose there's a deadlock, as you say +there will be, how are you going to handle it? Can you get a deal +through between Giles Henderson and Adam Hunt? With all my other work, +I've had to go into this myself. Hunt hasn't got a chance. Bascom and +Botcher are egging him on and making him believe he has. When Hunt gets +into the convention and begins to fall off, you've got to talk to him, +Vane. And his delegates have all got to be seen at the Pelican the night +before and understand that they're to swing to Henderson after two +ballots. You've got to keep your hand on the throttle in the convention, +you understand. And I don't need to impress upon you how grave are the +consequences if this man Crewe gets in, with public sentiment behind him +and a reactionary Lower House. You've got to keep your hand on the +throttle." + +"That's part of my business, isn't it?" Hilary asked, without turning his +head. + +Mr. Flint did not answer, but his eye rested again on his counsel's face. + +"I'm that kind of a lawyer," Hilary continued, apparently more to himself +than to his companion. "You pay me for that sort of thing more than for +the work I do in the courts. Isn't that so, Flint?" + +Mr. Flint was baffled. Two qualities which were very dear to him he +designated as sane and safe, and he had hitherto regarded his counsel as +the sanest and safest of men. This remark made him wonder seriously +whether the lawyer's mind were not giving away; and if so, to whom was he +to turn at this eleventh hour? No man in the State knew the ins and outs +of conventions as did Hilary Vane; and, in the rare times when there had +been crises, he had sat quietly in the little room off the platform as at +the keyboard of an organ, and the delegates had responded to his touch. +Hilary Vane had named the presidents of conventions, and the committees, +and by pulling out stops could get such resolutions as he wished--or as +Mr. Flint wished. But now? + +Suddenly a suspicion invaded Mr. Flint's train of thought; he repeated +Hilary's words over to himself. "I'm that kind of a lawyer," and another +individuality arose before the president of the Northeastern. Instincts +are curious things. On the day, some years before, when Austen Vane had +brought his pass into this very room and laid it down on his desk, Mr. +Flint had recognized a man with whom he would have to deal,--a stronger +man than Hilary. Since then he had seen Austen's hand in various +disturbing matters, and now it was as if he heard Austen speaking. "I'm +that kind of a lawyer." Not Hilary Vane, but Hilary Vane's son was +responsible for Hilary Vane's condition--this recognition came to Mr. +Flint in a flash. Austen had somehow accomplished the incredible feat of +making Hilary Vane ashamed--and when such men as Hilary are ashamed, +their usefulness is over. Mr. Flint had seen the thing happen with a +certain kind of financiers, one day aggressive, combative, and the next +broken, querulous men. Let a man cease to believe in what he is doing, +and he loses force. + +The president of the Northeastern used a locomotive as long as possible, +but when it ceased to be able to haul a train up-grade, he sent it to the +scrap-heap. Mr. Flint was far from being a bad man, but he worshipped +power, and his motto was the survival of the fittest. He did not yet +feel pity for Hilary--for he was angry. Only contempt,--contempt that +one who had been a power should come to this. To draw a somewhat far- +fetched parallel, a Captain Kidd or a Caesar Borgia with a conscience +would never have been heard of. Mr. Flint did not call it a conscience-- +he had a harder name for it. He had to send Hilary, thus vitiated, into +the Convention to conduct the most important battle since the founding of +the Empire, and Austen Vane was responsible. + +Mr. Flint had to control himself. In spite of his feelings, he saw that +he must do so. And yet he could not resist saying: +"I get a good many rumours here. They tell me that there may be another +candidate in the field--a dark horse." + +"Who?" asked Hilary. + +"There was a meeting in the room of a man named Redbrook during the +Legislature to push this candidate," said Mr. Flint, eyeing his counsel +significantly, "and now young Gaylord has been going quietly around the +State in his interest." + +Suddenly the listless figure of Hilary Vane straightened, and the old +look which had commanded the respect and obedience of men returned to his +eye. + +"You mean my son?" he demanded. + +"Yes," said Mr. Flint; "they tell me that when the time comes, your, son +will be a candidate on a platform opposed to our interests." + +"Then," said Hilary, "they tell you a damned lie." + +Hilary Vane had not sworn for a quarter of a century, and yet it is to be +doubted if he ever spoke more nobly. He put his hands on the arms of his +chair and lifted himself to his feet, where he stood for a moment, a tell +figure to be remembered. Mr. Flint remembered it for many years. Hilary +Vane's long coat was open, and seemed in itself to express this strange +and new-found vigour in its flowing lines; his head was thrown back, and +a look on his face which Mr. Flint had never seen there. He drew from an +inner pocket a long envelope, and his hand trembled, though with seeming +eagerness, as he held it out to Mr. Flint. + +"Here!" he said. + +What's this?" asked Mr. Flint. He evinced no desire to take it, but +Hilary pressed it on him. + +"My resignation as counsel for your road." + +The president of the Northeastern, bewildered by this sudden +transformation, stared at the envelope. + +"What? Now--to-day?" he said. + +"No," answered Hilary; "read it. You'll see it takes effect the day +after the State convention. I'm not much use any more you've done your +best to bring that home to me, and you'll need a new man to do--the kind +of work I've been doing for you for twenty-five years. But you can't get +a new man in a day, and I said I'd stay with you, and I keep my word. +I'll go to the convention; I'll do my best for you, as I always have. +But I don't like it, and after that I'm through. After that I become a +lawyer--lawyer, do you understand?" + +"A lawyer?" Mr. Flint repeated. + +"Yes, a lawyer. Ever since last June, when I came up here, I've realized +what I was. A Brush Bascom, with a better education and more brains, but +a Brush Bascom--with the brains prostituted. While things were going +along smoothly I didn't know--you never attempted to talk to me this way +before. Do you remember how you took hold of me that day, and begged me +to stay? I do, and I stayed. Why? Because I was a friend of yours. +Association with you for twenty-five years had got under my skin, and I +thought it had got under yours." Hilary let his hand fall. "To-day +you've given me a notion of what friendship is. You've given me a chance +to estimate myself on a new basis, and I'm much obliged to you for that. +I haven't got many years left, but I'm glad to have found out what my +life has been worth before I die." + +He buttoned up his coat slowly, glaring at Mr. Flint the while with a +courage and a defiance that were superb. And he had picked up his hat +before Mr. Flint found his tongue. + +"You don't mean that, Vane," he cried. "My God, think what you've said!" + +Hilary pointed at the desk with a shaking finger. + +"If that were a scaffold, and a rope were around my neck, I'd say it over +again. And I thank God I've had a chance to say it to you." He paused, +cleared his throat, and continued in a voice that all at once had become +unemotional and natural. "I've three tin boxes of the private papers you +wanted. I didn't think of 'em to-day, but I'll bring 'em up to you +myself on Thursday." + +Mr. Flint reflected afterwards that what made him helpless must have been +the sudden change in Hilary's manner to the commonplace. The president +of the Northeastern stood where he was, holding the envelope in his hand, +apparently without the power to move or speak. He watched the tall form +of his chief counsel go through the doorway, and something told him that +that exit was coincident with the end of an era. + +The end of an era of fraud, of self-deception, of conditions that +violated every sacred principle of free government which men had shed +blood to obtain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +AN ADVENTURE OF VICTORIA'S + +Mrs. Pomfret was a proud woman, for she had at last obtained the consent +of the lion to attend a lunch party. She would have liked a dinner much +better, but beggars are not choosers, and she seized eagerly on the +lunch. The two days before the convention Mr. Crewe was to spend at +Leith; having continual conferences, of course, receiving delegations, +and discussing with prominent citizens certain offices which would be in +his gift when he became governor. Also, there was Mr. Watling's +nominating speech to be gone over carefully, and Mr. Crewe's own speech +of acceptance to be composed. He had it in his mind, and he had decided +that it should have two qualities: it should be brief and forceful. + +Gratitude, however, is one of the noblest qualities of man, and a +statesman should not fail to reward his faithful workers and adherents. +As one of the chiefest of these, Mrs. Pomfret was entitled to high +consideration. Hence the candidate had consented to have a lunch given +in his honour, naming the day and the hour; and Mrs. Pomfret, believing +that a prospective governor should possess some of the perquisites of +royalty, in a rash moment submitted for his approval a list of guests. +This included two distinguished foreigners who were staying at the Leith +Inn, an Englishman and an Austrian, and an elderly lady of very +considerable social importance who was on a visit to Mrs. Pomfret. + +Mr. Crewe had graciously sanctioned the list, but took the liberty of +suggesting as an addition to it the name of Miss Victoria Flint, +explaining over the telephone to Mrs. Pomfret that he had scarcely seen +Victoria all summer, and that he wanted particularly to see her. Mrs. +Pomfret declared that she had only left out Victoria because her presence +might be awkward for both of them, but Mr. Crewe waved this aside as a +trivial and feminine objection; so Victoria was invited, and another +young man to balance the table. + +Mrs. Pomfret, as may have been surmised, was a woman of taste, and her +villa at Leith, though small, had added considerably to her reputation +for this quality. Patterson Pomfret had been a gentleman with red cheeks +and an income, who incidentally had been satisfied with both. He had +never tried to add to the income, which was large enough to pay the dues +of the clubs the lists of which he thought worthy to include his name; +large enough to pay hotel bills in London and Paris and at the baths, and +to free the servants at country houses; large enough to clothe his wife +and himself, and to teach Alice the three essentials of music, French, +and deportment. If that man is notable who has mastered one thing well, +Patterson Pomfret was a notable man: he had mastered the possibilities of +his income, and never in any year had he gone beyond it by so much as a +sole d vin blanc or a pair of red silk stockings. When he died, he left +a worthy financial successor in his wife. + +Mrs. Pomfret, knowing the income, after an exhaustive search decided upon +Leith as the place to build her villa. It must be credited to her +foresight that, when she built, she saw the future possibilities of the +place. The proper people had started it. And it must be credited to her +genius that she added to these possibilities of Leith by bringing to it +such families as she thought worthy to live in the neighbourhood-- +families which incidentally increased the value of the land. Her villa +had a decided French look, and was so amazingly trim and neat and +generally shipshape as to be fit--for only the daintiest and most +discriminating feminine occupation. The house was small, and its +metamorphosis from a plain wooden farm-house had been an achievement that +excited general admiration. Porches had been added, and a coat of +spotless white relieved by an orange striping so original that many +envied, but none dared to copy it. The striping went around the white +chimneys, along the cornice, under the windows and on the railings of the +porch: there were window boxes gay with geraniums and abundant awnings +striped white and red, to match the flowers: a high, formal hemlock hedge +hid the house from the road, through which entered a blue-stone drive +that cut the close-cropped lawn and made a circle to the doorway. Under +the great maples on the lawn were a tea-table, rugs, and wicker chairs, +and the house itself was furnished by a variety of things of a design not +to be bought in the United States of America: desks, photograph frames, +writing-sets, clocks, paperknives, flower baskets, magazine racks, +cigarette boxes, and dozens of other articles for the duplicates of which +one might have searched Fifth Avenue in vain. + +Mr. Crewe was a little late. Important matters, he said, had detained +him at the last moment, and he particularly enjoined Mrs. Pomfret's +butler to listen carefully for the telephone, and twice during lunch it +was announced that Mr. Crewe was wanted. At first he was preoccupied, +and answered absently across the table the questions of the Englishman +and the Austrian about American politics, and talked to the lady of +social prominence on his right not at all; nor to Mrs. Pomfret'--who +excused him. Being a lady of discerning qualities, however, the hostess +remarked that Mr. Crewe's eyes wandered more than once to the far end of +the oval table, where Victoria sat, and even Mrs. Pomfret could not deny +the attraction. Victoria wore a filmy gown of mauve that infinitely +became her, and a shadowy hat which, in the semi-darkness of the dining +room, was a wondrous setting for her shapely head. Twice she caught Mr. +Crewe's look upon her and returned it amusedly from under her lashes,-- +and once he could have sworn that she winked perceptibly. What fires she +kindled in his deep nature it is impossible to say. + +She had kindled other fires at her side. The tall young Englishman had +lost interest in American politics, had turned his back upon poor Alice +Pomfret, and had forgotten the world in general. Not so the Austrian, +who was on the other side of Alice, and who could not see Victoria. Mr. +Crewe, by his manner and appearance, had impressed him as a person of +importance, and he wanted to know more. Besides, he wished to improve +his English, and Alice had been told to speak French to him. By a lucky +chance, after several blind attempts, he awakened the interest of the +personality. + +"I hear you are what they call reform in America?" + +This was not the question that opened the gates. + +"I don't care much for the word," answered Mr. Crewe, shortly; "I prefer +the word progressive." + +Discourse on the word "progressive" by the Austrian almost a monologue. +But he was far from being discouraged. + +"And Mrs. Pomfret tells me they play many detestable tricks on you--yes?" + +"Tricks!" exclaimed Mr. Crewe, the memory of many recent ones being fresh +in his mind; "I should say so. Do you know what a caucus is?" + +"Caucus--caucus? It brings something to my head. Ah, I have seen a +picture of it, in some English book. A very funny picture--it is in +fun, yes?" + +"A picture?" said Mr. Crewe. "Impossible!" + +"But no," said the Austrian, earnestly, with one finger to his temples. +"It is a funny picture, I know. I cannot recall. But the word caucus I +remember. That is a droll word." + +"Perhaps, Baron," said Victoria, who had been resisting an almost +uncontrollable desire to laugh, "you have been reading 'Alice in +Wonderland.'" + +The Englishman, Beatrice Chillingham, and some others (among whom were +not Mr. Crewe and Mrs. Pomfret) gave way to an extremely pardonable +mirth, in which the good-natured baron joined. + +"Ach!" he cried. "It is so, I have seen it in 'Alice in Wonderland.'" +Here the puzzled expression returned to his face, "But they are birds, +are they not?" + +Men whose minds are on serious things are impatient of levity, and Mr. +Crewe looked at the baron: + +"No," he said, "they are not birds." + +This reply was the signal for more laughter. + +"A thousand pardons," exclaimed the baron. "It is I who am so ignorant. +You will excuse me--yes?" + +Mr. Crewe was mollified. The baron was a foreigner, he had been the +object of laughter, and Mr. Crewe's chivalrous spirit resented it. + +"What we call a caucus in the towns of this State," he said, "is a +meeting of citizens of one party to determine who their candidates shall +be. A caucus is a primary. There is a very loose primary law in this +State, purposely kept loose by the politicians of the Northeastern +Railroads, in order that they may play such tricks on decent men as they +have been playing on me." + +At this mention of the Northeastern Railroads the lady on Mr. Crewe's +right, and some other guests, gave startled glances at Victoria. They +observed with surprise that she seemed quite unmoved. + +"I'll tell you one or two of the things those railroad lobbyists have +done," said Mr. Crewe, his indignation rising with the subject, and still +addressing the baron. "They are afraid to let the people into the +caucuses, because they know I'll get the delegates. Nearly everywhere I +speak to the people, I get the delegates. The railroad politicians send +word to the town rings to hold snap caucuses' when they hear I'm coming +into a town to speak, and the local politicians give out notices only a +day before, and only to the voters they want in the caucus. In Hull the +other day, out of a population of two thousand, twenty men elected four +delegates for the railroad candidate." + +"It is corruption!" cried the baron, who had no idea who Victoria was, +and a very slim notion of what Mr. Crewe was talking about. + +"Corruption!" said Mr. Crewe. "What can you expect when a railroad owns +a State? The other day in Britain, where they elect fourteen delegates, +the editor of a weekly newspaper printed false ballots with two of my men +at the top and one at the bottom, and eleven railroad men in the middle. +Fortunately some person with sense discovered the fraud before it was too +late." + +"You don't tell me!" said the baron. + +"And every State and federal office-holder has been distributing passes +for the last three weeks." + +"Pass?" repeated the baron. "You mean they fight with the fist--so? To +distribute a pass--so," and the baron struck out at an imaginary enemy. +"It is the American language. I have read it in the prize-fight. I am +told to read the prize-fight and the base-ball game." + +Mr. Crewe thought it obviously useless to continue this conversation. + +"The railroad," said the baron, "he is the modern Machiavelli." + +"I say," Mr. Rangely, the Englishman, remarked to Victoria, "this is a +bit rough on you, you know." + +"Oh, I'm used to it," she laughed. + +"Mr. Crewe," said Mrs. Pomfret, to the table at large, "deserves +tremendous credit for the fight he has made, almost single-handed. Our +greatest need in this country is what you have in England, Mr. Rangely,-- +gentlemen in politics. Our country gentlemen, like Mr. Crewe, are now +going to assume their proper duties and responsibilities." She laid her +napkin on the table and glanced at Alice as she continued: "Humphrey, I +shall have to appoint you, as usual, the man of the house. Will you take +the gentlemen into the library?" + +Another privilege of celebrity is to throw away one's cigar, and walk out +of the smoking room if one is bored. Mr. Crewe was, in a sense, the +host. He indicated with a wave of his hand the cigars and cigarettes +which Mrs. Pomfret had provided, and stood in a thoughtful manner before +the empty fireplace, with his hands in his pockets, replying in brief +sentences to the questions of Mr. Chillingham and the others. To tell +the truth, Mr. Crewe was bringing to bear all of his extraordinary +concentration of mind upon a problem with which he had been occupied for +some years past. He was not a man, as we know, to take the important +steps of life in a hurry, although; like the truly great, he was capable +of making up his mind in a very brief period when it was necessary to +strike. He had now, after weighing the question with the consideration +which its gravity demanded, finally decided upon definite action. +Whereupon he walked out of the library, leaving the other guests to +comment as they would; or not comment at all, for all he cared. Like all +masterful men, he went direct to the thing he wanted. + +The ladies were having coffee under the maples, by the tea-table. At +some little distance from the group Beatrice Chillingham was walking with +Victoria, and it was evident that Victoria found Miss Chillingham's +remarks amusing. These were the only two in the party who did not +observe Mr. Crewe's approach. Mrs. Pomfret, when she saw the direction +which he was taking, lost the thread of her conversation, and the lady +who was visiting her wore a significant expression. + +"Victoria," said Mr. Crewe, "let's go around to the other side of the +house and look at the view." + +Victoria started and turned to him from Miss Chillingham, with the fun +still sparkling in her eyes. It was, perhaps, as well for Mr. Crewe that +he had not overheard their conversation; but this might have applied to +any man. + +"Are you sure you can spare the time?" she asked. + +Mr. Crewe looked at his watch--probably from habit. + +"I made it a point to leave the smoking room early," he replied. + +"We're flattered--aren't we, Beatrice?" + +Miss Chillingham had a turned-up nose, and a face which was apt to be +slightly freckled at this time of year; for she contemned vanity and +veils. For fear of doing her an injustice, it must be added that she was +not at all bad-looking; quite the contrary All that can be noted in this +brief space is that Beatrice Chillingham was herself. Some people +declared that she was possessed of the seven devils of her sex which Mr. +Stockton wrote about. + +"I'm flattered," she said, and walked off towards the tea-table with a +glance in which Victoria read many meanings. Mr. Crewe paid no attention +either to words, look, or departure. + +"I want to talk to you," he said. + +"You've made that very plain, at least," answered Victoria. "Why did you +pretend it was the view?" + +"Some conventionalities have to be observed, I suppose," he said. "Let's +go around there. It is a good view." + +"Don't you think this is a little--marked?" asked Victoria, surveying him +with her hands behind her back. + +"I can't help it if it is," said Mr. Crewe. "Every hour is valuable to +me, and I've got to take my chances when I get 'em. For some reason, you +haven't been down at Leith much this summer. Why didn't you telephone +me, as I asked you." + +"Because I've suddenly grown dignified, I suppose," she said. "And then, +of course, I hesitated to intrude upon such a person of importance as you +have become, Humphrey." + +"I've always got time to see you," he replied. "I always shall have. +But I appreciate your delicacy. That sort of thing counts with a man +more than most women know." + +"Then I am repaid," said Victoria, "for exercising self-control." + +"I find it always pays," declared Mr. Crewe, and he glanced at her with +distinct approval. They were skirting the house, and presently came out +upon a tiny terrace where young Ridley had made a miniature Italian +garden when the Electric dividends had increased, and from which there +was a vista of the shallows of the Blue. Here was a stone garden-seat +which Mrs. Pomfret had brought from Italy, and over which she had +quarrelled with the customs authorities. Mr. Crewe, with a wave of his +hand, signified his pleasure that they should sit, and cleared his +throat. + +"It's just as well, perhaps," he began, "that we haven't had the chance +to see each other earlier. When a man starts out upon an undertaking of +the gravest importance, wherein he stakes his reputation, an undertaking +for which he is ridiculed and reviled, he likes to have his judgment +justified. He likes to be vindicated, especially in the eyes of--people +whom he cares about. Personally, I never had any doubt that I should be +the next governor, because I knew in the beginning that I had estimated +public sentiment correctly. The man who succeeds in this world is the +man who has sagacity enough to gauge public sentiment ahead of time, and +the courage to act on his beliefs." +Victoria looked at him steadily. He was very calm, and he had one knee +crossed over the other. + +"And the sagacity," she added, "to choose his lieutenants in the fight." + +"Exactly," said Mr. Crewe. "I have always declared, Victoria, that you had +a natural aptitude for affairs." + +"I have heard my father say," she continued, still maintaining her steady +glance, "that Hamilton Tooting is one of the shrewdest politicians he has +ever known. Isn't Mr. Tooting one of your right-hand men?" + +"He could hardly be called that," Mr. Crewe replied. "In fact, I haven't +any what you might call 'right-hand men.' The large problems I have had +to decide for myself. As for Tooting, he's well enough in his way; he +understands the tricks of the politicians--he's played 'em, I guess. +He's uneducated; he's merely a worker. You see," he went on, "one great +reason why I've been so successful is because I've been practical. I've +taken materials as I've found them." + +"I see," answered Victoria, turning her head and gazing over the terrace +at the sparkling reaches of the river. She remembered the close of that +wintry afternoon in Mr. Crewe's house at the capital, and she was quite +willing to do him exact justice, and to believe that he had forgotten it +--which, indeed, was the case. + +"I want to say," he continued, "that although I have known and--ahem-- +admired you for many years, Victoria, what has struck me most forcibly in +your favour has been your open-mindedness--especially on the great +political questions this summer. I have no idea how much you know about +them, but one would naturally have expected you, on account of your +father, to be prejudiced. Sometime, when I have more leisure, I shall go +into them, fully with you. And in the meantime I'll have my secretary +send you the complete list of my speeches up to date, and I know you will +read them carefully." + +"You are very kind, Humphrey," she said. + +Absorbed in the presentation of his subject (which chanced to be +himself), Mr. Crewe did not observe that her lips were parted, and that +there were little creases around her eyes. + +"And sometime," said Mr. Crewe, when all this has blown over a little, I +shall have a talk with your father. He undoubtedly understands that +there is scarcely any question of my election. He probably realizes, +too, that he has been in the--wrong, and that railroad domination must +cease--he has already made several concessions, as you know. I wish you +would tell him from me that when I am governor, I shall make it a point +to discuss the whole matter with him, and that he will find in me no foe +of corporations. Justice is what I stand for. Temperamentally, I am too +conservative, I am too much of a business man, to tamper with vested +interests." + +"I will tell him, Humphrey," said Victoria. + +Mr. Crewe coughed, and looked at his watch once, more. "And now, having +made that clear," he said, "and having only a quarter of an hour before I +have to leave to keep an appointment, I am going to take up another +subject. And I ask you to believe it is not done lightly, or without due +consideration, but as the result of some years of thought." + +Victoria turned to him seriously--and yet the creases were still around +her eyes. + +"I can well believe it, Humphrey," she answered. "But--have you time?" + +"Yes," he said, "I have learned the value of minutes." + +"But not of hours, perhaps," she replied. + +That," said Mr. Crewe, indulgently, "is a woman's point of view. A man +cannot dally through life, and your kind of woman has no use for a man +who dallies. First, I will give you my idea of a woman." + +"I am all attention," said Victoria. + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, putting the tops of his fingers together, "she +should excel as a housewife. I haven't any use for your so-called +intellectual woman. Of course, what I mean by a housewife is something a +little less bourgeoise; she should be able to conduct an establishment +with the neatness and despatch and economy of a well-run hotel. She +should be able to seat a table instantly and accurately, giving to the +prominent guests the prestige they deserve. Nor have I any sympathy with +the notion that makes a married woman a law unto herself. She enters +voluntarily into an agreement whereby she puts herself under the control +of her husband: his interests, his career, his--" + +"Comfort?" suggested Victoria. + +"Yes, his comfort--all that comes first. And his establishment is +conducted primarily, and his guests selected, in the interests of his +fortunes. Of course, that goes without saying of a man in high place in +public life. But he must choose for his wife a woman who is equal to all +these things,--to my mind her highest achievement,--who makes the most of +the position he gives her, presides at his table and entertainments, and +reaches such people as, for any reason, he is unable to reach. I have +taken the pains to point out these things in a general way, for obvious +reasons. My greatest desire is to be fair." + +"What," asked Victoria, with her eyes on the river, "what are the wages?" + +Mr. Crewe laughed. Incidentally, he thought her profile very fine. + +"I do not believe in flattery," he said, "but I think I should add to the +qualifications personality and a sense of humour. I am quite sure I +could never live with a woman--who didn't have a sense of humour." + +"I should think it would be a little difficult," said Victoria, "to get a +woman with the qualifications you enumerate and a sense of humour thrown +in." + +"Infinitely difficult," declared Mr. Crewe, with more ardour than he had +yet shown. "I have waited a good many years, Victoria." + +"And yet," she said, "you have been happy. You have a perpetual source +of enjoyment denied to some people." + +"What is that?" he asked. It is natural for a man to like to hear the +points of his character discussed by a discerning woman. + +"Yourself," said Victoria, suddenly looking him full in the face. "You +are complete, Humphrey, as it is. You are happily married already. +Besides," she added, laughing a little, "the qualities you have +mentioned--with the exception of the sense of humour--are not those of a +wife, but of a business partner of the opposite sex. What you really +want is a business partner with something like a fifth interest, and +whose name shall not appear in the agreement." + +Mr. Crewe laughed again. Nevertheless, he was a little puzzled over this +remark. + +"I am not sentimental," he began. + +"You certainly are not," she said. + +"You have a way," he replied, with a shade of reproof in his voice, "you +have a way at times of treating serious things with a little less gravity +than they deserve. I am still a young man, but I have seen a good deal +of life, and I know myself pretty well. It is necessary to treat +matrimony from a practical as well as a sentimental point of view. There +wouldn't be half the unhappiness and divorces if people took time to do +this, instead of rushing off and getting married immediately. And of +course it is especially important for a man in my position to study every +aspect of the problem before he takes a step." + +By this time a deep and absorbing interest in a new aspect of Mr. Crewe's +character had taken possession of Victoria. + +"And you believe that, by taking thought, you can get the kind of a wife +you want?" she asked. + +"Certainly," he replied; "does that strike you as strange?" + +"A little," said Victoria. "Suppose," she added gently, "suppose that +the kind of wife you'd want wouldn't want you?" + +Mr. Crewe laughed again. + +"That is a contingency which a strong man does not take into +consideration," he answered. "Strong men get what they want. But upon +my word, Victoria, you have a delicious way of putting things. In your +presence I quite forget the problems and perplexities which beset me. +That," he said, with delicate meaning, "that is another quality I should +desire in a woman." + +"It is one, fortunately, that isn't marketable," she said, "and it's the +only quality you've mentioned that's worth anything." + +"A woman's valuation," said Mr. Crewe. + +"If it made you forget your own affairs, it would be priceless." + +"Look here, Victoria," cried Mr. Crewe, uncrossing his knees, "joking's +all very well, but I haven't time for it to-day. And I'm in a serious +mood. I've told you what I want, and now that I've got to go in a few +minutes, I'll come to the point. I don't suppose a man could pay a woman +a higher compliment than to say that his proposal was the result of some +years of thought and study." + +Here Victoria laughed outright, but grew serious again at once. + +"Unless he proposed to her the day he met her. That would be a real +compliment." + +"The man," said Mr. Crewe, impatiently, "would be a fool." + +"Or else a person of extreme discernment," said Victoria. "And love is +lenient with fools. By the way, Humphrey, it has just occurred to me +that there's one quality which some people think necessary in a wife, +which you didn't mention." + +"What's that?" + +"Love," said Victoria. + +"Love, of course," he agreed; "I took that for granted." + +"I supposed you did," said Victoria, meekly. + +"Well, now, to come to the point--" he began again. + +But she interrupted him by glancing at the watch on her gown, and rising. + +"What's the matter?" he asked, with some annoyance. + +"The fifteen minutes are up," she announced. "I cannot take the +responsibility of detaining you." + +"We will put in tantalizing as another attractive quality," he laughed. +"I absolve you of all responsibility. Sit down." + +"I believe you mentioned obedience," she answered, and sat down again at +the end of the bench, resting her chin on her gloved hand, and looking at +him. By this time her glances seemed to have gained a visibly disturbing +effect. He moved a little nearer to her, took off his hat (which he had +hitherto neglected to do), and thrust his hands abruptly into his +pockets--as much as to say that he would not be responsible for their +movements if they were less free. + +"Hang it all, Victoria," he exclaimed, "I'm a practical man, and I try to +look at this, which is one of the serious things in life, in a practical +way." + +"One of the serious things," she repeated, as though to herself. + +"Yes," he said, "certainly." + +"I merely asked to be sure of the weight you gave it. Go on." + +"In a practical way, as I was saying. Long ago I suspected that you had +most of those qualities." + +"I'm overwhelmed, Humphrey," she cried, with her eyes dancing. "But--do +you think I could cultivate the rest?" + +"Oh, well," said Mr. Crewe, I put it that way because no woman is +perfect, and I dislike superlatives." + +"I should think superlatives would be very hard to live with," she +reflected. "But--dreadful thought!--suppose I should lack an essential?" + +"What--for instance?" + +"Love--for instance. But then you did not put it first. It was I who +mentioned it, and you who took it for granted." + +"Affection seems to be a more sensible term for it," he said. "Affection +is the lasting and sensible thing. You mentioned a partnership, a word +that singularly fits into my notion of marriage. I want to be honest +with you, and understate my feelings on that subject." + +Victoria, who had been regarding him with a curious look that puzzled +him, laughed again. + +"I have been hoping you haven't exaggerated them," she replied. + +"They're stronger than you think," he declared. "I never felt this way +in my life before. What I meant to say was, that I never understood +running away with a woman." + +"That does not surprise me," said Victoria. + +"I shouldn't know where to run to," he proclaimed. + +"Perhaps the woman would, if you got a clever one. At any rate, it +wouldn't matter. One place is as good as another. Some go to Niagara, +and some to Coney Island, and others to Venice. Personally, I should +have no particular preference." + +"No preference!" he exclaimed. + +"I could be happy in Central Park," she declared. + +"Fortunately," said Mr. Crewe, "you will never be called upon to make the +trial." + +Victoria was silent. Her thoughts, for the moment, had flown elsewhere, +but Mr. Crewe did not appear to notice this. He fell back into the +rounded hollow of the bench, and it occurred to him that he had never +quite realized that profile. And what an ornament she would be to his +table. + +"I think, Humphrey," she said, "that we should be going back." + +"One moment, and I'll have finished," he cried. "I've no doubt you are +prepared for what I am going to say. I have purposely led up to it, in +order that there might be no misunderstanding. In short, I have never +seen another woman with personal characteristics so well suited for my +life, and I want you to marry me, Victoria. I can offer you the position +of the wife of a man with a public career--for which you are so well +fitted." + +Victoria shook her head slowly, and smiled at him. + +"I couldn't fill the position," she said. + +"Perhaps," he replied, smiling back at her, "perhaps I am the best judge +of that." + +"And you thought," she asked slowly, "that I was that kind of a woman?" + +"I know it to be a practical certainty," said Mr. Crewe. + +"Practical certainties," said Victoria, "are not always truths. If I +should sign a contract, which I suppose, as a business man, you would +want, to live up to the letter of your specifications,--even then I could +not do it. I should make life a torture for you, Humphrey. You see, I +am honest with you, too--much as your offer dazzles me." And she shook +her head again. + +"That," exclaimed Mr. Crewe, impatiently, "is sheer nonsense. I want +you, and I mean to have you." + +There came a look into her eyes which Mr. Crewe did not see, because her +face was turned from him. + +"I could be happy," she said, "for days and weeks and years in a but on +the side of Sawanec. I could be happy in a farm-house where I had to do +all the work. I am not the model housewife which your imagination +depicts, Humphrey. I could live in two rooms and eat at an Italian +restaurant--with the right man. And I am afraid the wrong one would wake +up one day and discover that I had gone. I am sorry to disillusionize +you, but I don't care a fig for balls and garden-parties and salons. It +would be much more fun to run away from them to the queer places of the +earth--with the right man. And I should have to possess one essential to +put up with--greatness and what you call a public career." + +"And what is that essential?" he asked. + +"Love," said Victoria. He heard the word but faintly, for her face was +still turned away from him. "You've offered me the things that are +attainable by taking thought, by perseverance, by pertinacity, by the +outwitting of your fellow-men, by the stacking of coins. And I want--the +unattainable, the divine gift which is bestowed, which cannot be +acquired. If it could be acquired, Humphrey," she added, looking at him, +"I am sure you would acquire it--if you thought it worth while." + +"I don't understand you," he said,--and looked it. + +"No," said Victoria, "I was afraid you wouldn't. And moreover, you never +would. There is no use in my trying to make myself any clearer, and +you'll have to keep your appointment. I hesitate to contradict you, but +I am not the kind of woman you want. That is one reason I cannot marry +you. And the other is, that I do not love you." + +"You can't be in love with any one else?" he cried. + +"That does seem rather preposterous, I'll admit," she answered. "But if I +were, it wouldn't make any difference." + +"You won't marry me?" he said, getting to his feet. There was +incredulity in his voice, and a certain amount of bewilderment. The +thing was indeed incredible! + +"No," said Victoria, "I won't." + +And he had only to look into her face to see that it was so. Hitherto +nil desperandum had been a good working motto, but something told him it +was useless in this case. He thrust on his hat and pulled out his watch. + +"Well," he said, "that settles it. I must--say I can't see your point of +view--but that settles it. I must say, too, that your refusal is +something of a shock after what I had been led to expect after the past +few years." + +"The person you are in love with led you to expect it, Humphrey, and that +person is--yourself. You are in love temporarily with your own ideal of +me." + +"And your refusal comes at an unfortunate tune for me," he continued, not +heeding her words, "when I have an affair on my hands of such magnitude, +which requires concentrated thought. But I'm not a man to cry, and I'll +make the best of it." + +"If I thought it were more than a temporary disappointment, I should be +sorry for you," said Victoria. "I remember that you felt something like +this when Mr. Rutter wouldn't sell you his land. The lady you really +want," she added, pointing with her parasol at the house, "is in there, +waiting for you." + +Mr. Crewe did not reply to this prophecy, but followed Victoria around +the house to the group on the lawn, where he bade his hostess a somewhat +preoccupied farewell, and bowed distantly to the guests. + +"He has so much on his mind," said Mrs. Pomfret. "And oh, I quite +forgot--Humphrey!" she cried, calling after him, "Humphrey!" + +"Yes," he said, turning before he reached his automobile. "What is it?" + +"Alice and I are going to the convention, you know, and I meant to tell +you that there would be ten in the party--but I didn't have a chance." +Here Mrs. Pomfret glanced at Victoria, who had been joined at once by the +tall Englishman. "Can you get tickets for ten?" + +Mr. Crewe made a memorandum. + +"Yes," he said, "I'll get the tickets--but I don't see what you want to +go for." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +MORE ADVENTURER + +Victoria had not, of course, confided in Beatrice Chillingham what had +occurred in the garden, although that lady had exhibited the liveliest +interest, and had had her suspicions. After Mr. Crewe's departure Mr. +Rangely, the tall young Englishman, had renewed his attentions +assiduously, although during the interval in the garden he had found Miss +Chillingham a person of discernment. + +"She's not going to marry that chap, is she, Miss Chillingham?" he had +asked. + +"No," said Beatrice; "you have my word for it, she isn't." + +As she was leaving, Mrs. Pomfret had taken Victoria's hand and drawn her +aside, and looked into her face with a meaning smile. + +"My dear!" she exclaimed, "he particularly asked that you be invited." + +"Who?" said Victoria. + +"Humphrey. He stipulated that you should be here." + +"Then I'm very much obliged to him," said Victoria, "for I've enjoyed +myself immensely. I like your Englishman so much." + +"Do you?" said Mrs. Pomfret, searching Victoria's face, while her own +brightened. "He's heir to one of the really good titles, and he has an +income of his own. I couldn't put him up here, in this tiny box, because +I have Mrs. Fronde. We are going to take him to the convention--and if +you'd care to go, Victoria--?" + +Victoria laughed. + +"It isn't as serious as that," she said. "And I'm afraid I can't go to +the convention--I have some things to do in the neighbourhood." + +Mrs. Pomfret looked wise. + +"He's a most attractive man, with the best prospects. It would be a +splendid match for you, Victoria." + +"Mrs. Pomfret," replied Victoria, wavering between amusement and a desire +to be serious, "I haven't the slightest intention of making what you call +a 'match.'" And there was in her words a ring of truth not to be +mistaken. + +Mrs. Pomfret kissed her. + +"One never can tell what may happen," she said. "Think of him, Victoria. +And your dear mother--perhaps you will know some day what the +responsibility is of seeing a daughter well placed in life." + +Victoria coloured, and withdrew her hand. + +"I fear that time is a long way off, Mrs. Pomfret," she replied. + +"I think so much of Victoria," Mrs. Pomfret declared a moment later to +her guest; "she's like my own daughter. But at times she's so hopelessly +unconventional. Why, I believe Rangely's actually going home with her." + +"He asked her to drop him at the Inn," said Mrs. Fronde. "He's head over +heels in love already." + +"It would be such a relief to dear Rose," sighed Mrs. Pomfret. + +"I like the girl," replied Mrs. Fronde, dryly. "She has individuality, +and knows her own mind. Whoever she marries will have something to him." + +"I devoutly hope so!" said Mrs. Pomfret. + +It was quite true that Mr. Arthur Rangely had asked Victoria to drop him +at the Inn. But when they reached it he made another request. + +"Do you mind if I go a bit farther, Miss Flint?" he suggested. "I'd +rather like the walk back." + +Victoria laughed. + +"Do come," she said. + +He admired the country, but he looked at Victoria, and asked a hundred +exceedingly frank questions about Leith, about Mrs. Pomfret, whom he had +met at his uncle's seat in Devonshire, and about Mr. Crewe and the +railroads in politics. Many of these Victoria parried, and she came +rapidly to the conclusion that Mr. Arthur Rangely was a more astute +person than--to a casual observer he would seem. + +He showed no inclination to fix the limits of his walk, and made no +protest as she drove under the stone archway at the entrance of Fairview. +Victoria was amused and interested, and she decided that she liked Mr. +Rangely. + +"Will you come up for tea?" she asked. "I'll send you home." + +He accepted with alacrity. They had reached the first turn when their +attention was caught by the sight of a buggy ahead of them, and facing +towards them. The horse, with the reins hanging loosely over the shafts, +had strayed to the side of the driveway and was contentedly eating the +shrubbery that lined it. Inside the vehicle, hunched up in the corner of +the seat, was a man who presented an appearance of helplessness which +struck them both with a sobering effect. + +"Is the fellow drunk?" said Mr. Rangely. + +Victoria's answer was a little cry which startled him, and drew his look +to her. She had touched her horse with the whip, and her eyes had +widened in real alarm. + +"It's Hilary Vane!" she exclaimed. "I--I wonder what can have happened!" + +She handed the reins to Mr. Rangely, and sprang out and flew to Hilary's +side. + +"Mr. Vane!" she cried. "What's the matter? Are you ill?" + +She had never seen him look so. To her he had always been as one on whom +pity would be wasted, as one who long ago had established his credit with +the universe to his own satisfaction. But now, suddenly, intense pity +welled up within her, and even in that moment she wondered if it could be +because he was Austen's father. His hands were at his sides, his head +was fallen forward a little, and his face was white. But his eyes +frightened her most; instead of the old, semi-defiant expression which +she remembered from childhood, they had in them a dumb suffering that +went to her heart. He looked at her, tried to straighten up, and fell +back again. + +"N--nothing's the matter," he said, "nothing. A little spell. I'll be +all right in a moment." + +Victoria did not lose an instant, but climbed into the buggy at his side +and gathered up the reins, and drew the fallen lap-robe over his knees. + +"I'm going to take you back to Fairview," she said. "And we'll telephone +for a doctor." + +But she had underrated the amount of will left in him. He did not move, +though indeed if he had seized the reins from her hands, he could have +given her no greater effect of surprise. Life came back into the eyes at +the summons, and dominance into the voice, although he breathed heavily. + +"No, you're not," he said; "no, you're not. I'm going to Ripton--do you +understand? I'll be all right in a minute, and I'll take the lines." + +Victoria, when she got over her astonishment at this, reflected quickly. +She glanced at him, and the light of his expression was already fading. +There was some reason why he did not wish to go back to Fairview, and +common sense told her that agitation was not good for him; besides, they +would have to telephone to Ripton for a physician, and it was quicker to +drive there. Quicker to drive in her own runabout, did she dare to try +to move him into it. She made up her mind. + +"Please follow on behind with that trap," she called out to Rangely; "I'm +going to Ripton." + +He nodded understandingly, admiringly, and Victoria started Hilary's +horse out of the bushes towards the entrance way. From time to time she +let her eyes rest upon him anxiously. + +"Are you comfortable?" she asked. + +"Yes," he said, "yes. I'm all right. I'll be able to drive in a +minute." + +But the minutes passed, and he made no attempt to take the reins. +Victoria had drawn the whalebone whip from its socket, and was urging on +the horse as fast as humanity would permit; and the while she was aware +that Hilary's look was fixed upon her--in fact, never left her. Once or +twice, in spite of her anxiety to get him home, Victoria blushed faintly, +as she wondered what he was thinking about. + +And all the while she asked herself what it was that had brought him to +this condition. Victoria knew sufficient of life and had visited +hospitals enough to understand that mental causes were generally +responsible for such breakdowns--Hilary had had a shock. She remembered +how in her childhood he had been the object of her particular animosity; +how she used to put out her tongue at him, and imitate his manner, and +how he had never made the slightest attempt to conciliate her; most +people of this sort are sensitive to the instincts of children; but +Hilary had not been. She remembered--how long ago it seemed now!--the +day she had given him, in deviltry, the clipping about Austen shooting +Mr. Blodgett. + +The Hilary Vane who sat beside her to-day was not the same man. It was +unaccountable, but he was not. Nor could this changed estimate of him be +attributed to her regard for Austen, for she recalled a day only a few +months since--in June--when he had come up to Fairview and she was +standing on the lawn, and she had looked at him without recognition; she +had not, then, been able to bring herself to bow to him; to her childhood +distaste had been added the deeper resentment of Austen's wrongs. Her +early instincts about Hilary had been vindicated, for he had treated his +son abominably and driven Austen from his mother's home. To +misunderstand and maltreat Austen Vane, of all people Austen, whose +consideration for his father had been what it had! Could it be that +Hilary felt remorse? Could it be that he loved Austen in some peculiar +manner all his own? + +Victoria knew now--so strangely--that the man beside her was capable of +love, and she had never felt that way about Hilary Vane. And her mind +was confused, and her heart was troubled and wrung. Insight flashed upon +her of the terrible loneliness of a life surrounded by outstretched, +loving arms to which one could not fly; scenes from a famous classic she +had read with a favourite teacher at school came to her, and she knew +that she was the witness of a retribution, of a suffering beyond +conception of a soul prepared for suffering,--not physical suffering, but +of that torture which is the meaning of hell. + +However, there was physical suffering. It came and went, and at such +moments she saw the traces of it in the tightening of his lips, and +longed with womanly intuition to alleviate it. She had not spoken-- +although she could have cried aloud; she knew not what to say. And then +suddenly she reached out and touched his hand. Nor could she have +accounted for the action. + +"Are you in much pain?" she asked. + +She felt him tremble. + +"No," he said; "it's only a spell--I've had 'em before. I--I can drive +in a few minutes." + +"And do you think," she asked, "that I would allow you to go the rest of +the way alone?" + +"I guess I ought to thank you for comin' with me," he said. + +Victoria looked at him and smiled. And it was an illuminating smile for +her as well as for Hilary. Suddenly, by that strange power of sympathy +which the unselfish possess, she understood the man, understood Austen's +patience with him and affection for him. Suddenly she had pierced the +hard layers of the outer shell, and had heard the imprisoned spirit +crying with a small persistent voice,--a spirit stifled for many years +and starved--and yet it lived and struggled still. + +Yes, and that spirit itself must have felt her own reaching out to it-- +who can, say? And how it must have striven again for utterance + +"It was good of you to come," he said. + +"It was only common humanity," she answered, touching the horse. + +"Common humanity," he repeated. "You'd have done it for anybody along +the road, would you?" + +At this remark, so characteristic of Hilary, Victoria, hesitated. She +understood it now. And yet she hesitated to give him an answer that was +hypocritical. + +"I have known you all my life, Mr. Vane, and you are a very old friend of +my father's." + +"Old," he repeated, "yes, that's it. I'm ready for the scrap-heap-- +better have let me lie, Victoria." + +Victoria started. A new surmise had occurred to her upon which she did +not like to dwell. + +"You have worked too hard, Mr. Vane--you need a rest. And I have been +telling father that, too. You both need a rest." + +He shook his head. + +"I'll never get it," he said. "Stopping work won't give it to me." + +She pondered on these words as she guided the horse over a crossing. And +all that Austen had said to her, all that she had been thinking of for a +year past, helped her to grasp their meaning. But she wondered still +more at the communion which, all at once, had been established between +Hilary Vane and herself, and why he was saying these things to her. It +was all so unreal and inexplicable. + +"I can imagine that people who have worked hard all their lives must feel +that way," she answered, though her voice was not as steady as she could +have wished. "You--you have so much to live for." + +Her colour rose. She was thinking of Austen--and she knew that Hilary +Vane knew that she was thinking of Austen. Moreover, she had suddenly +grasped the fact that the gentle but persistently strong influence of the +son's character had brought about the change in the father. Hilary +Vane's lips closed again, as in pain, and she divined the reason. + +Victoria knew the house in Hanover Street, with its classic porch, with +its certain air of distinction and stability, and long before she had +known it as the Austen residence she remembered wondering who lived in +it. The house had individuality, and (looked at from the front) almost +perfect proportions; consciously--it bespoke the gentility of its +builders. Now she drew up before it and called to Mr. Rangely, who was +abreast, to tie his horse and ring the bell. Hilary was already feeling +with his foot for the step of the buggy. + +"I'm all right," he insisted; "I can manage now," but Victoria seized his +arm with a firm, detaining hand. + +"Please wait,--Mr. Vane," she pleaded. + +But the feeling of shame at his helplessness was strong. + +"It's over now. I--I can walk. I'm much obliged to you, Victoria--much +obliged." + +Fortunately Hilary's horse showed no inclination to go any farther--even +to the stable. And Victoria held on to his arm. He ceased to protest, +and Mr. Rangely quickly tied the other horse and came to Victoria's aid. +Supported by the young Englishman, Hilary climbed the stone steps and +reached the porch, declaring all the while that he needed no assistance, +and could walk alone. Victoria rang the bell, and after an interval the +door was opened by Euphrasia Cotton. + +Euphrasia stood upright with her hand on the knob, and her eyes flashed +over the group and rested fixedly on the daughter of Mr. Flint. + +"Mr. Vane was not very well," Victoria explained, "and we came home with +him." + +"I'm all right," said Hilary, once more, and to prove it he stepped--not +very steadily--across the threshold into the hall, and sat down on a +chair which had had its place at the foot of the stairs from time +immemorial. Euphrasia stood still. + +"I think," said Victoria, "that Mr. Vane had better see a doctor. Have +you a telephone?" + +"No, we haven't," said Euphrasia. + +Victoria turned to Mr. Rangely, who had been a deeply interested +spectator to this scene. + +"A little way down the street, on the other side, Dr. Tredway lives. You +will see his sign." + +"And if he isn't in, go to the hospital. It's only a few doors farther +on." + +"I'll wait," said Victoria, simply, when he had gone; "my father will +wish to know about Mr. Vane." + +"Hold on," said Hilary, "I haven't any use for a doctor--I won't see one. +I know what the trouble is, and I'm all right." + +Victoria became aware--for the first time that Hilary Vane's housekeeper +had not moved; that Euphrasia Cotton was still staring at her in a most +disconcerting manner, and was paying no attention whatever to Hilary. + +"Come in and set down," she said; and seeing Victoria glance at Hilary's +horse, she added, "Oh, he'll stand there till doomsday." + +Victoria, thinking that the situation would be less awkward, accepted the +invitation, and Euphrasia shut the door. The hall, owing to the fact +that the shutters of the windows by the stairs were always closed, was in +semidarkness. Victoria longed to let in the light, to take this strange, +dried-up housekeeper and shake her into some semblance of natural +feeling. And this was Austen's home! It was to this house, made gloomy +by these people, that he had returned every night! Infinitely depressed, +she felt that she must take some action, or cry aloud. + +"Mr. Vane," she said, laying a hand upon his shoulder, "I think you +ought, at least, to lie down for a little while. Isn't there a sofa in-- +in the parlour?" she asked Euphrasia. + +"You can't get him to do anything," Euphrasia replied, with decision; +"he'll die some day for want of a little common sense. I shouldn't +wonder if he was took on soon." + +"Oh!" cried Victoria. She could think of no words to answer this remark. + +"It wouldn't surprise me," Euphrasia continued. "He fell down the stairs +here not long ago, and went right on about his business. He's never paid +any attention to anybody, and I guess it's a mite late to expect him to +begin now. Won't you set down?" + +There was another chair against the low wainscoting, and Victoria drew it +over beside Hilary and sat down in it. He did not seem to notice the +action, and Euphrasia continued to stand. Standing seemed to be the +natural posture of this remarkable woman, Victoria thought--a posture of +vigilance, of defiance. A clock of one of the Austen grandfathers stood +obscurely at the back of the hall, and the measured swing of its pendulum +was all that broke the silence. This was Austen's home. It seemed +impossible for her to realize that he could be the product of this +environment--until a portrait on the opposite wall, above the stairs, +came out of the gloom and caught her eye like the glow of light. At +first, becoming aware of it with a start, she thought it a likeness of +Austen himself. Then she saw that the hair was longer, and more wavy +than his, and fell down a little over the velvet collar of a coat with a +wide lapel and brass buttons, and that the original of this portrait had +worn a stock. The face had not quite the strength of Austen's, she +thought, but a wondrous sweetness and intellect shone from it, like an +expression she had seen on his face. The chin rested on the hand, an +intellectual hand,--and the portrait brought to her mind that of a young +English statesman she had seen in the National Gallery in London. + +"That's Channing Austen,--he was minister to Spain." + +Victoria started. It was Euphrasia who was speaking, and unmistakable +pride was in her voice. + +Fortunately for Victoria, who would not in the least have known what to +reply, steps were heard on the porch, and Euphrasia opened the door. Mr. +Rangely had returned. + +"Here's the doctor, Miss Flint," he said, "and I'll wait for you +outside." + +Victoria rose as young Dr. Tredway came forward. They were old friends, +and the doctor, it may be recalled, had been chiefly responsible for the +preservation of the life of Mr. Zebulun Meader. + +"I have sent for you, Doctor," she said, "against instructions and on my +own responsibility. Mr. Vane is ill, although he refuses to admit it." + +Dr. Tredway had a respect for Victoria and her opinions, and he knew +Hilary. He opened the door a little wider, and looked critically at Mr. +Vane. + +"It's nothing but a spell," Hilary insisted. "I've had 'em before. I +suppose it's natural that they should scare the women-folks some." + +"What kind of a spell was it, Mr. Vane?" asked the doctor. + +"It isn't worth talking about," said Hilary. "You might as well pick up +that case of yours and go home again. I'm going down to the square in a +little while." + +"You see," Euphrasia put in, "he's made up his mind to kill himself." + +"Perhaps," said the doctor, smiling a little, "Mr. Vane wouldn't object +to Miss Flint telling me what happened." + +Victoria glanced at the doctor and hesitated. Her sympathy for Hilary, +her new understanding of him, urged her on--and yet never in her life had +she been made to feel so distinctly an intruder. Here was the doctor, +with his case; here was this extraordinary housekeeper, apparently ready +to let Hilary walk to the square, if he wished, and to shut the door on +their backs; and here was Hilary himself, who threatened at any moment to +make his word good and depart from their midst. Only the fact that she +was convinced that Hilary was in real danger made her relate, in a few +brief words, what had occurred, and when she had finished Mr. Vane made +no comment whatever. + +Dr. Tredway turned to Hilary. + +"I am going to take a mean advantage of you, Mr. Vane," he said, "and sit +here awhile and talk to yon. Would you object to waiting a little while, +Miss Flint? I have something to say to you," he added significantly, +"and this meeting will save me a trip to Fairview." + +"Certainly I'll wait," she said. + +"You can come along with me," said Euphrasia, "if you've a notion to." + +Victoria was of two minds whether to accept this invitation. She had an +intense desire to get outside, but this was counter-balanced by a sudden +curiosity to see more of this strange woman who loved but one person in +the world. Tom Gaylord had told Victoria that. She followed Euphrasia +to the back of the hall. + +"There's the parlour," said Euphrasia; "it's never be'n used since Mrs. +Vane died,--but there it is." + +"Oh," said Victoria, with a glance into the shadowy depths of the room, +"please don't open it for me. Can't we go," she added, with an +inspiration, "can't we go into--the kitchen?" She knew it was +Euphrasia's place. + +"Well," said Euphrasia, "I shouldn't have thought you'd care much about +kitchens." And she led the way onward; through the little passage, to +the room where she had spent most of her days. It was flooded with +level, yellow rays of light that seemed to be searching the corners in +vain for dust. Victoria paused in the doorway. + +"I'm afraid you do me an injustice," she said. "I like some kitchens." + +"You don't look as if you knew much about 'em," was Euphrasia's answer. +With Victoria once again in the light, Euphrasia scrutinized her with +appalling frankness, taking in every detail of her costume and at length +raising her eyes to the girl's face. Victoria coloured. On her visits +about the country-side she had met women of Euphrasia's type before, and +had long ago ceased to be dismayed by their manner. But her instinct +detected in Euphrasia a hostility for which she could not account. + +In that simple but exquisite gown which so subtly suited her, the +creation of which had aroused the artist in a celebrated Parisian +dressmaker, Victoria was, indeed, a strange visitant in that kitchen. +She took a seat by the window, and an involuntary exclamation of pleasure +escaped her as her eyes fell upon the little, old-fashioned flower garden +beneath it. The act and the exclamation for the moment disarmed +Euphrasia. + +"They were Sarah Austen's--Mrs. Vane's," she explained, "just as she +planted them the year she died. I've always kept 'em just so." + +"Mrs. Vane must have loved flowers," said Victoria. + +"Loved 'em! They were everything to her--and the wild flowers, too. She +used to wander off and spend whole days in the country, and come back +after sunset with her arms full." + +"It was nature she loved," said Victoria, in a low voice. + +"That was it--nature," said Euphrasia. "She loved all nature. There +wasn't a living, creeping thing that wasn't her friend. I've seen birds +eat out of her hand in that window where you're settin', and she'd say to +me, 'Phrasie, keep still! They'd love you, too, if they only knew you, +but they're afraid you'll scrub 'em if you get hold of them, the way you +used to scrub me.'" + +Victoria smiled--but it was a smile that had tears in it. Euphrasia +Cotton was standing in the shaft of sunlight at the other window, staring +at the little garden. + +"Yes, she used to say funny things like that, to make you laugh when you +were all ready to cry. There wasn't many folks understood her. She knew +every path and hilltop within miles of here, and every brook and spring, +and she used to talk about that mountain just as if it was alive." + +Victoria caught her breath. + +"Yes," continued Euphrasia, "the mountain was alive for her. 'He's angry +to-day, Phrasie. That's because, you lost your temper and scolded +Hilary.' It's a queer thing, but there have been hundreds of times since +when he needed scoldin' bad, and I've looked at the mountain and held my +tongue. It was just as if I saw her with that half-whimsical, half- +reproachful expression in her eyes, holding up her finger at me. And +there were other mornings when she'd say, 'The mountain's lonesome today, +he wants me.' And I vow, I'd look at the mountain and it would seem +lonesome. That sounds like nonsense, don't it?" Euphrasia demanded, with +a sudden sharpness. + +"No," said Victoria, "it seems very real to me." + +The simplicity, the very ring of truth, and above all the absolute lack +of self-consciousness in the girl's answer sustained the spell. + +"She'd go when the mountain called her, it didn't make any difference +whether it was raining--rain never appeared to do her any hurt. Nothin' +natural ever did her any hurt. When she was a little child flittin' +about like a wild creature, and she'd come in drenched to the skin, it +was all I could do to catch her and change her clothes. She'd laugh at +me. 'We're meant to be wet once in a while, Phrasie,' she'd say; 'that's +what the rain's for, to wet us. It washes some of the wickedness out of +us.' It was the unnatural things that hurt her--the unkind words and +makin' her act against her nature. 'Phrasie,' she said once, 'I can't +pray in the meeting-house with my eyes shut--I can't, I can't. I seem to +know what they're all wishing for when they pray,--for more riches, and +more comfort, and more security, and more importance. And God is such a +long way off. I can't feel Him, and the pew hurts my back.' She used to +read me some, out of a book of poetry, and one verse I got by heart--I +guess her prayers were like that." + +"Do you--remember the verse?" asked Victoria. + +Euphrasia went to a little shelf in the corner of the kitchen and +produced a book, which, she opened and handed to Victoria. + +"There's the verse!" she said; "read it aloud. I guess you're better at +that than I am." + +And Victoria read:-- + + "Higher still and higher + From the earth thou springest + Like a cloud of fire; + The blue deep thou wingest, + And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest." + +Victoria let fall the volume on her lap. + +"There's another verse in that book she liked," said Euphrasia, "but it +always was sad to me." + +Victoria took the book, and read again:-- + + "Weary wind, who wanderest + Like the world's rejected guest, + Hast thou still some secret nest + On the tree or billow?" + +Euphrasia laid the volume tenderly on the shelf, and turned and faced +Victoria. + +"She was unhappy like that before she died," she exclaimed, and added, +with a fling of her head towards the front of the house, "he killed +her." + +"Oh, no!" cried Victoria, involuntarily rising to her feet. "Oh, no! +I'm sure he didn't mean to. He didn't understand her!" + +"He killed her," Euphrasia repeated. "Why didn't he understand her? She +was just as simple as a child, and just as trusting, and just as loving. +He made her unhappy, and now he's driven her son out of her house, and +made him unhappy. He's all of her I have left, and I won't see him +unhappy." + +Victoria summoned her courage. + +"Don't you think," she asked bravely, "that Mr. Austen Vane ought to be +told that his father is--in this condition?" + +"No," said Euphrasia, determinedly. "Hilary will have to send for him. +This time it'll be Austen's victory." + +"But hasn't he had--a victory?" Victoria persisted earnestly. "Isn't +this--victory enough?" + +"What do you mean?" Euphrasia cried sharply. + +"I mean," she answered, in a low voice, "I mean that Mr. Vane's son is +responsible for his condition to-day. Oh--not consciously so. But the +cause of this trouble is mental--can't you see it? The cause of this +trouble is remorse. Can't you see that it has eaten into his soul? Do +you wish a greater victory than this, or a sadder one? Hilary Vane will +not ask for his son--because he cannot. He has no more power to send +that message than a man shipwrecked on an island. He can only give +signals of distress--that some may heed. Would She have waited for such +a victory as you demand? And does Austen Vane desire it? Don't you +think that he would come to his father if he knew? And have you any +right to keep the news from him? Have you any right to decide what their +vengeance shall be?" + +Euphrasia had stood mute as she listened to these words which she had so +little expected, but her eyes flashed and her breath came quickly. Never +had she been so spoken to! Never had any living soul come between her +and her cherished object the breaking of the heart of Hilary Vane! Nor, +indeed, had that object ever been so plainly set forth as Victoria had +set it forth. And this woman who dared to do this had herself brought +unhappiness to Austen. Euphrasia had almost forgotten that, such had +been the strange harmony of their communion. + +"Have you the right to tell Austen?" she demanded. + +"Have I?" Victoria repeated. And then, as the full meaning of the +question came to her; the colour flooded into her face, and she would +have fled, if she could, bud Euphrasia's words came in a torrent. + +"You've made him unhappy, as well as Hilary. He loves you--but he +wouldn't speak of it to you. Oh, no, he didn't tell me who it was, but I +never rested till I found out. He never would have told me about it at +all, or anybody else, but that I guessed it. I saw he was unhappy, and I +calculated it wasn't Hilary alone made him so. One night he came in +here, and I knew all at once--somehow--there was a woman to blame, and I +asked him, and he couldn't lie to me. He said it wasn't anybody's fault +but his own--he wouldn't say any more than that, except that he hadn't +spoken to her. I always expected the time was coming when there would +be--a woman. And I never thought the woman lived that he'd love who +wouldn't love him. I can't see how any woman could help lovin' him. + +"And then I found out it was that railroad. It came between Sarah Austen +and her happiness, and now it's come between Austen and his. Perhaps you +don't love him!" cried Euphrasia. "Perhaps you're too rich and high and +mighty. Perhaps you're a-going to marry that fine young man who came +with you in the buggy. Since I heard who you was, I haven't had a happy +hour. Let me tell you there's no better blood in the land than the +Austen blood. I won't mention the Vanes. If you've led him on, if +you've deceived him, I hope you may be unhappy as Sarah Austen was--" + +"Don't!" pleaded Victoria; "don't! Please don't!" and she seized +Euphrasia by the arms, as though seeking by physical force to stop the +intolerable flow of words. "Oh, you don't know me; you can't understand +me if you say that. How can you be so cruel?" + +In another moment she had gone, leaving Euphrasia standing in the middle +of the floor, staring after her through the doorway. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE FOCUS OF WRATH + +Victoria, after leaving Euphrasia, made her way around the house towards +Mr. Rangely, who was waiting in the runabout, her one desire for the +moment being to escape. Before she had reached the sidewalk under the +trees, Dr. Tredway had interrupted her. + +"Miss Flint," he called out, "I wanted to say a word to you before you +went." + +"Yes," she said, stopping and turning to him. + +He paused a moment before speaking, as he looked into her face. + +"I don't wonder this has upset you a little," he said; "a reaction always +comes afterwards--even with the strongest of us." + +"I am all right," she replied, unconsciously repeating Hilary's words. +"How is Mr. Vane?" + +"You have done a splendid thing," said the doctor, gravely. And he +continued, after a moment: "It is Mr. Vane I wanted to speak to you +about. He is an intimate friend, I believe, of your father's, as well as +Mr. Flint's right-hand man in--in a business way in this State. Mr. Vane +himself will not listen to reason. I have told him plainly that if he +does not drop all business at once, the chances are ten to one that he +will forfeit his life very shortly. I understand that there is a--a +convention to be held at the capital the day after to-morrow, and that it +is Mr. Vane's firm intention to attend it. I take the liberty of +suggesting that you lay these facts before your father, as Mr. Flint +probably has more influence with Hilary Vane than any other man. +"However," he added, seeing Victoria hesitate, "if there is any reason +why you should not care to speak to Mr. Flint--" + +"Oh, no," said Victoria; "I'll speak to him, certainly. I was going to +ask you--have you thought of Mr. Austen Vane? He might be able to do +something." + +"Of course," said the doctor, after a moment, "it is an open secret that +Austen and his father have--have, in short, never agreed. They are not +now on speaking terms." + +"Don't you think," asked Victoria, summoning her courage, "that Austen +Vane ought to be told?" + +"Yes," the doctor repeated decidedly, "I am sure of it. Everybody who +knows Austen Vane as I do has the greatest admiration for him. You +probably remember him in that Meader case,--he isn't a man one would be +likely to forget,--and I know that this quarrel with his father isn't of +Austen's seeking." + +"Oughtn't he to be told--at once?" said Victoria. + +"Yes," said the doctor; "time is valuable, and we can't predict what +Hilary will do. At any rate, Austen ought to know--but the trouble is, +he's at Jenney's farm. I met him on the way out there just before your +friend the Englishman caught me. And unfortunately I have a case which I +cannot neglect. But I can send word to him." + +"I know where Jenney's farm is," said Victoria; "I'll drive home that +way." + +"Well," exclaimed Dr. Tredway, heartily, "that's good of you. Somebody +who knows Hilary's situation ought to see him, and I can think of no +better messenger than you." + +And he helped her into the runabout. + +Young Mr. Rangely being a gentleman, he refrained from asking Victoria +questions on the drive out of Ripton, and expressed the greatest +willingness to accompany her on this errand and to see her home +afterwards. He had been deeply impressed, but he felt instinctively that +after such a serious occurrence, this was not the time to continue to +give hints of his admiration. He had heard in England that many American +women whom he would be likely to meet socially were superficial and +pleasure-loving; and Arthur Rangely came of a family which had long been +cited as a vindication of a government by aristocracy,--a family which +had never shirked responsibilities. It is not too much to say that he +had pictured Victoria among his future tenantry; she had appealed to him +first as a woman, but the incident of the afternoon had revealed her to +him, as it were, under fire. + +They spoke quietly of places they both had visited, of people whom they +knew in common, until they came to the hills--the very threshold of +Paradise on that September evening. Those hills never failed to move +Victoria, and they were garnished this evening in no earthly colours,-- +rose-lighted on the billowy western pasture slopes and pearl in the deep +clefts of the streams, and the lordly form of Sawanec shrouded in indigo +against a flame of orange. And orange fainted, by the subtlest of colour +changes, to azure in which swam, so confidently, a silver evening star. + +In silence they drew up before Mr. Jenney's ancestral trees, and through +the deepening shadows beneath these the windows of the farm-house glowed +with welcoming light. At Victoria's bidding Mr. Rangely knocked to ask +for Austen Vane, and Austen himself answered the summons. He held a book +in his hand, and as Rangely spoke she saw Austen's look turn quickly to +her, and met it through the gathering gloom between them. In an instant +he was at her side, looking up questioningly into her face, and the +telltale blood leaped into hers. What must he think of her for coming +again? She could not speak of her errand too quickly. + +"Mr. Vane, I came to leave a message." + +"Yes?" he said, and glanced at the broad-shouldered, well-groomed figure +of Mr. Rangely, who was standing at a discreet distance. + +"Your father has had an attack of some kind,--please don't be alarmed, he +seems to be recovered now,--and I thought and Dr. Tredway thought you +ought to know about it. The doctor could not leave Ripton, and I offered +to come and tell you." + +"An attack?" he repeated. + +"Yes." Hilary and she related simply how she had found Hilary at +Fairview, and how she had driven him home. But, during the whole of her +recital, she could not rid herself of the apprehension that he was +thinking her interference unwarranted, her coming an indelicate +repetition of the other visit. As he stood there listening in the +gathering dusk, she could not tell from his face what he thought. His +expression, when serious, had a determined, combative, almost grim note +in it, which came from a habit he had of closing his jaw tightly; and his +eyes were like troubled skies through which there trembled an occasional +flash of light. + +Victoria had never felt his force so strongly as now, and never had he +seemed more distant; at times--she had thought--she had had glimpses of +his soul; to-night he was inscrutable, and never had she realized the +power (which she bad known he must possess) of making himself so. And to +her? Her pride forbade her recalling at that moment the confidences +which had passed between them and which now seemed to have been so +impossible. He was serious because he was listening to serious news--she +told herself. But it was more than this: he had shut himself up, he was +impenetrable. Shame seized her; yes, and anger; and shame again at the +remembrance of her talk with Euphrasia--and anger once more. Could he +think that she would make advances to tempt his honour, and risk his good +opinion and her own? + +Confidence is like a lute-string, giving forth sweet sounds in its +perfection; there are none so discordant as when it snaps. + +Victoria scarcely heard Austen's acknowledgments of her kindness, so +perfunctory did they seem, so unlike the man she had known; and her own +protestations that she had done nothing to merit his thanks were to her +quite as unreal. She introduced him to the Englishman. + +"Mr. Rangely has been good enough to come with me," she said. + +"I've never seen anybody act with more presence of mind than Miss Flint," +Rangely declared, as he shook Austen's hand. "She did just the right +thing, without wasting any time whatever." + +"I'm sure of it," said Austen, cordially enough. But to Victoria's +keener ear, other tones which she had heard at other times were lacking. +Nor could she, clever as she was, see the palpable reason standing before +her! + +"I say," said Rangely, as they drove away, "he strikes me as a remarkably +sound chap, Miss Flint. There is something unusual about him, something +clean cut." + +"I've heard other people say so," Victoria replied. For the first time +since she had known him, praise of Austen was painful to her. What was +this curious attraction that roused the interest of all who came in +contact with him? The doctor had it, Mr. Redbrook, Jabe Jenney,--even +Hamilton Tooting, she remembered. And he attracted women as well as men- +-it must be so. Certainly her own interest in him--a man beyond the +radius of her sphere--and their encounters had been strange enough! And +must she go on all her life hearing praises of him? Of one thing she was +sure--who was not?--that Austen Vane had a future. He was the type of +man which is inevitably impelled into places of trust. + +Manly men, as a rule, do not understand women. They humour them blindly, +seek to comfort them--if they weep--with caresses, laugh with them if +they have leisure, and respect their curious and unaccountable moods by +keeping out of the way. Such a husband was Arthur Rangely destined to +make; a man who had seen any number of women and understood none,--as +wondrous mechanisms. He had merely acquired the faculty of appraisal, +although this does not mean that he was incapable of falling in love. + +Mr. Rangely could not account for the sudden access of gayety in +Victoria's manner as they drove to Fairview through the darkness, nor did +he try. He took what the gods sent him, and was thankful. When he +reached Fairview he was asked to dinner, as he could not possibly get +back to the Inn in time. Mr. Flint had gone to Sumner with the +engineers, leaving orders to be met at the East Tunbridge station at ten; +and Mrs. Flint, still convalescent, had dined in her sitting room. +Victoria sat opposite her guest in the big dining room, and Mr. Rangely +pronounced the occasion decidedly jolly. He had, he proclaimed, with the +exception of Mr. Vane's deplorable accident, never spent a better day in +his life. + +Victoria wondered at her own spirits, which were feverish, as she +listened to transatlantic gossip about girls she had known who had +married Mr. Rangely's friends, and stories of Westminster and South +Africa, and certain experiences of Mr. Rangely's at other places than +Leith on the American continent, which he had grown sufficiently +confidential to relate. At times, lifting her eyes to him as he sat +smoking after dinner on the other side of the library fire, she almost +doubted his existence. He had come into her life at one o'clock that +day--it seemed an eternity since. And a subconscious voice, heard but +not heeded, told her that in the awakening from this curious dream he +would be associated in her memory with tragedy, just as a tune or a book +or a game of cards reminds one of painful periods of one's existence. +To-morrow the--episode would be a nightmare; to-night her one desire was +to prolong it. + +And poor Mr. Rangely little imagined the part he was playing--as little +as he deserved it. Reluctant to leave, propriety impelled him to ask for +a trap at ten, and it was half past before he finally made his exit from +the room with a promise to pay his respects soon--very soon. + +Victoria stood before the fire listening to the sound of the wheels +gradually growing fainter, and her mind refused to work. Hanover Street, +Mr. Jenney's farm-house, were unrealities too. Ten minutes later--if she +had marked the interval--came the sound of wheels again, this time +growing louder. Then she heard a voice in the hall, her father's voice. + +"Towers, who was that?" + +"A young gentleman, sir, who drove home with Miss Victoria. I didn't get +his name, sir." + +"Has Miss Victoria retired?" + +"She's in the library, sir. Here are some telegrams, Mr. Flint." + +Victoria heard her father tearing open the telegrams and walking towards +the library with slow steps as he read them. She did not stir from her +place before the fire. She saw him enter and, with a characteristic +movement which had become almost habitual of late, crush the telegrams in +front of him with both hands. + +"Well, Victoria?" he said. + +"Well, father?" + +It was characteristic of him, too, that he should momentarily drop the +conversation, unravel the ball of telegrams, read one, crush them once +more,--a process that seemed to give him relief. He glanced at his +daughter--she had not moved. Whatever Mr. Flint's original character may +have been in his long-forgotten youth on the wind-swept hill farm in +Truro, his methods of attack lacked directness now; perhaps a long +business and political experience were responsible for this trait. + +"Your mother didn't come down to dinner, I suppose." + +"No," said Victoria. + +Simpson tells me the young bull got loose and cut himself badly. He says +it's the fault of the Eben Fitch you got me to hire." + +"I don't believe it was Eben's fault--Simpson doesn't like him," Victoria +replied. + +"Simpson tells me Fitch drinks." + +"Let a man get a bad name," said Victoria, "and Simpson will take care +that he doesn't lose it." The unexpected necessity of defending one of +her proteges aroused her. "I've made it a point to see Eben every day +for the last three months, and he hasn't touched a drop. He's one of the +best workers we have on the place." + +"I've got too much on my mind to put up with that kind of thing," said +Mr. Flint, "and I won't be worried here on the place. I can get capable +men to tend cattle, at least. I have to put up with political rascals +who rob and deceive me as soon as my back is turned, I have to put up +with inefficiency and senility, but I won't have it at home." + +"Fitch will be transferred to the gardener if you think best," she said. + +It suddenly occurred to Victoria, in the light of a new discovery, that +in the past her father's irritability had not extended to her. And this +discovery, she knew, ought to have some significance, but she felt +unaccountably indifferent to it. Mr. Flint walked to a window at the far +end of the room and flung apart the tightly closed curtains before it. + +"I never can get used to this new-fangled way of shutting everything up +tight," he declared. "When I lived in Centre Street, I used to read with +the curtains up every night, and nobody ever shot me." He stood looking +out at the starlight for awhile, and turned and faced her again. + +"I haven't seen much of you this summer, Victoria," he remarked. + +"I'm sorry, father. You know I always like to walk with you every day +you are here." He had aroused her sufficiently to have a distinct sense +that this was not the time to refer to the warning she had given him that +he was working too hard. But he was evidently bent on putting this +construction on her answer. + +"Several times I have asked for you, and you have been away," he said. + +"If you had only let me know, I should have made it a point to be at +home." + +"How can I tell when these idiots will give me any rest?" he asked. He +crushed the telegrams again, and came down the room and stopped in front +of her. "Perhaps there has been a particular reason why you have not +been at home as much as usual." + +"A particular reason?" she repeated, in genuine surprise. + +"Yes," he said; "I have been hearing things which, to put it mildly, have +astonished me." + +"Hearing things?" + +"Yes," he exclaimed. "I may be busy, I may be harassed by tricksters and +bunglers, but I am not too busy not to care something about my daughter's +doings. I expect them to deceive me, Victoria, but I pinned my faith +somewhere. I pinned it on you. On you, do you understand?" + +She raised her head for the first time and looked at him, with her lips +quivering. But she did not speak. + +"Ever since you were a child you have been everything to me, all I had to +fly to. I was always sure of one genuine, disinterested love--and that +was yours. I was always sure of hearing the truth from your lips." + +"Father!" she cried. + +He seemed not to hear the agonized appeal in her voice. Although he +spoke in his usual tones, Augustus Flint was, in fact, beside himself. + +"And now," he said, "and now I learn that you have been holding +clandestine meetings with a man who is my enemy, with a man who has done +me more harm than any other single individual, with a man whom I will not +have in my house--do you understand? I can only say that before to- +night, I gave him credit for having the decency not to enter it, not to +sit down at my table." + +Victoria turned away from him, and seized the high oak shelf of the +mantel with both hands. He saw her shoulders rising and falling as her +breath came deeply, spasmodically--like sobbing. But she was not sobbing +as she turned again and looked into his face. Fear was in her eye, and +the high courage to look: fear and courage. She seemed to be looking at +another man, at a man who was not her father. And Mr. Flint, despite his +anger, vaguely interpreting her meaning, was taken aback. He had never +seen anybody with such a look. And the unexpected quiet quality of her +voice intensified his strange sensation. + +"A Mr. Rangely, an Englishman, who is staying at the Leith Inn, was here +to dinner to-night. He has never been here before." + +"Austen Vane wasn't here to-night?" + +"Mr. Vane has never been in this house to my knowledge but once, and you +knew more about that meeting than I do." + +And still Victoria spoke quietly, inexplicably so to Mr. Flint--and to +herself. It seemed to her that some other than she were answering with +her voice, and that she alone felt. It was all a part of the nightmare, +all unreal, and this was not her father; nevertheless, she suffered now, +not from anger alone, nor sorrow, nor shame for him and for herself, nor +disgust, nor a sense of injustice, nor cruelty--but all of these played +upon a heart responsive to each with a different pain. + +And Mr. Flint, halted for the moment by her look and manner, yet goaded +on by a fiend of provocation which had for months been gathering +strength, and which now mastered him completely, persisted. He knew not +what he did or said. + +"And you haven't seen him to-day, I suppose," he cried. + +"Yes, I have seen him to-day." + +"Ah, you have! I thought as much. Where did you meet him to-day?" + +Victoria turned half away from him, raised a hand to the mantel-shelf +again, and lifted a foot to the low brass fender as she looked down into +the fire. The movement was not part of a desire to evade him, as he +fancied in his anger, but rather one of profound indifference, of +profound weariness--the sunless deeps of sorrow. And he thought her +capable of deceiving him! He had been her constant companion from +childhood, and knew only the visible semblance of her face, her form, her +smile. Her sex was the sex of subterfuge. + +"I went to the place where he is living, and asked for him," she said, +"and he came out and spoke to me." + +"You?" he repeated incredulously. There was surely no subterfuge in her +tone, but an unreal, unbelievable note which his senses seized, and to +which he clung. "You! My daughter!" + +"Yes," she answered, "I, your daughter. I suppose you think I am +shameless. It is true--I am." + +Mr. Flint was utterly baffled. He was at sea. He had got beyond the +range of his experience; defence, denial, tears, he could have understood +and coped with. He crushed the telegrams into a tighter ball, sought for +a footing, and found a precarious one. + +"And all this has been going on without my knowledge, when you knew my +sentiments towards the man?" + +"Yes," she said. "I do not know what you include in that remark, but I +have seen him many times as many times, perhaps, as you have heard +about." + +He wheeled, and walked over to a cabinet between two of the great windows +and stood there examining a collection of fans which his wife had bought +at a famous sale in Paris. Had he suddenly been asked the question, he +could not have said whether they were fans or beetles. And it occurred +to Victoria, as her eyes rested on his back, that she ought to be sorry +for him--but wasn't, somehow. Perhaps she would be to-morrow. Mr. Flint +looked at the fans, and an obscure glimmering of the truth came to him +that instead of administering a severe rebuke to the daughter he believed +he had known all his life, he was engaged in a contest with the soul of a +woman he had never known. And the more she confessed, the more she +apparently yielded, the more impotent he seemed, the tighter the demon +gripped him. Obstacles, embarrassments, disappointments, he had met +early in his life, and he had taken them as they came. There had +followed a long period when his word had been law. And now, as age came +on, and he was meeting with obstacles again, he had lost the magic gift +of sweeping them aside; the growing certainty that he was becoming +powerless haunted him night and day. Unbelievably strange, however, it +was that the rays of his anger by some subconscious process had hovered +from the first about the son of Hilary Vane, and were now, by the trend +of event after event, firmly focussed there. + +He left the cabinet abruptly and came back to Victoria. + +She was standing in the same position. + +"You have spared me something," he said. "He has apparently undermined +me with my own daughter. He has evidently given you an opinion of me +which is his. I think I can understand why you have not spoken of these +--meetings." + +"It is an inference that I expected," said Victoria. Then she lifted her +head and looked at him, and again he could not read her expression, for a +light burned in her eyes that made them impenetrable to him,--a light +that seemed pitilessly to search out and reveal the dark places and the +weak places within him which he himself had not known were there. Could +there be another standard by which men and women were measured and +judged? + +Mr. Flint snapped his fingers, and turned and began to pace the room. + +"It's all pretty clear," he said; "there's no use going into it any +farther. You believe, with the rest of them, that I'm a criminal and +deserve the penitentiary. I don't care a straw about the others," he +cried, snapping his fingers again. "And I suppose, if I'd had any sense, +I might have expected it from you, too, Victoria--though you are my +daughter." + +He was aware that her eyes followed him. + +"How many times have you spoken with Austen Vane?" she asked. + +"Once," he exclaimed; "that was enough. Once." + +"And he gave you the impression," she continued slowly, "that he was +deceitful, and dishonourable, and a coward? a man who would say things +behind your back that he dared not say to your face? who desired reward +for himself at any price, and in any manner? a man who would enter your +house and seek out your daughter and secretly assail your character?" + +Mr. Flint stopped in the middle of the floor. + +"And you tell me he has not done these things?" + +"Suppose I did tell you so," said Victoria, "would you believe me? I +have no reason to think that you would. I am your daughter, I have been +your most intimate companion, and I had the right to think that you +should have formed some estimate of my character. Suppose I told you +that Austen Vane has avoided me, that he would not utter a word against +you or in favour of himself? "Suppose I told you that I, your daughter, +thought there might be two sides to the political question that is +agitating you, and wished in fairness to hear the other side, +as I intended to tell you when you were less busy? Suppose I told you +that Austen Vane was the soul of honour, that he saw your side and +presented it as ably as you have presented it? that he had refrained in +many matters which might have been of advantage to him--although I did +not hear of them from him--on account of his father? Would you believe +me?" + +"And suppose I told you," cried Mr. Flint--so firmly fastened on him was +the long habit of years of talking another down, "suppose I told you that +this was the most astute and the craftiest course he could take? I've +always credited him with brains. Suppose I told you that he was +intriguing now, as he has been all along, to obtain the nomination for +the governorship? Would you believe me?" + +"No," answered Victoria, quietly. + +Mr. Flint went to the lamp, unrolled the ball of telegrams, seized one +and crossed the room quickly, and held it out to her. His hand shook a +little. + +"Read that!" he said. + +She read it: "Estimate that more than half of delegates from this section +pledged to Henderson will go to Austen Vane when signal is given in +convention. Am told on credible authority same is true of other +sections, including many of Hunt's men and Crewe's. This is the result +of quiet but persistent political work I spoke about. BILLINGS." + +She handed the telegram back to her father in silence. "Do you believe it +now?" he demanded exultantly. + +"Who is the man whose name is signed to that message?" she asked. + +Mr. Flint eyed her narrowly. + +"What difference does that make?" he demanded. + +"None," said Victoria. But a vision of Mr. Billings rose before her. +He had been pointed out to her as the man who had opposed Austen in the +Meader suit. If the bishop of the diocese signed it, I would not +believe that Austen Vane had anything to do with the matter." + +"Ah, you defend him!" cried Mr. Flint. "I thought so--I thought so. +I take off my hat to him, he is a cleverer man even than I. His own +father, whom he has ruined, comes up here and defends him." + +"Does Hilary Vane defend him?" Victoria asked curiously. + +"Yes," said Mr. Flint, beside himself; "incredible as it may seem, he +does. I have Austen Vane to thank for still another favour--he is +responsible for Hilary's condition to-day. He has broken him down--he +has made him an imbecile. The convention is scarcely thirty-six hours +off, and Hilary is about as fit to handle it as--as Eben Fitch. Hilary, +who never failed me in his life!" + +Victoria did not speak for a moment, and then she reached out her hand +quickly and laid it on his that still held the telegram. A lounge stood +on one side of the fireplace, and she drew him gently to it, and he sat +down at her side. His acquiescence to her was a second nature, and he +was once more bewildered. His anger now seemed to have had no effect +upon her whatever. + +"I waited up to tell you about Hilary Vane, father," she said gently. +"He has had a stroke, which I am afraid is serious." + +"A stroke!" cried Mr. Flint, "Why didn't you tell me? How do you know?" + +Victoria related how she had found Hilary coming away from Fairview, and +what she had done, and the word Dr. Tredway had sent. + +"Good God!" cried Mr. Flint, "he won't be able to go to the convention!" +And he rose and pressed the electric button. "Towers," he said, when the +butler appeared, "is Mr. Freeman still in my room? Tell him to telephone +to Ripton at once and find out how Mr. Hilary Vane is. They'll have to +send a messenger. That accounts for it," he went on, rather to himself +than to Victoria, and he began to pace the room once more; "he looked +like a sick man when he was here. And who have we got to put in his +place? Not a soul!" + +He paced awhile in silence. He appeared to have forgotten Victoria. + +"Poor Hilary!" he said again, "poor Hilary! I'll go down there the first +thing in the morning." + +Another silence, and then Mr. Freeman, the secretary, entered. + +"I telephoned to Dr. Tredway's, Mr. Flint. I thought that would be +quickest. Mr. Vane has left home. They don't know where he's gone." + +"Left home! It's impossible!" and he glanced at Victoria, who had risen +to her feet. "There must be some mistake." + +"No, sir. First I got the doctor, who said that Mr. Vane was gone--at +the risk of his life. And then I talked to Mr. Austen Vane himself, who +was there consulting with the doctor. It appears that Mr. Hilary Vane +had left home by eight o'clock, when Mr. Austen Vane got there." + +"Hilary's gone out of his head," exclaimed Mr. Flint. "This thing has +unhinged him. Here, take these telegrams. No, wait a minute, I'll go +out there. Call up Billings, and see if you can get Senator Whitredge." + +He started out of the room, halted, and turned his head and hesitated. + +"Father," said Victoria, "I don't think Hilary Vane is out of his mind." + +"You don't?" he said quickly. "Why?" + +By some unaccountable change in the atmosphere, of which Mr. Flint was +unconscious, his normal relation to his daughter had been suddenly +reestablished. He was giving ear, as usual, to her judgment. + +"Did Hilary Vane tell you he would go to the convention?" she asked. + +"Yes." In spite of himself, he had given the word an apologetic +inflection. + +"Then he has gone already," she said. "I think, if you will telephone a +little later to the State capital, you will find that he is in his room +at the Pelican Hotel." + +"By thunder, Victoria!" he ejaculated, "you may be right. It would be +like him." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE ARENA AND THE DUST + +Alas! that the great genius who described the battle of Waterloo is not +alive to-day and on this side of the Atlantic, for a subject worthy of +his pen is at hand,--nothing less than that convention of conventions at +which the Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith is one of the candidates. +One of the candidates, indeed! Will it not be known, as long as there +are pensions, and a governor and a state-house and a seal and State +sovereignty and a staff, as the Crewe Convention? How charge after +charge was made during the long, hot day and into the night; how the +delegates were carried out limp and speechless and starved and wet +through, and carried in to vote again,--will all be told in time. But +let us begin at the beginning, which is the day before. + +But look! it is afternoon, and the candidates are arriving at the +Pelican. The Honourable Adam B. Hunt is the first, and walks up the hill +from the station escorted by such prominent figures as the Honourables +Brush Bascom and Jacob Botcher, and surrounded by enthusiastic supporters +who wear buttons with the image of their +leader--goatee and all--and the singularly prophetic superscription, 'To +the Last Ditch!' Only veterans and experts like Mr. Bascom and Mr. +Botcher can recognize the last ditch when they see it. + +Another stir in the street--occasioned by the appearance of the +Honourable Giles Henderson,--of the blameless life. Utter a syllable +against him if you can! These words should be inscribed on his buttons +if he had any--but he has none. They seem to be, unuttered, on the +tongues of the gentlemen who escort the Honourable Giles, United States +Senator Greene and the Honourable Elisha Jane, who has obtained leave of +absence from his consular post to attend the convention,--and +incidentally to help prepare for it. + +But who and what is this? The warlike blast of a siren horn is heard, +the crowd in the lobby rushes to the doors, people up-stairs fly to the +windows, and the Honourable Adam B. Hunt leans out and nearly falls out, +but is rescued by Division Superintendent Manning of the Northeastern +Railroads, who has stepped in from Number Seven to give a little private +tug of a persuasive nature to the Honourable Adam's coat-tails. A red +Leviathan comes screaming down Main Street with a white trail of dust +behind it, smothering the occupants of vehicles which have barely +succeeded in getting out of the way, and makes a spectacular finish +before the Pelican by sliding the last fifty feet on locked rear wheels. + +A group in the street raises a cheer. It is the People's Champion! Dust +coat, gauntlets, goggles, cannot hide him; and if they did, some one +would recognize that voice, familiar now and endeared to many, and so +suited to command:-- + +"Get that baggage off, and don't waste any time! Jump out, Watling--that +handle turns the other way. Well, Tooting, are the headquarters ready? +What was the matter that I couldn't get you on the telephone?" (To the +crowd.) "Don't push in and scratch the paint. He's going to back out in +a minute, and somebody'll get hurt." + +Mr. Hamilton Tooting (Colonel Hamilton Tooting that is to be--it being an +open secret that he is destined for the staff) is standing hatless on the +sidewalk ready to receive the great man. The crowd in the rotunda makes +a lane, and Mr. Crewe, glancing neither to the right nor left, walks +upstairs; and scarce is he installed in the bridal suite, surrounded by +his faithful workers for reform, than that amazing reception begins. Mr. +Hamilton Tooting, looking the very soul of hospitality, stands by the +doorway with an open box of cigars in his left hand, pressing them upon +the visitors with his right. Reform, contrary to the +preconceived opinion of many, is not made of icicles, nor answers with a +stone a request for bread. As the hours run on, the visitors grow more +and more numerous, and after supper the room is packed to suffocation, +and a long line is waiting in the corridor, marshalled and kept in good +humour by able lieutenants; while Mr. Crewe is dimly to be perceived +through clouds of incense burning in his honour--and incidentally at his +expense--with a welcoming smile and an appropriate word for each caller, +whose waistcoat pockets, when they emerge, resemble cartridge-belts of +cigars. + +More cigars were hastily sent for, and more. There are to be but a +thousand delegates to the convention, and at least two thousand men have +already passed through the room--and those who don't smoke have friends. +It is well that Mr. Crewe has stuck to his conservative habit of not +squeezing hands too hard. + +"Isn't that Mr. Putter, who keeps a livery-stable here?" inquired Mr. +Crewe, about nine o'clock--our candidate having a piercing eye of his +own. Mr. Putter's coat, being brushed back, has revealed six cigars. + +"Why, yes--yes," says Mr. Watling. + +"Is he a delegate?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +"Why, I guess he must be," says Mr. Watling. + +But Mr. Putter is not a delegate. + +"You've stood up and made a grand fight, Mr. Crewe," says another +gentleman, a little later, with a bland, smooth shaven face and strong +teeth to clinch Mr. Crewe's cigars. "I wish I was fixed so as I could +vote for you." + +Mr. Crewe looks at him narrowly. + +"You look very much like a travelling man from New York, who tried to +sell me farm machinery," he answers. + +"Where are you from?" + +"You ain't exactly what they call a tyro, are you?" says the bland-faced +man; "but I guess you've missed the mark this shot. Well, so long." + +"Hold on!" says Mr. Crewe, "Watling will talk to you." + +And, as the gentleman follows Mr. Wailing through the press, a pamphlet +drops from his pocket to the floor. It is marked 'Catalogue of the +Raines Farm Implement Company.' Mr. Watling picks it up and hands it to +the gentleman, who winks again. + +"Tim," he says, "where can we sit down? How much are you getting out of +this? Brush and Jake Botcher are bidding high down-stairs, and the +quotation on delegates has gone up ten points in ten minutes. It's +mighty good of you to remember old friends, Tim, even if they're not +delegates." + +Meanwhile Mr. Crewe is graciously receiving others who are crowding to +him. + +"How are you, Mr. Giddings? How are the cows? I carry some stock +that'll make you sit up--I believe I told you when I was down your way. +Of course, mine cost a little money, but that's one of my hobbies. Come +and see 'em some day. There's a good hotel in Ripton, and I'll have you +met there and drive you back." + +Thus, with a genial and kindly remark to each, he passes from one to the +other, and when the members of the press come to him for his estimate of +the outcome on the morrow, he treats them with the same courtly +consideration. + +"Estimate!" cries Mr. Crewe. "Where have your eyes been to-night, my +friends? Have you seen the people coming into these headquarters? Have +you seen 'em pouring into any other headquarters? All the State and +federal office-holders in the country couldn't stop me now. Estimate! +I'll be nominated on the first ballot." + +They wrote it down. + +"Thank you, Mr. Crewe," they said; "that's the kind of talk we like to +hear." + +"And don't forget," said Mr. Crewe, "to mention this reception in the +accounts." + +Mr. Tooting, who makes it a point from time to time to reconnoitre, +saunters halfway down-stairs and surveys the crowded rotunda from the +landing. Through the blue medium produced by the burning of many cigars +(mostly Mr. Crewe's) he takes note of the burly form of Mr. Thomas +Gaylord beside that of Mr. Redbrook and other rural figures; he takes +note of a quiet corner with a ring of chairs surrounded by scouts and +outposts, although it requires a trained eye such as Mr. Tooting's to +recognize them as such--for they wear no uniforms. They are, in truth, +minor captains of the feudal system, and their present duties consist (as +Mr. Tooting sees clearly) in preventing the innocent and inquisitive from +unprofitable speech with the Honourable Jacob Botcher, who sits in the +inner angle conversing cordially with those who are singled out for this +honour. Still other scouts conduct some of the gentlemen who have talked +with Mr. Botcher up the stairs to a mysterious room on the second floor. +Mr. Tooting discovers that the room is occupied by the Honourable Brush +Bascom; Mr. Tooting learns with indignation that certain of these guests +of Mr. Bascom's are delegates pledged to Mr. Crewe, whereupon he rushes +back to the bridal suite to report to his chief. The cigars are giving +out again, and the rush has slackened, and he detaches the People's +Champion from the line and draws him to the inner room. + +Brush Bascom's conducting a bourse on the second floor and is running the +price up right along," cried the honest and indignant Mr. Tooting. He's +stringin' Adam Hunt all right. They say he's got Adam to cough up six +thousand extra since five o'clock, but the question is--ain't he +stringin' us? He paid six hundred for a block of ten not quarter of an +hour ago--and nine of 'em were our delegates." + +It must be remembered that these are Mr. Tooting's words, and Mr. Crewe +evidently treated them as the product of that gentleman's vivid +imagination. Translated, they meant that the Honourable Adam B. Hunt has +no chance for the nomination, but that the crafty Messrs. Botcher and +Bascom are inducing him to think that he has--by making a supreme effort. +The supreme effort is represented by six thousand dollars. + +"Are you going to lie down under that?" Mr. Tooting demanded, forgetting +himself in his zeal for reform and Mr. Crewe. But Mr. Tooting, in some +alarm, perceived the eye of his chief growing virtuous and glassy. + +"I guess I know when I'm strung, as you call it, Mr. Tooting," he replied +severely. "This cigar bill alone is enough to support a large family for +several months." + +And with this merited reproof he turned on his heel and went back to his +admirers without, leaving Mr. Tooting aghast, but still resourceful. Ten +minutes later that gentleman was engaged in a private conversation with +his colleague, the Honourable Timothy Wading. + +"He's up on his hind legs at last," said Mr. Tooting; "it looks as if he +was catching on." + +Mr. Wading evidently grasped these mysterious words, for he looked grave. + +"He thinks he's got the nomination cinched, don't he?" + +"That's the worst of it," cried Mr. Tooting. + +"I'll see what I can do," said the Honourable Tim. "He's always talking +about thorough, let him do it thorough." And Mr. Watling winked. + +"Thorough," repeated Mr. Tooting, delightedly. + +"That's it--Colonel," said Mr. Watling. "Have you ordered your uniform +yet, Ham?" + +Mr. Tooting plainly appreciated this joke, for he grinned. + +"I guess you won't starve if you don't get that commissionership, Tim," +he retorted. + +"And I guess," returned Mr. Watling, "that you won't go naked if you +don't have a uniform." + +Victoria's surmise was true. At ten o'clock at night, two days before +the convention, a tall figure had appeared in the empty rotunda of the +Pelican, startling the clerk out of a doze. He rubbed his eyes and +stared, recognized Hilary Vane, and yet failed to recognize him. It was +an extraordinary occasion indeed which would cause Mr. McAvoy to lose his +aplomb; to neglect to seize the pen and dip it, with a flourish, into the +ink, and extend its handle towards the important guest; to omit a few +fitting words of welcome. It was Hilary who got the pen first, and wrote +his name in silence, and by this time Mr. McAvoy had recovered his +presence of mind sufficiently to wield the blotter. + +"We didn't expect you to-night, Mr. Vane," he said, in a voice that +sounded strange to him, "but we've kept Number Seven, as usual. Front!" + +"The old man's seen his day, I guess," Mr. McAvoy remarked, as he studied +the register with a lone reporter. "This Crewe must have got in on 'em +hard, from what they tell me, and Adam Hunt has his dander up." + +The next morning at ten o'clock, while the workmen were still tacking +down the fireproof carpets in headquarters upstairs, and before even the +advance guard of the armies had begun to arrive, the eye of the clerk was +caught by a tall young man rapidly approaching the desk. + +"Is Mr. Hilary Vane here?" + +"He's in Number Seven," said Mr. McAvoy, who was cudgelling his brains. +"Give me your card, and I'll send it up." + +"I'll go up," said the caller, turning on his heel and suiting the action +to the word, leaving Mr. McAvoy to make active but futile inquiries among +the few travelling men and reporters seated about. + +"Well, if you fellers don't know him, I give up," said the clerk, +irritably, "but he looks as if he ought to be somebody. He knows his +business, anyway." + +In the meantime Mr. Vane's caller had reached the first floor; he +hesitated just a moment before knocking at the door of Number Seven, and +the Honourable Hilary's voice responded. The door opened. + +Hilary was seated, as usual, beside the marble-topped table, which was +covered with newspapers and memoranda. In the room were Mr. Ridout, the +capital lawyer, and Mr. Manning, the division superintendent. There was +an instant of surprised silence on the part of the three, but the +Honourable Hilary was the only one who remained expressionless. + +"If you don't mind, gentlemen," said the visitor, "I should like to talk +to my father for a few minutes." + +"Why, certainly, Austen," Mr. Ridout replied, with an attempt at +heartiness. Further words seemed to fail him, and he left the room +somewhat awkwardly, followed by Mr. Manning; but the Honourable Hilary +appeared to take no notice of this proceeding. + +"Judge," said Austen, when the door had closed behind them, "I won't keep +you long. I didn't come down here to plead with you to abandon what you +believe to be your duty, because I know that would be useless. I have +had a talk with Dr. Tredway," he added gently, "and I realize that you +are risking your life. If I could take you back to Ripton I would, but I +know that I cannot. I see your point of view, and if I were in your +place I should do the same thing. I only wanted to tell you this--" +Austen's voice caught a little, "if--anything should happen, I shall be +at Mrs. Peasley's on Maple Street, opposite the Duncan house." He laid +his hand for an instant, in the old familiar way, on Hilary's shoulder, +and looked down into the older man's face. It may have been that +Hilary's lips trembled a little. "I--I'll see you later, Judge, when +it's all over. Good luck to you." + +He turned slowly, went to the door and opened it, gave one glance at the +motionless figure in the chair, and went out. He did not hear the voice +that called his name, for the door had shut. + +Mr. Ridout and Mr. Manning were talking together in low tones at the head +of the stairs. It was the lawyer who accosted Austen. + +"The old gentleman don't seem to be quite himself, Austen. Don't seem +well. You ought to hold him in he can't work as hard as he used to." + +"I think you'll find, Mr. Ridout," answered Austen, deliberately, "that +he'll perform what's required of him with his usual efficiency." + +Mr. Ridout followed Austen's figure with his eyes until he was hidden by +a turn of the stairs. Then he whistled. + +"I can't make that fellow out," he exclaimed. "Never could. All I know +is that if Hilary Vane pulls us through this mess, in the shape he's in, +it'll be a miracle. + +"His mind seems sound enough to-day--but he's lost his grip, I tell you. +I don't wonder Flint's beside himself. Here's Adam Hunt with both feet +in the trough, and no more chance of the nomination than I have, and +Bascom and Botcher teasing him on, and he's got enough votes with Crewe +to lock up that convention for a dark horse. And who's the dark horse?" + +Mr. Manning, who was a silent man, pointed with his thumb in the +direction Austen had taken. + +"Hilary Vane's own son," said Mr. Ridout, voicing the gesture; "they tell +me that Tom Gaylord's done some pretty slick work. Now I leave it to +you, Manning, if that isn't a mess!" + +At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the appearance on the +stairway of the impressive form of United States Senator Whitredge, +followed by a hall boy carrying the senatorial gripsack. The senator's +face wore a look of concern which could not possibly be misinterpreted. + +"How's Hilary?" were his first words. + +Mr. Ridout and Mr. Manning glanced at each other. + +"He's in Number Seven; you'd better take a look at him, Senator." + +The senator drew breath, directed that his grip be put in the room where +he was to repose that night, produced an amber cigar-holder from a case, +and a cigar from his waistcoat pocket. + +"I thought I'd better come down early," he said, "things aren't going +just as they should, and that's the truth. In fact," he added, +significantly tapping his pocket, "I've got a letter from Mr. Flint to +Hilary which I may have to use. You understand me." + +"I guessed as much," said Mr. Ridout. + +"Ahem! I saw young Vane going out of the hotel just now," the senator +remarked. "I am told, on pretty good authority, that under certain +circumstances, which I must confess seem not unlikely at present, he may +be a candidate for the nomination. The fact that he is in town tends to +make the circumstance more probable." + +"He's just been in to see Hilary," said Mr. Ridout. + +"You don't tell me!" said the senator, pausing as he lighted his cigar; +"I was under the impression that they were not on speaking terms." + +"They've evidently got together now, that--" said Mr. Ridout. "I wonder +how old Hilary would feel about it. We couldn't do much with Austen Vane +if he was governor--that's a sure thing." + +The senator pondered a moment. + +"It's been badly managed," he muttered; "there's no doubt of that. Hunt +must be got out of the way. When Bascom and Botcher come, tell them I +want to see them in my room, not in Number Seven." + +And with this impressive command, received with nods of understanding, +Senator Whitredge advanced slowly towards Number Seven, knocked, and +entered. Be it known that Mr. Flint, with characteristic caution, had +not confided even to the senator that the Honourable Hilary had had a +stroke. + +"Ah, Vane," he said, in his most affable tones, "how are you?" + +The Honourable Hilary, who was looking over some papers, shot at him a +glance from under his shaggy eyebrows. + +"Came in here to find out--didn't you, Whitredge?" he replied. + +"What?" said the senator, taken aback; and for once at a loss for words. + +The Honourable Hilary rose and stood straighter than usual, and looked +the senator in the eye. + +"What's your diagnosis?" he asked. "Superannuated--unfit for duty-- +unable to cope with the situation ready to be superseded? Is that about +it?" + +To say that Senator Whitredge was startled and uncomfortable would be to +put his case mildly. He had never before seen Mr. Vane in this mood. + +"Ha-ha!" he laughed; "the years are coming over us a little, aren't they? +But I guess it isn't quite time for the youngsters to step in yet." + +"No, Whitredge," said Mr. Vane, slowly, without taking his eye from the +senator's, "and it won't be until this convention is over. Do you +understand?" + +"That's the first good news I've heard this morning," said the senator, +with the uneasy feeling that, in some miraculous way, the Honourable +Hilary had read the superseding orders from highest authority through his +pocket. + +"You may take it as good news or bad news, as you please, but it's a +fact. And now I want 'YOU' to tell Ridout that I wish to see him again, +and to bring in Doby, who is to be chairman of the convention." + +"Certainly," assented the senator, with alacrity, as he started for the +door. Then he turned. "I'm glad to see you're all right, Vane," he +added; "I'd heard that you were a little under the weather--a bilious +attack on account of the heat--that's all I meant." He did not wait for +an answer, nor would he have got one. And he found Mr. Ridout in the +hall. + +"Well?" said the lawyer, expectantly, and looking with some curiosity at +the senator's face. + +"Well," said Mr. Whitredge, with marked impatience, "he wants to see you +right away." + +All day long Hilary Vane held conference in Number Seven, and at six +o'clock sent a request that the Honourable Adam visit him. The +Honourable Adam would not come; and the fact leaked out--through the +Honourable Adam. + +"He's mad clean through," reported the Honourable Elisha Jane, to whose +tact and diplomacy the mission had been confided. "He said he would +teach Flint a lesson. He'd show him he couldn't throw away a man as +useful and efficient as he'd been, like a sucked orange." + +"Humph! A sucked orange. That's what he said, is it? A sucked orange," +Hilary repeated. + +"That's what he said," declared Mr. Jane, and remembered afterwards how +Hilary had been struck by the simile. + +At ten o'clock at night, at the very height of the tumult, Senator +Whitredge had received an interrogatory telegram from Fairview, and had +called a private conference (in which Hilary was not included) in a back +room on the second floor (where the conflicting bands of Mr. Crewe and +Mr. Hunt could not be heard), which Mr. Manning and Mr. Jane and State +Senator Billings and Mr. Ridout attended. Query: the Honourable Hilary +had quarrelled with Mr. Flint, that was an open secret; did not Mr. Vane +think himself justified, from his own point of view, in taking a singular +revenge in not over-exerting himself to pull the Honourable Adam out, +thereby leaving the field open for his son, Austen Vane, with whom he was +apparently reconciled? Not that Mr. Flint had hinted of such a thing! +He had, in the telegram, merely urged the senator himself to see Mr. +Hunt, and to make one more attempt to restrain the loyalty to that +candidate of Messrs. Bascom and Botcher. + +The senator made the attempt, and failed signally. + +It was half-past midnight by the shining face of the clock on the tower +of the state-house, and hope flamed high in the bosom of the Honourable +Adam B. Hunt a tribute to the bellows-like skill of Messrs. Bascom and +Botcher. The bands in the street had blown themselves out, the delegates +were at last seeking rest, the hall boys in the corridors were turning +down the lights, and the Honourable Adam, in a complacent and even +jubilant frame of mind, had put on his carpet slippers and taken off his +coat, when there came a knock at his door. He was not a little amazed +and embarrassed, upon opening it, to see the Honourable Hilary. But +these feelings gave place almost immediately to a sense of triumph; gone +were the days when he had to report to Number Seven. Number Seven, in +the person of Hilary (who was Number Seven), had been forced to come to +him! + +"Well, upon my soul!" he exclaimed heartily. "Come in, Hilary." + +He turned up the jets of the chandelier, and gazed at his friend, and was +silent. + +"Have a seat, Hilary," he said, pushing up an armchair. + +Mr. Vane sat down. Mr. Hunt took a seat opposite, and waited for his +visitor to speak. He himself seemed to find no words. + +"Adam," said Mr. Vane, at length, "we've known each other for a good many +years." + +"That's so, Hilary. That's so," Mr. Hunt eagerly assented. What was +coming? + +"And whatever harm I've done in my life," Hilary continued, "I've always +tried to keep my word. I told you, when we met up there by the mill this +summer, that if Mr. Flint had consulted me about your candidacy, before +seeing you in New York, I shouldn't have advised it--this time." + +The Honourable Adam's face stiffened. + +"That's what you said. But--" + +"And I meant it," Mr. Vane interrupted. "I was never pledged to your +candidacy, as a citizen. I've been thinking over my situation some, this +summer, and I'll tell you in so many plain words what it is. I guess you +know--I guess everybody knows who's thought about it. I deceived myself +for a long time by believing that I earned my living as the attorney for +the Northeastern Railroads. I've drawn up some pretty good papers for +them, and I've won some pretty difficult suits. I'm not proud of 'em +all, but let that go. Do you know what I am?" + +The Honourable Adam was capable only of a startled ejaculation. Was +Hilary Vane in his right senses? + +"I'm merely their paid political tool," Mr. Vane continued, in the same +tone. "I've sold them my brain, and my right of opinion as a citizen. I +wanted to make this clear to you first of all. Not that you didn't know +it, but I wished you to know that I know it. When Mr. Flint said that +you were to be the Republican nominee, my business was to work to get you +elected, which I did. And when it became apparent that you couldn't be +nominated--" + +"Hold on!" cried the Honourable Adam. + +"Please wait until I have finished. When it became apparent that you +couldn't be nominated, Mr. Flint sent me to try to get you to withdraw, +and he decreed that the new candidate should pay your expenses up to +date. I failed in that mission." + +"I don't blame you, Hilary," exclaimed Mr. Hunt. "I told you so at the +time. But I guess I'll soon be in a position where I can make Flint walk +the tracks--his own tracks." + +"Adam," said Mr. Vane, "it is because I deserve as much of the blame as +Mr. Flint that I am here." + +Again Mr. Hunt was speechless. The Honourable Hilary Vane in an +apologetic mood! A surmise flashed into the brain of the Honourable +Adam, and sparkled there. The Honourable Giles Henderson was prepared to +withdraw, and Hilary had come, by authority, to see if he would pay the +Honourable Giles' campaign expenses. Well, he could snap his fingers at +that. + +"Flint has treated me like a dog," he declared. + +"Mr. Flint never pretended," answered Mr. Vane, coldly, "that the +nomination and election of a governor was anything but a business +transaction. His regard for you is probably unchanged, but the interests +he has at stake are too large to admit of sentiment as a factor." + +"Exactly," exclaimed Mr. Hunt. "And I hear he hasn't treated you just +right, Hilary. I understand--" + +Hilary's eyes flashed for the first time. + +"Never mind that, Adam," he said quietly; "I've been treated as I +deserve. I have nothing whatever to complain of from Mr. Flint. I will +tell you why I came here to-night. I haven't felt right about you since +that interview, and the situation to-night is practically what it was +then. You can't be nominated." + +"Can't be nominated !" gasped Mr: Hunt. And he reached to the table for +his figures. "I'll have four hundred on the first ballot, and I've got +two hundred and fifty more pledged to me as second choice. If you've +come up here at this time of night to try to deceive me on that, you +might as well go back and wire Flint it's no use. Why, I can name the +delegates, if you'll listen." + +Mr. Vane shook his head sadly. And, confident as he was, the movement +sent a cold chill down the Honourable Adam's spine, for faith in Mr. +Vane's judgment had become almost a second nature. He had to force +himself to remember that this was not the old Hilary. + +"You won't have three hundred, Adam, at any time," answered Mr. Vane. +"Once you used to believe what I said, and if you won't now, you won't. +But I can't go away without telling you what I came for." + +"What's that?" demanded Mr. Hunt, wonderingly. + +"It's this," replied Hilary, with more force than he had yet shown. "You +can't get that nomination. If you'll let me know what your campaign +expenses have been up to date,--all of 'em, you understand, to-night +too,--I'll give you a check for them within the next two weeks." + +"Who makes this offer?" demanded Mr. Hunt, with more curiosity than +alarm; "Mr. Flint?" + +"No," said Hilary; "Mr. Flint does not use the road's funds for such +purposes." + +"Henderson?" + +"No," said Hilary; "I can't see what difference it makes to you." + +The Honourable Adam had an eminently human side, and he laid his hand on +Mr. Vane's knee. + +"I think I've got a notion as to where that money would come from, +Hilary," he said. "I'm much obliged to you, my friend. I wouldn't take +it even if I thought you'd sized up the situation right. But--I don't +agree with you this time. I know I've got the nomination. And I want to +say once more, that I think you're a square man, and I don't hold +anything against you." + +Mr. Vane rose. + +"I'm sorry, Adam," he said; my offer holds good after to-morrow." + +"After to-morrow!" + +"Yes," said the Honourable Hilary. "I don't feel right about this thing. +Er--good night, Adam." + +"Hold on!" cried Mr. Hunt, as a new phase of the matter struck him. +"Why, if I got out--" + +"What then?" said Mr. Vane, turning around. + +"Oh, I won't get out," said Mr. Hunt, "but if I did,--why, there +wouldn't, according to your way of thinking, be any chance for a dark +horse." + +"What do you mean?" demanded Mr. Vane. + +"Now don't get mad, Hilary. I guess, and you know, that Flint hasn't +treated you decently this summer after all you've done for him, and I +admire the way you're standing by him. I wouldn't do it. I just wanted +to say," Mr. Hunt added slowly, "that I respect you all the more for +trying to get me out. If--always according to your notion of the +convention--if I don't get out, and haven't any chance, they tell me on +pretty good authority Austen Vane will get the nomination." + +Hilary Vane walked to the door, opened it and went out, and slammed it +behind him. + +It is morning,--a hot morning, as so many recall,--and the partisans of +the three leaders are early astir, and at seven-thirty Mr. Tooting +discovers something going on briskly which he terms "dealing in futures." +My vote is yours as long as you are in the race, but after that I have +something negotiable. The Honourable Adam Hunt strolls into the rotunda +after an early breakfast, with a toothpick in his mouth, and is pointed +out by the sophisticated to new arrivals as the man who spent seven +thousand dollars over night, much of which is said to have stuck in the +pockets of two feudal chiefs who could be named. Is it possible that +there is a split in the feudal system at last? that the two feudal +chiefs (who could be named) are rebels against highest authority? A +smile from the sophisticated one. This duke and baron have merely +stopped to pluck a bird; it matters not whether or not the bird is an +erstwhile friend--he has been outlawed by highest authority, and is fair +game. The bird (with the toothpick in his mouth) creates a smile from +other chiefs of the system in good standing who are not too busy to look +at him. They have ceased all attempts to buttonhole him, for he is +unapproachable. + +The other bird, the rebel of Leith, who has never been in the feudal +system at all, they have stopped laughing at. It is he who has brought +the Empire to its most precarious state. + +And now, while strangers from near and far throng into town, drawn by the +sensational struggle which is to culminate in battle to-day, Mr. Crewe is +marshalling his forces. All the delegates who can be collected, and who +wear the button with the likeness and superscription of Humphrey Crewe, +are drawn up beside the monument in the park, where the Ripton Band is +stationed; and presently they are seen by cheering crowds marching to +martial music towards the convention hall, where they collect in a body, +with signs and streamers in praise of the People's Champion well to the +front and centre. This is generally regarded as a piece of consummate +general ship on the part of their leader. They are applauded from the +galleries,--already packed,--especially from one conspicuous end where +sit that company of ladies (now so famed) whose efforts have so +materially aided the cause of the People's Champion. Gay streamers vie +with gayer gowns, and morning papers on the morrow will have something to +say about the fashionable element and the special car which brought them +from Leith. + +"My, but it is hot!" + +The hall is filled now, with the thousand delegates, or their +representatives who are fortunate enough to possess their credentials. +Something of this matter later. General Doby, chairman of the +convention, an impressive but mournful figure, could not call a roll if +he wanted to. Not that he will want to! Impossible to tell, by the +convenient laws of the State, whether the duly elected delegates of Hull +or Mercer or Truro are here or not, since their credentials may be bought +or sold or conferred. Some political giants, who have not negotiated +their credentials, are recognized as they walk down the aisle: the +statesmanlike figure of Senator Whitredge (a cheer); that of Senator +Green (not so statesmanlike, but a cheer); Congressman Fairplay (cheers); +and--Hilary Vane! His a figure that does not inspire cheers,--least of +all to-day,--the man upon whose shoulders rests the political future of +the Northeastern. The conservative Mr. Tredways and other Lincoln +radicals of long ago who rely on his strength and judgment are not the +sort to cheer. And yet--and yet Hilary inspires some feeling when, with +stooping gait, he traverses the hall, and there is a hush in many +quarters as delegates and spectators watch his progress to the little +room off the platform: the general's room, as the initiated know. + +Ah, but few know what a hateful place it is to Hilary Vane to-day, this +keyboard at which he has sat so complacently in years gone by, the envied +of conventions. He sits down wearily at the basswood table, and scarcely +hears the familiar sounds without, which indicate that the convention of +conventions has begun. Extraordinary phenomenon at such a time, scenes +of long ago and little cherished then, are stealing into his mind. + +The Reverend Mr. Crane (so often chaplain of the Legislature, and known +to the irreverent as the chaplain of the Northeastern) is praying now for +guidance in the counsels of this great gathering of the people's +representatives. God will hear Mr. Botcher better if he closes his eyes; +which he does. Now the platform is being read by State Senator Billings; +closed eyes would best suit this proceeding, too. As a parallel to that +platform, one can think only of the Ten Commandments. The Republican +Party (chosen children of Israel) must be kept free from the domination +of corporations. (Cheers and banner waving for a full minute.) Some +better method of choosing delegates which will more truly reflect the +will of the people. (Plank of the Honourable Jacob Botcher, whose +conscience is awakening.) Never mind the rest. It is a triumph for Mr. +Crewe, and is all printed in that orthodox (reform) newspaper, the State +Tribune, with urgent editorials that it must be carried out to the +letter. + +And what now? Delegates, credential holders, audience, and the Reverend +Mr. Crane draw long breaths of heated carbon dioxide. Postmaster Burrows +of Edmundton, in rounded periods, is putting in nomination his +distinguished neighbour and fellow-citizen, the Honourable Adam B. Hunt, +who can subscribe and say amen to every plank in that platform. He +believes it, he has proclaimed it in public, and he embodies it. Mr. +Burrows indulges in slight but effective sarcasm of sham reformers and +so-called business men who perform the arduous task of cutting coupons +and live in rarefied regions where they can only be seen by the common +people when the light is turned on. (Cheers from two partisan bodies and +groans and hisses from another. General Doby, with a pained face, +pounding with the gavel. This isn't a circumstance to what's coming, +General.) + +After General Doby has succeeded in abating the noise in honour-of the +Honourable Adam, there is a hush of expectancy. Humphrey Crewe, who has +made all this trouble and enthusiasm, is to be nominated next, and the +Honourable Timothy Wailing of Newcastle arises to make that celebrated +oration which the cynical have called the "thousand-dollar speech." And +even if they had named it well (which is not for a moment to be +admitted!), it is cheap for the price. How Mr. Crewe's ears must tingle +as he paces his headquarters in the Pelican! Almost would it be +sacrilege to set down cold, on paper, the words that come, burning, out +of the Honourable Timothy's loyal heart. Here, gentlemen, is a man at +last, not a mere puppet who signs his name when a citizen of New York +pulls the string; one who is prepared to make any sacrifice,--to spend +his life, if need be, in their service. (A barely audible voice, before +the cheering commences, "I guess that's so.") Humphrey Crewe needs no +defence--the Honourable Timothy avers--at his hands, or any one's. Not +merely an idealist, but a practical man who has studied the needs of the +State; unselfish to the core; longing, like Washington, the Father of his +Country, to remain in a beautiful country home, where he dispenses +hospitality with a flowing hand to poor and rich alike, yet harking to +the call of duty. Leaving, like the noble Roman of old, his plough in +the furrow--(Same voice as before, "I wish he'd left his automobil' +thar!" Hisses and laughter.) The Honourable Timothy, undaunted, snatches +his hand from the breast of his Prince Albert and flings it, with a +superb gesture, towards the Pelican. "Gentlemen, I have the honour to +nominate to this convention that peerless leader for the right, the +Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith--our next governor." + +General Andrew Jackson himself, had he been alive and on this historic +ground and chairman of that convention, could scarce have quelled the +tumult aroused by this name and this speech--much less General Doby. +Although a man of presence, measurable by scales with weights enough, our +general has no more ponderosity now than a leaf in a mountain storm at +Hale--and no more control over the hurricane. Behold him now, pounding +with his gavel on something which should give forth a sound, but doesn't. +Who is he (to change the speech's figure--not the general's), who is he +to drive a wild eight-horse team, who is fit only to conduct Mr. Flint's +oxen in years gone by? + +It is a memorable scene, sketched to life for the metropolitan press. +The man on the chair, his face lighted by a fanatic enthusiasm, is the +Honourable Hamilton Tooting, coatless and collarless, leading the cheers +that shake the building, that must have struck terror to the soul of +Augustus P. Flint himself--fifty miles away. But the endurance of the +human throat is limited. + +Why, in the name of political strategy, has United States Senator Greene +been chosen to nominate the Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston? Some +say that it is the will of highest authority, others that the senator is +a close friend of the Honourable Giles--buys his coal from him, +wholesale. Both surmises are true. The senator's figure is not +impressive, his voice less so, and he reads from manuscript, to the +accompaniment of continual cries of "Louder!" A hook for Leviathan! "A +great deal of dribble," said the senator, for little rocks sometimes +strike fire, "has been heard about the 'will of the people.'" + +The Honourable Giles Henderson is beholden to no man and to no +corporation, and will go into office prepared to do justice impartially +to all." + +"Bu--copia verborum--let us to the main business!" + +To an hundred newspapers, to Mr. Flint at Fairview, and other important +personages ticks out the momentous news that the balloting has begun. No +use trying to hold your breath until the first ballot is announced; it +takes time to obtain the votes of one thousand men--especially when +neither General Doby nor any one else knows who they are! The only way +is to march up on the stage by counties and file past the ballot-box. +Putnam, with their glitter-eyed duke, Mr. Bascom, at their head-- +presumably solid for Adam B. Hunt; Baron Burrows, who farms out the post- +office at Edmundton, leads Edmunds County; Earl Elisha Jane, consul at +some hot place where he spends the inclement months drops the first +ticket for Haines County, ostensibly solid for home-made virtue and the +Honourable Giles. + +An hour and a quarter of suspense and torture passes, while collars wilt +and coats come off, and fans in the gallery wave incessantly, and excited +conversation buzzes in every quarter. And now, see! there is whispering +on the stage among the big-bugs. Mr. Chairman Doby rises with a paper in +his hand, and the buzzing dies down to silence. + + The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . .398 + The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . 353 + The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has. . 249 + And a majority being required, there is no choice! + +Are the supporters of the People's Champion crest-fallen, think you? Mr. +Tooting is not leading them for the moment, but is pressing through the +crowd outside the hall and flying up the street to the Pelican and the +bridal suite, where he is first with the news. Note for an unabridged +biography: the great man is discovered sitting quietly by the window, +poring over a book on the modern science of road-building, some notes +from which he is making for his first message. And instead of the reek +of tobacco smoke, the room is filled with the scent of the floral +tributes brought down by the Ladies' Auxiliary from Leith. In Mr. +Crewe's right-hand pocket, neatly typewritten, is his speech of +acceptance. He is never caught unprepared. Unkind, now, to remind him +of that prediction made last night about the first ballot to the +newspapers--and useless. + +"I told you last night they were buyin' 'em right under our noses," cried +Mr. Tooting, in a paroxysm of indignation, "and you wouldn't believe me. +They got over one hundred and sixty away from us." + +"It strikes me, Mr. Tooting," said Mr. Crewe, "that it was your business +to prevent that." + +There will no doubt be a discussion, when the biographer reaches this +juncture, concerning the congruity of reform delegates who can be bought. +It is too knotty a point of ethics to be dwelt upon here. + +"Prevent it!" echoed Mr. Tooting, and in the strong light of the +righteousness of that eye reproaches failed him. "But there's a whole +lot of 'em can be seen, right now, while the ballots are being taken. It +won't be decided on the next ballot." + +"Mr. Tooting," said Mr. Crewe, indubitably proving that he had the +qualities of a leader--if such proof were necessary, "go back to the +convention. I have no doubt of the outcome, but that doesn't mean you +are to relax your efforts. Do you understand?" + +"I guess I do," replied Mr. Tooting, and was gone. "He still has his +flag up," he whispered into the Honourable Timothy Watling's ear, when he +reached the hall. "He'll stand a little more yet." + +Mr. Tooting, at times, speaks a language unknown to us--and the second +ballot is going on. And during its progress the two principal +lieutenants of the People's Champion were observed going about the hall +apparently exchanging the time of day with various holders of +credentials. Mr. Jane, too, is going about the hall, and Postmaster +Burrows, and Postmaster Bill Fleeting of Brampton, and the Honourable Nat +Billings, and Messrs. Bascom and Botcher, and Mr. Manning, division +superintendent, and the Honourable Orrin Young, railroad commissioner and +candidate for reappointment--all are embracing the opportunity to greet +humble friends or to make new acquaintances. Another hour and a quarter, +with the temperature steadily rising and the carbon dioxide increasing-- +and the second ballot is announced. + + The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . . 440 + The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . . 336 + The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has . . . 255 + +And there are three votes besides improperly made out! + +What the newspapers call indescribable excitement ensues. The three +votes improperly made out are said to be trip passes accidentally dropped +into the box by the supporters of the Honourable Elisha Jane. And add up +the sum total of the votes! Thirty-one votes more than there are +credentials in the hall! Mystery of mysteries how can it be? The +ballot, announces General Doby, after endless rapping, is a blank. +Cheers, recriminations, exultation, disgust of decent citizens, attempts +by twenty men to get the eye of the president (which is too watery to see +any of them), and rushes for the platform to suggest remedies or ask what +is going to be done about such palpable fraud. What can be done? Call +the roll! How in blazes can you call the roll when you don't know who's +here? Messrs. Jane, Botcher, Bascom, and Fleming are not disturbed, and +improve their time. Watling and Tooting rush to the bridal suite, and +rush back again to demand justice. General Doby mingles his tears with +theirs, and somebody calls him a jellyfish. He does not resent it. +Friction makes the air hotter and hotter--Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego +would scarce enter into this furnace,--and General Doby has a large damp +spot on his back as he pounds and pounds and pounds until we are off +again on the third ballot. No dinner, and three-thirty P.M.! Two +delegates have fainted, but the essential parts of them--the credentials +--are left behind. + +Four-forty, whispering again, and the gavel drops. + + The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . . 412 + The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . 325 + The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has. . . 250 + And there is no choice on the third ballot! + +Thirteen delegates are actually missing this time. Scour the town! And +now even the newspaper adjectives describing the scene have given out. A +persistent and terrifying rumour goes the rounds, where's Tom Gaylord? +Somebody said he was in the hall a moment ago, on a Ripton credential. +If so, he's gone out again--gone out to consult the dark horse, who is in +town, somewhere. Another ominous sign: Mr. Redbrook, Mr. Widgeon of +Hull, and the other rural delegates who have been voting for the People's +Champion, and who have not been observed in friendly conversation with +anybody at all, now have their heads together. Mr. Billings goes +sauntering by, but cannot hear what they are saying. Something must be +done, and right away, and the knowing metropolitan reporters are winking +at each other and declaring darkly that a sensation is about to turn up. + +Where is Hilary Vane? Doesn't he realize the danger? Or--traitorous +thought!--doesn't he care? To see his son nominated would be a singular +revenge for the indignities which are said to have been heaped upon him. +Does Hilary Vane, the strong man of the State, merely sit at the +keyboard, powerless, while the tempest itself shakes from the organ a new +and terrible music? Nearly, six hours he has sat at the basswood table, +while senators, congressmen, feudal chiefs, and even Chairman Doby +himself flit in and out, whisper in his ear, set papers before him, and +figures and problems, and telegrams from highest authority. He merely +nods his head, says a word now and then, or holds his peace. Does he +know what he's about? If they had not heard things concerning his +health,--and other things,--they would still feel safe. He seems the +only calm man to be found in the hall--but is the calm aberration? + +A conference in the corner of the platform, while the fourth ballot is +progressing, is held between Senators Whitredge and Greene, Mr. Ridout +and Mr. Manning. So far the Honourable Hilary has apparently done +nothing but let the storm take its course; a wing-footed messenger has +returned who has seen Mr. Thomas Gaylord walking rapidly up Maple Street, +and Austen Vane (most astute and reprehensible of politicians) is said to +be at the Widow Peasley's, quietly awaiting the call. The name of Austen +Vane--another messenger says--is running like wildfire through the hall, +from row to row. Mr. Crewe has no chance--so rumour goes. A reformer +(to pervert the saying of a celebrated contemporary humorist) must fight +Marquis of Queensberry to win; and the People's Champion, it is averred, +has not. Shrewd country delegates who had listened to the Champion's +speeches and had come to the capital prepared to vote for purity, had +been observing the movements since yesterday, of Mr. Tooting and Mr. +Wading with no inconsiderable interest. Now was the psychological moment +for Austen Vane, but who was to beard Hilary? + +No champion was found, and the Empire, the fate of which was in the hands +of a madman, was cracking. Let an individual of character and known +anti-railroad convictions (such as the gentleman said to be at the Widow +Peasley's) be presented to the convention, and they would nominate him. +Were Messrs. Bascom and Botcher going to act the part of Samsons? Were +they working for revenge and a new regime? Mr. Whitredge started for the +Pelican, not at his ordinary senatorial gait, to get Mr. Flint on the +telephone. + +The result of the fourth ballot was announced, and bedlam broke loose. + +The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . . 419 +The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . . 337 +The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has . . . 256 + +Total, one thousand and eleven out of a thousand! Two delegates +abstained from voting, and proclaimed the fact, but were heard only a few +feet away. Other delegates, whose flesh and blood could stand the +atmosphere no longer, were known to have left the hall! Aha! the secret +is out, if anybody could hear it. At the end of every ballot several +individuals emerge and mix with the crowd in the street. Astute men +sometimes make mistakes, and the following conversation occurs between +one of the individuals in question and Mr. Crewe's chauffeur. + + Individual: "Do you want to come in and see the convention and + vote?" + + Chauffeur: "I am Frenchman." + + Individual: "That doesn't cut any ice. I'll make out the ballot, + and all you'll have to do is to drop it in the box." + Chauffeur: "All right; I vote for Meester Crewe." + +Sudden disappearance of the individual. + +Nor is this all. The Duke of Putnam, for example, knows how many +credentials there are in his county--say, seventy-six. He counts the men +present and voting, and his result is sixty-one. Fifteen are absent, +getting food or--something else. Fifteen vote over again. But, as the +human brain is prone to error, and there are men in the street, the Duke +miscalculates; the Earl of Haines miscalculates, too. Result--eleven +over a thousand votes, and some nine hundred men in the hall! + +How are you going to stop it? Mr. Watling climbs up on the platform and +shakes his fist in General Doby's face, and General Doby tearfully +appeals for an honest ballot--to the winds. + +In the meantime the Honourable Elisha Jane, spurred on by desperation and +thoughts of a 'dolce far niente' gone forever; has sought and cornered +Mr. Bascom. + +"For God's sake, Brush," cries the Honourable Elisha, "hasn't this thing +gone far enough? A little of it is all right--the boys understand that; +but have you thought what it means to you and me if these blanked +reformers get in,--if a feller like Austen Vane is nominated?" + +That cold, hard glitter which we have seen was in Mr. Bascom's eyes. + +"You fellers have got the colic," was the remark of the arch-rebel. "Do +you think old Hilary doesn't know what he's about?" + +"It looks that way to me," said Mr. Jane. + +"It looks that way to Doby too, I guess," said Mr. Bascom, with a glance +of contempt at the general; "he's lost about fifteen pounds to-day. Did +Hilary send you down here?" he demanded. + +"No," Mr. Jane confessed. + +"Then go back and chase yourself around the platform some more," was Mr. +Bascom's unfeeling advice, "and don't have a fit here. All the brains in +this hall are in Hilary's room. When he's ready to talk business with me +in behalf of the Honourable Giles Henderson, I guess he'll do so." + +But fear had entered the heart of the Honourable Elisha, and there was a +sickly feeling in the region of his stomach which even the strong +medicine administered by the Honourable Brush failed to alleviate. He +perceived Senator Whitredge, returned from the Pelican. But the advice-- +if any--the president of the Northeastern has given the senator is not +forthcoming in practice. Mr. Flint, any more than Ulysses himself, +cannot recall the tempests when his own followers have slit the bags--and +in sight of Ithaca! Another conference at the back of the stage, out of +which emerges State Senator Nat Billings and gets the ear of General +Doby. + +"Let 'em yell," says Mr. Billings--as though the general, by raising one +adipose hand, could quell the storm. Eyes are straining, scouts are +watching at the back of the hall and in the street, for the first glimpse +of the dreaded figure of Mr. Thomas Gaylord. "Let 'em yell;" counsels +Mr. Billings, "and if they do nominate anybody nobody'll hear 'em. And +send word to Putnam County to come along on their fifth ballot." + +It is Mr. Billings himself who sends word to Putnam County, in the name +of the convention's chairman. Before the messenger can reach Putnam +County another arrives on the stage, with wide pupils, "Tom Gaylord is +coming!" This momentous news, Marconi-like, penetrates the storm, and is +already on the floor. Mr. Widgeon and Mr. Redbrook are pushing their way +towards the door. The conference, emboldened by terror, marches in a +body into the little room, and surrounds the calmly insane Lieutenant- +general of the forces; it would be ill-natured to say that visions of +lost railroad commissionerships, lost consulships, lost postmasterships,- +-yes, of lost senatorships, were in these loyal heads at this crucial +time. + +It was all very well (so said the first spokesman) to pluck a few +feathers from a bird so bountifully endowed as the Honourable Adam, but +were not two gentlemen who should be nameless carrying the joke a little +too far? Mr. Vane unquestionably realized what he was doing, but--was it +not almost time to call in the two gentlemen and--and come to some +understanding? + +"Gentlemen," said the Honourable Hilary, apparently unmoved, "I have not +seen Mr. Bascom or Mr. Botcher since the sixteenth day of August, and I +do not intend to." + +Some clearing of throats followed this ominous declaration,--and a +painful silence. The thing must be said and who would say it? Senator +Whitredge was the hero. + +Mr. Thomas Gaylord has just entered the convention hall, and is said to +be about to nominate--a dark horse. The moment was favourable, the +convention demoralized, and at least one hundred delegates had left the +hall. (How about the last ballot, Senator, which showed 1011?) + +The Honourable Hilary rose abruptly, closed the door to shut out the +noise, and turned and looked Mr. Whitredge in the eye. + +"Who is the dark horse?" he demanded. + +The members of the conference coughed again, looked at each other, and +there was a silence. For some inexplicable reason, nobody cared to +mention the name of Austen Vane. + +The Honourable Hilary pointed at the basswood table. + +"Senator," he said, "I understand you have been telephoning Mr. Flint. +Have you got orders to sit down there?" + +"My dear sir," said the Senator, "you misunderstand me." + +"Have you got orders to sit down there?" Mr. Vane repeated. + +"No," answered the Senator, "Mr. Flint's confidence in you--" + +The Honourable Hilary sat down again, and at that instant the door was +suddenly flung open by Postmaster Bill Fleeting of Brampton, his genial +face aflame with excitement and streaming with perspiration. Forgotten, +in this moment, is senatorial courtesy and respect for the powers of the +feudal system. + +"Say, boys," he cried, "Putnam County's voting, and there's be'n no +nomination and ain't likely to be. Jim Scudder, the station-master at +Wye, is here on credentials, and he says for sure the thing's fizzled +out, and Tom Gaylord's left the hall!" + +Again a silence, save for the high hum let in through the open doorway. +The members of the conference stared at the Honourable Hilary, who seemed +to have forgotten their presence; for he had moved his chair to the +window, and was gazing out over the roofs at the fast-fading red in the +western sky. + +An hour later, when the room was in darkness save for the bar of light +that streamed in from the platform chandelier, Senator Whitredge entered. + +"Hilary!" he said. + +There was no answer. Mr. Whitredge felt in his pocket for a match, +struck it, and lighted the single jet over the basswood table. Mr. Vane +still sat by the window. The senator turned and closed the door, and +read from a paper in his hand; so used was he to formality that he read +it formally, yet with a feeling of intense relief, of deference, of +apology. + +"Fifth ballot:-- + +The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . . 587 +The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has. . . 230 +The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . 154 + +And Giles Henderson is nominated--Hilary?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Vane. + +"I don't think any of us were--quite ourselves to-day. It wasn't that we +didn't believe in you--but we didn't have all the threads in our hands, +and--for reasons which I think I can understand--you didn't take us into +your confidence. I want to--" + +The words died on the senator's lips. So absorbed had he been in his +momentous news, and solicitous over the result of his explanation, that +his eye looked outward for the first time, and even then accidentally. + +"Hilary!" he cried; "for God's sake, what's the matter? Are you sick?" + +"Yes, Whitredge," said Mr. Vane, slowly, "sick at heart." + +It was but natural that these extraordinary and incomprehensible words +should have puzzled and frightened the senator more than ever. + +"Your heart!" he repeated. + +"Yes, my heart," said Hilary. + +The senator reached for the ice-water on the table. + +"Here," he cried, pouring out a glass, "it's only the heat--it's been a +hard day--drink this." + +But Hilary did not raise his arm. The door opened others coming to +congratulate Hilary Vane on the greatest victory he had ever won. +Offices were secure once more, the feudal system intact, and rebels +justly punished; others coming to make their peace with the commander +whom, senseless as they were, they had dared to doubt. + +They crowded past each other on the threshold, and stood grouped beyond +the basswood table, staring--staring--men suddenly come upon a tragedy +instead of a feast, the senator still holding the glass of water in a +hand that trembled and spilled it. And it was the senator, after all, +who first recovered his presence of mind. He set down the water, pushed +his way through the group into the hall, where the tumult and the +shouting die. Mr. Giles Henderson, escorted, is timidly making his way +towards the platform to read his speech of acceptance of a willing +bondage, when a voice rings out:-- + +"If there is a physician in the house, will he please come forward?" + +And then a hush,--and then the buzz of comment. Back to the little room +once more, where they are gathered speechless about Hilary Vane. And the +doctor comes young Dr. Tredway of Ripton, who is before all others. + +"I expected this to happen, gentlemen," he said, "and I have been here +all day, at the request of Mr. Vane's son, for this purpose." + +"Austen!" + +It was Hilary who spoke. + +"I have sent for him," said the doctor. "And now, gentlemen, if you will +kindly--" + +They withdrew and the doctor shut the door. Outside, the Honourable +Giles is telling them how seriously he regards the responsibility of the +honour thrust upon him by a great party. But nobody hears him in the +wild rumours that fly from mouth to mouth as the hall empties. Rushing +in against the tide outpouring, tall, stern, vigorous, is a young man +whom many recognize, whose name is on many lips as they make way for him, +who might have saved them if he would. The door of the little room +opens, and he stands before his father, looking down at him. And the +stern expression is gone from his face. + +"Austen!" said Mr. Vane. + +"Yes, Judge." + +"Take me away from here. Take me home--now--to-night." + +Austen glanced at Dr. Tredway. + +"It is best," said the doctor; "we will take him home--to-night." + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE VOICE OF AN ERA + +They took him home, in the stateroom of the sleeper attached to the night +express from the south, although Mr. Flint, by telephone, had put a +special train at his disposal. The long service of Hilary Vane was over; +he had won his last fight for the man he had chosen to call his master; +and those who had fought behind him, whose places, whose very luminary +existences, had depended on his skill, knew that the end had come; nay, +were already speculating, manoeuvring, and taking sides. Who would be +the new Captain-general? Who would be strong enough to suppress the +straining ambitions of the many that the Empire might continue to +flourish in its integrity and gather tribute? It is the world-old cry +around the palace walls: Long live the new ruler--if you can find him +among the curdling factions. + +They carried Hilary home that September night, when Sawanec was like a +gray ghost-mountain facing the waning moon, back to the home of those +strange, Renaissance Austens which he had reclaimed for a grim +puritanism, and laid him in the carved and canopied bedstead Channing +Austen had brought from Spain. Euphrasia had met them at the door, but a +trained nurse from the Ripton hospital was likewise in waiting; and a New +York specialist had been summoned to prolong, if possible, the life of +one from whom all desire for life had passed. + +Before sunrise a wind came from the northern spruces; the dawn was +cloudless, fiery red, and the air had an autumn sharpness. At ten +o'clock Dr. Harmon arrived, was met at the station by Austen, and spent +half an hour with Dr. Tredway. At noon the examination was complete. +Thanks to generations of self-denial by the Vanes of Camden Street, Mr. +Hilary Vane might live indefinitely, might even recover, partially; but +at present he was condemned to remain, with his memories, in the great +canopied bed. + +The Honourable Hilary had had another caller that morning besides Dr. +Harmon,--no less a personage than the president of the Northeastern +Railroads himself, who had driven down from Fairview immediately after +breakfast. Austen having gone to the station, Dr. Tredway had received +Mr. Flint in the darkened hall, and had promised to telephone to Fairview +the verdict of the specialist. At present Dr. Tredway did not think it +wise to inform Hilary of Mr. Flint's visit--not, at least, until after +the examination. + +Mr. Vane exhibited the same silent stoicism on receiving the verdict of +Dr. Harmon as he had shown from the first. With the clew to Hilary's +life which Dr. Tredway had given him, the New York physician understood +the case; one common enough in his practice in a great city where the +fittest survive--sometimes only to succumb to unexpected and irreparable +blows in the evening of life. + +On his return from seeing Dr. Harmon off Austen was met on the porch by +Dr. Tredway. + +"Your father has something on his mind," said the doctor, "and perhaps it +is just as well that he should be relieved. He is asking for you, and I +merely wished to advise you to make the conversation as short as +possible." + +Austen climbed the stairs in obedience to this summons, and stood before +his father at the bedside. Hilary lay, back among the pillows, and the +brightness of that autumn noonday only served to accentuate the pallor of +his face, the ravages of age which had come with such incredible +swiftness, and the outline of a once vigorous frame. The eyes alone +shone with a strange new light, and Austen found it unexpectedly +difficult to speak. He sat down on the bed and laid his hand on the +helpless one that rested on the coverlet. + +"Austen," said Mr. Vane, "I want you to go to Fairview." + +His son's hand tightened over his own. + +"Yes, Judge." + +"I want you to go now." + +"Yes, Judge." + +"You know the combination of my safe at the office. It's never been +changed since--since you were there. Open it. You will find two tin +boxes, containing papers labelled Augustus P. Flint. I want you to take +them to Fairview and put them into the hands of Mr. Flint himself. I--I +cannot trust any one else. I promised to take them myself, but--Flint +will understand." + +"I'll go right away," said Austen, rising, and trying to speak +cheerfully. "Mr. Flint was here early this morning--inquiring for you." + +Hilary Vane's lips trembled, and another expression came into his eyes. + +"Rode down to look at the scrap-heap,--did he?" + +Austen strove to conceal his surprise at his father's words and change of +manner. + +"Tredway saw him," he said. "I'm pretty sure Mr. Flint doesn't feel that +way, Judge. He has taken your illness very much to heart, I know, and he +left some fruit and flowers for you." + +"I guess his daughter sent those," said Hilary. + +"His daughter?" Austen repeated. + +"If I didn't think so," Mr. Vane continued, "I'd send 'em back. I never +knew what she was until she picked me up and drove me down here. I've +always done Victoria an injustice." + +Austen walked to the door, and turned slowly. + +"I'll go at once, Judge," he said. + +In the kitchen he was confronted by Euphrasia. + +"When is that woman going away?" she demanded. "I've took care of Hilary +Vane nigh on to forty years, and I guess I know as much about nursing, +and more about Hilary, than that young thing with her cap and apron. I +told Dr. Tredway so. She even came down here to let me know what to cook +for him, and I sent her about her business." + +Austen smiled. It was the first sign, since his return the night before, +Euphrasia had given that an affection for Hilary Vane lurked beneath the +nature. + +"She won't stay long, Phrasie," he answered, and added mischievously, +"for a very good reason." + +"And what's that?" asked Euphrasia. + +"Because you won't allow her to. I have a notion that she'll pack up and +leave in about three days, and that all the doctors in Ripton couldn't +keep her here." + +"Get along with you," said Euphrasia, who could not for the life of her +help looking a little pleased. + +"I'm going off for a few hours," he said more seriously. "Dr. Tredway +tells me they do not look for any developments--for the worse." + +"Where are you going?" asked Euphrasia, sharply. + +"To Fairview," he said. + +Euphrasia moved the kettle to another part of the stove. + +"You'll see her?" she said. + +"Who?" Austen asked. But his voice must have betrayed him a little, for +Euphrasia turned and seized him by the elbows and looked up into his +face. + +"Victoria," she said. + +He felt himself tremble at the name,--at the strangeness of its sound on +Euphrasia's lips. + +"I do not expect to see Miss Flint," he answered, controlling himself as +well as he was able. "I have an errand for the Judge with Mr. Flint +himself." + +Euphrasia had guessed his secret! But how? + +"Hadn't you better see her?" said Euphrasia, in a curious monotone. + +"But I have no errand with her," he objected, mystified yet excited by +Euphrasia's manner. + +"She fetched Hilary home," said Euphrasia. + +"Yes." + +She couldn't have be'n kinder if she was his own daughter." + +"I know--" he began, but Euphrasia interrupted. + +"She sent that Englishman for the doctor, and waited to take the news to +her father, and she came out in this kitchen and talked to me." + +Austen started. Euphrasia was not looking at him now, and suddenly she +dropped his arms and went to the window overlooking the garden. + +"She wouldn't go in the parlour, but come right out here in her fine +clothes. I told her I didn't think she belonged in a kitchen--but I +guess I did her an injustice," said Euphrasia, slowly. + +"I think you did," he said, and wondered. + +"She looked at that garden," Euphrasia went on, "and cried out. I didn't +callate she was like that. And the first thing I knew I was talking +about your mother, and I'd forgot who I was talking to. She wahn't like +a stranger--it was just as if I'd known her always. I haven't understood +it yet. And after a while I told her about that verse, and she wanted to +see it--the verse about the skylark, you know--" + +"Yes," said Austen. + +"Well, the way she read it made me cry, it brought back Sarah Austen so. +Somehow, I can't account for it, she puts me in mind of your mother." + +Austen did not speak. + +"In more ways than one," said Euphrasia. "I didn't look to find her so +natural--and so gentle. And their she has a way of scolding you, just as +Sarah Austen had, that you'd never suspect." + +"Did she scold you--Phrasie?" asked Austen. And the irresistible humour +that is so near to sorrow made him smile again. + +"Indeed she did! And it surprised, me some--coming right out of a summer +sky. I told her what I thought about Hilary, and how he'd driven you out +of your own mother's house. She said you'd ought to be sent for, and I +said you oughtn't to set foot in this house until Hilary sent for you. +She said I'd no right to take such a revenge--that you'd come right away +if you knew Hilary'd had a stroke, and that Hilary'd never send for you-- +because he couldn't. She said he was like a man on a desert island." + +"She was right," answered Austen. + +"I don't know about that," said Euphrasia; "she hadn't put up with Hilary +for forty years, as I had, and seen what he'd done to your mother and +you. But that's what she said. And she went for you herself, when she +found the doctor couldn't go. Austen, ain't you going to see her?" + +Austen shook his head gently, and smiled at her. + +"I'm afraid it's no use, Phrasie," he said. "Just because she has been-- +kind we mustn't be deceived. It's h er nature to be kind." + +Euphrasia crossed the room swiftly, and seized his arm again. + +"She loves you, Austen," she cried; "she loves you. Do you think that +I'd love her, that I'd plead for her, if she didn't?" + +Austen's breath came deeply. He disengaged himself, and went to the +window. + +"No," he said, "you don't know. You can't--know. I have only seen her-- +a few times. She lives a different life--and with other people. She +will marry a man who can give her more." + +"Do you think I could be deceived?" exclaimed Euphrasia, almost fiercely. +"It's as true as the sun shining on that mountain. You believe she loves +the Englishman, but I tell you she loves you--you." + +He turned towards her. + +"How do you know?" he asked, as though he were merely curious. + +"Because I'm a woman, and she's a woman," said Euphrasia. "Oh, she +didn't confess it. If she had, I shouldn't think so much of her. But +she told me as plain as though she had spoken it in words, before she +left this room." + +Austen shook his head again. + +"Phrasie," he said, "I'm afraid you've been building castles in Spain." +And he went out, and across to the stable to harness Pepper. + +Austen did not believe Euphrasia. On that eventful evening when Victoria +had called at Jabe Jenney's, the world's aspect had suddenly changed for +him; old values had faded,--values which, after all, had been but tints +and glows,--and sterner but truer colours took their places. He saw +Victoria's life in a new perspective,--one in which his was but a small +place in the background of her numerous beneficences; which was, after +all, the perspective in which he had first viewed it. But, by degrees, +the hope that she loved him had grown and grown until it had become +unconsciously the supreme element of his existence,--the hope that stole +sweetly into his mind with the morning light, and stayed him through the +day, and blended into the dreams of darkness. + +By inheritance, by tradition, by habits of thought, Austen Vane was an +American,--an American as differentiated from the citizen of any other +nation upon the earth. The French have an expressive phrase in speaking +of a person as belonging to this or that world, meaning the circle by +which the life of an individual is bounded; the true American recognizes +these circles--but with complacency, and with a sure knowledge of his +destiny eventually to find himself within the one for which he is best +fitted by his talents and his tastes. The mere fact that Victoria had +been brought up amongst people with whom he had nothing in common would +not have deterred Austen Vane from pressing his suit; considerations of +honour had stood in the way, and hope had begun to whisper that these +might, in the end, be surmounted. Once they had disappeared, and she +loved him, that were excuse and reason enough. + +And suddenly the sight of Victoria with a probable suitor--who at once +had become magnified into an accepted suitor--had dispelled hope. +Euphrasia! Euphrasia had been deceived as he had, by a loving kindness +and a charity that were natural. But what so natural (to one who had +lived the life of Austen Vane) as that she should marry amongst those +whose ways of life were her ways? In the brief time in which he had seen +her and this other man, Austen's quickened perceptions had detected tacit +understanding, community of interest, a habit of thought and manner,--in +short, a common language, unknown to him, between the two. And, more +than these, the Victoria of the blissful excursions he had known was +changed as she had spoken to him--constrained, distant, apart; although +still dispensing kindness, going out of her way to bring Hilary home, and +to tell him of Hilary's accident. Rumour, which cannot be confined in +casks or bottles, had since informed Austen Vane that Mr. Rangely had +spent the day with Victoria, and had remained at Fairview far into the +evening; rumour went farther (thanks to Mrs. Pomfret) and declared the +engagement already an accomplished fact. And to Austen, in the twilight +in front of Jabe Jenney's, the affair might well have assumed the +proportions of an intimacy of long standing rather than that of the +chance acquaintance of an hour. Friends in common, modes of life in +common, and incidents in common are apt to sweep away preliminaries. + +Such were Austen's thoughts as he drove to Fairview that September +afternoon when the leaves were turning their white backs to the northwest +breeze. The sun was still high, and the distant hills and mountains were +as yet scarce stained with blue, and stood out in startling clearness +against the sky. Would he see her? That were a pain he scarce dared +contemplate. + +He reached the arched entrance, was on the drive. Here was the path +again by which she had come down the hillside; here was the very stone on +which she had stood--awaiting him. Why? Why had she done that? Well- +remembered figure amidst the yellow leaves dancing in the sunlight! Here +he had stopped, perforce, and here he had looked up into his face and +smiled and spoken! + +At length he gained the plateau across which the driveway ran, between +round young maples, straight to Fairview House, and he remembered the +stares from the tea-tables, and how she had come out to his rescue. Now +the lawn was deserted, save for a gardener among the shrubs. He rang the +stable-bell, and as he waited for an answer to his summons, the sense of +his remoteness from these surroundings of hers deepened, and with a touch +of inevitable humour he recalled the low-ceiled bedroom at Mr. Jenney's +and the kitchen in Hanover Street; the annual cost of the care of that +lawn and driveway might well have maintained one of these households. + +He told the stable-boy to wait. It is to be remarked as curious that the +name of the owner of the house on Austen's lips brought the first thought +of him to Austen's mind. He was going to see and speak with Mr. Flint, a +man who had been his enemy ever since the day he had come here and laid +down his pass on the president's desk; the man who--so he believed until +three days ago--had stood between him and happiness. Well, it did not +matter now. + +Austen followed the silent-moving servant through the hall. Those were +the stairs which knew her feet, these the rooms--so subtly flower- +scented--she lived in; then came the narrow passage to the sterner +apartment of the master himself. Mr. Flint was alone, and seated upright +behind the massive oak desk, from which bulwark the president of the +Northeastern was wont to meet his opponents and his enemies; and few +visitors came into his presence, here or elsewhere, who were not to be +got the better of, if possible. A life-long habit had accustomed Mr. +Flint to treat all men as adversaries until they were proved otherwise. +His square, close-cropped head, his large features, his alert eyes, were +those of a fighter. + +He did not rise, but nodded. Suddenly Austen was enveloped in a flame of +wrath that rose without warning and blinded him, and it was with a +supreme effort to control himself that he stopped in the doorway. He was +frightened, for he had felt this before, and he knew it for the anger +that demands physical violence. + +"Come in, Mr. Vane," said the president. + +Austen advanced to the desk, and laid the boxes before Mr. Flint. + +"Mr. Vane told me to say that he would have brought these himself, had it +been possible. Here is the list, and I shall be much obliged if you will +verify it before I go back." + +"Sit down." said Mr. Flint. + +Austen sat down, with the corner of the desk between them, while Mr. +Flint opened the boxes and began checking off the papers on the list. + +"How is your father this afternoon?" he asked, without looking up. + +"As well as can be expected," said Austen. + +"Of course nobody knew his condition but himself," Mr. Flint continued; +"but it was a great shock to me--when he resigned as my counsel three +days ago." + +Austen laid his forearm on the desk, and his hand closed. + +"He resigned three days ago?" he exclaimed. + +Mr. Flint was surprised, but concealed it. + +"I can understand, under the circumstances, how he has overlooked telling +you. His resignation takes effect to-day." + +Austen was silent a moment, while he strove to apply this fact to his +father's actions. + +"He waited until after the convention." + +"Exactly," said Mr. Flint, catching the implied accusation in Austen's +tone; "and needless to say, if I had been able to prevent his going, in +view of what happened on Monday night, I should have done so. As you +know, after his--accident, he went to the capital without informing any +one." + +"As a matter of honour," said Austen. + +Mr. Flint looked up from the papers, and regarded him narrowly, for the +tone in which this was spoken did not escape the president of the +Northeastern. He saw, in fact, that at the outset he had put a weapon +into Austen's hands. Hilary's resignation was a vindication of Austen's +attitude, an acknowledgment that the business and political practices of +his life had been wrong. + +What Austen really felt, when he had grasped the significance of that +fact, was relief--gratitude. A wave of renewed affection for his father +swept over him, of affection and pity and admiration, and for the instant +he forgot Mr. Flint. + +"As a matter of honour," Mr. Flint repeated. "Knowing he was ill, Mr. +Vane insisted upon going to that convention, even at the risk of his +life. It is a fitting close to a splendid career, and one that will not +soon be forgotten." + +Austen merely looked at Mr. Flint, who may have found the glance a trifle +disconcerting, for he turned to the papers again. + +"I repeat," he went on presently, "that this illness of Mr. Vane's is not +only a great loss to the Northeastern system, but a great blow to me +personally. I have been associated with him closely for more than a +quarter of a century, and I have never seen a lawyer of greater +integrity, clear-headedness, and sanity of view. He saw things as they +were, and he did as much to build up the business interests and the +prosperity of this State as any man I know of. He was true to his word, +and true to his friends." + +Still Austen did not reply. He continued to look at Mr. Flint, and Mr. +Flint continued to check the papers only more slowly. He had nearly +finished the first box. + +"A wave of political insanity, to put it mildly, seems to be sweeping +over this country," said the president of the Northeastern. "Men who +would paralyze and destroy the initiative of private enterprise, men who +themselves are ambitious, and either incapable or unsuccessful, have +sprung up; writers who have no conscience, whose one idea is to make +money out of a passing craze against honest capital, have aided them. +Disappointed and dangerous politicians who merely desire office and power +have lifted their voices in the hue and cry to fool the honest voter. I +am glad to say I believe that the worst of this madness and rascality is +over; that the common sense of the people of this country is too great to +be swept away by the methods of these self-seekers; that the ordinary man +is beginning to see that his bread and butter depends on the brain of the +officers who are trying honestly to conduct great enterprises for the +benefit of the average citizen. + +"We did not expect to escape in this State," Mr. Flint went on, raising +his head and meeting Austen's look; "the disease was too prevalent and too +catching for the weak-minded. We had our self-seekers who attempted to +bring ruin upon an institution which has done more for our population +than any other. I do not hesitate to speak of the Northeastern Railroads +as an institution, and as an institution which has been as +conscientiously and conservatively conducted as any in the country, and +with as scrupulous a regard for the welfare of all. Hilary Vane, as you +doubtless know, was largely responsible for this. My attention, as +president of all the roads, has been divided. Hilary Vane guarded the +interests in this State, and no man could have guarded them better. He +well deserves the thanks of future generations for the uncompromising +fight he made against such men and such methods. It has broken him down +at a time of life when he has earned repose, but he has the satisfaction +of knowing that he has won the battle for conservative American +principles, and that he has nominated a governor worthy of the traditions +of the State." + +And Mr. Flint started checking off the papers again. Had the occasion +been less serious, Austen could have smiled at Mr. Flint's ruse--so +characteristic of the tactics of the president of the Northeastern--of +putting him into a position where criticism of the Northeastern and its +practices would be criticism of his own father. As it was, he only set +his jaw more firmly, an expression indicative of contempt for such +tactics. He had not come there to be lectured out of the "Book of +Arguments" on the divine right of railroads to govern, but to see that +certain papers were delivered in safety. + +Had his purpose been deliberately to enter into a contest with Mr. Flint, +Austen could not have planned the early part of it any better than by +pursuing this policy of silence. To a man of Mr. Flint's temperament and +training, it was impossible to have such an opponent within reach without +attempting to hector him into an acknowledgment of the weakness of his +position. Further than this, Austen had touched him too often on the +quick merely to be considered in the light of a young man who held +opposite and unfortunate views--although it was Mr. Flint's endeavour to +put him in this light. The list of injuries was too fresh in Mr. Flint's +mind--even that last conversation with Victoria, in which she had made it +plain that her sympathies were with Austen. + +But with an opponent who would not be led into ambush, who had the +strength to hold his fire under provocation, it was no easy matter to +maintain a height of conscious, matter-of-fact rectitude and implied +reproof. Austen's silence, Austen's attitude, declared louder than words +the contempt for such manoeuvres of a man who knows he is in the right-- +and knows that his adversary knows it. It was this silence and this +attitude which proclaimed itself that angered Mr. Flint, yet made him +warily conceal his anger and change his attack. + +"It is some years since we met, Mr. Vane," he remarked presently. + +Austen's face relaxed into something of a smile. + +"Four, I think," he answered. + +"You hadn't long been back from that Western experience. Well, your +father has one decided consolation; you have fulfilled his hope that you +would settle down here and practise in the State. And I hear that you +are fast forging to the front. You are counsel for the Gaylord Company, +I believe." + +"The result of an unfortunate accident," said Austen; "Mr. Hammer died." + +"And on the occasion when you did me the honour to call on me," said Mr. +Flint, "if I remember rightly, you expressed some rather radical views-- +for the son of Hilary Vane." + +"For the son of Hilary Vane," Austen agreed, with a smile. + +Mr. Flint ignored the implication in the repetition. + +"Thinking as mach as I do of Mr. Vane, I confess that your views at that +time rather disturbed me. It is a matter of relief to learn that you +have refused to lend yourself to the schemes of men like our neighbour, +Mr. Humphrey Crewe, of Leith." + +"Honesty compels me to admit," answered Austen, "that I did not refrain +on Mr. Crewe's account." + +"Although," said Mr. Flint, drumming on the table, "there was some talk +that you were to be brought forward as a dark horse in the convention, +and as a candidate unfriendly to the interests of the Northeastern +Railroads, I am glad you did not consent to be put in any such position. +I perceive that a young man of your ability and--popularity, a Vane of +Camden Street, must inevitably become a force in this State. And as a +force, you must retain the conservatism of the Vanes--the traditional +conservatism of the State. The Northeastern Railroads will continue to +be a very large factor in the life of the people after you and I are +gone, Mr. Vane. You will have to live, as it were, with that +corporation, and help to preserve it. We shall have to work together, +perhaps, to that end--who can say? I repeat, I am glad that your good +sense led you to refrain from coming as a candidate before that +Convention. There is time enough in the future, and you could not have +been nominated." + +"On the contrary," answered Austen, quietly, "I could have been +nominated." + +Mr. Flint smiled knowingly--but with an effort. What a relief it would +have been to him to charge horse and foot, to forget that he was a +railroad president dealing with a potential power. + +"Do you honestly believe that?" he asked. + +"I am not accustomed to dissemble my beliefs," said Austen, gravely. +"The fact that my father had faith enough in me to count with certainty +on my refusal to go before the convention enabled him to win the +nomination for the candidate of your railroads." + +Mr. Flint continued to smile, but into his eyes had crept a gleam of +anger. + +"It is easy to say such things--after the convention," he remarked. + +"And it would have been impossible to say their before," Austen responded +instantly, with a light in his own eyes. "My nomination was the only +disturbing factor in the situation for you and the politicians who had +your interests in hand, and it was as inevitable as night and day that +the forces of the candidates who represented the two wings of the machine +of the Northeastern Railroads should have united against Mr. Crewe. I +want to say to you frankly that if my father had not been the counsel for +your corporation, and responsible for its political success, or if he +could have resigned with honour before the convention, I should not have +refused to let my name go in. After all," he added, in a lower tone, and +with a slight gesture characteristic of him when a subject was +distasteful, "it doesn't matter who is elected governor this autumn." + +"What?" cried Mr. Flint, surprised out of his attitude as much by +Austen's manner as by Austen's words. + +"It doesn't matter," said Austen, "whether the Northeastern Railroads +have succeeded this time in nominating and electing a governor to whom +they can dictate, and who will reappoint railroad commissioners and other +State officials in their interests. The practices by which you have +controlled this State, Mr. Flint, and elected governors and councillors +and State and national senators are doomed. However necessary these +practices may have been from your point of view, they violated every +principle of free government, and were they to continue, the nation to +which we belong would inevitably decay and become the scorn of the world. +Those practices depended for their success on one condition,--which in +itself is the most serious of ills in a republic,--the ignorance and +disregard of the voter. You have but to read the signs of the times to +see clearly that the day of such conditions is past, to see that the +citizens of this State and this country are thinking for themselves, as +they should; are alive to the dangers and determined to avert it. You +may succeed in electing one more governor and one more senate, or two, +before the people are able to destroy the machinery you have built up and +repeal the laws you have made to sustain it. I repeat, it doesn't matter +in the long run. The era of political domination by a corporation, and +mainly for the benefit of a corporation, is over." + +Mr. Flint had been drumming on the desk, his face growing a darker red as +Austen proceeded: Never, since he had become president of the +Northeastern Railroads, had any man said such things to his face. And +the fact that Austen Vane had seemingly not spoken in wrath, although +forcefully enough to compel him to listen, had increased Mr. Flint's +anger. Austen apparently cared very little for him or his opinions in +comparison with his own estimate of right and wrong. + +"It seems," said Mr. Flint, "that you have grown more radical since your +last visit." + +"If it be radical to refuse to accept a pass from a railroad to bind my +liberty of action as an attorney and a citizen, then I am radical," +replied Austen. "If it be radical to maintain that the elected +representatives of the people should not receive passes, or be beholden +to any man or any corporation, I acknowledge the term. If it be radical +to declare that these representatives should be elected without +interference, and while in office should do exact justice to the body of +citizens on the one hand and the corporations on the other, I declare +myself a radical. But my radicalism goes back behind the establishment +of railroads, Mr. Flint, back to the foundation of this government, to +the idea from which it sprang." + +Mr. Flint smiled again. + +"We have changed materially since then," he said. "I am afraid such a +utopian state of affairs, beautiful as it is, will not work in the +twentieth century. It is a commercial age, and the interests which are +the bulwark of the country's strength must be protected." + +"Yes," said Austen, "we have changed materially. The mistake you make, +and men like you, is the stress which you lay on that word material. Are +there no such things as moral interests, Mr. Flint? And are they not +quite as important in government, if not more important, than material +interests? Surely, we cannot have commercial and political stability +without cominertial and political honour! if, as a nation, we lose sight +of the ideals which have carried us so far, which have so greatly +modified the conditions of other peoples than ourselves, we shall perish +as a force in the world. And if this government proves a failure, how +long do you think the material interests of which you are so solicitous +will endure? Or do you care whether they endure beyond your lifetime? +Perhaps not. But it is a matter of importance, not only to the nation, +but to the world, whether or not the moral idea of the United States of +America is perpetuated, I assure you." + +"I begin to fear, Mr. Vane," said the president of the Northeastern, +"that you have missed your vocation. Suppose I were to grant you, for +the sake of argument, that the Northeastern Railroads, being the largest +taxpayers in this State, have taken an interest in seeing that +conservative men fill responsible offices. Suppose such to be the case, +and we abruptly cease--to take such an interest. What then? Are we not +at the mercy of any and all unscrupulous men who build up a power of +their own, and start again the blackmail of the old days?" + +"You have put the case mildly," said Austen, and ingeniously. "As a +matter of fact, Mr. Flint, you know as well as I do that for years you +have governed this State absolutely, for the purpose of keeping down your +taxes, avoiding unnecessary improvements for safety and comfort, and +paying high dividends--" + +"Perhaps you realize that in depicting these criminal operations so +graphically," cried Mr. Flint, interrupting, "you are involving the +reputation of one of the best citizens the State ever had--your own +father." + +Austen Vane leaned forward across the desk, and even Mr. Flint (if the +truth were known) recoiled a little before the anger he had aroused. It +shot forth from Austen's eyes, proclaimed itself in the squareness of the +face, and vibrated in every word he spoke. + +"Mr. Flint," he said, "I refrain from comment upon your methods of +argument. There were many years in which my father believed the +practices which he followed in behalf of your railroad to be necessary-- +and hence justified. And I have given you the credit of holding the same +belief. Public opinion would not, perhaps, at that time have protected +your property from political blackmail. I merely wished you to know, Mr. +Flint, that there is no use in attempting to deceive me in regard to the +true colour of those practices. It is perhaps useless for me to add that +in my opinion you understand as well as I do the real reason for Mr. +Vane's resignation and illness. Once he became convinced that the +practices were wrong, he could no longer continue them without violating +his conscience. He kept his word to you--at the risk of his life, and, +as his son, I take a greater pride in him to-day than I ever have +before." + +Austen got to his feet. He was formidable even to Mr. Flint, who had met +many formidable, and angry men in his time--although not of this type. +Perhaps--who can say?--he was the in the mind of the president +unconscious embodiment of the Northeastern of the new forces which had +arisen against him,--forces which he knew in his secret soul he could not +combat, because they were the irresistible forces of things not material. +All his life he had met and successfully conquered forces of another +kind, and put down with a strong hand merely physical encroachments. + +Mr. Flint's nature was not an introspective one, and if he had tried, he +could not have accounted for his feelings. He was angry--that was +certain. But he measured the six feet and more of Austen Vane with his +eye, and in spite of himself experienced the compelled admiration of one +fighting man for another. A thought, which had made itself vaguely felt +at intervals in the past half hour, shot suddenly and poignantly through +Mr. Flint's mind what if this young man, who dared in spite of every +interest to oppose him, should in the apparently inevitable trend of +things, become...? + +Mr. Flint rose and went to the window, where he stood silent for a space, +looking out, played upon by unwonted conflicting thoughts and emotions. +At length, with a characteristic snap of the fingers, he turned abruptly. +Austen Vane was still standing beside the desk. His face was still +square, determined, but Mr. Flint noted curiously that the anger was gone +from his eyes, and that another--although equally human--expression had +taken its place,--a more disturbing expression, to Mr. Flint. + +"It appears, Mr. Vane," he said, gathering up the papers and placing them +in the boxes, "it appears that we are able to agree upon one point, at +least--Hilary Vane." + +"Mr. Flint," said Austen, "I did not come up here with any thought of +arguing with you, of intruding any ideas--I may hold, but you have +yourself asked me one question which I feel bound to answer to the best +of my ability before I go. You have asked me what, in my opinion, would +happen if you ceased--as you express it--to take an interest in the +political, affairs of this State. + +"I believe, as firmly as I stand here, that the public opinion which +exists to-day would protect your property, and I base that belief on the +good sense of the average American voter. The public would protect you +not only in its own interests, but from an inherent sense of fair play. +On the other hand, if you persist in a course of political manipulation +which is not only obsolete but wrong, you will magnify the just charges +against you, and the just wrath; you will put ammunition into the hands +of the agitators you rightly condemn. The stockholders of your +corporation, perhaps, are bound to suffer some from the fact that you +have taken its life-blood to pay dividends, and the public will demand +that it be built up into a normal and healthy condition. On the other +hand, it could not have gone on as it was. But the corporation will +suffer much more if a delayed justice is turned into vengeance. + +"You ask me what I could do. I should recognize, frankly, the new +conditions, and declare as frankly what the old ones were, and why such +methods of defence as you adopted were necessary and justified. I should +announce, openly, that from this day onward the Northeastern Railroads +depended for fair play on an enlightened public--and I think your trust +would be well founded, and your course vindicated. I should declare, +from this day onward, that the issue of political passes, newspaper +passes, and all other subterfuges would be stopped, and that all +political hirelings would be dismissed. I should appeal to the people of +this State to raise up political leaders who would say to the +corporations, 'We will protect you from injustice if you will come before +the elected representatives of the people, openly, and say what you want +and why you want it.' By such a course you would have, in a day, the +affection of the people instead of their distrust. They would rally to +your defence. And, more than that, you would have done a service for +American government the value of which cannot well be estimated." + +Mr. Flint rang the bell on his desk, and his secretary appeared. + +"Put these in my private safe, Mr. Freeman," he said. + +Mr. Freeman took the boxes, glanced curiously at Austen, and went out. +It was the same secretary, Austen recalled, who had congratulated him +four years before. Then Mr. Flint laid his hand deliberately on the +desk, and smiled slightly as he turned to Austen. + +"If you had run a railroad as long as I have, Mr. Vane," he said, "I do +you the credit of thinking that you would have intelligence enough to +grasp other factors which your present opportunities for observation have +not permitted you to perceive. Nevertheless, I am much obliged to you +for your opinion, and I value the--frankness in which it was given. And +I shall hope to hear good news of your father. Remember me to him, and +tell him how deeply I feel his affliction. I shall call again in a day +or two." + +Austen took up his hat. + +"Good day, Mr. Flint," he said; "I will tell him." + +By the time he had reached the door, Mr. Flint had gone back to the +window once more, and appeared to have forgotten his presence. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE VALE OF THE BLUE + +Austen himself could not well have defined his mental state as he made +his way through the big rooms towards the door, but he was aware of one +main desire--to escape from Fairview. With the odours of the flowers in +the tall silver vases on the piano--her piano!--the spirit of desire +which had so long possessed him, waking and sleeping, returned,--returned +to torture him now with greater skill amidst these her possessions; her +volume of Chopin on the rack, bound in red leather and stamped with her +initials, which compelled his glance as he passed, and brought vivid to +his memory the night he had stood in the snow and heard her playing. So, +he told himself, it must always be, for him to stand in the snow +listening. + +He reached the hall, with a vast relief perceived that it was empty, and +opened the door and went out. Strange that he should note, first of all, +as he parsed a moment at the top of the steps, that the very day had +changed. The wind had fallen; the sun, well on his course towards the +rim of western hills, poured the golden light of autumn over field and +forest, while Sawanec was already in the blue shadow; the expectant +stillness of autumn reigned, and all unconsciously Austen's blood was +quickened though a quickening of pain. + +The surprise of the instant over, he noticed that his horse was gone,-- +had evidently been taken to the stables. And rather than ring the bell +and wait in the mood in which he found himself, he took the path through +the shrubbery from which he had seen the groom emerge. + +It turned beyond the corner of the house, descended a flight of stone +steps, and turned again. + +They stood gazing each at the other for a space of time not to be +computed before either spoke, and the sense of unreality which comes with +a sudden fulfilment of intense desire--or dread--was upon Austen. Could +this indeed be her figure, and this her face on which he watched the +colour rise (so he remembered afterwards) like the slow flood of day? +Were there so many Victorias, that a new one--and a strange one--should +confront him at every meeting? And, even while he looked, this Victoria, +too,--one who had been near him and departed,--was surveying him now from +an unapproachable height of self-possession and calm. She held out her +hand, and he took it, scarce knowing--that it was hers. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane?" she said; "I did not expect to meet you here." + +"I was searching for the stable, to get my horse," he answered lamely. + +"And your father?" she asked quickly; "I hope he is not--worse." + +It was thus she supplied him, quite naturally, with an excuse for being +at Fairview. And yet her solicitude for Hilary was wholly unaffected. + +"Dr. Harmon, who came from New York, has been more encouraging than I had +dared to hope," said Austen. "And, by the way, Mr. Vane believes that +you had a share in the fruit and flowers which Mr. Flint so kindly +brought. If--he had known that I were to see you, I am sure he would +have wished me to thank you." + +Victoria turned, and tore a leaf from the spiraea. + +"I will show you where the stables are," she said; "the path divides a +little farther on--and you might find yourself in the kitchen." + +Austen smiled, and as she went on slowly, he followed her, the path not +being wide enough for them to walk abreast, his eyes caressing the stray +hairs that clustered about her neck and caught the light. It seemed so +real, and yet so unrealizable, that he should be here with her. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that I did not express my gratitude as I should +have done the evening you were good enough to come up to Jabe Jenney's." + +He saw her colour rise again, but she did not pause. + +"Please don't say anything about it, Mr. Vane. Of course I understand +how you felt," she cried. + +"Neither my father nor myself will forget that service," said Austen. + +"It was nothing," answered Victoria, in a low voice. "Or, rather, it was +something I shall always be glad that I did not miss. I have seen Mr. +Vane all my life, but I never=-never really knew him until that day. I +have come to the conclusion," she added, in a lighter tone, "that the +young are not always the best judges of the old. There," she added, "is +the path that goes to the kitchen, which you probably would have taken." + +He laughed. Past and future were blotted out, and he lived only in the +present. He could think of nothing but that she was here beside him. +Afterwards, cataclysms might come and welcome. + +"Isn't there another place," he asked, "where I might lose my way?" + +She turned and gave him one of the swift, searching looks he recalled so +well: a look the meaning of which he could not declare, save that she +seemed vainly striving to fathom something in him--as though he were not +fathomable! He thought she smiled a little as she took the left-hand +path. + +"You will remember me to your father?" she said. "I hope he is not +suffering." + +"He is not suffering," Austen replied. "Perhaps--if it were not too much +to ask--perhaps you might come to see him, sometime? I can think of +nothing that would give him greater pleasure." + +"I will come--sometime," she answered. "I am going away to-morrow, but--" + +"Away?" he repeated, in dismay. Now that he was beside her, all +unconsciously the dominating male spirit which was so strong in him, and +which moves not woman alone, but the world, was asserting itself. For +the moment he was the only man, and she the only woman, in the universe. + +"I am going on a promised visit to a friend of mine." + +"For how long?" he demanded. + +"I don't know, said Victoria, calmly; probably until she gets tired of +me. And there," she added, "are the stables, where no doubt you will +find your faithful Pepper." + +They had come out upon an elevation above the hard service drive, and +across it, below them, was the coach house with its clock-tower and +weather-vane, and its two wings, enclosing a paved court where a +whistling stable-boy was washing a carriage. Austen regarded this scene +an instant, and glanced back at her profile. It was expressionless. + +"Might I not linger--a few minutes?" he asked. + +Her lips parted slightly in a smile, and she turned her head. How +wonderfully, he thought, it was poised upon her shoulders. + +"I haven't been very hospitable, have I?" she said. But then, you seemed +in such a hurry to go, didn't you? You were walking so fast when I met +you that you quite frightened me." + +"Was I?" asked Austen, in surprise. + +She laughed. + +"You looked as if you were ready to charge somebody. But this isn't a +very nice place--to linger, and if you really will stay awhile," said +Victoria, "we might walk over to the dairy, where that model protege of +yours, Eben Fitch, whom you once threatened with corporal chastisement if +he fell from grace, is engaged. I know he will be glad to see you." + +Austen laughed as he caught up with her. She was already halfway across +the road. + +"Do you always beat people if they do wrong?" she asked. + +"It was Eben who requested it, if I remember rightly," he said. +"Fortunately, the trial has not yet arrived. Your methods," he added, +"seem to be more successful with Eben." + +They went down the grassy slope with its groups of half-grown trees; +through an orchard shot with slanting, yellow sunlight,--the golden +fruit, harvested by the morning winds, littering the ground; and then by +a gate into a dimpled, emerald pasture slope where the Guernseys were +feeding along a water run. They spoke of trivial things that found no +place in Austen's memory, and at times, upon one pretext or another, he +fell behind a little that he might feast his eyes upon her. + +Eben was not at the dairy, and Austen betraying no undue curiosity as to +his whereabouts, they walked on up the slopes, and still upward towards +the crest of the range of hills that marked the course of the Blue. He +did not allow his mind to dwell upon this new footing they were on, but +clung to it. Before, in those delicious moments with her, seemingly +pilfered from the angry gods, the sense of intimacy had been deep; deep, +because robbing the gods together, they had shared the feeling of guilt, +had known that retribution would coma. And now the gods had locked their +treasure-chest, although themselves powerless to redeem from him the +memory of what he had gained. Nor could they, apparently, deprive him of +the vision of her in the fields and woods beside him, though transformed +by their magic into a new Victoria, keeping him lightly and easily at a +distance. + +Scattering the sheep that flecked the velvet turf of the uplands, they +stood at length on the granite crown of the crest itself. Far below them +wound the Blue into its vale of sapphire shadows, with its hillsides of +the mystic fabric of the backgrounds of the masters of the Renaissance. +For a while they stood in silence under the spell of the scene's +enchantment, and then Victoria seated herself on the rock, and he dropped +to a place at her side. + +"I thought you would like the view," she said; "but perhaps you have been +here, perhaps I am taking you to one of your own possessions." + +He had flung his hat upon the rock, and she glanced at his serious, +sunburned face. His eyes were still fixed, contemplatively, on the Yale +of the Blue, but he turned to her with a smile. + +"It has become yours by right of conquest," he answered. + +She did not reply to that. The immobility of her face, save for the one +look she had flashed upon him, surprised and puzzled him more and more-- +the world--old, indefinable, eternal feminine quality of the Spring. + +"So you refused to be governor? she said presently,--surprising him +again. + +"It scarcely came to that," he replied. + +"What did it come to?" she demanded. + +He hesitated. + +"I had to go down to the capital, on my father's account, but I did not +go to the convention. I stayed," he said slowly, "at the little cottage +across from the Duncan house where--you were last winter." He paused, +but she gave no sign. "Tom Gaylord came up there late in the afternoon, +and wanted me to be a candidate." + +"And you refused?" + +"Yes." + +"But you could have been nominated!" + +"Yes," he admitted; "it is probable. The conditions were chaotic." + +"Are you sure you have done right?" she asked. "It has always seemed to +me from what I know and have heard of you that you were made for +positions of trust. You would have been a better governor than the man +they have nominated." + +His expression became set. + +"I am sure I have done right," he answered deliberately. "It doesn't +make any difference who is governor this time." + +"Doesn't make any difference!" she exclaimed. + +"No," he said. "Things have changed--the people have changed. The old +method of politics, which was wrong, although it had some justification +in conditions, has gone out. A new and more desirable state of affairs +has come. I am at liberty to say this much to you now," he added, fixing +his glance upon her, "because my father has resigned as counsel for the +Northeastern, and I have just had a talk with--Mr. Flint." + +"You have seen my father?" she asked, in a low voice, and her face was +averted. + +"Yes," he answered. + +"You--did not agree," she said quickly. + +His blood beat higher at the question and the manner of her asking it, +but he felt that he must answer it honestly, unequivocally, whatever the +cost. + +"No, we did not agree. It is only fair to tell you that we differed-- +vitally. On the other hand, it is just that you should know that we did +not part in anger, but, I think, with a mutual respect." + +She drew breath. + +"I knew," she said, "I knew if he could but talk to you he would +understand that you were sincere--and you have proved it. I am glad--I +am glad that you saw him." The quality of the sunlight changed, the very +hills leaped, and the river sparkled. Could she care? Why did she wish +her father to know that he was sincere. + +"You are glad that I saw him!" he repeated. + +But she met his glance steadily. + +"My father has so little faith in human nature," she answered. "He has +a faculty of doubting the honesty of his opponents--I suppose because so +many of them have been dishonest. And--I believe in my friends," she +added, smiling. "Isn't it natural that I should wish to have my judgment +vindicated?" + +He got to his feet and walked slowly to the far edge of the rock, where +he stood for a while, seemingly gazing off across the spaces to Sawanec. +It was like him, thus to question the immutable. Victoria sat +motionless, but her eyes followed irresistibly the lines of power in the +tall figure against the sky--the breadth of shoulder and slimness of hip +and length of limb typical of the men who had conquered and held this +land for their descendants. Suddenly, with a characteristic movement of +determination; he swung about and came towards her, and at the same +instant she rose. + +"Don't you think we should be going back?" she said. + +Rut he seemed not to hear her. + +"May I ask you something?" he said. + +"That depends," she answered. + +"Are you going to marry Mr. Rangely?" + +"No," she said, and turned away. "Why did you think that?" + +He quivered. + +"Victoria!" + +She looked up at him, swiftly, half revealed, her eyes like stars +surprised by the flush of dawn in her cheeks. Hope quickened at the +vision of hope, the seats of judgment themselves were filled with +radiance, and rumour, cowered and fled like the spirit of night. He +could only gaze, enraptured. + +"Yes?" she answered. + +His voice was firm but low, yet vibrant with sincerity, with the vast +store of feeling, of compelling magnetism that was in the man and moved +in spite of themselves those who knew him. His words Victoria remembered +afterwards--all of them; but it was to the call of the voice she +responded. His was the fibre which grows stronger in times of crisis. +Sure of himself, proud of the love which he declared, he spoke as a man +who has earned that for which he prays,--simply and with dignity. + +"I love you," he said; "I have known it since I have known you, but you +must see why I could not tell you so. It was very hard, for there were +times when I led myself to believe that you might come to love me. There +were times when I should have gone away if I hadn't made a promise to +stay in Ripton. I ask you to marry me, because I--know that I shall love +you as long as I live. I can give you this, at least, and I can promise +to protect and cherish you. I cannot give you that to which you have +been accustomed all your life, that which you have here at Fairview, but +I shouldn't say this to you if I believed that you cared for them above- +-other things." + +"Oh, Austen!" she cried, "I do not--I--do not! They would be hateful to +me--without you. I would rather live with you--at Jabe Jenney's," and +her voice caught in an exquisite note between laughter and tears. "I +love you, do you understand, you! Oh, how could you ever have doubted +it? How could you? What you believe, I believe. And, Austen, I have +been so unhappy for three days." + +He never knew whether, as the most precious of graces ever conferred upon +man, with a womanly gesture she had raised her arms and laid her hands +upon his shoulders before he drew her to him and kissed her face, that +vied in colour with the coming glow in the western sky. Above the prying +eyes of men, above the world itself, he held her, striving to realize +some little of the vast joy of this possession, and failing. And at last +she drew away from him, gently, that she might look searchingly into his +face again, and shook her head slowly. + +"And you were going away," she said, "without a word I thought--you +didn't care. How could I have known that you were just--stupid?" + +His eyes lighted with humour and tenderness. + +"How long have you cared, Victoria?" he asked. + +She became thoughtful. + +"Always, I think," she answered; "only I didn't know it. I think I loved +you even before I saw you." + +"Before you saw me!" + +"I think it began," said Victoria, "when I learned that you had shot Mr. +Blodgett--only I hope you will never do such a thing again. And you will +please try to remember," she added, after a moment, "that I am neither +Eben Fitch nor your friend, Tom Gaylord." + +Sunset found them seated on the rock, with the waters of the river turned +to wine at the miracle in the sky their miracle. At times their eyes +wandered to the mountain, which seemed to regard them from a discreet +distance--with a kindly and protecting majesty. + +"And you promised," said Victoria, "to take me up there. When will you +do it?" + +"I thought you were going away," he replied. + +"Unforeseen circumstances," she answered, "have compelled me to change my +plans." + +"Then we will go tomorrow," he said. + +"To the Delectable Land," said Victoria, dreamily; "your land, where we +shall be--benevolent despots. Austen?" + +"Yes?" He had not ceased to thrill at the sound of his name upon her +lips. + +"Do you think," she asked, glancing at him, "do you think you have money +enough to go abroad--just for a little while?" + +He laughed joyously. + +"I don't know," he said, "but I shall make it a point to examine my bank- +account to-night. I haven't done so--for some time." + +"We will go to Venice, and drift about in a gondola on one of those gray +days when the haze comes in from the Adriatic and touches the city with +the magic of the past. Sometimes I like the gray days best--when I am +happy. And then," she added, regarding him critically, "although you are +very near perfection, there are some things you ought to see and learn to +make your education complete. I will take you to all the queer places I +love. When you are ambassador to France, you know, it would be +humiliating to have to have an interpreter, wouldn't it?" + +"What's the use of both of us knowing the language?" he demanded. + +"I'm afraid we shall be--too happy," she sighed, presently. + +"Too happy!" he repeated. + +"I sometimes wonder," she said, "whether happiness and achievement go +together. And yet--I feel sure that you will achieve." + +"To please you, Victoria," he answered, "I think I should almost be +willing to try." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +P.S. + +By request of one who has read thus far, and is still curious. + +Yes, and another who, in spite of himself, has fallen in love with +Victoria and would like to linger a while longer, even though it were +with the paltry excuse of discussing that world-old question of hers--Can +sublime happiness and achievement go together? Novels on the problem of +sex nowadays often begin with marriages, but rarely discuss the happy +ones; and many a woman is forced to sit wistfully at home while her +companion soars. + + "Yet may I look with heart unshook + On blow brought home or missed-- + Yet may I hear with equal ear + The clarions down the List; + Yet set my lance above mischance + And ride the barriere-- + Oh, hit or miss, how little 'tis, + My Lady is not there!" + +A verse, in this connection, which may be a perversion of Mr. Kipling's +meaning, but not so far from it, after all. And yet, would the eagle +attempt the great flights if contentment were on the plain? Find the +mainspring of achievement, and you hold in your hand the secret of the +world's mechanism. Some aver that it is woman. + +Do the gods ever confer the rarest of gifts upon him to whom they have +given pinions? Do they mate him, ever, with another who soars as high as +he, who circles higher that he may circle higher still? Who can answer? +Must those who soar be condemned to eternal loneliness, and was it a +longing they did not comprehend which bade them stretch their wings +toward the sun? Who can say? + +Alas, we cannot write of the future of Austen and Victoria Vane! We can +only surmise, and hope, and pray,--yes, and believe. Romance walks with +parted lips and head raised to the sky; and let us follow her, because +thereby our eyes are raised with hers. We must believe, or perish. + +Postscripts are not fashionable. The satiated theatre goer leaves before +the end of the play, and has worked out the problem for himself long +before the end of the last act. Sentiment is not supposed to exist in +the orchestra seats. But above (in many senses) is the gallery, from +whence an excited voice cries out when the sleeper returns to life, "It's +Rip Van Winkle!" The gallery, where are the human passions which make +this world our world; the gallery, played upon by anger, vengeance, +derision, triumph, hate, and love; the gallery, which lingers and +applauds long after the fifth curtain, and then goes reluctantly home--to +dream. And he who scorns the gallery is no artist, for there lives the +soul of art. We raise our eyes to it, and to it we dedicate this our +play;--and for it we lift the curtain once more after those in the +orchestra have departed. + +It is obviously impossible, in a few words, to depict the excitement in +Ripton, in Leith, in the State at large, when it became known that the +daughter of Mr. Flint was to marry Austen Vane,--a fitting if unexpected +climax to a drama. How would Mr. Flint take it? Mr. Flint, it may be +said, took it philosophically; and when Austen went up to see him upon +this matter, he shook hands with his future son-in-law,--and they agreed +to disagree. And beyond this it is safe to say that Mr. +Flint was relieved; for in his secret soul he had for many years +entertained a dread that Victoria might marry a foreigner. He had this +consolation at any rate. + +His wife denied herself for a day to her most intimate friends,--for it +was she who had entertained visions of a title; and it was characteristic +of the Rose of Sharon that she knew nothing of the Vanes beyond the name. +The discovery that the Austens were the oldest family in the State was in +the nature of a balm; and henceforth, in speaking of Austen, she never +failed to mention the fact that his great-grandfather was Minister to +Spain in the '30's,--a period when her own was engaged in a far different +calling. + +And Hilary Vane received the news with a grim satisfaction, Dr. Tredway +believing that it had done more for him than any medicine or specialists. +And when, one warm October day, Victoria herself came and sat beside the +canopied bed, her conquest was complete: he surrendered to her as he had +never before surrendered to man or woman or child, and the desire to live +surged back into his heart,--the desire to live for Austen and Victoria. +It became her custom to drive to Ripton in the autumn mornings and to sit +by the hour reading to Hilary in the mellow sunlight in the lee of the +house, near Sarah Austen's little garden. Yes, Victoria believed she had +developed in him a taste for reading; although he would have listened to +Emerson from her lips. + +And sometimes, when she paused after one of his long silences to glance +at him, she would see his eyes fixed, with a strange rapt look, on the +garden or the dim lavender form of Sawanec through the haze, and knew +that he was thinking of a priceless thing which he had once possessed, +and missed. Then Victoria would close the volume, and fall to dreaming, +too. + +What was happiness? Was it contentment? If it were, it might endure,-- +contentment being passive. But could active, aggressive, exultant joy +exist for a lifetime, jealous of its least prerogative, perpetually +watchful for its least abatement, singing unending anthems on its +conquest of the world? The very intensity of her feelings at such times +sobered Victoria--alarmed her. Was not perfection at war with the +world's scheme, and did not achievement spring from a void? + +But when Austen appeared, with Pepper, to drive her home to Fairview, his +presence never failed to revive the fierce faith that it was his destiny +to make the world better, and hers to help him. Wondrous afternoons they +spent together in that stillest and most mysterious of seasons in the +hill country--autumn! Autumn and happiness! Happiness as shameless as +the flaunting scarlet maples on the slopes, defiant of the dying year of +the future, shadowy and unreal as the hills before them in the haze. +Once, after a long silence, she started from a revery with the sudden +consciousness of his look intent upon her, and turned with parted lips +and eyes which smiled at him out of troubled depths. + +"Dreaming, Victoria?" he said. + +"Yes," she answered simply, and was silent once more. He loved these +silences of hers,--hinting, as they did, of unexplored chambers in an +inexhaustible treasure-house which by some strange stroke of destiny was +his. And yet he felt at times the vague sadness of them, like the +sadness of the autumn, and longed to dispel it. + +"It is so wonderful," she went on presently, in a low voice, "it is so +wonderful I sometimes think that it must be like--like this; that it +cannot last. I have been wondering whether we shall be as happy when the +world discovers that you are great." + +He shook his head at her slowly, in mild reproof. + +"Isn't that borrowing trouble, Victoria?" he said. "I think you need +have no fear of finding the world as discerning as yourself." + +She searched his face. + +"Will you ever change?" she asked. + +"Yes," he said. "No man can stand such flattery as that without +deteriorating, I warn you. I shall become consequential, and pompous, +and altogether insupportable, and then you will leave me and never +realize that it has been all your fault." + +Victoria laughed. But there was a little tremor in her voice, and her +eyes still rested on his face. + +"But I am serious, Austen," she said. "I sometimes feel that, in the +future, we shall not always have many such days as these. It's selfish, +but I can't help it. There are so many things you will have to do +without me. Don't you ever think of that?" + +His eyes grew grave, and he reached out and took her hand in his. + +"I think, rather, of the trials life may bring, Victoria," he answered, +"of the hours when judgment halts, when the way is not clear. Do you +remember the last night you came to Jabe Jenney's? I stood in the road +long after you had gone, and a desolation such as I had never known came +over me. I went in at last, and opened a book to some verses I had been +reading, which I shall never forget. Shall I tell you what they were?" + +"Yes," she whispered. + +"They contain my answer to your question," he said. + + "What became of all the hopes, + Words and song and lute as well? + Say, this struck you 'When life gropes + Feebly for the path where fell + Light last on the evening slopes, + + "'One friend in that path shall be, + To secure my step from wrong; + One to count night day for me, + Patient through the watches long, + Serving most with none to see.'" + +"Victoria, can you guess who that friend is?" + +She pressed his hand and smiled at him, but her eyes were wet. + +"I have thought of it in that way, too, dear. But--but I did not know +that you had. I do not think that many men have that point of view, +Austen." + +"Many men," he answered, "have not the same reason to be thankful as I." + +There is a time, when the first sharp winds which fill the air with +flying leaves have come and gone, when the stillness has come again, and +the sunlight is tinged with a yellower gold, and the pastures are still a +vivid green, and the mountain stained with a deeper blue than any gem, +called Indian summer. And it was in this season that Victoria and Austen +were married, in a little church at Tunbridge, near Fairview, by the +bishop of the diocese, who was one of Victoria's dearest friends. Mr. +Thomas Gaylord (for whose benefit there were many rehearsals) was best +man, Miss Beatrice Chillingham maid of honour; and it was unanimously +declared by Victoria's bridesmaids, who came up from New York, that they +had fallen in love with the groom. + +How describe the wedding breakfast and festivities at Fairview House, on +a November day when young ladies could walk about the lawns in the +filmiest of gowns! how recount the guests and leave out no friends--for +none were left out! Mr. Jabe Jenney and Mrs. Jenney, who wept as she +embraced both bride and groom; and Euphrasia, in a new steel-coloured +silk and a state of absolute subjection and incredulous happiness. Would +that there were time to chronicle that most amazing of conquests of +Victoria over Euphrasia! And Mrs. Pomfret, who, remarkable as it may +seem, not only recognized Austen without her lorgnette, but quite +overwhelmed him with an unexpected cordiality, and declared her intention +of giving them a dinner in New York. + +"My dear," she said, after kissing Victoria twice, "he is most +distinguished-looking--I had no idea--and a person who grows upon one. +And I am told he is descended from Channing Austen, of whom I have often +heard my grandfather speak. Victoria, I always had the greatest +confidence in your judgment." + +Although Victoria had a memory (what woman worth her salt has not?), she +was far too happy to remind Mrs. Pomfret of certain former occasions, and +merely smiled in a manner which that lady declared to be enigmatic. She +maintained that she had never understood Victoria, and it was +characteristic of Mrs. Pomfret that her respect increased in direct +proportion to her lack of understanding. + +Mr. Thomas Gaylord, in a waistcoat which was the admiration of all who +beheld it, proposed the health of the bride; and proved indubitably that +the best of oratory has its origin in the heart and not in the mind,--for +Tom had never been regarded by his friends as a Demosthenes. He was +interrupted from time to time by shouts of laughter; certain episodes in +the early career of Mr. Austen Vane (in which, if Tom was to be believed, +he was an unwilling participant) were particularly appreciated. And +shortly after that, amidst a shower of miscellaneous articles and rice, +Mr. and Mrs. Vane took their departure. + +They drove through the yellow sunlight to Ripton, with lingering looks at +the hills which brought back memories of boys and sorrows, and in Hanover +Street bade good-by to Hilary Vane. A new and strange contentment shone +in his face as he took Victoria's hands in his, and they sat with him +until Euphrasia came. It was not until they were well on their way to +New York that they opened the letter he had given them, and discovered +that it contained something which would have enabled them to remain in +Europe the rest of their lives had they so chosen. + +We must leave them amongst the sunny ruins of Italy and Greece and +southern France, on a marvellous journey that was personally conducted by +Victoria. + +Mr. Crewe was unable to go to the wedding, having to attend a directors' +meeting of some importance in the West. He is still in politics, and +still hopeful; and he was married, not long afterwards, to Miss Alice +Pomfret. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Gratitude, however, is one of the noblest qualities of man +One of your persistent fallacies is, that I'm still a boy +The burden of the valley of vision +Thrice-blessed State, in which there were now three reform candidates +Years of regrets for that which might have been + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, V3 +by Winston Churchill + + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS FOR THE ENTIRE SET: + +Fame sometimes comes in the line of duty +Genius is almost one hundred percent directness +In a frenzy of anticipation, garnished and swept the room +It's noble, but it don't pay +Treason to party he regarded with a deep-seated abhorrence +Battles of selfish interests ebbed and flowed +A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds +His strength was his imperviousness to this kind of a remark +Many a silent tear of which they knew nothing +Politicians are politicians; they have always been corrupt +Gratitude, however, is one of the noblest qualities of man +One of your persistent fallacies is, that I'm still a boy +The burden of the valley of vision +Thrice-blessed State, in which there were now three reform candidates +Years of regrets for that which might have been + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, complete +by Winston Churchill + diff --git a/old/wc09v10.zip b/old/wc09v10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5d4fc9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wc09v10.zip diff --git a/old/wc09v11.txt b/old/wc09v11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5d26ff --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wc09v11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19616 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, complete +#9 in our series by this Winston Churchill + +This author is a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill the Prime Minister + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These Etexts Are Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below, including for donations. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 + + + +Title: Mr. Crewe's Career, complete + +Author: Winston Churchill + +Release Date: January, 2003 [Etext #3684] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] +[The actual date this file first posted = 07/17/01] +[Last modified date = 11/06/01] + +Edition: 11 + +Language: English + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, complete +****This file should be named wc09v11.txt or wc09v11.zip*** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, wc09v12.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wc09v11a.txt + +This etext was produced by Pat Castevans <Patcat@ctnet.net> +and David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +http://gutenberg.net +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 +or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 4,000 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of 10/28/01 contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, +Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, +Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, +New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, +Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, +Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming + +We have filed in about 45 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. Please feel +free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork +to legally request donations in all 50 states. If +your state is not listed and you would like to know +if we have added it since the list you have, just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in +states where we are not yet registered, we know +of no prohibition against accepting donations +from donors in these states who approach us with +an offer to donate. + + +International donations are accepted, +but we don't know ANYTHING about how +to make them tax-deductible, or +even if they CAN be made deductible, +and don't have the staff to handle it +even if there are ways. + +All donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541, +and has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal +Revenue Service (IRS). Donations are tax-deductible to the maximum +extent permitted by law. As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the +additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +*** + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp ftp.ibiblio.org +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + +[NOTE: This author is a cousin of Sir Winston Churchill the Prime Minister +of England during World War II.] + + + + + +MR. CREWE'S CAREER, complete + +By WINSTON CHURCHILL + + + +BOOK 1. + + +CHAPTER I + +THE HONOURABLE HILARY VANE SITS FOR HIS PORTRAIT + +I may as well begin this story with Mr. Hilary Vane, more frequently +addressed as the Honourable Hilary Vane, although it was the gentleman's +proud boast that he had never held an office in his life. He belonged to +the Vanes of Camden Street,--a beautiful village in the hills near +Ripton,--and was, in common with some other great men who had made a +noise in New York and the nation, a graduate of Camden Wentworth Academy. +But Mr. Vane, when he was at home, lived on a wide, maple-shaded street +in the city of Ripton, cared for by an elderly housekeeper who had more +edges than a new-fangled mowing machine. The house was a porticoed one +which had belonged to the Austens for a hundred years or more, for Hilary +Vane had married, towards middle age, Miss Sarah Austen. In two years he +was a widower, and he never tried it again; he had the Austens' house, +and that many-edged woman, Euphrasia Cotton, the Austens' housekeeper. + +The house was of wood, and was painted white as regularly as leap year. +From the street front to the vegetable garden in the extreme rear it was +exceedingly long, and perhaps for propriety's sake--Hilary Vane lived at +one end of it and Euphrasia at the other. Hilary was sixty-five, +Euphrasia seventy, which is not old for frugal people, though it is just +as well to add that there had never been a breath of scandal about either +of them, in Ripton or elsewhere. For the Honourable Hilary's modest +needs one room sufficed, and the front parlour had not been used since +poor Sarah Austen's demise, thirty years before this story opens. + +In those thirty years, by a sane and steady growth, Hilary Vane had +achieved his present eminent position in the State. He was trustee for I +know not how many people and institutions, a deacon in the first church, +a lawyer of such ability that he sometimes was accorded the courtesy- +title of "Judge." His only vice--if it could be called such--was in +occasionally placing a piece, the size of a pea, of a particular kind of +plug tobacco under his tongue,--and this was not known to many people. +Euphrasia could not be called a wasteful person, and Hilary had +accumulated no small portion of this world's goods, and placed them as +propriety demanded, where they were not visible to the naked eye: and be +it added in his favour that he gave as secretly, to institutions and +hospitals the finances and methods of which were known to him. + +As concrete evidence of the Honourable Hilary Vane's importance, when he +travelled he had only to withdraw from his hip-pocket a book in which +many coloured cards were neatly inserted, an open-sesame which permitted +him to sit without payment even in those wheeled palaces of luxury known +as Pullman cars. Within the limits of the State he did not even have to +open the book, but merely say, with a twinkle of his eyes to the +conductor, "Good morning, John," and John would reply with a bow and a +genial and usually witty remark, and point him out to a nobody who sat in +the back of the car. So far had Mr. Hilary Vane's talents carried him. + +The beginning of this eminence dated back to the days before the Empire, +when there were many little principalities of railroads fighting among +themselves. For we are come to a changed America. There was a time, in +the days of the sixth Edward of England, when the great landowners found +it more profitable to consolidate the farms, seize the common lands, and +acquire riches hitherto undreamed of. Hence the rising of tailor Ket and +others, and the leveling of fences and barriers, and the eating of many +sheep. It may have been that Mr. Vane had come across this passage in +English history, but he drew no parallels. His first position of trust +had been as counsel for that principality known in the old days as the +Central Railroad, of which a certain Mr. Duncan had been president, and +Hilary Vane had fought the Central's battles with such telling effect +that when it was merged into the one Imperial Railroad, its stockholders- +-to the admiration of financiers--were guaranteed ten per cent. It was, +indeed, rumoured that Hilary drew the Act of Consolidation itself. At +any rate, he was too valuable an opponent to neglect, and after a certain +interval of time Mr. Vane became chief counsel in the State for the +Imperial Railroad, on which dizzy height we now behold him. And he +found, by degrees, that he had no longer time for private practice. + +It is perhaps gratuitous to add that the Honourable Hilary Vane was a man +of convictions. In politics he would have told you--with some vehemence, +if you seemed to doubt--that he was a Republican. Treason to party he +regarded with a deep-seated abhorrence, as an act for which a man should +be justly outlawed. If he were in a mellow mood, with the right quantity +of Honey Dew tobacco under his tongue, he would perhaps tell you why he +was a Republican, if he thought you worthy of his confidence. He +believed in the gold standard, for one thing; in the tariff (left +unimpaired in its glory) for another, and with a wave of his hand would +indicate the prosperity of the nation which surrounded him,--a prosperity +too sacred to tamper with. + +One article of his belief, and in reality the chief article, Mr. Vane +would not mention to you. It was perhaps because he had never formulated +the article for himself. It might be called a faith in the divine right +of Imperial Railroads to rule, but it was left out of the verbal creed. +This is far from implying hypocrisy to Mr. Vane. It was his foundation- +rock and too sacred for light conversation. When he allowed himself to +be bitter against various "young men with missions" who had sprung up in +various States of the Union, so-called purifiers of politics, he would +call them the unsuccessful with a grievance, and recommend to them the +practice of charity, forbearance, and other Christian virtues. Thank +God, his State was not troubled with such. + +In person Mr. Hilary Vane was tall, with a slight stoop to his shoulders, +and he wore the conventional double-breasted black coat, which reached to +his knees, and square-toed congress boots. He had a Puritan beard, the +hawk-like Vane nose, and a twinkling eye that spoke of a sense of humour +and a knowledge of the world. In short, he was no man's fool, and on +occasions had been more than a match for certain New York lawyers with +national reputations. + +It is rare, in this world of trouble, that such an apparently ideal and +happy state of existence is without a canker. And I have left the +revelation of the canker to the last. Ripton knew it was there, Camden +Street knew it, and Mr. Vane's acquaintances throughout the State; but +nobody ever spoke of it. Euphrasia shed over it the only tears she had +known since Sarah Austen died, and some of these blotted the only letters +she wrote. Hilary Vane did not shed tears, but his friends suspected +that his heart-strings were torn, and pitied him. Hilary Vane fiercely +resented pity, and that was why they did not speak of it. This trouble +of his was the common point on which he and Euphrasia touched, and they +touched only to quarrel. Let us out with it--Hilary Vane had a wild son, +whose name was Austen. + +Euphrasia knew that in his secret soul Mr. Vane attributed this wildness, +and what he was pleased to designate as profligacy, to the Austen blood. +And Euphrasia resented it bitterly. Sarah Austen had been a young, +elfish thing when he married her,--a dryad, the elderly and learned Mrs. +Tredway had called her. Mr Vane had understood her about as well as he +would have understood Mary, Queen of Scots, if he had been married to +that lady. Sarah Austen had a wild, shy beauty, startled, alert eyes +like an animal, and rebellious black hair that curled about her ears and +gave her a faun-like appearance. With a pipe and the costume of Rosalind +she would have been perfect. She had had a habit of running off for the +day into the hills with her son, and the conventions of Ripton had been +to her as so many defunct blue laws. During her brief married life there +had been periods of defiance from her lasting a week, when she would not +speak to Hilary or look at him, and these periods would be followed by +violent spells of weeping in Euphrasia's arms, when the house was no +place for Hilary. He possessed by matrimony and intricate mechanism of +which his really admirable brain could not grasp the first principles; he +felt for her a real if uncomfortable affection, but when she died he +heaved a sigh of relief, at which he was immediately horrified. + +Austen he understood little better, but his affection for the child may +be likened to the force of a great river rushing through a narrow gorge, +and he vied with Euphrasia in spoiling him. Neither knew what they were +doing, and the spoiling process was interspersed with occasional and (to +Austen) unmeaning intervals of severe discipline. The boy loved the +streets and the woods and his fellow-beings; his punishments were a +series of afternoons in the house, during one of which he wrecked the +bedroom where he was confined, and was soundly whaled with an old slipper +that broke under the process. Euphrasia kept the slipper, and once +showed it to Hilary during a quarrel they had when the boy was grown up +and gone and the house was silent, and Hilary had turned away, choking, +and left the room. Such was his cross. + +To make it worse, the boy had love his father. Nay, still loved him. As +a little fellow, after a scolding for some wayward prank, he would throw +himself into Hilary's arms and cling to him, and would never know how +near he came to unmanning him. As Austen grew up, they saw the world in +different colours: blue to Hilary was red to Austen, and white, black; +essentials to one were non-essentials to the other; boys and girls, men +and women, abhorred by one were boon companions to the other. + +Austen made fun of the minister, and was compelled to go church twice on +Sundays and to prayer-meeting on Wednesdays. Then he went to Camden +Street, to live with his grandparents in the old Vane house and attend +Camden Wentworth Academy. His letters, such as they were, were +inimitable if crude, but contained not the kind of humour Hilary Vane +knew. Camden Wentworth, principal and teachers, was painted to the life; +and the lad could hardly wait for vacation time to see his father, only +to begin quarreling with him again. + +I pass over escapades in Ripton that shocked one half of the population +and convulsed the other half. Austen went to the college which his +father had attended,--a college of splendid American traditions,--and his +career there might well have puzzled a father of far greater tolerance +and catholicity. Hilary Vane was a trustee, and journeyed more than once +to talk the matter over with the president, who had been his classmate +there. + +"I love that boy, Hilary," the president had said at length, when pressed +for a frank opinion,--"there isn't a soul in the place, I believe, that +doesn't,--undergraduates and faculty,--but he has given me more anxious +thought than any scholar I have ever had." + +"Trouble," corrected Mr. Vane, sententiously. + +"Well, yes, trouble," answered the president, smiling, "but upon my soul, +I think it is all animal spirits." + +"A euphemism for the devil," said Hilary, grimly; "he is the animal part +of us, I have been brought up to believe." + +The president was a wise man, and took another tack. + +"He has a really remarkable mind, when he chooses to use it. Every once +in a while he takes your breath away--but he has to become interested. A +few weeks ago Hays came to me direct from his lecture room to tell me +about a discussion of Austen's in constitutional law. Hays, you know, is +not easily enthused, but he declares your son has as fine a legal brain +as he has come across in his experience. But since then, I am bound to +admit," added the president, sadly, "Austen seems not to have looked at a +lesson." + +"'Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel,'" replied Hilary. + +"He'll sober down," said the president, stretching his conviction a +little, "he has two great handicaps: he learns too easily, and he is too +popular." The president looked out of his study window across the +common, surrounded by the great elms which had been planted when Indian +lads played among the stumps and the red flag of England had flown from +the tall pine staff. The green was covered now with students of a +conquering race, skylarking to and fro as they looked on at a desultory +baseball game. "I verily believe," said the president, "at a word from +your son, most of them would put on their coats and follow him on any mad +expedition that came into his mind." + +Hilary Vane groaned more than once in the train back to Ripton. It meant +nothing to him to be the father of the most popular man in college. + +"The mad expedition" came at length in the shape of a fight with the +townspeople, in which Austen, of course, was the ringleader. If he had +inherited his mother's eccentricities, he had height and physique from +the Vanes, and one result was a week in bed for the son of the local +plumber and a damage suit against the Honourable Hilary. Another result +was that Austen and a Tom Gaylord came back to Ripton on a long +suspension, which, rumour said, would have been expulsion if Hilary were +not a trustee. Tom Gaylord was proud of suspension in such company. +More of him later. He was the son of old Tom Gaylord, who owned more +lumber than any man in the State, and whom Hilary Vane believed to be the +receptacle of all the vices. + +Eventually Austen went back and graduated--not summa cum laude, honesty +compels me to add. Then came the inevitable discussion, and to please +his father he went to the Harvard Law School for two years. At the end +of that time, instead of returning to Ripton, a letter had come from him +with the postmark of a Western State, where he had fled with a classmate +who owned ranch. Evidently the worldly consideration to be derived from +conformity counted little with Austen Vane. Money was a medium only--not +an end. He was in the saddle all day, with nothing but the horizon to +limit him; he loved his father, and did not doubt his father's love for +him, and he loved Euphrasia. He could support himself, but he must see +life. The succeeding years brought letters and quaint, useless presents +to both the occupants of the lonely house,--Navajo blankets and Indian +jeweler and basket-work,--and Austen little knew how carefully these were +packed away and surreptitiously gazed at from time to time. But to +Hilary the Western career was a disgrace, and such meagre reports of it +as came from other sources than Austen tended only to confirm him in this +opinion. + +It was commonly said of Mr. Paul Pardriff that not a newspaper fell from +the press that he did not have a knowledge of its contents. Certain it +was that Mr. Pardriff made a specialty of many kinds of knowledge, +political and otherwise, and, the information he could give--if he chose- +-about State and national affairs was of a recondite and cynical nature +that made one wish to forget about the American flag. Mr. Pardriff was +under forty, and with these gifts many innocent citizens of Ripton +naturally wondered why the columns of his newspaper, the Ripton Record, +did not more closely resemble the spiciness of his talk in the office of +Gales' Hotel. The columns contained, instead, such efforts as essays on +a national flower and the abnormal size of the hats of certain great men, +notably Andrew Jackson; yes, and the gold standard; and in times of +political stress they were devoted to a somewhat fulsome praise of +regular and orthodox Republican candidates,--and praise of any one was +not in character with the editor. Ill-natured people said that the +matter in his paper might possibly be accounted for by the gratitude of +the candidates, and the fact that Mr. Pardriff and his wife and his maid- +servant and his hired man travelled on pink mileage books, which could +only be had for love--not money. On the other hand, reputable witnesses +had had it often from Mr. Pardriff that he was a reformer, and not at all +in sympathy with certain practices which undoubtedly existed. + +Some years before--to be exact, the year Austen Vane left the law school- +-Mr. Pardriff had proposed to exchange the Ripton Record with the editor +of the Pepper County Plainsman in afar Western State. The exchange was +effected, and Mr. Pardriff glanced over the Plainsman regularly once a +week, though I doubt whether the Western editor ever read the Record +after the first copy. One day in June Mr. Pardriff was seated in his +sanctum above Merrill's drug store when his keen green eyes fell upon the +following:-- + +"The Plainsman considers it safe to say that the sympathy of the people +of Pepper County at large is with Mr. Austen Vane, whose personal +difficulty with Jim Blodgett resulted so disastrously for Mr. Blodgett. +The latter gentleman has long made himself obnoxious to local ranch +owners by his persistent disregard of property lines and property, and it +will be recalled that he is at present in hot water with the energetic +Secretary of the Interior for fencing government lands. Vane, who was +recently made manager of Ready Money Ranch, is one of the most popular +young men in the county. He was unwillingly assisted over the State line +by his friends. Although he has never been a citizen of the State, the +Plainsman trusts that he may soon be back and become one of us. At last +report Mr. Blodgett was resting easily." + +This article obtained circulation in Ripton, although it was not copied +into the Record out of deference to the feelings of the Honourable Hilary +Vane. In addition to the personal regard Mr. Pardriff professed to have +for the Honourable Hilary, it maybe well to remember that Austen's father +was, among other, things, chairman of the State Committee. Mr. Tredway +(largest railroad stockholder in Ripton) pursed his lips that were +already pursed. Tom Gaylord roared with laughter. Two or three days +later the Honourable Hilary, still in blissful ignorance, received a +letter that agitated him sorely. + +"DEAR FATHER: I hope you don't object to receiving a little visit from a +prodigal, wayward son. To tell the truth, I have found it convenient to +leave the Ready Money Ranch for a while, although Bob Tyner is good +enough to say I may have the place when I come back. You know I often +think of you and Phrasie back in Ripton, and I long to see the dear old +town again. Expect me when you see me. + +"Your aff. son, + +"AUSTEN." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ON THE TREATMENT OF PRODIGALS + +While Euphrasia, in a frenzy of anticipation, garnished and swept the +room which held for her so many memories of Austen's boyhood, even +beating the carpet with her own hands, Hilary Vane went about his +business with no apparent lack of diligence. But he was meditating. He +had many times listened to the Reverend Mr. Weightman read the parable +from the pulpit, but he had never reflected how it would be to be the +father of a real prodigal. What was to be done about the calf? Was +there to be a calf, or was there not? To tell the truth, Hilary wanted a +calf, and yet to have one (in spite of Holy Writ) would seem to set a +premium on disobedience and riotous living. + +Again, Austen had reached thirty, an age when it was not likely he would +settle down and live an orderly and godly life among civilized beings, +and therefore a fatted calf was likely to be the first of many follies +which he (Hilary) would live to regret. No, he would deal with justice. +How he dealt will be seen presently, but when he finally reached this +conclusion, the clipping from the Pepper County Plainsman had not yet +come before his eyes. + +It is worth relating how the clipping did come before his eyes, for no +one in Ripton had the temerity to speak of it. Primarily, it was because +Miss Victoria Flint had lost a terrier, and secondarily, because she was +a person of strong likes and dislikes. In pursuit of the terrier she +drove madly through Leith, which, as everybody knows, is a famous colony +of rich summer residents. Victoria probably stopped at every house in +Leith, and searched them with characteristic vigour and lack of ceremony, +sometimes entering by the side door, and sometimes by the front, and +caring very little whether the owners were at home or not. Mr. Humphrey +Crewe discovered her in a boa-stall at Wedderburn,--as his place was +called,--for it made little difference to Victoria that Mr. Crewe was a +bachelor of marriageable age and millions. Full, as ever, of practical +suggestions, Mr. Crewe proposed to telephone to Ripton and put an +advertisement in the Record, which--as he happened to know--went to press +the next day. Victoria would not trust to the telephone, whereupon Mr. +Crewe offered to drive down with her. + +"You'd bore me, Humphrey," said she, as she climbed into her runabout +with the father and grandfather of the absentee. Mr. Crewe laughed as +she drove away. He had a chemical quality of turning invidious remarks +into compliments, and he took this one as Victoria's manner of saying +that she did not wish to disturb so important a man. + +Arriving in the hot main street of Ripton, her sharp eyes descried the +Record sign over the drug store, and in an astonishingly short time she +was in the empty office. Mr. Pardriff was at dinner. She sat down in +the editorial chair and read a great deal of uninteresting matter, but at +last found something on the floor (where the wind had blown it) which +made her laugh. It was the account of Austen Vane's difficulty with Mr. +Blodgett. Victoria did not know Austen, but she knew that the Honourable +Hilary had a son of that name who had gone West, and this was what +tickled her. She thrust the clipping in the pocket of her linen coat +just as Mr. Pardriff came in. + +Her conversation with the editor of the Record proved so entertaining +that she forgot all about the clipping until she had reached Fairview, +and had satisfied a somewhat imperious appetite by a combination of lunch +and afternoon tea. Fairview was the "summer place" of Mr. Augustus P. +Flint, her father, on a shelf of the hills in the town of Tunbridge, +equidistant from Leith and Ripton: and Mr. Flint was the president of the +Imperial Railroad, no less. + +Yes, he had once been plain Gus Flint, many years ago, when he used to +fetch the pocket-handkerchiefs of Mr. Isaac D. Worthington of Brampton, +and he was still "Gus" to his friends. Mr. Flint's had been the brain +which had largely conceived and executed the consolidation of +principalities of which the Imperial Railroad was the result and, as +surely as tough metal prevails, Mr. Flint, after many other trials and +errors of weaker stuff, had been elected to the place for which he was so +supremely fitted. We are so used in America to these tremendous rises +that a paragraph will suffice to place Mr. Flint in his Aladdin's palace. +To do him justice, he cared not a fig for the palace, and he would have +been content with the farmhouse under the hill where his gardener lived. +You could not fool Mr. Flint on a horse or a farm, and he knew to a dot +what a railroad was worth by travelling over it. Like his governor- +general and dependent, Mr. Hilary Vane, he had married a wife who had +upset all his calculations. The lady discovered Mr. Flint's balance in +the bank, and had proceeded to use it for her own glorification, and the +irony of it all was that he could defend it from everybody else. Mrs. +Flint spent, and Mr. Flint paid the bills; for the first ten years +protestingly, and after that he gave it up and let her go her own gait. + +She had come from the town of Sharon, in another State, through which Mr. +Flint's railroad also ran, and she had been known as the Rose of that +place. She had begun to rise immediately, with the kite-like +adaptability of the American woman for high altitudes, and the leaden +weight of the husband at the end of the tail was as nothing to her. She +had begun it all by the study of people in hotels while Mr. Flint was +closeted with officials and directors. By dint of minute observation and +reasoning powers and unflagging determination she passed rapidly through +several strata, and had made a country place out of her husband's farm in +Tunbridge, so happily and conveniently situated near Leith. In winter +they lived on Fifth Avenue. + +One daughter alone had halted, for a minute period, this progress, and +this daughter was Victoria--named by her mother. Victoria was now +twenty-one, and was not only of another generation, but might almost have +been judged of another race than her parents. The things for which her +mother had striven she took for granted, and thought of them not at all, +and she had by nature that simplicity and astonishing frankness of manner +and speech which was once believed to be an exclusive privilege of +duchesses. + +To return to Fairview. Victoria, after sharing her five o'clock luncheon +with her dogs, went to seek her father, for the purpose (if it must be +told) of asking him for a cheque. Mr. Flint was at Fairview on the +average of two days out of the week during the summer, and then he was +nearly always closeted with a secretary and two stenographers and a long- +distance telephone in two plain little rooms at the back of the house. +And Mr. Hilary Vane was often in consultation with him, as he was on the +present occasion when Victoria flung open the door. At sight of Mr. Vane +she halted suddenly on the threshold, and a gleam of mischief came into +her eye as she thrust her hand into her coat pocket. The two regarded +her with the detached air of men whose thread of thought has been broken. + +"Well, Victoria," said her father, kindly if resignedly, "what is it +now?" + +"Money," replied Victoria, promptly; "I went to Avalon this morning and +bought that horse you said I might have." + +"What horse?" asked Mr. Flint, vaguely. "But never mind. Tell Mr. +Freeman to make out the cheque." + +Mr. Vane glanced at Mr. Flint, and his eyes twinkled. Victoria, who had +long ago discovered the secret of the Honey Dew, knew that he was rolling +it under his tongue and thinking her father a fool for his indulgence. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane?" she said; "Austen's coming home, isn't he?" +She had got this by feminine arts out of Mr. Paul Pardriff, to whom she +had not confided the fact of her possession of the clipping. + +The Honourable Hilary gave a grunt, as he always did when he was +surprised and displeased, as though some one had prodded him with a stick +in a sensitive spot. + +"Your son? Why, Vane, you never told me that," said Mr. Flint. "I +didn't know that you knew him, Victoria." + +"I don't," answered Victoria, "but I'd like to. What did he do to Mr. +Blodgett?" she demanded of Hilary. + +"Mr. Blodgett!" exclaimed that gentleman. "I never heard of him. What's +happened to him?" + +"He will probably recover," she assured him. + +The Honourable Hilary, trying in vain to suppress his agitation, rose to +his feet. + +"I don't know what you're talking about, Victoria," he said, but his +glance was fixed on the clipping in her hand. + +"Haven't you seen it?" she asked, giving it to him. + +He read it in silence, groaned, and handed it to Mr. Flint, who had been +drumming on the table and glancing at Victoria with vague disapproval. +Mr. Flint read it and gave it back to the Honourable Hilary, who groaned +again and looked out of the window. + +"Why do you feel badly about it?" asked Victoria. "I'd be proud of him, +if I were you." + +"Proud of him" echoed Mr. Vane, grimly. "Proud of him!" + +"Victoria, what do you mean?" said Mr. Flint. + +"Why not?" said Victoria. "He's done nothing to make you ashamed. +According to that clipping, he's punished a man who richly deserved to be +punished, and he has the sympathy of an entire county." + +Hilary Vane was not a man to discuss his domestic affliction with +anybody, so he merely grunted and gazed persistently out of the window, +and was not aware of the fact that Victoria made a little face at him as +she left the room. The young are not always impartial judges of the old, +and Victoria had never forgiven him for carrying to her father the news +of an escapade of hers in Ripton. + +As he drove through the silent forest roads on his way homeward that +afternoon, the Honourable Hilary revolved the new and intensely +disagreeable fact in his mind as to how he should treat a prodigal who +had attempted manslaughter and was a fugitive from justice. In the +meantime a tall and spare young man of a red-bronze colour alighted from +the five o'clock express at Ripton and grinned delightedly at the +gentlemen who made the station their headquarters about train time. They +were privately disappointed that the gray felt hat, although broad- +brimmed, was not a sombrero, and the respectable, loose-fitting suit of +clothes was not of buckskin with tassels on the trousers; and likewise +that he came without the cartridge belt and holster which they had +pictured in anticipatory sessions on the baggage-trucks. There could be +no doubt of the warmth of their greeting as they sidled up and seized a +hand somewhat larger than theirs, but the welcome had in it an ingredient +of awe that puzzled the newcomer, who did not hesitate to inquire:-- + +"What's the matter, Ed? Why so ceremonious, Perley?" + +But his eagerness did not permit him to wait for explanations. Grasping +his bag, the only baggage he possessed, he started off at a swinging +stride for Hanover Street, pausing only to shake the hands of the few who +recognized him, unconscious of the wild-fire at his back. Hanover Street +was empty that drowsy summer afternoon, and he stopped under the well- +remembered maples before the house and gazed at it long and tenderly; +even at the windows of that room--open now for the first time in years-- +where he had served so many sentences of imprisonment. Then he went +cautiously around by the side and looked in at the kitchen door. To +other eyes than his Euphrasia might not have seemed a safe person to +embrace, but in a moment he had her locked in his arms and weeping. She +knew nothing as yet of Mr. Blodgett's misfortunes, but if Austen Vane had +depopulated a county it would have made no difference in her affection. + +"My, but you're a man," exclaimed Euphrasia, backing away at last and +staring at him with the only complete approval she had ever accorded to +any human being save one. + +"What did you expect, Phrasie?" + +"Come, and I'll show you your room," she said, in a gutter she could not +hide; "it's got all the same pictures in, your mother's pictures, and the +chair you broke that time when Hilary locked you in. It's mended." + +"Hold on, Phrasie," said Austen, seizing her by the apron-strings, "how +about the Judge?" It was by this title he usually designated his father. + +"What about him?" demanded Euphrasia, sharply. + +"Well, it's his house, for one thing," answered Austen, "and he may +prefer to have that room--empty." + +"Empty! Turn you out? I'd like to see him," cried Euphrasia. "It +wouldn't take me long to leave him high and dry." + +She paused at the sound of wheels, and there was the Honourable Hilary, +across the garden patch, in the act of slipping out of his buggy at the +stable door. In the absence of Luke, the hired man, the chief counsel +for the railroad was wont to put up the horse himself, and he already had +the reins festooned from the bit rings when he felt a heavy, hand on his +shoulder and heard a voice say:-- + +"How are you, Judge?" + +If the truth be told, that voice and that touch threw the Honourable +Hilary's heart out of beat. Many days he had been schooling himself for +this occasion: this very afternoon he had determined his course of +action, which emphatically did not include a fatted calf. And now surged +up a dryad-like memory which had troubled him many a wakeful night, of +startled, appealing eyes that sought his in vain, and of the son she had +left him flinging himself into his arms in the face of chastisement. For +the moment Hilary Vane, under this traitorous influence, was unable to +speak. But he let the hand rest on his shoulder, and at length was able +to pronounce, in a shamefully shaky voice, the name of his son. +Whereupon Austen seized him by the other shoulder and turned him round +and looked into his face. + +"The same old Judge," he said. + +But Hilary was startled, even as Euphrasia had been. Was this strange, +bronzed, quietly humorous young man his son? Hilary even had to raise +his eyes a little; he had forgotten how tall Austen was. Strange +emotions, unbidden and unwelcome, ran riot in his breast; and Hilary +Vane, who made no slips before legislative committees or supreme courts, +actually found himself saying:-- + +"Euphrasia's got your room ready." + +"It's good of you to take me in, Judge," said Austen, patting his +shoulder. And then he began, quite naturally to unbuckle the breechings +and loose the traces, which he did with such deftness and celerity that +he had the horse unharnessed and in the stall in a twinkling, and had +hauled the buggy through the stable door, the Honourable Hilary watching +him the while. He was troubled, but for the life of him could find no +adequate words, who usually had the dictionary at his disposal. + +"Didn't write me why you came home," said the Honourable Hilary, as his +son washed his hands at the spigot. + +"Didn't I? Well, the truth was I wanted to see you again, Judge." + +His father grunted, not with absolute displeasure, but suspiciously. + +"How about Blodgett?" he asked. + +"Blodgett? Have you heard about that? Who told you?" + +"Never mind. You didn't. Nothing in your letter about it." + +"It wasn't worth mentioning," replied Austen. "Tyner and the boys liked +it pretty well, but I didn't think you'd be interested. It was a local +affair." + +"Not interested! Not worth mentioning!" exclaimed the Honourable Hilary, +outraged to discover that his son was modestly deprecating an achievement +instead of defending a crime. "Godfrey! murder ain't worth mentioning, I +presume." + +"Not when it isn't successful," said Austen. "If Blodgett had succeeded, +I guess you'd have heard of it before you did." + +"Do you mean to say this Blodgett tried to kill you?" demanded the +Honourable Hilary. + +"Yes," said his son, "and I've never understood why he didn't. He's a +good deal better shot than I am." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted, and sat down on a bucket and carefully +prepared a piece of Honey Dew. He was surprised and agitated. + +"Then why are you a fugitive from justice if you were acting in self- +defence?" he inquired. + +"Well, you see there were no witnesses, except a Mexican of Blodgett's, +and Blodgett runs the Pepper County machine for the railroad out there. +I'd been wanting to come East and have a look at you for some time, and I +thought I might as well come now." + +"How did this--this affair start?" asked Mr. Vane. + +"Blodgett was driving in some of Tyner's calves, and I caught him. I +told him what I thought of him, and he shot at me through his pocket. +That was all." + +"All! You shot him, didn't you?" + +"I was lucky enough to hit him first," said Austen. + +Extraordinary as it may seem, the Honourable Hilary experienced a sense +of pride. + +"Where did you hit him?" he asked. + +It was Euphrasia who took matters in her own hands and killed the fatted +calf, and the meal to which they presently sat down was very different +from the frugal suppers Mr. Vane usually had. But he made no comment. +It is perhaps not too much to say that he would have been distinctly +disappointed had it been otherwise. There was Austen's favourite pie, +and Austen's favourite cake, all inherited from the Austens, who had +thought more of the fleshpots than people should. And the prodigal did +full justice to the occasion. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CONCERNING THE PRACTICE OF LAW + +So instinctively do we hark back to the primeval man that there was a +tendency to lionize the prodigal in Ripton, which proves the finished +civilization of the East not to be so far removed from that land of +outlaws, Pepper County. Mr. Paul Pardriff, who had a guilty conscience +about the clipping, and vividly bearing in mind Mr. Blodgett's mishap, +alone avoided young Mr. Vane; and escaped through the type-setting room +and down an outside stairway in the rear when that gentleman called. It +gave an ironical turn to the incident that Mr. Pardriff was at the moment +engaged in a "Welcome Home" paragraph meant to be propitiatory. + +Austen cared very little for lionizing. He spent most of his time with +young Tom Gaylord, now his father's right-hand man in a tremendous lumber +business. And Tom, albeit he had become so important, habitually fell +once more under the domination of the hero of his youthful days. +Together these two visited haunts of their boyhood, camping and fishing +and scaling mountains, Tom with an eye to lumbering prospects the while. + +After a matter of two or three months bad passed away in this pleasant +though unprofitable manner, the Honourable Hilary requested the presence +of his son one morning at his office. This office was in what had once +been a large residence, and from its ample windows you could look out +through the elms on to the square. Old-fashioned bookcases lined with +musty books filled the walls, except where a steel engraving of a legal +light or a railroad map of the State was hung, and the Honourable Hilary +sat in a Windsor chair at a mahogany table in the middle. + +The anteroom next door, where the clerks sat, was also a waiting-room for +various individuals from the different parts of the State who continually +sought the counsel's presence. + +"Haven't seen much of you since you've be'n home, Austen," his father +remarked as an opening. + +"Your--legal business compels you to travel a great deal," answered +Austen, turning from the window and smiling. + +"Somewhat," said the Honourable Hilary, on whom this pleasantry was not +lost. "You've be'n travelling on the lumber business, I take it." + +"I know more about it than I did," his son admitted. + +The Honourable Hilary grunted. + +"Caught a good many fish, haven't you?" + +Austen crossed the room and sat on the edge of the desk beside his +father's chair. + +"See here, Judge," he said, "what are you driving at? Out with it." + +"When are you--going back West?" asked Mr. Vane. + +Austen did not answer at once, but looked down into his father's +inscrutable face. + +"Do you want to get rid of me?" he said. + +"Sowed enough wild oats, haven't you?" inquired the father. + +"I've sowed a good many," Austen admitted. + +"Why not settle down?" + +"I haven't yet met the lady, Judge," replied his son. + +"Couldn't support her if you had," said Mr. Vane. + +"Then it's fortunate," said Austen, resolved not to be the necessary +second in a quarrel. He knew his father, and perceived that these +preliminary and caustic openings of his were really olive branches. + +"Sometimes I think you might as well be in that outlandish country, for +all I see of you," said the Honourable Hilary. + +"You ought to retire from business and try fishing," his son suggested. + +The Honourable Hilary sometimes smiled. + +"You've got a good brain, Austen, and what's the use of wasting it +chasing cattle and practising with a pistol on your fellow-beings? You +won't have much trouble in getting admitted to the bar. Come into the +office." + +Austen did not answer at once. He suspected that it had cost his father +not a little to make these advances. + +"Do you believe you and I could get along, Judge? How long do you think +it would last?" + +"I've considered that some," answered the Honourable Hilary, "but I won't +last a great while longer myself." + +"You're as sound as a bronco," declared Austen, patting him. + +"I never was what you might call dissipated," agreed Mr. Vane, "but men +don't go on forever. I've worked hard all my life, and got where I am, +and I've always thought I'd like to hand it on to you. It's a position +of honour and trust, Austen, and one of which any lawyer might be proud." + +"My ambition hasn't run in exactly that channel," said his son. + +"Didn't know as you had any precise ambition," responded the Honourable +Hilary, "but I never heard of a man refusing to be chief counsel for a +great railroad. I don't say you can be, mind, but I say with work and +brains it's as easy for the son of Hilary Vane as for anybody else." + +"I don't know much about the duties of such a position," said Austen, +laughing, "but at all events I shall have time to make up my mind how to +answer Mr. Flint when he comes to me with the proposal. To speak +frankly, Judge, I hadn't thought of spending the whole of what might +otherwise prove a brilliant life in Ripton." + +The Honourable Hilary smiled again, and then he grunted. + +"I tell you what I'll do," he said; "you come in with me and agree to +stay five years. If you've done well for yourself, and want to go to New +York or some large place at the end of that time, I won't hinder you. +But I feel it my duty to say, if you don't accept my offer, no son of +mine shall inherit what I've laid up by hard labour. It's against +American doctrine, and it's against my principles. You can go back to +Pepper County and get put in jail, but you can't say I haven't warned you +fairly." + +"You ought to leave your fortune to the railroad, Judge," said Austen. +"Generations to come would bless your name if you put up a new station in +Ripton and built bridges over Bunker Hill grade crossing and the other +one on Heath Street where Nic Adams was killed last month. I shouldn't +begrudge a cent of the money." + +"I suppose I was a fool to talk to you," said the Honourable Hilary, +getting up. + +But his son pushed him down again into the Windsor chair. + +"Hold on, Judge," he said, "that was just my way of saying if I accepted +your offer, it wouldn't be because I yearned after the money. Thinking +of it has never kept me awake nights. Now if you'll allow me to take a +few days once in a while to let off steam, I'll make a counter proposal, +in the nature of a compromise." + +"What's that?" the Honourable Hilary demanded suspiciously. + +"Provided I get admitted to the bar I will take a room in another part of +this building and pick up what crumbs of practice I can by myself. Of +course, sir, I realize that these, if they come at all, will be owing to +the lustre of your name. But I should, before I become Mr. Flint's +right-hand man, like to learn to walk with my own legs." + +The speech pleased the Honourable Hilary, and he put out his hand. + +"It's a bargain, Austen," he said. + +"I don't mind telling you now, Judge, that when I left the West I left it +for good, provided you and I could live within a decent proximity. And I +ought to add that I always intended going into the law after I'd had a +fling. It isn't fair to leave you with the impression that this is a +sudden determination. Prodigals don't become good as quick as all that." + +Ripton caught its breath a second time the day Austen hired a law office, +nor did the surprise wholly cease when, in one season, he was admitted to +the bar, for the proceeding was not in keeping with the habits and +customs of prodigals. Needless to say, the practice did not immediately +begin to pour in, but the little office rarely lacked a visitor, and +sometimes had as many as five or six. There was an irresistible +attraction about that room, and apparently very little law read there, +though sometimes its occupant arose and pushed the visitors into the hall +and locked the door, and opened the window at the top to let the smoke +out. Many of the Honourable Hilary's callers preferred the little room +in the far corridor to the great man's own office. + +These visitors of the elder Mr. Vane's, as has been before hinted, were +not all clients. Without burdening the reader too early with a treatise +on the fabric of a system, suffice it to say that something was +continually going on that was not law; and gentlemen came and went--fat +and thin, sharp-eyed and red-faced--who were neither clients nor lawyers. +These were really secretive gentlemen, though most of them had a hail- +fellow-well-met manner and a hearty greeting, but when they talked to the +Honourable Hilary it was with doors shut, and even then they sat very +close to his ear. Many of them preferred now to wait in Austen's office +instead of the anteroom, and some of them were not so cautious with the +son of Hilary Vane that they did not let drop certain observations to set +him thinking. He had a fanciful if somewhat facetious way of calling +them by feudal titles which made them grin. + +"How is the Duke of Putnam this morning?" he would ask of the gentleman +of whom the Ripton Record would frequently make the following +announcement: "Among the prominent residents of Putnam County in town +this week was the Honourable Brush Bascom." + +The Honourable Brush and many of his associates, barons and earls, albeit +the shrewdest of men, did not know exactly how to take the son of Hilary +Vane. This was true also of the Honourable Hilary himself, who did not +wholly appreciate the humour in Austen's parallel of the feudal system. +Although Austen had set up for himself, there were many ways--not legal-- +in which the son might have been helpful to the father, but the +Honourable Hilary hesitated, for some unformulated reason, to make use of +him; and the consequence was that Mr. Hamilton Tooting and other young +men of a hustling nature in the Honourable Hilary's office found that +Austen's advent did not tend greatly to lighten a certain class of their +labours. In fact, father and son were not much nearer in spirit than +when ode had been in Pepper County and the other in Ripton. Caution and +an instinct which senses obstacles are characteristics of gentlemen in +Mr. Vane's business. + +So two years passed,--years liberally interspersed with expeditions into +the mountains and elsewhere, and nights spent in the company of Tom +Gaylord and others. During this period Austen was more than once +assailed by the temptation to return to the free life of Pepper County, +Mr. Blodgett having completely recovered now, and only desiring vengeance +of a corporal nature. But a bargain was a bargain, and Austen Vane stuck +to his end of it, although he had now begun to realize many aspects of a +situation which he had not before suspected. He had long foreseen, +however, that the time was coming when a serious disagreement with his +father was inevitable. In addition to the difference in temperament, +Hilary Vane belonged to one generation and Austen to another. + +It happened, as do so many incidents which tend to shape a life, by a +seeming chance. It was a Tune evening, and there had been a church +sociable and basket picnic during the day in a grove in the town of +Mercer, some ten miles south of Ripton. The grove was bounded on one +side by the railroad track, and merged into a thick clump of second +growth and alders where there was a diagonal grade crossing. The picnic +was over and the people preparing to go home when they were startled by a +crash, followed by the screaming of brakes as a big engine flew past the +grove and brought a heavy train to a halt some distance down the grade. +The women shrieked and dropped the dishes they were washing, and the men +left their horses standing and ran to the crossing and then stood for the +moment helpless, in horror at the scene which met their eyes. The wagon +of one--of their own congregation was in splinters, a man (a farmer of +the neighbourhood) lying among the alders with what seemed a mortal +injury. Amid the lamentations and cries for some one to go to Mercer +Village for the doctor a young man drove up rapidly and sprang out of a +buggy, trusting to some one to catch his horse, pushed, through the ring +of people, and bent over the wounded farmer. In an instant he had +whipped out a knife, cut a stick from one of the alders, knotted his +handkerchief around the man's leg, ran the stick through the knot, and +twisted the handkerchief until the blood ceased to flow. They watched +him, paralyzed, as the helpless in this world watch the capable, and +before he had finished his task the train crew and some passengers began +to arrive. + +"Have you a doctor aboard, Charley?" the young man asked. + +"No," answered the conductor, who had been addressed; "my God, not one, +Austen." + +"Back up your train," said Austen, "and stop your baggage car here. And +go to the grove," he added to one of the picnickers, "and bring four or +five carriage cushions. And you hold this." + +The man beside him took the tourniquet, as he was bid. Austen Vane drew +a note-book from his pocket. + +"I want this man's name and address," he said, "and the names and +addresses of every person here, quickly." + +He did not lift his voice, but the man who had taken charge of such a +situation was not to be denied. They obeyed him, some eagerly, some +reluctantly, and by that time the train had backed down and the cushions +had arrived. They laid these on the floor of the baggage car and lifted +the man on to them. His name was Zeb Meader, and he was still +insensible. Austen Vane, with a peculiar set look upon his face, sat +beside him all the way into Ripton. He spoke only once, and that was to +tell the conductor to telegraph from Avalon to have the ambulance from +St. Mary's Hospital meet the train at Ripton. + +The next day Hilary Vane, returning from one of his periodical trips to +the northern part of the State, invaded his son's office. + +"What's this they tell me about your saving a man's life?" he asked, +sinking into one of the vacant chairs and regarding Austen with his +twinkling eyes. + +"I don't know what they tell you," Austen answered. "I didn't do +anything but get a tourniquet on his leg and have him put on the train." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted, and continued to regard his son. Then he +cut a piece of Honey Dew. + +"Looks bad, does it?" he said. + +"Well," replied Austen, "it might have been done better. It was bungled. +In a death-trap as cleverly conceived as that crossing, with a down grade +approaching it, they ought to have got the horse too." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted again, and inserted the Honey Dew. He +resolved to ignore the palpable challenge in this remark, which was in +keeping with this new and serious mien in Austen. + +"Get the names of witnesses?" was his next question. + +"I took particular pains to do so." + +"Hand 'em over to Tooting. What kind of man is this Meagre?" + +"He is rather meagre now," said Austen, smiling a little. "His name's +Meader." + +"Is he likely to make a fuss?" + +"I think he is," said Austen. + +"Well," said the Honourable Hilary, "we must have Ham Tooting hurry +'round and fix it up with him as soon as he can talk, before one of these +cormorant lawyers gets his claw in him." + +Austen said nothing, and after some desultory conversation, in which he +knew how to indulge when he wished to conceal the fact that he was +baffled, the Honourable Hilary departed. That student of human nature, +Mr. Hamilton Tooting, a young man of a sporting appearance and a free +vocabulary, made the next attempt. It is a characteristic of Mr. +Tooting's kind that, in their efforts to be genial, they often use an +awkward diminutive of their friends' names. + +"Hello, Aust," said Mr. Tooting, "I dropped in to get those witnesses in +that Meagre accident, before I forget it." + +"I think I'll keep 'em," said Austen, making a note out of the Revised +Statutes. + +"Oh, all right, all right," said Mr. Tooting, biting off a piece of his +cigar. "Going to handle the case yourself, are you?" + +"I may." + +"I'm just as glad to have some of 'em off my hands, and this looks to me +like a nasty one. I don't like those Mercer people. The last farmer +they ran over there raised hell." + +"I shouldn't blame this one if he did, if he ever gets well enough," said +Austen. Young Mr. Tooting paused with a lighted match halfway to his +cigar and looked at Austen shrewdly, and then sat down on the desk very +close to him. + +"Say, Aust, it sometimes sickens a man to have to buy these fellows off. +What? Poor devils, they don't get anything like what they ought to get, +do they? Wait till you see how the Railroad Commission'll whitewash that +case. It makes a man want to be independent. What?" + +"This sounds like virtue, Ham." + +"I've often thought, too," said Mr. Tooting, "that a man could make more +money if he didn't wear the collar." + +"But not sleep as well, perhaps," said Austen. + +"Say, Aust, you're not on the level with me." + +"I hope to reach that exalted plane some day, Ham." + +"What's got into you?" demanded the usually clear-headed Mr. Tooting, now +a little bewildered. + +"Nothing, yet," said Austen, "but I'm thinking seriously of having a +sandwich and a piece of apple pie. Will you come along?" + +They crossed the square together, Mr. Tooting racking a normally fertile +brain for some excuse to reopen the subject. Despairing of that, he +decided that any subject would do. + +"That Humphrey Crewe up at Leith is smart--smart as paint," he remarked. +"Do you know him?" + +"I've seen him," said Austen. "He's a young man, isn't he?" + +"And natty. He knows a thing or two for a millionaire that don't have to +work, and he runs that place of his right up to the handle. You ought to +hear him talk about the tariff, and national politics. I was passing +there the other day, and he was walking around among the flowerbeds. +'Ain't your name Tooting?' he hollered. "I almost fell out of the +buggy." + +"What did he want?" asked Austen, curiously. Mr. Tooting winked. + +"Say, those millionaires are queer, and no mistake. You'd think a fellow +that only had to cut coupons wouldn't be lookin' for another job, +wouldn't you? He made me hitch my horse, and had me into his study, as +he called it, and gave me a big glass of whiskey and soda. A fellow with +buttons and a striped vest brought it on tiptoe. Then this Crewe gave me +a long yellow cigar with a band on it and told me what the State needed,- +-macadam roads, farmers' institutes, forests, and God knows what. I told +him all he had to do was to get permission from old man Flint, and he +could have 'em." + +"What did he say to that?" + +"He said Flint was an intimate friend of his. Then he asked me a whole +raft of questions about fellows in the neighbourhood I didn't know he'd +ever heard of. Say, he wants to go from Leith to the Legislature." + +"He can go for all I care," said Austen, as he pushed open the door of +the restaurant. + +For a few days Mr. Meader hung between life and death. But he came of a +stock which had for generations thrust its roots into the crevices of +granite, and was not easily killed by steam-engines. Austen Vane called +twice, and then made an arrangement with young Dr. Tredway (one of the +numerous Ripton Tredways whose money had founded the hospital) that he +was to see Mr. Meader as soon as he was able to sustain a conversation. +Dr. Tredway, by the way, was a bachelor, and had been Austen's companion +on many a boisterous expedition. + +When Austen, in response to the doctor's telephone message, stood over +the iron bed in the spick-and-span men's ward of St. Mary's, a wave of +that intense feeling he had experienced at the accident swept over him. +The farmer's beard was overgrown, and the eyes looked up at him as from +caverns of suffering below the bandage. They were shrewd eyes, however, +and proved that Mr. Meader had possession of the five senses--nay, of the +six. Austen sat down beside the bed. + +"Dr. Tredway tells me you are getting along finely," he said. + +"No thanks to the railrud," answered Mr. Meader; "they done their best." + +"Did you hear any whistle or any bell?" Austen asked. + +"Not a sound," said Mr. Meader; "they even shut off their steam on that +grade." + +Austen Vane, like most men who are really capable of a deep sympathy, was +not an adept at expressing it verbally. Moreover, he knew enough of his +fellow-men to realize that a Puritan farmer would be suspicious of +sympathy. The man had been near to death himself, was compelled to spend +part of the summer, his bread-earning season, in a hospital, and yet no +appeal or word of complaint had crossed his lips. + +"Mr. Meader," said Austen, "I came over here to tell you that in my +opinion you are entitled to heavy damages from the railroad, and to +advise you not to accept a compromise. They will send some one to you +and offer you a sum far below that which you ought in justice to receive, +You ought to fight this case." + +"How am I going to pay a lawyer, with a mortgage on my farm?" demanded +Mr. Meader. + +"I'm a lawyer," said Austen, "and if you'll take me, I'll defend you +without charge." + +"Ain't you the son of Hilary Vane?" + +"Yes." + +"I've heard of him a good many times," said Mr. Meader, as if to ask what +man had not. "You're railroad, ain't ye?" + +Mr. Meader gazed long and thoughtfully into the young man's face, and the +suspicion gradually faded from the farmer's blue eyes. + +"I like your looks," he said at last. "I guess you saved my life. I'm-- +I'm much obliged to you." + +When Mr. Tooting arrived later in the day, he found Mr. Meader willing to +listen, but otherwise strangely non-committal. With native shrewdness, +the farmer asked him what office he came from, but did not confide in Mr. +Tooting the fact that Mr. Vane's son had volunteered to wring more money +from Mr. Vane's client than Mr. Tooting offered him. Considerably +bewildered, that gentleman left the hospital to report the affair to the +Honourable Hilary, who, at intervals during the afternoon, found himself +relapsing into speculation. + +Inside of a somewhat unpromising shell, Mr. Zeb Meader was a human being, +and no mean judge of men and motives. As his convalescence progressed, +Austen Vane fell into the habit of dropping in from time to time to chat +with him, and gradually was rewarded by many vivid character sketches of +Mr. Meader's neighbours in Mercer and its vicinity. One afternoon, when +Austen came into the ward, he found at Mr. Meader's bedside a basket of +fruit which looked too expensive and tempting to have come from any +dealer's in Ripton. + +"A lady came with that," Mr. Meader explained. "I never was popular +before I was run over by the cars. She's be'n here twice. When she +fetched it to-day, I kind of thought she was up to some, game, and I +didn't want to take it." + +"Up to some game?" repeated Austen. + +"Well, I don't know," continued Mr. Meader, thoughtfully, "the woman here +tells me she comes regular in the summer time to see sick folks, but from +the way she made up to me I had an idea that she wanted something. But l +don't know. Thought I'd ask you. You see, she's railrud." + +"Railroad!" + +"She's Flint's daughter." + +Austen laughed. + +"I shouldn't worry about that," he said. "If Mr. Flint sent his daughter +with fruit to everybody his railroad injures, she wouldn't have time to +do anything else. I doubt if Mr. Flint ever heard of your case." + +Mr. Meader considered this, and calculated there was something in it. + +"She was a nice, common young lady, and cussed if she didn't make me +laugh, she has such a funny way of talkin'. She wanted to know all about +you." + +"What did she want to know?" Austen exclaimed, not unnaturally. + +"Well, she wanted to know about the accident, and I told her how you druv +up and screwed that thing around my leg and backed the train down. She +was a good deal took with that." + +"I think you are inclined to make too much of it," said Austen. + +Three days later, as he was about to enter the ward, Mr. Meader being now +the only invalid there, he heard a sound which made him pause in the +doorway. The sound was feminine laughter of a musical quality that +struck pleasantly on Austen's ear. Miss Victoria Flint was sated beside +Mr. Meader's bed, and qualified friendship had evidently been replaced by +intimacy since Austen's last visit, for Mr. Meader was laughing, too. + +"And now I'm quite sure you have missed your vocation, Mr. Meader," said +Victoria. "You would have made a fortune on the stage." + +"Me a play-actor!" exclaimed the invalid. "How much wages do they git?" + +"Untold sums," she declared, "if they can talk like you." + +"He kind of thought that story funny--same as you," Mr. Meader ruminated, +and glanced up. "Drat me," he remarked, "if he ain't a-comin' now! +I callated he'd run acrost you sometime." + +Victoria raised her eyes, sparkling with humour, and they met Austen's. + +"We was just talkin' about you," cried Mr. Meader, cordially; "come right +in." He turned to Victoria. "I want to make you acquainted," he said, +"with Austen Vane." + +"And won't you tell him who I am, Mr. Meader?" said Victoria. + +"Well," said Mr. Meader, apologetically, "that was stupid of me--wahn't +it? But I callated he'd know. She's the daughter of the railrud +president--the 'one that was askin' about you." + +There was an instant's pause, and the colour stole into Victoria's +cheeks. Then she glanced at Austen and bit her lip-and laughed. Her +laughter was contagious. + +"I suppose I shall have to confess that you have inspired my curiosity, +Mr. Vane," she said. + +Austen's face was sunburned, but it flushed a more vivid red under the +tan. It is needless to pretend that a man of his appearance and +qualities had reached the age of thirty-two without having listened to +feminine comments of which he was the exclusive subject. In this remark +of Victoria's, or rather in the manner in which she made it, he +recognized a difference. + +"It is a tribute, then, to the histrionic talents of Mr. Meader, of which +you were speaking," he replied laughingly. + +Victoria glanced at him with interest as he looked down at Mr. Meader. + +"And how is it to-day, Zeb?" he said. + +"It ain't so bad as it might be--with sech folks as her and you araound," +admitted Mr. Meader. "I'd almost agree to get run over again. She was +askin' about you, and that's a fact, and I didn't slander you, neither. +But I never callated to comprehend wimmen-folks." + +"Now, Mr. Meader," said Victoria, reprovingly, but there were little +creases about her eyes, "don't be a fraud." + +"It's true as gospel," declared the invalid; "they always got the better +of me. I had one of 'em after me once, when I was young and prosperin' +some." + +"And yet you have survived triumphant," she exclaimed. + +"There wahn't none of 'em like you," said Mr. Meader, "or it might have +be'n different." + +Again her eyes irresistibly sought Austen's,--as though to share with him +the humour of this remark,--and they laughed together. Her colour, so +sensitive, rose again, but less perceptibly this time. Then she got up. + +"That's unfair, Mr. Meader!" she protested. + +"I'll leave it to Austen," said Mr. Meader, "if it ain't probable. He'd +ought to know." + +In spite of a somewhat natural embarrassment, Austen could not but +acknowledge to himself that Mr. Meader was right. With a womanly +movement which he thought infinitely graceful, Victoria leaned over the +bed. + +"Mr. Meader," she said, "I'm beginning to think it's dangerous for me to +come here twice a week to see you, if you talk this way. And I'm not a +bit surprised that that woman didn't get the better of you." + +"You hain't a-goin'!" he exclaimed. "Why, I callated--" + +"Good-by," she said quickly; "I'm glad to see that you are doing so +well." She raised her head and looked at Austen in a curious, +inscrutable way. "Good-by, Mr. Vane," she said; "I--I hope Mr. Blodgett +has recovered." + +Before he could reply she had vanished, and he was staring at the empty +doorway. The reference to the unfortunate Mr. Blodgett, after taking his +breath away, aroused in him an intense curiosity betraying, as it did, a +certain knowledge of past events in his life in the hitherto unknown +daughter of Augustus interest could she have in him? Such a Flint. What +question, from similar sources, has heightened the pulse of young men +from time immemorial. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"TIMEO DANAOS" + +The proverbial little birds that carry news and prophecies through the +air were evidently responsible for an official-looking letter which +Austen received a few mornings later. On the letter-head was printed +"The United Northeastern Railroads," and Mr. Austen Vane was informed +that, by direction of the president, the enclosed was sent to him in an +entirely complimentary sense. "The enclosed" was a ticket of red +cardboard, and its face informed him that he might travel free for the +rest of the year. Thoughtfully turning it over, he read on the back the +following inscription:-- + +"It is understood that this pass is accepted by its recipient as a +retainer." + +Austen stared at it and whistled. Then he pushed back his chair, with +the pass in his hand, and hesitated. He seized a pen and wrote a few +lines: "Dear sir, I beg to return the annual pass over the Northeastern +Railroads with which you have so kindly honoured me"--when he suddenly +changed his mind again, rose, and made his way through the corridors to +his father's office. The Honourable Hilary was absorbed in his daily +perusal of the Guardian. + +"Judge," he asked, "is Mr. Flint up at his place this week?" + +The Honourable Hilary coughed. + +"He arrived yesterday on the three. Er--why?" + +"I wanted to go up and thank him for this," his son answered, holding up +the red piece of cardboard. "Mr. Flint is a very thoughtful man." + +The Honourable Hilary tried to look unconcerned, and succeeded. + +"Sent you an annual, has he? Er--I don't know as I'd bother him +personally, Austen. Just a pleasant note of acknowledgment." + +"I don't flatter myself that my achievements in the law can be +responsible for it," said Austen. "The favour must be due to my +relationship with his eminent chief counsel." + +Hilary Vane's keen eyes rested on his son for an instant. Austen was +more than ever an enigma to him. + +"I guess relationship hasn't got much to do with business," he replied. +"You have be'n doing--er--better than I expected." + +"Thank you, Judge," said Austen, quietly. "I don't mind saying that I +would rather have your approbation than--this more substantial +recognition of merit." + +The Honourable Hilary's business was to deal with men, and by reason of +his ability in so doing he had made a success in life. He could judge +motives more than passably well, and play upon weaknesses. But he left +Austen's presence that morning vaguely uneasy, with a sense of having +received from his own son an initial defeat at a game of which he was a +master. Under the excuse of looking up some precedents, he locked his +doors to all comers for two hours, and paced his room. At one moment he +reproached himself for not having been frank; for not having told Austen +roundly that this squeamishness about a pass was unworthy of a strong man +of affairs; yes, for not having revealed to him the mysteries of railroad +practice from the beginning. But frankness was not an ingredient of the +Honourable Hilary's nature, and Austen was not the kind of man who would +accept a hint and a wink. Hilary Vane had formless forebodings, and +found himself for once in his life powerless to act. + +The cost of living in Ripton was not so high that Austen Vane could not +afford to keep a horse and buggy. The horse, which he tended himself, +was appropriately called Pepper; Austen had found him in the hills, and +he was easily the finest animal in Ripton: so good, in fact, that Mr. +Humphrey Crewe (who believed he had an eye for horses) had peremptorily +hailed Austen from a motorcar and demanded the price, as was Mr. Crewe's +wont when he saw a thing he desired. He had been somewhat surprised and +not inconsiderably offended by the brevity and force of the answer which +he had received. + +On the afternoon of the summer's day in which Austen had the conversation +with his father just related, Pepper was trotting at a round clip through +the soft and shady wood roads toward the town of Tunbridge; the word +"town" being used in the New England sense, as a piece of territory about +six miles by six. The fact that automobiles full of laughing people from +Leith hummed by occasionally made no apparent difference to Pepper, who +knew only the master hand on the reins; the reality that the wood roads +were climbing great hills the horse did not seem to feel. Pepper knew +every lane and by-path within twenty miles of Ripton, and exhibited such +surprise as a well-bred horse may when he was slowed down at length and +turned into a hard, blue-stone driveway under a strange granite arch with +the word "Fairview" cut in Gothic letters above it, and two great lamps +in wrought-iron brackets at the sides. It was Austen who made a note of +the gratings over the drains, and of the acres of orderly forest in a +mysterious and seemingly enchanted realm. Intimacy with domains was new +to him, and he began to experience an involuntary feeling of restraint +which was new to him likewise, and made him chafe in spite of himself. +The estate seemed to be the visible semblance of a power which troubled +him. + +Shortly after passing an avenue neatly labelled "Trade's Drive" the road +wound upwards through a ravine the sides of which were covered with a +dense shrubbery which had the air of having always been there, and yet +somehow looked expensive. At the top of the ravine was a sharp curve; +and Austen, drawing breath, found himself swung, as it were, into space, +looking off across miles of forest-covered lowlands to an ultramarine +mountain in the hazy south,--Sawanec. As if in obedience to a telepathic +command of his master, Pepper stopped. + +Drinking his fill of this scene, Austen forgot an errand which was not +only disagreeable, but required some fortitude for its accomplishment. +The son had this in common with the Honourable Hilary--he hated heroics; +and the fact that the thing smacked of heroics was Austen's only +deterrent. And then there was a woman in this paradise! These gradual +insinuations into his revery at length made him turn. A straight avenue +of pear-shaped, fifteen-year-old maples led to the house, a massive +colonial structure of wood that stretched across the shelf; and he had +tightened the reins and started courageously up the avenue when he +perceived that it ended in a circle on which there was no sign of a +hitching-post. And, worse than this, on the balconied, uncovered porch +which he would have to traverse to reach the doorway he saw the sheen and +glimmer of women's gowns grouped about wicker tables, and became aware +that his approach was the sole object of the scrutiny of an afternoon tea +party. + +As he reached the circle it was a slight relief to learn that Pepper was +the attraction. No horse knew better than Pepper when he was being +admired, and he arched his neck and lifted his feet and danced in the +sheer exhilaration of it. A smooth-faced, red-cheeked gentleman in gray +flannels leaned over the balustrade and made audible comments in a +penetrating voice which betrayed the fact that he was Mr. Humphrey Crewe. + +"Saw him on the street in Ripton last year. Good hock action, hasn't +he?--that's rare in trotters around here. Tried to buy him. Feller +wouldn't sell. His name's Vane--he's drivin' him now." + +A lady of a somewhat commanding presence was beside him. She was perhaps +five and forty, her iron-gray hair was dressed to perfection, her figure +all that Parisian art could make it, and she was regarding Austen with +extreme deliberation through the glasses which she had raised to a high- +bridged nose. + +"Politics is certainly your career, Humphrey," she remarked, "you have +such a wonderful memory for faces. I don't see how he does it, do you, +Alice?" she demanded of a tall girl beside her, who was evidently her +daughter, but lacked her personality. + +"I don't know," said Alice. + +"It's because I've been here longer than anybody else, Mrs. Pomfret," +answered Mr. Crewe, not very graciously, "that's all. Hello." This last +to Austen. + +"Hello," said Austen. + +"Who do you want to see?" inquired Mr. Crewe, with the admirable tact for +which he was noted. + +Austen looked at him for the first time. + +"Anybody who will hold my horse," he answered quietly. + +By this time the conversation had drawn the attention of the others at +the tables, and one or two smiled at Austen's answer. Mrs. Flint, with a +"Who is it?" arose to repel a social intrusion. She was an overdressed +lady, inclining to embonpoint, but traces of the Rose of Sharon were +still visible. + +"Why don't you drive 'round to the stables?" suggested Mr. Crewe, unaware +of a smile. + +Austen did not answer. He was, in fact, looking towards the doorway, and +the group on the porch were surprised to see a gleam of mirthful +understanding start in his eyes. An answering gleam was in Victoria's, +who had at that moment, by a singular coincidence, come out of the house. +She came directly down the steps and out on the gravel, and held her hand +to him in the buggy, and he flushed with pleasure as he grasped it. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane?" she said. "I am so glad you have called. +Humphrey, just push the stable button, will you?" + +Mr. Crewe obeyed with no very good grace, while the tea-party went back +to their seats. Mrs. Flint supposed he had come to sell Victoria the +horse; while Mrs. Pomfret, who had taken him in from crown to boots, +remarked that he looked very much like a gentleman. + +"I came to see your father for a few moments--on business," Austen +explained. + +She lifted her face to his with a second searching look. + +"I'll take you to him," she said. + +By this time a nimble groom had appeared from out o a shrubbery path and +seized Pepper's head. Austen alighted and followed Victoria into a +great, cool hallway, and through two darkened rooms, bewilderingly +furnished and laden with the scent of flowers, into a narrow passage +beyond. She led the way simply, not speaking, and her silence seemed to +betoken the completeness of an understanding between them, as of a long +acquaintance. + +In a plain white-washed room, behind a plain oaken desk, sat Mr. Flint--a +plain man. Austen thought he would have known him had he seen him on the +street. The other things in the room were letter-files, a safe, a long- +distance telephone, and a thin private secretary with a bend in his back. +Mr. Flint looked up from his desk, and his face, previously bereft of +illumination, lighted when he saw his daughter. Austen liked that in +him. + +"Well, Vic, what is it now?" he asked. + +"Mr. Austen Vane to see you," said Victoria, and with a quick glance at +Austen she left him standing on the threshold. Mr. Flint rose. His eyes +were deep-set in a square, hard head, and he appeared to be taking Austen +in without directly looking at him; likewise, one felt that Mr. Flint's +handshake was not an absolute gift of his soul. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane? I don't remember ever to have had the pleasure +of seeing you, although your father and I have been intimately connected +for many years." + +So the president's manner was hearty, but not the substance. It came, +Austen thought, from a rarity of meeting with men on a disinterested +footing; and he could not but wonder how Mr. Flint would treat the angels +in heaven if he ever got there, where there were no franchises to be had. +Would he suspect them of designs upon his hard won harp and halo? Austen +did not dislike Mr. Flint; the man's rise, his achievements, his +affection for his daughter, he remembered. But he was also well aware +that Mr. Flint had thrown upon him the onus of the first move in a game +which the railroad president was used to playing every day. The dragon +was on his home ground and had the choice of weapons. + +"I do not wish to bother you long," said Austen. + +"No bother," answered Mr. Flint, "no bother to make the acquaintance of +the son of my old friend, Hilary Vane. Sit down--sit down. And while I +don't believe any man should depend upon his father to launch him in the +world, yet it must be a great satisfaction to you, Mr. Vane, to have such +a father. Hilary Vane and I have been intimately associated for many +years, and my admiration for him has increased with every year. It is to +men of his type that the prosperity, the greatness, of this nation is +largely due,--conservative, upright, able, content to confine himself to +the difficult work for which he is so eminently fitted, without +spectacular meddling in things in which he can have no concern. +Therefore I welcome the opportunity to know you, sir, for I understand +that you have settled down to follow in his footsteps and that you will +make a name for yourself. I know the independence of young men--I was +young once myself. But after all, Mr. Vane, experience is the great +teacher, and perhaps there is some little advice which an old man can +give you that may be of service. As your father's son, it is always at +your disposal. Have a cigar." + +The thin secretary continued to flit about the room, between the letter- +files and the desk. Austen had found it infinitely easier to shoot Mr. +Blodgett than to engage in a duel with the president of the United +Railroad. + +"I smoke a pipe," he said. + +"Too many young men smoke cigars--and those disgusting cigarettes," said +Mr. Flint, with conviction. "There are a lot of worthless young men in +these days, anyhow. They come to my house and loaf and drink and smoke, +and talk a lot of nonsense about games and automobiles and clubs, and +cumber the earth generally. There's a young man named Crewe over at +Leith, for instance--you may have seen him. Not that he's dissipated-- +but he don't do anything but talk about railroads and the stock market to +make you sick, and don't know any more about 'em than my farmer." + +During this diatribe Austen saw his opening growing smaller and smaller. +If he did not make a dash for it, it would soon be closed entirely. + +"I received a letter this morning, Mr. Flint, enclosing me an annual +pass--" + +"Did Upjohn send you one?" Mr. Flint cut in; "he ought to have done so +long ago. It was probably an oversight that he did not, Mr. Vane. We +try to extend the courtesies of the road to persons who are looked up to +in their communities. The son of Hilary Vane is at all times welcome to +one." + +Mr. Flint paused to light his cigar, and Austen summoned his resolution. +Second by second it was becoming more and more difficult and seemingly +more ungracious to return a gift so graciously given, a gift of no +inconsiderable intrinsic value. Moreover, Mr. Flint had ingeniously +contrived almost to make the act, in Austen's eyes, that of a picayune +upstart. Who was he to fling back an annual pass in the face of the +president of the Northeastern Railroads? + +"I had first thought of writing you a letter, Mr. Flint," he said, "but +it seemed to me that, considering your relations with my father, the +proper thing to do was to come to you and tell you why I cannot take the +pass." + +The thin secretary paused in his filing, and remained motionless with his +body bent over the drawer. + +"Why you cannot take it, Mr. Vane?" said the railroad president. "I'm +afraid I don't understand." + +"I appreciate the--the kindness," said Austen, "and I will try to +explain." He drew the red cardboard from his pocket and turned it over. +"On the back of this is printed, in small letters, 'It is understood that +this pass is accepted by the recipient as a retainer.'" + +"Well," Mr. Flint interrupted, smiling somewhat blandly, "how much money +do you think that pass would save an active young lawyer in a year? Is +three hundred dollars too much? Three hundred dollars is not an +insignificant sum to a young man on the threshold of his practice, is +it?" + +Austen looked at Mr. Flint. + +"Any sum is insignificant when it restricts a lawyer from the acceptance +of just causes, Mr. Flint. As I understand the matter, it is the custom +of your railroad to send these passes to the young lawyers of the State +the moment they begin to give signs of ability. This past would prevent +me from serving clients who might have righteous claims against your +railroads, and--permit me to speak frankly--in my opinion the practice +tends to make it difficult for poor people who have been injured to get +efficient lawyers." + +"Your own father is retained by the railroad," said Mr. Flint. + +"As their counsel," answered Austen. "I have a pride in my profession, +Mr. Flint, as no doubt you have in yours. If I should ever acquire +sufficient eminence to be sought as counsel for a railroad, I should make +my own terms with it. I should not allow its management alone to decide +upon the value of my retainer, and my services in its behalf would be +confined strictly to professional ones." + +Mr. Flint drummed on the table. + +"What do you mean by that?" he demanded. + +"I mean that I would not engage, for a fee or a pass, to fight the +political battles of a railroad, or undertake any political manipulation +in its behalf whatever." + +Mr. Flint leaned forward aggressively. + +"How long do you think a railroad would pay dividends if it did not adopt +some means of defending itself from the blackmail politician of the State +legislatures, Mr. Vane? The railroads of which I have the honour to be +president pay a heavy tag in this and other States. We would pay a much +heavier one if we didn't take precautions to protect ourselves. But I do +not intend to quarrel with you, Mr. Vane," he continued quickly, +perceiving that Austen was about to answer him, "nor do I wish to leave +you with the impression that the Northeastern Railroads meddle unduly in +politics." + +Austen knew not how to answer. He had not gone there to discuss this +last and really great question with Mr. Flint, but he wondered whether +the president actually thought him the fledgling he proclaimed. Austen +laid his pass on Mr. Flint's desk, and rose. + +"I assure you, Mr. Flint, that the spirit which prompted my visit was not +a contentious one. I cannot accept the pass, simply because I do not +wish to be retained." + +Mr. Flint eyed him. There was a mark of dignity, of silent power, on +this tall scapegrace of a son of Hilary Vane that the railroad president +had missed at first--probably because he had looked only for the +scapegrace. Mr. Flint ardently desired to treat the matter in the +trifling aspect in which he believed he saw it, to carry it off genially. +But an instinct not yet formulated told the president that he was face to +face with an enemy whose potential powers were not to be despised, and he +bristled in spite of himself. + +"There is no statute I know of by which a lawyer can be compelled to +accept a retainer against his will, Mr. Vane," he replied, and overcame +himself with an effort. "But I hope that you will permit me," he added +in another tone, "as an old friend of your father's and as a man of some +little experience in the world, to remark that intolerance is a +characteristic of youth. I had it in the days of Mr. Isaac D. +Worthington, whom you do not remember. I am not addicted to flattery, +but I hope and believe you have a career before you. Talk to your +father. Study the question on both sides,--from the point of view of men +who are honestly trying, in the face of tremendous difficulties, to +protect innocent stockholders as well as to conduct a corporation in the +interests of the people at large, and for their general prosperity. Be +charitable, young man, and judge not hastily." + +Years before, when poor Sarah Austen had adorned the end of his table, +Hilary Vane had raised his head after the pronouncement of grace to +surprise a look in his wife's eyes which strangely threw him into a white +heat of anger. That look (and he at intervals had beheld it afterwards) +was the true presentment of the soul of the woman whose body was his. It +was not--as Hilary Vane thought it--a contempt for the practice of +thanking one's Maker for daily bread, but a contempt for cant of one who +sees the humour in cant. A masculine version of that look Mr. Flint now +beheld in the eyes of Austen Vane, and the enraging effect on the +president of the United Railroads was much the same as it had been on his +chief counsel. Who was this young man of three and thirty to agitate him +so? He trembled, though not visibly, yet took Austen's hand +mechanically. + +"Good day, Mr. Vane," he said; "Mr. Freeman will help you to find your +horse." + +The thin secretary bowed, and before he reached the door into the passage +Mr. Flint had opened another at the back of the room and stepped out on a +close-cropped lawn flooded with afternoon sunlight. In the passage +Austen perceived a chair, and in the chair was seated patiently none +other than Mr. Brush Bascom--political Duke of Putnam. Mr. Bascom's +little agate eyes glittered in the dim light. + +"Hello, Austen," he said, "since when have you took to comin' here?" + +"It's a longer trip from Putnam than from Ripton, Brush," said Austen, +and passed on, leaving Mr. Bascom with a puzzled mind. Something very +like a smile passed over Mr. Freeman's face as he led the way silently +out of a side entrance and around the house. The circle of the drive was +empty, the tea-party had gone--and Victoria. Austen assured himself that +her disappearance relieved him: having virtually quarrelled with her +father, conversation would have been awkward; and yet he looked for her. + +They found the buggy and Pepper in the paved courtyard of the stables. +As Austen took the reins the secretary looked up at him, his mild blue +eyes burning with an unsuspected fire. He held out his hand. + +"I want to congratulate you," he said. + +"What for?" asked Austen, taking the hand in some embarrassment. + +"For speaking like a man," said the secretary, and he turned on his heel +and left him. + +This strange action, capping, as it did, a stranger experience, gave +Austen food for thought as he let Pepper take his own pace down the +trade's road. Presently he got back into the main drive where it clung +to a steep, forest-covered side hill, when his attention was distracted +by the sight of a straight figure in white descending amidst the foliage +ahead. His instinctive action was to pull Pepper down to a walk, +scarcely analyzing his motives; then he had time, before reaching the +spot where their paths would cross, to consider and characteristically to +enjoy the unpropitious elements arrayed against a friendship with +Victoria Flint. + +She halted on a flagstone of the descending path some six feet above the +roadway, and stood expectant. The Rose of Sharon, five and twenty years +before, would have been coy--would have made believe to have done it by +accident. But the Rose of Sharon, with all her beauty, would have had no +attraction for Austen Vane. Victoria had much of her mother's good +looks, the figure of a Diana, and her clothes were of a severity and +correctness in keeping with her style; they merely added to the sum total +of the effect upon Austen. Of course he stopped the buggy immediately +beneath her, and her first question left him without any breath. No +woman he had ever known seized the essentials as she did. + +"What have you been doing to my father?" she asked. + +"Why?" exclaimed Austen. + +"Because he's in such a bad temper," said Victoria. "You must have put +him in it. It can't be possible that you came all the way up here to +quarrel with him. Nobody ever dares to quarrel with him." + +"I didn't come up to quarrel with him," said Austen. + +"What's the trouble?" asked Victoria. + +The humour of this question was too much for him, and he laughed. +Victoria's eyes laughed a little, but there was a pucker in her forehead. + +"Won't you tell me?" she demanded, "or must I get it out of him?" + +"I am afraid," said Austen, slowly, "that you must get it out of him--if +he hasn't forgotten it." + +"Forgotten it, dear old soul!" cried Victoria. "I met him just now and +tried to make him look at the new Guernseys, and he must have been +disturbed quite a good deal when he's cross as a bear to me. He really +oughtn't to be upset like that, Mr. Vane, when he comes up here to rest. +I am afraid that you are rather a terrible person, although you look so +nice. Won't you tell me what you did to him?" + +Austen was non-plussed. + +"Nothing intentional," he answered earnestly, "but it wouldn't be fair to +your father if I gave you my version of a business conversation that +passed between us, would it?" + +"Perhaps not," said Victoria. She sat down on the flagstone with her +elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, and looked at him +thoughtfully. He knew well enough that a wise general would have +retreated--horse, foot, and baggage; but Pepper did not stir. + +"Do you know," said Victoria, "I have an idea you came up here about Zeb +Meader." + +"Zeb Meader!" + +"Yes. I told my father about him,--how you rescued him, and how you went +to see him in the hospital, and what a good man he is, and how poor." + +"Oh, did you!" exclaimed Austen. + +"Yes. And I told him the accident wasn't Zeb's fault, that the train +didn't whistle or ring, and that the crossing was a blind one." + +"And what did he say?" asked Austen, curiously. + +"He said that on a railroad as big as his something of the kind must +happen occasionally. And he told me if Zeb didn't make a fuss and act +foolishly, he would have no cause to regret it." + +"And did you tell Zeb?" asked Austen. + +"Yes," Victoria admitted, "but I'm sorry I did, now." + +"What did Zeb say?" + +Victoria laughed in spite of herself, and gave a more or less exact +though kindly imitation of Mr. Meader's manner. + +"He said that wimmen-folks had better stick to the needle and the duster, +and not go pokin' about law business that didn't concern 'em. But the +worst of it was," added Victoria, with some distress, "he won't accept +any more fruit. Isn't he silly? He won't get it into his head that I +give him the fruit, and not my father. I suspect that he actually +believes my father sent me down there to tell him that." + +Austen was silent, for the true significance of this apparently obscure +damage case to the Northeastern Railroads was beginning to dawn on him. +The public was not in the best of humours towards railroads: there was +trouble about grade crossings, and Mr. Meader's mishap and the manner of +his rescue by the son of the corporation counsel had given the accident a +deplorable publicity. Moreover, if it had dawned on Augustus Flint that +the son of Hilary Vane might prosecute the suit, it was worth while +taking a little pains with Mr. Meader and Mr. Austen Vane. Certain small +fires have been known to light world-wide conflagrations. + +"What are you thinking about?" asked Victoria. "It isn't at all polite +to forget the person you are talking to." + +"I haven't forgotten you," said Austen, with a smile. How could he-- +sitting under her in this manner? + +"Besides," said Victoria, mollified, "you haven't an answered my +question." + +"Which question?" + +She scrutinized him thoughtfully, and with feminine art made the kind of +an attack that rarely fails. + +"Why are you such an enigma, Mr. Vane?" she demanded. "Is it because +you're a lawyer, or because you've been out West and seen so much of life +and shot so many people?" + +Austen laughed, yet he had tingling symptoms because she showed enough +interest in him to pronounce him a riddle. But he instantly became +serious as the purport of the last charge came home to him. + +"I suppose I am looked upon as a sort of Jesse James," he said. "As it +happens, I have never shot but one man, and I didn't care very much for +that." + +Victoria got up and came down a step and gave him her hand. He took it, +nor was he the first to relinquish the hold; and a colour rose delicately +in her face as she drew her fingers away. + +"I didn't mean to offend you," she said. + +"You didn't offend me," he replied quickly. "I merely wished you to know +that I wasn't a brigand." + +Victoria smiled. + +"I really didn't think so--you are much too solemn. I have to go now, +and--you haven't told me anything." + +She crossed the road and began to descend the path on the other side. +Twice he glanced back, after he had started, and once surprised her +poised lightly among the leaves, looking over her shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PARTING OF THE WAYS + +The next time Austen visited the hospital Mr. Meader had a surprise in +store for him. After passing the time of day, as was his custom, the +patient freely discussed the motives which had led him to refuse any more +of Victoria's fruit. + +"I hain't got nothing against her," he declared; "I tried to make that +plain. She's as nice and common a young lady as I ever see, and I don't +believe she had a thing to do with it. But I suspicioned they was up to +somethin' when she brought them baskets. And when she give me the +message from old Flint, I was sure of it." + +"Miss Flint was entirely innocent, I'm sure," said Austen, emphatically. + +"If I could see old Flint, I'd tell him what I thought of him usin' +wimmen-folks to save 'em money," said Mr. Meader. "I knowed she wahn't +that kind. And then that other thing come right on top of it." + +"What other thing?" + +"Say," demanded Mr. Meader, "don't you know?" + +"I know nothing," said Austen. + +"Didn't know Hilary Vane's be'n here?" + +"My father!" Austen ejaculated. + +"Gittin' after me pretty warm, so they be. Want to know what my price is +now. But say, I didn't suppose your fayther'd come here without lettin' +you know." + +Austen was silent. The truth was that for a few moments he could not +command himself sufficiently to speak. + +"He is the chief counsel for the road," he said at length; "I am not +connected with it." + +"I guess you're on the right track. He's a pretty smooth talker, your +fayther. Just dropped in to see how I be, since his son was interested. +Talked a sight of law gibberish I didn't understand. Told me I didn't +have much of a case; said the policy of the railrud was to be liberal, +and wanted to know what I thought I ought to have." + +"Well?" said Austen, shortly. + +"Well," said Mr. Mender, "he didn't git a mite of satisfaction out of me. +I've seen enough of his kind of folks to know how to deal with 'em, and I +told him so. I asked him what they meant by sending that slick Mr. +Tooting 'raound to offer me five hundred dollars. I said I was willin' +to trust my case on that crossin' to a jury." + +Austen smiled, in spite of his mingled emotions. + +"What else did Mr. Vane say?" he asked. + +Not a great sight more. Said a good many folks were foolish enough to +spend money and go to law when they'd done better to trust to the +liberality of the railrud. Liberality! Adams' widow done well to trust +their liberality, didn't she? He wanted to know one more thing, but I +didn't give him any satisfaction." + +"What was that?" + +"I couldn't tell you how he got 'raound to it. Guess he never did, +quite. He wanted to know what lawyer was to have my case. Wahn't none +of his affair, and I callated if you'd wanted him to know just yet, you'd +have toad him." + +Austen laid his hand on the farmer's, as he rose to go. + +"Zeb," he said, "I never expect to have a more exemplary client." + +Mr. Mender shot a glance at him. + +"Mebbe I spoke a mite too free about your fayther, Austen," he said; "you +and him seem kind of different." + +"The Judge and I understand each other," answered Austen. + +He had got as far as the door, when he stopped, swung on his heel, and +came back to the bedside. + +"It's my duty to tell you, Zeb, that in order to hush this thing up they +may offer you more than you can get from a jury. In that case I should +have to advise you to accept." + +He was aware that, while he made this statement, Zeb Meader's eyes were +riveted on him, and he knew that the farmer was weighing him in the +balance. + +"Sell out?" exclaimed Mr. Meader. "You advise me to sell out?" + +Austen did not get angry. He understood this man and the people from +which he sprang. + +"The question is for you to decide--whether you can get more money by a +settlement." + +"Money!" cried Zeb Meader, "I have found it pretty hard to git, but +there's some things I won't do for it. There's a reason why they want +this case hushed up, the way they've be'n actin'. I ain't lived in +Mercer and Putnam County all my life for nothin'. Hain't I seen 'em run +their dirty politics there under Brush Bascom for the last twenty-five +years? There's no man has an office or a pass in that county but what +Bascom gives it to him, and Bascom's the railrud tool." Suddenly Zeb +raised himself in bed. "Hev' they be'n tamperin' with you?" he demanded. + +"Yes," answered Austen, dispassionately. He had hardly heard what Zeb +had said; his mind had been going onward. "Yes. They sent me an annual +pass, and I took it back." + +Zeb Meader did not speak for a few moments. + +"I guess I was a little hasty, Austen," he said at length. + +"I might have known you wouldn't sell out. If you're' willin' to take +the risk, you tell 'em ten thousand dollars wouldn't tempt me." + +"All right, Zeb," said Austen. + +He left the hospital and struck out across the country towards the slopes +of Sawanec, climbed them, and stood bareheaded in the evening light, +gazing over the still, wide valley northward to the wooded ridges where +Leith and Fairview lay hidden. He had come to the parting of the ways of +life, and while he did not hesitate to choose his path, a Vane +inheritance, though not dominant, could not fail at such a juncture to +point out the pleasantness of conformity. Austen's affection for Hilary +Vane was real; the loneliness of the elder man appealed to the son, who +knew that his father loved him in his own way. He dreaded the wrench +there. + +And nature, persuasive in that quarter, was not to be stilled in a field +more completely her own. The memory and suppliance of a minute will +scarce suffice one of Austen's temperament for a lifetime; and his eyes, +flying with the eagle high across the valley, searched the velvet folds +of the ridges, as they lay in infinite shades of green in the level +light, for the place where the enchanted realm might be. Just what the +state of his feelings were at this time towards Victoria Flint is too +vague--accurately to be painted, but he was certainly not ready to give +way to the attraction he felt for her. His sense of humour intervened if +he allowed himself to dream; there was a certain folly in pursuing the +acquaintance, all the greater now that he was choosing the path of +opposition to the dragon. A young woman, surrounded as she was, could be +expected to know little of the subtleties of business and political +morality: let him take Zeb Meader's case, and her loyalty would naturally +be with her father,--if she thought of Austen Vane at all. + +And yet the very contradiction of her name, Victoria joined with Flint, +seemed to proclaim that she did not belong to her father or to the Rose +of Sharon. Austen permitted himself to dwell, as he descended the +mountain in the gathering darkness, upon the fancy of the springing of a +generation of ideals from a generation of commerce which boded well for +the Republic. And Austen Vane, in common with that younger and travelled +generation, thought largely in terms of the Republic. Pepper County and +Putnam County were all one to him--pieces of his native land. And as +such, redeemable. + +It was long past the supper hour when he reached the house in Hanover +Street; but Euphrasia, who many a time in days gone by had fared forth +into the woods to find Sarah Austen, had his supper hot for him. +Afterwards he lighted his pipe and went out into the darkness, and +presently perceived a black figure seated meditatively on the granite +doorstep. + +"Is that you, Judge?" said Austen. + +The Honourable Hilary grunted in response. + +"Be'n on another wild expedition, I suppose." + +"I went up Sawanec to stretch my legs a little," Austen answered, sitting +down beside his father. + +"Funny," remarked the Honourable Hilary, "I never had this mania for +stretchin' my legs after I was grown." + +"Well," said Austen, "I like to go into the woods and climb the hills and +get aired out once in a while." + +"I heard of your gettin' aired out yesterday, up Tunbridge way," said the +Honourable Hilary. + +"I supposed you would hear of it," answered Austen. + +"I was up there to-day. Gave Mr. Flint your pass did you?" + +"Yes." + +"Didn't see fit to mention it to me first--did you? Said you were going +up to thank him for it." + +Austen considered this. + +"You have put me in the wrong, Judge," he replied after a little. "I +made that remark ironically. I I am afraid we cannot agree on the motive +which prompted me." + +"Your conscience a little finer than your father's--is it?" + +"No," said Austen, "I don't honestly think it is. I've thought a good +deal in the last few years about the difference in our ways of looking at +things. I believe that two men who try to be honest may conscientiously +differ. But I also believe that certain customs have gradually grown up +in railroad practice which are more or less to be deplored from the point +of view of the honour of the profession. I think they are not perhaps-- +realized even by the eminent men in the law." + +"Humph!" said the Honourable Hilary. But he did not press his son for +the enumeration of these customs. After all the years he had disapproved +of Austen's deeds it seemed strange indeed to be called to account by the +prodigal for his own. Could it be that this boy whom he had so often +chastised took a clearer view of practical morality than himself? It was +preposterous. But why the uneasiness of the past few years? Why had he +more than once during that period, for the first time in his life, +questioned a hitherto absolute satisfaction in his position of chief +counsel for the Northeastern Railroads? Why had he hesitated to initiate +his son into many of the so-called duties of a railroad lawyer? Austen +had never verbally arraigned those duties until to-night. + +Contradictory as it may seem, irritating as it was to the Honourable +Hilary Vane, he experienced again the certain faint tingling of pride as +when Austen had given him the dispassionate account of the shooting of +Mr. Blodgett; and this tingling only served to stiffen Hilary Vane more +than ever. A lifelong habit of admitting nothing and a lifelong pride +made the acknowledgment of possible professional lapses for the benefit +of his employer not to be thought of. He therefore assumed the same +attitude as had Mr. Flint, and forced the burden of explanation upon +Austen, relying surely on the disinclination of his son to be specific. +And Austen, considering his relationship, could not be expected to fathom +these mental processes. + +"See here, Judge," he said, greatly embarrassed by the real affection he +felt, "I don't want to seem like a prig and appear to be sitting in +judgment upon a man of your experience and position especially since I +have the honour to be your son, and have made a good deal of trouble by a +not irreproachable existence. Since we have begun on the subject, +however, I think I ought to tell you that I have taken the case of Zeb +Meader against the Northeastern Railroads." + +"Wahn't much need of telling me, was there?" remarked the Honourable +Hilary, dryly. "I'd have found it out as soon as anybody else." + +"There was this need of telling you," answered Austen, steadily, +"although I am not in partnership with you, I bear your name. And in-as- +much as I am to have a suit against your client, it has occurred to me +that you would like me to move--elsewhere." + +The Honourable Hilary was silent for a long time. + +"Want to move--do YOU? Is that it?" + +"Only because my presence may embarrass you." + +"That wahn't in the contract," said the Honourable Hilary; "you've got a +right to take any fool cases you've a mind to. Folks know pretty well +I'm not mixed up in 'em." + +Austen did not smile; he could well understand his father's animus in +this matter. As he looked up at the gable of his old home against the +stars, he did not find the next sentence any easier. + +"And then," he continued, "in taking, a course so obviously against your +wishes and judgment it occurred to me--well, that I was eating at your +table and sleeping in your house." + +To his son's astonishment, Hilary Vane turned on him almost truculently. + +"I thought the time'd come when you'd want to go off again,--gypsying," +he cried. + +"I'd stay right here in Ripton, Judge. I believe my work is in this +State." + +The Honour could see through a millstone with a hole in it. The effect +of Austen's assertion on him was a declaration that the mission of the +one was to tear down what the other had so laboriously built up. And +yet a growing dread of Hilary Vane's had been the loneliness of declining +years in that house should Austen leave it again, never to return. + +"I knew you had this Meader business in mind," he said. "I knew you had +fanciful notions about--some things. Never told you I didn't want you +here, did I?" + +"No," said Austen, "but--" + +Would have told you if I hadn't wanted you--wouldn't I?" + +"I hope so, Judge," said Austen, who understood something of the feeling +which underlay this brusquenees. That knowledge made matters all the +harder for him. + +"It was your mother's house--you're entitled to that, anyway," said the +Honourable Hilary, "but what I want to know is, why you didn't advise +that eternal fool of a Meader to accept what we offered him. You'll +never get a county jury to give as much." + +"I did advise him to accept it," answered Austen. + +"What's the matter with him?" the Honourable Hilary demanded. + +"Well, judge, if you really want my opinion, an honest farmer like Meader +is suspicious of any corporation which has such zealous and loyal +retainers as Ham Tooting and Brush Bascom." And Austen thought with a +return of the pang which had haunted him at intervals throughout the +afternoon, that he might almost have added to these names that of Hilary +Vane. Certainly Zeb Meader had not spared his father. + +"Life," observed the Honourable Hilary, unconsciously using a phrase from +the 'Book of Arguments,' "is a survival of the fittest." + +"How do you define 'the fittest?'" asked Austen. "Are they the men who +have the not unusual and certainly not exalted gift of getting money from +their fellow creatures by the use of any and all weapons that may be at +hand? who believe the acquisition of wealth to be exempt from the +practice of morality? Is Mr. Flint your example of the fittest type to +exist and survive, or Gladstone or Wilberforce or Emerson or Lincoln?" + +"Emerson!" cried the Honourable Hilary, the name standing out in red +letters before his eyes. He had never read a line of the philosopher's +writings, not even the charge to "hitch your wagon to a star" (not in the +"Book of Arguments"). Sarah Austen had read Emerson in the woods, and +her son's question sounded so like the unintelligible but unanswerable +flashes with which the wife had on rare occasions opposed the husband's +authority that Hilary Vane found his temper getting the best of him--The +name of Emerson was immutably fixed in his mind as the synonym for +incomprehensible, foolish habits and beliefs. "Don't talk Emerson to +me," he exclaimed. "And as for Brush Bascom, I've known him for thirty +years, and he's done as much for the Republican party as any man in this +State." + +This vindication of Mr. Bascom naturally brought to a close a +conversation which had already continued too long. The Honourable Hilary +retired to rest; but--if Austen had known it--not to sleep until the +small hours of the morning. + +It was not until the ensuing spring that the case of Mr. Zebulun Meader +against the United Northeastern Railroads came up for trial in Bradford, +the county-seat of Putnam County, and we do not wish to appear to give it +too great a weight in the annals of the State. For one thing, the weekly +newspapers did not mention it; and Mr. Paul Pardriff, when urged to give +an account of the proceedings in the Ripton Record, said it was a matter +of no importance, and spent the afternoon writing an editorial about the +domestic habits of the Aztecs. Mr. Pardriff, however, had thought the +matter of sufficient interest personally to attend the trial, and for the +journey he made use of a piece of green cardboard which he habitually +carried in his pocket. The editor of the Bradford Champion did not have +to use his yellow cardboard, yet his columns may be searched in vain for +the event. + +Not that it was such a great event, one of hundreds of railroad accidents +that come to court. The son of Hilary Vane was the plaintiff's counsel; +and Mr. Meader, although he had not been able to work since his release +from the hospital, had been able to talk, and the interest taken in the +case by the average neglected citizen in Putnam proved that the weekly +newspaper is not the only disseminator of news. + +The railroad's side of the case was presented by that genial and able +practitioner of Putnam County, Mr. Nathaniel Billings, who travelled from +his home in Williamstown by the exhibition of a red ticket. Austen Vane +had to pay his own way from Ripton, but as he handed back the mileage +book, the conductor leaned over and whispered something in his ear that +made him smile, and Austen thought he would rather have that little drop +of encouragement than a pass. And as he left the car at Bradford, two +grizzled and hard-handed individuals arose and wished him good luck. + +He needed encouragement,--what young lawyer does not on his first +important case? And he did not like to think of the future if he lost +this. But in this matter he possessed a certain self-confidence which +arose from a just and righteous anger against the forces opposing him and +a knowledge of their tactics. To his mind his client was not Zeb Meader +alone, but the host of victims who had been maimed and bought off because +it was cheaper than to give the public a proper protection. + +The court room was crowded. Mr. Zeb Meader, pale but determined, was +surrounded by a knot of Mercer neighbours, many of whom were witnesses. +The agate eyes of Mr. Brush Bascom flashed from the audience, and Mr. Nat +Billings bustled forward to shake Austen's hand. Nat was one of those +who called not infrequently upon the Honourable Hilary in Ripton, and had +sat on Austen's little table. + +"Glad to see you, Austen," he cried, so that the people might hear; and +added, in a confidentially lower tone, "We lawyers understand that these +little things make no difference, eh?" + +"I'm willing to agree to that if you are, Nat," Austen answered. He +looked at the lawyer's fleshy face, blue-black where it was shaven, and +at Mr. Billings' shifty eyes and mouth, which its muscles could not quite +keep in place. Mr. Billings also had nicked teeth. But he did his best +to hide these obvious disadvantages by a Falstaffian bonhomie,--for Mr. +Billings was growing stout. + +"I tried it once or twice, my friend, when I was younger. It's noble, +but it don't pay," said Mr. Billings, still confidential. "Brush is +sour--look at him. But I understand how you feel. I'm the kind of +feller that speaks out, and what I can't understand is, why the old man +let you get into it." + +"He knew you were going to be on the other side, Nat, and wanted to teach +me a lesson. I suppose it is folly to contest a case where the Railroad +Commission has completely exonerated your client," Austen added +thoughtfully. + +Mr. Billings' answer was to wink, very slowly, with one eye; and shortly +after these pleasantries were over, the case was called. A fragrant wind +blew in at the open windows, and Nature outside was beginning to array +herself in myriad hues of green. Austen studied the jury, and wondered +how many points of his argument he could remember, but when he had got to +his feet the words came to him. If we should seek an emblem for King +David's smooth, round stone which he flung at Goliath, we should call it +the truth--for the truth never fails to reach the mark. Austen's opening +was not long, his words simple and not dramatic, but he seemed to charge +them with something of the same magnetic force that compelled people to +read and believe "Uncle Ton's Cabin" and the "Song of the Shirt." +Spectators and jury listened intently. + +Some twenty witnesses appeared for the plaintiff, all of whom declared +that they had heard neither bell nor whistle. Most of these witnesses +had been in the grove, two or three in the train; two, residents of the +vicinity, testified that they had complained to the Railroad Commission +about that crossing, and had received evasive answers to the effect that +it was the duty of citizens to look out for themselves. On cross- +examination they declared they had no objection to grade crossings which +were properly safeguarded; this crossing was a death-trap. (Stricken +out.) Mr. Billings made the mistake of trying to prove that one of these +farmers--a clear-eyed, full-chested man with a deep voice--had an animus +against the railroad dating from a controversy concerning the shipping of +milk. + +"I have an animus, your Honour," said the witness, quietly. "When the +railrud is represented by the kind of politicians we have in Putnam, it's +natural I should hain't it?" + +This answer, although stricken out, was gleefully received. + +In marked contrast to the earnestness of young Mr. Vane, who then rested, +Mr. Billings treated the affair from the standpoint of a man of large +practice who usually has more weighty matters to attend to. This was so +comparatively trivial as not to be dignified by a serious mien. He +quoted freely from the "Book of Arguments," reminding the jury of the +debt of gratitude the State owed to the Northeastern Railroads for doing +so much for its people; and if they were to eliminate all grade +crossings, there would be no dividends for the stockholders. Besides, +the law was that the State should pay half when a crossing was +eliminated, and the State could not afford it. Austen had suggested, in +his opening, that it was cheaper for the railroad as well as the State to +kill citizens. He asked permission to inquire of the learned counsel for +the defence by what authority he declared that the State could not afford +to enter into a policy by which grade crossings would gradually be +eliminated. + +"Why," said Mr. Billings, "the fact that all bills introduced to this end +never get out of committee." + +"May I ask," said Austen, innocently, "who has been chairman of that +particular committee in the lower House for the last five sessions?" + +Mr. Billings was saved the embarrassment of answering this question by a +loud voice in the rear calling out:-- + +"Brush Bascom!" + +A roar of laughter shook the court room, and all eyes were turned on +Brush, who continued to sit unconcernedly with his legs crossed and his +arm over the back of the seat. The offender was put out, order was +restored, and Mr. Billings declared, with an injured air, that he failed +to see why the counsel for the plaintiff saw fit to impugn Mr. Bascom. + +"I merely asked a question," said Austere; "far be it from me to impugn +any man who has held offices in the gift of the people for the last +twenty years." + +Another gale of laughter followed this, during which Mr. Billings +wriggled his mouth and gave a strong impression that such tactics and +such levity were to be deplored. + +For the defence, the engineer and fireman both swore that the bell had +been rung before the crossing was reached. Austen merely inquired +whether this was not when they had left the station at North Mercer, two +miles away. No, it was nearer. Pressed to name the exact spot, they +could only conjecture, but near enough to be heard on the crossing. +Other witnesses--among them several picnickers in the grove--swore that +they had heard the bell. One of these Austen asked if he was not the +member from Mercer in the last Legislature, and Mr. Billings, no longer +genial, sprang to his feet with an objection. + +"I merely wish to show, your Honour," said Austen, "that this witness +accepted a pass from the Northeastern Railroads when he went to the +Legislature, and that he has had several trip passes for himself and his +family since." + +The objection was not sustained, and Mr. Billings noted an exception. + +Another witness, upon whose appearance the audience tittered audibly, was +Dave Skinner, boss of Mercer. He had lived, he said, in the town of +Mercer all his life, and maintained that he was within a hundred yards of +the track when the accident occurred, and heard the bell ring. + +Is it not a fact," said Austen to this witness, "that Mr. Brush Bascom +has a mortgage on your farm?" + +"I can show, your Honour," Austen continued, when Mr. Billings had +finished his protest, "that this man was on his way to Riverside to pay +his quarterly instalment." + +Mr. Bascom was not present at the afternoon session. Mr. Billings' +summing up was somewhat impassioned, and contained more quotations from +the "Book of Arguments." He regretted, he said, the obvious appeals to +prejudice against a railroad corporation that was honestly trying to do +its duty-yes, and more than its duty. + +Misjudged, misused, even though friendless, it would continue to serve +the people. So noble, indeed, was the picture which Mr. Billings' +eloquence raised up that his voice shook with emotion as he finished. + +In the opinion of many of the spectators Austen Vane had yet to learn the +art of oratory. He might with propriety have portrayed the suffering and +loss of the poor farmer who was his client; he merely quoted from the +doctor's testimony to the effect that Mr. Meader would never again be +able to do physical labour of the sort by which he had supported himself, +and ended up by calling the attention of the jury to the photographs and +plans of the crossing he had obtained two days after the accident, +requesting them to note the facts that the public highway, approaching +through a dense forest and underbrush at an angle of thirty-three +degrees, climbed the railroad embankment at that point, and a train could +not be seen until the horse was actually on the track. + +The jury was out five minutes after the judge's charge, and gave Mr. +Zebulun Meader a verdict of six thousand dollars and costs,--a popular +verdict, from the evident approval with which it was received in the +court room. Quiet being restored, Mr. Billings requested, somewhat +vehemently, that the case be transferred on the exceptions to the Supreme +Court, that the stenographer write out the evidence, and that he might +have three weeks in which to prepare a draft. This was granted. + +Zeb Meader, true to his nature, was self-contained throughout the +congratulations he received, but his joy was nevertheless intense. + +"You shook 'em up good, Austen," he said, making his way to where his +counsel stood. "I suspicioned you'd do it. But how about this here +appeal?" + +"Billings is merely trying to save the face of his railroad," Austen +answered, smiling. "He hasn't the least notion of allowing this case to +come up again--take my word for it." + +"I guess your word's good," said Zeb. "And I want to tell you one thing, +as an old man. I've been talkin' to Putnam County folks some, and you +hain't lost nothin' by this." + +"How am I to get along without the friendship of Brush Bascom?" asked +Austen, soberly. + +Mr. Meader, who had become used to this mild sort of humour, relaxed +sufficiently to laugh. + +"Brush did seem a mite disgruntled," he remarked. + +Somewhat to Austen's embarrassment, Mr. Mender's friends were pushing +forward. One grizzled veteran took him by the hand and looked +thoughtfully into his face. + +"I've lived a good many years," he said, "but I never heerd 'em talked up +to like that. You're my candidate for governor." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ENTER THE LION + +It is a fact, as Shakespeare has so tersely hinted, that fame sometimes +comes in the line of duty. To be sure, if Austen Vane had been Timothy +Smith, the Mender case might not have made quite so many ripples in the +pond with which this story is concerned. Austen did what he thought was +right. In the opinion of many of his father's friends whom he met from +time to time he had made a good-sized stride towards ruin, and they did +not hesitate to tell him so--Mr. Chipman, president of the Ripton +National Bank; Mr. Greene, secretary and treasurer of the Hawkeye Paper +Company, who suggested with all kindness that, however noble it may be, +it doesn't pay to tilt at windmills. + +"Not unless you wreck the windmill," answered Austen. A new and very +revolutionary point of view to Mr. Greene, who repeated it to Professor +Brewer, urging that gentleman to take Austen in hand. But the professor +burst out laughing, and put the saying into circulation. + +Mr. Silas Tredway, whose list of directorships is too long to print, also +undertook to remonstrate with the son of his old friend, Hilary Vane. +The young lawyer heard him respectfully. The cashiers of some of these +gentlemen, who were younger men, ventured to say--when out of hearing-- +that they admired the championship of Mr. Mender, but it would never do. +To these, likewise, Austen listened good-naturedly enough, and did not +attempt to contradict them. Changing the angle of the sun-dial does not +affect the time of day. + +It was not surprising that young Tom Gaylord, when he came back from New +York and heard of Austen's victory, should have rushed to his office and +congratulated him in a rough but hearty fashion. Even though Austen had +won a suit against the Gaylord Lumber Company, young Tom would have +congratulated him. Old Tom was a different matter. Old Tom, hobbling +along under the maples, squinted at Austen and held up his stick. + +"Damn you, you're a lawyer, ain't you?" cried the old man. + +Austen, well used to this kind of greeting from Mr. Gaylord, replied that +he didn't think himself much of one. + +"Damn it, I say you are. Some day I may have use for you," said old Tom, +and walked on. + +"No," said young Tom, afterwards, in explanation of this extraordinary +attitude of his father, "it isn't principle. He's had a row with the +Northeastern about lumber rates, and swears he'll live till he gets even +with 'em." + +If Professor Brewer (Ripton's most clear-sighted citizen) had made the +statement that Hilary Vane--away down in the bottom of his heart--was +secretly proud of his son, the professor would probably have lost his +place on the school board, the water board, and the library committee. +The way the worldly-wise professor discovered the secret was this: he had +gone to Bradford to hear the case, for he had been a dear friend of Sarah +Austen. Two days later Hilary Vane saw the professor on his little +porch, and lingered. Mr. Brewer suspected why, led carefully up to the +subject, and not being discouraged--except by numerous grunts--gave the +father an account of the proceedings by no means unfavourable to the son. +Some people like paregoric; the Honourable Hilary took his without undue +squirming, with no visible effects to Austen. + +Life in the office continued, with one or two exceptions, the even tenor +of its way. Apparently, so far as the Honourable Hilary was concerned, +his son had never been to Bradford. But the Honourable Brush Bascom, +when he came on mysterious business to call on the chief counsel, no +longer sat on Austen's table; this was true of other feudal lords and +retainers: of Mr. Nat Billings, who, by the way, did not file his draft +after all. Not that Mr. Billings wasn't polite, but he indulged no +longer in slow winks at the expense of the honourable Railroad +Commission. + +Perhaps the most curious result of the Meader case to be remarked in +passing, was upon Mr. Hamilton Tooting. Austen, except when he fled to +the hills, was usually the last to leave the office, Mr. Tooting often +the first. But one evening Mr. Tooting waited until the force had gone, +and entered Austen's room with his hand outstretched. + +"Put her there, Aust," he said. + +Austen put her there. + +"I've been exercisin' my thinker some the last few months," observed Mr. +Tooting, seating himself on the desk. + +"Aren't you afraid of nervous prostration, Ham?" + +"Say," exclaimed Mr. Tooting, with a vexed laugh, "why are you always +jollying me? You ain't any older than I am." + +"I'm not as old, Ham. I don't begin to have your knowledge of the +world." + +"Come off," said Mr. Tooting, who didn't know exactly how to take this +compliment. "I came in here to have a serious talk. I've been thinking +it over, and I don't know but what you did right." + +"Well, Ham, if you don't know, I don't know how I am to convince you." + +"Hold on. Don't go twistin' around that way--you make me dizzy." He +lowered his voice confidentially, although there was no one within five +walls of them. "I know the difference between a gold brick and a +government bond, anyhow. I believe bucking the railroad's going to pay +in a year or so. I got on to it as soon as you did, I guess, but when a +feller's worn the collar as long as I have and has to live, it ain't easy +to cut loose--you understand." + +"I understand," answered Austen, gravely. + +"I thought I'd let you know I didn't take any too much trouble with +Meader last summer to get the old bird to accept a compromise." + +"That was good of you, Ham." + +"I knew what you was up to," said Mr. Tooting, giving Austen a friendly +poke with his cigar. + +"You showed your usual acumen, Mr. Tooting," said Austen, as he rose to +put on his coat. Mr. Tooting regarded him uneasily. + +"You're a deep one, Aust," he declared; "some day you and, me must get +together." + +Mr. Billings' desire for ultimate justice not being any stronger than +Austen suspected, in due time Mr. Meader got his money. His counsel +would have none of it,--a decision not at all practical, and on the whole +disappointing. There was, to be sure, an influx into Austen's office of +people who had been run over in the past, and it was Austen's unhappy +duty to point out to these that they had signed (at the request of +various Mr. Tootings) little slips of paper which are technically known +as releases. But the first hint of a really material advantage to be +derived from his case against the railroad came from a wholly unexpected +source, in the shape of a letter in the mail one August morning. + + "DEAR SIR: Having remarked with some interest the verdict for a + client of yours against the United Northeastern Railroads, I wish + you would call and see me at your earliest convenience. + + Yours truly, + + "HUMPHREY CREWE." + +Although his curiosity was aroused, Austen was of two minds whether to +answer this summons, the truth being that Mr. Crewe had not made, on the +occasions on which they had had intercourse, the most favourable of +impressions. However, it is not for the struggling lawyer to scorn any +honourable brief, especially from a gentleman. of stocks and bonds and +varied interests like Mr. Crewe, with whom contentions of magnitude are +inevitably associated. As he spun along behind Pepper on the Leith road +that climbed Willow Brook on the afternoon he had made the appointment, +Austen smiled to himself over his anticipations, and yet---being human- +let his fancy play. + +The broad acres of Wedderburn stretched across many highways, but the +manor-house (as it had been called) stood on an eminence whence one could +look for miles down the Yale of the Blue. It had once been a farmhouse, +but gradually the tail had begun to wag the dog, and the farmhouse +became, like the original stone out of which the Irishman made the soup, +difficult to find. Once the edifice had been on the road, but the road +had long ago been removed to a respectful distance, and Austen entered +between two massive pillars built of granite blocks on a musical gravel +drive. + +Humphrey Crewe was on the porch, his hands in his pockets, as Austen +drove up. + +"Hello," he said, in a voice probably meant to be hospitable, but which +had a peremptory ring, "don't stand on ceremony. Hitch your beast and +come along in." + +Having, as it were, superintended the securing of Pepper, Mr. Crewe led +the way through the house to the study, pausing once or twice to point +out to Austen a carved ivory elephant procured at great expense in China, +and a piece of tapestry equally difficult of purchase. The study itself +was no mere lounging place of a man of pleasure, but sober and formidable +books were scattered through the cases: "Turner's Evolution of the +Railroad," "Graham's Practical Forestry," "Eldridge's Finance"; while +whole shelves of modern husbandry proclaimed that Mr. Humphrey Crewe was +no amateur farmer. There was likewise a shelf devoted to road building, +several to knotty-looking pamphlets, and half a wall of neatly labelled +pigeonholes. For decoration, there was an oar garnished with a ribbon, +and several groups of college undergraduates, mostly either in puffed +ties or scanty attire, and always prominent in these groups, and always +unmistakable, was Mr. Humphrey Crewe himself. + +Mr. Crewe was silent awhile, that this formidable array of things might +make the proper impression upon his visitor. + +"It was lucky you came to-day, Vane," he said at length. "I am due in +New York to-morrow for a directors' meeting, and I have a conference in +Chicago with a board of trustees of which I am a member on the third. +Looking at my array of pamphlets, eh? I've been years in collecting +them,--ever since I left college. Those on railroads ought especially to +interest you--I'm somewhat of a railroad man myself." + +"I didn't know that," said Austen. + +"Had two or three blocks of stock in subsidiary lines that had to be +looked after. It was a nuisance at first," said Mr. Crewe, "but I didn't +shirk it. I made up my mind I'd get to the bottom of the railroad +problem, and I did. It's no use doing a thing at all unless you do it +well." Mr. Crewe, his hands still in his pockets, faced Austen +smilingly. "Now I'll bet you didn't know I was a railroad man until you +came in here. To tell the truth, it was about a railroad matter that I +sent for you." + +Mr. Crewe lit a cigar, but he did not offer one to Austen, as he had to +Mr. Tooting. "I wanted to see what you were like," he continued, with +refreshing frankness. "Of course, I'd seen you on the road. But you can +get more of an idea of a man by talkin' to him, you know." + +"You can if he'll talk," said Austen, who was beginning to enjoy his +visit. + +Mr. Crewe glanced at him keenly. Few men are fools at all points of the +compass, and Mr. Crewe was far from this. + +"You did well in that little case you had against the Northeastern. I +heard about it." + +"I did my best," answered Austen, and he smiled again. + +"As some great man has remarked," observed Mr. Crewe, "it isn't what we +do, it's how we do it. Take pains over the smaller cases, and the larger +cases will come of themselves, eh?" + +"I live in hope," said Austen, wondering how soon this larger case was +going to unfold itself. + +"Let me see," said Mr. Crewe, "isn't your father the chief attorney in +this State for the Northeastern? How do you happen to be on the other +side?" + +"By the happy accident of obtaining a client," said Austen. + +Mr. Crewe glanced at him again. In spite of himself, respect was growing +in him. He had expected to find a certain amount of eagerness and +subserviency--though veiled; here was a man of different calibre than he +looked for in Ripton. + +"The fact is," he declared, "I have a grievance against the Northeastern +Railroads, and I have made up my mind that you are the man for me." + +"You may have reason to regret your choice," Austen suggested. + +"I think not," replied Mr. Crewe, promptly; "I believe I know a man when +I see one, and you inspire me with confidence. This matter will have a +double interest for you, as I understand you are fond of horses." + +"Horses?" + +"Yes," Mr. Crewe continued, gaining a little heat at the word, "I bought +the finest-lookin' pair you ever saw in New York this spring,--all-around +action, manners, conformation, everything; I'll show 'em to you. One of +'em's all right now; this confounded railroad injured the other gettin' +him up here. I've put in a claim. They say they didn't, my man says +they did. He tells me the horse was thrown violently against the sides +of the car several times. He's internally injured. I told 'em I'd sue +'em, and I've decided that you are the man to take the case--on +conditions." + +Austen's sense of humour saved him,--and Mr. Humphrey Crewe had begun to +interest him. He rose and walked to the window and looked out for a few +moments over the flower garden before he replied:-- + +"On what conditions?" + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "frankly, I don't want to pay more than the horse +is worth, and it's business to settle on the fee in case you win. I +thought--" + +"You thought," said Austen, "that I might not charge as much as the next +man." + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "I knew that if you took the case, you'd fight it +through, and I want to get even with 'em. Their claim agent had the +impudence to suggest that the horse had been doctored by the dealer in +New York. To tell me that I, who have been buying horses all my life, +was fooled. The veterinary swears the animal is ruptured. I'm a citizen +of Avalon County, though many people call me a summer resident; I've done +business here and helped improve the neighbourhood for years. It will be +my policy to employ home talent Avalon County lawyers, for instance. I +may say, without indiscretion, that I intend from now on to take even a +greater interest in public affairs. The trouble is in this country that +men in my position do not feel their responsibilities." + +"Public spirit is a rare virtue," Austen remarked, seeing that he was +expected to say something. "Avalon County appreciates the compliment,-- +if I may be permitted to answer for it." + +"I want to do the right thing," said Mr. Crewe. "In fact, I have almost +made up my mind to go to the Legislature this year. I know it would be a +sacrifice of time, in a sense, and all that, but--" He paused, and +looked at Austen. + +"The Legislature needs leavening." + +"Precisely," exclaimed Mr. Crewe, "and when I look around me and see the +things crying to be done in this State, and no lawmaker with sense and +foresight enough to propose them, it makes me sick. Now, for instance," +he continued, and rose with an evident attempt to assault the forestry +shelves. But Austen rose too. + +"I'd like to go over that with you, Mr. Crewe," said he, "but I have to +be back in Ripton." + +"How about my case?" his host demanded, with a return to his former +abruptness. + +"What about it?" asked Austen. + +"Are you going to take it?" + +"Struggling lawyers don't refuse business." + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "that's sensible. But what are you going to +charge?" + +"Now," said Austen, with entire good humour, "when you get on that +ground, you are dealing no longer with one voracious unit, but with a +whole profession,--a profession, you will allow me to add, which in +dignity is second to none. In accordance with the practice of the best +men in that profession, I will charge you what I believe is fair--not +what I think you are able and willing to pay. Should you dispute the +bill, I will not stoop to quarrel with you, but, try to live on bread and +butter a while longer." + +Mr. Crewe was silent for a moment. It would not be exact to say +uncomfortable, for it is to be doubted whether he ever got so. But he +felt dimly that the relations of patron and patronized were becoming +somewhat jumbled. + +"All right," said he, "I guess we can let it go at that. Hello! What +the deuce are those women doing here again?" + +This irrelevant exclamation was caused by the sight through the open +French window--of three ladies in the flower garden, two of whom were +bending over the beds. The third, upon whose figure Austen's eyes were +riveted, was seated on a stone bench set in a recess of pines, and +looking off into the Yale of the Blue. With no great eagerness, but +without apology to Austen, Mr. Crewe stepped out of the window and +approached them; and as this was as good a way as any to his horse and +buggy, Austen followed. One of the ladies straightened at their +appearance, scrutinized them through the glasses she held in her hand, +and Austen immediately recognized her as the irreproachable Mrs. Pomfret. + +"We didn't mean to disturb you, Humphrey," she said. "We knew you would +be engaged in business, but I told Alice as we drove by I could not +resist stopping for one more look at your Canterbury bells. I knew you +wouldn't mind, but you mustn't leave your--affairs,--not for an instant." + +The word "affairs" was accompanied by a brief inspection of Austen Vane. + +"That's all right," answered Mr. Crewe; "it doesn't cost anything to look +at flowers, that's what they're for. Cost something to put 'em in. I +got that little feller Ridley to lay 'em out--I believe I told you. He's +just beginning. Hello, Alice." + +"I think he did it very well, Humphrey," said Miss Pomfret. + +"Passably," said Mr. Crewe. "I told him what I wanted and drew a rough +sketch of the garden and the colour scheme." + +"Then you did it, and not Mr. Ridley. I rather suspected it," said Mrs. +Pomfret; "you have such clear and practical ideas about things, +Humphrey." + +"It's simple enough," said Mr. Crewe, deprecatingly, "after you've seen a +few hundred gardens and get the general underlying principle." + +"It's very clever," Alice murmured. + +"Not at all. A little application will do wonders. A certain definite +colour massed here, another definite colour there, and so forth." + +Mr. Crewe spoke as though Alice's praise irritated him slightly. He +waved his hand to indicate the scheme in general, and glanced at Victoria +on the stone bench. From her (Austen thought) seemed to emanate a silent +but mirthful criticism, although she continued to gaze persistently down +the valley, apparently unaware of their voices. Mr. Crewe looked as if +he would have liked to reach her, but the two ladies filled the narrow +path, and Mrs. Pomfret put her fingers on his sleeve. + +"Humphrey, you must explain it to us. I am so interested in gardens I'm +going to have one if Electrics increase their dividend." + +Mr. Crewe began, with no great ardour, to descant on the theory of +planting, and Austen resolved to remain pocketed and ignored no longer. +He retraced his steps and made his way rapidly by another path towards +Victoria, who turned her head at his approach, and rose. He acknowledged +an inward agitation with the vision in his eye of the tall, white figure +against the pines, clad with the art which, in mysterious simplicity, +effaces itself. + +"I was wondering," she said, as she gave him her hand, "how long it would +be before you spoke to me." + +"You gave me no chance," said Austen, quickly. + +"Do you deserve one?" she asked. + +Before he could answer, Mr. Crewe's explanation of his theories had come +lamely to a halt. Austen was aware of the renewed scrutiny of Mrs. +Pomfret, and then Mr. Crewe, whom no social manacles could shackle, had +broken past her and made his way to them. He continued to treat the +ground on which Austen was standing as unoccupied. + +"Hello, Victoria," he said, "you don't know anything about gardens, do +you?" + +"I don't believe you do either," was Victoria's surprising reply. + +Mr. Crewe laughed at this pleasantry. + +"How are you going to prove it?" he demanded. + +"By comparing what you've done with Freddie Ridley's original plan," said +Victoria. + +Mr. Crewe was nettled. + +"Ridley has a lot to learn," he retorted. "He had no conception of what +was appropriate here." + +"Freddie was weak," said Victoria, but he needed the money. Don't you +know Mr. Vane?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Crewe, shortly, "I've been talking to him--on business." + +"Oh," said Victoria, "I had no means of knowing. Mrs. Pomfret, I want to +introduce Mr. Vane, and Miss Pomfret, Mr. Vane." + +Mrs. Pomfret, who had been hovering on the outskirts of this duel, +inclined her head the fraction of an inch, but Alice put out her hand +with her sweetest manner. + +"When did you arrive?" she asked. + +"Well, the fact is, I haven't arrived yet," said Austen. + +"Not arrived" exclaimed Alice, with a puzzled glance into Victoria's +laughing eyes. + +"Perhaps Humphrey will help you along," Victoria suggested, turning to +him. "He might be induced to give you his celebrated grievance about his +horses." + +"I have given it to him," said Mr. Crewe, briefly. + +"Cheer up, Mr. Vane, your fortune is made," said Victoria. + +"Victoria," said Mrs. Pomfret, in her most imperial voice, "we ought to +be going instantly, or we shan't have time to drop you at the Hammonds'." + +"I'll take you over in the new motor car," said Mr. Crewe, with his air +of conferring a special train. + +"How much is gasoline by the gallon?" inquired Victoria. + +"I did a favour once for the local manager, and get a special price," +said Mr. Crewe. + +"Humphrey," said Mrs. Pomfret, taking his hand, "don't forget you are +coming to dinner to-night. Four people gave out at the last minute, and +there will be just Alice and myself. I've asked old Mr. Fitzhugh." + +"All right," said Mr. Crewe, "I'll have the motor car brought around." + +The latter part of this remark was, needless to say, addressed to +Victoria. + +"It's awfully good of you, Humphrey," she answered, "but the Hammonds are +on the road to Ripton, and I am going to ask Mr. Vane to drive me down +there behind that adorable horse of his." + +This announcement produced a varied effect upon those who heard it, +although all experienced surprise. Mrs. Pomfret, in addition to an anger +which she controlled only as the result of long practice, was horrified, +and once more levelled her glasses at Austen. + +"I think, Victoria, you had better come with us," she said. "We shall +have plenty of time, if we hurry." + +By this time Austen had recovered his breath. + +"I'll be ready in an instant," he said, and made brief but polite adieus +to the three others. + +"Good-by," said Alice, vaguely. + +"Let me know when anything develops," said Mr. Crewe, with his back to +his attorney. + +Austen found Victoria, her colour heightened a little, waiting for him by +the driveway. The Pomfrets had just driven off, and Mr. Crewe was +nowhere to be seen. + +"I do not know what you will think of me for taking this for granted, Mr. +Vane," she said as he took his seat beside her, "but I couldn't resist +the chance of driving behind your horse." + +"I realized," he answered smilingly, "that Pepper was the attraction, and +I have more reason than ever to be grateful to him." + +She glanced covertly at the Vane profile, at the sure, restraining hands +on the reins which governed with so nice a touch the mettle of the horse. +His silence gave her time to analyze again her interest in this man, +which renewed itself at every meeting. In the garden she had been struck +by the superiority of a nature which set at naught what had been, to some +smaller spirits, a difficult situation. She recognized this quality as +inborn, but, not knowing of Sarah Austen, she wondered where he got it. +Now it was the fact that he refrained from comment that pleased her most. + +"Did Humphrey actually send for you to take up the injured horse case?" +she asked. + +Austen flushed. + +"I'm afraid he did. You seem to know all about it," he added. + +"Know all about it Every one within twenty miles of Leith knows about +it. I'm sure the horse was doctored when he bought him." + +"Take care, you may be called as a witness." + +"What I want to know is, why you accepted such a silly case," said +Victoria. + +Austen looked quizzically into her upturned face, and she dropped her +eyes. + +"That's exactly what I should have asked myself,--after a while," he +said. + +She laughed with a delicious understanding of "after a while." + +"I suppose you think me frightfully forward," she said, in a lowered +voice, "inviting myself to drive and asking you such a question when I +scarcely know you. But I just couldn't go on with Mrs. Pomfret,--she +irritated me so,--and my front teeth are too valuable to drive with +Humphrey Crewe." + +Austen smiled, and secretly agreed with her. + +"I should have offered, if I had dared," he said. + +"Dared! I didn't know that was your failing. I don't believe you even +thought of it." + +"Nevertheless, the idea occurred to me, and terrified me," said Austen. + +"Why?" she asked, turning upon him suddenly. "Why did it terrify you?" + +"I should have been presuming upon an accidental acquaintance, which I +had no means of knowing you wished to continue," he replied, staring at +his horse's head. + +"And I?" Victoria asked. "Presumption multiplies tenfold in a woman, +doesn't it?" + +"A woman confers," said Austen. + +She smiled, but with a light in her eyes. This simple sentence seemed to +reveal yet more of an inner man different from some of those with whom +her life had been cast. It was an American point of view--this choosing +to believe that the woman conferred. After offering herself as his +passenger Victoria, too, had had a moment of terror: the action had been +the result of an impulse which she did not care to attempt to define. +She changed the subject. + +"You have been winning laurels since I saw you last summer," she said. +"I hear incidentally you have made our friend Zeb Meader a rich man." + +"As riches go, in the town of Mercer," Austen laughed. "As for my +laurels, they have not yet begun to chafe." + +Here was a topic he would have avoided, and yet he was curious to +discover what her attitude would be. He had antagonized her father, and +the fact that he was the son of Hilary Vane had given his antagonism +prominence. + +"I am glad you did it for Zeb." + +"I should have done it for anybody--much as I like Zeb," he replied +briefly. + +She glanced at him. + +"It was--courageous of you," she said. + +"I have never looked upon it in that light," he answered. "May I ask you +how you heard of it?" + +She coloured, but faced the question. + +"I heard it from my father, at first, and I took an interest--on Zeb +Meader's account," she added hastily. + +Austen was silent. + +"Of course," she continued, "I felt a little like boasting of an +'accidental acquaintance' with the man who saved Zeb Meader's life." + +Austen laughed. Then he drew Pepper down to a walk, and turned to her. + +"The power of making it more than an accidental acquaintance lies with +you," he said quietly. + +"I have always had an idea that aggression was a man's prerogative," +Victoria answered lightly. "And seeing that you have not appeared at +Fairview for something over a year, I can only conclude that you do not +choose to exercise it in this case." + +Austen was in a cruel quandary. + +"I did wish to come," he answered simply, "but--the fact that I have had +a disagreement with your father has--made it difficult." +"Nonsense" exclaimed Victoria; "just because you have won a suit against +his railroad. You don't know my father, Mr. Vane. He isn't the kind of +man with whom that would make any difference. You ought to talk it over +with him. He thinks you were foolish to take Zeb Meader's side." + +"And you?" Austen demanded quickly. + +"You see, I'm a woman," said Victoria, "and I'm prejudiced--for Zeb +Meader. Women are always prejudiced,--that's our trouble. It seemed to +me that Zeb was old, and unfortunate, and ought to be compensated, since +he is unable to work. But of course I suppose I can't be expected to +understand." + +It was true that she could not be expected to understand. He might not +tell her that his difference with Mr. Flint was not a mere matter of +taking a small damage suit against his railroad, but a fundamental one. +And Austen recognized that the justification of his attitude meant an +arraignment of Victoria's father. + +"I wish you might know my father better, Mr. Vane," she went on, "I wish +you might know him as I know him, if it were possible. You see, I have +been his constant companion all my life, and I think very few people +understand him as I do, and realize his fine qualities. He makes no +attempt to show his best side to the world. His life has been spent in +fighting, and I am afraid he is apt to meet the world on that footing. +He is a man of such devotion to his duty that he rarely has a day to +himself, and I have known him to sit up until the small hours of the +morning to settle some little matter of justice. I do not think I am +betraying his confidence when I say that he is impressed with your +ability, and that he liked your manner the only time he ever talked to +you. He believes that you have got, in some way, a wrong idea of what he +is trying to do. Why don't you come up and talk to him again?" + +"I am afraid your kindness leads you to overrate my importance," Austen +replied, with mingled feelings. Victoria's confidence in her father made +the situation all the more hopeless. + +"I'm sure I don't," she answered quickly; "ever since--ever since I first +laid eyes upon you I have had a kind of belief in you." + +"Belief?" he echoed. + +"Yes," she said, "belief that--that you had a future. I can't describe +it," she continued, the colour coming into her face again; "one feels +that way about some people without being able to put the feeling into +words. And have a feeling, too, that I should like you to be friends +with my father." + +Neither of them, perhaps, realized the rapidity with which "accidental +acquaintance" had melted into intimacy. Austen's blood ran faster, but +it was characteristic of him that he tried to steady himself, for he was +a Vane. He had thought of her many times during the past year, but +gradually the intensity of the impression had faded until it had been so +unexpectedly and vividly renewed to-day. He was not a man to lose his +head, and the difficulties of the situation made him pause and choose his +words, while he dared not so much as glance at her as she sat in the +sunlight beside him. + +"I should like to be friends with your father," he answered gravely,--the +statement being so literally true as to have its pathetically humorous +aspect. + +"I'll tell him so, Mr. Vane," she said. + +Austen turned, with a seriousness that dismayed her. + +"I must ask you as a favour not to do that," he said. + +"Why?" she asked. + +"In the first place," he answered quietly, "I cannot afford to have Mr. +Flint misunderstand my motives. And I ought not to mislead you," he went +on. "In periods of public controversy, such as we are passing through at +present, sometimes men's views differ so sharply as to make intercourse +impossible. Your father and I might not agree--politically, let us say. +For instance," he added, with evident hesitation, "my father and I +disagree." + +Victoria was silent. And presently they came to a wire fence overgrown +with Virginia creeper, which divided the shaded road from a wide lawn. + +"Here we are at the Hammonds', and--thank you," she said. + +Any reply he might have made was forestalled. The insistent and +intolerant horn of an automobile, followed now by the scream of the +gears, broke the stillness of the country-side, and a familiar voice +cried out-- + +"Do you want the whole road?" + +Austen turned into the Hammonds' drive as the bulldog nose of a motor +forged ahead, and Mr. Crewe swung in the driver's seat. + +"Hello, Victoria," he shouted, "you people ought to have ear-trumpets." + +The car swerved, narrowly missed a watering fountain where the word +"Peace" was inscribed, and shot down the hill. + +"That manner," said Victoria, as she jumped out of the buggy, "is a +valuable political asset." + +"Does he really intend to go into politics?" Austen asked curiously. + +"'Intend' is a mild word applied to Humphrey," she answered; +"'determined' would suit him better. According to him, there is no game +that cannot be won by dynamics. 'Get out of the way' is his motto. Mrs. +Pomfret will tell you how he means to cover the State with good roads +next year, and take a house in Washington the year after." She held out +her hand. "Good-by,--and I am ever so much obliged to you for bringing +me here." + +He drove away towards Ripton with many things to think about, with a last +picture of her in his mind as she paused for an instant in the flickering +shadows, stroking Pepper's forehead. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE LEOPARD AND HIS SPOTS + +It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Mr. Humphrey Crewe, of +his value to the town of Leith, and to the State at large, and in these +pages only a poor attempt at an appreciation of him may be expected. Mr. +Crewe by no means underestimated this claim upon the community, and he +had of late been declaring that he was no summer resident. Wedderburn +was his home, and there he paid his taxes. Undoubtedly, they were less +than city taxes. + +Although a young man, Mr. Crewe was in all respects a model citizen, and +a person of many activities. He had built a farmers' club, to which the +farmers, in gross ingratitude, had never gone. Now it was a summer +residence and distinctly rentable. He had a standing offer to erect a +library in the village of Leith provided the town would furnish the +ground, the books, and permit the name of Crewe to be carved in stone +over the doorway. The indifference of the town pained him, and he was +naturally not a little grieved at the lack of proper feeling of the +country people of America towards those who would better their +conditions. He had put a large memorial window in the chapel to his +family. + +Mr. Crewe had another standing offer to be one of five men to start a +farming experiment station--which might pay dividends. He, was a church +warden; president of a society for turning over crops (which he had +organized); a member of the State Grange; president of the embryo State +Economic League (whatever that was); and chairman of the Local +Improvement Board--also a creation of his own. By these tokens, and +others too numerous to mention, it would seem that the inhabitants of +Leith would have jumped at the chance to make such a man one of the five +hundred in their State Legislature. + +To Whitman is attributed the remark that genius is almost one hundred per +cent directness, but whether or not this applied to Mr. Humphrey Crewe +remains to be seen. "Dynamics" more surely expressed him. It would not +seem to be a very difficult feat, to be sure, to get elected to a State +Legislature of five hundred which met once a year: once in ten years, +indeed, might have been more appropriate for the five hundred. The town +of Leith with its thousand inhabitants had one representative, and Mr. +Crewe had made up his mind he was to be that representative. + +There was, needless to say, great excitement in Leith over Mr. Crewe's +proposed venture into the unknown seas of politics. I mean, of course, +that portion of Leith which recognized in Mr. Crewe an eligible bachelor +and a person of social importance, for these qualities were not +particularly appealing to the three hundred odd farmers whose votes were +expected to send him rejoicing to the State capital. + +"It is so rare with us for a gentleman to go into politics, that we ought +to do everything we can to elect him," Mrs. Pomfret went about declaring. +"Women do so much in England, I wonder they don't do more here. I was +staying at Aylestone Court last year when the Honourable Billy Aylestone +was contesting the family seat with a horrid Radical, and I assure you, +my dear, I got quite excited. We did nothing from morning till night but +electioneer for the Honourable Billy, and kissed all the babies in the +borough. The mothers were so grateful. Now, Edith, do tell Jack instead +of playing tennis and canoeing all day he ought to help. It's the duty +of all young men to help. Noblesse oblige, you know. I can't understand +Victoria. She really has influence with these country people, but she +says it's all nonsense. Sometimes I think Victoria has a common streak +in her--and no wonder. The other day she actually drove to the Hammonds' +in a buggy with an unknown lawyer from Ripton. But I told you about it. +Tell your gardener and the people that do your haying, dear, and your +chicken woman. My chicken woman is most apathetic, but do you wonder, +with the life they lead?" + +Mr. Humphrey Crewe might have had, with King Charles, the watchword +"Thorough." He sent to the town clerk for a check-list, and proceeded to +honour each of the two hundred Republican voters with a personal visit. +This is a fair example of what took place in the majority of cases. + +Out of a cloud of dust emerges an automobile, which halts, with +protesting brakes, in front of a neat farmhouse, guarded by great maples. +Persistent knocking by a chauffeur at last brings a woman to the door. +Mrs. Jenney has a pleasant face and an ample figure. + +"Mr. Jenney live here?" cries Mr. Crewe from the driver's seat. + +"Yes," says Mrs. Jenney, smiling. + +"Tell him I want to see him." + +"Guess you'll find him in the apple orchard." + +"Where's that?" + +The chauffeur takes down the bars, Mr. Jenney pricks up his ears, and +presently--to his amazement--perceives a Leviathan approaching him, +careening over the ruts of his wood road. Not being an emotional person, +he continues to pick apples until he is summarily hailed. Then he goes +leisurely towards the Leviathan. + +"Are you Mr. Jenney?" + +"Callate to be," says Mr. Jenney, pleasantly. + +"I'm Humphrey Crewe." + +"How be you?" says Mr. Jenney, his eyes wandering over the Leviathan. + +How are the apples this year?" asks Mr. Crewe, graciously. + +"Fair to middlin'," says Mr. Jenney. + +"Have you ever tasted my Pippins?" says Mr. Crewe. "A little science in +cultivation helps along. I'm going to send you a United States +government pamphlet on the fruit we can raise here." + +Mr. Jenney makes an awkward pause by keeping silent on the subject of the +pamphlet until he shall see it. + +"Do you take much interest in politics?" + +"Not a great deal," answers Mr. Jenney. + +"That's the trouble with Americans," Mr. Crewe declares, "they don't care +who represents 'em, or whether their government's good or bad." + +"Guess that's so," replies Mr. Jenney, politely. + +"That sort of thing's got to stop," declares Mr. Crewe; "I'm a candidate +for the Republican nomination for representative." + +"I want to know!" ejaculates Mr. Jenney, pulling his beard. One would +never suspect that this has been one of Mr. Jenney's chief topics of +late. + +"I'll see that the interests of this town are cared for." + +"Let's see," says Mr. Jenney, "there's five hundred in the House, ain't +there?" + +"It's a ridiculous number," says Mr. Crewe, with truth. + +"Gives everybody a chance to go," says Mr. Jenney. "I was thar in '78, +and enjoyed it some." + +"Who are you for?" demanded Mr. Crewe, combating the tendency of the +conversation to slip into a pocket. + +"Little early yet, hain't it? Hain't made up my mind. Who's the +candidates?" asks Mr. Jenney, continuing to stroke his beard. + +"I don't know," says Mr. Crewe, "but I do know I've done something for +this town, and I hope you'll take it into consideration. Come and see me +when you go to the village. I'll give you a good cigar, and that +pamphlet, and we'll talk matters over." + +"Never would have thought to see one of them things in my orchard," says +Mr. Jenney. "How much do they cost? Much as a locomotive, don't they?" + +It would not be exact to say that, after some weeks of this sort of +campaigning, Mr. Crewe was discouraged, for such writhe vitality with +which nature had charged him that he did not know the meaning of the +word. He was merely puzzled, as a June-bug is puzzled when it bumps up +against a wire window-screen. He had pledged to him his own gardener, +Mrs. Pomfret's, the hired men of three of his neighbours, a few modest +souls who habitually took off their hats to him, and Mr. Ball, of the +village, who sold groceries to Wedderburn and was a general handy man for +the summer people. Mr. Ball was an agitator by temperament and a +promoter by preference. If you were a summer resident of importance and +needed anything from a sewing-machine to a Holstein heifer, Mr. Ball, the +grocer, would accommodate you. When Mrs. Pomfret's cook became inebriate +and refractory, Mr. Ball was sent for, and enticed her to the station and +on board of a train; when the Chillinghams' tank overflowed, Mr. Ball +found the proper valve and saved the house from being washed away. And +it was he who, after Mrs. Pomfret, took the keenest interest in Mr. +Crewe's campaign. At length came one day when Mr. Crewe pulled up in +front of the grocery store and called, as his custom was, loudly for Mr. +Ball. The fact that Mr. Ball was waiting on customers made no +difference, and presently that gentleman appeared, rubbing his hands +together. + +"How do you do, Mr. Crewe?" he said, "automobile going all right?" + +"What's the matter with these fellers?" said Mr. Crewe. "Haven't I done +enough for the town? Didn't I get 'em rural free delivery? Didn't I +subscribe to the meeting-house and library, and don't I pay more taxes +than anybody else?" + +"Certain," assented Mr. Ball, eagerly, "certain you do." It did not seem +to occur to him that it was unfair to make him responsible for the scurvy +ingratitude of his townsmen. He stepped gingerly down into the dust and +climbed up on the tool box. + +"Look out," said Mr. Crewe, "don't scratch the varnish. What is it?" + +Mr. Ball shifted obediently to the rubber-covered step, and bent his face +to his patron's ear. + +"It's railrud," he said. + +"Railroad!" shouted Mr. Crewe, in a voice that made the grocer clutch his +arm in terror. "Don't pinch me like that. Railroad! This town ain't +within ten miles of the railroad." + +"For the love of David," said Mr. Ball, "don't talk so loud, Mr. Crewe." + +"What's the railroad got to do with it?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +Mr. Ball glanced around him, to make sure that no one was within shouting +distance. + +"What's the railrud got to do with anything in this State?" inquired Mr. +Ball, craftily. + +"That's different," said Mr. Crewe, shortly, "I'm a corporation man +myself. They've got to defend 'emselves." + +"Certain. I ain't got anything again' 'em," Mr. Ball agreed quickly. "I +guess they know what they're about. By the bye, Mr. Crewe," he added, +coming dangerously near the varnish again, and drawing back, "you hain't +happened to have seen Job Braden, have you?" + +"Job Braden!" exclaimed Mr. Crewe, "Job Braden! What's all this mystery +about Job Braden? Somebody whispers that name in my ear every day. If +you mean that smooth-faced cuss that stutters and lives on Braden's Hill, +I called on him, but he was out. If you see him, tell him to come up to +Wedderburn, and I'll talk with him." + +Mr. Ball made a gesture to indicate a feeling divided between respect for +Mr. Crewe and despair at the hardihood of such a proposition. + +"Lord bless you, sir, Job wouldn't go." + +"Wouldn't go?" + +"He never pays visits,--folks go to him." + +"He'd come to see me, wouldn't he?" + +"I--I'm afraid riot, Mr. Crewe. Job holds his comb rather high." + +"Do you mean to say this two-for-a-cent town has a boss?" + +"Silas Grantley was born here," said Mr. Ball--for even the worm will +turn. "This town's got a noble history." + +"I don't care anything about Silas Grantley. What I want to know is, how +this rascal manages to make anything out of the political pickings of a +town like Leith." + +"Well, Job ain't exactly a rascal, Mr. Crewe. He's got a good many of +them hill farmers in a position of--of gratitude. Enough to control the +Republican caucus." + +"Do you mean he buys their votes?" demanded Mr. Crewe. + +"It's like this," explained Mr. Ball, "if one of 'em falls behind in his +grocery bill, for example, he can always get money from Job. Job takes a +mortgage, but he don't often close down on 'm. And Job has been +collectin' credentials in Avalon County for upward of forty years." + +"Collecting credentials?" + +"Yes. Gets a man nominated to State and county conventions that can't +go, and goes himself with a bunch of credentials. He's in a position to +negotiate. He was in all them railrud fights with Jethro Bass, and now +he does business with Hilary Vane or Brush Bascom when anything +especial's goin' on. You'd ought to see him, Mr. Crewe." + +"I guess I won't waste my time with any picayune boss if the United +Northeastern Railroads has any hand in this matter," declared Mr. Crewe. +"Wind her up." + +This latter remark was addressed to a long-suffering chauffeur who looked +like a Sicilian brigand. + +"I didn't exactly like to suggest it," said Mr. Ball, rubbing his hands +and raising his voice above the whir of the machine, "but of course I +knew Mr. Flint was an intimate friend. A word to him from you--" + +But by this Mr. Crewe had got in his second speed and was sweeping around +a corner lined with farmers' teams, whose animals were behaving like +circus horses. On his own driveway, where he arrived in incredibly brief +time, he met his stenographer, farm superintendent, secretary, +housekeeper, and general utility man, Mr. Raikes. Mr. Raikes was +elderly, and showed signs of needing a vacation. + +"Telephone Mr. Flint, Raikes, and tell him I would like an appointment at +his earliest convenience, on important business." + +Mr. Raikes, who was going for his daily stroll beside the river, wheeled +and made for the telephone, and brought back the news that Mr. Flint +would be happy to see Mr. Crewe the next afternoon at four o'clock. + +This interview, about which there has been so much controversy in the +newspapers, and denials and counter-denials from the press bureaus of +both gentlemen,--this now historic interview began at four o'clock +precisely the next day. At that hour Mr. Crewe was ushered into that +little room in which Mr. Flint worked when at Fairview. Like Frederick +the Great and other famous captains, Mr. Flint believed in an iron +bedstead regime. The magnate was, as usual, fortified behind his oak +desk; the secretary with a bend in his back was in modest evidence; and +an elderly man of comfortable proportions, with a large gold watch-charm +portraying the rising sun, and who gave, somehow, the polished impression +of a marble, sat near the window smoking a cigar. Mr. Crewe approached +the desk with that genial and brisk manner for which he was noted and +held out his hand to the railroad president. + +"We are both business men, and both punctual, Mr. Flint," he said, and +sat down in the empty chair beside his host, eyeing without particular +favour him of the watch-charm, whose cigar was not a very good one. "I +wanted to have a little private conversation with you which might be of +considerable interest to us both." And Mr. Crewe laid down on the desk a +somewhat formidable roll of papers. + +"I trust the presence of Senator Whitredge will not deter you," answered +Mr. Flint. "He is an old friend of mine." + +Mr. Crewe was on his feet again with surprising alacrity, and beside the +senator's chair. + +"How are you, Senator?" he said, "I have never had the pleasure of +meeting you, but I know you by reputation." + +The senator got to his feet. They shook hands, and exchanged cordial +greetings; and during the exchange Mr. Crewe looked out of the window, +and the senator's eyes were fixed on the telephone receiver on Mr. +Flint's desk. As neither gentleman took hold of the other's fingers very +hard, they fell apart quickly. + +"I am very happy to meet you, Mr. Crewe," said the senator. Mr. Crewe +sat down again, and not being hampered by those shrinking qualities so +fatal to success he went on immediately:-- + +"There is nothing which I have to say that the senator cannot hear. I +made the appointment with you, Mr. Flint, to talk over a matter which may +be of considerable importance to us both. I have made up my mind to go +to the Legislature." + +Mr. Crewe naturally expected to find visible effects of astonishment and +joy on the faces of his hearers at such not inconsiderable news. Mr. +Flint, however, looked serious enough, though the senator smiled as he +blew his smoke out of the window. + +"Have you seen Job Braden, Mr. Crewe?" he asked, with genial jocoseness. +"They tell me that Job is still alive and kicking over in your parts." + +"Thank you, Senator," said Mr. Crewe, "that brings me to the very point I +wish to emphasize. Everywhere in Leith I am met with the remark, 'Have +you seen Job Braden?' And I always answer, 'No, I haven't seen Mr. +Braden, and I don't intend to see him."' + +Mr. Whitredge laughed, and blew out a ring of smoke. Mr. Flint's face +remained sober. + +"Now, Mr. Flint," Mr. Crewe went on, "you and I understand each other, +and we're on the same side of the fence. I have inherited some interests +in corporations myself, and I have acquired an interest in others. I am +a director in several. I believe that it is the duty of property to +protect itself, and the duty of all good men in politics,--such as the +senator here,"--(bow from Mr. Whitredge) to protect property. I am a +practical man, and I think I can convince you, if you don't see it +already, that my determination to go to the Legislature is an +advantageous thing for your railroad." + +"The advent of a reputable citizen into politics is always a good thing +for the railroad, Mr. Crewe," said Mr. Flint. + +"Exactly," Mr. Crewe agreed, ignoring the non-committal quality of this +remark, "and if you get a citizen who is a not inconsiderable property +holder, a gentleman, and a college graduate,--a man who, by study and +predilection, is qualified to bring about improved conditions in the +State, so much the better." + +"So much the better," said Mr. Flint. + +"I thought you would see it that way," Mr. Crewe continued. "Now a man +of your calibre must have studied to some extent the needs of the State, +and it must have struck you that certain improvements go hand in hand +with the prosperity of your railroad." + +"Have a cigar, Mr. Crewe. Have another, Senator?" said Mr. Flint. "I +think that is safe as a general proposition, Mr. Crewe." + +"To specify," said Mr. Crewe, laying his hand on the roll of papers he +had brought, "I have here bills which I have carefully drawn up and which +I will leave for your consideration. One is to issue bonds for ten +millions to build State roads." + +"Ten millions!" said Mr. Flint, and the senator whistled mildly. + +"Think about it," said Mr. Crewe, "the perfection of the highways through +the State, instead of decreasing your earnings, would increase them +tremendously. Visitors by the tens of thousands would come in +automobiles, and remain and buy summer places. The State would have its +money back in taxes and business in no time at all. I wonder somebody +hasn't seen it before--the stupidity of the country legislator is +colossal. And we want forestry laws, and laws for improving the +condition of the farmers--all practical things. They are all there," Mr. +Crewe declared, slapping the bundle; "read them, Mr. Flint. If you have +any suggestions to make, kindly note them on the margin, and I shall be +glad to go over them with you." + +By this time the senator was in a rare posture for him--he was seated +upright. + +"As you know, I am a very busy man, Mr. Crewe," said the railroad +president. + +"No one appreciates that more fully than I do, Mr. Flint," said Mr. +Crewe; "I haven't many idle hours myself. I think you will find the +bills and my comments on them well worth your consideration from the +point of view of advantage to your railroad. They are typewritten, and +in concrete form. In fact, the Northeastern Railroads and myself must +work together to our mutual advantage--that has become quite clear to me. +I shall have need of your help in passing the measures." + +"I'm afraid I don't quite understand you, Mr. Crewe," said Mr. Flint, +putting down the papers. + +"That is," said Mr. Crewe, "if you approve of the bills, and I am +confident that I shall be able to convince you." + +"What do you want me to do?" asked the railroad president. + +"Well, in the first place," said Mr. Crewe, unabashed, "send word to your +man Braden that you've seen me and it's all right." + +"I assure you," answered Mr. Flint, giving evidence for the first time of +a loss of patience, "that neither the Northeastern Railroads nor myself, +have any more to do with this Braden than you have." + +Mr. Crewe, being a man of the world, looked incredulous. + +"Senator," Mr. Flint continued, turning to Mr. Whitredge, "you know as +much about politics in this State as any man of my acquaintance, have you +ever heard of any connection between this Braden and the Northeastern +Railroads?" + +The senator had a laugh that was particularly disarming. + +"Bless your soul, no," he replied. "You will pardon me, Mr. Crewe, but +you must have been listening to some farmer's tale. The railroad is the +bugaboo in all these country romances. I've seen old Job Braden at +conventions ever since I was a lad. He's a back number, one of the few +remaining disciples and imitators of Jethro Bass: talks like him and acts +like him. In the old days when there were a lot of little railroads, he +and Bijah Bixby and a few others used to make something out of them, but +since the consolidation, and Mr. Flint's presidency, Job stays at home. +They tell me he runs Leith yet. You'd better go over and fix it up with +him." + +A somewhat sarcastic smile of satisfaction was playing over Mr. Flint's +face as he listened to the senator's words. As a matter of fact, they +were very nearly true as regarded Job Braden, but Mr. Crewe may be +pardoned for thinking that Mr. Flint was not showing him quite the +confidence due from one business and corporation man to another. He was +by no means abashed,--Mr. Crewe had too much spirit for that. He merely +became--as a man whose watchword is "thorough" will--a little more +combative. + +"Well, read the bills anyway, Mr. Flint, and I'll come and go over them +with you. You can't fail to see my arguments, and all I ask is that you +throw the weight of your organization at the State capital for them when +they come up." + +Mr. Flint drummed on the table. + +"The men who have held office in this State," he said, "have always been +willing to listen to any suggestion I may have thought proper to make to +them. This is undoubtedly because I am at the head of the property which +pays the largest taxes. Needless to say I am chary of making +suggestions. But I am surprised that you should have jumped at a +conclusion which is the result of a popular and unfortunately prevalent +opinion that the Northeastern Railroads meddled in any way with the +government or politics of this State. I am glad of this opportunity of +assuring you that we do not," he continued, leaning forward and holding +up his hand to ward off interruption, "and I know that Senator Whitredge +will bear me out in this statement, too." + +The senator nodded gravely. Mr. Crewe, who was anything but a fool, and +just as assertive as Mr. Flint, cut in. + +"Look here, Mr. Flint," he said, "I know what a lobby is. I haven't been +a director in railroads myself for nothing. I have no objection to a +lobby. You employ counsel before the Legislature, don't you--" + +"We do," said Mr. Flint, interrupting, "the best and most honourable +counsel we can find in the State. When necessary, they appear before the +legislative committees. As a property holder in the State, and an +admirer of its beauties, and as its well-wisher, it will give me great +pleasure to look over your bills, and use whatever personal influence I +may have as a citizen to forward them, should they meet my approval. And +I am especially glad to do this as a neighbour, Mr. Crewe. As a +neighbour," he repeated, significantly. + +The president of the Northeastern Railroads rose as he spoke these words, +and held out his hand to Mr. Crewe. It was perhaps a coincidence that +the senator rose also. + +"All right," said Mr. Crewe, "I'll call around again in about two weeks. +Come and see me sometime, Senator." Thank you," said the senator, "I +shall be happy. And if you are ever in your automobile near the town of +Ramsey, stop at my little farm, Mr. Crewe. I trust to be able soon to +congratulate you on a step which I am sure will be but the beginning of a +long and brilliant political career." + +"Thanks," said Mr. Crewe; "by the bye, if you could see your way to drop +a hint to that feller Braden, I should be much obliged." + +The senator shook his head and laughed. + +"Job is an independent cuss," he said, "I'm afraid he'd regard that as an +unwarranted trespass on his preserves." + +Mr. Crewe was ushered out by the stooping secretary, Mr. Freeman; who, +instead of seizing Mr. Crewe's hand as he had Austen Vane's, said not a +word. But Mr. Crewe would have been interested if he could have heard +Mr. Flint's first remark to the senator after the door was closed on his +back. It did not relate to Mr. Crewe, but to the subject under +discussion which he had interrupted; namely, the Republican candidates +for the twenty senatorial districts of the State. + +On its way back to Leith the red motor paused in front of Mr. Ball's +store, and that gentleman was summoned in the usual manner. + +"Do you see this Braden once in a while?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +Mr. Ball looked knowing. + +"Tell him I want to have a talk with him," said Mr. Crewe. "I've been to +see Mr. Flint, and I think matters can be arranged. And mind you, no +word about this, Ball." + +"I guess I understand a thing or two," said Mr. Ball. "Trust me to +handle it." + +Two days later, as Mr. Crewe was seated in his study, his man entered and +stood respectfully waiting for the time when he should look up from his +book. + +"Well, what is it now, Waters?" + +"If you please, sir," said the man, "a strange message has come over the +telephone just now that you were to be in room number twelve of the +Ripton House to-morrow at ten o'clock. They wouldn't give any name, +sir," added the dignified Waters, who, to tell the truth, was somewhat +outraged, nor tell where they telephoned from. But it was a man's voice, +sir." + +"All right," said Mr. Crewe. + +He spent much of the afternoon and evening debating whether or not his +dignity would permit him to go. But he ordered the motor at half-past +nine, and at ten o'clock precisely the clerk at the Ripton House was +bowing to him and handing him, deferentially, a dripping pen. + +"Where's room number twelve?" said the direct Mr. Crewe. + +"Oh," said the clerk, and possessing a full share of the worldly wisdom +of his calling, he smiled broadly. "I guess you'll find him up there, +Mr. Crewe. Front, show the gentleman to number twelve." + +The hall boy knocked on the door of number twelve. + +"C--come in," said a voice. "Come in." + +Mr. Crewe entered, the hall boy closed the door, and he found himself +face to face with a comfortable, smooth-faced man seated with great +placidity on a rocking-chair in the centre of the room, between the bed +and the marble-topped table: a man to whom, evidently, a rich abundance +of thought was sufficient company, for he had neither newspaper nor book. +He rose in a leisurely fashion, and seemed the very essence of the benign +as he stretched forth his hand. + +"I'm Mr. Crewe," the owner of that name proclaimed, accepting the hand +with no exaggeration of cordiality. The situation jarred on him a +trifle. + +"I know. Seed you on the road once or twice. How be you?" + +Mr. Crewe sat down. + +"I suppose you are Mr. Braden," he said. + +Mr. Braden sank into the rocker and fingered a waistcoat pocket full of +cigars that looked like a section of a cartridge-belt. + +"T--try one of mine," he said. + +"I only smoke once after breakfast," said Mr. Crewe. + +"Abstemious, be you? Never could find that it did me any hurt." + +This led to an awkward pause, Mr. Crewe not being a man who found profit +in idle discussion. He glanced at Mr. Braden's philanthropic and beaming +countenance, which would have made the fortune of a bishop. It was not +usual for Mr. Crewe to find it difficult to begin a conversation, or to +have a companion as self-sufficient as himself. This man Braden had all +the fun, apparently, in sitting in a chair and looking into space that +Stonewall Jackson had, or an ordinary man in watching a performance of "A +Trip to Chinatown." Let it not be inferred, again, that Mr. Crewe was +abashed; but he was puzzled. + +"I had an engagement in Ripton this morning," he said, "to see about some +business matters. And after I received your telephone I thought I'd drop +in here." + +"Didn't telephone," said Mr. Braden, placidly. + +"What!" said Mr. Crewe, "I certainly got a telephone message." + +"N--never telephone," said Mr. Braden. + +"I certainly got a message from you," Mr. Crewe protested. + +"Didn't say it was from me--didn't say so--did they--" + +"No," said Mr. Crewe, "but--" + +"Told Ball you wanted to have me see you, didn't you?" + +Mr. Crewe, when he had unravelled this sentence, did not fancy the way it +was put. + +"I told Ball I was seeing everybody in Leith," he answered, "and that I +had called on you, and you weren't at home. Ball inferred that you had a +somewhat singular way of seeing people." + +"You don't understand," was Mr. Braden's somewhat enigmatic reply. + +"I understand pretty well," said Mr. Crewe. "I'm a candidate for the +Republican nomination for representative from Leith, and I want your vote +and influence. You probably know what I have done for the town, and that +I'm the biggest taxpayer, and an all-the-year-round resident." + +"S--some in Noo York--hain't you?" + +"Well, you can't expect a man in my position and with my interests to +stay at home all the time. I feel that I have a right to ask the town +for this nomination. I have some bills here which I'll request you to +read over, and you will see that I have ideas which are of real value to +the State. The State needs waking up-progressive measures. You're a +farmer, ain't you?" + +"Well, I have be'n." + +"I can improve the condition of the farmer one hundred per cent, and if +my road system is followed, he can get his goods to market for about a +tenth of what it costs him now. We have infinitely valuable forests in +the State which are being wasted by lumbermen, which ought to be +preserved. You read those bills, and what I have written about them." + +"You don't understand," said Mr. Braden, drawing a little closer and +waving aside the manuscript with his cigar. + +"Don't understand what?" + +"Don't seem to understand," repeated Mr. Braden, confidingly laying his +hand on Mr. Crewe's knee. "Candidate for representative, be you?" + +"Yes," replied Mr. Crewe, who was beginning to resent the manner in which +he deemed he was being played with, "I told you I was." + +"M--made all them bills out before you was chose?" said Mr. Braden. + +Mr. Crewe grew red in the face. + +"I am interested in these questions," he said stiffly. + +"Little mite hasty, wahn't it?" Mr. Braden remarked equably, "but you've +got plenty of time and money to fool with such things, if you've a mind +to. Them don't amount to a hill of beans in politics. Nobody pays any +attention to that sort of fireworks down to the capital, and if they was +to get into committee them Northeastern Railroads fellers'd bury 'em +deeper than the bottom of Salem pond. They don't want no such things as +them to pass." + +"Pardon me," said Mr. Crewe, "but you haven't read 'em." + +"I know what they be," said Mr. Braden, "I've be'n in politics more years +than you've be'n livin', I guess. I don't want to read 'em," he +announced, his benign manner unchanged. + +"I think you have made a mistake so far as the railroad is concerned, Mr. +Braden," said Mr. Crewe, "I'm a practical man myself, and I don't indulge +in moonshine. I am a director in one or two railroads. I have talked +this matter over with Mr. Flint, and incidentally with Senator +Whitredge." + +"Knowed Whitredge afore you had any teeth," said Mr. Braden, who did not +seem to be greatly impressed, "know him intimate. What'd you go to Flint +for?" + +"We have interests in common," said Mr. Crewe, "and I am rather a close +friend of his. My going to the Legislature will be, I think, to our +mutual advantage." + +"O--ought to have come right to me," said Mr. Braden, leaning over until +his face was in close proximity to Mr. Crewe's. "Whitredge told you to +come to me, didn't he?" + +Mr. Crewe was a little taken aback. + +"The senator mentioned your name," he admitted. + +"He knows. Said I was the man to see if you was a candidate, didn't he? +Told you to talk to Job Braden, didn't he?" + +Now Mr. Crewe had no means of knowing whether Senator Whitredge had been +in conference with Mr. Braden or not. + +"The senator mentioned your name casually, in some connection," said Mr. +Crewe. + +"He knows," Mr. Braden repeated, with a finality that spoke volumes for +the senator's judgment; and he bent over into Mr. Crewe's ear, with the +air of conveying a mild but well-merited reproof, "You'd ought to come +right to me in the first place. I could have saved you all that +unnecessary trouble of seein' folks. There hasn't be'n a representative +left the town of Leith for thirty years that I hain't agreed to. +Whitredge knows that. If I say you kin go, you kin go. You understand," +said Mr. Braden, with his fingers on Mr. Crewe's knee once more. + +Five minutes later Mr. Crewe emerged into the dazzling sun of the Ripton +square, climbed into his automobile, and turned its head towards Leith, +strangely forgetting the main engagement which he said had brought him to +town. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE TRIALS OF AN HONOURABLE + +It was about this time that Mr. Humphrey Crewe was transformed, by one of +those subtle and inexplicable changes which occur in American politics, +into the Honourable Humphrey Crewe. And, as interesting bits of news +about important people are bound to leak out, it became known in Leith +that he had subscribed to what is known as a Clipping Bureau. Two weeks +after the day he left Mr. Braden's presence in the Ripton House the +principal newspapers of the country contained the startling announcement +that the well-known summer colony of Leith was to be represented in the +State Legislature by a millionaire. The Republican nomination, which Mr. +Crewe had secured, was equivalent to an election. + +For a little time after that Mr. Crewe, although naturally an important +and busy man, scarcely had time to nod to his friends on the road. + +"Poor dear Humphrey," said Mrs. Pomfret, "who was so used to dropping in +to dinner, hasn't had a moment to write me a line to thank me for the +statesman's diary I bought for him in London this spring. They're in +that new red leather, and Aylestone says he finds his so useful. I +dropped in at Wedderburn to-day to see if I could be of any help, and the +poor man was buttonholed by two reporters who had come all the way from +New York to see him. I hope he won't overdo it." + +It was true. Mr. Crewe was to appear in the Sunday supplements. "Are +our Millionaires entering Politics?" Mr. Crewe, with his usual gracious +hospitality, showed the reporters over the place, and gave them +suggestions as to the best vantage-points in which to plant their +cameras. He himself was at length prevailed upon to be taken in a rough +homespun suit, and with a walking-stick in his hand, appraising with a +knowing eye a flock of his own sheep. Pressed a little, he consented to +relate something of the systematic manner in which he had gone about to +secure this nomination: how he had visited in person the homes of his +fellow-townsmen. "I knew them all, anyway," he is quoted as saying; "we +have had the pleasantest of relationships during the many years I have +been a resident of Leith." + +"Beloved of his townspeople," this part of the article was headed. No, +these were not Mr. Crewe's words--he was too modest for that. When urged +to give the name of one of his townsmen who might deal with this and +other embarrassing topics, Mr. Ball was mentioned. "Beloved of his +townspeople" was Mr. Ball's phrase. "Although a multi-millionaire, no man +is more considerate of the feelings and the rights of his more humble +neighbours. Send him to the Legislature! We'd send him to the United +States Senate if we could. He'll land there, anyway." Such was a random +estimate (Mr. Ball's) the reporters gathered on their way to Ripton. Mr. +Crewe did not hesitate to say that the prosperity of the farmers had +risen as a result of his labours at Wedderburn where the most improved +machinery and methods were adopted. His efforts to raise the +agricultural, as well as the moral and intellectual, tone of the +community had been unceasing. + +Then followed an intelligent abstract of the bills he was to introduce-- +the results of a progressive and statesmanlike brain. There was an +account of him as a methodical and painstaking business man whose +suggestions to the boards of directors of which he was a member had been +invaluable. The article ended with a list of the clubs to which he +belonged, of the societies which he had organized and of those of which +he was a member,--and it might have been remarked by a discerning reader +that most of these societies were State affairs. Finally there was a pen +portrait of an Apollo Belvidere who wore the rough garb of a farmer (on +the days when the press was present). + +Mr. Crewe's incessant trials, which would have taxed a less rugged +nature, did not end here. About five o'clock one afternoon a pleasant- +appearing gentleman with a mellifluous voice turned up who introduced +himself as ex (State) Senator Grady. The senator was from Newcastle, +that city out of the mysterious depths of which so many political stars +have arisen. Mr. Crewe cancelled a long-deferred engagement with Mrs. +Pomfret, and invited the senator to stay to dinner; the senator +hesitated, explained that he was just passing through Ripton, and, as it +was a pleasant afternoon, had called to "pay his respects"; but Mr. +Crewe's well-known hospitality would accept no excuses. Mr. Crewe opened +a box of cigars which he had bought especially for the taste of State +senators and a particular grade of Scotch whiskey. + +They talked politics for four hours. Who would be governor? The senator +thought Asa Gray would. The railroad was behind him, Mr. Crewe observed +knowingly. The senator remarked that Mr. Crewe was no gosling. Mr. +Crewe, as political-geniuses will, asked as many questions as the emperor +of Germany--pertinent questions about State politics. Senator Grady was +tremendously impressed with his host's programme of bills, and went over +them so painstakingly that Mr. Crewe became more and more struck with +Senator Grady's intelligence. The senator told Mr. Crewe that just such +a man as he was needed to pull the State out of the rut into which she +had fallen. Mr. Crewe said that he hoped to find such enlightened men in +the Legislature as the senator. The senator let it be known that he had +read the newspaper articles, and had remarked that Mr. Crewe was close to +the president of the Northeastern Railroads. + +"Such a man as you," said the senator, looking at the remainder of the +Scotch whiskey, "will have the railroad behind you, sure." + +"One more drink," said Mr. Crewe. + +"I must go," said Mr. Grady, pouring it out, but that reminds me. It +comes over me sudden-like, as I sit here, that you certainly ought to be +in the new encyclopeedie of the prominent men of the State. But sure you +have received an application." + +"It is probable that my secretary has one," said Mr. Crewe, "but he +hasn't called it to my attention." + +"You must get in that book, Mr. Crewe," said the senator, with an intense +earnestness which gave the impression of alarm; "after what you've told +me to-night I'll see to it myself that you get in. It may be that I've +got some of the sample pages here, if I haven't left them at home," said +Mr. Grady, fumbling in an ample inside pocket, and drawing forth a +bundle. "Sure, here they are. Ain't that luck for you? Listen! 'Asa +P. Gray was born on the third of August, eighteen forty-seven, the +seventh son of a farmer. See, there's a space in the end they left to +fill up when he's elicted governor! Here's another. The Honourable +Hilary Vane comes from one of the oldest Puritan families in the State, +the Vanes of Camden Street--' Here's another. 'The Honourable Brush +Bascom of Putnam County is the son of poor but honourable parents--' Look +at the picture of him. Ain't that a handsome steel-engravin' of the +gentleman?" + +Mr. Crewe gazed contemplatively at the proof, but was too busy with his +own thoughts to reflect that there was evidently not much poor or +honourable about Mr. Bascom now. + +"Who's publishing this?" he asked. + +"Fogarty and Company; sure they're the best publishers in the State, as +you know, Mr. Crewe. They have the State printing. Wasn't it fortunate +I had the proofs with me? Tim Fogarty slipped them into me pocket when I +was leavin' Newcastle. 'The book is goin' to press the day after +eliction,' says he, 'John,' says he, 'you know I always rely on your +judgment, and if you happen to think of anybody between now and then who +ought to go in, you'll notify me,' says he. When I read the bills to- +night, and saw the scope of your work, it came over me in a flash that +Humphrey Crewe was the man they left out. You'll get a good man to write +your life, and what you done for the town and State, and all them +societies and bills, won't you? 'Twould be a thousand pities not to have +it right." + +"How much does it cost?" Mr. Crewe inquired. + +"Sure I forgot to ask Tim Fogarty. Mebbe he has it here. I signed one +myself, but I couldn't afford the steelengravin'. Yes, he slipped one +in. Two hundred dollars for a two-page biography, and, three hundred for +the steelengravin'. Five hundred dollars. I didn't know it was so cheap +as that," exclaimed the senator, "and everybody in the State havin' to +own one in self-protection. You don't happen to have a pen about you?" + +Mr. Crewe waved the senator towards his own desk, and Mr. Grady filled +out the blank. + +"It's lucky we are that I didn't drop in after eliction, and the book in +press," he remarked; "and I hope you'll give him a good photograph. +This's for you, I'll take this to Tim myself," and he handed the pen for +Mr. Crewe to sign with. + +Mr. Crewe read over the agreement carefully, as a business man should, +before putting his signature to it. And then the senator, with renewed +invitations for Mr. Crewe to call on him when he came to Newcastle, took +his departure. Afterwards Mr. Crewe remained so long in reflection that +his man Waters became alarmed, and sought him out and interrupted his +revery. + +The next morning Mrs. Pomfret, who was merely "driving by" with her +daughter Alice and Beatrice Chillingham, spied Mr. Crewe walking about +among the young trees he was growing near the road, and occasionally +tapping them with his stout stick. She poked her coachman in the back +and cried:-- + +"Humphrey, you're such an important man now that I despair of ever seeing +you again. What was the matter last night?" + +"A politician from Newcastle," answered Mr. Crewe, continuing to tap the +trees, and without so much as a glance at Alice. + +"Well, if you're as important as this before you're elected, I can't +think what it will be afterwards," Mrs. Pomfret lamented. "Poor dear +Humphrey is so conscientious. When can you come, Humphrey?" + +"Don't know," said Mr. Crewe; "I'll try to come tonight, but I may be +stopped again. Here's Waters now." + +The three people in Mrs. Pomfret's victoria were considerably impressed +to see the dignified Waters hurrying down the slope from the house +towards them. Mr. Crewe continued to tap the trees, but drew a little +nearer the carriage. + +"If you please, sir," said Waters, "there's a telephone call for you from +Newcastle. It's urgent, sir." + +"Who is it?" + +"They won't give their names, sir." + +"All right," said Mr. Crewe, and with a grin which spoke volumes for the +manner in which he was harassed he started towards the house--in no great +hurry, however. Reaching the instrument, and saying "Hello" in his +usually gracious manner, he was greeted by a voice with a decided +Hibernian-American accent. + +"Am I talkin' to Mr. Crewe?" + +"Yes." + +"Mr. Humphrey Crewe?" + +"Yes--yes, of course you are. Who are you?" + +"I'm the president of the Paradise Benevolent and Military Association, +Mr. Crewe. Boys that work in the mills, you know," continued the voice, +caressingly. "Sure you've heard of us. We're five hundred strong, and +all of us good Republicans as the president. We're to have our annual +fall outing the first of October in Finney Grove, and we'd like to have +you come down." + +"The first of October?" said Mr. Crewe. "I'll consult my engagement +book." + +"We'd like to have a good picture of you in our programme, Mr. Crewe. We +hope you'll oblige us. You're such an important figure in State politics +now you'd ought to have a full page." + +There was a short silence. + +"What does it cost?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +"Sure," said the caressing voice of the president, "whatever you like." + +"I'll send you a check for five dollars, and a picture," said Mr. Crewe. + +The answer to this was a hearty laugh, which the telephone reproduced +admirably. The voice now lost a little of its caressing note and partook +of a harder quality. + +"You're a splendid humorist, Mr. Crewe. Five dollars wouldn't pay for +the plate and the paper. A gentleman like you could give us twenty-five, +and never know it was gone. You won't be wanting to stop in the +Legislature, Mr. Crewe, and we remember our friends in Newcastle." + +"Very well, I'll see what I can do. Good-by, I've got an engagement," +said Mr. Crewe, and slammed down the telephone. He seated himself in his +chair, and the pensive mood so characteristic (we are told) of statesmen +came over him once more. + +While these and other conferences and duties too numerous to mention were +absorbing Mr. Crewe, he was not too busy to bear in mind the pleasure of +those around him who had not received such an abundance of the world's +blessings as he. The townspeople of Leith were about to bestow on him +their greatest gift. What could he do to show his appreciation? +Wrestling with this knotty problem, a brilliant idea occurred to him,--he +would have a garden-party: invite everybody in town, and admit them to +the sanctities of Wedderburn; yes, even of Wedderburn house, that they +might behold with their own eyes the carved ivory elephants and other +contents of glass cabinets which reeked of the Sunday afternoons of +youth. Being a man of action, Mr. Pardriff was summoned at once from +Leith and asked for his lowest price on eight hundred and fifty +invitations and a notice of the party in the Ripton Record. + +"Goin' to invite Democrats, too?" demanded Mr. Pardriff, glancing at the +check-list. + +"Everybody," said Mr. Crewe, with unparalleled generosity. "I won't draw +any distinction between friends and enemies. They're all neighbours." + +"And some of 'em might, by accident, vote the Republican ticket," Mr. +Pardriff retorted, narrowing his eyes a little. + +Mr. Crewe evidently thought this a negligible suggestion, for he did not +reply to it, but presently asked for the political news in Ripton. + +"Well," said Mr. Pardriff, "you know they tried to get Austen Vane to run +for State senator, don't you?" + +"Vane Why, he ain't a full-fledged lawyer yet. I've hired him in an +unimportant case. Who asked him to run?" + +"Young Tom Gaylord and a delegation." + +"He couldn't have got it," said Mr. Crewe. + +"I don't know," said Mr. Pardriff, "he might have given Billings a hustle +for the nomination." + +"You supported Billings, I noticed," said Mr. Crewe. + +Mr. Pardriff winked an eye. + +"I'm not ready to walk the ties when I go to Newcastle," he remarked, +"and Nat ain't quite bankrupt yet. The Gaylords," continued Mr. +Pardriff, who always took the cynical view of a man of the world, "have +had some row with the Northeastern over lumber shipments. I understand +they're goin' to buck 'em for a franchise in the next Legislature, just +to make it lively. The Gaylords ain't exactly poverty-stricken, but they +might as well try to move Sawanec Mountain as the Northeastern." + +It was a fact that young Tom Gaylord had approached Austen Vane with a +"delegation" to request him to be a candidate for the Republican +nomination for the State senate in his district against the railroad +candidate and Austen's late opponent, the Honourable Nat Billings. It +was a fact also that Austen had invited the delegation to sit down, +although there were only two chairs, and that a wrestling match had +ensued with young Tom, in the progress of which one chair had been +broken. Young Tom thought it was time to fight the railroad, and +perceived in Austen the elements of a rebel leader. Austen had +undertaken to throw young Tom out of a front window, which was a large, +old-fashioned one,--and after Herculean efforts had actually got him on +the ledge, when something in the street caught his eye and made him +desist abruptly. The something was the vision of a young woman in a +brown linen suit seated in a runabout and driving a horse almost as +handsome as Pepper. + +When the delegation, after exhausting their mental and physical powers of +persuasion, had at length taken their departure in disgust, Austen opened +mechanically a letter which had very much the appearance of an +advertisement, and bearing a one-cent stamp. It announced that a garden- +party would take place at Wedderburn, the home of the Honourable Humphrey +Crewe, at a not very distant date, and the honour of the bearer's +presence was requested. Refreshments would be served, and the Ripton +Band would dispense music. Below, in small print, were minute directions +where to enter, where to hitch your team, and where to go out. + +Austen was at a loss to know what fairy godmother had prompted Mr. Crewe +to send him an invitation, the case of the injured horse not having +advanced with noticeable rapidity. Nevertheless, the prospect of the +garden-party dawned radiantly for him above what had hitherto been a +rather gloomy horizon. Since the afternoon he had driven Victoria to the +Hammonds' he had had daily debates with an imaginary man in his own +likeness who, to the detriment of his reading of law, sat across his +table and argued with him. The imaginary man was unprincipled, and had +no dignity, but he had such influence over Austen Vane that he had +induced him to drive twice within sight of Fairview gate, when Austen +Vane had turned round again. The imaginary man was for going to call on +her and letting subsequent events take care of themselves; Austen Vane, +had an uncomfortable quality of reducing a matter first of all to its +simplest terms. He knew that Mr. Flint's views were as fixed, +ineradicable, and unchangeable as an epitaph cut in a granite monument; +he felt (as Mr. Flint had) that their first conversation had been but a +forerunner of, a strife to come between them; and add to this the facts +that Mr. Flint was very rich and Austen Vane poor, that Victoria's +friends were not his friends, and that he had grave doubts that the +interest she had evinced in him sprang from any other incentive than a +desire to have communication with various types of humanity, his +hesitation as to entering Mr. Flint's house was natural enough. + +It was of a piece with Mr. Crewe's good fortune of getting what he wanted +that the day of the garden-party was the best that September could do in +that country, which is to say that it was very beautiful. A pregnant +stillness enwrapped the hills, a haze shot with gold dust, like the +filmiest of veils, softened the distant purple and the blue-black shadows +under the pines. Austen awoke from his dream in this enchanted +borderland to find himself in a long line of wagons filled with people in +their Sunday clothes,--the men in black, and the young women in white, +with gay streamers, wending their way through the rear-entrance drive of +Wedderburn, where one of Mr. Crewe's sprucest employees was taking up the +invitation cards like tickets,--a precaution to prevent the rowdy element +from Ripton coming and eating up the refreshments. Austen obediently +tied Pepper in a field, as he was directed, and made his way by a path +through the woods towards the house, where the Ripton Band could be heard +playing the second air in the programme, "Don't you wish you'd Waited?" + +For a really able account of that memorable entertainment see the Ripton +Record of that week, for we cannot hope to vie with Mr. Pardriff when his +heart is really in his work. How describe the noble figure of Mr. Crewe +as it burst upon Austen when he rounded the corner of the house? Clad in +a rough-and-ready manner, with a Gladstone collar to indicate the newly +acquired statesmanship, and fairly radiating geniality, Mr. Crewe stood +at the foot of the steps while the guests made the circuit of the +driveway; and they carefully avoided, in obedience to a warning sign, the +grass circle in the centre. As man and wife confronted him, Mr. Crewe +greeted them in hospitable but stentorian tones that rose above the +strains of "Don't you wish you'd Waited?" It was Mr. Ball who introduced +his townspeople to the great man who was to represent them. + +"How are you?" said Mr. Crewe, with his eyes on the geraniums. "Mr. and +Mrs. Perley Wright, eh? Make yourselves at home. Everything's free-- +you'll find the refreshments on the back porch--just have an eye to the +signs posted round, that's all." And Mr. and Mrs. Perley Wright, +overwhelmed by such a welcome, would pass on into a back eddy of +neighbours, where they would stick, staring at a sign requesting them +please not to pick the flowers. + +"Can't somebody stir 'em up?" Mr. Crewe shouted in an interval when the +band had stopped to gather strength for a new effort. "Can't somebody +move 'em round to see the cows and what's in the house and the automobile +and the horses? Move around the driveway, please. It's so hot here you +can't breathe. Some of you wanted to see what was in the house. Now's +your chance." + +This graceful appeal had some temporary effect, but the congestion soon +returned, when a man of the hour appeared, a man whose genius scattered +the groups and who did more to make the party a success than any single +individual,--Mr. Hamilton Tooting, in a glorious white silk necktie with +purple flowers. + +"I'll handle 'em, Mr. Crewe," he said; "a little brains'll start 'em +goin'. Come along here, Mr. Wright, and I'll show you the best cows this +side of the Hudson Riverall pedigreed prize winners. Hello, Aust, you +take hold and get the wimmen-folks interested in the cabinets. You know +where they are." + +"There's a person with some sense," remarked Mrs. Pomfret, who had been +at a little distance among a group of summer-resident ladies and watching +the affair with shining eyes. "I'll help. Come, Edith; come, Victoria +where's Victoria?--and dear Mrs. Chillingham. We American women are so +deplorably lacking in this kind of experience. Alice, take some of the +women into the garden. I'm going to interest that dear, benevolent man +who looks so helpless, and doing his best to have a good time." + +The dear, benevolent man chanced to be Mr. Job Braden, who was standing +somewhat apart with his hands in his pockets. He did not move as Mrs. +Pomfret approached him, holding her glasses to her eyes. + +"How are you?" exclaimed that lady, extending a white-gloved hand with a +cordiality that astonished her friends. "It is so pleasant to see you +here, Mr.--Mr.--" + +"How be you?" said Mr. Braden, taking her fingers in the gingerly manner +he would have handled one of Mr. Crewe's priceless curios. The giraffe +Mr. Barnum had once brought to Ripton was not half as interesting as this +immaculate and mysterious production of foreign dressmakers and French +maids, but he refrained from betraying it. His eye rested on the +lorgnette. + +"Near-sighted, be you?" he inquired,--a remark so unexpected that for the +moment Mrs. Pomfret was deprived of speech. + +"I manage to see better with--with these," she gasped, "when we get old-- +you know." + +"You hain't old," said Mr. Braden, gallantly. "If you be," he added, his +eye travelling up and down the Parisian curves, I wouldn't have +suspected it--not a mite." + +"I'm afraid you are given to flattery, Mr.--Mr.--" she replied hurriedly. +"Whom have I the pleasure of speaking to?" + +"Job Braden's my name," he answered, "but you have the advantage of me." + +"How?" demanded the thoroughly bewildered Mrs. Pomfret. + +"I hain't heard your name," he said. + +"Oh, I'm Mrs. Pomfret--a very old friend of Mr. Crewe's. Whenever he has +his friends with him, like this, I come over and help him. It is so +difficult for a bachelor to entertain, Mr. Braden." + +"Well," said Mr. Braden, bending alarmingly near her ear, "there's one +way out of it." + +"What's that?" said Mrs. Pomfret. + +"Git married," declared Mr. Braden. + +"How very clever you are, Mr. Braden! I wish poor dear Mr. Crewe would +get married--a wife could take so many burdens off his shoulders. You +don't know Mr. Crewe very well, do you?" + +"Callate to--so so," said Mr. Braden. + +Mrs. Pomfret was at sea again. + +"I mean, do you see him often?" + +"Seen him once," said Mr. Braden. "G-guess that's enough." + +"You're a shrewd judge of human nature, Mr. Braden," she replied, tapping +him on the shoulder with the lorgnette, "but you can have no idea how +good he is--how unceasingly he works for others. He is not a man who +gives much expression to his feelings, as no doubt you have discovered, +but if you knew him as I do, you would realize how much affection he has +for his country neighbours and how much he has their welfare at heart." + +"Loves 'em--does he--loves 'em?" + +"He is like an English gentleman in his sense of responsibility," said +Mrs. Pomfret; "over there, you know, it is a part of a country +gentleman's duty to improve the condition of his--his neighbours. And +then Mr. Crewe is so fond of his townspeople that he couldn't resist +doing this for them," and she indicated with a sweep of her eyeglasses +the beatitude with which they were surrounded. + +"Wahn't no occasion to," said Mr. Braden. + +"What!" cried Mrs. Pomfret, who had been walking on ice for some time. + +"This hain't England--is it? Hain't England?" + +"No," she admitted, "but--" + +"Hain't England," said Mr. Braden, and leaned forward until he was within +a very few inches of her pearl ear-ring. "He'll be chose all right--d- +don't fret--he'll be chose." + +"My dear Mr. Braden, I've no doubt of it--Mr. Crewe's so popular," she +cried, removing her ear-ring abruptly from the danger zone. "Do make +yourself at home," she added, and retired from Mr. Braden's company a +trifle disconcerted,--a new experience for Mrs. Pomfret. She wondered +whether all country people were like Mr. Braden, but decided, after +another experiment or two, that he was an original. More than once +during the afternoon she caught sight of him, beaming upon the +festivities around him. But she did not renew the conversation. + +To Austen Vane, wandering about the grounds, Mr. Crewe's party presented +a sociological problem of no small interest. Mr. Crewe himself +interested him, and he found himself speculating how far a man would go +who charged the fastnesses of the politicians with a determination not to +be denied and a bank account to be reckoned with. Austen talked to many +of the Leith farmers whom he had known from boyhood, thanks to his custom +of roaming the hills; they were for the most part honest men whose +occupation in life was the first thought, and they were content to leave +politics to Mr. Braden--that being his profession. To the most +intelligent of these Mr. Crewe's garden-party was merely the wanton whim +of a millionaire. It was an open secret to them that Job Braden for +reasons of his own had chosen Mr. Crewe to represent them, and they were +mildly amused at the efforts of Mrs. Pomfret and her assistants to secure +votes which were as certain as the sun's rising on the morrow. + +It was some time before Austen came upon the object of his search--though +scarce admitting to himself that it had an object. In greeting him, +after inquiring about his railroad case, Mr. Crewe had indicated with a +wave of his hand the general direction of the refreshments; but it was +not until Austen had tried in all other quarters that he made his way +towards the porch where the lemonade and cake and sandwiches were. It +was, after all, the most popular place, though to his mind the +refreshments had little to do with its popularity. From the outskirts of +the crowd he perceived Victoria presiding over the punchbowl that held +the lemonade. He liked to think of her as Victoria; the name had no +familiarity for him, but seemed rather to enhance the unattainable +quality of her. + +Surrounding Victoria were several clean-looking, freckled, and tanned +young men of undergraduate age wearing straw hats with coloured ribbons, +who showed every eagerness to obey and even anticipate the orders she did +not hesitate to give them. Her eye seemed continually on the alert for +those of Mr. Crewe's guests who were too bashful to come forward, and +discerning them she would send one of her lieutenants forward with +supplies. Sometimes she would go herself to the older people; and once, +perceiving a tired woman holding a baby (so many brought babies, being +unable to leave them), Victoria impulsively left her post and seized the +woman by the arm. + +"Do come and sit down," she cried; "there's a chair beside me. And oh, +what a nice baby! Won't you let me hold him?" + +"Why, yes, ma'am," said the woman, looking up at Victoria with grateful, +patient eyes, and then with awe at what seemed to her the priceless +embroidery on Victoria's waist, "won't he spoil your dress?" + +"Bless him, no," said Victoria, poking her finger into a dimple--for he +was smiling at her. "What if he does?" and forthwith she seized him in +her arms and bore him to the porch, amidst the laughter of those who +beheld her, and sat him down on her knee in front of the lemonade bowl, +the tired mother beside her. "Will a little lemonade hurt him? Just a +very, very little, you know?" + +"Why, no, ma'am," said the mother. + +"And just a teeny bit of cake," begged Victoria, daintily breaking off a +piece, while the baby gurgled and snatched for it. "Do tell me how old +he is, and how many more you have." + +"He's eleven months on the twenty-seventh," said the mother, "and I've +got four more." She sighed, her eyes wandering back to the embroidery. +"What between them and the housework and the butter makin', it hain't +easy. Be you married?" + +"No," said Victoria, laughing and blushing a little. + +"You'll make a good wife for somebody," said the woman. "I hope you'll +get a good man." + +"I hope so, too," said Victoria, blushing still deeper amidst the +laughter, "but there doesn't seem to be much chance of it, and good men +are very scarce." + +"I guess you're right," said the mother, soberly. "Not but what my man's +good enough, but he don't seem to get along, somehow. The farm's wore +out, and the mortgage comes around so regular." + +"Where do you live?" asked Victoria, suddenly growing serious. + +"Fitch's place. 'Tain't very far from the Four Corners, on the Avalon +road." + +"And you are Mrs. Fitch?" + +"Callate to be," said the mother. "If it ain't askin' too much, I'd like +to know your name." + +"I'm Victoria Flint. I live not very far from the Four Corners--that is, +about eight miles. May I come over and see you sometime?" + +Although Victoria said this very simply, the mother's eyes widened until +one might almost have said they expressed a kind of terror. + +"Land sakes alive, be you Mr. Flint's daughter? I might have knowed it +from the lace--that dress must have cost a fortune. But I didn't think +to find you so common." + +Victoria did not smile. She had heard the word "common" so used before, +and knew that it was meant for a compliment, and she turned to the woman +with a very expressive light in her eyes. + +"I will come to see you--this very week," she said. And just then her +glance, seemingly drawn in a certain direction, met that of a tall young +man which had been fixed upon her during the whole of this scene. She +coloured again, abruptly handed the baby back to his mother, and rose. + +"I'm neglecting all these people," she said, "but do sit there and rest +yourself and--have some more lemonade." + +She bowed to Austen, and smiled a little as she filled the glasses, but +she did not beckon him. She gave no further sign of her knowledge of his +presence until he stood beside her--and then she looked up at him. + +"I have been looking for you, Miss Flint," he said. + +"I suppose a man would never think of trying the obvious places first," +she replied. "Hastings, don't you see that poor old woman over there? +She looks so thirsty--give her this." + +The boy addressed, with a glance at Austen, did as he was bid, and she +sent off a second on another errand. + +"Let me help," said Austen, seizing the cake; and being seized at the +same time, by an unusual and inexplicable tremor of shyness, thrust it at +the baby. + +"Oh, he can't have anymore; do you want to kill him?" cried Victoria, +seizing the plate, and adding mischievously, "I don't believe you're of +very much use--after all!" + +"Then it's time I learned," said Austen. "Here's Mr. Jenney. I'm sure +he'll have a piece." + +"Well," said Mr. Jenney, the same Mr. Jenney of the apple orchard, but +holding out a horny hand with unmistakable warmth, "how be you, Austen?" +Looking about him, Mr. Jenney put his hand to his mouth, and added, +"Didn't expect to see you trailin' on to this here kite." He took a +piece of cake between his thumb and forefinger and glanced bashfully at +Victoria. + +"Have some lemonade, Mr. Jenney? Do," she urged. + +"Well, I don't care if I do," he said, "just a little mite." He did not +attempt to stop her as she filled the glass to the brim, but continued to +regard her with a mixture of curiosity and admiration. "Seen you nursin' +the baby and makin' folks at home. Guess you have the knack of it +better'n some I could mention." + +This was such a palpable stroke at their host that Victoria laughed, and +made haste to turn the subject from herself. + +"Mr. Vane seems to be an old friend of yours," she said. + +"Why," said Mr. Jenney, laying his hand on Austen's shoulder, "I callate +he is. Austen's broke in more'n one of my colts afore he went West and +shot that feller. He's as good a judge of horse-flesh as any man in this +part of the State. Hear Tom Gaylord and the boys wanted him to be State +senator." + +"Why didn't you accept, Mr. Vane?" + +"Because I don't think the boys could have elected me," answered Austen, +laughing. + +"He's as popular a man as there is in the county," declared Mr. Jenney. +He was a mite wild as a boy, but sence he's sobered down and won that +case against the railrud, he could get any office he'd a mind to. He's +always adoin' little things for folks, Austen is." + +"Did--did that case against the railroad make him so popular?" asked +Victoria, glancing at Austen's broad back--for he had made his escape +with the cake. + +"I guess it helped considerable," Mr. Jenney admitted. + +"Why?" asked Victoria. + +"Well, it was a fearless thing to do--plumb against his own interests +with old Hilary Vane. Austen's a bright lawyer, and I have heard it said +he was in line for his father's place as counsel." + +"Do--do people dislike the railroad?" + +Mr. Jenney rubbed his beard thoughtfully. He began to wonder who this +young woman was, and a racial caution seized him. + +"Well," he said, "folks has an idea the railrud runs this State to suit +themselves. I guess they hain't far wrong. I've be'n to the Legislature +and seen some signs of it. Why, Hilary Vane himself has charge of the +most considerable part of the politics. Who be you?" Mr. Jenney demanded +suddenly. + +"I'm Victoria Flint," said Victoria. + +"Godfrey!" exclaimed Mr. Jenney, "you don't say so! I might have known +it--seen you on the rud more than once. But I don't know all you rich +folks apart. Wouldn't have spoke so frank if I'd knowed who you was." + +"I'm glad you did, Mr. Jenney," she answered. "I wanted to know what +people think." + +"Well, it's almighty complicated," said Mr. Jenney, shaking his head. "I +don't know by rights what to think. As long as I've said what I have, +I'll say this: that the politicians is all for the railrud, and I hain't +got a mite of use for the politicians. I'll vote for a feller like +Austen Vane every time, if he'll run, and I know other folks that will." + +After Mr. Jenney had left her, Victoria stood motionless, gazing off into +the haze, until she was startled by the voice of Hastings Weare beside +her. + +"Say, Victoria, who is that man?" he asked. + +"What man?" + +Hastings nodded towards Austen, who, with a cake basket in his hand, +stood chatting with a group of country people on the edge of the porch. + +"Oh, that man!" said Victoria. "His name's Austen Vane, and he's a +lawyer in Ripton." + +"All I can say is," replied Hastings, with a light in his face, "he's one +I'd like to tie to. I'll bet he could whip any four men you could pick +out." + +Considering that Hastings had himself proposed--although in a very mild +form--more than once to Victoria, this was generous. + +"I daresay he could," she agreed absently. + +"It isn't only the way he's built," persisted Hastings, "he looks as if +he were going to be somebody some day. Introduce me to him, will you?" + +"Certainly," said Victoria. "Mr. Vane," she called, "I want to introduce +an admirer, Mr. Hastings Weare." + +"I just wanted to know you," said Hastings, reddening, "and Victoria--I +mean Miss Flint--said she'd introduce me." + +"I'm much obliged to her," said Austen, smiling. + +"Are you in politics?" asked Hastings. + +"I'm afraid not," answered Austen, with a glance at Victoria. + +"You're not helping Humphrey Crewe, are you?" + +"No," said Austen, and added with an illuminating smile, "Mr. Crewe +doesn't need any help." + +"I'm glad you're not," exclaimed the downright Hastings, with palpable +relief in his voice that an idol had not been shattered. "I think +Humphrey's a fakir, and all this sort of thing tommyrot. He wouldn't get +my vote by giving me lemonade and cake and letting me look at his cows. +If you ever run for office, I'd like to cast it for you. My father is +only a summer resident, but since he has gone out of business he stays +here till Christmas, and I'll be twenty-one in a year." + +Austen had ceased to smile; he was looking into the boy's eyes with that +serious expression which men and women found irresistible. + +"Thank you, Mr. Weare," he said simply. + +Hastings was suddenly overcome with the shyness of youth. He held out +his hand, and said, "I'm awfully glad to have met you," and fled. + +Victoria, who had looked on with a curious mixture of feelings, turned to +Austen. + +"That was a real tribute," she said. "Is this the way you affect +everybody whom you meet?" + +They were standing almost alone. The sun was nearing the western hills +beyond the river, and people had for some time been wending their way +towards the field where the horses were tied. He did not answer her +question, but asked one instead. + +"Will you let me drive you home?" + +"Do you think you deserve to, after the shameful manner in which you have +behaved?" + +"I'm quite sure that I don't deserve to," he answered, still looking down +at her. + +"If you did deserve to, being a woman, I probably shouldn't let you," +said Victoria, flashing a look upwards; "as it is, you may." + +His face lighted, but she halted in the grass, with her hands behind her, +and stared at him with a puzzled expression. + +"I'm sure you're a dangerous man," she declared. "First you take in poor +little Hastings, and now you're trying to take me in." + +"Then I wish I were still more dangerous," he laughed, "for apparently I +haven't succeeded." + +"I want to talk to you seriously," said Victoria; "that is the only +reason I'm permitting you to drive me home." + +"I am devoutly thankful for the reason then," he said,--"my horse is tied +in the field." + +"And aren't you going to say good-by to your host and hostess?" + +"Hostess?" he repeated, puzzled. + +"Hostesses," she corrected herself, "Mrs. Pomfret and Alice. I thought +you had eyes in your head," she added, with a fleeting glance at them. + +"Is Crewe engaged to Miss Pomfret?" he asked. + +"Are all men simpletons?" said Victoria. "He doesn't know it yet, but he +is." + +"I think I'd know it, if I were," said Austen, with an emphasis that made +her laugh. + +"Sometimes fish don't know they're in a net until--until the morning +after," said Victoria. "That has a horribly dissipated sound--hasn't it? +I know to a moral certainty that Mr. Crewe will eventually lead Miss +Pomfret away from the altar. At present," she could not refrain from +adding, "he thinks he's in love with some one else." + +"Who?" + +"It doesn't matter," she replied. "Humphrey's perfectly happy, because +he believes most women are in love with him, and he's making up his mind +in that magnificent, thorough way of his whether she is worthy to be +endowed with his heart and hand, his cows, and all his stocks and bonds. +He doesn't know he's going to marry Alice. It almost makes one a +Calvinist, doesn't it. He's predestined, but perfectly happy." + +"Who is he in love with?" demanded Austen, ungrammatically. + +"I'm going to say good-by to him. I'll meet you in the field, if you +don't care to come. It's only manners, after all, although the +lemonade's all gone and I haven't had a drop." + +"I'll go along too," he said. + +"Aren't you afraid of Mrs. Pomfret?" + +"Not a bit!" + +"I am," said Victoria, "but I think you'd better come just the same." + +Around the corner of the house they found them,--Mr. Crewe urging the +departing guests to remain, and not to be bashful in the future about +calling. + +"We don't always have lemonade and cake," he was saying, "but you can be +sure of a welcome, just the same. Good-by, Vane, glad you came. Did +they show you through the stables? Did you see the mate to the horse I +lost? Beauty, isn't he? Stir 'em up and get the money. I guess we +won't see much of each other politically. You're anti-railroad. I don't +believe that tack'll work--we can't get along without corporations, you +know. You ought to talk to Flint. I'll give you a letter of +introduction to him. I don't know what I'd have done without that man +Tooting in your father's office. He's a wasted genius in Ripton. What? +Good-by, you'll find your wagon, I guess. Well, Victoria, where have you +been keeping yourself? I've been so busy I haven't had time to look for +you. You're going to stay to dinner, and Hastings, and all the people +who have helped." + +"No, I'm not," answered Victoria, with a glance at Austen, before whom +this announcement was so delicately made, "I'm going home." + +"But when am I to see you?" cried Mr. Crewe, as near genuine alarm as he +ever got. You never let me see you. I was going to drive you home in +the motor by moonlight." + +"We all know that you're the most original person, Victoria," said Mrs. +Pomfret, "full of whims and strange fancies," she added, with the only +brief look at Austen she had deigned to bestow on him. "It never pays to +count on you for twenty-four hours. I suppose you're off on another wild +expedition." + +"I think I've earned the right to it," said Victoria;-- + +I've poured lemonade for Humphrey's constituents the whole afternoon. +And besides, I never said I'd stay for dinner. I'm going home. Father's +leaving for California in the morning." + +"He'd better stay at home and look after her," Mrs. Pomfret remarked, +when Victoria was out of hearing. + +Since Mrs. Harry Haynes ran off, one can never tell what a woman will do. +It wouldn't surprise me a bit if Victoria eloped with a handsome nobody +like that. Of course he's after her money, but he wouldn't get it, not +if I know Augustus Flint." + +"Is he handsome?" said Mr. Crewe, as though the idea were a new one. +"Great Scott, I don't believe she gives him a thought. She's only going +as far as the field with him. She insisted on leaving her horse there +instead of putting him in the stable." + +"Catch Alice going as far as the field with him," said Mrs. Pomfret, "but +I've done my duty. It's none of my affair." + +In the meantime Austen and Victoria had walked on some distance in +silence. + +"I have an idea with whom Mr. Crewe is in love," he said at length. + +"So have I," replied Victoria, promptly. "Humphrey's in love with +himself. All he desires in a wife--if he desires one--is an inanimate +and accommodating looking-glass, in whom he may see what he conceives to +be his own image daily. James, you may take the mare home. I'm going to +drive with Mr. Vane." + +She stroked Pepper's nose while Austen undid the hitch-rope from around +his neck. + +"You and I are getting to be friends, aren't we, Pepper?" she asked, as +the horse, with quivering nostrils, thrust his head into her hand. Then +she sprang lightly into the buggy by Austen's side. The manner of these +acts and the generous courage with which she defied opinion appealed to +him so strongly that his heart was beating faster than Pepper's hoof- +beats on the turf of the pasture. + +"You are very good to come with me," he said gravely, when they had +reached the road; "perhaps I ought not to have asked you." + +"Why?" she asked, with one of her direct looks. + +"It was undoubtedly selfish," he said, and added, more lightly, "I don't +wish to put you into Mrs. Pomfret's bad graces." + +Victoria laughed. + +"She thought it her duty to tell father the time you drove me to the +Hammonds'. She said I asked you to do it." + +"What did he say?" Austen inquired, looking straight ahead of him. + +"He didn't say much," she answered. "Father never does. I think he +knows that I am to be trusted." + +"Even with me?" he asked quizzically, but with a deeper significance. + +"I don't think he realizes how dangerous you are," she replied, avoiding +the issue. "The last time I saw you, you were actually trying to throw a +fat man out of your window. What a violent life you lead, Mr. Vane. I +hope you haven't shot any more people--" + +"I saw you," he said. + +"Is that the way you spend your time in office hours,--throwing people +out of the windows?" + +"It was only Tom Gaylord." + +"He's the man Mr. Jenney said wanted you to be a senator, isn't he?" she +asked. + +"You have a good memory," he answered her. "Yes. That's the reason I +tried to throw him out of the window." + +"Why didn't you be a senator?" she asked abruptly. "I always think of +you in public life. Why waste your opportunities?" + +"I'm not at all sure that was an opportunity. It was only some of Tom's +nonsense. I should have had all the politicians in the district against +me." + +"But you aren't the kind of man who would care about the politicians, +surely. If Humphrey Crewe can get elected by the people, I should think +you might." + +"I can't afford to give garden-parties and buy lemonade," said Austen, +and they both laughed. He did not think it worth while mentioning Mr. +Braden. + +"Sometimes I think you haven't a particle of ambition," she said. "I +like men with ambition." + +"I shall try to cultivate it," said Austen. + +"You seem to be popular enough." + +"Most worthless people are popular, because they don't tread on anybody's +toes." + +"Worthless people don't take up poor people's suits, and win them," she +said. "I saw Zeb Meader the other day, and he said you could be +President of the United States." + +"Zeb meant that I was eligible--having been born in this country," said +Austen. "But where did you see him?" + +"I--I went to see him." + +"All the way to Mercer?" + +"It isn't so far in an automobile," she replied, as though in excuse, and +added, still more lamely, "Zeb and I became great friends, you know, in +the hospital." + +He did not answer, but wondered the more at the simplicity and kindness +in one brought up as she had been which prompted her to take the trouble +to see the humblest of her friends: nay, to take the trouble to have +humble friends. + +The road wound along a ridge, and at intervals was spread before them the +full glory of the September sunset,--the mountains of the west in blue- +black silhouette against the saffron sky, the myriad dappled clouds, the +crimson fading from the still reaches of the river, and the wine-colour +from the eastern hills. Both were silent under the spell, but a yearning +arose within him when he glanced at the sunset glow on her face: would +sunsets hereafter bring sadness? + +His thoughts ran riot as the light faded in the west. Hers were not +revealed. And the silence between them seemed gradually to grow into a +pact, to become a subtler and more intimate element than speech. A faint +tang of autumn smoke was in the air, a white mist crept along the running +waters, a silver moon like a new-stamped coin rode triumphant in the sky, +impatient to proclaim her glory; and the shadows under the ghost-like +sentinel trees in the pastures grew blacker. At last Victoria looked at +him. + +"You are the only man I know who doesn't insist on talking," she said. +There are times when--" + +"When there is nothing to say," he suggested. + +She laughed softly. He tried to remember the sound of it afterwards, +when he rehearsed this phase of the conversation, but couldn't. + +"It's because you like the hills, isn't it?" she asked. "You seem such +an out-of-door person, and Mr. Jenney said you were always wandering +about the country-side." + +"Mr. Jenney also made other reflections about my youth," said Austen. + +She laughed again, acquiescing in his humour, secretly thankful not to +find him sentimental. + +"Mr. Jenney said something else that--that I wanted to ask you about," +she went on, breathing more deeply. "It was about the railroad." + +"I am afraid you have not come to an authority," he replied. + +"You said the politicians would be against you if you tried to become a +State senator. Do you believe that the politicians are owned by the +railroad?" + +"Has Jenney been putting such things into your head?" + +"Not only Mr. Jenney, but--I have heard other people say that. And +Humphrey Crewe said that you hadn't a chance politically, because you had +opposed the railroad and had gone against your own interests." + +Austen was amazed at this new exhibition of courage on her part, though +he was sorely pressed. + +"Humphrey Crewe isn't much of an authority, either," he said briefly. + +"Then you won't tell me?" said Victoria. "Oh, Mr. Vane," she cried, with +sudden vehemence, "if such things are going on here, I'm sure my father +doesn't know about them. This is only one State, and the railroad runs +through so many. He can't know everything, and I have heard him say that +he wasn't responsible for what the politicians did in his name. If they +are bad, why don't you go to him and tell him so? I'm sure he'd listen +to you." + +"I'm sure he'd think me a presumptuous idiot," said Austen. "Politicians +are not idealists anywhere--the very word has become a term of reproach. +Undoubtedly your father desires to set things right as much as any one +else--probably more than any one." + +"Oh, I know he does," exclaimed Victoria. + +"If politics are not all that they should be," he went on, somewhat +grimly, with an unpleasant feeling of hypocrisy, "we must remember that +they are nobody's fault in particular, and can't be set right in an +instant by any one man, no matter how powerful." + +She turned her face to him gratefully, but he did not meet her look. +They were on the driveway of Fairview. + +"I suppose you think me very silly for asking such questions," she said. + +"No," he answered gravely, "but politics are so intricate a subject that +they are often not understood by those who are in the midst of them. I +admire--I think it is very fine in you to want to know." + +"You are not one of the men who would not wish a woman to know, are you?" + +"No," he said, "no, I'm not." + +The note of pain in his voice surprised and troubled her. They were +almost in sight of the house. + +"I asked you to come to Fairview," she said, assuming a lightness of +tone, "and you never appeared. I thought it was horrid of you to forget, +after we'd been such friends." + +"I didn't forget," replied Austen. + +"Then you didn't want to come." + +He looked into her eyes, and she dropped them. + +"You will have to be the best judge of that," he said. + +"But what am I to think?" she persisted. + +"Think the best of me you can," he answered, as they drew up on the +gravel before the open door of Fairview house. A man was standing in the +moonlight on the porch. + +"Is that you, Victoria?" + +"Yes, father." + +"I was getting worried," said Mr. Flint, coming down on the driveway. + +"I'm all right," she said, leaping out of the buggy, "Mr. Vane brought me +home." + +"How are you, Hilary?" said Mr. Flint. + +"I'm Austen Vane, Mr. Flint," said Austen. + +"How are you?" said Mr. Flint, as curtly as the barest politeness +allowed. "What was the matter with your own horse, Victoria?" + +"Nothing," she replied, after an instant's pause. Austen wondered many +times whether her lips had trembled. "Mr. Vane asked me to drive with +him, and I came. Won't--won't you come in, Mr. Vane?" + +"No, thanks," said Austen, "I'm afraid I have to go back to Ripton." + +"Good-by, and thank you," she said, and gave him her hand. As he pressed +it, he thought he felt the slightest pressure in return, and then she +fled up the steps. As he drove away, he turned once to look at the great +house, with its shades closely drawn, as it stood amidst its setting of +shrubbery silent under the moon. + +An hour later he sat in Hanover Street before the supper Euphrasia had +saved for him. But though he tried nobly, his heart was not in the +relation, for her benefit, of Mr. Crewe's garden-party. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +Mr. CREWE ASSAULTS THE CAPITAL + +Those portions of the biographies of great men which deal with the small +beginnings of careers are always eagerly devoured, and for this reason +the humble entry of Mr. Crewe into politics may be of interest. Great +revolutions have had their origins in back cellars; great builders of +railroads have begun life with packs on their shoulders, trudging over +the wilderness which they were to traverse in after years in private +cars. The history of Napoleon Bonaparte has not a Sunday-school moral, +but we can trace therein the results of industry after the future emperor +got started. Industry, and the motto "nil desperandum" lived up to, and +the watchword "thorough," and a torch of unsuspected genius, and +"l'audace, toujours l'audace," and a man may go far in life. + +Mr. Humphrey Crewe possessed, as may have been surmised, a dash of all +these gifts. For a summary of his character one would not have used the +phrase (as a contemporary of his remarked) of "a shrinking violet." The +phrase, after all, would have fitted very few great men; genius is sure +of itself, and seeks its peers. + +The State capital is an old and beautiful and somewhat conservative town. +Life there has its joys and sorrows and passions, its ambitions, and +heart-burnings, to be sure; a most absorbing novel could be written about +it, and the author need not go beyond the city limits or approach the +state-house or the Pelican Hotel. The casual visitor in that capital +leaves it with a sense of peace, the echo of church bells in his ear, and +(if in winter) the impression of dazzling snow. Comedies do not +necessarily require a wide stage, nor tragedies an amphitheatre for their +enactment. + +No casual visitor, for instance, would have suspected from the faces or +remarks of the inhabitants whom he chanced to meet that there was +excitement in the capital over the prospective arrival of Mr. Humphrey +Crewe for the legislative session that winter. Legislative sessions, be +it known, no longer took place in the summer, a great relief to Mr. Crewe +and to farmers in general, who wished to be at home in haying time. + +The capital abounded in comfortable homes and boasted not a dwellings of +larger pretensions. Chief among these was the Duncan house--still so +called, although Mr. Duncan, who built it, had been dead these fifteen +years, and his daughter and heiress, Janet, had married an Italian +Marquis and lived in a Roman palace, rehabilitated by the Duncan money. +Mr. Duncan, it may be recalled by some readers of "Coniston," had been a +notable man in his day, who had married the heiress of the State, and was +president of the Central Railroad, now absorbed in the United +Northeastern. The house was a great square of brick, with a wide +cornice, surrounded by a shaded lawn; solidly built, in the fashion of +the days when rich people stayed at home, with a conservatory and a +library that had once been Mr. Duncan's pride. The Marchesa cared very +little about the library, or about the house, for that matter; a great +aunt and uncle, spinster and bachelor, were living in it that winter, and +they vacated for Mr. Crewe. He travelled to the capital on the +legislative pass the Northeastern Railroads had so kindly given him, and +brought down his horses and his secretary and servants from Leith a few +days before the first of January, when the session was to open, and laid +out his bills for the betterment of the State on that library table where +Mr. Duncan had lovingly thumbed his folios. Mr. Crewe, with +characteristic promptitude, set his secretary to work to make a list of +the persons of influence in the town, preparatory to a series of dinner- +parties; he dropped into the office of Mr. Ridout, the counsel of the +Northeastern and of the Winona Corporation in the capital, to pay his +respects as a man of affairs, and incidentally to leave copies of his +bills for the improvement of the State. Mr. Ridout was politely +interested, and promised to read the bills, and agreed that they ought to +pass. + +Mr. Crewe also examined the Pelican Hotel, so soon to be a hive, and +stood between the snow-banks in the capital park contemplating the statue +of the great statesman there, and repeating to himself the quotation +inscribed beneath. "The People's Government, made for the People, made +by the People, and answerable to the People." And he wondered, idly,-- +for the day was not cold,--how he would look upon a pedestal with the +Gladstone collar and the rough woollen coat that would lend themselves so +readily to reproduction in marble. Stranger things had happened, and +grateful States had been known to reward benefactors. + +At length comes the gala night of nights,--the last of the old year,--and +the assembling of the five hundred legislators and of the army that is +wont to attend them. The afternoon trains, steaming hot, are crowded to +the doors, the station a scene of animation, and Main Street, dazzling in +snow, is alive with a stream of men, with eddies here and there at the +curbs and in the entries. What handshaking, and looking over of new +faces, and walking round and round! What sightseeing by the country +members and their wives who have come to attend the inauguration of the +new governor, the Honourable Asa P. Gray! There he is, with the whiskers +and the tall hat and the comfortable face, which wears already a look of +gubernatorial dignity and power. He stands for a moment in the lobby of +the Pelican Hotel,--thronged now to suffocation,--to shake hands genially +with new friends, who are led up by old friends with two fingers on the +elbow. The old friends crack jokes and whisper in the ear of the +governor-to-be, who presently goes upstairs, accompanied by the +Honourable Hilary Vane, to the bridal suite, which is reserved for him, +and which has fire-proof carpet on the floor. The Honourable Hilary has +a room next door, connecting with the new governor's by folding doors, +but this fact is not generally known to country members. Only old +timers, like Bijah Bixby and Job Braden, know that the Honourable +Hilary's room corresponds to one which in the old Pelican was called the +Throne Room, Number Seven, where Jethro Bass sat in the old days and +watched unceasingly the groups in the street from the window. + +But Jethro Bass has been dead these twenty years, and his lieutenants +shorn of power. An empire has arisen out of the ashes of the ancient +kingdoms. Bijah and Job are old, all-powerful still in Clovelly and +Leith--influential still in their own estimations; still kicking up their +heels behind, still stuttering and whispering into ears, still "going +along by when they are talking sly." But there are no guerrillas now, no +condottieri who can be hired: the empire has a paid and standing army, as +an empire should. The North Country chiefs, so powerful in the clan +warfare of bygone days, are generals now,--chiefs of staff. The captain- +general, with a minute piece of Honey Dew under his tongue, sits in +Number Seven. A new Number Seven,--with electric lights and a bathroom +and a brass bed. Tempora mutantur. There is an empire and a feudal +system, did one but know it. The clans are part of the empire, and each +chief is responsible for his clan--did one but know it. One doesn't know +it. + +The Honourable Brush Bascom, Duke of Putnam, member of the House, has +arrived unostentatiously--as is his custom--and is seated in his own +headquarters, number ten (with a bathroom). Number nine belongs from +year to year to Mr. Manning, division superintendent of that part of the +Northeastern which was the old Central,--a thin gentleman with side- +whiskers. He loves life in the capital so much that he takes his +vacations there in the winter,--during the sessions of the Legislature,-- +presumably because it is gay. There are other rooms, higher up, of +important men, to be sure, but to enter which it is not so much of an +honour. The Honourable Bill Fleming, postmaster of Brampton in Truro +(Ephraim Prescott being long since dead and Brampton a large place now), +has his vacation during the session in room thirty-six (no bathroom); and +the Honourable Elisha Jane, Earl of Haines County in the North Country, +and United States consul somewhere, is home on his annual vacation in +room fifty-nine (no bath). Senator Whitredge has a room, and Senator +Green, and Congressmen Eldridge and Fairplay (no baths, and only +temporary). + +The five hundred who during the next three months are to register the +laws find quarters as best they can. Not all of them are as luxurious as +Mr. Crewe in the Duncan house, or the Honourable Brush Bascom in number +ten of the Pelican, the rent of either of which would swallow the +legislative salary in no time. The Honourable Nat Billings, senator from +the Putnam County district, is comfortably installed, to be sure. By +gradual and unexplained degrees, the constitution of the State has been +changed until there are only twenty senators. Noble five hundred! +Steadfast twenty! + +A careful perusal of the biographies of great men of the dynamic type +leads one to the conclusion that much of their success is due to an +assiduous improvement of every opportunity,--and Mr. Humphrey Crewe +certainly possessed this quality, also. He is in the Pelican Hotel this +evening, meeting the men that count. Mr. Job Braden, who had come down +with the idea that he might be of use in introducing the new member from +Leith to the notables, was met by this remark:-- + +"You can't introduce me to any of 'em--they all know who I am. Just +point any of 'em out you think I ought to know, and I'll go up and talk +to 'em. What? Come up to my house after a while and smoke a cigar. The +Duncan house, you know--the big one with the conservatory." + +Mr. Crewe was right--they all knew him. The Leith millionaire, the +summer resident, was a new factor in politics, and the rumours of the +size of his fortune had reached a high-water mark in the Pelican Hotel +that evening. Pushing through the crowd in the corridor outside the +bridal suite waiting to shake hands with the new governor, Mr. Crewe +gained an entrance in no time, and did not hesitate to interrupt the +somewhat protracted felicitations of an Irish member of the Newcastle +delegation. + +"How are you, Governor?" he said, with the bonhomie of a man of the +world. "I'm Humphrey Crewe, from Leith. You got a letter from me, +didn't you, congratulating you upon your election? We didn't do badly +for you up there. What?" + +"How do you do, Mr. Crewe?" said Mr. Gray, with dignified hospitality, +while their fingers slid over each other's; "I'm glad to welcome you +here. I've noticed the interest you've taken in the State, and the +number of ahem--very useful societies to which you belong." + +"Good," said Mr. Crewe, "I do what I can. I just dropped in to shake +your hand, and to say that I hope we'll pull together." + +The governor lifted his eyebrows a little. + +"Why, I hope so, I'm sere, Mr. Crewe," said he. + +"I've looked over the policy of the State for the last twenty years in +regard to public improvements and the introduction of modern methods as +concerns husbandry, and I find it deplorable. You and I, Governor, live +in a progressive age, and we can't afford not to see something done. +What? It is my desire to do what I can to help make your administration +a notable advance upon those of your predecessors." + +"Why--I greatly appreciate it, Mr. Crewe," said Mr. Gray. + +"I'm sure you do. I've looked over your record, and I find you've had +experience in State affairs, and that you are a successful and +conservative business man. That is the type we want--eh? Business men. +You've read over the bills I sent you by registered mail?" + +"Ahem," said Mr. Gray, "I've been a good deal occupied since election +day, Mr. Crewe." + +"Read 'em," said Mr. Crewe, "and I'll call in on you at the state-house +day after to-morrow at five o'clock promptly. We'll discuss 'em, +Governor, and if, by the light of your legislative experience, you have +any suggestions to make, I shall be glad to hear 'em. Before putting the +bills in their final shape I've taken the trouble to go over them with my +friend, Mr. Flint--our mutual friend, let us say." + +"I've had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Flint," said Mr. Gray. "I--ahem-- +can't say that I know him intimately." + +Mr. Crewe looked at Mr. Gray in a manner which plainly indicated that he +was not an infant. + +"My relations with Mr. Flint and the Northeastern have been very +pleasant," said Mr. Crewe. "I may say that I am somewhat of a practical +railroad and business man myself." + +"We need such men," said Mr. Gray. "Why, how do you do, Cary? How are +the boys up in Wheeler?" + +"Well, good-by, Governor. See you day after to-morrow at five +precisely," said Mr. Crewe. + +The next official call of Mr. Crewe was on the Speaker-to-be, Mr. Doby of +Hale (for such matters are cut and dried), but any amount of pounding on +Mr. Doby's door (number seventy-five) brought no response. Other rural +members besides Mr. Crewe came and pounded on that door, and went away +again; but Mr. Job Braden suddenly appeared from another part of the +corridor, smiling benignly, and apparently not resenting the refusal of +his previous offers of help. + +"W--want the Speaker?" he inquired. + +Mr. Crewe acknowledged that he did. + +"Ed only sleeps there," said Mr. Braden. "Guess you'll find him in the +Railroad-Room." + +"Railroad Room?" + +"Hilary Vane's, Number Seven." Mr. Braden took hold of the lapel of his +fellow-townsman's coat. "Callated you didn't know it all," he said; +"that's the reason I come down--so's to help you some." + +Mr. Crewe, although he was not wont to take a second place, followed Mr. +Braden down the stairs to the door next to the governor's, where he +pushed ahead of his guide, through the group about the doorway,--none of +whom, however, were attempting to enter. They stared in some surprise at +Mr. Crewe as he flung open the door without knocking, and slammed it +behind him in Mr. Braden's face. But the bewilderment caused by this act +of those without was as nothing to the astonishment of those within--had +Mr. Crewe but known it. An oil painting of the prominent men gathered +about the marble-topped table in the centre of the room, with an outline +key beneath it, would have been an appropriate work of art to hang in the +state-house, as emblematic of the statesmanship of the past twenty years. +The Honourable Hilary Vane sat at one end in a padded chair; Mr. Manning, +the division superintendent, startled out of a meditation, was upright on +the end of the bed; Mr. Ridout, the Northeastern's capital lawyer, was +figuring at the other end of the table; the Honourable Brush Bascom was +bending over a wide, sad-faced gentleman of some two hundred and fifty +pounds who sat at the centre in his shirt-sleeves, poring over numerous +sheets in front of him which were covered with names of the five hundred. +This gentleman was the Honourable Edward Doby of Hale, who, with the kind +assistance of the other gentlemen above-named, was in this secluded spot +making up a list of his committees, undisturbed by eager country members. +At Mr. Crewe's entrance Mr. Bascom, with great presence of mind, laid +down his hat over the principal list, while Mr. Ridout, taking the hint, +put the Revised Statutes on the other. There was a short silence; and +the Speaker-to-be, whose pencil had been knocked out of his hand; +recovered himself sufficiently to relight an extremely frayed cigar. + +Not that Mr. Crewe was in the least abashed. He chose this opportunity +to make a survey of the situation, nodded to Mr. Ridout, and walked up to +the padded armchair. + +"How are you, Mr. Vane?" he said. "I thought I'd drop in to shake hands +with you, especially as I have business with the Speaker, and heard he +was here. But I'm glad to have met you for many reasons. I want you to +be one of the vice-presidents of the State Economic League--it won't cost +you anything. Ridout has agreed to let his name go on." + +The Honourable Hilary, not being an emotional man, merely grunted as he +started to rise to his feet. What he was about to say was interrupted by +a timid knock, and there followed another brief period of silence. + +"It ain't anybody," said Mr. Bascom, and crossing the room, turned the +key in the lock. The timid knock was repeated. + +"I suppose you're constantly interrupted here by unimportant people," Mr. +Crewe remarked. + +"Well," said Mr. Vane, slowly, boring into Mr. Crewe with his eye, "that +statement isn't far out of the way." + +"I don't believe you've ever met me, Mr. Vane. I'm Humphrey Crewe. We +have a good friend in common in Mr. Flint." + +The Honourable Hilary's hand passed over Mr. Crewe's lightly. + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Crewe," he said, and a faint twinkle appeared in +his eye. "Job has told everybody you were coming down. Glad to welcome +a man of your ahem--stamp into politics." + +"I'm a plain business man," answered Mr. Crewe, modestly; "and although I +have considerable occupation, I believe that one in my position has +duties to perform. I've certain bills--" + +"Yes, yes," agreed the Honourable Hilary; "do you know Mr. Brush Bascom +and Mr. Manning? Allow me to introduce you,--and General Doby." + +"How are you, General?" said Mr. Crewe to the Speaker-to-be, "I'm always +glad to shake the hand of a veteran. Indeed, I have thought that a +society--" + +"I earned my title," said General Doby, somewhat sheepishly, "fighting on +Governor Brown's staff. There were twenty of us, and we were resistless, +weren't we, Brush?" + +"Twenty on a staff!" exclaimed Mr. Crewe. + +"Oh, we furnished our own uniforms and paid our own way--except those of +us who had passes," declared the General, as though the memory of his +military career did not give him unalloyed pleasure. "What's the use of +State sovereignty if you can't have a glittering army to follow the +governor round?" + +Mr. Crewe had never considered this question, and he was not the man to +waste time in speculation. + +"Doubtless you got a letter from me, General Doby," he said. "We did +what we could up our way to put you in the Speaker's chair." + +General Doby creased a little in the middle, to signify that he was +bowing. + +"I trust it will be in my power to reciprocate, Mr. Crewe," he replied. + +"We want to treat Mr. Crewe right," Mr. Bascom put in. + +"You have probably made a note of my requests," Mr. Crewe continued. "I +should like to be on the Judiciary Committee, for one thing. Although I +am not a lawyer, I know something of the principles of law, and I +understand that this and the Appropriations Committee are the most +important. I may say with truth that I should be a useful member of +that, as I am accustomed to sitting on financial boards. As my bills are +of some considerable importance and deal with practical progressive +measures, I have no hesitation in asking for the chairmanship of Public +Improvements,--and of course a membership in the Agricultural is +essential, as I have bills for them. Gentlemen," he added to the room at +large, "I have typewritten manifolds of those bills which I shall be +happy to leave here--at headquarters." And suiting the action to the +word, he put down a packet on the table. + +The Honourable Brush Bascom, accompanied by Mr. Ridout, walked to the +window and stood staring at the glitter of the electric light on the +snow. The Honourable Hilary gazed steadily at the table, while General +Doby blew his nose with painful violence. + +"I'll do what I can for you, certainly, Mr. Crewe," he said. "But--what +is to become of the other four hundred and ninety-nine? The ways of a +Speaker are hard, Mr. Crewe, and I have to do justice to all." + +"Well," answered Mr. Crewe, of course I don't want to be unreasonable, +and I realize the pressure that's put upon you. But when you consider +the importance of the work I came down here to do--" + +"I do consider it," said the Speaker, politely. "It's a little early to +talk about the make-up of committees. I hope to be able to get at them +by Sunday. You may be sure I'll do my best for you." + +"We'd better make a note of it," said Mr. Crewe; "give me some paper," +and he was reaching around behind General Doby for one of the precious +sheets under Mr. Bascom's hat, when the general, with great presence of +mind, sat on it. We have it, from a malicious and untrustworthy source, +that the Northeastern Railroads paid for a new one. + +"Here, here," cried the Speaker, "make the memorandum here." + +At this critical juncture a fortunate diversion occurred. A rap--three +times--of no uncertain quality was heard at the door, and Mr. Brush +Bascom hastened to open it. A voice cried out:-- + +"Is Manning here? The boys are hollering for those passes," and a wiry, +sallow gentleman burst in, none other than the Honourable Elisha Jane, +who was taking his consular vacation. When his eyes fell upon Mr. Crewe +he halted abruptly, looked a little foolish, and gave a questioning +glance at the Honourable Hilary. + +"Mountain passes, Lish? Sit down. Did I ever tell you that story about +the slide in Rickets Gulch?" asked the Honourable Brush Bascom. But +first let me make you acquainted with Mr. Humphrey Crewe of Leith. Mr. +Crewe has come down here with the finest lot of bills you ever saw, and +we're all going to take hold and put 'em through. Here, Lish, I'll give +you a set." + +"Read 'em, Mr. Jane," urged Mr. Crewe. "I don't claim much for 'em, but +perhaps they will help to set a few little matters right--I hope so." + +Mr. Jane opened the bills with deliberation, and cast his eyes over the +headings. + +I'll read 'em this very night, Mr. Crewe," he said solemnly; "this +meeting you is a particular pleasure, and I have heard in many quarters +of these measures." + +"Well," admitted Mr. Crewe, "they may help some. I have a few other +matters to attend to this evening, so I must say good-night, gentlemen. +Don't let me interfere with those I mountain passes, Mr. Manning." + +With this parting remark, which proved him to be not merely an idealist +in politics, but a practical man, Mr. Crewe took his leave. And he was +too much occupied with his own thoughts to pay any attention to the click +of the key as it turned in the lock, or to hear United States Senator +Whitredge rap (three times) on the door after he had turned the corner, +or to know that presently the sliding doors into the governor's bridal +suite--were to open a trifle, large enough for the admission of the body +of the Honourable Asa P. Gray. + +Number Seven still keeps up its reputation as the seat of benevolence, +and great public benefactors still meet there to discuss the welfare of +their fellow-men: the hallowed council chamber now of an empire, seat of +the Governor-general of the State, the Honourable Hilary Vane, and his +advisers. For years a benighted people, with a fond belief in their +participation of Republican institutions, had elected the noble five +hundred of the House and the stanch twenty of the Senate. Noble five +hundreds (biggest Legislature in the world) have come and gone; debated, +applauded, fought and on occasions denounced, kicked over the traces, and +even wept--to no avail. Behold that political institution of man, +representative government There it is on the stage, curtain up, a +sublime spectacle for all men to see, and thrill over speeches about the +Rights of Man, and the Forefathers in the Revolution; about Constituents +who do not constitute. The High Heavens allow it and smile, and it is +well for the atoms that they think themselves free American +representatives, that they do not feel the string of predestination +around their ankles. The senatorial twenty, from their high carved +seats, see the strings and smile, too; yes, and see their own strings, +and smile. Wisdom does not wish for flight. "The people" having changed +the constitution, the blackbirds are reduced from four and forty to a +score. This is cheaper--for the people. + +Democracy on the front of the stage before an applauding audience; +performers absorbed in their parts, forgetting that the landlord has to +be paid in money yet to be earned. Behind the stage, the real play, the +absorbing interest, the high stakes--occasional discreet laughter through +the peep-hole when an actor makes an impassioned appeal to the gods. +Democracy in front, the Feudal System, the Dukes and Earls behind--but in +plain clothes; Democracy in stars and spangles and trappings and +insignia. Or, a better figure, the Fates weaving the web in that mystic +chamber, Number Seven, pausing now and again to smile as a new thread is +put in. Proclamations, constitutions, and creeds crumble before +conditions; the Law of Dividends is the high law, and the Forum an open +vent through which the white steam may rise heavenward and be resolved +again into water. + +Mr. Crewe took his seat in the popular assemblage next day, although most +of the five hundred gave up theirs to the ladies who had come to hear his +Excellency deliver his inaugural. The Honourable Asa made a splendid +figure, all agreed, and read his speech in a firm and manly voice. A +large part of it was about the people; some of it about the sacred +government they had inherited from their forefathers; still another +concerned the high character and achievements of the inhabitants within +the State lines; the name of Abraham Lincoln was mentioned, and, with +even greater reverence and fervour, the Republican party which had +ennobled and enriched the people--and incidentally elected the governor. +There was a noble financial policy, a curtailment of expense. The +forests should be protected, roads should be built, and, above all, +corporations should be held to a strict accounting. + +Needless to say, the speech gave great satisfaction to all, and many old +friends left the hall exclaiming that they didn't believe Asa had it in +him. As a matter of fact (known only to the initiated), Asa didn't have +it in him until last night, before he squeezed through the crack in the +folding doors from room number six to room Number Seven. The inspiration +came to him then, when he was ennobled by the Governor-general, who +represents the Empire. Perpetual Governor-general, who quickens into +life puppet governors of his own choosing Asa has agreed, for the honour +of the title of governor of his State, to act the part, open the fairs, +lend his magnificent voice to those phrases which it rounds so well. It +is fortunate, when we smoke a fine cigar from Havana, that we cannot look +into the factory. The sight would disturb us. It was well for the +applauding, deep-breathing audience in the state-house that first of +January that they did not have a glimpse in room Number Seven the night +before, under the sheets that contained the list of the Speaker's +committees; it was well that they could not go back to Ripton into the +offices on the square, earlier in December, where Mr. Hamilton Tooting +was writing the noble part of that inaugural from memoranda given him by +the Honourable Hilary Vane. Yes, the versatile Mr. Tooting, and none +other, doomed forever to hide the light of his genius under a bushel! +The financial part was written by the Governor-general himself--the +Honourable Hilary Vane. And when it was all finished and revised, it was +put into a long envelope which bore this printed address: Augustus P. +Flint, Pres't United Northeastern Railroads, New York. And came back +with certain annotations on the margin, which were duly incorporated into +it. This is the private history (which must never be told) of the +document which on January first became, as far as fame and posterity is +concerned, the Honourable Asa P. Gray's--forever and forever. + +Mr. Crewe liked the inaugural, and was one of the first to tell Mr. Gray +so, and to express his pleasure and appreciation of the fact that his +request (mailed in November) had been complied with, that the substance +of his bills had been recommended in the governor's programme. + +He did not pause to reflect on the maxim, that platforms are made to get +in by and inaugurals to get started by. + +Although annual efforts have been made by various public-spirited +citizens to build a new state-house, economy--with assistance from room +Number Seven has triumphed. It is the same state-house from the gallery +of which poor William Wetherell witnessed the drama of the Woodchuck +Session, although there are more members now, for the population of the +State has increased to five hundred thousand. It is well for General +Doby, with his two hundred and fifty pounds, that he is in the Speaker's +chair; five hundred seats are a good many for that hall, and painful in a +long session. The Honourable Brush Bascom can stretch his legs, because +he is fortunate enough to have a front seat. Upon inquiry, it turns out +that Mr. Bascom has had a front seat for the last twenty years--he has +been uniformly lucky in drawing. The Honourable Jacob Botcher (ten +years' service) is equally fortunate; the Honourable Jake is a man of +large presence, and a voice that sounds as if it came, oracularly, from +the caverns of the earth. He is easily heard by the members on the back +seats, while Mr. Bascom is not. Mr. Ridout, the capital lawyer, is in +the House this year, and singularly enough has a front seat likewise. It +was Mr. Crewe's misfortune to draw number 415, in the extreme corner of +the room, and next the steam radiator. But he was not of the metal to +accept tamely such a ticketing from the hat of destiny (via the Clerk of +the House). He complained, as any man of spirit would, and Mr. Utter, +the polite clerk, is profoundly sorry,--and says it maybe managed. +Curiously enough, the Honourable Brush Bascom and the Honourable Jacob +Botcher join Mr. Crewe in his complaint, and reiterate that it is an +outrage that a man of such ability and deserving prominence should be +among the submerged four hundred and seventy. It is managed in a +mysterious manner we don't pretend to fathom, and behold Mr. Crewe in the +front of the Forum, in the seats of the mighty, where he can easily be +pointed out from the gallery at the head of the five hundred, between +those shining leaders and parliamentarians, the Honourables Brush Bascom +and Jake Botcher. + +For Mr. Crewe has not come to the Legislature, like the country members +in the rear, to acquire a smattering of parliamentary procedure by the +day the Speaker is presented with a gold watch, at the end of the +session. Not he! Not the practical business man, the member of boards, +the chairman and president of societies. He has studied the Rules of the +House and parliamentary law, you may be sure. Genius does not come +unprepared, and is rarely caught napping. After the Legislature +adjourned that week the following telegram was sent over the wires:-- + + Augustus P. Flint, New York. + + Kindly use your influence with Doby to secure my committee + appointments. Important as per my conversation with you. + + Humphrey Crewe. + +Nor was Mr. Crewe idle from Saturday to Monday night, when the committees +were to be announced. He sent to the State Tribune office for fifty +copies of that valuable paper, which contained a two-column-and-a-half +article on Mr. Crewe as a legislator and financier and citizen, with a +summary of his bills and an argument as to how the State would benefit by +their adoption; an accurate list of Mr. Crewe's societies was inserted, +and an account of his life's history, and of those ancestors of his who +had been born or lived within the State. Indeed, the accuracy of this +article as a whole did great credit to the editor of the State Tribune, +who must have spent a tremendous amount of painstaking research upon it; +and the article was so good that Mr. Crewe regretted (undoubtedly for the +editor's sake) that a request could not be appended to it such as is used +upon marriage and funeral notices: "New York, Boston, and Philadelphia +papers please copy." + +Mr. Crewe thought it his duty to remedy as much as possible the +unfortunate limited circulation of the article, and he spent as much as a +whole day making out a list of friends and acquaintances whom he thought +worthy to receive a copy of the Tribune--marked personal. Victoria Flint +got one, and read it to her father at the breakfast table. (Mr. Flint +did not open his.) Austen Vane wondered why any man in his obscure and +helpless position should have been honoured, but honoured he was. He +sent his to Victoria, too, and was surprised to find that she knew his +handwriting and wrote him a letter to thank him for it: a letter which +provoked on his part much laughter, and elements of other sensations +which, according to Charles Reade, should form the ingredients of a good +novel. But of this matter later. + +Mrs. Pomfret and Alice each got one, and each wrote Mr. Crewe appropriate +congratulations. (Alice's answer supervised.) Mrs. Chillingham got one; +the Honourable Hilary Vane got one--marked in red ink, lest he should +have skipped it in his daily perusal of the paper. Mr. Brush, Bascom got +one likewise. But the list of Mr. Crewe's acquaintances is too long and +too broad to dwell upon further in these pages. + +The Monday-night session came at last, that sensational hour when the +Speaker makes those decisions to which he is supposed to have given birth +over Sunday in the seclusion of his country home at Hale. Monday-night +sessions are, as a rule, confined in attendance to the Honourable Brush +Bascom and Mr. Ridout and a few other conscientious members who do not +believe in cheating the State, but to-night all is bustle and confusion, +and at least four hundred members are pushing down the aisles and +squeezing past each other into the narrow seats, and reading the State +Tribune or the ringing words of the governor's inaugural which they find +in the racks on the back of the seats before them. Speaker Doby, who has +been apparently deep in conference with the most important members (among +them Mr. Crewe, to whom he has whispered that a violent snow-storm is +raging in Hale), raps for order; and after a few preliminaries hands to +Mr. Utter, the clerk, amidst a breathless silence, the paper on which the +parliamentary career of so many ambitious statesmen depends. + +It is not a pleasure to record the perfidy of man, nor the lack of +judgment which prevents him, in his circumscribed lights, from +recognizing undoubted geniuses when he sees them. Perhaps it was +jealousy on General Doby's part, and a selfish desire to occupy the +centre of the stage himself, but at any rate we will pass hastily over +the disagreeable portions of this narrative. Mr. Crewe settled himself +with his feet extended, and with a complacency which he had rightly +earned by leaving no stone unturned, to listen. He sat up a little when +the Appropriations Committee, headed by the Honourable Jake Botcher, did +not contain his name--but it might have been an oversight of Mr. Utters; +when the Judiciary (Mr. Ridout's committee) was read it began to look +like malice; committee after committee was revealed, and the name of +Humphrey Crewe might not have been contained in the five hundred except +as the twelfth member of forestry, until it appeared at the top of +National Affairs. Here was a broad enough field, certainly,--the Trusts, +the Tariff, the Gold Standard, the Foreign Possessions,--and Mr. Crewe's +mind began to soar in spite of himself. Public Improvements was reached, +and he straightened. Mr. Beck, a railroad lawyer from Belfast, led it. +Mr. Crewe arose, as any man of spirit would, and walked with dignity up +the aisle and out of the house. This deliberate attempt to crush genius +would inevitably react on itself. The Honourable Hilary Vane and Mr. +Flint should be informed of it at once. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +"FOR BILLS MAY COME, AND BILLS MAY GO" + +A man with a sense of humour once went to the capital as a member of the +five hundred from his town, and he never went back again. One reason for +this was that he died the following year, literally, the doctors said, +from laughing too much. I know that this statement will be received +incredulously, and disputed by those who claim that laughter is a good +thing; the honourable gentleman died from too much of a good thing. He +was overpowered by having too much to laugh at, and the undiscerning +thought him a fool, and the Empire had no need of a court jester. But +many of his sayings have lived, nevertheless. He wrote a poem, said to +be a plagiarism, which contains the quotation at the beginning of this +chapter: "For bills may come, and bills may go, but I go on forever." +The first person singular is supposed to relate to the United +Northeastern Railroads. It was a poor joke at best. + +It is needless to say that the gentleman referred to had a back seat +among the submerged four hundred and seventy,--and that he kept it. No +discerning and powerful well-wishers came forward and said to him, +"Friend, go up higher." He sat, doubled up, in number, and the gods gave +him compensation in laughter; he disturbed the Solons around him, who +were interested in what was going on in front, and trying to do their +duty to their constituents by learning parliamentary procedure before the +Speaker got his gold watch and shed tears over it. + +The gentleman who laughed and died is forgotten, as he deserves to be, +and it never occurred to anybody that he might have been a philosopher, +after all. There is something irresistibly funny about predestination; +about men who are striving and learning and soberly voting upon measures +with which they have as little to do as guinea-pigs. There were certain +wise and cynical atheists who did not attend the sessions at all except +when they received mysterious hints to do so. These were chiefly from +Newcastle. And there were others who played poker in the state-house +cellar waiting for the Word to come to them, when they went up and voted +(prudently counting their chips before they did so), and descended again. +The man with a sense of humour laughed at these, too, and at the twenty +blackbirds in the Senate,--but not so heartily. He laughed at their +gravity, for no gravity can equal that of gentlemen who play with stacked +cards. + +The risible gentleman laughed at the proposed legislation, about which he +made the song, and he likened it to a stream that rises hopefully in the +mountains, and takes its way singing at the prospect of reaching the +ocean, but presently flows into a hole in the ground to fill the +forgotten caverns of the earth, and is lost to the knowledge and sight of +man. The caverns he labelled respectively Appropriations, Railroad, +Judiciary, and their guardians were unmistakably the Honourables Messrs. +Bascom, Botcher, and Ridout. The greatest cavern of all he called "The +Senate." + +If you listen, you can hear the music of the stream of bills as it is +rising hopefully and flowing now: "Mr. Crewe of Leith gives notice that +on to-morrow or some subsequent day he will introduce a bill entitled, +'An act for the Improvement of the State Highways.' Mr. Crewe of Leith +gives notice, etc. 'An act for the Improvement of the Practice of +Agriculture.' 'An act relating to the State Indebtedness.' 'An act to +increase the State Forest Area.' 'An act to incorporate the State +Economic League.' 'An act to incorporate the State Children's Charities +Association.' 'An act in relation to Abandoned Farms.'" These were some +of the most important, and they were duly introduced on the morrow, and +gravely referred by the Speaker to various committees. As might be +expected, a man whose watchword is, "thorough" immediately got a list of +those committees, and lost no time in hunting up the chairmen and the +various available members thereof. + +As a man of spirit, also, Mr. Crewe wrote to Mr. Flint, protesting as to +the manner in which he had been treated concerning committees. In the +course of a week he received a kind but necessarily brief letter from the +Northeastern's president to remind him that he persisted in a fallacy; as +a neighbour, Mr. Flint would help him to the extent of his power, but the +Northeastern Railroads could not interfere in legislative or political +matters. Mr. Crewe was naturally pained by the lack of confidence of his +friend; it seems useless to reiterate that he was far from being a fool, +and no man could be in the capital a day during the session without being +told of the existence of Number Seven, no matter how little the informant +might know of what might be going on there. Mr. Crewe had been fortunate +enough to see the inside of that mysterious room, and, being a +sufficiently clever man to realize the importance and necessity of +government by corporations, had been shocked at nothing he had seen or +heard. However, had he had a glimpse of the Speaker's lists under the +hopelessly crushed hat of Mr. Bascom, perhaps he might have been shocked, +after all. + +It was about this time that a touching friendship began which ought, in +justice, to be briefly chronicled. It was impossible for the Honourable +Brush Bascom and the Honourable Jacob Botcher to have Mr. Crewe sitting +between them and not conceive a strong affection for him. The Honourable +Brush, though not given to expressing his feelings, betrayed some +surprise at the volumes Mr. Crewe had contributed to the stream of bills; +and Mr. Botcher, in a Delphic whisper, invited Mr. Crewe to visit him in +room forty-eight of the Pelican that evening. To tell the truth, Mr. +Crewe returned the feeling of his companions warmly, and he had even +entertained the idea of asking them both to dine with him that evening. + +Number forty-eight (the Honourable Jake's) was a free-and-easy democratic +resort. No three knocks and a password before you turn the key here. +Almost before your knuckles hit the panel you heard Mr. Botcher's hearty +voice shouting "Come in," in spite of the closed transom. The Honourable +Jake, being a tee-totaller, had no bathroom, and none but his intimate +friends ever looked in the third from the top bureau drawer. + +The proprietor of the Pelican, who in common with the rest of humanity +had fallen a victim to the rough and honest charms and hearty good +fellowship of the Honourable Jake, always placed a large padded arm-chair +in number forty-eight before the sessions, knowing that the Honourable +Jake's constituency would be uniformly kind to him. There Mr. Botcher +was wont to sit (when he was not depressing one of the tiles in the +rotunda), surrounded by his friends and their tobacco smoke, discussing +in his frank and manly fashion the public questions of the day. + +Mr. Crewe thought it a little strange that, whenever he entered a room in +the Pelican, a silence should succeed the buzz of talk which he had heard +through the closed transom; but he very naturally attributed this to the +constraint which ordinary men would be likely to feel in his presence. +In the mouth of one presumptuous member the word "railroad" was cut in +two by an agate glance from the Honourable Brush, and Mr. Crewe noted +with some surprise that the Democratic leader of the House, Mr. Painter, +was seated on Mr. Botcher's mattress, with an expression that was in +singular contrast to the look of bold defiance which he had swept over +the House that afternoon in announcing his opposition policy. The vulgar +political suggestion might have crept into a more trivial mind than Mr. +Crewe's that Mr. Painter was being, "put to bed," the bed being very +similar to that of Procrustes. Mr. Botcher extracted himself from the +nooks and crannies of his armchair. + +"How are you, Crewe?" he said hospitably; "we're all friends here--eh, +Painter? We don't carry our quarrels outside the swinging doors. You +know Mr. Crewe--by sight, of course. Do you know these other gentlemen, +Crewe? I didn't expect you so early." + +The "other gentlemen" said that they were happy to make the acquaintance +of their fellow-member from Leith, and seemingly with one consent began +to edge towards the door. + +"Don't go, boys," Mr. Bascom protested. "Let me finish that story." + +Some of "the boys" seemed to regard this statement as humorous,--more +humorous, indeed, than the story itself. And when it was finished they +took their departure, a trifle awkwardly, led by Mr. Painter. + +"They're a little mite bashful," said Mr. Botcher, apologetically. + +"How many more of those bills have you got?" demanded Mr. Bascom, from +the steam radiator, with characteristic directness. + +"I put 'em all in this morning," said Mr. Crewe, "but I have thought +since of two or three other conditions which might be benefited by +legislation." + +"Well," said Mr. Bascom, kindly, "if you have any more I was going to +suggest that you distribute 'em round among the boys. That's the way I +do, and most folks don't guess they're your bills. See?" + +"What harm is there in that?" demanded Mr. Crewe. "I'm not ashamed of +'em." + +"Brush was only lookin' at it from the point of view of gettin' 'em +through," honest Mr. Botcher put in, in stentorian tones. "It doesn't do +for a new member to be thought a hog about legislation." + +Now the Honourable Jacob only meant this in the kindest manner, as we +know, and to give inexperience a hint from well-intentioned experience. +On the other hand, Mr. Crewe had a dignity and a position to uphold. He +was a personality. People who went too far with him were apt to be +rebuked by a certain glassy quality in his eye, and this now caused the +Honourable Jake to draw back perceptibly. + +"I see no reason why a public-spirited man should be open to such an +imputation," said Mr. Crewe. + +"Certainly not, certainly not," said Mr. Botcher, in stentorian tones of +apology, "I was only trying to give you a little friendly advice, but I +may have put it too strong. Brush and I--I may as well be plain about +it, Mr. Crewe--have taken a liking to you. Couldn't help it, sir, +sitting next to you as we do. We take an interest in your career, and we +don't want you to make any mistakes. Ain't that about it, Brush?" + +"That's about it," said Mr. Bascom. + +Mr. Crewe was to big a man not to perceive and appreciate the sterling +philanthropy which lay beneath the exteriors of his new friends, who +scorned to flatter him. + +"I understand the spirit in which your advice is given, gentlemen," he +replied magnanimously, "and I appreciate it. We are all working for the +same things, and we all believe that they must be brought about in the +same practical way. For instance, we know as practical men that the +railroad pays a large tax in this State, and that property must take a +hand--a very considerable hand--in legislation. You gentlemen, as +important factors in the Republican organization, are loyal to--er--that +property, and perhaps for wholly desirable reasons cannot bring forward +too many bills under your own names. Whereas I--" + +At this point in Mr. Crewe's remarks the Honourable Jacob Botcher was +seized by an appalling coughing fit which threatened to break his arm- +chair, probably owing to the fact that he had swallowed something which +he had in his mouth the wrong way. Mr. Bascom, assisted by Mr. Crewe, +pounded him relentlessly on the back. + +"I read that article in the 'Tribune' about you with great interest," +said Mr. Bascom, when Mr. Botcher's coughing had subsided. "I had no +idea you were so--ahem--well equipped for a political career. But what +we wanted to speak to you about was this," he continued, as Mr. Crewe +showed signs of breaking in, "those committee appointments you desired." + +"Yes," said Mr. Crewe, with some pardonable heat, "the Speaker doesn't +seem to know which side his bread's buttered on." + +"What I was going to say," proceeded Mr. Bascom, "was that General Doby +is a pretty good fellow. Personally, I happen to know that the general +feels very badly that he couldn't give you what you wanted. He took a +shine to you that night you saw him." + +"Yes," Mr. Botcher agreed, for he had quite recovered, the general felt +bad--feels bad, I should say. He perceived that you were a man of +ability, sir--" + +"And that was just the reason," said the Honourable Brush, "that he +couldn't make you more useful just now." + +"There's a good deal of jealousy, my dear sir, against young members of +ability," said Mr. Botcher, in his most oracular and impressive tones. +"The competition amongst those--er--who have served the party is very +keen for the positions you desired. I personally happen to know that the +general had you on the Judiciary and Appropriations, and that some of +your--er--well-wishers persuaded him to take you off for your own good." + +"It wouldn't do for the party leaders to make you too prominent all at +once," said Mr. Bascom. "You are bound to take an active part in what +passes here. The general said, 'At all events I will give Mr. Crewe one +chairmanship by which he can make a name for himself suited to his +talents,' and he insisted on giving you, in spite of some remonstrances +from your friends, National Affairs. The general urged, rightly, that +with your broad view and knowledge of national policy, it was his duty to +put you in that place whatever people might say." + +Mr. Crewe listened to these explanations in some surprise; and being a +rational man, had to confess that they were--more or less reasonable. + +"Scarcely any bills come before that committee," he objected. + +"Ah," replied Mr. Bascom, "that is true. But the chairman of that +committee is generally supposed to be in line for--er--national honours. +It has not always happened in the past, because the men have not proved +worthy. But the opportunity is always given to that chairman to make a +speech upon national affairs which is listened to with the deepest +interest. + +"Is that so?" said Mr. Crewe. He wanted to be of service, as we know. +He was a man of ideas, and the opening sentences of the speech were +already occurring to him. + +"Let's go upstairs and see the general now," suggested Mr. Botcher, +smiling that such a happy thought should have occurred to him. + +"Why, I guess we couldn't do any better," Mr. Bascom agreed. + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "I'm willing to hear what he's got to say, +anyway." + +Taking advantage of this generous concession, Mr. Botcher hastily locked +the door, and led the way up the stairway to number seventy-five. After +a knock or two here, the door opened a crack, disclosing, instead of +General Doby's cherubic countenance, a sallow face with an exceedingly +pointed nose. The owner of these features, having only Mr. Botcher in +his line of vision, made what was perhaps an unguarded remark. + +"Hello, Jake, the general's in number nine--Manning sent for him about +half an hour ago." + +It was Mr. Botcher himself who almost closed the door on the gentleman's +sharp nose, and took Mr. Crewe's arm confidingly. + +"We'll go up to the desk and see Doby in the morning,--he's busy," said +the Honourable Jake. + +"What's the matter with seeing him now?" Mr. Crewe demanded. "I know +Manning. He's the division superintendent, isn't he?" + +Mr. Botcher and Mr. Bascom exchanged glances. + +"Why, yes--"said Mr. Bascom, "yes, he is. He's a great friend of General +Doby's, and their wives are great friends." + +"Intimate friends, sir," said the Honourable Jake + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "we won't bother 'em but a moment." + +It was he who led the way now, briskly, the Honourable Brush and the +Honourable Jake pressing closely after him. It was Mr. Crewe who, +without pausing to knock, pushed open the door of number nine, which was +not quite closed; and it was Mr. Crewe who made the important discovery +that the lugubrious division superintendent had a sense of humour. Mr. +Manning was seated at a marble-topped table writing on a salmon-coloured +card, in the act of pronouncing these words:-- + +"For Mr. Speaker and Mrs. Speaker and all the little Speakers, to New +York and return." + +Mr. Speaker Doby, standing before the marble-topped table with his hands +in his pockets, heard the noise behind him and turned, and a mournful +expression spread over his countenance. + +"Don't mind me," said Mr. Crewe, waving a hand in the direction of the +salmon-coloured tickets; "I hope you have a good time, General. When do +you go?" + +"Why," exclaimed the Speaker, "how are you, Mr. Crewe, how are you? It's +only one of Manning's little jokes." + +"That's all right, General," said Mr. Crewe, "I haven't been a director +in railroads for nothing. I'm not as green as he thinks. Am I, Mr. +Manning?" + +"It never struck me that green was your colour, Mr. Crewe," answered the +division superintendent, smiling a little as he tore the tickets into +bits and put them in the waste-basket. + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "you needn't have torn 'em up on my account. I +travel on the pass which the Northeastern gives me as a legislator, and +I'm thinking seriously of getting Mr. Flint to send me an annual, now +that I'm in politics and have to cover the State." + +"We thought you were a reformer, Mr. Crewe," the Honourable Brush Bascom +remarked. + +"I am a practical man," said Mr. Crewe; "a railroad man, a business mark +and as such I try to see things as they are." + +"Well," said General Doby, who by this time had regained his usual genial +air of composure, I'm glad you said that, Mr. Crewe. As these gentlemen +will tell you, if I'd had my wish I'd have had you on every important +committee in the House." + +"Chairman of every important committee, General," corrected the +Honourable Jacob Botcher. + +"Yes, chairman of 'em," assented the general, after a glance at Mr. +Crewe's countenance to see how this statement fared. "But the fact is, +the boys are all jealous of you--on the quiet. I suppose you suspected +something of the kind." + +"I should have imagined there might be some little feeling," Mr. Crewe +assented modestly. + +"Exactly," cried the general, "and I had to combat that feeling when I +insisted upon putting you at the head of National Affairs. It does not +do for a new member, whatever his prominence in the financial world, to +be pushed forward too quickly. And unless I am mighty mistaken, Mr. +Crewe," he added, with his hand on the new member's shoulder, "you will +make yourself felt without any boosting from me." + +"I did not come here to remain idle, General," answered Mr. Crewe, +considerably mollified. + +"Certainly not," said the general, "and I say to some of those men, 'Keep +your eye on the gentleman who is Chairman of National Affairs.'" + +After a little more of this desultory and pleasant talk, during which +recourse was, had to the bathroom for several tall and thin glasses +ranged on the shelf there, Mr. Crewe took his departure in a most equable +frame of mind. And when the door was closed and locked behind him, Mr. +Manning dipped his pen in the ink, once more produced from a drawer in +the table the salmon-coloured tickets, and glanced again at the general +with a smile. + +"For Mr. Speaker and Mrs. Speaker and all the little Speakers, to New +York and return." + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Fame sometimes comes in the line of duty +Genius is almost one hundred percent directness +In a frenzy of anticipation, garnished and swept the room +It's noble, but it don't pay +Treason to party he regarded with a deep-seated abhorrence + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, V1 +by Winston Churchill + + + + + + +MR. CREWE'S CAREER + +By Winston Churchill + + + +BOOK 2. + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE HOPPER + +It is certainly not the function of a romance to relate, with the +exactness of a House journal, the proceedings of a Legislature. Somebody +has likened the state-house to pioneer Kentucky, a dark and bloody ground +over which the battles of selfish interests ebbed and flowed,--no place +for an innocent and unselfish bystander like Mr. Crewe, who desired only +to make of his State an Utopia; whose measures were for the public good-- +not his own. But if any politician were fatuous enough to believe that +Humphrey Crewe was a man to introduce bills and calmly await their fate; +a man who, like Senator Sanderson, only came down to the capital when he +was notified by telegram, that politician was entirely mistaken. + +No sooner had his bills been assigned to the careful and just +consideration of the committees in charge of the Honourable Brush Bascom, +Mr. Botcher, and others than Mr. Crewe desired of each a day for a +hearing. Every member of the five hundred was provided with a copy; nay, +nearly every member was personally appealed to, to appear and speak for +the measures. Foresters, road builders, and agriculturists (expenses +paid) were sent for from other States; Mr. Ball and others came down from +Leith, and gentlemen who for a generation had written letters to the +newspapers turned up from other localities. In two cases the largest +committee rooms proved too small for the gathering which was the result +of Mr. Crewe's energy, and the legislative hall had to be lighted. The +State Tribune gave column reports of the hearings, and little editorial +pushes besides. And yet, when all was over, when it had been proved +beyond a doubt that, if the State would consent to spend a little money, +she would take the foremost rank among her forty odd sisters for +progression, the bills were still under consideration by those hardheaded +statesmen, Mr. Bascom and Mr. Botcher and their associates. + +It could not be because these gentlemen did not know the arguments and +see the necessity. Mr. Crewe had had them to dinner, and had spent so +much time in their company presenting his case--to which they absolutely +agreed--that they took to a forced seclusion. The member from Leith also +wrote letters and telegrams, and sent long typewritten arguments and +documents to Mr. Flint. Mr. Crewe, although far from discouraged, began +to think there was something mysterious about all this seemingly +unnecessary deliberation. + +Mr. Crewe, though of great discernment, was only mortal, and while he was +fighting his battle single-handed, how was he to know that the gods above +him were taking sides and preparing for conflict? The gods do not give +out their declarations of war for publication to the Associated Press; +and old Tom Gaylord, who may be likened to Mars, had no intention of +sending Jupiter notice until he got his cohorts into line. The strife, +because it was to be internecine, was the more terrible. Hitherto the +Gaylord Lumber Company, like the Winona Manufacturing Company of +Newcastle (the mills of which extended for miles along the Tyne), had +been a faithful ally of the Empire; and, on occasions when it was needed, +had borrowed the Imperial army to obtain grants, extensions, and +franchises. + +The fact is that old Tom Gaylord, in the autumn previous, had quarreled +with Mr. Flint about lumber rates, which had been steadily rising. Mr. +Flint had been polite, but firm; and old Tom, who, with all his +tremendous properties, could ship by no other railroad than the +Northeastern, had left the New York office in a black rage. A more +innocent citizen than old Tom would have put his case (which was without +doubt a strong one) before the Railroad Commission of the State, but old +Tom knew well enough that the Railroad Commission was in reality an +economy board of the Northeastern system, as much under Mr. Flint's +orders as the conductors and brakemen. Old Tom, in consulting the map, +conceived an unheard-of effrontery, a high treason which took away the +breath of his secretary and treasurer when it was pointed out to him. +The plan contemplated a line of railroad from the heart of the lumber +regions down the south side of the valley of the Pingsquit to Kingston, +where the lumber could take to the sea. In short, it was a pernicious +revival of an obsolete state of affairs, competition, and if persisted +in, involved nothing less than a fight to a finish with the army, the +lobby of the Northeastern. Other favoured beings stood aghast when they +heard of it, and hastened to old Tom with timely counsel; but he had +reached a frame of mind which they knew well. He would listen to no +reason, and maintained stoutly that there were other lawyers in the world +as able in political sagacity and lobby tactics as Hilary Vane; the +Honourable Galusha Hammer, for instance, an old and independent and wary +war-horse who had more than once wrung compromises out of the Honourable +Hilary. The Honourable Galusha Hammer was sent for, and was now +industriously, if quietly and unobtrusively, at work. The Honourable +Hilary was likewise at work, equally quietly and unobtrusively. When the +powers fall out, they do not open up at once with long-distance +artillery. There is always a chance of a friendly settlement. The news +was worth a good deal, for instance, to Mr. Peter Pardriff (brother of +Paul, of Ripton), who refrained, with praiseworthy self-control, from +publishing it in the State Tribune, although the temptation to do so must +have been great. And most of the senatorial twenty saw the trouble +coming and braced their backs against it, but in silence. The capital +had seen no such war as this since the days of Jethro Bass. + +In the meantime Mr. Crewe, blissfully ignorant of this impending +conflict, was preparing a speech on national affairs and national issues +which was to startle an unsuspecting State. Mrs. Pomfret, who had +received many clippings and pamphlets, had written him weekly letters of +a nature spurring to his ambition, which incidentally contained many +references to Alice's interest in his career. And Mr. Crewe's mind, when +not intent upon affairs of State, sometimes reverted pleasantly to +thoughts of Victoria Flint; it occurred to him that the Duncan house was +large enough for entertaining, and that he might invite Mrs. Pomfret to +bring Victoria and the inevitable Alice to hear his oration, for which +Mr. Speaker Doby had set a day. + +In his desire to give other people pleasure, Mr. Crewe took the trouble +to notify a great many of his friends and acquaintances as to the day of +his speech, in case they might wish to travel to the State capital and +hear him deliver it. Having unexpectedly received in the mail a cheque +from Austen Vane in settlement of the case of the injured horse, Austen +was likewise invited. + +Austen smiled when he opened the letter, and with its businesslike +contents there seemed to be wafted from it the perfume and suppliance of +a September day in the Vale of the Blue. From the window of his back +office, looking across the railroad tracks, he could see Sawanec, pale in +her winter garb against a pale winter sky, and there arose in him the old +restless desire for the woods and fields which at times was almost +irresistible. His thoughts at length descending from the azure above +Sawanec, his eyes fell again on Mr. Crewe's typewritten words: "It may be +of interest to you that I am to deliver, on the 15th instant, and as the +Chairman of the House Committee on National Affairs, a speech upon +national policies which is the result of much thought, and which touches +upon such material needs of our State as can be supplied by the Federal +Government." + +Austen had a brief fancy, whimsical as it was, of going to hear him. Mr. +Crewe, as a type absolutely new to him, interested him. He had followed +the unusual and somewhat surprising career of the gentleman from Leith +with some care, even to the extent of reading of Mr. Crewe's activities +in the State Tribunes which had been sent him. Were such qualifications +as Mr. Crewe possessed, he wondered, of a kind to sweep their possessor +into high office? Were industry, persistency, and a capacity for taking +advantage of a fair wind sufficient? + +Since his return from Pepper County, Austen Vane had never been to the +State capital during a session, although it was common for young lawyers +to have cases before the Legislature. It would have been difficult to +say why he did not take these cases, aside from the fact that they were +not very remunerative. On occasions gentlemen from different parts of +the State, and some from outside of it who had certain favours to ask at +the hands of the lawmaking body, had visited his back office and closed +the door after them, and in the course of the conversation had referred +to the relationship of the young lawyer to Hilary Vane. At such times +Austen would freely acknowledge the debt of gratitude he owed his father +for being in the world--and refer them politely to Mr. Hilary Vane +himself. In most cases they had followed his advice, wondering not a +little at this isolated example of quixotism. + +During the sessions, except for a day or two at week ends which were +often occupied with conferences, the Honourable Hilary's office was +deserted; or rather, as we have seen, his headquarters were removed to +room Number Seven in the Pelican Hotel at the capital. Austen got many +of the lay clients who came to see his father at such times; and--without +giving an exaggerated idea of his income--it might be said that he was +beginning to have what may be called a snug practice for a lawyer of his +experience. In other words, according to Mr. Tooting, who took an +intense interest in the matter, "not wearing the collar" had been more of +a financial success for Austen than that gentleman had imagined. There +proved to be many clients to whom the fact that young Mr. Vane did not +carry a "retainer pass" actually appealed. These clients paid their +bills, but they were neither large nor influential, as a rule, with the +notable exception of the Gaylord Lumber Company, where the matters for +trial were not large. If young Tom Gaylord had had his way, Austen would +have been the chief counsel for the corporation. + +To tell the truth, Austen Vane had a secret aversion to going to the +capital during a session, a feeling that such a visit would cause him +unhappiness. In spite of his efforts, and indeed in spite of Hilary's, +Austen and his father had grown steadily apart. They met in the office +hallway, in the house in Hanover Street when Hilary came home to sleep, +and the elder Mr. Vane was not a man to thrive on small talk. His world +was the battlefield from which he directed the forces of the great +corporation which he served, and the cherished vision of a son in whom he +could confide his plans, upon whose aid and counsel he could lean, was +gone forever. Hilary Vane had troublesome half-hours, but on the whole +he had reached the conclusion that this son, like Sarah Austen, was one +of those inexplicable products in which an extravagant and inscrutable +nature sometimes indulged. On the rare evenings when the two were at +home together, the Honourable Hilary sat under one side of the lamp with +a pile of documents and newspapers, and Austen under the other with a +book from the circulating library. No public questions could be broached +upon which they were not as far apart as the poles, and the Honourable +Hilary put literature in the same category as embroidery. Euphrasia, +when she paused in her bodily activity to darn their stockings, used to +glance at them covertly from time to time, and many a silent tear of +which they knew nothing fell on her needle. + +On the subject of his protracted weekly absences at the State capital, +the Honourable Hilary was as uncommunicative as he would have been had he +retired for those periods to a bar-room. He often grunted and cleared +his throat and glanced at his son when their talk bordered upon these +absences; and he was even conscious of an extreme irritation against +himself as well as Austen because of the instinct that bade him keep +silent. He told himself fiercely that he had nothing to be ashamed of, +nor would he have acknowledged that it was a kind of shame that bade him +refrain even from circumstantial accounts of what went on in room Number +Seven of the Pelican. He had an idea that Austen knew and silently +condemned; and how extremely maddening was this feeling to the Honourable +Hilary may well be imagined. All his life long he had deemed himself +morally invulnerable, and now to be judged and ethically found wanting by +the son of Sarah Austen was, at times, almost insupportable. Were the +standards of a long life to be suddenly reversed by a prodigal son? + +To get back to Austen. On St. Valentine's Day of that year when, to tell +the truth, he was seated in his office scribbling certain descriptions of +nature suggested by the valentines in Mr. Hayman's stationery store, the +postman brought in a letter from young Tom Gaylord. Austen laughed as he +read it. "The Honourable Galusha Hammer is well named," young Tom wrote, +"but the conviction has been gaining ground with me that a hammer is +about as much use as a shovel would be at the present time. It is not +the proper instrument." "But the 'old man'" (it was thus young Tom was wont +to designate his parent) "is pig-headed when he gets to fighting, and +won't listen to reason. If he believes he can lick the Northeastern with +a Hammer, he is durned badly mistaken, and I told him so. I have been +giving him sage advice in little drops--after meals. I tell him there is +only one man in the State who has sense enough even to shake the +Northeastern, and that's you. He thinks this a pretty good joke. Of +course I realize where your old man is planted, and that you might have +some natural delicacy and wish to refrain from giving him a jar. But +come down for an hour and let me talk to you, anyway. The new statesman +from Leith is cutting a wide swath. Not a day passes but his voice is +heard roaring in the Forum; he has visited all the State institutions, +dined and wined the governor and his staff and all the ex-governors he +can lay his hands on, and he has that hard-headed and caustic journalist, +Mr. Peter Pardriff, of the State Tribune, hypnotized. He has some swells +up at his house to hear his speech on national affairs, among them old +Flint's daughter, who is a ripper to look at, although I never got nearer +to her than across the street. As you may guess, it is something of a +card for Crewe to have Flint's daughter here." + +Austen sat for a long time after reading this letter, idly watching the +snow-clouds gathering around Sawanec. Then he tore up the paper, on +which he had been scribbling, into very small bits, consulted a time- +table, and at noon, in a tumult of feelings, he found himself in a back +seat of the express, bound for the capital. + +Arriving at the station, amidst a hurry and bustle of legislators and +politicians coming and going, many of whom nodded to him, he stood for a +minute in the whirling snow reflecting. Now that he was here, where was +he to stay? The idea of spending the night at the Pelican was repellent +to him, and he was hesitating between two more modest hostelries when he +was hailed by a giant with a flowing white beard, a weather-beaten face, +and a clear eye that shone with a steady and kindly light. It was James +Redbrook, the member from Mercer. + +"Why, how be you, Austen?" he cried, extending a welcome hand; and, when +Austen had told him his dilemma: "Come right along up to my lodgings. I +live at the Widow Peasley's, and there's a vacant room next to mine." + +Austen accepted gratefully, and as they trudged through the storm up the +hill, he inquired how legislative matters were progressing. Whereupon +Mr. Redbrook unburdened himself. + +"Say, I just warmed up all over when I see you, Austen. I'm so glad to +run across an honest man. We ain't forgot in Mercer what you did for Zeb +Meader, and how you went against your interests. And I guess it ain't +done you any harm in the State. As many as thirty or forty members have +spoke to me about it. And down here I've got so I just can't hold in any +more." + +"Is it as bad as that, Mr. Redbrook?" asked Austen, with a serious glance +at the farmer's face. + +"It's so bad I don't know how to begin," said the member from Mercer, and +paused suddenly. "But I don't want to hurt your feelings, Austen, seeing +your father is--where he is." + +"Go on," said Austen, "I understand." + +"Well," said Mr. Redbrook, "it just makes me tremble as an American +citizen. The railrud sends them slick cusses down here that sit in the +front seats who know all this here parliamentary law and the tricks of +the trade, and every time any of us gets up to speak our honest minds, +they have us ruled out of order or get the thing laid on the table until +some Friday morning when there ain't nobody here, and send it along up to +the Senate. They made that fat feller, Doby, Speaker, and he's stuffed +all the important committees so that you can't get an honest measure +considered. You can talk to the committees all you've a mind to, and +they'll just listen and never do anything. There's five hundred in the +House, and it ain't any more of a Legislature than a camp-meetin' is. +What do you suppose they done last Friday morning, when there wahn't but +twenty men at the session? We had an anti-pass law, and all these +fellers were breakin' it. It forbid anybody riding on a pass except +railroad presidents, directors, express messengers, and persons in +misfortune, and they stuck in these words, 'and others to whom passes +have been granted by the proper officers.' Ain't that a disgrace to the +State? And those twenty senators passed it before we got back on +Tuesday. You can't get a bill through that Legislature unless you go up +to the Pelican and get permission of Hilary--" + +Here Mr. Redbrook stopped abruptly, and glanced contritely at his +companion. + +"I didn't mean to get goin' so," he said, "but sometimes I wish this +American government'd never been started." + +"I often feel that way myself, Mr. Redbrook," said Austen. + +"I knowed you did. I guess I can tell an honest man when I see one. +It's treason to say anything against this Northeastern louder than a +whisper. They want an electric railrud bad up in Greenacre, and when +some of us spoke for it and tried to get the committee to report it, +those cheap fellers from Newcastle started such a catcall we had to set +down." + +By this time they were at the Widow Peasley's, stamping the snow from off +their boots. + +"How general is this sentiment?" Austen asked, after he had set down his +bag in the room he was to occupy. + +"Why," said Mr. Redbrook, with conviction, "there's enough feel as I do +to turn that House upside down--if we only had a leader. If you was only +in there, Austen." + +"I'm afraid I shouldn't be of much use," Austen answered. "They'd have +given me a back seat, too." + +The Widow Peasley's was a frame and gabled house of Revolutionary days +with a little terrace in front of it and a retaining wall built up from +the sidewalk. Austen, on the steps, stood gazing across at a square +mansion with a wide cornice, half hidden by elms and maples and pines. +It was set far back from the street, and a driveway entered the picket- +fence and swept a wide semicircle to the front door and back again. +Before the door was a sleigh of a pattern new to him, with a seat high +above the backs of two long-bodied, deep-chested horses, their heads held +with difficulty by a little footman with his arms above him. At that +moment two figures in furs emerged from the house. The young woman +gathered up the reins and leaped lightly to the box, the man followed; +the little groom touched his fur helmet and scrambled aboard as the +horses sprang forward to the music of the softest of bells. The sleigh +swept around the curve, avoided by a clever turn a snow-pile at the +entrance, the young woman raised her eyes from the horses, stared at +Austen, and bowed. As for Austen, he grew warm as he took off his hat, +and he realized that his hand was actually trembling. The sleigh flew on +up the hill, but she turned once more to look behind her, and he still +had his hat in his hand, the snowflakes falling on his bared head. Then +he was aware that James Redbrook was gazing at him curiously. + +"That's Flint's daughter, ain't it?" inquired the member from Mercer. +"Didn't callate you'd know her." + +Austen flushed. He felt exceedingly foolish, but an answer came to him. + +"I met her in the hospital. She used to go there to see Zeb Meader." + +"That's so," said Mr. Redbrook; "Zeb told me about it, and she used to +come to Mercer to see him after he got out. She ain't much like the old +man, I callate." + +"I don't think she is," said Austen. + +"I don't know what she's stayin' with that feller Crewe for," the farmer +remarked; of all the etarnal darn idiots--why, Brush Bascom and that +Botcher and the rest of 'em are trailin' him along and usin' him for the +best thing that ever came down here. He sets up to be a practical man, +and don't know as much as some of us hayseeds in the back seats. Where +be you goin'?" + +"I was going to the Pelican." + +"Well, I've got a committee meetin' of Agriculture," said Mr. Redbrook. +"Could you be up here at Mis' Peasley's about eight to-night?" + +"Why, yes," Austen replied, "if you want to see me." + +"I do want to see you," said Mr. Redbrook, significantly, and waved a +farewell. + +Austen took his way slowly across the state-house park, threading among +the groups between the snow-banks towards the wide facade of the Pelican +Hotel. Presently he paused, and then with a sudden determination crossed +the park diagonally into Main Street, walking rapidly southward and +scrutinizing the buildings on either side until at length these began to +grow wide apart, and he spied a florist's sign with a greenhouse. behind +it. He halted again, irresolutely, in front of it, flung open the door, +and entered a boxlike office filled with the heated scents of flowers. A +little man eyed him with an obsequious interest which he must have +accorded to other young men on similar errands. Austen may be spared a +repetition of the very painful conversation that ensued; suffice it to +say that, after mature deliberation, violets were chosen. He had a +notion--not analyzed--that she would prefer violets to roses. The +information that the flowers were for the daughter of the president of +the Northeastern Railroads caused a visible quickening of the little +florist's regard, an attitude which aroused a corresponding disgust and +depression in Austen. + +"Oh, yes," said the florist, "she's up at Crewe's." He glanced at Austen +apologetically. "Excuse me," he said, "I ought to know you. Have you a +card?" + +"No," said Austen, with emphasis. + +"And what name, please?" + +"No name," said the donor, now heartily repenting of his rashness, and +slamming the glass door in a manner that made the panes rattle behind +him. + +As he stood hesitating on the curb of the crossing, he began to wish that +he had not left Ripton. + +"Hello, Austen," said a voice, which he recognized as the Honourable +Brush Bascom's, "didn't know you ever came down here in session time." + +"What are you doing down here, Brush?" Austen asked. + +Mr. Bascom grinned in appreciation of this pleasantry. + +"I came for my health," he said; "I prefer it to Florida." + +"I've heard that it agrees with some people," said Austen. + +Mr. Bascom grinned again. + +"Just arrived?" he inquired. + +"Just," said Austen. + +"I thought you'd get here sooner or later," said Mr. Bascom. "Some folks +try stayin' away, but it ain't much use. You'll find the honourable +Hilary doing business at the same old stand, next to the governor, in +Number Seven up there." And Mr. Bascom pointed to the well-known window +on the second floor. + +"Thanks, Brush," said Austen, indifferently. "To tell the truth, I came +down to hear that promising protege of yours speak on national affairs. +I understand you're pushing his bills along." + +Mr. Bascom, with great deliberation, shut one of his little eyes. + +"So long," he said, "come and see me when you get time." + +Austen went slowly down the street and entered the smoke-clouded lobby of +the Pelican. He was a man to draw attention, and he was stared at by +many politicians there and spoken to by some before he reached the +stairs. Mounting, he found the door with the numeral, and knocked. The +medley of voices within ceased; there were sounds of rattling papers, and +of closing of folding doors. The key turned in the lock, and State +Senator Nathaniel Billings appeared in the doorway, with a look of polite +inquiry on his convivial face. This expression, when he saw Austen, +changed to something like consternation. + +"Why, hello, hello," said the senator. "Come in, come in. The +Honourable Hilary's here. Where'd you come down?" + +"Hello, Nat," said Austen, and went in. + +The Honourable Hilary sat in his usual arm-chair; Mr. Botcher severely +strained the tensile strength of the bedsprings; Mr. Hamilton Tooting +stood before the still waving portieres in front of the folding doors; +and Mr. Manning, the division superintendent, sat pensively, with his pen +in his mouth, before the marble-topped table from which everything had +been removed but a Bible. Two gentlemen, whom Austen recognized as +colleagues of Mr. Billings in the State Senate, stood together in a +window, pointing out things of interest in the street. Austen walked up +to his father and laid a hand on his shoulder. + +"How are you, Judge?" he said. "I only came into pay my respects. I +hope I have not disturbed any--entertainment going on here," he added, +glancing in turn at the thoughtful occupants of the room, and then at the +curtains which hid the folding doors to the apartment of his Excellency. + +"Why, no," answered the Honourable Hilary, his customary grunt being the +only indication of surprise on his part; "didn't know you were coming +down." + +"I didn't know it myself until this morning," said Austen. + +"Legislative case, I suppose," remarked the Honourable Jacob Botcher, in +his deep voice. + +"No, merely a pleasure trip, Mr. Botcher." + +The Honourable Jacob rubbed his throat, the two State senators in the +window giggled, and Mr. Hamilton Tooting laughed. + +"I thought you took to the mountains in such cases, sir," said Mr. +Botcher. + +"I came for intellectual pleasure this time," said Austen. "I understand +that Mr. Crewe is to deliver an epoch-making speech on the national +situation to-morrow." + +This was too much even for the gravity of Mr. Manning; Mr. Tooting and +Mr. Billings and his two colleagues roared, though the Honourable Jacob's +laugh was not so spontaneous. + +"Aust," said Mr. Tooting, admiringly, you're all right." + +"Well, Judge," said Austen, patting his father's shoulder again, "I'm +glad to see you so comfortably fixed. Good-by, and give my regards to +the governor. I'm sorry to have missed him," he added, glancing at the +portieres that hid the folding doors. + +"Are you stopping here?" asked the Honourable Hilary. + +"No, I met Mr. Redbrook of Mercer, and he took me up to his lodgings. If +I can do anything for you, a message will reach me there." + +"Humph," said the Honourable Hilary, while the others exchanged +significant glances. + +Austen had not gone half the length of the hall when he was overtaken by +Mr. Tooting. + +"Say, Aust, what's up between you and Redbrook?" he asked. + +"Nothing. Why?" Austen asked, stopping abruptly. + +"Well, I suppose you know there's an anti-railroad feeling growing in +that House, and that Redbrook has more influence with the farmers than +any other man." + +"I didn't know anything about Mr. Redbrook's influence," said Austen. + +Mr. Tooting looked unconvinced. + +"Say, Aust, if anything's in the wind, I wish you'd let me know. I'll +keep it quiet." + +"I think I shall be safe in promising that, Ham," said Austen. "When +there's anything in the wind, you generally find it out first." + +"There's trouble coming for the railroad," said Mr. Tooting. "I can see +that. And I guess you saw it before I did." + +"They say a ship's about to sink when the rats begin to leave it," said +Austen. + +Although Austen spoke smilingly, Mr. Tooting looked pained. + +"There's no chance for young men in that system," he said. + +"Young men write the noble parts of the governor's inaugurals," said +Austen. + +"Yes," said Mr. Tooting, bitterly, "but you never get to be governor and +read 'em. You've got to be a 'come on' with thirty thousand dollars to +be a Northeastern governor and live next door to the Honourable Hilary in +the Pelican. Well, so long, Aust. If anything's up, give me the tip, +that's all I ask." + +Reflecting on the singular character of Mr. Tooting, Austen sought the +Gaylords' headquarters, and found them at the furthermost end of the +building from the Railroad Room. The door was opened by young Tom +himself, whose face became wreathed in smiles when he saw who the visitor +was. + +"It's Austen!" he cried. "I thought you'd come down when you got that +appeal of mine." + +Austen did not admit the self-sacrifice as he shook Tom's hand; but +remembered, singularly enough, the closing sentences of Tom's letter-- +which had nothing whatever to do with the Gaylord bill. + +At this moment a commotion arose within the room, and a high, tremulous, +but singularly fierce and compelling voice was heard crying out:-- + +"Get out! Get out, d-n you, all of you, and don't come back until you've +got some notion of what you're a-goin' to do. Get out, I say!" + +These last words were pronounced with such extraordinary vigour that four +gentlemen seemed to be physically impelled from the room. Three of them +Austen recognized as dismissed and disgruntled soldiers from the lobby +army of the Northeastern; the fourth was the Honourable Galusha Hammer, +whose mode of progress might be described as "stalking," and whose lips +were forming the word "intolerable." In the corner old Tom himself could +be seen, a wizened figure of wrath. + +"Who's that?" he demanded of his son, "another d-d fool?" + +"No," replied young Tom, "it's Austen Vane." + +"What's he doin' here?" old Tom demanded, with a profane qualification as +to the region. But young Tom seemed to be the only being capable of +serenity amongst the flames that played around him. + +"I sent for him because he's got more sense than Galusha and all the rest +of 'em put together," he said. + +"I guess that's so," old Tom agreed unexpectedly, "but it ain't sayin' +much. Bring him in--bring him in, and lock the door." + +In obedience to these summons, and a pull from young Tom, Austen entered +and sat down. + +"You've read the Pingsquit bill?" old Tom demanded. + +"Yes," said Austen. + +"Just because you won a suit against the Northeastern, and nearly killed +a man out West, Tom seems to think you can do anything. He wouldn't, +give me any peace until I let him send for you," Mr. Gaylord remarked +testily. "Now you're down here, what have you got to propose?" + +"I didn't come here to propose anything, Mr. Gaylord," said Austen. + +"What!" cried Mr. Gaylord, with one of his customary and forceful +exclamations. "What'd you come down for?" + +"I've been asking myself that question ever since I came, Mr. Gaylord," +said Austen, "and I haven't yet arrived at any conclusion." + +Young Tom looked at his friend and laughed, and Mr. Gaylord, who at first +gave every indication of being about to explode with anger, suddenly +emitted a dry cackle. + +"You ain't a d-n fool, anyway," he declared. + +"I'm beginning to think I am," said Austen. + +"Then you've got sense enough to know it," retorted old Tom. Most of +'em haven't." And his glance, as it fell upon the younger man, was +almost approving. Young Tom's was distinctly so. + +"I told you Austen was the only lawyer who'd talk common sense to you," +he said. + +"I haven't heard much of it yet," said old Tom. + +"Perhaps I ought to tell you, Mr. Gaylord," said Austen, smiling a +little, "that I didn't come down in any legal capacity. That's only one +of Tom's jokes." + +"Then what in h--l did you bring him in here for?" demanded old Tom of his +son. + +"Just for a quiet little powwow," said young Tom, "to make you laugh. +He's made you laugh before." + +"I don't want to laugh," said old Tom, pettishly. Nevertheless, he +seemed to be visibly cooling. "If you ain't in here to make money," he +added to Austen, "I don't care how long you stay." + +"Say, Austen," said young Tom, "do you remember the time we covered the +old man with shavings at the mills in Avalon, and how he chased us with a +two-by-four scantling?" + +"I'd made pulp out'n you if I'd got you," remarked Mr. Gaylord, with a +reminiscent chuckle that was almost pleasant. But you were always a +goldurned smart boy, Austen, and you've done well with them little +suits." He gazed at Austen a moment with his small, filmy-blue eye. "I +don't know but what you might take hold here and make it hot for those d- +d rascals in the Northeastern, after all. You couldn't botch it worsen +Hammer has, and you might do some good. I said I'd make 'em dance, and +by G-d, I'll do it, if I have to pay that Teller Levering in New York, +and it takes the rest of my life. Look the situation over, and come back +to-morrow and tell me what you think of it." + +"I can tell you what I think of it now, Mr. Gaylord," said Austen. + +"What's that?" old Tom demanded sharply. + +"That you'll never get the bill passed, this session or next, by +lobbying." + +For the moment the elder Mr. Gaylord was speechless, but young Tom +Gaylord clapped his hand heartily on his friend's shoulder. + +"That's the reason I wanted to get you down here, Austen," he cried; +that's what I've been telling the old man all along--perhaps he'll +believe you." + +"Then you won't take hold?" said Mr. Gaylord, his voice trembling on the +edge of another spasm. "You refuse business?" + +"I refuse that kind of business, Mr. Gaylord," Austen answered quietly, +though there was a certain note in his voice that young Tom knew well, +and which actually averted the imminent explosion from Mr. Gaylord, whose +eyes glared and watered. "But aside from that, you must know that the +Republican party leaders in this State are the heads of the lobby of the +Northeastern Railroads." + +"I guess I know about Number Seven as well as you do," old Tom +interjected. + +Austen's eye flashed. + +"Now hold on, father," said young Tom, "that's no way to talk to Austen." + +"Knowing Number Seven," Austen continued, "you probably realize that the +political and business future of nearly every one of the twenty State +senators depends upon the favour of the Northeastern Railroads." + +"I know that the d-d fools won't look at money," said Mr. Gaylord; +"Hammer's tried 'em." + +"I told you that before you started in," young Tom remarked, "but when +you get mad, you won't listen to sense. And then there's the Honourable +Asa Gray, who wants to represent the Northeastern some day in the United +States Senate." + +The bill ought to pass," shrieked old Tom; "it's a d-d outrage. There's +no reason why I shouldn't be allowed to build a railroad if I've got the +money to do it. What in blazes are we comin' to in this country if we +can't git competition? If Flint stops that bill, I'll buy a newspaper +and go to the people with the issue and throw his d-d monopoly into +bankruptcy." + +"It's all very well to talk about competition and monopolies and +lobbies," said young Tom, "but how about the Gaylord Lumber Company? How +about the time you used the lobby, with Flint's permission? This kind of +virtuous talk is beautiful to listen to when you and Flint get into a +row." + +At this remark of his son's, the intermittent geyser of old Tom's wrath +spouted up again with scalding steam, and in a manner utterly impossible +to reproduce upon paper. Young Tom waited patiently for the exhibition +to cease, which it did at length in a coughing fit of sheer exhaustion +that left his father speechless, if not expressionless, pointing a lean +and trembling finger in the direction of a valise on the floor. + +"You'll go off in a spell of that kind some day," said young Tom, opening +the valise and extracting a bottle. Uncorking it, he pressed it to his +father's lips, and with his own pocket-handkerchief (old Tom not +possessing such an article) wiped the perspiration from Mr. Gaylord's +brow and the drops from his shabby black coat. "There's no use gettin' +mad at Austen. He's dead right--you can't lobby this thing through, and +you knew it before you started. If you hadn't lost your temper, you +wouldn't have tried." + +"We'll see, by G-d, we'll see," said the indomitable old Tom, when he got +his breath. "You young men think you know a sight, but you haven't got +the stuff in you we old Tellers have. Where would I be if it wasn't for +fightin'? You mark my words, before this session's ended I'll scare h-l +out of Flint--see if I don't." + +Young Tom winked at his friend. + +"Let's go down to supper," he said. + +The dining room of the Pelican Hotel during a midweek of a busy session +was a scene of bustle and confusion not likely to be forgotten. Every +seat was taken, and gentlemen waited their turn in the marble-flagged +rotunda who had not the honour of being known to Mr. Giles, the head +waiter. If Mr. Hamilton Tooting were present, and recognized you, he +would take great pleasure in pointing out the celebrities, and especially +that table over which the Honourable Hilary Vane presided, with the +pretty, red-checked waitress hovering around it. At the Honourable +Hilary's right hand was the division superintendent, and at his left, Mr. +Speaker Doby--a most convenient and congenial arrangement; farther down +the board were State Senator Nat Billings, Mr. Ridout (when he did not +sup at home), the Honourables Brush Bascom and Elisha Jane, and the +Honourable Jacob Botcher made a proper ballast for the foot. This table +was known as the Railroad Table, and it was very difficult, at any +distance away from it, to hear what was said, except when the Honourable +Jacob Botcher made a joke. Next in importance and situation was the +Governor's Table--now occupied by the Honourable Asa Gray. Mr. Tooting's +description would not have stopped here. + +Sensations are common in the Pelican Hotel, but when Austen Vane walked +in that evening between the Gaylords, father and son, many a hungry guest +laid down his knife and fork and stared. Was the younger Vane (known to +be anti-railroad) to take up the Gaylords' war against his own father? +All the indications were that way, and a rumour flew from table to table- +leaping space, as rumours will--that the Gaylords had sent to Ripton for +Austen. There was but one table in the room the occupants of which +appeared not to take any interest in the event, or even to grasp that an +event had occurred. The Railroad Table was oblivious. + +After supper Mr. Tooting found Austen in the rotunda, and drew him +mysteriously aside. + +"Say, Aust, the Honourable Hilary wants to see you to-night," he +whispered. + +"Did he send you with the message?" Austen demanded. + +"That's right," said Mr. Tooting. "I guess you know what's up." + +Austen did not answer. At the foot of the stairway was the tall form of +Hilary Vane himself, and Austen crossed the rotunda. + +"Do you want to see me, Judge?" he asked. + +The Honourable Hilary faced about quickly. + +"Yes, if you've got any spare time." + +"I'll go to your room at half-past nine to-night, if that's convenient." + +"All right," said the Honourable Hilary, starting up the stairs. + +Austen turned, and found Mr. Hamilton Tooting at his elbow. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +Mr. REDBROOK'S PARTY + +The storm was over, and the bare trees, when the moon shone between the +hurrying clouds, cast lacelike shadows on the white velvet surface of the +snow as Austen forged his way up the hill to the Widow Peasley's in +keeping with his promise to Mr. Redbrook. Across the street he paused +outside the picket-fence to gaze at the yellow bars of light between the +slats of the windows of the Duncan house. It was hard to realize that +she was there, within a stone's throw of where he was to sleep; but the +strange, half-startled expression in her eyes that afternoon and the +smile--which had in it a curious quality he could not analyze--were so +vivid in his consciousness as to give him pain. The incident, as he +stood there ankle-deep in the snow, seemed to him another inexplicable +and uselessly cruel caprice of fate. + +As he pictured her in the dining room behind Mr. Crewe's silver and cut +glass and flowers, it was undoubtedly natural that he should wonder +whether she were thinking of him in the Widow Peasley's lamp-lit cottage, +and he smiled at the contrast. After all, it was the contrast between +his life and hers. As an American of good antecedents and education, +with a Western experience thrown in, social gulfs, although awkward, +might be crossed in spite of opposition from ladies like the Rose of +Sharon,--who had crossed them. Nevertheless, the life which Victoria led +seemingly accentuated--to a man standing behind a picket-fence in the +snow--the voids between. + +A stamping of feet in the Widow Peasley's vestibule awoke in him that +sense of the ridiculous which was never far from the surface, and he made +his way thither in mingled amusement and pain. What happened there is of +interest, but may be briefly chronicled. Austen was surprised, on +entering, to find Mrs. Peasley's parlour filled with men; and a single +glance at their faces in the lamplight assured him that they were of a +type which he understood--countrymen of that rugged New England stock to +which he himself belonged, whose sons for generations had made lawyers +and statesmen and soldiers for the State and nation. Some were talking +in low voices, and others sat silent on the chairs and sofa, not +awkwardly or uncomfortably, but with a characteristic self-possession and +repose. Mr. Redbrook, towering in front of the stove, came forward. + +"Here you be," he said, taking Austen's hand warmly and a little +ceremoniously; "I asked 'em here to meet ye." + +"To meet me!" Austen repeated. + +"Wanted they should know you," said Mr. Redbrook. + +"They've all heard of you and what you did for Zeb." + +Austen flushed. He was aware that he was undergoing a cool and critical +examination by those present, and that they were men who used all their +faculties in making up their minds. + +"I'm very glad to meet any friends of yours, Mr. Redbrook," he said. +"What I did for Meader isn't worth mentioning. It was an absolutely +simple case." + +"Twahn't so much what ye did as how ye did it," said Mr. Redbrook. "It's +kind of rare in these days," he added, with the manner of commenting to +himself on the circumstance, "to find a young lawyer with brains that +won't sell 'em to the railrud. That's what appeals to me, and to some +other folks I know--especially when we take into account the situation +you was in and the chances you had." + +Austen's silence under this compliment seemed to create an indefinable +though favourable impression, and the member from Mercer permitted +himself to smile. + +"These men are all friends of mine, and members of the House," he said, +"and there's more would have come if they'd had a longer notice. Allow +me to make you acquainted with Mr. Widgeon of Hull." + +"We kind of wanted to look you over," said Mr. Widgeon, suiting the +action to the word. "That's natural ain't it?" + +"Kind of size you up," added Mr. Jarley of Wye, raising his eyes. +"Callate you're sizable enough." + +"Wish you was in the House," remarked Mr. Adams of Barren. "None of us +is much on talk, but if we had you, I guess we could lay things wide +open." + +"If you was thar, and give it to 'em as hot as you did when you was +talkin' for Zeb, them skunks in the front seats wouldn't know whether +they was afoot or hossback," declared Mr. Williams of Devon, a town +adjoining Mercer. + +"I used to think railrud gov'ment wahn't so bad until I come to the House +this time," remarked a stocky member from Oxford; "it's sheer waste of +money for the State to pay a Legislature. They might as well run things +from the New York office--you know that." + +"We might as well wear so many Northeastern uniforms with brass buttons," +a sinewy hill farmer from Lee put in. He had a lean face that did not +move a muscle, but a humorous gray eye that twinkled. + +In the meantime Mr. Redbrook looked on with an expression of approval +which was (to Austen) distinctly pleasant, but more or less mystifying. + +"I guess you ain't disappointed 'em much," he declared, when the round +was ended; "most of 'em knew me well enough to understand that cattle and +live stock in general, includin' humans, is about as I represent 'em to +be." + +"We have some confidence in your judgment, Brother Redbrook," answered +Mr. Terry of Lee, "and now we've looked over the goods, it ain't set back +any, I callate." + +This observation, which seemed to meet with a general assent, was to +Austen more mystifying than ever. He laughed. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "I feel as though some expression of thanks were +due you for this kind and most unexpected reception." Here a sudden +seriousness came into his eyes which served, somehow, only to enhance his +charm of manner, and a certain determined ring into his voice. "You have +all referred to a condition of affairs," he added, "about which I have +thought a great deal, and which I deplore as deeply as you do. There is +no doubt that the Northeastern Railroads have seized the government of +this State for three main reasons: to throttle competition; to control +our railroad commission in order that we may not get the service and +safety to which we are entitled,--so increasing dividends; and to make +and maintain laws which enable them to bribe with passes, to pay less +taxes than they should, and to manipulate political machinery." + +"That's right," said Mr. Jarley of Wye, with a decided emphasis. + +"That's the kind of talk I like to hear," exclaimed Mr. Terry. + +"And nobody's had the gumption to fight 'em," said Mr. Widgeon. + +"It looks," said Austen, "as though it must come to a fight in the end. +I do not think they will listen to reason. I mean," he added, with a +flash of humour, "that they will listen to it, but not act upon it. +Gentlemen, I regret to have to say, for obvious reasons, something which +you all know, that my father is at the head of the Northeastern machine, +which is the Republican party organization." + +There was a silence. + +"You went again' him, and we honour you for it, Austen," said Mr. +Redbrook, at length. + +"I want to say," Austen continued, "that I have tried to look at things +as Mr. Vane sees them, and that I have a good deal of sympathy for his +point of view. Conditions as they exist are the result of an evolution +for which no one man is responsible. That does not alter the fact that +the conditions are wrong. But the railroads, before they consolidated, +found the political boss in power, and had to pay him for favours. The +citizen was the culprit to start with, just as he is the culprit now, +because he does not take sufficient interest in his government to make it +honest. We mustn't blame the railroads too severely, when they grew +strong enough, for substituting their own political army to avoid being +blackmailed. Long immunity has reenforced them in the belief that they +have but one duty to pay dividends. I am afraid," he added, "that they +will have to be enlightened somewhat as Pharaoh was enlightened." + +"Well, that's sense, too," said Mr. Widgeon; "I guess you're the man to +enlighten 'em." + +"Moderate talk appeals to me," declared Mr. Jarley. + +"And when that fails," said Mr. Terry, 'hard, tellin' blows." + +"Don't lose track of the fact that we've got our eye on you," said Mr. +Emerson of Oxford, who had a blacksmith's grip, and came back to renew it +after he had put on his overshoes. He was the last to linger, and when +the door had closed on him Austen turned to Mr. Redbrook. + +"Now what does all this mean?" he demanded. + +"It means," said Mr. Redbrook, "that when the time comes, we want you to +run for governor." + +Austen went to the mantelpiece, and stood for a long time with his back +turned, staring at a crayon portrait of Colonel Peasley, in the uniform +in which he had fallen at the battle of Gettysburg. Then he swung about +and seized the member from Mercer by both broad shoulders. + +"James Redbrook," he said, "until to-night I thought you were about as +long-headed and sensible a man as there was in the State." + +"So I be," replied Mr. Redbrook, with a grin. "You ask young Tom +Gaylord." + +"So Tom put you up to this nonsense." + +"It ain't nonsense," retorted Mr. Redbrook, stoutly, "and Tom didn't put +me up to it. It's the' best notion that ever came into my mind." + +Austen, still clinging to Mr. Redbrook's shoulders, shook his head +slowly. + +"James," he said, "there are plenty of men who are better equipped than I +for the place, and in a better situation to undertake it. I--I'm much +obliged to you. But I'll help. I've got to go," he added; "the +Honourable Hilary wants to see me." + +He went into the entry aud put on his overshoes and his coat, while James +Redbrook regarded him with a curious mingling of pain and benevolence on +his rugged face. + +"I won't press you now, Austen," he said, "but think on it. For God's +sake, think on it." + +Outside, Austen paused in the snow once more, his brain awhirl with a +strange exaltation the like of which he had never felt before. Although +eminently human, it was not the fact that honest men had asked him to be +their governor which uplifted him,--but that they believed him to be as +honest as themselves. In that hour he had tasted life as he had never +yet tasted it, he had lived as he might never live again. Not one of +them, he remembered suddenly, had uttered a sentence of the political +claptrap of which he had heard so much. They had spoken from the soul; +not bitterly, not passionately, but their words had rung with the +determination which had made their forefathers and his leave home, toil, +and kindred to fight and die at Bunker Hill and Gettysburg for a +principle. It had bean given him to look that eight into the heart of a +nation, and he was awed. + +As he stood there under the winter moon, he gradually became conscious of +music, of an air that seemed the very expression of his mood. His eyes, +irresistibly drawn towards the Duncan house, were caught by the +fluttering of lace curtains at an open window. The notes were those of a +piano,--though the instrument mattered little,--that with which they were +charged for him set the night wind quivering. It was not simple music, +although it had in it a grand simplicity. At times it rose, vibrant with +inexpressible feeling, and fell again into gentler, yearning cadences +that wrung the soul with a longing that was world-old and world-wide, +that reached out towards the unattainable stare--and, reaching, became +immortal. Thus was the end of it, fainting as it drifted heavenward. + +Then the window was closed. + +Austen walked on; whither, he knew not. After a certain time of which he +had no cognizance he found himself under the glaring arc-light that hung +over Main Street before the Pelican Hotel, in front of what was known as +the ladies' entrance. He slipped in there, avoiding the crowded lobby +with its shifting groups and its haze of smoke,--plainly to be seen +behind the great plates of glass,--went upstairs, and gained room Number. +Seven unnoticed. Then, after the briefest moment of hesitation, he +knocked. A voice responded--the Honourable Hilary's. There was but one +light burning in the room, and Mr. Vane sat in his accustomed chair in +the corner, alone. He was not reading, nor was he drowsing, but his head +was dropped forward a little on his breast. He raised it slowly at his +son's entrance, and regarded Austen fixedly, though silently. + +"You wanted to see me, Judge?" said Austen. + +"Come at last, have you?" said Mr. Vane. + +"I didn't intend to be late," said Austen. + +"Seem to have a good deal of business on hand these days," the Honourable +Hilary remarked. + +Austen took a step forward, and stopped. Mr. Vane was preparing a piece +of Honey Dew. + +"If you would like to know what the business was, Judge, I am here to +tell you." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted. + +"I ain't good enough to be confided in, I guess," he said; "I wouldn't +understand motives from principle." + +Austen looked at his father for a few moments in silence. To-night he +seemed at a greater distance than ever before, and more lonely than ever. +When Austen had entered the room and had seen him sitting with his head +bowed forward, the hostility of months of misunderstanding had fallen +away from the son, and he had longed to fly to him as he had as a child +after punishment. Differences in after life, alas, are not always to be +bridged thus. + +"Judge," he said slowly, with an attempt to control his voice, wouldn't +it have been fairer to wait awhile, before you made a remark like that? +Whatever our dealings may have been, I have never lied to you. Anything +you may want to know, I am here to tell you." + +"So you're going to take up lobbying, are you? I had a notion you were +above lobbying." + +Austen was angered. But like all men of character, his face became stern +under provocation, and he spoke more deliberately. + +"Before eve go any farther," he said, "would you mind telling me who your +informant is on this point?" + +"I guess I don't need an informant. My eyesight is as good as ever," +said the Honourable Hilary. + +"Your deductions are usually more accurate. If any one has told you that +I am about to engage in lobbying, they have lied to you." + +"Wouldn't engage in lobbying, would you?" the Honourable Hilary asked, +with the air of making a casual inquiry. + +Austen flushed, but kept his temper. + +"I prefer the practice of law," he replied. + +"Saw you were associatin' with saints," his father remarked. + +Austen bit his lip, and then laughed outright,--the canonization of old +Tom Gaylord being too much for him. + +"Now, Judge," he said, "it isn't like you to draw hasty conclusions. +Because I sat down to supper with the Gaylords it isn't fair to infer +that they have retained me in a legislative case." + +The Honourable Hilary did not respond to his son's humour, but shifted +the Honey Dew to the left cheek. + +"Old Tom going in for reform?" + +"He may bring it about," answered Austen, instantly becoming serious +again, "whether he's going in for it or not." + +For the first time the Honourable Hilary raised his eyes to his son's +face, and shot at him a penetrating look of characteristic shrewdness. +But he followed in conversation the same rule as in examining a witness, +rarely asking a direct question, except as a tactical surprise. + +"Old Tom ought to have his railroad, oughtn't he?" + +"So far as I can see, it would be a benefit to the people of that part of +the State," said Austen. + +"Building it for the people, is he?" + +"His motive doesn't count. The bill should be judged on its merits, and +proper measures for the safeguarding of public interests should be put +into it." + +"Don't think the bill will be judged on its merits, do you?" + +"No, I don't," replied Austen, "and neither do you." + +"Did you tell old Tom so?" asked Mr. Vane, after a pause. "Did you tell +old Tom so when he sent for you to take hold?" + +"He didn't send for me," answered Austen, quietly, "and I have no +business dealings with him except small suits. What I did tell him was +that he would never get the bill through this session or next by +lobbying." + +The Honourable Hilary never showed surprise. He emitted a grunt which +evinced at once impatience and amusement. + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Well, Judge, I'll tell you what I told him--although you both know. +It's because the Northeastern owns the Republican party machine, which is +the lobby, and because most of the twenty State senators are dependent +upon the Northeastern for future favours." + +"Did you tell Tom Gaylord that?" demanded Mr. Vane. "What did he say?" + +Austen braced himself. He did not find the answer easy. + +"He said he knew about Number Seven as well as I did." + +The Honourable Hilary rose abruptly--perhaps in some secret agitation-- +Austen could not discern. His father walked as far as the door, and +turned slowly and faced him, but he did not speak. His mouth was tightly +closed, almost as in pain, and Austen went towards him, appealingly. + +"Judge," he said, "you sent for me. You have asked me questions which I +felt obliged in honesty to answer. God knows I don't wish to differ with +you, but circumstances seem always against us. I will talk plainly, if +you will let me. I try to look at things from your point of view. I +know that you believe that a political system should go hand in hand with +the great commercial system which you are engaged in building. I +disagree with your beliefs, but I do not think that your pursuit of them +has not been sincere, and justified by your conscience. I suppose that +you sent for me to know whether Mr. Gaylord has employed me to lobby for +his bill. He has not, because I refused that employment. But I will +tell you that, in my opinion, if a man of any ability whatever should get +up on the floor of the House and make an argument for the Pingsquit bill, +the sentiment against the Northeastern and its political power is so +great that the House would compel the committee to report the bill, and +pass it. You probably know this already, but I mention it for your own +good if you do not, in the hope that, through you, the Northeastern +Railroads may be induced to relax their grip upon the government of this +State." + +The Honourable Hilary advanced, until only the marble-topped table was +between himself and his son. A slight noise in the adjoining room caused +him to turn his head momentarily. Then he faced Austen again. + +"Did you tell Gaylord this?" he asked. + +Austen made a gesture of distaste, and turned away. + +"No," he said, "I reserved the opinion, whatever it is worth, for your +ears alone." + +"I've heard that kind of calculation before," said the Honourable Hilary. +"My experience is that they never come to much. As for this nonsense +about the Northeastern Railroads running things," he added more +vigorously, "I guess when it's once in a man's head there's no getting it +out. The railroad employs the best lawyers it can find to look after its +interests. I'm one of 'em, and I'm proud of it. If I hadn't been one of +'em, the chances are you'd never be where you are, that you'd never have +gone to college and the law school. The Republican party realizes that +the Northeastern is most vitally connected with the material interests of +this State; that the prosperity of the road means the prosperity of the +State. And the leaders of the party protect the road from vindictive +assaults on it like Gaylord's, and from scatterbrains and agitators like +your friend Redbrook." + +Austen shook his head sadly as he gazed at his father. He had always +recognized the futility of arguments, if argument on this point ever +arose between them. + +"It's no use, Judge," he said. "If material prosperity alone were to be +considered, your contention would have some weight. The perpetuation of +the principle of American government has to be thought of. Government by +a railroad will lead in the end to anarchy. You are courting destruction +as it is." + +"If you came in here to quote your confounded Emerson--" the Honourable +Hilary began, but Austen slipped around the table and took him by the arm +and led him perforce to his chair. + +"No, Judge, that isn't Emerson," he answered. "It's just common sense, +only it sounds to you like drivel. I'm going now,--unless you want to +hear some more about the plots I've been getting into. But I want to say +this. I ask you to remember that you're my father, and that--I'm fond of +you. And that, if you and I happen to be on opposite sides, it won't +make any difference as far as my feelings are concerned. I'm always +ready to tell you frankly what I'm doing, if you wish to know. Good-by. +I suppose I'll see you in Ripton at the end of the week." And he pressed +his father's shoulder. + +Mr. Vane looked up at his son with a curious expression. Perhaps (as +when Austen returned from the shooting of Mr. Blodgett in the West) there +was a smattering of admiration and pride in that look, and something of +an affection which had long ceased in its strivings for utterance. It +was the unconscious tribute, too,--slight as was its exhibition,--of the +man whose life has been spent in the conquest of material things to the +man who has the audacity, insensate though it seem, to fling these to the +winds in his search after ideals. + +"Good-by, Austen," said Mr. Vane. + +Austen got as far as the door, cast another look back at his father,--who +was sitting motionless, with head bowed, as when he came,--and went out. +So Mr. Vane remained for a full minute after the door had closed, and +then he raised his head sharply and gave a piercing glance at the +curtains that separated Number Seven from the governor's room. In three +strides he had reached them, flung them open, and the folding doors +behind them, already parted by four inches. The gas was turned low, but +under the chandelier was the figure of a young man struggling with an +overcoat. The Honourable Hilary did not hesitate, but came forward with +a swiftness that paralyzed the young man, who turned upon him a face on +which was meant to be written surprise and a just indignation, but in +reality was a mixture of impudence and pallid fright. The Honourable +Hilary, towering above him, and with that grip on his arm, was a +formidable person. + +"Listening, were you, Ham?" he demanded. + +"No," cried Mr. Tooting, with a vehemence he meant for force. "No, I +wasn't. Listening to who?" + +"Humph!" said the Honourable Hilary, still retaining with one hand the +grip on Mr. Tooting 's arm, and with the other turning up the gas until +it flared in Mr. Tooting's face. "What are you doing in the governor's +room?" + +"I left my overcoat in here this afternoon when you sent me to bring up +the senator." + +"Ham," said Mr. Vane, "it isn't any use lying to me." + +"I ain't lying to you," said Mr. Tooting, "I never did. I often lied for +you," he added, "and you didn't raise any objections that I remember." + +Mr. Vane let go of the arm contemptuously. + +"I've done dirty work for the Northeastern for a good many years," cried +Mr. Tooting, seemingly gaining confidence now that he was free; "I've +slaved for 'em, and what have they done for me? They wouldn't even back +me for county solicitor when I wanted the job." + +"Turned reformer, Ham?" + +"I guess I've got as much right to turn reformer as some folks I know." + +"I guess you have," agreed the Honourable Hilary; unexpectedly. He +seated himself on a chair, and proceeded to regard Mr. Tooting in a +manner extremely disconcerting to that gentleman. This quality of +impenetrability, of never being sure when he was angry, had baffled more +able opponents of Hilary Vane than Mr. Hamilton Tooting. + +"Good-night, Ham." + +"I want to say--" Mr. Tooting began. + +"Good-night, Ham," said Mr. Vane, once more. + +Mr. Tooting looked at him, slowly buttoned up his overcoat, and departed. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE REALM OF PEGASUS + +The eventful day of Mr. Humphrey Crewe's speech on national affairs +dawned without a cloud in the sky. The snow was of a dazzling whiteness +and sprinkled with diamond dust; and the air of such transcendent +clearness that Austen could see--by leaning a little out of the Widow +Peasley's window--the powdered top of Holdfast Mountain some thirty miles +away. For once, a glance at the mountain sufficed him; and he directed +his gaze through the trees at the Duncan house, engaging in a pleasant +game of conjecture as to which was her window. In such weather the +heights of Helicon seemed as attainable as the peak of Holdfast; and he +had but to beckon a shining Pegasus from out a sun-shaft in the sky. +Obstacles were mere specks on the snow. + +He forgot to close the window, and dressed in a temperature which would +have meant, for many mortals, pneumonia. The events of yesterday; +painful and agitating as they had been, had fallen away in the prospect +that lay before him--he would see her to-day, and speak with her. These +words, like a refrain; were humming in his head as honest Mr. Redbrook +talked during breakfast, while Austen's answers may have been both +intelligent and humorous. Mr. Redbrook, at least; gave no sign that they +were not. He was aware that Mr. Redbrook was bringing arguments to bear +on the matter of the meeting of the evening before, but he fended these +lightly, while in spirit he flung a gem-studded bridle aver the neck of +Pegasus. + +And after breakfast--away from the haunts of men! Away from the +bickerings, the subjection of mean spirits; material loss and gain and +material passion! By eight o'clock (the Widow Peasley's household being +an early and orderly one) he was swinging across the long hills, cleaving +for himself a furrowed path in the untrodden snow, breathing deep as he +gazed across the blue spaces from the crests. Bellerophon or Perseus, +aided by immortals, felt no greater sense of achievements to come than +he. Out here, on the wind-swept hills that rolled onward and upward to +the mountains, the world was his. + +With the same speed he returned, still by untrodden paths until he +reached the country road that ended in the city street. Some who saw him +paused in their steps, caught unconsciously by the rhythmic perfection of +his motion. Ahead of him he beheld the state-house, its dial aflame in +the light, emblematic to him of the presence within it of a spirit which +cleansed it of impurities. She would be there; nay, when he looked at +the dial from a different angle, was there. As he drew nearer, there +rose out of the void her presence beside him which he had daily tried to +summon since that autumn afternoon--her voice and her eyes, and many of +the infinite expressions of each and both. Sprites that they were, they +had failed him until to-day, when he was to see her again! + +And then, somehow, he had threaded the groups beside the battle-flags in +the corridor, and mounted the stairway. The doorkeeper of the House +looked into his face, and, with that rare knowledge of mankind which +doorkeepers possess, let him in. There were many ladies on the floor +(such being the chivalrous custom when a debate or a speech of the +importance of Mr. Crewe's was going on), but Austen swept them with a +glance of disappointment. Was it possible, after all, that she had not +come, or--more agitating thought--had gone back to New York? + +At this disturbing point in his reflections Austen became aware that the +hall was ringing with a loud and compelling voice which originated in +front of the Speaker's desk. + +The Honourable Humphrey Crewe was delivering his long-heralded speech on +national affairs, and was arrayed for the occasion in a manner befitting +the American statesman, with the conventional frock coat, which he wore +unbuttoned. But the Gladstone collar and a tie gave the touch of +individuality to his dress which was needed to set him aside as a marked +man. Austen suddenly remembered, with an irresistible smile, that one of +the reasons which he had assigned for his visit to the capital was to +hear this very speech, to see how Mr. Crewe would carry off what appeared +to be a somewhat difficult situation. Whether or not this motive had +drawn others,--for the millionaire's speech had not lacked +advertisement,--it is impossible to say, but there was standing room only +on the floor of the House that day. + +The fact that Mr. Crewe was gratified could not be wholly concealed. The +thing that fascinated Austen Vane and others who listened was the aplomb +with which the speech was delivered. The member from Leith showed no +trace of the nervousness naturally to be expected in a maiden effort, but +spoke with the deliberation of an old campaigner, of the man of weight +and influence that he was. He leaned, part of the time, with his elbow +on the clerk's desk, with his feet crossed; again, when he wished to +emphasize a point, he came forward and seized with both hands the back of +his chair. Sometimes he thrust his thumb in his waistcoat pocket, and +turned with an appeal to Mr. Speaker Doby, who was apparently too +thrilled and surprised to indulge in conversation with those on the bench +beside him, and who made no attempt to quell hand-clapping and even +occasional whistling; again, after the manner of experts, Mr. Crewe +addressed himself forcibly to an individual in the audience, usually a +sensitive and responsive person like the Honourable Jacob Botcher, who on +such occasions assumed a look of infinite wisdom and nodded his head +slowly. There was no doubt about it that the compelling personality of +Mr. Humphrey Crewe was creating a sensation. Genius is sure of itself, +and statesmen are born, not made. + +Able and powerful as was Mr. Crewe's discourse, the man and not the words +had fastened the wandering attention of Austen Vane. He did not perceive +his friend of the evening before, Mr. Widgeon, coming towards him up the +side aisle, until he felt a touch on the arm. + +"Take my seat. It ain't exactly a front one," whispered the member from +Hull, "my wife's cousin's comin' on the noon train. Not a bad speech, is +it?" he added. "Acts like a veteran. I didn't callate he had it in +him." + +Thus aroused, Austen made his way towards the vacant chair, and when he +was seated raised his eyes to the gallery rail, and Mr. Crewe, the +legislative chamber, and its audience ceased to exist. It is quite +impossible--unless one is a poetical genius--to reproduce on paper that +gone and sickly sensation which is, paradoxically, so exquisite. The +psychological cause of it in this instance was, primarily, the sight, by +Austen Vane, of his own violets on a black, tailor-made gown trimmed with +wide braid, and secondarily of an oval face framed in a black hat, the +subtle curves of which no living man could describe. The face was turned +in his direction, and he felt an additional thrill when he realized that +she must have been watching him as he came in, for she was leaning +forward with a gloved hand on the railing. + +He performed that act of conventionality known as a bow, and she nodded +her head--black hat and all. The real salutation was a divine ray which +passed between their eyes--hers and his--over the commonplace mortals +between. And after that, although the patient legislative clock in the +corner which had marked the space of other great events (such as the +Woodchuck Session) continued to tick, undisturbed in this instance by the +pole of the sergeant-at-arms, time became a lost dimension for Austen +Vane. He made a few unimportant discoveries such as the fact that Mrs. +Pomfret and her daughter were seated beside Victoria, listening with a +rapt attention; and that Mr. Crewe had begun to read statistics; and that +some people were gaping and others leaving. He could look up at the +gallery without turning his head, and sometimes he caught her momentary +glance, and again, with her chin in her hand, she was watching Mr. Crewe +with a little smile creasing the corners of her eyes. + +A horrible thought crossed Austen's mind--perhaps they were not his +violets after all! Because she had smiled at him, yesterday and to-day, +he had soared heavenwards on wings of his own making. Perhaps they were +Mr. Crewe's violets. Had she not come to visit Mr. Crewe, to listen to +his piece de resistance, without knowing that he, Austen Vane, would be +in the capital? The idea that her interest in Austen Vane was possibly +connected with the study of mankind had a sobering effect on him; and the +notion that she had another sort of interest in Mr. Crewe seemed +ridiculous enough, but disturbing, and supported by feats. + +Austen had reached this phase in his reflections when he was aroused by a +metallic sound which arose above the resonant tones of the orator of the +day. A certain vessel, to the use of which, according to Mr. Dickens, +the satire male portion of the American nation was at one time addicted,- +-a cuspidor, in plain language,--had been started, by some unknown agency +in the back seats, rolling down the centre aisle, and gathering impetus +as it went, bumped the louder on each successive step until it hurled +itself with a clash against the clerk's desk, at the feet of the orator +himself. During its descent a titter arose which gradually swelled into +a roar of laughter, and Austen's attention was once more focused upon the +member from Leith. But if any man had so misjudged the quality of +Humphrey Crewe as to suppose for an instant that he could be put out of +countenance by such a manoeuvre, that man was mightily mistaken. Mr. +Crewe paused, with his forefinger on the page, and fixed a glassy eye on +the remote neighbourhood in the back seats where the disturbance had +started. + +"I am much obliged to the gentleman," he said coldly, "but he has sent me +an article which I never use, under any conditions. I would not deprive +him of its convenience." + +Whereupon, it is not too much to say, Mr. Crews was accorded an ovation, +led by his stanch friend and admirer, the Honourable Jacob Botcher, +although that worthy had been known to use the article in question. + +Mr. Speaker Doby glanced at the faithful clock, and arose majestically. + +"I regret to say," he announced, "that the time of the gentleman from +Leith is up." + +Mr. Botcher rose slowly to his feet. + +"Mr. Speaker," he began, in a voice that rumbled through the crevices of +the gallery, "I move you, sir, that a vote of thanks be accorded to the +gentleman from Leith for his exceedingly able and instructive speech on +national affairs." + +"Second the motion," said the Honourable Brush Bascom, instantly. + +"And leave to print in the State Tribune!" cried a voice from somewhere +among the submerged four hundred and seventy. + +"Gentlemen of the House," said Mr. Crewe, when the laughter had subsided, +"I have given you a speech which is the result of much thought and +preparation on my part. I have not flaunted the star-spangled banner in +your faces, or indulged in oratorical fireworks. Mine have been the +words of a plain business man, and I have not indulged in wild +accusations or flights of imagination. Perhaps, if I had," he added, +"there are some who would have been better pleased. I thank my friends +for their kind attention and approbation." + +Nevertheless, amidst somewhat of a pandemonium, the vote of thanks was +given and the House adjourned; while Mr. Crewe's friends of whom he had +spoken could be seen pressing around him and shaking him by the hand. +Austen got to his feet, his eyes again sought the gallery, whence he +believed he received a look of understanding from a face upon which +amusement seemed plainly written. She had turned to glance down at him, +despite the fact that Mrs. Pomfret was urging her to leave. Austen +started for the door, and managed to reach it long before his neighbours +had left the vicinity of their seats. Once in the corridor, his eye +singled her out amongst those descending the gallery stairs, and he had a +little thrill of pride and despair when he realized that she was the +object of the scrutiny, too, of the men around him; the women were +interested, likewise, in Mrs. Pomfret, whose appearance, although +appropriate enough for a New York matinee, proclaimed her as hailing from +that mysterious and fabulous city of wealth. This lady, with her +lorgnette, was examining the faces about her in undisguised curiosity, +and at the same time talking to Victoria in a voice which she took no +pains to lower. + +"I think it outrageous," she was saying. "If some Radical member had +done that in Parliament, he would have been expelled from the House. But +of course in Parliament they wouldn't have those horrid things to roll +down the aisles. Poor dear Humphrey! The career of a gentleman in +politics is a thankless one in this country. I wonder at his fortitude." + +Victoria's eyes alone betokened her amusement. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane?" she said. "I'm so glad to see you again." + +Austen said something which he felt was entirely commonplace and +inadequate to express his own sentiments, while Alice gave him an +uncertain bow, and Mrs. Pomfret turned her glasses upon him. + +"You remember Mr. Vane," said Victoria; "you met him at Humphrey's." + +"Did I?" answered Mrs. Pomfret. "How do you do? Can't something be done +to punish those rowdies?" + +Austen grew red. + +"Mr. Vane isn't a member of the House," said Victoria. + +"Oh," exclaimed Mrs. Pomfret. "Something ought to be done about it. In +England such a thing wouldn't be allowed to drop for a minute. If I +lived in this State, I think I should do something. Nobody in America +seems to have the spirit even to make a protest." + +Austen turned quietly to Victoria. + +"When are you going away?" he asked. + +"To-morrow morning--earlier than I like to think of. I have to be in New +York by to-morrow night." + +She flashed at him a look of approbation for his self-control, and then, +by a swift transition which he had often remarked, her expression changed +to one of amusement, although a seriousness lurked in the depths of her +eyes. Mrs. Pomfret had gone on, with Alice, and they followed. + +"And--am I not to see you again before you go?" he exclaimed. + +He didn't stop to reason than upon the probable consequences of his act +in seeking her. Nature, which is stronger than reason, was compelling +him. + +"That depends," said Victoria. + +"Upon whom?" + +"Upon you." + +They were on the lower stairs by this times, and there was silence +between then for a few moments as they descended,--principally because, +after this exalting remark, Austen could not trust himself to speak. + +"Will you go driving with me?" he asked, and was immediately +thunderstruck at his boldness. + +"Yes," she answered, simply. + +"How soon may I come?" he demanded, + +She laughed softly, but with a joyous note which was not hidden from him +as they stepped out of the darkened corridor into the dazzling winter +noonday. + +"I will be ready at three o'clock," she said. + +He looked at his watch. + +"Two hours and a half!" he cried. + +"If that is too early," she said mischievously, "we can go later." + +"Too early!" he repeated. But the rest of his protest was cut short by +Mr. Crewe. + +"Hello, Victoria, what did you think of my speech?" + +"The destinies of the nation are settled," said Victoria. "Do you know +Mr. Vane?" + +"Oh, yes, how are you?" said Mr, Crewe; "glad to see you," and he +extended a furred glove. "Were you there?" + +"Yes," said Austen. + +"I'll send you a copy. I'd like to talk it over with you. Come on, +Victoria, I've arranged for an early lunch. Come on, Mrs. Pomfret--get +in, Alice." + +Mrs. Pomfret, still protesting against the profane interruption to Mr. +Crewe's speech, bent her head to enter Mr. Crewe's booby sleigh, which +had his crest on the panel. Alice was hustled in next, but Victoria +avoided his ready assistance and got in herself, Mr. Crewe getting in +beside her. + +"Au revoir," she called out to Austen, as the door slammed. The coachman +gathered his horses together, and off they went at a brisk trot. Then +the little group which had been watching the performance dispersed. +Halfway across the park Austen perceived some one signaling violently to +him, and discovered his friend, young Tom Gaylord. + +"Come to dinner with me," said young Tom, "and tell me whether the speech +of your friend from Leith will send him to Congress. I saw you +hobnobbing with him just now. What's the matter, Austen? I haven't seen +that guilty expression on your face since we were at college together." + +"What's the best livery-stable in town?" Austen asked. + +"By George, I wondered why you came down here. Who are you going to take +out in a sleigh? There's a girl in it, is there?" + +"Not yet, Tom," said Austen. + +"I've often asked myself why I ever had any use for such a secretive cuss +as you," declared young Mr. Gaylord. "But if you're really goin' to get +interested in girls, you ought to see old Flint's daughter. I wrote you +about her. Why," exclaimed Tom, "wasn't she one of those that got into +Crewe's sleigh?" + +"Tom," said Austen, "where did you say that livery-stable was?" + +"Oh, dang the livery-stable!" answered Mr. Gaylord. "I hear there's +quite a sentiment for you for governor. How about it? You know I've +always said you could be United States senator and President. If you'll +only say the word, Austen, we'll work up a movement around the State +that'll be hard to beat." + +"Tom," said Austen, laying his hand on young Mr. Gaylord's farther +shoulder, "you're a pretty good fellow. Where did you say that livery- +stable was? + +"I'll go sleigh-riding with you," said Mr. Gaylord. "I guess the +Pingsquit bill can rest one afternoon." + +"Tom, I don't know any man I'd rather take than you," said Austen. + +The unsuspecting Tom was too good-natured to be offended, and shortly +after dinner Austen found himself in the process of being looked over by +a stout gentleman named Putter, proprietor of Putter's Livery, who +claimed to be a judge of men as well as horses. Austen had been through +his stalls and chosen a mare. + +"Durned if you don't look like a man who can handle a horse," said Mr. +Putter. And as long as you're a friend of Tom Gaylord's I'll let you +have her. Nobody drives that mare but me. What's your name?" + +"Vane." + +"Ain't any relation to old Hilary, be you?" + +"I'm his son," said Austen, "only he doesn't boast about it." + +"Godfrey!" exclaimed Mr. Putter, with a broad grin, "I guess you kin have +her. Ain't you the man that shot a feller out West? Seems to me I heerd +somethin' about it." + +"Which one did you hear about?" Austen asked. + +"Good Lord!" said Mr. Putter, "you didn't shoot more'n one, did you?" + +It was just three o'clock when Austen drove into the semicircle opposite +the Widow Peasley's, rang Mr. Crewe's door-bell, and leaped into the +sleigh once more, the mare's nature being such as to make it undesirable +to leave her. Presently Mr. Crewe's butler appeared, and stood dubiously +in the vestibule. + +"Will you tell Miss Flint that Mr. Vane has called for her, and that I +cannot leave the horse?" + +The man retired with obvious disapproval. Then Austen heard Victoria's +voice in the hallway:-- + +"Don't make a goose of yourself, Humphrey." Here she appeared, the +colour fresh in her cheeks, her slender figure clad in a fur which even +Austen knew was priceless. She sprang into the sleigh, the butler, with +annoying deliberation, and with the air of saying that this was an affair +of which he washed his hands, tucked in Mr. Putter's best robe about her +feet, the mare leaped forward, and they were off, out of the circle and +flying up the hill on the hard snow-tracks. + +"Whew!" exclaimed Victoria, "what a relief! Are you staying in that dear +little house?" she asked, with a glance at the Widow Peasley's. + +"Yes," said Austen. + +"I wish I were." + +He looked at her shyly. He was not a man to do homage to material gods, +but the pomp and circumstance with which she was surrounded had had a +sobering effect upon him, and added to his sense of the instability and +unreality of the present moment. He had an almost guilty feeling of +having broken an unwritten law, of abducting a princess, and the old +Duncan house had seemed to frown protestingly that such an act should +have taken place under its windows. If Victoria had been--to him--an +ordinary mortal in expensive furs instead of a princess, he would have +snapped his fingers at the pomp and circumstance. These typified the +comforts which, in a wild and forgetful moment, he might ask her to +leave. Not that he believed she would leave them. He had lived long +enough to know that an interest by a woman in a man--especially a man +beyond the beaten track of her observation--did not necessarily mean that +she might marry him if he asked her. And yet--oh, Tantalus! here she was +beside him, for one afternoon again his very own, their two souls ringing +with the harmony of whirling worlds in sunlit space. He sought refuge in +thin thought; he strove, in oblivion, to drain the cup of the hour of its +nectar, even as he had done before. Generations of Puritan Vanes (whose +descendant alone had harassed poor Sarah Austere) were in his blood; and +there they hung in the long gallery of Time, mutely but sternly +forbidding when he raised his hand to the stem. + +In silence they reached the crest where the little city ended abruptly in +view of the paradise of the silent hills,--his paradise, where there were +no palaces or thought of palaces. The wild wind of the morning was +still. In this realm at least, a heritage from his mother, seemingly +untrodden by the foot of man, the woman at his side was his. From +Holdfast over the spruces to Sawanec in the blue distance he was lord, a +domain the wealth of which could not be reckoned in the coin of Midas. +He turned to her as they flew down the slope, and she averted her face, +perchance perceiving in that look a possession from which a woman +shrinks; and her remark, startlingly indicative of the accord between +them, lent a no less startling reality to the enchantment. + +"This is your land, isn't it?" she said. + +"I sometimes feel as though it were," he answered. "I was out here this +morning, when the wind was at play," and he pointed with his whip at a +fantastic snowdrift, before I saw you." + +"You looked as though you had come from it," she answered. You seemed-- +I suppose you will think me silly--but you seemed to bring something of +this with you into that hail. I always think of you as out on the hills +and mountains." + +"And you," he said, "belong here, too." + +She drew a deep breath. + +"I wish I did. But you--you really do belong here. You seem to have +absorbed all the clearness of it, and the strength and vigour. I was +watching you this morning, and you were so utterly out of place in those +surroundings." Victoria paused, her colour deepening. + +His blood kept pace with the mare's footsteps, but he did not reply. + +"What did you think of Humphrey's speech?" she asked, abruptly changing +the subject. + +"I thought it a surprisingly good one,--what I heard of it," he answered. +"That wasn't much. I didn't think he'd do as well." + +"Humphrey's clever in a great many ways," Victoria agreed. "If he didn't +have such an impenetrable conceit, he might go far, because he learns +quickly, and has an industry that is simply appalling. But he hasn't +quite the manner for politics, has he?" + +"I think I should call his manner a drawback," said Austen, "though not +by any means an insurmountable one." + +Victoria laughed. + +"The other qualities all need to be very great," she said. "He was +furious at me for coming out this afternoon. He had it all arranged to +drive over to the Forge, and had an early lunch." + +"And I," said Austen, "have all the more reason to be grateful to you." + +"Oh, if you knew the favour you were doing me," she cried, "bringing me +out here where I can breathe. I hope you don't think I dislike +Humphrey," she went on. "Of course, if I did, I shouldn't visit him. +You see, I have known him for so long." + +"I hadn't a notion that you disliked him," said Austen. "I am curious +about his career; that's one reason I came down. He somehow inspires +curiosity." + +"And awe," she added. "Humphrey's career has all the fascination of a +runaway locomotive. One watches it transfixed, awaiting the inevitable +crash." + +Their eyes met, and they both laughed. + +"It's no use trying to be a humbug," said Victoria, "I can't. And I do +like Humphrey, in spite of his career." + +And they laughed again. The music of the bells ran faster and faster +still, keeping time to a wilder music of the sunlit hills and sky; nor +was it strange that her voice, when she spoke, did not break the spell, +but laid upon him a deeper sense of magic. + +"This brings back the fairy books," she said, "and all those wonderful +and never-to-be-forgotten sensations of the truant, doesn't it? You've +been a truant--haven't you?" + +"Yes," he laughed, "I've been a truant, but I never quite realized the +possibilities of the part--until to-day." + +She was silent a moment, and turned away her head, surveying the +landscape that fell away for miles beyond. + +"When I was a child," she said, "I used to think that by opening a door I +could step into an enchanted realm like this. Only I could never find +the door. Perhaps," she added, gayly pursuing the conceit, "it was +because you had the key, and I didn't know you in those days." She gave +him a swift, searching look, smiling, whimsical yet startled,--so elusive +that the memory of it afterwards was wont to come and go like a flash of +light. "Who are you?" she asked. + +His blood leaped, but he smiled in delighted understanding of her mood. +Sarah Austen had brought just such a magic touch to an excursion, and +even at that moment Austen found himself marvelling a little at the +strange resemblance between the two. + +"I am a plain person whose ancestors came from a village called Camden +Street," he replied. "Camden Street is there, on a shelf of the hills, +and through the arch of its elms you can look off over the forests of the +lowlands until they end in the blue reaches of the ocean,--if you could +see far enough." + +"If you could see far enough," said Victoria, unconsciously repeating his +words. "But that doesn't explain you," she exclaimed: "You are like +nobody I ever met, and you have a supernatural faculty of appearing +suddenly, from nowhere, and whisking me away like the lady in the fable, +out of myself and the world I live in. If I become so inordinately +grateful as to talk nonsense, you mustn't blame me. Try not to think of +the number of times I've seen you, or when it was we first met." + +"I believe," said Austen, gravely, "it was when a mammoth beast had his +cave on Holdfast, and the valleys were covered with cocoanut-palms." + +"And you appeared suddenly then, too, and rescued me. You have always +been uniformly kind," she said, "but--a little intangible." + +"A myth," he suggested, "with neither height, breadth, nor thickness." + +"You have height and breadth," she answered, measuring him swiftly with +her eye; "I am not sure about the thickness. Perhaps. What I mean to +say is, that you seem to be a person in the world, but not of it. Your +exits and entrances are too mysterious, and then you carry me out of it,- +-although I invite myself, which is not at all proper." + +"I came down here to see you," he said, and took a firmer grip on the +reins. "I exist to that extent." + +"That's unworthy of you," she cried. "I don't believe you--would have +known I was here unless you had caught eight of me." + +"I should have known it," he said. + +"How?" + +"Because I heard you playing. I am sure it was you playing." + +"Yes, it was I," she answered simply, "but I did not know that--you +heard. Where were you? + +"I suppose," he replied, "a sane witness would have testified that I was +in the street--one of those partial and material truths which are so +misleading." + +She laughed again, joyously. + +"Seriously, why did you come down here?" she insisted. "I am not so +absorbed in Humphrey's career that I cannot take an interest in yours. +In fact, yours interests me more, because it is more mysterious. +Humphrey's," she added, laughing, "is charted from day to day, and +announced in bulletins. He is more generous to his friends than--you." + +"I have nothing to chart," said Austen, "except such pilgrimages as +this,--and these, after all, are unchartable. Your friend, Mr. Crewe, on +the other hand, is well away on his voyage after the Golden Fleece. I +hope he is provided with a Lynceus." + +She was silent for a long time, but he was feverishly conscious of her +gaze upon him, and did not dare to turn his eyes to hers. The look in +them he beheld without the aid of physical vision, and in that look was +the world-old riddle of her sex typified in the image on the African +desert, which Napoleon had tried to read, and failed. And while wisdom +was in the look, there was in it likewise the eternal questioning of a +fate quite as inscrutable, against which wisdom would avail nothing. It +was that look which, for Austen, revealed in her in their infinite +variety all women who had lived; those who could resist, and those who +could yield, and yielding all, bestow a gift which left them still +priceless; those to whom sorrow might bring sadness, and knowledge +mourning, and yet could rob them of no jot of sweetness. And knowing +this, he knew that to gain her now (could such a high prize be gained!) +would be to lose her. If he were anything to her (realize it or not as +she might), it was because he found strength to resist this greatest +temptation of his life. Yield, and his guerdon was lost, and he would be +Austen Vane no longer--yield, and his right to act, which would make him +of value in her eyes as well as in his own, was gone forever. + +Well he knew what the question in her eyes meant or something of what it +meant, so inexplicably is the soul of woman linked to events. He had +pondered often on that which she had asked him when he had brought her +home over the hills in the autumn twilight. He remembered her words, and +the very inflection of her voice. "Then you won't tell me?" How could +he tell her? He became aware that she was speaking now, in an even tone. + +"I had an odd experience this morning, when I was waiting for Mrs. +Pomfret outside the state-house," she said. "A man was standing looking +up at the statue of the patriot with a strange, rapt expression on his +face,--such a good face,--and he was so big and honest and uncompromising +I wanted to talk to him. I didn't realize that I was staring at him so +hard, because I was trying to remember where I had seen him before,--and +then I remembered suddenly that it was with you." + +"With me?" Austen repeated. + +"You were standing with him, in front of the little house, when I save +you yesterday. His name was Redbrook. It appears that he had seen me," +Victoria replied, "when I went to Mercer to call on Zeb Meader. And he +asked me if I knew you." + +"Of course you denied it," said Austen. + +"I couldn't, very well," laughed Victoria, "because you had confessed to +the acquaintance first." + +"He merely wished to have the fact corroborated. Mr. Redbrook is a man +who likes to be sure of his ground." + +"He told me a very interesting thing about you," she continued slowly, +with her eye upon. Austen's profile. "He said that a great many men +wanted you to be their candidate for governor of the State,--more than +you had any idea of,--and that you wouldn't consent. Mr. Redbrook grew +so enthusiastic that he forgot, for the moment, my--relationship to the +railroad. He is not the only person with whom I have talked who has-- +forgotten it, or hasn't known of it." + +Austen was silent. + +"Why won't you be a candidate," she asked, in a low voice, "if such men +as that want you?" + +"I am afraid Mr. Redbrook exaggerates," he said. "The popular demand of +which he spoke is rather mythical. And I should be inclined to accuse +him, too, of a friendly attempt to install me in your good graces." + +"No," answered Victoria, smiling, with serious eyes, "I won't be put off +that way. Mr. Redbrook isn't the kind of man that exaggerates--I've seen +enough of his type to know that. And he told me about your--reception +last night at the Widow Peasley's. You wouldn't have told me," she added +reproachfully. + +He laughed. + +"It was scarcely a subject I could have ventured," he said. + +"But I asked you," she objected. "Now tell me, why did you refuse to be +their candidate? It wasn't because you were not likely to get elected, +was it?" + +He permitted himself a glance which was a tribute of admiration--a glance +which she returned steadfastly. + +"It isn't likely that I should have been elected," he answered, "but you +are right--that is not the reason I refused." + +"I thought not," she said, "I did not believe you were the kind of man to +refuse for that reason. And you would have been elected." + +"What makes you think so?" he asked curiously. + +"I have been thinking since I saw you last--yes, and I have been making +inquiries. I have been trying to find out things--which you will not +tell me." She paused, with a little catch of her breath, and went on +again. "Do you believe I came all the way up here just to hear Humphrey +Crewe make a speech and to drive with him in a high sleigh and listen to +him talk about his career? When serious men of the people like Mr. +Redbrook and that nice Mr. Jenney at Leith and a lot of others who do not +ordinarily care for politics are thinking and indignant, I have come to +the conclusion there must be a cause for it. They say that the railroad +governs them through disreputable politicians,--and I--I am beginning to +believe it is true. I have had some of the politicians pointed out to me +in the Legislature, and they look like it." + +Austen did not smile. She was speaking quietly, but he saw that she was +breathing deeply, and he knew that she possessed a courage which went far +beyond that of most women, and an insight into life and affairs. + +"I am going to find out," she said, "whether these things are true." + +"And then?" he asked involuntarily. + +"If they are true, I am going to tell my father about them, and ask him +to investigate. Nobody seems to have the courage to go to him." + +Austen did not answer. He felt the implication; he knew that, without +realizing his difficulties, and carried on by a feeling long pent up, she +had measured him unjustly, and yet he felt no resentment, and no shock. +Perhaps he might feel that later. Now he was filled only with a sympathy +that was yet another common bond between them. Suppose she did find out? +He knew that she would not falter until she came to the end of her +investigation, to the revelation of Mr. Flint's code of business ethics. +Should the revolt take place, she would be satisfied with nothing less +than the truth, even as he, Austen Vane, had not been satisfied. And he +thought of the life-long faith that would be broken thereby. + +They had made the circle of the hills, and the sparkling lights of the +city lay under them like blue diamond points in the twilight of the +valley. The crests behind them deepened in purple as the saffron faded +in the west, and a gossamer cloud of Tyrian dye floated over Holdfast. +In silence they turned for a last lingering look, and in silence went +down the slope into the world again, and through the streets to the +driveway of the Duncan house. It was only when they had stopped before +the door that she trusted herself to speak. + +"I ought not to have said what I did," she began, in a low voice; "I +didn't realize--but I cannot understand you." + +"You have said nothing which you need ever have cause to regret," he +replied. He was too great for excuses, too great for any sorrow save +what she herself might feel, as great as the silent hills from which he +came. + +She stood for a moment on the edge of the steps, her eyes lustrous,--yet +gazing into his with a searching, troubled look that haunted him for many +days. But her self-command was unshaken, her power to control speech was +the equal of his. And this power of silence in her revealed in such +instants--was her greatest fascination for Austen, the thing which set +her apart among women; which embodied for him the whole charm and mystery +of her sex. + +"Good-by," she said simply. + +"Good-by," he said, and seized her hand--and drove away. + +Without ringing the bell Victoria slipped into the hall,--for the latch +was not caught,--and her first impulse was to run up the staircase to her +room. But she heard Mrs. Pomfret's voice on the landing above and fled, +as to a refuge, into the dark drawing-room, where she stood for a moment +motionless, listening for the sound of his sleigh-bells as they fainted +on the winter's night. Then she seated herself to think, if she could, +though it is difficult to think when one's heart is beating a little +wildly. It was Victoria's nature to think things out. For the first +time in her life she knew sorrow, and it made it worse that that sorrow +was indefinable. She felt an accountable attraction for this man who had +so strangely come into her life, whose problems had suddenly become her +problems. But she did not connect the attraction for Austen Vane with +her misery. She recalled him as he had left her, big and strong and +sorrowful, with a yearning look that was undisguised, and while her faith +in him came surging back again, she could not understand. + +Gradually she became aware of men's voices, and turned with a start to +perceive that the door of the library was open, and that Humphrey Crewe +and another were standing in the doorway against the light. With an +effort of memory she identified the other man as the Mr. Tooting who had +made himself so useful at Mr. Crewe's garden party. + +"I told you I could make you governor, Mr. Crewe," Mr. Tooting was +saying. "Say, why do you think the Northeastern crowd--why do you think +Hilary Vane is pushing your bills down the sidings? I'll tell you, +because they know you're a man of ability, and they're afraid of you, and +they know you're a gentleman, and can't be trusted with their deals, so +they just shunted you off at Kodunk with a jolly about sendin' you to +Congress if you made a hit on a national speech. I've been in the +business a good many years, and I've seen and done some things for the +Northeastern that stick in my throat"--(at this point Victoria sat down +again and gripped the arms of her chair), "I don't like to see a decent +man sawbucked the way they're teeterin' you, Mr. Crewe. I know what I'm +talkin' about, and I tell you that Ridout and Jake Botcher and Brush +Bascom haven't any more notion of lettin' your bills out of committee +than they have Gaylord's. Why? Because they've got orders not to." + +"You're making some serious charges, Mr. Tooting," said Mr. Crewe. + +"And what's more, I can prove 'em. You know yourself that anybody who +talks against the Northeastern is booted down and blacklisted. You've +seen that, haven't you?" + +"I have observed," said Mr. Crewe, "that things do not seem to be as they +should in a free government." + +"And it makes your blood boil as an American citizen, don't it? It does +mine," said Mr. Tooting, with fine indignation. "I was a poor boy, and +had to earn my living, but I've made up my mind I've worn the collar long +enough--if I have to break rocks. And I want to repeat what I said a +little while ago," he added, weaving his thumb into Mr. Crewe's +buttonhole; "I know a thing or two, and I've got some brains, as they +know, and I can make you governor of this State if you'll only say the +word. It's a cinch." + +Victoria started to rise once more, and realized that to escape she would +have to cross the room directly in front of the two men. She remained +sitting where she was in a fearful fascination, awaiting Humphrey Crewe's +answer. There was a moment's pause. + +"I believe you made the remark, Mr. Tooting," he said, "that in your +opinion there is enough anti-railroad sentiment in the House to pass any +bill which the railroad opposes." + +"If a leader was to get up there, like you, with the arguments I could +put into his hands, they would make the committee discharge that +Pingsquit bill of the Gaylords', and pass it." + +"On what do you base your opinion?" asked Mr. Crewe. + +"Well," said Mr. Tooting, "I guess I'm a pretty shrewd observer and have +had practice enough. But you know Austen Vane, don't you?" + +Victoria held her breath. + +"I've a slight acquaintance with him," replied Mr. Crewe; "I've helped +him along in one or two minor legal matters. He seems to be a little-- +well, pushing, you might say." + +"I want to tell you one thing about Austen," continued Mr. Tooting. +"Although I don't stand much for old Hilary, I'd take Austen Vane's +opinion on most things as soon as that of any man in the State. If he +only had some sense about himself, he could be governor next time-- +there's a whole lot that wants him. I happen to know some of 'em offered +it to him last night." + +"Austen Vane governor!" exclaimed Mr. Crewe, with a politely deprecating +laugh. + +"It may sound funny," said Mr. Tooting, stoutly; "I never understood what +he has about him. He's never done anything but buck old Hilary in that +damage case and send back a retainer pass to old Flint, but he's got +something in his make-up that gets under your belt, and a good many of +these old hayseeds'll eat out of his hand, right now. Well, I don't want +this to go any farther, you're a gentleman,--but Austen came down here +yesterday and had the whole thing sized up by last night. Old Hilary +thought the Gaylords sent for him to lobby their bill through. They may +have sent for him, all right, but he wouldn't lobby for 'em. He could +have made a pile of money out of 'em. Austen doesn't seem to care about +money--he's queer. He says as long as he has a horse and a few books and +a couple of sandwiches a day he's all right. Hilary had him up in Number +Seven tryin' to find out what he came down for, and Austen told him +pretty straight--what he didn't tell the Gaylords, either. He kind of +likes old Hilary,--because he's his father, I guess,--and he said there +were enough men in that House to turn Hilary and his crowd upside down. +That's how I know for certain. If Austen Vane said it, I'll borrow money +to bet on it," declared Mr. Tooting. + +"You don't think young Vane is going to get into the race?" queried Mr. +Crewe. + +"No," said Mr. Tooting, somewhat contemptuously. "No, I tell you he +hasn't got that kind of sense. He never took any trouble to get ahead, +and I guess he's sort of sensitive about old Hilary. It'd make a good +deal of a scandal in the family, with Austen as an anti-railroad +candidate." Mr. Tooting lowered his voice to a tone that was +caressingly confidential. "I tell you, and you sleep on it, a man of +your brains and money can't lose. It's a chance in a million, and when +you win you've got this little State tight in your pocket, and a desk in +the millionaire's club at Washington. Well, so long," said Mr. Tooting, +"you think that over." + +"You have, at least, put things in a new and interesting light," said Mr. +Crewe. "I will try to decide what my duty is." + +"Your duty's pretty plain to me," said Mr. Tooting. "If I had money, I'd +know that the best way to use it is for the people,--ain't that so?" + +"In the meantime," Mr. Crewe continued, "you may drop in to-morrow at +three." + +"You'd better make it to-morrow night, hadn't you?" said Mr. Tooting, +significantly. "There ain't any back way to this house." + +"As you choose," said Mr. Crewe. + +They passed within a few feet of Victoria, who resisted an almost +uncontrollable impulse to rise and confront them. The words given her to +use were surging in her brain, and yet she withheld them why, she knew +not. Perhaps it was because, after such communion as the afternoon had +brought, the repulsion she felt for Mr. Tooting aided her to sit where +she was. She heard the outside door open and close, and she saw Humphrey +Crewe walk past her again into his library, and that door closed, and she +was left in darkness. Darkness indeed for Victoria, who throughout her +life had lived in light alone; in the light she had shed, and the light +which she had kindled in others. With a throb which was an exquisite +pain, she understood now the compassion in Austen's eyes, and she saw so +simply and so clearly why he had not told her that her face burned with +the shame of her demand. The one of all others to whom she could go in +this trouble was denied her, and his lips were sealed, who would have +spoken honestly and without prejudice. She rose and went quietly out +into the biting winter night, and stood staring through the trees at the +friendly reddened windows of the little cottage across the way with a +yearning that passed her understanding. Out of those windows, to +Victoria, shone honesty and truth, and the peace which these alone may +bring. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE DESCENDANTS OF HORATIUS + +So the twenty honourable members of the State Senate had been dubbed by +the man who had a sense of humour and a smattering of the classics, +because they had been put there to hold the bridge against the Tarquins +who would invade the dominions of the Northeastern. Twenty picked men, +and true they were indeed, but a better name for their body would have +been the 'Life Guard of the Sovereign.' The five hundred far below them +might rage and at times revolt, but the twenty in their shining armour +stood undaunted above the vulnerable ground and smiled grimly at the mob. +The citadel was safe. + +The real Horatius of the stirring time of which we write was that old and +tried veteran, the Honourable Brush Bascom; and Spurius Lartius might be +typified by the indomitable warrior, the Honourable Jacob Botcher, while +the Honourable Samuel Doby of Hale, Speaker of the House, was +unquestionably Herminius. How the three held the bridge that year will +be told in as few and as stirring words as possible. A greater than +Porsena confronted them, and well it was for them, and for the Empire, +that the Body Guard of the Twenty stood behind them. + + "Lars Porsena of Clusium, + By the Nine Gods he swore." + +The morning after the State Tribune had printed that memorable speech on +national affairs--statistics and all, with an editorial which gave every +evidence of Mr. Peter Pardriff's best sparkle--Mr. Crewe appeared on the +floor of the House with a new look in his eye which made discerning men +turn and stare at him. It was the look of the great when they are justly +indignant, when their trust--nobly given--has been betrayed. Washington, +for instance, must have had just such a look on the battlefield of +Trenton. The Honourable Jacob Botcher, pressing forward as fast as his +bulk would permit and with the newspaper in his hand, was met by a calm +and distant manner which discomposed that statesman, and froze his stout +index finger to the editorial which "perhaps Mr. Crewe had not seen." + +Mr. Crewe was too big for resentment, but he knew how to meet people who +didn't measure up to his standards. Yes, he had seen the editorial, and +the weather still continued fine. The Honourable Jacob was left behind +scratching his head, and presently he sought a front seat in which to +think, the back ones not giving him room enough. The brisk, cheery +greeting of the Honourable Brush Bascom fared no better, but Mr. Bascom +was a philosopher, and did not disturb the great when their minds were +revolving on national affairs and the welfare of humanity in general. +Mr. Speaker Doby and Mr. Ridout got but abstract salutations also, and +were correspondingly dismayed. + +That day, and for many days thereafter, Mr. Crewe spent some time--as was +entirely proper--among the back seats, making the acquaintance of his +humbler fellow members of the submerged four hundred and seventy. He had +too long neglected this, so he told them, but his mind had been on high +matters. During many of his mature years he had pondered as to how the +welfare of community and State could be improved, and the result of that +thought was embodied in the bills of which they had doubtless received +copies. If not, down went their names in a leather-bound memorandum, and +they got copies in the next mails. + +The delight of some of the simple rustic members at this unbending of a +great man may be imagined. To tell the truth, they had looked with +little favour upon the intimacy which had sprung up between him and those +tyrannical potentates, Messrs. Botcher and Bascom, and many who had the +courage of their convictions expressed then very frankly. Messrs. +Botcher and Bascom were, when all was said, mere train despatchers of the +Northeastern, who might some day bring on a wreck the like of which the +State had never seen. Mr. Crewe was in a receptive mood; indeed his +nature, like Nebuchadnezzar's, seemed to have experienced some +indefinable and vital change. Was this the Mr. Crewe the humble rural +members had pictured to themselves? Was this the Mr. Crewe who, at the +beginning of the session, had told them roundly it was their duty to vote +for his bills? + +Mr. Crewe was surprised, he said, to hear so much sentiment against the +Northeastern Railroads. Yes, he was a friend of Mr. Flint's--they were +neighbours in the country. But if these charges had any foundation +whatever, they ought to be looked into--they ought to be taken up. A +sovereign people should not be governed by a railroad. Mr. Crewe was a +business man, but first of all he was a citizen; as a business man he did +not intend to talk vaguely, but to investigate thoroughly. And then, if +charges should be made, he would make them specifically, and as a citizen +contend for the right. + +It is difficult to restrain one's pen in dealing with a hero, but it is +not too much to say that Mr. Crewe impressed many of the country members +favourably. How, indeed, could he help doing so? His language was +moderate, his poise that of a man of affairs, and there was a look in his +eye and a determination in his manner that boded ill for the Northeastern +if he should, after weighing the facts, decide that they ought to be +flagellated. His friendship with Mr. Flint and the suspicion that he +might be inclined to fancy Mr. Flint's daughter would not influence him +in the least; of that many of his hearers were sure. Not a few of them +were invited to dinner at the Duncan house, and shown the library and the +conservatory. + +"Walk right in," said Mr. Crewe. "You can't hurt the flowers unless you +bump against the pots, and if you walk straight you can't do that. I +brought the plants down from my own hothouse in Leith. Those are French +geraniums--very hard to get. They're double, you see, and don't look +like the scrawny things you see in this country. Yes (with a good- +natured smile), I guess they do cost something. I'll ask my secretary +what I paid for that plant. Is that dinner, Waters? Come right in, +gentlemen, we won't wait for ceremony." + +Whereupon the delegation would file into the dining room in solemn +silence behind the imperturbable Waters, with dubious glances at Mr. +Waters' imperturbable understudy in green and buff and silver buttons. +Honest red hands, used to milking at five o'clock in the morning, and +hands not so red that measured dry goods over rural counters for +insistent female customers fingered in some dismay what seemed an +inexplicable array of table furniture. + +"It don't make any difference which fork you take," said the good-natured +owner of this palace of luxury, "only I shouldn't advise you to use one +for the soup you wouldn't get much of it--what? Yes, this house suits me +very well. It was built by old man Duncan, you know, and his daughter +married an Italian nobleman and lives in a castle. The State ought to +buy the house for a governor's mansion. It's a disgrace that our +governor should have to live in the Pelican Hotel, and especially in a +room next to that of the chief counsel of the Northeastern, with only a +curtain and a couple of folding doors between." + +"That's right," declared an up-state member, the governor hadn't ought to +live next to Vane. But as to gettin' him a house like this--kind of +royal, ain't it? Couldn't do justice to it on fifteen hundred a year, +could he? Costs you a little mite more to live in it, don't it?" + +"It costs me something," Mr. Crewe admitted modestly. "But then our +governors are all rich men, or they couldn't afford to pay the +Northeastern lobby campaign expenses. Not that I believe in a rich man +for governor, gentlemen. My contention is that the State should pay its +governors a sufficient salary to make them independent of the +Northeastern, a salary on which they can live as befits a chief +executive." + +These sentiments, and others of a similar tenor, were usually received in +silence by his rural guests, but Mr. Crewe, being a broad-minded man of +human understanding, did not set down their lack of response to surliness +or suspicion of a motive, but rather to the innate caution of the hill +farmer; and doubtless, also, to a natural awe of the unwonted splendour +with which they were surrounded. In a brief time his kindly hospitality +became a byword in the capital, and fabulous accounts of it were carried +home at week ends to toiling wives and sons and daughters, to incredulous +citizens who sat on cracker boxes and found the Sunday papers stale and +unprofitable for weeks thereafter. The geraniums--the price of which Mr. +Crewe had forgotten to find out--were appraised at four figures, and the +conservatory became the hanging gardens of Babylon under glass; the +functionary in buff and green and silver buttons and his duties furnished +the subject for long and heated arguments. And incidentally everybody +who had a farm for sale wrote to Mr. Crewe. Since the motives of every +philanthropist and public benefactor are inevitably challenged by cynics, +there were many who asked the question, "What did Mr. Crewe want?" It is +painful even to touch upon this when we know that Mr. Crewe was merely +doing his duty as he saw it, when we know that he spelled the word, +mentally, with a capital D. + +There were many, too, who remarked that a touching friendship in the +front seats (formerly plainly visible to the naked eye from the back) had +been strained--at least. Mr. Crewe still sat with Mr. Botcher and Mr. +Bascom, but he was not a man to pretend after the fires had cooled. The +Honourable Jacob Botcher, with his eyes shut so tight, that his honest +face wore an expression of agony, seemed to pray every morning for the +renewal of that friendship when the chaplain begged the Lord to guide the +Legislature into the paths of truth; and the Honourable Brush Bascom wore +an air of resignation which was painful to see. Conversation languished, +and the cosey and familiar haunts of the Pelican knew Mr. Crewe no more. + +Mr. Crewe never forgot, of course, that he was a gentleman, and a certain +polite intercourse existed. During the sessions, as a matter of fact, +Mr. Bascom had many things to whisper to Mr. Botcher, and Mr. Butcher to +Mr. Bascom, and in order to facilitate this Mr. Crewe changed seats with +the Honourable Jacob. Neither was our hero a man to neglect, on account +of strained relations, to insist upon his rights. His eyes were open +now, and he saw men and things political as they were; he knew that his +bills for the emancipation of the State were prisoners in the maw of the +dragon, and not likely to see the light of law. Not a legislative day +passed that he did not demand, with a firmness and restraint which did +him infinite credit, that Mr. Bascom's and Mr. Butcher's committees +report those bills to the House either favourably or unfavourably. And +we must do exact justice, likewise, to Messrs. Bascom and Butcher; they, +too, incited perhaps thereto by Mr. Crewe's example, answered courteously +that the very excellent bills in question were of such weight and +importance as not to be decided on lightly, and that there were necessary +State expenditures which had first to be passed upon. Mr. Speaker Doby, +with all the will in the world, could do nothing: and on such occasions +(Mr. Crewe could see) Mr. Doby bore a striking resemblance to the picture +of the mockturtle in "Alice m Wonderland"--a fact which had been pointed +out by Miss Victoria Flint. In truth, all three of these gentlemen wore, +when questioned, such a sorrowful and injured air as would have deceived +a more experienced politician than the new member from Leith. The will +to oblige was infinite. + +There was no doubt about the fact that the session was rapidly drawing to +a close; and likewise that the committees guided by the Honourables Jacob +Butcher and Brush Bascom, composed of members carefully picked by that +judge of mankind, Mr. Doby, were wrestling day and night (behind closed +doors) with the intellectual problems presented by the bills of the +member from Leith. It is not to be supposed that a man of Mr. Crewe's +shrewdness would rest at the word of the chairmen. Other members were +catechized, and in justice to Messrs. Bascom and Botcher it must be +admitted that the assertions of these gentlemen were confirmed. It +appeared that the amount of thought which was being lavished upon these +measures was appalling. + +By this time Mr. Crewe had made some new friends, as was inevitable when +such a man unbent. Three of these friends owned, by a singular chance, +weekly newspapers, and having conceived a liking as well as an admiration +for him, began to say pleasant things about him in their columns--which +Mr. Crewe (always thoughtful) sent to other friends of his. These new +and accidental newspaper friends declared weekly that measures of +paramount importance were slumbering in committees, and cited the +measures. Other friends of Mr. Crewe were so inspired by affection and +awe that they actually neglected their business and spent whole days in +the rural districts telling people what a fine man Mr. Crewe was and +circulating petitions for his bills; and incidentally the committees of +Mr. Butcher and Mr. Bascom were flooded with these petitions, +representing the spontaneous sentiment of an aggrieved populace. + + "Just then a scout came flying, + All wild with haste and fear + To arms! to arms! Sir Consul + Lars Porsena is here. + On the low hills to westward + The Consul fixed his eye, + And saw the swarthy storm of dust + Rise fast along the sky." + +It will not do to push a comparison too far, and Mr. Hamilton Tooting, of +course, ought not to be made to act the part of Tarquin the Proud. Like +Tarquin, however, he had been deposed--one of those fatuous acts which +the wisest will commit. No more could the Honourable Hilary well be +likened to Pandora, for he only opened the box wide enough to allow one +mischievous sprite to take wings--one mischievous sprite that was to +prove a host. Talented and invaluable lieutenant that he was, Mr. +Tooting had become an exile, to explain to any audience who should make +it worth his while the mysterious acts by which the puppets on the stage +were moved, and who moved them; who, for instance, wrote the declamation +which his Excellency Asa Gray recited as his own. Mr. Tooting, as we +have seen, had a remarkable business head, and combined with it--as +Austen Vane remarked--the rare instinct of the Norway rat which goes down +to the sea in ships--when they are safe. Burrowing continually amongst +the bowels of the vessel, Mr. Tooting knew the weak timbers better than +the Honourable Hilary Vanes who thought the ship as sound as the day +Augustus Flint had launched her. But we have got a long way from +Horatius in our imagery. + +Little birds flutter around the capital, picking up what crumbs they may. +One of them, occasionally fed by that humanitarian, the Honourable Jacob +Botcher, whispered a secret that made the humanitarian knit his brows. +He was the scout that came flying (if by a burst of imagination we can +conceive the Honourable Jacob in this aerial act)--came flying to the +Consul in room Number Seven with the news that Mr. Hamilton Tooting had +been detected on two evenings slipping into the Duncan house. But the +Consul--strong man that he was--merely laughed. The Honourable Elisha +Jane did some scouting on his own account. Some people are so small as +to be repelled by greatness, to be jealous of high gifts and power, and +it was perhaps inevitable that a few of the humbler members whom Mr. +Crewe had entertained should betray his hospitality, and misinterpret his +pure motives. + +It was a mere coincidence, perhaps, that after Mr. Jane's investigation +the intellectual concentration which one of the committees had bestowed +on two of Mr. Crewe's bills came to an end. These bills, it is true, +carried no appropriation, and, were, respectively, the acts to +incorporate the State Economic League and the Children's Charities +Association. These suddenly appeared in the House one morning, with +favourable recommendations, and, mirabile dicta, the end of the day saw +them through the Senate and signed by the governor. At last Mr. Crewe by +his Excellency had stamped the mark of his genius on the statute books, +and the Honourable Jacob Botcher, holding out an olive branch, took the +liberty of congratulating him. + +A vainer man, a lighter character than Humphrey Crewe, would have been +content to have got something; and let it rest at that. Little Mr. +Butcher or Mr. Speaker Doby, with his sorrowful smile, guessed the iron +hand within the velvet glove of the Leith statesman; little they knew the +man they were dealing with. Once aroused, he would not be pacified by +bribes of cheap olive branches and laurels. When the proper time came, +he would fling down the gauntlet--before Rome itself, and then let +Horatius and his friends beware. + +The hour has struck at last--and the man is not wanting. The French +Revolution found Napoleon ready, and our own Civil War General Ulysses +Grant. Of that ever memorable session but three days remained, and those +who had been prepared to rise in the good cause had long since despaired. +The Pingsquit bill, and all other bills that spelled liberty, were still +prisoners in the hands of grim jailers, and Thomas Gaylord, the elder, +had worn several holes in the carpet of his private room in the Pelican, +and could often be descried from Main Street running up and down between +the windows like a caged lion, while young Tom had been spied standing, +with his hands in his pockets, smiling on the world. + +Young Tom had his own way of doing things, though he little dreamed of +the help Heaven was to send him in this matter. There was, in the lower +House, a young man by the name of Harper, a lawyer from Brighton, who was +sufficiently eccentric not to carry a pass. The light of fame, as the +sunset gilds a weathercock on a steeple, sometimes touches such men for +an instant and makes them immortal. The name of Mr. Harper is +remembered, because it is linked with a greater one. But Mr. Harper was +the first man over the wall. + +History chooses odd moments for her entrances. It was at the end of one +of those busy afternoon sessions, with a full house, when Messrs. +Bascom, Botcher, and Ridout had done enough of blocking and hacking and +hewing to satisfy those doughty defenders of the bridge, that a slight, +unprepossessing-looking young man with spectacles arose to make a motion. +The Honourable Jacob Botcher, with his books and papers under his arm, +was already picking his way up the aisle, nodding genially to such of the +faithful as he saw; Mr. Bascom was at the Speaker's desk, and Mr. Ridout +receiving a messenger from the Honourable Hilary at the door. The +Speaker, not without some difficulty, recognized Mr. Harper amidst what +seemed the beginning of an exodus--and Mr. Harper read his motion. + +Men halted in the aisles, and nudged other men to make them stop talking. +Mr. Harper's voice was not loud, and it shook a trifle with excitement, +but those who heard passed on the news so swiftly to those who had not +that the House was sitting (or standing) in amazed silence by the time +the motion reached the Speaker, who had actually risen to receive it. +Mr. Doby regarded it for a few seconds and raised his eyes mournfully to +Mr. Harper himself, as much as to say that he would give the young man a +chance to take it back if he could--if the words had not been spoken +which would bring the offender to the block in the bloom and enthusiasm +of youth. Misguided Mr. Harper had committed unutterable treason to the +Empire! + +"The gentleman from Brighton, Mr. Harper," said the Speaker, sadly, +"offers the following resolution, and moves its adoption: 'Resolved, that +the Committee on Incorporations be instructed to report House bill number +302, entitled "An act to incorporate the Pingsquit Railroad," by eleven- +thirty o'clock to-morrow morning'--the gentleman from Putnam, Mr. +Bascom." + +The House listened and looked on entranced, as though they were the +spectators to a tragedy. And indeed it seemed as though they were. +Necks were craned to see Mr. Harper; he didn't look like a hero, but one +never can tell about these little men. He had hurled defiance at the +Northeastern Railroads, and that was enough for Mr. Redbrook and Mr. +Widgeon and their friends, who prepared to rush into the fray trusting to +Heaven for speech and parliamentary law. O for a leader now! Horatius +is on the bridge, scarce concealing his disdain for this puny opponent, +and Lartius and Herminius not taking the trouble to arm. Mr. Bascom will +crush this one with the flat of his sword. + +"Mr. Speaker," said that gentleman, informally, "as Chairman of the +Committee on Incorporations, I rise to protest against such an unheard-of +motion in this House. The very essence of orderly procedure, of +effective business, depends on the confidence of the House in its +committees, and in all of my years as a member I have never known of such +a thing. Gentlemen of the House, your committee are giving to this bill +and other measures their undivided attention, and will report them at the +earliest practicable moment. I hope that this motion will be voted +down." + +Mr. Bascom, with a glance around to assure himself that most of the +hundred members of the Newcastle delegation--vassals of the Winona +Corporation and subject to the Empire--had not made use of their passes +and boarded, as usual, the six o'clock train, took his seat. A buzz of +excitement ran over the house, a dozen men were on their feet, including +the plainly agitated Mr. Harper himself. But who is this, in the lunar +cockpit before the Speaker's desk, demanding firmly to be heard--so +firmly that Mr. Harper, with a glance at him, sits down again; so firmly +that Mr. Speaker Doby, hypnotized by an eye, makes the blunder that will +eventually cost him his own head? + +"The gentleman from Leith, Mr. Crewe." + +As though sensing a drama, the mutterings were hushed once more. Mr. +Jacob Botcher leaned forward, and cracked his seat; but none, even those +who had tasted of his hospitality, recognized that the Black Knight had +entered the lists--the greatest deeds of this world, and the heroes of +them, coming unheralded out of the plain clay. Mr. Crewe was the calmest +man under the roof as he saluted the Speaker, walked up to the clerk's +desk, turned his back to it, and leaned both elbows on it; and he +regarded the sea of faces with the identical self-possession he had +exhibited when he had made his famous address on national affairs. He +did not raise his voice at the beginning, but his very presence seemed to +compel silence, and curiosity was at fever heat. What was he going to +say? + +"Gentlemen of the House," said Mr. Crewe, "I have listened to the +gentleman from Putnam with some--amusement. He has made the statement +that he and his committee are giving to the Pingsquit bill and other +measures--some other measures--their undivided attention. Of this I have +no doubt whatever. He neglected to define the species of attention he is +giving them--I should define it as the kindly care which the warden of a +penitentiary bestows upon his charges." + +Mr. Crewe was interrupted here. The submerged four hundred and seventy +had had time to rub their eyes and get their breath, to realize that +their champion had dealt Mr. Bascom a blow to cleave his helm, and a roar +of mingled laughter and exultation arose in the back seats, and there was +more craning to see the glittering eyes of the Honourable Brush and the +expressions of his two companions-in-arms. Mr. Speaker Doby beat the +stone with his gavel, while Mr. Crewe continued to lean back calmly until +the noise was over. + +"Gentlemen," he went on, "I will enter at the proper time into a +situation--known, I believe, to most of you--that brings about a +condition of affairs by which the gentleman's committee, or the gentleman +himself, with his capacious pockets, does not have to account to the +House for every bill assigned to him by the Speaker. I have taken the +trouble to examine a little into the gentleman's past record--he has been +chairman of such committees for years past, and I find no trace that +bills inimical to certain great interests have ever been reported back by +him. The Pingsquit bill involves the vital principle of competition. I +have read it with considerable care and believe it to be, in itself, a +good measure, which deserves a fair hearing. I have had no conversation +whatever with those who are said to be its promoters. If the bill is to +pass, it has little enough time to get to the Senate. By the gentleman +from Putnam's own statement his committee have given it its share of +attention, and I believe this House is entitled to know the verdict, is +entitled to accept or reject a report. I hope the motion will prevail." + +He sat down amidst a storm of applause which would have turned the head +of a lesser man. No such personal ovation had been seen in the House for +years. How the Speaker got order; how the Honourable Brush Bascom +declared that Mr. Crewe would be called upon to prove his statements; how +Mr. Botcher regretted that a new member of such promise should go off at +half-cock; how Mr. Ridout hinted that the new member might think he had +an animus; how Mr. Terry of Lee and Mr. Widgeon of Hull denounced, in +plain hill language, the Northeastern Railroads and lauded the man of +prominence who had the grit to oppose them, need not be gone into. Mr. +Crewe at length demanded the previous question, which was carried, and +the motion was carried, too, two hundred and fifty to one hundred and +fifty-two. The House adjourned. + +We will spare the blushes of the hero of this occasion, who was +threatened with suffocation by an inundation from the back seats. In +answer to the congratulations and queries, he replied modestly that +nobody else seemed to have had the sand to do it, so he did it himself. +He regarded it as a matter of duty, however unpleasant and unforeseen; +and if, as they said, he had been a pioneer, education and a knowledge of +railroads and the world had helped him. Whereupon, adding tactfully that +he desired the evening to himself to prepare for the battle of the morrow +(of which he foresaw he was to bear the burden), he extricated himself +from his admirers and made his way unostentatiously out of a side door +into his sleigh. For the man who had kindled a fire--the blaze of which +was to mark an epoch--he was exceptionally calm. Not so the only visitor +whom Waters had instructions to admit that evening. + +"Say, you hit it just right," cried the visitor, too exultant to take off +his overcoat. "I've been down through the Pelican, and there ain't been +such excitement since Snow and Giddings had the fight for United States +senator in the '80's. The place is all torn up, and you can't get a room +there for love or money. They tell me they've been havin' conferences +steady in Number Seven since the session closed, and Hilary Vane's sent +for all the Federal and State office-holders to be here in the morning +and lobby. Botcher and Jane and Bascom are circulatin' like hot water, +tellin' everybody that because they wouldn't saddle the State with a debt +with your bills you turned sour on 'em, and that you're more of a +corporation and railroad man than any of 'em. They've got their machine +to working a thousand to the minute, and everybody they have a slant on +is going into line. One of them fellers, a conductor, told me he had to +go with 'em. But our boys ain't idle, I can tell you that. I was in the +back of the gallery when you spoke up, and I shook 'em off the leash +right away." + +Mr. Crewe leaned back from the table and thrust his hands in his pockets +and smiled. He was in one of his delightful moods. + +"Take off your overcoat, Tooting," he said; "you'll find one of my best +political cigars over there, in the usual place." + +"Well, I guessed about right, didn't I?" inquired Mr. Tooting, biting off +one of the political cigars. "I gave you a pretty straight tip, didn't +I, that young Tom Gaylord was goin' to have somebody make that motion to- +day? But say, it's funny he couldn't get a better one than that feller +Harper. If you hadn't come along, they'd have smashed him to pulp. I'll +bet the most surprised man in the State to-night, next to Brush Bascom, +is young Tom Gaylord. It's a wonder he ain't been up here to thank you." + +"Maybe he has been," replied Mr. Crewe. "I told Waters to keep everybody +out to-night because I want to know exactly what I'm going to say on the +floor tomorrow. I don't want 'em to give me trouble. Did you bring some +of those papers with you?" + +Mr. Tooting fished a bundle from his overcoat pocket. The papers in +question, of which he had a great number stored away in Ripton, +represented the foresight, on Mr. Tooting's part, of years. He was a +young man with a praiseworthy ambition to get on in the world, and during +his apprenticeship in the office of the Honourable Hilary Vane many +letters and documents had passed through his hands. A less industrious +person would have neglected the opportunity. Mr. Tooting copied them; +and some, which would have gone into the waste-basket, he laid carefully +aside, bearing in mind the adage about little scraps of paper--if there +is one. At any rate, he now had a manuscript collection which was unique +in its way, which would have been worth much to a great many men, and +with characteristic generosity he was placing it at the disposal of Mr. +Crewe. + +Mr. Crewe, in reading them, had other sensations. He warmed with +indignation as an American citizen that a man should sit in a mahogany +office in New York and dictate the government of a free and sovereign +State; and he found himself in the grip of a righteous wrath when he +recalled what Mr. Flint had written to him. "As a neighbour, it will +give me the greatest pleasure to help you to the extent of my power, but +the Northeastern Railroads cannot interfere in legislative or political +matters." The effrontery of it was appalling! Where, he demanded of Mr. +Tooting, did the common people come in? And this extremely pertinent +question Mr. Tooting was unable to answer. + +But the wheels of justice had begun to turn. + +Mr. Tooting had not exaggerated the tumult and affright at the Pelican +Hotel. The private telephone in Number Seven was busy all evening, while +more or less prominent gentlemen were using continually the public ones +in the boxes in the reading room downstairs. The Feudal system was +showing what it could do, and the word had gone out to all the holders of +fiefs that the vassals should be summoned. The Duke of Putnam had sent +out a general call to the office-holders in that county. Theirs not to +reason why--but obey; and some of them, late as was the hour, were +already travelling (free) towards the capital. Even the congressional +delegation in Washington had received telegrams, and sent them again to +Federal office-holders in various parts of the State. If Mr. Crewe had +chosen to listen, he could have heard the tramp of armed men. But he was +not of the metal to be dismayed by the prospect of a great conflict. He +was as cool as Cromwell, and after Mr. Tooting had left him to take +charge once more of his own armies in the yield, the genlemon from Leith +went to bed and slept soundly. + +The day of the battle dawned darkly, with great flakes flying. As early +as seven o'clock the later cohorts began to arrive, and were soon as +thick as bees in the Pelican, circulating in the lobby, conferring in +various rooms of which they had the numbers with occupants in bed and +out. A wonderful organization, that Feudal System, which eould mobilize +an army overnight! And each unit of it, like the bee, working +unselfishly for the good of the whole; like the bee, flying straight for +the object to be attained. Every member of the House from Putnam County, +for instance, was seen by one of these indefatigable captains, and if the +member had a mortgage or an ambition, or a wife and family that made life +a problem, or a situation on the railroad or in some of the larger +manufacturing establishments, let him beware! If he lived in lodgings in +the town, he stuck his head out of the window to perceive a cheery +neighbour from the country on his doorstep. Think of a system which +could do this, not for Putnam County alone, but for all the counties in +the State! + +The Honourable Hilary Vane, captain-general of the Forces, had had but +four hours' sleep, and his Excellency, the Honourable Asa Gray, when he +arose in the twilight of the morning, had to step carefully to avoid the +cigar butts on the floor which--like so many empty cartridge shells were +unpleasant reminders that a rebellion of no mean magnitude had arisen +against the power to which he owed allegiance, and by the favour of which +he was attended with pomp and circumstance wherever he chose to go. + +Long before eleven o'clock the paths to the state-house were thronged +with people. Beside the office-holders and their friends who were in +town, there were many residents of the capital city in the habit of going +to hear the livelier debates. Not that the powers of the Empire had +permitted debates on most subjects, but there could be no harm in +allowing the lower House to discuss as fiercely as they pleased dog and +sheep laws and hedgehog bounties. But now! The oldest resident couldn't +remember a case of high treason and rebellion against the Northeastern +such as this promised to be, and the sensation took on an added flavour +from the fact that the arch rebel was a figure of picturesque interest, a +millionaire with money enough to rent the Duncan house and fill its long- +disused stable with horses, who was a capitalist himself and a friend of +Mr. Flint's; of whom it was said that he was going to marry Mr. Flint's +daughter! + +Long before eleven, too, the chiefs over tens and the chiefs over +hundreds had gathered their men and marched them into the state-house; +and Mr. Tooting, who was everywhere that morning, noticed that some of +these led soldiers had pieces of paper in their hands. The chaplain +arose to pray for guidance, and the House was crowded to its capacity, +and the gallery filled with eager and expectant faces--but the hero of +the hour had not yet arrived. When at length he did walk down the aisle, +as unconcernedly as though he were an unknown man entering a theatre, +feminine whispers of "There he is!" could plainly be heard above the +buzz, and simultaneous applause broke out in spots, causing the Speaker +to rap sharply with his gavel. Poor Mr. Speaker Doby! He looked more +like the mock-turtle than ever! and might have exclaimed, too, that once +he had been a real turtle: only yesterday, in fact, before he had made +the inconceivable blunder of recognizing Mr. Humphrey Crewe. Mr. Speaker +Doby had spent a part of the night in room Number Seven listening to +things about himself. Herminius the unspeakable has given the enemy a +foothold in Rome. + +Apparently unaware that he was the centre of interest, Mr. Crewe, +carrying a neat little bag full of papers, took his seat beside the +Honourable Jacob Botcher, nodding to that erstwhile friend as a man of +the world should. And Mr. Botcher, not to be outdone, nodded back. + +We shall skip over the painful interval that elapsed before the bill in +question was reached: painful, at least, for every one but Mr. Crewe, who +sat with his knees crossed and his arms folded. The hosts were facing +each other, awaiting the word; the rebels prayerfully watching their +gallant leader; and the loyal vassals--whose wavering ranks had been +added to overnight--with their eyes on Mr. Bascom. And in justice to +that veteran it must be said, despite the knock-out blow he had received, +that he seemed as debonair as ever. + + "Now while the three were tightening + The harness on their backs." + +Mr. Speaker Doby read many committee reports, and at the beginning of +each there was a stir of expectation that it might be the signal for +battle. But at length he fumbled among his papers, cleared away the lump +in his throat, and glanced significantly at Mr. Bascom. + +"The Committee on Incorporations, to whom was referred House bill number +302, entitled "An act to incorporate the Pingsquit Railroad," having +considered the same, report the same with the following resolution: +'Resolved, that it is inexpedient to legislate. Brush Bascom, for the +Committee.' Gentlemen, are you ready for the question? As many as are of +opinion that the report of the Committee should be adopted--the gentleman +from Putnam, Mr. Bascom." + +Again let us do exact justice, and let us not be led by our feelings to +give a prejudiced account of this struggle. The Honourable Brush Bascom, +skilled from youth in the use of weapons, opened the combat so adroitly +that more than once the followers of his noble opponent winced and +trembled. The bill, Mr. Bascom said, would have been reported that day, +anyway--a statement received with mingled cheers and jeers. Then +followed a brief and somewhat intimate history of the Gaylord Lumber +Company, not at all flattering to that corporation. Mr. Bascom hinted, +at an animus: there was no more need for a railroad in the Pingsquit +Valley than there was for a merry-go-round in the cellar of the state- +house. (Loud laughter from everybody, some irreverent person crying out +that a merry-go-round was better than poker tables.) When Mr. Bascom came +to discuss the gentleman from Leith, and recited the names of the +committees for which Mr. Crewe--in his desire to be of service to the +State had applied, there was more laughter, even amongst Mr. Crewe's +friends, and Mr. Speaker Doby relaxed so far as to smile sadly. Mr. +Bascom laid his watch on the clerk's desk and began to read the list of +bills Mr. Crewe had introduced, and as this reading proceeded some of the +light-minded showed a tendency to become slightly hysterical. Mr. Bascom +said that he would like to see all those bills grow into laws,--with +certain slight changes,--but that he could not conscientiously vote to +saddle the people with another Civil War debt. It was well for the +State, he hinted, that those committees were composed of stanch men who +would do their duty in all weathers, regardless of demagogues who sought +to gratify inordinate ambitions. + +The hope of the revolutionists bore these strokes and others as mighty +with complacency, as though they had been so manyplayful taps; and while +the battle surged hotly around him he sat calmly listening or making +occasional notes with a gold pencil. Born leader that he was, he was +biding his time. Mr. Bascom's attack was met valiantly, but +unskillfully, from the back seats. The Honourable Jacob Botcher arose, +and filled the hall with extracts from the "Book of Arguments"--in which +he had been coached overnight by the Honourable Hilary Vane. Mr. +Botcher's tone towards his erstwhile friend was regretful,--a good man +gone wrong through impulse and inexperience. "I am, sir," said Mr. +Bascom to the Speaker, "sincerely sorry--sincerely sorry that an +individual of such ability as the member from Leith should be led, by the +representations of political adventurers and brigands and malcontents, +into his present deplorable position of criticising a State which is his +only by adoption, the political conditions of which were as sound and as +free from corporate domination, sir, as those of any State in the broad +Union." (Loud cheers.) This appeal to State pride by Mr. Botches is a +master stroke, and the friends of the champion of the liberties of the +people are beginning (some of them) to be a little nervous and doubtful. + +Following Mr. Botches were wild and scattering speeches from the back +benches--unskillful and pitiable counter-strokes. Where was the +champion? Had he been tampered with overnight, and persuaded of the +futility of +rebellion? Persuaded that his head would be more useful on his own neck +in the councils of the nation than on exhibition to the populace from the +point of a pike? It looks, to a calm spectator from the gallery, as +though the rebel forces are growing weaker and more demoralized every +moment. Mr. Redbrook's speech, vehement and honest, helps a little; +people listen to an honest and forceful man, however he may lack +technical knowledge, but the majority of the replies are mere incoherent +denunciations of the Northeastern Railroads. + +On the other hand, the astounding discipline amongst the legions of the +Empire excites the admiration and despair even of their enemies; there is +no random fighting here and breaking of ranks to do useless hacking. A +grave farmer with a beard delivers a short and temperate speech (which he +has by heart), mildly inquiring what the State would do without the +Northeastern Railroads; and the very moderation of this query coming from +a plain and hard-headed agriculturist (the boss of Grenville, if one but +knew it!) has a telling effect. And then to cap the climax, to make the +attitude of the rebels even more ridiculous in the minds of thinking +people, Mr. Ridout is given the floor. Skilled in debate when he chooses +to enter it, his knowledge of the law only exceeded by his knowledge of +how it is to be evaded--to Lartius is assigned the task of following up +the rout. And Mr. Crewe has ceased taking notes. + +When the House leader and attorney for the Northeastern took his seat, +the victory to all appearances was won. It was a victory for +conservatism and established order against sensationalism and anarchy-- +Mr. Ridout had contrived to make that clear without actually saying so. +It was as if the Ute Indians had sought to capture Washington and conduct +the government. Just as ridiculous as that! The debate seemed to be +exhausted, and the long-suffering Mr. Doby was inquiring for the fiftieth +time if the House were ready for the question, when Mr. Crewe of Leith +arose and was recognized. In three months he had acquired such a +remarkable knowledge of the game of parliamentary tactics as to be able, +patiently, to wait until the bolt of his opponents had been shot; and a +glance sufficed to revive the drooping spirits of his followers, and to +assure them that their leader knew what he was about. + +"Mr. Speaker," he said, "I have listened with great care to the masterly +defence of that corporation on which our material prosperity and civic +welfare is founded (laughter); I have listened to the gentleman's learned +discussion of the finances of that road, tending to prove that it is an +eleemosynary institution on a grand scale. I do not wish to question +unduly the intellects of those members of this House who by their votes +will prove that they have been convinced by the gentleman's argument." +Here Mr. Crewe paused and drew a slip of paper from his pocket and +surveyed the back seats. "But I perceive," he continued, "that a great +interest has been taken in this debate--so great an interest that since +yesterday numbers of gentlemen have come in from various parts of the +State to listen to it (laughter and astonishment), gentlemen who hold +Federal and State offices. (Renewed laughter and searching of the +House.) I repeat, Mr. Speaker, that I do not wish to question the +intellects of my fellow-members, but I notice that many of them who are +seated near the Federal and State office-holders in question have in +their hands slips of paper similar to this. And I have reason to believe +that these slips were written by somebody in room Number Seven of the +Pelican Hotel." (Tremendous commotion, and craning to see whether one's +neighbour has a slip. The, faces of the redoubtable three a study.) + +"I procured one of these slips," Mr. Crewe continued, "through a fellow- +member who has no use for it--whose intelligence, in fact, is underrated +by the gentlemen in Number Seven. I will read the slip. + +"'Vote yes on the question. Yes means that the report of the Committee +will be accepted, and that the Pingsquit bill will not pass. Wait for +Bascom's signal, and destroy this paper."' + +There was no need, indeed, for Mr. Crewe to say any more than that--no +need for the admirable discussion of railroad finance from an expert's +standpoint which followed to controvert Mr. Ridout's misleading +statements. The reading of the words on the slip of paper of which he +had so mysteriously got possession (through Mr. Hamilton Tooting) was +sufficient to bring about a disorder that for a full minute--Mr. Speaker +Doby found it impossible to quell. The gallery shook with laughter, and +honourable members with slips of paper in their hands were made as +conspicuous as if they had been caught wearing dunces' caps. + +It was then only, with belated wisdom, that Mr. Bascom and his two noble +companions gave up the fight, and let the horde across the bridge--too +late, as we shall see. The populace, led by a redoubtable leader, have +learned their strength. It is true that the shining senatorial twenty of +the body-guard stand ready to be hacked to pieces at their posts before +the Pingsquit bill shall become a law; and should unutterable treason +take place here, his Excellency is prepared to be drawn and quartered +rather than sign it. It is the Senate which, in this somewhat inaccurate +repetition of history, hold the citadel if not the bridge; and in spite +of the howling mob below their windows, scornfully refuse even to discuss +the Pingsquit bill. The Honourable Hilary Vane, whose face they study at +dinner time, is not worried. Popular wrath does not continue to boil, +and many changes will take place in the year before the Legislature meets +again. + +This is the Honourable Hilary's public face. But are there not private +conferences in room Number Seven of which we can know nothing-- +exceedingly uncomfortable conferences for Horatius and his companions? +Are there not private telegrams and letters to the president of the +Northeastern in New York advising him that the Pingsquit bill has passed +the House, and that a certain Mr. Crewe is primarily responsible? And +are there not queries--which history may disclose in after years--as to +whether Mr. Crewe's abilities as a statesman have not been seriously +underrated by those who should have been the first to perceive them? +Verily, pride goeth before a fall. + +In this modern version of ours, the fathers throng about another than +Horatius after the session of that memorable morning. Publicly and +privately, Mr. Crewe is being congratulated, and we know enough of his +character to appreciate the modesty with which the congratulations are +accepted. He is the same Humphrey Crewe that he was before he became the +corner-stone of the temple; success is a mere outward and visible sign of +intrinsic worth in the inner man, and Mr. Crewe had never for a moment +underestimated his true value. + +"There's, no use wasting time in talking about it," he told the grateful +members who sought to press his hands. "Go home and organize. I've got +your name. Get your neighbours into line, and keep me informed. I'll +pay for the postage-stamps. I'm no impractical reformer, and if we're +going to do this thing, we'll have to do it right." + +They left him, impressed by the force of this argument, with an added +respect for Mr. Crewe, and a vague feeling that they were pledged to +something which made not a few of them a trifle uneasy. Mr. Redbrook was +one of these. + +The felicitations of his new-found friend and convert, Mr. Tooting, Mr. +Crewe cut short with the terseness of a born commander. + +"Never mind that," he said, "and follow 'em up and get 'em pledged if you +can." + +Get 'em pledged! Pledged to what? Mr. Tooting evidently knew, for he +wasted no precious moments in asking questions. + +There is no time at this place to go into the feelings of Mr. Tom Gaylord +the younger when he learned that his bill had passed the House. He, too, +meeting Mr. Crewe in the square, took the opportunity to express his +gratitude to the member from Leith. + +"Come in on Friday afternoon, Gaylord," answered Mr. Crewe. "I've got +several things to talk to you about. Your general acquaintance around +the State will be useful, and there must be men you know of in the lumber +sections who can help us considerably." + +"Help us?" repeated young Tom, in same surprise. + +"Certainly," replied Mr. Crewe; "you don't think we're going to drop the +fight here, do you? We've got to put a stop in this State to political +domination by a railroad, and as long as there doesn't seem to be anyone +else to take hold, I'm going to. Your bill's a good bill, and we'll pass +it next session." + +Young Tom regarded Mr. Crewe with a frank stare. + +"I'm going up to the Pingsquit Valley on Friday," he answered. + +"Then you'd better come up to Leith to see me as soon as you get back," +said Mr. Crewe. "These things can't wait, and have to be dealt with +practically." + +Young Tom had not been the virtual head of the Gaylord Company for some +years without gaining a little knowledge of politics and humanity. The +invitation to Leith he valued, of course, but he felt that it would not +do to accept it with too much ardour. He was, he said, a very busy man. + +"That's the trouble with most people," declared Mr. Crewe; "they won't +take the time to bother about politics, and then they complain when +things don't go right. Now I'm givin' my time to it, when I've got other +large interests to attend to." + +On his way back to the Pelican, young Tom halted several times +reflectively, as certain points in this conversation which he seemed to +have missed at the time--came back to him. His gratitude to Mr. Crewe as +a public benefactor was profound, of course; but young Tom's sense of +humour was peculiar, and he laughed more than once, out loud, at nothing +at all. Then he became grave again, and went into the hotel and wrote a +long letter, which he addressed to Mr. Austen Vane. + +And now, before this chapter which contains these memorable events is +closed, one more strange and significant fact is to be chronicled. On +the evening of the day which saw Mr. Crewe triumphantly leading the +insurgent forces to victory, that gentleman sent his private secretary to +the office of the State Tribune to leave an order for fifty copies of the +paper to be delivered in the morning. Morning came, and the fifty +copies, and Mr. Crewe's personal copy in addition, were handed to him by +the faithful Waters when he entered his dining room at an early hour. +Life is full of disillusions. Could this be the State Tribune he held in +his hand? The State Tribune of Mr. Peter Pardriff, who had stood so +stanchly for Mr. Crewe and better things? Who had hitherto held the +words of the Leith statesman in such golden estimate as to curtail +advertising columns when it was necessary to print them for the public +good? + +Mr. Crewe's eye travelled from column to column, from page to page, in +vain. By some incredible oversight on the part of Mr. Pardriff, the +ringing words were not there,--nay, the soul-stirring events of that +eventful day appeared, on closer inspection, to have been deliberately +edited out! The terrible indignation of the righteous arose as Mr. Crewe +read (in the legislative proceedings of the day before) that the +Pingsquit bill had been discussed by certain members--of whom he was one- +-and passed. This was all--literally all! If Mr. Pardriff had lived in +the eighteenth century, he would probably have referred as casually to +the Boston massacre as a street fight--which it was. + +Profoundly disgusted with human kind,--as the noblest of us will be at +times,--Mr. Crewe flung down the paper, and actually forgot to send the +fifty copies to his friends! + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE DISTURBANCE OF JUNE SEVENTH + +After Mr. Speaker Doby had got his gold watch from an admiring and +apparently reunited House, and had wept over it, the Legislature +adjourned. This was about the first of April, that sloppiest and +windiest of months in a northern climate, and Mr. Crewe had intended, as +usual, to make a little trip southward to a club of which he was a +member. A sense of duty, instead, took him to Leith, where he sat +through the days in his study, dictating letters, poring over a great map +of the State which he had hung on the wall, and scanning long printed +lists. If we could stand behind him, we should see that these are what +are known as check-lists, or rosters of the voters in various towns. + +Mr. Crewe also has an unusual number of visitors for this muddy weather, +when the snow-water is making brooks of the roads. Interested observers- +-if there were any--might have remarked that his friendship with Mr. +Hamilton Tooting had increased, that gentleman coming up from Ripton at +least twice a week, and aiding Mr. Crewe to multiply his acquaintances by +bringing numerous strangers to see him. Mr. Tooting, as we know, had +abandoned the law office of the Honourable Hilary Vane and was now +engaged in travelling over the State, apparently in search of health. +These were signs, surely, which the wise might have read with profit: in +the offices, for instance, of the Honourable Hilary Vane in Ripton +Square, where seismic disturbances were registered; but the movement of +the needle (to the Honourable Hilary's eye) was almost imperceptible. +What observer, however experienced, would have believed that such +delicate tracings could herald a volcanic eruption? + +Throughout the month of April the needle kept up its persistent +registering, and the Honourable Hilary continued to smile. The +Honourable Jacob Botcher, who had made a trip to Ripton and had cited +that very decided earthquake shock of the Pingsquit bill, had been +ridiculed for his pains, and had gone away again comforted by communion +with a strong man. The Honourable Jacob had felt little shocks in his +fief: Mr. Tooting had visited it, sitting with his feet on the tables of +hotel waiting-rooms, holding private intercourse with gentlemen who had +been disappointed in office. Mr. Tooting had likewise been a sojourner +in the domain of the Duke of Putnam. But the Honourable Brush was not +troubled, and had presented Mr. Tooting with a cigar. + +In spite of the strange omission of the State Tribune to print his speech +and to give his victory in the matter of the Pingsquit bill proper +recognition, Mr. Crewe was too big a man to stop his subscription to the +paper. Conscious that he had done his duty in that matter, neither +praise nor blame could affect him; and although he had not been mentioned +since, he read it assiduously every afternoon upon its arrival at Leith, +feeling confident that Mr. Peter Pardriff (who had always in private +conversation proclaimed himself emphatically for reform) would not +eventually refuse--to a prophet--public recognition. One afternoon +towards the end of that month of April, when the sun had made the last +snow-drift into a pool, Mr. Crewe settled himself on his south porch and +opened the State Tribune, and his heart gave a bound as his eye fell upon +the following heading to the leading editorial:-- + + A WORTHY PUBLIC SERVANT FOR GOVERNOR + +Had his reward come at last? Had Mr. Peter Pardriff seen the error of +his way? Mr. Crewe leisurely folded back the sheet, and called to his +secretary, who was never far distant. + +"Look here," he said, "I guess Pardriff's recovered his senses. Look +here!" + +The tired secretary, ready with his pencil and notebook to order fifty +copies, responded, staring over his employer's shoulder. It has been +said of men in battle that they have been shot and have run forward some +hundred feet without knowing what has happened to them. And so Mr. Crewe +got five or six lines into that editorial before he realized in full the +baseness of Mr. Pardriff's treachery. + +"These are times" (so ran Mr. Pardriff's composition) when the sure and +steadying hand of a strong man is needed at the helm of State. A man of +conservative, business habits of mind; a man who weighs the value of +traditions equally with the just demands of a new era; a man with a +knowledge of public affairs derived from long experience;" (!!!), a man +who has never sought office, but has held it by the will of the people, +and who himself is a proof that the conduct of State institutions in the +past has been just and equitable. One who has served with distinction +upon such boards as the Railroad Commission, the Board of Equalization, +etc., etc." (!!!) "A stanch Republican, one who puts party before--" here +the newspaper began to shake a little, and Mr. Crewe could not for the +moment see whether the next word were place or principle. He skipped a +few lines. The Tribune, it appeared, had a scintillating idea, which +surely must have occurred to others in the State. "Why not the +Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton for the next governor?" + +The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton! + +It is a pleasure to record, at this crisis, that Mr. Crewe fixed upon his +secretary as steady an eye as though Mr. Pardriff's bullet had missed its +mark. + +"Get me," he said coolly, "the 'State Encyclopaedia of Prominent Men.'" +(Just printed. Fogarty and Co., Newcastle, publishers.) + +The secretary fetched it, open at the handsome and lifelike steel- +engraving of the Honourable Adam, with his broad forehead and kindly, +twinkling eyes, and the tuft of beard on his chin; with his ample +statesman's coat in natural creases, and his white shirt-front and little +black tie. Mr. Crewe gazed at this work of art long and earnestly. The +Honourable Adam B. Hunt did not in the least have the appearance of a +bolt from the blue. And then Mr. Crewe read his biography. + +Two things he shrewdly noted about that biography; it was placed, out of +alphabetical order, fourth in the book, and it was longer than any other +with one exception that of Mr. Ridout, the capital lawyer. Mr. Ridout's +place was second in this invaluable volume, he being preceded only by a +harmless patriarch. These facts were laid before Mr. Tooting, who was +directed by telephone to come to Leith as soon as he should arrive in +Ripton from his latest excursion. It was nine o'clock at night when that +long-suffering and mud-bespattered individual put in an appearance at the +door of his friend's study. + +"Because I didn't get on to it," answered Mr. Tooting, in response to a +reproach for not having registered a warning--for he was Mr. Crewe's +seismograph. "I knew old Adam vas on the Railroads' governor's bench, +but I hadn't any notion he'd been moved up to the top of the batting +list. I told you right. Ridout was going to be their next governor if +you hadn't singed him with the Pingsquit bill. This was done pretty +slick, wasn't it? Hilary got back from New York day before yesterday, +and Pardriff has the editorial to-day. Say, I always told you Pardriff +wasn't a reformer, didn't I?" + +Mr. Crewe looked pained. + +"I prefer to believe the best of people until I know the worst," he said. +"I did not think Mr. Pardriff capable of ingratitude." + +What Mr. Crewe meant by this remark is enigmatical. + +"He ain't," replied Mr. Tooting, "he's grateful for that red ticket he +carries around with him when he travels, and he's grateful to the +Honourable Adam B. Hunt for favours to come. Peter Pardriff's a grateful +cuss, all-right, all right." + +Mr. Crewe tapped his fingers on the desk thoughtfully. + +"The need of a reform campaign is more apparent than ever," he remarked. + +Mr. Tooting put his tongue in his cheek; and, seeing a dreamy expression +on his friend's face, accidentally helped himself to a cigar out of the +wrong box. + +"It's up to a man with a sense of duty and money to make it," Mr. Tooting +agreed, taking a long pull at the Havana. + +"As for the money," replied Mr. Crewe, "the good citizens of the State +should be willing to contribute largely. I have had a list of men of +means prepared, who will receive notices at the proper time." + +Mr. Hamilton Tooting spread out his feet, and appeared to be studying +them carefully. + +"It's funny you should have mentioned cash," he said, after a moment's +silence, "and it's tough on you to have to be the public-spirited man to +put it up at the start. I've got a little memorandum here," he added, +fumbling apologetically in his pocket; "it certainly costs something to +move the boys around and keep 'em indignant." + +Mr. Tooting put the paper on the edge of the desk, and Mr. Crewe, without +looking, reached out his hand for it, the pained expression returning to +his face. + +"Tooting," he said, "you've got a very flippant way of speaking of +serious things. It strikes me that these expenses are out of all +proportion to the simplicity of the task involved. It strikes me--ahem +that you might find, in some quarters at least, a freer response to a +movement founded on principle." + +"That's right," declared Mr. Tooting, "I've thought so myself. I've got +mad, and told 'em so to their faces. But you've said yourself, Mr. +Crewe, that we've got to deal with this thing practically." + +"Certainly," Mr. Crewe interrupted. He loved the word. + +"And we've got to get workers, haven't we? And it costs money to move +'em round, don't it? We haven't got a bushel basket of passes. Look +here," and he pushed another paper at Mr. Crewe, "here's ten new ones +who've made up their minds that you're the finest man in the State. That +makes twenty." + +Mr. Crewe took that paper deprecatingly, but nevertheless began a fire of +cross-questions on Mr. Tooting as to the personality, habits, and +occupations of the discerning ten in question, making certain little +marks of his own against each name. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Crewe +knew perfectly what he was about--although no one else did except Mr. +Tooting, who merely looked mysterious when questioned on the streets of +Ripton or Newcastle or Kingston. It was generally supposed, however, +that the gentleman from Leith was going to run for the State Senate, and +was attempting to get a following in other counties, in order to push +through his measures next time. Hence the tiny fluctuations of Hilary +Vane's seismograph an instrument, as will be shown, utterly out-of-date. +Not so the motto toujours l'audace. Geniuses continue (at long +intervals) to be born, and to live up to that motto. + +That seismograph of the Honourable Hilary's persisted in tracing only a +slightly ragged line throughout the beautiful month of May, in which +favourable season the campaign of the Honourable Adam B. Hunt took root +and flourished--apparently from the seed planted by the State Tribune. +The ground, as usual, had been carefully prepared, and trained gardeners +raked, and watered, and weeded the patch. It had been decreed and +countersigned that the Honourable Adam B. Hunt was the flower that was to +grow this year. + +There must be something vitally wrong with an instrument which failed to +register the great earthquake shock of June the seventh! + +Now that we have come to the point where this shock is to be recorded on +these pages, we begin to doubt whether our own pen will be able +adequately to register it, and whether the sheet is long enough and broad +enough upon which to portray the relative importance of the disturbance +created. The trouble is, that there is nothing to measure it by. What +other event in the history of the State produced the vexation of spirit, +the anger, the tears, the profanity; the derision, the laughter of fools, +the contempt; the hope, the glee, the prayers, the awe, the dumb +amazement at the superb courage of this act? No, for a just comparison +we shall have to reach back to history and fable: David and Goliath; +Theseus and the Minotaur; or, better still, Cadmus and the Dragon! It +was Cadmus (if we remember rightly) who wasted no time whatever, but +actually jumped down the dragon's throat and cut him up from the inside! +And it was Cadmus, likewise, who afterwards sowed the dragon's teeth. + +That wondrous clear and fresh summer morning of June the seventh will not +be forgotten for many years. The trees were in their early leaf in +Ripton Square, and the dark pine patches on Sawanec looked (from Austen's +little office) like cloud shadows against the shimmer of the tender +green. He sat at his table, which was covered with open law-books and +papers, but his eyes were on the distant mountain, and every scent-laden +breeze wafted in at his open window seemed the bearer of a tremulous, +wistful, yet imperious message--" Come!" Throughout the changing +seasons Sawanec called to him in words of love: sometimes her face was +hidden by cloud and fog and yet he heard her voice! Sometimes her +perfume as to-day--made him dream; sometimes, when the western heavens +were flooded with the golden light of the infinite, she veiled herself in +magic purple, when to gaze at her was an exquisite agony, and she became +as one forbidden to man. Though his soul cried out to her across the +spaces, she was not for him. She was not for him! + +With a sigh he turned to his law-books again, and sat for a while staring +steadfastly at a section of the 'Act of Consolidation of the Northeastern +Railroads' which he had stumbled on that morning. The section, if he +read its meaning aright, was fraught with the gravest consequences for +the Northeastern Railroads; if he read its meaning aright, the +Northeastern Railroads had been violating it persistently for many years +and were liable for unknown sums in damages. The discovery of it had +dazed him, and the consequences resulting from a successful suit under +the section would be so great that he had searched diligently, though in +vain, for some modification of it since its enactment. Why had not some +one discovered it before? This query appeared to be unanswerable, until +the simple--though none the less remarkable--solution came to him, that +perhaps no definite occasion had hitherto arisen for seeking it. +Undoubtedly the Railroads' attorneys must know of its existence--his own +father, Hilary Vane, having been instrumental in drawing up the Act. And +a long period had elapsed under which the Northeastern Railroads had been +a law unto themselves. + +The discovery was of grave import to Austen. A month before, chiefly +through the efforts of his friend, Tom, who was gradually taking his +father's place in the Gaylord Lumber Company, Austen had been appointed +junior counsel for that corporation. The Honourable Galusha Hammer still +remained the senior counsel, but was now confined in his house at +Newcastle by an illness which made the probability of his return to +active life extremely doubtful; and Tom had repeatedly declared that in +the event of his non-recovery Austen should have Mr. Hammer's place. As +counsel for the Gaylord Lumber Company, it was clearly his duty to call +the attention of young Mr. Gaylord to the section; and in case Mr. Hammer +did not resume his law practice, it would fall upon Austen himself to +bring the suit. His opponent in this matter would be his own father + +The consequences of this culminating conflict between them, the coming of +which he had long dreaded--although he had not foreseen its specific +cause--weighed heavily upon Austen. It was Tom Gaylord himself who +abruptly aroused him from his revery by bursting in at the door. + +"Have you heard what's up?" he cried, flinging down a newspaper before +Austen's eyes. "Have you seen the Guardian?" + +"What's the matter now, Tom?" + +"Matter!" exclaimed Tom; "read that. Your friend and client, the +Honourable Humphrey Crewe, is out for governor." + +"Humphrey Crewe for governor!" + +"On an anti-railroad platform. I might have known something of the kind +was up when he began to associate with Tooting, and from the way he spoke +to me in March. But who'd have thought he'd have the cheek to come out +for governor? Did you ever hear of such tommyrot?" + +Austen looked grave. + +"I'm not sure it's such tommyrot," he said. + +"Not tommyrot?" Tom ejaculated. "Everybody's laughing. When I passed +the Honourable Hilary's door just now, Brush Bascom and some of the old +liners were there, reciting parts of the proclamation, and the boys down +in the Ripton House are having the time of their lives." + +Austen took the Guardian, and there, sure enough, filling a leading +column, and in a little coarser type than the rest of the page, he read: + + DOWN WITH RAILROAD RULE! + + The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith, at the request + of twenty prominent citizens, consents to become a candidate + for the Republican Nomination for Governor. + + Ringing letter of acceptance, in which he denounces the + political power of the Northeastern Railroads, and declares + that the State is governed from a gilded suite of offices in + New Pork. + +"The following letter, evincing as it does a public opinion thoroughly +aroused in all parts of the State against the present disgraceful +political conditions, speaks for itself. The standing and character of +its signers give it a status which Republican voters cannot ignore." + +The letter followed. It prayed Mr. Crewe, in the name of decency and +good government, to carry the standard of honest men to victory. Too +long had a proud and sovereign State writhed under the heel of an all- +devouring corporation! Too long had the Northeastern Railroads elected, +for their own selfish ends, governors and legislatures and controlled +railroad commissions The spirit of 1776 was abroad in the land. It was +eminently fitting that the Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith, who had +dared to fling down the gauntlet in the face of an arrogant power, should +be the leader of the plain people, to recover the rights which had been +wrested from them. Had he not given the highest proof that he had the +people's interests at heart? He was clearly a man who "did things." + +At this point Austen looked up and smiled. + +"Tom," he asked, "has it struck you that this is written in the same +inimitable style as a part of the message of the Honourable Asa Gray?" + +Tom slapped his knee. + +"That's exactly what I said I!" he cried. "Tooting wrote it. I'll swear +to it." + +"And the twenty prominent citizens--do you know any of 'em, Tom?" + +"Well," said Tom, in delighted appreciation, "I've heard of three of 'em, +and that's more than any man I've met can boast of. Ed Dubois cuts my +hair when I go to Kingston. He certainly is a prominent citizen in the +fourth ward. Jim Kendall runs the weekly newspaper in Grantley--I +understood it was for sale. Bill Clements is prominent enough up at +Groveton. He wanted a trolley franchise some years ago, you remember." + +"And didn't get it." + +Mr. Crewe's answer was characteristically terse and businesslike. The +overwhelming compliment of a request from such gentlemen must be treated +in the nature of a command--and yet he had hesitated for several weeks, +during which period he had cast about for another more worthy of the +honour. Then followed a somewhat technical and (to the lay mind) obscure +recapitulation of the iniquities the Northeastern was committing, which +proved beyond peradventure that Mr. Crewe knew what he was talking about; +such phrases as "rolling stock," "milking the road"--an imposing array +of facts and figures. Mr. Crewe made it plain that he was a man who "did +things." And if it were the will of Heaven that he became governor, +certain material benefits would as inevitably ensue as the day follows +the night. The list of the material benefits, for which there was a +crying need, bore a strong resemblance to a summary of the worthy +measures upon which Mr. Crewe had spent so much time and labour in the +last Legislature. + +Austen laid down the paper, leaned back in his chair, and thrust his +hands in his pockets, and with a little vertical pucker in his forehead, +regarded his friend. + +"What do you think of that?" Tom demanded. "Now, what do you think of +it?" + +"I think," said Austen, "that he'll scare the life out of the +Northeastern before he gets through with them." + +"What!" exclaimed Tom, incredulously. He had always been willing to +accept Austen's judgment on men and affairs, but this was pretty stiff. +"What makes you think so?" + +"Well, people don't know Mr. Crewe, for one thing. And they are +beginning to have a glimmer of light upon the Railroad." + +"Do you mean to say he has a chance for the nomination?" + +"I don't know. It depends upon how much the voters find out about him +before the convention." + +Tom sat down rather heavily. + +"You could have been governor," he complained reproachfully, "by raising +your hand. You've got more ability than any man in the State, and you +sit here gazin' at that mountain and lettin' a darned fool millionaire +walk in ahead of you." + +Austen rose and crossed over to Mr. Gaylord's chair, and, his hands still +in his pockets, looked down thoughtfully into that gentleman's square and +rugged face. + +"Tom," he said, "there's no use discussing this delusion of yours, which +seems to be the only flaw in an otherwise sane character. We must try to +keep it from the world." + +Tom laughed in spite of himself. + +"I'm hanged if I understand you," he declared, "but I never did. You +think Crewe and Tooting may carry off the governorship, and you don't +seem to care." + +"I do care," said Austen, briefly. He went to the window and stood for a +moment with his back to his friend, staring across at Sawanec. Tom had +learned by long experience to respect these moods, although they were to +him inexplicable. At length Austen turned. + +"Tom," he said, "can you come in to-morrow about this time? If you +can't, I'll go to your office if you will let me know when you'll be in. +There's a matter of business I want to talk to you about." + +Tom pulled out his watch. + +"I've got to catch a train for Mercer," he replied, "but I will come in +in the morning and see you." + +A quarter of an hour later Austen went down the narrow wooden flight of +stairs into the street, and as he emerged from the entry almost bumped +into the figure of a young man that was hurrying by. He reached out and +grasped the young man by the collar, pulling him up so short as almost to +choke him. + +"Hully gee!" cried the young man whose progress had been so rudely +arrested. "Great snakes!" (A cough.) "What're you tryin' to do? Oh," +(apologetically) "it's you, Aust. Let me go. This day ain't long enough +for me. Let me go." + +Austen kept his grip and regarded Mr. Tooting thoughtfully. + +"I want to speak to you, Ham," he said; "better come upstairs." + +"Say, Aust, on the dead, I haven't time. Pardriff's waitin' for some +copy now." + +"Just for a minute, Ham," said Austen; "I won't keep you long." + +"Leggo my collar, then, if you don't want to choke me. Say, I don't +believe you know how strong you are." + +"I didn't know you wore a collar any more, Ham," said Austen. + +Mr. Tooting grinned in appreciation of this joke. + +"You must think you've got one of your Wild West necktie parties on," he +gasped. "I'll come. But if you love me, don't let the boys in Hilary's +office see me." + +"They use the other entry," answered Austen, indicating that Mr. Tooting +should go up first--which he did. When they reached the office Austen +shut the door, and stood with his back against it, regarding Mr. Tooting +thoughtfully. + +At first Mr. Tooting returned the look with interest swagger--aggression +would be too emphatic, and defiance would not do. His was the air, +perhaps, of Talleyrand when he said, "There seems to be an inexplicable +something in me that brings bad luck to governments that neglect me:" the +air of a man who has made a brilliant coup d'etat. All day he had worn +that air--since five o'clock in the morning, when he had sprung from his +pallet. The world might now behold the stuff that was in Hamilton +Tooting. Power flowed out of his right hand from an inexhaustible +reservoir which he had had the sagacity to tap, and men leaped into +action at his touch. He, the once, neglected, had the destiny of a State +in his keeping. + +Gradually, however, it became for some strange reason difficult to +maintain that aggressive stare upon Austen Vane, who shook his head +slowly. + +"Ham, why did you do it?" he asked. + +"Why?" cried Mr. Tooting, fiercely biting back a treasonable smile. "Why +not? Ain't he the best man in the State to make a winner? Hasn't he got +the money, and the brains, and the get-up-and-git? Why, it's a sure +thing. I've been around the State, and I know the sentiment. We've got +'em licked, right now. What have you got against it? You're on our +side, Aust." + +"Ham," said Austen, "are you sure you have the names and addresses of +those twenty prominent citizens right, so that any voter may go out and +find 'em?" + +"What are you kidding about, Aust?" retorted Mr. Tooting, biting back the +smile again. "Say, you never get down to business with me. You don't +blame Crewe for comin' out, do you?" + +"I don't see how Mr. Crewe could have resisted such an overwhelming +demand," said Austen. "He couldn't shirk such a duty. He says so +himself, doesn't he?" + +"Oh, go on!" exclaimed Mr. Tooting, who was not able to repress a grin. + +"The letter of the twenty must have been a great surprise to Mr. Crewe. +He says he was astonished. Did the whole delegation go up to Leith, or +only a committee?" + +Mr. Tooting's grin had by this time spread all over his face--a flood +beyond his control. + +"Well, there's no use puffin' it on with you, Aust. That was done pretty +slick, that twenty-prominent-citizen business, if I do say it myself. +But you don't know that feller Crewe--he's a full-size cyclone when he +gets started, and nothin' but a range of mountains could stop him." + +"It must be fairly exciting to--ride him, Ham." + +"Say, but it just is. Kind of breathless, though. He ain't very well +known around the State, and he was bound to run--and I just couldn't let +him come out without any clothes on." + +"I quite appreciate your delicacy, Ham." + +Mr. Tooting's face took on once more a sheepish look, which changed +almost immediately to one of disquietude. + +"Say, I'll come back again some day and kid with you. I've got to go, +Aust--that's straight. This is my busy day." + +"Wouldn't you gain some time if you left by the window?" Austen asked. + +At this suggestion Mr. Tooting's expressive countenance showed genuine +alarm. + +"Say, you ain't going to put up any Wild West tricks on me, are you? I +heard you nearly flung Tom Gaylord out of the one in the other room." + +"If this were a less civilized place, Ham, I'd initiate you into what is +known as the bullet dance. As it is, I have a great mind to speed you on +your way by assisting you downstairs." + +Mr. Hamilton Tooting became ashy pale. + +"I haven't done anything to you, Aust. Say--you didn't--?" He did not +finish. + +Terrified by something in Austen's eye, which may or may not have been +there at the time of the Blodgett incident, Mr. Tooting fled without +completing his inquiry. And, his imagination being great, he reproduced +for himself such a vivid sensation of a bullet-hole in his spine that he +missed his footing near the bottom, and measured his length in the entry. +Such are the humiliating experiences which sometimes befall the +Talleyrands--but rarely creep into their biographies. + +Austen, from the top of the stairway, saw this catastrophe, but did not +smile. He turned on his heel, and made his way slowly around the corner +of the passage into the other part of the building, and paused at the +open doorway of the Honourable Hilary's outer office. By the street +windows sat the Honourable Brush Bascom, sphinx-like, absorbing wisdom +and clouds of cigar smoke which emanated from the Honourable Nat +Billings. + +"Howdy, Austen?" said Brush, genially, lookin' for the Honourable Hilary? +Flint got up from New York this morning, and sent for him a couple of +hours ago. He'll be back at two." + +"Have you read the pronunciamento?" inquired Mr. Billings. "Say, Austen, +knowin' your sentiments, I wonder you weren't one of the twenty prominent +citizens." + +"All you anti-railroad fellers ought to get together," Mr. Bascom +suggested; "you've got us terrified since your friend from Leith turned +the light of publicity on us this morning. I hear Ham Tooting's been in +and made you an offer." + +News travels fast in Ripton. + +"Austen kicked him downstairs," said Jimmy Towle, the office boy, who had +made a breathless entrance during the conversation, and felt it to be the +psychological moment to give vent to the news with which he was bursting. + +"Is that straight?" Mr. Billings demanded. He wished he had done it +himself. "Is that straight?" he repeated, but Austen had gone. + +"Of course it's straight," said Jimmy Towle, vigorously. A shrewd +observer of human nature, he had little respect for Senator Billings. +"Ned Johnson saw him pick himself up at the foot of Austen's stairway." + +The Honourable Brush's agate eyes caught the light, and he addressed Mr. +Billings in a voice which, by dint of long training, only carried a few +feet. + +"There's the man the Northeastern's got to look out for," he said. "The +Humphrey Crewes don't count. But if Austen Vane ever gets started, +there'll be trouble. Old man Flint's got some such idea as that, too. I +overheard him givin' it to old Hilary once, up at Fairview, and Hilary +said he couldn't control him. I guess nobody else can control him. I +wish I'd seen him kick Ham downstairs." + +"I'd like to kick him downstairs," said Mr. Billings, savagely biting off +another cigar. + +"I guess you hadn't better try it, Nat," said Mr. Bascom. + +Meanwhile Austen had returned to his own office, and shut the door. His +luncheon hour came and went, and still he sat by the open window gazing +out across the teeming plain, and up the green valley whence the Blue +came singing from the highlands. In spirit he followed the water to +Leith, and beyond, where it swung in a wide circle arid hurried between +wondrous hills like those in the backgrounds of the old Italians: hills +of close-cropped pastures, dotted with shapely sentinel oaks and maples +which cast sharp, rounded shadows on the slopes at noonday; with thin +fantastic elms on the gentle sky-lines, and forests massed here and +there--silent, impenetrable hills from a story-book of a land of mystery. +The river coursed between them on its rocky bed, flinging its myriad gems +to the sun. This was the Vale of the Blue, and she had touched it with +meaning for him, and gone. + +He drew from his coat a worn pocket-book, and from the pocket-book a +letter. It was dated in New York in February, and though he knew it by +heart he found a strange solace in the pain which it gave him to reread +it. He stared at the monogram on the paper, which seemed so emblematic +of her; for he had often reflected that her things--even such minute +insignia as this--belonged to her. She impressed them not only with her +taste, but with her character. The entwined letters, Y. F., of the +design were not, he thought, of a meaningless, frivolous daintiness, but +stood for something. Then he read the note again. It was only a note. + + "MY DEAR MR. VANE: I have come back to find my mother ill, and I am + taking her to France. We are sailing, unexpectedly, to-morrow, + there being a difficulty about a passage later. I cannot refrain + from sending you a line before I go to tell you that I did you an + injustice. You will no doubt think it strange that I should write + to you, but I shall be troubled until it is off my mind. I am + ashamed to have been so stupid. I think I know now why you would + not consent to be a candidate, and I respect you for it. + + Sincerely your friend, + + "VICTORIA FLINT." + +What did she know? What had she found out? Had she seen her father and +talked to him? That was scarcely possible, since her mother had been ill +and she had left at once. Austen had asked himself these questions many +times, and was no nearer the solution. He had heard nothing of her +since, and he told himself that perhaps it was better, after all, that +she was still away. To know that she was at Fairview, and not to be able +to see her, were torture indeed. + +The note was formal enough, and at times he pretended to be glad that it +was. How could it be otherwise? And why should he interpret her +interest in him in other terms than those in which it was written? She +had a warm heart--that he knew; and he felt for her sake that he had no +right to wish for more than the note expressed. After several +unsuccessful attempts; he had answered it in a line, "I thank you, and I +understand." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE "BOOK OF ARGUMENTS" IS OPENED + +The Honourable Hilary Vane returned that day from Fairview in no very +equable frame of mind. It is not for us to be present at the Councils on +the Palatine when the "Book of Arguments" is opened, and those fitting +the occasion are chosen and sent out to the faithful who own printing- +presses and free passes. The Honourable Hilary Vane bore away from the +residence of his emperor a great many memoranda in an envelope, and he +must have sighed as he drove through the leafy roads for Mr. Hamilton +Tooting, with his fertile mind and active body. A year ago, and Mr. +Tooting would have seized these memoranda of majesty, and covered their +margins with new suggestions: Mr. Tooting, on occasions, had even made +additions to the "Book of Arguments" itself--additions which had been +used in New York and other States with telling effect against Mr. Crewes +there. Mr. Tooting knew by heart the time of going to press of every +country newspaper which had passes (in exchange for advertising!). It +was two o'clock when the Honourable Hilary reached his office, and by +three all the edicts would have gone forth, and the grape-shot and +canister would have been on their way to demolish the arrogance of this +petty Lord of Leith.. + +"Tooting's a dangerous man, Vane. You oughtn't to have let him go," Mr. +Flint had said. "I don't care a snap of my finger for the other fellow." + +How Mr. Tooting's ears would have burned, and how his blood would have +sung with pride to have heard himself called dangerous by the president +of the Northeastern! + +He who, during all the valuable years of his services, had never had a +sign that that potentate was cognizant of his humble existence. + +The Honourable Brush Bascom, as we know, was a clever man; and although +it had never been given him to improve on the "Book of Arguments," he had +ideas of his own. On reading Mr. Crewe's defiance that morning, he had, +with characteristic promptitude and a desire to be useful, taken the +first train out of Putnam for Ripton, to range himself by the side of the +Honourable Hilary in the hour of need. The Feudal System anticipates, +and Mr. Bascom did not wait for a telegram. + +On the arrival of the chief counsel from Fairview other captains had put +in an appearance, but Mr. Bascom alone was summoned, by a nod, into the +private office. What passed between them seems too sacred to write +about. The Honourable Hilary would take one of the slips from the packet +and give it to Mr. Bascom. + +"If that were recommended, editorially, to the Hull Mercury, it might +serve to clear away certain misconceptions in that section. + +"Certain," Mr. Bascom would reply. + +"It has been thought wise," the Honourable Hilary continued, "to send an +annual to the Groveton News. Roberts, his name is. Suppose you +recommend to Mr. Roberts that an editorial on this subject would be +timely." + +Slip number two. Mr. Bascom marks it 'Roberts.' Subject: "What would +the State do without the Railroad?" + +"And Grenville, being a Prohibition centre, you might get this worked up +for the Advertiser there." + +Mr. Bascom's agate eyes are full of light as he takes slip number three. +Subject: "Mr. Humphrey Crewe has the best-stocked wine cellar in the +State, and champagne every night for dinner." Slip number four, taken +direct from the second chapter of the "Book of Arguments": "Mr. Crewe is +a reformer because he has been disappointed in his inordinate ambitions," +etc. Slip number five: "Mr. Crewe is a summer resident, with a house in +New York," etc., etc. + +Slip number six, "Book of Arguments," paragraph, chapter: "Humphrey +Crewe, Defamer of our State." Assigned, among others, to the Ripton +Record. + +"Paul Pardriff went up to Leith to-day," said Mr. Bascom. + +"Go to see him," replied the Honourable Hilary. "I've been thinking for +some time that the advertising in the Ripton Record deserves an +additional annual." + +Mr. Bascom, having been despatched on this business, and having +voluntarily assumed control of the Empire Bureau of Publication, the +chief counsel transacted other necessary legal business with State +Senator Billings and other gentlemen who were waiting. At three o'clock +word was sent in that Mr. Austen Vane was outside, and wished to speak +with his father as soon as the latter was at leisure. Whereupon the +Honourable Hilary shooed out the minor clients, leaned back in his chair, +and commanded that his son be admitted. + +"Judge," said Austen, as he closed the door behind him, "I don't want to +bother you." + +The Honourable Hilary regarded his son for a moment fixedly out of his +little eyes. + +"Humph" he said. + +Austen looked down at his father. The Honourable Hilary's expression was +not one which would have aroused, in the ordinary man who beheld him, a +feeling of sympathy or compassion: it was the impenetrable look with +which he had faced his opponents for many years. But Austen felt +compassion. + +"Perhaps I'd better come in another time--when you are less busy," he +suggested. + +"Who said I was busy?" inquired the Honourable Hilary. + +Austen smiled a little sadly. One would have thought, by that smile, +that the son was the older and wiser of the two. + +"I didn't mean to cast any reflection on your habitual industry, Judge," +he said. + +"Humph!" exclaimed Mr. Vane. "I've got more to do than sit in the window +and read poetry, if that's what you mean." + +"You never learned how to enjoy life, did you, Judge?" he said. "I don't +believe you ever really had a good time. Own up." + +"I've had sterner things to think about. I've had 'to earn my living-- +and give you a good time." + +"I appreciate it," said Austen. + +"Humph! Sometimes I think you don't show it a great deal," the Honourable +Hilary answered. + +"I show it as far as I can, Judge," said his son. "I can't help the way +I was made." + +"I try to take account of that," said the Honourable Hilary. + +Austen laughed. + +"I'll drop in to-morrow morning," he said. + +But the Honourable Hilary pointed to a chair on the other side of the +desk. + +"Sit down. To-day's as good as to-morrow," he remarked, with sententious +significance, characteristically throwing the burden of explanation on +the visitor. + +Austen found the opening unexpectedly difficult. He felt that this was a +crisis in their relations, and that it had come at an unfortunate hour. + +"Judge," he said, trying to control the feeling that threatened to creep +into his voice, "we have jogged along for some years pretty peaceably, +and I hope you won't misunderstand what I'm going to say." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted. + +"It was at your request that I went into the law. I have learned to like +that profession. I have stuck to it as well as my wandering, Bohemian +nature will permit, and while I do not expect you necessarily to feel any +pride in such progress as I have made, I have hoped--that you might feel +an interest." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted again. + +"I suppose I am by nature a free-lance," Austen continued. "You were +good enough to acknowledge the force of my argument when I told you it +would be best for me to strike out for myself. And I suppose it was +inevitable, such being the case, and you the chief counsel for the +Northeastern Railroads, that I should at some time or another be called +upon to bring suits against your client. It would have been better, +perhaps, if I had not started to practise in this State. I did so from +what I believe was a desire common to both of us to--to live together." + +The Honourable Hilary reached for his Honey Dew, but he did not speak. + +"To live together," Austen repeated. "I want to say that, if I had gone +away, I believe I should always have regretted the fact." He paused, and +took from his pocket a slip of paper. "I made up my mind from the start +that I would always be frank with you. In spite of my desire to amass +riches, there are some suits against the Northeastern which I have-- +somewhat quixotically--refused. Here is a section of the act which +permitted the consolidation of the Northeastern Railroads. You are no +doubt aware of its existence." + +The Honourable Hilary took the slip of paper in his hand and stared at +it. "The rates for fares and freights existing at the time of the +passage of this act shall mot be increased on the roads leased or united +under it." What his sensations were when he read it no man might have +read in his face, but his hand trembled a little, and along silence +ensued before he gave it back to his son with the simple comment:-- + +"Well?" + +"I do not wish to be understood to ask your legal opinion, although you +probably know that lumber rates have been steadily raised, and if a suit +under that section were successful the Gaylord Lumber Company could +recover a very large sum of money from the Northeastern Railroads," said +Austen. "Having discovered the section, I believe it to be my duty to +call it to the attention of the Gaylords. What I wish to know is, +whether my taking the case would cause you any personal inconvenience or +distress? If so, I will refuse it." + +"No," answered the Honourable Hilary, "it won't. Bring suit. Much use +it'll be. Do you expect they can recover under that section?" + +"I think it is worth trying," said Austen. + +"Why didn't somebody try it before?" asked the Honourable Hilary. + +"See here, Judge, I wish you'd let me out of an argument about it. Suit +is going to be brought, whether I bring it or another man. If you would +prefer for any reason that I shouldn't bring it--I won't. I'd much +rather resign as counsel for the Gaylords--and I am prepared to do so." + +"Bring suit," answered the Honourable Hilary, quickly, "bring suit by all +means. And now's your time. This seems to be a popular season for +attacking the property which is the foundation of the State's +prosperity." ("Book of Arguments," chapter 3.) + +In spite of himself, Austen smiled again. Long habit had accustomed +Hilary Vane to put business considerations before family ties; and this +habit had been the secret of his particular success. And now, rather +than admit by the least sign the importance of his son's discovery of the +statute (which he had had in mind for many years, and to which he had +more than once, by the way, called Mr. Flint's attention), the Honourable +Hilary deliberately belittled the matter as part and parcel of the +political tactics against the Northeastern. + +Sears caused by differences of opinion are soon healed; words count for +nothing, and it is the soul that attracts or repels. Mr. Vane was not +analytical, he had been through a harassing day, and he was unaware that +it was not Austen's opposition, but Austen's smile, which set the torch +to his anger. Once, shortly after his marriage, when he had come home in +wrath after a protracted quarrel with Mr. Tredway over the orthodoxy of +the new minister, in the middle of his indignant recital of Mr. Tredway's +unwarranted attitude, Sarah Austen had smiled. The smile had had in it, +to be sure, nothing of conscious superiority, but it had been utterly +inexplicable to Hilary Vane. He had known for the first time what it was +to feel murder in the heart, and if he had not rushed out of the room, he +was sure he would have strangled her. After all, the Hilary Vanes of +this world cannot reasonably be expected to perceive the humour in their +endeavours. + +Now the son's smile seemed the reincarnation of the mother's. That smile +was in itself a refutation of motive on Austen's part which no words +could have made more emphatic; it had in it (unconsciously, too) +compassion for and understanding of the Honourable Hilary's mood and +limitations. Out of the corner of his mental vision--without grasping +it--the Honourable Hilary perceived this vaguely. It was the smile in +which a parent privately indulges when a child kicks his toy locomotive +because its mechanism is broken. It was the smile of one who, +unforgetful of the scheme of the firmament and the spinning planets, will +not be moved to anger by him who sees but the four sides of a pit. + +Hilary Vane grew red around the eyes--a danger signal of the old days. + +"Take the suit," he said. "If you don't, I'll make it known all over the +State that you started it. I'll tell Mr. Flint to-morrow. Take it, do +you hear me? You ask me if I have any pride in you. I answer, yes. I'd +like to see what you can do. I've done what I could for you, and now I +wash my hands of you. Go,--ruin yourself if you want to. You've always +been headed that way, and there's no use trying to stop you. You don't +seem to have any notion of decency or order, or any idea of the principle +on which this government was based. Attack property destroy it. So much +the better for you and your kind. Join the Humphrey Crewes--you belong +with 'em. Give those of us who stand for order and decency as much +trouble as you can. Brand us as rascals trying to enrich ourselves with +politics, and proclaim yourselves saints nobly striving to get back the +rights of the people. If you don't bring that suit, I tell you I'll give +you the credit for it--and I mean what I say." + +Austen got to his feet. His own expression, curiously enough, had not +changed to one of anger. His face had set, but his eyes held the look +that seemed still to express compassion, and what he felt was a sorrow +that went to the depths of his nature. What he had so long feared--what +he knew they had both feared--had come at last. + +"Good-by, Judge," he said. + +Hilary Vane stared at him dumbly. His anger had not cooled, his eyes +still flamed, but he suddenly found himself bereft of speech. Austen put +his hand on his father's shoulder, and looked down silently into his +face. But Hilary was stiff as in a rigour, expressionless save for the +defiant red in his eye. + +"I don't think you meant all that, Judge, and I don't intend to hold it +against you." + +Still Hilary stared, his lips in the tight line which was the emblem of +his character, his body rigid. He saw his son turn and walk to the door, +and turn again with his handle on the knob, and Hilary did not move. The +door closed, and still he sat there, motionless, expressionless. + +Austen was hailed by those in the outer office, but he walked through +them as though the place were empty. Rumours sprang up behind him of +which he was unconscious; the long-expected quarrel had come; Austen had +joined the motley ranks of the rebels under Mr. Crewe. Only the office +boy, Jimmy Towle, interrupted the jokes that were flying by repeating, +with dogged vehemence, "I tell you it ain't so. Austen kicked Ham +downstairs. Ned Johnson saw him." Nor was it on account of this +particular deed that Austen was a hero in Jimmy's eyes. + +Austen, finding himself in the square, looked at his watch. It was four +o'clock. He made his way under the maples to the house in Hanover +Street, halted for a moment contemplatively before the familiar classic +pillars of its porch, took a key from his pocket, and (unprecedented +action!) entered by the front door. Climbing to the attic, he found two +valises--one of which he had brought back from Pepper County--and took +them to his own room. They held, with a little crowding, most of his +possessions, including a photograph of Sarah Austen, which he left on the +bureau to the last. Once or twice he paused in his packing to gaze at +the face, striving to fathom the fleeting quality of her glance which the +photograph had so strangely caught. In that glance nature had stamped +her enigma--for Sarah Austen was a child of nature. Hers was the gentle +look of wild things--but it was more; it was the understanding of--the +unwritten law of creation, the law by which the flowers grow, and wither; +the law by which the animal springs upon its prey, and, unerring, seeks +its mate; the law of the song of the waters, and the song of the morning +stars; the law that permits evil and pain and dumb, incomprehensible +suffering; the law that floods at sunset the mountain lands with colour +and the soul with light; and the law that rends the branches in the blue +storm. Of what avail was anger against it, or the puny rage of man? +Hilary Vane, not recognizing it, had spent his force upon it, like a hawk +against a mountain wall, but Austen looked at his mother's face and +understood. In it was not the wisdom of creeds and cities, but the +unworldly wisdom which comprehends and condones. + +His packing finished, with one last glance at the room Austen went +downstairs with his valises and laid them on the doorstep. Then he went +to the stable and harnessed Pepper, putting into the buggy his stable +blanket and halter and currycomb, and, driving around to the front of the +house, hitched the horse at the stone post, and packed the valises in the +back of the buggy. After that he walked slowly to the back of the house +and looked in at the kitchen window. Euphrasia, her thin arms bare to +the elbow, was bending over a wash-tub. He spoke her name, and as she +lifted her head a light came into her face which seemed to make her young +again. She dried her hands hastily on her apron as she drew towards him. +He sprang through the window, and patted her on the back--his usual +salutation. And as she raised her eyes to his (those ordinarily sharp +eyes of Euphrasia's), they shone with an admiration she had accorded to +no other human being since he had come into the world. Terms of +endearment she had, characteristically, never used, she threw her soul +into the sounding of his name. + +"Off to the hills, Austen? I saw you a-harnessing of Pepper." + +"Phrasie," he said, still patting her, "I'm going to the country for a +while." + +"To the country?" she repeated. + +"To stay on a farm for a sort of vacation." + +Her face brightened. + +"Goin' to take a real vacation, be you?" + +He laughed. + +"Oh, I don't have to work very hard, Phrasie. You know I get out a good +deal. I just thought--I just thought I'd like to--sleep in the country-- +for a while." + +"Well," answered Euphrasia, "I guess if you've took the notion, you've +got to go. It was that way with your mother before you. I've seen her +leave the house on a bright Sabbath half an hour before meetin' to be +gone the whole day, and Hilary and all the ministers in town couldn't +stop her." + +"I'll drop in once in a while to see you, Phrasie. I'll be at Jabe +Jenney's." + +"Jabe's is not more than three or four miles from Flint's place," +Euphrasia remarked. + +"I've thought of that," said Austen. + +"You'd thought of it!" + +Austen coloured. + +The distance is nothing," he said quickly, "with Pepper." + +"And you'll come and see me?" asked Euphrasia. + +"If you'll do something for me," he said. + +"I always do what you want, Austen. You know I'm not able to refuse +you." + +He laid his hands on her shoulders. + +"You'll promise?" he asked. + +"I'll promise," said Euphrasia, solemnly. + +He was silent for a moment, looking down at her. + +"I want you to promise to stay here and take care of the Judge." + +Fright crept into her eyes, but his own were smiling, reassuring. + +"Take care of him!" she cried, the very mention of Hilary raising the +pitch of her voice. "I guess I'll have to. Haven't I took care of him +nigh on forty years, and small thanks and recompense I get for it except +when you're here. I've wore out my life takin' care of him" (more +gently). "What do you mean by makin' me promise such a thing, Austen?" + +"Well," said Austen, slowly, "the Judge is worried now. Things are not +going as smoothly with him as usual." + +"Money?" demanded Euphrasia. "He ain't lost money, has he?" + +A light began to dance in Austen's eyes in spite of the weight within +him. + +"Now, Phrasie," he said, lifting her chin a little, "you know you don't +care any more about money than I do." + +"Lord help me," she exclaimed, "Lord help me if I didn't! And as long as +you don't care for it, and no sense can be knocked into your head about +it, I hope you'll marry somebody that does know the value of it. If +Hilary was to lose what he has now, before it comes rightly to you, he'd +ought to be put in jail." + +Austen laughed, and shook his head. + +"Phrasie, the Lord did you a grave injustice when he didn't make you a +man, but I suppose he'll give you a recompense hereafter. No, I believe +I am safe in saying that the Judge's securities are still secure. Not +that I really know--or care--" (shakes of the head from Euphrasia). +"Poor old Judge! Worse things than finance are troubling him now." + +"Not a woman!" cried Euphrasia, horror-stricken at the very thought. "He +hasn't took it into his head after all these years--" + +"No," said Austen, laughing, "no, no. It's not quite as bad as that, but +it's pretty bad." + +"In Heaven's name, what is it?" she demanded. +"Reformers," said Austen. + +"Reformers?" she repeated. "What might they be?" + +"Well," answered Austen, "you might call them a new kind of caterpillar-- +only they feed on corporations instead of trees." + +Euphrasia shook her head vigorously. + +"Go 'long," she exclaimed. "When you talk like that I never can follow +you, Austen. If Hilary has any worries, I guess he brought 'em on +himself. I never knew him to fail." + +"Ambitious and designing persons are making trouble for his railroad." + +"Well, I never took much stock in that railroad," said Euphrasia, with +emphasis. "I never was on it but an engine gave out, and the cars was +jammed, and it wasn't less than an hour late. And then they're eternally +smashin' folks or runnin' 'em down. You served 'em right when you made +'em pay that Meader man six thousand dollars, and I told Hilary so." She +paused, and stared at Austen fixedly as a thought came into her head. +"You ain't leavin' him because of this trouble, are you, Austen?" + +"Phrasie," he said, "I--I don't want to quarrel with him now. I think it +would be easy to quarrel with him." + +"You mean him quarrel with you," returned Euphrasia. "I'd like to see +him! If he did, it wouldn't take me long to pack up and leave." + +"That's just it. I don't want that to happen. And I've had a longing to +go out and pay a little visit to Jabe up in the hills, and drive his +colts for him. You see," he said, "I've got a kind of affection for the +Judge." + +Euphrasia looked at him, and her lips trembled. + +"He don't deserve it," she declared, "but I suppose he's your father." + +"He can't get out of that," said Austen. + +"I'd like to see him try it," said Euphrasia. "Come in soon, Austen," she +whispered, "come in soon." + +She stood on the lawn and watched him as he drove away, and he waved +good-by to her over the hood of the buggy. When he was out of sight she +lifted her head, gave her eyes a vigorous brush with her checked apron, +and went back to her washing. + +It was not until Euphrasia had supper on the table that Hilary Vane came +home, and she glanced at him sharply as he took his usual seat. It is a +curious fact that it is possible for two persons to live together for +more than a third of a century, and at the end of that time understand +each other little better than at the beginning. The sole bond between +Euphrasia and Hilary was that of Sarah Austen and her son. Euphrasia +never knew when Hilary was tired, or when he was cold, or hungry, or +cross, although she provided for all these emergencies. Her service to +him was unflagging, but he had never been under the slightest delusion +that it was not an inheritance from his wife. There must have been some +affection between Mr. Vane and his housekeeper, hidden away in the strong +boxes of both but up to the present this was only a theory--not quite as +probable as that about the inhabitants of Mars. + +He ate his supper to-night with his usual appetite, which had always been +sparing; and he would have eaten the same amount if the Northeastern +Railroads had been going into the hands of a receiver the next day. +Often he did not exchange a word with Euphrasia between home-coming and +bed-going, and this was apparently to be one of these occasions. After +supper he went, as usual, to sit on the steps of his porch, and to cut +his piece of Honey Dew, which never varied a milligram. Nine o'clock +struck, and Euphrasia, who had shut up the back of the house, was on her +way to bed with her lamp in her hand, when she came face to face with him +in the narrow passageway. + +"Where's Austen?" he asked. + +Euphrasia halted. The lamp shook, but she raised it to the level of his +eyes. + +"Don't you know?" she demanded. + +"No," he said, with unparalleled humility. + +She put down the lamp on the little table that stood beside her. + +"He didn't tell you he was a-goin'?" + +"No," said Hilary. + +"Then how did you know he wasn't just buggy-ridin'?" she said. + +Hilary Vane was mute. + +"You've be'n to his room!" she exclaimed. "You've seen his things are +gone!" + +He confessed it by his silence. Then, with amazing swiftness and vigour +for one of her age, Euphrasia seized him by the arms and shook him. + +"What have you done to him?" she cried; "what have you done to him? You +sent him off. You've never understood him--you've never behaved like a +father to him. You ain't worthy to have him." She flung herself away +and stood facing Hilary at a little distance. What a fool I was! What a +fool! I might have known it, and I promised him." + +"Promised him?" Hilary repeated. The shaking, the vehemence and anger, +of Euphrasia seemed to have had no effect whatever on the main trend of +his thoughts. + +"Where has he gone?" + +"You can find out for yourself," she retorted bitterly. "I wish on your +account it was to China. He came here this afternoon, as gentle as ever, +and packed up his things, and said he was goin' away because you was +worried. Worried!" she exclaimed scornfully. "His worry and his trouble +don't count--but yours. And he made me promise to stay with you. If it +wasn't for him," she cried, picking up the lamp, "I'd leave you this very +night." + +She swept past him, and up the narrow stairway to her bedroom. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +BUSY DAYS AT WEDDERBURN + +There is no blast so powerful, so withering, as the blast of ridicule. +Only the strongest men can withstand it, only reformers who are such in +deed, and not alone in name, can snap their fingers at it, and liken it +to the crackling of thorns under a pot. Confucius and Martin Luther must +have been ridiculed, Mr. Crewe reflected, and although he did not have +time to assure himself on these historical points, the thought stayed +him. Sixty odd weekly newspapers, filled with arguments from the Book, +attacked him all at once; and if by chance he should have missed the best +part of this flattering personal attention, the editorials which +contained the most spice were copied at the end of the week into the +columns of his erstwhile friend, the State Tribune, now the organ of that +mysterious personality, the Honourable Adam B. Hunt. 'Et tu, Brute!' + +Moreover, Mr. Peter Pardriff had something of his own to say. Some +gentlemen of prominence (not among the twenty signers of the new +Declaration of Independence) had been interviewed by the Tribune reporter +on the subject of Mr. Crewe's candidacy. Here are some of the answers, +duly tabulated. + +"Negligible."--Congressman Fairplay. + +"One less vote for the Honourable Adam B. Hunt."--The Honourable Jacob +Botcher. + +"A monumental farce."--Ex-Governor Broadbent. + +"Who is Mr. Crewe?"--Senator Whitredge. (Ah ha! Senator, this want shall +be supplied, at least.) + +"I have been very busy. I do not know what candidates are in the +field."--Mr. Augustus P. Flint, president of the Northeastern Railroads. +(The unkindest cut of all!) + +"I have heard that a Mr. Crewe is a candidate, but I do not know much +about him. They tell me he is a summer resident at Leith."--The +Honourable Hilary Vane. + +"A millionaire's freak--not to be taken seriously.--State Senator +Nathaniel Billings." + +The State Tribune itself seemed to be especially interested in the past +careers of the twenty signers. Who composed this dauntless band, whose +members had arisen with remarkable unanimity and martyr's zeal in such +widely scattered parts of the State? Had each been simultaneously +inspired with the same high thought, and--more amazing still--with the +idea of the same peerless leader? The Tribune modestly ventured the +theory that Mr. Crewe had appeared to each of the twenty in a dream, with +a flaming sword pointing to the steam of the dragon's breath. Or, +perhaps, a star had led each of the twenty to Leith. (This likening of +Mr. H--n T--g to a star caused much merriment among that gentleman's +former friends and acquaintances.) The Tribune could not account for this +phenomenon by any natural laws, and was forced to believe that the thing +was a miracle--in which case it behooved the Northeastern Railroads to +read the handwriting on the wall. Unless--unless the twenty did not +exist! Unless the whole thing were a joke! The Tribune remembered a +time when a signed statement, purporting to come from a certain Mrs. +Amanda P. Pillow, of 22 Blair Street, Newcastle, had appeared, to the +effect that three bottles of Rand's Peach Nectar had cured her of dropsy. +On investigation there was no Blair Street, and Mrs. Amanda P. Pillow was +as yet unborn. The one sure thing about the statement was that Rand's +Peach Nectar could be had, in large or small quantities, as desired. And +the Tribune was prepared to state; on its own authority, that a Mr. +Humphrey Crewe did exist, and might reluctantly consent to take the +nomination for the governorship. In industry and zeal he was said to +resemble the celebrated and lamented Mr. Rand, of the Peach Nectar. + +Ingratitude merely injures those who are capable of it, although it +sometimes produces sadness in great souls. What were Mr. Crewe's +feelings when he read this drivel? When he perused the extracts from the +"Book of Arguments" which appeared (with astonishing unanimity, too!) in +sixty odd weekly newspapers of the State--an assortment of arguments for +each county. + +"Brush Bascom's doin' that work now," said Mr. Tooting, contemptuously, +"and he's doin' it with a shovel. Look here! He's got the same squib in +three towns within a dozen miles of each other, the one beginning +'Political conditions in this State are as clean as those of any State in +the Union, and the United Northeastern Railroads is a corporation which +is, fortunately, above calumny. A summer resident who, to satisfy his +lust for office, is rolling to defame--'" + +"Yes," interrupted Mr. Crewe, "never mind reading any more of that rot." + +"It's botched," said Mr. Tooting, whose artistic soul was jarred. "I'd +have put that in Avalon County, and Weave, and Marshall. I know men that +take all three of those papers in Putnam." + +No need of balloonists to see what the enemy is about, when we have a Mr. +Tooting. + +"They're stung!" he cried, as he ran rapidly through the bundle of +papers--Mr. Crewe having subscribed, with characteristic generosity, to +the entire press of the State. "Flint gave 'em out all this stuff about +the railroad bein' a sacred institution. You've got 'em on the run right +now, Mr. Crewe. You'll notice that, Democrats and Republicans, they've +dropped everybody else, that they've all been sicked on to you. They're +scared." + +"I came to that conclusion some time ago," replied Mr. Crewe, who was +sorting over his letters. + +"And look there!" exclaimed Mr. Tooting, tearing out a paragraph, +"there's the best campaign material we've had yet. Say, I'll bet Flint +taken that doddering idiot's pass away for writing that." + +Mr. Crewe took the extract, and read:-- + + "A summer resident of Leith, who is said to be a millionaire + many times over, and who had a somewhat farcical career as a + legislator last winter, has announced himself as a candidate + for the Republican nomination on a platform attacking the + Northeastern Railroads. Mr. Humphrey Crewe declares that the + Northeastern Railroads govern us. What if they do? Every + sober-minded citizen, will agree that they give us a pretty + good government. More power to them." + +Mr. Crewe permitted himself to smile. + +"They are playing into our hands, sure enough. What?" + +This is an example of the spirit in which the ridicule and abuse was met. + +It was Senator Whitredge--only, last autumn so pleased to meet Mr. Crewe +at Mr. Flint's--who asked the hypocritical question, "Who is Humphrey +Crewe?" A biography (in pamphlet form, illustrated,--send your name and +address) is being prepared by the invaluable Mr. Tooting, who only sleeps +six hours these days. We shall see it presently, when it emerges from +that busy hive at Wedderburn. + +Wedderburn was a hive, sure enough. Not having a balloon ourselves, it +is difficult to see all that is going on there; but there can be no +mistake (except by the Honourable Hilary's seismograph) that it has +become the centre of extraordinary activity. The outside world has +paused to draw breath at the spectacle, and members of the metropolitan +press are filling the rooms of the Ripton House and adding to the +prosperity of its livery-stable. Mr. Crewe is a difficult man to see +these days--there are so many visitors at Wedderburn, and the +representatives of the metropolitan press hitch their horses and stroll +around the grounds, or sit on the porch and converse with gentlemen from +various counties of the State who (as the Tribune would put it) have been +led by a star to Leith. + +On the occasion of one of these gatherings, when Mr. Crewe had been +inaccessible for four hours, Mrs. Pomfret drove up in a victoria with her +daughter Alice. + +"I'm sure I don't know when we're going to see poor dear Humphrey again," +said Mrs. Pomfret, examining the group on the porch through her gold- +mounted lenses; these awful people are always here when I come. I wonder +if they sleep here, in the hammocks and lounging chairs! Alice, we must +be very polite to them--so much depends on it." + +"I'm always polite, mother," answered Alice, "except when you tell me not +to be. The trouble is I never know myself." + +The victoria stopped in front of the door, and the irreproachable Waters +advanced across the porch. + +"Waters," said Mrs. Pomfret, "I suppose Mr. Crewe is too busy to come +out." + +"I'm afraid so, madam," replied Waters; "there's a line of gentlemen +waitin' here" (he eyed them with no uncertain disapproval). and I've +positive orders not to disturb him, madam." + +"I quite understand, at a time like this," said Mrs. Pomfret, and added, +for the benefit of her audience, "when Mr. Crewe has been public-spirited +and unselfish enough to undertake such a gigantic task. Tell him Miss +Pomfret and I call from time to time because we are so interested, and +that the whole of Leith wishes him success." + +"I'll tell him, madam," said Waters, + +But Mrs. Pomfret did not give the signal for her coachman to drive on. +She looked, instead, at the patient gathering. + +"Good morning, gentlemen," she said. + +"Mother!" whispered Alice, "what are you going to do?" + +The gentlemen rose. + +"I'm Mrs. Pomfret," she said, as though that simple announcement were +quite sufficient,--as it was, for the metropolitan press. Not a man of +them who had not seen Mrs. Pomfret's important movements on both sides of +the water chronicled. "I take the liberty of speaking to you, as we all +seem to be united in a common cause. How is the campaign looking?" + +Some of the gentlemen shifted their cigars from one hand to the other, +and grinned sheepishly. + +"I am so interested," continued Mrs. Pomfret; "it is so unusual in +America for a gentleman to be willing to undertake such a thing, to +subject himself to low criticism, and to have his pure motives +questioned. Mr. Crewe has rare courage--I have always said so. And we +are all going to put our shoulder to the wheel, and help him all we can." + +There was one clever man there who was quick to see his opportunity, and +seize it for his newspaper. + +"And are you going to help Mr. Crewe in his campaign, Mrs. Pomfret?" + +"Most assuredly," answered Mrs. Pomfret. "Women in this country could do +so much if they only would. You know," she added, in her most winning +manner, "you know that a woman can often get a vote when a man can't." + +"And you, and--other ladies will go around to the public meetings?" + +"Why not, my friend; if Mr. Crewe has no objection? and I can conceive of +none." + +"You would have an organization of society ladies to help Mr. Crewe?" + +"That's rather a crude way of putting it," answered Mrs. Pomfret, with +her glasses raised judicially. "Women in what you call I society are, I +am glad to say, taking an increasing interest in politics. They are +beginning to realize that it is a duty." + +"Thank you," said the reporter; "and now would you mind if I took a +photograph of you in your carriage." + +"Oh, mother," protested Alice, "you won't let him do that!" + +"Be quiet, Alice. Lady Aylestone and the duchess are photographed in +every conceivable pose for political purposes. Wymans, just drive around +to the other side of the circle." + +The article appeared next day, and gave, as may be imagined, a tremendous +impetus to Mr. Crewe's cause. "A new era in American politics!" +"Society to take a hand in the gubernatorial campaign of Millionaire +Humphrey Crewe!" "Noted social leader, Mrs. Patterson Pomfret, declares +it a duty, and saga that English women have the right idea." And a +photograph of Mrs. Patterson Pomfret herself, in her victoria, occupied a +generous portion of the front page. + +"What's all this rubbish about Mrs. Pomfret?" was Mr. Crewe's grateful +comment when he saw it. "I spent two valuable hours with that reporter +givin' him material and statistics, and I can't find that he's used a +word of it." + +"Never you mind about that," Mr. Tooting replied. "The more advertising +you get, the better, and this shows that the right people are behind you. +Mrs. Pomfret's a smart woman, all right. She knows her job. And here's +more advertising," he continued, shoving another sheet across the desk, +"a fine likeness of you in caricature labelled, 'Ajax defying the +Lightning.' Who's Ajax? There was an Italian, a street contractor, with +that name--or something like it--in Newcastle a couple of years ago--in +the eighth ward." + +In these days, when false rumours fly apace to the injury of innocent +men, it is well to get at the truth, if possible. It is not true that +Mr. Paul Pardriff, of the 'Ripton Record,' has been to Wedderburn. Mr. +Pardriff was getting into a buggy to go--somewhere--when he chanced to +meet the Honourable Brush Bascom, and the buggy was sent back to the +livery-stable. Mr. Tooting had been to see Mr. Pardriff before the +world-quaking announcement of June 7th, and had found Mr. Pardriff a +reformer who did not believe that the railroad should run the State. +But the editor of the Ripton Record was a man after Emerson's own heart: +"a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"--and Mr. Pardriff +did not go to Wedderburn. He went off on an excursion up the State +instead, for he had been working too hard; and he returned, as many men +do from their travels, a conservative. He listened coldly to Mr. +Tooting's impassioned pleas for cleaner politics, until Mr. Tooting +revealed the fact that his pockets were full of copy. It seems that a +biography was to be printed--a biography which would, undoubtedly, be in +great demand; the biography of a public benefactor, illustrated with +original photographs and views in the country. Mr. Tooting and Mr. +Pardriff both being men of the world, some exceeding plain talk ensued +between them, and when two such minds unite, a way out is sure to be +found. One can be both a conservative and a radical--if one is clever. +There were other columns in Mr. Pardriff's paper besides editorial +columns; editorial columns, Mr. Pardriff said, were sacred to his +convictions. Certain thumb-worn schedules were referred to. Paul +Pardriff, Ripton, agreed to be the publisher of the biography. + +The next edition of the Record was an example of what Mr. Emerson meant. +Three columns contained extracts of absorbing interest from the +forthcoming biography and, on another page, an editorial. The +Honourable Humphrey Crewe, of Leith, is an estimable gentleman and a good +citizen, whose public endeavours have been of great benefit to the +community. A citizen of Avalon County, the Record regrets that it cannot +support his candidacy for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. We +are not among those who seek to impugn motives, and while giving Mr. +Crewe every credit that his charges against the Northeastern Railroads +are made in good faith, we beg to differ from him. That corporation is +an institution which has stood the test of time, and enriches every year +the State treasury by a large sum in taxes. Its management is in safe, +conservative hands. No one will deny Mr. Crewe's zeal for the State's +welfare, but it must be borne in mind that he is a newcomer in politics, +and that conditions, seen from the surface, are sometimes deceptive. We +predict for Mr. Crewe a long and useful career, but we do not think that +at this time, and on this platform, he will obtain the governorship." + +"Moral courage is what the age needs," had been Mr. Crewe's true and +sententious remark when he read this editorial. But, bearing in mind a +biblical adage, he did not blame Mr. Tooting for his diplomacy. "Send in +the next man." + +Mr. Tooting opened the study door and glanced over the public-spirited +citizens awaiting, on the porch, the pleasure of their leader. + +"Come along, Caldwell," said Mr. Tooting. "He wants your report from +Kingston. Get a hustle on!" + +Mr. Caldwell made his report, received many brief and business-like +suggestions, and retired, impressed. Whereupon Mr. Crewe commanded Mr. +Tooting to order his automobile--an occasional and rapid spin over the +country roads being the only diversion the candidate permitted himself. +Wishing to be alone with his thoughts, he did not take Mr. Tooting with +him on these excursions. + +"And by the way," said Mr. Crewe, as he seized the steering wheel a few +moments later, "just drop a line to Austen Vane, will you, and tell him I +want to see him up here within a day or two. Make an appointment. It +has occurred to me that he might be very useful." + +Mr. Tooting stood on the driveway watching the cloud of dust settle on +the road below. Then he indulged in a long and peculiarly significant +whistle through his teeth, rolled his eyes heavenward, and went into the +house. He remembered Austen's remark about riding a cyclone. + +Mr. Crewe took the Tunbridge road. On his excursion of the day before he +had met Mrs. Pomfret, who had held up her hand, and he had protestingly +brought the car to a stop. + +"Your horses don't frighten," he had said. + +"No, but I wanted to speak to you, Humphrey," Mrs. Pomfret had replied; +"you are becoming so important that nobody ever has a glimpse of you. I +wanted to tell you what an interest we take in this splendid thing you +are doing." + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, "it was a plain duty, and nobody else seemed +willing to undertake it." + +Mrs. Pomfret's eyes had flashed. + +"Men of that type are scarce," she answered. "But you'll win. You're +the kind of man that wins." + +"Oh, yes, I'll win," said Mr. Crewe. + +"You're so magnificently sure of yourself," cried Mrs. Pomfret. "Alice +is taking such an interest. Every day she asks, 'When is Humphrey going +to make his first speech?' You'll let us know in time, won't you?" + +"Did you put all that nonsense in the New York Flare?" asked Mr. Crewe. + +"Oh, Humphrey, I hope you liked it," cried Mrs. Pomfret. "Don't make the +mistake of despising what women can do. They elected the Honourable +Billy Aylestone--he said so himself. I'm getting all the women +interested." + +"Who've you been calling on now?" he inquired. + +Mrs. Pomfret hesitated. + +"I've been up at Fairview to see about Mrs. Flint. She isn't much +better." + +"Is Victoria home?" Mr. Crewe demanded, with undisguised interest. + +"Poor dear girl!" said Mrs. Pomfret, "of course I wouldn't have mentioned +the subject to her, but she wanted to know all about it. It naturally +makes an awkward situation between you and her, doesn't it?" + +"Oh, Victoria's level-headed enough," Mr. Crewe had answered; "I guess +she knows something about old Flint and his methods by this time. At any +rate, it won't make any difference with me," he added magnanimously, and +threw in his clutch. He had encircled Fairview in his drive that day, +and was, curiously enough, headed in that direction now. Slow to make up +his mind in some things, as every eligible man must be, he was now coming +rapidly to the notion that he might eventually decide upon Victoria as +the most fitting mate for one in his position. Still, there was no +hurry. As for going to Fairview House, that might be awkward, besides +being open to misconstruction by his constituents. Mr. Crewe reflected, +as he rushed up the hills, that he had missed Victoria since she had been +abroad--and a man so continually occupied as he did not have time to miss +many people. Mr. Crewe made up his mind he would encircle Fairview every +day until he ran across her. + +The goddess of fortune sometimes blesses the persistent even before they +begin to persist--perhaps from sheer weariness at the remembrance of +previous importuning. Victoria, on a brand-new and somewhat sensitive +five-year-old, was coming out of the stone archway when Mr. Crewe +(without any signal this time!) threw on his brakes. An exhibition of +horsemanship followed, on Victoria's part, which Mr. Crewe beheld with +admiration. The five-year-old swung about like a weathercock in a gust +of wind, assuming an upright position, like the unicorn in the British +coat of arms. Victoria cut him, and he came down on all fours and danced +into the wire fence that encircled the Fairview domain, whereupon he got +another stinging reminder that there was some one on his back. + +"Bravo!" cried Mr. Crewe, leaning on the steering wheel and watching the +performance with delight. Never, he thought, had Victoria been more +appealing; strangely enough, he had not remembered that she was quite so +handsome, or that her colour was so vivid; or that her body was so +straight and long and supple. He liked the way in which she gave it to +that horse, and he made up his mind that she would grace any position, +however high. Presently the horse made a leap into the road in front of +the motor and stood trembling, ready to bolt. + +"For Heaven's sake, Humphrey," she cried, "shut off your power? Don't +sit there like an idiot--do you think I'm doing this for pleasure?" + +Mr. Crewe good-naturedly turned off his switch, and the motor, with a +dying sigh, was silent. He even liked the notion of being commanded to +do a thing; there was a relish about it that was new. The other women of +his acquaintance addressed him more deferentially. + +"Get hold of the bridle," he said to the chauffeur. "You've got no +business to have an animal like that," was his remark to Victoria. + +"Don't touch him!" she said to the man, who was approaching with a true +machinist's fear of a high-spirited horse. "You've got no business to +have a motor like that, if you can't handle it any better than you do." + +"You managed him all right. I'll say that for you," said Mr. Crewe. + +"No thanks to you," she replied. Now that the horse was comparatively +quiet, she sat and regarded Mr. Crewe with an amusement which was +gradually getting the better of her anger. A few moments since, and she +wished with great intensity that she had been using the whip on his +shoulders instead. Now that she had time to gather up the threads of the +situation, the irresistibly comic aspect of it grew upon her, and little +creases came into the corners of her eyes--which Mr. Crewe admired. She +recalled--with indignation, to be sure--the conversation she had +overheard in the dining room of the Duncan house, but her indignation was +particularly directed, on that occasion, towards Mr. Tooting. Here was +Humphrey Crewe, sitting talking to her in the road--Humphrey Crewe, whose +candidacy for the governorship impugned her father's management of the +Northeastern Railroads--and she was unable to take the matter seriously! +There must be something wrong with her, she thought. + +"So you're home again," Mr. Crewe observed, his eyes still bearing +witness to the indubitable fact. "I shouldn't have known it--I've been +so busy." + +"Is the Legislature still in session?" Victoria soberly inquired. + +"You are a little behind the times--ain't you?" said Mr. Crewe, in +surprise. "How long have you been home? Hasn't anybody told you what's +going on?" + +"I only came up ten days ago," she answered, "and I'm afraid I've been +something of a recluse. What is going on?" + +"Well," he declared, "I should have thought you'd heard it, anyway. I'll +send you up a few newspapers when I get back. I'm a candidate for the +governorship." + +Victoria bit her lip, and leaned over to brush a fly from the neck of her +horse. + +"You are getting on rapidly, Humphrey," she said. "Do you think you've +got--any chance?" + +"Any chance!" he repeated, with some pardonable force. "I'm sure to be +nominated. There's an overwhelming sentiment among the voters of this +State for decent politics. It didn't take me long to find that out. The +only wonder is that somebody hasn't seen it before." + +"Perhaps," she answered, giving him a steady look, "perhaps somebody has." + +One of Mr. Crewe's greatest elements of strength was his imperviousness +to this kind of a remark. + +"If anybody's seen it," he replied, "they haven't the courage of their +convictions." Such were the workings of Mr. Crewe's mind that he had +already forgotten that first talk with Mr. Hamilton Tooting. "Not that I +want to take too much credit on myself," he added, with becoming modesty, +"I have had some experience in the world, and it was natural that I +should get a fresh view. Are you coming down to Leith in a few days?" + +"I may," said Victoria. + +"Telephone me," said Mr. Crewe, "and if I can get off, I will. I'd like +to talk to you. You have more sense than most women I know." + +"You overwhelm me, Humphrey. Compliments sound strangely on your lips." + +"When I say a thing, I mean it," Mr. Crewe declared. "I don't pay +compliments. I'd make it a point to take a little time off to talk to +you. You see, so many men are interested in this thing from various +parts of the State, and we are so busy organizing, that it absorbs most +of my day." + +"I couldn't think of encroaching," Victoria protested. + +That's all right--you can be a great help. I've got confidence in your +judgment. By the way," he asked suddenly, "you haven't seen your friend +Austen Vane since you got back, have you?" + +"Why do you call him my friend?" said Victoria. Mr. Crew perceived that +the exercise had heightened her colour, and the transition appealed to +his sense of beauty. + +"Perhaps I put it a little strongly," he replied. "You seemed to take an +interest in him, for some reason. I suppose it's because you like new +types." + +"I like Mr. Vane very much,--and for himself," she said quietly. "But I +haven't seen him since I came back. Nor do I think I am likely to see +him. What made you ask about him?" + +"Well, he seems to be a man of some local standing, and he ought to be in +this campaign. If you happen to see him, you might mention the subject +to him. I've sent for him to come up and see me." + +"Mr. Vane doesn't seem to me to be a person one can send for like that," +Victoria remarked judicially. "As to advising him as to what course he +should take politically--that would even be straining my friendship for +you, Humphrey. On reflection," she added, smiling, "there may appear to +you reasons why I should not care to meddle with--politics, just now." + +"I can't see it," said Mr. Crewe; "you've got a mind of your own, and +you've never been afraid to use it, so far as I know. If you should see +that Vane man, just give him a notion of what I'm trying to do." + +"What are you trying to do?" inquired Victoria, sweetly. + +"I'm trying to clean up this State politically," said Mr. Crewe, "and I'm +going to do it. When you come down to Leith, I'll tell you about it, and +I'll send you the newspapers to-day. Don't be in a hurry," he cried, +addressing over his shoulder two farmers in a wagon who had driven up a +few moments before, and who were apparently anxious to pass. "Wind her +up, Adolphe." + +The chauffeur, standing by the crank, started the engine instantly, and +the gears screamed as Mr. Crewe threw in his low speed. The five-year- +old whirled, and bolted down the road at a pace which would have seemed +to challenge a racing car; and the girl in the saddle, bending to the +motion of the horse, was seen to raise her hand in warning. + +"Better stay whar you be," shouted one of the farmers; "don't go to +follerin' her. The hoes is runnin' away." + +Mr. Crewe steered his car into the Fairview entrance, and backed into the +road again, facing the other way. He had decided to go home. + +"That lady can take care of herself," he said, and started off towards +Leith, wondering how it was that Mr. Flint had not confided his recent +political troubles to his daughter. + +"That hoss is ugly, sure enough," said the farmer who had spoken before. + +Victoria flew on, down the narrow road. After twenty strides she did not +attempt to disguise from herself the fact that the five-year-old was in a +frenzy of fear, and running away. Victoria had been run away with +before, and having some knowledge of the animal she rode, she did not +waste her strength by pulling on the curb, but sought rather to quiet him +with her voice, which had no effect whatever. He was beyond appeal, his +head was down, and his ears trembling backwards and straining for a sound +of the terror that pursued him. The road ran through the forest, and +Victoria reflected that the grade, on the whole, was downward to the East +Tunbridge station, where the road crossed the track and took to the hills +beyond. Once among them, she would be safe--he might run as far, as he +pleased. But could she pass the station? She held a firm rein, and +tried to keep her mind clear. + +Suddenly, at a slight bend of the road, the corner of the little red +building came in sight, some hundreds of yards ahead; and, on the side +where it stood, in the clearing, was a white mass which Victoria +recognized as a pile of lumber. She saw several men on the top of the +pile, standing motionless; she heard one of them shout; the horse +swerved, and she felt herself flung violently to the left. + +Her first thought, after striking, was one of self-congratulation that +her safety stirrup and habit had behaved properly. Before she could +rise, a man was leaning over her--and in the instant she had the +impression that he was a friend. Other people had had this impression of +him on first acquaintance--his size, his genial, brick-red face, and his +honest blue eyes all doubtless contributing. + +"Are you hurt, Miss Flint?" he asked. + +"Not in the least," she replied, springing to her feet to prove the +contrary. What's become of my horse?" + +"Two of the men have gone after him," he said, staring at her with +undisguised but honest admiration. Whereupon he became suddenly +embarrassed, and pulled out a handkerchief the size of a table napkin. +"Let me dust you off." + +"Thank you," said Victoria, laughing, and beginning the process herself. +Her new acquaintance plied the handkerchief, his face a brighter brick- +red than ever. + +"Thank God, there wasn't a freight on the siding," he remarked, so +fervently that Victoria stole a glance at him. The dusting process +continued. + +"There," she exclaimed, at last, adjusting her stock and shaking her +skirt, "I'm ever so much obliged. It was very foolish in me to tumble +off, wasn't it?" + +"It was the only thing you could have done," he declared. "I had a good +view of it, and he flung you like a bean out of a shooter. That's a +powerful horse. I guess you're the kind that likes to take risks." + +Victoria laughed at his expressive phrase, and crossed the road, and sat +down on the edge of the lumber pile, in the shade. + +"There seems to be nothing to do but wait," she said, "and to thank you +again. Will you tell me your name?" + +"I'm Tom Gaylord," he replied. + +Her colour, always so near the surface, rose a little as she regarded +him. So this was Austen Vane's particular friend, whom he had tried to +put out of his window. A Herculean task, Victoria thought, from Tom's +appearance. Tom sat down within a few feet of her. + +"I've seen you a good many times, Miss Flint," he remarked, applying the +handkerchief to his face. + +"And I've seen you--once, Mr. Gaylord," some mischievous impulse prompted +her to answer. Perhaps the impulse was more deep-seated, after all. + +"Where?" demanded Tom, promptly. + +"You were engaged," said Victoria, "in a struggle in a window on Ripton +Square. It looked, for a time," she continued, "as if you were going to +be dropped on the roof of the porch." + +Tom gazed at her in confusion and surprise. + +"You seem to be fond, too, of dangerous exercise," she observed. + +"Do you mean to say you remembered me from that?" he exclaimed. "Oh, you +know Austen Vane, don't you?" + +"Does Mr. Vane acknowledge the acquaintance?" Victoria inquired. + +"It's funny, but you remind me of Austen," said Tom, grinning; you seem +to have the same queer way of saying things that he has." Here he was +conscious of another fit of embarrassment. "I hope you don't mind what I +say, Miss Flint." + +"Not at all," said Victoria. She turned, and looked across the track. + +"I suppose they are having a lot of trouble in catching my horse," she +remarked. + +"They'll get him," Tom assured her, "one of those men is my manager. He +always gets what he starts out for. What were we talking about? Oh, +Austen Vane. You see, I've known him ever since I was a shaver, and I +think the world of him. If he asked me to go to South America and get +him a zebra to-morrow, I believe I'd do it." + +"That is real devotion," said Victoria. The more she saw of young Tom, +the better she liked him, although his conversation was apt to be +slightly embarrassing. + +"We've been through a lot of rows together," Tom continued, warming to +his subject, "in school and college. You see, Austen's the kind of man +who doesn't care what anybody thinks, if he takes it into his head to do +a thing. It was a great piece of luck for me that he shot that fellow +out West, or he wouldn't be here now. You heard about that, didn't you?" + +"Yes," said Victoria, "I believe I did." + +"And yet," said Tom, "although I'm as good a friend as he has, I never +quite got under his skin. There's some things I wouldn't talk to him +about. I've learned that. I never told him, for instance, that I saw +him out in a sleigh with you at the capital." + +"Oh," said Victoria; and she added, "Is he ashamed of it?" + +"It's not that," replied Tom, hastily, "but I guess if he'd wanted me to +know about it, he'd have told me." + +Victoria had begun to realize that, in the few minutes which had elapsed +since she had found herself on the roadside, gazing up into young Tom's +eyes, she had somehow become quite intimate with him. + +"I fancy he would have told you all there was to tell about it--if the +matter had occurred to him again," she said, with the air of finally +dismissing a subject already too prolonged. But Tom knew nothing of the +shades and conventions of the art of conversation. + +"He's never told me he knew you at all!" he exclaimed, staring at +Victoria. Apparently some of the aspects of this now significant +omission on Austen's part were beginning to dawn on Tom. + +"It wasn't worth mentioning," said Victoria, briefly, seeking for a +pretext to change the subject. + +"I don't believe that," said Tom, "you can't expect me to sit here and +look at you and believe that. How long has he known you?" + +"I saw him once or twice last summer, at Leith," said Victoria, now +wavering between laughter and exasperation. She had got herself into a +quandary indeed when she had to parry the appalling frankness of such +inquiries. + +"The more you see of him, the more you'll admire him, I'll prophesy," +said Tom. "If he'd been content to travel along the easy road, as most +fellows are, he would have been counsel for the Northeastern. Instead of +that--" here Tom halted abruptly, and turned scarlet: "I forgot," he +said, "I'm always putting my foot in it, with ladies." + +He was so painfully confused that Victoria felt herself suffering with +him, and longed to comfort him. + +"Please go on, Mr. Gaylord," she said; "I am very much interested in my +neighbours here, and I know that a great many of them think that the +railroad meddles in politics. I've tried to find out what they think, +but it is so difficult for a woman to understand. If matters are wrong, +I'm sure my father will right them when he knows the situation. He has +so much to attend to." She paused. Tom was still mopping his forehead. +"You may say anything you like to me, and I shall not take offence." + +Tom's admiration of her was heightened by this attitude. + +"Austen wouldn't join Mr. Crewe in his little game, anyway," he said. +"When Ham Tooting, Crewe's manager, came to him he kicked him +downstairs." + +Victoria burst out laughing. + +"I constantly hear of these ferocious deeds which Mr. Vane commits," she +said, "and yet he seems exceptionally good-natured and mild-mannered." + +"That's straight--he kicked him downstairs. Served Tooting right, too." + +"There does seem to have been an element of justice in it," Victoria +remarked. + +"You haven't seen Austen since he left his father?" Mr. Gaylord inquired. + +"Left him! Where--has he gone?" + +"Gone up to live with Jabe Jenney. If Austen cared anything about money, +he never would have broken with the old man, who has some little put +away." + +"Why did he leave his father?" asked Victoria, not taking the trouble now +to conceal her interest. + +"Well," said Tom, "you know they never did get along. It hasn't been +Austen's fault--he's tried. After he came back from the West he stayed +here to please old Hilary, when he might have gone to New York and made a +fortune at the law, with his brains. But after Austen saw the kind of +law the old man practised he wouldn't stand for it, and got an office of +his own." + +Victoria's eyes grew serious. + +"What kind of law does Hilary Vane practise?" she asked. + +Tom hesitated and began to mop his forehead again. + +"Please don't mind me," Victoria pleaded. + +"Well, all right," said Tom, "I'll tell you the truth, or die for it. +But I don't want to make you-unhappy." + +"You will do me a kindness, Mr. Gaylord," she said, "by telling me what +you believe to be true." + +There was a note in her voice which young Tom did not understand. +Afterwards, when he reflected about the matter, he wondered if she were +unhappy. + +"I don't want to blame Hilary too much," he answered. "I know Austen +don't. Hilary's grown up with that way of doing things, and in the old +days there was no other way. Hilary is the chief counsel for the +Northeastern, and he runs the Republican organization in this State for +their benefit. But Austen made up his mind that there was no reason why +he should grow up that way. He says that'a lawyer should keep to his +profession, and not become a lobbyist in the interest of his clients. He +lived with the old man until the other day, because he has a real soft +spot for him. Austen put up with a good deal. And then Hilary turned +loose on him and said a lot of things he couldn't stand. Austen didn't +answer, but went up and packed his bags and made Hilary's housekeeper +promise to stay with him, or she'd have left, too. They say Hilary's +sorry, now. He's fond of Austen, but he can't get along with him." + +"Do--Do you know what they quarreled about?" asked Victoria, in a low +voice. + +"This spring," said Tom, "the Gaylord Lumber Company made Austen junior +counsel. He ran across a law the other day that nobody else seems to +have had sense enough to discover, by which we can sue the railroad for +excessive freight rates. It means a lot of money. He went right in to +Hilary and showed him the section, told him that suit was going to be +brought, and offered to resign. Hilary flew off the track--and said if +he didn't bring suit he'd publish it all over the State that Austen +started it. Galusha Hammer, our senior counsel, is sick, and I don't +think he'll ever get well. That makes Austen senior counsel. But he +persuaded old Tom, my father, not to bring this suit until after the +political campaign, until Mr. Crewe gets through with his fireworks. +Hilary doesn't know that." + +"I see," said Victoria. + +Down the hill, on the far side of the track, she perceived the two men +approaching with a horse; then she remembered the fact that she had been +thrown, and that it was her horse. She rose to her feet. + +"I'm ever so much obliged to you, Mr. Gaylord," she said; "you have done +me a great favour by--telling me these things. And thanks for letting +them catch the horse. I'm afraid I've put you to a lot of bother." + +"Not at all," said Tom, "not at all." He was studying her face. Its +expression troubled and moved him strangely, for he was not an analytical +person. "I didn't mean to tell you those things when I began," he +apologized, "but you wanted to hear them." + +"I wanted to hear them," repeated Victoria. She held out her hand to +him. + +"You're not going to ride home!" he exclaimed. "I'll take you up in my +buggy--it's in the station shed." + +She smiled, turned and questioned and thanked the men, examined the +girths and bridle, and stroked the five-year-old on the neck. He was wet +from mane to fetlocks. + +"I don't think he'll care to run much farther," she said. "If you'll +pull him over to the lumber pile, Mr. Gaylord, I'll mount him." + +They performed her bidding in silence, each paying her a tribute in his +thoughts. As for the five-year-old, he was quiet enough by this time. +When she was in the saddle she held out her hand once more to Tom. + +"I hope we shall meet soon again," she said, and smiling back at him, +started on her way towards Fairview. + +Tom stood for a moment looking after her, while the two men indulged in +surprised comments. + +"Andrews," said young Mr. Gaylord, "just fetch my buggy and follow her +until she gets into the gate." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A SPIRIT IN THE WOODS + +Empires crack before they crumble, and the first cracks seem easily +mended--even as they have been mended before. A revolt in Gaul or +Britain or Thrace is little to be minded, and a prophet in Judea less. +And yet into him who sits in the seat of power a premonition of something +impending gradually creeps--a premonition which he will not acknowledge, +will not define. Yesterday, by the pointing of a finger, he created a +province; to-day he dares not, but consoles himself by saying he does not +wish to point. No antagonist worthy of his steel has openly defied him, +worthy of recognition by the opposition of a legion. But the sense of +security has been subtly and indefinably shaken. + +By the strange telepathy which defies language, to the Honourable Hilary +Vane, Governor of the Province, some such unacknowledged forebodings have +likewise been communicated. A week after his conversation with Austen, +on the return of his emperor from a trip to New York, the Honourable +Hilary was summoned again to the foot of the throne, and his thoughts as +he climbed the ridges towards Fairview were not in harmony with the +carols of the birds in the depths of the forest and the joy of the bright +June weather. Loneliness he had felt before, and to its ills he had +applied the antidote of labour. The burden that sat upon his spirit to- +day was not mere loneliness; to the truth of this his soul attested, but +Hilary Vane had never listened to the promptings of his soul. He would +have been shocked if you had told him this. Did he not confess, with his +eyes shut, his sins every Sunday? Did he not publicly acknowledge his +soul? + +Austen Vane had once remarked that, if some keen American lawyer would +really put his mind to the evasion of the Ten Commandments, the High +Heavens themselves might be cheated. This saying would have shocked the +Honourable Hilary inexpressibly. He had never been employed by a +syndicate to draw up papers to avoid these mandates; he revered them, as +he revered the Law, which he spelled with a capital. He spelled the word +Soul with a capital likewise, and certainly no higher recognition could +be desired than this! Never in the Honourable Hilary's long, laborious, +and preeminently model existence had he realized that happiness is +harmony. It would not be true to assert that, on this wonderful June +day, a glimmering of this truth dawned upon him. Such a statement would +be open to the charge of exaggeration, and his frame of mind was +pessimistic. But he had got so far as to ask himself the question,--Cui +bono? and repeated it several times on his drive, until a verse of +Scripture came, unbidden, to his lips. "For what hate man of all his +labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under +the sun?" and "there is one event unto all." Austen's saying, that he +had never learned how to enjoy life, he remembered, too. What had Austen +meant by that? + +Hitherto Hilary Vane had never failed of self-justification in any event +which had befallen him; and while this consciousness of the rectitude of +his own attitude had not made him happier, there had been a certain grim +pleasure in it. To the fact that he had ruined, by sheer over- +righteousness, the last years of the sunny life of Sarah Austen he had +been oblivious--until to-day. The strange, retrospective mood which had +come over him this afternoon led his thoughts into strange paths, and he +found himself wondering if, after all, it had not been in his power to +make her happier. Her dryad-like face, with its sweet, elusive smile, +seemed to peer at him now wistfully out of the forest, and suddenly a new +and startling thought rose up within him--after six and thirty years. +Perhaps she had belonged in the forest! Perhaps, because he had sought +to cage her, she had pined and died! The thought gave Hilary unwonted +pain, and he strove to put it away from him; but memories such as these, +once aroused, are not easily set at rest, and he bent his head as he +recalled (with a new and significant pathos) those hopeless and pitiful +flights into the wilds she loved. + +Now Austen had gone. Was there a Law behind these actions of mother and +son which he had persisted in denouncing as vagaries? Austen was a man: +a man, Hilary could not but see, who had the respect of his fellows, +whose judgment and talents were becoming recognized. Was it possible +that he, Hilary Vane, could have been one of those referred to by the +Preacher? During the week which had passed since Austen's departure the +house in Hanover Street had been haunted for Hilary. The going of his +son had not left a mere void,--that would have been pain enough. Ghosts +were there, ghosts which he could but dimly feel and see, and more than +once, in the long evenings, he had taken to the streets to avoid them. + +In that week Hilary's fear of meeting his son in the street or in the +passages of the building had been equalled by a yearning to see him. +Every morning, at the hour Austen was wont to drive Pepper to the Ripton +House stables across the square, Hilary had contrived to be standing near +his windows--a little back, and out of sight. And--stranger still!--he +had turned from these glimpses to the reports of the Honourable Brush +Bascom and his associates with a distaste he had never felt before. + +With some such thoughts as these Hilary Vane turned into the last +straight stretch of the avenue that led to Fairview House, with its red +and white awnings gleaming in the morning sun. On the lawn, against a +white and purple mass of lilacs and the darker background of pines, a +straight and infinitely graceful figure in white caught his eye and held +it. He recognized Victoria. She wore a simple summer gown, the soft +outline of its flounces mingling subtly with the white clusters behind +her. She turned her head at the sound of the wheels and looked at him; +the distance was not too great for a bow, but Hilary did not bow. +Something in her face deterred him from this act,--something which he +himself did not understand or define. He sought to pronounce the +incident negligible. What was the girl, or her look, to him? And yet +(he found himself strangely thinking) he had read in her eyes a trace of +the riddle which had been relentlessly pursuing him; there was an odd +relation in her look to that of Sarah Austen. During the long years he +had been coming to Fairview, even before the new house was built, when +Victoria was in pinafores, he had never understood her. When she was a +child, he had vaguely recognized in her a spirit antagonistic to his own, +and her sayings had had a disconcerting ring. And now this simple glance +of hers had troubled him--only more definitely. + +It was a new experience for the Honourable Hilary to go into a business +meeting with his faculties astray. Absently he rang the stable bell, +surrendered his horse, and followed a footman to the retired part of the +house occupied by the railroad president. Entering the oakbound sanctum, +he crossed it and took a seat by the window, merely nodding to Mr. Flint, +who was dictating a letter. Mr. Flint took his time about the letter, +but when it was finished he dismissed the stenographer with an impatient +and powerful wave of the hand--as though brushing the man bodily out of +the room. Remaining motionless until the door had closed, Mr. Flint +turned abruptly and fixed his eyes on the contemplative figure of his +chief counsel. + +"Well?" he said. + +"Well, Flint," answered the Honourable Hilary. + +"Well," said Mr. Flint, "that bridge over Maple River has got loosened up +so by the freshet that we have to keep freight cars on it to hold it +down, and somebody is trying to make trouble by writing a public letter +to the Railroad Commission, and calling attention to the head-on +collision at Barker's Station." + +"Well," replied the Honourable Hilary, again, "that won't have any +influence on the Railroad Commission." + +"No," said Mr. Flint, "but it all goes to increase this confounded public +sentiment that's in the air, like smallpox. Another jackass pretends to +have kept a table of the through trains on the Sumsic division, and says +they've averaged forty-five minutes late at Edmundton. He says the +through express made the run faster thirty years ago." + +"I guess that's so," said the Honourable Hilary, "I was counsel for that +road then. I read that letter. He says there isn't an engine on the +division that could pull his hat off, up grade." + +Neither of the two gentlemen appeared to deem this statement humorous. + +"What these incendiaries don't understand," said Mr. Flint, "is that we +have to pay dividends." + +"It's because they don't get 'em," replied Mr. Vane, sententiously. + +"The track slid into the water at Glendale," continued Mr. Flint. "I +suppose they'll tell us we ought to rock ballast that line. You'll see +the Railroad Commission, and give 'em a sketch of a report." + +"I had a talk with Young yesterday," said Mr. Vane, his eyes on the +stretch of lawn and forest framed by the window. For the sake of the +ignorant, it may be well to add that the Honourable Orrin Young was the +chairman of the Commission. + +"And now," said Mr. Flint, "not that this Crewe business amounts to that" +(here the railroad president snapped his fingers with the intensity of a +small pistol shot), "but what's he been doing?" + +"Political advertising," said the Honourable Hilary. + +"Plenty of it, I guess," Mr. Flint remarked acidly. "That's one thing +Tooting can't teach him. He's a natural-born genius at it." + +"Tooting can help--even at that," answered Mr. Vane, ironically. +"They've got a sketch of so-called Northeastern methods in forty weekly +newspapers this week, with a picture of that public benefactor and +martyr, Humphrey Crewe. Here's a sample of it." + +Mr. Flint waved the sample away. + +"You've made a list of the newspapers that printed it?" Mr. Flint +demanded. Had he lived in another age he might have added, "Have the +malefactors burned alive in my garden." + +"Brush has seen some of 'em," said Mr. Vane, no doubt referring to the +editors, "and I had some of 'em come to Ripton. They've got a lot to say +about the freedom of the press, and their right to take political +advertising. Crewe's matter is in the form of a despatch, and most of +'em pointed out at the top of the editorial columns that their papers are +not responsible for despatches in the news columns. Six of 'em are out +and out for Crewe, and those fellows are honest enough." + +"Take away their passes and advertising," said Mr. Flint. ("Off with +their heads!" said the Queen of Hearts.) + +"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Flint; they might make capital out of +it. I think you'll find that five of 'em have sent their passes back, +anyway." + +"Freeman will give you some new ideas" (from the "Book of Arguments," +although Mr. Flint did not say so) "which have occurred to me might be +distributed for editorial purposes next week. And, by the way, what have +you done about that brilliant Mr. Coombes of the 'Johnstown Ray,' who +says 'the Northeastern Railroads give us a pretty good government'?" + +The Honourable Hilary shook his head. + +"Too much zeal," he observed. "I guess he won't do it again." + +For a while after that they talked of strictly legal matters, which the +chief counsel produced in order out of his bag. But when these were +finally disposed of, Mr. Flint led the conversation back to the +Honourable Humphrey Crewe, who stood harmless--to be sure--like a bull on +the track which it might be unwise to run over. + +"He doesn't amount to a soap bubble in a gale," Mr. Flint declared +contemptuously. "Sometimes I think we made a great mistake to notice +him. + +"We haven't noticed him," said Mr. Vane; "the newspapers have." + +Mr. Flint brushed this distinction aside. + +"That," he said irritably, "and letting Tooting go--" + +The Honourable Hilary's eyes began to grow red. In former days Mr. Flint +had not often questioned his judgment. + +"There's one thing more I wanted to mention to you," said the chief +counsel. "In past years I have frequently drawn your attention to that +section of the act of consolidation which declares that rates and fares +existing at the time of its passage shall not be increased." + +"Well," said Mr. Flint, impatiently, "well, what of it?" + +"Only this," replied the Honourable Hilary, "you disregarded my advice, +and the rates on many things are higher than they were." + +"Upon my word, Vane," said Mr. Flint, "I wish you'd chosen some other day +to croak. What do you want me to do? Put all the rates back because +this upstart politician Crewe is making a noise? Who's going to dig up +that section?" + +"Somebody has dug it up," said Mr. Vane: + +This was the last straw. + +"Speak out, man!" he cried. "What are you leading up to?" + +"Just this," answered the Honourable Hilary; "that the Gaylord Lumber +Company are going to bring suit under that section." + +Mr. Flint rose, thrust his hands in his pockets, and paced the room +twice. + +"Have they got a case?" he demanded. + +"It looks a little that way tome," said Mr. Vane. "I'm not prepared to +give a definite opinion as yet." + +Mr. Flint measured the room twice again. + +"Did that old fool Hammer stumble on to this?" + +"Hammer's sick," said Mr. Vane; "they say he's got Bright's disease. My +son discovered that section." + +There was a certain ring of pride in the Honourable Hilary's voice, and a +lifting of the head as he pronounced the words "my son," which did not +escape Mr. Flint. The railroad president walked slowly to the arm of the +chair in which his chief counsel was seated, and stood looking down at +him. But the Honourable Hilary appeared unconscious of what was +impending. + +"Your son!" exclaimed Mr. Flint. "So your son, the son of the man who +has been my legal adviser and confidant and friend for thirty years, is +going to join the Crewel and Tootings in their assaults on established +decency and order! He's out for cheap political preferment, too, is he? +By thunder! I thought that he had some such thing in his mind when he +came in here and threw his pass in my face and took that Meader suit. I +don't mind telling you that he's the man I've been afraid of all along. +He's got a head on him--I saw that at the start. I trusted to you to +control him, and this is how you do it." + +It was characteristic of the Honourable Hilary, when confronting an angry +man, to grow cooler as the other's temper increased. + +"I don't want to control him," he said. + +"I guess you couldn't," retorted Mr. Flint. + +"That's a better way of putting it," replied the Honourable Hilary, "I +couldn't." + +The chief counsel for the Northeastern Railroads got up and went to the +window, where he stood for some time with his back turned to the +president. Then Hilary Vane faced about. + +"Mr. Flint," he began, in his peculiar deep and resonant voice, "you've +said some things to-day that I won't forget. I want to tell you, first +of all, that I admire my son." + +"I thought so," Mr. Flint interrupted. + +"And more than that," the Honourable Hilary continued, "I prophesy that +the time will come when you'll admire him. Austen Vane never did an +underhanded thing in his life--or committed a mean action. He's be'n +wild, but he's always told me the truth. I've done him injustice a good +many times, but I won't stand up and listen to another man do him +injustice." Here he paused, and picked up his bag. "I'm going down to +Ripton to write out my resignation as counsel for your roads, and as soon +as you can find another man to act, I shall consider it accepted." + +It is difficult to put down on paper the sensations of the president of +the Northeastern Railroads as he listened to these words from a man with +whom he had been in business relations for over a quarter of a century, a +man upon whose judgment he had always relied implicitly, who had been a +strong fortress in time of trouble. Such sentences had an incendiary, +blasphemous ring on Hilary Vane's lips--at first. It was as if the sky +had fallen, and the Northeastern had been wiped out of existence. + +Mr. Flint's feelings were, in a sense, akin to those of a traveller by +sea who wakens out of a sound sleep in his cabin, with peculiar and +unpleasant sensations, which he gradually discovers are due to cold +water, and he realizes that the boat on which he is travelling is +sinking. + +The Honourable Hilary, with his bag, was halfway to the door, when Mr. +Flint crossed the room in three strides and seized him by the arm. + +"Hold on, Vane," he said, speaking with some difficulty; "I'm--I'm a +little upset this morning, and my temper got the best of me. You and I +have been good friends for too many years for us to part this way. Sit +down a minute, for God's sake, and let's cool off. I didn't intend to +say what I did. I apologize." + +Mr. Flint dropped his counsel's arm, and pulled out a handkerchief, and +mopped his face. "Sit down, Hilary," he said. + +The Honourable Hilary's tight lips trembled. Only three or four times in +their long friendship had the president made use of his first name. + +"You wouldn't leave me in the lurch now, Hilary," Mr. Flint continued, +"when all this nonsense is in the air? Think of the effect such an +announcement would have! Everybody knows and respects you, and we can't +do without your advice and counsel. But I won't put it on that ground. +I'd never forgive myself, as long as I lived, if I lost one of my oldest +and most valued personal friends in this way." + +The Honourable Hilary looked at Mr. Flint, and sat down. He began to cut +a piece of Honey Dew, but his hand shook. It was difficult, as we know, +for him to give expression to his feelings. + +"All right," he said. + +Half an hour later Victoria, from under the awning of the little balcony +in front of her mother's sitting room, saw her father come out bareheaded +into the sun and escort the Honourable Hilary Vane to his buggy. This +was an unwonted proceeding. + +Victoria loved to sit in that balcony, a book lying neglected in her lap, +listening to the summer sounds: the tinkle of distant cattle bells, the +bass note of a hurrying bee, the strangely compelling song of the hermit- +thrush, which made her breathe quickly; the summer wind, stirring +wantonly, was prodigal with perfumes gathered from the pines and the +sweet June clover in the fields and the banks of flowers; in the +distance, across the gentle foreground of the hills, Sawanec beckoned-- +did Victoria but raise her eyes!--to a land of enchantment. + +The appearance of her father and Hilary had broken her reverie, and a new +thought, like a pain, had clutched her. The buggy rolled slowly down the +drive, and Mr. Flint, staring after it a moment, went in the house. +After a few minutes he emerged again, an old felt hat on his head which +he was wont to wear in the country and a stick in his hand. Without +raising his eyes, he started slowly across the lawn; and to Victoria, +leaning forward intently over the balcony rail, there seemed an unwonted +lack of purpose in his movements. Usually he struck out briskly in the +direction of the pastures where his prize Guernseys were feeding, +stopping on the way to pick up the manager of his farm. There are signs, +unknown to men, which women read, and Victoria felt her heart beating, as +she turned and entered the sitting room through the French window. A +trained nurse was softly closing the door of the bedroom on the right. + +"Mrs. Flint is asleep," she said. + +"I am going out for a little while, Miss Oliver," Victoria answered, and +the nurse returned a gentle smile of understanding. + +Victoria, descending the stairs, hastily pinned on a hat which she kept +in the coat closet, and hurried across the lawn in the direction Mr. +Flint had taken. Reaching the pine grove, thinned by a famous landscape +architect, she paused involuntarily to wonder again at the ultramarine of +Sawanec through the upright columns of the trunks under the high canopy +of boughs. The grove was on a plateau, which was cut on the side nearest +the mountain by the line of a gray stone wall, under which the land fell +away sharply. Mr. Flint was seated on a bench, his hands clasped across +his stick, and as she came softly over the carpet of the needles he did +not hear her until she stood beside him. + +"You didn't tell me that you were going for a walk," she said +reproachfully. + +He started, and dropped his stick. She stooped quickly, picked it up for +him, and settled herself at his side. + +"I--I didn't expect to go, Victoria," he answered. + +"You see," she said, "it's useless to try to slip away. I saw you from +the balcony." + +"How's your mother feeling?" he asked. + +"She's asleep. She seems better to me since she's come back to +Fairview." + +Mr. Flint stared at the mountain with unseeing eyes. + +"Father," said Victoria, "don't you think you ought to stay up here at +least a week, and rest? I think so." + +"No," he said, "no. There's a directors' meeting of a trust company to- +morrow which I have to attend. I'm not tired." + +Victoria shook her head, smiling at him with serious eyes. + +"I don't believe you know when you are tired," she declared. "I can't +see the good of all these directors' meetings. Why don't you retire, and +live the rest of your life in peace? You've got--money enough, and even +if you haven't," she added, with the little quiver of earnestness that +sometimes came into her voice, "we could sell this big house and go back +to the farmhouse to live. We used to be so happy there." + +He turned abruptly, and fixed upon her a steadfast, searching stare that +held, nevertheless, a strange tenderness in it. + +"You don't care for all this, do you, Victoria?" he demanded, waving his +stick to indicate the domain of Fairview. + +She laughed gently, and raised her eyes to the green roof of the needles. + +"If we could only keep the pine grove!" she sighed. "Do you remember +what good times we had in the farmhouse, when you and I used to go off +for whole days together?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Flint, "yes." + +"We don't do that any more," said Victoria. "It's only a little drive +and a walk, now and then. And they seem to be growing--scarcer." + +Mr. Flint moved uneasily, and made an attempt to clear his voice. + +"I know it," he said, and further speech seemingly failed him. Victoria +had the greater courage of the two. + +"Why don't we?" she asked. + +"I've often thought of it," he replied, still seeking his words with +difficulty. "I find myself with more to do every year, Victoria, instead +of less." + +"Then why don't you give it up?" + +"Why?" he asked, "why? Sometimes I wish with my whole soul I could give +it up. I've always said that you had more sense than most women, but +even you could not understand." + +"I could understand," said Victoria. + +He threw at her another glance,--a ring in her words proclaimed their +truth in spite of his determined doubt. In her eyes--had he but known +it!--was a wisdom that exceeded his. + +"You don't realize what you're saying," he exclaimed; "I can't leave the +helm." + +"Isn't it," she said, "rather the power that is so hard to relinquish?" + +The feelings of Augustus Flint when he heard this question were of a +complex nature. It was the second time that day he had been shocked,-- +the first being when Hilary Vane had unexpectedly defended his son. The +word Victoria had used, power, had touched him on the quick. What had +she meant by it? Had she been his wife and not his daughter, he would +have flown into a rage. Augustus Flint was not a man given to the +psychological amusement of self-examination; he had never analyzed his +motives. He had had little to do with women, except Victoria. The Rose +of Sharon knew him as the fountainhead from which authority and money +flowed, but Victoria, since her childhood, had been his refuge from care, +and in the haven of her companionship he had lost himself for brief +moments of his life. She was the one being he really loved, with whom he +consulted on such affairs of importance as he felt to be within her scope +and province,--the cattle, the men on the place outside of the household, +the wisdom of buying the Baker farm; bequests to charities, paintings, +the library; and recently he had left to her judgment the European baths +and the kind of treatment which her mother had required. Victoria had +consulted with the physicians in Paris, and had made these decisions +herself. From a child she had never shown a disposition to evade +responsibility. + +To his intimate business friends, Mr. Flint was in the habit of speaking +of her as his right-hand man, but she was circumscribed by her sex,--or +rather by Mr. Flint's idea of her sex,--and it never occurred to him that +she could enter into the larger problems of his life. For this reason he +had never asked himself whether such a state of affairs would be +desirable. In reality it was her sympathy he craved, and such an +interpretation of himself as he chose to present to her. + +So her question was a shock. He suddenly beheld his daughter +transformed, a new personality who had been thinking, and thinking along +paths which he had never cared to travel. + +"The power!" he repeated. "What do you mean by that, Victoria?" + +She sat for a moment on the end of the bench, gazing at him with a +questioning, searching look which he found disconcerting. What had +happened to his daughter? He little guessed the tumult in her breast. +She herself could not fully understand the strange turn the conversation +had taken towards the gateway of the vital things. + +"It is natural for men to love power, isn't it?" + +"I suppose so," said Mr. Flint, uneasily. "I don't know what you're +driving at, Victoria." + +"You control the lives and fortunes of a great many people." + +"That's just it," answered Mr. Flint, with a dash at this opening; "my +responsibilities are tremendous. I can't relinquish them." + +"There is no--younger man to take your place? Not that I mean you are +old, father," she continued, "but you have worked very hard all your +life, and deserve a holiday the rest of it." + +"I don't know of any younger man," said Mr. Flint. "I don't mean to say +I'm the only person in the world who can safeguard the stockholders' +interests in the Northeastern. But I know the road and its problems. I +don't understand this from you, Victoria. It doesn't sound like you. +And as for letting go the helm now," he added, with a short laugh tinged +with bitterness, "I'd be posted all over the country as a coward." + +"Why?" asked Victoria, in the same quiet way. + +"Why? Because a lot of discontented and disappointed people who have +made failures of their lives are trying to give me as much trouble as +they can." + +"Are you sure they are all disappointed and discontented, father?" she +said. + +"What," exclaimed Mr. Flint, "you ask me that question? You, my own +daughter, about people who are trying to make me out a rascal!" + +"I don't think they are trying to make you out a rascal--at least most of +them are not," said Victoria. "I don't think the--what you might call +the personal aspect enters in with the honest ones." + +Mr. Flint was inexpressibly amazed. He drew a long breath. + +"Who are the honest ones?" he cried. "Do you mean to say that you, my +own daughter, are defending these charlatans?" + +"Listen, father," said Victoria. "I didn't mean to worry you, I didn't +mean to bring up that subject to-day. Come--let's go for a walk and see +the new barn." + +But Mr. Flint remained firmly planted on the bench. + +"Then you did intend to bring up the subject--some day?" he asked. + +"Yes," said Victoria. She sat down again. "I have often wanted to hear- +-your side of it." + +"Whose side have you heard?" demanded Mr. Flint. + +A crimson flush crept into her cheek, but her father was too disturbed to +notice it. + +"You know," she said gently, "I go about the country a good deal, and I +hear people talking,--farmers, and labourers, and people in the country +stores who don't know that I'm your daughter." + +"What do they say?" asked Mr. Flint, leaning forward eagerly and +aggressively. + +Victoria hesitated, turning over the matter in her mind. + +"You understand, I am merely repeating what they say--" + +"Yes, yes," he interrupted, "I want to know how far this thing has gone +among them." + +"Well," continued Victoria, looking at him bravely, "as nearly as I can +remember their argument it is this: that the Northeastern Railroads +control the politics of the State for their own benefit. That you +appoint the governors and those that go to the Legislature, and that-- +Hilary Vane gets them elected. They say that be manages a political +machine--that's the right word, isn't it?--for you. And that no laws can +be passed of which you do not approve. And they say that the politicians +whom Hilary Vane commands, and the men whom they put into office are all +beholden to the railroad, and are of a sort which good citizens cannot +support. They say that the railroad has destroyed the people's +government." + +Mr. Flint, for the moment forgetting or ignoring the charges, glanced at +her in astonishment. The arraignment betrayed an amount of thought on +the subject which he had not suspected. + +"Upon my word, Victoria," he said, "you ought to take the stump for +Humphrey Crewe." + +She reached out with a womanly gesture, and laid her hand upon his. + +"I am only telling you--what I hear," she said. + +"Won't you explain to me the way you look at it? These people don't all +seem to be dishonest men or charlatans. Some of them, I know, are +honest." And her colour rose again. + +"Then they are dupes and fools," Mr. Flint declared vehemently. "I don't +know how to explain it to you the subject is too vast, too far-reaching. +One must have had some business experience to grasp it. I don't mean to +say you're not intelligent, but I'm at a loss where to begin with you. +Looked at from their limited point of view, it would seem as if they had +a case. I don't mean your friend, Humphrey Crewe--it's anything to get +office with him. Why, he came up here and begged me--" + +"I wasn't thinking of Humphrey Crewe," said Victoria. Mr. Flint gave an +ejaculation of distaste. + +"He's no more of a reformer than I am. And now we've got that wild son +of Hilary Vane's--the son of one of my oldest friends and associates-- +making trouble. He's bitten with this thing, too, and he's got some +brains in his head. Why," exclaimed Mr. Flint, stopping abruptly and +facing his daughter, "you know him! He's the one who drove you home that +evening from Crewe's party." + +"I remember," Victoria faltered, drawing her hand away. + +"I wasn't very civil to him that night, but I've always been on the +lookout for him. I sent him a pass once, and he came up here and gave me +as insolent a talking to as I ever had in my life." + +How well Victoria recalled that first visit, and how she had wondered +about the cause of it! So her father and Austen Vane had quarrelled from +the first. + +"I'm sure he didn't mean to be insolent," she said, in a low voice. "He +isn't at all that sort." + +"I don't know what sort he is, except that he isn't my sort," Mr. Flint +retorted, intent upon the subject which had kindled his anger earlier in +the day. "I don't pretend to understand him. He could probably have +been counsel for the road if he had behaved decently. Instead, he starts +in with suits against us. He's hit upon something now." + +The president of the Northeastern dug savagely into the ground with his +stick, and suddenly perceived that his daughter had her face turned away +from his, towards the mountain. + +"Well, I won't bore you with that." + +She turned with a look in her eyes that bewildered him. + +"You're not--boring me," she said. + +"I didn't intend to go into all that," he explained more calmly, "but the +last few days have been trying, we've got to expect the wind to blow from +all directions." + +Victoria smiled at him faintly. + +"I have told you," she said, "that what you need is a trip abroad. +Perhaps some day you will remember it." + +"Maybe I'll go in the autumn," he answered, smiling back at her. "These +little flurries don't amount to anything more than mosquito-bites--only +mosquitoes are irritating. You and I understand each other, Victoria, +and now listen. I'll give you the broad view of this subject, the view +I've got to take, and I've lived in the world and seen more of it than +some folks who think they know it all. I am virtually the trustee for +thousands of stockholders, many of whom are widows and orphans. These +people are innocent; they rely on my ability, and my honesty, for their +incomes. Few men who have not had experience in railroad management know +one-tenth of the difficulties and obstructions encountered by a railroad +president who strives to do his duty by the road. My business is to run +the Northeastern as economically as is consistent with good service and +safety, and to give the stockholders the best return for their money. I +am the steward--and so long as I am the steward," he exclaimed, "I'm +going to do what I think is right, taking into consideration all the +difficulties that confront me." + +He got up and took a turn or two on the pine-needles. Victoria regarded +him in silence. He appeared to her at that moment the embodiment of the +power he represented. Force seemed to emanate from him, and she +understood more clearly than ever how, from a poor boy on an obscure farm +in Truro, he had risen to his present height. + +"I don't say the service is what it should be," he went on, "but give me +time--give me time. With all this prosperity in the country we can't +handle the freight. We haven't got cars enough, tracks enough, engines +enough. I won't go into that with you. But I do expect you to +understand this: that politicians are politicians; they have always been +corrupt as long as I have known them, and in my opinion they always will +be. The Northeastern is the largest property holder in the State, pays +the biggest tax, and has the most at stake. The politicians could ruin +us in a single session of the Legislature--and what's more, they would do +it. We'd have to be paying blackmail all the time to prevent measures +that would compel us to go out of business. This is a fact, and not a +theory. What little influence I exert politically I have to maintain in +order to protect the property of my stockholders from annihilation. It +isn't to be supposed," he concluded, "that I'm going to see the State +turned over to a man like Humphrey Crewe. I wish to Heaven that this and +every other State had a George Washington for governor and a majority of +Robert Morrises in the Legislature. If they exist, in these days, the +people won't elect 'em--that's all. The kind of man the people will +elect, if you let 'em alone, is--a man who brings in a bill and comes to +you privately and wants you to buy him off." + +"Oh, father," Victoria cried, "I can't believe that of the people I see +about here! They seem so kind and honest and high-principled." + +Mr. Flint gave a short laugh. + +"They're dupes, I tell you. They're at the mercy of any political +schemer who thinks it worth his while to fool 'em. Take Leith, for +instance. There's a man over there who has controlled every office in +that town for twenty-five years or more. He buys and sells votes and +credentials like cattle. His name is Job Braden." + +"Why," said Victoria, I saw him at Humphrey Crewe's garden-party." + +"I guess you did," said Mr. Flint, "and I guess Humphrey Crewe saw him +before he went." + +Victoria was silent, the recollection of the talk between Mr. Tooting and +Mr. Crewe running through her mind, and Mr. Tooting's saying that he had +done "dirty things" for the Northeastern. She felt that this was +something she could not tell her father, nor could she answer his +argument with what Tom Gaylord had said. She could not, indeed, answer +Mr. Flint's argument at all; the subject, as he had declared, being too +vast for her. And moreover, as she well knew, Mr. Flint was a man whom +other men could not easily answer; he bore them down, even as he had +borne her down. Involuntarily her mind turned to Austen, and she +wondered what he had said; she wondered how he would have answered her +father--whether he could have answered him. And she knew not what to +think. Could it be right, in a position of power and responsibility, to +acknowledge evil and deal with it as evil? That was, in effect, the gist +of Mr. Flint's contention. She did not know. She had never (strangely +enough, she thought) sought before to analyze the ethical side of her +father's character. One aspect of him she had shared with her mother, +that he was a tower of defence and strength, and that his name alone had +often been sufficient to get difficult things done. + +Was he right in this? And were his opponents charlatans, or dupes, or +idealists who could never be effective? Mr. Crewe wanted an office; Tom +Gaylord had a suit against the road, and Austen Vane was going to bring +that suit! What did she really know of Austen Vane? But her soul cried +out treason at this, and she found herself repeating, with intensity, "I +believe in him! I believe in him!" She would have given worlds to have +been able to stand up before her father and tell him that Austen would +not bring the suit at this time that Austen had not allowed his name to +be mentioned for office in this connection, and had spurned Mr. Crewe's +advances. But she had not seen Austen since February. + +What was his side of it? He had never told her, and she respected his +motives--yet, what was his side? Fresh from the inevitably deep +impressions which her father's personality had stamped upon her, she +wondered if Austen could cope with the argument before which she had been +so helpless. + +The fact that she made of each of these two men the embodiment of a +different and opposed idea did not occur to Victoria until that +afternoon. Unconsciously, each had impersonated the combatants in a +struggle which was going on in her own breast. Her father himself, +instinctively, had chosen Austen Vane for his antagonist without knowing +that she had an interest in him. Would Mr. Flint ever know? Or would +the time come when she would be forced to take a side? The blood mounted +to her temples as she put the question from her. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MR. JABE JENNEY ENTERTAINS + +Mr. Flint had dropped the subject with his last remark, nor had Victoria +attempted to pursue it. Bewildered and not a little depressed (a new +experience for her), she had tried to hide her feelings. He, too, was +harassed and tired, and she had drawn him away from the bench and through +the pine woods to the pastures to look at his cattle and the model barn +he was building for them. At half-past three, in her runabout, she had +driven him to the East Tunbridge station, where he had taken the train +for New York. He had waved her a good-by from the platform, and smiled: +and for a long time, as she drove through the silent roads, his words and +his manner remained as vivid as though he were still by her side. He was +a man who had fought and conquered, and who fought on for the sheer love +of it. + +It was a blue day in the hill country. At noon the clouds had crowned +Sawanec--a sure sign of rain; the rain had come and gone, a June +downpour, and the overcast sky lent (Victoria fancied) to the country- +side a new atmosphere. The hills did not look the same. It was the kind +of a day when certain finished country places are at their best--or +rather seem best to express their meaning; a day for an event; a day set +strangely apart with an indefinable distinction. Victoria recalled such +days in her youth when weddings or garden-parties had brought canopies +into service, or news had arrived to upset the routine of the household. +Raindrops silvered the pines, and the light winds shook them down on the +road in a musical shower. + +Victoria was troubled, as she drove, over a question which had recurred +to her many times since her talk that morning: had she been hypocritical +in not telling her father that she had seen more of Austen Vane than she +had implied by her silence? For many years Victoria had chosen her own +companions; when the custom had begun, her mother had made a protest +which Mr. Flint had answered with a laugh; he thought Victoria's judgment +better than his wife's. Ever since that time the Rose of Sharon had +taken the attitude of having washed her hands of responsibility for a +course which must inevitably lead to ruin. She discussed some of +Victoria's acquaintances with Mrs. Pomfret and other intimates; and Mrs. +Pomfret had lost no time in telling Mrs. Flint about her daughter's +sleigh-ride at the State capital with a young man from Ripton who seemed +to be seeing entirely too much of Victoria. Mrs. Pomfret had marked +certain danger signs, and as a conscientious woman was obliged to speak +of them. Mrs. Pomfret did not wish to see Victoria make a mesalliance. + +"My dear Fanny," Mrs. Flint had cried, lifting herself from the lace +pillows, "what do you expect me to do especially when I have nervous +prostration? I've tried to do my duty by Victoria--goodness knows--to +bring her up--among the sons and daughters of the people who are my +friends. They tell me that she has temperament--whatever that may be. +I'm sure I never found out, except that the best thing to do with people +who have it is to let them alone and pray for them. When we go abroad I +like the Ritz and Claridge's and that new hotel in Rome. I see my +friends there. Victoria, if you please, likes the little hotels in the +narrow streets where you see nobody, and where you are most +uncomfortable." (Miss Oliver, it's time for those seven drops.) "As I +was saying, Victoria's enigmatical hopeless, although a French comtesse +who wouldn't look at anybody at the baths this spring became wild about +her, and a certain type of elderly English peer always wants to marry +her. (I suppose I do look pale to-day.) Victoria loves art, and really +knows something about it. She adores to potter around those queer places +abroad where you see strange English and Germans and Americans with red +books in their hands. What am I to do about this young man of whom you +speak--whatever his name is? I suppose Victoria will marry him--it would +be just like her. But what can I do, Fanny? I can't manage her, and +it's no use going to her father. He would only laugh. Augustus actually +told me once there was no such thing as social position in this country!" + +"American men of affairs," Mrs. Pomfret judicially replied, "are too busy +to consider position. They make it, my dear, as a by-product." Mrs. +Pomfret smiled, and mentally noted this aptly technical witticism for use +again. + +"I suppose they do," assented the Rose of Sharon, "and their daughters +sometimes squander it, just as their sons squander their money." + +"I'm not at all sure that Victoria is going to squander it," was Mrs. +Pomfret's comforting remark. "She is too much of a personage, and she +has great wealth behind her. I wish Alice were more like her, in some +ways. Alice is so helpless, she has to be prodded and prompted +continually. I can't leave her for a moment. And when she is married, +I'm going into a sanatorium for six months." + +"I hear," said Mrs. Flint, "that Humphrey Crewe is quite epris." + +"Poor dear Humphrey!" exclaimed Mrs. Pomfret, "he can think of nothing +else but politics." + +But we are not to take up again, as yet, the deeds of the crafty Ulysses. +In order to relate an important conversation between Mrs. Pomfret and the +Rose of Sharon, we have gone back a week in this history, and have left +Victoria--absorbed in her thoughts--driving over a wood road of many +puddles that led to the Four Corners, near Avalon. The road climbed the +song-laden valley of a brook, redolent now with scents of which the rain +had robbed the fern, but at length Victoria reached an upland where the +young corn was springing from the, black furrows that followed the +contours of the hillsides, where the big-eyed cattle lay under the heavy +maples and oaks or gazed at her across the fences. + +Victoria drew up in front of an unpainted farm-house straggling beside +the road, a farm-house which began with the dignity of fluted pilasters +and ended in a tumble-down open shed filled with a rusty sleigh and a +hundred nondescript articles--some of which seemed to be moving. +Intently studying this phenomenon from her runabout, she finally +discovered that the moving objects were children; one of whom, a little +girl, came out and stared at her. + +"How do you do, Mary?" said Victoria. "Isn't your name Mary?" + +The child nodded. + +"I remember you," she said; "you're the rich lady, mother met at the +party, that got father a job." + +Victoria smiled. And such was the potency of the smile that the child +joined in it. + +"Where's brother?" asked Victoria. "He must be quite grown up since we +gave him lemonade." + +Mary pointed to the woodshed. + +"O dear!" exclaimed Victoria, leaping out of the runabout and hitching +her horse, "aren't you afraid some of those sharp iron things will fall +on him?" She herself rescued brother from what seemed untimely and +certain death, and set him down in safety in the middle of the grass +plot. He looked up at her with the air of one whose dignity has been +irretrievably injured, and she laughed as she reached down and pulled his +nose. Then his face, too, became wreathed in smiles. + +"Mary, how old are you?" + +"Seven, ma'am." + +"And I'm five," Mary's sister chimed in. + +"I want you to promise me," said Victoria, "that you won't let brother +play in that shed. And the very next time I come I'll bring you both the +nicest thing I can think of." + +Mary began to dance. + +"We'll promise, we'll promise!" she cried for both, and at this juncture +Mrs. Fitch, who had run from the washtub to get into her Sunday waist, +came out of the door. + +"So you hain't forgot me!" she exclaimed. "I was almost afeard you'd +forgot me." + +"I've been away," said Victoria, gently taking the woman's hand and +sitting down on the doorstep. + +"Don't set there," said Mrs. Fitch; "come into the parlour. You'll dirty +your dress--Mary!" This last in admonition. + +"Let her stay where she is," said Victoria, putting her arm around the +child. "The dress washes, and it's so nice outside." + +"You rich folks certainly do have strange notions," declared Mrs. Fitch, +fingering the flounce on Victoria's skirt, which formed the subject of +conversation for the next few minutes. + +"How are you getting on?" Victoria asked at length. + +A look of pain came into the woman's eyes. + +"You've be'n so good to us, and done so much gettin' Eben a job on your +father's place, that I don't feel as if I ought to lie to you. He done +it again--on Saturday night. First time in three months. The manager up +at Fairview don't know it. Eben was all right Monday." + +"I'm sorry," said Victoria, simply. "Was it bad?" + +"It might have be'n. Young Mr. Vane is stayin' up at Jabe Jenney's--you +know, the first house as you turn off the hill road. Mr. Vane heard some +way what you'd done for us, and he saw Eben in Ripton Saturday night, and +made him get into his buggy and come home. I guess he had a time with +Eben. Mr. Vane, he came around here on Sunday, and gave him as stiff a +talkin' to as he ever got, I guess. He told Eben he'd ought to be +ashamed of himself goin' back on folks who was tryin' to help him pay his +mortgage. And I'll say this for Eben, he was downright ashamed. He told +Mr. Vane he could lick him if he caught him drunk again, and Mr. Vane +said he would. My, what a pretty colour you've got to-day." + +Victoria rose. "I'm going to send you down some washing," she said. + +Mrs. Fitch insisted upon untying the horse, while Victoria renewed her +promises to the children. + +There were two ways of going back to Fairview,--a long and a short way,-- +and the long way led by Jabe Jenney's farm. Victoria came to the fork in +the road, paused,--and took the long way. Several times after this, she +pulled her horse down to a walk, and was apparently on the point of +turning around again: a disinterested observer in a farm wagon, whom she +passed, thought that she had missed her road. "The first house after you +turn off the hill road," Mrs. Fitch had said. She could still, of +course, keep on the hill road, but that would take her to Weymouth, and +she would never get home. + +It is useless to go into the reasons for this act of Victoria's. She did +not know them herself. The nearer Victoria got to Mr. Jenney's, the more +she wished herself back at the forks. Suppose Mrs. Fitch told him of her +visit! Perhaps she could pass the Jenneys' unnoticed. The chances of +this, indeed, seemed highly favourable, and it was characteristic of her +sex that she began to pray fervently to this end. Then she turned off +the hill road, feeling as though she had but to look back to see the +smoke of the burning bridges. + +Victoria remembered the farm now; for Mr. Jabe Jenney, being a person of +importance in the town of Leith, had a house commensurate with his +estate. The house was not large, but its dignity was akin to Mr. +Jenney's position: it was painted a spotless white, and not a shingle or +a nail was out of place. Before it stood the great trees planted by Mr. +Jenney's ancestors, which Victoria and other people had often paused on +their drives to admire, and on the hillside was a little, old-fashioned +flower garden; lilacs clustered about the small-paned windows, and a +bitter-sweet clung to the roof and pillars of the porch. These details +of the place (which she had never before known as Mr. Jenney's) flashed +into Victoria's mind before she caught sight of the great trees +themselves looming against the sombre blue-black of the sky: the wind, +rising fitfully, stirred the leaves with a sound like falling waters, and +a great drop fell upon her cheek. Victoria raised her eyes in alarm, and +across the open spaces, toward the hills which piled higher and higher +yet against the sky, was a white veil of rain. She touched with her whip +the shoulder of her horse, recalling a farm a quarter of a mile beyond-- +she must not be caught here! + +More drops followed, and the great trees seemed to reach out to her a +protecting shelter. She spoke to the horse. Beyond the farm-house, on +the other side of the road, was a group of gray, slate-shingled barns, +and here two figures confronted her. One was that of the comfortable, +middle-aged Mr. Jenney himself, standing on the threshold of the barn, +and laughing heartily, and crying: "Hang on to him That's right--get him +by the nose!" + +The person thus addressed had led a young horse to water at the spring +which bubbled out of a sugar-kettle hard by; and the horse, quivering, +had barely touched his nostrils to the water when he reared backward, +jerking the halter-rope taut. Then followed, with bewildering rapidity, +a series of manoeuvres on the part of the horse to get away, and on the +part of the person to prevent this, and inasmuch as the struggle took +place in the middle of the road, Victoria had to stop. By the time the +person had got the horse by the nose,--shutting off his wind,--the rain +was coming down in earnest. + +"Drive right in," cried Mr. Jenney, hospitably; "you'll get wet. Look +out, Austen, there's a lady comin'. Why, it's Miss Flint!" + +Victoria knew that her face must be on fire. She felt Austen Vane's +quick glance upon her, but she did not dare look to the right or left as +she drove into the barn. There seemed no excuse for any other course. + +"How be you?" said Mr. Jenney; "kind of lucky you happened along here, +wahn't it? You'd have been soaked before you got to Harris's. How be +you? I ain't seen you since that highfalutin party up to Crewe's." + +"It's very kind of you to let me come in, Mr. Jenney." + +"But I have a rain-coat and a boot, and--I really ought to be going on." + +Here Victoria produced the rain-coat from under the seat. The garment +was a dark blue, and Mr. Jenney felt of its gossamer weight with a good- +natured contempt. + +"That wouldn't be any more good than so much cheesecloth," he declared, +nodding in the direction of the white sheet of the storm. "Would it, +Austen." + +She turned her head slowly and met Austen's eyes. Fortunate that the +barn was darkened, that he might not see how deep the colour mantling in +her temples! His head was bare, and she had never really marked before +the superb setting of it on his shoulders, for he wore a gray flannel +shirt open at the neck, revealing a bronzed throat. His sinewy arms-- +weather-burned, too--were bare above the elbows. + +Explanations of her presence sprang to her lips, but she put them from +her as subterfuges unworthy of him. She would not attempt to deceive him +in the least. She had wished to see him again--nor did she analyze her +motives. Once more beside him, the feeling of confidence, of belief in +him, rose within her and swept all else away--burned in a swift consuming +flame the doubts of absence. He took her hand, but she withdrew it +quickly. + +"This is a fortunate accident," he said, "fortunate, at least, for me." + +"Perhaps Mr. Jenney will not agree with you," she retorted. + +But Mr. Jenney was hitching the horse and throwing a blanket over him. +Suddenly, before they realized it, the farmer had vanished into the +storm, and this unexplained desertion of their host gave rise to an +awkward silence between them, which each for a while strove vainly to +break. In the great moments of life, trivialities become dwarfed and +ludicrous, and the burden of such occasions is on the woman. + +"So you've taken to farming," she said,-"isn't it about haying time?" + +He laughed. + +"We begin next week. And you--you've come back in season for it. I hope +that your mother is better." + +"Yes," replied Victoria, simply, "the baths helped her. But I'm glad to +get back,--I like my own country so much better,--and especially this +part of it," she added. "I can bear to be away from New York in the +winter, but not from Fairview in the summer." + +At this instant Mr. Jenney appeared at the barn door bearing a huge green +umbrella. + +"Come over to the house--Mis' Jenney is expectin' you," he said. + +Victoria hesitated. To refuse would be ungracious; moreover, she could +risk no misinterpretation of her acts, and she accepted. Mrs. Jenney met +her on the doorstep, and conducted her into that sanctum reserved for +occasions, the parlour, with its Bible, its flat, old-fashioned piano, +its samplers, its crayon portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Jenney after their +honeymoon; with its aroma that suggested Sundays and best manners. Mrs. +Jenney, with incredible rapidity (for her figure was not what it had been +at the time of the crayon portrait), had got into a black dress, over +which she wore a spotless apron. She sat in the parlour with her guest +until Mr. Jenney reappeared with shining face and damp hair. + +"You'll excuse me, my dear," said Mrs. Jenney, "but the supper's on the +stove, and I have to run out now and then." + +Mr. Jenney was entertaining. He had the shrewd, humorous outlook upon +life characteristic of the best type of New England farmer, and Victoria +got along with him famously. His comments upon his neighbours were +kindly but incisive, except when the question of spirituous liquors +occurred to him. Austen Vane he thought the world of, and dwelt upon +this subject a little longer than Victoria, under the circumstances, +would have wished. + +"He comes out here just like it was home," said Mr. Jenney, "and helps +with the horses and cows the same as if he wasn't gettin' to be one of +the greatest lawyers in the State." + +"O dear, Mr. Jenney," said Victoria, glancing out of the window, "I'll +really have to go home. I'm sure it won't stop raining for hours. But I +shall be perfectly dry in my rain-coat,--no matter how much you may +despise it." + +"You're not a-going to do anything of the kind," cried Mrs. Jenney from +the doorway. "Supper's all ready, and you're going to walk right in." + +"Oh, I really have to go," Victoria exclaimed. + +" Now I know it ain't as grand as you'd get at home," said Mr. Jenney. +"It ain't what we'd give you, Miss Victoria,--that's only simple home +fare,--it's what you'd give us. It's the honour of having you," he +added,--and Victoria thought that no courtier could have worded an +invitation better. She would not be missed at Fairview. Her mother was +inaccessible at this hour, and the servants would think of her as dining +at Leith. The picture of the great, lonely house, of the ceremonious +dinner which awaited her single presence, gave her an irresistible +longing to sit down with these simple, kindly souls. Austen was the only +obstacle. He, too, had changed his clothes, and now appeared, smiling at +her behind Mrs. Jenney. The look of prospective disappointment in the +good woman's face decided Victoria. + +"I'll stay, with pleasure," she said. + +Mr. Jenney pronounced grace. Victoria sat across the table from Austen, +and several times the consciousness of his grave look upon her as she +talked heightened the colour in her cheek. He said but little during the +meal. Victoria heard how well Mrs. Jenney's oldest son was doing in +Springfield, and how the unmarried daughter was teaching, now, in the +West. Asked about Europe, that land of perpetual mystery to the native +American, the girl spoke so simply and vividly of some of the wonders she +had seen that she held the older people entranced long after the meal was +finished. But at length she observed, with a start, the gathering +darkness. In the momentary happiness of this experience, she had been +forgetful. + +"I will drive home with you, if you'll allow me," said Austen. + +"Oh, no, I really don't need an escort, Mr. Vane. I'm so used to driving +about at night, I never think of it," she answered. + +"Of course he'll drive home with you, dear," said Mrs. Jenney. "And, +Jabe, you'll hitch up and go and fetch Austen back." + +"Certain," Mr. Jenney agreed. + +The rain had ceased, and the indistinct outline of the trees and fences +betrayed the fact that the clouds were already thinning under the moon. +Austen had lighted the side lamps of the runabout, revealing the shining +pools on the road as they drove along--for the first few minutes in +silence. + +"It was very good of you to stay," he said; "you do not know how much +pleasure you have given them." + +Her feminine appreciation responded to the tact of this remark: it was so +distinctly what he should have said. + +How delicate, she thought, must be his understanding of her, that he +should have spoken so! + +"I was glad to stay," she answered, in a low voice. "I--enjoyed it, +too." + +"They have very little in their lives," he said, and added, with a +characteristic touch, "I do not mean to say that your coming would not be +an event in any household." + +She laughed with him, softly, at this sally. + +"Not to speak of the visit you are making them," she replied. + +"Oh, I'm one of the family," he said; "I come and go. Jabe's is my +country house, when I can't stand the city any longer." + +She saw that he did not intend to tell her why he had left Ripton on this +occasion. There fell another silence. They were like prisoners, and +each strove to explore the bounds of their captivity: each sought a +lawful ground of communication. Victoria suddenly remembered--with an +access of indignation--her father's words, "I do not know what sort he +is, but he is not my sort." A while ago, and she had blamed herself +vehemently for coming to Jabe Jenney's, and now the act had suddenly +become sanctified in her sight. She did not analyze her feeling for +Austen, but she was consumed with a fierce desire that justice should be +done him. "He was honourable--honourable!" she found herself repeating +under her breath. No man or woman could look into his face, take his +hand, sit by his side, without feeling that he was as dependable as the +stars in their courses. And her father should know this, must be made to +know it. This man was to be distinguished from opportunists and self- +seekers, from fanatics who strike at random. His chief possession was a +priceless one--a conscience. + +As for Austen, it sufficed him for the moment that he had been lifted, by +another seeming caprice of fortune, to a seat of torture the agony +whereof was exquisite. An hour, and only the ceaseless pricking memory +of it would abide. The barriers had risen higher since he had seen her +last, but still he might look into her face and know the radiance of her +presence. Could he only trust himself to guard his tongue! But the +heart on such occasions will cheat language of its meaning. + +"What have you been doing since I saw you last?" she asked. "It seems +that you still continue to lead a life of violence." + +"Sometimes I wish I did," he answered, with a laugh; "the humdrum +existence of getting practice enough to keep a horse is not the most +exciting in the world. To what particular deed of violence do you +refer?" + +"The last achievement, which is in every one's mouth, that of assisting +Mr. Tooting down-stairs." + +"I have been defamed," Austen laughed; "he fell down, I believe. But as +I have a somewhat evil reputation, and as he came out of my entry, people +draw their own conclusions. I can't imagine who told you that story." + +"Never mind," she answered. "You see, I have certain sources of +information about you." + +He tingled over this, and puzzled over it so long that she laughed. + +"Does that surprise you?" she asked. "I fail to see why I should be +expected to lose all interest in my friends--even if they appear to have +lost interest in me." + +"Oh, don't say that!" he cried so sharply that she wished her words +unsaid. "You can't mean it! You don't know!" + +She trembled at the vigorous passion he put into the words. + +"No, I don't mean it," she said gently. + +The wind had made a rent in the sheet of the clouds, and through it burst +the moon in her full glory, flooding field and pasture, and the black +stretches of pine forest at their feet. Below them the land fell away, +and fell again to the distant broadening valley, to where a mist of white +vapour hid the course of the Blue. And beyond, the hills rose again, +tier upon tier, to the shadowy outline of Sawanec herself against the +hurrying clouds and the light-washed sky. Victoria, gazing at the scene, +drew a deep breath, and turned and looked at him in the quick way which +he remembered so well. + +"Sometimes," she said, "it is so beautiful that it hurts to look at it. +You love it--do you ever feel that way?" + +"Yes," he said, but his answer was more than the monosyllable. "I can +see that mountain from my window, and it seriously interferes with my +work. I really ought to move into another building." + +There was a little catch in her laugh. + +"And I watch it," she continued, "I watch it from the pine grove by the +hour. Sometimes it smiles, and sometimes it is sad, and sometimes it is +far, far away, so remote and mysterious that I wonder if it is ever to +come back and smile again." + +"Have you ever seen the sunrise from its peak?" said Austen. + +"No. Oh, how I should love to see it!" she exclaimed. + +"Yes, you would like to see it," he answered simply. He would like to +take her there, to climb, with her hand in his, the well-known paths in +the darkness, to reach the summit in the rosy-fingered dawn: to see her +stand on the granite at his side in the full glory of the red light, and +to show her a world which she was henceforth to share with him. + +Some such image, some such vision of his figure on the rock, may have +been in her mind as she turned her face again toward the mountain. + +"You are cold," he said, reaching for the mackintosh in the back of the +trap. + +"No," she said. But she stopped the horse and acquiesced by slipping her +arms into the coat, and he felt upon his hand the caress of a stray wisp +of hair at her neck. Under a spell of thought and feeling, seemingly +laid by the magic of the night, neither spoke for a space. And then +Victoria summoned her forces, and turned to him again. Her tone bespoke +the subtle intimacy that always sprang up between them, despite bars and +conventions. + +"I was sure you would understand why I wrote you from New York," she +said, "although I hesitated a long time before doing so. It was very +stupid of me not to realize the scruples which made you refuse to be a +candidate for the governorship, and I wanted to--to apologize." + +"It wasn't necessary," said Austen, "but--I valued the note." The words +seemed so absurdly inadequate to express his appreciation of the treasure +which he carried with him, at that moment, in his pocket. "But, really," +he added, smiling at her in the moonlight, "I must protest against your +belief that I could have been an effective candidate! I have roamed +about the State, and I have made some very good friends here and there +among the hill farmers, like Mr. Jenney. Mr. Redbrook is one of these. +But it would have been absurd of me even to think of a candidacy founded +on personal friendships. I assure you," he added, smiling, "there was no +self denial in my refusal." + +She gave him an appraising glance which he found at once enchanting and +disconcerting. + +"You are one of those people, I think, who do not know their own value. +If I were a man, and such men as Mr. Redbrook and Mr. Jenney knew me and +believed sufficiently in me and in my integrity of purpose to ask me to +be their candidate" (here she hesitated an instant), "and I believed that +the cause were a good one, I should not have felt justified in refusing. +That is what I meant. I have always thought of you as a man of force and +a man of action. But I did not see--the obstacle in your way." + +She hesitated once more, and added, with a courage which did not fail of +its direct appeal, "I did not realize that you would be publicly opposing +your father. And I did not realize that you would not care to criticise +--mine." + +On the last word she faltered and glanced at his profile. + +Had she gone too far? + +"I felt that you would understand," he answered. He could not trust +himself to speak further. How much did she know? And how much was she +capable of grasping? + +His reticence served only to fortify her trust--to elevate it. It was +impossible for her not to feel something of that which was in him and +crying for utterance. She was a woman. And if this one action had been +but the holding of her coat, she would have known. A man who could keep +silent under these conditions must indeed be a rock of might and honour; +and she felt sure now, with a surging of joy, that the light she had seen +shining from it was the beacon of truth. A question trembled on her +lips--the question for which she had long been gathering strength. +Whatever the outcome of this communion, she felt that there must be +absolute truth between them. + +"I want to ask you something, Mr. Vane--I have been wanting to for a long +time." + +She saw the muscles of his jaw tighten,--a manner he had when earnest or +determined,--and she wondered in agitation whether he divined what she +was going to say. He turned his face slowly to hers, and his eyes were +troubled. + +"Yes," he said. + +"You have always spared my feelings," she went on. "Now--now I am asking +for the truth--as you see it. Do the Northeastern Railroads wrongfully +govern this State for their own ends?" + +Austen, too, as he thought over it afterwards, in the night, was +surprised at her concise phrasing, suggestive; as it was, of much +reflection. But at the moment, although he had been prepared for and had +braced himself against something of this nature, he was nevertheless +overcome by the absolute and fearless directness of her speech. + +"That is a question," he answered, "which you will have to ask your +father." + +"I have asked him," she said, in a low voice; "I want to know what--you +believe." + +"You have asked him!" he repeated, in astonishment. + +"Yes. You mustn't think that, in asking you, I am unfair to him in any +way--or that I doubt his sincerity. We have been" (her voice caught a +little) "the closest friends ever since I was a child." She paused. +"But I want to know what you believe." + +The fact that she emphasized the last pronoun sent another thrill through +him. Did it, then, make any difference to her what he believed? Did she +mean to differentiate him from out of the multitude? He had to steady +himself before he answered:-- + +"I have sometimes thought that my own view might not be broad enough." + +She turned to him again. + +"Why are you evading?" she asked. "I am sure it is not because yon have +not settled convictions. And I have asked you--a favour." + +"You have done me an honour," he answered, and faced her suddenly. "You +must see," he cried, with a power and passion in his voice that startled +and thrilled her in turn, "you must see that it's because I wish to be +fair that I hesitate. I would tell you--anything. I do not agree with +my own father,--we have been--apart--for years because of this. And I +do--not agree with Mr. Flint. I am sure that they both are wrong. But I +cannot help seeing their point of view. These practices are the result +of an evolution, of an evolution of their time. They were forced to cope +with conditions in the way they did, or go to the wall. They make the +mistake of believing that the practices are still necessary to-day." + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, a great hope rising within her at these words. "Oh, +and you believe they are not!" His explanation seemed so simple, so +inspiring. And above and beyond that, he was sure. Conviction rang in +every word. Had he not, she remembered, staked his career by disagreeing +with his father? Yes, and he had been slow to condemn; he had seen their +side. It was they who condemned him. He must have justice--he should +have it! + +"I believe such practices are not necessary now," he said firmly. "A new +generation has come--a generation more jealous of its political rights, +and not so willing to be rid of them by farming them out. A change has +taken place even in the older men, like Mr. Jenney and Mr. Redbrook, who +simply did not think about these questions ten years ago. Men of this +type, who could be leaders, are ready to assume their responsibilities, +are ready to deal fairly with railroads and citizens alike. This is a +matter of belief. I believe it--Mr. Flint and my father do not. They +see the politicians, and I see the people. I belong to one generation, +and they to another. With the convictions they have, added to the fact +that they are in a position of heavy responsibility toward the owners of +their property, they cannot be blamed for hesitating to try any +experiments." + +"And the practices are--bad?" Victoria asked. + +"They are entirely subversive of the principles of American government, +to say the least," replied Austen, grimly. He was thinking of the pass +which Mr. Flint had sent him, and of the kind of men Mr. Flint employed +to make the practices effective. + +They descended into the darkness of a deep valley, scored out between the +hills by one of the rushing tributaries of the Blue. The moon fell down +behind the opposite ridge, and the road ran through a deep forest. He no +longer saw the shades of meaning in her face, but in the blackness of +Erebus he could have sensed her presence at his side. Speech, though of +this strange kind of which neither felt the strangeness, had come and +gone between them, and now silence spoke as eloquently. Twice or thrice +their eyes met through the gloom,--and there was light. At length she +spoke with the impulsiveness in her voice that he found so appealing. + +"You must see my father--you must talk to him. He doesn't know how fair +you are!" + +To Austen the inference was obvious that Mr. Flint had conceived for him +a special animosity, which he must have mentioned to Victoria, and this +inference opened the way to a wide speculation in which he was at once +elated and depressed. Why had he been so singled out? And had Victoria +defended him? Once before he remembered that she had told him he must +see Mr. Flint. They had gained the ridge now, and the moon had risen +again for them, striking black shadows from the maples on the granite- +cropped pastures. A little farther on was a road which might have been +called the rear entrance to Fairview. + +What was he to say? + +"I am afraid Mr. Flint has other things to do than to see me," he +answered. "If he wished to see me, he would say so." + +"Would you go to see him, if he were to ask you?" said Victoria. + +"Yes," he replied, "but that is not likely to happen. Indeed, you are +giving my opinion entirely too much importance in your father's eyes," he +added, with an attempt to carry it off lightly; "there is no more reason +why he should care to discuss the subject with me than with any other +citizen of the State of my age who thinks as I do." + +"Oh, yes, there is," said Victoria; "he regards you as a person whose +opinion has some weight. I am sure of that. He thinks of you as a +person of convictions--and he has heard things about you. You talked to +him once," she went on, astonished at her own boldness, "and made him +angry. Why don't you talk to him again?" she cried, seeing that Austen +was silent. "I am sure that what you said about the change of public +opinion in the State would appeal to him. And oh, don't quarrel with +him! You have a faculty of differing with people without quarrelling +with them. My father has so many cares, and he tries so hard to do right +as he sees it. You must remember that he was a poor farmer's son, and +that he began to work at fourteen in Brampton, running errands for a +country printer. He never had any advantages except those he made for +himself, and he had to fight his way in a hard school against men who +were not always honourable. It is no wonder that he sometimes takes--a +material view of things. But he is reasonable and willing to listen to +what other men have to say, if he is not antagonized." + +"I understand," said Austen, who thought Mr. Flint blest in his advocate. +Indeed, Victoria's simple reference to her father's origin had touched +him deeply. "I understand, but I cannot go to him. There is every +reason why I cannot," he added, and she knew that he was speaking with +difficulty, as under great emotion. + +"But if he should send for you?" she asked. She felt his look fixed upon +her with a strange intensity, and her heart leaped as she dropped her +eyes. + +"If Mr. Flint should send for me," he answered slowly, "I would come--and +gladly. But it must be of his own free will." + +Victoria repeated the words over to herself, "It must be of his own free +will," waiting until she should be alone to seek their full +interpretation. She turned, and looked across the lawn at Fairview House +shining in the light. In another minute they had drawn up before the +open door. + +"Won't you come in--and wait for Mr. Jenney?" she asked. + +He gazed down into her face, searchingly, and took her hand. + +"Good night," he said; "Mr. Jenney is not far behind. I think--I think I +should like the walk." + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MR. CREWE: AN APPRECIATION (1) + +It is given to some rare mortals--with whom fame precedes grey hairs or +baldness to read, while still on the rising tide of their efforts, that +portion of their lives which has already been inscribed on the scroll of +history--or something like it. Mr. Crewe in kilts at five; and +(prophetic picture!) with a train of cars which--so the family tradition +runs--was afterwards demolished; Mr. Crewe at fourteen, in delicate +health; this picture was taken abroad, with a long-suffering tutor who +could speak feelingly, if he would, of embryo geniuses. Even at this +early period Humphrey Crewe's thirst for knowledge was insatiable: he +cared little, the biography tells us, for galleries and churches and +ruins, but his comments upon foreign methods of doing business were +astonishingly precocious. He recommended to amazed clerks in provincial +banks the use of cheques, ridiculed to speechless station-masters the +side-entrance railway carriage with its want of room, and the size of the +goods trucks. He is said to have been the first to suggest that soda- +water fountains might be run at a large profit in London. + +In college, in addition to keeping up his classical courses, he found +time to make an exhaustive study of the railroads of the United States, +embodying these ideas in a pamphlet published shortly after graduation. +This pamphlet is now, unfortunately, very rare, but the anonymous +biographer managed to get one and quote from it. If Mr. Crewe's +suggestions had been carried out, seventy-five per cent of the railroad +accidents might have been eliminated. Thorough was his watchword even +then. And even at that period he foresaw, with the prophecy of genius, +the days of single-track congestion. + +His efforts to improve Leith and the State in general, to ameliorate the +condition of his neighbours, were fittingly and delicately dwelt upon. A +desire to take upon himself the burden of citizenship led--as we know--to +further self-denial. He felt called upon to go to the Legislature--and +this is what he saw:-- + +(Mr. Crewe is quoted here at length in an admirable, concise, and hair- +raising statement given in an interview to his biographer. But we have +been with him, and know what he saw. It is, for lack of space, +reluctantly omitted.) + +And now we are to take up where the biography left off; to relate, in a +chapter if possible, one of the most remarkable campaigns in the history +of this country. A certain reformer of whose acquaintance the honest +chronicler boasts (a reformer who got elected!) found, on his first visit +to the headquarters he had hired--two citizens under the influence of +liquor and a little girl with a skip rope. Such are the beginnings that +try men's souls. + +The window of every independent shopkeeper in Ripton contained a large- +sized picture of the Leith statesman, his determined chin slightly thrust +down into the Gladstone collar. Underneath were the words, "I will put +an end to graft and railroad rule. I am a Candidate of the People. +Opening rally of the People's Campaign at the Opera House, at 8 P.M., +July 10th. The Hon. Humphrey Crewe, of Leith, will tell the citizens of +Ripton how their State is governed." + +"Father," said Victoria, as she read this announcement (three columns +wide, in the Ripton Record) as they sat at breakfast together, "do you +mind my going? I can get Hastings Weare to take me." + +"Not at all," said Mr. Flint, who had returned from New York in a better +frame of mind. "I should like a trustworthy account of that meeting. +Only," he added, "I should advise you to go early, Victoria, in order to +get a seat." + +"You don't object to my listening to criticism of you?" + +"Not by Humphrey Crewe," laughed Mr. Flint. + +Early suppers instead of dinners were the rule at Leith on the evening of +the historic day, and the candidate himself, in his red Leviathan, was +not inconsiderably annoyed, on the way to Ripton, by innumerable +carryalls and traps filled with brightly gowned recruits of that +organization of Mrs. Pomfret's which Beatrice Chillingham had nicknamed +"The Ladies' Auxiliary.". In vain Mr. Crewe tooted his horn: the sound +of it was drowned by the gay talk and laughter in the carryalls, and +shrieks ensued when the Leviathan cut by with only six inches to spare, +and the candidate turned and addressed the drivers in language more +forceful than polite, and told the ladies they acted as if they were +going to a Punch-and-Judy show. + +"Poor dear Humphrey!" said, Mrs. Pomfret, "is so much in earnest. I +wouldn't give a snap for a man without a temper." + +"Poor dear Humphrey" said Beatrice Chillingham, in an undertone to her +neighbour, "is exceedingly rude and ungrateful. That's what I think." + +The occupants of one vehicle heard the horn, and sought the top of a +grassy mound to let the Leviathan go by. And the Leviathan, with +characteristic contrariness, stopped. + +"Hello," said Mr. Crewe, with a pull at his cap. "I intended to be on +the lookout for you." + +"That is very thoughtful, Humphrey, considering how many things you have +to be on the lookout for this evening," Victoria replied. + +"That's all right," was Mr. Crewe's gracious reply. "I knew you'd be +sufficiently broad-minded to come, and I hope you won't take offence at +certain remarks I think it my duty to make." + +"Don't let my presence affect you," she answered, smiling; "I have come +prepared for anything." + +"I'll tell Tooting to give you a good seat," he called back, as he +started onward. + +Hastings Weare looked up at her, with laughter-brimming eyes. + +"Victoria, you're a wonder!" he remarked. "Say, do you remember that +tall fellow we met at Humphrey's party, Austen Vane?" + +Yes." + +"I saw him on the street in Ripton the other day, and he came right up +and spoke to me. He hadn't forgotten my name. Now, he'd be my notion of +a candidate. He makes you feel as if your presence in the world meant +something to him." + +"I think he does feel that way," replied Victoria. + +"I don't blame him if he feels that way about you," said Hastings, who +made love openly. + +"Hastings," she answered, "when you get a little older, you will learn to +confine yourself to your own opinions." + +"When I do," he retorted audaciously, "they never make you blush like +that." + +"It's probably because you have never learned to be original," she +replied. But Hastings had been set to thinking. + +Mrs. Pomfret, with her foresight and her talent for management, had given +the Ladies' Auxiliary notice that they were not to go farther forward +than the twelfth row. She herself, with some especially favoured ones, +occupied a box, which was the nearest thing to being on the stage. One +unforeseen result of Mrs. Pomfret's arrangement was that the first eleven +rows were vacant, with the exception of one old man and five or six +schoolboys. Such is the courage of humanity in general! On the arrival +of the candidate, instead of a surging crowd lining the sidewalk, he +found only a fringe of the curious, whose usual post of observation was +the railroad station, standing silently on the curb. Within, Mr. +Tooting's duties as an usher had not been onerous. He met Mr. Crewe in +the vestibule, and drew him into the private office. + +"The railroad's fixed 'em," said the manager, indignantly, but sotto +voce; "I've found that out. Hilary Vane had the word passed around town +that if they came, somethin' would fall on 'em. The Tredways and all the +people who own factories served notice on their men that if they paid any +attention to this meeting they'd lose their job. But say, the people are +watchin' you, just the same." + +"How many people are in there?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +"Twenty-seven, when I came out," said Mr. Tooting, with commendable +accuracy. "But it wants fifteen minutes to eight." + +"And who," asked Mr. Crewe, "is to introduce me?" + +An expression of indignation spread over Mr. Tooting's face. + +"There ain't a man in Ripton's got sand enough!" he exclaimed. "Sol +Gridley was a-goin' to, but he went to New York on the noon train. +I guess it's a pleasure trip," Mr. Tooting hinted darkly. + +"Why," said Mr. Crewe, "he's the fellow--" + +"Exactly," Mr. Tooting replied, "and he did get a lot of 'em, travelling +about. But Sol has got to work on the quiet, you understand. He feels +he can't come out right away." + +"And how about Amos Ricketts? Where's he?" + +"Amos," said Mr. Tooting, regretfully, "was taken very sudden about five +o'clock. One of his spells come on, and he sent me word to the Ripton +House. He had his speech all made up, and it was a good one, too. He +was going to tell folks pretty straight how the railroad beat him for +mayor." + +Mr. Crewe made a gesture of disgust. + +"I'll introduce myself," he said. "They all know me, anyhow." + +"Say," said Mr. Tooting, laying a hand on his candidate's arm. "You +couldn't do any better. I've bin for that all along." + +"Hold on," said Mr. Crewe, listening, "a lot of people are coming in +now." + +What Mr. Crewe had heard, however, was the arrival of the Ladies' +Auxiliary,--five and thirty strong, from Leith. But stay! Who are these +coming? More ladies--ladies in groups of two and three and five! ladies +of Ripton whose husbands, for some unexplained reason, have stayed at +home; and Mr. Tooting, as he watched them with mingled feelings, became a +woman's suffragist on the spot. He dived into the private office once +more, where he found Mr. Crewe seated with his legs crossed, calmly +reading a last winter's playbill. (Note for a more complete biography.) + +"Well, Tooting," he said, "I thought they'd begin to come." + +"They're mostly women," Mr. Tooting informed him. + +"Women!" + +"Hold on!" said Mr. Tooting, who had the true showman's instinct. "Can't +you see that folks are curious? They're afraid to come 'emselves, and +they're sendin' their wives and daughters. If you get the women tonight, +they'll go home and club the men into line." + +Eight strokes boomed out from the tower of the neighbouring town hall, +and an expectant flutter spread over the audience,--a flatter which +disseminated faint odours of sachet and other mysterious substances in +which feminine apparel is said to the laid away. The stage was empty, +save for a table which held a pitcher of water and a glass. + +"It's a pretty good imitation of a matinee," Hastings Weare remarked. +"I wonder whom the front seats are reserved for. Say, Victoria, there's +your friend Mr. Vane in the corner. He's looking over here." + +"He has a perfect right to look where he chooses," said Victoria. She +wondered whether he would come over and sit next to her if she turned +around, and decided instantly that he wouldn't. Presently, when she +thought Hastings was off his guard, she did turn, to meet, as she +expected, Austen's glance fixed upon her. Their greeting was the signal +of two people with a mutual understanding. He did not rise, and although +she acknowledged to herself a feeling of disappointment, she gave him +credit for a nice comprehension of the situation. Beside him was his +friend Tom Gaylord, who presented to her a very puzzled face. And then, +if there had been a band, it would have been time to play "See, the +Conquering Hero Comes!" + +Why wasn't there a band? No such mistake, Mr. Tooting vowed, should be +made at the next rally. + +It was Mrs. Pomfret who led the applause from her box as the candidate +walked modestly up the side aisle and presently appeared, alone, on the +stage. The flutter of excitement was renewed, and this time it might +almost be called a flutter of apprehension. But we who have heard Mr. +Crewe speak are in no alarm for our candidate. He takes a glass of iced +water; he arranges, with the utmost sangfroid, his notes on the desk and +adjusts the reading light. Then he steps forward and surveys the +scattered groups. + +"Ladies--" a titter ran through the audience,--a titter which started +somewhere in the near neighbourhood of Mr. Hastings Weare--and rose +instantly to several hysterical peals of feminine laughter. Mrs. +Pomfret, outraged, sweeps the frivolous offenders with her lorgnette; Mr. +Crewe, with his arm resting, on the reading-desk, merely raises the palm +of his hand to a perpendicular reproof,--and gentlemen." At this point +the audience is thoroughly cowed. Ladies and gentlemen and fellow +citizens. I thank you for the honour you have done me in coming here to +listen to the opening speech of my campaign to-night. It is a campaign +for decency and good government, and I know that the common people of the +State--of whom I have the honour to be one--demand these things. I +cannot say as much for the so-called prominent citizens," said Mr. Crewe, +glancing about him; "not one of your prominent citizens in Ripton would +venture to offend the powers that be by consenting to introduce me to- +night, or dared come into this theatre and take seats within thirty feet +of this platform." Here Mr. Crewe let his eyes rest significantly on the +eleven empty rows, while his hearers squirmed in terrified silence at +this audacity. Even the Ripton women knew that this was high treason +beneath the walls of the citadel, and many of them glanced furtively at +the strangely composed daughter of Augustus P. Flint. + +"I will show you that I can stand on my own feet," Mr. Crewe continued. +"I will introduce myself. I am Humphrey Crewe of Leith, and I claim to have +added something to the welfare and prosperity of this State, and I intend +to add more before I have finished." + +At this point, as might have been expected, spontaneous applause broke +forth, originating in the right-hand stage box. Here was a daring +defiance indeed, a courage of such a high order that it completely +carried away the ladies and drew reluctant plaudits from the male +element. "Give it to 'em, Humphrey!" said one of those who happened to +be sitting next to Miss Flint, and who received a very severe pinch in +the arm in consequence. + +"I thank the gentleman," answered Mr. Crewe, "and I propose to-- +(Handclapping and sachet.) I propose to show that you spend something +like two hundred thousand dollars a year to elect legislators and send +'em to the capital, when the real government of your State is in a room +in the Pelican Hotel known as the Railroad Room, and the real governor is +a citizen of your town, the Honourable Hilary Vane, who sits there and +acts for his master, Mr. Augustus P. Flint of New York. And I propose to +prove to you that, before the Honourable Adam B. Hunt appeared as that +which has come to be known as the 'regular' candidate, Mr. Flint sent for +him to go to New York and exacted certain promises from him. Not that it +was necessary, but the Northeastern Railroads never take any chances. +(Laughter.) The Honourable Adam B. Hunt is what they call a 'safe' man, +meaning by that a man who will do what Mr. Flint wants him to do. While +I am not 'safe' because I have dared to defy them in your name, and will +do what the people want me to do. (Clapping and cheers from a gentleman +in the darkness, afterwards identified as Mr. Tooting.) Now, my friends, +are you going to continue to allow a citizen of New York to nominate your +governors, and do you intend, tamely, to give the Honourable Adam B. Hunt +your votes?" + +"They ain't got any votes," said a voice--not that of Mr. Hastings Weare, +for it came from the depths of the gallery. + +"'The hand that rocks the cradle sways the world,'" answered Mr. Crewe, +and there was no doubt about the sincerity of the applause this time. + +"The campaign of the Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith," said the State +Tribune next day, "was inaugurated at the Opera House in Ripton last +night before an enthusiastic audience consisting of Mr. Austen Vane, Mr. +Thomas Gaylord, Jr., Mr. Hamilton Tooting, two reporters, and seventy- +four ladies, who cheered the speaker to the echo. About half of these +ladies were summer residents of Leith in charge of the well-known social +leader, Mrs. Patterson Pomfret,--an organized league which, it is +understood, will follow the candidate about the State in the English +fashion, kissing the babies and teaching the mothers hygienic cooking and +how to ondule the hair." + +After speaking for an hour and a half, the Honourable Humphrey Crewe +declared that he would be glad to meet any of the audience who wished to +shake his hand, and it was Mrs. Pomfret who reached him first. + +"Don't be discouraged, Humphrey,--you are magnificent," she whispered. + +"Discouraged!" echoed Mr. Crewe. "You can't kill an idea, and we'll see +who's right and who's wrong before I get through with 'em." + +"What a noble spirit!" Mrs. Pomfret exclaimed aside to Mrs. Chillingham. +Then she added, in a louder tone, "Ladies, if you will kindly tell me +your names, I shall be happy to introduce you to the candidate. Well, +Victoria, I didn't expect to see you here." + +"Why not?" said Victoria. "Humphrey, accept my congratulations." + +"Did you like it?" asked Mr. Crewe. "I thought it was a pretty good +speech myself. There's nothing like telling the truth, you know. And, +by the way, I hope to see you in a day or two, before I start for +Kingston. Telephone me when you come down to Leith." + +The congratulations bestowed on the candidate by the daughter of the +president of the Northeastern Railroads quite took the breath out of the +spectators who witnessed the incident, and gave rise to the wildest +conjectures. And the admiration of Mr. Hastings Weare was unbounded. + +"You've got the most magnificent nerve I ever saw, Victoria," he +exclaimed, as they made their way towards the door. + +"You forget Humphrey," she replied. + +Hastings looked at her and chuckled. In fact, he chuckled all the way +home. In the vestibule they met Mr. Austen Vane and Mr. Thomas Gaylord, +the latter coming forward with a certain palpable embarrassment. All +through the evening Tom had been trying to account for her presence at +the meeting, until Austen had begged him to keep his speculations to +himself. "She can't be engaged to him!" Mr. Gaylord had exclaimed more +than once, under his breath. "Why not?" Austen had answered; "there's a +good deal about him to admire." "Because she's got more sense," said +Tom doggedly. Hence he was at a loss for words when she greeted him. + +"Well, Mr. Gaylord," she said, "you see no bones were broken, after all. +But I appreciated your precaution in sending the buggy behind me, +although it wasn't necessary. + +"I felt somewhat responsible," replied Tom, and words failed him. +"Here's Austen Vane," he added, indicating by a nod of the head the +obvious presence of that gentleman. "You'll excuse me. There's a man +here I want to see." + +"What's the matter with Mr. Gaylord?" Victoria asked. "He seems so-- +queer." + +They were standing apart, alone, Hastings Weare having gone to the +stables for the runabout. + +"Mr. Gaylord imagines he doesn't get along with the opposite sex," Austen +replied, with just a shade of constraint. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Victoria; "we got along perfectly the other day +when he rescued me from the bushes. What's the matter with him?" + +Austen laughed, and their eyes met. + +"I think he is rather surprised to see you here," he said. + +"And you?" returned Victoria. "Aren't you equally out of place?" + +He did not care to go into an explanation of Tom's suspicion in regard to +Mr. Crewe. + +"My curiosity was too much for me," he replied, smiling. + +"So was mine," she replied, and suddenly demanded: "What did you think of +Humphrey's speech?" + +Their eyes met. And despite the attempted seriousness of her tone they +joined in an irresistible and spontaneous laughter. They were again on +that plane of mutual understanding and intimacy for which neither could +account. + +"I have no criticism to make of Mr. Crewe as an orator, at least," he +said. + +Then she grew serious again, and regarded him steadfastly. + +"And--what he said?" she asked. + +Austen wondered again at the courage she had displayed. All he had been +able to think of in the theatre, while listening to Mr. Crewe's words of +denunciation of the Northeastern Railroads, had been of the effect they +might have on Victoria's feelings, and from time to time he had glanced +anxiously at her profile. And now, looking into her face, questioning, +trustful--he could not even attempt to evade. He was silent. + +"I shouldn't have asked you that," she said. "One reason I came was +because--because I wanted to hear the worst. You were too considerate to +tell me--all." + +He looked mutely into her eyes, and a great desire arose in him to be +able to carry her away from it all. Many times within the past year, +when the troubles and complications of his life had weighed upon him, his +thoughts had turned to, that Western country, limited only by the bright +horizons where the sun rose and set. If he could only take her there, or +into his own hills, where no man might follow them! It was a primeval +longing, and, being a woman and the object of it, she saw its essential +meaning in his face. For a brief moment they stood as completely alone +as on the crest of Sawanec. + +"Good night," she said, in a low voice. + +He did not trust himself to speak at once, but went down the steps with +her to the curb, where Hastings Weare was waiting in the runabout. + +"I was just telling Miss Flint," said that young gentleman, "that you +would have been my candidate." + +Austen's face relaxed. + +"Thank you, Mr. Weare," he said simply; and to Victoria, "Good night." + +At the corner, when she turned, she saw him still standing on the edge of +the sidewalk, his tall figure thrown into bold relief by the light which +flooded from the entrance. The account of the Ripton meeting, +substantially as it appeared in the State Tribune, was by a singular +coincidence copied at once into sixty-odd weekly newspapers, and must +have caused endless merriment throughout the State. Congressman +Fairplay's prophecy of "negligible" was an exaggeration, and one +gentleman who had rashly predicted that Mr. Crewe would get twenty +delegates out of a thousand hid himself for shame. On the whole, the +"monumental farce" forecast seemed best to fit the situation. A +conference was held at Leith between the candidate, Mr. Tooting, and the +Honourable Timothy Watling of Newcastle, who was preparing the nominating +speech, although the convention was more than two months distant. Mr. +Watling was skilled in rounded periods of oratory and in other things +political; and both he and Mr. Tooting reiterated their opinion that +there was no particle of doubt about Mr. Crewe's nomination. + +"But we'll have to fight fire with fire," Mr. Tooting declared. It was +probably an accident that he happened to kick, at this instant, Mr. +Watling under cover of the table. Mr. Watling was an old and valued +friend. + +"Gentlemen," said Mr. Crewe, "I haven't the slightest doubt of my +nomination, either. I do not hesitate to say, however, that the expenses +of this campaign, at this early stage, seem to me out of all proportion. +Let me see what you have there." + +The Honourable Timothy Wading had produced a typewritten list containing +some eighty towns and wards, each followed by a name and the number of +the delegates therefrom--and figures. + +"They'd all be enthusiastic Crewe men--if they could be seen by the right +party," declared Mr. Tooting. + +Mr. Crewe ran his eye over the list. + +"Whom would you suggest to see 'em?" he asked coldly. + +"There's only one party I know of that has much influence over 'em," Mr. +Tooting replied, with a genial but deferential indication of his friend. + +At this point Mr. Crewe's secretary left the room on an errand, and the +three statesmen went into executive session. In politics, as in charity, +it is a good rule not to let one's right hand know what the left hand +doeth. Half an hour later the three emerged into the sunlight, Mr. +Tooting and Mr. Watling smoking large cigars. + +"You've got a great lay-out here, Mr. Crewe," Mr. Watling remarked. "It +must have stood you in a little money, eh? Yes, I'll get mileage books, +and you'll hear from me every day or two." + +And now we are come to the infinitely difficult task of relating in a +whirlwind manner the story of a whirlwind campaign--a campaign that was +to make the oldest resident sit up and take notice. In the space of four +short weeks a miracle had begun to show itself. First, there was the +Kingston meeting, with the candidate, his thumb in his watch-pocket, +seated in an open carriage beside Mr. Hamilton Tooting,--a carriage +draped with a sheet on which was painted "Down with Railroad Ring Rule." + +The carriage was preceded by the Kingston Brass Band, producing throbbing +martial melodies, and followed (we are not going to believe the State +Tribune any longer) by a jostling' and cheering crowd. The band halts +before the G.A.R. Hall; the candidate alights, with a bow of +acknowledgment, and goes to the private office until the musicians are +seated in front of the platform, when he enters to renewed cheering and +the tune of "See, the Conquering Hero Comes!" + +An honest historian must admit that there were two accounts of this +meeting. Both agree that Mr. Crewe introduced himself, and poured a +withering sarcasm on the heads of Kingston's prominent citizens. One +account, which the ill-natured declared to be in Mr. Tooting's style, and +which appeared (in slightly larger type than that of the other columns) +in the Kingston and local papers, stated that the hall was crowded to +suffocation, and that the candidate was "accorded an ovation which lasted +for fully five minutes." + +Mr. Crewe's speech was printed--in this slightly larger type. Woe to the +Honourable Adam B. Hunt, who had gone to New York to see whether he could +be governor! Why didn't he come out on the platform? Because he +couldn't. "Safe" candidates couldn't talk. His subservient and fawning +reports on accidents while chairman of the Railroad Commission were +ruthlessly quoted (amid cheers and laughter). What kind of railroad +service was Kingston getting compared to what it should have? Compared, +indeed, to what it had twenty years ago? An informal reception was held +afterwards. + +More meetings followed, at the rate of four a week, in county after +county. At the end of fifteen days a selectman (whose name will go down +in history) voluntarily mounted the platform and introduced the +Honourable Humphrey Crewe to the audience; not, to be sure, as the +saviour of the State; and from that day onward Mr. Crewe did not lack for +a sponsor. On the other hand, the sponsors became more pronounced, and +at Harwich (a free-thinking district) a whole board of selectmen and five +prominent citizens sat gravely beside the candidate in the town hall. + +(1) Paul Pardriff, Ripton. Sent post free, on application, to voters and +others. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Battles of selfish interests ebbed and flowed +A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds +His strength was his imperviousness to this kind of a remark +Many a silent tear of which they knew nothing +Politicians are politicians; they have always been corrupt + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, V2 +by Winston Churchill + + + + + +MR. CREWE'S CAREER + +By Winston Churchill + + + +BOOK 3. + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ST. GILES OF THE BLAMELESS LIFE + +The burden of the valley of vision: woe to the Honourable Adam B. Hunt! +Where is he all this time? On the porch of his home in Edmundton, +smoking cigars, little heeding the rising of the waters; receiving visits +from the Honourables Brush Bascom, Nat Billings, and Jacob Botcher, and +signing cheques to the order of these gentlemen for necessary expenses. +Be it known that the Honourable Adam was a man of substance in this +world's goods. To quote from Mr. Crewe's speech at Hull: "The +Northeastern Railroads confer--they do not pay, except in passes. Of +late years their books may be searched in vain for evidence of the use of +political funds. The man upon whom they choose to confer your +governorship is always able to pay the pipers." (Purposely put in the +plural.) + +Have the pipers warned the Honourable Adam of the rising tide against +him? Have they asked him to gird up his loins and hire halls and smite +the upstart hip and thigh? They have warned him, yes, that the expenses +may be a little greater than ordinary. But it is not for him to talk, or +to bestir himself in any unseemly manner, for the prize which he was to +have was in the nature of a gift. In vain did Mr. Crewe cry out to him +four times a week for his political beliefs, for a statement of what he +would do if he were elected governor. The Honourable Adam's dignified +answer was that he had always been a good Republican, and would die one. +Following a time-honoured custom, he refused to say anything, but it was +rumoured that he believed in the gold standard. + +It is August, and there is rejoicing in--Leith. There is no doubt now +that the campaign of the people progresses; no need any more for the true +accounts of the meetings, in large print, although these are still +continued. The reform rallies resemble matinees no longer, and two real +reporters accompany Mr. Crewe on his tours. Nay, the campaign of +education has already borne fruit, which the candidate did not hesitate +to mention in his talks Edmundton has more trains, Kingston has more +trains, and more cars. No need now to stand up for twenty miles on a hot +day; and more cars are building, and more engines; likewise some rates +have been lowered. And editors who declare that the Northeastern gives +the State a pretty good government have, like the guinea pigs, long been +suppressed. + +In these days were many councils at Fairview and in the offices of the +Honourable Hilary Vane at Ripton; councils behind closed doors, from +which the councillors emerged with smiling faces that men might not know +the misgivings in their hearts; councils, nevertheless, out of which +leaked rumours of dissension and recrimination conditions hitherto +unheard of. One post ran to meet another, and one messenger ran to meet +another; and it was even reported--though on doubtful authority--after +the rally in his town the Honourable Jacob Botcher had made the remark +that, under certain conditions, he might become a reformer. + +None of these upsetting rumours, however, were allowed by Mr. Bascom and +other gentlemen close to the Honourable Adam B. Hunt to reach that +candidate, who continued to smoke in tranquillity on the porch of his +home until the fifteenth day of August. At eight o'clock that morning +the postman brought him a letter marked personal, the handwriting on +which he recognized as belonging to the Honourable Hilary Vane. For some +reason, as he read, the sensations of the Honourable Adam were +disquieting; the contents of the letter, to say the least, were peculiar. +"To-morrow, at noon precisely, I shall be driving along the Broad Brook +road by the abandoned mill--three miles towards Edmundton from Hull. I +hope you will find it convenient to be there." + +These were the strange words the Honourable Hilary had written, and the +Honourable Adam knew that it was an order. At that very instant Mr. Hunt +had been reading in the Guardian the account of an overflow meeting in +Newcastle, by his opponent, in which Mr. Crewe had made some particularly +choice remarks about him; and had been cheered to the echo. The +Honourable Adam put the paper down, and walked up the street to talk to +Mr. Burrows, the postmaster whom, with the aid of Congressman Fairplay, +he had had appointed at Edmundton. The two racked their brains for +three hours; and Postmaster Burrows, who was the fortunate possessor of a +pass, offered to go down to Ripton in the interest of his liege lord and +see what was up. The Honourable Adam, however, decided that he could +wait for twenty-four hours. + +The morning of the sixteenth dawned clear, as beautiful a summer's day +for a drive as any man could wish. But the spirit of the Honourable Adam +did not respond to the weather, and he had certain vague forebodings as +his horse jogged toward Hull, although these did not take such a definite +shape as to make him feel a premonitory pull of his coat-tails. The +ruined mill beside the rushing stream was a picturesque spot, and the +figure of the Honourable Hilary Vane, seated on the old millstone, in the +green and gold shadows of a beech, gave an interesting touch of life to +the landscape. The Honourable Adam drew up and eyed his friend and +associate of many years before addressing him. + +"How are you, Hilary?" + +"Hitch your horse," said Mr. Vane. + +The Honourable Adam was some time in picking out a convenient tree. Then +he lighted a cigar, and approached Mr. Vane, and at length let himself +down, cautiously, on the millstone. Sitting on his porch had not +improved Mr. Hunt's figure. + +"This is kind of mysterious, ain't it, Hilary?" he remarked, with a tug +at his goatee. + +"I don't know but what it is," admitted Mr. Vane, who did not look as +though the coming episode were to give him unqualified joy. + +"Fine weather," remarked the Honourable Adam, with a brave attempt at +geniality. + +"The paper predicts rain to-morrow," said the Honourable Hilary. + +"You don't smoke, do you?" asked the Honourable Adam. + +"No," said the Honourable Hilary. + +A silence, except for the music of the brook over the broken dam. + +"Pretty place," said the Honourable Adam; "I kissed my wife here once-- +before I was married." + +This remark, although of interest, the Honourable Hilary evidently +thought did not require an answer: + +"Adam," said Mr. Vane, presently, "how much money have you spent so far?" + +"Well," said Mr. Hunt, "it has been sort of costly, but Brush and the +boys tell me the times are uncommon, and I guess they are. If that crazy +cuss Crewe hadn't broken loose, it would have been different. Not that +I'm uneasy about him, but all this talk of his and newspaper advertising +had to be counteracted some. Why, he has a couple of columns a week +right here in the Edmundton Courier. The papers are bleedin' him to +death, certain." + +"How much have you spent?" asked the Honourable Hilary. + +The Honourable Adam screwed up his face and pulled his goatee +thoughtfully. + +"What are you trying to get at, Hilary," he inquired, sending for me to +meet you out here in the woods in this curious way? If you wanted to see +me, why didn't you get me to go down to Ripton, or come up and sit on my +porch? You've been there before." + +"Times," said the Honourable Hilary, repeating, perhaps unconsciously, +Mr. Hunt's words, "are uncommon. This man Crewe's making more headway +than you think. The people don't know him, and he's struck a popular +note. It's the fashion to be down on railroads these days." + +"I've taken that into account," replied Mr. Hunt. + +"It's unlucky, and it comes high. I don't think he's got a show for the +nomination, but my dander's up, and I'll beat him if I have to mortgage +my house." + +The Honourable Hilary grunted, and ruminated. + +"How much did you say you'd spent, Adam?" + +"If you think I'm not free enough, I'll loosen up a little more," said +the Honourable Adam. + +"How free have you been?" said the Honourable Hilary. + +For some reason the question, put in this form, was productive of +results. + +"I can't say to a dollar, but I've got all the amounts down in a book. I +guess somewhere in the neighbourhood of nine thousand would cover it." + +Mr. Vane grunted again. + +"Would you take a cheque, Adam?" he inquired. + +"What for?" cried the Honourable Adam. + +"For the amount you've spent," said the Honourable Hilary, sententiously. + +The Honourable Adam began to breathe with apparent difficulty, and his +face grew purple. But Mr. Vane did not appear to notice these alarming +symptoms. Then the candidate turned about, as on a pivot, seized Mr. +Vane by the knee, and looked into his face. + +"Did you come up here with orders for me to get out?" he demanded, with +some pardonable violence. "By thunder, I didn't think that of my old +friend, Hilary Vane. You ought to have known me better, and Flint ought +to have known me better. There ain't a mite of use of our staying here +another second, and you can go right back and tell Flint what I said. +Flint knows I've been waiting to be governor for eight years, and each +year it's been just a year ahead. You ask him what he said to me when he +sent for me to go to New York. I thought he was a man of his word, and +he promised me that I should be governor this year." + +The Honourable Hilary gave no indication of being moved by this righteous +outburst. + +"You can be governor next year, when this reform nonsense has blown +over," he said. "You can't be this year, even if you stay in the race." + +"Why not?" the Honourable Adam asked pugnaciously. + +"Your record won't stand it--not just now," said Mr. Vane, slowly. + +"My record is just as good as yours, or any man's," said the Honourable +Adam. + +"I never run for office," answered Mr. Vane. + +"Haven't I spent the days of my active life in the service of that road-- +and is this my reward? Haven't I done what Flint wanted always?" + +"That's just the trouble," said the Honourable Hilary; too many folks +know it. If we're going to win this time, we've got to have a man who's +never had any Northeastern connections." + +"Who have you picked?" demanded the Honourable Adam, with alarming +calmness. + +"We haven't picked anybody yet," said Mr. Vane, "but the man who goes in +will give you a cheque for what you've spent, and you can be governor +next time." + +"Well, if this isn't the d-dest, coldest-blooded proposition ever made, I +want to know!" cried the Honourable Adam. "Will Flint put up a bond of +one hundred thousand dollars that I'll be nominated and elected next +year? This is the clearest case of going back on an old friend I ever +saw. If this is the way you fellows get scared because a sham reformer +gets up and hollers against the road, then I want to serve notice on you +that I'm not made of that kind of stuff. When I go into a fight, I go in +to stay, and you can't pull me out by the coat-tails in favour of a saint +who's never done a lick of work for the road. You tell Flint that." + +"All right, Adam," said Hilary. + +Some note in Hilary's voice, as he made this brief answer, suddenly +sobered the Honourable Adam, and sent a cold chill down his spine. He +had had many dealings with Mr. Vane, and he had always been as putty in +the chief counsel's hands. This simple acquiescence did more to convince +the Honourable Adam that his chances of nomination were in real danger +than a long and forceful summary of the situation could have +accomplished. But like many weak men, the Honourable Adam had a stubborn +streak, and a fatuous idea that opposition and indignation were signs of +strength. + +"I've made sacrifices for the road before, and effaced myself. But by +thunder, this is too much!" + +Corporations, like republics, are proverbially ungrateful. The +Honourable Hilary might have voiced this sentiment, but refrained. + +"Mr. Flint's a good friend of yours, Adam. He wanted me to say that he'd +always taken care of you, and always would, so far as in his power. If +you can't be landed this time, it's common sense for you to get out, and +wait--isn't it? We'll see that you get a cheque to cover what you've put +out." + +The humour in this financial sacrifice of Mr. Flint's (which the unknown +new candidate was to make with a cheque) struck neither the Honourable +Adam nor the Honourable Hilary. The transaction, if effected, would +resemble that of the shrine to the Virgin built by a grateful Marquis of +Mantua--which a Jew paid for. + +The Honourable Adam got to his feet. + +"You can tell Flint," he said, "that if he will sign a bond of one +hundred thousand dollars to elect me next time, I'll get out. That's my +last word." + +"All right, Adam," replied Mr. Vane, rising also. + +Mr. Hunt stared at the Honourable Hilary thoughtfully; and although the +gubernatorial candidate was not an observant man, he was suddenly struck +by the fact that the chief counsel was growing old. + +"I won't hold this against you, Hilary," he said. + +"Politics," said the Honourable Hilary, "are business matters." + +"I'll show Flint that it would have been good business to stick to me," +said the Honourable Adam. "When be gets panicky, and spends all his +money on new equipment and service, it's time for me to drop him. You +can tell him so from me." + +"Hadn't you better write him?" said the Honourable Hilary. + +The rumour of the entry of Mr. Giles Henderson of Kingston into the +gubernatorial contest preceded, by ten days or so, the actual event. It +is difficult for the historian to unravel the precise circumstances which +led to this candidacy. Conservative citizens throughout the State, it +was understood, had become greatly concerned over the trend political +affairs were taking; the radical doctrines of one candidate--propounded +for very obvious reasons--they turned from in disgust; on the other hand, +it was evident that an underlying feeling existed in certain sections +that any candidate who was said to have had more or less connection with +the Northeastern Railroads was undesirable at the present time. This was +not to be taken as a reflection on the Northeastern, which had been the +chief source of the State's prosperity, but merely as an acknowledgment +that a public opinion undoubtedly existed, and ought to be taken into +consideration by the men who controlled the Republican party. + +This was the gist of leading articles which appeared simultaneously in +several newspapers, apparently before the happy thought of bringing +forward Mr. Giles Henderson had occurred to anybody. He was mentioned +first, and most properly, by the editor of the "Kingston Pilot;" and the +article, with comments upon it, ran like wildfire through the press of +the State,--appearing even in those sheets which maintained editorially +that they were for the Honourable Adam B. Hunt first and last and, all +the time. Whereupon Mr. Giles Henderson began to receive visits from the +solid men--not politicians of the various cities and counties. For +instance, Mr. Silas Tredway of Ripton, made such a pilgrimage and, as a +citizen who had voted in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln (showing Mr. Tredway +himself to have been a radical once), appealed to Mr. Henderson to save +the State. + +At first Mr. Henderson would give no ear to these appeals, but shook his +head pessimistically. He was not a politician--so much the better, we +don't want a politician; he was a plain business man exactly what is +needed; a conservative, level-headed business man wholly lacking in those +sensational qualities which are a stench in the nostrils of good +citizens. Mr. Giles Henderson admitted that the time had come when a man +of these qualities was needed--but he was not the man. Mr. Tredway was +the man--so he told Mr. Tredway; Mr. Gates of Brampton was the man--so he +assured Mr. Gates. Mr. Henderson had no desire to meddle in politics; +his life was a happy and a full one. But was it not Mr. Henderson's +duty? Cincinnatus left the plough, and Mr. Henderson should leave the +ledger at the call of his countrymen. + +Mr. Giles Henderson was mild-mannered and blue-eyed, with a scanty beard +that was turning white; he was a deacon of the church, a member of the +school board, president of the Kingston National Bank; the main business +of his life had been in coal (which incidentally had had to be +transported over the Northeastern Railroads); and coal rates, for some +reason, were cheaper from Kingston than from many points out of the State +the distances of which were nearer. Mr. Henderson had been able to sell +his coal at a lower price than any other large dealer in the eastern part +of the State. Mr. Henderson was the holder of a large amount of stock in +the Northeastern, inherited from his father. Facts of no special +significance, and not printed in the weekly newspapers. Mr. Henderson +lived in a gloomy Gothic house on High Street, ate three very plain meals +a day, and drank iced water. He had been a good husband and a good +father, and had always voted the Republican ticket. He believed in the +gold standard, a high tariff, and eternal damnation. At last his +resistance was overcome, and he consented to allow his name to be used. + +It was used, with a vengeance. Spontaneous praise of Mr. Giles Henderson +bubbled up all over the State, and editors who were for the Honourable +Adam B. Hunt suddenly developed a second choice. No man within the +borders of the commonwealth had so many good qualities as the new +candidate, and it must have been slightly annoying to one of that +gentleman's shrinking nature to read daily, on coming down to breakfast, +a list of virtues attributed to him as long as a rate schedule. How he +must have longed for the record of one wicked deed to make him human! + +Who will pick a flaw in the character of the Honourable Giles Henderson? +Let that man now stand forth. + +The news of the probable advent of Mr. Giles Henderson on the field, as +well as the tidings of his actual consent to be a candidate, were not +slow in reaching Leith. And--Mr. Crewe's Bureau of Information being in +perfect working order--the dastardly attempt on the Honourable Adam B. +Hunt's coat-tails was known there. More wonders to relate: the +Honourable Adam B. Hunt had become a reformer; he had made a statement at +last, in which he declared with vigour that no machine or ring was behind +him; he stood on his own merits, invited the minutest inspection of his +record, declared that he was an advocate of good government, and if +elected would be the servant of no man and of no corporation. + +Thrice-blessed State, in which there were now three reform candidates for +governor! + +All of these happenings went to indicate confusion in the enemy's camp, +and corresponding elation in Mr. Crewe's. Woe to the reputation for +political sagacity of the gentleman who had used the words "negligible" +and "monumental farce"! The tide was turning, and the candidate from +Leith redoubled his efforts. Had he been confounded by the advent of the +Honourable Giles? Not at all. Mr. Crewe was not given to satire; his +methods, as we know, were direct. Hence the real author of the following +passage in his speech before an overflow meeting in the State capital +remains unknown: + +"My friends," Mr. Crewe had said, "I have been waiting for the time when +St. Giles of the Blameless Life would be pushed forward, apparently as +the only hope of our so-called 'solid citizens.' (Prolonged laughter, and +audible repetitions of Mr. Henderson's nickname, which was to stick.) I +will tell you by whose desire St. Giles became a candidate, and whose +bidding he will do if he becomes governor as blindly and obediently as +the Honourable Adam B. Hunt ever did. (Shouts of "Flint!" and, "The +Northeastern!") I see you know. Who sent the solid citizens to see Mr. +Henderson? ("Flint!") This is a clever trick--exactly what I should have +done if I'd been running their campaign--only they didn't do it early +enough. They picked Mr. Giles Henderson for two reasons: because he +lives in Kingston, which is anti-railroad and supported the Gaylord bill, +and, because he never in his life committed any positive action, good or +bad--and he never will. And they made another mistake--the Honourable +Adam B. Hunt wouldn't back out." (Laughter and cheers.) + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +IN WHICH EUPHRASIA TAKES A HAND + +Austen had not forgotten his promise to Euphrasia, and he had gone to +Hanover Street many times since his sojourn at Mr. Jabe Jenney's. +Usually these visits had taken place in the middle of the day, when +Euphrasia, with gentle but determined insistence, had made him sit down +before some morsel which she had prepared against his coming, and which +he had not the heart to refuse. In answer to his inquiries about Hilary, +she would toss her head and reply, disdainfully, that he was as +comfortable as he should be. For Euphrasia had her own strict ideas of +justice, and to her mind Hilary's suffering was deserved. That suffering +was all the more terrible because it was silent, but Euphrasia was a +stern woman. To know that he missed Austen, to feel that Hilary was +being justly punished for his treatment of her idol, for his callous +neglect and lack of realization of the blessings of his life--these were +Euphrasia's grim compensations. + +At times, even, she had experienced a strange rejoicing that she had +promised Austen to remain with his father, for thus it had been given her +to be the daily witness of a retribution for which she had longed during +many years. Nor did she strive to hide her feelings. Their intercourse, +never voluminous, had shrunk to the barest necessities for the use of +speech; but Hilary, ever since the night of his son's departure, had read +in the face of his housekeeper a knowledge of his suffering, an exultation +a thousand times more maddening than the little reproaches of language +would have been. He avoided her more than ever, and must many times have +regretted bitterly the fact that he had betrayed himself to her. As for +Euphrasia, she had no notion of disclosing Hilary's torture to his son. +She was determined that the victory, when it came, should be Austen's, +and the surrender Hilary's. + +"He manages to eat his meals, and gets along as common," she would reply. +"He only thinks of himself and that railroad." + +But Austen read between the lines. + +"Poor old Judge," he would answer; "it's because he's made that way, +Phrasie. He can't help it, any more than I can help flinging law-books +on the floor and running off to the country to have a good time. You +know as well as I do that he hasn't had much joy out of life; that he'd +like to be different, only he doesn't know how." + +"I can't see that it takes much knowledge to treat a wife and son like +human beings," Euphrasia retorted; "that's only common humanity. For a +man that goes to meetin' twice a week, you'd have thought he'd have +learned something by this time out of the New Testament. He's prayed +enough in his life, goodness knows!" + +Now Euphrasia's ordinarily sharp eyes were sharpened an hundred fold by +affection; and of late, at odd moments during his visits, Austen had +surprised them fixed on him with a penetration that troubled him. + +"You don't seem to fancy the tarts as much as you used to," she would +remark. "Time was when you'd eat three and four at a sittin'." + +"Phrasie, one of your persistent fallacies is, that I'm still a boy." + +"You ain't yourself," said Euphrasia, ignoring this pleasantry, "and you +ain't been yourself for some months. I've seen it. I haven't brought +you up for nothing. If he's troubling you, don't you worry a mite. He +ain't worth it. He eats better than you do." + +"I'm not worrying much about that," Austen answered, smiling. "The Judge +and I will patch it up before long--I'm sure. He's worried now over +these people who are making trouble for his railroad." + +"I wish railroads had never been invented," cried Euphrasia. "It seems +to me they bring nothing but trouble. My mother used to get along pretty +well in a stage-coach." + +One evening in September, when the summer days were rapidly growing +shorter and the mists rose earlier in the valley of the Blue, Austen, who +had stayed late at the office preparing a case, ate his supper at the +Ripton House. As he sat in the big dining room, which was almost empty, +the sense of loneliness which he had experienced so often of late came +over him, and he thought of Euphrasia. His father, he knew, had gone to +Kingston for the night, and so he drove up Hanover Street and hitched +Pepper to the stone post before the door. Euphrasia, according to an +invariable custom, would be knitting in the kitchen at this hour; and at +the sight of him in the window, she dropped her work with a little, +joyful cry. + +"I was just thinking of you!" she said, in a low voice of tenderness +which many people would not have recognized as Euphrasia's; as though her +thoughts of him were the errant ones of odd moments! "I'm so glad you +come. It's lonesome here of evenings, Austen." + +He entered silently and sat down beside her, in a Windsor chair which had +belonged to some remote Austen of bygone days. + +"You don't have as good things to eat up at Mis' Jenney's as I give you," +she remarked. "Not that you appear to care much for eatables any more. +Austen, are you feeling poorly?" + +"I can dig more potatoes in a day than any other man in Ripton," he +declared. + +"You'd ought to get married," said Euphrasia, abruptly. "I've told you +that before, but you never seem to pay any attention to what I say." + +"Why haven't you tried it, Phrasie?" he retorted. + +He was not prepared for what followed. Euphrasia did not answer at once, +but presently her knitting dropped to her lap, and she sat staring at the +old clock on the kitchen shelf. + +"He never asked me," she said, simply. + +Austen was silent. The answer seemed to recall, with infinite pathos, +Euphrasia's long-lost youth, and he had not thought of youth as a quality +which could ever have pertained to her. She must have been young once, +and fresh, and full of hope for herself; she must have known, long ago, +something of what he now felt, something of the joy and pain, something +of the inexpressible, never ceasing yearning for the fulfilment of a +desire that dwarfed all others. Euphrasia had been denied that +fulfilment. And he--would he, too, be denied it? + +Out of Euphrasia's eyes, as she gazed at the mantel-shelf, shone the +light of undying fires within--fires which at a touch could blaze forth +after endless years, transforming the wrinkled face, softening the +sterner lines of character. And suddenly there was a new bond between +the two. So used are the young to the acceptance of the sacrifice of the +old that they lose sight of that sacrifice. But Austen saw now, in a +flash, the years of Euphrasia's self-denial, the years of memories, the +years of regrets for that which might have been. + +"Phrasie," he said, laying a hand on hers, which rested on the arm of the +chair, I was only joking, you know." + +"I know, I know," Euphrasia answered hastily, and turned and looked into +his face searchingly. Her eyes were undimmed, and the light was still in +them which revealed a soul of which he had had no previous knowledge. + +"I know you was, dear. I never told that to a living being except your +mother. He's dead now--he never knew. But I told her--I couldn't help +it. She had a way of drawing things out of you, and you just couldn't +resist. I'll never forget that day she came in here and looked at me and +took my hand--same as you have it now. She wasn't married then. I'll +never forget the sound of her voice as she said, 'Euphrasia, tell me +about it.'" (Here Euphrasia's own voice trembled.) "I told her, just as +I'm telling you,--because I couldn't help it. Folks, had to tell her +things." + +She turned her hand and clasped his tightly with her own thin fingers. + +"And oh, Austen," she cried, "I want so that you should be happy! She +was so unhappy, it doesn't seem right that you should be, too." + +"I shall be, Phrasie," he said; "you mustn't worry about that." + +For a while the only sound in the room was the ticking of the old clock +with the quaint, coloured picture on its panel. And then, with a +movement which, strangely, was an acute reminder of a way Victoria had, +Euphrasia turned and searched his face once more. + +"You're not happy," she said. + +He could not put this aside--nor did he wish to. Her own confidence had +been so simple, so fine, so sure of his sympathy, that he felt it would +be unworthy to equivocate; the confessions of the self-reliant are sacred +things. Yes, and there had been times when he had longed to unburden +himself; but he had had no intimate on this plane, and despite the great +sympathy between them--that Euphrasia might understand had never occurred +to him. She had read his secret. + +In that instant Euphrasia, with the instinct which love lends to her sex, +had gone farther; indignation seized her--and the blame fell upon the +woman. Austen's words, unconsciously, were an answer to her thoughts. + +"It isn't anybody's fault but my own," he said. + +Euphrasia's lips were tightly closed. Long ago the idol of her youth had +faded into the substance of which dreams are made--to be recalled by +dreams alone; another worship had filled her heart, and Austen Vane had +become--for her--the fulness and the very meaning of life itself; one to +be admired of all men, to be desired of all women. Visions of Austen's +courtship had at times risen in her mind, although Euphrasia would not +have called it a courtship. When the time came, Austen would confer; and +so sure of his judgment was Euphrasia that she was prepared to take the +recipient of the priceless gift into her arms. And now! Was it possible +that a woman lived who would even hesitate? Curiosity seized Euphrasia +with the intensity of a passion. Who was this woman? When and where had +he seen her? Ripton could not have produced her--for it was +characteristic of Euphrasia that no girl of her acquaintance was worthy +to be raised to such a height; Austen's wife would be an unknown of ideal +appearance and attainments. Hence indignation rocked Euphrasia, and +doubts swayed her. In this alone she had been an idealist, but she might +have known that good men were a prey to the unworthy of the opposite sex. + +She glanced at Austen's face, and he smiled at her gently, as though he +divined something of her thoughts. + +"If it isn't your fault, that you're not happy, then the matter's easily +mended," she said. + +He shook his head at her, as though in reproof. + +"Was yours--easily mended?" he asked. + +Euphrasia was silent a moment. + +"He never knew," she repeated, in a low voice. + +"Well, Phrasie, it looks very much as if we were in the same boat," he +said. + +Euphrasia's heart gave a bound. + +"Then you haven't spoke!" she cried; "I knew you hadn't. I--I was a +woman--but sometimes I've thought I'd ought to have given him some sign. +You're a man, Austen; thank God for it, you're a man. If a man loves a +woman, he's only got to tell her so." + +"It isn't as simple as that," he answered. + +Euphrasia gave him a startled glance. + +"She ain't married?" she exclaimed. + +"No," he said, and laughed in spite of himself. + +Euphrasia breathed again. For Sarah Austen had had a morality of her +own, and on occasions had given expression to extreme views. + +"She's not playin' with you?" was Euphrasia's next question, and her tone +boded ill to any young person who would indulge in these tactics with +Austen. + +He shook his head again, and smiled at her vehemence. + +"No, she's not playing with me--she isn't that kind. I'd like to tell +you, but I can't--I can't. It was only because you guessed that I said +anything about it." He disengaged his hand, and rose, and patted her on +the cheek. "I suppose I had to tell somebody," he said, "and you seemed, +somehow, to be the right person, Phrasie." + +Euphrasia rose abruptly and looked up intently into his face. He thought +it strange afterwards, as he drove along the dark roads, that she had not +answered him. + +Even though the matter were on the knees of the gods, Euphrasia would +have taken it thence, if she could. Nor did Austen know that she shared +with him, that night, his waking hours. + +The next morning Mr. Thomas Gaylord, the younger, was making his way +towards the office of the Gaylord Lumber Company, conveniently situated +on Willow Street, near the railroad. Young Tom was in a particularly +jovial frame of mind, despite the fact that he had arrived in Ripton, on +the night express, as early as five o'clock in the morning. He had been +touring the State ostensibly on lumber business, but young Tom had a +large and varied personal as well as commercial acquaintance, and he had +the inestimable happiness of being regarded as an honest man, while his +rough and genial qualities made him beloved. For these reasons and +others of a more material nature, suggestions from Mr. Thomas Gaylord +were apt to be well received--and Tom had been making suggestions. + +Early as he was at his office--the office-boy was sprinkling the floor-- +young Tom had a visitor who was earlier still. Pausing in the doorway, +Mr. Gaylord beheld with astonishment a prim, elderly lady in a stiff, +black dress sitting upright on the edge of a capacious oak chair which +seemed itself rather discomfited by what it contained,--for its +hospitality had hitherto been extended to visitors of a very different +sort. + +"Well, upon my soul," cried young Tom, "if it isn't Euphrasia!" + +"Yes, it's me," said Euphrasia; "I've been to market, and I had a notion +to see you before I went home." + +Mr. Gaylord took the office-boy lightly by the collar of his coat and +lifted him, sprinkling can and all, out of the doorway and closed the +door. Then he drew his revolving chair close to Euphrasia, and sat down. +They were old friends, and more than once in a youth far from model Tom +had experienced certain physical reproof at her hands, for which he bore +no ill-will. There was anxiety on his face as he asked:-- + +"There hasn't been any accident, has there, Euphrasia?" + +"No," she said. + +"No new row?" inquired Tom. + +"No," said Euphrasia. She was a direct person, as we know, but true +descendants of the Puritans believe in the decency of preliminaries, and +here was certainly an affair not to be plunged into. Euphrasia was a +spinster in the strictest sense of that formidable and highly descriptive +term, and she intended ultimately to discuss with Tom a subject of which +she was supposed by tradition to be wholly ignorant, the mere mention of +which still brought warmth to her cheeks. Such a delicate matter should +surely be led up to delicately. In the meanwhile Tom was mystified. + +"Well, I'm mighty glad to see you, anyhow," he said heartily. "It was +fond of you to call, Euphrasia. I can't offer you a cigar." + +"I should think not," said Euphrasia. + +Tom reddened. He still retained for her some of his youthful awe. + +"I can't do the honours of hospitality as I'd wish to," he went on; "I +can't give you anything like the pies you used to give me." + +"You stole most of 'em," said Euphrasia. + +"I guess that's so," said young Tom, laughing, "but I'll never taste pies +like 'em again as long as I live. Do you know, Euphrasia, there were two +reasons why those were the best pies I ever ate?" + +"What were they?" she asked, apparently unmoved. + +"First," said Tom, "because you made 'em, and second, because they were +stolen." + +Truly, young Tom had a way with women, had he only been aware of it. + +"I never took much stock in stolen things," said Euphrasia. + +"It's because you never were tempted with such pie as that," replied the +audacious Mr. Gaylord. + +"You're gettin' almighty stout," said Euphrasia. + +As we see her this morning, could she indeed ever have had a love affair? + +"I don't have to use my legs as much as I once did," said Tom. And this +remark brought to an end the first phase of this conversation,--brought +to an end, apparently, all conversation whatsoever. Tom racked his brain +for a new topic, opened his roll-top desk, drummed on it, looked up at +the ceiling and whistled softly, and then turned and faced again the +imperturbable Euphrasia. + +"Euphrasia," he said, you're not exactly a politician, I believe." + +"Well," said Euphrasia, "I've be'n maligned a good many times, but nobody +ever went that far." + +Mr. Gaylord shook with laughter. + +"Then I guess there's no harm in confiding political secrets to you," he +said. "I've been around the State some this week, talking to people I +know, and I believe if your Austen wasn't so obstinate, we could make him +governor." + +"Obstinate?" ejaculated Euphrasia. + +"Yes," said Tom, with a twinkle in his eye, "obstinate. He doesn't seem +to want something that most men would give their souls for." + +"And why should he dirty himself with politics?" she demanded. "In the +years I've lived with Hilary Vane I've seen enough of politicians, +goodness knows. I never want to see another." + +"If Austen was governor, we'd change some of that. But mind, Euphrasia, +this is a secret," said Tom, raising a warning finger. "If Austen hears +about it now, the jig's up." + +Euphrasia considered and thawed a little. + +"They don't often have governors that young, do they?" she asked. + +"No," said Tom, forcibly, "they don't. And so far as I know, they +haven't had such a governor for years as Austen would make. But he won't +push himself. You know, Euphrasia, I have always believed that he will +be President some day." + +Euphrasia received this somewhat startling prediction complacently. She +had no doubt of its accuracy, but the enunciation of it raised young Tom +in her estimation, and incidentally brought her nearer her topic. + +"Austen ain't himself lately," she remarked. + +"I knew that he didn't get along with Hilary," said Tom, sympathetically, +beginning to realize now that Euphrasia had come to talk about her idol. + +"It's Hilary doesn't get along with him," she retorted indignantly. +"He's responsible--not Austen. Of all the narrow, pig-headed, selfish +men the Lord ever created, Hilary Vane's the worst. It's Hilary drove +him out of his mother's house to live with strangers. It's Austen that +comes around to inquire for his father--Hilary never has a word to say +about Austen." A trace of colour actually rose under Euphrasia's sallow +skin, and she cast her eyes downward. "You've known him a good while, +haven't you, Tom?" + +"All my life," said Tom, mystified again, "all my life. And I, think +more of him than of anybody else in the world." + +"I calculated as much," she said; "that's why I came." She hesitated. +Artful Euphrasia! We will let the ingenuous Mr. Gaylord be the first to +mention this delicate matter, if possible. "Goodness knows, it ain't +Hilary I came to talk about. I had a notion that you'd know if anything +else was troubling Austen." + +"Why," said Tom, "there can't be any business troubles outside of those +Hilary's mixed up in. Austen doesn't spend any money to speak of, except +what he gives away, and he's practically chief counsel for our company." + +Euphrasia was silent a moment. + +"I suppose there's nothing else that could bother him," she remarked. +She had never held Tom Gaylord's powers of comprehension in high +estimation, and the estimate had not risen during this visit. But she +had undervalued him; even Tom could rise to an inspiration--when the +sources of all other inspirations were eliminated. + +"Why," he exclaimed, with a masculine lack of delicacy, "he may be in +love--" + +"That's struck you, has it?" said Euphrasia. + +But Tom appeared to be thinking; he was, in truth, engaged in collecting +his cumulative evidence: Austen's sleigh-ride at the capital, which he +had discovered; his talk with Victoria after her fall, when she had +betrayed an interest in Austen which Tom had thought entirely natural; +and finally Victoria's appearance at Mr. Crewe's rally in Ripton. Young +Mr. Gaylord had not had a great deal of experience in affairs of the +heart, and he was himself aware that his diagnosis in such a matter would +not carry much weight. He had conceived a tremendous admiration for +Victoria, which had been shaken a little by the suspicion that she might +be intending to marry Mr. Crewe. Tom Gaylord saw no reason why Austen +Vane should not marry Mr. Flint's daughter if he chose--or any other +man's daughter; partaking, in this respect, somewhat of Euphrasia's view. +As for Austen himself, Tom had seen no symptoms; but then, he reflected, +he would not be likely to see any. However, he perceived the object now +of Euphrasia's visit, and began to take the liveliest interest in it. + +"So you think Austen's in love?" he demanded. + +Euphrasia sat up straighter, if anything. + +"I didn't say anything of the kind," she returned. + +"He wouldn't tell me, you know," said Tom; "I can only guess at it." + +"And the--lady?" said Euphrasia, craftily. + +"I'm up a tree there, too. All I know is that he took her sleigh-riding +one afternoon at the capital, and wouldn't tell me who he was going to +take. And then she fell off her horse down at East Tunbridge Station--" + +"Fell off her horse!" echoed Euphrasia, an accident comparable in her +mind to falling off a roof. What manner of young woman was this who fell +off horses? + +"She wasn't hurt," Tom continued, "and she rode the beast home. He was a +wild one, I can tell you, and she's got pluck. That's the first time I +ever met her, although I had often seen her and thought she was a stunner +to look at. She talked as if she took an interest in Austen." + +An exact portrayal of Euphrasia's feelings at this description of the +object of Austen's affections is almost impossible. A young woman who +was a stunner, who rode wild horses and fell off them and rode them +again, was beyond the pale not only of Euphrasia's experience but of her +imagination likewise. And this hoyden had talked as though she took an +interest in Austen! Euphrasia was speechless. + +"The next time I saw her," said Tom, "was when she came down here to +listen to Humphrey Crewe's attacks on the railroad. I thought that was a +sort of a queer thing for Flint's daughter to do, but Austen didn't seem +to look at it that way. He talked to her after the show was over." + +At this point Euphrasia could contain herself no longer, and in her +excitement she slipped off the edge of the chair and on to her feet. + +"Flint's daughter?" she cried; "Augustus P. Flint's daughter?" + +Tom looked at her in amazement. + +"Didn't you know who it was?" he stammered. But Euphrasia was not +listening. + +"I've seen her," she was saying; "I've seen her ridin' through Ripton in +that little red wagon, drivin' herself, with a coachman perched up beside +her. Flint's daughter!" Euphrasia became speechless once more, the +complications opened up being too vast for intelligent comment. +Euphrasia, however, grasped some of the problems which Austen had had to +face. Moreover, she had learned what she had come for, and the obvious +thing to do now was to go home and reflect. So, without further +ceremony, she walked to the door and opened it, and turned again with her +hand on the knob. "Look here, Tom Gaylord," she said, "if you tell Austen +I was here, I'll never forgive you. I don't believe you've got any more +sense than to do it." + +And with these words she took her departure, ere the amazed Mr. Gaylord +had time to show her out. Half an hour elapsed before he opened his +letters. + +When she arrived home in Hanover Street it was nine o'clock--an hour well +on in the day for Euphrasia. Unlocking the kitchen door, she gave a +glance at the stove to assure herself that it had not been misbehaving, +and went into the passage on her way up-stairs to take off her gown +before sitting down to reflect upon the astonishing thing she had heard. +Habit had so crystallized in Euphrasia that no news, however amazing, +could have shaken it. But in the passage she paused; an unwonted, or +rather untimely, sound reached her ears, a sound which came from the +front of the house--and at nine o'clock in the morning! Had Austen been +at home, Euphrasia would have thought nothing of it. In her remembrance +Hilary Vane, whether he returned from a journey or not, had never been +inside the house at that hour on a week-day; and, unlike the gentleman in +"La Vie de Boheme," Euphrasia did not have to be reminded of the Sabbath. + +Perhaps Austen had returned! Or perhaps it was a burglar! Euphrasia, +undaunted, ran through the darkened front hall to where the graceful +banister ended in a curve at the foot of the stairs, and there, on the +bottom step, sat a man with his head in his hands. Euphrasia shrieked. +He looked up, and she saw that it was Hilary Vane. She would have +shrieked, anyway. + +"What in the world's the matter with you?" she cried. + +"I--I stumbled coming down the stairs," he said. + +"But what are you doing at home in the middle of the morning?" she +demanded. + +He did not answer her. The subdued light which crept under the porch and +came in through the fan shaped window over the door fell on his face. + +"Are you sick?" said Euphrasia. In all her life she had never seen him +look like that. + +He shook his head, but did not attempt to rise. A Hilary Vane without +vigour! + +"No," he said, "no. I just came up here from the train to--get somethin' +I'd left in my room." + +"A likely story!" said Euphrasia. "You've never done that in thirty +years. You're sick, and I'm a-going for the doctor." + +She put her hand to his forehead, but he thrust it away and got to his +feet, although in the effort he compressed his lips and winced. + +"You stay where you are," he said; "I tell you I'm not sick, and I'm +going down to the square. Let, the doctors alone--I haven't got any use +for 'em." + +He walked to the door, opened it, and went out and slammed it in her +face. By the time she had got it open again--a crack--he had reached the +sidewalk, and was apparently in full possession of his powers and +faculties. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A FALLING-OUT IN HIGH PLACES + +Although one of the most exciting political battles ever fought is fast +coming to its climax, and a now jubilant Mr. Crewe is contesting every +foot of ground in the State with the determination and pertinacity which +make him a marked man; although the convention wherein his fate will be +decided is now but a few days distant, and everything has been done to +secure a victory which mortal man can do, let us follow Hilary Vane to +Fairview. Not that Hilary has been idle. The "Book of Arguments" is +exhausted, and the chiefs and the captains have been to Ripton, and +received their final orders, but more than one has gone back to his fief +with the vision of a changed Hilary who has puzzled them. Rumours have +been in the air that the harmony between the Source of Power and the +Distribution of Power is not as complete as it once was. Certainly, +Hilary Vane is not the man he was--although this must not even be +whispered. Senator Whitredge had told--but never mind that. In the old +days an order was an order; there were no rebels then. In the old days +there was no wavering and rescinding, and if the chief counsel told you, +with brevity, to do a thing, you went and did it straightway, with the +knowledge that it was the best thing to do. Hilary Vane had aged +suddenly, and it occurred for the first time to many that, in this +utilitarian world, old blood must be superseded by young blood. + +Two days before the convention, immediately after taking dinner at the +Ripton House with Mr. Nat Billings, Hilary Vane, in response to a +summons, drove up to Fairview. One driving behind him would have +observed that the Honourable Hilary's horse took his own gaits, and that +the reins, most of the time, drooped listlessly on his quarters. A +September stillness was in the air, a September purple clothed the +distant hills, but to Hilary the glories of the day were as things non- +existent. Even the groom at Fairview, who took his horse, glanced back +at him with a peculiar expression as he stood for a moment on the steps +with a hesitancy the man had never before remarked. + +In the meantime Mr. Flint, with a pile of letters in a special basket on +the edge of his desk, was awaiting his counsel; the president of the +Northeastern was pacing his room, as was his wont when his activities +were for a moment curbed, or when he had something on his mind; and every +few moments he would glance towards his mantel at the clock which was set +to railroad time. In past days he had never known Hilary Vane to be a +moment late to an appointment. The door was open, and five and twenty +minutes had passed the hour before he saw the lawyer in the doorway. Mr. +Flint was a man of such preoccupation of mind that he was not likely to +be struck by any change there might have been in his counsel's +appearance. + +"It's half-past three," he said. + +Hilary entered, and sat down beside the window. + +"You mean that I'm late," he replied. + +"I've got some engineers coming here in less than an hour," said Mr. +Flint. + +"I'll be gone in less than an hour," said Hilary. + +"Well," said Mr. Flint, "let's get down to hardtack. I've got to be +frank with you, Vane, and tell you plainly that this political business +is all at sixes and sevens." + +"It isn't necessary to tell me that," said Hilary. + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean that I know it." + +"To put it mildly," the president of the Northeastern continued, "it's +the worst mixed-up campaign I ever knew. Here we are with the convention +only two days off, and we don't know where we stand, how many delegates +we've got, or whether this upstart at Leith is going to be nominated over +our heads. Here's Adam Hunt with his back up, declaring he's a reformer, +and all his section of the State behind him. Now if that could have been +handled otherwise--" + +"Who told Hunt to go in?" Hilary inquired. + +"Things were different then," said Mr. Flint, vigorously. "Hunt had been +promised the governorship for a long time, and when Ridout became out of +the question--" + +"Why did Ridout become out of the question?" asked Hilary. + +Mr. Flint made a gesture of impatience. + +"On account of that foolishness in the Legislature, of course." + +"That foolishness in the Legislature, as you call it, represented a +sentiment all over the State," said Hilary. "And if I'd been you, I +wouldn't have let Hunt in this year. But you didn't ask my opinion. You +asked me when you begged me to get Adam out, and I predicted that he +wouldn't get out." + +Mr. Flint took a turn up and down the room. + +"I'm sorry I didn't send for him to go to New York," he said. "Well, +anyway, the campaign's been muddled, that's certain,--whoever muddled +it." And the president looked at his counsel as though he, at least, had +no doubts on this point. But Hilary appeared unaware of the implication, +and made no reply. + +"I can't find out what Bascom and Botcher are doing," Mr. Flint went on; +"I don't get any reports--they haven't been here. Perhaps you know. +They've had trip passes enough to move the whole population of Putnam +County. Fairplay says they're gettin' delegates for Adam Hunt instead of +Giles Henderson. And Whitredge says that Jake Botcher is talking +reform." + +"I guess Botcher and Bascom know their business," said Mr. Vane. If Mr. +Flint had been a less concentrated man, he might have observed that the +Honourable Hilary had not cut a piece of Honey Dew this afternoon. + +"What is their business?" asked Mr. Flint--a little irrelevantly for him. + +"What you and I taught 'em," said Mr. Vane. + +Mr. Flint considered this a moment, and decided to let it pass. He +looked at the Honourable Hilary more closely, however. + +"What's the matter with you, Vane? You're not sick, are you?" + +"No." + +Mr. Flint took another turn. + +"Now the question is, what are we going to do? If you've got any plan, I +want to hear it." + +Mr. Vane was silent. + +"Suppose Crewe goes into the convention with enough delegates to lock it +up, so that none of the three has a majority?" + +"I guess he'll do that," said Mr. Vane. He fumbled in his pocket, and +drew out a typewritten list. It must be explained that the caucuses, or +primaries, had been held in the various towns of the State at odd dates, +and that the delegates pledged for the different candidates had been +published in the newspapers from time to time--although very much in +accordance with the desires of their individual newspapers. Mr. Crewe's +delegates necessarily had been announced by what is known as political +advertising. Mr. Flint took the Honourable Hilary's list, ran his eye +over it, and whistled. + +"You mean he claims three hundred and fifty out of the thousand." + +"No," said Hilary, "he claims six hundred. He'll have three hundred and +fifty." + +In spite of the 'Book of Arguments,' Mr. Crewe was to have three hundred! +It was incredible, preposterous. Mr. Flint looked at his counsel once +more, and wondered whether he could be mentally failing. + +"Fairplay only gives him two hundred." + +"Fairplay only gave him ten, in the beginning," said Hilary. + +"You come here two days before the convention and tell me Crewe has three +hundred and fifty!" Mr. Flint exclaimed, as though Hilary Vane were +personally responsible for Mr. Crewe's delegates. A very different tone +from that of other times, when conventions were mere ratifications of +Imperial decrees. "Do you realize what it means if we lose control? +Thousands and thousands of dollars in improvements--rolling stock, better +service, new bridges, and eliminations of grade crossings. And they'll +raise our tax rate to the average, which means thousands more. A new +railroad commission that we can't talk to, and lower dividends--lower +dividends, do you understand? That means trouble with the directors, the +stockholders, and calls for explanations. And what explanations can I +make which can be printed in a public report?" + +"You were always pretty good at 'em, Flint," said Hilary. + +This remark, as was perhaps natural, did not improve the temper of the +president of the Northeastern. + +"If you think I like this political business any better than you do, +you're mightily mistaken," he replied. "And now I want to hear what plan +you've got for the convention. Suppose there's a deadlock, as you say +there will be, how are you going to handle it? Can you get a deal +through between Giles Henderson and Adam Hunt? With all my other work, +I've had to go into this myself. Hunt hasn't got a chance. Bascom and +Botcher are egging him on and making him believe he has. When Hunt gets +into the convention and begins to fall off, you've got to talk to him, +Vane. And his delegates have all got to be seen at the Pelican the night +before and understand that they're to swing to Henderson after two +ballots. You've got to keep your hand on the throttle in the convention, +you understand. And I don't need to impress upon you how grave are the +consequences if this man Crewe gets in, with public sentiment behind him +and a reactionary Lower House. You've got to keep your hand on the +throttle." + +"That's part of my business, isn't it?" Hilary asked, without turning his +head. + +Mr. Flint did not answer, but his eye rested again on his counsel's face. + +"I'm that kind of a lawyer," Hilary continued, apparently more to himself +than to his companion. "You pay me for that sort of thing more than for +the work I do in the courts. Isn't that so, Flint?" + +Mr. Flint was baffled. Two qualities which were very dear to him he +designated as sane and safe, and he had hitherto regarded his counsel as +the sanest and safest of men. This remark made him wonder seriously +whether the lawyer's mind were not giving away; and if so, to whom was he +to turn at this eleventh hour? No man in the State knew the ins and outs +of conventions as did Hilary Vane; and, in the rare times when there had +been crises, he had sat quietly in the little room off the platform as at +the keyboard of an organ, and the delegates had responded to his touch. +Hilary Vane had named the presidents of conventions, and the committees, +and by pulling out stops could get such resolutions as he wished--or as +Mr. Flint wished. But now? + +Suddenly a suspicion invaded Mr. Flint's train of thought; he repeated +Hilary's words over to himself. "I'm that kind of a lawyer," and another +individuality arose before the president of the Northeastern. Instincts +are curious things. On the day, some years before, when Austen Vane had +brought his pass into this very room and laid it down on his desk, Mr. +Flint had recognized a man with whom he would have to deal,--a stronger +man than Hilary. Since then he had seen Austen's hand in various +disturbing matters, and now it was as if he heard Austen speaking. "I'm +that kind of a lawyer." Not Hilary Vane, but Hilary Vane's son was +responsible for Hilary Vane's condition--this recognition came to Mr. +Flint in a flash. Austen had somehow accomplished the incredible feat of +making Hilary Vane ashamed--and when such men as Hilary are ashamed, +their usefulness is over. Mr. Flint had seen the thing happen with a +certain kind of financiers, one day aggressive, combative, and the next +broken, querulous men. Let a man cease to believe in what he is doing, +and he loses force. + +The president of the Northeastern used a locomotive as long as possible, +but when it ceased to be able to haul a train up-grade, he sent it to the +scrap-heap. Mr. Flint was far from being a bad man, but he worshipped +power, and his motto was the survival of the fittest. He did not yet +feel pity for Hilary--for he was angry. Only contempt,--contempt that +one who had been a power should come to this. To draw a somewhat far- +fetched parallel, a Captain Kidd or a Caesar Borgia with a conscience +would never have been heard of. Mr. Flint did not call it a conscience-- +he had a harder name for it. He had to send Hilary, thus vitiated, into +the Convention to conduct the most important battle since the founding of +the Empire, and Austen Vane was responsible. + +Mr. Flint had to control himself. In spite of his feelings, he saw that +he must do so. And yet he could not resist saying: +"I get a good many rumours here. They tell me that there may be another +candidate in the field--a dark horse." + +"Who?" asked Hilary. + +"There was a meeting in the room of a man named Redbrook during the +Legislature to push this candidate," said Mr. Flint, eyeing his counsel +significantly, "and now young Gaylord has been going quietly around the +State in his interest." + +Suddenly the listless figure of Hilary Vane straightened, and the old +look which had commanded the respect and obedience of men returned to his +eye. + +"You mean my son?" he demanded. + +"Yes," said Mr. Flint; "they tell me that when the time comes, your, son +will be a candidate on a platform opposed to our interests." + +"Then," said Hilary, "they tell you a damned lie." + +Hilary Vane had not sworn for a quarter of a century, and yet it is to be +doubted if he ever spoke more nobly. He put his hands on the arms of his +chair and lifted himself to his feet, where he stood for a moment, a tell +figure to be remembered. Mr. Flint remembered it for many years. Hilary +Vane's long coat was open, and seemed in itself to express this strange +and new-found vigour in its flowing lines; his head was thrown back, and +a look on his face which Mr. Flint had never seen there. He drew from an +inner pocket a long envelope, and his hand trembled, though with seeming +eagerness, as he held it out to Mr. Flint. + +"Here!" he said. + +What's this?" asked Mr. Flint. He evinced no desire to take it, but +Hilary pressed it on him. + +"My resignation as counsel for your road." + +The president of the Northeastern, bewildered by this sudden +transformation, stared at the envelope. + +"What? Now--to-day?" he said. + +"No," answered Hilary; "read it. You'll see it takes effect the day +after the State convention. I'm not much use any more you've done your +best to bring that home to me, and you'll need a new man to do--the kind +of work I've been doing for you for twenty-five years. But you can't get +a new man in a day, and I said I'd stay with you, and I keep my word. +I'll go to the convention; I'll do my best for you, as I always have. +But I don't like it, and after that I'm through. After that I become a +lawyer--lawyer, do you understand?" + +"A lawyer?" Mr. Flint repeated. + +"Yes, a lawyer. Ever since last June, when I came up here, I've realized +what I was. A Brush Bascom, with a better education and more brains, but +a Brush Bascom--with the brains prostituted. While things were going +along smoothly I didn't know--you never attempted to talk to me this way +before. Do you remember how you took hold of me that day, and begged me +to stay? I do, and I stayed. Why? Because I was a friend of yours. +Association with you for twenty-five years had got under my skin, and I +thought it had got under yours." Hilary let his hand fall. "To-day +you've given me a notion of what friendship is. You've given me a chance +to estimate myself on a new basis, and I'm much obliged to you for that. +I haven't got many years left, but I'm glad to have found out what my +life has been worth before I die." + +He buttoned up his coat slowly, glaring at Mr. Flint the while with a +courage and a defiance that were superb. And he had picked up his hat +before Mr. Flint found his tongue. + +"You don't mean that, Vane," he cried. "My God, think what you've said!" + +Hilary pointed at the desk with a shaking finger. + +"If that were a scaffold, and a rope were around my neck, I'd say it over +again. And I thank God I've had a chance to say it to you." He paused, +cleared his throat, and continued in a voice that all at once had become +unemotional and natural. "I've three tin boxes of the private papers you +wanted. I didn't think of 'em to-day, but I'll bring 'em up to you +myself on Thursday." + +Mr. Flint reflected afterwards that what made him helpless must have been +the sudden change in Hilary's manner to the commonplace. The president +of the Northeastern stood where he was, holding the envelope in his hand, +apparently without the power to move or speak. He watched the tall form +of his chief counsel go through the doorway, and something told him that +that exit was coincident with the end of an era. + +The end of an era of fraud, of self-deception, of conditions that +violated every sacred principle of free government which men had shed +blood to obtain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +AN ADVENTURE OF VICTORIA'S + +Mrs. Pomfret was a proud woman, for she had at last obtained the consent +of the lion to attend a lunch party. She would have liked a dinner much +better, but beggars are not choosers, and she seized eagerly on the +lunch. The two days before the convention Mr. Crewe was to spend at +Leith; having continual conferences, of course, receiving delegations, +and discussing with prominent citizens certain offices which would be in +his gift when he became governor. Also, there was Mr. Watling's +nominating speech to be gone over carefully, and Mr. Crewe's own speech +of acceptance to be composed. He had it in his mind, and he had decided +that it should have two qualities: it should be brief and forceful. + +Gratitude, however, is one of the noblest qualities of man, and a +statesman should not fail to reward his faithful workers and adherents. +As one of the chiefest of these, Mrs. Pomfret was entitled to high +consideration. Hence the candidate had consented to have a lunch given +in his honour, naming the day and the hour; and Mrs. Pomfret, believing +that a prospective governor should possess some of the perquisites of +royalty, in a rash moment submitted for his approval a list of guests. +This included two distinguished foreigners who were staying at the Leith +Inn, an Englishman and an Austrian, and an elderly lady of very +considerable social importance who was on a visit to Mrs. Pomfret. + +Mr. Crewe had graciously sanctioned the list, but took the liberty of +suggesting as an addition to it the name of Miss Victoria Flint, +explaining over the telephone to Mrs. Pomfret that he had scarcely seen +Victoria all summer, and that he wanted particularly to see her. Mrs. +Pomfret declared that she had only left out Victoria because her presence +might be awkward for both of them, but Mr. Crewe waved this aside as a +trivial and feminine objection; so Victoria was invited, and another +young man to balance the table. + +Mrs. Pomfret, as may have been surmised, was a woman of taste, and her +villa at Leith, though small, had added considerably to her reputation +for this quality. Patterson Pomfret had been a gentleman with red cheeks +and an income, who incidentally had been satisfied with both. He had +never tried to add to the income, which was large enough to pay the dues +of the clubs the lists of which he thought worthy to include his name; +large enough to pay hotel bills in London and Paris and at the baths, and +to free the servants at country houses; large enough to clothe his wife +and himself, and to teach Alice the three essentials of music, French, +and deportment. If that man is notable who has mastered one thing well, +Patterson Pomfret was a notable man: he had mastered the possibilities of +his income, and never in any year had he gone beyond it by so much as a +sole d vin blanc or a pair of red silk stockings. When he died, he left +a worthy financial successor in his wife. + +Mrs. Pomfret, knowing the income, after an exhaustive search decided upon +Leith as the place to build her villa. It must be credited to her +foresight that, when she built, she saw the future possibilities of the +place. The proper people had started it. And it must be credited to her +genius that she added to these possibilities of Leith by bringing to it +such families as she thought worthy to live in the neighbourhood-- +families which incidentally increased the value of the land. Her villa +had a decided French look, and was so amazingly trim and neat and +generally shipshape as to be fit--for only the daintiest and most +discriminating feminine occupation. The house was small, and its +metamorphosis from a plain wooden farm-house had been an achievement that +excited general admiration. Porches had been added, and a coat of +spotless white relieved by an orange striping so original that many +envied, but none dared to copy it. The striping went around the white +chimneys, along the cornice, under the windows and on the railings of the +porch: there were window boxes gay with geraniums and abundant awnings +striped white and red, to match the flowers: a high, formal hemlock hedge +hid the house from the road, through which entered a blue-stone drive +that cut the close-cropped lawn and made a circle to the doorway. Under +the great maples on the lawn were a tea-table, rugs, and wicker chairs, +and the house itself was furnished by a variety of things of a design not +to be bought in the United States of America: desks, photograph frames, +writing-sets, clocks, paperknives, flower baskets, magazine racks, +cigarette boxes, and dozens of other articles for the duplicates of which +one might have searched Fifth Avenue in vain. + +Mr. Crewe was a little late. Important matters, he said, had detained +him at the last moment, and he particularly enjoined Mrs. Pomfret's +butler to listen carefully for the telephone, and twice during lunch it +was announced that Mr. Crewe was wanted. At first he was preoccupied, +and answered absently across the table the questions of the Englishman +and the Austrian about American politics, and talked to the lady of +social prominence on his right not at all; nor to Mrs. Pomfret'--who +excused him. Being a lady of discerning qualities, however, the hostess +remarked that Mr. Crewe's eyes wandered more than once to the far end of +the oval table, where Victoria sat, and even Mrs. Pomfret could not deny +the attraction. Victoria wore a filmy gown of mauve that infinitely +became her, and a shadowy hat which, in the semi-darkness of the dining +room, was a wondrous setting for her shapely head. Twice she caught Mr. +Crewe's look upon her and returned it amusedly from under her lashes,-- +and once he could have sworn that she winked perceptibly. What fires she +kindled in his deep nature it is impossible to say. + +She had kindled other fires at her side. The tall young Englishman had +lost interest in American politics, had turned his back upon poor Alice +Pomfret, and had forgotten the world in general. Not so the Austrian, +who was on the other side of Alice, and who could not see Victoria. Mr. +Crewe, by his manner and appearance, had impressed him as a person of +importance, and he wanted to know more. Besides, he wished to improve +his English, and Alice had been told to speak French to him. By a lucky +chance, after several blind attempts, he awakened the interest of the +personality. + +"I hear you are what they call reform in America?" + +This was not the question that opened the gates. + +"I don't care much for the word," answered Mr. Crewe, shortly; "I prefer +the word progressive." + +Discourse on the word "progressive" by the Austrian almost a monologue. +But he was far from being discouraged. + +"And Mrs. Pomfret tells me they play many detestable tricks on you--yes?" + +"Tricks!" exclaimed Mr. Crewe, the memory of many recent ones being fresh +in his mind; "I should say so. Do you know what a caucus is?" + +"Caucus--caucus? It brings something to my head. Ah, I have seen a +picture of it, in some English book. A very funny picture--it is in +fun, yes?" + +"A picture?" said Mr. Crewe. "Impossible!" + +"But no," said the Austrian, earnestly, with one finger to his temples. +"It is a funny picture, I know. I cannot recall. But the word caucus I +remember. That is a droll word." + +"Perhaps, Baron," said Victoria, who had been resisting an almost +uncontrollable desire to laugh, "you have been reading 'Alice in +Wonderland.'" + +The Englishman, Beatrice Chillingham, and some others (among whom were +not Mr. Crewe and Mrs. Pomfret) gave way to an extremely pardonable +mirth, in which the good-natured baron joined. + +"Ach!" he cried. "It is so, I have seen it in 'Alice in Wonderland.'" +Here the puzzled expression returned to his face, "But they are birds, +are they not?" + +Men whose minds are on serious things are impatient of levity, and Mr. +Crewe looked at the baron: + +"No," he said, "they are not birds." + +This reply was the signal for more laughter. + +"A thousand pardons," exclaimed the baron. "It is I who am so ignorant. +You will excuse me--yes?" + +Mr. Crewe was mollified. The baron was a foreigner, he had been the +object of laughter, and Mr. Crewe's chivalrous spirit resented it. + +"What we call a caucus in the towns of this State," he said, "is a +meeting of citizens of one party to determine who their candidates shall +be. A caucus is a primary. There is a very loose primary law in this +State, purposely kept loose by the politicians of the Northeastern +Railroads, in order that they may play such tricks on decent men as they +have been playing on me." + +At this mention of the Northeastern Railroads the lady on Mr. Crewe's +right, and some other guests, gave startled glances at Victoria. They +observed with surprise that she seemed quite unmoved. + +"I'll tell you one or two of the things those railroad lobbyists have +done," said Mr. Crewe, his indignation rising with the subject, and still +addressing the baron. "They are afraid to let the people into the +caucuses, because they know I'll get the delegates. Nearly everywhere I +speak to the people, I get the delegates. The railroad politicians send +word to the town rings to hold snap caucuses' when they hear I'm coming +into a town to speak, and the local politicians give out notices only a +day before, and only to the voters they want in the caucus. In Hull the +other day, out of a population of two thousand, twenty men elected four +delegates for the railroad candidate." + +"It is corruption!" cried the baron, who had no idea who Victoria was, +and a very slim notion of what Mr. Crewe was talking about. + +"Corruption!" said Mr. Crewe. "What can you expect when a railroad owns +a State? The other day in Britain, where they elect fourteen delegates, +the editor of a weekly newspaper printed false ballots with two of my men +at the top and one at the bottom, and eleven railroad men in the middle. +Fortunately some person with sense discovered the fraud before it was too +late." + +"You don't tell me!" said the baron. + +"And every State and federal office-holder has been distributing passes +for the last three weeks." + +"Pass?" repeated the baron. "You mean they fight with the fist--so? To +distribute a pass--so," and the baron struck out at an imaginary enemy. +"It is the American language. I have read it in the prize-fight. I am +told to read the prize-fight and the base-ball game." + +Mr. Crewe thought it obviously useless to continue this conversation. + +"The railroad," said the baron, "he is the modern Machiavelli." + +"I say," Mr. Rangely, the Englishman, remarked to Victoria, "this is a +bit rough on you, you know." + +"Oh, I'm used to it," she laughed. + +"Mr. Crewe," said Mrs. Pomfret, to the table at large, "deserves +tremendous credit for the fight he has made, almost single-handed. Our +greatest need in this country is what you have in England, Mr. Rangely,-- +gentlemen in politics. Our country gentlemen, like Mr. Crewe, are now +going to assume their proper duties and responsibilities." She laid her +napkin on the table and glanced at Alice as she continued: "Humphrey, I +shall have to appoint you, as usual, the man of the house. Will you take +the gentlemen into the library?" + +Another privilege of celebrity is to throw away one's cigar, and walk out +of the smoking room if one is bored. Mr. Crewe was, in a sense, the +host. He indicated with a wave of his hand the cigars and cigarettes +which Mrs. Pomfret had provided, and stood in a thoughtful manner before +the empty fireplace, with his hands in his pockets, replying in brief +sentences to the questions of Mr. Chillingham and the others. To tell +the truth, Mr. Crewe was bringing to bear all of his extraordinary +concentration of mind upon a problem with which he had been occupied for +some years past. He was not a man, as we know, to take the important +steps of life in a hurry, although; like the truly great, he was capable +of making up his mind in a very brief period when it was necessary to +strike. He had now, after weighing the question with the consideration +which its gravity demanded, finally decided upon definite action. +Whereupon he walked out of the library, leaving the other guests to +comment as they would; or not comment at all, for all he cared. Like all +masterful men, he went direct to the thing he wanted. + +The ladies were having coffee under the maples, by the tea-table. At +some little distance from the group Beatrice Chillingham was walking with +Victoria, and it was evident that Victoria found Miss Chillingham's +remarks amusing. These were the only two in the party who did not +observe Mr. Crewe's approach. Mrs. Pomfret, when she saw the direction +which he was taking, lost the thread of her conversation, and the lady +who was visiting her wore a significant expression. + +"Victoria," said Mr. Crewe, "let's go around to the other side of the +house and look at the view." + +Victoria started and turned to him from Miss Chillingham, with the fun +still sparkling in her eyes. It was, perhaps, as well for Mr. Crewe that +he had not overheard their conversation; but this might have applied to +any man. + +"Are you sure you can spare the time?" she asked. + +Mr. Crewe looked at his watch--probably from habit. + +"I made it a point to leave the smoking room early," he replied. + +"We're flattered--aren't we, Beatrice?" + +Miss Chillingham had a turned-up nose, and a face which was apt to be +slightly freckled at this time of year; for she contemned vanity and +veils. For fear of doing her an injustice, it must be added that she was +not at all bad-looking; quite the contrary All that can be noted in this +brief space is that Beatrice Chillingham was herself. Some people +declared that she was possessed of the seven devils of her sex which Mr. +Stockton wrote about. + +"I'm flattered," she said, and walked off towards the tea-table with a +glance in which Victoria read many meanings. Mr. Crewe paid no attention +either to words, look, or departure. + +"I want to talk to you," he said. + +"You've made that very plain, at least," answered Victoria. "Why did you +pretend it was the view?" + +"Some conventionalities have to be observed, I suppose," he said. "Let's +go around there. It is a good view." + +"Don't you think this is a little--marked?" asked Victoria, surveying him +with her hands behind her back. + +"I can't help it if it is," said Mr. Crewe. "Every hour is valuable to +me, and I've got to take my chances when I get 'em. For some reason, you +haven't been down at Leith much this summer. Why didn't you telephone +me, as I asked you." + +"Because I've suddenly grown dignified, I suppose," she said. "And then, +of course, I hesitated to intrude upon such a person of importance as you +have become, Humphrey." + +"I've always got time to see you," he replied. "I always shall have. +But I appreciate your delicacy. That sort of thing counts with a man +more than most women know." + +"Then I am repaid," said Victoria, "for exercising self-control." + +"I find it always pays," declared Mr. Crewe, and he glanced at her with +distinct approval. They were skirting the house, and presently came out +upon a tiny terrace where young Ridley had made a miniature Italian +garden when the Electric dividends had increased, and from which there +was a vista of the shallows of the Blue. Here was a stone garden-seat +which Mrs. Pomfret had brought from Italy, and over which she had +quarrelled with the customs authorities. Mr. Crewe, with a wave of his +hand, signified his pleasure that they should sit, and cleared his +throat. + +"It's just as well, perhaps," he began, "that we haven't had the chance +to see each other earlier. When a man starts out upon an undertaking of +the gravest importance, wherein he stakes his reputation, an undertaking +for which he is ridiculed and reviled, he likes to have his judgment +justified. He likes to be vindicated, especially in the eyes of--people +whom he cares about. Personally, I never had any doubt that I should be +the next governor, because I knew in the beginning that I had estimated +public sentiment correctly. The man who succeeds in this world is the +man who has sagacity enough to gauge public sentiment ahead of time, and +the courage to act on his beliefs." +Victoria looked at him steadily. He was very calm, and he had one knee +crossed over the other. + +"And the sagacity," she added, "to choose his lieutenants in the fight." + +"Exactly," said Mr. Crewe. "I have always declared, Victoria, that you had +a natural aptitude for affairs." + +"I have heard my father say," she continued, still maintaining her steady +glance, "that Hamilton Tooting is one of the shrewdest politicians he has +ever known. Isn't Mr. Tooting one of your right-hand men?" + +"He could hardly be called that," Mr. Crewe replied. "In fact, I haven't +any what you might call 'right-hand men.' The large problems I have had +to decide for myself. As for Tooting, he's well enough in his way; he +understands the tricks of the politicians--he's played 'em, I guess. +He's uneducated; he's merely a worker. You see," he went on, "one great +reason why I've been so successful is because I've been practical. I've +taken materials as I've found them." + +"I see," answered Victoria, turning her head and gazing over the terrace +at the sparkling reaches of the river. She remembered the close of that +wintry afternoon in Mr. Crewe's house at the capital, and she was quite +willing to do him exact justice, and to believe that he had forgotten it +--which, indeed, was the case. + +"I want to say," he continued, "that although I have known and--ahem-- +admired you for many years, Victoria, what has struck me most forcibly in +your favour has been your open-mindedness--especially on the great +political questions this summer. I have no idea how much you know about +them, but one would naturally have expected you, on account of your +father, to be prejudiced. Sometime, when I have more leisure, I shall go +into them, fully with you. And in the meantime I'll have my secretary +send you the complete list of my speeches up to date, and I know you will +read them carefully." + +"You are very kind, Humphrey," she said. + +Absorbed in the presentation of his subject (which chanced to be +himself), Mr. Crewe did not observe that her lips were parted, and that +there were little creases around her eyes. + +"And sometime," said Mr. Crewe, when all this has blown over a little, I +shall have a talk with your father. He undoubtedly understands that +there is scarcely any question of my election. He probably realizes, +too, that he has been in the--wrong, and that railroad domination must +cease--he has already made several concessions, as you know. I wish you +would tell him from me that when I am governor, I shall make it a point +to discuss the whole matter with him, and that he will find in me no foe +of corporations. Justice is what I stand for. Temperamentally, I am too +conservative, I am too much of a business man, to tamper with vested +interests." + +"I will tell him, Humphrey," said Victoria. + +Mr. Crewe coughed, and looked at his watch once, more. "And now, having +made that clear," he said, "and having only a quarter of an hour before I +have to leave to keep an appointment, I am going to take up another +subject. And I ask you to believe it is not done lightly, or without due +consideration, but as the result of some years of thought." + +Victoria turned to him seriously--and yet the creases were still around +her eyes. + +"I can well believe it, Humphrey," she answered. "But--have you time?" + +"Yes," he said, "I have learned the value of minutes." + +"But not of hours, perhaps," she replied. + +That," said Mr. Crewe, indulgently, "is a woman's point of view. A man +cannot dally through life, and your kind of woman has no use for a man +who dallies. First, I will give you my idea of a woman." + +"I am all attention," said Victoria. + +"Well," said Mr. Crewe, putting the tops of his fingers together, "she +should excel as a housewife. I haven't any use for your so-called +intellectual woman. Of course, what I mean by a housewife is something a +little less bourgeoise; she should be able to conduct an establishment +with the neatness and despatch and economy of a well-run hotel. She +should be able to seat a table instantly and accurately, giving to the +prominent guests the prestige they deserve. Nor have I any sympathy with +the notion that makes a married woman a law unto herself. She enters +voluntarily into an agreement whereby she puts herself under the control +of her husband: his interests, his career, his--" + +"Comfort?" suggested Victoria. + +"Yes, his comfort--all that comes first. And his establishment is +conducted primarily, and his guests selected, in the interests of his +fortunes. Of course, that goes without saying of a man in high place in +public life. But he must choose for his wife a woman who is equal to all +these things,--to my mind her highest achievement,--who makes the most of +the position he gives her, presides at his table and entertainments, and +reaches such people as, for any reason, he is unable to reach. I have +taken the pains to point out these things in a general way, for obvious +reasons. My greatest desire is to be fair." + +"What," asked Victoria, with her eyes on the river, "what are the wages?" + +Mr. Crewe laughed. Incidentally, he thought her profile very fine. + +"I do not believe in flattery," he said, "but I think I should add to the +qualifications personality and a sense of humour. I am quite sure I +could never live with a woman--who didn't have a sense of humour." + +"I should think it would be a little difficult," said Victoria, "to get a +woman with the qualifications you enumerate and a sense of humour thrown +in." + +"Infinitely difficult," declared Mr. Crewe, with more ardour than he had +yet shown. "I have waited a good many years, Victoria." + +"And yet," she said, "you have been happy. You have a perpetual source +of enjoyment denied to some people." + +"What is that?" he asked. It is natural for a man to like to hear the +points of his character discussed by a discerning woman. + +"Yourself," said Victoria, suddenly looking him full in the face. "You +are complete, Humphrey, as it is. You are happily married already. +Besides," she added, laughing a little, "the qualities you have +mentioned--with the exception of the sense of humour--are not those of a +wife, but of a business partner of the opposite sex. What you really +want is a business partner with something like a fifth interest, and +whose name shall not appear in the agreement." + +Mr. Crewe laughed again. Nevertheless, he was a little puzzled over this +remark. + +"I am not sentimental," he began. + +"You certainly are not," she said. + +"You have a way," he replied, with a shade of reproof in his voice, "you +have a way at times of treating serious things with a little less gravity +than they deserve. I am still a young man, but I have seen a good deal +of life, and I know myself pretty well. It is necessary to treat +matrimony from a practical as well as a sentimental point of view. There +wouldn't be half the unhappiness and divorces if people took time to do +this, instead of rushing off and getting married immediately. And of +course it is especially important for a man in my position to study every +aspect of the problem before he takes a step." + +By this time a deep and absorbing interest in a new aspect of Mr. Crewe's +character had taken possession of Victoria. + +"And you believe that, by taking thought, you can get the kind of a wife +you want?" she asked. + +"Certainly," he replied; "does that strike you as strange?" + +"A little," said Victoria. "Suppose," she added gently, "suppose that +the kind of wife you'd want wouldn't want you?" + +Mr. Crewe laughed again. + +"That is a contingency which a strong man does not take into +consideration," he answered. "Strong men get what they want. But upon +my word, Victoria, you have a delicious way of putting things. In your +presence I quite forget the problems and perplexities which beset me. +That," he said, with delicate meaning, "that is another quality I should +desire in a woman." + +"It is one, fortunately, that isn't marketable," she said, "and it's the +only quality you've mentioned that's worth anything." + +"A woman's valuation," said Mr. Crewe. + +"If it made you forget your own affairs, it would be priceless." + +"Look here, Victoria," cried Mr. Crewe, uncrossing his knees, "joking's +all very well, but I haven't time for it to-day. And I'm in a serious +mood. I've told you what I want, and now that I've got to go in a few +minutes, I'll come to the point. I don't suppose a man could pay a woman +a higher compliment than to say that his proposal was the result of some +years of thought and study." + +Here Victoria laughed outright, but grew serious again at once. + +"Unless he proposed to her the day he met her. That would be a real +compliment." + +"The man," said Mr. Crewe, impatiently, "would be a fool." + +"Or else a person of extreme discernment," said Victoria. "And love is +lenient with fools. By the way, Humphrey, it has just occurred to me +that there's one quality which some people think necessary in a wife, +which you didn't mention." + +"What's that?" + +"Love," said Victoria. + +"Love, of course," he agreed; "I took that for granted." + +"I supposed you did," said Victoria, meekly. + +"Well, now, to come to the point--" he began again. + +But she interrupted him by glancing at the watch on her gown, and rising. + +"What's the matter?" he asked, with some annoyance. + +"The fifteen minutes are up," she announced. "I cannot take the +responsibility of detaining you." + +"We will put in tantalizing as another attractive quality," he laughed. +"I absolve you of all responsibility. Sit down." + +"I believe you mentioned obedience," she answered, and sat down again at +the end of the bench, resting her chin on her gloved hand, and looking at +him. By this time her glances seemed to have gained a visibly disturbing +effect. He moved a little nearer to her, took off his hat (which he had +hitherto neglected to do), and thrust his hands abruptly into his +pockets--as much as to say that he would not be responsible for their +movements if they were less free. + +"Hang it all, Victoria," he exclaimed, "I'm a practical man, and I try to +look at this, which is one of the serious things in life, in a practical +way." + +"One of the serious things," she repeated, as though to herself. + +"Yes," he said, "certainly." + +"I merely asked to be sure of the weight you gave it. Go on." + +"In a practical way, as I was saying. Long ago I suspected that you had +most of those qualities." + +"I'm overwhelmed, Humphrey," she cried, with her eyes dancing. "But--do +you think I could cultivate the rest?" + +"Oh, well," said Mr. Crewe, I put it that way because no woman is +perfect, and I dislike superlatives." + +"I should think superlatives would be very hard to live with," she +reflected. "But--dreadful thought!--suppose I should lack an essential?" + +"What--for instance?" + +"Love--for instance. But then you did not put it first. It was I who +mentioned it, and you who took it for granted." + +"Affection seems to be a more sensible term for it," he said. "Affection +is the lasting and sensible thing. You mentioned a partnership, a word +that singularly fits into my notion of marriage. I want to be honest +with you, and understate my feelings on that subject." + +Victoria, who had been regarding him with a curious look that puzzled +him, laughed again. + +"I have been hoping you haven't exaggerated them," she replied. + +"They're stronger than you think," he declared. "I never felt this way +in my life before. What I meant to say was, that I never understood +running away with a woman." + +"That does not surprise me," said Victoria. + +"I shouldn't know where to run to," he proclaimed. + +"Perhaps the woman would, if you got a clever one. At any rate, it +wouldn't matter. One place is as good as another. Some go to Niagara, +and some to Coney Island, and others to Venice. Personally, I should +have no particular preference." + +"No preference!" he exclaimed. + +"I could be happy in Central Park," she declared. + +"Fortunately," said Mr. Crewe, "you will never be called upon to make the +trial." + +Victoria was silent. Her thoughts, for the moment, had flown elsewhere, +but Mr. Crewe did not appear to notice this. He fell back into the +rounded hollow of the bench, and it occurred to him that he had never +quite realized that profile. And what an ornament she would be to his +table. + +"I think, Humphrey," she said, "that we should be going back." + +"One moment, and I'll have finished," he cried. "I've no doubt you are +prepared for what I am going to say. I have purposely led up to it, in +order that there might be no misunderstanding. In short, I have never +seen another woman with personal characteristics so well suited for my +life, and I want you to marry me, Victoria. I can offer you the position +of the wife of a man with a public career--for which you are so well +fitted." + +Victoria shook her head slowly, and smiled at him. + +"I couldn't fill the position," she said. + +"Perhaps," he replied, smiling back at her, "perhaps I am the best judge +of that." + +"And you thought," she asked slowly, "that I was that kind of a woman?" + +"I know it to be a practical certainty," said Mr. Crewe. + +"Practical certainties," said Victoria, "are not always truths. If I +should sign a contract, which I suppose, as a business man, you would +want, to live up to the letter of your specifications,--even then I could +not do it. I should make life a torture for you, Humphrey. You see, I +am honest with you, too--much as your offer dazzles me." And she shook +her head again. + +"That," exclaimed Mr. Crewe, impatiently, "is sheer nonsense. I want +you, and I mean to have you." + +There came a look into her eyes which Mr. Crewe did not see, because her +face was turned from him. + +"I could be happy," she said, "for days and weeks and years in a but on +the side of Sawanec. I could be happy in a farm-house where I had to do +all the work. I am not the model housewife which your imagination +depicts, Humphrey. I could live in two rooms and eat at an Italian +restaurant--with the right man. And I am afraid the wrong one would wake +up one day and discover that I had gone. I am sorry to disillusionize +you, but I don't care a fig for balls and garden-parties and salons. It +would be much more fun to run away from them to the queer places of the +earth--with the right man. And I should have to possess one essential to +put up with--greatness and what you call a public career." + +"And what is that essential?" he asked. + +"Love," said Victoria. He heard the word but faintly, for her face was +still turned away from him. "You've offered me the things that are +attainable by taking thought, by perseverance, by pertinacity, by the +outwitting of your fellow-men, by the stacking of coins. And I want--the +unattainable, the divine gift which is bestowed, which cannot be +acquired. If it could be acquired, Humphrey," she added, looking at him, +"I am sure you would acquire it--if you thought it worth while." + +"I don't understand you," he said,--and looked it. + +"No," said Victoria, "I was afraid you wouldn't. And moreover, you never +would. There is no use in my trying to make myself any clearer, and +you'll have to keep your appointment. I hesitate to contradict you, but +I am not the kind of woman you want. That is one reason I cannot marry +you. And the other is, that I do not love you." + +"You can't be in love with any one else?" he cried. + +"That does seem rather preposterous, I'll admit," she answered. "But if I +were, it wouldn't make any difference." + +"You won't marry me?" he said, getting to his feet. There was +incredulity in his voice, and a certain amount of bewilderment. The +thing was indeed incredible! + +"No," said Victoria, "I won't." + +And he had only to look into her face to see that it was so. Hitherto +nil desperandum had been a good working motto, but something told him it +was useless in this case. He thrust on his hat and pulled out his watch. + +"Well," he said, "that settles it. I must--say I can't see your point of +view--but that settles it. I must say, too, that your refusal is +something of a shock after what I had been led to expect after the past +few years." + +"The person you are in love with led you to expect it, Humphrey, and that +person is--yourself. You are in love temporarily with your own ideal of +me." + +"And your refusal comes at an unfortunate tune for me," he continued, not +heeding her words, "when I have an affair on my hands of such magnitude, +which requires concentrated thought. But I'm not a man to cry, and I'll +make the best of it." + +"If I thought it were more than a temporary disappointment, I should be +sorry for you," said Victoria. "I remember that you felt something like +this when Mr. Rutter wouldn't sell you his land. The lady you really +want," she added, pointing with her parasol at the house, "is in there, +waiting for you." + +Mr. Crewe did not reply to this prophecy, but followed Victoria around +the house to the group on the lawn, where he bade his hostess a somewhat +preoccupied farewell, and bowed distantly to the guests. + +"He has so much on his mind," said Mrs. Pomfret. "And oh, I quite +forgot--Humphrey!" she cried, calling after him, "Humphrey!" + +"Yes," he said, turning before he reached his automobile. "What is it?" + +"Alice and I are going to the convention, you know, and I meant to tell +you that there would be ten in the party--but I didn't have a chance." +Here Mrs. Pomfret glanced at Victoria, who had been joined at once by the +tall Englishman. "Can you get tickets for ten?" + +Mr. Crewe made a memorandum. + +"Yes," he said, "I'll get the tickets--but I don't see what you want to +go for." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +MORE ADVENTURER + +Victoria had not, of course, confided in Beatrice Chillingham what had +occurred in the garden, although that lady had exhibited the liveliest +interest, and had had her suspicions. After Mr. Crewe's departure Mr. +Rangely, the tall young Englishman, had renewed his attentions +assiduously, although during the interval in the garden he had found Miss +Chillingham a person of discernment. + +"She's not going to marry that chap, is she, Miss Chillingham?" he had +asked. + +"No," said Beatrice; "you have my word for it, she isn't." + +As she was leaving, Mrs. Pomfret had taken Victoria's hand and drawn her +aside, and looked into her face with a meaning smile. + +"My dear!" she exclaimed, "he particularly asked that you be invited." + +"Who?" said Victoria. + +"Humphrey. He stipulated that you should be here." + +"Then I'm very much obliged to him," said Victoria, "for I've enjoyed +myself immensely. I like your Englishman so much." + +"Do you?" said Mrs. Pomfret, searching Victoria's face, while her own +brightened. "He's heir to one of the really good titles, and he has an +income of his own. I couldn't put him up here, in this tiny box, because +I have Mrs. Fronde. We are going to take him to the convention--and if +you'd care to go, Victoria--?" + +Victoria laughed. + +"It isn't as serious as that," she said. "And I'm afraid I can't go to +the convention--I have some things to do in the neighbourhood." + +Mrs. Pomfret looked wise. + +"He's a most attractive man, with the best prospects. It would be a +splendid match for you, Victoria." + +"Mrs. Pomfret," replied Victoria, wavering between amusement and a desire +to be serious, "I haven't the slightest intention of making what you call +a 'match.'" And there was in her words a ring of truth not to be +mistaken. + +Mrs. Pomfret kissed her. + +"One never can tell what may happen," she said. "Think of him, Victoria. +And your dear mother--perhaps you will know some day what the +responsibility is of seeing a daughter well placed in life." + +Victoria coloured, and withdrew her hand. + +"I fear that time is a long way off, Mrs. Pomfret," she replied. + +"I think so much of Victoria," Mrs. Pomfret declared a moment later to +her guest; "she's like my own daughter. But at times she's so hopelessly +unconventional. Why, I believe Rangely's actually going home with her." + +"He asked her to drop him at the Inn," said Mrs. Fronde. "He's head over +heels in love already." + +"It would be such a relief to dear Rose," sighed Mrs. Pomfret. + +"I like the girl," replied Mrs. Fronde, dryly. "She has individuality, +and knows her own mind. Whoever she marries will have something to him." + +"I devoutly hope so!" said Mrs. Pomfret. + +It was quite true that Mr. Arthur Rangely had asked Victoria to drop him +at the Inn. But when they reached it he made another request. + +"Do you mind if I go a bit farther, Miss Flint?" he suggested. "I'd +rather like the walk back." + +Victoria laughed. + +"Do come," she said. + +He admired the country, but he looked at Victoria, and asked a hundred +exceedingly frank questions about Leith, about Mrs. Pomfret, whom he had +met at his uncle's seat in Devonshire, and about Mr. Crewe and the +railroads in politics. Many of these Victoria parried, and she came +rapidly to the conclusion that Mr. Arthur Rangely was a more astute +person than--to a casual observer he would seem. + +He showed no inclination to fix the limits of his walk, and made no +protest as she drove under the stone archway at the entrance of Fairview. +Victoria was amused and interested, and she decided that she liked Mr. +Rangely. + +"Will you come up for tea?" she asked. "I'll send you home." + +He accepted with alacrity. They had reached the first turn when their +attention was caught by the sight of a buggy ahead of them, and facing +towards them. The horse, with the reins hanging loosely over the shafts, +had strayed to the side of the driveway and was contentedly eating the +shrubbery that lined it. Inside the vehicle, hunched up in the corner of +the seat, was a man who presented an appearance of helplessness which +struck them both with a sobering effect. + +"Is the fellow drunk?" said Mr. Rangely. + +Victoria's answer was a little cry which startled him, and drew his look +to her. She had touched her horse with the whip, and her eyes had +widened in real alarm. + +"It's Hilary Vane!" she exclaimed. "I--I wonder what can have happened!" + +She handed the reins to Mr. Rangely, and sprang out and flew to Hilary's +side. + +"Mr. Vane!" she cried. "What's the matter? Are you ill?" + +She had never seen him look so. To her he had always been as one on whom +pity would be wasted, as one who long ago had established his credit with +the universe to his own satisfaction. But now, suddenly, intense pity +welled up within her, and even in that moment she wondered if it could be +because he was Austen's father. His hands were at his sides, his head +was fallen forward a little, and his face was white. But his eyes +frightened her most; instead of the old, semi-defiant expression which +she remembered from childhood, they had in them a dumb suffering that +went to her heart. He looked at her, tried to straighten up, and fell +back again. + +"N--nothing's the matter," he said, "nothing. A little spell. I'll be +all right in a moment." + +Victoria did not lose an instant, but climbed into the buggy at his side +and gathered up the reins, and drew the fallen lap-robe over his knees. + +"I'm going to take you back to Fairview," she said. "And we'll telephone +for a doctor." + +But she had underrated the amount of will left in him. He did not move, +though indeed if he had seized the reins from her hands, he could have +given her no greater effect of surprise. Life came back into the eyes at +the summons, and dominance into the voice, although he breathed heavily. + +"No, you're not," he said; "no, you're not. I'm going to Ripton--do you +understand? I'll be all right in a minute, and I'll take the lines." + +Victoria, when she got over her astonishment at this, reflected quickly. +She glanced at him, and the light of his expression was already fading. +There was some reason why he did not wish to go back to Fairview, and +common sense told her that agitation was not good for him; besides, they +would have to telephone to Ripton for a physician, and it was quicker to +drive there. Quicker to drive in her own runabout, did she dare to try +to move him into it. She made up her mind. + +"Please follow on behind with that trap," she called out to Rangely; "I'm +going to Ripton." + +He nodded understandingly, admiringly, and Victoria started Hilary's +horse out of the bushes towards the entrance way. From time to time she +let her eyes rest upon him anxiously. + +"Are you comfortable?" she asked. + +"Yes," he said, "yes. I'm all right. I'll be able to drive in a +minute." + +But the minutes passed, and he made no attempt to take the reins. +Victoria had drawn the whalebone whip from its socket, and was urging on +the horse as fast as humanity would permit; and the while she was aware +that Hilary's look was fixed upon her--in fact, never left her. Once or +twice, in spite of her anxiety to get him home, Victoria blushed faintly, +as she wondered what he was thinking about. + +And all the while she asked herself what it was that had brought him to +this condition. Victoria knew sufficient of life and had visited +hospitals enough to understand that mental causes were generally +responsible for such breakdowns--Hilary had had a shock. She remembered +how in her childhood he had been the object of her particular animosity; +how she used to put out her tongue at him, and imitate his manner, and +how he had never made the slightest attempt to conciliate her; most +people of this sort are sensitive to the instincts of children; but +Hilary had not been. She remembered--how long ago it seemed now!--the +day she had given him, in deviltry, the clipping about Austen shooting +Mr. Blodgett. + +The Hilary Vane who sat beside her to-day was not the same man. It was +unaccountable, but he was not. Nor could this changed estimate of him be +attributed to her regard for Austen, for she recalled a day only a few +months since--in June--when he had come up to Fairview and she was +standing on the lawn, and she had looked at him without recognition; she +had not, then, been able to bring herself to bow to him; to her childhood +distaste had been added the deeper resentment of Austen's wrongs. Her +early instincts about Hilary had been vindicated, for he had treated his +son abominably and driven Austen from his mother's home. To +misunderstand and maltreat Austen Vane, of all people Austen, whose +consideration for his father had been what it had! Could it be that +Hilary felt remorse? Could it be that he loved Austen in some peculiar +manner all his own? + +Victoria knew now--so strangely--that the man beside her was capable of +love, and she had never felt that way about Hilary Vane. And her mind +was confused, and her heart was troubled and wrung. Insight flashed upon +her of the terrible loneliness of a life surrounded by outstretched, +loving arms to which one could not fly; scenes from a famous classic she +had read with a favourite teacher at school came to her, and she knew +that she was the witness of a retribution, of a suffering beyond +conception of a soul prepared for suffering,--not physical suffering, but +of that torture which is the meaning of hell. + +However, there was physical suffering. It came and went, and at such +moments she saw the traces of it in the tightening of his lips, and +longed with womanly intuition to alleviate it. She had not spoken-- +although she could have cried aloud; she knew not what to say. And then +suddenly she reached out and touched his hand. Nor could she have +accounted for the action. + +"Are you in much pain?" she asked. + +She felt him tremble. + +"No," he said; "it's only a spell--I've had 'em before. I--I can drive +in a few minutes." + +"And do you think," she asked, "that I would allow you to go the rest of +the way alone?" + +"I guess I ought to thank you for comin' with me," he said. + +Victoria looked at him and smiled. And it was an illuminating smile for +her as well as for Hilary. Suddenly, by that strange power of sympathy +which the unselfish possess, she understood the man, understood Austen's +patience with him and affection for him. Suddenly she had pierced the +hard layers of the outer shell, and had heard the imprisoned spirit +crying with a small persistent voice,--a spirit stifled for many years +and starved--and yet it lived and struggled still. + +Yes, and that spirit itself must have felt her own reaching out to it-- +who can, say? And how it must have striven again for utterance + +"It was good of you to come," he said. + +"It was only common humanity," she answered, touching the horse. + +"Common humanity," he repeated. "You'd have done it for anybody along +the road, would you?" + +At this remark, so characteristic of Hilary, Victoria, hesitated. She +understood it now. And yet she hesitated to give him an answer that was +hypocritical. + +"I have known you all my life, Mr. Vane, and you are a very old friend of +my father's." + +"Old," he repeated, "yes, that's it. I'm ready for the scrap-heap-- +better have let me lie, Victoria." + +Victoria started. A new surmise had occurred to her upon which she did +not like to dwell. + +"You have worked too hard, Mr. Vane--you need a rest. And I have been +telling father that, too. You both need a rest." + +He shook his head. + +"I'll never get it," he said. "Stopping work won't give it to me." + +She pondered on these words as she guided the horse over a crossing. And +all that Austen had said to her, all that she had been thinking of for a +year past, helped her to grasp their meaning. But she wondered still +more at the communion which, all at once, had been established between +Hilary Vane and herself, and why he was saying these things to her. It +was all so unreal and inexplicable. + +"I can imagine that people who have worked hard all their lives must feel +that way," she answered, though her voice was not as steady as she could +have wished. "You--you have so much to live for." + +Her colour rose. She was thinking of Austen--and she knew that Hilary +Vane knew that she was thinking of Austen. Moreover, she had suddenly +grasped the fact that the gentle but persistently strong influence of the +son's character had brought about the change in the father. Hilary +Vane's lips closed again, as in pain, and she divined the reason. + +Victoria knew the house in Hanover Street, with its classic porch, with +its certain air of distinction and stability, and long before she had +known it as the Austen residence she remembered wondering who lived in +it. The house had individuality, and (looked at from the front) almost +perfect proportions; consciously--it bespoke the gentility of its +builders. Now she drew up before it and called to Mr. Rangely, who was +abreast, to tie his horse and ring the bell. Hilary was already feeling +with his foot for the step of the buggy. + +"I'm all right," he insisted; "I can manage now," but Victoria seized his +arm with a firm, detaining hand. + +"Please wait,--Mr. Vane," she pleaded. + +But the feeling of shame at his helplessness was strong. + +"It's over now. I--I can walk. I'm much obliged to you, Victoria--much +obliged." + +Fortunately Hilary's horse showed no inclination to go any farther--even +to the stable. And Victoria held on to his arm. He ceased to protest, +and Mr. Rangely quickly tied the other horse and came to Victoria's aid. +Supported by the young Englishman, Hilary climbed the stone steps and +reached the porch, declaring all the while that he needed no assistance, +and could walk alone. Victoria rang the bell, and after an interval the +door was opened by Euphrasia Cotton. + +Euphrasia stood upright with her hand on the knob, and her eyes flashed +over the group and rested fixedly on the daughter of Mr. Flint. + +"Mr. Vane was not very well," Victoria explained, "and we came home with +him." + +"I'm all right," said Hilary, once more, and to prove it he stepped--not +very steadily--across the threshold into the hall, and sat down on a +chair which had had its place at the foot of the stairs from time +immemorial. Euphrasia stood still. + +"I think," said Victoria, "that Mr. Vane had better see a doctor. Have +you a telephone?" + +"No, we haven't," said Euphrasia. + +Victoria turned to Mr. Rangely, who had been a deeply interested +spectator to this scene. + +"A little way down the street, on the other side, Dr. Tredway lives. You +will see his sign." + +"And if he isn't in, go to the hospital. It's only a few doors farther +on." + +"I'll wait," said Victoria, simply, when he had gone; "my father will +wish to know about Mr. Vane." + +"Hold on," said Hilary, "I haven't any use for a doctor--I won't see one. +I know what the trouble is, and I'm all right." + +Victoria became aware--for the first time that Hilary Vane's housekeeper +had not moved; that Euphrasia Cotton was still staring at her in a most +disconcerting manner, and was paying no attention whatever to Hilary. + +"Come in and set down," she said; and seeing Victoria glance at Hilary's +horse, she added, "Oh, he'll stand there till doomsday." + +Victoria, thinking that the situation would be less awkward, accepted the +invitation, and Euphrasia shut the door. The hall, owing to the fact +that the shutters of the windows by the stairs were always closed, was in +semidarkness. Victoria longed to let in the light, to take this strange, +dried-up housekeeper and shake her into some semblance of natural +feeling. And this was Austen's home! It was to this house, made gloomy +by these people, that he had returned every night! Infinitely depressed, +she felt that she must take some action, or cry aloud. + +"Mr. Vane," she said, laying a hand upon his shoulder, "I think you +ought, at least, to lie down for a little while. Isn't there a sofa in-- +in the parlour?" she asked Euphrasia. + +"You can't get him to do anything," Euphrasia replied, with decision; +"he'll die some day for want of a little common sense. I shouldn't +wonder if he was took on soon." + +"Oh!" cried Victoria. She could think of no words to answer this remark. + +"It wouldn't surprise me," Euphrasia continued. "He fell down the stairs +here not long ago, and went right on about his business. He's never paid +any attention to anybody, and I guess it's a mite late to expect him to +begin now. Won't you set down?" + +There was another chair against the low wainscoting, and Victoria drew it +over beside Hilary and sat down in it. He did not seem to notice the +action, and Euphrasia continued to stand. Standing seemed to be the +natural posture of this remarkable woman, Victoria thought--a posture of +vigilance, of defiance. A clock of one of the Austen grandfathers stood +obscurely at the back of the hall, and the measured swing of its pendulum +was all that broke the silence. This was Austen's home. It seemed +impossible for her to realize that he could be the product of this +environment--until a portrait on the opposite wall, above the stairs, +came out of the gloom and caught her eye like the glow of light. At +first, becoming aware of it with a start, she thought it a likeness of +Austen himself. Then she saw that the hair was longer, and more wavy +than his, and fell down a little over the velvet collar of a coat with a +wide lapel and brass buttons, and that the original of this portrait had +worn a stock. The face had not quite the strength of Austen's, she +thought, but a wondrous sweetness and intellect shone from it, like an +expression she had seen on his face. The chin rested on the hand, an +intellectual hand,--and the portrait brought to her mind that of a young +English statesman she had seen in the National Gallery in London. + +"That's Channing Austen,--he was minister to Spain." + +Victoria started. It was Euphrasia who was speaking, and unmistakable +pride was in her voice. + +Fortunately for Victoria, who would not in the least have known what to +reply, steps were heard on the porch, and Euphrasia opened the door. Mr. +Rangely had returned. + +"Here's the doctor, Miss Flint," he said, "and I'll wait for you +outside." + +Victoria rose as young Dr. Tredway came forward. They were old friends, +and the doctor, it may be recalled, had been chiefly responsible for the +preservation of the life of Mr. Zebulun Meader. + +"I have sent for you, Doctor," she said, "against instructions and on my +own responsibility. Mr. Vane is ill, although he refuses to admit it." + +Dr. Tredway had a respect for Victoria and her opinions, and he knew +Hilary. He opened the door a little wider, and looked critically at Mr. +Vane. + +"It's nothing but a spell," Hilary insisted. "I've had 'em before. I +suppose it's natural that they should scare the women-folks some." + +"What kind of a spell was it, Mr. Vane?" asked the doctor. + +"It isn't worth talking about," said Hilary. "You might as well pick up +that case of yours and go home again. I'm going down to the square in a +little while." + +"You see," Euphrasia put in, "he's made up his mind to kill himself." + +"Perhaps," said the doctor, smiling a little, "Mr. Vane wouldn't object +to Miss Flint telling me what happened." + +Victoria glanced at the doctor and hesitated. Her sympathy for Hilary, +her new understanding of him, urged her on--and yet never in her life had +she been made to feel so distinctly an intruder. Here was the doctor, +with his case; here was this extraordinary housekeeper, apparently ready +to let Hilary walk to the square, if he wished, and to shut the door on +their backs; and here was Hilary himself, who threatened at any moment to +make his word good and depart from their midst. Only the fact that she +was convinced that Hilary was in real danger made her relate, in a few +brief words, what had occurred, and when she had finished Mr. Vane made +no comment whatever. + +Dr. Tredway turned to Hilary. + +"I am going to take a mean advantage of you, Mr. Vane," he said, "and sit +here awhile and talk to yon. Would you object to waiting a little while, +Miss Flint? I have something to say to you," he added significantly, +"and this meeting will save me a trip to Fairview." + +"Certainly I'll wait," she said. + +"You can come along with me," said Euphrasia, "if you've a notion to." + +Victoria was of two minds whether to accept this invitation. She had an +intense desire to get outside, but this was counter-balanced by a sudden +curiosity to see more of this strange woman who loved but one person in +the world. Tom Gaylord had told Victoria that. She followed Euphrasia +to the back of the hall. + +"There's the parlour," said Euphrasia; "it's never be'n used since Mrs. +Vane died,--but there it is." + +"Oh," said Victoria, with a glance into the shadowy depths of the room, +"please don't open it for me. Can't we go," she added, with an +inspiration, "can't we go into--the kitchen?" She knew it was +Euphrasia's place. + +"Well," said Euphrasia, "I shouldn't have thought you'd care much about +kitchens." And she led the way onward; through the little passage, to +the room where she had spent most of her days. It was flooded with +level, yellow rays of light that seemed to be searching the corners in +vain for dust. Victoria paused in the doorway. + +"I'm afraid you do me an injustice," she said. "I like some kitchens." + +"You don't look as if you knew much about 'em," was Euphrasia's answer. +With Victoria once again in the light, Euphrasia scrutinized her with +appalling frankness, taking in every detail of her costume and at length +raising her eyes to the girl's face. Victoria coloured. On her visits +about the country-side she had met women of Euphrasia's type before, and +had long ago ceased to be dismayed by their manner. But her instinct +detected in Euphrasia a hostility for which she could not account. + +In that simple but exquisite gown which so subtly suited her, the +creation of which had aroused the artist in a celebrated Parisian +dressmaker, Victoria was, indeed, a strange visitant in that kitchen. +She took a seat by the window, and an involuntary exclamation of pleasure +escaped her as her eyes fell upon the little, old-fashioned flower garden +beneath it. The act and the exclamation for the moment disarmed +Euphrasia. + +"They were Sarah Austen's--Mrs. Vane's," she explained, "just as she +planted them the year she died. I've always kept 'em just so." + +"Mrs. Vane must have loved flowers," said Victoria. + +"Loved 'em! They were everything to her--and the wild flowers, too. She +used to wander off and spend whole days in the country, and come back +after sunset with her arms full." + +"It was nature she loved," said Victoria, in a low voice. + +"That was it--nature," said Euphrasia. "She loved all nature. There +wasn't a living, creeping thing that wasn't her friend. I've seen birds +eat out of her hand in that window where you're settin', and she'd say to +me, 'Phrasie, keep still! They'd love you, too, if they only knew you, +but they're afraid you'll scrub 'em if you get hold of them, the way you +used to scrub me.'" + +Victoria smiled--but it was a smile that had tears in it. Euphrasia +Cotton was standing in the shaft of sunlight at the other window, staring +at the little garden. + +"Yes, she used to say funny things like that, to make you laugh when you +were all ready to cry. There wasn't many folks understood her. She knew +every path and hilltop within miles of here, and every brook and spring, +and she used to talk about that mountain just as if it was alive." + +Victoria caught her breath. + +"Yes," continued Euphrasia, "the mountain was alive for her. 'He's angry +to-day, Phrasie. That's because, you lost your temper and scolded +Hilary.' It's a queer thing, but there have been hundreds of times since +when he needed scoldin' bad, and I've looked at the mountain and held my +tongue. It was just as if I saw her with that half-whimsical, half- +reproachful expression in her eyes, holding up her finger at me. And +there were other mornings when she'd say, 'The mountain's lonesome today, +he wants me.' And I vow, I'd look at the mountain and it would seem +lonesome. That sounds like nonsense, don't it?" Euphrasia demanded, with +a sudden sharpness. + +"No," said Victoria, "it seems very real to me." + +The simplicity, the very ring of truth, and above all the absolute lack +of self-consciousness in the girl's answer sustained the spell. + +"She'd go when the mountain called her, it didn't make any difference +whether it was raining--rain never appeared to do her any hurt. Nothin' +natural ever did her any hurt. When she was a little child flittin' +about like a wild creature, and she'd come in drenched to the skin, it +was all I could do to catch her and change her clothes. She'd laugh at +me. 'We're meant to be wet once in a while, Phrasie,' she'd say; 'that's +what the rain's for, to wet us. It washes some of the wickedness out of +us.' It was the unnatural things that hurt her--the unkind words and +makin' her act against her nature. 'Phrasie,' she said once, 'I can't +pray in the meeting-house with my eyes shut--I can't, I can't. I seem to +know what they're all wishing for when they pray,--for more riches, and +more comfort, and more security, and more importance. And God is such a +long way off. I can't feel Him, and the pew hurts my back.' She used to +read me some, out of a book of poetry, and one verse I got by heart--I +guess her prayers were like that." + +"Do you--remember the verse?" asked Victoria. + +Euphrasia went to a little shelf in the corner of the kitchen and +produced a book, which, she opened and handed to Victoria. + +"There's the verse!" she said; "read it aloud. I guess you're better at +that than I am." + +And Victoria read:-- + + "Higher still and higher + From the earth thou springest + Like a cloud of fire; + The blue deep thou wingest, + And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest." + +Victoria let fall the volume on her lap. + +"There's another verse in that book she liked," said Euphrasia, "but it +always was sad to me." + +Victoria took the book, and read again:-- + + "Weary wind, who wanderest + Like the world's rejected guest, + Hast thou still some secret nest + On the tree or billow?" + +Euphrasia laid the volume tenderly on the shelf, and turned and faced +Victoria. + +"She was unhappy like that before she died," she exclaimed, and added, +with a fling of her head towards the front of the house, "he killed +her." + +"Oh, no!" cried Victoria, involuntarily rising to her feet. "Oh, no! +I'm sure he didn't mean to. He didn't understand her!" + +"He killed her," Euphrasia repeated. "Why didn't he understand her? She +was just as simple as a child, and just as trusting, and just as loving. +He made her unhappy, and now he's driven her son out of her house, and +made him unhappy. He's all of her I have left, and I won't see him +unhappy." + +Victoria summoned her courage. + +"Don't you think," she asked bravely, "that Mr. Austen Vane ought to be +told that his father is--in this condition?" + +"No," said Euphrasia, determinedly. "Hilary will have to send for him. +This time it'll be Austen's victory." + +"But hasn't he had--a victory?" Victoria persisted earnestly. "Isn't +this--victory enough?" + +"What do you mean?" Euphrasia cried sharply. + +"I mean," she answered, in a low voice, "I mean that Mr. Vane's son is +responsible for his condition to-day. Oh--not consciously so. But the +cause of this trouble is mental--can't you see it? The cause of this +trouble is remorse. Can't you see that it has eaten into his soul? Do +you wish a greater victory than this, or a sadder one? Hilary Vane will +not ask for his son--because he cannot. He has no more power to send +that message than a man shipwrecked on an island. He can only give +signals of distress--that some may heed. Would She have waited for such +a victory as you demand? And does Austen Vane desire it? Don't you +think that he would come to his father if he knew? And have you any +right to keep the news from him? Have you any right to decide what their +vengeance shall be?" + +Euphrasia had stood mute as she listened to these words which she had so +little expected, but her eyes flashed and her breath came quickly. Never +had she been so spoken to! Never had any living soul come between her +and her cherished object the breaking of the heart of Hilary Vane! Nor, +indeed, had that object ever been so plainly set forth as Victoria had +set it forth. And this woman who dared to do this had herself brought +unhappiness to Austen. Euphrasia had almost forgotten that, such had +been the strange harmony of their communion. + +"Have you the right to tell Austen?" she demanded. + +"Have I?" Victoria repeated. And then, as the full meaning of the +question came to her; the colour flooded into her face, and she would +have fled, if she could, bud Euphrasia's words came in a torrent. + +"You've made him unhappy, as well as Hilary. He loves you--but he +wouldn't speak of it to you. Oh, no, he didn't tell me who it was, but I +never rested till I found out. He never would have told me about it at +all, or anybody else, but that I guessed it. I saw he was unhappy, and I +calculated it wasn't Hilary alone made him so. One night he came in +here, and I knew all at once--somehow--there was a woman to blame, and I +asked him, and he couldn't lie to me. He said it wasn't anybody's fault +but his own--he wouldn't say any more than that, except that he hadn't +spoken to her. I always expected the time was coming when there would +be--a woman. And I never thought the woman lived that he'd love who +wouldn't love him. I can't see how any woman could help lovin' him. + +"And then I found out it was that railroad. It came between Sarah Austen +and her happiness, and now it's come between Austen and his. Perhaps you +don't love him!" cried Euphrasia. "Perhaps you're too rich and high and +mighty. Perhaps you're a-going to marry that fine young man who came +with you in the buggy. Since I heard who you was, I haven't had a happy +hour. Let me tell you there's no better blood in the land than the +Austen blood. I won't mention the Vanes. If you've led him on, if +you've deceived him, I hope you may be unhappy as Sarah Austen was--" + +"Don't!" pleaded Victoria; "don't! Please don't!" and she seized +Euphrasia by the arms, as though seeking by physical force to stop the +intolerable flow of words. "Oh, you don't know me; you can't understand +me if you say that. How can you be so cruel?" + +In another moment she had gone, leaving Euphrasia standing in the middle +of the floor, staring after her through the doorway. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE FOCUS OF WRATH + +Victoria, after leaving Euphrasia, made her way around the house towards +Mr. Rangely, who was waiting in the runabout, her one desire for the +moment being to escape. Before she had reached the sidewalk under the +trees, Dr. Tredway had interrupted her. + +"Miss Flint," he called out, "I wanted to say a word to you before you +went." + +"Yes," she said, stopping and turning to him. + +He paused a moment before speaking, as he looked into her face. + +"I don't wonder this has upset you a little," he said; "a reaction always +comes afterwards--even with the strongest of us." + +"I am all right," she replied, unconsciously repeating Hilary's words. +"How is Mr. Vane?" + +"You have done a splendid thing," said the doctor, gravely. And he +continued, after a moment: "It is Mr. Vane I wanted to speak to you +about. He is an intimate friend, I believe, of your father's, as well as +Mr. Flint's right-hand man in--in a business way in this State. Mr. Vane +himself will not listen to reason. I have told him plainly that if he +does not drop all business at once, the chances are ten to one that he +will forfeit his life very shortly. I understand that there is a--a +convention to be held at the capital the day after to-morrow, and that it +is Mr. Vane's firm intention to attend it. I take the liberty of +suggesting that you lay these facts before your father, as Mr. Flint +probably has more influence with Hilary Vane than any other man. +"However," he added, seeing Victoria hesitate, "if there is any reason +why you should not care to speak to Mr. Flint--" + +"Oh, no," said Victoria; "I'll speak to him, certainly. I was going to +ask you--have you thought of Mr. Austen Vane? He might be able to do +something." + +"Of course," said the doctor, after a moment, "it is an open secret that +Austen and his father have--have, in short, never agreed. They are not +now on speaking terms." + +"Don't you think," asked Victoria, summoning her courage, "that Austen +Vane ought to be told?" + +"Yes," the doctor repeated decidedly, "I am sure of it. Everybody who +knows Austen Vane as I do has the greatest admiration for him. You +probably remember him in that Meader case,--he isn't a man one would be +likely to forget,--and I know that this quarrel with his father isn't of +Austen's seeking." + +"Oughtn't he to be told--at once?" said Victoria. + +"Yes," said the doctor; "time is valuable, and we can't predict what +Hilary will do. At any rate, Austen ought to know--but the trouble is, +he's at Jenney's farm. I met him on the way out there just before your +friend the Englishman caught me. And unfortunately I have a case which I +cannot neglect. But I can send word to him." + +"I know where Jenney's farm is," said Victoria; "I'll drive home that +way." + +"Well," exclaimed Dr. Tredway, heartily, "that's good of you. Somebody +who knows Hilary's situation ought to see him, and I can think of no +better messenger than you." + +And he helped her into the runabout. + +Young Mr. Rangely being a gentleman, he refrained from asking Victoria +questions on the drive out of Ripton, and expressed the greatest +willingness to accompany her on this errand and to see her home +afterwards. He had been deeply impressed, but he felt instinctively that +after such a serious occurrence, this was not the time to continue to +give hints of his admiration. He had heard in England that many American +women whom he would be likely to meet socially were superficial and +pleasure-loving; and Arthur Rangely came of a family which had long been +cited as a vindication of a government by aristocracy,--a family which +had never shirked responsibilities. It is not too much to say that he +had pictured Victoria among his future tenantry; she had appealed to him +first as a woman, but the incident of the afternoon had revealed her to +him, as it were, under fire. + +They spoke quietly of places they both had visited, of people whom they +knew in common, until they came to the hills--the very threshold of +Paradise on that September evening. Those hills never failed to move +Victoria, and they were garnished this evening in no earthly colours,-- +rose-lighted on the billowy western pasture slopes and pearl in the deep +clefts of the streams, and the lordly form of Sawanec shrouded in indigo +against a flame of orange. And orange fainted, by the subtlest of colour +changes, to azure in which swam, so confidently, a silver evening star. + +In silence they drew up before Mr. Jenney's ancestral trees, and through +the deepening shadows beneath these the windows of the farm-house glowed +with welcoming light. At Victoria's bidding Mr. Rangely knocked to ask +for Austen Vane, and Austen himself answered the summons. He held a book +in his hand, and as Rangely spoke she saw Austen's look turn quickly to +her, and met it through the gathering gloom between them. In an instant +he was at her side, looking up questioningly into her face, and the +telltale blood leaped into hers. What must he think of her for coming +again? She could not speak of her errand too quickly. + +"Mr. Vane, I came to leave a message." + +"Yes?" he said, and glanced at the broad-shouldered, well-groomed figure +of Mr. Rangely, who was standing at a discreet distance. + +"Your father has had an attack of some kind,--please don't be alarmed, he +seems to be recovered now,--and I thought and Dr. Tredway thought you +ought to know about it. The doctor could not leave Ripton, and I offered +to come and tell you." + +"An attack?" he repeated. + +"Yes." Hilary and she related simply how she had found Hilary at +Fairview, and how she had driven him home. But, during the whole of her +recital, she could not rid herself of the apprehension that he was +thinking her interference unwarranted, her coming an indelicate +repetition of the other visit. As he stood there listening in the +gathering dusk, she could not tell from his face what he thought. His +expression, when serious, had a determined, combative, almost grim note +in it, which came from a habit he had of closing his jaw tightly; and his +eyes were like troubled skies through which there trembled an occasional +flash of light. + +Victoria had never felt his force so strongly as now, and never had he +seemed more distant; at times--she had thought--she had had glimpses of +his soul; to-night he was inscrutable, and never had she realized the +power (which she bad known he must possess) of making himself so. And to +her? Her pride forbade her recalling at that moment the confidences +which had passed between them and which now seemed to have been so +impossible. He was serious because he was listening to serious news--she +told herself. But it was more than this: he had shut himself up, he was +impenetrable. Shame seized her; yes, and anger; and shame again at the +remembrance of her talk with Euphrasia--and anger once more. Could he +think that she would make advances to tempt his honour, and risk his good +opinion and her own? + +Confidence is like a lute-string, giving forth sweet sounds in its +perfection; there are none so discordant as when it snaps. + +Victoria scarcely heard Austen's acknowledgments of her kindness, so +perfunctory did they seem, so unlike the man she had known; and her own +protestations that she had done nothing to merit his thanks were to her +quite as unreal. She introduced him to the Englishman. + +"Mr. Rangely has been good enough to come with me," she said. + +"I've never seen anybody act with more presence of mind than Miss Flint," +Rangely declared, as he shook Austen's hand. "She did just the right +thing, without wasting any time whatever." + +"I'm sure of it," said Austen, cordially enough. But to Victoria's +keener ear, other tones which she had heard at other times were lacking. +Nor could she, clever as she was, see the palpable reason standing before +her! + +"I say," said Rangely, as they drove away, "he strikes me as a remarkably +sound chap, Miss Flint. There is something unusual about him, something +clean cut." + +"I've heard other people say so," Victoria replied. For the first time +since she had known him, praise of Austen was painful to her. What was +this curious attraction that roused the interest of all who came in +contact with him? The doctor had it, Mr. Redbrook, Jabe Jenney,--even +Hamilton Tooting, she remembered. And he attracted women as well as men- +-it must be so. Certainly her own interest in him--a man beyond the +radius of her sphere--and their encounters had been strange enough! And +must she go on all her life hearing praises of him? Of one thing she was +sure--who was not?--that Austen Vane had a future. He was the type of +man which is inevitably impelled into places of trust. + +Manly men, as a rule, do not understand women. They humour them blindly, +seek to comfort them--if they weep--with caresses, laugh with them if +they have leisure, and respect their curious and unaccountable moods by +keeping out of the way. Such a husband was Arthur Rangely destined to +make; a man who had seen any number of women and understood none,--as +wondrous mechanisms. He had merely acquired the faculty of appraisal, +although this does not mean that he was incapable of falling in love. + +Mr. Rangely could not account for the sudden access of gayety in +Victoria's manner as they drove to Fairview through the darkness, nor did +he try. He took what the gods sent him, and was thankful. When he +reached Fairview he was asked to dinner, as he could not possibly get +back to the Inn in time. Mr. Flint had gone to Sumner with the +engineers, leaving orders to be met at the East Tunbridge station at ten; +and Mrs. Flint, still convalescent, had dined in her sitting room. +Victoria sat opposite her guest in the big dining room, and Mr. Rangely +pronounced the occasion decidedly jolly. He had, he proclaimed, with the +exception of Mr. Vane's deplorable accident, never spent a better day in +his life. + +Victoria wondered at her own spirits, which were feverish, as she +listened to transatlantic gossip about girls she had known who had +married Mr. Rangely's friends, and stories of Westminster and South +Africa, and certain experiences of Mr. Rangely's at other places than +Leith on the American continent, which he had grown sufficiently +confidential to relate. At times, lifting her eyes to him as he sat +smoking after dinner on the other side of the library fire, she almost +doubted his existence. He had come into her life at one o'clock that +day--it seemed an eternity since. And a subconscious voice, heard but +not heeded, told her that in the awakening from this curious dream he +would be associated in her memory with tragedy, just as a tune or a book +or a game of cards reminds one of painful periods of one's existence. +To-morrow the--episode would be a nightmare; to-night her one desire was +to prolong it. + +And poor Mr. Rangely little imagined the part he was playing--as little +as he deserved it. Reluctant to leave, propriety impelled him to ask for +a trap at ten, and it was half past before he finally made his exit from +the room with a promise to pay his respects soon--very soon. + +Victoria stood before the fire listening to the sound of the wheels +gradually growing fainter, and her mind refused to work. Hanover Street, +Mr. Jenney's farm-house, were unrealities too. Ten minutes later--if she +had marked the interval--came the sound of wheels again, this time +growing louder. Then she heard a voice in the hall, her father's voice. + +"Towers, who was that?" + +"A young gentleman, sir, who drove home with Miss Victoria. I didn't get +his name, sir." + +"Has Miss Victoria retired?" + +"She's in the library, sir. Here are some telegrams, Mr. Flint." + +Victoria heard her father tearing open the telegrams and walking towards +the library with slow steps as he read them. She did not stir from her +place before the fire. She saw him enter and, with a characteristic +movement which had become almost habitual of late, crush the telegrams in +front of him with both hands. + +"Well, Victoria?" he said. + +"Well, father?" + +It was characteristic of him, too, that he should momentarily drop the +conversation, unravel the ball of telegrams, read one, crush them once +more,--a process that seemed to give him relief. He glanced at his +daughter--she had not moved. Whatever Mr. Flint's original character may +have been in his long-forgotten youth on the wind-swept hill farm in +Truro, his methods of attack lacked directness now; perhaps a long +business and political experience were responsible for this trait. + +"Your mother didn't come down to dinner, I suppose." + +"No," said Victoria. + +Simpson tells me the young bull got loose and cut himself badly. He says +it's the fault of the Eben Fitch you got me to hire." + +"I don't believe it was Eben's fault--Simpson doesn't like him," Victoria +replied. + +"Simpson tells me Fitch drinks." + +"Let a man get a bad name," said Victoria, "and Simpson will take care +that he doesn't lose it." The unexpected necessity of defending one of +her proteges aroused her. "I've made it a point to see Eben every day +for the last three months, and he hasn't touched a drop. He's one of the +best workers we have on the place." + +"I've got too much on my mind to put up with that kind of thing," said +Mr. Flint, "and I won't be worried here on the place. I can get capable +men to tend cattle, at least. I have to put up with political rascals +who rob and deceive me as soon as my back is turned, I have to put up +with inefficiency and senility, but I won't have it at home." + +"Fitch will be transferred to the gardener if you think best," she said. + +It suddenly occurred to Victoria, in the light of a new discovery, that +in the past her father's irritability had not extended to her. And this +discovery, she knew, ought to have some significance, but she felt +unaccountably indifferent to it. Mr. Flint walked to a window at the far +end of the room and flung apart the tightly closed curtains before it. + +"I never can get used to this new-fangled way of shutting everything up +tight," he declared. "When I lived in Centre Street, I used to read with +the curtains up every night, and nobody ever shot me." He stood looking +out at the starlight for awhile, and turned and faced her again. + +"I haven't seen much of you this summer, Victoria," he remarked. + +"I'm sorry, father. You know I always like to walk with you every day +you are here." He had aroused her sufficiently to have a distinct sense +that this was not the time to refer to the warning she had given him that +he was working too hard. But he was evidently bent on putting this +construction on her answer. + +"Several times I have asked for you, and you have been away," he said. + +"If you had only let me know, I should have made it a point to be at +home." + +"How can I tell when these idiots will give me any rest?" he asked. He +crushed the telegrams again, and came down the room and stopped in front +of her. "Perhaps there has been a particular reason why you have not +been at home as much as usual." + +"A particular reason?" she repeated, in genuine surprise. + +"Yes," he said; "I have been hearing things which, to put it mildly, have +astonished me." + +"Hearing things?" + +"Yes," he exclaimed. "I may be busy, I may be harassed by tricksters and +bunglers, but I am not too busy not to care something about my daughter's +doings. I expect them to deceive me, Victoria, but I pinned my faith +somewhere. I pinned it on you. On you, do you understand?" + +She raised her head for the first time and looked at him, with her lips +quivering. But she did not speak. + +"Ever since you were a child you have been everything to me, all I had to +fly to. I was always sure of one genuine, disinterested love--and that +was yours. I was always sure of hearing the truth from your lips." + +"Father!" she cried. + +He seemed not to hear the agonized appeal in her voice. Although he +spoke in his usual tones, Augustus Flint was, in fact, beside himself. + +"And now," he said, "and now I learn that you have been holding +clandestine meetings with a man who is my enemy, with a man who has done +me more harm than any other single individual, with a man whom I will not +have in my house--do you understand? I can only say that before to- +night, I gave him credit for having the decency not to enter it, not to +sit down at my table." + +Victoria turned away from him, and seized the high oak shelf of the +mantel with both hands. He saw her shoulders rising and falling as her +breath came deeply, spasmodically--like sobbing. But she was not sobbing +as she turned again and looked into his face. Fear was in her eye, and +the high courage to look: fear and courage. She seemed to be looking at +another man, at a man who was not her father. And Mr. Flint, despite his +anger, vaguely interpreting her meaning, was taken aback. He had never +seen anybody with such a look. And the unexpected quiet quality of her +voice intensified his strange sensation. + +"A Mr. Rangely, an Englishman, who is staying at the Leith Inn, was here +to dinner to-night. He has never been here before." + +"Austen Vane wasn't here to-night?" + +"Mr. Vane has never been in this house to my knowledge but once, and you +knew more about that meeting than I do." + +And still Victoria spoke quietly, inexplicably so to Mr. Flint--and to +herself. It seemed to her that some other than she were answering with +her voice, and that she alone felt. It was all a part of the nightmare, +all unreal, and this was not her father; nevertheless, she suffered now, +not from anger alone, nor sorrow, nor shame for him and for herself, nor +disgust, nor a sense of injustice, nor cruelty--but all of these played +upon a heart responsive to each with a different pain. + +And Mr. Flint, halted for the moment by her look and manner, yet goaded +on by a fiend of provocation which had for months been gathering +strength, and which now mastered him completely, persisted. He knew not +what he did or said. + +"And you haven't seen him to-day, I suppose," he cried. + +"Yes, I have seen him to-day." + +"Ah, you have! I thought as much. Where did you meet him to-day?" + +Victoria turned half away from him, raised a hand to the mantel-shelf +again, and lifted a foot to the low brass fender as she looked down into +the fire. The movement was not part of a desire to evade him, as he +fancied in his anger, but rather one of profound indifference, of +profound weariness--the sunless deeps of sorrow. And he thought her +capable of deceiving him! He had been her constant companion from +childhood, and knew only the visible semblance of her face, her form, her +smile. Her sex was the sex of subterfuge. + +"I went to the place where he is living, and asked for him," she said, +"and he came out and spoke to me." + +"You?" he repeated incredulously. There was surely no subterfuge in her +tone, but an unreal, unbelievable note which his senses seized, and to +which he clung. "You! My daughter!" + +"Yes," she answered, "I, your daughter. I suppose you think I am +shameless. It is true--I am." + +Mr. Flint was utterly baffled. He was at sea. He had got beyond the +range of his experience; defence, denial, tears, he could have understood +and coped with. He crushed the telegrams into a tighter ball, sought for +a footing, and found a precarious one. + +"And all this has been going on without my knowledge, when you knew my +sentiments towards the man?" + +"Yes," she said. "I do not know what you include in that remark, but I +have seen him many times as many times, perhaps, as you have heard +about." + +He wheeled, and walked over to a cabinet between two of the great windows +and stood there examining a collection of fans which his wife had bought +at a famous sale in Paris. Had he suddenly been asked the question, he +could not have said whether they were fans or beetles. And it occurred +to Victoria, as her eyes rested on his back, that she ought to be sorry +for him--but wasn't, somehow. Perhaps she would be to-morrow. Mr. Flint +looked at the fans, and an obscure glimmering of the truth came to him +that instead of administering a severe rebuke to the daughter he believed +he had known all his life, he was engaged in a contest with the soul of a +woman he had never known. And the more she confessed, the more she +apparently yielded, the more impotent he seemed, the tighter the demon +gripped him. Obstacles, embarrassments, disappointments, he had met +early in his life, and he had taken them as they came. There had +followed a long period when his word had been law. And now, as age came +on, and he was meeting with obstacles again, he had lost the magic gift +of sweeping them aside; the growing certainty that he was becoming +powerless haunted him night and day. Unbelievably strange, however, it +was that the rays of his anger by some subconscious process had hovered +from the first about the son of Hilary Vane, and were now, by the trend +of event after event, firmly focussed there. + +He left the cabinet abruptly and came back to Victoria. + +She was standing in the same position. + +"You have spared me something," he said. "He has apparently undermined +me with my own daughter. He has evidently given you an opinion of me +which is his. I think I can understand why you have not spoken of these +--meetings." + +"It is an inference that I expected," said Victoria. Then she lifted her +head and looked at him, and again he could not read her expression, for a +light burned in her eyes that made them impenetrable to him,--a light +that seemed pitilessly to search out and reveal the dark places and the +weak places within him which he himself had not known were there. Could +there be another standard by which men and women were measured and +judged? + +Mr. Flint snapped his fingers, and turned and began to pace the room. + +"It's all pretty clear," he said; "there's no use going into it any +farther. You believe, with the rest of them, that I'm a criminal and +deserve the penitentiary. I don't care a straw about the others," he +cried, snapping his fingers again. "And I suppose, if I'd had any sense, +I might have expected it from you, too, Victoria--though you are my +daughter." + +He was aware that her eyes followed him. + +"How many times have you spoken with Austen Vane?" she asked. + +"Once," he exclaimed; "that was enough. Once." + +"And he gave you the impression," she continued slowly, "that he was +deceitful, and dishonourable, and a coward? a man who would say things +behind your back that he dared not say to your face? who desired reward +for himself at any price, and in any manner? a man who would enter your +house and seek out your daughter and secretly assail your character?" + +Mr. Flint stopped in the middle of the floor. + +"And you tell me he has not done these things?" + +"Suppose I did tell you so," said Victoria, "would you believe me? I +have no reason to think that you would. I am your daughter, I have been +your most intimate companion, and I had the right to think that you +should have formed some estimate of my character. Suppose I told you +that Austen Vane has avoided me, that he would not utter a word against +you or in favour of himself? "Suppose I told you that I, your daughter, +thought there might be two sides to the political question that is +agitating you, and wished in fairness to hear the other side, +as I intended to tell you when you were less busy? Suppose I told you +that Austen Vane was the soul of honour, that he saw your side and +presented it as ably as you have presented it? that he had refrained in +many matters which might have been of advantage to him--although I did +not hear of them from him--on account of his father? Would you believe +me?" + +"And suppose I told you," cried Mr. Flint--so firmly fastened on him was +the long habit of years of talking another down, "suppose I told you that +this was the most astute and the craftiest course he could take? I've +always credited him with brains. Suppose I told you that he was +intriguing now, as he has been all along, to obtain the nomination for +the governorship? Would you believe me?" + +"No," answered Victoria, quietly. + +Mr. Flint went to the lamp, unrolled the ball of telegrams, seized one +and crossed the room quickly, and held it out to her. His hand shook a +little. + +"Read that!" he said. + +She read it: "Estimate that more than half of delegates from this section +pledged to Henderson will go to Austen Vane when signal is given in +convention. Am told on credible authority same is true of other +sections, including many of Hunt's men and Crewe's. This is the result +of quiet but persistent political work I spoke about. BILLINGS." + +She handed the telegram back to her father in silence. "Do you believe it +now?" he demanded exultantly. + +"Who is the man whose name is signed to that message?" she asked. + +Mr. Flint eyed her narrowly. + +"What difference does that make?" he demanded. + +"None," said Victoria. But a vision of Mr. Billings rose before her. +He had been pointed out to her as the man who had opposed Austen in the +Meader suit. If the bishop of the diocese signed it, I would not +believe that Austen Vane had anything to do with the matter." + +"Ah, you defend him!" cried Mr. Flint. "I thought so--I thought so. +I take off my hat to him, he is a cleverer man even than I. His own +father, whom he has ruined, comes up here and defends him." + +"Does Hilary Vane defend him?" Victoria asked curiously. + +"Yes," said Mr. Flint, beside himself; "incredible as it may seem, he +does. I have Austen Vane to thank for still another favour--he is +responsible for Hilary's condition to-day. He has broken him down--he +has made him an imbecile. The convention is scarcely thirty-six hours +off, and Hilary is about as fit to handle it as--as Eben Fitch. Hilary, +who never failed me in his life!" + +Victoria did not speak for a moment, and then she reached out her hand +quickly and laid it on his that still held the telegram. A lounge stood +on one side of the fireplace, and she drew him gently to it, and he sat +down at her side. His acquiescence to her was a second nature, and he +was once more bewildered. His anger now seemed to have had no effect +upon her whatever. + +"I waited up to tell you about Hilary Vane, father," she said gently. +"He has had a stroke, which I am afraid is serious." + +"A stroke!" cried Mr. Flint, "Why didn't you tell me? How do you know?" + +Victoria related how she had found Hilary coming away from Fairview, and +what she had done, and the word Dr. Tredway had sent. + +"Good God!" cried Mr. Flint, "he won't be able to go to the convention!" +And he rose and pressed the electric button. "Towers," he said, when the +butler appeared, "is Mr. Freeman still in my room? Tell him to telephone +to Ripton at once and find out how Mr. Hilary Vane is. They'll have to +send a messenger. That accounts for it," he went on, rather to himself +than to Victoria, and he began to pace the room once more; "he looked +like a sick man when he was here. And who have we got to put in his +place? Not a soul!" + +He paced awhile in silence. He appeared to have forgotten Victoria. + +"Poor Hilary!" he said again, "poor Hilary! I'll go down there the first +thing in the morning." + +Another silence, and then Mr. Freeman, the secretary, entered. + +"I telephoned to Dr. Tredway's, Mr. Flint. I thought that would be +quickest. Mr. Vane has left home. They don't know where he's gone." + +"Left home! It's impossible!" and he glanced at Victoria, who had risen +to her feet. "There must be some mistake." + +"No, sir. First I got the doctor, who said that Mr. Vane was gone--at +the risk of his life. And then I talked to Mr. Austen Vane himself, who +was there consulting with the doctor. It appears that Mr. Hilary Vane +had left home by eight o'clock, when Mr. Austen Vane got there." + +"Hilary's gone out of his head," exclaimed Mr. Flint. "This thing has +unhinged him. Here, take these telegrams. No, wait a minute, I'll go +out there. Call up Billings, and see if you can get Senator Whitredge." + +He started out of the room, halted, and turned his head and hesitated. + +"Father," said Victoria, "I don't think Hilary Vane is out of his mind." + +"You don't?" he said quickly. "Why?" + +By some unaccountable change in the atmosphere, of which Mr. Flint was +unconscious, his normal relation to his daughter had been suddenly +reestablished. He was giving ear, as usual, to her judgment. + +"Did Hilary Vane tell you he would go to the convention?" she asked. + +"Yes." In spite of himself, he had given the word an apologetic +inflection. + +"Then he has gone already," she said. "I think, if you will telephone a +little later to the State capital, you will find that he is in his room +at the Pelican Hotel." + +"By thunder, Victoria!" he ejaculated, "you may be right. It would be +like him." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE ARENA AND THE DUST + +Alas! that the great genius who described the battle of Waterloo is not +alive to-day and on this side of the Atlantic, for a subject worthy of +his pen is at hand,--nothing less than that convention of conventions at +which the Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith is one of the candidates. +One of the candidates, indeed! Will it not be known, as long as there +are pensions, and a governor and a state-house and a seal and State +sovereignty and a staff, as the Crewe Convention? How charge after +charge was made during the long, hot day and into the night; how the +delegates were carried out limp and speechless and starved and wet +through, and carried in to vote again,--will all be told in time. But +let us begin at the beginning, which is the day before. + +But look! it is afternoon, and the candidates are arriving at the +Pelican. The Honourable Adam B. Hunt is the first, and walks up the hill +from the station escorted by such prominent figures as the Honourables +Brush Bascom and Jacob Botcher, and surrounded by enthusiastic supporters +who wear buttons with the image of their +leader--goatee and all--and the singularly prophetic superscription, 'To +the Last Ditch!' Only veterans and experts like Mr. Bascom and Mr. +Botcher can recognize the last ditch when they see it. + +Another stir in the street--occasioned by the appearance of the +Honourable Giles Henderson,--of the blameless life. Utter a syllable +against him if you can! These words should be inscribed on his buttons +if he had any--but he has none. They seem to be, unuttered, on the +tongues of the gentlemen who escort the Honourable Giles, United States +Senator Greene and the Honourable Elisha Jane, who has obtained leave of +absence from his consular post to attend the convention,--and +incidentally to help prepare for it. + +But who and what is this? The warlike blast of a siren horn is heard, +the crowd in the lobby rushes to the doors, people up-stairs fly to the +windows, and the Honourable Adam B. Hunt leans out and nearly falls out, +but is rescued by Division Superintendent Manning of the Northeastern +Railroads, who has stepped in from Number Seven to give a little private +tug of a persuasive nature to the Honourable Adam's coat-tails. A red +Leviathan comes screaming down Main Street with a white trail of dust +behind it, smothering the occupants of vehicles which have barely +succeeded in getting out of the way, and makes a spectacular finish +before the Pelican by sliding the last fifty feet on locked rear wheels. + +A group in the street raises a cheer. It is the People's Champion! Dust +coat, gauntlets, goggles, cannot hide him; and if they did, some one +would recognize that voice, familiar now and endeared to many, and so +suited to command:-- + +"Get that baggage off, and don't waste any time! Jump out, Watling--that +handle turns the other way. Well, Tooting, are the headquarters ready? +What was the matter that I couldn't get you on the telephone?" (To the +crowd.) "Don't push in and scratch the paint. He's going to back out in +a minute, and somebody'll get hurt." + +Mr. Hamilton Tooting (Colonel Hamilton Tooting that is to be--it being an +open secret that he is destined for the staff) is standing hatless on the +sidewalk ready to receive the great man. The crowd in the rotunda makes +a lane, and Mr. Crewe, glancing neither to the right nor left, walks +upstairs; and scarce is he installed in the bridal suite, surrounded by +his faithful workers for reform, than that amazing reception begins. Mr. +Hamilton Tooting, looking the very soul of hospitality, stands by the +doorway with an open box of cigars in his left hand, pressing them upon +the visitors with his right. Reform, contrary to the +preconceived opinion of many, is not made of icicles, nor answers with a +stone a request for bread. As the hours run on, the visitors grow more +and more numerous, and after supper the room is packed to suffocation, +and a long line is waiting in the corridor, marshalled and kept in good +humour by able lieutenants; while Mr. Crewe is dimly to be perceived +through clouds of incense burning in his honour--and incidentally at his +expense--with a welcoming smile and an appropriate word for each caller, +whose waistcoat pockets, when they emerge, resemble cartridge-belts of +cigars. + +More cigars were hastily sent for, and more. There are to be but a +thousand delegates to the convention, and at least two thousand men have +already passed through the room--and those who don't smoke have friends. +It is well that Mr. Crewe has stuck to his conservative habit of not +squeezing hands too hard. + +"Isn't that Mr. Putter, who keeps a livery-stable here?" inquired Mr. +Crewe, about nine o'clock--our candidate having a piercing eye of his +own. Mr. Putter's coat, being brushed back, has revealed six cigars. + +"Why, yes--yes," says Mr. Watling. + +"Is he a delegate?" Mr. Crewe demanded. + +"Why, I guess he must be," says Mr. Watling. + +But Mr. Putter is not a delegate. + +"You've stood up and made a grand fight, Mr. Crewe," says another +gentleman, a little later, with a bland, smooth shaven face and strong +teeth to clinch Mr. Crewe's cigars. "I wish I was fixed so as I could +vote for you." + +Mr. Crewe looks at him narrowly. + +"You look very much like a travelling man from New York, who tried to +sell me farm machinery," he answers. + +"Where are you from?" + +"You ain't exactly what they call a tyro, are you?" says the bland-faced +man; "but I guess you've missed the mark this shot. Well, so long." + +"Hold on!" says Mr. Crewe, "Watling will talk to you." + +And, as the gentleman follows Mr. Wailing through the press, a pamphlet +drops from his pocket to the floor. It is marked 'Catalogue of the +Raines Farm Implement Company.' Mr. Watling picks it up and hands it to +the gentleman, who winks again. + +"Tim," he says, "where can we sit down? How much are you getting out of +this? Brush and Jake Botcher are bidding high down-stairs, and the +quotation on delegates has gone up ten points in ten minutes. It's +mighty good of you to remember old friends, Tim, even if they're not +delegates." + +Meanwhile Mr. Crewe is graciously receiving others who are crowding to +him. + +"How are you, Mr. Giddings? How are the cows? I carry some stock +that'll make you sit up--I believe I told you when I was down your way. +Of course, mine cost a little money, but that's one of my hobbies. Come +and see 'em some day. There's a good hotel in Ripton, and I'll have you +met there and drive you back." + +Thus, with a genial and kindly remark to each, he passes from one to the +other, and when the members of the press come to him for his estimate of +the outcome on the morrow, he treats them with the same courtly +consideration. + +"Estimate!" cries Mr. Crewe. "Where have your eyes been to-night, my +friends? Have you seen the people coming into these headquarters? Have +you seen 'em pouring into any other headquarters? All the State and +federal office-holders in the country couldn't stop me now. Estimate! +I'll be nominated on the first ballot." + +They wrote it down. + +"Thank you, Mr. Crewe," they said; "that's the kind of talk we like to +hear." + +"And don't forget," said Mr. Crewe, "to mention this reception in the +accounts." + +Mr. Tooting, who makes it a point from time to time to reconnoitre, +saunters halfway down-stairs and surveys the crowded rotunda from the +landing. Through the blue medium produced by the burning of many cigars +(mostly Mr. Crewe's) he takes note of the burly form of Mr. Thomas +Gaylord beside that of Mr. Redbrook and other rural figures; he takes +note of a quiet corner with a ring of chairs surrounded by scouts and +outposts, although it requires a trained eye such as Mr. Tooting's to +recognize them as such--for they wear no uniforms. They are, in truth, +minor captains of the feudal system, and their present duties consist (as +Mr. Tooting sees clearly) in preventing the innocent and inquisitive from +unprofitable speech with the Honourable Jacob Botcher, who sits in the +inner angle conversing cordially with those who are singled out for this +honour. Still other scouts conduct some of the gentlemen who have talked +with Mr. Botcher up the stairs to a mysterious room on the second floor. +Mr. Tooting discovers that the room is occupied by the Honourable Brush +Bascom; Mr. Tooting learns with indignation that certain of these guests +of Mr. Bascom's are delegates pledged to Mr. Crewe, whereupon he rushes +back to the bridal suite to report to his chief. The cigars are giving +out again, and the rush has slackened, and he detaches the People's +Champion from the line and draws him to the inner room. + +Brush Bascom's conducting a bourse on the second floor and is running the +price up right along," cried the honest and indignant Mr. Tooting. He's +stringin' Adam Hunt all right. They say he's got Adam to cough up six +thousand extra since five o'clock, but the question is--ain't he +stringin' us? He paid six hundred for a block of ten not quarter of an +hour ago--and nine of 'em were our delegates." + +It must be remembered that these are Mr. Tooting's words, and Mr. Crewe +evidently treated them as the product of that gentleman's vivid +imagination. Translated, they meant that the Honourable Adam B. Hunt has +no chance for the nomination, but that the crafty Messrs. Botcher and +Bascom are inducing him to think that he has--by making a supreme effort. +The supreme effort is represented by six thousand dollars. + +"Are you going to lie down under that?" Mr. Tooting demanded, forgetting +himself in his zeal for reform and Mr. Crewe. But Mr. Tooting, in some +alarm, perceived the eye of his chief growing virtuous and glassy. + +"I guess I know when I'm strung, as you call it, Mr. Tooting," he replied +severely. "This cigar bill alone is enough to support a large family for +several months." + +And with this merited reproof he turned on his heel and went back to his +admirers without, leaving Mr. Tooting aghast, but still resourceful. Ten +minutes later that gentleman was engaged in a private conversation with +his colleague, the Honourable Timothy Wading. + +"He's up on his hind legs at last," said Mr. Tooting; "it looks as if he +was catching on." + +Mr. Wading evidently grasped these mysterious words, for he looked grave. + +"He thinks he's got the nomination cinched, don't he?" + +"That's the worst of it," cried Mr. Tooting. + +"I'll see what I can do," said the Honourable Tim. "He's always talking +about thorough, let him do it thorough." And Mr. Watling winked. + +"Thorough," repeated Mr. Tooting, delightedly. + +"That's it--Colonel," said Mr. Watling. "Have you ordered your uniform +yet, Ham?" + +Mr. Tooting plainly appreciated this joke, for he grinned. + +"I guess you won't starve if you don't get that commissionership, Tim," +he retorted. + +"And I guess," returned Mr. Watling, "that you won't go naked if you +don't have a uniform." + +Victoria's surmise was true. At ten o'clock at night, two days before +the convention, a tall figure had appeared in the empty rotunda of the +Pelican, startling the clerk out of a doze. He rubbed his eyes and +stared, recognized Hilary Vane, and yet failed to recognize him. It was +an extraordinary occasion indeed which would cause Mr. McAvoy to lose his +aplomb; to neglect to seize the pen and dip it, with a flourish, into the +ink, and extend its handle towards the important guest; to omit a few +fitting words of welcome. It was Hilary who got the pen first, and wrote +his name in silence, and by this time Mr. McAvoy had recovered his +presence of mind sufficiently to wield the blotter. + +"We didn't expect you to-night, Mr. Vane," he said, in a voice that +sounded strange to him, "but we've kept Number Seven, as usual. Front!" + +"The old man's seen his day, I guess," Mr. McAvoy remarked, as he studied +the register with a lone reporter. "This Crewe must have got in on 'em +hard, from what they tell me, and Adam Hunt has his dander up." + +The next morning at ten o'clock, while the workmen were still tacking +down the fireproof carpets in headquarters upstairs, and before even the +advance guard of the armies had begun to arrive, the eye of the clerk was +caught by a tall young man rapidly approaching the desk. + +"Is Mr. Hilary Vane here?" + +"He's in Number Seven," said Mr. McAvoy, who was cudgelling his brains. +"Give me your card, and I'll send it up." + +"I'll go up," said the caller, turning on his heel and suiting the action +to the word, leaving Mr. McAvoy to make active but futile inquiries among +the few travelling men and reporters seated about. + +"Well, if you fellers don't know him, I give up," said the clerk, +irritably, "but he looks as if he ought to be somebody. He knows his +business, anyway." + +In the meantime Mr. Vane's caller had reached the first floor; he +hesitated just a moment before knocking at the door of Number Seven, and +the Honourable Hilary's voice responded. The door opened. + +Hilary was seated, as usual, beside the marble-topped table, which was +covered with newspapers and memoranda. In the room were Mr. Ridout, the +capital lawyer, and Mr. Manning, the division superintendent. There was +an instant of surprised silence on the part of the three, but the +Honourable Hilary was the only one who remained expressionless. + +"If you don't mind, gentlemen," said the visitor, "I should like to talk +to my father for a few minutes." + +"Why, certainly, Austen," Mr. Ridout replied, with an attempt at +heartiness. Further words seemed to fail him, and he left the room +somewhat awkwardly, followed by Mr. Manning; but the Honourable Hilary +appeared to take no notice of this proceeding. + +"Judge," said Austen, when the door had closed behind them, "I won't keep +you long. I didn't come down here to plead with you to abandon what you +believe to be your duty, because I know that would be useless. I have +had a talk with Dr. Tredway," he added gently, "and I realize that you +are risking your life. If I could take you back to Ripton I would, but I +know that I cannot. I see your point of view, and if I were in your +place I should do the same thing. I only wanted to tell you this--" +Austen's voice caught a little, "if--anything should happen, I shall be +at Mrs. Peasley's on Maple Street, opposite the Duncan house." He laid +his hand for an instant, in the old familiar way, on Hilary's shoulder, +and looked down into the older man's face. It may have been that +Hilary's lips trembled a little. "I--I'll see you later, Judge, when +it's all over. Good luck to you." + +He turned slowly, went to the door and opened it, gave one glance at the +motionless figure in the chair, and went out. He did not hear the voice +that called his name, for the door had shut. + +Mr. Ridout and Mr. Manning were talking together in low tones at the head +of the stairs. It was the lawyer who accosted Austen. + +"The old gentleman don't seem to be quite himself, Austen. Don't seem +well. You ought to hold him in he can't work as hard as he used to." + +"I think you'll find, Mr. Ridout," answered Austen, deliberately, "that +he'll perform what's required of him with his usual efficiency." + +Mr. Ridout followed Austen's figure with his eyes until he was hidden by +a turn of the stairs. Then he whistled. + +"I can't make that fellow out," he exclaimed. "Never could. All I know +is that if Hilary Vane pulls us through this mess, in the shape he's in, +it'll be a miracle. + +"His mind seems sound enough to-day--but he's lost his grip, I tell you. +I don't wonder Flint's beside himself. Here's Adam Hunt with both feet +in the trough, and no more chance of the nomination than I have, and +Bascom and Botcher teasing him on, and he's got enough votes with Crewe +to lock up that convention for a dark horse. And who's the dark horse?" + +Mr. Manning, who was a silent man, pointed with his thumb in the +direction Austen had taken. + +"Hilary Vane's own son," said Mr. Ridout, voicing the gesture; "they tell +me that Tom Gaylord's done some pretty slick work. Now I leave it to +you, Manning, if that isn't a mess!" + +At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the appearance on the +stairway of the impressive form of United States Senator Whitredge, +followed by a hall boy carrying the senatorial gripsack. The senator's +face wore a look of concern which could not possibly be misinterpreted. + +"How's Hilary?" were his first words. + +Mr. Ridout and Mr. Manning glanced at each other. + +"He's in Number Seven; you'd better take a look at him, Senator." + +The senator drew breath, directed that his grip be put in the room where +he was to repose that night, produced an amber cigar-holder from a case, +and a cigar from his waistcoat pocket. + +"I thought I'd better come down early," he said, "things aren't going +just as they should, and that's the truth. In fact," he added, +significantly tapping his pocket, "I've got a letter from Mr. Flint to +Hilary which I may have to use. You understand me." + +"I guessed as much," said Mr. Ridout. + +"Ahem! I saw young Vane going out of the hotel just now," the senator +remarked. "I am told, on pretty good authority, that under certain +circumstances, which I must confess seem not unlikely at present, he may +be a candidate for the nomination. The fact that he is in town tends to +make the circumstance more probable." + +"He's just been in to see Hilary," said Mr. Ridout. + +"You don't tell me!" said the senator, pausing as he lighted his cigar; +"I was under the impression that they were not on speaking terms." + +"They've evidently got together now, that--" said Mr. Ridout. "I wonder +how old Hilary would feel about it. We couldn't do much with Austen Vane +if he was governor--that's a sure thing." + +The senator pondered a moment. + +"It's been badly managed," he muttered; "there's no doubt of that. Hunt +must be got out of the way. When Bascom and Botcher come, tell them I +want to see them in my room, not in Number Seven." + +And with this impressive command, received with nods of understanding, +Senator Whitredge advanced slowly towards Number Seven, knocked, and +entered. Be it known that Mr. Flint, with characteristic caution, had +not confided even to the senator that the Honourable Hilary had had a +stroke. + +"Ah, Vane," he said, in his most affable tones, "how are you?" + +The Honourable Hilary, who was looking over some papers, shot at him a +glance from under his shaggy eyebrows. + +"Came in here to find out--didn't you, Whitredge?" he replied. + +"What?" said the senator, taken aback; and for once at a loss for words. + +The Honourable Hilary rose and stood straighter than usual, and looked +the senator in the eye. + +"What's your diagnosis?" he asked. "Superannuated--unfit for duty-- +unable to cope with the situation ready to be superseded? Is that about +it?" + +To say that Senator Whitredge was startled and uncomfortable would be to +put his case mildly. He had never before seen Mr. Vane in this mood. + +"Ha-ha!" he laughed; "the years are coming over us a little, aren't they? +But I guess it isn't quite time for the youngsters to step in yet." + +"No, Whitredge," said Mr. Vane, slowly, without taking his eye from the +senator's, "and it won't be until this convention is over. Do you +understand?" + +"That's the first good news I've heard this morning," said the senator, +with the uneasy feeling that, in some miraculous way, the Honourable +Hilary had read the superseding orders from highest authority through his +pocket. + +"You may take it as good news or bad news, as you please, but it's a +fact. And now I want 'YOU' to tell Ridout that I wish to see him again, +and to bring in Doby, who is to be chairman of the convention." + +"Certainly," assented the senator, with alacrity, as he started for the +door. Then he turned. "I'm glad to see you're all right, Vane," he +added; "I'd heard that you were a little under the weather--a bilious +attack on account of the heat--that's all I meant." He did not wait for +an answer, nor would he have got one. And he found Mr. Ridout in the +hall. + +"Well?" said the lawyer, expectantly, and looking with some curiosity at +the senator's face. + +"Well," said Mr. Whitredge, with marked impatience, "he wants to see you +right away." + +All day long Hilary Vane held conference in Number Seven, and at six +o'clock sent a request that the Honourable Adam visit him. The +Honourable Adam would not come; and the fact leaked out--through the +Honourable Adam. + +"He's mad clean through," reported the Honourable Elisha Jane, to whose +tact and diplomacy the mission had been confided. "He said he would +teach Flint a lesson. He'd show him he couldn't throw away a man as +useful and efficient as he'd been, like a sucked orange." + +"Humph! A sucked orange. That's what he said, is it? A sucked orange," +Hilary repeated. + +"That's what he said," declared Mr. Jane, and remembered afterwards how +Hilary had been struck by the simile. + +At ten o'clock at night, at the very height of the tumult, Senator +Whitredge had received an interrogatory telegram from Fairview, and had +called a private conference (in which Hilary was not included) in a back +room on the second floor (where the conflicting bands of Mr. Crewe and +Mr. Hunt could not be heard), which Mr. Manning and Mr. Jane and State +Senator Billings and Mr. Ridout attended. Query: the Honourable Hilary +had quarrelled with Mr. Flint, that was an open secret; did not Mr. Vane +think himself justified, from his own point of view, in taking a singular +revenge in not over-exerting himself to pull the Honourable Adam out, +thereby leaving the field open for his son, Austen Vane, with whom he was +apparently reconciled? Not that Mr. Flint had hinted of such a thing! +He had, in the telegram, merely urged the senator himself to see Mr. +Hunt, and to make one more attempt to restrain the loyalty to that +candidate of Messrs. Bascom and Botcher. + +The senator made the attempt, and failed signally. + +It was half-past midnight by the shining face of the clock on the tower +of the state-house, and hope flamed high in the bosom of the Honourable +Adam B. Hunt a tribute to the bellows-like skill of Messrs. Bascom and +Botcher. The bands in the street had blown themselves out, the delegates +were at last seeking rest, the hall boys in the corridors were turning +down the lights, and the Honourable Adam, in a complacent and even +jubilant frame of mind, had put on his carpet slippers and taken off his +coat, when there came a knock at his door. He was not a little amazed +and embarrassed, upon opening it, to see the Honourable Hilary. But +these feelings gave place almost immediately to a sense of triumph; gone +were the days when he had to report to Number Seven. Number Seven, in +the person of Hilary (who was Number Seven), had been forced to come to +him! + +"Well, upon my soul!" he exclaimed heartily. "Come in, Hilary." + +He turned up the jets of the chandelier, and gazed at his friend, and was +silent. + +"Have a seat, Hilary," he said, pushing up an armchair. + +Mr. Vane sat down. Mr. Hunt took a seat opposite, and waited for his +visitor to speak. He himself seemed to find no words. + +"Adam," said Mr. Vane, at length, "we've known each other for a good many +years." + +"That's so, Hilary. That's so," Mr. Hunt eagerly assented. What was +coming? + +"And whatever harm I've done in my life," Hilary continued, "I've always +tried to keep my word. I told you, when we met up there by the mill this +summer, that if Mr. Flint had consulted me about your candidacy, before +seeing you in New York, I shouldn't have advised it--this time." + +The Honourable Adam's face stiffened. + +"That's what you said. But--" + +"And I meant it," Mr. Vane interrupted. "I was never pledged to your +candidacy, as a citizen. I've been thinking over my situation some, this +summer, and I'll tell you in so many plain words what it is. I guess you +know--I guess everybody knows who's thought about it. I deceived myself +for a long time by believing that I earned my living as the attorney for +the Northeastern Railroads. I've drawn up some pretty good papers for +them, and I've won some pretty difficult suits. I'm not proud of 'em +all, but let that go. Do you know what I am?" + +The Honourable Adam was capable only of a startled ejaculation. Was +Hilary Vane in his right senses? + +"I'm merely their paid political tool," Mr. Vane continued, in the same +tone. "I've sold them my brain, and my right of opinion as a citizen. I +wanted to make this clear to you first of all. Not that you didn't know +it, but I wished you to know that I know it. When Mr. Flint said that +you were to be the Republican nominee, my business was to work to get you +elected, which I did. And when it became apparent that you couldn't be +nominated--" + +"Hold on!" cried the Honourable Adam. + +"Please wait until I have finished. When it became apparent that you +couldn't be nominated, Mr. Flint sent me to try to get you to withdraw, +and he decreed that the new candidate should pay your expenses up to +date. I failed in that mission." + +"I don't blame you, Hilary," exclaimed Mr. Hunt. "I told you so at the +time. But I guess I'll soon be in a position where I can make Flint walk +the tracks--his own tracks." + +"Adam," said Mr. Vane, "it is because I deserve as much of the blame as +Mr. Flint that I am here." + +Again Mr. Hunt was speechless. The Honourable Hilary Vane in an +apologetic mood! A surmise flashed into the brain of the Honourable +Adam, and sparkled there. The Honourable Giles Henderson was prepared to +withdraw, and Hilary had come, by authority, to see if he would pay the +Honourable Giles' campaign expenses. Well, he could snap his fingers at +that. + +"Flint has treated me like a dog," he declared. + +"Mr. Flint never pretended," answered Mr. Vane, coldly, "that the +nomination and election of a governor was anything but a business +transaction. His regard for you is probably unchanged, but the interests +he has at stake are too large to admit of sentiment as a factor." + +"Exactly," exclaimed Mr. Hunt. "And I hear he hasn't treated you just +right, Hilary. I understand--" + +Hilary's eyes flashed for the first time. + +"Never mind that, Adam," he said quietly; "I've been treated as I +deserve. I have nothing whatever to complain of from Mr. Flint. I will +tell you why I came here to-night. I haven't felt right about you since +that interview, and the situation to-night is practically what it was +then. You can't be nominated." + +"Can't be nominated !" gasped Mr: Hunt. And he reached to the table for +his figures. "I'll have four hundred on the first ballot, and I've got +two hundred and fifty more pledged to me as second choice. If you've +come up here at this time of night to try to deceive me on that, you +might as well go back and wire Flint it's no use. Why, I can name the +delegates, if you'll listen." + +Mr. Vane shook his head sadly. And, confident as he was, the movement +sent a cold chill down the Honourable Adam's spine, for faith in Mr. +Vane's judgment had become almost a second nature. He had to force +himself to remember that this was not the old Hilary. + +"You won't have three hundred, Adam, at any time," answered Mr. Vane. +"Once you used to believe what I said, and if you won't now, you won't. +But I can't go away without telling you what I came for." + +"What's that?" demanded Mr. Hunt, wonderingly. + +"It's this," replied Hilary, with more force than he had yet shown. "You +can't get that nomination. If you'll let me know what your campaign +expenses have been up to date,--all of 'em, you understand, to-night +too,--I'll give you a check for them within the next two weeks." + +"Who makes this offer?" demanded Mr. Hunt, with more curiosity than +alarm; "Mr. Flint?" + +"No," said Hilary; "Mr. Flint does not use the road's funds for such +purposes." + +"Henderson?" + +"No," said Hilary; "I can't see what difference it makes to you." + +The Honourable Adam had an eminently human side, and he laid his hand on +Mr. Vane's knee. + +"I think I've got a notion as to where that money would come from, +Hilary," he said. "I'm much obliged to you, my friend. I wouldn't take +it even if I thought you'd sized up the situation right. But--I don't +agree with you this time. I know I've got the nomination. And I want to +say once more, that I think you're a square man, and I don't hold +anything against you." + +Mr. Vane rose. + +"I'm sorry, Adam," he said; my offer holds good after to-morrow." + +"After to-morrow!" + +"Yes," said the Honourable Hilary. "I don't feel right about this thing. +Er--good night, Adam." + +"Hold on!" cried Mr. Hunt, as a new phase of the matter struck him. +"Why, if I got out--" + +"What then?" said Mr. Vane, turning around. + +"Oh, I won't get out," said Mr. Hunt, "but if I did,--why, there +wouldn't, according to your way of thinking, be any chance for a dark +horse." + +"What do you mean?" demanded Mr. Vane. + +"Now don't get mad, Hilary. I guess, and you know, that Flint hasn't +treated you decently this summer after all you've done for him, and I +admire the way you're standing by him. I wouldn't do it. I just wanted +to say," Mr. Hunt added slowly, "that I respect you all the more for +trying to get me out. If--always according to your notion of the +convention--if I don't get out, and haven't any chance, they tell me on +pretty good authority Austen Vane will get the nomination." + +Hilary Vane walked to the door, opened it and went out, and slammed it +behind him. + +It is morning,--a hot morning, as so many recall,--and the partisans of +the three leaders are early astir, and at seven-thirty Mr. Tooting +discovers something going on briskly which he terms "dealing in futures." +My vote is yours as long as you are in the race, but after that I have +something negotiable. The Honourable Adam Hunt strolls into the rotunda +after an early breakfast, with a toothpick in his mouth, and is pointed +out by the sophisticated to new arrivals as the man who spent seven +thousand dollars over night, much of which is said to have stuck in the +pockets of two feudal chiefs who could be named. Is it possible that +there is a split in the feudal system at last? that the two feudal +chiefs (who could be named) are rebels against highest authority? A +smile from the sophisticated one. This duke and baron have merely +stopped to pluck a bird; it matters not whether or not the bird is an +erstwhile friend--he has been outlawed by highest authority, and is fair +game. The bird (with the toothpick in his mouth) creates a smile from +other chiefs of the system in good standing who are not too busy to look +at him. They have ceased all attempts to buttonhole him, for he is +unapproachable. + +The other bird, the rebel of Leith, who has never been in the feudal +system at all, they have stopped laughing at. It is he who has brought +the Empire to its most precarious state. + +And now, while strangers from near and far throng into town, drawn by the +sensational struggle which is to culminate in battle to-day, Mr. Crewe is +marshalling his forces. All the delegates who can be collected, and who +wear the button with the likeness and superscription of Humphrey Crewe, +are drawn up beside the monument in the park, where the Ripton Band is +stationed; and presently they are seen by cheering crowds marching to +martial music towards the convention hall, where they collect in a body, +with signs and streamers in praise of the People's Champion well to the +front and centre. This is generally regarded as a piece of consummate +general ship on the part of their leader. They are applauded from the +galleries,--already packed,--especially from one conspicuous end where +sit that company of ladies (now so famed) whose efforts have so +materially aided the cause of the People's Champion. Gay streamers vie +with gayer gowns, and morning papers on the morrow will have something to +say about the fashionable element and the special car which brought them +from Leith. + +"My, but it is hot!" + +The hall is filled now, with the thousand delegates, or their +representatives who are fortunate enough to possess their credentials. +Something of this matter later. General Doby, chairman of the +convention, an impressive but mournful figure, could not call a roll if +he wanted to. Not that he will want to! Impossible to tell, by the +convenient laws of the State, whether the duly elected delegates of Hull +or Mercer or Truro are here or not, since their credentials may be bought +or sold or conferred. Some political giants, who have not negotiated +their credentials, are recognized as they walk down the aisle: the +statesmanlike figure of Senator Whitredge (a cheer); that of Senator +Green (not so statesmanlike, but a cheer); Congressman Fairplay (cheers); +and--Hilary Vane! His a figure that does not inspire cheers,--least of +all to-day,--the man upon whose shoulders rests the political future of +the Northeastern. The conservative Mr. Tredways and other Lincoln +radicals of long ago who rely on his strength and judgment are not the +sort to cheer. And yet--and yet Hilary inspires some feeling when, with +stooping gait, he traverses the hall, and there is a hush in many +quarters as delegates and spectators watch his progress to the little +room off the platform: the general's room, as the initiated know. + +Ah, but few know what a hateful place it is to Hilary Vane to-day, this +keyboard at which he has sat so complacently in years gone by, the envied +of conventions. He sits down wearily at the basswood table, and scarcely +hears the familiar sounds without, which indicate that the convention of +conventions has begun. Extraordinary phenomenon at such a time, scenes +of long ago and little cherished then, are stealing into his mind. + +The Reverend Mr. Crane (so often chaplain of the Legislature, and known +to the irreverent as the chaplain of the Northeastern) is praying now for +guidance in the counsels of this great gathering of the people's +representatives. God will hear Mr. Botcher better if he closes his eyes; +which he does. Now the platform is being read by State Senator Billings; +closed eyes would best suit this proceeding, too. As a parallel to that +platform, one can think only of the Ten Commandments. The Republican +Party (chosen children of Israel) must be kept free from the domination +of corporations. (Cheers and banner waving for a full minute.) Some +better method of choosing delegates which will more truly reflect the +will of the people. (Plank of the Honourable Jacob Botcher, whose +conscience is awakening.) Never mind the rest. It is a triumph for Mr. +Crewe, and is all printed in that orthodox (reform) newspaper, the State +Tribune, with urgent editorials that it must be carried out to the +letter. + +And what now? Delegates, credential holders, audience, and the Reverend +Mr. Crane draw long breaths of heated carbon dioxide. Postmaster Burrows +of Edmundton, in rounded periods, is putting in nomination his +distinguished neighbour and fellow-citizen, the Honourable Adam B. Hunt, +who can subscribe and say amen to every plank in that platform. He +believes it, he has proclaimed it in public, and he embodies it. Mr. +Burrows indulges in slight but effective sarcasm of sham reformers and +so-called business men who perform the arduous task of cutting coupons +and live in rarefied regions where they can only be seen by the common +people when the light is turned on. (Cheers from two partisan bodies and +groans and hisses from another. General Doby, with a pained face, +pounding with the gavel. This isn't a circumstance to what's coming, +General.) + +After General Doby has succeeded in abating the noise in honour-of the +Honourable Adam, there is a hush of expectancy. Humphrey Crewe, who has +made all this trouble and enthusiasm, is to be nominated next, and the +Honourable Timothy Wailing of Newcastle arises to make that celebrated +oration which the cynical have called the "thousand-dollar speech." And +even if they had named it well (which is not for a moment to be +admitted!), it is cheap for the price. How Mr. Crewe's ears must tingle +as he paces his headquarters in the Pelican! Almost would it be +sacrilege to set down cold, on paper, the words that come, burning, out +of the Honourable Timothy's loyal heart. Here, gentlemen, is a man at +last, not a mere puppet who signs his name when a citizen of New York +pulls the string; one who is prepared to make any sacrifice,--to spend +his life, if need be, in their service. (A barely audible voice, before +the cheering commences, "I guess that's so.") Humphrey Crewe needs no +defence--the Honourable Timothy avers--at his hands, or any one's. Not +merely an idealist, but a practical man who has studied the needs of the +State; unselfish to the core; longing, like Washington, the Father of his +Country, to remain in a beautiful country home, where he dispenses +hospitality with a flowing hand to poor and rich alike, yet harking to +the call of duty. Leaving, like the noble Roman of old, his plough in +the furrow--(Same voice as before, "I wish he'd left his automobil' +thar!" Hisses and laughter.) The Honourable Timothy, undaunted, snatches +his hand from the breast of his Prince Albert and flings it, with a +superb gesture, towards the Pelican. "Gentlemen, I have the honour to +nominate to this convention that peerless leader for the right, the +Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith--our next governor." + +General Andrew Jackson himself, had he been alive and on this historic +ground and chairman of that convention, could scarce have quelled the +tumult aroused by this name and this speech--much less General Doby. +Although a man of presence, measurable by scales with weights enough, our +general has no more ponderosity now than a leaf in a mountain storm at +Hale--and no more control over the hurricane. Behold him now, pounding +with his gavel on something which should give forth a sound, but doesn't. +Who is he (to change the speech's figure--not the general's), who is he +to drive a wild eight-horse team, who is fit only to conduct Mr. Flint's +oxen in years gone by? + +It is a memorable scene, sketched to life for the metropolitan press. +The man on the chair, his face lighted by a fanatic enthusiasm, is the +Honourable Hamilton Tooting, coatless and collarless, leading the cheers +that shake the building, that must have struck terror to the soul of +Augustus P. Flint himself--fifty miles away. But the endurance of the +human throat is limited. + +Why, in the name of political strategy, has United States Senator Greene +been chosen to nominate the Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston? Some +say that it is the will of highest authority, others that the senator is +a close friend of the Honourable Giles--buys his coal from him, +wholesale. Both surmises are true. The senator's figure is not +impressive, his voice less so, and he reads from manuscript, to the +accompaniment of continual cries of "Louder!" A hook for Leviathan! "A +great deal of dribble," said the senator, for little rocks sometimes +strike fire, "has been heard about the 'will of the people.'" + +The Honourable Giles Henderson is beholden to no man and to no +corporation, and will go into office prepared to do justice impartially +to all." + +"Bu--copia verborum--let us to the main business!" + +To an hundred newspapers, to Mr. Flint at Fairview, and other important +personages ticks out the momentous news that the balloting has begun. No +use trying to hold your breath until the first ballot is announced; it +takes time to obtain the votes of one thousand men--especially when +neither General Doby nor any one else knows who they are! The only way +is to march up on the stage by counties and file past the ballot-box. +Putnam, with their glitter-eyed duke, Mr. Bascom, at their head-- +presumably solid for Adam B. Hunt; Baron Burrows, who farms out the post- +office at Edmundton, leads Edmunds County; Earl Elisha Jane, consul at +some hot place where he spends the inclement months drops the first +ticket for Haines County, ostensibly solid for home-made virtue and the +Honourable Giles. + +An hour and a quarter of suspense and torture passes, while collars wilt +and coats come off, and fans in the gallery wave incessantly, and excited +conversation buzzes in every quarter. And now, see! there is whispering +on the stage among the big-bugs. Mr. Chairman Doby rises with a paper in +his hand, and the buzzing dies down to silence. + + The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . .398 + The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . 353 + The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has. . 249 + And a majority being required, there is no choice! + +Are the supporters of the People's Champion crest-fallen, think you? Mr. +Tooting is not leading them for the moment, but is pressing through the +crowd outside the hall and flying up the street to the Pelican and the +bridal suite, where he is first with the news. Note for an unabridged +biography: the great man is discovered sitting quietly by the window, +poring over a book on the modern science of road-building, some notes +from which he is making for his first message. And instead of the reek +of tobacco smoke, the room is filled with the scent of the floral +tributes brought down by the Ladies' Auxiliary from Leith. In Mr. +Crewe's right-hand pocket, neatly typewritten, is his speech of +acceptance. He is never caught unprepared. Unkind, now, to remind him +of that prediction made last night about the first ballot to the +newspapers--and useless. + +"I told you last night they were buyin' 'em right under our noses," cried +Mr. Tooting, in a paroxysm of indignation, "and you wouldn't believe me. +They got over one hundred and sixty away from us." + +"It strikes me, Mr. Tooting," said Mr. Crewe, "that it was your business +to prevent that." + +There will no doubt be a discussion, when the biographer reaches this +juncture, concerning the congruity of reform delegates who can be bought. +It is too knotty a point of ethics to be dwelt upon here. + +"Prevent it!" echoed Mr. Tooting, and in the strong light of the +righteousness of that eye reproaches failed him. "But there's a whole +lot of 'em can be seen, right now, while the ballots are being taken. It +won't be decided on the next ballot." + +"Mr. Tooting," said Mr. Crewe, indubitably proving that he had the +qualities of a leader--if such proof were necessary, "go back to the +convention. I have no doubt of the outcome, but that doesn't mean you +are to relax your efforts. Do you understand?" + +"I guess I do," replied Mr. Tooting, and was gone. "He still has his +flag up," he whispered into the Honourable Timothy Watling's ear, when he +reached the hall. "He'll stand a little more yet." + +Mr. Tooting, at times, speaks a language unknown to us--and the second +ballot is going on. And during its progress the two principal +lieutenants of the People's Champion were observed going about the hall +apparently exchanging the time of day with various holders of +credentials. Mr. Jane, too, is going about the hall, and Postmaster +Burrows, and Postmaster Bill Fleeting of Brampton, and the Honourable Nat +Billings, and Messrs. Bascom and Botcher, and Mr. Manning, division +superintendent, and the Honourable Orrin Young, railroad commissioner and +candidate for reappointment--all are embracing the opportunity to greet +humble friends or to make new acquaintances. Another hour and a quarter, +with the temperature steadily rising and the carbon dioxide increasing-- +and the second ballot is announced. + + The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . . 440 + The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . . 336 + The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has . . . 255 + +And there are three votes besides improperly made out! + +What the newspapers call indescribable excitement ensues. The three +votes improperly made out are said to be trip passes accidentally dropped +into the box by the supporters of the Honourable Elisha Jane. And add up +the sum total of the votes! Thirty-one votes more than there are +credentials in the hall! Mystery of mysteries how can it be? The +ballot, announces General Doby, after endless rapping, is a blank. +Cheers, recriminations, exultation, disgust of decent citizens, attempts +by twenty men to get the eye of the president (which is too watery to see +any of them), and rushes for the platform to suggest remedies or ask what +is going to be done about such palpable fraud. What can be done? Call +the roll! How in blazes can you call the roll when you don't know who's +here? Messrs. Jane, Botcher, Bascom, and Fleming are not disturbed, and +improve their time. Watling and Tooting rush to the bridal suite, and +rush back again to demand justice. General Doby mingles his tears with +theirs, and somebody calls him a jellyfish. He does not resent it. +Friction makes the air hotter and hotter--Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego +would scarce enter into this furnace,--and General Doby has a large damp +spot on his back as he pounds and pounds and pounds until we are off +again on the third ballot. No dinner, and three-thirty P.M.! Two +delegates have fainted, but the essential parts of them--the credentials +--are left behind. + +Four-forty, whispering again, and the gavel drops. + + The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . . 412 + The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . 325 + The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has. . . 250 + And there is no choice on the third ballot! + +Thirteen delegates are actually missing this time. Scour the town! And +now even the newspaper adjectives describing the scene have given out. A +persistent and terrifying rumour goes the rounds, where's Tom Gaylord? +Somebody said he was in the hall a moment ago, on a Ripton credential. +If so, he's gone out again--gone out to consult the dark horse, who is in +town, somewhere. Another ominous sign: Mr. Redbrook, Mr. Widgeon of +Hull, and the other rural delegates who have been voting for the People's +Champion, and who have not been observed in friendly conversation with +anybody at all, now have their heads together. Mr. Billings goes +sauntering by, but cannot hear what they are saying. Something must be +done, and right away, and the knowing metropolitan reporters are winking +at each other and declaring darkly that a sensation is about to turn up. + +Where is Hilary Vane? Doesn't he realize the danger? Or--traitorous +thought!--doesn't he care? To see his son nominated would be a singular +revenge for the indignities which are said to have been heaped upon him. +Does Hilary Vane, the strong man of the State, merely sit at the +keyboard, powerless, while the tempest itself shakes from the organ a new +and terrible music? Nearly, six hours he has sat at the basswood table, +while senators, congressmen, feudal chiefs, and even Chairman Doby +himself flit in and out, whisper in his ear, set papers before him, and +figures and problems, and telegrams from highest authority. He merely +nods his head, says a word now and then, or holds his peace. Does he +know what he's about? If they had not heard things concerning his +health,--and other things,--they would still feel safe. He seems the +only calm man to be found in the hall--but is the calm aberration? + +A conference in the corner of the platform, while the fourth ballot is +progressing, is held between Senators Whitredge and Greene, Mr. Ridout +and Mr. Manning. So far the Honourable Hilary has apparently done +nothing but let the storm take its course; a wing-footed messenger has +returned who has seen Mr. Thomas Gaylord walking rapidly up Maple Street, +and Austen Vane (most astute and reprehensible of politicians) is said to +be at the Widow Peasley's, quietly awaiting the call. The name of Austen +Vane--another messenger says--is running like wildfire through the hall, +from row to row. Mr. Crewe has no chance--so rumour goes. A reformer +(to pervert the saying of a celebrated contemporary humorist) must fight +Marquis of Queensberry to win; and the People's Champion, it is averred, +has not. Shrewd country delegates who had listened to the Champion's +speeches and had come to the capital prepared to vote for purity, had +been observing the movements since yesterday, of Mr. Tooting and Mr. +Wading with no inconsiderable interest. Now was the psychological moment +for Austen Vane, but who was to beard Hilary? + +No champion was found, and the Empire, the fate of which was in the hands +of a madman, was cracking. Let an individual of character and known +anti-railroad convictions (such as the gentleman said to be at the Widow +Peasley's) be presented to the convention, and they would nominate him. +Were Messrs. Bascom and Botcher going to act the part of Samsons? Were +they working for revenge and a new regime? Mr. Whitredge started for the +Pelican, not at his ordinary senatorial gait, to get Mr. Flint on the +telephone. + +The result of the fourth ballot was announced, and bedlam broke loose. + +The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . . 419 +The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . . 337 +The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has . . . 256 + +Total, one thousand and eleven out of a thousand! Two delegates +abstained from voting, and proclaimed the fact, but were heard only a few +feet away. Other delegates, whose flesh and blood could stand the +atmosphere no longer, were known to have left the hall! Aha! the secret +is out, if anybody could hear it. At the end of every ballot several +individuals emerge and mix with the crowd in the street. Astute men +sometimes make mistakes, and the following conversation occurs between +one of the individuals in question and Mr. Crewe's chauffeur. + + Individual: "Do you want to come in and see the convention and + vote?" + + Chauffeur: "I am Frenchman." + + Individual: "That doesn't cut any ice. I'll make out the ballot, + and all you'll have to do is to drop it in the box." + Chauffeur: "All right; I vote for Meester Crewe." + +Sudden disappearance of the individual. + +Nor is this all. The Duke of Putnam, for example, knows how many +credentials there are in his county--say, seventy-six. He counts the men +present and voting, and his result is sixty-one. Fifteen are absent, +getting food or--something else. Fifteen vote over again. But, as the +human brain is prone to error, and there are men in the street, the Duke +miscalculates; the Earl of Haines miscalculates, too. Result--eleven +over a thousand votes, and some nine hundred men in the hall! + +How are you going to stop it? Mr. Watling climbs up on the platform and +shakes his fist in General Doby's face, and General Doby tearfully +appeals for an honest ballot--to the winds. + +In the meantime the Honourable Elisha Jane, spurred on by desperation and +thoughts of a 'dolce far niente' gone forever; has sought and cornered +Mr. Bascom. + +"For God's sake, Brush," cries the Honourable Elisha, "hasn't this thing +gone far enough? A little of it is all right--the boys understand that; +but have you thought what it means to you and me if these blanked +reformers get in,--if a feller like Austen Vane is nominated?" + +That cold, hard glitter which we have seen was in Mr. Bascom's eyes. + +"You fellers have got the colic," was the remark of the arch-rebel. "Do +you think old Hilary doesn't know what he's about?" + +"It looks that way to me," said Mr. Jane. + +"It looks that way to Doby too, I guess," said Mr. Bascom, with a glance +of contempt at the general; "he's lost about fifteen pounds to-day. Did +Hilary send you down here?" he demanded. + +"No," Mr. Jane confessed. + +"Then go back and chase yourself around the platform some more," was Mr. +Bascom's unfeeling advice, "and don't have a fit here. All the brains in +this hall are in Hilary's room. When he's ready to talk business with me +in behalf of the Honourable Giles Henderson, I guess he'll do so." + +But fear had entered the heart of the Honourable Elisha, and there was a +sickly feeling in the region of his stomach which even the strong +medicine administered by the Honourable Brush failed to alleviate. He +perceived Senator Whitredge, returned from the Pelican. But the advice-- +if any--the president of the Northeastern has given the senator is not +forthcoming in practice. Mr. Flint, any more than Ulysses himself, +cannot recall the tempests when his own followers have slit the bags--and +in sight of Ithaca! Another conference at the back of the stage, out of +which emerges State Senator Nat Billings and gets the ear of General +Doby. + +"Let 'em yell," says Mr. Billings--as though the general, by raising one +adipose hand, could quell the storm. Eyes are straining, scouts are +watching at the back of the hall and in the street, for the first glimpse +of the dreaded figure of Mr. Thomas Gaylord. "Let 'em yell;" counsels +Mr. Billings, "and if they do nominate anybody nobody'll hear 'em. And +send word to Putnam County to come along on their fifth ballot." + +It is Mr. Billings himself who sends word to Putnam County, in the name +of the convention's chairman. Before the messenger can reach Putnam +County another arrives on the stage, with wide pupils, "Tom Gaylord is +coming!" This momentous news, Marconi-like, penetrates the storm, and is +already on the floor. Mr. Widgeon and Mr. Redbrook are pushing their way +towards the door. The conference, emboldened by terror, marches in a +body into the little room, and surrounds the calmly insane Lieutenant- +general of the forces; it would be ill-natured to say that visions of +lost railroad commissionerships, lost consulships, lost postmasterships,- +-yes, of lost senatorships, were in these loyal heads at this crucial +time. + +It was all very well (so said the first spokesman) to pluck a few +feathers from a bird so bountifully endowed as the Honourable Adam, but +were not two gentlemen who should be nameless carrying the joke a little +too far? Mr. Vane unquestionably realized what he was doing, but--was it +not almost time to call in the two gentlemen and--and come to some +understanding? + +"Gentlemen," said the Honourable Hilary, apparently unmoved, "I have not +seen Mr. Bascom or Mr. Botcher since the sixteenth day of August, and I +do not intend to." + +Some clearing of throats followed this ominous declaration,--and a +painful silence. The thing must be said and who would say it? Senator +Whitredge was the hero. + +Mr. Thomas Gaylord has just entered the convention hall, and is said to +be about to nominate--a dark horse. The moment was favourable, the +convention demoralized, and at least one hundred delegates had left the +hall. (How about the last ballot, Senator, which showed 1011?) + +The Honourable Hilary rose abruptly, closed the door to shut out the +noise, and turned and looked Mr. Whitredge in the eye. + +"Who is the dark horse?" he demanded. + +The members of the conference coughed again, looked at each other, and +there was a silence. For some inexplicable reason, nobody cared to +mention the name of Austen Vane. + +The Honourable Hilary pointed at the basswood table. + +"Senator," he said, "I understand you have been telephoning Mr. Flint. +Have you got orders to sit down there?" + +"My dear sir," said the Senator, "you misunderstand me." + +"Have you got orders to sit down there?" Mr. Vane repeated. + +"No," answered the Senator, "Mr. Flint's confidence in you--" + +The Honourable Hilary sat down again, and at that instant the door was +suddenly flung open by Postmaster Bill Fleeting of Brampton, his genial +face aflame with excitement and streaming with perspiration. Forgotten, +in this moment, is senatorial courtesy and respect for the powers of the +feudal system. + +"Say, boys," he cried, "Putnam County's voting, and there's be'n no +nomination and ain't likely to be. Jim Scudder, the station-master at +Wye, is here on credentials, and he says for sure the thing's fizzled +out, and Tom Gaylord's left the hall!" + +Again a silence, save for the high hum let in through the open doorway. +The members of the conference stared at the Honourable Hilary, who seemed +to have forgotten their presence; for he had moved his chair to the +window, and was gazing out over the roofs at the fast-fading red in the +western sky. + +An hour later, when the room was in darkness save for the bar of light +that streamed in from the platform chandelier, Senator Whitredge entered. + +"Hilary!" he said. + +There was no answer. Mr. Whitredge felt in his pocket for a match, +struck it, and lighted the single jet over the basswood table. Mr. Vane +still sat by the window. The senator turned and closed the door, and +read from a paper in his hand; so used was he to formality that he read +it formally, yet with a feeling of intense relief, of deference, of +apology. + +"Fifth ballot:-- + +The Honourable Giles Henderson of Kingston has . . 587 +The Honourable Adam B. Hunt of Edmundton has. . . 230 +The Honourable Humphrey Crewe of Leith has . . . 154 + +And Giles Henderson is nominated--Hilary?" + +"Yes," said Mr. Vane. + +"I don't think any of us were--quite ourselves to-day. It wasn't that we +didn't believe in you--but we didn't have all the threads in our hands, +and--for reasons which I think I can understand--you didn't take us into +your confidence. I want to--" + +The words died on the senator's lips. So absorbed had he been in his +momentous news, and solicitous over the result of his explanation, that +his eye looked outward for the first time, and even then accidentally. + +"Hilary!" he cried; "for God's sake, what's the matter? Are you sick?" + +"Yes, Whitredge," said Mr. Vane, slowly, "sick at heart." + +It was but natural that these extraordinary and incomprehensible words +should have puzzled and frightened the senator more than ever. + +"Your heart!" he repeated. + +"Yes, my heart," said Hilary. + +The senator reached for the ice-water on the table. + +"Here," he cried, pouring out a glass, "it's only the heat--it's been a +hard day--drink this." + +But Hilary did not raise his arm. The door opened others coming to +congratulate Hilary Vane on the greatest victory he had ever won. +Offices were secure once more, the feudal system intact, and rebels +justly punished; others coming to make their peace with the commander +whom, senseless as they were, they had dared to doubt. + +They crowded past each other on the threshold, and stood grouped beyond +the basswood table, staring--staring--men suddenly come upon a tragedy +instead of a feast, the senator still holding the glass of water in a +hand that trembled and spilled it. And it was the senator, after all, +who first recovered his presence of mind. He set down the water, pushed +his way through the group into the hall, where the tumult and the +shouting die. Mr. Giles Henderson, escorted, is timidly making his way +towards the platform to read his speech of acceptance of a willing +bondage, when a voice rings out:-- + +"If there is a physician in the house, will he please come forward?" + +And then a hush,--and then the buzz of comment. Back to the little room +once more, where they are gathered speechless about Hilary Vane. And the +doctor comes young Dr. Tredway of Ripton, who is before all others. + +"I expected this to happen, gentlemen," he said, "and I have been here +all day, at the request of Mr. Vane's son, for this purpose." + +"Austen!" + +It was Hilary who spoke. + +"I have sent for him," said the doctor. "And now, gentlemen, if you will +kindly--" + +They withdrew and the doctor shut the door. Outside, the Honourable +Giles is telling them how seriously he regards the responsibility of the +honour thrust upon him by a great party. But nobody hears him in the +wild rumours that fly from mouth to mouth as the hall empties. Rushing +in against the tide outpouring, tall, stern, vigorous, is a young man +whom many recognize, whose name is on many lips as they make way for him, +who might have saved them if he would. The door of the little room +opens, and he stands before his father, looking down at him. And the +stern expression is gone from his face. + +"Austen!" said Mr. Vane. + +"Yes, Judge." + +"Take me away from here. Take me home--now--to-night." + +Austen glanced at Dr. Tredway. + +"It is best," said the doctor; "we will take him home--to-night." + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE VOICE OF AN ERA + +They took him home, in the stateroom of the sleeper attached to the night +express from the south, although Mr. Flint, by telephone, had put a +special train at his disposal. The long service of Hilary Vane was over; +he had won his last fight for the man he had chosen to call his master; +and those who had fought behind him, whose places, whose very luminary +existences, had depended on his skill, knew that the end had come; nay, +were already speculating, manoeuvring, and taking sides. Who would be +the new Captain-general? Who would be strong enough to suppress the +straining ambitions of the many that the Empire might continue to +flourish in its integrity and gather tribute? It is the world-old cry +around the palace walls: Long live the new ruler--if you can find him +among the curdling factions. + +They carried Hilary home that September night, when Sawanec was like a +gray ghost-mountain facing the waning moon, back to the home of those +strange, Renaissance Austens which he had reclaimed for a grim +puritanism, and laid him in the carved and canopied bedstead Channing +Austen had brought from Spain. Euphrasia had met them at the door, but a +trained nurse from the Ripton hospital was likewise in waiting; and a New +York specialist had been summoned to prolong, if possible, the life of +one from whom all desire for life had passed. + +Before sunrise a wind came from the northern spruces; the dawn was +cloudless, fiery red, and the air had an autumn sharpness. At ten +o'clock Dr. Harmon arrived, was met at the station by Austen, and spent +half an hour with Dr. Tredway. At noon the examination was complete. +Thanks to generations of self-denial by the Vanes of Camden Street, Mr. +Hilary Vane might live indefinitely, might even recover, partially; but +at present he was condemned to remain, with his memories, in the great +canopied bed. + +The Honourable Hilary had had another caller that morning besides Dr. +Harmon,--no less a personage than the president of the Northeastern +Railroads himself, who had driven down from Fairview immediately after +breakfast. Austen having gone to the station, Dr. Tredway had received +Mr. Flint in the darkened hall, and had promised to telephone to Fairview +the verdict of the specialist. At present Dr. Tredway did not think it +wise to inform Hilary of Mr. Flint's visit--not, at least, until after +the examination. + +Mr. Vane exhibited the same silent stoicism on receiving the verdict of +Dr. Harmon as he had shown from the first. With the clew to Hilary's +life which Dr. Tredway had given him, the New York physician understood +the case; one common enough in his practice in a great city where the +fittest survive--sometimes only to succumb to unexpected and irreparable +blows in the evening of life. + +On his return from seeing Dr. Harmon off Austen was met on the porch by +Dr. Tredway. + +"Your father has something on his mind," said the doctor, "and perhaps it +is just as well that he should be relieved. He is asking for you, and I +merely wished to advise you to make the conversation as short as +possible." + +Austen climbed the stairs in obedience to this summons, and stood before +his father at the bedside. Hilary lay, back among the pillows, and the +brightness of that autumn noonday only served to accentuate the pallor of +his face, the ravages of age which had come with such incredible +swiftness, and the outline of a once vigorous frame. The eyes alone +shone with a strange new light, and Austen found it unexpectedly +difficult to speak. He sat down on the bed and laid his hand on the +helpless one that rested on the coverlet. + +"Austen," said Mr. Vane, "I want you to go to Fairview." + +His son's hand tightened over his own. + +"Yes, Judge." + +"I want you to go now." + +"Yes, Judge." + +"You know the combination of my safe at the office. It's never been +changed since--since you were there. Open it. You will find two tin +boxes, containing papers labelled Augustus P. Flint. I want you to take +them to Fairview and put them into the hands of Mr. Flint himself. I--I +cannot trust any one else. I promised to take them myself, but--Flint +will understand." + +"I'll go right away," said Austen, rising, and trying to speak +cheerfully. "Mr. Flint was here early this morning--inquiring for you." + +Hilary Vane's lips trembled, and another expression came into his eyes. + +"Rode down to look at the scrap-heap,--did he?" + +Austen strove to conceal his surprise at his father's words and change of +manner. + +"Tredway saw him," he said. "I'm pretty sure Mr. Flint doesn't feel that +way, Judge. He has taken your illness very much to heart, I know, and he +left some fruit and flowers for you." + +"I guess his daughter sent those," said Hilary. + +"His daughter?" Austen repeated. + +"If I didn't think so," Mr. Vane continued, "I'd send 'em back. I never +knew what she was until she picked me up and drove me down here. I've +always done Victoria an injustice." + +Austen walked to the door, and turned slowly. + +"I'll go at once, Judge," he said. + +In the kitchen he was confronted by Euphrasia. + +"When is that woman going away?" she demanded. "I've took care of Hilary +Vane nigh on to forty years, and I guess I know as much about nursing, +and more about Hilary, than that young thing with her cap and apron. I +told Dr. Tredway so. She even came down here to let me know what to cook +for him, and I sent her about her business." + +Austen smiled. It was the first sign, since his return the night before, +Euphrasia had given that an affection for Hilary Vane lurked beneath the +nature. + +"She won't stay long, Phrasie," he answered, and added mischievously, +"for a very good reason." + +"And what's that?" asked Euphrasia. + +"Because you won't allow her to. I have a notion that she'll pack up and +leave in about three days, and that all the doctors in Ripton couldn't +keep her here." + +"Get along with you," said Euphrasia, who could not for the life of her +help looking a little pleased. + +"I'm going off for a few hours," he said more seriously. "Dr. Tredway +tells me they do not look for any developments--for the worse." + +"Where are you going?" asked Euphrasia, sharply. + +"To Fairview," he said. + +Euphrasia moved the kettle to another part of the stove. + +"You'll see her?" she said. + +"Who?" Austen asked. But his voice must have betrayed him a little, for +Euphrasia turned and seized him by the elbows and looked up into his +face. + +"Victoria," she said. + +He felt himself tremble at the name,--at the strangeness of its sound on +Euphrasia's lips. + +"I do not expect to see Miss Flint," he answered, controlling himself as +well as he was able. "I have an errand for the Judge with Mr. Flint +himself." + +Euphrasia had guessed his secret! But how? + +"Hadn't you better see her?" said Euphrasia, in a curious monotone. + +"But I have no errand with her," he objected, mystified yet excited by +Euphrasia's manner. + +"She fetched Hilary home," said Euphrasia. + +"Yes." + +She couldn't have be'n kinder if she was his own daughter." + +"I know--" he began, but Euphrasia interrupted. + +"She sent that Englishman for the doctor, and waited to take the news to +her father, and she came out in this kitchen and talked to me." + +Austen started. Euphrasia was not looking at him now, and suddenly she +dropped his arms and went to the window overlooking the garden. + +"She wouldn't go in the parlour, but come right out here in her fine +clothes. I told her I didn't think she belonged in a kitchen--but I +guess I did her an injustice," said Euphrasia, slowly. + +"I think you did," he said, and wondered. + +"She looked at that garden," Euphrasia went on, "and cried out. I didn't +callate she was like that. And the first thing I knew I was talking +about your mother, and I'd forgot who I was talking to. She wahn't like +a stranger--it was just as if I'd known her always. I haven't understood +it yet. And after a while I told her about that verse, and she wanted to +see it--the verse about the skylark, you know--" + +"Yes," said Austen. + +"Well, the way she read it made me cry, it brought back Sarah Austen so. +Somehow, I can't account for it, she puts me in mind of your mother." + +Austen did not speak. + +"In more ways than one," said Euphrasia. "I didn't look to find her so +natural--and so gentle. And their she has a way of scolding you, just as +Sarah Austen had, that you'd never suspect." + +"Did she scold you--Phrasie?" asked Austen. And the irresistible humour +that is so near to sorrow made him smile again. + +"Indeed she did! And it surprised, me some--coming right out of a summer +sky. I told her what I thought about Hilary, and how he'd driven you out +of your own mother's house. She said you'd ought to be sent for, and I +said you oughtn't to set foot in this house until Hilary sent for you. +She said I'd no right to take such a revenge--that you'd come right away +if you knew Hilary'd had a stroke, and that Hilary'd never send for you-- +because he couldn't. She said he was like a man on a desert island." + +"She was right," answered Austen. + +"I don't know about that," said Euphrasia; "she hadn't put up with Hilary +for forty years, as I had, and seen what he'd done to your mother and +you. But that's what she said. And she went for you herself, when she +found the doctor couldn't go. Austen, ain't you going to see her?" + +Austen shook his head gently, and smiled at her. + +"I'm afraid it's no use, Phrasie," he said. "Just because she has been-- +kind we mustn't be deceived. It's h er nature to be kind." + +Euphrasia crossed the room swiftly, and seized his arm again. + +"She loves you, Austen," she cried; "she loves you. Do you think that +I'd love her, that I'd plead for her, if she didn't?" + +Austen's breath came deeply. He disengaged himself, and went to the +window. + +"No," he said, "you don't know. You can't--know. I have only seen her-- +a few times. She lives a different life--and with other people. She +will marry a man who can give her more." + +"Do you think I could be deceived?" exclaimed Euphrasia, almost fiercely. +"It's as true as the sun shining on that mountain. You believe she loves +the Englishman, but I tell you she loves you--you." + +He turned towards her. + +"How do you know?" he asked, as though he were merely curious. + +"Because I'm a woman, and she's a woman," said Euphrasia. "Oh, she +didn't confess it. If she had, I shouldn't think so much of her. But +she told me as plain as though she had spoken it in words, before she +left this room." + +Austen shook his head again. + +"Phrasie," he said, "I'm afraid you've been building castles in Spain." +And he went out, and across to the stable to harness Pepper. + +Austen did not believe Euphrasia. On that eventful evening when Victoria +had called at Jabe Jenney's, the world's aspect had suddenly changed for +him; old values had faded,--values which, after all, had been but tints +and glows,--and sterner but truer colours took their places. He saw +Victoria's life in a new perspective,--one in which his was but a small +place in the background of her numerous beneficences; which was, after +all, the perspective in which he had first viewed it. But, by degrees, +the hope that she loved him had grown and grown until it had become +unconsciously the supreme element of his existence,--the hope that stole +sweetly into his mind with the morning light, and stayed him through the +day, and blended into the dreams of darkness. + +By inheritance, by tradition, by habits of thought, Austen Vane was an +American,--an American as differentiated from the citizen of any other +nation upon the earth. The French have an expressive phrase in speaking +of a person as belonging to this or that world, meaning the circle by +which the life of an individual is bounded; the true American recognizes +these circles--but with complacency, and with a sure knowledge of his +destiny eventually to find himself within the one for which he is best +fitted by his talents and his tastes. The mere fact that Victoria had +been brought up amongst people with whom he had nothing in common would +not have deterred Austen Vane from pressing his suit; considerations of +honour had stood in the way, and hope had begun to whisper that these +might, in the end, be surmounted. Once they had disappeared, and she +loved him, that were excuse and reason enough. + +And suddenly the sight of Victoria with a probable suitor--who at once +had become magnified into an accepted suitor--had dispelled hope. +Euphrasia! Euphrasia had been deceived as he had, by a loving kindness +and a charity that were natural. But what so natural (to one who had +lived the life of Austen Vane) as that she should marry amongst those +whose ways of life were her ways? In the brief time in which he had seen +her and this other man, Austen's quickened perceptions had detected tacit +understanding, community of interest, a habit of thought and manner,--in +short, a common language, unknown to him, between the two. And, more +than these, the Victoria of the blissful excursions he had known was +changed as she had spoken to him--constrained, distant, apart; although +still dispensing kindness, going out of her way to bring Hilary home, and +to tell him of Hilary's accident. Rumour, which cannot be confined in +casks or bottles, had since informed Austen Vane that Mr. Rangely had +spent the day with Victoria, and had remained at Fairview far into the +evening; rumour went farther (thanks to Mrs. Pomfret) and declared the +engagement already an accomplished fact. And to Austen, in the twilight +in front of Jabe Jenney's, the affair might well have assumed the +proportions of an intimacy of long standing rather than that of the +chance acquaintance of an hour. Friends in common, modes of life in +common, and incidents in common are apt to sweep away preliminaries. + +Such were Austen's thoughts as he drove to Fairview that September +afternoon when the leaves were turning their white backs to the northwest +breeze. The sun was still high, and the distant hills and mountains were +as yet scarce stained with blue, and stood out in startling clearness +against the sky. Would he see her? That were a pain he scarce dared +contemplate. + +He reached the arched entrance, was on the drive. Here was the path +again by which she had come down the hillside; here was the very stone on +which she had stood--awaiting him. Why? Why had she done that? Well- +remembered figure amidst the yellow leaves dancing in the sunlight! Here +he had stopped, perforce, and here he had looked up into his face and +smiled and spoken! + +At length he gained the plateau across which the driveway ran, between +round young maples, straight to Fairview House, and he remembered the +stares from the tea-tables, and how she had come out to his rescue. Now +the lawn was deserted, save for a gardener among the shrubs. He rang the +stable-bell, and as he waited for an answer to his summons, the sense of +his remoteness from these surroundings of hers deepened, and with a touch +of inevitable humour he recalled the low-ceiled bedroom at Mr. Jenney's +and the kitchen in Hanover Street; the annual cost of the care of that +lawn and driveway might well have maintained one of these households. + +He told the stable-boy to wait. It is to be remarked as curious that the +name of the owner of the house on Austen's lips brought the first thought +of him to Austen's mind. He was going to see and speak with Mr. Flint, a +man who had been his enemy ever since the day he had come here and laid +down his pass on the president's desk; the man who--so he believed until +three days ago--had stood between him and happiness. Well, it did not +matter now. + +Austen followed the silent-moving servant through the hall. Those were +the stairs which knew her feet, these the rooms--so subtly flower- +scented--she lived in; then came the narrow passage to the sterner +apartment of the master himself. Mr. Flint was alone, and seated upright +behind the massive oak desk, from which bulwark the president of the +Northeastern was wont to meet his opponents and his enemies; and few +visitors came into his presence, here or elsewhere, who were not to be +got the better of, if possible. A life-long habit had accustomed Mr. +Flint to treat all men as adversaries until they were proved otherwise. +His square, close-cropped head, his large features, his alert eyes, were +those of a fighter. + +He did not rise, but nodded. Suddenly Austen was enveloped in a flame of +wrath that rose without warning and blinded him, and it was with a +supreme effort to control himself that he stopped in the doorway. He was +frightened, for he had felt this before, and he knew it for the anger +that demands physical violence. + +"Come in, Mr. Vane," said the president. + +Austen advanced to the desk, and laid the boxes before Mr. Flint. + +"Mr. Vane told me to say that he would have brought these himself, had it +been possible. Here is the list, and I shall be much obliged if you will +verify it before I go back." + +"Sit down." said Mr. Flint. + +Austen sat down, with the corner of the desk between them, while Mr. +Flint opened the boxes and began checking off the papers on the list. + +"How is your father this afternoon?" he asked, without looking up. + +"As well as can be expected," said Austen. + +"Of course nobody knew his condition but himself," Mr. Flint continued; +"but it was a great shock to me--when he resigned as my counsel three +days ago." + +Austen laid his forearm on the desk, and his hand closed. + +"He resigned three days ago?" he exclaimed. + +Mr. Flint was surprised, but concealed it. + +"I can understand, under the circumstances, how he has overlooked telling +you. His resignation takes effect to-day." + +Austen was silent a moment, while he strove to apply this fact to his +father's actions. + +"He waited until after the convention." + +"Exactly," said Mr. Flint, catching the implied accusation in Austen's +tone; "and needless to say, if I had been able to prevent his going, in +view of what happened on Monday night, I should have done so. As you +know, after his--accident, he went to the capital without informing any +one." + +"As a matter of honour," said Austen. + +Mr. Flint looked up from the papers, and regarded him narrowly, for the +tone in which this was spoken did not escape the president of the +Northeastern. He saw, in fact, that at the outset he had put a weapon +into Austen's hands. Hilary's resignation was a vindication of Austen's +attitude, an acknowledgment that the business and political practices of +his life had been wrong. + +What Austen really felt, when he had grasped the significance of that +fact, was relief--gratitude. A wave of renewed affection for his father +swept over him, of affection and pity and admiration, and for the instant +he forgot Mr. Flint. + +"As a matter of honour," Mr. Flint repeated. "Knowing he was ill, Mr. +Vane insisted upon going to that convention, even at the risk of his +life. It is a fitting close to a splendid career, and one that will not +soon be forgotten." + +Austen merely looked at Mr. Flint, who may have found the glance a trifle +disconcerting, for he turned to the papers again. + +"I repeat," he went on presently, "that this illness of Mr. Vane's is not +only a great loss to the Northeastern system, but a great blow to me +personally. I have been associated with him closely for more than a +quarter of a century, and I have never seen a lawyer of greater +integrity, clear-headedness, and sanity of view. He saw things as they +were, and he did as much to build up the business interests and the +prosperity of this State as any man I know of. He was true to his word, +and true to his friends." + +Still Austen did not reply. He continued to look at Mr. Flint, and Mr. +Flint continued to check the papers only more slowly. He had nearly +finished the first box. + +"A wave of political insanity, to put it mildly, seems to be sweeping +over this country," said the president of the Northeastern. "Men who +would paralyze and destroy the initiative of private enterprise, men who +themselves are ambitious, and either incapable or unsuccessful, have +sprung up; writers who have no conscience, whose one idea is to make +money out of a passing craze against honest capital, have aided them. +Disappointed and dangerous politicians who merely desire office and power +have lifted their voices in the hue and cry to fool the honest voter. I +am glad to say I believe that the worst of this madness and rascality is +over; that the common sense of the people of this country is too great to +be swept away by the methods of these self-seekers; that the ordinary man +is beginning to see that his bread and butter depends on the brain of the +officers who are trying honestly to conduct great enterprises for the +benefit of the average citizen. + +"We did not expect to escape in this State," Mr. Flint went on, raising +his head and meeting Austen's look; "the disease was too prevalent and too +catching for the weak-minded. We had our self-seekers who attempted to +bring ruin upon an institution which has done more for our population +than any other. I do not hesitate to speak of the Northeastern Railroads +as an institution, and as an institution which has been as +conscientiously and conservatively conducted as any in the country, and +with as scrupulous a regard for the welfare of all. Hilary Vane, as you +doubtless know, was largely responsible for this. My attention, as +president of all the roads, has been divided. Hilary Vane guarded the +interests in this State, and no man could have guarded them better. He +well deserves the thanks of future generations for the uncompromising +fight he made against such men and such methods. It has broken him down +at a time of life when he has earned repose, but he has the satisfaction +of knowing that he has won the battle for conservative American +principles, and that he has nominated a governor worthy of the traditions +of the State." + +And Mr. Flint started checking off the papers again. Had the occasion +been less serious, Austen could have smiled at Mr. Flint's ruse--so +characteristic of the tactics of the president of the Northeastern--of +putting him into a position where criticism of the Northeastern and its +practices would be criticism of his own father. As it was, he only set +his jaw more firmly, an expression indicative of contempt for such +tactics. He had not come there to be lectured out of the "Book of +Arguments" on the divine right of railroads to govern, but to see that +certain papers were delivered in safety. + +Had his purpose been deliberately to enter into a contest with Mr. Flint, +Austen could not have planned the early part of it any better than by +pursuing this policy of silence. To a man of Mr. Flint's temperament and +training, it was impossible to have such an opponent within reach without +attempting to hector him into an acknowledgment of the weakness of his +position. Further than this, Austen had touched him too often on the +quick merely to be considered in the light of a young man who held +opposite and unfortunate views--although it was Mr. Flint's endeavour to +put him in this light. The list of injuries was too fresh in Mr. Flint's +mind--even that last conversation with Victoria, in which she had made it +plain that her sympathies were with Austen. + +But with an opponent who would not be led into ambush, who had the +strength to hold his fire under provocation, it was no easy matter to +maintain a height of conscious, matter-of-fact rectitude and implied +reproof. Austen's silence, Austen's attitude, declared louder than words +the contempt for such manoeuvres of a man who knows he is in the right-- +and knows that his adversary knows it. It was this silence and this +attitude which proclaimed itself that angered Mr. Flint, yet made him +warily conceal his anger and change his attack. + +"It is some years since we met, Mr. Vane," he remarked presently. + +Austen's face relaxed into something of a smile. + +"Four, I think," he answered. + +"You hadn't long been back from that Western experience. Well, your +father has one decided consolation; you have fulfilled his hope that you +would settle down here and practise in the State. And I hear that you +are fast forging to the front. You are counsel for the Gaylord Company, +I believe." + +"The result of an unfortunate accident," said Austen; "Mr. Hammer died." + +"And on the occasion when you did me the honour to call on me," said Mr. +Flint, "if I remember rightly, you expressed some rather radical views-- +for the son of Hilary Vane." + +"For the son of Hilary Vane," Austen agreed, with a smile. + +Mr. Flint ignored the implication in the repetition. + +"Thinking as mach as I do of Mr. Vane, I confess that your views at that +time rather disturbed me. It is a matter of relief to learn that you +have refused to lend yourself to the schemes of men like our neighbour, +Mr. Humphrey Crewe, of Leith." + +"Honesty compels me to admit," answered Austen, "that I did not refrain +on Mr. Crewe's account." + +"Although," said Mr. Flint, drumming on the table, "there was some talk +that you were to be brought forward as a dark horse in the convention, +and as a candidate unfriendly to the interests of the Northeastern +Railroads, I am glad you did not consent to be put in any such position. +I perceive that a young man of your ability and--popularity, a Vane of +Camden Street, must inevitably become a force in this State. And as a +force, you must retain the conservatism of the Vanes--the traditional +conservatism of the State. The Northeastern Railroads will continue to +be a very large factor in the life of the people after you and I are +gone, Mr. Vane. You will have to live, as it were, with that +corporation, and help to preserve it. We shall have to work together, +perhaps, to that end--who can say? I repeat, I am glad that your good +sense led you to refrain from coming as a candidate before that +Convention. There is time enough in the future, and you could not have +been nominated." + +"On the contrary," answered Austen, quietly, "I could have been +nominated." + +Mr. Flint smiled knowingly--but with an effort. What a relief it would +have been to him to charge horse and foot, to forget that he was a +railroad president dealing with a potential power. + +"Do you honestly believe that?" he asked. + +"I am not accustomed to dissemble my beliefs," said Austen, gravely. +"The fact that my father had faith enough in me to count with certainty +on my refusal to go before the convention enabled him to win the +nomination for the candidate of your railroads." + +Mr. Flint continued to smile, but into his eyes had crept a gleam of +anger. + +"It is easy to say such things--after the convention," he remarked. + +"And it would have been impossible to say their before," Austen responded +instantly, with a light in his own eyes. "My nomination was the only +disturbing factor in the situation for you and the politicians who had +your interests in hand, and it was as inevitable as night and day that +the forces of the candidates who represented the two wings of the machine +of the Northeastern Railroads should have united against Mr. Crewe. I +want to say to you frankly that if my father had not been the counsel for +your corporation, and responsible for its political success, or if he +could have resigned with honour before the convention, I should not have +refused to let my name go in. After all," he added, in a lower tone, and +with a slight gesture characteristic of him when a subject was +distasteful, "it doesn't matter who is elected governor this autumn." + +"What?" cried Mr. Flint, surprised out of his attitude as much by +Austen's manner as by Austen's words. + +"It doesn't matter," said Austen, "whether the Northeastern Railroads +have succeeded this time in nominating and electing a governor to whom +they can dictate, and who will reappoint railroad commissioners and other +State officials in their interests. The practices by which you have +controlled this State, Mr. Flint, and elected governors and councillors +and State and national senators are doomed. However necessary these +practices may have been from your point of view, they violated every +principle of free government, and were they to continue, the nation to +which we belong would inevitably decay and become the scorn of the world. +Those practices depended for their success on one condition,--which in +itself is the most serious of ills in a republic,--the ignorance and +disregard of the voter. You have but to read the signs of the times to +see clearly that the day of such conditions is past, to see that the +citizens of this State and this country are thinking for themselves, as +they should; are alive to the dangers and determined to avert it. You +may succeed in electing one more governor and one more senate, or two, +before the people are able to destroy the machinery you have built up and +repeal the laws you have made to sustain it. I repeat, it doesn't matter +in the long run. The era of political domination by a corporation, and +mainly for the benefit of a corporation, is over." + +Mr. Flint had been drumming on the desk, his face growing a darker red as +Austen proceeded: Never, since he had become president of the +Northeastern Railroads, had any man said such things to his face. And +the fact that Austen Vane had seemingly not spoken in wrath, although +forcefully enough to compel him to listen, had increased Mr. Flint's +anger. Austen apparently cared very little for him or his opinions in +comparison with his own estimate of right and wrong. + +"It seems," said Mr. Flint, "that you have grown more radical since your +last visit." + +"If it be radical to refuse to accept a pass from a railroad to bind my +liberty of action as an attorney and a citizen, then I am radical," +replied Austen. "If it be radical to maintain that the elected +representatives of the people should not receive passes, or be beholden +to any man or any corporation, I acknowledge the term. If it be radical +to declare that these representatives should be elected without +interference, and while in office should do exact justice to the body of +citizens on the one hand and the corporations on the other, I declare +myself a radical. But my radicalism goes back behind the establishment +of railroads, Mr. Flint, back to the foundation of this government, to +the idea from which it sprang." + +Mr. Flint smiled again. + +"We have changed materially since then," he said. "I am afraid such a +utopian state of affairs, beautiful as it is, will not work in the +twentieth century. It is a commercial age, and the interests which are +the bulwark of the country's strength must be protected." + +"Yes," said Austen, "we have changed materially. The mistake you make, +and men like you, is the stress which you lay on that word material. Are +there no such things as moral interests, Mr. Flint? And are they not +quite as important in government, if not more important, than material +interests? Surely, we cannot have commercial and political stability +without cominertial and political honour! if, as a nation, we lose sight +of the ideals which have carried us so far, which have so greatly +modified the conditions of other peoples than ourselves, we shall perish +as a force in the world. And if this government proves a failure, how +long do you think the material interests of which you are so solicitous +will endure? Or do you care whether they endure beyond your lifetime? +Perhaps not. But it is a matter of importance, not only to the nation, +but to the world, whether or not the moral idea of the United States of +America is perpetuated, I assure you." + +"I begin to fear, Mr. Vane," said the president of the Northeastern, +"that you have missed your vocation. Suppose I were to grant you, for +the sake of argument, that the Northeastern Railroads, being the largest +taxpayers in this State, have taken an interest in seeing that +conservative men fill responsible offices. Suppose such to be the case, +and we abruptly cease--to take such an interest. What then? Are we not +at the mercy of any and all unscrupulous men who build up a power of +their own, and start again the blackmail of the old days?" + +"You have put the case mildly," said Austen, and ingeniously. "As a +matter of fact, Mr. Flint, you know as well as I do that for years you +have governed this State absolutely, for the purpose of keeping down your +taxes, avoiding unnecessary improvements for safety and comfort, and +paying high dividends--" + +"Perhaps you realize that in depicting these criminal operations so +graphically," cried Mr. Flint, interrupting, "you are involving the +reputation of one of the best citizens the State ever had--your own +father." + +Austen Vane leaned forward across the desk, and even Mr. Flint (if the +truth were known) recoiled a little before the anger he had aroused. It +shot forth from Austen's eyes, proclaimed itself in the squareness of the +face, and vibrated in every word he spoke. + +"Mr. Flint," he said, "I refrain from comment upon your methods of +argument. There were many years in which my father believed the +practices which he followed in behalf of your railroad to be necessary-- +and hence justified. And I have given you the credit of holding the same +belief. Public opinion would not, perhaps, at that time have protected +your property from political blackmail. I merely wished you to know, Mr. +Flint, that there is no use in attempting to deceive me in regard to the +true colour of those practices. It is perhaps useless for me to add that +in my opinion you understand as well as I do the real reason for Mr. +Vane's resignation and illness. Once he became convinced that the +practices were wrong, he could no longer continue them without violating +his conscience. He kept his word to you--at the risk of his life, and, +as his son, I take a greater pride in him to-day than I ever have +before." + +Austen got to his feet. He was formidable even to Mr. Flint, who had met +many formidable, and angry men in his time--although not of this type. +Perhaps--who can say?--he was the in the mind of the president +unconscious embodiment of the Northeastern of the new forces which had +arisen against him,--forces which he knew in his secret soul he could not +combat, because they were the irresistible forces of things not material. +All his life he had met and successfully conquered forces of another +kind, and put down with a strong hand merely physical encroachments. + +Mr. Flint's nature was not an introspective one, and if he had tried, he +could not have accounted for his feelings. He was angry--that was +certain. But he measured the six feet and more of Austen Vane with his +eye, and in spite of himself experienced the compelled admiration of one +fighting man for another. A thought, which had made itself vaguely felt +at intervals in the past half hour, shot suddenly and poignantly through +Mr. Flint's mind what if this young man, who dared in spite of every +interest to oppose him, should in the apparently inevitable trend of +things, become...? + +Mr. Flint rose and went to the window, where he stood silent for a space, +looking out, played upon by unwonted conflicting thoughts and emotions. +At length, with a characteristic snap of the fingers, he turned abruptly. +Austen Vane was still standing beside the desk. His face was still +square, determined, but Mr. Flint noted curiously that the anger was gone +from his eyes, and that another--although equally human--expression had +taken its place,--a more disturbing expression, to Mr. Flint. + +"It appears, Mr. Vane," he said, gathering up the papers and placing them +in the boxes, "it appears that we are able to agree upon one point, at +least--Hilary Vane." + +"Mr. Flint," said Austen, "I did not come up here with any thought of +arguing with you, of intruding any ideas--I may hold, but you have +yourself asked me one question which I feel bound to answer to the best +of my ability before I go. You have asked me what, in my opinion, would +happen if you ceased--as you express it--to take an interest in the +political, affairs of this State. + +"I believe, as firmly as I stand here, that the public opinion which +exists to-day would protect your property, and I base that belief on the +good sense of the average American voter. The public would protect you +not only in its own interests, but from an inherent sense of fair play. +On the other hand, if you persist in a course of political manipulation +which is not only obsolete but wrong, you will magnify the just charges +against you, and the just wrath; you will put ammunition into the hands +of the agitators you rightly condemn. The stockholders of your +corporation, perhaps, are bound to suffer some from the fact that you +have taken its life-blood to pay dividends, and the public will demand +that it be built up into a normal and healthy condition. On the other +hand, it could not have gone on as it was. But the corporation will +suffer much more if a delayed justice is turned into vengeance. + +"You ask me what I could do. I should recognize, frankly, the new +conditions, and declare as frankly what the old ones were, and why such +methods of defence as you adopted were necessary and justified. I should +announce, openly, that from this day onward the Northeastern Railroads +depended for fair play on an enlightened public--and I think your trust +would be well founded, and your course vindicated. I should declare, +from this day onward, that the issue of political passes, newspaper +passes, and all other subterfuges would be stopped, and that all +political hirelings would be dismissed. I should appeal to the people of +this State to raise up political leaders who would say to the +corporations, 'We will protect you from injustice if you will come before +the elected representatives of the people, openly, and say what you want +and why you want it.' By such a course you would have, in a day, the +affection of the people instead of their distrust. They would rally to +your defence. And, more than that, you would have done a service for +American government the value of which cannot well be estimated." + +Mr. Flint rang the bell on his desk, and his secretary appeared. + +"Put these in my private safe, Mr. Freeman," he said. + +Mr. Freeman took the boxes, glanced curiously at Austen, and went out. +It was the same secretary, Austen recalled, who had congratulated him +four years before. Then Mr. Flint laid his hand deliberately on the +desk, and smiled slightly as he turned to Austen. + +"If you had run a railroad as long as I have, Mr. Vane," he said, "I do +you the credit of thinking that you would have intelligence enough to +grasp other factors which your present opportunities for observation have +not permitted you to perceive. Nevertheless, I am much obliged to you +for your opinion, and I value the--frankness in which it was given. And +I shall hope to hear good news of your father. Remember me to him, and +tell him how deeply I feel his affliction. I shall call again in a day +or two." + +Austen took up his hat. + +"Good day, Mr. Flint," he said; "I will tell him." + +By the time he had reached the door, Mr. Flint had gone back to the +window once more, and appeared to have forgotten his presence. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE VALE OF THE BLUE + +Austen himself could not well have defined his mental state as he made +his way through the big rooms towards the door, but he was aware of one +main desire--to escape from Fairview. With the odours of the flowers in +the tall silver vases on the piano--her piano!--the spirit of desire +which had so long possessed him, waking and sleeping, returned,--returned +to torture him now with greater skill amidst these her possessions; her +volume of Chopin on the rack, bound in red leather and stamped with her +initials, which compelled his glance as he passed, and brought vivid to +his memory the night he had stood in the snow and heard her playing. So, +he told himself, it must always be, for him to stand in the snow +listening. + +He reached the hall, with a vast relief perceived that it was empty, and +opened the door and went out. Strange that he should note, first of all, +as he parsed a moment at the top of the steps, that the very day had +changed. The wind had fallen; the sun, well on his course towards the +rim of western hills, poured the golden light of autumn over field and +forest, while Sawanec was already in the blue shadow; the expectant +stillness of autumn reigned, and all unconsciously Austen's blood was +quickened though a quickening of pain. + +The surprise of the instant over, he noticed that his horse was gone,-- +had evidently been taken to the stables. And rather than ring the bell +and wait in the mood in which he found himself, he took the path through +the shrubbery from which he had seen the groom emerge. + +It turned beyond the corner of the house, descended a flight of stone +steps, and turned again. + +They stood gazing each at the other for a space of time not to be +computed before either spoke, and the sense of unreality which comes with +a sudden fulfilment of intense desire--or dread--was upon Austen. Could +this indeed be her figure, and this her face on which he watched the +colour rise (so he remembered afterwards) like the slow flood of day? +Were there so many Victorias, that a new one--and a strange one--should +confront him at every meeting? And, even while he looked, this Victoria, +too,--one who had been near him and departed,--was surveying him now from +an unapproachable height of self-possession and calm. She held out her +hand, and he took it, scarce knowing--that it was hers. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vane?" she said; "I did not expect to meet you here." + +"I was searching for the stable, to get my horse," he answered lamely. + +"And your father?" she asked quickly; "I hope he is not--worse." + +It was thus she supplied him, quite naturally, with an excuse for being +at Fairview. And yet her solicitude for Hilary was wholly unaffected. + +"Dr. Harmon, who came from New York, has been more encouraging than I had +dared to hope," said Austen. "And, by the way, Mr. Vane believes that +you had a share in the fruit and flowers which Mr. Flint so kindly +brought. If--he had known that I were to see you, I am sure he would +have wished me to thank you." + +Victoria turned, and tore a leaf from the spiraea. + +"I will show you where the stables are," she said; "the path divides a +little farther on--and you might find yourself in the kitchen." + +Austen smiled, and as she went on slowly, he followed her, the path not +being wide enough for them to walk abreast, his eyes caressing the stray +hairs that clustered about her neck and caught the light. It seemed so +real, and yet so unrealizable, that he should be here with her. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that I did not express my gratitude as I should +have done the evening you were good enough to come up to Jabe Jenney's." + +He saw her colour rise again, but she did not pause. + +"Please don't say anything about it, Mr. Vane. Of course I understand +how you felt," she cried. + +"Neither my father nor myself will forget that service," said Austen. + +"It was nothing," answered Victoria, in a low voice. "Or, rather, it was +something I shall always be glad that I did not miss. I have seen Mr. +Vane all my life, but I never=-never really knew him until that day. I +have come to the conclusion," she added, in a lighter tone, "that the +young are not always the best judges of the old. There," she added, "is +the path that goes to the kitchen, which you probably would have taken." + +He laughed. Past and future were blotted out, and he lived only in the +present. He could think of nothing but that she was here beside him. +Afterwards, cataclysms might come and welcome. + +"Isn't there another place," he asked, "where I might lose my way?" + +She turned and gave him one of the swift, searching looks he recalled so +well: a look the meaning of which he could not declare, save that she +seemed vainly striving to fathom something in him--as though he were not +fathomable! He thought she smiled a little as she took the left-hand +path. + +"You will remember me to your father?" she said. "I hope he is not +suffering." + +"He is not suffering," Austen replied. "Perhaps--if it were not too much +to ask--perhaps you might come to see him, sometime? I can think of +nothing that would give him greater pleasure." + +"I will come--sometime," she answered. "I am going away to-morrow, but--" + +"Away?" he repeated, in dismay. Now that he was beside her, all +unconsciously the dominating male spirit which was so strong in him, and +which moves not woman alone, but the world, was asserting itself. For +the moment he was the only man, and she the only woman, in the universe. + +"I am going on a promised visit to a friend of mine." + +"For how long?" he demanded. + +"I don't know, said Victoria, calmly; probably until she gets tired of +me. And there," she added, "are the stables, where no doubt you will +find your faithful Pepper." + +They had come out upon an elevation above the hard service drive, and +across it, below them, was the coach house with its clock-tower and +weather-vane, and its two wings, enclosing a paved court where a +whistling stable-boy was washing a carriage. Austen regarded this scene +an instant, and glanced back at her profile. It was expressionless. + +"Might I not linger--a few minutes?" he asked. + +Her lips parted slightly in a smile, and she turned her head. How +wonderfully, he thought, it was poised upon her shoulders. + +"I haven't been very hospitable, have I?" she said. But then, you seemed +in such a hurry to go, didn't you? You were walking so fast when I met +you that you quite frightened me." + +"Was I?" asked Austen, in surprise. + +She laughed. + +"You looked as if you were ready to charge somebody. But this isn't a +very nice place--to linger, and if you really will stay awhile," said +Victoria, "we might walk over to the dairy, where that model protege of +yours, Eben Fitch, whom you once threatened with corporal chastisement if +he fell from grace, is engaged. I know he will be glad to see you." + +Austen laughed as he caught up with her. She was already halfway across +the road. + +"Do you always beat people if they do wrong?" she asked. + +"It was Eben who requested it, if I remember rightly," he said. +"Fortunately, the trial has not yet arrived. Your methods," he added, +"seem to be more successful with Eben." + +They went down the grassy slope with its groups of half-grown trees; +through an orchard shot with slanting, yellow sunlight,--the golden +fruit, harvested by the morning winds, littering the ground; and then by +a gate into a dimpled, emerald pasture slope where the Guernseys were +feeding along a water run. They spoke of trivial things that found no +place in Austen's memory, and at times, upon one pretext or another, he +fell behind a little that he might feast his eyes upon her. + +Eben was not at the dairy, and Austen betraying no undue curiosity as to +his whereabouts, they walked on up the slopes, and still upward towards +the crest of the range of hills that marked the course of the Blue. He +did not allow his mind to dwell upon this new footing they were on, but +clung to it. Before, in those delicious moments with her, seemingly +pilfered from the angry gods, the sense of intimacy had been deep; deep, +because robbing the gods together, they had shared the feeling of guilt, +had known that retribution would coma. And now the gods had locked their +treasure-chest, although themselves powerless to redeem from him the +memory of what he had gained. Nor could they, apparently, deprive him of +the vision of her in the fields and woods beside him, though transformed +by their magic into a new Victoria, keeping him lightly and easily at a +distance. + +Scattering the sheep that flecked the velvet turf of the uplands, they +stood at length on the granite crown of the crest itself. Far below them +wound the Blue into its vale of sapphire shadows, with its hillsides of +the mystic fabric of the backgrounds of the masters of the Renaissance. +For a while they stood in silence under the spell of the scene's +enchantment, and then Victoria seated herself on the rock, and he dropped +to a place at her side. + +"I thought you would like the view," she said; "but perhaps you have been +here, perhaps I am taking you to one of your own possessions." + +He had flung his hat upon the rock, and she glanced at his serious, +sunburned face. His eyes were still fixed, contemplatively, on the Yale +of the Blue, but he turned to her with a smile. + +"It has become yours by right of conquest," he answered. + +She did not reply to that. The immobility of her face, save for the one +look she had flashed upon him, surprised and puzzled him more and more-- +the world--old, indefinable, eternal feminine quality of the Spring. + +"So you refused to be governor? she said presently,--surprising him +again. + +"It scarcely came to that," he replied. + +"What did it come to?" she demanded. + +He hesitated. + +"I had to go down to the capital, on my father's account, but I did not +go to the convention. I stayed," he said slowly, "at the little cottage +across from the Duncan house where--you were last winter." He paused, +but she gave no sign. "Tom Gaylord came up there late in the afternoon, +and wanted me to be a candidate." + +"And you refused?" + +"Yes." + +"But you could have been nominated!" + +"Yes," he admitted; "it is probable. The conditions were chaotic." + +"Are you sure you have done right?" she asked. "It has always seemed to +me from what I know and have heard of you that you were made for +positions of trust. You would have been a better governor than the man +they have nominated." + +His expression became set. + +"I am sure I have done right," he answered deliberately. "It doesn't +make any difference who is governor this time." + +"Doesn't make any difference!" she exclaimed. + +"No," he said. "Things have changed--the people have changed. The old +method of politics, which was wrong, although it had some justification +in conditions, has gone out. A new and more desirable state of affairs +has come. I am at liberty to say this much to you now," he added, fixing +his glance upon her, "because my father has resigned as counsel for the +Northeastern, and I have just had a talk with--Mr. Flint." + +"You have seen my father?" she asked, in a low voice, and her face was +averted. + +"Yes," he answered. + +"You--did not agree," she said quickly. + +His blood beat higher at the question and the manner of her asking it, +but he felt that he must answer it honestly, unequivocally, whatever the +cost. + +"No, we did not agree. It is only fair to tell you that we differed-- +vitally. On the other hand, it is just that you should know that we did +not part in anger, but, I think, with a mutual respect." + +She drew breath. + +"I knew," she said, "I knew if he could but talk to you he would +understand that you were sincere--and you have proved it. I am glad--I +am glad that you saw him." The quality of the sunlight changed, the very +hills leaped, and the river sparkled. Could she care? Why did she wish +her father to know that he was sincere. + +"You are glad that I saw him!" he repeated. + +But she met his glance steadily. + +"My father has so little faith in human nature," she answered. "He has +a faculty of doubting the honesty of his opponents--I suppose because so +many of them have been dishonest. And--I believe in my friends," she +added, smiling. "Isn't it natural that I should wish to have my judgment +vindicated?" + +He got to his feet and walked slowly to the far edge of the rock, where +he stood for a while, seemingly gazing off across the spaces to Sawanec. +It was like him, thus to question the immutable. Victoria sat +motionless, but her eyes followed irresistibly the lines of power in the +tall figure against the sky--the breadth of shoulder and slimness of hip +and length of limb typical of the men who had conquered and held this +land for their descendants. Suddenly, with a characteristic movement of +determination; he swung about and came towards her, and at the same +instant she rose. + +"Don't you think we should be going back?" she said. + +Rut he seemed not to hear her. + +"May I ask you something?" he said. + +"That depends," she answered. + +"Are you going to marry Mr. Rangely?" + +"No," she said, and turned away. "Why did you think that?" + +He quivered. + +"Victoria!" + +She looked up at him, swiftly, half revealed, her eyes like stars +surprised by the flush of dawn in her cheeks. Hope quickened at the +vision of hope, the seats of judgment themselves were filled with +radiance, and rumour, cowered and fled like the spirit of night. He +could only gaze, enraptured. + +"Yes?" she answered. + +His voice was firm but low, yet vibrant with sincerity, with the vast +store of feeling, of compelling magnetism that was in the man and moved +in spite of themselves those who knew him. His words Victoria remembered +afterwards--all of them; but it was to the call of the voice she +responded. His was the fibre which grows stronger in times of crisis. +Sure of himself, proud of the love which he declared, he spoke as a man +who has earned that for which he prays,--simply and with dignity. + +"I love you," he said; "I have known it since I have known you, but you +must see why I could not tell you so. It was very hard, for there were +times when I led myself to believe that you might come to love me. There +were times when I should have gone away if I hadn't made a promise to +stay in Ripton. I ask you to marry me, because I--know that I shall love +you as long as I live. I can give you this, at least, and I can promise +to protect and cherish you. I cannot give you that to which you have +been accustomed all your life, that which you have here at Fairview, but +I shouldn't say this to you if I believed that you cared for them above- +-other things." + +"Oh, Austen!" she cried, "I do not--I--do not! They would be hateful to +me--without you. I would rather live with you--at Jabe Jenney's," and +her voice caught in an exquisite note between laughter and tears. "I +love you, do you understand, you! Oh, how could you ever have doubted +it? How could you? What you believe, I believe. And, Austen, I have +been so unhappy for three days." + +He never knew whether, as the most precious of graces ever conferred upon +man, with a womanly gesture she had raised her arms and laid her hands +upon his shoulders before he drew her to him and kissed her face, that +vied in colour with the coming glow in the western sky. Above the prying +eyes of men, above the world itself, he held her, striving to realize +some little of the vast joy of this possession, and failing. And at last +she drew away from him, gently, that she might look searchingly into his +face again, and shook her head slowly. + +"And you were going away," she said, "without a word I thought--you +didn't care. How could I have known that you were just--stupid?" + +His eyes lighted with humour and tenderness. + +"How long have you cared, Victoria?" he asked. + +She became thoughtful. + +"Always, I think," she answered; "only I didn't know it. I think I loved +you even before I saw you." + +"Before you saw me!" + +"I think it began," said Victoria, "when I learned that you had shot Mr. +Blodgett--only I hope you will never do such a thing again. And you will +please try to remember," she added, after a moment, "that I am neither +Eben Fitch nor your friend, Tom Gaylord." + +Sunset found them seated on the rock, with the waters of the river turned +to wine at the miracle in the sky their miracle. At times their eyes +wandered to the mountain, which seemed to regard them from a discreet +distance--with a kindly and protecting majesty. + +"And you promised," said Victoria, "to take me up there. When will you +do it?" + +"I thought you were going away," he replied. + +"Unforeseen circumstances," she answered, "have compelled me to change my +plans." + +"Then we will go tomorrow," he said. + +"To the Delectable Land," said Victoria, dreamily; "your land, where we +shall be--benevolent despots. Austen?" + +"Yes?" He had not ceased to thrill at the sound of his name upon her +lips. + +"Do you think," she asked, glancing at him, "do you think you have money +enough to go abroad--just for a little while?" + +He laughed joyously. + +"I don't know," he said, "but I shall make it a point to examine my bank- +account to-night. I haven't done so--for some time." + +"We will go to Venice, and drift about in a gondola on one of those gray +days when the haze comes in from the Adriatic and touches the city with +the magic of the past. Sometimes I like the gray days best--when I am +happy. And then," she added, regarding him critically, "although you are +very near perfection, there are some things you ought to see and learn to +make your education complete. I will take you to all the queer places I +love. When you are ambassador to France, you know, it would be +humiliating to have to have an interpreter, wouldn't it?" + +"What's the use of both of us knowing the language?" he demanded. + +"I'm afraid we shall be--too happy," she sighed, presently. + +"Too happy!" he repeated. + +"I sometimes wonder," she said, "whether happiness and achievement go +together. And yet--I feel sure that you will achieve." + +"To please you, Victoria," he answered, "I think I should almost be +willing to try." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +P.S. + +By request of one who has read thus far, and is still curious. + +Yes, and another who, in spite of himself, has fallen in love with +Victoria and would like to linger a while longer, even though it were +with the paltry excuse of discussing that world-old question of hers--Can +sublime happiness and achievement go together? Novels on the problem of +sex nowadays often begin with marriages, but rarely discuss the happy +ones; and many a woman is forced to sit wistfully at home while her +companion soars. + + "Yet may I look with heart unshook + On blow brought home or missed-- + Yet may I hear with equal ear + The clarions down the List; + Yet set my lance above mischance + And ride the barriere-- + Oh, hit or miss, how little 'tis, + My Lady is not there!" + +A verse, in this connection, which may be a perversion of Mr. Kipling's +meaning, but not so far from it, after all. And yet, would the eagle +attempt the great flights if contentment were on the plain? Find the +mainspring of achievement, and you hold in your hand the secret of the +world's mechanism. Some aver that it is woman. + +Do the gods ever confer the rarest of gifts upon him to whom they have +given pinions? Do they mate him, ever, with another who soars as high as +he, who circles higher that he may circle higher still? Who can answer? +Must those who soar be condemned to eternal loneliness, and was it a +longing they did not comprehend which bade them stretch their wings +toward the sun? Who can say? + +Alas, we cannot write of the future of Austen and Victoria Vane! We can +only surmise, and hope, and pray,--yes, and believe. Romance walks with +parted lips and head raised to the sky; and let us follow her, because +thereby our eyes are raised with hers. We must believe, or perish. + +Postscripts are not fashionable. The satiated theatre goer leaves before +the end of the play, and has worked out the problem for himself long +before the end of the last act. Sentiment is not supposed to exist in +the orchestra seats. But above (in many senses) is the gallery, from +whence an excited voice cries out when the sleeper returns to life, "It's +Rip Van Winkle!" The gallery, where are the human passions which make +this world our world; the gallery, played upon by anger, vengeance, +derision, triumph, hate, and love; the gallery, which lingers and +applauds long after the fifth curtain, and then goes reluctantly home--to +dream. And he who scorns the gallery is no artist, for there lives the +soul of art. We raise our eyes to it, and to it we dedicate this our +play;--and for it we lift the curtain once more after those in the +orchestra have departed. + +It is obviously impossible, in a few words, to depict the excitement in +Ripton, in Leith, in the State at large, when it became known that the +daughter of Mr. Flint was to marry Austen Vane,--a fitting if unexpected +climax to a drama. How would Mr. Flint take it? Mr. Flint, it may be +said, took it philosophically; and when Austen went up to see him upon +this matter, he shook hands with his future son-in-law,--and they agreed +to disagree. And beyond this it is safe to say that Mr. +Flint was relieved; for in his secret soul he had for many years +entertained a dread that Victoria might marry a foreigner. He had this +consolation at any rate. + +His wife denied herself for a day to her most intimate friends,--for it +was she who had entertained visions of a title; and it was characteristic +of the Rose of Sharon that she knew nothing of the Vanes beyond the name. +The discovery that the Austens were the oldest family in the State was in +the nature of a balm; and henceforth, in speaking of Austen, she never +failed to mention the fact that his great-grandfather was Minister to +Spain in the '30's,--a period when her own was engaged in a far different +calling. + +And Hilary Vane received the news with a grim satisfaction, Dr. Tredway +believing that it had done more for him than any medicine or specialists. +And when, one warm October day, Victoria herself came and sat beside the +canopied bed, her conquest was complete: he surrendered to her as he had +never before surrendered to man or woman or child, and the desire to live +surged back into his heart,--the desire to live for Austen and Victoria. +It became her custom to drive to Ripton in the autumn mornings and to sit +by the hour reading to Hilary in the mellow sunlight in the lee of the +house, near Sarah Austen's little garden. Yes, Victoria believed she had +developed in him a taste for reading; although he would have listened to +Emerson from her lips. + +And sometimes, when she paused after one of his long silences to glance +at him, she would see his eyes fixed, with a strange rapt look, on the +garden or the dim lavender form of Sawanec through the haze, and knew +that he was thinking of a priceless thing which he had once possessed, +and missed. Then Victoria would close the volume, and fall to dreaming, +too. + +What was happiness? Was it contentment? If it were, it might endure,-- +contentment being passive. But could active, aggressive, exultant joy +exist for a lifetime, jealous of its least prerogative, perpetually +watchful for its least abatement, singing unending anthems on its +conquest of the world? The very intensity of her feelings at such times +sobered Victoria--alarmed her. Was not perfection at war with the +world's scheme, and did not achievement spring from a void? + +But when Austen appeared, with Pepper, to drive her home to Fairview, his +presence never failed to revive the fierce faith that it was his destiny +to make the world better, and hers to help him. Wondrous afternoons they +spent together in that stillest and most mysterious of seasons in the +hill country--autumn! Autumn and happiness! Happiness as shameless as +the flaunting scarlet maples on the slopes, defiant of the dying year of +the future, shadowy and unreal as the hills before them in the haze. +Once, after a long silence, she started from a revery with the sudden +consciousness of his look intent upon her, and turned with parted lips +and eyes which smiled at him out of troubled depths. + +"Dreaming, Victoria?" he said. + +"Yes," she answered simply, and was silent once more. He loved these +silences of hers,--hinting, as they did, of unexplored chambers in an +inexhaustible treasure-house which by some strange stroke of destiny was +his. And yet he felt at times the vague sadness of them, like the +sadness of the autumn, and longed to dispel it. + +"It is so wonderful," she went on presently, in a low voice, "it is so +wonderful I sometimes think that it must be like--like this; that it +cannot last. I have been wondering whether we shall be as happy when the +world discovers that you are great." + +He shook his head at her slowly, in mild reproof. + +"Isn't that borrowing trouble, Victoria?" he said. "I think you need +have no fear of finding the world as discerning as yourself." + +She searched his face. + +"Will you ever change?" she asked. + +"Yes," he said. "No man can stand such flattery as that without +deteriorating, I warn you. I shall become consequential, and pompous, +and altogether insupportable, and then you will leave me and never +realize that it has been all your fault." + +Victoria laughed. But there was a little tremor in her voice, and her +eyes still rested on his face. + +"But I am serious, Austen," she said. "I sometimes feel that, in the +future, we shall not always have many such days as these. It's selfish, +but I can't help it. There are so many things you will have to do +without me. Don't you ever think of that?" + +His eyes grew grave, and he reached out and took her hand in his. + +"I think, rather, of the trials life may bring, Victoria," he answered, +"of the hours when judgment halts, when the way is not clear. Do you +remember the last night you came to Jabe Jenney's? I stood in the road +long after you had gone, and a desolation such as I had never known came +over me. I went in at last, and opened a book to some verses I had been +reading, which I shall never forget. Shall I tell you what they were?" + +"Yes," she whispered. + +"They contain my answer to your question," he said. + + "What became of all the hopes, + Words and song and lute as well? + Say, this struck you 'When life gropes + Feebly for the path where fell + Light last on the evening slopes, + + "'One friend in that path shall be, + To secure my step from wrong; + One to count night day for me, + Patient through the watches long, + Serving most with none to see.'" + +"Victoria, can you guess who that friend is?" + +She pressed his hand and smiled at him, but her eyes were wet. + +"I have thought of it in that way, too, dear. But--but I did not know +that you had. I do not think that many men have that point of view, +Austen." + +"Many men," he answered, "have not the same reason to be thankful as I." + +There is a time, when the first sharp winds which fill the air with +flying leaves have come and gone, when the stillness has come again, and +the sunlight is tinged with a yellower gold, and the pastures are still a +vivid green, and the mountain stained with a deeper blue than any gem, +called Indian summer. And it was in this season that Victoria and Austen +were married, in a little church at Tunbridge, near Fairview, by the +bishop of the diocese, who was one of Victoria's dearest friends. Mr. +Thomas Gaylord (for whose benefit there were many rehearsals) was best +man, Miss Beatrice Chillingham maid of honour; and it was unanimously +declared by Victoria's bridesmaids, who came up from New York, that they +had fallen in love with the groom. + +How describe the wedding breakfast and festivities at Fairview House, on +a November day when young ladies could walk about the lawns in the +filmiest of gowns! how recount the guests and leave out no friends--for +none were left out! Mr. Jabe Jenney and Mrs. Jenney, who wept as she +embraced both bride and groom; and Euphrasia, in a new steel-coloured +silk and a state of absolute subjection and incredulous happiness. Would +that there were time to chronicle that most amazing of conquests of +Victoria over Euphrasia! And Mrs. Pomfret, who, remarkable as it may +seem, not only recognized Austen without her lorgnette, but quite +overwhelmed him with an unexpected cordiality, and declared her intention +of giving them a dinner in New York. + +"My dear," she said, after kissing Victoria twice, "he is most +distinguished-looking--I had no idea--and a person who grows upon one. +And I am told he is descended from Channing Austen, of whom I have often +heard my grandfather speak. Victoria, I always had the greatest +confidence in your judgment." + +Although Victoria had a memory (what woman worth her salt has not?), she +was far too happy to remind Mrs. Pomfret of certain former occasions, and +merely smiled in a manner which that lady declared to be enigmatic. She +maintained that she had never understood Victoria, and it was +characteristic of Mrs. Pomfret that her respect increased in direct +proportion to her lack of understanding. + +Mr. Thomas Gaylord, in a waistcoat which was the admiration of all who +beheld it, proposed the health of the bride; and proved indubitably that +the best of oratory has its origin in the heart and not in the mind,--for +Tom had never been regarded by his friends as a Demosthenes. He was +interrupted from time to time by shouts of laughter; certain episodes in +the early career of Mr. Austen Vane (in which, if Tom was to be believed, +he was an unwilling participant) were particularly appreciated. And +shortly after that, amidst a shower of miscellaneous articles and rice, +Mr. and Mrs. Vane took their departure. + +They drove through the yellow sunlight to Ripton, with lingering looks at +the hills which brought back memories of boys and sorrows, and in Hanover +Street bade good-by to Hilary Vane. A new and strange contentment shone +in his face as he took Victoria's hands in his, and they sat with him +until Euphrasia came. It was not until they were well on their way to +New York that they opened the letter he had given them, and discovered +that it contained something which would have enabled them to remain in +Europe the rest of their lives had they so chosen. + +We must leave them amongst the sunny ruins of Italy and Greece and +southern France, on a marvellous journey that was personally conducted by +Victoria. + +Mr. Crewe was unable to go to the wedding, having to attend a directors' +meeting of some importance in the West. He is still in politics, and +still hopeful; and he was married, not long afterwards, to Miss Alice +Pomfret. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Gratitude, however, is one of the noblest qualities of man +One of your persistent fallacies is, that I'm still a boy +The burden of the valley of vision +Thrice-blessed State, in which there were now three reform candidates +Years of regrets for that which might have been + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, V3 +by Winston Churchill + + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS FOR THE ENTIRE SET: + +Fame sometimes comes in the line of duty +Genius is almost one hundred percent directness +In a frenzy of anticipation, garnished and swept the room +It's noble, but it don't pay +Treason to party he regarded with a deep-seated abhorrence +Battles of selfish interests ebbed and flowed +A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds +His strength was his imperviousness to this kind of a remark +Many a silent tear of which they knew nothing +Politicians are politicians; they have always been corrupt +Gratitude, however, is one of the noblest qualities of man +One of your persistent fallacies is, that I'm still a boy +The burden of the valley of vision +Thrice-blessed State, in which there were now three reform candidates +Years of regrets for that which might have been + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Mr. Crewe's Career, complete +by Winston Churchill + diff --git a/old/wc09v11.zip b/old/wc09v11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b26b02 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wc09v11.zip |