' -:"'. 
 
 *G 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 
 J^ 

 
 ^ 
 
 t ^ **>
 
 ARMOUR; 
 
 OR, 
 
 WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? 
 
 BY 
 
 BY C. H. ANDERSON. 
 
 " The Surgeon and the Assassin both use the knife ; the one with 
 kindness and science, the other with wantonness and malice. The 
 one cuts that he may cure ; /the other that he may kill." 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 W B. SMITH & CO., 
 
 I'.OVI) SlKFKT.
 
 COPYBIOHT, 1881. 
 
 Br W. B. SMITH & Co., NEW YORK.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Written from no spirit of malice, nor to gratify 
 likes or dislikes, but from a sincere and natural hatred of 
 tyranny, sham, pretension, greed, and rascality, whenever 
 and wherever found, utterly regardless of ci&t, creed, or 
 consequences.
 
 PS 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE CRICKET AND THE ANT . . . .11 
 
 II. IN THE GLOAMING ..... 22 
 
 III. LIBERTE, FRATERNITE, ET EGALITE . . .29 
 
 IV. JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER . 35 
 V. MRS. ASHTON'S PARTY . . . . 39 
 
 VI. BETTER THAT HE WERE DEAD ... 46 
 
 VII. CUPID ON HORSEBACK . . . .52 
 
 VIII. ALL is NOT GOLD TIIAT GLITTERS ... 63 
 
 IX. WHAT'S BRED IN THE BONE . . . .68 
 
 X. OUR UNCLES . ..... 72 
 
 XI. WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING . . -77 
 
 XII. REPUBLICS ARE UNGRATEFUL ... 86 
 
 XIII. REAPING THE WHIRLWIND . . . .92 
 
 XIV. Two PATRIOTS ..... 99 
 XV. WHICH WILL IT BE ? . . . .108 
 
 XVI. MY QUEEN . . . . . .113 
 
 XVII. THE CORMORANT CORPORATION . . .118 
 
 XVIII. A CONYNGHAM CAUCUS .... 122 
 
 XIX. WHAT NEXT ? 128 
 
 XX. THE WORSHIP OF THE GOLDEN CALF . . 131 
 
 XXI. THE CAR OF JUGGERNAUT .... 136 
 
 XXII. HON. JOHN LITTLEJOHN . . . .142 
 
 XXIII. SAVE ME FROM MY FRIENDS .... 148 
 
 XXIV. THE MAELSTROM ..... 154 
 XXV. THE BURSTING OF THE N. AND B. BUBBLE . . 163 
 
 XXVI. CONSISTENCY, THOU ART A JEWEL, . . 168 
 
 XXVII. THE ESTHETICAL RELIGIOUS BAND . . .174 
 
 XXVIII. THE TWIN DEVILS . . , I . .177 
 
 1260099
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 OHAPTKB 
 
 XXIX. OUR PROTOTYPES 
 
 XXX. CHOOSING A GOVERNOR . 
 
 XXXI. Sic TRANSIT GLORIA 
 
 XXXII. AFFAIRS AT WOODSIDE COLLIERY 
 
 XXXIII. THE CURSE OF MONOPOLY . 
 
 XXXIV. JAY GOULD 
 
 XXXV. AN UNEQUAL CONTEST 
 
 XXXVI. RING DOWN THE CURTAIN 
 
 XXXVII. THE TIDE TURNS 
 
 IIXXVIII. THE GLITTERING SERPENT 
 
 XXXIX. IN THE COILS . 
 
 XL. AN IGNOMINIOUS FLIGHT . 
 
 XLI. THE JUST MADE PERFECT . 
 
 XLII. THE BEGINNING OF THE END .. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 , 186 
 
 191 
 
 97 
 
 203 
 
 . 208 
 
 213 
 
 . 218 
 
 223 
 
 . 230 
 
 237 
 . 244 
 
 251 
 
 . 257 
 
 265
 
 ARMOUR, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CRICKET AND THE ANT. 
 
 NEAR the close of a beautiful day, in the autumn of 
 1 86 1, two young men were standing on the brow of a lofty 
 hill, which commanded a magnificent view of the sur 
 rounding country. Carelessly leaning on their fowling- 
 pieces, they were evidently enjoying the wild and roman 
 tic scenery about them. The sky was deeply blue, the 
 air full of soft, mellow sunshine. On every side were 
 brightly-tinted woods, and softly-rolling hills, clad in all 
 the gorgeous coloring of Tyrian dyes crimson and gold, 
 scarlet and brown, blending with all the intermediate 
 shades. Far in the distance could be seen the tall spires 
 and white cottages of the quaint, old town of Armour, 
 nestling on the banks of a little mountain stream, which 
 shimmered and sparkled in the bright, October sunshine 
 like molten silver, as it lazily wound its serpentine course 
 throughout the narrow valley, and around the bases of 
 steep, wooded hills, until finally lost to view behind an 
 abrupt mountain, which, more bold than his fellows, had 
 thrust himself far out into the stream. The view, and the 
 
 II 

 
 12 ARMOUR. 
 
 soft, balmy atmosphere, so peculiar to our northern cli 
 mate during this season, were well calculated to soothe 
 the most restless mind, and to prove very conducive to 
 pensive and dreamy meditation. 
 
 " What are you thinking about, Larry ? " asked Mal 
 colm Conyngham, apparently the elder of the two, of his 
 companion, Lawrence Hamilton. 
 
 " I was thinking how much this scene is like the Italian 
 Sunset we admired so much in Earle's gallery last week," 
 replied his friend, in a low, musical voice, as he stretched 
 himself full length upon the hillside, and supporting his 
 head with his arms, dreamily surveyed the landscape be 
 fore him. 
 
 " What picture are you speaking of ? I do not remem 
 ber any Italian Sunset at Earle's ? " 
 
 " Don't you remember that picture of the pretty girl 
 leaning against a rock, with a far-away, wistful look in 
 her great, brown eyes ? " 
 
 "I believe I do remember the Sunset and the girl," 
 laughed Conyngham, as he seated himself by his friend, 
 " but I think you are drawing on your imagination, Larry, 
 as to the far-away, wistful look. I do not remember of 
 seeing it, anyhow." 
 
 " I forgot the Conynghams were Scotch ; " replied 
 Hamilton, a little nettled. " I believe no one ever accused 
 the Sandies of possessing very much imagination or 
 poetry." 
 
 " How about Burns ? " 
 
 " He was but an exception to the rule ; and his country 
 men never tired of abusing him in his day, for what they 
 considered his nonsense. I believe they would think as 
 little of him yet, if the rest of the world did not insist that 
 he was a great man. I was reading, the other day, of the
 
 THE CRICKET AND THE ANT. 13 
 
 death of an old woman, a neighbor of the poet, and who, 
 to the last, said she never could understand ' Why people 
 made so much futh over that luthe^druthin fella, Booms.' " 
 
 " I think the old woman was about right," replied Cony- 
 ngham. " Instead of strolling about the country, carousing 
 and making love to, and poetizing every pretty girl he 
 fancied, it would have been far better, in my opinion, for 
 both Burns and his family, if he had stuck to his plow, 
 and made a good, honest living." 
 
 " Oh that is about the way all Scotchmen viewed his ca 
 reer then, but at the very time, he was making Scotland 
 famous." 
 
 " Well, if he did make Scotland famous, neither he nor 
 his family reaped any benefit from it." 
 
 " Malcolm, there is no use in arguing with you, where 
 any poetry is concerned. You are, without exception, the 
 most prosaic and matter-of-fact young man I have ever 
 met with. There is such a thing as being too much so." 
 
 "Well, I cannot help my Scotch and Dutch blood, 
 Larry, no more than you can the mercurial temperament 
 and hot mixture of French and Irish blood that your Ham 
 ilton family tree shows, crossed and re-crossed so often, 
 much to the detriment of the old Hamilton family estate. 
 As it is, I would not, under any circumstances, exchange 
 temperaments with you." 
 
 " Don't you believe persons possessing a poetical tem 
 perament enjoy more keenly the pleasures of life, than 
 matter-of-fact and prosaic people ? " 
 
 "They might," replied Conyngham, if they were in 
 possession, also, of an unlimited exchequer. One of the 
 inevitable results of this temperament is a chronic state of 
 impecuniosity. Such persons seldom make money, and 
 as they can never save any, they are necessarily, as a gen-
 
 14 ARAfOUR. 
 
 eral thing, in straitened circumstances, and compelled to 
 depend, more or less, on their more provident and practical 
 friends to extricate them from the pecuniary embarrass 
 ments, in which their love and taste for the beautiful inva 
 riably involves them. You remember the song of the 
 cricket and the ant Like the former, these gay and im 
 provident ones sing all the summer long in the bright 
 sunshine, never thinking of the dark, cold winter before 
 them, and pitifully beg from the ant when it overtakes 
 them ; or, in other words, their friends that have more 
 wisely provided for the future." 
 
 " Yes, and the poor devils always get the cold-blooded 
 ant's refusal," laughed Hamilton cynically. 
 
 " And the homily thrown in," said Conyngham, grimly- 
 
 " Well," continued Hamilton, " I am not so certain, 
 after all, but the cricket has the best time of it. He 
 simply condenses his pleasures, and the ant certainly 
 never attains the same exquisite height of enjoyment." 
 
 " No, nor the same terrific depth of misery when star 
 vation sets in," growled his friend. 
 
 " I believe," continued Hamilton, not regarding the 
 interruption, "that the Lord intended both for some special 
 purpose, and ihat each has his mission. Of course I am 
 to infer that I am the cricket and you are the ant. But 
 you need have no fears, Malcolm, of my calling on you when 
 winter sets in. I would certainly get the ant's reply." 
 
 "Yes, and the homily too," good-naturedly retorted 
 Conyngham. 
 
 " How dissimilar we are in our tastes, Malcolm. I'll ven 
 ture to say, while I have been reveling in the beauties of 
 nature all day, your mind, for you have no imagination, 
 has been occupied in making sordid business calculations, 
 never thinking of the beauty around you."
 
 THE CRICKET AND THE ANT. 15 
 
 "I have been thinking of business matters, and my 
 mind might have been worse employed. I am sure my 
 thoughts have been as profitable, and certainly more inno 
 cent than your own. I know too well, Larry, what a 
 luxurious Sybarite and voluptuary you are ; and I am 
 confident that your thoughts were not confined to admir 
 ing the beauties of nature alone. Beautiful women, my 
 boy, have occupied your thoughts more than beautiful 
 scenery." 
 
 " That is only admiring nature in another form." 
 
 " Yes, but not an equally innocent amusement, in the 
 way you think of them. Am I not right in my con 
 jecture ? " 
 
 " Yes, you are. Beautiful women have been occupying 
 my thoughts to some extent, and, to be candid, none of 
 your St. Cecilia-faced women either, with their cold, 
 classical faces, whose only beauty lies merely in the regu 
 larity of their clear-cut but inexpressive features, but 
 creatures of flesh and blood, such as the good old Dr. 
 Wordsworth describes as, 
 
 ' Creatures not too bright nor good 
 For human nature's daily food.' " 
 
 " Dr. Wordsworth never intended those lines to be quot 
 ed in the sense in which you employ them," interrupted 
 Conyngham, while an amused smile played around his 
 lips. He evidently enjoyed his friend's conversation, and 
 took pleasure in listening to his vagaries. " Let me have 
 a description of your ideal woman, Of course she must 
 be above all things beautiful." 
 
 " Not the greatest consideration by any means, I assure 
 you. I do not care how beautiful a woman is, if she lacks 
 the fire of a passionate and loving heart, she can neither
 
 16 ARMOUR. 
 
 affect nor attract me. Love, not too open, but modest, 
 veiled, timid yet ardent, coying yet fearful. Ah ! a woman 
 never looks so beautiful as when glowing with the tender 
 passion, and her eyes are luminous and liquid with the soft 
 melting fire of " 
 
 " Be careful now, Larry," laughed Conyngham, " I know 
 where you are drifting to." 
 
 " What pleasure," continued Hamilton, " can compare 
 with the bliss of two intellectually luxurious natures when 
 fully conscious of the certainity of each others love. 
 Away with your gold and your ingots ! Neither their pur 
 suit nor their possession can give one such ecstatic pleas 
 ure, as the mingling of two such natures. Ah! what in 
 tense and exquisite pleasure they must enjoy in the full 
 fruition of their mutual love ! If I had my choice, I 
 believe I would prefer the gay lives of Mark Anthony 
 and Cleopatra, to the highly proper, decorous, and stu 
 pidly respectable lives of our more modern imperial pair, 
 Albert and Victoria." 
 
 " The deep damnation of their taking off, was not so 
 pleasant to comtemplate," again interrupted Conyngham. 
 
 " Well, that is all true. The gay pair did not live out 
 more than half their days, yet it is a fair question with me 
 if such a life of gratified pleasure, say for thirty years, 
 would not be worth more than a full sixty of virtuous and 
 respectable stupidity." 
 
 " The cricket and the ant again," growled Malcolm, 
 " but go on and let me hear you out." 
 
 " Mark could certainly say, like that old Spanish Lo 
 thario, you remember in Lucile you have read Lucile, 
 have you not ? " 
 
 " No, I never read Lucile." 
 
 ' Your education then, has been very sadly neglected."
 
 THE CRICKET AND THE ANT. 17 
 
 " Go on ! go on ! What about the Spanish Lothario ? " 
 Well 
 
 ' A hoary Lothario, whom, dying, the priest by his bed 
 Knowing full well the unprincipled life he had led, 
 And observing, with no small amount of surprise, 
 Resignation and calm in the old sinner's eyes, 
 Asked if he had nothing that weighed on his mind : 
 ' Well, no,' said Lothario, ' I think not. I find, 
 On reviewing my life which in most things was pleasant, 
 I never neglected, when once it was present, 
 An occasion of pleasing myself; on the whole, 
 I have nought to regret.' And so, smiling, his soul 
 Took its flight from this world.' " 
 
 " He was an old villain," ejaculated Conyngham. 
 
 " I am not so sure about that," said Hamilton. " I am 
 very lenient in my judgment of the old fellow. If some 
 of the immaculate people who condemn him were beset by 
 one half the temptations that pass through the minds of 
 persons with warm imaginations, they would not shine be 
 fore the world, as men and women of great moral worth 
 and exceptional purity of character ; nor would the world 
 give them credit for resisting temptations which had never 
 presented themselves." 
 
 " Well, keep on through life, Larry, and put your ideas 
 into practice, like your old friend the Spanish Lothario, 
 and my word for it, you will find your apples of Sodom 
 turn to ashes on your lips ; and just so far as you give 
 way to the gratifying of wild and unbridled passions, ut 
 terly regardless of the consequences to yourself and to 
 others, that day will certainly come, as to-morrow's sun 
 will rise, when you will fully realize the fearful mis 
 take you have made. But I know you like to make your 
 self out worse than you really are. My only fear is that a 
 stranger, listening to such talk, might set you down as
 
 1 8 ARMOUR. 
 
 an unprincipled rake, which we all at home know you 
 are not ; and, as a friend, I advise you to put a bridle on 
 both your tongue and your imagination, on this subject 
 particularly. Strangers may not be as charitably disposed 
 towards you as your friends are who understand you." 
 
 "You are always reproaching me, Malcolm, for my 
 occasional rather reprehensible license of thought and 
 speech, but I also notice that cautious and correct per 
 sons like yourself, enjoy very much hearing, and quietly 
 encourage candid, indiscreet, and impulsive people, with 
 glowing imaginations, to unbosom themselves, and air 
 their peculiar views on topics generally tabooed by the 
 strictly Calvinistic school. However, it is an old, old 
 story. The world condemned whilst living the two great 
 est poets she has ever produced, for expressing themselves 
 too feelingly, although so attractively on this subject ; and 
 then, Oh, ye gods ! with what virtuous consistency they 
 erected splendid monuments to their memory, and placed 
 magnificent mausoleums over their remains, and trumpeted 
 their fame to the four quarters of the globe." 
 
 " All true, Larry ; but do you desire to lead the restless 
 and unhappy lives of these men, and die as they did. 
 Their sad song to the last was the saddest of all songs, 
 ' What might have been.' You remember how poor 
 Burns' life of pleasure, even with the greatest talents, 
 bound him to poverty and compelled him to resort to the 
 most humiliating shifts for a bare living, which, to a proud 
 nature like his, must have been more bitter than death, 
 as he struggled on, 
 
 "Mid care and pain and want and woe, 
 
 With wounds that only death could heal, 
 Fortunes the poor alone can know, 
 The proud alone can feel.'
 
 THE CRICKET AND THE ANT. 19 
 
 And finally died with an execration on his lips, against a 
 creditor who, more relentless than the rest, had pursued 
 him even to the bed of death, and the borders of eternity. 
 And miserable Byron, brilliant but bitter, after compelling 
 the world to acknowledge his genius, wrecked in purse 
 and reputation in the bloom of young manhood, an Ish- 
 maelite in society, divorced, and dying far from home and 
 friends, amongst strangers in a strange land ! And there 
 was the Earl of Rochester, the merry monarch's most 
 witty, versatile, and profligate courtier, who in dying, un 
 like your Spanish Lothario, cried out to his father confes 
 sor, ' Oh my God, father ! My life has all been a terrible 
 mistake, a wretched mistake !' Your old friend, the Span 
 ish Lothario, was simply an exception. That was all." 
 
 Hamilton remained a few moments in silence, appar 
 ently lost in contemplation, while a saddened and melancholy 
 expression stole over his face. Do " coming events cast 
 their shadows before " ? With a deep sigh he remarked 
 to his friend as he slowly rose from the ground, " It is 
 growing rather late, we had better go back to camp." 
 
 The evening shadows had deepened and lengthened, till 
 the soft, dim twilight rested on the hills about them. Gath 
 ering up their guns and equipments the two, slowly and 
 with swinging, graceful strides, descended the hill, and 
 their voices grew less and less distinct as their lithe, manly 
 forms gradually disappeared in the darkening shadows of 
 the narrow ravine below, while the declining sun, slowly 
 sinking over the mountain tops, cast a deep gloom through 
 out the wooded hollow of oak and maple ; and nothing 
 disturbed the almost painful stillness but the melancholy 
 hootings of a lonely owl, perched on the dead limb of a 
 towering pine on the neighboring hillside. 
 
 Hamilton was a little above medium height, and had
 
 20 ARMOUR. 
 
 a slender, graceful figure, but removed from all charge of 
 effeminacy. His eyes were clear gray, with a tender and 
 thoughtful expression. When animated they were full 
 of life and feeling. His mouth was small and sensitive, 
 and the rounding lips had a slightly sensuous curve. 
 Hair dark brown, and inclined to be wavy. Kxci-ediugly 
 winning in his manner, few men could be more agreeable 
 and fascinating when so disposed. 
 
 Altogether, he was a type of man few women could with 
 stand, a fact of which no one was better aware than was 
 Hamilton himself, and upon which he was apt at times, to 
 presume. Generous, impulsive, and extremely suscep 
 tible to the charms of the fair sex, ever since he could 
 either fall in love or get in debt, he had never been 
 entirely free from the one, or out of the other, and was 
 liked by every man, woman, and child in Armour. Full of 
 bonhommti, gay and witty, bright and cheerful, he was the 
 life of every social gathering in the place, and no party 
 was considered complete without him. His appearance 
 was as certain to call forth warm expressions of welcome, 
 from both old and young, as was that of his friend Con- 
 yngham, with his cold, moody, and embarrassed manner, 
 to throw a damper upon any group to which he chose to 
 attach himself. 
 
 Yet Conyngham, when necessary to the attainment of 
 any object, could at times render himself both pleasant 
 and agreeable. His father's position as one of the lead 
 ing business men, and the most prominent politician in the 
 state, with the young man's prospective wealth and cor 
 rect habits, gave him a great advantage over the young 
 men of the place. 
 
 Malcolm Conyngham was tall, and fine looking, with 
 fair hair, cold, blue gray eyes, and strongly marked fea-
 
 THE CRICKET AND THE ANT. 21 
 
 tures, which, in repose, were as immovable and devoid of 
 feeling as if cast in steel. He would have been called a 
 handsome man, but for the expression of suspicious watch 
 fulness in his eyes, an expression habitual and almost 
 feline in its intensity a look that never failed to produce 
 a sense of discomfort and feeling of disagreeable embar 
 rassment on those with whom he conversed, when there 
 was no selfish point to be made. 
 
 A great catch in the matrimonial market, not only in 
 Armour, but throughout the state, he had, even at this 
 early age, passed through seyeral spirited campaigns at 
 fashionable watering places, but had so far proved invul 
 nerable to the wiles of scheming mothers with marriagea 
 ble daughters. 
 
 He had early been initiated by his father, into the mys 
 teries of the banking business, a business in which Conyng- 
 ham Senior had accumulated a fortune, and in which he. 
 was still largely engaged; and at an age when most young 
 men were taken up with flirting, courting the muses, and 
 having a good time generally, Malcolm Conyngham was 
 all absorbed in making money. 
 
 Amongst men he had few friends, and the only person 
 with whom he was at all on terms of intimacy was young 
 Hamilton.
 
 22 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN THE GLOAMING. 
 
 IN the pleasant and tastefully furnished parlor of one of 
 the handsomest houses of Armour, sat Mrs. Adair and her 
 daughter Fannie. 
 
 The latter had just graduated from Madame Clem 
 ents' "Fashionable Institute for Young Ladies," in a 
 neighboring city. 
 
 The evening was damp and chilly, and Fannie sat 
 close to the low grate fire, with her pretty little feet co- 
 quettishly resting on the fender, busied with some bright 
 crochet work. 
 
 The sweet, fresh, young face of the daughter, and the 
 dignified, matronly form, and features of the mother, made 
 a charming and home-like picture as they sat chatting to 
 one another in the gloaming. 
 
 " Fannie, where has Lawrence Hamilton been for the 
 last two weeks ? I have missed him from church now for 
 two Sabbaths. If he is in town he certainly knows you 
 are at home, and it seems strange that he should not call." 
 
 " 1 met Emily Charlton yesterday," said Fannie, " and 
 she said he and Malcolm Conyngham were having their 
 annual fall hunting ; but they must be home now. I saw 
 Malcolm go into the bank this morning. As for calling 
 on me, I don't think Lord Hamilton concerns himself 
 much about young ladies at his own home. He reserves 
 all his fascinations for strangers. The girls at madame's
 
 IN THE GLOAMING. 23 
 
 had all heard of him, and Lou was anxious to meet him. 
 They say he had quite a flirtation with Min Stewart last 
 summer. Her sister Lil was one of my room-mates, and 
 Min's letters were so full of Larry Hamilton this, and 
 Larry Hamilton that, that I became fairly sick of hearing 
 the name. 
 
 " They rode on horseback a great deal together did 
 they not ? " queried Fannie, in a tone which displayed more 
 interest than so simple a question warranted, especially 
 when coming from a young lady who had. a few moments 
 before, declared she was sick of hearing of the gentleman. 
 
 Mrs. Adair quickly noticed the change in her daughter's 
 voice whilst making this inquiry, and looking up, a shade 
 of anxiety for a moment passed over her kind, motherly 
 face, unnoticed, however, by Fannie, as her mother quietly 
 replied that she believed she had seen him with Mrs. Ash- 
 ton's visitors ; but as to whether he had been particularly 
 attentive to -any one of them, she had not heard. 
 
 " It is very pleasant to have a cavalier like Larry on 
 hand " continued Fannie, " who has plenty of money and 
 the leisure and inclination to spend it ; especially when one 
 has visitors. Besides, he has seen so much more of the 
 world and society than most of our young men, and is 
 always ready for a flirtation with every girl who comes 
 along, provided she is stylish and a stranger. I hardly 
 know what I would do to entertain Lou if he were to go 
 away. Emily says town is insufferably dull, and I am 
 afraid she will have a stupid time. I do hope Larry will 
 be home when she is here ; " and Mrs. Adair could not 
 repress a smile as Fannie again returned to the distasteful 
 subject of Lawrence Hamilton. " It has been over a year 
 now since he carried my satchel to the train for me. I 
 remember I was so provoked at him for quizzing me as if
 
 24 ARMOUR. 
 
 I were a child. I suppose he still thinks of me as a little 
 jjirl, and I intend being very dignified to both him ;md 
 Malcolm Conyngham. The girls have completely spoiled 
 them, and Emily says when there are any strange girls 
 \ Siting here, they are shamefully indifferent to their home 
 friends, so that we have both determined not to be made 
 conveniences of by them, but on Lou's account I will have 
 to be agreeable for the time being." 
 
 " Your father thinks it is about time for Larry to get into 
 some business, or attach himself to one of the professions. 
 He certainly cannot be satisfied with the aimless life of 
 pleasure he has been living for several years past ; and the 
 world has a right to expect of a man, possessing the talents 
 young Hamilton undoubtedly has, something more than 
 the life of an idle man of fashion. Malcolm Conyngham 
 has not half the brains that Larry has, yet your father 
 says he is making money, and a fine business reputation 
 for himself." 
 
 " I guess, mother, Malcolm Conyngham is naturally 
 fonder of money than Larry. When a boy, he had a very 
 unenviable reputation for being both tricky and selfish. You 
 know brother Ralph said at school he was always dicker 
 ing with, and taking advantage of, the duller and younger 
 boys ; and why Larry always liked him Ralph could never 
 understand, unless, being such good company, Malcolm 
 found it pleasant and convenient to have him with him, 
 and on that account was more agreeeble to him than to 
 others. He says Larry gives Malcolm credit with being 
 more generous and clever than he seems, and believes 
 he will some day be a great man." 
 
 " If young Hamilton were forced by circumstances," 
 said Mrs. Adair, " to make his own living, or would 
 marry some good, sensible woman, and resolve to give up
 
 IN THE GLOAMING. . 25 
 
 the pursuit of pleasure, he could become almost anything 
 he chose ; but that was the door-bell was it not ? " 
 
 As Fannie stepped quickly to the window, and looked 
 out into the street, her face brightened, and quickly run 
 ning through the hall, without answering her mother, 
 there followed a few, quick, joyful exclamations, and that 
 shower of interrogatories, that invariably takes place on 
 the meeting of two young lady friends after a whole 
 day's absence from one another. A few moments later 
 Fannie ushered into the room a tall, slender girl, with 
 large, expressive, eyes. Fine eyes they were, full of mean 
 ing and light. She had delicate and sensitive features, 
 and a small, well-shaped head, gracefully poised on a 
 lithe, slender figure ; her hair was very dark brown, and 
 her eyes deep violet blue ; at times, they appeared almost 
 black, probably owing to the long, dark eyelashes. Her 
 complexion was the delicate tint of the tea-rose. 
 
 This was Fannie's intimate friend, Emily Charlton, and 
 as the young lady crossed the room to greet Mrs. Adair, 
 nothing could be more charming than the willowy and 
 undulating grace of her movements. Magnetic and at 
 tractive, bright and fond of admiration, Emily Charlton 
 never lacked admirers, and while she lacked the intellect 
 uality of Fannje Adair, and possessed none of her friend's 
 bright and sparkling wit or talent in repartee and conver 
 sation, that rendered Fannie such a favorite amongst the 
 older people and the more thoughtful of the younger ones, 
 yet in large companies, or at a general party, Emily al 
 ways appeared to better advantage than Fannie, as she 
 was naturally of a more calculating and manceuvering dis 
 position. Her inborn love of admiration unconsciously 
 encouraged the advances of her gentlemen friends, and led 
 her to greet them with a warmth and cordiality that never
 
 26 ARMOUR. 
 
 failed to interest them, and make them her warm ad 
 mirers. 
 
 After seating themselves Fannie exclaimed, " Oh, mother, 
 isn't it too bad ; Mrs. Ashton is going to give a large party 
 next week, and Lou will not be here until the week after." 
 
 44 You had better write to your friend, and have her come 
 next week," replied her mother. 
 
 "I would, but she expects to visit her aunt in Albany 
 before coming here." 
 
 44 Are you expecting Miss Emory so soon?" Emily in 
 quired, with an expression that afterwards puzzled Fannie. 
 44 Of course Larry Hamilton will be on hand, dancing at 
 tendance as usual to strangers. What geese they are to 
 let him flirt with them as he does! They have completely 
 spoiled him." 
 
 44 Why, Emily, I always thought you and Larry were 
 particular friends," said Mrs. Adair, somewhat surprised 
 at the latent irritation which her tone unmistakably be 
 trayed. 
 
 44 It is enough to provoke any one," pouted Miss Emily ; 
 44 when any strange young lady visits here, we are second 
 ary considerations, and merely satellites revolving around 
 that bright particular star Lord Hamilton's passing whim 
 or fancy chooses to select for us ; and after they leave, he 
 has the impertinence to come to us for sympathy and con 
 dolence for their absence. Last summer, when he asked 
 Min Stewart and me to go horseback riding, he procured 
 Min that gray pony of Hunter's, and that great unsightly 
 giraffe of Jacobs' for me. I declare, when he brought him 
 to the door, with his neck stretched out like a crane, and 
 asleep on his feet, and I saw Min, nearly purple, trying to 
 keep from laughing outright at the ridiculous figure I cut,
 
 IN THE GLOAMING. 27 
 
 and Mr. Hamilton, of course, very busily engaged in fix 
 ing the saddle, I could have cried with vexation." 
 
 " You know it is very difficult sometimes to get a good 
 lady's hackney," mildly interposed Mrs. Adair, whil- 
 deavoring to suppress an amused smile at Kmily's descrip 
 tion of her " Rozinantes." 
 
 " But that was not the worst of it, I had to lay my 
 whip on at every step to keep up with them, and at last 
 Min's patience was exhausted, and she rode off and left 
 us. Larry offered to exchange horses with me ; but I pre 
 ferred being mortified to death to having my neck broken 
 on that black of his, and declined. We were not very 
 sociable during that ride, I assure you, for finally, provoked 
 beyond all measure, with the greatest exertion and a free 
 application of the whip, I succeeded' in getting the beast 
 into a slow canter just as we were descending a hill. When 
 half-way down he suddenly stopped stock still ; and, ex 
 pecting nothing of the kind, away I went over his neck, 
 rolling over and over in the dust, but was fortunately not 
 hurt. I might have been killed, but was dreadfully fright 
 ened when I found myself lying on my back and that gr<-at 
 ugly animal standing right over me, and gazing down upon 
 me with half closed eyes, tranquilly and contemplatively, 
 as if wondering what in the world I was doing there. And 
 just think, while I was lying there, wild with terror, and 
 striking blindly up at him with my whip, and screaming 'go 
 away I go away ! ' for fear he would trample me to death, 
 would you believe it, there sat that scamp, Larry Hamil 
 ton, leaning over his horse and laughing right in my face. 
 I was never so mortified and angry in my life, and will not 
 forgive him for that shameful trick as long as I live." 
 
 Fannie could no longer restrain herself at the thought 
 of the sorry figure the proud and sensitive Emily mus'
 
 28 ARMOUR. 
 
 have cut before the city visitor and a gentleman with so 
 keen a sense of the ridiculous as Hamilton possessed, and 
 peals of merry laughter rang through the room, as she 
 gazed on the flushed and indignant face of her friend. 
 Her merriment was so contagious that even Emily herself 
 reluctantly joined in, and laughed at the remembrance of 
 her own ludicrous plight. 
 
 After laughing heartily at this adventure, told in Emily's 
 inimitable style, the ladies began to discuss the thousand 
 and one details of that never-failing topic of feminine 
 conversation, dress and dressing, and Mrs. Ashton's com 
 ing party.
 
 L1BERTE, FRATERNITE, ET EGALITE. 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 LIBERTE, FRATERNITE, ET EGALITE. 
 
 ALTHOUGH Hamilton and Conyngham had been reared 
 with the same social influences and surroundings, in their 
 tastes, temperament, and mental and moral make-up, they 
 were as dissimilar as are the Torrid and Frigid Zones. Only 
 by tracing back to the different races from which they 
 sprung could one in any measure account for this great 
 difference, and explain the divergence in the after lives of 
 these two young men ; for both apparently pursued the 
 same aims and were actuated by the same ambitions. 
 
 The founder of the Hamilton family, of which Larry was 
 the last maje representative, waS Col. Lawrence Hamilton, 
 an Irish gentleman of considerable means and influence 
 in his own country. His hatred of tyranny and oppres 
 sion in every form as well as the natural Irish love of ex 
 citement, had led him to an active participation in one of 
 those fruitless and periodical attempts of that unhappy 
 people to free themselves from England's hated rule, after 
 the failure of which he found it prudent to leave for 
 America. 
 
 Of fine person, gay, social and with rare address and a 
 winning manner, Hamilton was not long in Philadelphia, 
 the city he had chosen for his future home in the colonies, 
 before he became a great favorite in the charming society 
 which distinguished that city then, and for which it is still 
 noted to this day. Already a pronounced rebel and a
 
 30 ARMOUR. 
 
 warm advocate of the divine rights of man, as taught by 
 I'ai-e, Voltaire, and Rousseau, doctrines then just beginning 
 to become fashionable and popular, Hamilton soon be 
 came a man of mark in political circles, and prominent in 
 the agitations which eventually led to open rupture with 
 the mother country; and slumbering aspirations, that had 
 hitherto been confined to a few dreamers whose Utopian 
 ideas had been looked upon as the idle vaporings of im 
 practicable minds, began to bear fruit. 
 
 By the advice of friends Hamilton had invested what 
 little capital he had saved in the lucrative West India 
 trade, and, a few years after, he wooed and won Rachelle 
 Bartholeman, the only daughter of an expatriated French 
 man, a chevalier, who like himself had entertained chimeri 
 cal ideas of personal and popular liberty, inconsistent with 
 the permanence and stability of monarchical governments, 
 and views not in accordance or in harmony with those 
 held by persons who belie\ted in the divine right of kings. 
 
 The father of the young lady, Chevalier Felix Barthol 
 eman, was a widower of forty, who, after the death of his 
 wife, to whom he had been devotedly attached, finding 
 provincial life unendurable and irksome, concluded that 
 Paris offered to one of his social tastes and active tem 
 perament a better field for ambitious effort; and, with 
 his daughter Rachelle, then a young girl of sixteen, he took 
 up his residence in the gay capital. But he soon found 
 that the liberty of speech and license of thought, which 
 he could indulge in with impunity in La Vende'e, where he 
 had been the leading proprie'taire of the Province, was a 
 dangerous amusement in the salons of the Rue Royale 
 and the Faubourg St Germain, surrounded by the secret 
 emissaries of the court party.
 
 LIBERTE, FRATERNITE, ET EGALITE. 31 
 
 One night, while heated with wine, and carried away by 
 the applause which greeted his witty and stinging, sallies 
 on royalty, he so far forgot himself and his surroundings, 
 as to rise from his seat, and carol off a song, then very 
 popular amongst the Vendeeans, but the words and senti 
 ments of which were very far from complimentary to either 
 Louis or his court ; he was suddenly brought to his senses, 
 on finishing the first stanza, by witnessing the startled 
 looks of his hostess, and missing the enthusiastic rounds 
 of applause that the finishing of each stanza, of the song 
 usually brought forth, while formerly entertaining some 
 of these same guests at his chateau, during the hunt 
 ing season. The influence of an old friend of his fathers, 
 who had the ear of Cardinal B , alone saved him from a 
 kttre de cachet. 
 
 His Parisian friends soon plainly gave him to under 
 stand that they no longer desired to be amused and en 
 tertained at the expense of court favor. 
 
 An object of suspicion to the government, and ostra 
 cized from the society of his former friends, the last of his 
 race, and with no ties of family to bind him to his native 
 country, and under a cloud that debarred him from enter 
 ing the ambitious political career he had marked for him 
 self, he determined to seek in the new world the position 
 and the fame which was denied him in his own coun 
 try; and with the remains of a fortune sadly impaired by 
 years of reckless and extravagant living, one bright morn 
 ing in May, 1773, father and daughter landed in New 
 York, where, meeting an old friend who lived in Philadel 
 phia, he was induced to make the latter place his future 
 home. 
 
 The daughter quickly adapted herself to her new sur 
 roundings ; but the gay chevalier longed for La Be/It
 
 32 ARMOUR. 
 
 
 
 France^ lost heart, and succumbing to a malarial fever, he 
 passed away, murmuring to the last of the green fields 
 and babbling brooks of " Sunny France." 
 
 His friend adopted Rachelle, and at his house she met 
 and learned to love the handsome and agreeable young 
 Hamilton. They were married, and had for a short time 
 enjoyed as happy wedded life as is generally vouchsafed 
 to mortals, when the storm, which had for some time been 
 brewing between the mother country and the colonies, 
 burst forth in all its fury. The report of the first gun at 
 Lexington, made the blood tingle in the veins of every pa 
 triotic man throughout the land ; and Hamilton was among 
 the first to offer his services to Congress. He raised a com 
 pany in time to participate in the unfortunate blunder of 
 Long Island, where his regiment was almost decimated, 
 and the mortality so great that he at once rose to the 
 rank of colonel ; and throughout the long eight years of 
 that ever-memorable struggle, he was distinguished for 
 his uniform kindness and courtesy to his brother officers 
 and men, and for his gallantry on the field. 
 
 When peace was declared he found himself, like many 
 others, in rather straitened circumstances, and with a small 
 family on his hands. For a nominal sum he purchased a 
 large tract of wild land, in what was then called the back 
 woods, and where now stands the town of Armour. 
 
 Finding here rich deposits of iron ore, Hamilton com 
 municated the fact to several of his former friends, who 
 had, more prudently or perhaps less generously, man 
 to save some of their patrimony, and entering into part 
 nership, by a few years of energy and intelligent effort, he 
 was soon again in prosperous circumstances, and enabled 
 to educate his children in Philadelphia, and renew his in 
 timacy with his friends of ante-bellum days.
 
 LIBERTE, FRATERNITE, ET EGALITE. 33 
 
 His success attracted others, and a charming society 
 soon sprang up in what had been, but a few years before, 
 a howling wilderness. 
 
 These old iron masters led baronial lives, and main 
 tained all the refined courtesies and hospitalities that so 
 distinguished the wealthy planters of Maryland and Vir 
 ginia in those days. 
 
 In the course of time, the old families had so married 
 and intermarried with one another, that there were few 
 who were not connected by ties of blood, and the indi 
 vidual and characteristic family traits became intensified 
 in their descendents. 
 
 Not having experienced the mutations of fortune their 
 ancestors had, and not feeling the wholesome spur of 
 necessity, their sons led the careless and thoughtless lives 
 of bon vivants and gay cavaliers, yielding themselves up 
 entirely to the pleasures of the hour, and spending their 
 lives, their health, and their fortunes in flirting and dan 
 cing, hunting, horse-racing, and gaming. 
 
 The two last named amusements were not only recog 
 nized at that time as proper and legitimate, but were prac 
 ticed by the most staid and sedate old gentlemen of the 
 day. They soon ran through their fortunes, and, piece by 
 piece, the large estates fell into the hands of strangers or 
 money-lenders, or dwindled down to the homestead and a 
 few acres, while their impoverished descendants speculat 
 ed their social position on marriages with nouveaux riches, 
 like their noble English prototypes of to-day and our 
 American heiresses, willing to replenish their exhausted 
 exchequers, and gratify their luxurious and extravagant 
 tastes, by sharing their names and social position for 
 wealth, family, and social position for money money 
 for social distinction and influence.
 
 34 ARMOUR. 
 
 Fast living soon thinned out the old Hamilton family 
 and in the third generation but one of the lineal descend 
 ants of Lawrence Hamilton remained to transmit the 
 family name. 
 
 This sole survivor was Roger Hamilton, Larry's father, 
 who started in the world poor, and with nothing but his 
 indomitable pluck and energy, and the proud memory of 
 a race, whose errors, while many, had always been on the 
 side of generosity and humanity, and whose bon-mots and 
 witty sallies and kind hospitalities are still matters of 
 tradition in that country.
 
 JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER. 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER. 
 
 ROGER, unfortunately inheriting these tastes and tenden 
 cies of his ancestors without the means of gratifying them, 
 was at times reduced to straits that a proud nature like his 
 fairly writhed under, and he struggled desperately to over 
 come the obstacles between him and fortune. 
 
 After finally succeeding far beyond even his most sanguine 
 expectations, he dreaded the effect of the Hamilton love of 
 excitement and pleasure upon his son. With ample means 
 to gratify his inclinations, his great anxiety was to shield 
 him from his own sad and bitter experience, a considera 
 tion which finally induced him to entail his estate, giving 
 Larry an assured annual income. To do this necessitated 
 the selection of a trustee during his son's life a rather 
 humiliating arrangement but which was necessary to the 
 carrying out of his intentions. At the suggestion of his 
 attorney the income was unfortunately left with numerous 
 provisions and conditions, constituting a rather curious sys 
 tem of rewards and punishments, with the trustee as judge, 
 jury, and executioner, and with no corresponding restraint, 
 check, or responsibility whatever on the part of the trus 
 tee, but the mere verbal promise that its provisions would 
 be carried out in the same kind and liberal spirit a father 
 would naturally be supposed to exercise, under the same 
 circumstances, with his own children ; a very hazardous ex 
 periment this was, to give the complete control of on
 
 36 ARMOUR. 
 
 man's fortune, and, to a dangerous extent, the shaping of 
 another's future career, to one who was bound by no ties 
 other than pecuniary gain and a love of power. 
 
 With some temperaments a will of this kind might pos 
 sibly have resulted differently, and with a wise and kindly- 
 disposed trustee, especially if the ward was easily influ 
 enced and submissively disposed. Larry Hamilton was 
 neither, but a high-spirited and hot-blooded young fellow, 
 who, while full of kind and generous impulses and natu 
 rally given to easy, pleasure-loving ways, was as determined 
 and ambitious to wield power, as was the Honorable John 
 Littlejohn, his trustee, determined to make him 'submit to 
 it. 
 
 The latter was, as the world goes, an honest man and an 
 able lawyer, but passionately fond of power. Narrow, 
 illiberal and tyrannical, he prided himself on his pro 
 fessional abilities and his immaculate Christianity. The 
 leading elder of the fashionable church in Armour and 
 superintendent of its Sabbath school, he loved to " pray 
 standing in the synagogue " where he could be " seen of 
 men " and made " broad his phylacteries." 
 
 At this period of his career he was looked up to, by the 
 circle of obsequious satellites and admirers who are always 
 found ready to bow down to and worship the rising sun of 
 success, as the very embodiment of the perfect man, and 
 of that grand religion, the very corner-stone and founda 
 tion of which is based on the universal brotherhood of 
 mankind, charity and the forgiveness of our enemies. 
 
 Yet no Comanche brave ever engaged with more ardor 
 in the pursuit of an enemy's scalp than d*d the Hon. Lit 
 tlejohn pursue to the death, with the most relentless hate, 
 the man who crossed his path, or refused to acknowledge 
 his superiority by the most unqualified and absolute abne-
 
 JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER. 37 
 
 gation of all manly independence. His intercourse with 
 those in his power was marked by the most intolerant 
 haughtiness, and with others, by the most perfect contempt 
 for their opinions while allowing no one to dispute his own. 
 
 To a few leading business men and politicians of the 
 State, he at this time assumed a liberality and bonhommit 
 that was utterly at variance with his true nature ; but the 
 absolute necessity for the furthering and carrying out of 
 the ambitious career he had marked for himself compelled 
 him, for the time being, to dissemble to every one but those 
 who were completely at his mercy. 
 
 Such was the man in whose hands were placed the for 
 tune, and to a very perilous extent, the shaping of young 
 Hamilton's career. At seventeen the young mind is very 
 pliable, and easily biased for good or evil by surrounding 
 circumstance. The possession of an independent income 
 at an early age, a bright imagination and complete mas 
 ter of one's own actions, Byron said, was one of the most 
 unfortunate and dangerous positions a young man could 
 be placed in ; and this was the situation in which Larry 
 Hamilton found himself. During his minority, with no 
 kind and restraining hand to warn, and with ample means, 
 he had led a rather wild life, running into numerous 
 excesses. 
 
 But his keenly-sensitive and proud nature revolted from 
 common vice, and, fortunately for him, a delicate organiza 
 tion entailed so much suffering after any excess that a con 
 tinuous course of dissipation was almost a physical impos 
 sibility, and swift suicide in a very painful form. 
 
 He matured quickly, and when he had attained his 
 majority was already a thorough man of the world. 
 
 The contrast between his gay life and that of the steady-
 
 38 ARMOUR. 
 
 going young men of the place, while it diminished his 
 influence in certain ways, on the other hand enhanced his 
 reputation. He was looked upon as a lusus natura, and 
 the charitably disposed divided the human race, for his sake 
 into men, women, and Larry Hamilton.
 
 MRS. ASHTOWS PARTY. 39 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 MRS. ASHTON'S PARTY. 
 
 THRONGS of handsome men and well-dressed women, 
 were congregated in the spacious and elegantly-furnished 
 parlors of the old Ashton mansion, and as young Hamil 
 ton and Emily Charlton passed through the halls, the daz 
 zling lights reflected from the old-fashioned chandeliers, 
 the delicate perfume of many flowers, the sweet strains of 
 waltzing music, the dancing, the rustling of silk, like a 
 breeze through tree tops, and the undertone of pleasant 
 excitement which generally pervades such occasions, 
 formed a scene well calculated to animate even the older 
 people. 
 
 The hostess was in ecstacy at the telat with which the 
 affair was passing off, and charmed with the buoyant ani 
 mation with which all the guests seemed inclined to con 
 tribute their quota to the evening's amusement. 
 
 During a pause in the dancing, while the guests were 
 chatting and enjoying themselves, there was a subdued 
 hush, and every eye was turned to the door, as Ralph Adair 
 entered the room with his sister and her New York friend, 
 Miss Emory, who had arrived the evening before. It was 
 an embarrassing moment for Fannie, this being her first 
 party, and while outwardly calm and self-possessed, she 
 afterwards declared she was almost ready to faint when 
 she realized the sensation that their appearance had evi 
 dently produced. 
 
 Her debut was a decided success, as her friend, al-
 
 40 ARMOUR. 
 
 though a very refined and stylish-looking girl, did not 
 for a moment compare with 1'annie in personal charms. 
 Fannie's beauty was of the kind the old masters of the 
 Titian school raved over, petite, well rounded and vo 
 luptuous in form, with sparkling dark blue eyes, and hair 
 of that rich, bright shade of auburn so very difficult to de 
 scribe, a blending of dark auburn with the golden tint, but 
 with a warm reddish hue predominating ; she also possessed 
 the brilliant complexion which generally accompanies this 
 color of hair. Her skin was so perfectly transparent, that 
 often, to her own embarrassment and the admiration of 
 others, every emotion was plainly depicted in the ebb and 
 flow of her rich coloring. 
 
 The unusual brilliancy of her complexion, indeed,' inva 
 riably attracted attention, and was frequently a cause of 
 great annoyance to the young girl, especially on the crowded 
 thoroughfares of a large city. Her mouth simply defied 
 description. The upper lip was short, and in its delicate 
 and exquisite curving reminded one of Cupid's bow, while 
 the nether was full and pouting. It was a sensitive and 
 mobile mouth, and when her deep carmine lips were parted, 
 in smiling and animated conversation, disclosing the even, 
 white teeth, the word rose-bud was but a poor comparison. 
 It was the mouth of a rich, loving disposition, and clearly 
 intended by Dame Nature for the express purpose of kiss 
 ing. 
 
 Her face was pure and artless as a child's, but by no 
 means characterless ; as every one soon found, after a few 
 minute's conversation with Fannie Adair, that with all her 
 pleasant and artless gayety, there was an undercurrent 
 of thoughtfulness and good sense that surprised them. 
 Without any pretensions to being a literateur, she was ex 
 ceedingly well informed, and a great reader. Her mother
 
 MRS. AS ff TON'S PARTY. 41 
 
 had watched her course with the greatest care and solici 
 tude, and encouraged in her a taste for reading of a higher 
 order, and on subjects generally considered too solid for 
 young ladies in their teens. 
 
 Of a happy disposition, and possessing a bright and 
 sunny temper, she was at the same time high-spirited, and 
 a young lady who could always take her own part when it 
 was necessary to do so. And this was the young lady 
 who, with the assistance of her friend, Emily Charlton, 
 intended to settle the pretensions of the two young gentle 
 men who had lorded it so long, socially, in Armour ; and 
 she was confident in her ability to rout the haughty enemy, 
 " horse, foot, and dragoons." 
 
 As the three stood conversing together, they were soon 
 joined by Malcolm Conyngham and Emily Charlton. A 
 quadrille was forming, and Conyngham, who was rather diffi 
 dent about showing off his awkwardness in dancing, soon 
 found himself going through the intricate figures of a new 
 quadrille with Fannie's friend, Miss Emory. This lady 
 had evidently practiced to perfection the art of making 
 herself attractive and agreeable, especially so to gentle 
 men, and Conyngham, very much to his surprise, found 
 his hands alternately touching the lovely palms of the 
 stranger, a sensation which, for his cold nature, was 
 decidedly novel and pleasant. 
 
 She was an accomplished and graceful dancer, and 
 while helping him through the intricate figures, she did it 
 without embarrassing him, and, at the same time, with 
 such exquisite tact, that she made a decided and pleasant 
 impression on him ; and when the dancing was over, as 
 they promenaded the room, flushed with pleasure and 
 excitement, she assured him with a silvery smile, that he 
 was a splendid dancer.
 
 42 ARMOUR. 
 
 While Malcolm knew he was not, he could not but help 
 feeling pleased at her evident desire to relieve him of any 
 sensitiveness he may have felt over the mistakes he had 
 made; and as he listened to her lively and intelligent 
 conversation on different topics, and looked into her bright, 
 animated face, he sighed, and wondered if he would 
 always be a bachelor. And O, sordid of mortals! he 
 wondered, also, if she was as wealthy as rumor had credited 
 her with being. 
 
 It was apparently love at first sight ; and as they rejoined 
 the group, while Emily was congratulating him on his suc 
 cess in going through the new figures, he stared vacantly, 
 and replied, " Yes, yes ; I believe so," in such an absent 
 manner, that Fannie rallied him with having lost his head 
 as well as his heart, and declared she would warn her 
 friend of what a gay deceiver he had proven in the past. 
 
 " Emily has kept me well-informed of all that has hap 
 pened since I left," she laughingly remarked, "and I feel 
 it incumbent on me, as her friend, to enlighten Lou a 
 little, or she might think you were really the unsophisti 
 cated youth you have been trying to make her believe you 
 are." 
 
 " I guess Miss Emily does not consider me so danger 
 ous as to require any warning," replied Conyngham, rather 
 dryly. 
 
 He never liked badinage, particularly before strangers, 
 as it infringed too much on \nsfra-dig. 
 
 " Where is Larry Hamilton ? " suddenly inquired Con 
 yngham. " I have not seen him dancing all the evening, 
 and it is not often he misses the opportunity." 
 
 "There he stands, over by the window, looking as blue 
 as if he had lost his last friend. What in the world is 
 wrong with him," queried Emily, with some feeling;
 
 MAS. ASIfTOWS PARTY. 43 
 
 "why, I never saw Larry Hamilton look so distrait in my 
 life." 
 
 " I suspect he and his trustee have had another of theii 
 little differences," laughed Ralph, "and Littlejohn has 
 likely been scolding him over his bills, or stopped the 
 money on him ; that is about the only thing I know that 
 would make Hamilton sad. And a humiliating position 
 it is for a high-spirited young fellow like Hamilton," he 
 continued, " to have his money doled out to him in trifling 
 sums, like a school-boy ; my only wonder is that he don't 
 have the blues all the time." 
 
 " Yes," said Conyngham, " this thing of being a poor 
 rich man, with all the refined tastes and sensitiveness of a 
 gentleman, and with the reputation of being wealthy, and 
 not allowed to handle his principal, is hard enough, but it 
 is much more mortifying to have even his income tied up 
 with irritating provisos. I often wonder he don't get 
 completely disgusted, and let the whole thing slide." 
 
 The object of these remarks stood, with arms folded, 
 leaning by a window at the other end of the room, 
 somewhat retired from the rest of the company, evidently 
 in a deep reverie, and far from the present scene and its 
 hilarity. 
 
 The bright eyes of beautiful women, sparkling with 
 animation and joyous excitement, appeared to have no 
 attraction for him ; his face expressed so much of mental 
 suffering, and such an absence of hope and deep shade of 
 gloom, that pretty little Fannie Adair's sympathetic heart 
 warmed towards him, and she forgot all about her deter 
 mination to be dignified and haughty. As their eyes met, 
 Hamilton started from his revery as if from a dream, 
 aroused himself, and seemed determined to make up for 
 his former unsociability by striving to be agreeable ; and,
 
 44 AX MO UK. 
 
 joining the group, he shook. hands and entered into con* 
 versation so cordially, that in a few moments they were 
 perfectly en rapport, and Fannie and he were the very 
 best of friends. 
 
 They met like friends who had parted the day before, 
 instead of after a year's absence. Hamilton's whole man 
 ner and countenance changed, and no one would have 
 recognized him as the disconsolate and gloomy-looking 
 young gentleman of a few moments before. 
 
 Offering his arm to Fannie, they joined the group 
 around a lady who was called upon to entertain the com 
 pany with music. She sang a sweet, plaintive, and old- 
 fashioned air, which was one of Larry's favorites, and the 
 deep swell of the music, together with Fannie's presence, 
 had a stimulating effect upon him ; and after the song was 
 finished he began a gay conversation with the smiling 
 rosy-lipped girl beside him. 
 
 His manners were elegant and graceful, and his atten 
 tions were evidently not unacceptable to the sweet girl 
 who was hanging on his arm, nor to those who joined 
 her for a share of the gentleman's conversation. 
 
 Conyngham lacked the ease and self-possession which 
 distinguished his friend, and was brusque and matter-of- 
 fact. With all the advantages of great wealth and his 
 father's position, he had never succeeded in acquiring 
 that peculiar ease of manner and charming debonair which 
 seemed so natural to Hamilton. Or was it inherited? 
 We inherit other peculiarities of mind and, manner from 
 our ancestors, and why not this undefinable savoir faire, 
 which so unmistakably make the gentleman to the manor 
 born, and which never fails to give its fortunate possessor 
 an advantage and a charm in social circles that no amount 
 of wealth or worldly advantage can purchase. Nor can
 
 ASHTOWS PARTY. 45 
 
 early association give more than a veneering of this inde 
 scribable quiet ease and unobtrusive self-respect, which, 
 without any conscious effort on the part of its possessor, 
 repels familiarity and rudeness without giving offence, and 
 proves such a wholesome check to the insolent preten 
 sions of the parvenu. 
 
 The evening passed off pleasantly, and it was long aftet 
 midnight before they were aware of the fact that even the 
 most pleasant of parties, like everything else in this 
 world, must have an end.
 
 46 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BETTER THAT HE WERE DEAD. 
 
 As Ralph Adair had correctly surmised, the cause of 
 Hamilton's depression early in the evening was owing to 
 an interview he had had with his trustee, and, as was 
 usually the case, was like bringing together flint and 
 steel. 
 
 Having attained his majority a few months before, and 
 fulfilled every condition necessary in order to claim seve 
 ral thousand dollars of surplus income which had accumu 
 lated during his minority, he had called upon his trustee 
 that afternoon, and insisted on its being paid over to him ; 
 but, as usual, the Hon. Littlejohn had found some tech 
 nical reason for withholding it, and the interview had not 
 only been rather florid, but ended even more angrily than 
 such interviews generally did. 
 
 The climax was reached when Littlejohn produced a 
 letter, which was in answer to one he had a few days pre 
 viously written, at Hamilton's urgent request, to a gentle 
 man at the head of a large business enterprise in a neigh 
 boring city, asking for him a position in which he could 
 acquire some practical knowledge of business affairs, with 
 out regard to salary, in order to enable him to judiciously 
 and intelligently invest some capital, which, by his father's 
 will, he would in a few years be entitled to, providing it 
 met the approval of his trustee, and that he be engaged at 
 the time in some legitimate pursuit. 
 
 Larry had succeeded, by the most humiliating and con-
 
 BETTER THAT HE WERE DEAD. 47 
 
 stant urging during the last year, in persuading Littlejohn 
 to write a number of letters of this kind ; but from the fact 
 that he had never been permitted to read them, and judg 
 ing from the tenor of the answers, he felt confident the 
 recommendations were not at all flattering to him, and 
 were calculated to injure him. Reading their replies to 
 Larry always seemed to give Littlejohn the greatest 
 amusement and satisfaction, and they never failed to irri 
 tate Hamilton to the highest degree. 
 
 This one he now produced. "Judging from his unc 
 tuous and unusually bland manner, it must be exceedingly 
 unpleasant to me," Larry said to himself, as Littlejohn, 
 with an expression of the greatest benevolence, settled 
 himself back into his easy chair ; and after two or three 
 preliminary clearings of the throat, proceeded, while care 
 fully noting the effect of each line on his hearer, to roll 
 out, as if it were a sweet morsel, from under his tongue, 
 the following : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 25, 1861. 
 HON. JOHN LITTLEJOHN, 
 
 " Yours, in which you asked me if I could find some 
 position, in one of my establishments, for a ward of yours, 
 named Lawrence J. Hamilton, received. 
 
 " I had a nephew who answered your ward's description 
 exactly, and, according to your account of his disposition 
 and habits, the two were much alike. 
 
 "In order to reform him we sent him off on a whaling 
 voyage for a two years' cruise, hoping it would either 
 kill or cure him. It did neither, and at the expiration 
 of that time he returned, only confirmed in his former bad 
 habits ; and even worse than before. Much to the relief 
 of all his relatives and friends he died a short time after ;
 
 48 ARMOUR. 
 
 and I think it would be better for your ward and his 
 friends if he would go and do likewise. 
 
 " Very truly yours, 
 
 "CALEB COPPE." 
 
 At the conclusion of this heartless and cruel letter, Lit- 
 tlejohn could no longer restrain himself, and his mean and 
 unmanly satisfaction, as he gazed at poor Larry's amazed 
 and indignant countenance, seemed only to increase his 
 untimely and heartless hilarity. 
 
 With an angry imprecation and a loud oath, Hamilton, 
 stung to madness, lost all control of himself, and, picking 
 up his hat, he rushed from the room and the hated pres 
 ence of his tormeirtor, grinding his teeth with suppressed 
 rage and anger, and biting his lips until the blood started. 
 
 The iron, from that moment, entered Hamilton's soul, 
 and he was a changed man thereafter, with a fixed and de 
 termined purpose in life. Henceforth, he would live to 
 show the world and this cold and cruel tyrant that it 
 would not be better for himself and his friends that he 
 were dead, and he resolved that he would yet live to see 
 the day when he would compel this heartless man to ac 
 knowledge the fact and regret the course he had pursued 
 towards him. 
 
 Hurrying home and locking himself in his room, he threw 
 himself on a lounge, and gave himself up to gloomy and 
 dismal forebodings. 
 
 The cheerful blaze of the grate-fire failed to impart 
 any of its brightness to his gloomy and perturbed mind. 
 The proud fellow was completely broken and humbled. 
 
 That his worst enemy could have given him such a 
 character he could scarcely believe possible. It was like
 
 BETTER THAT HE WERE DEAD. 49 
 
 a staggering blow in the face, and, with half-closed eyes, 
 he sat wondering if others had formed the same opinion 
 of him as Littlejohn. His heart ached with mortified 
 pride and wounded sensibility. 
 
 Hamilton's was one of those finely-fibered and sensitive 
 natures, keenly susceptible to wounding and injury, and 
 as he sat, with his head resting on his hands, in the fast 
 fading twilight, his head dropped lower and lower, while 
 the brooding frown upon his brow darkened into a deep 
 scowl. It was a sad contrast to the usually gay and lively 
 Larry Hamilton. 
 
 As he thought of his past life, hollow and unsatisfying, 
 and his fruitless attempts during the last year to connect him 
 self with some business, and his present, dull and hopeless 
 and devoid of endeavor, his future seemed cheerless and 
 forbidding. He had thought of pursuing the study of the 
 legal profession, but Littlejohn had ridiculed the very idea 
 of his ever being enabled to achieve success in it, and so 
 discouraged him by exaggerating the drudgery and the 
 tediousness of the profession, that a less sanguine person 
 than Larry would have been disheartened : and he wound 
 up his peroration by stating that unless a young man was 
 classically educated, it was useless for him to enter the 
 list with the expectations of being anything more than 
 one of the innumerable small pettifoggers and shysters who, 
 under the name of attorneys, manage to eke out a precari 
 ous existence, by resorting to practices that no honorable 
 man would stoop to. 
 
 The latter argument conclusively settled all doubts in 
 Hamilton's mind. If he had informed himself he would 
 have learned that nearly all our great men are not col 
 lege graduates. 
 
 His was no shallow nature, nor was he content with
 
 50 ARMOUR. 
 
 feeding on the dry husks of frivolous pleasure. Under 
 neath his light and gay exterior there was another and 
 different side to his character. He was far deeper and 
 more thoughtful than surface indications would seem to 
 denote, and while hitherto a pursuer of trifles, a trifler 
 he was not by any means. Possessing the coolest and 
 most reckless courage, and known to be a man whose de 
 termination recognized no obstacles, he was one of those 
 men about whom there always seem to cling a mystery ; 
 and while as winning as a woman, he had an iron will and 
 an adaptability which made him feared by the worst types of 
 men. The most elegant of gentlemen in the drawing- 
 room, he was one of the most dangerous of men in a quar 
 rel, although never the aggressor. 
 
 That he would lead an ordinary life, no one believed 
 who knew him well, and if in the future the fickle goddess 
 of fortune offered him half a chance, he would not be 
 slow to avail himself of her kindness. He had great am 
 bition to make a brilliant name for himself, and was anx 
 ious to make money ; not, like his friend Conyngham, to 
 gratify a natural avarice, and a brutal lust for power, but 
 for the pleasure it would bring to him and his friends, and 
 the gratification of a natural and creditable ambition to 
 make for himself some reputation. 
 
 Mrs. Hamilton and Larry were more like brother and sis 
 ter than mother and son. Her boy was her idol as she 
 was his, and if Larry had not naturally been inclined 
 towards an ambitious career, his love and desire to please 
 his mother would have been of itself more than a suffi 
 cient stimulus. 
 
 While the blow from Littlejohn had been a cruel one, 
 %nd hurt him to the death, no doubt it was the very thing
 
 BETTER THAT HE WERE DEAD. 51 
 
 needed to crystalize his wavering purposes, and fully de 
 termined him to change his mode of life. 
 
 He had gone to Mrs. Ashton's party in a most desperate 
 and unhappy frame of mind, but the pleasant party, and 
 Fannie Adair's sweet presence and cheerful conversation 
 had acted like a glass of old wine upon him ; and when he 
 awoke the next morning, and looked out on the clear, bright 
 sunshine of a beautiful, bracing October day, the storm 
 had blown over, and all within was peaceful and serene. 
 
 At twenty-one, one does not feel very sad very long. 
 
 As he rode by the Adair mansion that morning, he could 
 scarcely refrain from looking back, in order to catch an 
 other glimpse of Fannie's bright face in the window. And 
 he wondered if she was as bright and lovely at home as he 
 had found her to be in society. " If she is," he mentally 
 exclaimed, " that man who is fortunate enough to win her 
 will secure a prize."
 
 52 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CUPIp ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 Miss EMORY'S visit seemed to revive the drooping gaye- 
 ties of the quiet, old town ; and after her arrival the place 
 was as lively in a social way, as even these pleasure-loving 
 young people could have desired. 
 
 Horseback parties were the order of the day, and fur 
 nished the principal amusement. These riding parties 
 generally consisted of Ralph and Fannie Adair, Miss Em 
 ory and Emily Charlton, and of course, Lords Conyngham 
 and Hamilton. 
 
 That so many young people could be thrown together 
 under circumstances so pleasant, and so favorable to the 
 development of the tender passion, and escape the fiery 
 darts of Cupid, was hardly probable ; and the little god 
 had not failed to avail himself of the golden opportunity, 
 but had been unusually active, and, for the time being 
 seemed to have established himself permanently with the 
 party, and devoted to them his undivided attention. 
 
 Like most of the young people of wealthy families in 
 small country places, they were all good riders, and thor 
 oughly at home on horseback. The amusements, as a 
 rule, in these places, are so few that the keeping of horses 
 by those who have the means, and plenty of leisure, be 
 comes almost a necessity, where the refined recreations of 
 the rostrum and the opera, and the excitement and advan 
 tages of a large and constantly changing society are denied 
 them.
 
 CUPID ON HORSEBACK. 53 
 
 Emily and Fannie were both dashing and accomplished 
 equestriennes, and could vie with their gentleman friends 
 in graceful and fearless riding; but, unfortunately foi 
 Miss Emory, even with the best hackney that Conyngham 
 could procure, she made but a sorry figure, and, at a rapid 
 pace, clung to the saddle, a position which rendered 
 graceful riding out of all question. Often unable to keep 
 up with their rapid pace, she was compelled to follow 
 at a more moderate gait ; and Malcolm was only too well 
 satisfied to remain with her, and congratulated himself on 
 the good fortune which afforded him such fine opportuni 
 ties for love making. 
 
 Of course, Ralph was not expected to ride with his sis 
 ter, and thus Larry generally rode with Fannie, an 
 arrangement not entirely satisfactory to either Emily 
 Charlton or himself. For several years back the two had 
 been constantly together, and, without suspecting it, they 
 had become more attached to each other than they were 
 aware of. 
 
 Emily had such a confiding way of nestling up to him, 
 and was so dependent on his society, that it not only flat 
 tered him, but, unconsciously, secured for her a danger 
 ously warm place in his affections. As yet, he had never 
 thought it worth while to analyze his feelings ; and he 
 always looked upon her as a very dear friend. But Pla 
 tonic friendship with a girl like Emily Charlton, was dan 
 gerous ground for a young gentleman with ample leisure, 
 a warm imagination, and a free fancy. If in his own mind 
 he had ever seriously contemplated her in a matrimonial 
 light, he had always a fear that her love of admiration 
 and inordinate fondness for dress, which, while now a 
 harmless weakness might, in a married woman, prove to 
 be objectionable traits, and perhaps, in the future, be the
 
 54 ARMOUR. 
 
 cause of considerable discomfort, if not of actual unhap- 
 piness. 
 
 She was very ambitious, and he was satisfied that it 
 would go hard with the man who married her, if the day 
 should ever come when he could not gratify her tastes in 
 that direction. Emily was intensely magnetic, and her 
 presence never failed to excite Hamilton's emotional 
 nature to the utmost ; but so coy and cautious had she 
 always been, that when carried away by the impetuosity 
 of his feelings, and about to make a declaration, she 
 would, at the dangerous moment, and in some incom 
 prehensible way, drift him away from his intentions, al 
 though, at the same time, with eyes beaming full upon 
 him with the most tender and ardent expression, but con 
 veying to him a vague impression that, if he attempted 
 any advances he would most certainly be repulsed, and 
 probably lose her friendship and regard. 
 
 Emily thought of Larry as a friend who had grown 
 near to her through the natural cords of sympathy and 
 association. The truth was, they were both enamored of 
 each other, and at that stage of la grande passion when 
 too precipitate action will mar its perfect completion ; but 
 with her the glamour of love had not advanced far enough 
 to blind her judgment. While both romantic and senti 
 mental, yet when viewing her future, even at this stage, she 
 was perfectly well aware of the risk she ran in marrying a 
 man of Hamilton's unstable habits. At the same time, if 
 she had consulted her own heart, and if worldly consid 
 erations could have been made an odd factor, or have 
 been left entirely out of consideration, he was the man 
 she would have chosen for her heart's idol, and he alone 
 could have perfectly satisfied her loving disposition. 
 
 In their temperaments, and in the intensity of their
 
 CUPID ON HORSEBACK. 55 
 
 feelings, they were as much alike as a man and woman 
 could be. 
 
 But Emily could never stimulate Hamilton's more in 
 tellectual nature, nor give to him the comfort and rest 
 that he found in the society of Fannie Adair. While 
 Fanny never inspired him with the passion which Emi 
 ly's presence never failed to excite ; yet in time of 
 trouble, or when desiring to converse on any subject which 
 required thought, and above the range of ordinary society 
 topics, it was always to Fannie Adair, and not to Emily 
 Charlton, he went ; and it seemed the most natural thing 
 in the world for him to do so. 
 
 In view of Miss Emory's visit drawing to a close, 
 the gentlemen had arranged for one grand horseback 
 party before her departure ; and the day appointed for the 
 ride could not have been more delightful and propitious- 
 It was Indian summer, and as the gay cavalcade dashed 
 down the long, quiet streets of Armour that soft dreamy 
 afternoon even Mr. Bryon the staid and dignified 
 banker turned, and as he gazed after them involuntarily 
 sighed, and envied them their high health and youthful 
 spirits. He would willingly, that moment, have given his 
 fortune to have changed places with them as they swept 
 by, laughing merrily, with their long, gayly-colored plumes 
 curling gracefully from their chic little riding hats, and 
 which Larry, always with an eye to the picturesque, had 
 insisted upon each lady wearing; their neat-fitting and 
 elegant habits, prancing steeds, and dashing cavaliers cur 
 vetting on their fiery and high-mettled thorough-breds, 
 all combined to make a lively and exciting spectacle. 
 
 Both Conyngham and Hamilton were exceptionally fine 
 horseman, even amongst fine riders, although their style
 
 56 ARAfOUR. 
 
 of riding, seats in the saddle, and the management of their 
 steeds, were entirely different and characteristic of the two 
 men, but in perfect keeping and harmony with the re 
 spective styles of their masters. As they check tin ir 
 horses and move slowly down the pike, Malcolm sits his 
 horse like a centaur, perfectly immovable in the saddle, and 
 as proud, stately, and upright as a bronze equestrian statue. 
 He is the very ideal of a thorough bred West Point cav 
 alry officer, and his bright, strong, and handsome bay 
 seemed in perfect accord with his master, as, champing 
 his bit, he marched proudly along, with high step, as if 
 keeping time to slow martial music. 
 
 Hamilton rode with all the abandon, dash, and careless 
 grace of a natural horseman. Horse and rider seemed 
 moved as if by one impulse, and animated by the same 
 spirit. Swaying with every motion of his beautiful black 
 mare, the two were certainly the embodiment and poetry of 
 motion, and suggested light waltzing music. 
 
 Malcolm rode like a Roundhead, Hamilton like a dash 
 ing Cavalier. 
 
 Leaving the pike they ascended a high hill, which over 
 looked the surrounding country, the view from which was 
 simply magnificent. After resting their horses for a few 
 moments, Emily proposed a good, wild gallop, to which all 
 joyously assented. Ralph, more thoughtful than the rest 
 of the gentlemen, alighted, and after assuring himself that 
 the saddles were all right, remounted, and giving the girls 
 a few words of caution, as to keeping a tight rein, and 
 holding their horses well in hand, he gave the word go, 
 and off they started at a brisk canter. For two miles the 
 road ran along the brow of the hill, and was as smooth 
 and level as a floor. The canter speedily grew into a 
 wild, mad gallop, and the blood of the riders tingled
 
 CUPID ON HORSEBACK, 57 
 
 with an excitement, which quickly communicated itself 
 to their horses. The gallant steeds, each straining every 
 nerve to out-distance their fellows, flew over the road, 
 while their hoofs scarcely seemed to touch the ground. 
 The wind whistled by them, and a long cloud of dust 
 hung suspended in the air, far in their rear. On, on, 
 they maintained this killing pace for over a mile, when, 
 sweeping like a whirlwind around a sharp curve in the 
 road, some of them were almost unseated, and Larry, 
 in the excitement of the moment unable to resist a spirit 
 of reckless deviltry, rose in his stirrups and gave out a war- 
 whoop an Apache would have envied. The effect, as 
 might have been expected, was startling, the sudden 
 apparition, the dust and noise, and the unearthly yell, as 
 the cavalcade swept by, nearly frightened some pedestri 
 ans out of their wits, and the haste with which the latter 
 ran helter-skelter down the hillside convulsed the party, 
 and finally compelled them to check their mad pace. 
 
 They drew rein by a shady, little mountain spring on 
 the roadside. The party, with eyes sparkling and cheeks 
 glowing with pleasure and excitement, dismounted. After 
 quenching their thirst, the ladies proceeded to arrange 
 their habits, while the gentlemen tried the saddles, and, 
 where it was necessary, tightened the loosened girths. 
 After a few minutes' rest they remounted, and slowly walk 
 ing their tired horses off the steep ridge, descended to 
 the narrow valley below, the road through which was in 
 deep shadow from the overhanging evergreens. 
 
 As Fannie and Larry rode some distance behind their 
 companions the latter remarked, in an indifferent tone, 
 while switching the overhanging branches, as they moved 
 leisurely along, " I am going to leave Armour in a few 
 days, Fannie, and perhaps for good."
 
 58 ARMOUR. 
 
 Hamilton would have been very obtuse not to have 
 observed the incredulous and wistful, anxious look of the 
 young girl, as she quickly turned her face towards him, 
 and asked, in a dazed, startled tone," Going away! " 
 
 " Perhaps for good ! " 
 
 ** What do you mean, Larry ? " 
 
 " Simply what I say. I am going away to do my duty 
 towards my country, and to try and make a name for 
 myself, as I find it impossible to do that here. My life, 
 for several years back, has been intolerable, and I can 
 endure it no longer. I was never intended for an aimless 
 man of pleasure, like Guy Norris, for instance, who 
 never, for a moment, feels the qualms of conscience which 
 are ever stirred by ambitious longings ; and who is con 
 tent to be what he is, a mere butterfly of fashion, satisfied 
 to flutter in the sunshine, and sail idly down the river of 
 life, without aim or object beyond the present, and to die 
 at last, unhonored and unsung. But I am not Guy Norris, 
 and am miserable, leading such an existence. No opening 
 being presented here, and feeling somewhat desperate, 
 I have resolved to enlist as a high private in the First 
 Cavalry. Jack Wilmont informs me that there will shortly 
 be an election for a lieutenancy in the regiment, which is 
 now lying near Washington ; and, with Jack's influence, 
 I may possibly be enabled to secure the position ; and 
 with that end in view, I will enlist in the regiment in a 
 few days." 
 
 "A private soldier! Why, Larry, you could never 
 endure the hardships of such a life, and it is the height of 
 folly for you to think of such a thing ! You will break 
 down in a month. Can you not get some position at 
 home here ? " 
 
 " I have tried in every way possible," replied Hamilton,
 
 CUPID ON HORSEBACK. 59 
 
 " but the very fates seemed leagued against me, and no 
 alternative is left me but to enlist." 
 
 " If you are determined on going into the army, why not 
 ask General Conyngham to use his influence, and secure 
 you an appointment in the regulars ! You and Malcolm 
 are very intimate friends, and a word from him to his father 
 would be sufficient." 
 
 Larry laughed bitterly as he replied, " General Conyng 
 ham never gives his influence unless you can make some 
 handsome return, either in a political or pecuniary way, 
 equal to about twice the value of the favor he bestows ; 
 and if ever in after life you should be successful, he will 
 take the credit of having been the architect of your for 
 tune. And should he then ask a favor of you, no matter 
 how great a sacrifice it might involve, even of personal 
 honor, and you should refuse to do his bidding, no blood 
 hound would dog your steps with more persistent hate 
 than he. As for Malcolm, while we are the best of friends, 
 I know he has too much of his father in him to place my 
 self under obligations to him, and I intend taking the more 
 independent and manly cour.se, and run the risk like other 
 men." 
 
 The remainder of the ride that afternoon had little of 
 pleasure for poor Fannie. As they rejoined their compan 
 ions she endeavored to appear unconcerned, but her de 
 jected appearance was the occasion of some remarks, and 
 the party playfully rallied her on her woe-be-gone counte 
 nance. 
 
 Numerous inquiries were laughingly made, as to whether 
 they had been quarreling, and Fannie endeavored to reply 
 in the same playful spirit, but failed, and her face contin 
 ued to wear a sad and thoughtful expression. 
 
 Hamilton was in high spirits, and he and Emily Charl-
 
 60 ARMOUR. 
 
 ton, riding off together at a lively pace, were soon out of 
 sight. After proceeding some distance, they were warned 
 by the appearance of the country, that they had taken the 
 wrong road, a fact which, owing to the dense evergreens 
 and their rapid pace, had heretofore escaped their observa 
 tion. Turning their horses heads they prepared to retrace 
 their steps, but neither of them seemed impatient or anx 
 ious to join their companions. The bright eyes of Emily 
 were sparkling with pleasure, and Hamilton seemed pow 
 erless to resist the tender glances of the lovely girl. His 
 heart beat rapidly as he thought that he had never seen 
 her look so bewitching, when suddenly, and with a little 
 exclamation of fright, she reined in her horse and re 
 marked that her saddle was loose. Larry quickly alighted, 
 and on examination found one of the girth-straps broken, 
 to adjust which necessitated Emily's dismounting. As he 
 stood with outstretched arms to receive her, she discov 
 ered, on endeavoring to free her foot from the stirrup that 
 it was fastened, as securely as if in a vise. Blushing and 
 with downcast eyes she made him aware of the embarrass 
 ing circumstance. It was a delicate matter, with the 
 long riding skirt, first to find the little prisoner, and then 
 to free it ; but it was finally accomplished, and with an 
 embarrassed little laugh the glowing, blushing beauty, 
 slipped from the saddle into his arms. As her eyes met 
 his, beaming full upon her, his face illuminated with pas 
 sionate tenderness, she endeavored to disengage herself \ 
 but he quickly caught the be'autiful girl in his arms and 
 pressed his burning lips to hers. It was so suddenly and 
 quietly done that Emily was completely taken by surprise, 
 but quickly recovering herself, she bitterly reproached him 
 for taking such an ungentlemanly advantage of her help 
 less condition. As the indignant beauty regained her
 
 CUPID ON HORSEBACK, 6l 
 
 saddle she also recovered her dignity, and turning to her 
 now repentant and humbled cavalier, who was awkwardly 
 making some apologies and endeavoring vainly to excuse 
 himself. 
 
 She angrily exclaimed, "Larry Hamilton, do not utter 
 another word. Your conduct this afternoon has ended 
 our friendship forever. Never speak to me again until I 
 can forgive this. You have to-day forfeited all my confi 
 dence ; and I can never, as long as I live, retain the slight 
 est respect for you." 
 
 Before they arrived home that evening they were better 
 friends than ever. 
 
 Verily women are a strange bundle of inconsistencies. 
 They do not even seem to understand themselves when a 
 little in love. 
 
 In extenuation of Larry's indiscretion it must be remem 
 bered, these two were old and intimate friends and more 
 than half in love with each other, and while Hamilton 
 might give way in an unguarded moment to a great ani 
 unexpected temptation, like the one that had just over 
 taken him, still there was nothing premeditated, or any 3f 
 that lack of moral principle which marks the libertine. 
 
 No man would have scorned more than he to have taken 
 undue advantage of either man or woman ; but there are 
 times in every man's life when, under the same circumstan 
 ces, the most honorable of men would have acted pre 
 cisely as he did, provided they had possessed the same 
 temperament. 
 
 Conyngham's wooing was not of the ardent and impetu 
 ous kind. And as he and Miss Emory rode along in the 
 cool moonlight there was very little said by either which, if 
 overheard by the rest of the party, would have caused them 
 the slightest embarrassment, or could have been construed
 
 62 ARMOUR. 
 
 as bordering on sentiment. Both were remarkably calcu 
 lating and secretive natures, and, like all such people, they 
 were not much given to demonstration. 
 
 Considered as engaged by their companions, they were, 
 as if by common consent, left together, and before arriving 
 home Conyngham had, in a calm matter-of-fact and purely 
 business-like manner, proposed, and had been as calmly 
 accepted. 
 
 During Miss Emory's visit, Conyngham had spent every 
 spare evening at the Adair mansion, and remained so late 
 as to sadly interfere with the old gentleman's hours for 
 family worship. In self-defense the latter was compelled 
 to. close the shutters rather more violently than was abso 
 lutely necessary and not entirely in consonance with the 
 amiable character Mr. Adair sustained in the comnfUnity. 
 But it had no effect whatever. Malcolm smiled grimly and 
 remained. 
 
 The services were held in the dining-room, and I am 
 afraid they were not conducted in the humble and devo 
 tional spirit which should animate such occasions.
 
 ALL A9 NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS. 65 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS. 
 
 LOUISE EMORY was reputed at Madam Clement's as 
 being the only daughter and sole heiress of a lady of great 
 wealth and high social position in Gotham, and reports of 
 her schoolmates, who had been so fortunate as to receive 
 invitations to visit Mrs. Emory and her daughter, more than 
 confirmed these rumors. In fact, the girls on their return 
 to school never tired talking of the grand style of living 
 of their hostess, of the elegant entertainments, and the 
 distinguished social ctftbres they had met. 
 
 Mr. Emory had been an extensive and very wealthy cotton 
 broker. The bulk of his large fortune he had inherited, 
 and the remainder he had amassed by years of untiring 
 devotion to business. 
 
 The Emory's were an old New York family, and had, 
 from the time that the memory of the oldest society hack 
 runneth not to the contrary, moved in the most refined 
 and cultivated circles of the very crime de la creme of 
 Knickerbocker society. Their social position had not only 
 always been an assured one, but an exceptionally enviable 
 one. 
 
 Most of Mr. Emory's means had been invested in South 
 ern enterprises, and dying several years before the war 
 broke out, his estate being unsettled, the greater part of 
 his handsome fortune was lost. The mansion still re 
 mained, and an amount that many persons would have
 
 64 ARMOUR. 
 
 considered a moderate fortune. But Mrs. Emory had no 
 idea whatever of the value of money, and had neVer in her 
 life known what it was to deny herself in anything. Every 
 whim and caprice had been gratified, and these habits had 
 become second nature by long years of unrestrained in 
 dulgence. 
 
 Notwithstanding the expostulations of the executor of 
 the estate, a gentleman who had been one of Mr. Emory's 
 partners and a sincere friend of the family, she continued 
 to live on in the same old, extravagant style, and to spend 
 as lavishly, and entertain as handsomely, as if there were 
 no end to the money. 
 
 In one sense, there was some method in her madness. 
 Like a desperate gamester she had staked all on one game, 
 and was playing her last card. All this lavish expenditure 
 was planned and carried on with the single purpose in 
 view, of maintaining their high social position and reputa 
 tion for great wealth. If this could be continued for a 
 few more years, Lou might, as a reputed great heiress, make 
 a wealthy marriage which would amply compensate their 
 efforts. 
 
 She had unquestionably succeeded in maintaining her 
 social and financial reputation, but it was accomplished by 
 sad inroads upon their precious principal. There was no 
 half way now. She had gone too far in the desperate 
 game to retrace her steps ; and in a year or so at the fur 
 thest, Lou must either succeed or the crash must come ; 
 and if the daughter did not fulfil her mother's expecta 
 tions and marry a rich man, there was nothing left for 
 them but to retire to some quiet country place and move 
 in a more humble sphere. In view of such a very possi 
 ble contingency, the foclish woman had, with a foresight 
 that had never distinguished any action in her life before,
 
 ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS. 65 
 
 laid by and determined to keep intact for such an emer 
 gency, a sum sufficient to keep them in moderately good 
 style in a small place. 
 
 Owing to more than ordinary outlay during the last sum 
 mer at Saratoga and other expensive watering-places, there 
 had been so many bills to pay on her return, and obliga 
 tions to cancel, that for the first time in her life she found 
 it impossible to meet them. 
 
 In order to escape a financial pressure, she had found it 
 convenient to visit a sister in Albany, and sent Louise on 
 a long visit to her friend and schoolmate, Fannie Adair. 
 When again recuperated financially they could renew the 
 struggle. 
 
 Lou was early initiated into her mother's plans and pur 
 poses, and knew full well how much their future depended 
 upon her. And in her daughter the mother found an ally 
 as ambitious and scheming as herself. 
 
 While at Madame Clement's, Lou had heard of the great 
 wealth and prominence of the Conyngham family, and 
 when Fannie Adair proposed a visit to Armour, she was 
 not at all reluctant to take advantage of the invitation, and 
 while artfully pretending to be very anxious to meet her 
 friend Fannie's beau ideal, Larry Hamilton, it was of Mal 
 colm Conyngham she thought, with high hopes of turning 
 their temporary economical shift into a substantial reali 
 zation of her own and her mother's fond dream. 
 
 Through Ralph Adair, Malcolm had been apprised of 
 the prospective visit of the New York heiress, and from 
 one of his sisters, who had graduated a year after Miss 
 Emory had made her appearance at Madam Clement's, he 
 had learned that the rumors of her great wealth were not 
 exaggerated, and that when she attained her majority she*
 
 66 ARMOUR. 
 
 would inherit one half of her father's estate, which rumor 
 had placed at a million. 
 
 No more sincere worshipper of Mammon ever bowed to 
 her shrine than Malcolm Conyngham. Even at this early 
 age his avarice was phenomenal, and his inordinate greed 
 for gain knew no bounds. His one single aim in life was 
 the gratification of this sordid appetite, and his only 
 maxim was, " to get money, honestly if he could, but to 
 get money." 
 
 His attentions to Miss Emory at Mrs. Ashton's party 
 were premeditated, and with the most mercenary of ends 
 in view. He would have married the girl had she been as 
 homely as sin itself, provided she had, beyond all doubt, 
 possessed the large fortune she had been credited with. 
 
 He was very agreeably surprised, on meeting her, to 
 find a young lady of more than ordinary grace and refine 
 ment, with an elegant figure, and that which he admired 
 more than anything else in a woman, excepting a large 
 fortune, splendid style, a dignified bearing, and a thorough 
 knowledge of society, while to these attractions she added 
 a quick intellect, and more intelligence than is generally 
 met with in society women. 
 
 Very much to his astonishment, in a short time he dis 
 covered he loved the girl with as much ardor as one of his 
 cold and selfish nature could love any one ; but at the same 
 time he was indefatigable in endeavoring to ascertain defi 
 nitely, and beyond all possibility of doubt, if she really in 
 herited the wealth reported to be awaiting her. 
 
 Malcolm Conyngham was not the only one who was fas 
 cinated with the stylish heiress. Ralph Adair worshipped 
 the bright goddess afar off, and in his good, honest, manly 
 heart, he successfully buried the secret of his hopeless 
 attachment. His sister Fannie never suspected the cause
 
 ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS. 67 
 
 of Ralph's unusual solicitude for her visitor's comfort, and 
 his abstracted manner when Miss Emory was absent, nor 
 had she noticed how feverishly bright his eyes became in 
 her presence. 
 
 From the first he knew that he had no chance with his 
 wealthy rival, and endeavored manfully to stifle his unre 
 quited and hopeless passion, and finally succeeded in doing 
 so, but at the cost of considerable misery, of the cause of 
 which not even his most intimate friends had the slightest 
 knowledge. 
 
 He was preparing himself for the legal profession in the 
 office of Larry's trustee, Mr. Littlejohn, and as the office 
 was directly opposite his home, between Blackstone and 
 watching his sister's visitor across the way, he was afflicted 
 with a temporary obliquity of vision, which his fellow stu 
 dents feared, if she remained much longer, would become 
 permanent. Poor Ralph often suppressed an inward groan 
 as he watched the two lovers start out on their numerous 
 horseback rides, and vainly endeavored to bear it like a 
 philosopher. 
 
 Louise Emory affected a refinement that was not natural 
 to her, although so skilfully was it assumed, that it re 
 quired a very shrewd judge of feminine nature to detect 
 the false ring in the coin. 
 
 Although inclined to scheming and cunning, she had 
 many very pleasant, and one might almost say lovable, 
 qualities; and she was capable of kind and generous 
 action.
 
 68 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 WHAT'S BRED IN THE BONE. 
 
 WHEN the great Napoleon issued his famous order, 
 blockading the continental ports to English vessels, dur 
 ing the terrible struggle which was shaking all Europe to 
 its foundations, and while in the height of his wonderful 
 career of conquest and plunder, the business of smuggling 
 became very profitable in Great Britain, and many small 
 traders, not averse to questionable and risky transactions, 
 engaged in it, and in a short time made quite snug little 
 fortunes by furnishing ammunition and supplies to the 
 enemy to be used against their own countrymen. 
 
 Amongst this class was James Conyngham, the grand 
 father of Malcolm, a shrewd, canny, calculating, but un 
 scrupulous and mercenary Scotchman, whose dubious ways 
 and unsavory reputation had made him an object of dis 
 trust and dislike amongst his fellow townsmen, while his 
 greed and tyrannical disposition had caused him to be 
 hated and despised, amongst the rough, unprincipled char 
 acters he had associated with him in his doubtful busi 
 ness. 
 
 This feeling of late had become so intense against him 
 that his stay in Scotland was no longer comfortable or safe. 
 Having acquired sufficient funds to take him to America 
 and set him up in a small business, and being ambitious, 
 he embarked for the land overflowing with milk and honey, 
 where he felt confident, that with such talents as he pos-
 
 WHAT'S BRED IN THE BONE. 69 
 
 sessed, he would certainly find a rich field for amassing 
 wealth, and perhaps become a power in the land. 
 
 But he soon found that the qualifications necessary 
 for the making of a successful smuggler in the old world 
 were not calculated to win him either the respect or the 
 patronage of the people he had settled amongst in the 
 new. His fondness for little deceptions, and duplicity, 
 his small cunning, his inability to originate anything 
 within himself, and adaptability for availing himself of the 
 ideas of others, while palming them off on the public as 
 his own ; his furtive and underhanded ways, and utter dis 
 taste for bold, open, and manly courses; his trading in 
 old horses, saddles, bridles, and wagons ; his desire and 
 passion for dealing in pinchbeck jewelry, and in fact for 
 all business, which afforded opportunities for the petty 
 cunning of an unprincipled yet timid nature, provoked 
 many doubts and unfavorable comments, as to his real 
 nationality, and caused him, ultimately, to be despised. 
 
 In those days, a man whose honor and integrity were 
 unquestioned, stood higher, and was more respected by 
 the public, than did that man who successfully accumulated 
 great wealth by the sacrifice of both. James had lived too 
 soon, and it remained for his descendants, born in times 
 more favorable to the perfect development of the peculiar 
 talents of the Conyngham family, to attain the distinction 
 and wealth their ancestor had so fondly dreamed of. After 
 a few years of unsuccessful struggles with adverse for 
 tune, he died, leaving a large family in straitened circum. 
 tances. 
 
 The sons to a man inherited all their father's mercenary 
 instincts and his lack of moral principle. They were 
 determined to make money, and make it they did ; some 
 by the hard, grinding process of usury, and others by
 
 70 ARMOUR. 
 
 questionable business transactions, and sharp practices 
 which, while savoring of rascality, were far enough within 
 the letter of the law to save them from the exposure and 
 punishment they so well merited. 
 
 With increasing prosperity they discontinued in a great 
 measure the practice of the petty tricks and chicane which 
 had, in their earlier days, made the name of Conyngham a 
 by-word and reproach amongst their neighbors ; and they 
 now prosecuted their schemes of selfish aggrandisement 
 on a grand scale. 
 
 One of these brothers, Jacob, having made some money, 
 laid the foundations of a large fortune by loaning money, 
 at terribly usurious rates, to distressed lumbermen, who, in 
 the spring, floated from the upper part of the state large 
 rafts of lumber to Armour. Not finding ready purchasers, 
 and being at expense and anxious to return home, these 
 men submitted to almost any shaving or sacrifice ; and in 
 Jacob they always found an uncle willing to accomodate 
 them, " a friend indeed." 
 
 His next operation was securing the appointment as In 
 dian agent under the government, and exchanging the gold, 
 furnished by the government for the payment of annuities 
 to some Indian tribes in the far West, for his own private 
 bank's promise to pay on paper. With these notes he 
 coolly went amongst these innocent and guileless children 
 of the forest, and settled with them on a paper basis, well 
 knowing the one-half of the amount would never reach the 
 bank to be redeemed; nor caring for the fact that the 
 Indians would get about two or three dollars for every five 
 paid them, on account of the heavy discount on paper so 
 far from home. 
 
 Having political aspirations he connected himself with 
 a partisan newspaper, and soon found in the mire of local
 
 WHATS BRED IN THE BONE. 71 
 
 politics, and in the sinuous and tortuous windings of our 
 general American political life, a congenial and splendid 
 field for the exercise and perfect development of the Con- 
 yngham talent, and soon achieved success and fame. 
 
 Early in his career he had married a thrifty and indus 
 trious young woman, one who possessed a more than or 
 dinary share of good, common sense, and who, by her 
 economical management, had greatly helped Jacob in 
 amassing a large fortune. 
 
 After years of scheming and sordid self-seeking, and by 
 resorting to the most unscrupulous practices, Jacob had 
 succeeded in worming and bribing himself into the high 
 est place but one under the government, and even aspired 
 to the presidency itself, the grand objective point of his 
 ambitious career, and for which he had schemed and in 
 trigued for a quarter of a century. Several times when the 
 prize seemed almost within his grasp, his too-well-known 
 and unparalleled career of venality and corruption roused 
 the people to a sense of their dishonor and a vigorous 
 protest against such a public disgrace, and settled his 
 aspirations for the time being. 
 
 Here, high in the councils of a great nation, he sat an 
 everlasting monument of reproach to a people who had 
 quietly and tamely acquiesced in their own shame. And 
 they allowed this man to ride rough-shod over all decent 
 public opinion, and to insolently place himself in the high 
 est tribunal but one in the land, by practices which, in any 
 other country, would have consigned him to prison as a 
 common malefactor, instead of rewarding him with its high 
 est honors, and permitting him to occupy a position which 
 had hitherto been only the reward of brilliant talents, or 
 moral and intellectual superiority.
 
 72 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OUR UNCLES. 
 
 ONE short month had made great changes in the gay 
 party which had so enlivened the sleepy old town of Ar 
 mour during the fall months, months which had proven 
 so pleasurable to the young people, who, in after life, looked 
 back upon this period of their lives as an oasis in the 
 desert, and dwelt upon its scenes and incidents with fond 
 ness and regret. 
 
 Larry Hamilton, to the surprise of every one in the 
 town, the great grief of his mother, and regrets of his 
 friends, suddenly left for Washington for the purpose of 
 enlisting as a private in a cavalry regiment, then lying in 
 winter quarters near that city. 
 
 Fanny Adair had returned with her friend, Miss Emory, 
 to New York ; and Emily Charlton accepted an invitation 
 from General Conyngham and his family, to spend the win 
 ter with them in Washington. 
 
 The general had years ago removed from Armour to 
 the State capital, as his increasing political prominence re 
 quired his presence there most of the time ; and in the 
 winter, when Congress met, he generally closed his house, 
 and spent his winters at the National capital, where his 
 time was taken up with political wire-pulling, smuggling 
 bills through the different committees, and assisting cor 
 porations in their nefarious schemes for robbing and
 
 OUR UNCLES. 73 
 
 enslaving the people, and perpetuating his own political, 
 power. 
 
 His family mingled in the gay metropolitan society, 
 hob-nobbed with diplomats, titled noblemen, and railroad 
 kings, and looked down with scorn on those who could 
 not command a million, or who did not occupy the highest 
 offices in civil, army, or navy life. Jacob Conyngham's 
 long career as senator gave to Mrs. Conyngham and her 
 daughters such social advantages as only great wealth 
 and political power (no matter how corruptly acquired) 
 give in a society so peculiar and variegated as is society in 
 Washington. 
 
 Malcolm had always remained in Armour, where his 
 presence was now essential to the successful management 
 of their growing and extensive banking business, every 
 detail of which he had completely mastered. Under his 
 shrewd and pitiless management the business had almost 
 trebled. His father was completely absorbed in political 
 affairs, and was only too glad to be relieved of the addi 
 tional cares and responsibilities which their extensive 
 business required. 
 
 Thus early, and with comparatively little effort on his 
 own part, did this fortunate young man succeed to the 
 control of a large and prosperous business, and to his 
 father's immense exchequer. With such advantages it re 
 quired no original or very great talent on his part to ac 
 quire wealth enough to have satisfied, if such a thing were 
 possible, the dreams of avarice itself. 
 
 With an old and skilful engineer on the box beside one, 
 it is comparatively easy to learn to run an engine after the 
 roadway is built, and the engine furnished. There are per 
 sons who often, by a lucky combination of circumstances, 
 succeed to leading positions without the preliminary drudg-
 
 74 ARMOUR. 
 
 ing, and brain work so necessary to lay the foundation 
 of fortunes. 
 
 Truly some are born to fortunes, others achieve for 
 tunes and others have fortunes thrust upon them ; and 
 Malcolm Conyngham could certainly say he was both born 
 to fortune and had fortune thrust upon him. 
 
 The dizzy height to which he now had succtfr.Ied wiih so 
 little effort or exertion on his own part, would have been the 
 ruination of most young men, especially, if they had been 
 socially inclined, and of generous proclivities. But Con- 
 yngham's phenomenally cold and selfish ' nature, and his 
 inordinate fondness for money, and lately of power, two 
 traits characteristic of the Conyngham family, and which 
 he had come by naturally from his ancestors, rendered him 
 utterly impervious to the temptations that most, young men 
 would have succumbed to. 
 
 He was now completely absorbed in, and cared for noth 
 ing but money-getting. Money was his god, and in pursuit 
 of it he never hesitated to trample under foot every noble 
 and generous instinct ; and in the gratification of his lust 
 for gold, he was utterly regardless of the rights and inter 
 ests of others, and respected them only so far as it en 
 hanced and promoted his own. Outwardly, he was irre 
 proachable in his habits, and a regular attendant of 
 church services. And while a gentleman in appearance 
 and in manners, when he desired to appear so, at heart, 
 he lacked the very first instinct of one, and would break a 
 promise, in an instant, if it was necessary to do so in 
 order to accomplish his purposes. As for generosity or 
 chivalry, the words were not only not in his vocabulary, 
 but the man himself had not the slightest comprehension 
 of the meaning of the words. 
 
 He possessed all the qualities which, in a more humble
 
 OUR UNCLES. 75 
 
 sphere of life would have made him a heartless and suc 
 cessful pawnbroker a business for which nature had 
 evidently intended him ; but, fortunately for the possessor 
 of such talents, he found the kind of banking business he 
 was now engaged in a congenial pursuit. 
 
 In fact, the same talents which, as a rule, are required 
 to make a successful shaver of notes under the pseudo pa 
 tronymic of banker, are the same as are required to make 
 a successful pawnbroker viz. : heartlessness and greed. 
 Both take the treble amount of collateral necessary for their 
 security, and charge exorbitant and ruinous rates of inter- 
 est, without a particle of risk to themselves. Like the cow^ 
 ardly jackal and the hyena, do these human prototypes 
 follow the wounded prey ; until, in his last extremity, they 
 finish his misfortunes. 
 
 The only difference in the respective callings is in the 
 kind of collateral hypothecated. While the one preys 
 upon, and takes advantage of, the misfortunes and neces 
 sities of the poor and needy classes, the other takes advan 
 tage of the crippled and unfortunate business men in the 
 community. Both finish what misfortune began. 
 
 Why should not six gilt balls, with equal appropriate 
 ness, represent the banking interests as conducted by 
 some men, as well as three gilt ones that of pawnbroking ? 
 The only difference between a mouse-trap and a rat-trap 
 is that the latter is made to catch larger game. 
 
 Men following both of these occupations for a long time, 
 acquire a heartlessness and indifference to the suffering 
 and troubles of their fellow-men to an almost incred 
 ible degree, and their business in time gives to their 
 countenance a cold immobile look, and their eyes attain 
 a ferret-like sharpness highly suggestive. 
 
 It is as impossible to distinguish a successful pawnbroker
 
 76 ARMOUR. 
 
 from a flourishing banker of the class referred to, as far 
 as general physiognomy goes, as it would be to detect the 
 difference between a political bummer and some congress 
 men, provided both were equally well dressed and not en 
 gaged in their respective callings. 
 
 If such a proposition be entertained to exclude butchers 
 from serving on juries, in cases where their vocations are 
 supposed to have obliterated all sympathy for physical suf 
 fering, should not, with equal appropriateness, pawnbrokers 
 and a certain kind of bankers be excluded from the jury 
 in civil cases where pecuniary suffering is involved ? 
 
 There are of course some honorable bankers. There 
 are also some honorable pawnbrokers. They should all 
 confine themselves to their legitimate business, and not 
 attempt to assume the role of senators and city council- 
 men, where an entirely different order of talent is required. 
 The people want their friends not their enemies to make 
 their laws and execute them.
 
 WEIGHED AND POUND WANTING. 77 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING, 
 
 IT was a cold, crisp morning in January, 1862. Most 
 of the members had returned to their congressional duties 
 after their holiday vacations at home, and Washington so 
 ciety, refreshed and reinvigorated, entered into the winter 
 gayeties with renewed zest and pleasure. 
 
 Eleanor and Mary Conyngham were comfortably en 
 sconced, with their friend and guest Emily Charlton, in an 
 elegant little boudoir, by courtesy called, a parlor, at Wil- 
 lard's. The trees and branches along the avenues were 
 white with frost, and merry bells tinkled on the frosty air, 
 the sounds being softened by the heavily-curtained win 
 dows. The bright glowing grate fire and the luxuriously 
 furnished room, made a cheerful contrast to the wintry 
 scene without. As Eleanor Conyngham sat by the win* 
 dow, watching the moving throngs on the sidewalk, and 
 the elegant equipages dashing down Pennsylvania avenue, 
 she suddenly cried out, u If there is not Larry Hamilton, 
 I do believe 1" All were on their feet in an instant, and 
 arrived at the window only in time to catch a glimpse of 
 young Hamilton's graceful figure as he disappeared in the 
 crowd. 
 
 " I think it so strange that a gentleman like Larry 
 Hamilton should enlist as a common soldier, and for my 
 part I am very free to say, that I hope he will not mortify 
 us by calling in his uniform, or have the impertinence ta
 
 78 ARMOUR. 
 
 invite us to the opera or any reception," said Mary 
 Conyngham, in her most acidulous tones and with a haughty 
 toss of her elaborately coiffured head. 
 
 " You need give yourself no uneasiness on that score," 
 said her sister Eleanor, in the precise, crisp and snappish 
 manner habitual to her, and which she fondly flattered 
 herself as being a charming hauteur. " He is a lieutenant 
 now, so Emily said yesterday did you not ?" 
 
 " Yes, I did," replied Emily. " As we came from the cap- 
 itol the other morning Colonel Irving informed me he had 
 been elected to that position shortly after he had enlisted. 
 Larry is in his regiment, and he was very much pleased 
 with him, and said all the officers liked him, he was so 
 frank, gentlemanly, and jovial. I do wish he would call. 
 I am fairly hungry to see some home friends, and am so 
 tired x>f strangers^even if they are rich and fashionable and 
 great. I would shake hands, with joy too, with old black 
 Uncle Jude, right in the capitol, before all the generals, 
 colonels, and august representatives there assembled." 
 
 " Emily," said Mary Conyngham severely, " you must 
 remember it is not exactly in keeping with the eternal 
 fitness of things, for people in our position to associate 
 with mere lieutenants of volunteers. If Larry Hamilton 
 had graduated at West Point, it would have been very 
 different. You know they make such accomplished gen 
 tlemen of them there." 
 
 " Why I am sure," warmly rejoined Emily, while blush 
 ing crimson, " no more polished or refined gentleman can 
 be found in Washington to-day than Lawrence Hamilton, 
 even if he is only a lieutenant of volunteers." 
 
 " Oh I know all that," apologetically replied Mary, on 
 witnessing her guest's warm defense of her absent friend ; 
 "but here in Washington, owing to father's prominent
 
 WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 79 
 
 position, and out of consideration for the prejudices of the 
 people we associate with, we must in a measure make 
 some difference in our treatment of people which would be 
 unnecessary in other places. But I think Larry Hamilton 
 has too much good sense and knowledge of the world, and 
 especially of the fashionable world, to presume, from the 
 fact that we were accidentally born in the same place, to 
 attempt to resume here the intimate relations which were 
 but natural in Armour." 
 
 " Yes," chimed in Eleanor, in her most mellifluous tones, 
 " just imagine, Emily, if we were at Secretary G 's recep 
 tion, or at one of Senator L 's balls, how mortified you 
 would be while conversing with the dashing General C 
 of the regulars, to have a lieutenant of volunteers ap 
 proach you with the easy familiarity of an old friend, and 
 request you to dance with him. I can imagine the Gener 
 al's elevated eyebrows and haughty stare while you proceed 
 to introduce your dear friend, Lieutenant Hamilton of the 
 First N. Cavalry ! " The very idea seemed appalling to 
 Eleanor, and her smelling bottle was applied vigorously. 
 
 " If he calls, Emily, I hope you will excuse yourself. 
 In society here, if a man is not either a cabinet officer, 
 senator, millionaire, or a graduate of either Annapolis or 
 West Point, he has no right to expect any social recogni 
 tion, and I think it perfectly proper that the lines should 
 be strictly drawn in a National Capital. 
 
 "Official distinctions must be and are absolutely neces 
 sary to preserve the dignity of the government, so father 
 says." 
 
 " No matter, I suppose," replied Emily, " if these high 
 officials are the greatest rascals, boors, and ignoramuses, in 
 the world, if they hold high offices or have plenty of 
 money it entitles them to be treated as gentlemen ? "
 
 go ARMOUR. 
 
 The conversation was here interrupted by a knock at 
 the door, and a servant appeared with a card on a salver. 
 As he handed it to Mary Conyngham, the latter in the 
 most nonchalant manner possible, unblushingly requested 
 him to inform the gentleman the ladies were not in. 
 
 // was Larry Hamilton's card. 
 
 Kmily, ashamed and indignant, quietly smothered her 
 feelings and said nothing, but bitterly reproached herself 
 afterwards for doing so, and despised her own weakness 
 in thus yielding a seeming compliance to the contemptible 
 prejudices and parvenu pride of the Conyngham girls. 
 But the fatal defect in Emily's character was her natural 
 inclination to go with power. She had no independence 
 whatever, and was afraid to follow out the dictates of a 
 naturally kindly and affectionate disposition. Hamilton 
 had instinctively suspected this weakness, which had in a 
 measure always caused him to distrust her somewhat, yet 
 she never had been placed in a position that would confirm 
 him in this opinion. His partiality for her had never 
 blinded him to this fatal defect in her character. 
 
 Judge Charlton, Emily's father, was a gentleman of con 
 siderable wealth and political influence, but he had acquired 
 both in a more honorable and in a very different manner from 
 that by which General Conyngham had succeeded to his. 
 
 It had always been the hope of General Conyngham and 
 his family, that Malcolm and Emily would be the means of 
 uniting the fortunes and the political power of the two 
 families. With this purpose in view, they had schemed 
 and intrigued unceasingly. But her well-known preference 
 for the society of young Hamilton had hitherto proven an 
 insuperable bar to the family ambition ; and Miss Emory's 
 appearance on the scene seemed to finally settle the 
 matter.
 
 WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 8 1 
 
 The Charl ton's were a very refined and cultured family, 
 and for generations had been, with the Hamilton's, the 
 leading people of Armour. The Conyngham's were a 
 comparatively new growth, and unmistakably belonged to 
 the aristocracy of the parvenu. As much as the latter 
 upheld and prided themselves on the distinctions which 
 wealth and official position conferred on them, and as much 
 as they pretended to sneer at people of the high-bred 
 old families, who could claim to have been descended from 
 the three generations which Chesterfield said were neces 
 sary to make a gentleman, they secretly envied and hated 
 them ; and on meeting their social superiors in this respect, 
 they generally under a patronizing and indifferent man 
 ner endeavored vainly to conceal the rankling sense of 
 inferiority within. 
 
 When the daughters became old enough to understand 
 how wealthy their father was, they had insisted on a lib 
 eral allowance ; and like all people who in early life have 
 been unaccustomed to power and luxury, they now rushed 
 to extremes, and their insolent and impudent pretensions 
 knew no bounds. While fawning on and flattering those 
 whom they thought could contribute to their social posi 
 tion, they acted to the rest of the world in a manner which 
 brought down upon them all the ridicule and contempt 
 their silly and ridiculous conduct deserved. They dressed 
 in the extreme of fashion, and, notwithstanding their 
 dresses were elegant and exceedingly rich as to material, 
 like all nouveaux riches they loved gay colors and bizarre 
 ornaments, and were fond of diamonds. 
 
 As Hamilton passed through the hall, he met Mrs. 
 Conyngham. The old lady, unlike the daughters, was 
 delighted to see him ; and after numerous inquiries as to 
 his health and future prospects,, insisted, in her plain,
 
 82 ARMOUR. 
 
 frank way, on his dining with them. Hers was a heart 
 unspoiled by success, and which had, in the hard school of 
 early struggle and privation, learned to feel for and sym 
 pathise with others. 
 
 Pleading a prior engagement Larry declined, but ac 
 cepted an invitation to accompany the girls to Secretary 
 G 's reception that evening. 
 
 A few minutes after 9 o'clock, Hamilton sent up his 
 card, and the servant at once returned with the information 
 that the young ladies had ordered their carriage early in 
 the evening, in order to make a few calls before the recep 
 tion, and, on their return from which, had waited for him 
 until nine, but not appearing, they concluded he could not 
 come, and had just driven away. 
 
 They were in their rooms when this message was sent 
 down by Mary Conyngham, and their carriage was waiting 
 for them outsiJe. 
 
 Meeting Colonel Irving in the corridor of the hotel, and 
 learning he was also going to the reception, and without 
 company, Hamilton and he concluded to go together. 
 
 Entering the massive doorway of Secretary G 's fine 
 residence, they found the parlors hot, stifling, and thronged. 
 
 After going through the usual formality of hand-shaking 
 with the host and hostess, Larry discovered his lady 
 friends in the centre of the room gayly conversing with a 
 stolid looking senator, and several fine looking generals. 
 It was a mixed assembly, gathered from all parts of the 
 country, and mostly composed of the flash element brought 
 to the surface by the great war, which seemed to have rev. 
 olutionised everything not only in political but in social 
 life, and had completely swept away the old, and in some 
 respects, better order of things. 
 
 Hamilton quietly approached the party, who had not
 
 WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 83 
 
 as yet perceived him, with a careless and pleasant good 
 evening to the Misses Conyngham, while shaking hands 
 with Emily. He was received with such freezing hauteur 
 by the former, and in so pitifully embarrassing a manner 
 by Emily, that he was stung to the quick. His pride was 
 thoroughly aroused ; and while outwardly cold and self- 
 possessed, he at once naturally assumed that dignified and 
 quiet gravity with which the gentleman always conceals his 
 feelings when wronged. 
 
 After such a reception it was impossible to carry on a 
 very pleasant conversation, and as soon as his pride and 
 politeness would allow him to excuse himself, Hamilton 
 rejoined Colonel Irving, who was surrounded by a bevy of 
 ladies, engaged in an animated discussion concerning the 
 doubtful advantages of the new over the old regime. 
 Pleading indisposition to his friends, and bidding them 
 good-night, he was about leaving the room, mortified and 
 humiliated, when Irving introduced him to a very elegant- 
 looking lady, Mrs. Renshaw. " Mrs. Renshaw," added 
 the Colonel, " is an old friend of your mother and wishes 
 to speak to you about her." 
 
 " Your striking resemblance to your mother led me to 
 inquire of the Colonel your name ; and I remembered it at 
 once as the name of the gentlemen she had married. We 
 have never met since we were at school together, and we 
 little dreamed then that our acquaintance would be re 
 newed through her son." 
 
 Larry could only murmur a few words as to his great 
 pleasure in meeting one who regarded his mother so 
 kindly ; but, fortunately, Mrs. Renshaw was full of fond 
 reminiscences, and while making room for him on the sofa 
 beside her, she asked, " How does it come your mother is 
 willing to part with you? Has she. other sons at home ? "
 
 84 ARMOUR. 
 
 " Unfortunately, no. Indeed, it is a great grief to her 
 that I persisted in my determination to enlist." 
 
 " What were your reasons for joining the army, Mr- 
 Hamilton ? I see you were not tempted by high rank, and 
 not many of our young men, delicately brought up, are 
 willing to look upon the private station as the post of 
 honor." 
 
 " To discharge the duty I owe my country was one rea 
 son, and to explain my other reasons would be trespassing 
 upon your time at such a place as this." 
 
 " Very well ; you must then come to see me at Will. mi's, 
 where we are stopping at present until some changes we 
 are having made in our home on F street are completed. 
 I am always in until noon, and shall be glad to hear of all 
 that has transpired since last I saw your mother." 
 
 As others were claiming Mrs. Renshaw's attention, 
 Larry bade her good evening, with feelings very different 
 from those which had possessed him when about leaving 
 the room before, although the bitterness and soreness still 
 remained. 
 
 Mrs. Renshaw was the wife of one of our New England 
 senators, whose hold upon the respect and affections of 
 his constituents had been so great that they had returned 
 him over and over again, until his term was really a life 
 tenure. 
 
 Mrs. Renshaw was one of the very few ladies in Wash 
 ington who, amidst the flattery and adulations which 
 surrounded her as the wife of one of the most able, intel 
 lectual, and leading members of the Senate, and whose 
 influence with the Administration was all-paramount, re 
 tained amidst all thi> intriguing and sc licinin^ life, all 
 the graces of pure and refined home life ; and shone as
 
 
 
 WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING. 85 
 
 brilliantly in the social world as her husband did in the 
 political one. 
 
 To be placed on the footing young Hamilton had thus 
 secured, was to have the entree of the best society in the 
 capital ; and the Misses Conyngham felt somewhat cha 
 grined, and regretted their course towards him, on seeing 
 the marked attention bestowed upon him by one of the 
 leaders in society, and one with whom, in spite of all their 
 efforts, they had never, as yet, succeeded in establishing 
 themselves on more than the most formal footing. 
 
 As Larry passed out of the bright hall into the cold 
 night air, and wrapped his cloak around him, the solitude 
 of the deserted streets seemed grateful, and the cold 
 night wind felt refreshing. 
 
 That Emily could have treated him so indifferently ! He 
 could scarcely realize it, as he sat in his room long after 
 midnight, over a half-smoked cigar, busy brooding over 
 the evening. He knew as far as the Conyngham girls 
 were concerned, thai it was his humble rank in the service 
 which had caused his ungracious reception, and he fairly 
 groaned while reproaching himself for putting it in the 
 power of these upstarts to snub him. 
 
 Fanny Adair would never have acted in that way. Forty 
 Misses Conyngham, with all Washington at their backs, 
 he was sure would not have influenced her a hair's 
 breadth. She would have been as true as the needle to 
 the pole. No matter what apologies Emily might make in 
 the future, nothing could ever restore the confidence he 
 had once reposed in her affections that was certain. 
 
 Poor Emily loved Larry more than she was fully aware 
 of, and after he had left them she was miserable, and 
 would have given anything to have undone the mischief.
 
 86 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 REPUBLICS ARE UNGRATEFUL. 
 
 HAMILTON was also stopping at Willard's, which, at that 
 time, was the most fashionable hostelery in the city. On 
 entering the breakfast-room the next morning, he saw the 
 Misses Conyngham and Emily smiling graciously. He 
 bowed to them in the most dignified and formal manner. 
 After ordering his breakfast, and while carelessly glancing 
 over the morning paper, his attention was attracted to the 
 conversation of two gentlemen opposite, one of whom was 
 a noble-looking man with grey hair and a countenance 
 which indicated a high order of intellect, and bore the air 
 of one accustomed to wield power. 
 
 An almost sleepless night had left Larry nervous, and, 
 notwithstanding he endeavored to interest himself in his 
 papers, the deep low tones of the two strangers opposite 
 sounded clear as a bell and compelled his attention. 
 
 " Yes," remarked the first speaker, " there haVe been 
 several Cabinet meetings to discuss the matter, but the 
 President is slow to suspect evil of those who have once 
 gained his confidence. But these rumors have of late 
 been flying so thick and fast, and some of them have been 
 traced to such reliable sources, that Mr. Lincoln could no 
 longer ignore them ; and hence these secret Cabinet meet 
 ings, which have been the cause of so much conjecture and 
 of so many sensational stories." 
 
 " What do you think will be the result of them ? "
 
 REPUBLICS ARE UNGRATEFUL. 87 
 
 " I cannot say now, but in a few days the whole busi 
 ness will be exposed, and some persons will find them 
 selves in trouble." 
 
 " It is the most disgraceful affair that has ever happened 
 to the country," exclaimed the elder of the two, indig 
 nantly. " That any man occupying the high position of 
 trust and honor that General Conyngham does, could so 
 lower himself as to take advantage of the confidence re 
 posed in him by Mr. Lincoln (the people never had any 
 faith in either the man's honor or his patriotism), to en 
 rich himself and his family at the expense of the govern 
 ment and the brave men in the field at a time like this, 
 when they are periling their lives and protecting the very 
 home of this unprincipled and sordid wretch, is almost be 
 yond belief. The effect of such an example in high places 
 will be ruinous and far-reaching, and will encourage thou 
 sands of lesser rogues to swindle the government. His 
 punishment should he commensurate with the amount of 
 mischief he has done." 
 
 " Did you hear any particular charge against him ; that 
 is, anything more than mere reports," asked the younger 
 gentleman. 
 
 " Yes ; he has surrounded himself with a coterie of 
 vulgar men that a cabinet officer should be ashamed to 
 associate with on any kind of terms, but whose society 
 he prefers to that of men like Sumner, Chase, Seward, 
 and Wilson; and these gentlemen have frequently been 
 compelled to wait in the ante-room, while those worthies 
 were busily engaged discussing and settling the details of 
 some rascally contract. Arrangements have been entered 
 into by Conyngham with his cronies to furnish the troops 
 with miserable shoddy clothing at ruinous prices, while 
 broken-down mules were sold to the transportation de-
 
 88 ARMOUR. 
 
 partment, and worthless old horses furnished our cavalry 
 at prices which would have given every man in that branch 
 of the service a full-blooded Arabian. When the L; 
 and rapacity of this crowd of vultures reached the point 
 of trifling with the very lives of the troops, by tamper! n , r 
 with the medical stores, it was the hair which broke the 
 camel's back, and will likely cost him his official head, 
 and probably send him home in the disgrace he so well 
 merits." 
 
 " Instead of costing him his official head," indignantly 
 replied the other, " it should cost him his natural head. 
 Old King Frederick of Prussia's example was very effec 
 tual. You remember during the close of the seven year's 
 war, when this class of men were ruining the country, the 
 old King hung several of them, and that settled the busi 
 ness at once. This man ought to be made an example of, 
 and neither his high officjal position, his wealth, or his 
 political influence, should be permitted to save him ; but, 
 on the contrary, should be additional reasons for punish 
 ing him more severely." 
 
 " Was there any truth in the report that the last battle 
 was lost through a delay in reinforcements arriving, owing 
 to the want of transportation facilities, and the haggling 
 over terms by the President of the short route to the capi 
 tal, a road which Conyngham has so cunningly secured 
 the absolute control of, and which, through his son, he 
 is now running in their own private interests, and to the 
 great detriment and disadvantage of the government ?" 
 
 " I do not know whether there is any truth in that report 
 or not, but I do know that he controls that road abso 
 lutely, and that the manner in which he ousted its presi 
 dent, and secured the stock necessary to control it, was 
 one of the most shameful and disgracefully dishonest
 
 REPUBLICS ARE UNGRATEFUL. 89 
 
 transactions that has ever stained any public man's career. 
 The Conyngham's have the government by the throat here, 
 and they are not the men to let loose unless they receive 
 unusually hard knocks. He is already gorged with public 
 plunder ; but his insatiate greed knows no bounds." 
 
 " I hope," replied his friend, " that Mr. Lincoln will have 
 the firmness to resist the pressure that may be brought to 
 bear in his favor by his paid political harpies." 
 
 " Have no fears on that score. When Mr. Lincoln has 
 conclusive proofs of the guilt of any party, no matter how 
 high their position or what influence they may bring to 
 bear, he will act promptly and fearlessly." 
 
 Overhearing unavoidably the name of Conyngham 
 several times, and judging from the fact that he had heard 
 the day before some rumors connecting General Conyng 
 ham with some questionable transactions, Hamilton was 
 more than confirmed in the belief that some impending 
 disgrace was hanging over the Conyngham family, and 
 while thinking over his reception the evening before by 
 the Conyngham girls, he could not repress a feeling of 
 satisfaction. 
 
 As he walked into the parlor after finishing his break 
 fast, Emily advanced and greeted him in her old affection 
 ate manner. While cool and dignified, his feelings were 
 more of pity than of anger for the miserable weakness 
 she had displayed. He was very badly disappointed in 
 her, and to be disappointed in those we love expresses 
 more pain than the mere words indicate. 
 
 After a pleasant call on Mrs. Renshaw, in whose parlors 
 he met some very pleasant and distinguished people, he 
 returned to camp in a much better frame of mind than he 
 had anticipated. 
 
 The next day, the leading oracle of the party announced,
 
 90 ARMOUR. 
 
 in large head lines, that General Conyngham, had re 
 signed the portfolio of war to act as minister to Berlin, on 
 account of delicate health. " We understand," the article 
 continued, " that the General's health has been sadly im 
 paired by too close application to the arduous duties per 
 taining to his department, and to which he has given his 
 undivided time and attention. The General will be sadly 
 missed in the councils of the nation, where his large ex 
 perience in men and affairs, his wise and statesman-like 
 views on momentous and intricate questions of govern 
 mental policy, and his pure patriotism will make a void 
 which will be very difficult for Mr. Lincoln to fill satisfac 
 torily to himself and the people. 
 
 " The soldiers in the field will lose their best friend, and 
 the country will deeply regret the loss of his distinguished 
 service. His acceptance of the Berlin mission, will in 
 some degree compensate the people for the loss of his 
 invaluable services in the department he has just re 
 signed, and in a measure, reconciles us to the change. 
 That so able a man should represent us at one of the 
 most haughty and aristocratic courts of the effete mon 
 archies in the old world, is a matter of congratulation to 
 the people. He will prove a noble representative of our 
 great and free institutions, and one of whom every Ameri 
 can citizen may well be proud. Since the days of Benja 
 min Franklin, John Jay, and Thomas Jefferson, we have 
 had no representatives to foreign courts who could com 
 pare with him in any respect. He is truly a chevalier 
 ' sans peur, sans reproche,' in the literal sense of the 
 words." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln would have disgraced him in the way 
 Conyngham deserved to be, but the leaders of the party 
 and the politicians declared it would ruin the republican
 
 REPUBLICS ARE UNGRATEFUL. 91 
 
 party ; and this Judas Iscariot, instead of going out and 
 hanging himself, went to Berlin on a bed of roses, amidst 
 the paid plaudits of the organs of the party, and the en 
 thusiastic and tearful farewells of all the rich mule con 
 tractors, and political harpies and leeches in the party.
 
 92 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. 
 
 MALCOLM CONYNGHAM visited the Emory's quite fre 
 quently during the winter. As the affianced husband of 
 her daughter, he was of course a privileged and wel 
 come guest. Not only did Mrs. Emory and Lou enjoy 
 his visits, but so, also, did Fannie Adair. For once in his 
 life-time, Malcolm opened wide his purse strings. He 
 justified his expenditures on the same principle that a 
 gambler stakes a small sum in order to win a large one. 
 
 Of course Fannie delighted in the little suppers at Del- 
 monico's, the operas, and fully appreciated the advantages 
 of a distingul looking escort to balls and parties, know 
 ing and fully enjoying the fact, of which she was fully 
 aware, that Malcolm not only begrudged every extra 
 cent spent, but, at the same time, looked upon her as a 
 nuisance, but one unavoidable for the time being, and 
 which he had to make the best of. 
 
 Mrs. Emory was exceedingly gracious, and, in order to 
 impress her prospective son-in-law, was more lavish than 
 ever in her expenditures. She gave the most costly and 
 elaborate entertainments during his visits to the city ; and 
 had Conyngham been less shrewd, this display, and the 
 class of people he met with at Mrs. Emory's, would have 
 removed all doubts concerning their great wealth. But 
 naturally wary and suspicious in an important affair like 
 this, he left no stone unturned to ascertain their exact
 
 REAPING THE WHIRL WIND. 93 
 
 financial status, and was indefatigable in securing inter 
 views with those persons who would most likely be properly 
 informed on the subject. Having secured a letter of 
 introduction to one of Mr. Emory's former partners, he 
 had in some measure learned from that gentleman of 
 the shrinkage in Mr. Emory's fortune through his South 
 ern investments ; but he had as yet no idea as to the full 
 extent of their losses. 
 
 Conyngham's attentions had been apparently so sincere, 
 and marked of late by so much tenderness, that Lou 
 Emory, foolish girl ! flattered herself with the erroneous 
 idea, that even if the crash in their affairs should overtake 
 them before their marriage, he would still remain true to 
 his vows, and to her. With all her worldly shrewdness, 
 she little knew or understood the thoroughly mercenary 
 character of her lover. 
 
 The latter loved her as much as he could love any one, 
 yet he would not have hesitated for a single instant to 
 have cast her ruthlessly aside if certain she would not 
 advance his worldly prospects. 
 
 Arriving in the city rather unexpectedly one morning, 
 and feeling cramped and fatigued after his night's ride, he 
 concluded to walk up town after eating his breakfast, in 
 stead of taking a coupe, as was his custom when calling on 
 the Emorys. He made his appearance unexpectedly and 
 quite early for a caller. The servant ushered him into 
 the parlor, and left to announce his arrival to the ladies. 
 
 The doors between the two rooms being slightly ajar, he 
 inadvertently became an attentive listener to a conversa 
 tion, carried on in low tones, between Mrs. Emory and a 
 gentleman he judged, from the several remarks overheard, 
 to be the lady's attorney. At first he could scarcely dis- 
 tingyish more than a few sentences, but as he gradually
 
 94 ARMOUR. 
 
 became accustomed to their voices, by listening atten 
 tively and moving his chair closer to the door, soon 
 heard enough to convince him that his marriage with 
 Miss Emory would be neither advantageous or desirable. 
 He resolved at once, without a moment's hesitation, that 
 all matrimonial speculations with him, at least as far as 
 Miss Emory was concerned, were at an end forever. . 
 
 As he leaned forward, contemptibly straining every 
 nerve to overhear the conversation, he heard Mrs. Emory 
 remark, " His father is reputed to be worth millions, Mr. 
 Evans." 
 
 The sad and subdued tones in which this remark was 
 made, sounded very unlike the usual haughty and imperi 
 ous tones of the proud Mrs. Emory. 
 
 " That may all be true, and his son may be engaged to 
 your daughter ; but " there are many slips 'twixt the cup 
 and the lip," if you will pardon me for this old, but trite 
 saying. T advise your daughter to hasten the affair as much 
 as possible, as your creditors are growing restless, and be 
 coming importunate of late. Indeed, I cannot possibly see 
 how in the world I can keep things moving much longer. 
 You are fully aware, my dear Mrs. Emory, that the respon 
 sibility of this unhappy state of affairs rests entirely upon 
 yourself ; and while I do not wish to reproach you, you 
 know how often I expostulated and plead with you and 
 foretold just how this miserable business would likely end. 
 If you had taken my advice and removed to the suburbs 
 wth the means you possessed several years ago, you could 
 have to-day been living in comfort and comparative good 
 style, instead of being placed in the false and humiliating 
 position in which you now find yourself." 
 
 '* My daughter informed me that they would certainly 
 be married in May, and you can keep our affairs intact
 
 REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. 95 
 
 until after that time, can you not? Our finances are 
 surely not in quite so desperate a condition as that ? " 
 
 "I cannot promise you with any certainty. I will, how 
 ever, do all in my power to help you in your, troubles ; and 
 I assure you, Mrs. Emory, that no one can be more sin 
 cerely sorry than I am to be the conveyer to you of such 
 disagreeable news. That I have conscientiously endeav 
 ored to perform my duties, as Mr. Emory's executor and 
 your attorney, and that it has been through no fault of 
 mine that the estate has become so badly involved I think 
 you will admit. Hoping you may succeed in extricating 
 yourself from your difficulties, and all may come out right 
 yet, I bid you good-morning." 
 
 The door closed, and as the gentleman passed through 
 the hall, Conyngham heard the rustle of Mrs. Emory's 
 dress as, with a deep sigh, she wearily ascended the stair 
 case, evidently too busily pre-occupied with her own 
 perplexed and sad thoughts to notice him, as he sat in a 
 dark corner of the room. 
 
 He had scarcely time to assume an indifferent air, when 
 Lou, bright and radiant, flashed with glad surprise into 
 the parlor, and greeted him with unusual warmth for one 
 naturally so undemonstrative. 
 
 Conyngham, when necessary, could be an accomplished 
 dissembler. As Lou sat beside her lover she little dreamed 
 of the unfortunate turn her affairs had just taken. 
 
 " How is Fannie getting along ?" he asked in an uncon 
 cerned and matter-of fact way, while placing one arm over 
 the back of the sofa, and, at the same time, half turning 
 towards her, and taking her hand in his own in the most 
 lover-like and natural manner possible. 
 
 " She is very well, but a little tired, as we were up quite 
 late last night at a party, and neither feel very bright this
 
 96 ARMOUR. . 
 
 morning. But the moment I heard you were here, I 
 forgot all about being tired. What a difference circum 
 stances make in one's feelings, don't they ? " she asked 
 looking lovingly into his face. 
 
 " Well, yes ; circumstances do affect one's feelings some 
 times, considerably," he dryly remarked, while endeavoring 
 to prevent his chagrin and disappointment from betraying 
 itself in his voice and manner ; but for once, and in spite 
 of his utmost efforts, there was that in his tone and man 
 ner which, with the swift intuition of love, alarmed the 
 young girl ; and she showed it very plainly. Conyngham 
 endeavored, by increased demonstration and the most 
 assiduous attentions, to remove any suspicions she might 
 have entertained as to his sincerity, and naturally, as 
 might have been expected, only increased her suspicions, 
 and made her miserable. 
 
 " Malcolm, would you love me all the same if you had 
 found me a poor, friendless girl ? " she asked almost piti 
 fully, and with humid eyes, while looking wistfully up into 
 his cold face, and waiting his reply with an anguished look 
 that ought to have melted a heart of coarser texture than 
 his own. 
 
 He met her gaze unflinchingly, and declared repeatedly 
 that nothing in the world could ever change his feelings 
 towards her, and scouted the very idea, while indignantly 
 chicling her for her want of faith in him. 
 
 Adept as he was in the art of deception, he could not 
 have maintained much longer this insincere course ; and 
 fortunately for him, Fannie Adair entered very oppor 
 tunely, and relieved him. 
 
 Radiant and fresh as a rose, Conyngham could not but 
 compliment her on her fine appearance. But compliments 
 or attentions from Malcolm Conyngham never flattered
 
 REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. 97 
 
 Fannie Adair. Her true, sincere, and straightforward 
 nature despised duplicity, and always recoiled instinctively 
 from his advances. With her naturally quick perceptions 
 she had always suspected Conyngham's insincerity, and 
 had estimated his sordid and selfish nature correctly ; and 
 while always treating him with marked politeness, it was 
 with a reserved and cautious manner that never failed to 
 nettle and puzzle him as to her real feelings towards him. 
 That she did not like him he was fully aware ; and why 
 she did not he could never understand, as he could not re 
 member of ever having given her any reasons to justify 
 her feelings towards him. 
 
 As the three sat in Delmonico's that night, sipping their 
 wine, on their return from the theatre where they had wit 
 nessed the play of " School for Scandal," Fannie looked 
 up, in the most innocent manner, and remarked, while 
 watching him closely, " Mr. Conyngham, do you know you 
 remind me very much of Joseph Surface ? " 
 
 "You are inclined to be rather sarcastic to-night," 
 Conyngham remarked, hotly, at the same time flushing 
 scarlet, and in his confusion and irritation overturning his 
 glass and spilling his wine. 
 
 "Oh, I intended to be complimentary, I assure you," 
 she continued in a slightly taunting manner. " I admire 
 his shrewdness and talent for getting along in the world. 
 If Joseph were living now he would be a great man in 
 this country. Just now such men are in great demand. 
 The people delight in honoring them. The Charleses 
 are no longer admired, with their chivalrous and worn- 
 out old-time notions of gallantry and contempt for the 
 thrifty ways of our generation. If Sheridan were liv 
 ing to-day, and wrote that play as typical of the times, he 
 would have made Joseph and not Charles the hero,
 
 98 ARMOUR. 
 
 and would have given him a high cabinet position, and 
 made him the confidential adviser of the president. 
 
 Like most ladies, Fannie had not made it a duty to read 
 the morning paper regularly, or she would not have made 
 the remark. 
 
 But Conyngham, always suspicious, gave her full credit 
 for intending it in the wrong way. 
 
 The fact of her friend having made her that afternoon 
 aware of their pecuniary troubles, and Lou's misery, with 
 Conyngham's distrait manner, had irritated her; and while 
 no doubt impressed, in her own mind, as to the similarity 
 of Conyngham's and Joseph's characters, she had made 
 the remark in such a light, bantering way, that she never 
 dreamed for a moment of its giving him offence. There 
 was very little conversation afterwards, and the party 
 were not very lively as they drove home. 
 
 Fannie returned to Armour in the early part of Lent ; 
 and in two weeks after her departure the crash came, not 
 withstanding Mr. Evans' almost superhuman efforts to 
 avert it until after Lou's marriage with Conyngham. Mrs. 
 Emory and her daughter shortly after removed to a small 
 town in Connecticut, within a few hour's ride of the city, 
 where they lived very comfortably on the sum^Mrs. Emory 
 had set aside for such a possible contingency, and which 
 sum, with still more inconsistency, she had never drawn 
 upon during all her troubles and embarrassment. Com 
 pared with their former luxurious mode of living, and 
 lavish and extravagant style, they lived plainly. 
 
 The wedding was postponed indefinitely, and Conyng 
 ham, much to the surprise of Fannie Adair and others in 
 Armour, who knew so well his calculating and mercenary 
 nature, still continued to visit the Emory's regularly ; and 
 he did not break the engagement for some time after their 
 troubles,
 
 TWO PATRIOTS. 99 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 TWO PATRIOTS. 
 
 THE spring had flown by rapidly and it was now mid 
 summer. Nothing had occurred in the town of Armour 
 to disturb the even tenor of its ways but accounts of great 
 battles, and the excitement now grown common and inci 
 dent to the organizing and recruiting of troops. 
 
 Malcolm Conyngham had been his father's factotum in 
 all the large contracts which had disgraced the latter's 
 reign in his department, and the head and front of the 
 many dubious business enterprises which had finally neces 
 sitated the general's summary removal and trip to Europe at 
 government expense. In addition to being the head of 
 his father's banking interests, he was now also engaged in 
 operating and controlling the short route to the capital for 
 the sole benefit of the Conyngham family, and to the great 
 detriment of the public treasury. Malcolm was not slow 
 to avail himself of these great advantages, and dictated 
 his own terms to the hard-pressed government, and wrung 
 money out of it at every turn. " Not that he loved his 
 country less, but he loved Malcolm Conyngham more." 
 He was thus thoroughly but safely patriotic, and while 
 young Hamilton, and thousands of others as delicately and 
 tenderly reared as himself, and to whom life was just as 
 sweet, were bravely facing the foe in defence of his and 
 their homes, young and strong, this patriotic young man 
 remained securely in the rear, busy like the Jew sutlers
 
 100 ARMOUR. 
 
 who follow armies taking advantage of the necessities 
 of the troops, and the government, and the people, to amass 
 wealth and lay the foundations of his immense fortune. 
 
 As he sits in his bank parlor, busily engaged taking an 
 inventory of his bonds and stocks, this lovely summer day, 
 what a contrast his life presents to that of his friend Ham 
 ilton, who is at this very time in the thickest of the bloody 
 fray at Cedar Mountain a battle which, while not very 
 decisive for either side in its results, and of short duration, 
 was scarcely equaled during the war for fierce fighting and 
 terrible fatality. 
 
 For some time Larry had been endeavoring to procure a 
 short leave of absence. He received one, but not in the 
 manner he expected. His promotfon had been rapid. 
 
 Stonewall Jackson, flushed with victory from the Penin 
 sular campaign and with Richmond relieved from all 
 danger, now swept towards the Potomac, and hurling his 
 forces across the Rapidan, hastened with the desperate 
 energy he had ow become famous for, to gain the strong 
 position of Cedar Mountain before General Banks, who 
 was likewise straining every nerve to anticipate him. 
 Every foot of ground had been stubbornly contested on 
 the Federal side by Bayard's cavalry, but Jackson suc 
 ceeded in forcing our troops back, and entrenching him 
 self on the mountain sides, after masking his batteries in 
 the dense foliage, impatiently awaited the coming of the 
 foe. 
 
 It was the gth of August, and the day was hot and swel 
 tering, the heat intense and fairly stifling, the mountain 
 sides were covered with lurid green, and the dense foliage 
 effectually concealed the number of Jackson's forces. 
 
 Hamilton's regiment was under Bayard's command, 
 and had more than their share of weary marches and
 
 TWO PATRIOTS, 101 
 
 constant skirmishes while endeavoring to check Jackson's 
 advance. When the zd corps, under Banks, made its ap 
 pearance, about four o'clock in the afternoon, they were in 
 the midst of a hot skirmish ; both horses and men were 
 almost worn out, and felt glad when relieved and ordered 
 to support a battery, on the brow of the hill near by that 
 descended into a corn-field, and beyond which, on the hill 
 side, at the edge of a thick woods, were placed the enemy's 
 batteries, and where numbers of their sharpshooters had 
 concealed themselves amongst the branches of trees for 
 the purpose of picking off our officers. 
 
 As Larry sat on his horse, from this elevation, he had a 
 fine view of the field ; now and then some general officer 
 would ride to the edge of the hill, and placing his field- 
 glass to his eyes, would look long and earnestly towards 
 the frowning woods. Several flashes, accompanied by 
 puffs of white smoke, suddenly burst forth from the 
 wooded hillside, and in a few seconds a solid shot and 
 a shell or two flew over their heads. 
 
 The federal guns replied, and the artillery on both sides 
 began to fire rapidly. Whole batteries were let off, and 
 shell after shell went screaming over their heads, lower 
 and lower every minute, as they gradually succeeded in 
 getting the range. As Hamilton sat quietly watching the 
 enemy, he suddenly heard an explosion that seemed to 
 pierce his very brain, and looking around quickly a sicken 
 ing sight, and one he never forgot, met his eye. In a 
 cloud of smoke and dust were flying legs and. arms, while 
 lying around in a heap were several men and horses liter 
 ally covered with blood. A cavalryman threw his hands 
 wildly above his head, and horse and rider fell to the 
 ground at the same moment, quivering convulsively, and 
 then lay still dead.
 
 102 ARMOUR. 
 
 Here a man would suddenly start, drop off his horse 
 jvith a loud groan, while another would spring clear out of 
 his saddle into the air, uttering a piercing shriek, and 
 fall backward, quivering, lifeless, with his eyes staring 
 vacantly, his teeth set, and hands aimlessly clutching the 
 air. 
 
 An artillery sergeant, sighting one of the pieces in front 
 of him, particularly attracted Hamilton's attention by his 
 magnificent physique and brisk soldiery movements. 
 He could but admire him even in this dangerous moment. 
 Stepping back, he threw up his hand as a signal to fire. 
 Convulsively clasping his hand to his breast, he stood for a 
 moment, staggered, reeled, and fell to the ground, gasping 
 for breath, while the hot life-blood poured from his breast. 
 Only the mad excitement of battle prevented Larry from 
 growing sick at the sight. 
 
 The sturdy cannoneers stood bravely by their guns. 
 Stripped to the waist, blackened with powder, they con 
 tinued their work of carnage and death. The heavy pro 
 jectiles from the rebel batteries filled the air, and flew 
 bursting overhead and around them, knocking horses and 
 men over every few minutes. 
 
 The federal artillery gradually slackened their.fire ; and 
 there was a lull in the storm of battle. Such a silence is 
 always ominous at such a time, and indicative of some 
 important movement about to take place.' It generally 
 precedes a charge. 
 
 Suddenly, the earth shook, the hill seemed to fairly start 
 from its very foundation, all the guns on both sides ap 
 peared to have been discharged at the same moment. 
 The battle had now commenced in earnest. Hamilton 
 and his men cursed the blunder that had exposed them to 
 this merciless fire," without their being apparently a par-
 
 TWO PATRIOTS. 103 
 
 ticle of use, and were kept busy in twisting and dodging 
 the shells which were exploding and bursting into frag 
 ments every second now in front, now in the rear, and 
 frequently it seemed right in their faces. They followed 
 each other so rapidly, that it was one constant, prolonged, 
 whizzing, shrieking, and screaming. 
 
 Solid shot came madly rushing along, now flying a few 
 feet over their heads, now striking the hill-side with a 
 dull crash, and ricocheting a hundred feet into the air, and 
 falling far into their rear. 
 
 Banks, still unsuspecting the number opposed to him, 
 had determined to charge the enemy, and formed his men, 
 in full view of the foe. " Forward 1 " rang along the line, 
 and, with a ringing cheer, colors flying, and bayonets glit 
 tering in the bright sunlight in beautiful order, the serried 
 columns swept onward through the cornfield, toward the 
 rebel batteries which fairly desolated the field. The roar 
 of these guns was awful ; and at every discharge the earth 
 seemed to tremble under the shock. The scene and the 
 moment was grand and terrible ; and the angels of death 
 were busy bearing the souls of men into eternity. But 
 the brave fellows closed up the horrid gaps in their ranks, 
 and pressed forward into the very jaws of death. The 
 battle was raging in earnest. The maddening rattle of 
 the musketry pierced the ear, and the thunder of the 
 artillery caused air and earth to vibrate ; while the dense 
 clouds of dust and smoke, that rose from the battle-field, 
 completely enveloped the infantry, and concealed them 
 from view. 
 
 The musketry fire increased, while the artillery on both 
 sides slackened their fire for fear of killing their own men. 
 
 At this moment, a shout arose above the wild din of 
 battle; and Hamilton, turning to one of his brother offi-
 
 104 ARMOUR. 
 
 cers, triumphantly exclaimed, " Our fellows are giving it 
 to them now ! " 
 
 " I don't like that cheer. That is not a Northern cheer." 
 replied his friend, as a solid shot went crashing through 
 an ambulance, within a few feet of them, which was on its 
 way from the battle-field with its load of suffering humanity. 
 
 Our men now began to fall back. They had unexpect 
 edly come upon dense masses of the enemy, who had been 
 lying concealed at the base of a little swell in the field 
 beyond, and rising to their feet, with the most savage yells, 
 poured into the faces of their unsuspecting foe a tempest 
 of fiie which no mortal could withstand. 
 
 Men staggered from the field mangled and torn, or 
 slowly limped back, while others, more seriously wounded, 
 crawled off the field a few inches at a time, or were borne 
 back by their comrades on stretchers, groaning in mortal 
 agony. 
 
 The confederates seeing our men waver, renewed their 
 fire with redoubled fury. Our whole line gave way. 
 Some, seized with panic, hurried off the field ; but, con 
 sidering the dreadful carnage, the men fell back in good 
 order. 
 
 The battle occupied only a little over an hour, and as 
 the exhausted infantry slowly retired back of the artillery 
 to reform their thinned out ranks, the enemy began to 
 show themselves at the edge of the woods, evidently in 
 tent on charging and capturing the battery in front of 
 Hamilton ; the guns of which, being loaded with grape and 
 canister, at once opened fire upon the foe. Just then 
 an orderly, covered with dust and his horse white with 
 foam, dashed up to Colonel Irving, and after exchanging a 
 few hurried words, rode rapidly off to another part of the 
 field.
 
 TWO PATRIOTS. 105 
 
 Colonel Irving slowly walked his horse up to Hamil 
 ton, and in a low tone, ordered him to form his battalion 
 in front of the battery, and charge the enemy at once. 
 
 Their turn had come at last. Hamilton formed his 
 men as directed; and after proudly glancing along the 
 line, he rose in his stirrups, and looked earnestly over the 
 field. But the dense cloud of smoke which hung like a 
 pall over the scene, obscured from view everything but 
 the flashing of the enemy's guns. For a few moments the 
 artillery of the enemy ceased firing, and a little bird, 
 frightened from the woods, alighted on a tree near by, and 
 began to pour forth its evening hymn. 
 
 Hamilton afterwards said that even at this terrible mo 
 ment the incongruity of the thing attracted his attention. 
 
 The horrible uproar again commenced, as the bugles, 
 loud and ringing, sounded the charge. " Ready men ! 
 Forward ! " shouted Hamilton in clear trumpet tones ; and 
 with teeth firmly set, eyes flashing with the fierce excite 
 ment of battle, legs closely pressing their horses sides, 
 and with drawn sabres, they plunged madly down the 
 hillside, leaving in their rear a dense cloud of dust, as 
 they swept like a whirlwind over the field, and with a wild 
 yell disappeared in the smoke which covered the enemy. 
 " Onward they boldly rode and well." 
 
 They flung themselves like a thunderbolt against the 
 masses of the enemy, dealing death and destruction on 
 every side. 
 
 But the overwhelming numbers compelled them to re 
 treat ; and leaving half their number on the field, the rest 
 whirled and galloped wildly to the right, and cutting their 
 way back again, dashed past the battery they had left but 
 a short time before, so proud and confident. Some, una-
 
 106 ARMOUR. 
 
 ble to check the headlong speed of their horses, were 
 carried far into the rear amongst the infantry. It was a 
 desperate charge, and considering the small number en 
 gaged, a fearful slaughter ; but it accomplished the pur 
 pose for which it was intended, and checked the attempt 
 of the enemy to charge the battery. 
 
 As Hamilton, with the remnant of his command wheeled 
 to the right, and swept like lightning through the ranks 
 of the enemy, he felt a sharp, burning sensation in his 
 shoulder ; and for a few minutes afterwards scarcely re 
 membered anything but of his horse stumbling, and finally 
 sinking under him. The poor animal was shot through 
 and through ; and Hamilton, quickly disengaging himself, 
 hurried away, but, unable to resist, he turned for a moment 
 to look at his dying steed, which, with an expression al 
 most human in its supplication and agony, looked after its 
 master, and gently whinnied. 
 
 The piteous appeal of the dying animal was too much 
 for the kind heart of Hamilton, who, notwithstanding the 
 storm of grape and canister which filled the air, hurried 
 back, and pulling his pistol from the holster, quickly 
 ended its misery. 
 
 Making his way, wounded and on foot, to the top of the 
 hill, where stood the battery which they had been support 
 ing, he was so weakened by loss of blood as to be compelled 
 to take an ambulance ; and during the retreat up the Val 
 ley, and until they arrived at Washington, he suffered 
 frightfully from his wound, which was a serious one, and 
 slow in healing. 
 
 Receiving a furlough on account of it he returned to 
 Armour, where he had been reported as killed. 
 
 When he alighted from the cars, pale and wan looking, 
 he was joyously received by his townsmen with all the
 
 TWO PATRIOTS. 107 
 
 honors of a hero. Larry had always been popular, espe 
 cially with the poorer people and the laboring men. 
 Raised amongst them from boyhood, unlike Conyngham, 
 he had a kind word and a pleasant smile for all, and 
 knew no distinctions amongst men but those of honesty, 
 geniality, and manliness. As boy or man he had always 
 been the same whole-souled and genial companion. No 
 one had ever known him to take advantage of his social 
 position to make others uncomfortable, while Conyngham 
 availed himself of every opportunity that presented to 
 make himself disagreeable by his rudeness, arrogance, 
 and self-assertion. It could be truly said that Hamilton 
 was as universally liked as Conyngham was disliked by 
 every one in the community. 
 
 During the period he remained at home, his time was 
 pleasantly spent in the company of Emily Charlton and 
 Fannie Adair, and when he returned to his regiment, 
 truth compels the admission that Emily had nearly suc 
 ceeded in obliterating the memory of the unfortunate affair of 
 the reception, and had also proven to him more fascinating 
 than ever ; and in his ch&teaux en Espagne, after the war, 
 Emily always figured conspicuously.
 
 108 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WHICH WILL IT BE? 
 
 THE great rebellion was over and peace again reigned 
 supreme throughout the land. 
 
 Hamilton had returned home with a hard-earned eagle 
 upon his shoulder, which he wore with becoming modesty, 
 and, at the same time, with the proud consciousness that it 
 had been won, not by political or family influence, but by 
 rough riding and hard fighting. Believing that he deserved 
 a rest after three long years of hardship and privation, 
 and especially as his wound gave him considerable trouble 
 of late, he concluded for a time to take the world easy. 
 
 That he could long remain idle was simply out of the 
 question. To an active temperament like Hamilton's, 
 nothing could be more irksome than inaction. For a 
 year he spent his time in fugitive literary efforts, which, 
 while not proving very remunerative in a pecuniary sense, 
 made him some reputation as a ready and fluent writer, 
 and proved invaluable as a means of entertaining him 
 self during long hours that might have been worse 
 employed. 
 
 On the most intimate footing with both Emily Charlton 
 and Fannie Adair, he so delicately divided his attentions 
 between the two that even the village gossips for once 
 were at sea. 
 
 While Emily had all the advantages of a prior and 
 older affection, the Washington affair had not been
 
 WHICH WILL IT BE1 109 
 
 entirely forgotten, and the last few years had made Ham 
 ilton more reflective and thoughtful ; he now read Emily's 
 shallow nature correctly. Before, he had been too young 
 and too enamoured to doubt the sincerity and depth of 
 the affection her manner professed for him. To his 
 inexperienced eyes then she was all that she affected 
 to be to him. He knew now she was simply flattered 
 by his passion for her, and it was evident to him that it 
 had been returned more out of vanity than real affection. 
 And as she matured her little vanities developed into actual 
 silliness, the scales had fallen from his mental vision, 
 and the hallucination was over. He now saw her as she 
 really was a woman utterly destitute of earnest convic 
 tions ; and while she possessed quick instinct in detecting 
 the weakness of those around her, she had very little 
 real intellect, but could, with the greatest facility, adopt 
 any opinion, sentiment, or manner that would fit those 
 whom she desired to please. She was all things to all 
 men ; she flattered everybody, and agreed with every 
 one, while caring for none beyond the gratification of 
 her vanity. Intensely egotistic, she was also weak and 
 vacillating, and with no force of character whatever. Self 
 was her only consideration. By her vanity she lived. 
 She could not bear to be thought ill of by any person, 
 no matter by whom ; it tortured her. Hence, the pli 
 ancy with which she suited herself to everybody's way of 
 thinking. 
 
 Fanny Adair's bright and cheerful ways, wonderful tact, 
 and good sense had won greatly upon him since his 
 return home. She was now his confidant in everything. 
 Fanny possessed what Larry lacked an even, cheerful, 
 and happy disposition under any and all circumstances, 
 and . j ' --.ghlv well-grounded belief and faith in the
 
 1 10 ARMOUR. 
 
 religious principles of her parents, which were of the 
 strictest Calvinistic school. She believed in living up to, 
 and practicing, its teachings in her every day life, at all 
 times, and was never content with the thin veneering of 
 Christianity so fashionable amongst modern Christians, 
 and which makes its appearance regularly every Sabbath 
 morning, and culminates with a grand dress parade after 
 church. 
 
 At this stage of affairs, Conyngham appeared upon the 
 scene as a suitor for Emily's hand. Since the breaking off 
 of his engagement with Miss Emory he had completely 
 absorbed himself in making money, and, under his father's 
 instructions and tuition, he had of late begun to try his 
 hand in politics. 
 
 Judge Charlton's (Emily's father) influence politically, 
 throughout the state, was second only to that of General 
 Conyngham, and as we have mentioned before, it was the 
 great desire of the Conyngham's to see an alliance between 
 the two families through Malcolm and Emily, and thus 
 to form a political and social combination that would make 
 its influence felt even in national affairs. 
 
 Judge and Mrs. Charlton were both anxious to have him 
 for a son-in-law, and the only question which perplexed 
 Malcolm was how to dispose of Hamilton, as he felt morally 
 certain that Emily's affections to a great extent were al 
 ready engaged. But his scheming brain and determined 
 will soon found a way to remove all obstacles. 
 
 He at once proceeded to pay the most marked attention 
 to her, and with his usual shrewdness, and knowledge of 
 the secret springs which influence human nature, he began 
 to insidiously play upon Emily's quick pride and vain 
 nature. He was entirely mistaken in regard to Larry's 
 real feelings towards Emily, and thought him deeply in
 
 WHICH WILL IT BE ? in 
 
 love with her, but had no fears but that some scheme would 
 suggest itself, by which he could rid himself of the only 
 remaining barrier to his matrimonial ambition. 
 
 But Conyngham had exaggerated Hamilton's attentions 
 to Emily. While the latter was apparently as attentive to 
 one as the other of the young ladies, he was in reality com 
 pletely enamored of Fannie. The last few years, she had 
 bloomed into a beautiful woman, and was as fascinating 
 as beautiful. Although Hamilton had a Sybarite's love of 
 beauty in a woman, yet his fastidious taste required a 
 combination of intellect and society culture as well, and 
 Fannie Adair not only united all these charms and grace 
 ful qualities, but she was also a woman of fixed principles 
 and thoroughly conscientious. 
 
 It had seemed but natural for Fannie from childhood to 
 look upon Larry Hamilton as her beau ideal of all that was 
 refined and chivalrous, as it was for her to breath the air 
 around her. Yet at times when her mother ventured to 
 remonstrate with her, and referred to Larry's former irregu 
 larities and his apparent indisposition to settle down to 
 some steady pursuit like other young men, as indicative of 
 a disposition which would soon find the restraints of do 
 mestic life irksome, and likely to make unhappy the woman 
 he married, she could not deny to herself that her mother 
 had good reasons for thinking so, and admitted that her 
 mother's thoughts were true reflections of her own. 
 
 No sadder or more solemn consideration, nor one more 
 pregnant with joy or misery, presents itself to the mind of 
 a thoughtful woman, than when she reasons within herself 
 the momentous questions, will this man drag me down 
 to his, or can I bring him up to my, moral level ? 
 
 But the time for hesitation had long since passed. 
 They were now absolutely necessary to one another's hap 
 piness.
 
 112 ARMOUR. 
 
 Emily, piqued, mortified, and wounded, at Hamilton's 
 attention to Fannie, encouraged Conyngham's suit ; and 
 while his attentions at first were distasteful to her, the 
 prospect of a wealthy establishment dazzled and recon 
 ciled her to the prospective alliance. Her manner towards 
 him soon set at rest all Conyngham's fears as to final re 
 sults. But his jealous and suspicious nature still feared 
 Hamilton's possible interference. 
 
 Returning home from the war with the reputation of a 
 brave and gallant officer, who had fought his way up from 
 the ranks by his own unaided gallantry, both handsome 
 and winning, Lawrence Hamilton had received enough 
 attention from the fair sex to have turned the heads of 
 most young men ; and even Malcolm Conyngham, much to 
 the chagrin of that gentleman, was obliged for some time 
 after Larry's return to occupy a secondary position in 
 society-
 
 MY QUEEN. 113 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MY QUEEN. . 
 
 WHILE conversing with his friend Conyngham one even 
 ing, Hamilton casually referred to the- provision in his 
 father's will, under which it would be necessary for him to 
 engage in some business pursuit before he could claim a 
 large sum devised to him, upon that condition, at a certain 
 age ; and Conyngham, all intent on getting his supposed 
 rival in Emily's affection out of the way, at once suggested 
 his taking a position on the road he was operating, and 
 which, he remarked, though it might not prove either very 
 congenial or lucrative, was the best thing he could do for 
 the present, and would enable him to claim this advance 
 from his father's estate. 
 
 Hamilton gladly accepted the position, and shortly after 
 left for Hazleton, an important transferring station on 
 Conyngham's road, and for the time being became a rail 
 road official, although in a rather subordinate position. 
 
 His duties here threw him almost entirely amongst the 
 laboring men and the hard-working employees, but also 
 gave him unusual facilities for learning the ways, and 
 studying the actions of the higher officials. Being natu 
 rally quick and observing, he soon became thoroughly con 
 versant with the hardships and privations of the one class, 
 and the greed and tyranny of the other, and the unscrupu 
 lous means by which they enriched themselves at the ex 
 pense of the public, by special freight rates, rebates, draw-
 
 114 ARMOUR. 
 
 backs, secret contracts with shippers, and the discrimina 
 tions and preferences by which they prey and flourish upon 
 local traffic, to the disadvantage of the people and busi- 
 interests along their lines. 
 
 Hamilton's absence from Armour convinced him of the 
 fact, that without the society of Fannie Adair life was not 
 only insipid, but well nigh unendurable; and he looked 
 forward to going home on Saturday with the impatience 
 that only lovers can fully appreciate and understand. 
 
 "Two letters for you, Mr. Hamilton, and both in ladies' 
 handwriting. How fortunate you are," laughed his assist- 
 tant, pleasantly, one beautiful morning in May, as he 
 handed him the delicately perfumed missives. 
 
 Larry's heart beat rapidly, and a faint flush overspread 
 his manly countenance for a moment, as he recognized on 
 one of them Fannie's delicate chirograph) . 
 
 Opening it nervously, he found therein an invitation to 
 attend a party in the woods on the following day. 
 
 As it was lovely May weather, and business was slack, 
 he concluded to accept it. 
 
 Opening the other, he could not repress an exclamation 
 of surprise as he read the following : 
 
 ''Judge and Mrs. Mary N. Charlton request the honor 
 of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Emily 
 to Malcolm Conyngham, Esq., on Wednesday Evening, June 
 2oM, at 7 o'clock, at the Clinton Avenue Presbyterian 
 Church." 
 
 That evening he left for Armour, and the next morning 
 called early on Fanny, in order to engage her for the day's 
 pleasure. After ringing the door-bell several times and 
 receiving no answer, he passed unannounced through the 
 hall and into the parlor. As he entered tin- r<> mi. n fr"\vn.
 
 MY QUEEN. 115 
 
 as black as night, gathered on his brow, as he saw Fannie 
 standing near the fire-place, with her upturned face smil 
 ing sweetly into that of a tall, handsome stranger, who 
 stood with one arm caressingly thrown around her slender 
 waist. 
 
 In that moment he fully realized the great depths of 
 his love for her, and also realized fully that for him to lose 
 this woman was to lose all hope and courage with which 
 to fight the battle of life. 
 
 A sharp sword seemed to pierce his heart as Fannie 
 quickly turned toward him with a bright smile. But his mis 
 ery suddenly changed into joy, on recognizing Ralph Adair's 
 manly countenance and frank hearty greeting. Ralph had 
 completed his law course under Littlejohn, and had, dur 
 ing the last year, been travelling through Europe, before 
 finally settling down to practice. 
 
 Ralph and Larry had always been the best of friends, 
 and their meeting was cordial. 
 
 The day of the expedition to the woods was delightful, 
 and after a pleasant afternoon, during which all the lovers 
 in the party, as if moved by some irresistible attraction, 
 wandered off together in couples by themselves. 
 
 Larry and Fannie strolled off on the hillside, where alone 
 amidst the green wo^ds and with the blue heavens above, 
 he thought to himself, " This is my golden opportunity ; 
 now or never." But his heart failed him at every attempt 
 to broach the subject nearest his heart ; and Fannie, with 
 that inexplicable timidity, and the strange perversity which 
 invariably takes possession of a woman when she instinct 
 ively feels the critical moment approaching, not only re 
 fused to assist him in his embarrassment, but, by some 
 light and laughing remark and provoking badinage,
 
 1 1 6 ARMOUR. 
 
 seemed determined to prevent the conversation from 
 drifting into a dangerous channel. 
 
 The brave and dashing young ex-colonel of cavalry 
 who had faced death on the battle-field in the most horri 
 ble form, now sat by this young girl blushing and stam 
 mering like a simpering school girl. 
 
 At last, in sheer desperation he blurted out, in the 
 most unsentimental manner possible, the direct matter-of- 
 fact question, " Fannie, will you marry me ? " 
 
 As her beautiful countenance flushed crimson with the 
 roseate hue of love, and, speechless from unutterable emo 
 tion, they gazed into each others eyes, it required no words 
 to convey to the enraptured lover her answer. As he fin 
 ished speaking she was clasped in his ardent embrace. 
 
 While pleading eloquently of his loneliness away from 
 her, Larry insisted on naming an early day for their wedding. 
 But Fannie was firm in her determination to wait until they 
 were certain their attachment was not a mere passing pas 
 sion. 
 
 Hamilton's early reputation as a fickle lover, and his 
 affair with Emily Charlton had given him a reputation for 
 inconstancy that he was far from deserving, and owing to 
 these circumstances he could not reflect upon Fannie for 
 her desire to allow time to test the strength and sincerity 
 of their attachment. 
 
 As they rejoined their companions Larry was in fine 
 spirits. The party appeared suddenly to have new pleas 
 ures for him. A magician's wand seemed to have sud 
 denly opened to him a world of enchantment. Life was 
 a delicious dream. Everything was transformed, and 
 he returned to his duties with a li^ht heart and a bound 
 ing hope, while his future seemed spread before him like a 
 sweet vision of Paradise. He could think of nothing but
 
 MY QUEEN 117 
 
 Fannie Adair. Night and day, she was his all-absorbing 
 thought. He trembled at the very intensity of his own 
 feelings, while shuddering at the bare possibility of losing 
 her. It was not mere passion of the senses, but an 
 absorbing love based on the solid foundation of mutual 
 respect and friendship, a similarity of tastes and aspira 
 tions, and intellectual companionship.
 
 1 1 8 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE CORMORANT CORPORATION. 
 
 THE Hon. John Littlejohn had, as trustee of the Ham 
 ilton estate, secured an influence over the president of 
 the leading railroad running throughout the State, which 
 at once opened to him a rare opportunity of acquiring 
 political power and influence, from the fact that this 
 official had, in a great measure, been the architect of 
 Roger Hamilton's fortune. When the financial crash of 
 1857 came, he was embarrassed, and on the verge of 
 bankruptcy, when Roger, unlike most men, generously 
 placed his fortune at the disposal of his benefactor, by 
 which timely aid he succeeded in weathering the storm. 
 
 During his lifetime Roger never collected this loan, and 
 it still remained in the list of securities held in trust by 
 Littlejohn for Larry's benefit. The former was not slow 
 in availing himself of such an advantage to hoist himself 
 into power and influence. 
 
 He became the attorney of the company, and succeeded 
 in impressing the leading railroad official with the idea 
 that he was a man of unexceptionable ability and integ 
 rity. In public life he had so far skilfully held himself 
 aloof from the corrupting influences and practices which 
 had made the name of Conyngham and politician, at this 
 time and afterward, synonymous with scheming rascality. 
 He had also proven his patriotism during the war, by un 
 selfishly placing both his time and talents at the <!isp -al
 
 THE CORMORANT CORPORATION. 119 
 
 of his country in her hour of peril ; and while not act 
 ually taking a part in the field, as an orator he had been 
 invaluable in urging on braver men to fill the deadly breach. 
 
 The corporation he represented had extended its power 
 all over the state, and, vampire like, had drained dry 
 every channel of trade within its influence, compelling 
 every citizen in the state to pay " tribute to Caesar," and 
 divided with the Conynghams the ownership and control of 
 the legislature and the State government. Together, these 
 cormorants had joined hands and preyed on the people, and* 
 by bribing some and electing other members of the legis 
 lature, had succeeded in having such laws enacted as gave 
 them unlimited power, and complete control over all other 
 business interests, and in repealing all wise and restrain 
 ing laws that were obnoxious to, or in any way discrimin 
 ated against, their interests. 
 
 The people were now completely at the mercy of this gigan 
 tic monopoly and its friends and henchmen, the Conyng 
 hams. Not only had it secured control of the legislature 
 and executive branches of the government, but the same 
 means had been successfully wielded in capturing and 
 controlling the judiciary of the state to such an extent as 
 to secure all of the most important decisions in its favor, thus 
 leaving the people without recourse, and completely pros 
 trated before its power ; and in all but name was as auto 
 cratic and tyrannical in the exercise of its ill-gotten power 
 as is the Czar of all the Russias. 
 
 In defiance of the express provision of their charter, 
 and through the means already referred to, the leading 
 officials had acquired immense wealth ; and in answer to 
 the indignant protest of a long-suffering people, sneer- 
 ingly asked them, " What are you going to do about it." 
 The representatives of other states amused themselves by
 
 120 ARMOUR. 
 
 jibing the people for thus tamely submitting to the loss of 
 their manhood and independence, and sneeringly referred 
 to each branch of the government as being under the 
 ownership and control of this corporation and the Cony- 
 nyhams, and on this account ignoring the right of the peo 
 ple to any share in the general government. 
 
 To such gigantic proportions had this power now grown, 
 and so insolent had it become in its mandates, that no 
 matter how pure or talented, no man in the State, except 
 through its influence or that of the Conyngham's, could 
 ever hope to attain any position of prominence in public 
 affairs, and then only by the most humiliating sacrifice 
 of honor and independence. The natural consequence of 
 this was that men who would have reflected honor on the 
 people and the state refused to bow the knee to Baal, or 
 like Mordecai in the king's gate, stooped not to their 
 behests, nor did reverence to their presence ; and the 
 legislative, judicial, and executive departments of the gov- 
 erment were left in the hands of the remorseless Hamans, 
 whose ambitious thirst for power was only exceeded by 
 their inordinate avarice and unscrupulous desire for gain, 
 and those who, like whipped spaniels, crawling at the feet 
 of their masters, would lick the hands that beat them, and 
 cheerfully do their bidding. 
 
 These two combined monopolies of stolen political 
 power and ill-gotten wealth, were united as against the 
 people. They plundered them without stint, divided the 
 spoils, and rode rough-shod over them, having rendered 
 legislation a disgraceful farce, and justice a hollow mock 
 ery, every legislator having his fixed price, and there being 
 but few judges on the bench who did not owe their posi 
 tions to the manipulations of this corporation through the 
 Conynghams.
 
 THE CORMORANT CORPORATION. 121 
 
 The large bribes offered to legislators by this corpora 
 tion attracted to its body men who were willing to spend 
 their time and the money of the corporation, under the 
 supervision of the Conynghams, in corrupting and de 
 bauching their constituents, in order to get to the capital, 
 that they might there avail themselves of "the thrift that 
 follows fawning." 
 
 But in time the people became aroused and alarmed. 
 
 By long success and immunity from exposure and pun 
 ishment, this Ring became reckless and insolent in their 
 demands, and oppressive in their dealings with the people; 
 while their open and shameless debauchery of the legis 
 lature and the judiciary had given the state such an 
 unenviable and disgraceful notoriety as to become a 
 stench in the nostrils of every honest man throughout the 
 State, irrespective of parties. 
 
 When a vacancy now occurred in the United States 
 Senate, the people determined to place in this high office 
 a man who would not be the subservient tool of the Ring, 
 and for the first time in their infamous career, the Ring 
 was compelled to bow before the storm of popular indig 
 nation and to submit to the will of the people, who de 
 manded, in tones not to be misunderstood, that a man 
 should be selected whose high character and reputation 
 would be a sufficient guarantee that they could not con 
 trol him. 
 
 The company had grand schemes for a trans-continen 
 tal railroad route, and unfortunately, at the very time, 
 needed a man in the senate chamber who was possessed 
 of great legal abilities, and upon whom they could depend 
 to do their bidding, and be of service in obtaining valu 
 able franchises from the government, and in securing 
 certain needed legislation.
 
 122 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A CONYNGHAM CAUCUS. 
 
 As the elder Conyngham sat one evening in his library 
 with his son, and three or four of their henchmen, discuss 
 ing the coming senatorial contest and arranging their 
 programme, they were an interesting study. 
 
 " What do you think of the company's choice for sena 
 tor, General ? " asked a thin, dark-skinned, consumptive- 
 looking, little fellow, with bright eyes and a nervous, rest 
 less manner. 
 
 " He is no doubt a very honest man," replied the gen 
 eral, moodily. 
 
 "Well, that will suit us exactly," replied Mr. Questor, 
 the Sphinx and Mephistopheles of the Ring. 
 
 Mr. Questor was a short, thick-set, little man, who 
 imagined himself very much like General Grant, and imi 
 tated the taciturnity of the general so well that his owl- 
 like assumption of wisdom and profundity never failed to 
 inspire awe in the minds of verdant and timid country mem 
 bers. His large, dark eyes had a great deal of white in 
 them, eyes which, in a horse, invariably suggest a tricky 
 and unreliable disposition. To still further carry out his 
 supposed mental resemblance to General Grant, he was 
 rarely without a cigar in his mouth, and he assumed a 
 modesty of demeanor well calculated to deceive the un 
 wary. He had succeeded to the leadership of the Ring 
 by his wonderful adeptness in suggesting new and original
 
 THE CORMORANT CORPORATION. 123 
 
 schemes for manipulating votes, and closing the eyes of 
 the people ; and for "ways that were dark, and tricks that 
 were vain " he was famous. To him the Conynghams were 
 indebted for the brains and cunning which marked their 
 political management and wire-pulling, but for which 
 they had always received the credit. 
 
 The Conynghams furnished the money and laid out the 
 general plan of these campaigns, and left the whole mat 
 ter in the hands of Questor and his subordinates. The 
 first speaker, the dark-complexioned little man, was the 
 executive of the Ring, and pushed forward their plans 
 to completion, and to him was left the arranging of all 
 the details. These men had no scruples whatever, and 
 were all old ward-politicians, thoroughly saturated in the 
 dirty mire of local political strife, and had long parted 
 with whatever vestige of scruples they had ever possessed 
 if they ever had had any, which was doubtful. They 
 were men who hesitated at nothing to carry out the pur 
 poses and schemes of the Ring. Coarse creatures, they 
 not only gloried in their shame, but in their ignorance and 
 egotism imagined themselves to be great men, and it would 
 have been impossible to have convinced them that the re 
 spectable portion of the community looked upon them as 
 common rogues. 
 
 So that they made money and could revel in gross 
 pleasures were the highest objects of their ambition ; and 
 in order to acquire the means of doing this, they were 
 willing to sell themselves body and soiil to their master. 
 
 " I have seen a great many different kinds of men in my 
 day," said the general, who was very fond of indulg 
 ing in long-winded reminiscences in which he figured prom 
 inently as the hero, " and I have always found lawyers 
 to be narrow and illiberal in their views. They never
 
 124 ARMOUR. 
 
 make good statesmen. What we want in the United 
 States Senate, are men who can fully comprehend the wants 
 of the people, and who are thoroughly informed on all the 
 live issues of the day men who are in perfect accord with 
 the people ; men of good, hard common sense, practical, 
 and not bothered with any new-fangled ideas. Printers, 
 in my judgment, are the best material from which to make 
 good statesmen men like Benjamin Franklin for in 
 stance." The general made no reference here to himself, 
 but left that for inference, as in his younger days he had, 
 as before mentioned, been for a short time interested in a 
 newspaper in some way. By flattering the profession he 
 was not only indirectly offering up incense to his own 
 vanity, but at the same time did it on the principle of 
 " you tickle me, I tickle you." He had reaped many bene 
 fits and considerable gratuitous advertising, during his 
 public life, in this way. But of late it had become monoto 
 nous and lost its efficacy by too constant repetition. Edi 
 tors can no more live entirely on taffy than can the mem 
 bers of any other profession. 
 
 During the general's remarks an amused smile displayed 
 itself on the countenance of one of the coterie, who was 
 evidently the superior of the rest in refinement and intel 
 lectuality, and looked sadly out of place amongst the medi 
 ocrity which surrounded him. He appeared uncomforta 
 ble, and did not seem very well pleased with his company. 
 The whole business was evidently distasteful. " The peo 
 ple think Littlejohn will elevate our national politics, and 
 believe he will become a second Sumner if sent to the 
 senate," remarked this gentleman, pleasantly. 
 
 The mention of Sumner's name produced the same 
 effect on the general that the shaking of a red flag by a 
 Spanish matador would have had in the face of a mad
 
 THE CORMORANT CORPORATION. 125 
 
 bull. His countenance instantly assumed an angry expres 
 sion, and losing all control over himself, he railed bitterly. 
 " Nothing worse could happen to this State than to be rep 
 resented in the United States Senate by a crazy, egotistical 
 enthusiast, and an impracticable visionary like Sumner. 
 These d d literary fellows are the ruination of the coun 
 try, and are of no more practical use in the senate than a 
 college professor would be in managing one of our cam 
 paigns. I tell you it takes a very peculiar kind of ability 
 now-a-days to run a government. The old style of states 
 men, like Jefferson, Hamilton, Webster, Clay, and Cal- 
 houn, would be mere puppets in the senate to-day. You 
 must remember the country and the times have changed 
 very much since that day. The country has grown out of 
 its swaddling clothes, and cannot live any longer on a diet 
 of bread and milk. We need statesmen who are thor 
 oughly practical, and who don't bother themselves with 
 overhauling libraries and making fine speeches ; but what 
 the people want now in a statesman, is one who knows how 
 to take care of their interests, and push their bills through 
 the committees, and not let other fellows get ahead of 
 them." 
 
 After the venerable statesman had delivered himself of 
 this grand definition of the qualifications he thought nec 
 essary for a modern statesman, he proceeded to wipe off 
 his glasses, and looked around on the group with an ex 
 pression that said plainer than words, " Proceed, my chil 
 dren ; I am now ready to hear what you have to say to 
 me," while his face wore the bland and pleased expression 
 that invariably followed an intellectual effort like the fore 
 going; and he never failed to secure an attentive and 
 grateful audience amongst the paid harpies and obsequious 
 lackeys who constantly surrounded him, and who appeared
 
 126 ARMOUR. 
 
 only too glad to sit at the feet of wisdom, and humbly 
 avail themselves of the general's ripe experience and wise 
 and statesman-like views on great questions of govern 
 mental policy and state-craft. 
 
 "All I fear," broke in the younger Conyngham, " is that 
 if Littlejohn once gets into the senate he will become un 
 manageable, and think his own ability placed him there. 
 It is just such pious and Christian statesmen who gener 
 ally kick the ladder by which they have climbed into power 
 and place from under them when safely seated. I believe 
 he will prove ungrateful, and lose sight of a fact, of which 
 no one is more fully aware than himself, that if he does 
 go to the senate, it will be through the company's money 
 and our manipulations, and a iucky^ combination of cir 
 cumstances. We have to compromise with the people this 
 time. It will not be his Christian character, integrity, or 
 legal abilities, he so prides himself on possessing, that 
 will put him through; but, as I said before, the company's 
 money and our work. He knows well enough that this in 
 fernal fuss about corruption and Ring rule for several 
 year's back, has been kicked up by a few disappointed 
 newspaper editors and office seekers. Littlejohn is very 
 oily and bland just now, and while verbally promising 
 everything, will bind himself to no pledges. But he is 
 perfectly willing that we should do all the dirty work for 
 him." 
 
 " I believe Malcolm is about right on Littlejohn," spoke 
 the sage. " However, we can't do anything without the 
 company's assistance, and they insist upon our taking him. 
 They need a man like Littlejohn in the senate for the next 
 few years, and in fact, must have a man well versed in 
 law ; and he is their choice. They will furnish plenty of 
 funds if we put him through, and they will also guarantee
 
 A CONY1NGHAM CAUCUS. 127 
 
 to keep him straight and not allow him to interfere with 
 our management in the state." 
 
 So it was settled in this little caucus, in the library of a 
 private house, by such men as these, who should be the 
 next United States Senator. And this, long before the 
 legislature convened for the purpose of afterwards going 
 through the ridiculous farce of making the people believe 
 they had something to say in reference to the selection 
 of one who was to represent their great State in the coun 
 cils of the nation, and to whom was to be confided the in 
 terests of a great commonwealth. 
 
 Before the election of a senator the members of a legis 
 lature, who owed their election to money furnished by the 
 Ring, were quietly brought together, their duties assigned to 
 them, and the cue given for carrying out their respective parts. 
 Every man was given his approximate -value, and where 
 money would not affect them, on account of constitutional 
 timidity, other means were found by which their votes 
 were secured. All members were furnished with free passes 
 over this company's road and its branches, against ex 
 press laws which forbade their accepting them ; and some 
 of the very judges on the supreme bench were known, in 
 the same manner, to place themselves under obligations to 
 this monopoly. 
 
 In very much the same manner were selected and elect 
 ed the governor, state treasurer, and all other important 
 officers throughout the state, and, most deplorable of all, 
 most of the judges.
 
 128 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 WHAT NEXT? 
 
 MALCOLM CONYNGHAM'S wedding was an event long 
 remembered in the annals of Armour. The uniting of 
 two such fortunes and families, so long prominent in polit 
 ical affairs, was an event which caused considerable com 
 ment throughout the country. 
 
 The politicians spoke of it as a great stroke of policy on 
 Malcolm's part, for furthering the advancement of his 
 political aspirations, and perfectly in keeping with his 
 character as a shrewd and far-seeing politician. 
 
 " Ralph," said Hamilton, as he tilted his chair against 
 his friend's law office, while lighting a fresh cigar in the 
 bright moonlight of a delightful evening in June, after 
 returning from Conyngham's grand wedding, " I guess you 
 think I was about right when I said Malcolm Conyngham 
 would some day be a great man. He has the field clear 
 before him now. This match will help him wonderfully. 
 Judge Charlton has nearly as much influence politically 
 as General Conyngham. 
 
 "You know if Grant is again elected president and*it 
 looks that way now Malcolm will have great influence 
 with the administration, and will get pretty near anything 
 he chooses to ask for from him. You are aware of the 
 latter's weakness for very rich men, whose bounties he 
 has accepted so frequently, as to earn for him the unen 
 viable distinction of having it said of him that he ' was
 
 WHAT NEXT! 129 
 
 first in war, first in peace, and deep into the pockets of 
 his countrymen.' ' 
 
 " Malcolm Conyngham may be a successful man," re- 
 plied Ralph, " but a great one, never. He has none of 
 the elements of greatness in him. Owing to a lucky chain 
 of circumstances, and the accident of being Jacob Con- 
 yngham's son, he found everything prepared for him on 
 his road to success. All he had to do was to stretch 
 forth his hand. I admit he is great in one thing." 
 
 " What is that ? " 
 
 " Great in his unparalleled selfishness and avarice ! " 
 
 "Ralph, you never liked Malcolm. What was the 
 reason ? " 
 
 " If you can satisfactorily answer me some questions I 
 will answer yours. Did you ever know Malcolm Conyng 
 ham to do one disinterestedly kind act ? Did you ever 
 know him to have one warm, personal friend, and, with 
 all his great wealth and numerous opportunities for help 
 ing his less fortunate fellow-men, has he ever, to your 
 knowledge, done it, even where it would cost him neither 
 effort or self-denial ? And can you deny that all his busi 
 ness transactions have been marked by the most sordid 
 greed and utter disregard for the claims or rights of 
 others ? As for his word, you know as well I do, that he 
 thinks no more of breaking it, when it suits him to do so, 
 than did Ananias and Sapphira. 
 
 " I always looked upon him as a very ordinary man, who is 
 anxious to be considered a very extraordinary one, and yet, 
 with all his great wealth and immense advantages over other 
 men, he has so far only astonished the country by his utter 
 disregard for everybody's interests but his own, and by 
 a humiliating display of mediocrity whenever he attempts
 
 130 ARMOUR. 
 
 the role of a public man. He has made money ; but 
 who could help making money situated as he was ? It 
 does not require a very high order of talent to accumu 
 late wealth. All that is necessary is to be mean and 
 miserly, take every advantage you can over the weak, con 
 fiding, and ignorant, hoard up every penny and deny your 
 self every comfort, and you will be rich as certainly as you 
 will be hated and despised." 
 
 " Gould, Disraeli, Conkling, and Cameron, are the heroes 
 of this nineteenth century. And all succeeded by greed* 
 and mock heroics ! " 
 
 " If Gould, Disraeli, Conkling, and Cameron, are our 
 great men, shades of Caesar and Cicero, Napoleon and 
 Washington, Shakespeare, Byron, and Burns, Jefferson 
 and Webster, Clay and Calhoun, see how your mantles 
 have descended upon successful thimbleriggers and span 
 gled mountebanks ! What ntxt ? "
 
 WO SHIP OF THE GOLDEN CALF. 131 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE WORSHIP OF THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 "WHEN I see people," continued Ralph, "worshipping 
 the golden calf General Conyngham has set up for them, 
 I would not be at all surprised to see him succeed to his 
 father's senatorial robes. He will never startle the country 
 by any great display of intellect or solid worth, and he 
 will never be able to open his mouth on any subject, and 
 communicate anything to the country, that could not be 
 as well said by any pawnbroker or note-shaver." 
 
 " I cannot understand why he helped me in securing a 
 position as he did, and placed me in a situation to claim 
 my advance from the estate," said Larry. 
 
 " You may not know now, but you can rest assured that 
 even so small a favor has not been given without some 
 ulterior purpose in view. The man never did, nor can he 
 do, a disinterested or generous action." 
 
 " What do you think of Littlejohn as United States 
 Senator ? " asked Larry. 
 
 " Why, I think the Conynghams will have their hands 
 full if they attempt to control him. Littlejohn is as nar 
 row and greedy for power as Malcolm Conyngham is for 
 money ; and the State is not quite large enough to hold 
 both these aspiring gentlemen. The former is a good 
 lawyer, but when you say that, you say all. As to states 
 manship, he is too much absorbed in his own greatness to 
 concern himself about his country's good. In cold
 
 132 ARMOUR. 
 
 blooded selfishness both he and Malcolm are very much 
 alike ; the only difference I can see between the two men 
 is that one has legal brains and the other has his father and 
 money. Littlejohn is greedy for power, and Conyngham 
 for both power and money. But as money is power, it is 
 not very safe to trust either of them where it is or can be 
 made. Both will abuse power whenever it is placed in 
 their hands. Neither of the men could be elected, by the 
 real vote of the people, to a Poor-directorship in their own 
 counties." 
 
 " I never knew you had studied politics and politicians 
 so closely, Ralph." 
 
 " I make no pretensions to being a politician, but as a 
 citizen I claim the right to freely discuss these men, and 
 their management of public affairs. The masses of the 
 people are honest in their desire for an honest govern 
 ment ; and though slow to become aroused to their dan 
 ger, when at last forbearance ceases to be a virtue, they 
 will rise up in their might, and, like the blind and impris 
 oned Sampson, bring down the temple upon themselves 
 and their enemies." 
 
 " Like yourself, I am tired of these men, or bosses as 
 you call them, dictating all the nominations, forcing their 
 tools on the people ; and running the government for 
 their own private benefit. But I do not see what the 
 people can do to rid themselves of these rascals and their 
 pernicious system. Even the leaders of both parties com 
 bine together against the people when any attempt is 
 made to crush them ; and together they force into obscur 
 ity honest men who really have the interests of the peo 
 ple at heart, and place in their stead the most worthless 
 demagogues in the country."
 
 WORSHIP OF THE GOLDEN CALF. 133 
 
 "Well," interrupted Ralph impatiently, "why don't the 
 wealthy and influential class of people interest themselves, 
 and combine against . these men ? They could soon make 
 themselves felt in politics if they would only take the 
 trouble." 
 
 " You need never expect this class to bother themselves 
 much about politics. They have plenty of means and can 
 invest in government bonds. They do not care how much 
 taxation is imposed on the people ; if they invest in 
 real estate their tenants pay the additional tax. They 
 simply add it to their rent, and the full force of the griev 
 ance is only felt by those who are least able to bear it. 
 To the great middle class must we look to give us a 
 change. The capitalists and great property holders are 
 naturally in favor of having a strong centralized govern 
 ment, and their interest, as a rule, is directly opposed to 
 that of the masses of the people, who are jealous of put 
 ting any more power into the hands of the privileged class 
 than they can possibly help. The corporations and the 
 capitalists know they can, by paying, have all laws made 
 for their protection and advantage. It would never suit 
 the railroads, national banks, and other great monopolies 
 to have honest men in the legislature, or controlling our 
 politics. And they will support these corrupt leaders or 
 bosses as long as they will protect their interests. Wendell 
 Phillips never said a truer thing than when he said he 
 never knew of a single reform, either moral or intellect 
 ual, that came down from, or originated in, the upper classes. 
 All revolutions started from the poorer classes." 
 
 " That is true," said Adair ; " but if the wealthy classes 
 will not interest themselves in stopping this wholesale 
 jobbery and corruption, which all comes on the poor men
 
 134 ARMOUR. 
 
 in the end, upon whom can you depend ? The poorer 
 classes can do nothing. They have to vote as their land 
 lords, and employers, and bankers direct. If ever our 
 government becomes a monarchy, *and it is almost that 
 now in all but name, too much corporation, monopoly, 
 and millionaire railroad kings, stock operators, and iron 
 masters and national bankers will be the cause. Against 
 the immense combined wealth of corporations or monopo 
 lies an individual has about as much chance to succeed, 
 even by the most industrious and honest methods, as has 
 a dog-cart in a race with the Limited Express. This 
 ruining and crippling small business men swells the dis 
 contented and idle class, and when election time comes 
 around, these corporations and the Conynghams continue 
 their ruinous work. They debauch, demoralize, and buy 
 up the poor voters, or those whom they have, by their cruel 
 system of monopoly, thrown out of work. Here is where 
 the great danger lies. Corporations and monopolies are 
 making communistic outbreaks in the near future more 
 possible than we dream of ; and my only hope is in the 
 intelligence and purity of purpose in our middle classes. 
 When they fully realize and appreciate the two dangerous 
 extremes which menace us, they will put men in office 
 who are free from even the suspicion of affiliation with the 
 corporation rings in either party. It will be their only 
 salvation. 
 
 " Do you know whether Littlejohn is home ? I must 
 see him on some business before I return to Hazleton." 
 
 " I think he is not in town, as I saw him go to the train 
 this afternoon, carrying his satchel. I suppose he is look 
 ing up his senatorial prospects. Are you going back to 
 Hazleton in the morning ? "
 
 WORSHIP OP THE GOLDEN CALE. 135 
 
 " Yes, if Littlejohn is not at home ; " and bidding his 
 companion good-night Hamilton started up street, but was 
 unable to resist the temptation of stopping on his way 
 home to discuss the Conyngham wedding with Fanny, and 
 endeavor to arrange his own.
 
 136 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE CAR OF JUGGERNAUT. 
 
 As Larry approached his office the next morning, he saw 
 a crowd of men standing around the building near the 
 depot. Amongst them was one of the employees to whom 
 he wished to speak, and passing through the gaping crowd 
 of idlers, he entered the building, where a scene met his 
 gaze that for a moment, accustomed as he had been to 
 the horrors of battle-fields, fairly sickened him. On 
 bloody stretchers lay two manly forms, torn and mangled 
 in a shocking manner, but in whose ashy and swollen faces 
 he recognized an engineer and fireman with whom he had 
 often conversed.' Like most of their class, they were 
 manly fellows, and their frank, honest, cheery ways, had 
 attracted him. In the pockets of the faded and begrimed 
 overalls of the fireman was found a bunch of keys and 
 seven cents, while in those of the engineer was sixty cents, 
 his book of rules, and a slip of paper which proved to be 
 a letter which one of the brakeman had found tightly 
 clutched in the dead man's hand. It was from his little 
 girl, begging him to come home. 
 
 Hamilton hurried from the room with moistened eyes. 
 What a contrast presented itself! Outside, the birds sung 
 merrily in the bright June sunshine, and all was life and 
 happiness. Inside, was death, horror, and gloom. 
 
 At this moment a " special " whirled by with a director's 
 elegant car attached, on the platform of which sat some of
 
 THE CAR OF JUGGERNAUT. 
 
 the officials of the road, with their families, gentlemen 
 who, on salaries of five thousand dollars make millions in 
 a few years. Fat terrapin-fed-looking gentlemen they 
 were, too, with all the appearance of general high living, 
 and of lives unmarked by care, and their well-dressed and 
 happy-looking wives and daughters chatted gayly to one 
 another as they swept by. 
 
 " Ah ! " sighed Hamilton, as he thought of the two 
 poor fellows lying in that room ; " how different are the 
 lives of these men from those of their employees. The 
 latter have all the responsibility, danger, and risk, and at 
 best can never make anything but a mere living, and fre 
 quently become a sacrifice to the greedy and heartless 
 economy, which prompts the officials of soulless corpora 
 tions all intent on declaring dividends to ignore the 
 fact that men are not machines." 
 
 As Larry sat in his office musing over these things, 
 Smith, the dispatcher, remarked, " It was a hard life and a 
 cruel death for these poor fellows, Mr. Hamilton." 
 
 " Yes," replied Larry, " and they will no doubt get all 
 the blame for this accident. It is convenient to saddle 
 such responsibilities on dead men." 
 
 " You are right there ; " replied Smith, " and no one will 
 ever think to give these men credit for the thousands of 
 trains they have brought through safely. The conductor 
 of that train told me that last winter he often worked eigh 
 teen hours a day, and that for a whole week he never took 
 his clothes off to sleep. The flagman they blame for this 
 accident, I know to be an honest and truthful young fel 
 low, and he told me this morning, that this system of 
 double-heading was what played the mischief. You see, 
 by double-heading I mean the putting of two trains to 
 gether and two engines in front. By running both under
 
 138 ARMOUR. 
 
 one conductor, and one set of brakemen and flagmen, they 
 save the extra amount of wages. It just doubles the 
 work and responsibility. I do not wonder that when 
 nearly worked out they can scarcely keep from dropping 
 off in a doze on duty. I only wonder that there are not 
 more accidents than there" are. I have known these men 
 to do this on terribly cold winter nights when it was as 
 much as a man's life was worth to stay out an hour." 
 
 " Don't they pay them extra for such work or let them 
 lay off for a few days after it," asked Hamilton ? 
 
 Smith looked up in surprise. "I guess not; and if the 
 least complaint comes from them, they are discharged at 
 once. If killed, after having served the company a life 
 time, their families can get along the best way possible. 
 The company generally buries them and probably gives 
 the widow a few hundred dollars. But what is that to a 
 woman with a family of children to feed and clothe?" 
 
 " We used to think discipline in the army strict," said 
 Hamilton ; " but after a year's railroading I have concluded 
 that there is as much, if not more, unnecessary official 
 tyranny under these corporations than under the most 
 rigid of martinets in the army, and far less regard for the 
 comfort and welfare of the men. I only wonder that so 
 many men can be found to work at the small salaries they 
 pay. It is out of all proportion to the privation, danger 
 and risk they run." 
 
 " The trouble is," said Smith, " that there are always 
 about twenty men waiting for every vacancy, and knowing 
 this, railroad officials are very independent. While the 
 directors and officers of the road and the company make 
 more money now than ever, their employees and the public 
 do not share in their prosperity." 
 
 " It is not only in railroad circles that the evil influence
 
 THE CAR OF JUGGERNAUT. 139 
 
 of monopoly is felt," replied Hamilton, " but the same 
 grasping spirit seems to be extending itself into all kinds 
 of business. The capitalists of the country combine to 
 gether, and have laws passed by which they obtain entire 
 advantage over the laboring classes, and which, under the 
 constitution, they have no right to ask for nor obtain, as 
 these so-called laws are directly inimical to the interests 
 of the people. This evil has become so great, that, unless 
 some remedy is soon found, I believe there will be trouble. 
 It may be a peaceable revolution, and I hope it will be ; 
 but it is the irrepressible conflict between Monopoly and 
 the People." 
 
 " Why, you do not think we are going to have a French 
 Revolution, do you ? " asked Mr. Lennox, who had been 
 standing near his assistant. 
 
 " History repeats itself," replied Hamilton, " and while 
 you may call me an alarmist, the country just now reminds 
 me of France in 1793. Every department of the Govern 
 ment seems to be reeking with corruption. Infidelity and 
 scepticism flourish and are fashionable. Men seem no 
 longer to regard religion with the old-time reverence ; 
 while every one is bent on making money, regardless of the 
 manner in which it is made. The privileged few monop 
 olize, not only the government but, under the name of a 
 corporation, are draining all the wealth of the country, 
 while the toiling masses are struggling for a bare suste 
 nance. What we call communism, to-day, is looked upon 
 now very much, I suppose, as it was at the time of the cry 
 of ' Liberty, fraternity, and equality.' Every one seems to 
 have lost faith in the old order of things. We are like 
 men groping in the dark. Not only here, but in Russia, 
 Germany, England, Ireland, Spain, and France ; all over 
 Europe can be heard the minor mutterings of the coming
 
 140 ARMOUR. 
 
 storm. I believe that our only salvation, so far, has been 
 owing to our large territory as compared to our population. 
 When we become crowded, look out for trouble. The 
 country is filling up very rapidly and the day of trouble 
 may not be far off." 
 
 The superintendent of the road at this moment entered, 
 and the conversation was interrupted. 
 
 A PARAPHRASE. 
 
 It is a wild, stormy night, 
 
 As an engineer sits by his throbbing engine, 
 
 In his cabin, awaiting the lightning express. 
 
 The dim-light gloams and flickers on the sheet 
 
 Of a rustling paper that, with eager eyes 
 
 And heart, intent he reads. Now, with a smile 
 
 The brave, manly face, lights up 
 
 A smile that, e'en in the smiling, breeds a pain 
 
 Within his yearning heart : the little hand 
 
 That those sweet loving words hath traced, will he 
 
 Ever again in his protecting clasp 
 
 Enfold it ? Who can tell ? He can but kiss, 
 
 With loving heart, the page that hand 
 
 Hath touched. Each line, each word read and re-read ; 
 
 At last there is no more. With swimming eyes 
 
 He sees those lines, with pencil widely ruled, 
 
 Where largely sprawl big letters helplessly; 
 
 What do they say, those baby characters, 
 
 So feebly huge ? 
 
 " Loved papa, 
 
 When will you come home again ? 
 
 My own dear papa 1 " 
 
 As he reads the cabin grows darker, 
 His strong hand trembles, and the hot tears burn 
 In his blue eyes, and blur the straggling words. 
 What need to see ? The words are stamped upon 
 His heart, and his whole soul doth feel them there. 
 The wind on gusty wings sweeps by, and to I
 
 THE CAR OF JUGGERNAUT. 141 
 
 With its wild voice, his child's sweet treble mingles 
 In accents faintly clear : 
 
 " Loved papa, 
 
 When will you come home again ? 
 
 My own dear papa 1 " 
 
 And now his head is bowed into his hands, 
 
 His brave heart for a moment seems to climb 
 
 Into his throat and choke him. Hark 1 what sound 
 
 Thus sharply leaps amongst, and slays the sad 
 
 Wind-voices of the solemn night, with shrill 
 
 And sudden blast ? Down brakes I Down brakes I Quick I 
 
 The startled man, at the fierce appeals, 
 
 Half dreaming, clutches the lever : 
 
 The fireman, gasping, wakes, and pale as death, 
 
 Peers wildly forth, and sees, O, horror I 
 
 The lightning express upon them. 
 
 My God ! the switch is wrong I he shrieks, 
 
 And on that father's breast the pealing cry, 
 
 Strikes cold as death, though engineer none's braver, 
 
 And still above the awful crash, 
 
 His pleading child's voice sweetly calls, 
 
 " Loved papa, 
 
 When will you come home again ? 
 
 My own dear papa 1 " 
 
 Across a rough hillside the light of dawn 
 
 Doth coldly creep, with ruthless touch revealing 
 
 All that by darkness had been hid; and there, 
 
 Two mangled, stalwart forms, stiffening lie 
 
 Upon the blood-soaked ground, where the wreck lies thickest. 
 
 Dark dyed with gore, in the dead man's hand was clutched 
 
 A crumpled paper, 'gainst the cold lips the rigid hand did press 
 
 Some childish writing, by his life blood stained. 
 
 What are the words ?, One scarce can read them now : 
 
 "Loved papa, 
 
 When will you come home again ? 
 
 My own dear papa 1 "
 
 142 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 HON. JOHN LITTLEJOHN. 
 
 OWING to circumstances beyond the control of the Cony- 
 nghams, Littlejohn was selected by this corporation as 
 their candidate for United States Senator, and, with their 
 accustomed shrewdness and cunning, on finding he was 
 to be the choice of the company, and that the people fa 
 vored him, both father and son united in assisting him 
 with an assumed cheerfulness they were far from feeling. 
 
 Every man, woman, and child in Armour was wild with 
 delight at the unexpected honor thus conferred upon the 
 town, and gray-haired, dignified, old citizens, vied with 
 the noisiest urchin on the street in their joyous demon 
 strations, and congratulations of this, the greatest man 
 Armour had ever produced. All confidently predicted a 
 purer and nobler order of statesmanship, and prophesied 
 the breaking up of the corrupt and thieving gang of pub 
 lic plunderers who had so long been fastened on the peo 
 ple. Others, still more enthusiastic, expressed their firm 
 belief that Littlejohn would most certainly be the next 
 president. Bonfires were lighted all over the town, and 
 the village brass band of six pieces paraded the streets, 
 frantically discoursing patrioticairs, and finally wound up, 
 in front of the senator's modest mansion, with " Hail to 
 the Chief ! " Flickering torches illuminated the enthusi 
 astic scene, and the crowd loudly called for " Littlejohn I 
 Littlejohn I "
 
 HON. JOHN LITTLEJOHN. 143 
 
 As the bald-headed little gentleman appeared on the 
 portico and made his bow, he was greeted with the 
 most deafening cheers, while the band played " Lo ! the 
 conquering hero comes." Hats were swung high in the 
 air, while the band, carried away by the greatness of 
 their distinguished fellow-citizen, and utterly regardless of 
 the eternal fitness of things, quickly changed the tune to 
 "Lannagan's Ball." 
 
 As the inspiring strains of the gay Hibernian tune 
 stirred the night air with its quick, dancing music, the 
 crowd, no longer able to control themselves, madly 
 danced an Irish jig. 
 
 Staid and dignified lawyers and bankers participated 
 in the delirious hilarity of the occasion, while the young 
 and excitable minister, wild with the thought of having 
 his leading elder in the councils of the nation, and 
 in the excitement of the moment forgetting all social 
 distinction, encircled the little butcher with his arms, and 
 the two danced a jig with a vim and agility that would 
 have shamed Barney Williams in his palmiest days. 
 
 Shoemakers, editors, and lawyers, embraced one another, 
 while one old, dignified, and aristocratic ex-banker, and 
 his friend, who fondly imagined himself the leading at 
 torney of Armour, and of both of whom it could be truly 
 said that when they died wisdom would die with them, 
 completely overcome by their feelings, could do nothing 
 but sit down on the curbstone, with hats off, laughing and 
 crying alternately. 
 
 In vain did the great man endeavor to speak, as the 
 rest of his large family, like that of the famed John Rog 
 ers of Smithfield memory, " wildly waved their handker 
 chiefs from as many different windows, fondly believing 
 that they were now all senators."
 
 144 ARMOUR. 
 
 But alas ! That there should be a serpent in Eden. 
 
 " Every one of these fellows are expecting at the hands 
 of Littlejohn an office," said a dark-looking individual 
 with a sinister squint, who was standing on the outer edge 
 of the crowd, to his companion, Mr. Fox, " and they will 
 be d d badly disappointed, every man of them, or I 
 have studied Littlejohn to no purpose. You will see the 
 day when they will all be cursing and hooting him." The 
 speaker had restless, hungry-looking little green eyes, and no 
 other word but satanic would describe the expression of his 
 countenance a countenance hideous in its expression of 
 deep depravity, and seamed with the hard lines of a life 
 time devoted to the gratification of evil propensities. 
 Treachery and malice were written in every feature, yet 
 playing beneath was a vein of latent humor, shrewdness, 
 and more than ordinary intelligence, apparent to those 
 who studied the face closely. 
 
 This was Mr. Goforhim, editor of the " Armour Argus," 
 a vile little sheet, which, vulture-like, fattened on the 
 spoils of party strife, and on money wrung from the pock 
 ets of timid aspirants for political honors, who, dreading 
 the unscrupulous and filthy pen of its editor, encouraged 
 him in his despicable trade of black-mailing, either by 
 purchasing immunity from his indecent assaults, or by 
 hiring him to blackguard or abuse their opponents. A 
 keen observer of men was Goforhim, and especially 
 quick in detecting their weak points. Aware of Little- 
 John's narrow and tyrannical nature, love of power, and 
 perfect contempt for the people, he felt confident that 
 public life would soon develop a character in Littlejohn 
 that would very much surprise those who had hither 
 to been warm admirers of the man, and who labored 
 under the erroneous impression that they knew him 
 thoroughly.
 
 HON. JOHN LITTLEJOHN. 145 
 
 " Why, Goforhim, what reason have you for thinking 
 so ? " replied Mr. Fox. 
 
 " Reasons ? Plenty of them. That man cares no more 
 for these people, than for so many dogs, and looks on 
 us all in about that light. After the first flush of vic 
 tory, and when he has become accustomed to the excite 
 ment, and the novelty of the situation, Littlejohn will 
 miss all this fuss and flattery. He loves it like a cat 
 does milk, and cannot well exist without this constant 
 and sickening adulation. No flattery is too gross for 
 him, and those who can pour it on the thickest, and 
 bow the knee the suppliest, will be the men to whom 
 he will dispense his favors, and with whom he will sur 
 round himself. He will take no advice from any one and 
 will run things to suit himself, and allow no one else in 
 the State to have a word to say : that will not suit the 
 Conynghams. At home he will punish every man who 
 has ever opposed him, and as he ran twice for Congress, 
 and hardly received a corporal's guard of votes either 
 time, there will be a heavy score to settle with those 
 who failed to appreciate his eminently Christian char 
 acter, or neglected to recognize his transcendent genius." 
 
 "Don't you think he will be able to rise above all 
 these little grudges ? " asked the soporific Fox, in his 
 most blandly mellifluous tones. " Why, in his prayers 
 he makes a specialty of the forgiveness of our enemies." 
 
 "When he once gets them in his power he will make 
 a specialty of punishing his," said Goforhim. 
 
 " I suppose," rejoined Fox, " that he will reorganize 
 
 the political machinery of the country, and put new men 
 
 in the place of the old ones, as nearly all were opposed to 
 
 his being made senator." 
 
 "Yes, you may depend upon that. There will be a clean-
 
 146 ARMOUR. 
 
 ing out of the Augean stables and a new deal, and the 
 most servile and obsequious lackeys will be put in their 
 places." 
 
 " Well, I guess if he attempts that game you and I will 
 attend to him " chuckled Fox, as the band ceased playing. 
 
 The crowd having completely exhausted themselves, be 
 came comparatively quiet, as the Hon. John Littlejohn, 
 with a deprecatory wave of the hand towards a group of 
 small boys on the outskirts of the crowd, endeavored to 
 make himself heard. 
 
 At last " order reigned in Warsaw," and the Honorable 
 John proceeded as follows : 
 
 " My dear friends, fellow-citizens, and neighbors : To 
 you alone am I indebted for this high honor, and you will 
 believe me sincere when I say that this grand demonstra 
 tion, significant of your endorsement of my political ca 
 reer, has given me more pleasure than my elevation to the 
 United States Senate. 
 
 " That I have not sought this honor you all well know, 
 and that I sacrifice large business and professional inter 
 ests you are also well aware. But I am glad to be selected 
 as the standard-bearer by the people, for the inauguration 
 of a new order of things. The corruption and venality 
 that have hitherto disgraced our national affairs, and de 
 graded the politics of our country, shall in me always find 
 an inveterate foe. I shall not, like some people, forget 
 the interests of my people, and give all my time and at 
 tention to my own personal advancement. Neither shall 
 I drag my high office down into the dirty mire of local 
 political stri/e, nor use it as the means of rewarding friends, 
 or in punishing those who imagine themselves my enemies, 
 or think I feel unkindly disposed towards them. The fact 
 of the office having sought me, and not me the office,
 
 THE HON. JOHN LITTLEJOHN. 147 
 
 places me in a position where I can act independently and 
 conscientiously. I am under no obligations to any clique 
 or faction for my elevation to this high office, but to the 
 express wishes and demands of the people, who desire a 
 change in the manner of dispensing political favors, and 
 who wish to see a different state of affairs inaugurated a 
 new era of reform ; an eagle eye to be kept on those men 
 who have prostituted their high offices for furthering the 
 interests of themselves and their families at the expense 
 of the public. Rest assured, my fellow citizens, that in 
 me shall this disgraceful nepotism, which has marked the 
 course of some of our statesmen, always find a stern 
 opponent. No member of my family shall advance their 
 private fortunes through virtue of my being in the United 
 States Senate. I do not look upon these offices as gifts 
 to be distributed amongst friends and relations, but to be 
 given to the most deserving and patriotic of those men 
 who fought for and preserved to us our liberties. From 
 amongst these men shall I invariably make my appoint 
 ments, and not from amongst the politicians, or my own 
 relations or personal friends. I believe thoroughly in 
 civil service reform, and, with God's help, I shall endeavor 
 to do my duty without fear or favor. Thanking you all 
 for this kind demonstration, I bid you good night." 
 
 After this little speech, the Honorable John went through 
 the trying ordeal of hand-shaking, as the crowd gradually 
 dispersed to their homes.
 
 148 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 SAVE ME FROM MY FRIENDS. 
 
 HAMILTON had fulfilled all the conditions required in 
 his father's will, and could now claim his advance from 
 the estate ; but fearing that Littlejohn, as was his custom, 
 might refuse it on some quibble, he patiently awaited a 
 favorable opportunity before introducing the subject. 
 
 The day following his elevation to the Senate he con 
 cluded would be an opportune time to submit the matter 
 to him, as in all probability the Honorable Littlejohn 
 might not soon again feel so benevolently disposed towards 
 all mankind. After congratulating the honorable gentleman, 
 the morning following the meeting, and making known his 
 request, he was not surprised at receiving his funds. 
 
 The world now lay bright before him. Engaged to one 
 of the most sensible and one of the prettiest girls in 
 Armour, bright and ambitious, with the good wishes of 
 all who knew him, Hamilton, was brimming over with 
 his good fortune, and, unlike his friend Conyngham, 
 wanted every one to feel as happy as himself. The first 
 thing he did was to pay off all his debts, which were not 
 .inconsiderable. Most of them had been contracted in 
 his minority, a fact which, so far from suggesting the 
 shirking of them, to his credit be it said, was only a 
 stronger incentive to their payment. 
 
 What should he now do with his capital was the all-ab 
 sorbing question with him, and how should he invest it ?
 
 SA VE ME FROM MY FRIENDS. 149 
 
 To remain on the railroad in a subordinate position did 
 not suit one of his means, independent spirit, and active 
 temperament. The restraints of the position, and the airs 
 of insolent authority he was compelled to endure from 
 the higher officials, were not pleasant to one unaccustomed 
 to submitting to them. It was one of those momentous 
 periods in a man's life when the next step either makes 
 or mars his future. 
 
 With no kind and experienced friend to advise him, 
 what should he do ? He could not go to Littlejohn, to 
 ask his advice, for that gentleman, even if he had been on 
 terms which would have justified it, although a good law 
 yer, had never been successful in financial investments, 
 and had, indeed, often confessed that he had never suc 
 ceeded in making any money outside of his profession. 
 
 Larry, notwithstanding Ralph's suspicions that Conyng- 
 ham had had some selfish motive in giving him his posi 
 tion, still retained his faith in him as a friend, and as the 
 latter was well versed in business affairs, and had been 
 very successful in all his large enterprises, he concluded 
 that his best and safest course was to consult him. 
 
 "Well, Larry, what is up now ? " asked Conyngham, im 
 patiently and rather brusquely, as Hamilton entered his 
 friend's office one morning. 
 
 Larry had noticed of late an impatience and supercili 
 ousness in Conyngham's manner, which at times made 
 him uncomfortable, but he attributed the cause entirely to 
 preoccupation and the worry of extensive business 
 never dreaming for a moment that unless Conyngham 
 could make something out of his friends, they bored 
 him. 
 
 " I thought if you were not too busy I would like to see 
 you on some business," said Hamilton.
 
 150 ARMOUR. 
 
 A slight frown for a moment clouded the face of Con- 
 yngham. He was afraid every one who approached him 
 might want some favor of him. 
 
 " Mr. Littlejohn," continued Larry, "paid over, yester 
 day, one-half of my principal, and I desire to change some 
 of the securities and make other investments, and not 
 knowing of any one in whose advice I have more confi 
 dence than your own, I concluded to call and see you. I 
 would like very much to put it into some regular busi 
 ness, and you have many opportunities of seeing places 
 where there might be good openings." 
 
 Conyngham's manner changed at once and in a few 
 minutes he was very sociable. " You wish to make an in 
 vestment, do you ? Well, my advice just now would be to 
 keep your position for the present, and put your money 
 out at a good rate of interest, and wait awhile. If I see a 
 good chance for getting you into some good business I will 
 advise you. A few friends of mine are going into a little 
 stock arrangement that I think will prove very profitable. 
 If you would like to try your fortune in some operation of 
 that kind with the rest of us, I think you will make some 
 thing handsome." 
 
 " I don't care much about going into that kind of busi 
 ness," replied Larry. 
 
 *' It is an entirely private arrangement There are only 
 two or three persons besides myself, all directors of the 
 road, and if you are willing to depend upon my judg 
 ment and go in, you will certainly make some money, but 
 if you do, you must distinctly understand it is a strictly 
 confidential matter." 
 
 "I don't think you ever knew me to betray either a secret 
 or a friend in my life, did you ? " 
 
 Conyngham gave an almost imperceptible start and
 
 SAVE ME FROM MY FRIENDS. 151 
 
 looked searchingly in his friend's face as he continued, 
 " We have a little branch road the N. and B. running 
 into an undeveloped coal and lumber region, and it is the 
 intention of our road to lease it and extend it into this 
 region. There is hardly any of the stock to be had just 
 now. We are keeping the negotiations very quiet, for if it 
 once gets out that we are contemplating such a move it 
 would run the stock up on us at once." 
 
 " What effect will this lease have on the stock when 
 consummated and made public ? " inquired Hamilton. 
 
 " It will bounce at once to par. It is now selling at 
 about forty-nine a share." 
 
 " Is the stock on the market ? " 
 
 "No. As those who hold it know its future value, it is 
 mostly in the hands of private parties, but I can put you 
 on the track of a party from whom you may likely get 
 some. Do you know the firm of I. N. Morse & Co., on 
 Wall street?" 
 
 "No, I do not," replied Hamilton. "I have never had 
 any acquaintance with brokers in New York, or anywhere 
 else." 
 
 " Well, you go and see Morse himself. I will give you 
 a letter to him, and he may possibly, in a short time, 
 pick up some for you. My advice is to take all you can 
 get. You won't have such another opportunity to make 
 money in a life-time." 
 
 The N. and B. was a round-about route to a denuded 
 timber country, in the northern part of the state, and a 
 branch of the road nominally owned and controlled by 
 the Conyngham's. It had been built many years ago, by 
 a few wealthy speculators in the heart of a rich lumber 
 country, and had for a while paid handsomely. But the 
 timber had for years been cut off for many miles around,
 
 152 ARMOUR. 
 
 and a rival route had succeeded in rendering the N. and 
 B. practically worthless, although the local traffic through 
 the thinly settled region nearly paid expenses. Conyng- 
 ham, and several of his friends amongst the directors of 
 the main road, conceived the idea of buying up all the 
 stock which was then selling for a mere song, and of put 
 ting it on the market at a high figure, in the way familiar 
 with such operations, whispers of coal having been found 
 near the road, and rumors of a proposed lease of the N. 
 and B. by Conyngham's company, were industriously circu 
 lated after these gentlemen had secured all the stock they 
 desired. 
 
 Men with plenty of means, and ignorant of ways that 
 are dark and the modus operandi of railroad stock manipula 
 tions, were given points in the same manner, and having, as 
 they thought, ground-floor information, bought largely. 
 
 It was considered a fair and legitimate business opera 
 tion by these men, and while the public looked on and 
 faintly condemned the morality of such transactions. If 
 they proved successful the originators of the scheme were 
 set down as splendid business men and shrewd fellows, 
 while the victims were good-naturedly looked upon as 
 fools. 
 
 Hamilton could never have been deceived or duped by a 
 stranger, but his confidence in Conyngham was unbounded^ 
 and amounted almost to an infatuation. Having already 
 befriended him, Larry would have scouted the bare idea 
 <>f any treachery on Conyngham's part towards him. Blind 
 ly, and with perfect faith in his friend's sincerity, he took 
 his advice, and risked a large sum of money equal 
 to one-half the advance paid over to him by Littlejohn, 
 for which he had been waiting for years, of which he had 
 dreamed as the foundation of a magnificent fortune and
 
 SA VE ME FROM MY FRIENDS. 153 
 
 the stepping stones to influence and power. With it he 
 had no fears but that he would yet show the world and 
 Littlejohn, that he was capable of making his way. 
 
 Alas, Larry had no idea of that hardening of heart and 
 searing of conscience that years spent in the pursuit of 
 riches give, nor of that selfishness and cold indifference 
 to the welfare of others, which the process of accumulation 
 naturally entails. 
 
 Nothing more quickly saps and dries up all the foun 
 tains of human sympathy and manly generosity of charac 
 ter, than the eager thirst for gain, and the hard, grinding 
 process of hoarding up money. 
 
 After Hamilton left, Conyngham sat down and wrote to 
 his bankers Morse & Co. to the effect that a gentle 
 man would call on them in a few days, who was interested in 
 N. and B. stock, and to sell him all he desired of his stock 
 at from forty-five to fifty. Conyngham had purchased 
 most of his stock at various times at from six to fifteen dol 
 lars per share.
 
 154 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE MAELSTROM. 
 
 THE wind blew a hurricane, and the rain descended in 
 torrents, as Larry stepped from the dripping cars in the 
 Jersey city depot, a few days after his interview with 
 Conyngham. He walked through the ferry-house and on 
 board the boat with a light, quick step, and a high heart, 
 utterly indifferent to the gloomy weather without. 
 
 The exultation of his mind prevented his noticing the 
 violence of the storm, so much does one's mental state 
 control and color his views of external things. He was 
 on the eve of making a handsome little fortune, about to 
 be married to a young girl who was as good as she was 
 beautiful, his debts all paid, in perfect health, in the prime 
 of fresh young manhood, with plenty of money ; everything 
 looked bright, and he enjoyed the storm. 
 
 As he entered the cabin and seated himself, he saw near 
 him a wan, wretched, sickly-looking woman, nursing a baby 
 scarcely a month old, and a little girl about three years of 
 age clung to the mother's soaked and dripping gown, sob 
 bing as if her heart was breaking. The miserable group 
 were drenched to the skin, and the sorrowful face of the 
 mother, and the pinched, helpless, half-starved faces of all 
 three, were more than Larry could endure. Quietly reach 
 ing in his pocket, he slipped a bill into the woman's hand, 
 and disappeared amongst the bustling throng of passengers. 
 
 As Hamilton walked to the fore part of the boat, and
 
 THE MAELSTROM. 155 
 
 stood gripsack in hand, looking pensively out of a cabin 
 window. The rain dashed furiously against the panes and 
 rolled down in little rivulets. Saucy little crafts could be 
 seen on the turbulent river, flying before the storm and 
 scattering the foam from their sharp prows, while two 
 plucky little steam tugs were frantically puffing and push 
 ing a huge and helpless ocean steamer into her dock. 'As 
 he watched these energetic Lilliputians and their great 
 helpless charge, he thought how much they were like their 
 human prototypes, those fussy, active, shallow little fel 
 lows, in the narrow and tortuous windings and channels of 
 trade and of political life. Where deeper and more thought 
 ful minds would fail, the very diminutiveness of their men 
 tal caliber enabled them to grasp the petty details of trade 
 and local politics, unlike more stable and thoughtful minds, 
 who looked forward beyond the hour. They thought only 
 of the present, and could quickly adapt themselves to cir 
 cumstances, and go where they pleased, either forward or 
 back, without any loss of dignity, charges of inconsistency, 
 or danger. Broader and deeper minds would float help 
 lessly at the mercy of their insignificant rivals, the 
 more shallow crafts who remained in safe harbors and 
 close to the shore. 
 
 The Leviathans sailed majestically and safely on the 
 ocean, and laughed derisively at storms which would have 
 blown their miniature rivals into ribbons. 
 
 As the ferry-boat swayed against the dock, the sharp 
 clink, clink, of the wheel and chain gave the usual signal 
 for the crowd to collect on the bow of the boat, each pas 
 senger eager to be the first on shore, like all impatient 
 New York crowds. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Hamilton, is this you ! This is certainly an 
 unexpected pleasure." Quickly turning, to his surprise,
 
 156 ARMOUR. 
 
 was Fannie's friend, Miss Emory, and a gentlemen whom 
 she at once introduced as her husband, Mr. Renshaw. 
 
 The gentlemen bowed pleasantly and shook hands, evi 
 dently much pleased. 
 
 Mr. Renshaw was a fine-looking man with a good, hon 
 est face, and with a gentle and almost timid manner. 
 
 u Come and see us at the Hoffman House. We will be 
 there for several days. Will you, Mr. Hamilton ? " asked 
 Mrs. Renshaw, as her husband closed the door of the 
 coupt. 
 
 " I shall be happy to do so," said Hamilton as the car 
 riage drove off. 
 
 " Renshaw ! Renshaw ! Let me see," soliloquized Ham 
 ilton, while slowly making his way through the crowd up 
 Cortlandt street ; "where have I heard that name ? I won 
 der if he could be any relation to my Washington friend, 
 Mrs. Senator Renshaw ? He certainly bears enough resem 
 blance to be her son. Well, if he is, Miss Emory certainly 
 has a lady for a mother-in-law." 
 
 On a purely business trip and desiring to be down town, 
 Hamilton put up at the Astor House. After finishing 
 his breakfast and morning paper he started for Wall 
 street that voracious maelstrom which has swallowed up 
 so many fine fortunes, and wrecked so many bright lives. 
 Arriving at the corner of Broadway and Wall street, the 
 clock on Trinity, with its ponderous strokes, clanged the 
 hour of ten, loud and startling, on the damp air. 
 
 An undefinable presentiment passed over his soul, as 
 the sound of the last stroke slowly died away, and so 
 overpowering and unpleasant was this sensation, that he 
 half turned away from the ill-omened street, and had re 
 solved to keep out of the business and return home. 
 
 " It is only an investment and not a stock gambling oper-
 
 THE MAELSTROM. 157 
 
 ation," he reasoned to himself, " and such an opportunity 
 for making money quickly may not again offer itself. After 
 this, I will get into some legitimate business," and thus 
 assuring himself he walked slowly down the narrow, 
 crowded street, and followed with his eyes the innumera 
 ble gilt signs, until finally appeared .upon one the name 
 of " I. N. Morse & Co., Bankers and Brokers." 
 
 Ascending the steps, the door opened softly. As he 
 entered a suite of handsomely furnished rooms, not a 
 sound disturbed the deep stillness, but the click, click of a 
 little telegraph-like looking instrument, under a glass case, 
 on a stand at one end of the room, around which stood 
 three gentlemen, anxiously watching a long narrow ribbon 
 of paper as it slowly unwound itself from a wheel within. 
 It was passed through the fingers of one of the group 
 who called out excitedly, " Eighty, eighty-one, eighty- 
 one and a half by George ! eighty-three at one jump." 
 
 " The Devil 's to pay, now." 
 
 The three men were pale, nervous, and utterly oblivious 
 of Hamilton's presence. 
 
 " Sell three hundred telegraph at eighty-three for me, 
 quick," called one in Ipud tones, while the other two swore 
 like troopers. " Go a half less/' continued the speaker, 
 " if you can't catch it at three ; and if you can get me a 
 thirty day ' put ' on five hundred U. P., don't fail to 
 do it." 
 
 This was all Greek to Larry. 
 
 This is nothing else but gambling, pure and simple 
 as much so as betting on faro. In the latter you bet that 
 a certain card will turn up, and in stock gambling that a 
 certain stock will rise or fall to a certain figure that is 
 .nil the difference. In faro, men are allowed a certain per 
 centage of the winnings for giving points, or false infor-
 
 158 ARMOUR. 
 
 mation, to deceive the unwary ; in stocks, financial articles 
 in some newspapers are strongly suspected of being hired 
 for the same nefarious purpose. 
 
 Stock gambling is the worst form of gambling ; and its 
 effects are ten times more demoralizing than the faVo bank. 
 At the latter, a man sits down and probably plays all night ; 
 when morning comes he has either lost or won. In either 
 case the strain is over for a time at least. But in stocks, 
 an operator loads up with or unloads his favorite stock 
 buying for a rise or selling for a fall and is then either 
 long or short of the market ; long when he buys for a rise 
 and short when he sells for a fall. He then waits, O how 
 impatiently and miserably anxious for the denouement. At 
 sound of his door-bell his heart almost stops beating, and 
 as a telegram is handed him, trembling between hope and 
 fear he dreads to read his fate. Any one may tell him he 
 has lost all and is a ruined man, and one chance in a 
 thousand that he has made a small fortune. 
 
 In this miserably uncertain state of suspense and anx 
 iety the victim may remain for weeks with the sword of 
 Damocles suspended over him. At length the strain 
 becomes so fearful that fiery stimulants are called in to 
 buoy up and bolster the over-wrought mind, unstrung 
 nerves, and weary brain, and to dull the miserable sus 
 pense until the blow falls. Ninety-nine times out of a 
 hundred he loses, no matter which side of the market he 
 is on. He is playing against loaded dice. 
 
 All the while the operator has been living in a frame of 
 mind so peculiarly unhappy that only those who have 
 gone through the mill can thoroughly appreciate it. His 
 nerves have been taxed to the utmost, while his mind has 
 been preternaturally on the alert. There has been no 
 rest for him, and he loses all taste for ordinary excitement
 
 THE MAELSTROM. 159 
 
 and the pursuits which interest his fellow-men. He is 
 apart from, and indifferent and callous to, everything going 
 on around him. Things which amuse and entertain a 
 man in a healthy state of mind bore him, and are as vapid 
 and insipid to him as are the incidents of every-day life 
 to the brilliant dreams of the wretched opium .eater. The 
 quiet, even tenor of the lives of his fellow-men seem as 
 monotonous and irksome to the gambler, as the tread 
 mill existence of the galley-slave. Few men can operate 
 in stocks, or gamble very long, without ultimately resorting 
 to drink. The twin devils go hand in hand, and will, sooner 
 or later, break and ruin the best man living. It is only a 
 question of time with them. No brush can paint, nor pen 
 depict, the subtile fascination of the first eddies of this 
 dreadful whirlpool, nor can imagination scarcely conceive 
 the unutterable anguish and despair of that wretched man 
 who fathoms this hell to its utmost depths. 
 
 One might as well endeavor to reason with a madman 
 as with a confirmed gamester, or stock operator. At last, 
 under the insane spell, desperate, and still retaining that 
 miserable hope for final success which follows him, and is 
 characteristic of the confirmed gamester to the last, the 
 victim of this vile business sinks family and fortune, and 
 wringing the last dollar he can rake or scrape from family, 
 friends, or acquaintances, he throws honor to the winds, 
 and commits some crime in order to obtain means with 
 which to gratify this terrible passion for play, and often 
 fills the grave of the suicide, convict, or drunkard. 
 
 I have seen men of family, fortune, and brains, with the 
 most brilliant prospects in life before them, in a few years 
 after entering Wall street, from dealing in thousands of 
 shares at the offices of the most aristocratic brokers on 
 the street, lose all, and be compelled to move from their
 
 160 ARMOUR. 
 
 handsome brown-stone houses, in the most fashionable 
 quarter of the city, to some miserable tenement on the 
 outskirt. With handsome house gone, family in destitu 
 tion, ruined in health, and broken in spirit, spending his 
 time in begging, and borrowing paltry sums with which to 
 still further pursue the phantom that has lured him on to 
 ruin ; and thus, lost to all pride and manhood, pale and 
 trembling, in seedy, though fashionably-cut, garments, 
 the unhappy reminder of more prosperous days, hanging 
 over the stock indicator of some disreputable bucket-shop, 
 amongst cab-drivers and news-boys, watching with insane 
 and sickening anxiety the fluctuations which will either 
 make, or most likely lose him some trifling sum, while hi.s 
 family dare not go into the street for want of decent 
 clothing. 
 
 As the gentleman who had been reading out the quota 
 tions became aware of Larry's presence, he looked up 
 keenly and inquiringly, and advanced to speak to him ; 
 and, with a quiet good-morning, took the letter of intro 
 duction Hamilton handed him from Conyngham, in read 
 ing which, the gentleman's face wreathed in the blandest 
 of smiles, and shaking hands with him cordially said, ".I 
 am very glad to see any friend of Conyngham, Mr. Ham 
 ilton, and if there is anything I can do to render your stay 
 in the city pleasant, I am at your service." 
 
 " Thank you ; but I am on a purely business trip, and 
 intend returning home this evening. If you are not too 
 busy I would like to speak with you a few minutes 
 privately." 
 
 " Certainly, certainly. Just come into my private 
 office." 
 
 A glass door was quickly pushed to one side, and closed 
 as the two entered a small side room.
 
 THE MAELSTROM. 161 
 
 Hamilton explained his business, and when he returned 
 to his hotel he was a large holder of N. and B. stock. His 
 crisp government bonds had been exchanged for the 
 fancy printed stock certificates of a worthless road, head 
 over heels in debt, and without one earthly prospect of 
 ever being able to pay a dividend a road running 
 through a strip of country that, for all practical purposes, 
 might just as well have been the desert of Sahara. 
 
 After dinner, taking a stage, he rode up town ; arriving 
 at the Hoffman House he sent his card to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Renshaw. 
 
 The servant returned in a few moments, and informed 
 him that the lady would see him in the parlor in a few 
 minutes, wonld the gentleman walk up stairs ? 
 
 Mrs. Renshaw soon made her appearance, and excused 
 her husband, as an old college friend had made a pre 
 vious engagement to meet him that afternoon, and had 
 just sent up his card. 
 
 " How is Fannie, and all the rest of our friends in 
 Armour ? And are you still a bachelor, Mr. Hamilton ? 
 Why, I thought you and Emily Charlton would have been 
 married long ago." 
 
 Of course Larry had the delicacy to avoid mentioning 
 Conyngham's name, and the two friends had a very pleas 
 ant chat over old times. Lou informed Larry they were 
 living in C , and that she was the mother of two beau 
 tiful children, a little girl and boy. From her conversa 
 tion, and from the fact that her husband, as he had 
 surmised, was the son of Senator Renshaw, he concluded 
 that she had been fortunate in her marriage and was 
 happy. 
 
 On leaving, he received a warm invitation to stop and 
 see them on his wedding trip, as he informed her that he
 
 162 ARMOUR. 
 
 expected in a few months, to make her friend, Fannie 
 Adair, Mrs. Lawrence Hamilton. 
 
 During his long ride home, Hamilton could not shake 
 off a feeling of gloomy foreboding; but an interview with 
 Conyngham the next morning reassured him, and he'soon 
 regained his natural gayety. As the days flew by, he 
 watched with anxiety every meeting of the directors, for 
 information concerning the contemplated lease. 
 
 Conyngham and his confederates had, for several years 
 past, through their brokers, been quietly picking up N. and 
 B. stock at from five to ten dollars per share, and had now 
 nearly all the stock in their own hands. Several meet 
 ings of the directors had been held, and wide publication 
 of the fact was circulated through the leading papers, 
 and all the details of the proposed lease were well dis 
 cussed, and a glowing recital of the great advantages which 
 were to result from it were set forth in the most alluring 
 manner. The now familiar farce of an engineer's report 
 as to the best route for the continuation of the road 
 through rich coal and timber fields, which, in fact, existed 
 only in the imagination of the deluded public, was enacted 
 with ceremonious precision. 
 
 All the directors were more or less interested in the 
 job. Some, with conscientious scruples in reference to 
 stock operations, and careful of their reputation as leading 
 Christians, made large purchases of worthless timber and 
 coal lands at a nominal figure, and while these meetings 
 were in progress, and the fever at its height, sold out at 
 a figure which netted them a handsome fortune. 
 
 Meantime, Conyngham and his friends continued to 
 quietly unload their worthless trash on confiding friends 
 and the public, at from forty-five to fifty dollars per share.
 
 BURSTING OF THE N. AND B. BUBBLE. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE N. AND B. BUBBLE. 
 
 MUCH to the surprise of all who knew Larry Hamil 
 ton's love of display and fondness for gayety, his wedding 
 was a very quiet affair and conspicuous only by the ab 
 sence of ostentation and show, which did not fail to elicit 
 many compliments from sensible people. 
 
 After the usual formal wedding trip on the old estab 
 lished route, New York, Boston and the White Moun 
 tains, they spent several days with Lou Emory, or Mrs. 
 Renshaw, on their return. On calling at Mr. Morse's 
 office the morning after his arrival in New York, Larry was 
 surprised at the warm reception he received from that 
 gentleman. 
 
 " Good news, Hamilton ! Let me congratulate you. 
 You are in luck. There was a meeting, yesterday, of the 
 directors of your road, and N. and B. has gone up five 
 points. If I were you I would close out at once. You 
 know the old saying about the bird in hand. " 
 
 " Have they completed the final arrangement for the 
 lease, " asked Hamilton, while the blood leaped wildly 
 through his veins, as he paced the room. The mad fever 
 of the gamester had taken possession of him. 
 
 " No," Morse replied ; " but it is as good as settled. 
 Only a few preliminaries remain to be arranged ; and 
 while I never like to advise any of my customers, Mr. 
 Hamilton, and have always made it a rule not to endeavor
 
 1 64 ARMOUR. 
 
 in any way to influence them in their operations, I am 
 very much interested in you, and am going to presume for 
 once and ask you to sell. I have been on the street for 
 many years, and know it is very hard for a new operator 
 to let go, when he is sure he has a good thing and relia 
 ble inside information from headquarters. I have seen 
 many men hold on a day too late, whose prospects were as 
 flattering as your own. Take an old stager's advice, close 
 out and be satisfied. You have now a handsome credit 
 on our books more money than have many men who 
 have toiled hard for a life-time. But of course you are 
 your best judge, and I merely give you my opinion as a 
 friend. Bring your wife down after business hours, and 
 we will take a boat ride up the East river. The weather 
 is delightful and it will be a pleasant little trip for both of 
 you. " 
 
 Larry accepted the invitation and hurried out of the 
 office. 
 
 Instead of selling he had purchased more stock. 
 
 " Yes, drive to the Hoffman House as quick as you 
 can, " he impatiently answered the hackman, as he sank 
 back in the carriage. He could hardly realize his good 
 fortune, and was feverish and excited. Visions of brown- 
 stone houses, four-in-hands, and elegant and costly pres 
 ents, were pictured in his mind. Nothing but a pair of 
 horses would do for his friend Conyngham who had been 
 the cause of his good fortune. 
 
 "Why, Larry, what in the world is the matter? " asked 
 his wife, as he hurried into the room. " What has hap 
 pened ? You look as white as marble and your eyes shine 
 as if you were in a high fever. " 
 
 " Matter 1 Why matter enough. N. and B. has gone 
 up five points and we are rich;" and, unable to restrain
 
 BURSTING OF THE N. AND B. BUBBLE. 165 
 
 himself, Larry embraced and kissed his young wife over 
 and over again, until, between laughing and questioning, 
 Fannie could scarcely get her breath. " Come on ; let us 
 go down to Tiffany's and get that pair of solitaires we 
 admired so much when we passed through last week. 
 And I'll buy mother something handsome. What shall it 
 be ? " 
 
 " I think, Larry, you had better wait until everything is 
 settled and the money in your hands, before we celebrate 
 our success," replied Fannie, with the natural caution of 
 the sensible little woman she was ; and, in spite of his 
 determination to spend a large amount in presents, she 
 managed to persuade him to wait a few days. 
 
 At three o'clock they called at Mr. Morse's office, and 
 after a few minutes of explanation to Fannie of the modus 
 operandi of dealing in stocks through the indicator, the 
 three hurried off to the boat, which they reached just in 
 time. 
 
 The afternoon was delightful and their bright prospects 
 had put Larry and Fannie in the best of spirits. They 
 were happier than they had ever been in their lives. In 
 their honeymoon, and having suddenly made a large sum 
 of money without turning a hand or hardly necessitating a 
 thought, why should they not be happy ? 
 
 Morse seemed serious and anxious, and very evidently 
 did not participate in their pleasure. 
 
 As delicately as possible he still endeavored to persuade 
 Hamilton, as they leaned over the guards listening to the 
 sweet strains of the Blue Danube and watching the reced 
 ing city, to close out his accounts while he could do so at 
 a handsome profit. He explained to Fannie the hazard 
 ous nature of stock operations, and how quickly the tide 
 might turn the other way, and she united with him in try-
 
 1 66 ARMOUR. 
 
 ing to persuade her husband to sell. But when did any 
 man making money rapidy, ever know when he had 
 enough ? 
 
 " I will either 'make a spoon or spoil the horn,' " was 
 his impatient reply. 
 
 " I have done my duty, Mr. Hamilton," said Morse, with 
 a deep sigh ; " and I earnestly hope your most sanguine 
 expectations may be more than realized." 
 
 The next day the stock still advanced and the other 
 customers in the office caught the N. and B. fever on the 
 strength of Hamilton's information, and with Hamilton 
 kept loading up at these high figures. 
 
 Morse obeyed their orders in a sad, listless sort of way, 
 in marked contrast with the joyous hilarity of his custom 
 ers, who were all anticipating a big rise when the lease should 
 be finally consummated. 
 
 Morse was suspicious that Conyngham and his friends 
 were quietly feeding the market and unloading their worth 
 less shares, and felt almost certain that the bubble would 
 soon burst. But professional honor forbade the exposure 
 of any of their suspected movements. 
 
 With one young fellow from Maryland Larry was par 
 ticularly pleased, and he struck up a very pleasant acquaint 
 ance with him. His name was Evan Travis ; and from 
 Morse he learned that he that day invested the last five 
 thousand of a large fortune, which his father had left him 
 a few years before, in N. and B. He had lost all in stock 
 gambling in that time, except this amount. He had in 
 vested on the strength of the lease. 
 
 A month after Hamilton returned home, he received 
 the following dispatch : 
 
 " N. and B. dropped five points to-day. Shall I sell ? 
 Answer quick."
 
 BURSTING OF THE N. AND B. BUBBLE. 167 
 
 Hamilton at once telegraphed back, " No ; hold until 
 I wire you. Let me know any important fluctuations." 
 
 During the following week N. and B. had fallen ten 
 points' below the figure at which Larry had purchased it, 
 and his margin was exhausted. He had lost over one 
 half his advance in a few months after receiving it. 
 
 Picking up the " Herald " a few days after, he read the 
 following : 
 
 " SHOCKING SUICIDE. Evan Travis, one of the old 
 and well-known Travis family of Eastern Shore, Mary 
 land, committed suicide in the New York Hotel, last night, 
 by shooting himself through the head. Deceased called 
 for his keys, as usual, before retiring, and after a few 
 minutes pleasant conversation with the clerk, inquired if 
 there were any letters for him, bade him good-night, and 
 retired. Hearing the loud 'report of a pistol about mid 
 night, the night watchman burst the door of Mr. Travis' 
 room open, and found the unfortunate gentleman lying on 
 the floor partially dressed, and bleeding profusely from an 
 ugly wound in his forehead. He gasped once or twice 
 and expired. His last moments had evidently been spent 
 in writing several letters to his family, as the addresses 
 were scarcely dry when the writer lay a corpse. Mr. 
 Travis was a pleasant and handsome young man and very 
 popular in society. Reverses in stock operations are the 
 reasons assigned by his friends for ending his life."
 
 168 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 CONSISTENCY, THOU ART A JEWEL. 
 
 "To what church do the Conynghams belong, Mr. 
 Adair ? " asked a gentleman visiting Armour on some legal 
 business, as he sat waiting for the train in Ralph's office. 
 
 " I believe they were originally Lutherans, at least, when 
 children they attended that church, and their mother 
 belonged to that denomination ; but as they grew up they 
 wandered off, and attached themselves to the Presbyterian 
 and Episcopal churches." 
 
 "The Lutherans were probably not aristocratic enough 
 for them as their wealth increased ! " sneered Mr. Mc- 
 Intosh, the gentleman who had made the inquiry, in 
 the little senatorial caucus held in General Conyngham's 
 library, and which had so excited the ire of the latter by 
 the remark that the people looked forward to seeing Little- 
 john prove a second Sumner in the senate, and which 
 remark cost that gentleman his political position as a 
 member of the legislature. 
 
 The Conynghams never forgave even an insinuation 
 derogatory to their influence or power, and they punished 
 mercilessly those who dared to openly discuss their pecu 
 liar methods and motives. So great had become their 
 power over the people, that the least assertion of manhood 
 or independence in public men at once drew down upon 
 them the wrath of their masters, and in spite of the pro 
 tests of their constituents they were obliged to step down 
 and out.
 
 CONSISTENCY, THOU AR T A JEWEL. 169 
 
 " Yes," replied Ralph ; " it looked very much to me that 
 way. It is a very unusual thing for people to forsake the re 
 ligion of their fathers, and very few people can do it. I know 
 I could not, unless from the most conscientious of motives, 
 and the best of reasons." 
 
 " One would think the last place to look for aristocratic 
 preferences and social distinctions," said Mclntosh, 
 " would be in churches. Christians all claim to promul 
 gate the great doctrine of Christ, the very foundation of 
 which is the equality of mankind and their universal broth 
 erhood." 
 
 " It should not be that we should look to the churches 
 as the umpires of social caste and distinction," said Ralph ; 
 " and for the very reason that here these distinctions are 
 most sharply drawn, I think accounts, in a great measure, 
 for the fact that the churches are fast losing their hold on 
 the confidence and the affections of the people, and why 
 scepticism and infidelity are making such rapid progress 
 amongst them of late." 
 
 " I have often tried to study the cause of the loss of in 
 fluence the church at one time possessed over the people ; 
 and I believe the key-note to it is in the obsequiousness 
 of the ministers to the wealthy and influential classes, and 
 in the leniency they show to their delinquencies and short 
 comings." 
 
 " There is no doubt that has a great deal to do with the 
 humiliating position in which the church finds itself to-day, 
 and has had a great deal to do with making the name 
 of modern Christianity a by-word of contempt and reproach 
 instead of an honor. We cannot but acknowledge that 
 the name of Christian does not carry with it the same sig 
 nificance it used to carry." 
 
 "No, I know it does not," replied Ralph, earnestly.
 
 1 70 ARMOUR. 
 
 " Preachers and churches may go on making loud and os 
 tentatious professions of piety until doomsday, but while 
 these loud professions are so universally contradicted by 
 their practices in every-day life, it will only have the effect 
 of inspiring the people with contempt for not only modern 
 Christianity, but for real Christianity, too." 
 
 " When the small-pox broke out in our town, with but 
 one noble exception, all the clergymen closed up their 
 churches, unlike the physicians, who, to a man, after 
 taking the necessary precautions, attended to their duties. 
 Others quickly gathered up their children like a hen does 
 her chickens, and, having ample means, flew off to a far 
 city, where in a place of safety from the scourge, they con 
 gratulated themselves on having escaped the dreadful con 
 tagion, and, I suppose, prayed for the safety of their 
 thousands of suffering fellow-men." 
 
 " There is," said Mr. Mclntosh, "more marked social 
 distinctions in churches, to-day, than can be found any 
 where else. The front seats in nearly all churches are re 
 served for the wealthy and aristocratic classes, while the 
 back part is filled exclusively with the poorer people. 
 When they build handsome churches, run in debt, and find 
 their exchequers low, they get a sudden love for the poor, 
 and loudly announce from the pulpit the fact that these 
 churches are free to all, without regard to distinction, but 
 say nothing as to the position these people are expected 
 to occupy in the church and its affairs." 
 
 " Yes," said Ralph, " and to see a young and nobby- 
 looking youth, with fashionably-cut whiskers, between the 
 age of eighteen and thirty-five, for this is the kind now 
 in demand, the old, staid style of ministers, being out of 
 fashion, with the airs and graces of a third-rate variety 
 actor, get up and flippantly read out the hymn, ' O, to
 
 CONSISTENCY, THOU ART A JEWFL. 171 
 
 be Nothing,' and a fashionable congregation arise and join 
 in, with one eye on their hymn book and the other on their 
 neighbor's seal-skin coat, and with elongated and solemn 
 visages, proceed to sing, ' Oh, to be nothing,' when every 
 person knows they are dying to be somebody." 
 
 " I wish, Mr. Adair," said Mr. Mclntosh, after laugh 
 ing heartily at his friend's description of the modern 
 church people, " you had seen a picture I saw in the gal 
 lery at Dresden, last summer. It represented the mediaeval 
 nobility attending church. The service was represented 
 as being held in a magnificent temple, with marble col 
 umns, costly paintings, malachite tablets, and splendid, 
 stained-glass windows, with all the adornments that wealth 
 could purchase or the imagination of man could conceive, 
 while an elegant surpliced minister, in keeping with his 
 aristocratic surroundings, read from the Psalter, ' Lord 
 have mercy upon us poor miserable sinners.' And as the 
 congregation repeated these words, like so many gayly- 
 plumaged parrots, magnificently arrayed in shining satin 
 and lustrous silks, and with their jewels flashing and spark 
 ling like the mines of Golconda, what sublime mockery 
 and hypocrisy were expressed in their countenances, their 
 words, their worship, and their dress. ' Poor miserable 
 sinners ! ' Do you believe they thought they were ? The 
 young ogled and flirted with one another, haughty and 
 ambitious dowagers looked- on approvingly, while here 
 and there were supercilious-looking, red-faced, grey-haired, 
 aristocratic old fellows, with capon-lined stomachs, whose 
 purple veins seemed fairly bursting with fine old wines, 
 and lords who could count their millions. Poor miser 
 able sinners indeed ! The scene would not be an inapt 
 picture of one of our own fashionable churches." 
 
 " So long as this state of/affairs continues, will we have
 
 i;2 ARMOUR. 
 
 flippant fools, sensational young snobs, and theological 
 mountebanks, who, under the sacred garb and calling of 
 the ministry, will continue to give us third-class theatrical 
 entertainments every Sabbath, and airs and esthetical non 
 sense where we should have the brains and practical piety 
 which distinguished the church in its older and better 
 days. Then men were placed in the high offices of the 
 church for their pure and blameless lives, and not for the 
 amount of wealth they possessed, or the influence they 
 could bring to bear on church or political primaries, or on 
 the ministers' salaries." 
 
 "There is as much Ring rule and Bossism in the church, 
 to-day, as there are in politics, and the whole system needs 
 a complete revolution." 
 
 " My ideal of a Christian is a meek, humble, unostenta 
 tious, honest man, who does his duty to both God and his 
 fellow-man, not by lip service, nor when and where it will 
 count most in dollars and cents and in prestige." 
 
 " I tell you, Mr. Mclntosh, when the church becomes a 
 mere instrument in the hands of the ambitious for the fu r- 
 thering of their own selfish schemes, and for the gratifica 
 tion of its members' vanity, it is no wonder that the moral 
 sentiment of the community becomes corrupted, and the 
 worship of mammon by the church communicates itself 
 throughout society, and makes possible the political de 
 bauchery and corruption that-vve see on every hand. As 
 long as a preacher's popularity is estimated by the num 
 ber of slippers he receives each year, instead of the 
 number of good, practical sermons he has preached, the 
 number of conversions he has made, and the practical 
 good deeds he has done, and as long as men are de 
 manded in the pulpit on account of their pliability and 
 obsequiousness to power and wealth, will the church be
 
 CONSISTENCY, THOU ART A JEWEL. 173 
 
 left in the hands of intriguing women and weak men. If 
 they are right and we are wrong, they will, in all proba 
 bility, see in Heaven the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled, when 
 seven women will cling to one man for his name." 
 
 " And the prospects are that it will be peopled with a 
 few converted heathens, some missionaries, and a very 
 large number of women, with a sprinkling of male weak 
 lings, saved for the purpose of not making the predomi- 
 nence and isolation of the fair sex too conspicuous." 
 
 " Why, I overheard two prominent church women the 
 other day praising, extolling, and going off into rapt 
 ures over the virtues and attractions of our new, young 
 minister ; and one of them wound up a sickening, fulsome, 
 and idiotic eulogy of his many fine points by adding, 
 ' And O, he has such a well-shaped leg.' "
 
 174 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE ESTHETICAL RELIGIOUS BAND. 
 
 THE perfect fruits of this fashionable preaching is seen 
 in the craze which, some time ago, possessed some of 
 the most bigoted and shallow-brained of these followers 
 of an esthetic religion. They imagined they had reached 
 a higher life : what they meant by that term no one knows 
 definitely, but from what could be learned from the vic 
 tims of this singular hallucination themselves, they believed 
 they had reached a stage in religious experience which 
 placed them far above their fellow Christians, and that 
 they were above the necessity of struggling against the 
 machinations of the evil one, like ordinary mortals. 
 
 This craze generally affected women belonging to 
 wealthy families, most of whose days had been spent in 
 idleness and self-indulgence, and whose principal object 
 in life appeared to be the conspicuous display of their 
 transcendent religious virtues, as shown by great promi 
 nence in all matters pertaining to the ornamental and 
 Sunday School departments of the church." 
 
 But this is an era of crazes. 
 
 We have all kinds of esthetic crazes. 
 
 The most ridiculous of all the esthetic crazes is the 
 esthetical religious craze. One of these fashionable es 
 thetic religious families, presided over by a highly esthetic, 
 and severely self-righteous esthetic female (assisted by 
 a plethoric, shallow-pated, easily managed, old gentk-
 
 THE ESTHETIC RELIGIOUS BAND' 175 
 
 man, acting as elder by proxy for his more masculine 
 and self-asserting esthetical companion), is a spectacle 
 well worthy of serious contemplation. 
 
 In the churches where these esthetical religious wo 
 men rule, you will invariably find the fashionable young 
 preachers, the esthetical young men who "love flowahs, 
 you know," and who have their pulpits adorned every 
 Sabbath by esthetical female admirers with " fwesh, and 
 innocent flowahs you know emblematic of our puah 
 Chvvstian lives, you know, ah." These are the lovely 
 young men who go around in hot midsummer weather 
 when the thermometers are away up in the nineties, swel 
 tering in long, black coats, with skirts below the knees, 
 black pantaloons, white chokers, and glossy, black silk 
 hats a walking terror to all people endeavoring to keep 
 cool. They seem to be afraid to dress like other men, for 
 fear their esthetical admirers might see the only difference 
 between them was the cut and color of their clothes, and 
 refuse to pay the deference due them as their " pawstaws." 
 
 The French were so disgusted with this style of clergy 
 before the French revolution, at a time when the people 
 were groaning under the exactions and corruptions of the 
 nobles, and their tools, the corrupt clergy, that, in their, 
 terse, epigrammatic way, they divided the human race into 
 three sexes, men, women, and preachers. 
 
 "THE ESTHETICAL RELIGIOUS BAND. 
 
 " If you are anxious to shine, 
 In th'esthetic religious line, 
 
 As a man of culture rare, 
 You must get up all the germs, 
 Of the transcendental terms, 
 
 And plant them everywhere.
 
 1 76 ARMOUR. 
 
 You must preach amongst the daisies, 
 And discourse in novel phrases, 
 
 Of your complicated state of mind. 
 The meaning doesn't matter, 
 If its only religious chatter, 
 
 Of a transcendental kind. 
 And the ladies all will say, 
 As you talk this mystic way, 
 
 If this young man expresses himself in terms too deep for me, 
 Why, what a very singularly deep young man this deep young man 
 
 must be I ' 
 
 " Then a pious kind of passion, 
 Of a Beecher sort of fashion, 
 
 Must excite your languid mind. 
 An attachment a la Plato, 
 For coy and bashful maidens, 
 
 Of a not too Frenchy kind. 
 - Though the Philistines may jostle, 
 You will rank as an apostle, 
 
 In the esthetic religious band. 
 And as you saunter down the street, 
 With a poppy or a lily 
 
 In your soft, white hand, 
 The ladies all will say, 
 As you walk your flowery way, 
 ' Why, what a most particular pure young man, 
 This pure young man must be I '"
 
 THE TWIN DEVILS. 177 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE TWIN DEVILS. 
 
 SEVERAL years have passed since we left Lawrence Ham 
 ilton amidst the crash of the N. and B. Bubble. 
 
 Instead of disgusting and completely curing Hamilton 
 of the business, strange to say, it only made him more 
 desperate and reckless, and he plunged madly into the 
 vortex and operated with the desperation of a madman. 
 
 In the fierce excitement of gaming, all the wild instincts 
 of his intense nature seemed let loose, and the love of 
 excitement in the Hamilton blood that had hitherto lain 
 dormant in him, now, like a serpent warmed into life by 
 the congenial atmosphere of stock gambling, or like a cub 
 tiger's first lap of fresh blood, awakened all the fierce 
 instincts of its nature, and for two years he thought of 
 nothing nor cared for anything but the rise and fall of 
 stocks. 
 
 Unable to withstand the suspense during the intervals 
 while impatiently awaiting the result of his plans, he 
 resorted to stimulants, and soon found, like nearly all stock 
 gamblers, that the twin devils naturally went hand in hand, 
 in this as in every other species of gambling. 
 
 A singular fatality it seemed to him attended nearly all 
 his operations, and rendered the most of them, no matter 
 which side of the market he was on, unsuccessful. But it 
 was simply the common fate of nearly all who were en 
 gaged in the business. The public hear of ventures when
 
 178 ARMOUR. 
 
 they turn out well, but men are not generally in the habit 
 of making public their losses. 
 
 Once when he did make a lucky strike which would 
 have nearly covered his losses, and he had fully resolved 
 to abandon the business, he found the parties who had 
 operated for him were unprincipled, and irresponsible, and 
 refused to make good their contracts. 
 
 Like all this class, they refused flatly to pay when their 
 customers made a successful operation involving any large 
 amount. 
 
 Morse had long ago refused to run the risks of operating 
 for so reckless a customer. 
 
 " Oh Larry ! Do for my sake quit this wretched busi 
 ness. Can you not see it is ruining you, body and soul ? 
 Why, you are not the same person you used to be at all, 
 you have lost all interest in everything but these miserable 
 stocks." 
 
 Hamilton, pale and trembling, had just read a dispatch. 
 
 Poor Fannie, as she spoke, threw her arms around her 
 husband, and looked up pleadingly into his eyes, and as he 
 looked into her troubled and appealing face, his conscience 
 smote him for the clouds he had brought there, and with a 
 forced gayery he endeavored to cheer her up. 
 
 But it was a very difficult matter of late for him to 
 be cheerful, and when he was sad Fannie was sure to 
 be sad also. 
 
 Yielding to her importunities, he remained at home that 
 evening, instead of seeking the company of the gay and dis 
 sipated companions whose society he usually sought when 
 anxious to drown thought. 
 
 As they sat together that evening, Fannie's countenance 
 wore an unusually distressed look. Her sweet face, dur 
 ing the few short years of their married life, had already
 
 THE TWIN DEVILS. 179 
 
 acquired a saddened expression. O, how bright that life 
 once seemed to her ! 
 
 As a husband and son none could have been more fond 
 than Hamilton, and his wife and mother had in their turn 
 almost worshipped him. Of late, however, his heavy 
 drinking and the fearful pace at which he had been living 
 were beginning unmistakably to tell upon him. His face 
 was still handsome and expressive, but deadly pale, and 
 his hollow eyes gave him a worn and haggard look. His 
 friends shook their heads, and turned away sadly at the 
 wreck he was making of himself and his future. 
 
 His wife had long ago exhausted herself in pleading and 
 remonstrating with him, and now could do nothing but 
 pray for him, which the noble little woman did without 
 ceasing, for she loved her husband as she did her own life. 
 Her anxious and sadly perplexed face, and the sorrowful, 
 tender face of his mother, seemed only to drive him into 
 more desperate efforts to retrieve himself in the very busi 
 ness that was ruining him. He sank deeper and deeper 
 into the mire, and was whirled with fearful rapidity into 
 the innermost circles of the maelstrom. 
 
 Friends could be of no avail now, and unless Providence 
 interfered nothing but death or ruin, or both, awaited him. 
 The very energy of his intense nature made his descent 
 all the more swift, and seemed to whirl him more rapidly 
 to ruin. 
 
 Even with the terrible fate of young Travis before him 
 and while perfectly well aware that he was fast following 
 him in the same downward course, and with the strong 
 probability of as tragic an end, one would have thought a 
 thinking man would have turned backward with horror. 
 But if ever the Devil once gets drink and stock-gambling 
 as settled habits on a man, it is a combination from which 
 very few are fortunate enough to escape.
 
 i8o A R MO UK. 
 
 He had lost all his money but a few thousand dollars, 
 and his wife, fearing that this would follow the rest, had 
 roused herself with the energy of despair to make one last ap 
 peal to him to save this and get into some legitimate business. 
 
 " You know, Larry, it always ends the same way. Even if 
 you do make, you always go right back and never stop until 
 you have lost again. As for the money you know I do not 
 care for it a particle, only as it concerns your own happi 
 ness. Only think, Larry, of the way you have been living. 
 You cannot certainly go on much longer at this rate with 
 out something dreadful happening. Will you let me read 
 you a little poem which I cut out of a paper to-day ? " 
 
 " Certainly, certainly," answered Hamilton as he seated 
 himself on the sofa and drew his wife on his lap, and in 
 her sweet, low tones she read : 
 
 " What art thou doing with thy life, 
 
 Oh, thou with many gifts ? 
 Is thine a nature that inspires, 
 
 And comforts and uplifts ? 
 Do those in trouble think of thee, 
 
 As of a precious balm ? 
 And does thy presence lull the storm 
 
 Till it becomes a calm. 
 
 " What art thou doing with thy life ? 
 
 Twas meant for others' use, 
 And awful is the reckoning 
 For waste and for abuse. 
 Better to use one talent well, 
 
 Than to misuse the ten, 
 * The smile of God is recompense 
 For all the scorn of men. 
 
 " What art thou doing with thy life ? 
 
 Up and be doing friend ; 
 The days, and nights, and months, and years. 
 Our God doth only lend.
 
 THE TWIN DEVILS. 181 
 
 If time was all our own, what then I 
 
 It might be freely spent, 
 But it is borrowed and 'tis theft 
 
 To squander what is lent. 
 
 " What art thou doing with thy life ? 
 
 Retrieve a past of guilt. 
 Alas I thou canst not gather up 
 
 The drops already spilt. 
 But God will blot out yesterday 
 
 For the Redeemer's sake, 
 If thou to-day, with good resolves, 
 Thy old ways will unmake. 
 
 " What art thou doing with thy life ? 
 
 It is already noon ; 
 The evening shadows are not far 
 
 The night-time will come soon. 
 And to the master we must go 
 
 At setting of the sun, 
 To hear Him say how our day's work 
 
 Has in His sight been done." 
 
 As she finished the last verse, she threw her arms around 
 her husband, and she cried out, in heart-broken accents, " O, 
 Larry, Larry ! I never lay my head on my pillow at night 
 but I am afraid of waking up and finding you lying dead 
 beside me. You cannot keep up this strain much longer. 
 O, if you would only lose all, and then come to your 
 senses ! " 
 
 Hamilton, deeply affected, endeavored to soothe his 
 agitated wife, but all in vain ; and going to the side-board, 
 he drank deeply of the fiery stimulant, he had of late been 
 indulging in more freely than usual. He was sad and 
 miserable, and his conscience lashed him like the stings 
 of a scorpion. 
 
 " It is too late now ! " he said wearily, while his wife 
 pretended to occupy herself at some work which she had
 
 1 82 ARMOUR. 
 
 just taken up. " I have determined to finish up the 
 whole business at one stroke with Brooks, and several 
 others, and sent my draft off this afternoon. In a week's 
 time I will either make some money, or lose all. I have 
 grown desperate, lately, and have determined to end it 
 all." 
 
 His wife said nothing ; but as she nervously continued 
 sewing, the bitter tears slowly coursed down her wan 
 cheeks, and the little mouth quivered, as she endeavored 
 ineffectually to repress the sad feeling of despair which 
 was slowly gathering around her aching heart. 
 
 Glancing at her husband's haggard face and supernat- 
 urally bright eyes, for the first time she noticed the hard 
 lines which the last few years had left around the clear 
 cut mouth. She was startled at the change. He seemed 
 to have grown ten years older since she had married 
 him. 
 
 " Oh," she mentally exclaimed, " how different all might 
 have been, if he had only invested his money in some 
 regular business." 
 
 Her husband noticed her unusually dejected appear 
 ance, and after several attempts he partially succeeded in 
 brightening her up. He was passionately fond of his 
 little wife, and was miserable when he realized that she 
 was unhappy. 
 
 " Larry, answer me one question candidly. Even if you 
 had been successful in your ventures, do you think you 
 would have been happy leading such an unnatural life ? " 
 
 " I suppose I would be about as happy as most men 
 are. Some men would be miserable leading any other 
 kind of life." 
 
 " Don't you believe that those men who are engaged in 
 some regular business, and who are good, pious men, \vho
 
 THE TWIN DEVILS. 193 
 
 find their happiness in trying to make their fellowmen 
 happy, have more pleasure in life than Gould or Fisk, or 
 such men, who have made their money in gambling, and 
 lived the life of terrible excitement you have been living 
 for the last two years ? " 
 
 " I will be candid with you, Fannie, and confess that 
 no poor wretch tortured on the rack, could undergo more 
 intense mental distress and misery, than I have found in 
 this business ; and I promise you faithfully that come 
 what may of this last venture, I will never touch stocks 
 again." 
 
 " But that is not the worst part of it, Larry. It is this 
 dreadful habit of drinking which has grown on you so 
 much of late that I fear." 
 
 Unable to control her pent-up feelings, the poor, little 
 wife broke down completely, and bursting . into tears, 
 sobbed hysterically, while her husband could only draw 
 her to him and caress her tenderly. 
 
 Hamilton at that moment fully realized the anxiety and 
 misery his course had caused his devoted wife, and also 
 how far he had fallen in his desperate attempts to get rich 
 suddenly. 
 
 As he drew her closely to him, she sobbed out bitterly, 
 "O, Larry ! your poor mother ! Can you not see you are 
 breaking her heart ? You are killing her by inches ; and 
 she is so proud of you." 
 
 This was too much for Hamilton, as he cried out, " Oh, 
 my God ! Don't speak of it." 
 
 For Hamilton to lose either his mother, or his wife, was 
 to lose all that life was worth living for, and in all his des 
 perate efforts to succeed, it was for them that he looked 
 proudly forward to enjoy his success, more than for 
 himself.
 
 1 84 ARMOUR. 
 
 As they thus sat clinging to each 'other, a low, angry roll 
 of thunder filled the air. The afternoon had been hot and 
 sultry, and a storm had for some time been brewing. 
 
 Neither spoke a word. Their hearts were too full of 
 sadnessand despair. 
 
 Flash after flash of lurid lightning made the room 
 livid ; and the deep-toned thunder crashed overhead, 
 as the storm burst forth in all its fury. The rain poured 
 down in torrents, while the wind wailed and howled around 
 the house like the cry of a lost spirit. 
 
 Fannie shuddered, and prayed to herself amid the 
 raging of the elements, which to her seemed so ominous 
 of their future. 
 
 The next morning found Hamilton in a high fever, and 
 unable to leave his bed. Stimulants for once failed him, 
 and the overtaxed brain and worn-out nervous system, 
 refused to answer the spur. Towards evening his wife 
 became alarmed. At times he acted strangely, and looked 
 after her with a wild, weird, uneasy glance. 
 
 Telegrams came in thick and fast from brokers, calling 
 for more margin, and, at the same time, encouraging him 
 to hold out for a day or two yet, and all would be right. 
 
 Poor Hamilton, weak and panting for breath, the cold 
 perspiration rolling off his forehead in great drops, would 
 insist on being held up in the bed, while his nerveless 
 fingers endeavored to guide the trembling pen, as he 
 appealed for loans to his bankers and friends with the 
 energy of despair trying to hold on to his last hope, and 
 prevent the sacrifice of his remaining capital. 
 
 The next day he was still worse, and at times became 
 delirious, while in his lucid intervals, he attempted piti 
 fully and feebly to give some directions for raising the 
 money called for, and eagerly inquired for dispatches.
 
 THE TWIN DEVILS. 185 
 
 Ralph had written to the brokers that in a day or two 
 the matters would be attended to, and informed them also 
 that Mr. Hamilton was not only very seriously ill, but 
 that a continuation of this harassment in his critical con 
 dition might prove fatal. Still the unfeeling wretches 
 worried and harassed the dying man with their incessant 
 demands for more margin. Hamilton, troubled and sick to 
 the death, and partly delirious, still insisted on opening, and 
 making fruitless efforts to reply to, their telegrams, until, 
 apprehending the worst, his physician informed his friends 
 that he would not answer for the consequences if his pa 
 tient was permitted to be worried any more. But this 
 was easier said than done, with a man as determined as 
 Hamilton. 
 
 A change did take place for the worst, and be became 
 so ill that at times it was very doubtful if he could re 
 cover from the sinking spells which frequently prostrated 
 him. In the meanwhile, his poor wife and mother hung 
 anxiously over his bedside. 
 
 In the long, night vigils, while he thus lay hovering be 
 tween life and death, he called wildly for wife and mother. 
 
 At last he slowly returned to life. 
 
 In the sad, wan, and haggard invalid, who, with his 
 faithful wife, slowly walked around the streets of Armour 
 during his convalescence, few who had known him in his 
 gay days would have recognised the dashing young Colo 
 nel Hamilton who was, a few years agone, the life of all 
 the social gatherings of the place, and whose high spirits 
 and keen wit had made him a local ce&bre.
 
 1 86 OUR PROTOTYPES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 OUR PROTOTYPES. 
 
 As he sat one evening in a large easy chair, pensively 
 watching the fast-fading twilight, during his convalescence, 
 the wild, turbulent past seemed to him unreal, and like 
 some terrible nightmare which had passed away forever. 
 
 For the first time since childhood, he inwardly thanked 
 God for having so mercifully spared him. 
 
 Although sceptical as to the methods and means re 
 sorted to by modern Christians to evangelize the world, 
 and opposed to the fashionable and flippant treatment of 
 so solemn a subject, he had still retained his faith in 
 God and real religion. 
 
 As they thus sat quietly enjoying the balmy evening, 
 Fannie arose, and, softly gliding to her husband's side, ex 
 claimed, " Oh ! we are so glad to have our dear old boy 
 back with us. It seems like living again doesn't it ? '' 
 
 "Yes, indeed it does," replied Mrs. Hamilton, while her 
 care-worn face lit up with a tender smile, and her eyes 
 moistened suspiciously. " It seemed, the last two years, 
 as if it was some one else and not our Larry." 
 
 The corners of Hamilton's mouth twitched nervously, 
 and he endeavored to turn the subject away from him 
 self, but Fannie was equally as determined to take advan 
 tage of the opportunity. 
 
 "Surely," she said, " Larry, after your bitter experience, 
 you i'. vn'Ufvd that trying to find happiness in self-seek-
 
 OUR PROTOTYPES. 187 
 
 ing is impossible. Why not make a complete change in 
 the future, and try the other life for a while. Certainly, it 
 is worth the trial, even from a purely selfish and worldly 
 point of view." 
 
 " And why should he not try ? " he said to himself. And 
 he thought how peaceful and uniformly happy "had his 
 wife been in her worst trials, more happy than he ever had 
 been even when the prize he struggled so fiercely for 
 seemed almost within his grasp and the world looked bright 
 est to him. It caused him to study seriously as to whether 
 she was not right when she said a life devoted to self-seek 
 ing, even if crowned with success, could not be a happy 
 one. 
 
 And from that moment he firmly resolved to pursue an 
 entirely different course in the future. Hereafter, he 
 would live for others and not for hknself. He would lead 
 a life that would make his wife a^d mother happy, and 
 the world better for his having been in it. 
 
 Unaware of the impression her remarks had made upon 
 her husband, Fannie continued, " Larry, O think, if you 
 had died during this sickness? What do you believe 
 would have become of you ? Do you have any thoughts 
 on eternity ? and if you have, what arc they ? " 
 
 Hamilton had invariably evaded all conversations with 
 his wife on religious topics, but this evening he was in 
 clined to be communicative and disposed to humor her. 
 
 "O, I hardly know myself," he carelessly replied. 
 " When I look around me and see so much injustice and 
 misery in the world, where it might just as easily have 
 been the opposite, I almost feel that the God we have been 
 taught to worship from childhood, is a cruel God and unjust, 
 and, according, to the teachings of our Christian religion, 
 must delight in our misery; it seems like mockery % o
 
 1 88 ARMOUR. 
 
 hear him called a merciful God. Then, again, I some 
 times feel that God knew perfectly well, before I came into 
 the world, what I would do when here, and where my soul 
 will go when it leaves the body. If not, then he cannot 
 be God. How then can I avoid the inevitable. I sup 
 pose at such times you might call me a fatalist. Again, 
 when I see men like the Conyngham's successful in wick 
 edness, and free from most of the miseries that afflict 
 mankind, and reveling in ill-gotten gains, acquired by 
 means that a just God would punish them for in this 
 life, I cannot reconcile myself to the justice that re 
 wards them in this world and punishes them in a mythical 
 future one." 
 
 After a pause he resumed. "When we look about, and 
 see the spider which weaves the web that catches the in 
 nocent fly, and the tiger who lurks in wait for his unsus 
 pecting prey in the jungle, and the hawk that pounces, 
 from the vantage of his high position in mid-air, upon his 
 innocent victim below, I think how much men are like them, 
 and prey upon the weaker and more helpless fellows; 
 and I cannot understand why God did not make all animal 
 and mankind happy, instead of living in constant dread 
 and misery. Sometimes I think that human beings are 
 simply animals of a higher development. Amongst men 
 I have seen the owl, in those persons, like old Sammy G , 
 who look wise, and knowing nothing, say nothing there 
 by getting credit for wisdom and brains they never pos 
 sessed. Little sparrows. .\!i.. h.ivc a hundred times the 
 shrewdness, wit, and energy, of these solemn-visaed old 
 wise-acres, receive no credit whatever. And then we have 
 vultures and jackals amongst men, who follow in the 
 wake and at the heels of bolder animals, the lion and 
 the eagle, and who live on the carcasses left by their
 
 OUR PROTOTYPES. 189 
 
 more powerful fellows, like the local politicians and the 
 henchmen of the Conyngham's. And we have the pork- 
 opolis, like the men who seize every thing within their 
 reach, utterly regardless of the rights of others, and who 
 are well-fed and fat with plenty, and yet who are always 
 grunting and rooting for more, greedy creatures, always 
 around the trough, and intent only on rilling their stomachs 
 and their pockets, and who at last lie down and die, never 
 having once in their lives looked up and enjoyed the bright 
 sunshine and beautiful blue sky, and the green hills, 
 nor heard the sweet songs of birds. Then I have said 
 to myself, we are simply animals, nothing more, and when 
 we die we have no more guaranty of a future than they 
 have." 
 
 Hamilton said this in a half-joking manner that never 
 failed to nettle is wife. Fannie never liked to hear the 
 future state handled so irreverently. 
 
 " I do not want to hear any more of such nonsense," 
 she interrupted. " I am used to it, ma, but I know you 
 are not. He does not believe one word he says, and is 
 only talking in this way to tease us. I know what his real 
 feelings are in reference to religion. He firmly believes 
 in God, and in the plan of salvation offered through our 
 Saviour, but he has no confidence whatever in what he 
 calls modern Christianity. I tell him he can set these 
 modern Christians a good example by uniting with the 
 church, and showing them how much better it is to be a 
 real Christian ; but he says the class of men with whom he 
 would necessarily be compelled to associate in the church, as 
 a rule, are persons with whom he could never be congenial, 
 and are generally those who have had no experience 
 amongst men and in the world ; and that by nature they 
 are so timid that they prefer being with the women and
 
 190 ARMOUR. 
 
 their own kind of people, to associating with more rugged, 
 masculine, and manly natures ; and that their conversation 
 and manners are effeminate, and their knowledge of men 
 and affairs of the world are narrow, the views held by them 
 crude, conceited, shallow, and as egotistical as young col 
 lege graduates ; that their company is insipid and stupid, 
 and that their childish fussiness and silly pretensions of 
 knowledge, as to the future and of life, disgusts him. lint 
 I tell him if he becomes a really good man he will not 
 think that way, but will view these things in a more chari 
 table light." 
 
 Larry caressed her fondly as he said, quite seriously, 
 " Well, Fannie, for your and mother's sake I am going to 
 try and be a better man in the future. I will give the 
 new life a fair trial." 
 
 Hamilton was in earnest, and from that day forth he 
 was a changed man. He gave up everything, and paid 
 off all his debts as far as his means would allow, and hon 
 orably refused to avail himself of a legal technicality, by 
 which he could have still retained a large sum of money 
 in contrast to the custom, so prevalent, of forcing creditors 
 into a compromise, after which to bloom out afresh in 
 extravagant display. One hardly knows which to be 
 most amazed at, the unblushing effrontery of such com 
 promises, or the peculiar mental and moral make-up which 
 could extract pleasure under such circumstances.
 
 CHOOSING A GOVERNOR. 191 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 CHOOSING A GOVERNOR. 
 
 " WHO are you going to make governor, Malcolm ? " 
 asked McKay, Conyngham's most faithful and active hench 
 man, as the two sat one evening in the latter's cozy library, 
 while discussing the political affairs of the state, as they 
 would the management of a small country store. 
 
 "I have not fully made up my mind yet who would 
 suit me," replied Conyngham. "This campaign, however, 
 will not be near as expensive as the last one. The panic 
 has made men very cheap. The only expensive item 
 
 I see will be the fixing up of that d d Keith. He 
 
 has complete control of the Molly Maguire arrange 
 ment, and we will have to buy him up. If he goes against 
 us it will give us a hard tussle." 
 
 " I don't altogether fancy the idea of dickering with such 
 devils, Malcolm," replied McKay. " It goes against my 
 grain to have anything to do with men I know are murder 
 ers, and if ever the people should connect us with this 
 business I doubt very much if they would not make short 
 work of our prospects politically." 
 
 " Pshaw ! McKay ; you are always and eternally harping 
 about the people. Get our governor in, no matter how, 
 and let the people go to the devil. They are nothing but a 
 pack of fools any how. You listen too much to these sore 
 heads in the party. I don't humor such fellows, but 
 believe in putting the whip to them when they begin to
 
 102 ARMOUR. 
 
 growl. The more I see of political life the more I am 
 convinced that these people like you all the better for 
 being a little afraid of you, and in the future I intend apply 
 ing the lash vigorously to some of these kickers. They 
 want a good, wholesome lesson. I intend, when I have a 
 clear field ahead, to show them who is their master. 
 There will be no more of this billing and cooing which 
 father believes so much in. When a dog commences to 
 growl, kick him effectually at the start, and he will be all 
 right afterwards. But show you are afraid of him, you will 
 have plenty of trouble." 
 
 " How would Woods fill the bill ? " 
 
 " He won't do at all. Too d d much brains and 
 
 too independent. We don't want that kind of men in any 
 important office. Such men always give us trouble and 
 are sure to go back on us after we elect them. Besides, 
 the people have an idea that he is honest, and if they 
 once get that into their heads and we are fools enough to 
 to start him, good-bye Malcolm. We might as well com 
 mit hari-kari at once." 
 
 "Good evening, gentlemen. Plotting as usual," ex 
 claimed a dark, sinister looking and very ordinary man, as 
 he carelessly sauntered into the room and seated himself 
 with Conyngham and his friend. This man seemed more out 
 of place than McKay, in the elegantly appointed library, but 
 his free and easy manner was explained from the fact 
 that he was Conyngham's private secretary, and the man 
 Friday who did all his master's secret and least reputable 
 work. 
 
 " We are trying to save the people the trouble of choos 
 ing their chief magistrate, and Malcolm thinks Woods 
 would give us trouble if he got in. One thing in his favor
 
 CHOOSING A GOVERNOR. 193 
 
 is that he would not be very expensive, as he is very pop 
 ular and stands well with the people. I think we can hold 
 him level on that transaction last winter, but Malcolm 
 thinks not." 
 
 " You had better trot out the noble war Governor. 
 How would that suit the dear people ? " sneered Bare, the 
 secretary. "What trouble he would have given us if your 
 father had not succeeded in driving him so effectually out 
 of the party. Lord, how the old man did kill off all his 
 rivals ! It makes me think of a story I read the other day 
 of an old Frenchman who when dying, was asked by his 
 clergyman if he forgave his enemies, and to the reverend 
 gentleman's surprise, well knowing his revengeful disposi 
 tion, remarked that he had none. (He had killed them all.) 
 Ferry, McClurg, and Custis gave him a life-long tug for 
 the supremacy, but he was too cunning and his purse was 
 too long for them. For a man to get along as the old 
 gentleman did, with all the people down on him and those 
 fellows laying the ropes for him all the time, took good 
 generalship ; but he was too smart for them. It would 
 have been a bad old time for him if the office had de 
 pended on the popular vote." 
 
 " Yes," laughed Malcolm ; " and I am afraid your 
 occupation and mine would be gone too." 
 
 " By the way, I saw that party to-day, and he says Jack 
 Keith has the Mollies well in hand, and not only expects 
 you to come down handsomely, but to guarantee them a 
 pardon if any of their deviltry comes to light. It would 
 be a very bad piece of business for us if this transaction 
 ever becomes known," nervously remarked McKay. 
 
 " It would not bother me much if they did find it out 
 What are they going to do about it ? What the people say 
 don't bother me a particle ; never did nor ever will," con-
 
 194 
 
 ARMOUR. 
 
 tinued Conyngham excitedly. " If I can get my man in 
 for governor this time I will be in a position where I can 
 defy them hereafter. How would you like Hausenploose 
 for governor ? " 
 
 " The very man," exclaimed McKay and Bare at once. 
 "He won't be likely to put on airs, and we can easily manage 
 him. Besides that, he has the soldier element with him ; and 
 he is very ambitious but not very long-headed. He might give 
 us more trouble if he took a notion to go into the United 
 States Senate some of these days. It would be better to 
 get him switched off the senatorial course as he might 
 interfere with our programme." 
 
 " Yes," said Conyngham ; " He is not so smart but that 
 we can manage him. He is confiding and rather dull, and 
 never sees too far ahead. That will suit us exactly. And 
 as McKay says, we want to keep an eye on him, and switch 
 him off if he tries to get the inside track of us on the sen 
 atorial business." 
 
 " He is very fond of gore and fuss and feathers, and if 
 we give him a chance to inspect the militia often, and 
 plenty of reviews, and send a few correspondents along to 
 puff him on his fine soldierly appearance and horsemanship, 
 he will not bother us much with political scheming. If he 
 does, we can take care of him easily. I don't think we 
 can get a safer man." 
 
 " His being so easily managed is his best recommendation, 
 next to the soldier vote he will control. While he looks as 
 wise as an owl he has about enough brains to make a respec 
 table associate judge. By flattering his military vanity, as 
 you say, and by promises, we can lead him around where 
 we wish. He will submit to anything for an office or a 
 prospective one, and like the crab, he can walk backward 
 as gracefully as forward."
 
 CHOOSING A GOVERNOR. 195 
 
 And thus this worthy trio of three as ordinary men as you 
 could pick out of any promiscuous crowd, with the ex 
 ception of the money they could wield, without further 
 consultation with any one, chose the next governor for 
 one of the largest, most populous and wealthy States in 
 the Union, and the next day arranged their plans for his 
 election. McKay had the vote of the Mollies solid for 
 the Ring candidate. He had seen Keith and " fixed it," as 
 he told Conyngham. Questor had selected Hausenploose 
 for Conyngham with his usual sagacity. He was the right 
 man for the latter's purposes. 
 
 Ability and popularity in a public man were to mark 
 him with these men as dangerous, and one who was to be 
 strictly watched and headed off before he became too 
 powerful for them. 
 
 During the years which followed the Panic, and while 
 the great mass of the people could get little or no work, 
 and with wages at ninety cents per day, wretched and 
 desperate, in striking contrast young Conyngham reveled 
 in luxurious wantoness, lived in princely style and counted 
 his wealth by the millions. As he rolled along the 
 streets with his blooded horses, and costly equipages, 
 poor working men crowded the streets hunting work, and 
 with their wives and children at home suffering for the 
 necessaries of life, they could but bitterly contrast and 
 envy this ill-gotten and flaunting prosperity with their own 
 miserable poverty and helplessness. 
 
 On one side, luxury and insolence ; on the other misery 
 and envy not the envy of the poor at the sight of opu 
 lence they could not reach, but the envy of the despoiled 
 when in the presence of the despoiler. 
 
 No wonder they hated Conyngham. Unlike Boss 
 Tweed, Boss Conyngham had never been known to either
 
 196 ARMOUR. 
 
 give them a word or look, much less anything more substan 
 tial ; and in his mammoth business establishments Con- 
 yngham was always the first to advocate the reduction of 
 workingmen's wages. He despised them, and took little 
 pains to conceal it. While he was intensely hated, by 
 cunning and rascally manipulations their own votes con 
 tinued this man in power. The people knew it, but 
 seemed utterly helpless to prevent it ; and he knew it, and 
 by his manner contemptuously asked them, " What are 
 you going to do about ? " 
 
 After his election, Hausenploose did not in the least 
 disappoint the expectation of the Ring. 
 
 Questor knew his man well. He was simply a figure 
 head for Conyngham. They could not afford to jeopard 
 ise their interests by allowing in the high offices of the 
 State popular men who had brains and back bone. They 
 might thwart the many schemes of the Ring for plunder 
 ing the state treasury, or stand in the way of Malcolm's 
 ambition. 
 
 Father and son now controlled their State absolutely. 
 
 What a speaking commentary on the power of money !
 
 SIC TRANSIT GLORIA. 197 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 SIC TRANSIT GLORIA, 
 
 Six years, with all their various changes in human at 
 fairs, had flown by. 
 
 Littlejohn's senatorial career had drawn to a close, and 
 as Goforhim had shrewdly predicted of him, he had dis 
 appointed every one but his enemies. That he had legal 
 brains and abilities even his enemies admitted, and if he 
 could have added popular manners, and shown less ser 
 vile obsequiousness to the corporation which had placed 
 him in the senate, and whose interests alone he faith 
 fully represented, to the utter neglect of his sworn 
 duties to the people, he would have won a high place 
 amongst his fellow senators, and the respect, honor, and 
 everlasting gratitude of the people. It was in his power 
 here to have given a death blow to the Conynghamism 
 which had cursed the State for so many years, and would 
 have encouraged the people in breaking up this insolent 
 and infamous power. 
 
 Littlejohn was too ambitious and selfish, for his own 
 interests, and had endeavored to keep in with both the 
 railroad company and the Conynghams, but possessed so 
 little tact as to openly quarrel with the younger Conyng- 
 ham at the very outset of his career. The latter's power 
 he had of late completely underestimated. 
 
 That two men so thoroughly selfish, self-seeking, and 
 greedy for power as Littlejohn and Malcolm Conyngham
 
 1 98 ARMOUR. 
 
 would naturally quarrel when, in the course of time, their 
 interests should conflict, was very possible; but Little- 
 John's arrogance and blindness hastened the denoue 
 ment. 
 
 During the six years of his senatorial term, Cbnyng- 
 ham Jr., never failed to neutralize all the former's attempt 
 to make himself a power at home. Worse still, Little- 
 John's exalted position completely upset him. The man 
 scarcely knew what to get at, and made himself supremely 
 ridiculous by his arrogance, childish vanity, and assump 
 tions of profound wisdom and superior piety. 
 
 It was an able lawyer, and a self-important, self-seek 
 ing man in a very high office, which required an entirely 
 different order of talent to adorn it from what he pos 
 sessed. As a statesman, he proved a miserable failure ; 
 and as a politician, even in the best sense of the word, 
 he proved the worst blunderer, and the most tyranni 
 cal one-man power the State had ev er known, until 
 Malcolm Conyngham afterwards entered the field. The 
 latter improved so much on Littlejohn's ideas in this 
 respect, that with his power, backed by his great wealth, 
 he was enabled to build up and solidify the "one-man 
 power," which Littlejohn had vainly attempted for lack of 
 cunning and money. 
 
 No cross-roads postmaster could be appointed in his 
 native county without first consulting and securing the 
 approval of the little man in Washington, where one 
 would have supposed his exalted position and elevated 
 surroundings would have lifted him above the petty strife 
 of local politics. 
 
 Every man who had dared to cross Littlejohn's path 
 was now made to feel the great man's scorn and contempt, 
 while those who were in his power, or who had refused
 
 SIC TRANSIT GLORIA. 199 
 
 implicit submission, were pursued and punished with a 
 rancor and malice, that would have shamed a savage. 
 
 No one was permitted to even make a suggestion rela 
 tive to the affairs of their own township j and men who 
 had for years and a life-time supported and worked for 
 the party were treated as impertinent meddlers. 
 
 \Yhen constituents called on him in Washington, if they 
 did not come away with a very good opinion of their own 
 miserable insignificance and Littlejohn's greatness, it was 
 not the fault of the latter. 
 
 When one entered his committee-room, the distinguished 
 statesman would look up from his desk with an unmis 
 takable air that plainly said, "Well sir! what have 
 you got to say ? Say it quickly. I am astonished at 
 your impertinence. Don't you know that the business of 
 the whole country, from Maine to California, is interrupted 
 by your presence ? " 
 
 He was absolutely intoxicated with power and gratified 
 vanity. He could not stand elevation. 
 
 Thus was missed one of the finest opportunities that 
 ever presented itself for breaking up the most infamous 
 Ring that ever enchained a long-suffering people, or cursed 
 and disgraced a noble old commonwealth, a Ring 
 that had made her name a hissing by-word and a re 
 proach amongst her sister States, and her great power 
 a mere cypher in the general government, and which, for 
 nearly thirty years, had compelled her to occupy a humil 
 iating and second-rate position. 
 
 Littlejohn had obtained considerable notoriety as one 
 of a committee sent to the South to inquire into the 
 Ku-Klux outrages, but beyond that he was never heard 
 of. His whole undivided time and attention were given 
 towards the helping on of the great schemes of the cor-
 
 200 ARMOUR. 
 
 poration he served, and for which purpose he had been 
 placed in the senate. 
 
 \Yhen free from his corporation duties, his spare time 
 was entirely given to having his photographs taken in every 
 imaginable statesman-like attitude ; and glass paper-holders 
 with the Honorable John's fiercely wise and senatorial 
 countenance, glared at one from every corner grocery and 
 law office in the State. It was a well-known fact, that 
 in order to secure the great man's favor, the first step nec 
 essary to procure an interview, was to request of him his 
 photograph. 
 
 At the expiration of his first term, and when he retired 
 to private life, he had one brother a collector in a South 
 ern port, who had been a blatant rebel during the war ; one 
 son, a clerk on his committee, and another a clerk under a 
 brother-in-law, for whom he had procured a fat appointment 
 in the treasury, another brother-in-law in the United States 
 mint, and a cousin he made United States District At 
 torney in the western part of the State. He would have 
 appointed more from his family, but he had exhausted all 
 the available male material on both sides of the house. 
 And yet he wondered why the people were dissatisfied, and 
 disapproved of his efforts in their behalf, a fact he was 
 not thoroughly made aware of until he canvassed the 
 State at the expiration of his term, with high hopes of 
 again resuming his former position. The only persons 
 he did please, and whom he served faithfully, were the cor 
 poration to which this patriot and statesman belonged, and 
 so well did he serve the interests of his masters, that they 
 rewarded him after the people had emphatically refused to 
 give him a second term, by making him a high official on 
 their road. And to this day he declaims against the peo 
 ple as the most ungrateful of ingrates.
 
 SSC TRANSIT GLORIA. 2 oi 
 
 Goforhim and Fox had closely watched his career with 
 jealous eyes, and they never missed an opportunity of ex 
 posing to the people his ridiculous vanities and preten 
 sions. They showed up his truckling servility to the cor 
 poration he served, in a manner that he who ran could 
 read. 
 
 " How much a man's carriage and air of conscious su 
 periority depends on success or failure." remarked Ham 
 ilton to his wife, as Littlejohn walked in front of them 
 to church, the Sabbath before the question as to whether 
 Littlejohn would succeed himself in the senate or not was 
 definitely determined. 
 
 " He is certainly doomed to an overwhelming defeat, but 
 he does not think so. Fanny, look at him now, as, confi 
 dent of success, he saunters carelessly along with his beaver 
 tipped gayly to one side, and twirling that little cane so 
 jauntily, while blandly and patronizingly nodding to his 
 friends and fellow-citizens. Wait until next Sunday and 
 then see the difference in the gentleman's air one short 
 week will make." 
 
 A few days after the avalanche descended, and Little 
 john was so deeply buried out of sight that to this day he 
 has never been heard from. 
 
 When the news of his overwhelming defeat was assured, 
 Goforhim and Fox procured a calithumpian and the vil 
 lage brass band, and, to the great indignation of the Hon 
 orable John, proceeded to his residence, where six short 
 years before the people had shouted themselves hoarse 
 sounding his praises. The crowd howled and cat-called 
 him, arid would have added still greater indignities, if he 
 had not taken the timely precaution and closed up his 
 house. Bonfires were lit, and the bands made the night 
 air hideous with " As Johnny comes marching home," for
 
 202 ARMOUR. 
 
 an hour. It was a perfect pandemonium toolings of 
 horns, crowing of roosters, braying of asses, bleating of 
 sheep, and bawling of calves, could have been heard for a 
 mile around. It was simply hideous. 
 
 "Truly," as Larry had remarked to his wife the previous 
 Sabbath, " a man's bearing in life depends in a great meas 
 ure on his success and non-success." The following Sun 
 day Littlejohn's appearance was really pitiable. He was 
 the most crushed and insignificant-looking individual on 
 the street. The cane had been left at home, the hat was 
 pulled well down over the eyes and set scrupulously 
 straight, as he sadly meandered to church, glancing fur 
 tively and timidly at each passer-by, like one who had been 
 detected in some disreputable business. The man really 
 seemed to have lost several inches in his height. 
 
 Littlejohn soon resumed his natural level, and the 
 country breathed free again " sic transit gloria." 
 
 No man can serve two roasters. Neither can any man 
 serve corporations and the people at the same time.
 
 AFFAIRS AT WOOD SIDE COLLIERY. 203 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 AFFAIRS AT WOODSIDE COLLIERY. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING trials and disappointments, Fannie 
 Hamilton was still the same bright, sensible, little Fannie 
 Adair of old ; and she was now more than ever absolutely 
 necessary to Hamilton's happiness. 
 
 Persons with auburn hair and abundance of coloring 
 generally retain their youthful appearance long after their 
 blonde and brunette companions have faded into sallow 
 and passte middle-age. A stranger would have taken Fan 
 nie Hamilton, in her thirties, for a girl in her teens. Per 
 haps her sunny disposition helped to give this impression, 
 and added much to her girlish appearance. 
 
 Hamilton himself had regained to a great extent the 
 sprightliness and high spirits which, as a young man, had 
 made him so great a favorite. But to a close observer the 
 knit brows, tightly compressed lips, and the sad, almost 
 stern, expression of his face, when in repose, marked him 
 plainly as a one who had known sorrow. 
 
 He had not been idle during these years. Securing a 
 position in one of the large collieries around Armour, he 
 had endeavored manfully to redeem the errors and follies 
 of his early manhood, and had made himself so familiar 
 with all the details of the coal business as to understand 
 it thoroughly. The knowledge of human nature which he 
 had acquired during his former diversified and checkered 
 career, combined with his natural quickness and adapta 
 bility, proved very advantageous in his business.
 
 204 ARMOUR. 
 
 With the miners his influence was unbounded; and 
 during the hard times which succeeded the panic of '73, 
 while other collieries had great trouble and discontent to 
 contend with amongst their men, Hamilton's firm, 
 owing in a great measure to his kindly mediation between 
 employers and employees, had very little or no trouble 
 whatever. 
 
 While he was the sincere friend of both, he sternly op 
 posed the attempts of either party to impose upon or op 
 press the other. 
 
 His own painful experience, instead of embittering him, 
 as it generally does small and narrow natures, made him 
 feel more keenly than ever for the sufferings and troubles 
 of others. 
 
 The office at Woodside colliery, where Larry was em 
 ployed, was crowded by the friends of Manager Skinner, 
 who were noisy and boisterous in their congratulations to 
 him as the successful competitor in a contest for a watch 
 the evening before in Armour, between himself and the 
 manager of a neighboring mine, for the purpose of buy 
 ing a library for the benefit of the order of A. O. G. F. 
 
 Notwithstanding that Skinner had obtained the watch, 
 very one felt that his opponent should have had it, as he 
 was superior to Skinner in all that constituted an honest, 
 humane, and efficient manager. But the latter was a born 
 demagogue, and as cunning as he was unscrupulous, and 
 had obtained votes by resorting to practices his more hon 
 orable opponent scorned to avail himself of. 
 
 Several days following the watch contest, Skinner's poor, 
 little, miserable soul, was in the seventh heaven of delight, 
 and on receiving a letter from the firm expressing great 
 satisfaction at this evidence of the respect and esteem 
 with which he was held by the employees, he could no
 
 AFFAIRS AT WOOD SIDE COLLIERY. 205 
 
 longer restrain his bursting vanity, and rushed over to the 
 store to publish this endorsement by the firm. 
 
 " Hamilton," remarked Honesty John Miller, as they 
 nicknamed the bookkeeper of the firm, " this will be a 
 big feather in Skinner's hat, won't it? There will be no 
 holding the fellow now. He was conceited enough before. 
 What do you think of these watch contests, any how ? " 
 
 " I think it is nothing but levying black-mail on all who 
 are solicited to subscribe. No one dare refuse for fear 
 of losing their places or the patronage of the firm, and 
 incurring the displeasure of the manager." 
 
 " Skinner takes two or three clerks from the store, paid by 
 the firm, sends them off to the mines around to beg, coax, 
 and intrigue for money to buy votes to secure him this 
 watch and the endorsement it will give him as a popular 
 manager. Meanwhile, the store is neglected, customers 
 not waited on, take their trade elsewhere, and at the end 
 of the month the miners are put in hard places for not 
 leaving more of their money at the company's store. Then 
 these clerks, to curry Skinner's favor, extol him to the skies, 
 when, in face, their hate is only exceeded by their fear of 
 him. They spend days in the neighboring mines, throwing 
 broadside hints that, in the opening of the new mines, 
 Skinner would likely have plenty of easy places, and that 
 he never forgets a friend, and so on and so on. Don't you 
 remember that Englishman you thought he had such a 
 good, manly face who was in here two weeks ago ? " 
 
 " I believe I do," replied Hamilton. " There were two 
 of them together. Skinnner badgered them a good deal 
 for refusing to contribute anything." 
 
 " Yesterday both came in and got their due-bill. Skin 
 ner had sweated them out." 
 
 ' r : ' was too bad," said Hamilton; "if the firm
 
 206 ARMOUR. 
 
 knew such things were going on they would send him away. 
 They are honorable men and would not tolerate such 
 work." 
 
 " Hut," said Honesty John, "the amusing part of the 
 business is that the firm has to furnish the money for an 
 endorsement of its own manager." 
 
 " How much had tha' Englishman coming to him do 
 you remember? " asked Hamilton. 
 
 " About twenty-five dollars," replied Honesty John. 
 
 " Do you know who cashed the due-bill for him ? " 
 
 " Young Edwards, I believe. He wanted to go away the 
 next day in order to get a job waiting for him over at 
 C , and complained about the way one of the clerks 
 skinned him ; and I know Edwards is the only one who 
 has the money to cash that amount for him." 
 
 " How deep do you suppose he cut ? " 
 
 " Five dollars, he told me." 
 
 " Five dollars for twenty one week! I tell you Hon 
 esty,' 1 said Hamilton warmly, "this due-bill skinning 
 ought to be punished with the penitentiary. The poor 
 miners have hard enough times to get along, between the 
 store and order system, without these sharks' assistance. I 
 often wonder if these unscrupulous managers are not fre 
 quently in cahoot with the Skinners, or in fact often the real 
 skinners themselves. I believe the store and order system 
 are the prolific source of most of the troubles, in our mining 
 region, between the operators and their men." 
 
 In the collieries as well as amongst the large iron works 
 around Armour, Hamilton daily witnessed the untold evils 
 and oppressive exactions of the iniquitious store and order 
 system, which practically reduces the laboring man to a 
 state of humiliating serfdom, if not to actual slavery. 
 
 The wives of these men, often unable to read or write a
 
 AFFAIRS AT WOOD SIDE COLLIERY. 207 
 
 word in their own language, much less in English, are fur 
 nished with pass-books and perfectly ignorant of either 
 prices or quality of the articles and material sold, buy with 
 the recklessness and prodigality such a system invariably 
 begets, and are utterly at the mercy of operators' managers 
 or clerks, who charge what they please.
 
 208 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE CURSE OF MONOPOLY. 
 
 HAMILTON, after a practical experience in the coal busi 
 ness, was now thoroughly versed in all its various details, 
 and was known throughout the region as an honorable, 
 independent, and upright business man. 
 
 A gentleman possessing considerable capital, desiring a 
 partner who understood the coal business, proposed to him 
 a partnership on very favorable terms. With the advice of 
 the railroad company's civil engineer they purchased large 
 tracts of valuable coal lands along a proposed route of a 
 new branch about to be built by the company, and which 
 had already been surveyed, and upon which work was 
 soon to be commenced. 
 
 To their surprise and astonishment, after their purchases 
 had been completed, the road was resurveyed, and, for some 
 ostensibly technical, reason, was so changed as to compel 
 Hamilton and other parties to build some miles of rail 
 road. 
 
 The real reason why the route was changed was the pur 
 chase of large tracts of coal land, in the locality of the new 
 route, by certain parties who were acting in the interest of 
 the leading officials of the great railroad monopoly, which 
 controlled the State. 
 
 The consequence was, that in building their own route, 
 Hamilton and his friends made sad inroads on their capital 
 at the very time they needed it most. Here their real
 
 THE CURSE OF MONOPOLY: 209 
 
 trouble only commenced. Entering as they did into com 
 petition with this mammoth monopoly they found, as other 
 individuals had done before in the iron and all other 
 businesses, that when a railroad official or his kinsman 
 is interested in the same business it is folly to endeavor 
 to compete with them. 
 
 They were harrassed at every step by their powerful 
 rivals. When business was brisk, or in the midst of a 
 large contract, while cars were blocking up the sidings of 
 their rivals, they were compelled to lie idle for days for the 
 want of them, and meekly accept what cars they could get. 
 This was bad enough but worse still. By secret com 
 pacts with the railroad company and by a system of draw 
 backs, the firms in which the railroad officials were inter 
 ested were enabled by lower freight rates to undersell them 
 in every market. 
 
 After a few years of ruinous competition, they were 
 finally compelled to sell out, at a great sacrifice, to their 
 rivals. 
 
 The corporation had crushed them and added another 
 business firm to the innumerable victims of a cruel sys 
 tem of monopoly. 
 
 All industries are at the mercy of the railroads, and 
 more particularly the coal and iron interests. 
 
 Everywhere the iron heel of this tyrant, Monopoly, ap 
 peared. There was no business but what felt its blight 
 ing influence. Railroad officials and those who were within 
 the charmed circle were secretly interested in nearly all 
 the large paying businesses. Everything was done quietly, 
 and on the surface no railroad influence was apparent. 
 
 How on a salary of five thousand dollars can a young offi 
 cial, in a few years, make millions !
 
 210 ARMOUR. 
 
 How can they, by simply writing their names or by a 
 word, make their own fortunes and unmake others ! 
 
 Instead of the plain Republic of our fathers and a 
 " government of the people, from the people, and for the 
 people" it was of late plainly apparent that these monopo 
 lists, millionaires, railroad kings, and political bosses de 
 sired, and were endeavoring to form, a strong centralized 
 government and an aristocratic and privileged class to rule, 
 to the exclusion of the people. And as there could be no 
 organized or hereditary nobility to draw the line between 
 themselves and the masses, money was to be the emblem 
 of distinction and the golden calf the object of worship 
 and the symbol of power. 
 
 Like Louis Bonaparte, this leagued oligarchy, while pre 
 tending to rule by the free vote of the people, had seated 
 themselves in and perpetuated their power, by providing a 
 huge corruption fund for buying up the politicians, and 
 through them for ruling and controling votes. 
 
 These grasping combinations of capital and political 
 power were fast engendering a dangerous feeling of discon 
 tent, regardless of party affiliation-a feeling which boded 
 no good in the near future. 
 
 Hamilton apprehended the very worst of consequences 
 if the people did not soon realize the extent of their dan 
 ger and unite in one common cause to curtail and restrain, 
 with a firm hand, the insolent encroachments and tyranny 
 of monopoly. He felt confident that the party which 
 refused to espouse the cause of the people must go down 
 under the coming conflict between the people and 
 monopoly. 
 
 Sectionalism and slavery were dead, and as both parties 
 had their best and most prominent men from the people,
 
 AFFAIRS AT WOOD SIDE COLLIERY. 211 
 
 and as our greatest men had espoused and upheld the great 
 doctrines of Jefferson, and believed in the rule of the many 
 and not the privileged few before the war, and only forsook 
 the faith of their fathers on account of slavery, he could 
 not see why, now that slavery was a dead issue, they could 
 not resume their old place in the ranks of democracy with 
 a clearer conscience than ever. If they considered democ 
 racy sound doctrine with the festering sore of slavery 
 attached to it, why could they not now acknowledge it as 
 the party of the people more than ever. 
 
 But like a great many republicans, Hamilton still felt re 
 luctant to leave his party even for conscience' sake for fear 
 of giving the government over into the control of those 
 who had recently endeavored to destroy it. And while 
 disgusted at the venality, wholesale corruption, and tend 
 ency to favor corporations, establish aristocratic distinc 
 tions, and favor the few against the many, which had marked 
 the dominant party's career ever since the close of the 
 Rebellion, it was this fear alone that deterred him from 
 openly espousing the party of the people. But he resolved 
 that when the time came that he was fully satisfied section 
 alism was really dead and the South thoroughly united, he 
 .would at once unite with the democracy, believing it the 
 party whose doctrines were best calculated to further the 
 interests and happiness of the greatest number. 
 
 In reply to the oft-repeated remonstrances of an out 
 raged people he had seen their appeals treated with the 
 silent contempt of conscious power, while their oppressors 
 sneeringly asked them " What are you going to do about 
 it ? " 
 
 He believed the only way the people could answer this 
 insolent appeal of a monopoly party, drunk with power 
 and success, was to select good men and new men from
 
 212 ARMOUR. 
 
 the ranks, and have nothing whatever to do with those pro 
 fessional leaders of the democracy, who in the past had 
 shown their unfitness to be leaders by their truckling ser 
 vility and obsequiousness to corporate power and affillia- 
 tionwith the dominant monopoly-party when it suited their 
 interests to do so, regardless of the welfare of their con 
 stituents and their party.
 
 JAY GOULD. 213 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 JAY GOULD. 
 
 FANNIE had been busy all day preparing a supper for 
 some gentlemen who had been prominently identified with 
 a new political movement, the object of which was the 
 dethronement of the Conyngham dynasty throughout their 
 congressionial district. And they had chosen Hamilton 
 as their standard-bearer in the coming contest. 
 
 After a good supper the gentlemen distributed them 
 selves in groups through Hamilton's pleasant parlors, and 
 enjoyed themselves as only men can who are united in a 
 common cause, and agreeably discussed their plans and 
 purposes over fine Havanas and well-filled stomachs. 
 
 In one of these groups in a far corner of the room were 
 our old friends, Woods, Mclntosh, Ralph Adair, and sev 
 eral other gentlemen, engaged in an animated discussion of 
 the absorbing topic the coming political campaign. 
 
 " Guess who they are going to run against you, Larry? " 
 asked Ralph. 
 
 " I should not be surprised if they would run the devil 
 himself, provided they succeeded in securing him. He 
 has all the qualifications necessary to make a good Con- 
 nyngham man, and would suit the Ring in every respect. 
 All they require, is to understand their simple rule of three 
 ' addition, division, and silence ' and not to be fet 
 tered with the ten commandments." 
 
 " Well, who do you think has been elected by the Ring 
 to fill your bill ? "
 
 214 ARMOUR. 
 
 " I can not guess. I have heard several persons spo- 
 k' n of who are known to be In the Ring's f^vor. But I 
 do hope they will put up a decent man ; so that if he does 
 defeat me, it will not necessarily be a humiliation. There is 
 M une honor in meeting and battling with a foeman worthy 
 of your steel, even if you are worsted in the contest." 
 
 " Well," laughed Ralph, "you have got him. Goforhim 
 is to be your man." 
 
 " What ! You don't say so ? " asked Hamilton, excit 
 edly, as he rose to his feet. "Why, I would rather run 
 against Malcolm Conyngham himself. It cannot surely 
 be possible he would thus dare to insult the people of this 
 district by running such a man as Goforhim for Congress. 
 Why, the people will bury him clear out of sight. This 
 man represents- the very worst elements of the Ring. 
 And besides, he is the most contemptible character in the 
 community. Surely, Conyngham has enough manhood 
 left not to reward that scoundrel for his dastardly work 
 some years ago. I often wonder how Conyngham could 
 pass that matter over without chastising Goforhim. But 
 your plotting, calculating, scheming, money-making men, 
 are generally physically timid. During our war you would 
 always find such fellows busy contracting and making 
 money safe at home, while the brave men were in front." 
 
 " I believe Larry is about right when he speaks of great 
 money makers being naturally timid physically," said 
 Ralph. " There was one of the Rothschilds, it is said, 
 who had himself guarded day and night, and whose v hole 
 life was made miserable by fear. I remember once of 
 calling on Jay Gould on some business, and from the ac 
 counts of him, like the rest of people who had heard of 
 hK bold operations on the street, I expected to see one 
 whose physique, in some measure, would indicate the
 
 JAY GOULD. 21$ 
 
 nerve and pluck which marked his bold operations on 
 the street. On mounting the steps of a brown-stone, 
 corner house on Fifth Avenue, and ringing the bell, a ser 
 vant noiselessly opened the door, and ushered me into a 
 small, but well furnished parlor. There was nothing 
 different in the size and appointments of the room from 
 hundreds of other parlors of men in comfortable circum 
 stances throughout the city, excepting the death-like 
 stillness which prevailed. The carpets were so thick 
 that no foot-fall could be heard. The very walls seemed 
 padded. No child's merry laugh resounded through this 
 sepulchral home, nor did even the subdued voices of 
 servants break the painful, oppressive silence. It was all 
 utterly unlike the splendid home that, my imagination 
 had pictured as the abode of the magnate of the street, 
 and the great railroad king, who now controlled more 
 miles of railroad and telegraph than any other individual 
 on the globe, and whose name is the synonym of more 
 power than that of the president himself; who has not 
 only his judges along the lines of the railroads he controls, 
 but also on the bench of the most august tribunal of 
 the land, and who, in fact, to a very great and dangerous 
 extent controls and bends to his own private purposes 
 even the national legislature itself. 
 
 " While looking at a picture, although hearing no sound. 
 I suddenly experienced an undefinable sensation of an 
 other's presence ; and as I turned, I saw timidly approach 
 ing me a little, insignificant-looking person, with a shrinking, 
 hesitating manner, and a searching, uneasy glance from 
 rather soft and effeminate dark eyes. 
 
 " Here before me stood the man who had wrecked more 
 fortunes, and ruined more reputations, and driven to 
 prison and to untimely deaths and dishonored graves
 
 2i6 ARMOUR. 
 
 more promising business men, and who had beggared 
 more wealthy families, and made more human misery, 
 than any other one man in the country. This little, insig 
 nificant, diminutive, and furtive, hare-like creature, stand 
 ing shrinkingly and with down-cast eyes before me, looking 
 almost ready to fly at a loud or angry word, was the great 
 Jay Gould ! 
 
 " Any enterprise this man chose to attack and destroy 
 was a helpless victim, and he pursued his nefarious and 
 ghoul-like business mercilessly and heartlessly. 
 
 " In a voice scarcely above a whisper he answered in 
 monosyllables some questions I asked, and at the sound 
 of his own voice glanced fearfully around as if pursued 
 by some Nemesis. 
 
 " Was he thinking of, or apprehending the fate of his 
 partner ? 
 
 " I was never so perfectly surprised in my life, and could 
 scarcely realize that this was the bold operator whose 
 name carried terror on the streets, and whose fiat made 
 and unmade fortunes in an hour. This was the ideal hero 
 of the nineteenth century, the hero of the people who 
 worshipped the golden calf and recognised the dollars 
 as king." 
 
 " Even if Conyngham," said Hamilton, " was too timid 
 to resent such an attack, I never believed it possible that 
 he could be so lost to all sense of manhood, as to stoop 
 to ally himself with this man Goforhim, and endeavor to 
 force him into Congress against the sentiments of an out 
 raged community." 
 
 "Pshaw ! " said Ralph, impatiently, "I always told you, 
 Larry, that Malcolm Conyngham would do anything for 
 money or power. He don't feel about these matters as 
 other people would. So he is successful that is all he
 
 JAY GOULD. 217 
 
 cares for, if he makes money, or acquires more power he 
 does not care a picayune what people say or think ; and 
 you can make up your mind that his intentions are to 
 give you one of the dirtiest campaigns that the State has 
 ever known. When he takes up a man like Goforhim, 
 depend upon it, a cesspool is to be opened upon you. 
 There is nothing he won't do to vindicate his course at 
 home. He has a pride in that."
 
 218 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 AN UNEQUAL CONTEST. 
 
 THIS impending congressional struggle in Conyngham's 
 own district excited great interest throughout the State \ 
 more so than had any election since the younger Conyng- 
 ham became such a power in political affairs. 
 
 His influence was now second only to his father's. His 
 pride was in this struggle. Every one knew he would 
 scruple at nothing in order to elect his man by such a 
 majority as would at once, and for years to come, stamp out 
 all opposition to the Conyngham dynasty in that district. 
 
 It was an unfair trial of strength between the people 
 and their oppressors. And the Conyngham's, to the sur 
 prise of every one, and as if to wantonly insult the people 
 and flaunt their insolent power in their faces, selected 
 as Hamilton's opponent, one whom every man in the 
 district detested and despised, in fact, the last man in 
 the world they would have chosen to represent them in the 
 councils of the nation. The anger and indignation of 
 every one, irrespective of parties, were universal and un 
 bounded, and when the party were ordered to support this 
 creature it was a bitter pill, but party discipline prevailed, 
 and the lash was applied unmercifully to the kickers and 
 independent men. 
 
 Ralph was correct A more infamous campaign as 
 conducted on the Conynghams' part had never been known. 
 Every little peccadillo or thoughtless act from Hamilton's
 
 AN UNEQUAL CONTEST. 219 
 
 boyhood up, although innocent and trifling when under 
 stood, were now magnified into crimes. He was carica 
 tured in every possible way. Lying pamphlets were got 
 ten up by Goforhim which made him out a mos't damnable 
 villain, a worthless drunkard, a broken-down gambler, an 
 infidel, "a democrat and horse thief," and so on, until the 
 vocabulary of Billingsgate was completely exhausted. 
 
 On the day of the election votes were openly purchased 
 on the street. 
 
 The rough element, crazed and maddened with rum, de 
 terred the timid and more respectable element of both 
 parties, who were almost to a man in favor of Hamilton, 
 from the polls. Laboring men were threatened with the 
 loss of their work by the corporations iron works, and 
 other large industries, who were more or less under the 
 control of the great railroad corporation which had pro 
 vided the Conynghams with most of the funds they were 
 now using with such good effect in demoralizing the 
 people. Men with criminal indictments hanging over them 
 on the docket were promised immunity from their crimes ; 
 and almost every man in the district was lied to, and de 
 ceived by the most reckless promises of work and posi 
 tion if he would only vote for Goforhim. Those who held 
 offices were compelled to work day and night, and pour 
 out their money like water, and all for what? To elect 
 Goforhim, the Ring's candidate, and thus vindicate the 
 Conyngham rule, and proclaim throughout the State the 
 power and popularity of the Conyngham dynasty, who mildly 
 represented the revolt and indignation against their rule 
 throughout the State as merely the idle vaporings of a few 
 disappointed editors and office-seekers. 
 
 To the surprise of the people, while his own town went 
 solid for Hamilton, and his county did wonders for him,
 
 220 ARMOUR. 
 
 considering the odds they had to contend with and the 
 unscrupulous methods which had been brought to bear 
 against him, the rest of the district went overwhelmingly 
 for Goforhim. 
 
 It might have resulted differently had Hamilton listened 
 to the advice of some of his friends, and fought the devil 
 with fire. He had plenty of material, and need not to 
 have drawn upon his imagination, as his opponent did in 
 trumping up charges against him. But he scorned to re 
 sort to such vile methods. 
 
 In many cases workingmen were forced to vote for the 
 Conyngham candidates by open threats of discharge ; and 
 few men dare quarrel with their bread and butter, espe 
 cially if they have a large family, and a hard winter before 
 them. 
 
 As Fannie and Larry were proceeding to church the fol 
 lowing Sunday, Goforhim was met on the way receiving 
 the congratulations of the members of the congregation 
 who were near him. 
 
 The minister stood obsequiously waiting in the vestibule, 
 and after shaking hands with the great man, he kissed the 
 Conyngham children. 
 
 " That is what is killing the church, Fannie," said Larry, 
 bitterly. " Do not wonder that men look on your services 
 as a mere fashionable dress parade, and place no confi 
 dence in either their sincerity or professions. It is not the 
 infidelity of Ingersol, or the inconsistencies of Beecher 
 and other prominent men of the church, that are the 
 cause of the church's loss of influence amongst men. It is 
 just such truckling to corruptly-acquired power and ill-gotten 
 wealth, as you have just witnessed this morning to this fel 
 low Goforhim and his master, by your ministers and the 
 leading elders and influential people in your congregations,
 
 AN UNEQUAL CONTEST. 221 
 
 that does all the mischief. These people know as well as 
 I do that these men are fairly reeking with political cor 
 ruption and private immorality, and that they have in the 
 last few weeks been the cause of more drunkenness and 
 misery than any other set of men throughout the country. 
 Yet as they are successful, these Christians God save 
 the mark ! are amongst the first to offer their congratu 
 lations." 
 
 " I know all that, Larry," gently replied Fannie ; " and 
 that it is all wrong ; but it is no reason for censuring all 
 Christians, you know. There are good men in the church 
 who despise these men as much as you do." 
 
 " They are very few, and if they do they take good 
 care not to let any one know it. If the preachers had a 
 spark of manhood, and would boldly denounce such ras 
 cality from their pulpits in the way they should denounce 
 it, and if their elders unite with the minister in the good 
 work, and assist him heart and soul, and treat such crea 
 tures as they deserve, it would not be long before the peo 
 ple would take the cue, and there would in a very short 
 time be an end to Conynghamism, and more respect for 
 church people throughout the land." 
 
 As the hymn was given out, and the congregation began 
 to sing, Hamilton could scarcely repress a smile on look 
 ing around and seeing Conyngham and Goforhim singing 
 away for dear life, and with unctuous and pious counte 
 nances a saint might have envied, 
 
 " Let sinners take their course, 
 
 And choose the road to death, 
 But in the worship of my God 
 I'll spend my daily breath." 
 
 This was bad enough, but he fairly groaned when Gofor 
 him, who was a professed Christian, and never failed to
 
 222 ARMOUR. 
 
 commune, proceeded to take the penny collection. He 
 firmly believed that personal prominence in church affairs 
 made up for spiritual deficiencies. Exceedingly vain and 
 fond of dress as he was, he now wore a white necktie, 
 imagining that thereby he added to his new dignity ; and, 
 conscious of his great importance, while fairly bursting 
 with gratified vanity, it was really amusing to watch this 
 immaculate Christian statesman while he proceeded to 
 hand around the box. 
 
 He smiled in a blandly triumphant manner on his extin 
 guished rival for congressional honors. 
 
 After an earnest exhortation and an eloquent appeal for 
 means to educate the colored men in the Linkum Univer 
 sity, for the better furthering of the missionary cause in 
 benighted Africa, a fervent prayer was offered up and a 
 bless'ng asked upon our President and the Congress of 
 the United States and on our rulers generally ; and the 
 congregation was dismissed.
 
 RING DOWN THE CURTAIN. 223 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 RING DOWN THE CURTAIN. 
 
 GENERAL Grant's peculiar taciturnity, and epigrammatic 
 wisdom had been so much lauded by the country, as evi 
 dence of genius and of profundity of thought, that young 
 Conyngham, as well as Questor, endeavored to imitate the 
 great man in this respect. 
 
 It suited the former wonderfully well to assume the char 
 acter of a Sphynx, as he had no conversational powers 
 whatever, and possessed very few intelligent ideas outside 
 of routine business matters, and more unfortunate still, he 
 could not express the few ideas he had in a manner either 
 intelligent or attractive. 
 
 These two worthies invariably listened to the conversa 
 tion of others with a mock gravity and an owl-like assump 
 tion of superior wisdom which were not only ridiculous but 
 painfully embarrassing to men of sense, who knew that it 
 was only assumed for the occasion, and were perfectly 
 aware that behind this shallow mask lay nothing but the 
 small brains and low cunning of the pot-house politician. 
 
 Conyngham was neither social nor convivially inclined, 
 and when people called on him either in a business or 
 social way, he rudely answered them in monosyllables, and 
 took no pains to conceal the fact that any conversation 
 which did not bear directly on his own selfish interest 
 bored him, much to the discomfiture and embarrassment 
 of his guests.
 
 224 ARMOUR. 
 
 Had he moved in a more humble sphere, he would have 
 been compelled to act less boorishly, but his wealth and 
 position had so far saved him from being forcibly made to 
 understand that good manners were as essential and nec 
 essary to men in his position as to those who were less 
 fortunate in a worldly point of view. 
 
 Naturally brusque and rude, he was also utterly indiffer 
 ent and callous to the feelings and sufferings of others, 
 and his uninterrupted career of success thus far had con 
 firmed him in these habits. 
 
 One rainy evening, two gentlemen hurried into the 
 Lochibar Hotel, in the office of which stood Questor, se 
 renely smoking and looking as profoundly wise as usual, 
 while, with a patronizing air, he listened to the conversation 
 of several prominent politicians. 
 
 " I would like to see you for a few minutes on important 
 business," said the spokesman of the party which had just 
 entered the hotel. 
 
 As he hurriedly whispered these words to Questor, the 
 latter, with his usual imperturbable manner, calmly knocked 
 the ashes from his cigar and quietly remarked, " \\ hy, 
 what 's up ? You appear to be excited." 
 
 " Well, I have good reason to be " jaid the new comer, 
 as he placed his arm in that of Questor, and drew him 
 away from his companions. "I have just returned from 
 M ,.md K V attorney says if the old man don't get 
 him a pardon he '11 make it hot for u> 
 
 " The d 1 you say," exclaimed Questor, as he tc\. .1 
 
 uneasily with his umbrella. " We had better call up and 
 see Malcolm at once. If this matter should get out just 
 now it would knock his senatorial prospects into a cocked 
 hat. Let us go up and see him."
 
 RING DOWN THE CURTAIN. 225 
 
 Speaking a few hurried words to their companions, the 
 two men linked arms and hurried up to Conyngham's. 
 
 As they entered the library, they found that gentleman 
 sitting smoking by a cheerful grate fire, and, as customary, 
 he looked up with an annoyed and provoked expression 
 at their entrance. 
 
 Questor, knowing well his master's disposition, without 
 further preliminary remarks, made known the object of 
 their errand. 
 
 As he finished speaking, Conyngham merely remarked, 
 " Is that all ? Why, there is nothing in that to be alarmed 
 at, that I can see." 
 
 " I don't know about that," said Questor, thoughtfully. 
 " People just now are in a very bad humor at the way things 
 have been going for some time, and if Keith has any evi 
 dence which would in the slightest degree connect us with 
 them in the last gubernatorial campaign, and if the people 
 hear it " 
 
 " Well, d-j n it," broke in Conyngham, angrily, " if 
 
 the people do hear it, what in the d 1 are they going to 
 
 do about it ? " 
 
 This settled the matter as it always did. 
 
 The next morning, by Conyngham's instructions, the or 
 acle of the Ring came out and boldly announced, in large 
 head-lines, that the murderer Keith, in order to procure a 
 pardon and save his neck, had threatened to drag Hausen- 
 ploose in as particeps criminis in some of his nefarious 
 work in the coal regions. 
 
 The very audacity of the thing took the people entirely 
 by surprise, and while no intelligent person throughout the 
 State doubted for a moment that the Conyngham Ring had 
 had some arrangement with the leaders of this band of 
 T! 1 '!^. in ornVr to control their votes during the campaign,
 
 226 ARMOUR. 
 
 yet as Conyngham had so often insolently and defiantly 
 replied to remonstrances of the people, " What are you go 
 ing to do about it ? " so it was in this case. 
 
 How many additional murders and outrages, that were 
 committed by these wretches, owed their origin to the 
 encouragement given by, and political affiliation with, the 
 leading officials of the State, no one will ever know. 
 
 It was a long time before the President would permit 
 the Conynghams to have any influence with his adminis 
 tration. 
 
 Their insolent arrogance, and generally unsavory repu 
 tation had prejudiced him violently against them ; and, 
 notwithstanding his well-known weakness for very rich 
 men and the blandishments and" arts employed by the 
 Conynghams to win his favor, it was not until the General 
 began to scheme for a third time, that he succumbed to 
 the Conyngham influence, and reluctantly gave to the 
 younger Conyngham a position in his cabinet in order to 
 conciliate them, and to secure the State they controlled 
 in his favor. 
 
 Young Conyngham's power was now undisputed, and he 
 reigned supreme throughout the State, controlling every 
 thing, and ruling everybody with an iron hand. 
 
 The people were but clay in the hands of the potter, 
 and mere ciphers in government affairs. 
 
 While they went through the farce of holding elections, 
 Conyngham had everything arranged months before to 
 suit himself, and his corrupt tools occupied every position 
 of influence and profit throughout the State. 
 
 These rascals, when caught up and exposed in their 
 attempts to steal millions from the state treasury, under 
 the supervision of their master and the thin guise of se 
 curing appropriations for laudable purp ;i!!outcl
 
 RING DOWN THE CURTAIN. 227 
 
 to pursue unmolested their nefarious schemes of self- 
 aggrandisement. 
 
 On one occasion, owing to- the vigilance, fearlessness, 
 and honesty of one man, their rascality was fully exposed ; 
 and their bare-faced attempts to bribe some members of 
 the legislature, brought to light. 
 
 They were indicted, tried, and sentenced before an upright 
 judge ; but, through the influence Conyngham brought to 
 bear upon the board of pardons and a facile govern 
 or, these stealers of millions of dollars from the public 
 treasury were allowed to go free, and instead of wearing 
 the garb of convicts and looking through prison bars, as 
 they deserved, they were congratulated on their lucky es 
 cape ; and, after being feted and flattered, left for their 
 homes in parlor cars, surrounded by rejoicing friends. 
 
 When asked by the latter if they were not afraid of 
 the people, amidst their bumpers of champagne they 
 laughingly replied, " Lord, no ! As long we have Con 
 yngham with us, what are they going to do about it ? " 
 
 A few days afterwards, two poor men, with large families 
 dependent on them for a living, were sentenced to the 
 penitentiary for eight years for stealing ninety dollars be 
 tween them. 
 
 Not belonging to the Ring or being of any political 
 service to it, there will be no question as to their serv 
 ing out the full length of their term. 
 
 What a commentary on justice under the corporation- 
 Conyngham rule ! 
 
 Is it not abominable that these men, instead of watch 
 ing over the affairs of the State, encouraging commerce, 
 and instructing the people in the principles of liberty, 
 and giving good examples, should reduce us to such a 
 condititon.
 
 228 ARMOUR. 
 
 The greatest tyrant in English history never excelled 
 young Conyngham at this time in the exercise of a brutal 
 lust for power. An able historian says, "In the eyes of 
 George III. the righteous anger of the people was only 
 another form Of disloyalty. Intent, heart and soul, in his 
 favorite scheme for establishing a system of personal rule, 
 under which all the threads of administration should cen 
 ter in the royal closet, he entertained an instinctive antip 
 athy to high-minded and independent men of all political 
 parties. He selected his instruments amongst those who 
 were willing to be subservient because they had no self- 
 respect to lose." 
 
 "His majesty," wrote Burke, "never was in better spirits. 
 He has got a ministry weak and dependent, and, what is 
 better, willing to continue so. Serenely satisfied with his 
 success in weeding out of the government everybody whom 
 the nation trusted and esteemed, he felt it an insult to 
 himself that his subjects should murmur when they saw 
 honest and patriotic statesmen forbidden to devote their 
 talents to the service of the public, while the prosperity 
 and honor of the country were committed to the charge 
 of men, not one of whom any private person in his senses 
 Viould choose as a steward, or receive as a son-in-law." 
 
 Compare this description with that of Conyngham at 
 this time, and one cannot but be surprised at the wonderful 
 resemblance. 
 
 The elevation of such a man to power, is but one of the 
 inevitable results of the debasing rule of monopoly, and a 
 natural outgrowth of the spoils system, which has so de 
 moralized public sentiment that it now recognizes the 
 dollar as king, and worships the golden calf as the sym 
 bol of power, and object of public idolatry. 
 
 When the President visited one of our large cities, he
 
 RING DOWN THE CURTAIN. 229 
 
 became so disgusted with the coarse orgies of Conyng- 
 ham's venal horde of office-holders and office-seekers, that 
 on one occasion, at a public dinner given by these 
 men in his honor, he turned on his heel and left the 
 room in utter disgust, and, to the alarm and dismay of 
 Conyngham, without exchanging a word with, or tasting a 
 single viand of, his would-be hosts. 
 
 At another time, a magnificent public reception was given 
 him by these same men, amidst the glare of thousands of 
 gas jets, splendid music, and all the costly accessories 
 that money could command. The box occupied by Con 
 yngham and his family, was the cynosure of all eyes ; and 
 by the strange irony of fate, here beside him, robed in all 
 the dignity and grandeur of a city father, stood a suc 
 cessful pawnbroker, representing the power, the wealth, 
 and the refinement of a great city. 
 
 Here stood the two worthy representives of political 
 corruption, and the worship of Mammon. The national 
 government represented by a successful note-shaver, under 
 the pseudo patronymic of national banker, and the munic 
 ipal government by a successful pawnbroker by the king 
 of the six gilt balls, and the king of the three gilt balls ? 
 
 Let us cover our faces, and " ring down the cun*iix."
 
 230 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 THE TIDE TURNS. 
 
 \VHKN the time arrived for the nomination of another 
 president, like a feudal baron of old gathering his horde 
 of corrupt office-holders and petty bosses, Conyngham 
 inarched boldly into the presidential convention, and, in 
 conjunction with an insolent boss like himself from a 
 neighboring State, he endeavored, and once more suc 
 ceeded in defeating the plainly expressed will of the peo 
 ple by forcing upon them the nomination of a man for the 
 presidency, of whom the people knew little or nothing, as 
 against their chosen leader. 
 
 The secret of the opposition to the latter gentleman on 
 the part of Conyngham and his fellow boss, was owing to 
 the fact that they could not use him, and to a mean and un 
 manly jealousy of his brilliant talents and popularity, which 
 brought into vivid relief, and in a way not at all flattering 
 to their vanity their own shallow pretentiousness and 
 unworthiness. 
 
 Here, in endeavoring to force the iniquitious unit rule, 
 he, for the first time in his public career, received a severe 
 check, and a forcible reminder of the fact that the people 
 were beginning to awaken from their past degradation. 
 
 If he had been wise, he would have now paused, and 
 henceforth modified his domineering and insolent preten- 
 tions ; but, completely intoxicated with power and suci 
 he deemed himself invincible, and with a singular short-
 
 THE TIDE TURNS. 231 
 
 si^htedness he sought to revenge this insubordination in 
 the party by wielding the lash most unmercifully on all 
 who had opposed him. And thus, in his blind infatua 
 tion, commenced with his own hands to dig his future 
 political grave. 
 
 To the great amusement of the people, and the bitter 
 chagrin of Conyngham and his fellow-boss, the President, 
 after his election, utterly refused to recognize their claims 
 on his administration. 
 
 In vain the neighboring boss sulked, and stood on his 
 dignity, while young Conyngham and old Conyngham in 
 turn beseeched, and swore around the White House. 
 
 It was all to no purpose. 
 
 After all his treachery and intriguing, Malcolm now saw 
 slip through his grasp the control of the United States 
 treasury, the ambition of his life. Once in possession of 
 the money bags of the nation, then, and only then, would 
 the insatiate greed of his avaricious and sordid soul be 
 satisfied. 
 
 In his desperation he sent for his private legislature to 
 meet him in the capital, and like the obedient spaniels, 
 they were, they came at their master's bidding, each one 
 wearing his master's collar, and with them at his back he 
 beseiged the President day and night, only to be calmly 
 yet firmly refused. 
 
 While listening respectfully to their clamors, the Presi 
 dent firmly declined to even think for a moment of placing 
 a man so notoriously corrupt and venal at the head of 
 the finances of the nation. 
 
 Conyngham's prestige was now seriously damaged. 
 He had not proven as cunning and as far-seeing as his 
 father, or else the times had changed, and the day for 
 the successful accomplishment of big political results by
 
 232 ARMOUR. 
 
 the peculiar method of the Conynghams was passing 
 away. 
 
 For several years the young man was compelled to re 
 main in humiliating obscurity. 
 
 The elder Conyngham then endeavored to obtain an 
 important foreign mission, in order that the son might 
 succeed his father in the senate ; but in this direction they 
 were also most ignominiously snubbed, to the great de 
 light of every independent man in the country. 
 
 The people chuckled good-humoredly over it, and were 
 so delighted with the course of the new president, so far 
 as his treatment of the Conynghams was concerned, that 
 they were content to receive but little notice .and few 
 favors from the administration, so long as the Conyngham 
 ambition was kept within bounds. The only comforting 
 reflection the old General now had, was from the fact 
 that when both had been in power, during the former ad 
 ministration, they had succeeded in having expunged from 
 the congressional record the resolution of censure which 
 had been passed by Congress upon him for indulging too 
 freely in practices which would not be approved of by 
 strictly honest, business men at any time, but much less 
 when his country was engaged in a desperate struggle for 
 existence. 
 
 Growing old, and feeling his power fast waning, Senator 
 Conyngham reluctantly relaxed his grasp on politics, and 
 resigned into the hands of his son the reigns of gov 
 ernment, as one would a piece of private property, without 
 consulting the people, or paying even the slightest regard 
 to their wishes. And since that time his sole pleasure has 
 consisted in training his son in the ambitious career he 
 had marked out for him, and in amusing himself and his
 
 THE TIDE TURNS. 233 
 
 enemies by inditing senile and bombastic effusions to 
 the press. 
 
 The General firmly believed, and vainly endeavored to 
 convince the people, that his success in life had been 
 achieved solely by his own unaided talents and a strict 
 observance of the Ten Commandments, united with a stern 
 determination to have no affiliations whatever with " those 
 
 d d literary fellows," and he finally wound up his career 
 
 of a half century of scheming, sordid self-seeking, criminal 
 venality and political debauchery, by getting entangled in 
 the toils of a crafty and scheming widow, who, like him 
 self, knew when and how to take advantage of the weak 
 and the foolish. 
 
 This affair finally lead to a breachof-promise suit, a 
 suit so ridiculous considering the antics of the amorous 
 old swain, as to convulse the whole country. 
 
 His last appearance in public life was hurrying away 
 from his hotel table with his coat pockets full of oranges 
 for his inamorata. 
 
 Shades of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, Sumner and 
 Lincoln ! What must have been your emotion, in thus 
 witnessing your .worthy successor stealing away from the 
 table d'hote, his tall figure bent with age and oranges, 
 as he hastens to his dulcinea ! 
 
 The aged and retired statesman presents a venerable 
 picture as he sits in his luxurious and well-appointed library, 
 while pondering over the great problems of government 
 and devising schemes, for the benefit of posterity, in the 
 fast fading twilight. 
 
 " Yes, Sammy," he exclaims, addressing his private sec 
 retary, " Cicero was right when he warned men to ' bevare 
 of the vidders.' "
 
 234 ARMOUR. 
 
 " General, what became of that troublesome woman who 
 bothered us so ? " 
 
 " Pish ! Sammy, never mind that," the general replied 
 testily ; " that were past. Don't mention it again. By 
 the by, Sammy, I have mislaid or lost one of my most 
 valuable works." 
 
 ' Do you remember the title of it, General ? " quickly 
 replied his secretary. 
 
 " I disremember exactly, but it was either Washington's 
 Life of Irving, or Irving's Life of Washington. I forget 
 which. But it is no matter. I will wile away the eve 
 ning by reading Dickens' Elegy on a Graveyard. That 
 kind of reading always rests me after the heavier works of 
 Mark Twain and Nicholas Nickleby." 
 
 At the last National convention in which Conyngham 
 and his fellow boss figured conspicuously, they again 
 attempted to ignore the wishes of the people. And the 
 spectacle of these two insolent political bosses attempting, 
 and almost succeeding in controlling a national convention 
 by the revival of the third-term principle in the face of the 
 unwritten law of the Republic, was a scene well calculated 
 to excite alarm in the minds of thoughtful men, as to the 
 future of the country. 
 
 Malcolm Conyngham here showed up his utter moral 
 and intellectual insignificance. He was entirely out of 
 place and his vulgar buying up of the negro delegates, and 
 his flattering of them by eating at the same table, while it 
 went a great way towards the nominating of his favorite, 
 yet it did not fail to disgust the whole country, and gave 
 the people a very good idea of the mental calibre and char 
 acter of this would-be statesman. 
 
 Our political system of sending shop-keepers to Con 
 gress is not calculated to develop statesmen.
 
 TffE TIDE TURKS. 2$$ 
 
 The unit rule was here again attempted as at the pre 
 vious convention. But the leaven had been working ever 
 since, and he was sat down upon without ceremony, and his 
 favorite was defeated. 
 
 He came back mortified, completely squelched, and a 
 badly-whipped man. 
 
 Retiring to a watering place during the summer, he 
 sulked like some schoolboy, until, coaxed and cajoled by 
 his father and the leaders of the party, he was finally per 
 suaded to take an active part in the campaign. 
 
 But his whole course had been so undignified, unmanly, 
 and showed such a lack of brains and judgment, that he 
 now lost nearly all the influence his father had succeeded 
 in placing in his hands. If his party had been defeated here 
 his fate would have been sealed, and the people of his 
 State would have been no longer tyrannized over and 
 scourged by the Conyngham family. And thus was here 
 delayed the final overthrow of a family who had for 
 many years, with the assistance of monopolies and the 
 cunning manipulation of the spoils system, continued to 
 fatten and flourish on their ill-gotten power. And in 
 reply to the indignant remonstrances of the people, they 
 still answer, in tones, not quite, but almost as inso 
 lently defiant as ever, " What are you going to do about 
 it?" 
 
 " The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind 
 exceeding fine." 
 
 In Gulliver's " Voyage to the Flying Island," the story is 
 told of a great court lady, very beautiful, loved by the 
 handsomest of men, who yet flies from her home to go and 
 live with a deformed footman. She is stripped and beaten. 
 She sinks into deeper degradation from day to day, but
 
 236 ARMOUR. 
 
 she likes her shame and declines to be torn from her worth 
 less lover. 
 
 That story returns to my thoughts whenever I see our 
 country attentively listening to the editorials of the Re 
 publican and the Telegraph, and seeking to read her destiny 
 in the responses of these oracles.
 
 THE GLITTERING SERPENT. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THE GLITTERING SERPENT. 
 
 CONYNGHAM'S faults were selfishness, avarice, inordinate 
 ambition, and a total disregard for the feelings and inter 
 ests of others, when they conflicted with his own. 
 
 He was not insensible to the power of female beauty, nor 
 averse to excess in wine, yet neither wine nor beauty could 
 ever seduce the cautious and frugal libertine, even in his 
 earliest youth, into one fit of indiscreet generosity. 
 
 Plunging into the giddy whirl of Washington society, he 
 now quickly threw off the mask of morality he had hith 
 erto worn, and indulged in all kinds of dissipation. He 
 was as cool, calculating, and systematic, in his vices, as in 
 his financial and political affairs, and avoided excess when 
 it interfered with either his ambition or his health. But here 
 in the social, as in the political world, it was only a ques 
 tion of time with this schemer, as to all schemers, how 
 soon he should over-reach himself. 
 
 Louise Renshaw's husband was a very wealthy manu 
 facturer. During the winter it had been customary with 
 him to rent a handsome establishment in Washington, 
 where his large means and great business prominence 
 would have given him the entrte to the fashionable world, 
 independent of the fact that his father was a prominent 
 senator, and his mother one of the leaders, if not the 
 leader, of fashionable society at the capital. 
 
 Here they spent their winters delightfully, amidst balls, 
 receptions, and brilliant parties, and no one gave more
 
 238 ARMOUR. 
 
 lavish and elegant entertainments than Mrs. Henry Ren 
 shaw. 
 
 In this gay world, the wonderful social tact of Louise 
 Renshaw, nie Emory, and her knowledge of fashionable 
 society, soon caused her to be recognized as the social 
 queen. 
 
 Malcolm Conyngham when wearied with the distractions 
 and intrigues of political life, always found at the Ren- 
 shaw's that tranquility of mind that was denied him else 
 where, and a warm welcome, and the delightful society 
 of an intellectual and fascinating woman of the world, 
 one who was thoroughly versed in its ways, and not averse 
 to taking an active part in social and political scheming, 
 so common at the capital. 
 
 Here Conyngham had been received and placed on the 
 dangerous footing of an intimate friend. 
 
 No more kind and indulgent husband lived than Henry 
 Renshaw, and he desired to see this brilliant wife, of 
 whom he was so proud, have ever}' wish gratified, and in 
 her ambition to be considered the queen of society, he as 
 sisted her in every way possible. 
 
 To see her happy was an all-sufficient recompense for 
 the almost criminal expenditure of money, which had 
 cost him years of ceaseless business turmoil to accumulate. 
 
 Mr. Renshaw was not naturally of either a suspicious 
 or jealous nature, and so firm was his faith and belief in 
 the loyalty of his wife, that never, even for a moment, had 
 he given any consideration whatever to a fact which was 
 of late becoming apparent to others, that Conyngham 's 
 growing intimacy and constant attentions to his wife were 
 of such a character as to be the subject of remark. And 
 while their actions could not be called imprudent, they 
 were certainly very indiscreet for married people to in 
 dulge in.
 
 THE GLITTERING SERPENT. 239 
 
 Some of these rumors had reached Mr. Renshaw, but 
 he had paid no attention to them until one evening, at a 
 reception given by the Secretary of State, as he sat par 
 tially concealed by heavy lace curtains, he overheard some 
 fragmentary conversation between his wife and Conyng- 
 ham which, for the first time, rendered him uneasy as to 
 the relations existing between his wife and their friend. 
 
 The two conversed freely without a thought of being 
 overheard by any one, least of all by the husband. 
 
 " You know I look upon you as the hostess, and your 
 husband an unfortunate appendage," Conyngham half 
 jokingly remarked, and added, " but you know he must be 
 endured for the exquisite pleasure 01" your society. Surely 
 when Mr. Renshaw's time is altogether absorbed in busi 
 ness he cannot complain if you choose to enjoy yourself in 
 the society of an old friend. You give the supper and 1 
 will see that the parties will all be there." 
 
 " But I must consult my husband first and see if these 
 people would be agreeable to him, Mr. Conyngham," she 
 replied hesitatingly. 
 
 " That is perfectly right," exclaimed Conyngham, play 
 fully. u You are right in consulting him in everything, but 
 remember, at the same time, that I am your friend, too; 
 and I beg you to allow me to continue in my present task 
 of advising you, in some things at least. And now for 
 once exercise your own free will, and give this party for 
 my sake. Be mistress of your own household for once. 
 You surely need not ask your husband about so trifling a 
 matter as this. Do you understand me ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Louise, flattered, but inwardly frightened 
 at Conyngham's increasing warmth of manner, and the 
 meaning glances which accompanied his remarks. 
 
 But by his skilful manipulations and subtile flattery, he
 
 240 ARMOUR. 
 
 had of late completely regained his old power over her, 
 and alas ! had rekindled a love that to indulge in now was 
 criminal, yet for a month back these two had been thus 
 dangerously skating over thin ice. And while neither had 
 acted imprudently, each day saw them becoming more and 
 more enamored and infatuated with one another. 
 
 The woman had always lascinated him, and her intelli 
 gence and knowledge of society and the world, had already 
 been of great service to him, and of late she had become 
 almost necessary to his comfort and happiness, until, ut 
 terly regardless of the criminality of his course, lie allowed 
 no opportunity to pass without endeavoring, in every way 
 possible, to alienate this wife from a lond husband, and 
 bring shame and disgrace upon them and their children. 
 
 " When can you give this party ? Let me see, to-day 
 is Thursday," he said, musingly. 
 
 " Will next Tuesday do ? " she asked, as, under his ar 
 dent glances, she blushed like a girl, and felt half ashamed 
 and half elated at the unmistakable admiration betrayed 
 in Conyngham's manner towards her. 
 
 " Yes. Tuesday will do," he said, quietly; " but I would 
 not mention a word to your husband about the party. 
 With his old-fashioned notions of propriety he might ob 
 ject, and then our evening would be spoiled." 
 
 As Mr. Renshaw noticed his wife's flushed face, and her 
 eyes growing softer, darker, and more humid, there was a 
 deep wound in his heart. But he would not acknowledge, 
 even to himself, that his wife had been guilty of anything 
 more than a foolish indiscretion. Yet the wound was all 
 the same, and he was like one beginning to stir in an un 
 easy dream, dimly conscious of an impending trouble on 
 awakening.
 
 THE GUTTERING SERPENT. 241 
 
 Meeting his wife shortly after, he laid his hand upon her 
 shoulder, and sighed deeply. 
 
 "Why do you sigh in that manner," she hastily asked; 
 " you are surely not wearied by society so soon, are you ? " 
 
 " Did I sigh ? Perhaps I am tired," he answered, 
 patiently. 
 
 " Well, if you are bored you need not look as if the 
 party were such a terrible infliction," she said, impatiently. 
 
 A guilty conscience had rendered her uneasy, and under 
 his calm, yet penetrating glances, she feared this feeling 
 might betray itself in her manner. 
 
 She was a little flattered, as is natural when a wife has 
 been receiving praises and assurances of friendship and 
 sympathy, mingled with sentiment, in one sweet, dangerous 
 draft, from one other than her husband. 
 
 On the way home, Mr. Renshaw's averted glances and 
 unusually abstracted manner, created in her mind a vague 
 feeling of uneasiness and alarm, which so worked upon 
 the wife's fears that she at once made up her mind to pur 
 sue a straight course, and ask her husband's approval of 
 the party she desired to give on Conyngham's account the 
 following week. 
 
 This was not a pleasant task, as she knew that this ar 
 rangement to have persons partaking of their hospitality 
 of whom her husband or herself knew very little, could 
 but be unpleasant to him, and might possibly offend 
 him. 
 
 " Henry," she said, when alone in their room, the day 
 following the reception, while she was dressing for dinner, 
 " we ought to entertain Malcolm Conyngham and his wife 
 soon." 
 
 " I suppose we ought," he replied, with an involuntary 
 sigh. His heart ached at the sound of Conyngham's
 
 242 ARMOUR. 
 
 name, but he could not acknowledge it to himself as he 
 moved uneasily in his chair. 
 
 " We have never entertained them yet, and of course we 
 have to have them some time," she said. 
 
 ' When do you wish to have them ? " asked the hus 
 band, moodily. 
 
 " On Tuesday," said Louise. 
 
 How her heart beat ! 
 
 She knew that her husband was to be away early in the 
 week, and she had counted on Tuesday as one of the days 
 on which he would be absent. 
 
 " I cannot be here on Tuesday, as I leave on Monday 
 morning for New York, and will not likely return before 
 Wednesday. Who else do you intend having besides 
 Conyngham and his wife ? " 
 
 She looked embarrassed while endeavoring to calm her 
 nervous apprehension. She well knew the parties she de 
 sired to invite to her supper, at Conyngham's request, 
 were persons to whom her husband had frequently referred, 
 and .spoken of in undisguised tones of contempt and 
 disapproval, and she dreaded the mentioning of their 
 names for fear of arousing a temper naturally quick, but 
 well under control. 
 
 She had seen her husband angry several times and had 
 not forgotten how unpleasant it was. 
 
 Like all scheming and intriguing people she was timid, 
 and hated scenes. 
 
 " If you have no objections, I intend to ask Mr. Gray, 
 and also Colonel Forrester and his lady, and the two 
 Misses Arnold." 
 
 To her surprise, her husband, without showing a parti 
 cle of annoyance at the strange request she had made of 
 him, calmly consented to allow her to entertain, in his own
 
 THE GLITTERING SERPENT. 243 
 
 home, a notorious male and female lobbyist, and a gentle 
 man and two young ladies, who, while they mingled in the 
 best of Washington society, yet had always been consid 
 ered as the leaders of a rather fast set, and with whom 
 very few prudent mothers would have cared to see their 
 daughters intimately associate. 
 
 " Can't you possibly postpone your business until Wed 
 nesday," she asked, in the most innocent manner possible. 
 
 Mr. Renshaw looked up at her for the first time search- 
 ingly, as he said to himself, " Can it be possible she has 
 already grown to be such an adept in dissembling ? " 
 
 " I have never broken a business engagement yet, and 
 
 should scarcely like to do it now,for no better reason 
 
 than this. Why can you not postpone your supper party 
 
 until some other evening ? " said he, as they descended to 
 
 the dining-room, and sat down to dinner. 
 
 " I would, but Mr. Conyngham cannot come any other 
 evening in the week." 
 
 "In that case it had better not be at all," said her hus 
 band, coldly. " Ask the rest on some other evening, and 
 let Mr. Conyngham come when he can." 
 
 " I think you might consider what is due to a senator 
 and a gentleman,'' answered his wife, rather indignantly. 
 
 Mr. Renshaw answered very gravely, " As a senator, 
 Mr. Conyngham stands nowhere with me. You know that 
 as well as I do. As a neighbor, and an old friend of yours 
 only, is he recognized in this house. In fact, I never ad 
 mired the gentleman very much, and would prefer that he 
 would stay away altogether." 
 
 Louise, flushed and angry, quickly replied, " As mistress 
 of the house, my wishes, I am sure, are entitled to some 
 consideration, and I ask that my friend be treated when 
 here as a gentlemen should be. Several times lately I
 
 244 ARMOUR. 
 
 have noticed that you have not treated him with the cour 
 tesy due to a guest. If you are not friendly disposed 
 towards him, you might, at least, be polite to him on my 
 account. If however, you object to my having my own 
 \\.iv with this party, I will give it up at once. But I do 
 think I have a right to my own way in such things." 
 
 " You have a right to your own way, and have never been 
 refused when you have asked for it," said Mr. Renshaw, 
 calmly. 
 
 " You give me my own way when I ask for it. You 
 arc certainly very generous," replied his wife with a sneer. 
 
 " I try to be generous," said Mr. Renshaw, gently. " Can 
 you not defer this party till I come home again ? " he asked, 
 pleasantly. 
 
 ' I cannot," she replied. " Mr. Con) ngham fixed 
 Tuesday, and I cannot change it now." 
 
 " It was unnecessary to ask my consent if you and he 
 have already arranged it," said Renshaw, angrily. 
 
 " I do not think I did ask your consent," said Louise, 
 quickly. 
 
 " What did you ask then ? " he retorted, endeavoring to 
 smile. 
 
 " I think I only told you of the fact," she answered 
 with dignity ; " and I think I have the right to ask my 
 best friend to my house when and how I please, without 
 the consent of my husband." 
 
 " All right," he said after a troubled pause. " If it 
 please you to ask this man whom you call your best 
 friend, then do so. You have a right to do as you will in 
 this house. This supper party is not your will, but Mal 
 colm Conyngham's, and to this I do not feel disposed to 
 submit."
 
 THE GLITTERING SERPENT. 245 
 
 "You might this once, Henry," his wife replied, in her 
 old, caressing tone and manner. 
 
 u No. I will not," he answered gravely. " I am de 
 termined not to gratify the whim of a man I dislike, 
 and who has been the occasion of the only serious dissen 
 sion we have had during our married life ; and I must 
 emphatically forbid your giving this party during my ab 
 sence." And rising from the table Mr. Renshaw walked 
 sadly into the parlor, where, throwing himself on a lounge, 
 he gave himself up to anxious reflections as to the future. 
 
 Unable to remain quiet, he arose and walked to the 
 window. 
 
 It was a very little matter, this supper party, but under 
 the circumstances it seemed to him a serious and threaten 
 ing one. 
 
 His wife followed him penitently, and as she stood be 
 side him said, " I would not have insisted on the party, 
 Henry, but the invitations are all now sent out, and if you 
 disturb the arrangements you will put a public affront on 
 me, and I know you do not desire to do that, do you ? " 
 
 He looked down into her face with an expression she 
 never afterwards forgot, full of sadness and mournful ten 
 derness as he wearily said, " Well, have your party. We 
 are not going to quarrel about Mr. Conyngham. He is 
 not worth quarreling about." 
 
 Now that she had accomplished her purpose she was 
 sincerely sorry. 
 
 She had once loved her husband passionately, before 
 this man Conyngham had, for the second time, crossed her 
 unfortunate path, like the glittering serpent he was 1
 
 246 ARMOUR. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 IN THE TOILS. 
 
 ON the eventful evening of the party, Louise surpassed 
 herself in beauty of person and elegance of dress. She 
 had never, arrayed herself with such a prodigality of 
 wealth, and never looked so handsome. Her dress was 
 rose-colored satin, the palest shade of that beautiful tint, 
 with plenty of fine old lace. The diamonds in her dark 
 hair and around her neck, while flashing and sparkling 
 brilliantly, brightened and enlivened her costume, charm 
 ingly bringing into relief the patrician and refined face of 
 the wearer. 
 
 She did not look more than twenty-five, although well 
 in her thirties, as she received her guests with a sweet 
 smile and high-bred courtesy. She was an unusually at 
 tractive woman, with her beautifully rounded arms, and 
 her softly moulded figure that had bloomed into generous 
 maturity without losing its grace. 
 
 Her shoulders were models, and more exquisitely grace 
 ful and polished in their outlines than when younger. 
 She was the very ideal of a lovely woman in her prime, 
 and had wonderfully improved since her girlhood, and 
 possessed nearly every quality which men most admire. 
 
 I'.ut she had no reasoning faculty, and was a woman of 
 strong passions. Love was her ruling passion ; and, alas ! 
 she found that another could better awaken it, than could 
 her husband.
 
 IN THE TOILS. 247 
 
 All evening she was radiant with excitement, and her 
 imagination was at fever heat. 
 
 Malcolm Conyngham made his appearance early in the 
 evening, unaccompanied by his wife, and in a calm and 
 unconcerned manner he complimented her in low tones, 
 and flattered her as usual, causing her heart to flutter in a 
 way that no married woman's heart ever should flutter. 
 
 He asked her, in significant tones, if she expected Mr. 
 Renshaw home that night. 
 
 At the mention of her husband's name, Louise glanced 
 quickly towards the door, with a startled expression, as 
 she answered, " He will not be home until to-morrow 
 evening." 
 
 " I am glad of it," he said as he pressed her hand more 
 warmly than was necessary, and then crossed over the 
 room to speak to Colonel Forrester and his lady, in order 
 to further some political scheme he had in view, and for 
 which purpose, as well as to enjoy the society of Mrs. 
 Renshaw unmolested for one evening, he had planned this 
 party. 
 
 The .supper was a lively and gay one, very much more 
 so than those over which Mrs. Renshaw generally pre 
 sided ; and if some of the strict social proprieties were 
 overlooked, these omissions were more than compensated 
 for by the hilarious mirth and reckless jollity which pre 
 vailed throughout the evening. 
 
 With eyes flashing with the fever of love, and fired by 
 wine, Louise Renshaw was more brilliant than any one 
 could have imagined so dignified a person could be. She 
 was radiant and happy, and everything around her offered 
 up incense at her shrine. 
 
 She was praised and flattered and loved by one of the 
 most prominent and distinguished men in the capital, and
 
 248 ARMOUR. 
 
 as intrigue was her element, she was supremely happy 
 to-night. 
 
 It had been so long since these latent and dormant ele 
 ments of the false side of her character had been allowed 
 full play, that the very novelty of this sensation, and the 
 spice of danger, caused her to more keenly enjoy than 
 ever the gratification of her morbid nature. 
 
 It was quite late when all but Conyngham, after warmly 
 thanking their hostess for so pleasant an evening, had 
 retired. 
 
 The gentlemen and one of the ladies, much to the 
 amusement of the servants, had considerable difficulty, in 
 the midst of their profuse and maudlin adieus to make 
 their way to their carriages ; and, in tact, one of the gen 
 tlemen, to the mortification of the old 'amily colored man 
 and the amusement of the rest of the party, required per 
 sonal assistance from the former, who, feeling outraged at 
 such unusual and undignified performances, especially 
 during his master's absence, hurried the inebriated guest 
 to the carriage, and seated him with an energy more for 
 cible than polite. 
 
 As Louise and Conyngham returned to the parlor the 
 lights had been turned down, and the twilight was a pleas 
 ant relief, after the glare and bustle of the evening. The 
 servants had retired, and as he led her into the room, and 
 sat by her as he had done ten years before, she looked 
 down timidly, and he could see her hands tremble and 
 her delicate lips twitch nervously. 
 
 She was evidently frightened at her position. 
 
 " I know how much you love your husband, Louise," 
 said Conyngham in the most frank and innocent way pos 
 sible, and at the same time in his most insidious manner, 
 and with glances whose meaning no woman could mistake.
 
 IN THE TOILS. 249 
 
 " I used to love him," said Louise ; " but he is so ab 
 sorbed of late in his business affairs, and is so impatient 
 and rude at times, that I no longer feel the same affection 
 towards him that I used to." 
 
 " I know and sympathize with you Louise, and can 
 easily understand how unsatisfying would be the cold, 
 measured affections of a man whose whole mind is intent 
 on the rise and fall of merchandise and the petty details 
 of business, as to leave no room for any other emotions, 
 while leaving a warm, passionate heart like your own at 
 home to fill the empty void as best you may." 
 
 He spoke in the softest of moods, and in low, tender, 
 and confidential tones ; and, as he took her unresisting 
 hand in his own, while placing his arm around her, she 
 crimsoned as she replied, " I used to love Henry like like 
 " and looking up into Conyngham's face there was a 
 look in his eyes which made her drop her own shamed 
 face to the floor. 
 
 " I love you very much, Louise," he said tenderly. 
 
 She clung to him confidingly as she asked, " Do you, 
 Malcolm ? " 
 
 He stooped and kissed her passionately, 
 
 O, if she could have seen and understood the look 
 which blazed from Conyngham's steel-gray eyes, and 
 which almost scorched her in its fierce glare, and all the 
 cruelty that lay behind that look, it would have filled her 
 with terror and dread. 
 
 As Conyngham left the house, a carriage drove up to 
 the door, and Mr. Renshaw quickly alighted in time to 
 exchange salutations with him. 
 
 Bidding each other good-night each went his way. 
 
 The latter little suspected that from that evening, hence
 
 250 ARMOUR. 
 
 forth, the old and honorable name of the Renshaws would 
 become to himself and his children, a by-word of humilia 
 tion or reproach, instead of an honor and pride, as it had 
 been from the days his sturdy Puritan ancestors had 
 landed, that cold, bleak, wintry morning, on the rock- 
 bound coast of New England.
 
 AN IGNOMINIOUS FLIGHT. 251 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 AN IGNOMINIOUS FLIGHT. 
 
 GRADUALLY Henry Renshaw became aware of the 
 change in the manner of his wife towards him. She was 
 colder and more discontented than he had ever known her. 
 
 He attributed it all to temporary indisposition and dul- 
 ness of spirits. She became more petulant and fault-find 
 
 ing- 
 
 Conyngham's visits increased to such an extent at last 
 that even Renshaw's unsuspicious nature was aroused, and 
 calling her into his library one evening, he said to her 
 firmly, and with a metalic ring in his tones, the import 
 of which his wife instinctively knew, and which filled the 
 mind of the agitated woman with the utmost alarm, 
 " Louise, you must forget all this folly this scoundrel 
 Conyngham has so artfully led you into. I do not wish 
 to be either harsh or tyrannical, but I cannot stand by 
 and see you approach moral and social suicide, and make 
 my name a word of contempt in society, for the sake of 
 gratifying the devilish pride of a treacherous sneak. Now, 
 for my sake and your own, promise to cut this man here 
 after. I know you have been indiscreet, and perhaps 
 imprudent, but criminal, never. I have too much faith in 
 you to ever believe that." 
 
 Her conscience smote her fiercely, and in that moment 
 she realized to the full extent the great wrong she had 
 done to one of the nobles* of husbands.
 
 252 ARMOUR.' 
 
 She hid her face in her hands, and burst into tears. 
 He took her to him and kissed her with affection and 
 tenderness. 
 
 But the sweet caress did not awaken in her the joy she 
 had once felt, and she now simply endured it as penance 
 for the misery she had wrought. 
 
 "We are both so changed, Henry, of late," she said, 
 while almost involuntarily withdrawing from his embrace, 
 " that I am afraid we can never love each other as we used 
 to, and I fear our whole lives must now be different." 
 
 Renshaw suddenly turned to his wife like a flash, and 
 unable any longer to control his temper, he cried fiercely, 
 as he placed his hand on her shoulder with a grip that 
 made her almost scream out with pain and terror, " Tell 
 me, and mark me, no lie, or I will kill you in an instant, 
 has this affair of yours and Conyngham's been carried 
 to a serious extent ? " 
 
 As he said the last words he lowered his head, and 
 glared into her face like a madman, and his hot breath, 
 which came quick and fast, fairly scorched her. 
 
 Obtaining no reply, he clutched the miserable woman 
 by the throat, and forced her on her knees. While insane 
 with rage and jealousy, he choked her until her eyes started 
 from their sockets, and her face became black with stran 
 gulation. As she hung limp and almost lifeless, all was 
 silent as death. 
 
 It was a terrible moment. Murder and revenge were 
 plainly written on the enraged husband's terribly cruel 
 and inexorably set face, and the relentless tiger-look 
 was as immovable and fixed as that of a fiend, and almost 
 paralyzed the terror-stricken and half dead woman. Noth 
 ing but the fierce, short breathing of suppressed rage of
 
 AN IGNOMINIOUS FLIGHT. 253 
 
 the husband, and the choking gasps of the almost dying 
 wife, disturbed the awful stillness of the room. 
 
 Slightly relaxing his iron grasp on the almost uncon 
 scious woman, he hissed in her ear, " Speak ! Speak quick ! 
 for your life ! Answer me. No lies. Yes, or no ? " 
 
 Reading her fate in the unpitying glare of those murder 
 ous eyes if she did not tell the truth, with an almost super 
 human effort she slowly shook her head in the negative, 
 and murmured, " Never ! " 
 
 " Thank God ! Thank God ! it has not gone that 
 far," cried the unhappy man, as he slowly raised the limp 
 form of his wife, and placed her on a lounge. Then he 
 paced the room, completely unnerved and almost dis 
 tracted. 
 
 " My God! My God ! " he said, " this is dreadful ! ter 
 rible ! If this goes on much longer I will go mad ! It 
 will kill me," he cried, as his whole frame shook wfth con 
 vulsive sobs, while his wife looked on awe-stricken at the 
 terrible work she had made of their mutual happiness. 
 
 " And this is the wife whom I so tenderly loved ! and so 
 implicitly believed in," he cried out, in heart-broken tones. 
 
 Gradually becoming calm, he sat down by his wife, and, 
 taking her cold hand in his own, he said in strangely calm 
 and saddened tones, while steadying his voice as best he 
 could, but which shook and broke in spite of all his efforts, 
 " You once loved me, Louise ; and how could you let this 
 scoundrel come in between us. You surely will not despoil 
 me to gratify this villain. Before it is too late come back 
 to me, my wife. Come back to your husband and your 
 children. Come back before you have broken my heart, 
 and fallen from your own high estate." 
 
 " No," she exclaimed coldly, " we can never be to each 
 other what we once were. I have told you to-day that
 
 254 ARMOUR. 
 
 nothing criminal has ever passed between Conyngham and 
 myself, but I now confess to you that I no longer love you 
 as I once did ; and henceforth, though, for our chil 
 dren's sake and for our own pride, if you so desire it, 
 we may live together, my love for you is dead. It is too 
 late now, too late! " and with a sigh as deep and as sad as 
 his own over their ruined happiness and desolated home, 
 she left the room. 
 
 As the broken-hearted man sat there, amidst the shat 
 tered idols of his household, with despair in his heart, the 
 door-bell rang, and at the sound of Conyngham's hated 
 voice, the man who had robbed him of all that man holds 
 most dear, his wife's love, and his own and his chil 
 dren's honor, the proud man became almost stifled with 
 rage. He advanced to the door and intercepted Conyng 
 ham who was half way in the room. 
 
 Renshaw's whole life had been marked by great moder 
 ation and self-control, but he was a man of powerful pas 
 sions, and those who could have read his heart at that 
 moment, would have shrank back appalled at the depth of 
 hatred and hell which raged within, at the sight of his cow 
 ardly and triumphant foe, who had stridden into his house 
 as if monarch of all he surveyed. 
 
 Nothing but the long-rooted habit of self-control and 
 the self-respect of a gentleman, kept him from taking the 
 lordly-insolent and smooth-tongued intruder by the throat, 
 and strangling the life out of him. 
 
 The husband stood there for a moment, struggling with 
 his murderous passion and his shame. 
 
 Why should he not kill this man as he would have 
 crushed a serpent coiled to spring? 
 
 Silent, his broad chest heaving, and his hands clenched,
 
 AN IGNOMINIOUS PLIGHT. 255 
 
 his lips compressed to a bloodless line, his eyes glaring, 
 he stood, the image of rage and despair. 
 
 As he made a step towards the cowardly creature, who 
 had stood transfixed with fear and horror at the terrible 
 apparition of the outraged and avenging husband, the 
 former turned quickly on his heel, and made a precipitate 
 and undignified retreat, nor paused in his ignominious 
 flight till he safely reached his home. 
 
 There have been wickeder men than Conyngham, but 
 never one who covered his wickedness with more meanness 
 and cowardice. While he had not been criminal, yet to 
 gratify an insane desire, he, in every way possible by 
 words and actions, gave coloring to the gossip and stories 
 which were whispered, with nods and winks, from one end 
 of the capital to the other, and gloried in the notoriety 
 which fed his morbid vanity. 
 
 One word from him, or a change in his conduct, would 
 have given the lie to the brutal scandals ; but the poor, 
 vain creature delighted, nay reveled in his shame, and 
 sneered at the ruin he had wrought in a once happy house 
 hold. 
 
 To have it said that he had fascinated such a brilliant 
 woman of the world, such a queen of society, filled this 
 creature with delight, and he hastened to affirm, through 
 his conduct, all that had been hinted or charged. 
 
 To add to Mr. Renshaw's domestic troubles, his busi 
 ness became involved, and, harassed, broken-hearted, and 
 separated from wife and children, he dragged a miserable 
 existence worse than death. 
 
 His wife, forsaken and alone, wanders like Hagar in 
 the wilderness, a prey to her own miserable grief. 
 
 Will a nation of pure and happy homes return this class 
 of men to the national councils there to be the protectors
 
 256 ARMOUR. 
 
 and the arbitrators of our gravest interests, domestic and 
 otherwise ? Can the people, and will the people, return 
 such insolent and unscrupulous men to power ? Can the 
 churches keep quiet ? One would think that every Chris 
 tian minister would raise his voice in virtuous indignation, 
 and cry out in horror and shame, " No, no ! never as long 
 as we have sons and daughters, wives and mothers, shall 
 we disgrace our manhood by allowing these men to reign 
 over us," and truly and earnestly ask, WHAT ARE YOU GO 
 ING TO DO ABOUT IT ?
 
 THE JUST MADE PERFECT. 257 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 THE JUST MADE PERFECT. 
 
 WAS Emily Conyngham nte Charlton, happy, surrounded 
 by all the wealth and flattery of which, as the wife of Sen 
 ator Conyngham, she now became the recipient ? The lat- 
 ter's love for her during their married life had been meted 
 out to her in the same cold, calculating spirit which marked 
 every transaction of his sordid and selfish career. 
 
 However improbable as it may seem, with the knowledge 
 even of her husband's inconstancy, her shallow, thought 
 less, nature suffered but a passing pang of mortified pride, 
 soon to be forgotten in the midst of the giddy whirl of 
 that fashionable society to which she had become a de 
 voted slave. 
 
 Much to the disappointment of her early friends, as 
 Mrs. Senator Conyngham, she had developed into a silly, 
 childishly vain, and frivolous woman ; and, as Larry Ham 
 ilton had correctly surmised, her undivided time and 
 attention were entirely given to the adornment of her per 
 son and the acquiring of silly airs and graces, and to the 
 preservation of her fast-waning personal charms. 
 
 Emily had matured early, and her mental growth had 
 ceased with her physical, and at thirty-five she was as 
 vain and thoughtless as the veriest Miss in her teens. 
 But the silly affectation and ridiculous little airs and van 
 ities which can be tolerated, and are even charming in a 
 fresh, and beautiful young girl, only serve to make middle-
 
 258 ARMOUR. 
 
 aged, married women ridiculous. Every premonition of 
 approaching age almost rendered her frantic, and for a 
 while she affected the company of very young people, ho 
 ping thereby to retain the semblance of youthfulness and 
 probably, too, for the reason that her own mental shallow- 
 ness and frivolity rendered thoughtful company distasteful 
 to her. 
 
 The gratification of her insane vanity became in time 
 with her almost a monomania, and to such an extent was 
 this carried, and so jealous did she finally become, that the 
 praise of a younger and prettier woman rendered her 
 miserable. 
 
 Her time was spent in discussing the details of dress 
 with milliners and dressmakers, while her conversation 
 consisted and abounded in nothing but the tittle-tattle 
 of society, and the beauties of the last new bonnet. She 
 soon became a mere idle woman of fashion, whose whole 
 ambition in life was to be the leader of a little clique of 
 persons, as light, trifling, and frivolous as herself, with no 
 deep affections or cravings for anything better or higher. 
 With all her wishes and desires in this respect gratified, 
 she was perfectly contented and happy, so long as no 
 woman was better dressed, or more highly praised, than 
 herself. 
 
 Ralph Adair good, honest, manly Ralph is now Judge 
 Adair ; the husband of a noble woman, who, in addition 
 to her many other charms, adds that of a single-minded 
 love and devotion for her honest, upright husband, which 
 has long ago caused all recollections of his early and un 
 requited affection for Louise Emory to fade almost en 
 tirely from his memory. 
 
 And when one evening he read from his paper to a fond 
 wife, with his little daughter on his knee, the terrible scan-
 
 THE JUST MADE PERFECT. 259 
 
 dal connected with the unfortunate object of his early 
 adoration, he inwardly thanked God. Leaning over, he 
 reverently kissed the forehead of the pure little woman 
 before him, who, in her unsuspecting innocence, scarcely 
 comprehended or fully realized the dreadful import of 
 these rumors, or knew what a world of misery and wretch 
 edness had, and would continue to, come from this unfor 
 tunate affair. 
 
 Mclntosh joined the small band of independent men, 
 who, in both parties, had leagued themselves together in 
 their State, for the purpose of breaking up the insolent 
 power of monopoly and Conynghamism. 
 
 He had the proud satisfaction of inflicting an almost 
 mortal blow upon Conyngham's now fast-waning power. 
 
 When the latter's legislature convened to elect a col 
 league for himself, and he endeavored to enforce on the 
 people, as heretofore, a man selected in a little caucus 
 of his own creatures, at his own private residence, under 
 the leadership of Mclntosh the people became thoroughly 
 aroused, and rallying the independent and honest men of 
 the party around them, to Conyngham's alarm, anger, and 
 dismay they almost succeeded in giving a death-blow to 
 Conynghamism forever. 
 
 But the latter, at the last moment, by a trick, was 
 enabled to name his colleague, again defeating the wishes 
 of the people. 
 
 Questor, with his usual sagacity, perceiving of late the 
 fast-waning power of the Conynghams, and the disrepute 
 into which the " Boss System " had fallen, like the prudent, 
 calculating man he was, had determined to make hay while 
 the sun shone ; and ever since the last Presidential con 
 vention, at which such a death blow to bossism was given,
 
 26o ARMOUR. 
 
 has been industrously engaged, under one pretext or 
 another, in depleting the public treasury. Profiting, how 
 ever, by the experience of the Tweed Ring, so skilfully has 
 he succeeded in covering his tracks, that it is very doubtful 
 whether the people will ever be able to uncover them. He 
 still smokes incessantly, indulges in epigrammatic wisdom, 
 and holds to the opinion that when he dies wisdom will 
 die with him. 
 
 Hausenploose, after serving the purposes of the "ring" 
 faithfully, received his just reward. Lured by the false 
 lights of promised high offices, his treacherous friends 
 amused themselves by gradually drawing him from the 
 paths of ambition and honor, where he would have been 
 in Malcolm Conyngham's way, through moral and political 
 bogs and mires, until, utterly exhausted and almost hope 
 less, by constant disappointment from following the will- 
 of-the-wisp which ever seemed to tantalizingly elude him 
 when almost within his grasp, he cried " hold ! enough ! " 
 
 And with the assistance of his false friends', and the 
 natural adaptability of the political crab, he has ever since 
 been gradually retracing his official steps. 
 
 After leaving the gubernatorial chair he attempted the 
 presidency, by the advice of the " ring," who desired to 
 play his influence as a counter in their game to make 
 Conyngham's man president. 
 
 Failing in this he accepted the postmastership of a large 
 town, and after filling this office for some years, owing to 
 the pressure of office-seekers under the spoils system, he 
 was compelled to retire and make room for a more useful 
 member of the " ring," and is now worthily officiating as 
 justice of the peace in his native village of Speidelbergh. 
 
 Goforhim, the ring's candidate and Hamilton's success 
 ful competitor for Congressional honors, now flourished 
 like a green bay tree.
 
 THE JUST MADE PERFECT. 261 
 
 Whipple's "Characteristics of Men," says, there are 
 persons whose thoughts and feelings are all turned inwards, 
 and group or huddle round some conceit of their intellect, 
 or some master disposition of their selfishness. These 
 are the men who gradually become insane on some one 
 darling peculiarity of character, which is exaggerated into 
 huge size by assiduous training. It is, as Sir Thomas 
 Browne would say, " an acorn in their young brows which 
 grows to an oak in their old heads." Conceit, for instance, 
 he says, often ends in making a man mentally and morally 
 deaf and blind. He hears nothing but the whispers of 
 vanity, he sees nothing but what is reflected in the mirror 
 of selfishness, though society may all the while be on the 
 broad grin, or in a civil titter, at his pompous nothingness. 
 He will doubt everything before he doubts his own impor 
 tance ; and his folly, being based on a solid foundation of 
 self-delusion, steals out of him in the most unconscious 
 and innocent way in the world. 
 
 And so Goforhim's egotism and speeches in Congress, 
 consisting of elaborate compilings from the Congressional 
 Record, and an incomprehensible and startling array of 
 statistics, common-places, and figures, earned for him 
 amongst his constituents the title of the " Lightning Cal 
 culator ; " but in the superabundance of his enormous 
 self-conceit, which completely blinded him mentally, he 
 never for a moment doubted but that these speeches were 
 not only monuments of wisdom, but would serve countless 
 generations in their efforts to guide our country through 
 the perils that may beset her path. 
 
 In printing his speeches the government printing office 
 was frequently compelled to suspend work upon them until 
 they received from the type foundry a new supply of " I's," 
 which always gave out before completing them.
 
 262 ARMOUR. 
 
 To still further add to his distress and the discomfort of 
 his friends, his malady took another form, too much 
 contact with silver mining millionaires in Congress. He 
 began to imagine himself not only the " savior of his coun 
 try," but also that he possessed, or was about to possess, 
 the wealth of Aladdin. 
 
 To such an extent did he labor under this delusion, that 
 his friends became seriously alarmed, and they finally in 
 duced him to take a trip amongst the Mormons and the 
 silver mining regions, where they thought an indulgence 
 in these harmless vagaries amongst congenial surround 
 ings, and far from the original exciting causes, might pos 
 sibly restore his lost equilibrium. 
 
 The following letter while showing some improvement, 
 still warns his friends that it would not be wise or judi 
 cious to encourage a hasty return on his part. It is clipped 
 from a Salt Lake paper, but is in reality, from his own 
 
 pen. 
 
 DISTINGUISHED VISITORS. 
 
 CONGRESSMEN GOFORHIM EN THE CITY. 
 
 Among the arrivals from the East, on Sunday evening, were Hon. 
 Hilarious Galorious Goforhim, a prominent and active Republican 
 worker, who represents one of Conyngham's districts in Congress, 
 his home being in Armour. Mr. G was one of the few congress 
 men who carried his district last fall on his own personal merits, 
 and without resorting" to the disreputable practices which have of 
 late so disgraced our political contests. A gentleman to the manor 
 born and bred, he scorned to obtain success by availing himself of 
 the language and the tactics of the slums ; and notwithstanding the 
 vile personal detractions and calumnies which his opponent resorted 
 to, and who exhausted the vocabulary of Billingsgate in order to 
 smirch his pure and spotless character as a citizen and public man, 
 preferring defeat to dishonor, he calmly referred his case to the 
 people, and went in by a plurality vote of 700, exactly the majority 
 his opponent, one Hamilton expected. The latter was a man in every
 
 THE JUST MADE PERFECT. 263 
 
 way unsuited to serve in the National councils, by reason of his intel 
 lectual inability and his inexperience in public affairs. Mr. Gofor- 
 him had charge of the Republican National Committee during the 
 fight in Maine and Ohio, and his hard work in the interests of his 
 party and his country in her hour of peril eventually broke down his 
 health, which he now comes West to try and regain. He stopped over 
 here to inquire about our institutions of which he claims to be a 
 warm admirer; he considers Brigham Young one of the greatest 
 men our country ever produced, excepting Washington. Our flour 
 ishing condition financially, and the redundancy of our other bless 
 ings, almost causes him to regret that the accident of birth prevents 
 his warm adoption of our institutions and becoming a partaker of 
 our many advantages and our financial prosperity. He leaves this 
 morning for the Gass and Blow river countries where he has purchased 
 half a dozen silver mines, and where he will spend the greater part 
 of the summer looking into his mining interests. 
 
 Littlejohn has grown somewhat old, and is still in the 
 service of the cormorant corporation which he has served 
 so faithfully, and to the success of which, he is devoted, 
 both body and soul. Like Ephraim, he is joined to his 
 idols. Let him alone ! 
 
 Mary Conyngham married a gentleman, in every respect 
 the exact counterpart of Littlejohn. In addition to the 
 qualities which distinguished that gentleman, he adds all 
 the charms and accomplishments of the esthetical clergy 
 man, a new style of minister, lately beginning to make 
 its appearance in religious life. 
 
 This esthetical clergyman parts his hair in the middle, 
 peels oranges and bananas with lemon-colored kids, and 
 having done "Europe," adheres to the strictly English 
 custom of never appearing upon the street without an 
 umbrella, rain or shine. 
 
 Her sister Eleanor married an independent, fearless 
 man, belonging to the ancient regime, and the party of the 
 people. This gentleman's native pride refused to bow the
 
 264 ARMOUR. 
 
 knee to the house of Conyngham, while it brought down 
 upon him the hatred of Conyngham plre and Conyngham 
 fils, and denies him the "thrift that follows fawning," 
 yet it has its compensation in the fact, that he not only re 
 tains his independence and manhood, but also the respect 
 of his fellow-men.
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 265 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 
 
 LARRY HAMILTON ? 
 
 He who had striven so bravely and manfully to outlive 
 and overcome the errors of early manhood, amidst the 
 mistakes and buffetings of adverse fate ? 
 
 With the never-failing encouragement and cheer of his 
 noble wife, and by almost superhuman efforts on his own 
 part, ami years of trials and bitter disappointments, had 
 he succeeded in rowing himself back from the eddies of 
 the dreadful maelstrom, echoes of whose awful roar for 
 years filled him with vague terror and alarm ? 
 
 His disappointment in business, and the failure of all 
 his desperate efforts to retrieve himself, only needed his 
 humiliating defeat by Goforhim, to drive him to the verge 
 of despair and almost to madness. 
 
 All his brilliant visions were shattered like glass. All 
 his ambitious hopes were crushed. He had striven des 
 perately, and lost his last stake. 
 
 His failure had been so palpable, crushing, and to his 
 brooding, disappointed mind so irredeemable, as to crush 
 out all hope for the future. He felt that all his energies 
 had been squandered, and the bloom and the beauty of 
 life shriveled up forever. Henceforth, he was to be 
 pointed out by his fellow-men as a failure. This thought, 
 to a proud, ambitious, sensitive nature like Hamilton's, in 
 moments of despondency and despair, so wrought upon his
 
 266 ARMOUR. 
 
 morbid imagination as to almost drive him to destruction, 
 as it has driven more than one noble spirit to tear aside 
 the awful veil which separates the real from the unreal 
 the known from the unknown. 
 
 He had endured the goading evils of envy, hatred, con 
 tumely, neglect, and disappointments enough to break 
 any proud man's heart, and all to end in what ? 
 
 DEAD FAILURE? A stranded bark, midway in life, hope 
 lessly wrecked ! All around him were men, many of them 
 undeserving, happy, busy, and he alone now purposeless, 
 hopeless, joyless his life wasted. 
 
 The future was aimless. This was misery misery 
 mighty enough to quell the stoutest heart. 
 
 And despair had seized Lawrence Hamilton. His sor 
 rowing friends, and almost heart-broken wife, were comi 
 pelled to stand by in helpless anxiety, and see him slowly 
 return to the dissipated courses of former days. He 
 vainly endeavored, amongst old boon companions and 
 the thoughtless of mankind, to dull the edge of despair, 
 and disappointment which, like a canker-worm, was slowly 
 eating out all life, all hope. 
 
 Again was the fine, old Ashton mansion brilliantly illu 
 minated for a scene of gayety and joyous festivity. 
 
 Society in Armour had been on the qui vive for weeks. 
 Mrs. Ashton, in honor of Senator Malcolm Conyngham 
 and lady, had determined to give a magnificent, fancy 
 dress party a party which was to eclipse in splendor 
 and elegance any affair of the kind which had ever taken 
 place in the social annals of the place. Both ladies and 
 gentlemen had, for days, been making elaborate prepara 
 tions to outvie one another in the elegance and pictu- 
 resqueness of their costume, while the former spared nci-
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 267 
 
 ther pains nor expense in getting up their most lavish and 
 most elaborate toilets. Some of the gentlemen sent to 
 the city for costumes. 
 
 Poor Fannie heard of the coming party with a sicken 
 ing sense of dread, for its effect on her proud and dis 
 pirited husband. She knew how bitter and deadly would 
 be the poisonous draught to his proud, sensitive nature, 
 to meet his mortal enemy, and the one man to whom, 
 more than any other, he owed his present mortifying, 
 humiliating, and hopeless condition. And she prayed 
 long and earnestly that the poisoned chalice might pass 
 from him, and that he might in some way, be spared the 
 humiliation of adding, by his presence, to the brilliancy 
 and triumph of his haughty, insolent, and remorseless foe, 
 whose mean, coarsely-fibred nature both knew would ask 
 no greater pleasure than to drag at his chariot's wheels, in 
 his triumphal progress, one who was every way his superior 
 in everything that constitutes true nobility of character. 
 
 And these thoughts did not fail to make him fairly 
 writhe and groan at the prospect of meeting this man 
 face to face, treating him like a gentleman, and thus ac 
 knowledging his own humiliating position, which he owed 
 to this man's heartlessness, greed, and selfish love of 
 power. 
 
 Fannie, dreading the strain which a meeting under such 
 circumstances would inflict on his now irritable, despondent, 
 and morbid state of mind, endeavored to dissuade him 
 from going. 
 
 But Hamilton's stern pride inexorably demanded that 
 he should face his life-long enemy, in the height of his ill- 
 gotten and corruptly-acquired triumph. Yes, he would 
 meet him eye to eye, and face to face ; and he had no fears 
 but, though surrounded, as no doubt Conyngham would be,
 
 268 ARMOUR. 
 
 by numerous obsequious flatterers, he could compel this 
 successful creature of duplicity to acknowledge, by a waver 
 ing glance, his master in all that pertains to generosity of 
 heart and true manliness. 
 
 He had determined to face the thing out, cost what it 
 might. And the brave, little woman, with her customary 
 cheerfulness, pluck, and courage, determined to face the 
 inevitable with him, and endeavored, by all in her power, 
 to make herself as charming and attractive as possible. 
 
 And on the eventful eve of the never-to-be-forgotten 
 party, as Hamilton put the finishing touches to a splendid 
 costume representing an Elizabethan courtier, his wife 
 could not avoid an admiring exclamation of surprise and 
 pleasure. 
 
 His silk hose and slashed velvet doublet set off his 
 lithe, graceful figure to perfection ; and but for the tired, 
 saddened look, which, in spite of the gay trappings, be 
 trayed itself in the drooping lids, and deep, thoughtful gray 
 eyes, he would have been a living representative of one of 
 the gay, gallant, chivalrous, and intellectual courtiers, who 
 had made famous the reign of England's virgin queen. 
 
 Fannie assumed the role of an Arcadian shepherdess, 
 a dress which, on account of its simplicity and beauty, en 
 hanced and added wonderfully to her charms. 
 
 As Hamilton stood in his parlor waiting for his wife, 
 carelessly leaning against a column, partially concealed by 
 heavy rich drapery, and which answered admirably for a 
 background to his elegant dress, he was the picture of life, 
 and the personification of gayety and pleasure, as far as 
 external appearances went. No one would have suspected 
 the bitterness and despair the rankling sense of impo- 
 tency within. His fevered imagination pictured, in 
 somber colors, the phantoms of departed hopes ; and as he
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 269 
 
 contrasted his gay exterior with the sad internal realities 
 of life, he could perceive only a gloom which tended to 
 increase the bitterness of despair within. 
 
 The night was dark, and a drizzling rain was falling, as 
 husband and wife, well-wrapped, stepped into the waiting 
 carriage to be driven to the last place in the word to which 
 either would have chosen to go for the purpose of spend 
 ing a pleasant evening. 
 
 As they entered the parlor, the sweet strains of the 
 " Blue Danube," together with the splendid effect pro 
 duced by the elegant dressing, made an imposing and 
 enchanting picture. Hamilton and Fannie entered the 
 same room where many years before he had first learned 
 to love the beautiful woman now hanging on his arm so 
 lovingly, and whose charming grace and beauty, even after 
 the lapse of years, caused now a low hum of admiration 
 from those around him. 
 
 For some time Hamilton seemed to forget his misery in 
 the pleasant surroundings, and amidst his friends he en 
 joyed himself; and his lively sallies and witty comments 
 on the costumes of their companions was the occasion of 
 a great deal of mirth. 
 
 As Hamilton turned suddenly towards the door, his 
 figure unconsciously stretched to its full height, his usu 
 ally pleasant countenance darkened as his face assumed 
 an imperious, haughty, and scornful, expression of wither 
 ing contempt, as his eyes met those of Malcolm Conyng- 
 ham, who, with his wife, had just entered the room, amidst 
 the subdued silence which generally accompanies the ar 
 rival of distinguished guests. 
 
 The cool, insolent, self-possession, which years of un 
 interrupted success had given to Conyngham, at once de 
 serted him, and quailing under Hamilton's piercing and
 
 270 ARMOUR. 
 
 burning glances of scorn and contempt, he passed him 
 without recognition to the other side of the room, where 
 he was soon surrounded by a fawning crowd of admirers. 
 
 After receiving their congratulations, he recovered him 
 self, to some extent, and, with a lady on each arm, a taunt 
 ing, scornful glance, he passed Hamilton, who had been 
 left standing with his wife almost deserted by the guests, 
 who had hastened to pay homage to success. 
 
 Hamilton returned the glance with a scorn and contempt 
 equal to his own. Strange as it may seem, men hate most 
 those whom they have most injured, and Conyngham at 
 that moment enjoyed to the full his mean triumph over his 
 former friend, whom he had betrayed and ruined like other 
 friends, when it furthered his own selfish interest to do so. 
 
 The evening flew by on golden wings, and when the 
 clock struck one, only a few intimate friends of the hostess 
 remained engaged in pleasantly discussing the incidents of 
 the evening. 
 
 Hamilton, with several gentlemen friends, had remained 
 up stairs smoking, and drinking more wine than prudent men 
 would have approved of, and the boisterous merriment of the 
 party had several times caused Fannie to feel very uncom 
 fortable, as she sat with Mrs. Ashton and the other ladies 
 awaiting the appearance of her husband. The windows 
 were all open, and the night was warm and sultry, while 
 without the stillness was broken only by the pattering of 
 the rain-drops on the leaves and shrubbery. 
 
 Suddenly there was a rushing sound, immediately fol 
 lowed by an ominous crushing, horrible thud, causing 
 every one to start in terror to their feet. 
 
 " What was that ! O, What was that ! " were the ex 
 clamations, immediately followed by a low, agonized moan. 
 
 Amidst cries of alarm and fright, and a hurrrying of
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 271 
 
 feet overhead, several gentlemen rushed outside, followed 
 by servants with lights. 
 
 Hastening into the yard, a horrible sight presented itself. 
 
 In the solemn midnight stillness and the drizzling rain, 
 the dull rays of a lantern disclosed to their terror-stricken 
 gaze, lying on the pavement, the handsome form of Larry 
 Hamilton, with the blood-bespattered hose and the crushed, 
 blood-stained face of their friend, whose ghastly, staring 
 eyes were upturned towards the dark, gloomy, and unpity- 
 ing vault above. 
 
 As one of the gentlemen quickly kneeled and raised the 
 head of the dying man, a wild, unearthly shriek resounded 
 on the midnight air, that curdled the very blood in the 
 veins of the terror-stricken group, and with her white face 
 set, her eyes opened wide and livid with terror and awful 
 despair, beating the air aimlessly with her hands, the 
 light fell on the ghastly face of Fannie Hamilton, as she 
 came flying down the pathway. 
 
 The crowd instinctively made way for her. For one 
 awful moment she stood transfixed with horror, her eyes 
 wide open, fixed, and staring, then, with one loud shriek, 
 she threw herself on the blood-stained body of her dying 
 husband, and, but for almost imperceptible breathing, to all 
 appearances dead. 
 
 Ralph arrived at this moment and endeavored vainly by 
 name to recall the dying man to consciousness. 
 
 His voice was interrupted by the stifled sobs of the 
 women and the terrible death-rattle which, by degrees, grew 
 fainter and fainter, and then ceased. 
 
 A few shuddering gasps one last, deep sigh and the 
 spirit of the unhappy Hamilton returned to its Maker. 
 
 As Ralph shudderingly closed the glassy eyes, the limp 
 and almost lifeless form of the widow was tenderly carried
 
 272 ARMOUR. 
 
 into the room, where, with her husband, a few hours before 
 she had stood, so handsome and so full of life, and who 
 now lay in that same room, cold and stark ! 
 
 Dead in his youthful beauty. His blood shed perhaps 
 by his own hands. Who knows whether Hamilton, feeling, 
 perhaps, faint, and desiring fresh air, had stepped from 
 the room where he had been pleasantly conversing with 
 his friends although it was afterwards remarked that he 
 had been unusually quiet and walking to the balcony, 
 while leaning over the low railing he had lost his balance 
 and had been precipitated to the pavement below ; or 
 whether disappointed, exhausted in body and mind, and 
 maddened with wine, that here in the wretchedness of that 
 lonely midnight hour of despair he had thrown himself 
 into eternity. No one will ever know. 
 
 His mother did not long survive the terrible shock of 
 her son's death. 
 
 As the mournful procession slowly returned from the 
 cemetery, one gentleman remarked to another, while 
 pointing out Conyngham and Littlejohn, " I hold those 
 two men directly responsible for the unfortunate career 
 and untimely death of this young man. Talented, bright, 
 and with good impulses, he could have gracefully filled 
 any position in life, but by some strange irony of fate he 
 fell into the hands of, and his career was more or less 
 shaped and warped to its unfortunate termination by, these 
 two, as cold, selfish, narrow, and tyrannical men as the 
 monopoly and spoils system ever brought to the surface." 
 
 Such men as Conyngham and Littlejohn would never 
 rise to power but for the hateful monopoly and the base 
 spoils system, a system which began its reign in tyranny, 
 political corruption, and debauchery.
 
 . SMITH & OO 3 8 
 
 Snap. A Story of Border Life in the Ox-Train Era. By T. 
 
 Buchanan Price, ...................................... $1 00 
 
 Circumstantial Evidence.^ A Novel. By Alice Irving 
 
 Abbott, ......................................... 1 25 
 
 French Exiles in Louisiana. Historical Novel. Illus 
 
 trated. By J. C. Lindsay .......................... $100 
 
 JZoscobel. Novel describing Life at the Winter Resorts of 
 
 Florida, ............................................. 1 00 
 
 The Minister's Dauyhttr. Story the Heart-history of 
 
 a noble life. By Win. McMichael, .. ....100 
 
 The Complete CooJe Booh. Complete and thorough in 
 
 every department. By Catharine Stuart, .............. 1 25 
 
 Science and Genesis. By E, Nisbet, D. D., author of 
 
 " Resurrection of the Body ; Does the Bible Teach It ?".. 1 00 
 
 Armour ; or What are You going to Do about it ? Story of 
 
 American Politics and Ambition, ............ 
 
 Spoop^U'Ujke. By Stanley Kuntley. The Funniest Book 
 
 ever printed. Over 250,000 sold in 90 days. Cloth, ... 1 00 
 
 Paper, ---- 25 
 A Sunny Life. Vol. I. of American Sunday Library. By 
 
 Robert Broomfield ..................................... 1 00 
 
 Once. A Novel. By Rev. S Miller Hageman, ............. 1 00 
 
 Anthroposophy. By Rev. Dr. C. C. Adams, ............. 40 
 
 Cloud Islands. Christmas Stories for Young Folks. Il 
 
 lustrated. By Harriet Dolsen, . . .- ................... 40 
 
 Hubbub. A Story. By Emma C. Currier, ............ 1 00 
 
 Valkijria. Poetry of the Future. By M. J. Porter, ....... 1 00
 
 CLOTH NOVELS, 
 
 After Many Tears. By ROBERT Boooe $1.50- 
 
 A Windfall. By A. T. PERRY $1.00. 
 
 Berriaford. By Mrs. JUDGE SANPORD $1.50. 
 
 Buccaneers, The. Historical Novel. By RANDOLPH JONES. 
 Paper, $1 ; cloth $1.50. 
 
 Deaoon Cranky, the Old Sinner. By GEO. GUIRET $1.50. 
 
 Olendover. By DEANK ROSCOE $1.25 
 
 Her Waiting Heart. By LOUISE CAFSADELL $1.00 
 
 Hammock Stories. Three volumes in one , $1.25 
 
 In Dead Earnest. By JULIA BRECKINRIDOB. $1.25- 
 
 Irene. By Mrs. B. F. BAER $1.00. 
 
 Our Wedding Gifts. BY AMANDA M. DOUGLAS $1.00. 
 
 Rev. Adonijah and His Wife's Relations. By Mrs. JUDGE 
 STEELB. $1.00. 
 
 Saddest of All is Loving. By Mrs. Lou. MONTGOMERY 
 
 8 A L B $1.00. 
 
 Shadowed Perils. By Miss M. A. AVERY $1.00. 
 
 Bummer Boarders. By Mrs. ADELE M. GARRIGUEB $1.00. 
 
 Thump's Client. By CHAS. D. KNIGHT $1.50. 
 
 'T ^iart Wave and Sky. By F. E. WADLEIOH $1.25. 
 
 V Books mailed, post-paid, to any part of the United States 
 and Canada, upon recei^ of price.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 1 ' - twwUc Is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 s 
 
 2 WEI I 
 

 
 -nj 
 
 UC SOUTHERN flEGHNM. UBRARY FAOUTY 
 
 A 001372714 4 
 
 PS 
 1039