UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 MAY TREAT MORRISON 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 ALEXANDER F MORRISON
 
 A Strange
 
 A STRANGE FLAW 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY 5. 
 
 Author of Foibles of the Bench, Trials of a Stamp Speaker, etc. 
 
 JK 
 
 LEGAL LITERATURE COMPANY 
 CHICAGO 
 
 NINETEEN SIX
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1906 
 
 BY 
 HENRY S. WILCOX 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 Entered at Stationers 1 Hall
 
 WI4-S 
 
 To the common people of the World, who 
 have ever done the hardest work and had the 
 poorest pay; who have always suffered the 
 keenest sorrow and received the least sym- 
 pathy; who have encountered the greatest 
 dangers and been given the smallest credit; 
 to those countless millions who through long 
 and weary years have borne the innumer- 
 able woes that have emanated from unjust 
 rulers and by their patience and heroic sacri- 
 5 fices in war and peace have sustained and 
 protected their despoilers, meanwhile hoping 
 that after the night of oppression has passed 
 a day of justice might sometime dawn; to 
 those victims of misfortune and injustice this 
 work is sympathetically inscribed. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 429131
 
 ^PREFACE 
 
 The design of the author In writing this 
 book is to uncover the machinery so frequent- 
 ly and effectively employed by skillful schem- 
 ers for despoiling the masses of his country- 
 men, and to show the methods by which gov- 
 ernmental agencies intended to promote and 
 protect the people have been perverted to their 
 injury. Many wrongs of the character here- 
 in depiqted have come within his personal 
 knowledge and in his professional career 
 many flaws as destitute of merit as the one 
 here shown have wrought great havoc in the 
 administration of justice. This book is not 
 intended to caricature any person, nor to in- 
 flame the passions of one class against an- 
 other, nor to destroy confidence in our sys- 
 tem of government. On the contrary the 
 writer expects by exposing abuses of power 
 to stimulate a sentiment that will remedy de- 
 fects and prevent a recurrence of such abuses. 
 A government must be sustained by the in- 
 telligence of its people. In publicity is pub- 
 lic safety. If the tale herein told shall amuse 
 and win the sympathy of the reader, the 
 author hopes it may also afford instruction 
 which will be of a permanent value and in 
 some way contribute to the glory of his coun- 
 try and the benefit of mankind.
 
 CHAPTERS. 
 
 PAGE 
 I. The Inaugural Ball .... 13 
 
 II. The Flaw 33 
 
 III. A Smiling Land 45 
 
 IV. The Jinks Family .... 53 
 V. Railroad Building .... 64 
 
 VI. A Cloud 80 
 
 VII. Jealousy 100 
 
 VIII. A Railroad Meeting . . .115 
 
 IX. The Interview 134 
 
 X. The Proposal 151 
 
 XI. The Legislature 168 
 
 XII. The Great Debate . . . .184 
 
 XIII. The Trial 203 
 
 XIV. Supreme Court of the United 
 
 States 217 
 
 XV. The Sentence of Death . . .235 
 XVI. The End 248
 
 Strange Flaw. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INAUGURATION BALL 
 
 "Hilarity kicks high to-night. The pres- 
 ident in honor of his inauguration has turned 
 jumping-jack. Well, one-half the world are 
 fools; yes, and the other half are monkeys 
 who imitate them." 
 
 These words were uttered by John Dim- 
 can, one of the nation's money kings, as he 
 was entering a room adjoining the hall where 
 a ball was being held in honor of the inaugu- 
 ration of the new president of the United 
 States. In this room several tables had been 
 spread and they were well supplied with the 
 .luxuries of the land and immaculately dressed 
 attendants were in waiting. Here the new 
 president contemplated enjoying a private 
 supper with a few of his choice friends, and 
 he supposed that such arrangements were 
 made that the festivities could occur without 
 
 ii
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 interruptifn. -Duncan 'had not come to par- 
 take/.ptf: *hi* : strike. \ JHe came to urge the 
 appointment 'of a "friend as Secretary of the 
 Treasury. The great banking interests of 
 Wall Street had sent him as their representa- 
 tive because he was well acquainted with the 
 new president and had rendered much as- 
 sistance in procuring his election. When 
 Duncan entered, one of the servants said to 
 him: 
 
 "I beg your pardon, sir, but this room is 
 reserved for the president and his special 
 guests." 
 
 "Tell the president," said Duncan, "I wish 
 to see him right away. Go!" 
 
 "Your card, please," said the servant. 
 
 "Card?" echoed Duncan. "Tell him I 
 am John Duncan and I wish to see him here." 
 
 The servant disappeared and Duncan said 
 to himself: "This is his night of triumph, and 
 he certainly will promise anything and I must 
 have the appointment." In a few minutes 
 the servant returned and said : 
 
 "The president expresses high regard for 
 Mr. Duncan, sir." 
 
 "But I want him. Bring him here," said 
 Duncan irritably. 
 
 12
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Yes, sir," said the servant, and he disap* 
 peared again and in a few minutes the pres- 
 ident entered accompanied by his wife, one 
 of the judges of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, a general of the United States 
 army, with their wives and others, and as 
 soon as he saw John Duncan he rushed up to 
 him, grasped him by the hand very cordially, 
 and exclaimed: 
 
 "Why, hello, Brother Duncan! I have 
 searched for you the whole evening. How 
 fine you look! You know my wife, and the 
 judge here, and the general. This, ladies 
 and gentlemen, is John Duncan, the great 
 capitalist." 
 
 "It pleases us to make your acquaintance, 
 sir," said the judge. 
 
 "Duncan, did you say? Ha-ha-ha. Heard 
 of you, Mr. John Duncan," said the general, 
 who was evidently in a very merry mood. 
 
 Duncan was not disposed to become fa- 
 miliar, and he called the president to one 
 side and told him what he wanted, and while 
 they were talking the general exclaimed : 
 
 "I am dry, ha-ha, damned dry, ha-ha; I 
 want some liquor, ha-ha." 
 
 "What kind?" asked one of the servants. 
 
 13
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Any kind," said the general; "every kind, 
 ha-ha, all kinds, ha-ha; enough to swim in, 
 enough to drown in, ha-ha." 
 
 "Duncan, won't you sit down and eat with 
 us?" said the president. 
 
 "I am not hungry," said Duncan. 
 
 "Then drink with us," said the president. 
 
 "I do not drink," said Duncan. 
 
 "Then have a cigar." 
 
 "I don't smoke." 
 
 "Come sit down and visit with the ladies." 
 
 "I don't care for the women." 
 
 "Brother Duncan, you are difficult to 
 please," said the president. "What can I do 
 for you?" 
 
 "I have told you," said Duncan. 
 
 "Very well," said the president, "he shall 
 have it." 
 
 "Then I am pleased; good night," said 
 Duncan. Bowing slightly, he left the room. 
 
 "Brother Duncan is a business man who 
 has no time for pleasure. Such men as he 
 have made this nation great," said the presi- 
 dent. 
 
 "I should so judge if the question came 
 before my court," replied the judge. 
 
 14
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Let's drink his health, ka-ha-ha !" was the 
 proposition of the general. 
 
 "Mr. President, this is a most auspicious 
 night, following a day of glory," said the 
 judge. "Never since the mighty Washington 
 was first sworn in has there been such grand- 
 eur." 
 
 "The pageant passing down the avenue 
 shone like the bright appareled hosts of 
 Heaven when Satan was overthrown," said 
 the president. "Their gilded vestments 
 blazed in dazzling splendor. Ten thousand 
 bayonets glittered in the sun. A mighty 
 equipage of prancing steeds, richly capari- 
 soned and superbly mounted, bore all the 
 pride and pomp of military power. Princes 
 and potentates from every land sent their 
 representatives to grace this great proces- 
 sion." 
 
 "Yes," replied the judge, "and you were 
 the head and front of all this pageant, drawn 
 by the finest horses in the land." 
 
 "Since early dawn," continued the presi- 
 dent, "vast crowds have lined the avenue, 
 jostling and fighting for a chance to see, and 
 when my carriage passed the multitude sent 
 
 15
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 up so great a shout it seemed as if the hosts 
 of all the earth had joined in the acclaim." 
 
 "And not a single accident occurred to mar 
 the pleasure of the grand parade," suggested 
 the president's wife. 
 
 The judge's wife then remarked that it 
 was stated in the paper that a beggar by the 
 name of Peter Sorrow had been run down 
 and killed. 
 
 The president's wife said she knew Peter 
 Sorrow when she was a girl, and the news 
 distressed her, for he was an old soldier who 
 had marched with Sherman to the sea and 
 lost both of his arms in battle. The presi- 
 dent asked if he had not been pensioned. He 
 was told that the papers stated that the old 
 soldier had tried many years in vain to get a 
 pension, and could not satisfy the rules by 
 proving just when, and where, and how he 
 lost his arms. 
 
 "Such claims should not be difficult," de- 
 clared the president's wife. "The nation in 
 whose behalf he gave his arms should quickly 
 stretch its arms to shelter him." 
 
 "He needs no pension now," said the 
 judge. . "He is much better off." This, of 
 course, was based upon the idea that his en- 
 
 16
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 vironment would not have improved had he 
 lived. 
 
 "By every such procession someone gets 
 hurt," said the president. 
 
 "I think," said the judge, "that the assem- 
 blage at the ball to-night exceeds in splendor 
 the scene to-day." 
 
 "Yes," said the president, "every clime has 
 sent an embassy arrayed in gorgeous hues and 
 glittering gems, but none outshines the gem- 
 bespangled darlings of our land. As we led on 
 the march and I looked about the spacious hall 
 so gay with flowers and banners everywhere 
 and saw the brilliant, swaying, happy throng, 
 it seemed as if my fairest dreams of heaven 
 were here in full display. The clear, mild 
 light shed by a myriad lamps of varied tints 
 upon the merry host of proud, white-fronted 
 men and jewel-laden women disclosed a fairy 
 land, a most enchanted realm." 
 
 "This scene transports me to bliss unknown 
 before," said the president's wife. 
 
 "I would be happy did not the cares of my 
 new office so heavily weigh me down," re- 
 marked the president. 
 
 "That such a night should follow such a
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 day augurs a happy term for you," ejaculated 
 the judge. 
 
 "These inauguration parties are very com- 
 mon affairs," remarked the general's wife 
 languidly as she adjusted a lorgnette to her 
 eyes. "They are attended by such common 
 people.*' 
 
 "To whom do you refer?" inquired the 
 president. 
 
 "Why, there's Harold Gray in the ball- 
 room with his family," said she. "He is noth- 
 ing but a ship-builder. He never held an 
 office in his life. I can not endure to mingle 
 with such common people." 
 
 "Did you not enjoy the fine parade to- 
 day?" asked the president. 
 
 "The military part was quite magnificent," 
 said she. "The general looked like the ver- 
 itable Mars in shining armor, leading a bril- 
 liant host." 
 
 "Let's drink, let everybody drink," said 
 the general. "Ha, ha, ha 1" 
 
 "Mr. President," said the judge, "let me 
 congratulate you on your fine address to-day. 
 Your suggestion for the appropriation of a 
 million dollars to build a monument for Mr. 
 Smith was very timely." 
 
 18
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "What Smith was that?" asked the judge's 
 wife. 
 
 "The Honorable John Smith," said the 
 judge. "He was, indeed, a great man." 
 
 "Was he a general?" asked the lady. 
 
 "Oh, no," answered the judge. 
 
 "A mere civilian?" questioned she, some- 
 v/hat contemptuously. 
 
 "Yes," interposed the president, "but he 
 had held office all his life. A million dollars 
 to build a monument to such a man is hardly 
 ample. That sum will do to start with and 
 later on sums could be added suited to our 
 great prosperity. The country's gorged with 
 wealth, our treasury overflowing, our grana- 
 ries full, all Europe is our debtor on the bal- 
 ance sheet. Now is the time to show the na- 
 tion's love for Smith." 
 
 "The world applauds your views," said 
 the judge. "Congress will quickly act and 
 soon Smith's monument will tower with 
 Washington's." 
 
 "Let's drink his health! Ha! Ha! 
 Ha !" said the general. "Hurrah for Smith I 
 May he live long and prosper! Ha! Ha! 
 Ha!" 
 
 19
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Mr. Smith is dead," remarked the presi- 
 dent. 
 
 "Let's drink to the health of Mrs. Smith, 
 then," said the general. 
 
 "There is no Mrs. Smith," said the presi- 
 dent. 
 
 "Well, then, let's drink to the health of 
 the president! Ha! Ha! Ha!" said the 
 general. "Three cheers for President Boodle, 
 the Father of his Country, and the son of 
 Yankee Doodle! Hip! Hip! Hurrah!" 
 
 This toast was drunk heartily, and then 
 the president, standing up, raised his glass 
 saying: "Here's to the Great American Na- 
 tion, the richest and most prosperous com- 
 monwealth under the sun, the home for the 
 free and the asylum for the oppressed!" 
 
 The entire company had raised their 
 glasses to respond to this suggestion, when, 
 to the surprise of all, there rushed in from 
 the street a ragged girl of about ten years 
 of age, looking wan and pale, exclaiming in 
 piteous tones: "Please give me something 
 to eat! I'm starving!" 
 
 The room in which this brilliant company 
 were intending to dine was near the street 
 and anyone passing by could catch a glimpse 
 
 20
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 of the beauty and good cheer within. It was 
 a cold, chilly night for Washington at this 
 season of the year, and this child, pinched 
 with cold and hunger, in her frenzy, failed 
 to recognize the privacy of the apartment 
 and the select character of the company with- 
 in, and it being after midnight the guards at 
 the entrance were careless and not expecting 
 such an event, so she had succeeded in enter- 
 ing and was thus enabled to disturb the presi- 
 dent's festivities. Her name was Mercy 
 Bragg. She was the only child of Hender- 
 son Bragg, a person who, at one time, was 
 well-to-do. He had graduated with high hon- 
 ors from Yale. His father subsequently died 
 and left him a considerable estate, part of 
 which had been dissipated by unwise invest- 
 ments, and a lawyer discovered a flaw in the 
 will and beat him out of the remainder. 
 When thrown upon his own resources he 
 found he had learned but little at college that 
 had qualified him to earn money. His educa- 
 tion made him too proud to accept a position 
 as a common laborer, and he had not energy 
 enough to work his way up to an artisan or 
 professional. He finally steered his bark into 
 the uncertain sea of politics and anchored 
 
 21
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 it to one of its shifting shoals. For a time 
 he held a minor position in the Land Depart- 
 ment, but a change of administration caused 
 him to lose this, and thus, sailless and rudder- 
 less, he was cast adrift like a weather-beaten 
 and battered hulk, the sport of misfortune 
 and unfavorable gales. Failing to get other 
 employment he borrowed until his inability 
 to pay became generally known and his credit 
 becoming exhausted necessity forced him to 
 beg. In this practice it became necessary for 
 him to become migratory and so he became a 
 beggar, living where, how, and on what he 
 could. His wife had died several years be- 
 fore and this daughter was the only relative 
 that he had in the great city, and he was 
 doing his utmost to provide her with some- 
 thing to satisfy the cravings of hunger and 
 keep himself from starving to death. 
 
 Immense crowds were drawn to Washing- 
 ton to witness the inauguration, and opportu- 
 nities for obtaining sustenance by begging 
 seemed better than usual, but there had also 
 come a great number of tramps and beggars 
 to take advantage of these good prospects, 
 and Bragg had been less successful than usual. 
 
 He saw that night that his child was get- 
 
 22
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ting desperate and he was much worried, but 
 was greatly surprised when he saw her dodge 
 into the entrance of the building where he 
 knew these festivities were occurring. Her 
 appearance before such a company and at 
 such an inopportune moment, when the com- 
 pany were drinking to the great prosperity of 
 the country, was most annoying. Somebody 
 certainly was to blame and the president was 
 quick to locate it, for he asked with becoming 
 dignity if the guards of the room were drunk 
 or asleep, and ordered the cause of the vexa- 
 tion to be instantly removed. Before his 
 order could be executed, however, the child's 
 father appeared. He was very much excited 
 and called her to come out of the room. She 
 did not obey, but gasping that she must have 
 something to eat, staggered and fell to the 
 floor. Seeing his child thus fainting from 
 hunger he became frenzied and declaring that 
 she should not starve to death in sight of 
 plenty, attempted to snatch a portion of the 
 food from one of the tables. Just then a 
 large negro attendant struck him on the head. 
 The blow was sufficient to cause him to fall 
 unconscious on the floor. The girl, thinking 
 her father was killed, uttered a few convul- 
 
 23
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 sive gasps and swooned. From this she never 
 recovered consciousness, and it was soon evi- 
 dent that she was dead. The judge declared 
 her conduct highly improper, insisting that 
 it was horrible that such a creature should die 
 there. 
 
 This unfortunate incident immediately 
 stampeded the ladies of the party and the 
 gentlemen soon followed them out of the ball- 
 room. A policeman was called to arrest and 
 remove the offenders and he, finding that one 
 of them was a corpse and the other a heart- 
 broken father, allowed them to remain while 
 the coroner's attendance was being procured. 
 Thus left alone with his dead, save for the 
 presence of the negro attendants who were 
 guarding the food on the tables, Bragg be- 
 came frantic, and thus he railed: "Oh, cruel 
 proverty, to kill my only child ! Here in this 
 land where profligates have piled their domes 
 jand columns to the arching skies, where 
 fraud and crime in monuments of spotless 
 stone have made themselves immortal, here 
 my poor dove has begged and plead for food 
 until she starved to death!" He was inter- 
 rupted in his bitter cry by John Duncan. Mr. 
 Duncan, in the haste of his interview, had 
 
 24
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 omitted some matters which he wished to en- 
 force upon the president's attention, and had 
 returned for that purpose. Duncan had been 
 nursed in poverty and by hard labor and close 
 economy had graduated at college in the same 
 class with Bragg. He then had studied law 
 in an office and been admitted to the bar. 
 The hardships of early poverty had made 
 him feel the value of money and he had con- 
 centrated his whole power to obtain it. As 
 soon as he had accumulated a few dollars he 
 launched into a sea of speculation, and by 
 sitting up a little later at night and getting 
 up a little earlier in the morning and studying 
 a little harder than the rest of mankind he 
 had succeeded in acquiring a large amount of 
 property. He then had gone into railroad 
 building upon the plan of having others build 
 the road and give it to him. He had lobbied 
 subsidies through Congress, gone into part- 
 nership with the Government, and by various 
 enterprises and through many channels had 
 become a multi-millionaire. The pendulum 
 of his fortune had swung from poverty to 
 plenty, while Bragg's had swung from plenty 
 to poverty. When they parted, Bragg stood 
 on the mountain and Duncan in the valley, 
 
 25
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 but now they had changed places. Duncan 
 was startled at the sight of such a distressing 
 spectacle in such a place. He did not recog- 
 nize his old classmate, and he exclaimed: 
 
 "What's this? Tramps, beggars, inhere?" 
 
 Bragg replied in plaintive tones : 
 
 "You, John Duncan, don't you know me? 
 I am Henderson Bragg. I knew you at Yale. 
 This is Mercy. All I have to live for is 
 dead." 
 
 "Yes, now I do recognize you," said Dun- 
 can. "What killed your daughter?" 
 
 "Poverty; damned poverty! My sweet 
 child has begged and plead for food until she 
 starved to death," answered Bragg, pathet- 
 ically. 
 
 "That's hard," admitted Duncan. Then, 
 with some disgust: "Where were you that 
 you didn't get her food?" 
 
 "I did my best," protested Bragg. 
 
 "But you were the brightest boy of all our 
 class. I can not understand. What have you 
 done since then?" 
 
 "I got an office, then a wife, and then came 
 this little girl. I lost the office, then my wife, 
 and now she's gone," answered Bragg, in a 
 choked voice. And then, as his eyes rested 
 
 26
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 again upon the body of his child, he seemed 
 to forget Duncan's presence and fell to weep- 
 ing bitterly. Duncan, seeking to quiet him 
 by diverting his attention, asked him about 
 his father's estate, and being informed that 
 it was all exhausted, asked regarding his own 
 health. 
 
 "Alas !" answered Bragg. "My health is 
 too good. Were I an invalid, a cripple, a mis- 
 shapen wretch, whose sight would wring com- 
 passion's tears, my daughter might have lived. 
 But I look so strong and fit for labor that 
 none takes pity on me. When I could get no 
 work I became a tramp. I was driven from 
 town to town. And this poor girl! My 
 God! What could I do?" 
 
 "Steal," was Duncan's stern answer. 
 
 "But," protested Bragg, "I never could do 
 that. I'd rather die. My father was an hon- 
 est man. I could not so disgrace his mem- 
 ory." 
 
 "Disgrace," echoed Duncan, in disgust. 
 "You ragged beggar, did honor feed your 
 starving child? Don't be a fool. Steal! 
 Steal not as the vulgar steal, in violation of 
 the law, but steal as princes and politicians 
 steal, under the cloak of the law. Go not at 
 
 2?
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 night as fools and beggars do, but in full 
 blaze of day, and take with you the officers 
 of the law. Steal in the name of Justice." 
 
 "I do not know what you mean," said 
 Bragg. 
 
 "Learn something and sell your silence. 
 Discover a flaw in a title and buy it," con- 
 tinued Duncan. 
 
 "Buy it! Did you say, buy it?" asked 
 Bragg. "Why, if arable land was selling 
 for a cent a section I could not buy a rod of 
 swamp." 
 
 "Find a flaw and see me," said the wise 
 Duncan. 
 
 Bragg, feeling that perhaps he had found 
 a friend, began to feel a faint spark of hope 
 in his heavy heart. 
 
 "While working in the Land Department 
 here," he said, "I saw a flaw in a land grant 
 to a State. A word was so badly written in 
 the grant that none could surely say whether 
 it was 'including' or 'excluding,' because the 
 scribe had so badly scrawled the first two let- 
 ters." 
 
 "Well, what has the Land Department 
 done?" asked Duncan. 
 
 "Held the several counties excluded from 
 
 28
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 the grant and issued homestead patents to the 
 settlers there," said Bragg. 
 
 Duncan seemed to be in deep thought. "Is 
 there a railroad there?" he at length asked 
 Bragg. 
 
 "No," answered Bragg. 
 
 "Then," said Duncan, "I have a scheme, 
 to get them to build a railroad for us and 
 get the State to grant us all these lands. The 
 thought of a railroad will set them crazy." 
 
 "I'll be no partner in such a scheme," de- 
 clared Bragg emphatically; "I'd rather be a 
 tramp." 
 
 "And starve to death," sneered Duncan. 
 
 "Like my poor child," moaned Bragg, pit- 
 eously. Duncan, who was closely observing 
 Bragg, saw by his manner that he was be- 
 ginning to weaken, and said : 
 
 "Bragg, you must have money, or you will 
 perish. Money means love, respect, renown, 
 no matter how it's got. Though stained with 
 blood and wet with widow's tears, or wrung 
 from the withered hands of want, 'tis money 
 still, and he who has it has the world's ap- 
 plause, and he who has it not, the world's 
 contempt." 
 
 "The world hates me because I am poor," 
 
 29
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 said Bragg with feeling. "It glues its kisses 
 to the robber's hand and rudely smites the 
 palm outstretched for alms." 
 
 "That is too true," replied Duncan. "The 
 thief that tears the lining from the chest of 
 state and turns his office to a robbers' roost 
 is not pursued with half the zeal the beggar 
 is, and if perchance he may be caught the 
 crooked laws will bend one way to let the 
 thief escape, another way to keep the beggar 
 in." As he spoke, the terrible realization of 
 his wrongs came to Bragg and he said: 
 "Duncan, your words are true. I've borne 
 the cross of virtue long enough. This tramp 
 shall tramp no more !" 
 
 "Bragg, you now talk sense," said Duncan. 
 "Hold to it and I will help you to make mil- 
 lions. See me at the house to-mor- 
 row." And without further ceremony or 
 thought regarding the disposal of the corpse, 
 Duncan hurried from the scene into the ball- 
 room. 
 
 Bragg again gazed on the dead body of 
 his child as he said to himself: 
 
 "If all the millions could restore this child, 
 with what a spirit would I strive. But she, 
 alas, is gone. No wealth, however great, can 
 
 30
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 bring her back again. But, such a death! 
 To starve to death in such a prosperous land ! 
 To think their purse-proud, stony hearts de- 
 nied their crumbs to this, my starving lamb ! 
 A father's broken heart now grapples for re- 
 venge; and I shall wreak it on this heartless 
 brood." Then, raising his clenched fist, he 
 said: 
 
 "Monopolists and millionaires who pack 
 your plunder from the nation's vaults and in 
 the name of Justice rob mankind, and you 
 poor fools who lick the rich man's shoes and 
 worship fraud because it's robed in gold, 
 and you who heard, unmoved, my poor 
 child's cry for bread, I now give notice to 
 you, one and all, that I propose to make the 
 world my prey! Widows shall wail and or- 
 phans cry, and old men tear their frosty locks 
 and howl with r?.ge, and homeless thousands 
 bite their lips and curse my scheme while I 
 advance to be a millionaire. And now, hy- 
 pocrisy, thou cool, keen, smiling villain, come 
 to my aid ! Teach me to coax and flatter 
 fools with skill and lull the qualms of con- 
 science into quiet. Banish both pity and re- 
 morse and make the sight of cruelty seem
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 sweet, while I, with grace and polish unex- 
 celled, proceed to grind!" 
 
 This burst of anguish was interrupted by 
 the return of the policeman with one of the 
 employes of the coroner's office. The em- 
 ploye made a few inquiries and the remains 
 of the child were taken to the morgue. This 
 wretched father on the following day accom- 
 panied the pine box containing its body to 
 the Potters' Field, where was deposited the 
 withered relic of his beloved.
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE FLAW 
 
 "You may have had a narrow escape," said 
 the talkative public stenographer, when John 
 Duncan had just finished dictating an impor- 
 tant letter. 
 
 "How's that?" 
 
 "Why, an evil looking lunatic came in a 
 while ago and said he wanted to see you." 
 
 "What did he want of me?" 
 
 "He said he had an appointment with 
 you." 
 
 "Didn't he give his name?" 
 
 "Yes, he said it was Bragg, or something 
 of that kind." 
 
 "What became of him?" 
 
 "He was turned over to the police and 
 taken to jail." 
 
 "Tell the parties who had him arrested to 
 release him and have him shown up here at 
 once." 
 
 "He may commit an assault upon you." 
 
 33
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "That's my affair. Do as I say." 
 When Bragg arrived he was indeed a sorry 
 looking sight, but Duncan was friendly in his 
 greeting, and after they had talked a few 
 minutes Duncan said : "Well, I will call a 
 cab and we will go and see that grant. I 
 think you had better wear this duster; like the 
 mantle of charity it will cover many defects." 
 While speaking, Duncan was engaged in 
 opening his valise, from whence he drew forth 
 an old linen duster and handed it to Bragg. 
 In a few moments the two men were in a 
 cab on their way to the government land of- 
 fice. During the drive Duncan was silent 
 and Bragg was too weak and sad to do much 
 talking. 
 
 Finally they reached the place. The grant 
 was found and examined. It was a grant by 
 
 the United States to the State of 
 
 for the purpose of internal improvement of 
 all lands between certain boundaries, and 
 then came a word written about this way, 
 S^ J ' so k was Doubtful wheth- 
 ^X^^^^y^- er it was including or ex- 
 V eluding, and then fol- 
 lowed the description of a large tract of land, 
 embracing several counties which had either 
 
 34
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 been included or excluded from the grant. If 
 included, the title had passed to the State to 
 be disposed of for internal improvements as 
 the legislature might choose, and it could 
 grant them to aid in building a railroad. If 
 not included, the title remained in the United 
 States, and the lands might be entered by act- 
 ual settlers under the homestead law. The 
 latter construction had been adopted by the 
 department and the lands conveyed by pat- 
 ents to settlers. These patents were void if 
 the word was including. Duncan examined 
 the grant with great care. Here was cer- 
 tainly a gigantic flaw. Bragg waited eagerly 
 for some expression from Duncan, but he re- 
 mained silent. Finally Duncan said, "I will 
 see you to-morrow." Bragg's haggard face 
 turned pale as he heard these words. Dun- 
 can noticed it and asked, "Will that be satis- 
 factory? I want time to think the matter 
 over. Can't you come then?" 
 
 "I don't know," said Bragg, despondently. 
 
 "Have you some other engagement?" in- 
 quired Duncan. 
 
 "No, but to tell the truth I haven't eaten 
 anything since yesterday morning, and then 
 I breakfasted on banana peelings and de- 
 
 35
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 cayed vegetables, and unless I get something 
 to eat soon, I may not be here to-morrow 
 morning." 
 
 Duncan hesitated a moment; then he put 
 his hand in his pocket and slowly drew forth 
 a silver dollar. He looked at the coin and 
 then at Bragg; then at the coin again, and 
 finally he handed it to him, saying, "I will 
 lend you a dollar until I determine what to 
 do. Don't waste it, but make it go as far as 
 you can." Then, taking a memorandum 
 book from his inside pocket, he drew a pencil 
 out of it and asked, "What is your first name? 
 I have forgotten." 
 
 "Henderson," answered Bragg. 
 
 "Where is your address?" 
 
 "I have none at present." 
 
 Thereupon Duncan carefully wrote in the 
 book the following : 
 
 "Henderson Bragg, Dr., 
 To loan on account of flaw in grant. .$1.00." 
 
 Then the two men separated. Duncan to 
 return to the hotel and Bragg to the nearest 
 lunch counter. 
 
 It had been a long time since he had pos- 
 
 36
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 sessed so much money, and he examined it 
 with much care to assure himself that it was 
 not counterfeit. He was almost afraid to 
 show it lest he might be suspected of theft. 
 The hard metal felt good to his palm and 
 the picture of the Goddess of Liberty looked 
 like an angel's face. 
 
 Duncan at once began to plan for taking 
 advantage of the knowledge he had procured. 
 He had no question but what the flaw could 
 be utilized, but whether Bragg should be re- 
 lied upon to do the work was the great prob- 
 lem. He tried to recall his old school days 
 at Yale. The memory of them was hazy, 
 but he recollected Bragg as a favorite in all 
 the sports and as the best debater in the 
 school, and he concluded that he must still 
 possess the same talents. He considered him 
 one of those men who lack power to originate 
 schemes, but who can work very effectively 
 in carrying out the directions of others. By 
 the next morning he had concluded to give 
 Bragg an opportunity to show what was in 
 him. Even then, had Duncan thought of 
 someone else who could have been used more 
 effectually, he would not have hesitated to dis- 
 
 37 
 
 429131
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 miss Bragg without a word, and proceed to 
 utilize the flaw through another agency. 
 
 When Bragg appeared in the morning he 
 had greatly improved in appearance. The 
 dollar had worked a transformation not only 
 in the expression of his face but in his wear- 
 ing apparel. 
 
 "I have concluded," said Duncan, "that 
 the flaw is a good one and can be worked 
 profitably." 
 
 "Now," said Bragg, "if we could only buy 
 these lands from the State we could probably 
 get them cheap." 
 
 "Buy nothing," said Duncan. "We can't 
 afford to buy them. Bragg, you are green." 
 
 "How can we get them, then?" 
 
 "Why, steal them," said Duncan. "Get 
 the legislature to give them to us." 
 
 "Do you think they would do that?" asked 
 Bragg. 
 
 "Excepting the evergreen, there is nothing 
 so green as the average State legislature," said 
 Duncan. "We'll get the settlers to grade, 
 bridge, and tie a railroad for us through that 
 country and then get the legislature to give 
 us all the land to help us buy the iron." 
 
 38
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "But, will the people be so foolish as to do 
 that?" eagerly asked Bragg. 
 
 "Foolish! My God! Don't you know 
 that nearly all the railroads in the United 
 States have been built that way? The people 
 build them and give them to the companies. 
 Why, the passion of an Arab for his horse, a 
 miser for his gold or a maid for her lover are 
 weak and tame compared to that of western 
 farmers and villagers for a railroad. The 
 idea of getting one in a country where they 
 have none sets them crazy. They will give 
 you the money they owe to others, vote the 
 roof from over their heads, and the bread out 
 of the mouths of their children, and take their 
 pay in railroad stock. There is no end to 
 the absurdities that you can cause them to be- 
 lieve. Now, I propose that you and I and a 
 few others, to make a show, organize a cor- 
 poration for the purpose of constructing and 
 operating a railroad. I'll furnish you with 
 expense money, and you go out into the vicin- 
 ity where these lands are and tell the people 
 that a foreign corporation, whose agent you 
 are, is contemplating building a railroad 
 through there. That will excite them. One 
 locality will strive against another, and you 
 
 39
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 can get the people along the line to grade, 
 bridge and tie the road and take their pay in 
 railroad stock. When you have done that, in 
 order to render the stock worthless, we will 
 mortgage the road-bed to another corpora- 
 tion which we shall form, foreclose the mort- 
 gage, sell the road, bid it in ourselves and 
 then get the legislature to grant us the land, 
 to furnish it. We can sell a part of the lands, 
 buy the rolling stock and complete and own 
 the road." 
 
 "But," said Bragg, "won't that be too se- 
 vere on the inhabitants? They will all be de- 
 prived of their homes after building the road 
 for us? Will the people endure being driven 
 from their homes? Won't they rise up in 
 wrath, tear up our railroad and massacre us?" 
 
 "Endure it!" repeated Duncan. "They'll 
 have to endure it. We violate no law. Be- 
 sides, we will have the army and the navy of 
 the United States at our backs. They may 
 sputter around a little, but they will soon set- 
 tle down. The first thing for you to do, 
 Bragg, is to visit the tailor's. I will loan 
 you some money so that you can fit yourself 
 out. The world thinks rags are dishonest 
 
 40
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and filth a crime. When you return we will 
 proceed to organize a corporation." 
 
 u ls it necessary to do that? Can't we 
 carry on the business as well without?" in- 
 quired Bragg. 
 
 "Why, no." answered Duncan. "The law 
 would then hold us responsible for our acts. 
 That's just what we want to avoid. We want 
 a corporation to receive the blame and losses 
 while we receive the profits. A corporation 
 is an intangible, invisible creature, which ex- 
 ists only in contemplation of law. It cannot 
 be weighed, measured, imprisoned or hung; 
 but it can weigh, measure, imprison and hang 
 others. It is created by man, and although 
 it neither eats nor drinks, may live forever, 
 unless the high and holy will of its creators 
 take its life. It has no soul, no breath, no 
 feeling, no compassion. The frigid ice of 
 Winter and the scorching sun of Summer un- 
 heeded come and go. Mangled anj bleeding 
 from its iron hands the helpless raise their 
 eyes imploringly for aid. It takes no notice 
 of their cries. Sheltered and guarded by its 
 form invisible, its agents with impunity rob 
 and plunder whom they wish. The spider 
 spins his web and the unwary insect sees it
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 not until too late, and for its folly answers 
 with its life. So we scheming men, when we 
 hunt gudgeons, lay our nets and spin our 
 webs and smile to see the fools rush in. We 
 do not kill them as the spiders do their prey. 
 We shear them and let them live to grow an- 
 other fleece which we can shear again. To 
 gild our conduct with the gloss of honor we 
 take our charter from the government. The 
 great seal of the State covers our crimes and 
 seals up suspicious eyes. Being thus invested 
 with superior power, we form our articles and 
 pass our laws, the only ones that we obey. 
 Clothed in this artificial shape our movements 
 are so subtle, mysterious and complex, that 
 gaping idiots stand aghast, and in obsequious 
 and fawning attitudes empty their wallets in 
 our hands." 
 
 "I think I understand," said Bragg. "We 
 create this invisible agent in order that we 
 may use Its name. We really cheat and steal 
 on our own account, but by the adoption of 
 certain rules and regulations in doing so, we 
 are not held personally responsible, and by 
 fiction of law all our misdeeds are saddled 
 on this nonentity which exists only in imag- 
 ination and cannot be punished. A splendid 
 
 42
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 scheme, Mr. Duncan, worthy the conception 
 of Satan himself. What will we name this 
 offspring of our minds?" 
 
 "We must give it a good name. Let me 
 see," said Duncan. 
 
 "How would it do to call it the 'Gull and 
 Swindle Railroad Company,' in honor of the 
 Goddess Gull and her handmaid Swindle, 
 who you say preside over railroad building?" 
 inquired Bragg ironically. 
 
 "Wouldn't do at all. That is too sug- 
 gestive. As we intend to have it become in- 
 solvent in about a year, how would it do to 
 call it The Sound and Reliable R. R. Co. ?' " 
 said Duncan. 
 
 "A very good name, indeed," said Bragg. 
 
 A short time after this conversation the 
 two men went to New York City, and used 
 the names of a few of Duncan's office clerks 
 with their own and organized a corporation 
 for the purpose of building and operating a 
 railroad. They provided for the issuance of 
 six million dollars of stock, and the election of 
 officers every two years. Henderson Bragg 
 was made president, John Duncan, secretary 
 and treasurer. 
 
 Before starting for the West Bragg re- 
 
 43
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ceived his final instructions from John Dun- 
 can, and his parting words to him were, 
 "Bragg, be very good. You can't play piety 
 too strong. Be patient, speak like an angel 
 of charity, and mask your purposes with pious 
 smiles." 
 
 Thus admonished, one fine morning in the 
 early summer, Bragg started for the west, 
 fully equipped to carry out the plan. Dressed 
 in fashionable attire, a large gold watch chain 
 and fob, a high silk hat, a well shaven face, 
 he looked every inch the well-to-do promoter. 
 The change was great. He was now going 
 to the country which he had tramped over 
 less than a year before, and been hunted down 
 as a criminal because he was a beggar. He 
 was going back as a beggar in one sense, but 
 not one that asks for a meal of victuals. He 
 went to masquerade as a railroad magnate, 
 and beg the people to benefit themselves by 
 helping him. 
 
 44
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 A SMILING LAND 
 
 The tract of country which lay in the 
 shadow of the flaw discovered by Henderson 
 Bragg embraced in its area several counties, 
 and was indeed a smiling land. Its green 
 landscapes were dotted with thousands of 
 happy homes, in which industry and frugality 
 dwelt together. And many a little bustling 
 village basked in the light on its sunny slopes 
 or nestled in the forests of its valleys, by its 
 winding streams. 
 
 Thither, in earlier days, a thrifty and hope- 
 ful people had come to make their homes, 
 and had there labored patiently and cheer- 
 fully amid perils, privations, heat and cold, 
 until they had converted the desert of the 
 savage into a garden of civilization. Many 
 had come rosy with the flush of youth, who 
 were now trembling with the feebleness of 
 age. Time and toil had furrowed their brows 
 and unstrung their nerves; and their be- 
 
 45
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 dimmed eyes warned them of the approach- 
 ing shadows of death. Their sole reward for 
 a life of toil was the sight of the little cottage 
 they had builded, the farm they had tended, 
 and the contemplation that, when the fast 
 expiring light of life, which now flickered in 
 a dusky twilight, should go out in darkness 
 from the earth, and their eyes should no more 
 behold the old homestead and the avails of 
 their life work, it would still remain to bless 
 the children they had reared. 
 
 In the summer of their strength they had 
 received patents for their lands from the 
 United States, and while the ravages of fire 
 and the devouring tornado might desolate 
 the surface, yet they believed that their titles 
 were perfect to the soil itself; and that in it 
 they had a permanent estate. Little did they 
 dream that, lurking in the musty archives of 
 the government, an u e" needed a loop, and 
 an "x" looked like an "n," and that from 
 defects as small as a gnat's egg a giant would 
 be born, whose evil genius might destroy the 
 whole. Unconscious of the cloud that was 
 gathering, boy and man, maid and matron, 
 toiled cheerfully on, building and beautifying 
 their homes, and preparing them for Duncan 
 
 46
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and Bragg; as the happy birds build their 
 nests and nurse their nestlings in frolic and 
 song, heeding not the approaching hawk, 
 who watches them from his eyrie and in his 
 own time descends and devours all in a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 Near the eastern boundary of this tract of 
 land there was a beautiful village, which we 
 will call Littletown. It nestled in the bosom 
 of a green oak forest, on the sunset shore of 
 a lovely lake. Within its bounds were gently 
 rising hills, pleasant knolls, valleys and 
 meadow lands; and through its verdant vales 
 rippled pure and ever-flowing rills, and from 
 its hillsides, here and there, cool, constant 
 springs gushed forth their grateful streams, 
 inviting all to slake their thirst. Self-quar- 
 ried rocks lay loosely on the earth around, or 
 peeped in myriads from beneath the soil, 
 shaped by the God of nature for the builder's 
 hand, that all who wished might come and 
 build a home. 
 
 Spring came and clad its hills and vales in 
 green and filled its woods and fields with 
 choicest flowers, which bloomed unfilled, un- 
 asked, and with their fragrance filled the 
 
 47
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 bracing air, and by their beauty taught the 
 world to love. 
 
 Then Summer came, and made the mead- 
 ows red with berries, which all might freely 
 pick and still enough be left to pay the boun- 
 teous earth for its delicious fruit. The stalks 
 of ripening grain, in massy phalanx stood, 
 and bent their golden heads, reared from the 
 earth with just sufficient toil to sweeten the 
 owner's taste. And blackberries ripened on 
 the heath-girt vales and bushy slopes, as free 
 as air, as plentiful as heart could wish. 
 
 And Autumn came, and painted woods and 
 fields in golden hues, and nuts in copious 
 showers fell from its trees and bushes brown. 
 
 Then Winter came, not harsh, but mild, 
 when peace, rest, joy, and social life were 
 clustered round the crackling grate, where 
 love, by stories, games and friendly chats, 
 with mirth and music could while away the 
 fleeting hours. And just as all were tired of 
 Winter's reign, fresh as the morning's dawn, 
 young Spring broke forth again, and the 
 heart leaped gladly while the spring birds 
 sang. 
 
 Thus passed the circling years, seasoned 
 with such sweet variety and change of scene, 
 
 48
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 that none by monotony might tire, and rural 
 life tripped on from youth to age, as the 
 traveler going from clime to clime beguiles 
 his hours away, until his journey ends when 
 he had thought it scarce begun. 
 
 Such was the village and surrounding 
 scenes, that he who looked upon its smiling 
 lake, girt with embowering groves, and filled 
 with sporting fish; who wandered up and 
 down its peaceful streams, and heard its sing- 
 ing birds, and plucked its beauteous flowers, 
 and tilled its fertile soil; who, from the dis- 
 tance, saw its spires arise among the trees, 
 when morning's rosy beams tinted its tops 
 with gold and gilded the curling smoke that 
 upwards from its cottages ascended; who 
 breathed its pure and bracing air and slaked 
 his thirst from out its flowing springs, must 
 from his heart have said : "Omnipotence has 
 done his utmost here to make a beauteous and 
 a happy land. There is no need of want or 
 misery where earth, air, sky, forest and flower 
 combine to bless mankind, and every breeze 
 whispers peace." 
 
 To this delightful village the Fall before, 
 Bragg had tramped in search of food, shel- 
 ter and employment. In such a land of plenty 
 
 49
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and profusion such a search ought not to be 
 in vain. He came there then as a beggar. 
 Necessity couched in rags on every limb, and 
 shivered in the chill air of the Autumn. Hun- 
 ger and want pleaded for food and shelter 
 from every joint and motion of his body. 
 It was after an exceedingly fruitful harvest. 
 The granaries were heaped with mountains 
 of food, the cellars were crammed with deli- 
 cious fruits, and the people were rendering 
 thanks to God for his bounties. It was on 
 a Sabbath evening that Bragg applied at the 
 home of Oliver Cromwell Jinks, a prosperous 
 merchant, and asked for supper, offering to 
 work in payment. Mrs. Jinks replied, "I 
 don't keep hotel, sir." 
 
 "But they will not keep me at the hotel," 
 pleaded Bragg. "I have no money. I am 
 willing to work for you; I will do anything. 
 Please take pity on a poor man who has no 
 place to go, and no friends to help him." 
 
 "Sit down on the step, you lazy, worthless 
 fellow," said she, "and I will see what I can 
 do for you." 
 
 The proud soul of Mrs. Jinks was deeply 
 stirred. She sought out her husband and 
 asked him what to do. His conscience could 
 
 50
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 not bear the idea of encouraging vagrancy by 
 feeding a tramp. Upon reflection he 
 thought it his duty to enforce the law. So he 
 slyly slid out of the back door, found a con- 
 stable, had him arrest Bragg for vagrancy, 
 and take him to jail. There Bragg got food 
 and shelter for the night, and was released 
 the next morning on his promise to leave 
 town at once, which he did. But when the 
 same Henderson Bragg, one fine June morn- 
 ing, dressed in the height of fashion, came in 
 on the stage not to ask for a supper, or a 
 crust of bread, but to ask the people to build 
 a railroad and give it to him no one recog- 
 nized him and his reception was very differ- 
 ent. 
 
 As soon as it was known that the president 
 of the "Sound and Reliable Railroad Com- 
 pany" was at the Globe House, the business 
 men of the place called upon him and vied 
 with each other in offers to help him. He 
 was entreated by many to make his home with 
 them while he remained. As Bragg had be- 
 fore wondered at the niggard cruelty of the 
 people, he was now amazed at their kindness 
 and generosity. With a malicious twinkle in 
 his eye he said to himself: 
 
 51
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "What a contemptible and trifling race are 
 these villagers. When I asked them for a 
 crust of bread they had me jailed, and now 
 they beg me to take their food. But here's 
 the odds, 'tis not the vagrant that they pun- 
 ish, 'tis his clothes. The prince asks for a 
 subsidy of thousands. A million pockets an- 
 swer yes. The tramp asks for a crust and 
 gets a prison. The smallness of the asking 
 makes the crime. Knowing that I was poor 
 they fed me on crusts, buttered with gall. 
 They now think I am rich and offer me sor- 
 ghum, expecting to be paid in honey. I will 
 pay the hypocrites in hypocrisy, the cruel in 
 cruelty, and the selfish in selfishness. Let the 
 gullions who have gaped their mouths so 
 broadly to swallow me, swallow my bait and 
 I will rift the clouds long enough to give 
 them a gleam of their own kind of justice."
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE JINKS FAMILY 
 
 Of all those who resided in this beautiful 
 village the most aristocratic was this Jinks 
 family. It consisted of three persons father, 
 mother and daughter. Oliver Cromwell 
 Jinks was the potentious cognomen of the 
 father. Elizabeth Stuart Jinks, the ponder- 
 ous appellation of the mother. This proud 
 pair were giant offsprings of English soil. 
 They were not monarchs exactly; they were 
 imitations of monarchs. They had all the 
 conceit and arrogance of kings, without a 
 kingdom; all the strut and stiffness of nobil- 
 ity, without a vassalage. They were fair 
 samples of the excrescences sloughed off by 
 monarchical governments. Born and bred in 
 serfdom, reared in vassalage, and galled by 
 hereditary lords and gentry, they had left 
 England and come to America to help rule 
 it. When they came to Littletown, they tried 
 at once to imitate the conduct of their op- 
 
 53
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 pressors in the old world. Nature had pro- 
 vided them with the insolence, ignorance and 
 conceit necessary, but they lacked authority 
 in law. The people of Littletown looked with 
 laughter and contempt upon their efforts to 
 ape royalty. Nevertheless, Oliver Cromwell 
 assumed the role of dictator, prompter and 
 critic in all the transactions of the village, 
 and Elizabeth Stuart employed herself in ar- 
 ranging the ranks and castes of the people, 
 according to English rules of birth and avo- 
 cation. She claimed to trace the blood in her 
 veins back through several generations of un- 
 known persons to some prominent English- 
 man. They were both conscientious people, 
 but the current of their life blood had been 
 poisoned in youth by the false pride and un- 
 natural condition of English society. 
 
 'Tis the principal curse of monarchy that 
 it engenders the spirt of oppression to such 
 an extent that even slaves are tyrants. The 
 treatment the serf receives from his master 
 he gives to his children, and the frown that 
 bristles upon the brow of the monarch curdles 
 the countenance of every underling down to 
 the very beasts of the field. Cruelty is catch- 
 ing. A cruel man will have a cruel dog. So 
 
 54
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 the dispositions of these two persons were 
 very much unsuited to American society. 
 Their aristrocracy was annoying, but being 
 shoddy, was not dangerous. You plant a 
 melon patch near to a pumpkin patch and the 
 melons will ape the pumpkins, and become 
 coarse, corky, tasteless things, utterly useless 
 as melons and worthless as pumpkins. So 
 these plebeian melons, having grown up by 
 the side of the aristocratic pumpkins of Eng- 
 land thought themselves "some pumpkins," 
 but were not. They had merely lost their na- 
 tional vigor and had become an insipid, 
 squashy growth; of small value as American 
 citizens, and a sort of parody upon nobility. 
 A sweet offset to this unattractive pair was 
 Jennie Jinks, their blooming daughter of 
 twenty years. She was of medium height 
 and in her form both grace and symmetry 
 combined. Note in the rosy east morn's ear- 
 liest kiss, such the warm crimson that bloomed 
 on her cheeks, and when the water-lily is 
 freshest in its bed, see then its pure and 
 creamy tint; such was the hue her neck and 
 forehead wore. And from her fair, full 
 brow, her hair in jetty ringlets backward to 
 her shoulders rolled. And in her eyes fount- 
 
 55
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ains of unshed tears sparkled like stars and 
 a sweet piety lifted her eyeballs like a saint's 
 in prayer, and from the depths of those gray, 
 dreamy orbs, love and compassion looked 
 into the world. And then her mouth, how 
 small and gently curved, just large enough to 
 kiss, and oh! her ruby lips, how tenderly 
 they pouted and promised love. So sweetly 
 they were pursed that one would think Na- 
 ture, in making them, had made a kiss and 
 left it there to tempt mankind. And when 
 she smiled love danced in every dimple in her 
 cheeks and looked from every corner of her 
 eyes. Her step was light as zephyr, her 
 voice was clear and sweet, and when she 
 spoke, as oft she did, of love or sympathy, 
 her hungry hearers in silence drank the honey 
 of her words. In form and voice she seemed 
 an instrument that nature had made and 
 tuned to sing a song of love. Her soul was 
 filled with poetry and her nimble fancy often 
 left the narrow earth, and on imaginary pin- 
 ions soared to uncreated realms. She fed on 
 romance and her soul in rapture hung upon 
 the flowery lines of lovelorn bards, or wan- 
 dered with some fabled hero through his per- 
 ilous exploits, shared all his dangers, pitied 
 
 56
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 all his pains, forgave his errors, admired his 
 courage, worshipped his fidelity and learned 
 to love him as he journeyed on; and as the 
 bard's caprice caused him on flowery or in 
 thorny paths to tread she smiled or wept until 
 the tale was done. In her hours of solitude, 
 her mind pictured a little home where one 
 who loved her more than life might share 
 with her a love as true as heaven, as shoreless 
 as eternity. This had been her dream from 
 early girlhood, and as the current of her years 
 rolled on and her nature unfolded like the 
 blooming flower, this dream became more 
 vivid and her heart longed more and more to 
 find the love it panted to bestow. 
 
 She need not have waited long for her love, 
 save for one sentiment 'twas pride, the 
 thistle that grew in paradise. It was her just 
 inheritance ; she had nursed it from her moth- 
 er's breast; she had caught it in the shadow 
 of a throne. This pride caused her to hope 
 she might wed a titled hero, and in her 
 dreams of bliss the brawny hands and 
 swarthy faces of the young men of Littletown 
 were not seen. But, while lovers are plenty, 
 heroes are scarce, and wearying at last in 
 
 57
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 waiting, her heart began to cling to less ro- 
 mantic forms and features. 
 
 The pompous manners of Oliver Crom- 
 well Jinks made him unpopular, and his trade 
 dwindled, until he could no longer afford a 
 clerk in the store ; so, when he went home to 
 meals, or had an errand out, he required Jen- 
 nie to stay in the store for him. He and Mrs. 
 Jinks had many discussions before they had 
 concluded that it would be proper to have 
 Jennie perform such service. Finally, they 
 settled the matter by deciding that, while it 
 would be disgraceful for her to do such 
 work for another, yet as Oliver Cromwell 
 Jinks imparted his own nobility to his busi- 
 ness, it was no disgrace for anyone to help 
 him. Accordingly, Jennie was very fre- 
 quently at the store, engaged in looking after 
 her father's interests while he was away. 
 
 On one very rainy and disagreeable after- 
 noon in the early spring, while Jennie was 
 thus engaged, there came into the store, to 
 get out of the rain, a country lad, by the name 
 of Harry Hawkins. He was the only son 
 of Mary Hawkins. His father had died 
 when he was an infant and he had been sup- 
 ported by the toil and frugality of the mother 
 
 58
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 until he was able to assist In supplying their 
 humble wants. They lived in a snug little 
 cottage on a small farm near the village. In- 
 ured to toil from childhood, and exposed to 
 extremes of heat and cold, Harry had ac- 
 quired, at the age of twenty-two, a strong, 
 well-knit frame and a most robust health. 
 He had light hair, blue eyes, and the ruddy, 
 but brawny, complexion of tan and freckles, 
 such as the sun and wind of western climes 
 produce. He had arrived at that period 
 when a young man appears the most awkward 
 and ungainly, for he then has the form of a 
 man, but the mind of a boy. There was little 
 in Harry that differed from ordinary country 
 lads, except the reflective appearance of his 
 face. A somewhat serious and studious ex- 
 pression peered from his eyes and wrinkled 
 on his forehead. What education he pos- 
 sessed he had acquired winters in the district 
 school, and studying by the fireside at home. 
 Early in youth he had caught an ambition to 
 be a learned man, and while others spent their 
 leisure hours attending parties and balls, or 
 going to town, and chatting on the street cor- 
 ners, Harry was with his books, greedily 
 drinking In knowledge on 'som new subject. 
 
 59
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 It had been the steadfast hope of his mother 
 that he would take to the farm, work it and 
 make a home for her when she was able to 
 work no longer. " His disposition of a book- 
 worm troubled her, and though he always 
 worked well, yet there was an abstracted ex- 
 pression on his face, and sometimes she would 
 hear him muttering to himself when alone, 
 and in these mutterings he never mentioned 
 cattle, corn, or wheat, but seemed to be ab- 
 sorbed upon topics wholly foreign to the 
 farm. He lived not in the present, but in the 
 future. 
 
 He had often been down to the store be- 
 fore and had watched Jennie at her work. 
 He had noted how patiently she had answered 
 the thousand questions of the five-cent cus- 
 tomer; and took down and unrolled a hun- 
 dred bolts of calico, and unfurled several rods 
 of ribbon, as she listened to the monotonous 
 comments of the old lady who finally went 
 away, saying she would think it over before 
 she bought. 
 
 It was a dull day in the mercantile trade. 
 No customers were in. Mr. Jinks was out. 
 Harry and Jennie had often spoken before, 
 but that day they had nothing to do but to 
 
 60
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 talk to each other. Oh! that I knew some 
 tender tongue, some language liquid as the 
 oil of rose, whose every word is perfume, 
 and would slip from lips as gently as the dew 
 descends, as soft as lover's sighs, that I might 
 tell how love was born, and bound in one 
 these two young hearts. I see them talking 
 there. At first they speak of common things, 
 matters of little interest and in a formal way, 
 as if abashed to think that they should speak 
 at all. The eyes of each soon lose the cold, 
 retiring glance, and gleam with interest, as 
 the little words, like carrier doves, pass back 
 and forth between them, carrying a thread 
 invisible to weave in one their hearts and 
 lives. The hours fly by unheeded. They 
 cease to talk about the world, and now speak 
 of themselves, their lives, their aspirations, 
 joys and sorrows, and then of things they 
 love. Their eyes grow brighter and their 
 tones lower and more tender as unconsciously 
 they draw nearer together. They are speak- 
 ing of friendship. I hear her tell in accents 
 sweet and melting as music on the midnight 
 waters, with lips rosy as the blushing sunset, 
 which almost tremble as they speak, of how 
 she has longed for friendship in the past; 
 
 61
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 how her soul has yearned for someone to con- 
 fide in and tell her joys and sorrows who 
 would be dear and true to her. I see his eye- 
 lids quiver and the joy he feels reflected in 
 his eyes as he approaches and grasps her 
 hand, saying : "Oh ! Jennie, let me be that 
 friend. I have so longed for the friendship, 
 for the love, of such a dear, good girl as you, 
 but I dared not speak before." 
 
 She did not answer, but turned away her 
 head. He stood and held her hand in his, 
 and when he felt it grasp his closer and closer 
 he asked her for a kiss. She seemed to hesi- 
 tate and tremble for a moment, between love 
 and fear; he felt her hand quiver, but she 
 spoke not. All at once she turned her blush- 
 ing face towards him and he gladly clasped 
 her in his arms, their trembling lips meeting 
 in a shower of quick, passionate kisses, mixed 
 with tender sighs. As the parched earth de- 
 vours the refreshing rain as the hungry 
 babe eagerly drains the mother's breast so 
 their thirsty souls drank in each other's love. 
 
 How long they thus remained need not be 
 told. We have followed them into the in- 
 extricable labyrinth of love. Let us leave 
 them in their joy. At the morning's dawn, 
 
 62
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 they knew each other only as common 
 friends ; when night came the maiden breathed 
 a new prayer to heaven. 'Twas for the 
 farmer lad whose life had touched hers. And, 
 miles away, in a little cottage among the trees, 
 the farmer lad dreamed of the sweet curly- 
 haired English girl, who had nestled on his 
 breast.
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 RAILROAD BUILDING 
 
 On the next day after his arrival Bragg 
 began on his railroad scheme. He decided 
 at first, to see some lawyer who was well ac- 
 quainted and could advise him how to pro- 
 ceed. As he started down the street he saw 
 an old weather-beaten sign hanging out from 
 a plain wooden building, bearing on either 
 side the inscription, "Enoch Foghorn, Law- 
 yer and Notary Public." 
 
 "That sign," mused Bragg, "has hung 
 there many a year. The owner is undoubt- 
 edly an old resident and poor. I will go in." 
 When he entered he found Enoch Foghorn 
 seated at his desk. 
 
 Foghorn was about fifty years old, slender 
 and scrawny. He had a hawkbill nose, a 
 grim solemn face and coarse dark hair mixed 
 with gray. His eyes were black and very 
 piercing in their gaze, which was stern and 
 critical. He slightly curved his upper lip 
 
 64
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 when speaking, so as to show his teeth. He 
 was by nature plain, blunt and sarcastic. 
 Spurning anything like hypocrisy he loved to 
 unmask a hypocrite and lash his naked ugli- 
 ness. He possessed much intellectual abil- 
 ity, legal learning, and a high moral char- 
 acter, but had not been very successful at 
 the bar. He scorned to smile and play the 
 hypocrite. He lacked the ability to slime 
 a fool over with flattery and then swallow 
 him. Thus it is in law. Smiling hypocrisy 
 often sits enthroned upon the bench, while 
 honor pleads in vain for justice at the bar. 
 
 "Is this Mr. Foghorn?" asked Bragg, ad- 
 dressing the occupant of the desk. 
 
 "What do you want?" answered Fog- 
 horn. 
 
 "When you have leisure, I wish to talk 
 with you." 
 
 "Tell me what you want and I will tell 
 you whether you can talk to me about it or 
 not," was the curt reply of Foghorn. 
 
 Bragg was a little astonished to find such 
 dignity and importance in a man so poorly 
 surrounded and was somewhat disconcerted 
 at this blunt reply, but soon rallied again. 
 
 "I am the President of the Sound and Re- 
 
 65
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 liable Railroad Company," said he some- 
 what pompously. 
 
 "Where is that road?" asked Foghorn. 
 
 "It is not built yet, but I will show you 
 where we are going to build it," said Bragg, 
 as he pulled a map out of his pocket and be- 
 gan to open it. 
 
 "You are president of this paper railroad. 
 What do you want of me?" demanded Fog- 
 horn. 
 
 "I want you to assist me in building it," 
 replied Bragg in most polite and persuasive 
 tones. 
 
 "I'm not a railroad builder. This is a 
 law office," responded Foghorn. 
 
 "You don't understand me. I want you 
 to use your influence with the people to get 
 them to take stock and aid in building the 
 road. I am willing to pay for it," said Bragg. 
 
 "I don't sell any influence. Good day, 
 sir," answered Foghorn abruptly and began 
 writing. 
 
 Bragg could say no more. He had struck 
 a solid wall of honor and could go no further. 
 He hesitated a moment, then arose and left, 
 very much chagrined. 
 
 66
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 As he passed up the street he noticed a 
 fine brick building on the corner of a block 
 with an ornamental stone front, in which 
 was chiseled over the arched doorway the 
 word "Bank," and farther up the street in 
 the same building there was an ornamental 
 side door, by which there hung a finely flour- 
 ished gilt sign with the words, "Timothy 
 Bronze, banker, lawyer and broker. Money 
 to loan." 
 
 "Here is the place to start," soliloquized 
 Bragg. "What an ass I was to go to a poor 
 man's office, and especially an old one, to 
 help me carry out my scheme. Aged men 
 who possess intelligence and are poor, are 
 generally honest. Such men are of no use 
 to me. That shaving machine, called a 
 bank, sits there in a public place like a spi- 
 der's web, ready to catch those who may 
 saunter in attracted by its fine front and dis- 
 play of mahogany counters; and this Tim- 
 othy Bronze sitting in his private office, like 
 the spider behind the web, comes out and 
 fleeces these foolish human flies when they 
 are once caught. I'll call on him." 
 
 After walking up four short steps, Bragg 
 was in the presence of Timothy Bronze, 
 
 6?
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 who as soon as he saw this prosperous look- 
 ing individual entering, jumped up and 
 grasped him by the hand, at the same time 
 offering him a seat in a cushioned rocker, ap- 
 parently very much delighted to see him. 
 
 Timothy Bronze was a very loosely made, 
 awkward and ungainly creature, and had the 
 appearance of a being that nature had orig- 
 inally started for an idiot, but changed her 
 mind when the job was only half completed. 
 He had red hair, expressionless blue eyes and 
 a freckled face. His mouth was set in slant- 
 wise, one corner extending about an inch 
 farther down on his chin than the other and 
 his lips were as colorless and destitute of 
 expression as a slit in a piece of leather, and 
 moved when he talked as if they were hung 
 on rubber hinges. His spinal column was 
 nearly straight and his stomach and viscera 
 hung as loosely upon it as a sack of waste 
 paper. His legs were loosely jointed and 
 turned up at the bottom with feet that spread 
 out like the mouth of the Mississippi. Yet 
 notwithstanding his ridiculous features, there 
 was something in his appearance that indicat- 
 ed that he had more mental ability than na- 
 ture ordinarily gives her children. He was 
 
 68
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 capable of the most outrageous blunders and 
 the most remarkable inventions. At one time 
 his eyes would stream with tears of pity for 
 the poor and oppressed, at another he would 
 take from the poor man his last shilling and 
 smile with infernal glee as he slid out of his 
 clutches naked into the world. He was such 
 a complete mixture of vice and virtue, piety 
 and profanity, wisdom and folly, that it was 
 difficult to tell which predominatec 1 
 
 A bland smile lit up Timothy's irregular 
 features as he expressed his great pleasure 
 in meeting Bragg. 
 
 "Where have I met you before, Mr. 
 Bragg; were you not in attendance at the last 
 political convention?" 
 
 "No, I think not," said Bragg. "I was 
 then making a tour of the United States." 
 
 "You look so much like an acquaintance of 
 mine that it seems as if we were old friends." 
 
 "I am president of the Sound and Relia- 
 ble Railroad Company of New York City, 
 and I came to get you to help me," said 
 Bragg. 
 
 "I will be only too glad to render you any 
 assistance in my power. But come, let's go 
 
 69
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and take something," said Bronze, his coun- 
 tenance beaming with good nature. 
 
 "Agreed," said Bragg. Whereupon 
 Bronze having adjusted an old slouch hat 
 on the back of his head, escorted the presi- 
 dent of the Sound and Reliable Railroad to 
 a nearby saloon, where they sat down at a 
 table. Bragg had found a congenial spirit 
 in Bronze, and when they both had become 
 sufficiently animated with liquor to be fluent 
 there was practically no limit to the soft soap 
 with which they lathered each other. 
 
 Bronze began : 
 
 "It must be very annoying to you, Mr. 
 Bragg, to leave your palatial home in the 
 great city and submit to the poor entertain- 
 ment of such a little village as this." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Bragg, "I have grown 
 tired of luxury and splendor and I greatly 
 enjoy your beautiful place. I must say I 
 did not hope to meet such very pleasant 
 and intelligent people here. Have you been 
 West long, Mr. Bronze?" 
 
 "But a few years," replied Bronze, "but 
 long enough to appreciate the society of a 
 true gentleman from the East. Oh, I am so 
 
 70
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 glad I met you, Mr. Bragg. Let's have an- 
 other drink." 
 
 After drinking Bronze continued: 
 
 "If I had a place fit to entertain you I 
 would urge you while you remain here, to 
 make your home at my house. My wife is 
 intensely fond of the society of distinguished 
 men. She would be very glad to meet you." 
 
 "I would be only too happy to meet Mrs. 
 Bronze," said Bragg. "Men of intelligence 
 know how to select admirable women. Have 
 you any children, Mr. Bronze?" 
 
 "I have a blooming daughter of sixteen 
 who would be very happy to see you. She 
 worships heroes," said Bronze proudly. 
 Bragg saw he had touched a tender spot and 
 continued : 
 
 "Then you have but one. Isn't it strange, 
 Mr. Bronze, that while fools breed so rapid- 
 ly, men of genius rarely have more than one 
 or two children?" 
 
 "Stranger yet," said Bronze, "that men 
 of the rarest intelligence never marry. I 
 think you said you were unmarried, Mr. 
 Bragg?" 
 
 "I fear I should not long remain so," 
 said Bragg, "were I to be thrown into the
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 society of your daughter, if I may be per- 
 mitted to judge of her beauty and intelligence 
 from her father." 
 
 This last was too much for Bronze. To 
 have it insinuated that he was beautiful 
 moved him deeply, and he leered at Bragg 
 as he said in a somewhat doubtful tone: 
 "Mr. Bragg, I fear you flatter me. It is so 
 natural for great men to overestimate their 
 friends. They imagine in others the qual- 
 ities which they possess themselves." 
 
 And so, like suckers feeding upon each 
 other's blubber, they continued until the ring- 
 ing of the bell called Bragg to the hotel and 
 Bronze to his home. 
 
 Bragg saw that he had found in Bronze 
 a tool fashioned to his purpose, and conclud- 
 ed to engage him to assist in pushing for- 
 ward the railroad enterprise, and after he 
 had eaten he went again to Bronze's office 
 and laid the whole scheme before him, as it 
 had been concocted by Duncan. Bronze 
 eagerly embraced the opportunity to help 
 carry it out. 
 
 "How can we best get the people to grade, 
 bridge and tie the road through this local- 
 ity?" asked Bragg. 
 
 72
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "People, like cattle, go in droves," said 
 Bronze. "Salt the leaders and they all fol- 
 low. If we can get George W. Lyer, editor 
 of the Littletown "Fountain of Truth" and 
 Elder Goodman and a few others, the rest 
 will follow." 
 
 "It will be hard to get Mr. Lyer, I fear," 
 said Bragg 
 
 "No trouble at all," replied Bronze. "He 
 has no shame nor conscience. Just subsidize 
 him, give him a share In the steal." 
 
 "I believe you spoke of a minister Good- 
 man, I think you said. Can we reach him 
 easily?" said Bragg. 
 
 "Easy enough. Tell him the patronage 
 of your railroad will be used in the interest 
 of his political party. He is insane on that 
 subject. He has converted the Church of 
 God into an adder's nest to do homage to 
 political vipers. He has debased the cause 
 of temperance into a hobby horse to carry 
 sots into office. He has swallowed, unassort- 
 ed and unmasticated, every doctrine put forth 
 by his party, and has found Scripture to jus- 
 tify every robbery its leaders have commit- 
 ted. Tf you want a man to forge the name 
 
 73 '
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 of Jesus Christ to documents fetid with fraud 
 and rank with iniquity, call on him." 
 
 "So you think these can be easily secured. 
 Do you know of anyone in the community 
 who would be likely to work against us and 
 give us trouble?" queried Bragg. 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Bronze, "there is an aris- 
 tocratic old Englishman who keeps a store 
 over there, he will be almost certain to work 
 against us. He always denounces everything 
 that anyone else originates." 
 
 "Is there any way I can reach him?" ques- 
 tioned Bragg. 
 
 Bronze studied a moment, then finally 
 looked up with a gleeful smile on his face. 
 "Yes, he has one soft side. It's a peculiar 
 one. He has a very pretty daughter who 
 he is very anxious to marry to some person of 
 distinction. If you appear to take a great 
 fancy to her you would have him with you. 
 It's the only way I know of. If you don't 
 make friends with him and his family from 
 the first he will surely balk." 
 
 "Then," said Bragg, "I'll make it my first 
 duty to see this Englishman and his pretty 
 daughter." 
 
 So they talked on until the middle of the 
 
 74
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 afternoon and then Bronze took Bragg over 
 to Jinks' store and introduced him to Oliver 
 Cromwell as the great railroad king from the 
 East, of immense wealth and distinction. 
 He said to Oliver: "Mr. Jinks, I told my 
 friend, the Honorable Henderson Bragg, 
 that he must make haste to get acquainted 
 with the best people of our village and es- 
 pecially did I desire him to meet you, your 
 estimable wife, and lovely daughter." 
 
 Mr. Bragg smiled loftily and said that he 
 was very happy to be acquainted with Mr. 
 Jinks, and hoped that he might soon have 
 the pleasure of meeting his very excellent 
 lady and beautiful daughter; but as he had 
 an appointment within the hour they would 
 be kind enough to excuse him and he would 
 see them again a little later. Mr. Jinks re- 
 monstrated against his going so soon, and 
 insisted that he was urgent in his request that 
 he remain and chat a while. Whereupon 
 Bronze rejoined: 
 
 "After business hours will be time enough. 
 Mr. Bragg is at present in my custody. I 
 intended to have him sup with me to-night, 
 but if you insist upon it I will release him 
 
 75
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 from this engagement and let him go to tea 
 with you." 
 
 "I shall most certainly insist upon it," 
 said Jinks. 
 
 The arrangements were then made, and 
 Bragg and Bronze left the store and went 
 to the office of the "Fountain of Truth." 
 The "Fountain of Truth" was edited by A. 
 Lyer and George Washington Lyer. They 
 were twins. The first was a very lean, slen- 
 der and dark complexioned individual. The 
 second was fat, stout and robust and of a 
 light complexion. The former was a Pres- 
 byterian, the latter a Universalist. The lean 
 one was a Prohibitionist, the fat one in favor 
 of license. The lean man did the collecting, 
 and the fat man the entertaining. They 
 wrote with different pens. What one praised 
 the other blamed. What the first loved, the 
 second hated. They were never unanimous 
 unless they were bribed, and not always then, 
 for sometimes they were hired on opposite 
 sides. Thus we see that the "Fountain of 
 Truth" was a double-barreled weapon. 
 It carried both fire and water, oil and resin, 
 vinegar and honey. It might be used equal- 
 ly well as a fire kindler or fire extinguisher, 
 
 76
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 a lubricator or a brake, a cathartic or an 
 emetic, or it might be used for both at the 
 same time. Being able to take both sides of 
 every question, it was always right and al- 
 ways wrong; unless its editors were both 
 hired upon one side. 
 
 When Bragg and Bronze arrived at the 
 office, they found George Washington Lyer 
 at his desk writing an editorial on the "Mar- 
 tyrs for Truth," and A. Lyer composing a 
 scandal on a female missionary. After be- 
 ing introduced, Bragg stated that he wished 
 to employ the "Fountain of Truth" to flow a 
 little in favor of the Sound and Reliable 
 Railroad Company. 
 
 "All right, all right," said G. W. Lyer. 
 "The 'Fountain of Truth' is at your service, 
 sir. Indicate what you want. We are 
 authors of all kinds of truth. We can make 
 truth on any subject. Will you see a sample, 
 sir? Here is a treatise on the relation be- 
 tween intemperance and seed corn, wherein 
 I prove that the vital principle of seed corn 
 is alcohol, and that man could not live an 
 hour without it, and that prohibition would 
 be such an insult to God Almighty that He 
 would abolish alcohol and kill us all. My 
 
 77
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 brother has just finished a very able editorial 
 showing that over-production produces pov- 
 erty and hard times. We can write anything 
 you want, sir, anything. But we must have 
 pay, sir. We can't run the 'Fountain of 
 Truth' for nothing. If you want me to write 
 an editorial proving you to be a saint and a 
 martyr and your company to be men who 
 give away fortunes for recreation, shell out 
 and the 'Fountain of Truth' shall so spout; 
 if not, sir, the 'Fountain of Truth' will show 
 you to be an impostor, a fraud and a cheat, 
 and your company a band of thieves organ- 
 ized for robbery. The 'Fountain of Truth' 
 never remains silent, sir. It is never dry. 
 It always spouts either gall or honey, either 
 oil or glue." 
 
 Bragg offered to pay him in stock at the 
 rate of a dollar a line. To this the worthy 
 editor responded : 
 
 "The 'Fountain of Truth' is not fed on 
 chaff. Its editors are not asses. They can't 
 be bought by stock in a paper railroad. We 
 must have a share, sir, of any tax which we 
 help to get voted." 
 
 At length they were able to agree and the 
 
 78
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Fountain of Truth" was engaged to advo- 
 cate the scheme. 
 
 This accomplished, the Hon. Henderson 
 Bragg, President of the Sound and Reliable 
 Railroad Company, repaired to the hotel to 
 arrange his toilet for the tea at the Jinks 
 cottage. 
 
 79
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A CLOUD 
 
 We left Jennie and Harry standing in the 
 rosy light of the dawn of first love, dream- 
 ing they had discovered an ocean of bliss out 
 of which they might forever drink. Their 
 thoughts, their hopes and their desires so 
 sweetly blended that had no other hand 
 played discord their lives had passed like a 
 joyous melody. The future seemed to smile 
 and promise heaven. Grief gaped behind 
 that smile. 
 
 When Mrs. Jinks learned that her daugh- 
 ter loved Harry, she burst into a towering 
 passion and swore by the blood of her an- 
 cestry that their associations should immedi- 
 ately cease. She forbade her seeing or speak- 
 ing to Harry again, threatening to disin- 
 herit and turn her out of doors if she dis- 
 obeyed, and in order that they might not 
 meet each other she had Jennie cease clerk- 
 ing in the store. This had the usual result. 
 
 80
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 If you want to weld young lovers together, 
 strive to wedge them apart. By means of 
 this foolish course, many attachments, 
 ephemeral in their character, that might oth- 
 erwise have been dissolved in a short time, 
 have been strengthened into bonds unsever- 
 able. 
 
 Jennie pleaded with her mother in tears 
 and sobs, kissed her and asked her so kindly 
 to just permit her to see Harry once a week, 
 or once a month, just for a little while, and 
 begged her to alter her stern decree, but she 
 firmly refused. Then the tears disappeared 
 and Jennie's pretty eyes snapped as she bit 
 her lip and clenched her little hand and said, 
 "You may be cruel enough to keep me from 
 seeing Harry, but you can't keep me from 
 loving him." 
 
 After the meeting in the store, which we 
 have described, and before Jennie's mother 
 learned of her daughter's love, she and Har- 
 ry had passed many a happy hour together. 
 At the store, while Mr. Jinks was absent, 
 love found many an opportunity, and after 
 his return and Jennie had started home, Har- 
 ry would overtake her and they would stray 
 
 Si
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 from the direct path to the lake, and arm in 
 arm stroll along its sandy beach. 
 
 There grew a tall elm upon the little point 
 of land extending out into the lake. Under 
 this they often sat during the beautiful aft- 
 ernoons of the bright spring days, and 
 drank those draughts of bliss which words 
 cannot describe and none but lovers ever 
 knows. 
 
 But one day Harry came to town at noon 
 and Jennie was not at the store. After much 
 hesitation he found courage to inquire of the 
 young man he found there about her, and 
 he said she would not work there in the fut- 
 ure. 
 
 He was greatly disappointed and thought 
 of going to her house to see her, but on going 
 to the postoffice, he found the following let- 
 ter: 
 
 "DEAR HARRY: 
 
 "Mother knows that I love you. She Is 
 very angry, and says I shall never speak to 
 you again. It is so cruel of her to part us; 
 but she is my mother and maybe I ought to 
 obey her, but I cannot. I was looking at the 
 lovely sunset last night from my window and 
 
 82
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 thinking of you. It seemed as if God was 
 very near, the heavens were so beautiful. I 
 prayed to Him for you, dear Harry, and 
 asked Him to guide us aright and tell me 
 what to do, and He seemed to whisper to 
 my soul the answer, 'Stand by your love 
 whatever comes,' and I shall. You cannot 
 meet me at the store as you used to in the 
 happy past, nor come to the house to see 
 me, but when the clear moonlight evenings 
 come, I will meet you by the tall elm that 
 grows by the lake shore at the end of the 
 path where we have had so many happy 
 times together. I often go down there and 
 sit in the evening and look out on the peace- 
 ful lake and up to the quiet sky, and think of 
 the joyous hours we have spent together and 
 of the happy day when we shall part no 
 more. I will meet you there, dear Harry, 
 every evening that I can. Oh, I long to see 
 you so. 
 
 "Goodbye, dear, 
 
 "YOUR JENNIE." 
 
 This little missive chilled Harry with dis- 
 appointment. He had so longed and waited 
 to go to town, and had counted every minute 
 
 83
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 as it passed to bring the hour when he could 
 see her, and now to find that he must wait 
 for a clear, moonlight evening, which might 
 not occur for a week, made him feel sore and 
 sick at heart. Several afternoons after that 
 he came to town expecting to see Jennie, but 
 just after sunset it clouded up and rained and 
 he had to go home disappointed in the wet 
 and darkness. 
 
 Jennie also watched and waited for a clear, 
 beautiful evening, and when the clouds would 
 bank up and it would rain the very drops 
 seemed to fall upon her heart. 
 
 At last, after a very wet day, along in the 
 afternoon, the clouds cleared away and the 
 air was cool and balmy. The moon was then 
 almost full and Jennie was sitting on the 
 back porch late in the afternoon, watching 
 its pale face barely visible through the leafy 
 trees, and thinking that Harry would surely 
 be in that night, and she would meet him 
 down by the lake, when her mother opened 
 the door and said: 
 
 "Jennie, father has just been up and says 
 that the president of some great railroad is 
 in town and will be here to tea this evening. 
 He is immensely wealthy, and father says he 
 
 84
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 is not married. Go and dress up; I want 
 you to look your prettiest when he comes. 
 He might take a fancy to you; who knows? 
 Then you would be ashamed of your foolish 
 passion for that country gawk." 
 
 "Don't talk so, mother; Harry is a good 
 boy. Everybody likes him. 
 
 "But he is such a cheap, low-bred article 
 that I can't and won't endure him," remarked 
 Mrs. Jinks. "To-night is your opportunity; 
 Mr. Bragg is a great railroad king; think 
 of it ! Who knows but he might take a fancy 
 to you! How everybody would envy us. 
 Daughter, you must do your best." 
 
 "I shall treat him with civility. No honest 
 maiden could do more, whatever she might 
 wish." 
 
 "Honesty !" exclaimed Mrs. Jinks. "Why 
 prate so much of honesty? You need not be 
 dishonest or immodest. Be not too coy, nor 
 seem too fond or yielding. Drink in his 
 words as young birds swallow food, and 
 make him think you deem them oracles. 
 Ogle and sigh and stare with melting gaze. 
 Speak with pursed lips and so recline that 
 he may see your rounded bosom swell and 
 sink and note the gentle outlines of your 
 
 85
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 form. From this he will conclude your heart 
 is his and that you glow with feverish pas- 
 sion, and thus his fertile fancy will set him 
 wild. Such acts as these make poets rave, 
 bring emperors to the feet of peasant girls 
 and cause the gray philosopher to kneel and 
 beg for love." 
 
 "I could not, even if I did not love an- 
 other; but loving Harry so, I cannot even 
 try," said Jennie, as she arose to leave the 
 room. 
 
 When Jennie had entered her own room, 
 she closed the door and sat down, feeling 
 very sad. "Oh, what ugly luck is this," she 
 said. "Why could not this man have come 
 some other evening? I have watched and 
 waited for a clear night to meet Harry, when 
 I could get away without being noticed or 
 suspected, and night after night have been 
 disappointed 'til my heart is sore with wait- 
 ing, and now, to-night, which will be the 
 first bright, clear evening since I wrote to 
 Harry, this man had to be invited here to 
 supper, and I must stay and entertain him. 
 Oh, how disappointed Harry will be; he'll 
 wonder why I did not come, and maybe he 
 will think I'm sick, or think that I have for- 
 
 86.
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 saken him and never come again ! Oh, dear, 
 dear, dear, my heart is breaking," and she 
 burst into tears. 
 
 After crying a while she felt relieved, 
 arose and dressed herself for tea. And when 
 it was announced that Bragg had arrived she 
 went down to see him. She did not feel like 
 entertaining anyone; in fact, she hated him 
 for coming up that evening. Such was the 
 condition of affairs when Bragg arrived at 
 the Jinks cottage, ostensibly to take tea with 
 the family, but in reality to court Jennie 
 Jinks in the interest of the Sound and Re- 
 liable Railroad scheme. It had been many a 
 year since he had attempted to court the fair, 
 except to ask for food or raiment, and his 
 success then had not been of the best, for 
 they usually slammed the door in his face or 
 gave him scraps and crusts that were hardly 
 fit to eat, with instructions to take them and 
 go. He had studied how to speak with a 
 smile and to beg in gentle tones, but no gen- 
 tility can excuse poverty and rags. But now 
 he was well dressed, and instead of appear- 
 ing as a beggar, came as the president of a 
 railroad company. When Mr. Jinks intro- 
 
 87
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 duced Jennie he took her by the hand and 
 said: 
 
 "Mr. Jinks, I have heard very much 
 spoken in praise of the beauty of your daugh- 
 ter, but she surpasses my highest expecta- 
 tions. You will excuse me, Miss Jinks, for 
 this very blunt compliment, but I was so as- 
 tonished that I could not help it." 
 
 "I do not enjoy flattery, Mr. Bragg," said 
 Jennie blushingly. 
 
 "In that we agree," said Bragg, "for I 
 despise it, too; but truth is not flattery. Be- 
 sides, I could not flatter you ; you are beyond 
 my power to praise, much less to flatter." 
 
 Tea was soon ready and, while at the table, 
 Bragg improved every opportunity to show 
 courtesy to Jennie. He spoke so pleasantly 
 of everything, and was so merry and happy 
 in his demeanor, that his presence really pro- 
 duced an atmosphere of joyousness. Supper 
 over they repaired to the parlor. When all 
 were seated Bragg said: 
 
 "We have just enjoyed a physical feast; 
 now let us feast our souls with melody. Miss 
 Jinks, I have heard very much of your skill 
 in music; will you not favor us with a song?" 
 She hesitated and he continued: "Oh, please
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 do; it will make me so happy." After stat- 
 ing that she could not sing, she took her 
 place at the piano and sang in a very sweet, 
 clear, melting and expressive voice, the song 
 entitled, "Will You Love Me When I'm 
 Old?" Bragg immediately threw himself 
 into harmony with the tune and listened with 
 rapt attention. She became deeper and 
 deeper absorbed with the spirit of the piece 
 as she proceeded, and when she had reached 
 the chorus to the last verse her voice became 
 low and sad, almost painfully sweet, and she 
 seemed to pour her whole soul out in music 
 with the words: 
 
 "Life's morn will soon be waning, 
 And its evening bells be tolled; 
 
 But my heart will know no sadness 
 If you'll love me when I'm old." 
 
 And when she ceased tears stood in 
 Bragg's eyes, and he appeared to be very 
 much moved. Wiping them, he said: "I 
 know it seems very foolish in a man to weep, 
 but I am not used to such music. Mr. Jinks, 
 your daughter sings like an angel. I have 
 heard all the great prima donnas, but I have 
 never heard such melody before. It goes 
 
 89
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 right to the heart and charms the soul with 
 rapture. The sweet voice of your daughter 
 is worth more than all the mines of Colo- 
 rado. I know you love her, but I fear you 
 do not realize what a treasure you possess. 
 She should never know a care or sorrow, and 
 never be permitted to mar her beauty or her 
 voice by toil. She should have the best mu- 
 sical training that the world can afford. She 
 has a grand future before her. But a few 
 years hence, and the whole world will echo 
 praises of her beauty and her melody. I im- 
 agine now I sit in a royal theatre, wherein 
 gallery rises above gallery, and box above 
 box, until the sight is blurred by distance. I 
 see every available space packed with an 
 eager, admiring throng of youth and age, 
 beauty and nobility. Every seat is lined with 
 luxury; every wall is covered with loveliness. 
 Its velvet stage is so surrounded with paint- 
 ings, so hung with tapestry, so ornamented 
 by art and perfumed by flowers, that in the 
 mellow, crimson light shed by a thousand 
 tinted jets, it seems to the ravished senses a 
 paradise of glory. Amid this loveliness 
 there stands this little maid who sang so 
 sweetly now for me. Her graceful form I 
 
 90
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 see, arrayed with softest, choicest silks and 
 lace sprinkled with the richest diamonds. 
 Her little velvet hands and arms are clasped 
 with costliest jewelry. Her pretty raven 
 curls are studded with roses and sparkle with 
 precious gems; and round her neck, which 
 rivals in hue and symmetry the water-lily, 
 there hangs a blazing necklace, glittering like 
 a tiara of stars; but fairer far than roses, 
 silks or diamonds are her lustrous eyes, her 
 ruby lips as she throws out her soul in heav- 
 enly melody. Her audience soars upon the 
 wings of song to bliss. Princes become en- 
 raptured, bards chant praises to her name, 
 and artists to paint her beauty vainly try. All 
 the world profusely showers its love upon 
 her. This is no dream, but a true sketch of 
 what music and beauty have done for many 
 and will do for her." 
 
 Bragg spoke with great earnestness and 
 apparent sincerity. His words chimed so 
 sweetly with the chords of pride and vanity 
 which were strung so highly in the hearts of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jinks, that they were visibly 
 affected, and Jennie's blushing face and tear- 
 ful eyes told that ambition lurked within her 
 breast.
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "What do you think of that, daughter?" 
 interposed Mrs. Jinks, as Mr. Bragg had fin- 
 ished his words of praise. "I always told 
 you that you had a sweet voice." 
 
 "Sweet singer, won't you sing again?" 
 said Bragg, beseechingly. "Select some soft, 
 sweet, sentimental song that calls up mem- 
 ories of other days, of moonlit mossy banks 
 by rippling streams, enchanted groves, where 
 June's first blossoms grow and fill the soft 
 night air with sweetest perfume." 
 
 Jennie was anxious to meet Harry and was 
 looking for an excuse to get away, so she 
 replied: "I do not know such songs, and if 
 I did I am too weary now to sing them. I 
 beg leave to retire." 
 
 "Then, I'll excuse the song," said Bragg. 
 "But do not leave me." The sound of many 
 voices, swelling in a chorus of song, was 
 wafted on the night breeze from a church 
 near by. Bragg inquired the cause and was 
 informed that the Methodists were holding 
 a protracted meeting there. He asked if 
 any of the Jinks family attended, and upon 
 being informed that they often did, he said: 
 "I am very fond indeed of the deep and holy 
 joy which dwells in worshipping congrega- 
 92
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 tions. It seems to fill my soul with new life. 
 I should very much like to go over, Miss 
 Jinks, if you will be so good and kind as to 
 go with me. In the rapture of religious love 
 we could very appropriately finish this very 
 pleasant evening." 
 
 "I'd rather be excused," said Jennie. 
 
 "Why, daughter, the hour's not late," pro- 
 tested Mrs. Jinks. "Mr. Bragg, she is so 
 diffident and unused to men. I fear that you 
 must urge her." 
 
 "I would not for the mines of all the earth 
 bring to that lily skin one rosy blush, were 
 it the blush of shame, but blushing modesty 
 becomes the maiden's face as crimson tints 
 adorn the dawn of day. Miss Jinks, I can- 
 not quite excuse you," said Bragg. 
 
 "Our daughter will not refuse our hon- 
 ored guest," said Mr. Jinks. 
 
 "She'll get her wraps and go. Excuse us 
 for a moment," ejaculated Mrs. Jinks firmly. 
 Thus commanded, Jennie was forced to re- 
 tire with her mother to get ready, and in a 
 few moments afterwards the delighted par- 
 ents saw their daughter walking arm in arm 
 with Mr. Bragg, chatting and smiling as if 
 she had not known a care or sorrow. She 
 
 93
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 told him of her secluded life, and how un- 
 accustomed she was to have a gentleman ac- 
 company her to church. Bragg then said in 
 a very low and tender tone: "Child, you 
 know but little of the wickedness of this 
 world. God forbid that your young heart 
 shall ever see the vice and crime that I have 
 seen, and the temptations I have undergone." 
 This touched her deeply, for nothing tends 
 more to make a woman love a man than to 
 think that he has passed through, terrible 
 temptations and seen a great amount of vice 
 and crime. She answered: "Mr. Bragg, 
 the story of your life must indeed be a very 
 sad and interesting one. I would like to 
 listen to it from your own lips, that I might 
 sympathize with you in all the trials and 
 temptations through which you have passed." 
 
 Bragg replied: "To have the sympathy 
 of such a sweet> pure-hearted girl, would 
 more than recompense with joy for all the 
 sufferings of the past. Some day I will re- 
 late it to you, dear child; you will then un- 
 derstand how grateful I feel to God for his 
 fostering care." 
 
 When they reached the church the meet- 
 ing had been opened and the fever of relig- 
 
 94
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ious excitement was high. A fat Scotch 
 washerwoman, Mrs. Dewey, had just fin- 
 ished pounding out a prayer, which consisted 
 principally in crying, "Glory! Glory! Halle- 
 lujah !" and clapping her hands while she 
 stamped her feet. She was apparently insane 
 with joy, and however ridiculous her conduct 
 was, one could not help feeling happy in see- 
 ing her and wondering at the cause of so 
 much bliss. When Bragg came in, Elder 
 Goodman stepped .down from the pulpit, 
 went to him, and invited him to come and 
 have a seat there, and suggested that Jennie 
 take a place in the choir. Mr. Goodman 
 then stated to the audience that they were 
 fortunate in having with them a dear brother 
 from the East, the Hon. Henderson Bragg, 
 whom they would be glad to hear from. 
 Speaking in church was very new to Bragg, 
 but as Elder Goodman was one of the men 
 Bronze had said it was very necessary to get 
 to aid him, he determined not to refuse. His 
 countenance assumed a very pious aspect as 
 he arose and said: 
 
 "Dear brothers and sisters: I am very 
 thankful of an opportunity to testify to the 
 goodness and mercy of God. I was born 
 
 95
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and bred of godly parents, who taught me 
 the way to salvation. Surrounded by wealth 
 and luxury, I fell into the society of the un- 
 godly, and might have died in sin, but for 
 an accident that arrested my mad career. I 
 was struck with a slung-shot and picked up 
 for dead." 
 
 "Praise God," shouted some mischievous 
 boy in the audience. 
 
 "I lay in a state of unconsciousness for 
 three days. When I came to my senses, I 
 found myself in a close coffin, buried in a 
 grave. I cried frantically for help, and 
 promised God, if he would save my life, I 
 would serve him the rest of my days. It 
 was in the dusk of the evening, and an old 
 man, nearly blind, happened to lose his way 
 home and wandered into the graveyard. He 
 heard my cries for help proceeding out of 
 the ground, and terrified with fear, ap- 
 proached the spot from whence the sounds 
 proceeded. He had nothing to dig with, 
 and I would have died of suffocation had he 
 not accidentally stumbled over a spade which 
 the sexton had forgotten to take home with 
 him. The old man seized the spade and dug 
 me up as soon as the feeble tremblingness of 
 
 96
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 age would permit. Just as I had given up 
 to die, he broke open the lid of my coffin 
 and let in the pure air of heaven. So I was 
 snatched from the very jaws of death by the 
 mercy and goodness of the loving Father." 
 
 He was often interrupted by exclamations 
 of "Praise God!" "Glory to God!" and 
 the like, and was about to proceed to tell 
 how pure and holy he had become since his 
 burial, when Mrs. Dewey got the power and 
 arose frantically with a shout, and threw her 
 arms around his neck and gave him a hug 
 more affectionate than agreeable. It took 
 the combined force of the minister, Bragg 
 and the usher to remove her; and when re- 
 moved she raved with such maniacal frenzy 
 that Bragg had to stop speaking when he 
 least wanted to. While the audience sang 
 "Hold the Fort," the minister and usher 
 carried her out. 
 
 After the singing, Brother Simpkins 
 jumped up and said: 
 
 "Brothers and sisters, we 'ear in the 'oly 
 Scriptures that the flesh his weak. My 'art 
 is 'evy. I must confess that I 'ave been a 
 little too hintimate with Sister 'Igginbottom." 
 "Praise God," shouted Brother Higginbot- 
 
 97
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 torn, piously. Then Mrs. Simpklns, the con- 
 fessor's wife, arose and, amid sobs and tears, 
 said that her flesh was also weak, that she 
 must confess that she had been a little too 
 intimate with Brother Higginbottom. Mr. 
 Simpkins was the only one that seemed sur- 
 prised at this disclosure, and he was in bad 
 shape to complain. Brother and Sister Hig- 
 ginbottom then made their confessions, and 
 the minister and usher returned and the serv- 
 ices continued as usual. 
 
 At the close of the service Bragg took 
 Jennie home, feeding her religious nature, on 
 the way, with stories of what God had done 
 for him. They lingered long at the gate, 
 and he told her that, in all his travels, he 
 had never met a girl that seemed so very 
 near to him as she. After bidding her good- 
 night very tenderly he repaired to the hotel 
 and she to bed he to study over his railroad 
 scheme, while she pondered and dreamed 
 over and over again the events of the last 
 few hours, and built bright palaces of ex- 
 pected joy to spring from her acquaintance 
 with him. Had she forgotten Harry? No; 
 the thoughts of him haunted her like a spec- 
 tre. She asked herself, "Have I done 
 
 98
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 wrong?" Ask yourself, gentle reader, had 
 she? 
 
 Could any one so situated have done oth- 
 erwise? Then, let us not condemn her. Let 
 us, rather, condemn the criminal idiocy of 
 her parents who forced her into this posi- 
 tion. 
 
 After praying to God to guide her aright 
 Jennie went to sleep. She dreamed she was 
 talking to Bragg, his face wore such a sweet 
 angelic smile as he told her how rich and 
 happy he would make her, and what he would 
 do for her father and mother. Then she 
 thought he happened to turn his back, and 
 then she beheld a horrid face which glared 
 upon her with such a fiendish grin that she 
 screamed and awoke. The dream troubled 
 her so that she slept no more that night. 
 
 99
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 JEALOUSY 
 
 Harry had longed and waited so many 
 days for a clear moonlight evening and had 
 come to Littletown so often only to be dis- 
 appointed, that when he awoke in the 
 morning on the day of which we have writ- 
 ten, and found the sky clouded and a rain 
 falling so gently and steadily as if it would 
 continue forever, he felt very sad; but when, 
 in the afternoon, he saw the clouds disappear 
 before a cool and gentle breeze, the burden 
 was lifted from him and hope shone again 
 with the sun. He hurried to get his chores 
 done early, dressed in his best and, with a 
 light heart, went to town. And when the 
 last rays of the setting sun had sparkled 
 across the translucent waters of the silvery 
 lake, Harry was at the appointed place, eag- 
 erly waiting for Jennie. 
 
 At first he waited with happy anticipation, 
 but when she did not come he grew impa- 
 
 100
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 tient; his anxiety became intense and painful. 
 He listened for her footsteps; until his^rain 
 ached and his senses swam, : hoping she would 
 come, but fearing she ^ojulci iiiot; i.;At .last 
 he concluded she would not come. Then the 
 keen tooth of disappointment began to gnaw 
 at his breast. A thousand wiry devils were 
 tugging at his heart strings, and he said: 
 
 "Oh, this waiting, waiting, 'til the heart 
 is sick with disappoinment ! It seems for 
 every moment's bliss I have an hour of pain. 
 Why does she not come? Perhaps she is ill. 
 She would come if she could. 'Tis not her 
 fault. Let me be patient !" 
 
 So he waited until hope had died, and in 
 his despair he slowly wended his way home- 
 ward. He could not bear the idea of going 
 back without seeing her, so he loitered slowly 
 by her home, and looked in at the windows 
 as well as he could from the street. He did 
 not see her. Just then he heard music at 
 the church. They were singing the closing 
 hymn. He thought, "Possibly she is there. 
 I will go over and, if she is, will come home 
 with her. I may see her, after all." 
 
 Then hope revived. He started for the 
 church and arrived as they were having the 
 
 101
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 benediction. He looked in at the door. 
 There* -he saw her;.'. Oh, how happy he was. 
 But : how -fleeting 1 his joy. He heard the 
 ?y^teiic3e:disraj^se4;'"saw;her take her fan and 
 'boot; saw a finely dressed gentleman come 
 up and speak to her with a smile; saw her 
 return the smile; saw her proudly introduce 
 him to her companions; saw her take his arm 
 and go out with him; saw them walking to- 
 wards her home together; heard her sweet 
 voice ring out as they chatted in low accents; 
 saw them linger at the gate; saw him bid 
 her good-night and go. He walked a few 
 steps, then sat down on the sidewalk and 
 buried his face in his hands and said to him- 
 self: 
 
 "Oh, what a fool am I to give my heart to 
 a girl to play with ! How implicitly I loved 
 and trusted her. Oh, God, I never dreamed 
 of this. I builded all my hopes upon her 
 heart and now am hopeless. Oh, how con- 
 fidingly I pinned my faith upon her promises 
 to meet me by the lake. Where are they 
 now? Perhaps she loves me yet, but then 
 she will not love me long. I have a rival. 
 He is rich, I am poor; he is educated, I am 
 not; her parents like him, but hate me. My 
 
 1 02
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 suit is lost. My heart is heavy. Oh, had 
 I never met her. Before I loved, my heart 
 was light; I knew no sorrow; and now I 
 hardly have a peaceful hour. Oh, love, you 
 are the road to grief. By smiles and prom- 
 ises of bliss you win the heart to torture it. 
 I'll love no more. This flower of love which 
 grew so fresh and fair has grown to be a 
 briar with poison thorns. I'll root it from 
 my heart. Oh, could I blot its memory out." 
 
 Thus he bubbled out in words the raging 
 tumult in his breast, and by his resolution 
 felt relieved and started home. 
 
 To those who enter love with all their 
 souls, it is a dangerous sea, with shoals and 
 whirlpools, eddies, hidden rocks and break- 
 ers wild, which chart or map can never give; 
 nor pilot's skill avoid. Love and jealousy 
 are twins. One fair as heaven, the other foul 
 as hell. They live united, share each other's 
 weakness and die at the same time. Who 
 feels the joys of one must know the other's 
 pangs. One plucks the fruit, the other guards 
 the tree. 
 
 So Harry went home, resolving to bury 
 his love, but he could not. The next day he 
 studied the matter over, and finally, late in 
 
 103
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 the afternoon, concluded, as it was fair, that 
 he would go to Littletown again, and if he 
 saw Jennie, perhaps she could explain it all 
 to him. He would go once more. So, time 
 having healed his wounds to some extent, 
 we find Harry starting about sunset, on the 
 same road he had trod the night before, but 
 not with quite the same ardor. 
 
 When Jennie saw the sun set clear, 
 that evening, she thought of her promise to 
 Harry, and was determined to go down to 
 the lake shore to meet him. The events of 
 the last twenty-four hours had somewhat dis- 
 tracted her thoughts; and while Bragg and 
 his words were almost constantly in her 
 mind, yet she loved Harry, and was deter- 
 mined to remain true to him. So, as the 
 evening advanced, and the moon came out 
 bright and full, she got an opportunity to 
 steal away, unobserved by her parents, and 
 started. Silently, cautiously, she crept down 
 the back yard, through the alley in the shad- 
 ows of the trees. The rustle of a leaf star- 
 tled her. Several times she became fright- 
 ened by the barking of a neighbor's dog, or 
 the sudden flight of a bird, and thought of 
 returning, but still pressed on. Then she 
 
 104
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 thought if Harry shouldn't be there, or what 
 if some one should see them together, and 
 mother should find it out. What would she 
 do? But when the thought of the joy of 
 meeting him came to her aid, her courage 
 returned, and when she thought she saw him 
 sitting under the old elm, waiting for her, 
 every fibre of her being was wrought up with 
 the most intense desire and her eyes sparkled 
 with heavenly joy as she flew toward him to 
 embrace him, when, to her great surprise, 
 she saw it was Bragg. He had been out for 
 an evening walk, and feeling a little tired, 
 had sat down under the tree, and was just 
 drinking in the loveliness of the surround- 
 ings, when he saw Jennie rush up to him. 
 Jennie was very much agitated by her mis- 
 take, feeling her conduct had divulged her 
 secret. Bragg saw her embarrassment and 
 said: 
 
 "Good evening, Miss Jinks; you mistook 
 me for another." 
 
 "Yes, I did," answered Jennie. "You 
 look very much like father in the moonlight, 
 but you must excuse me. I must go back." 
 
 "Allow me to return with you," said 
 Bragg, offering her his arm. She took it 
 
 105
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and they slowly walked up the lake shore. 
 "Oh, am I not fortunate to meet you so 
 soon again, and on this glorious eve?" said 
 Bragg, as they proceeded. 
 
 " 'Twas very unexpected on my part," 
 said Jennie, "to find you underneath the elm, 
 where I have spent so many happy hours, 
 musing in solitude." 
 
 "I think you live in a world of memory 
 and imagination, Miss Jinks, do you not?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Bragg, I love dearly to recall 
 the past and imagine the future." 
 
 "In that we are alike," he said, "for my 
 happiest hours are those I spend in memory, 
 living o'er again a very happy past. And 
 now, to-night, my heart o'erflows with joy. 
 The beauteous heavens bend so benignly o'er 
 us, and such a soft, dreamy light falls on this 
 lovely lake, begirt with forest shores, as 
 makes this peaceful spot of earth seem like 
 a fairy land, or an enchanted realm; and you 
 an angel by my side. On wings of love my 
 mind flies back to other days when skies were 
 soft and waters bright, and shores as green 
 and fair as now. On such a night as this I 
 sailed along the bay where Boston looks into 
 the sea. Bathed in the moon's soft light the 
 
 106
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 city slept, encased in ocean's slender arms, 
 and silence reigned, where day had seen a 
 busy mart; and peace reclined embowered 
 where strife had clamored long and loud. 
 Angels of joy, descending, seemed to sit and 
 sing a song of peace on every spire and dome, 
 column and minaret, which learning, love or 
 liberty had raised within this Athens of the 
 west. And from the east where ocean melted 
 into sky, to where the western heavens em- 
 braced the sleeping city, no cloud obscured 
 the azure vault, or shadow fell from the em- 
 pyreal dome, but blessings softly flew to 
 earth on wings of light, from moon and star 
 and every part of heaven. My eyes in rapt- 
 ure viewed the tranquil scene, and my soul 
 o'erflowed with gratitude to God, whose love 
 had done so much for me. While dwelling 
 thus on all this loveliness, I heard a low, sad 
 moan, such as comes from a soul in dire dis- 
 tress and saw an object plunge from a wharf 
 into the sea. I hastened hither in my boat 
 and found, to my surprise, that a fair young 
 girl had tried to take her life. As she arose 
 for the last time, I caught and drew her 
 from old ocean's grasp, half drowned and 
 strangled with its briny wave. By hours of 
 
 107
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 care and nursing she "was brought to con- 
 sciousness, and then I saw how sick at heart 
 she was. 
 
 " 'I wish to die/ said she, 'for earth has 
 naught for me but shame and hate. I loved 
 a viper with an angel's face, who led me on 
 the path called pleasure, down to deepest 
 pain. Betrayed, forsaken, in poverty and 
 despair, I fell into those depths from which 
 no woman e'er can rise. I have no honor, 
 friends, kindred, home or any means to buy 
 a scrap of food. Death only now will take 
 me, and from his arms you cruelly have 
 snatched me. Oh, let me die.' 
 
 "I gazed upon her pale, wan face, so woe- 
 begone and sad, and when I thought how 
 helpless, destitute and poor she was, and I 
 had power to bring her back to virtue, love 
 and life, how glad I was that heaven had 
 thrown her in my way. I knew I ran some 
 risk of reputation, but cared not for that, 
 for when the weak and friendless cry for aid, 
 how sweet it is to be a man. I gave her care 
 and food and hope, showed her the pathway 
 back to right, found her a home among the 
 good and pure, where now she lives in vir- 
 tue, joy and love." 
 
 108
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Jennie listened eagerly as Bragg related 
 this fiction in which he was the saver of life 
 and restorer of virtue, and much admired 
 the man who was so very kind. 
 
 "You have a very sympathetic nature, Mr. 
 Bragg," she said. 
 
 "I love to relieve the suffering and help 
 those who need it," said he. "I think I owe 
 a great debt of gratitude to the sick, af- 
 flicted and needy for the pleasure they give 
 me in allowing me to aid them." 
 
 Thus Bragg talked on, in this sympathetic 
 strain, which fitted so neatly with her tender 
 heart, that she was deeply affected, for he 
 seemed so noble and generous. .They walked 
 up the shore until they came to the road, 
 which they took, and were soon at her fath- 
 er's gate, where they parted. 
 
 On his way to town Harry had lived over 
 in memory the happy times he had spent 
 with Jennie, and his hopes of seeing her in- 
 creased as he neared the village. The night 
 was such a lovely one, she would surely be 
 there waiting fpr him, so he hurried on. 
 When he reached the road leading to the 
 lake he heard her voice ring out clear and 
 sweet in the fresh night air. His heart leaped 
 
 109
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 with joy; he bounded toward the spot, when 
 to his dismay, he discovered that same gen- 
 tleman with her, who, the night before, he 
 had seen escort her home. It was a chilling 
 sight to him to see them walking, arm in arm, 
 and talking so pleasantly to each other. But 
 Harry was not one to show his jealousy. He 
 stepped into the bushes, unobserved by them, 
 'til they had passed and then started home, 
 fully determined never to come to to\vn 
 again on such an errand. To himself, he 
 said: 
 
 "Oh, how deeply I've waded into grief 
 in search of joy. The blind mole that bur- 
 rows in the earth has sense enough to see and 
 shun a dangerous place, or go around a rock. 
 I've struck a rock, now shall I go ahead or 
 go around? I dearly love her. But what of 
 that? Shall I, like the foolish fish, swallow 
 the hook because I love the worm. Oh, can 
 she, who looks so much like the truth, be- 
 come so very false? What is there in a pair 
 of rosy lips that I should throw away the 
 world to get their smiles, which ripple like 
 the lake with every wanton breeze? The 
 world is wide. I'll leave this vain pursuit so 
 fraught with pain, smother my foolish love 
 no
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and take a higher path. Life is too short to 
 waste as woman's slave. I'll be a man. But 
 what is that? To plow, sow, reap, eat, sleep 
 and sweat and finally die and be forgot. Is 
 this the sum of life? My poor old mother's 
 crooked form, bent by the weight of anxious 
 years, her wrinkled, weather-beaten face, 
 show how necessity, want and toil have eaten 
 flesh and marrow up. Shall I 'drudge through 
 the weary years as she has done, and reap, 
 like her, this crop of want and woe?" 
 
 Thus he meditated as he journeyed home. 
 Hitherto he had often thought of leaving the 
 farm. He had now caught a new hope. It 
 swelled his breast and filled his mind with 
 dreams. To follow the footsteps of the 
 noted, good and great he fondly wished. 
 The world was full of woe. Oppression 
 crushed the weak. The rich robbed the poor. 
 The pious were persecuted and the wicked 
 worshipped. This was wrong. He would 
 remedy it. He would rid the world of 
 wrong. He would lighten the load of the 
 toiler, stay the arm of the oppressor, palsy 
 the hand of the robber, and produce a so- 
 ciety which had neither princes nor paupers, 
 millionaires nor beggars. He would do this. 
 
 in
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 How? From ambition's halls the way 
 seemed clear; he would study law. Foghorn 
 of Littletown was his friend. He would 
 enter his office, become a lawyer, win dis- 
 tinction, become powerfu-1; use his talents for 
 the benefit of humanity, reform the world, 
 establish justice, abolish poverty, banish 
 want, destroy disease, extinguish pain, 
 and 
 
 Here he was interrupted by receiving a 
 sudden blow between the eyes. In his reverie 
 he had unwittingly run against a hitching- 
 post near the old homestead gate. 
 
 "Curse the luck," he exclaimed, as he 
 rubbed his face and roared with pain. The 
 beautiful palace of his ambition collapsed in 
 an instant, and he stood on solid ground. 
 Harry found his mother sitting on the porch 
 talking with a neighbor about the crops and 
 the cattle, paying little or no attention to the 
 beautiful moonlight which streamed in 
 through the latticed woodwork around it. 
 He sat down near them. She soon noticed 
 how quiet and thoughtful he was, and sus- 
 pecting that something had occurred, in- 
 quired : 
 
 "What did you see in town, Harry?" 
 
 112
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Nothing particular," he answered. 
 
 "How did you find Jennie?" 
 
 "All right," he replied. 
 
 "Do tell us what is the trouble. I never 
 saw you so quiet before?" 
 
 "I have been thinking," said he, "of quit- 
 ting the farm. I can't bear to think of drudg- 
 ing away my life here, as you have done. I 
 want to be something more than a farmer." 
 
 "Pshaw!" retorted his mother. "I just 
 thought that little frizzy-haired doll would 
 take you away from us, for it is surely none 
 but her that would put such a foolish notion 
 into your head." 
 
 "Jennie has never said a word to me on 
 the subject," replied Harry. "Only, I was 
 thinking, when I came home, that perhaps I 
 might study law and rise in the world as 
 other men have." 
 
 "Don't be a fool, Harry," said she. "I 
 have worked hard all my life and I have 
 earned an honest living, and if you do as 
 well as I have I shall be glad of it. I am 
 getting old and I have looked to you for a 
 support and to run the farm; if you were to 
 leave me now you would make me feel very 
 bad." 
 
 "3
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "You need not fear but that I will take 
 care of you," said Harry, "as long as you 
 live, but I have concluded to try and make 
 my living easier than by farming, and to be 
 in a position where I can do more good to 
 mankind. When I see the suffering and 
 misery in the world, and how hard and cruel 
 is the lot of the toiling millions, and how 
 easy some men make a living and enjoy lux- 
 ury at the expense of the toilers, my heart 
 longs to do something to rescue the over- 
 worked and oppressed from those who plun- 
 der them. I must know something about the 
 laws before I can tell how to improve them." 
 
 Thus the conversation continued, and in 
 the end Mrs. Hawkins reluctantly consented 
 to her son's beginning the study of law. 
 
 114
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A RAILROAD MEETING 
 
 We will now return to the railroad proj- 
 ect. The next issue of the "Fountain of 
 Truth" contained a long article on the pro- 
 posed road, from which we extract the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 "A RAILROAD OR RUIN WHICH? 
 
 "With wildest joy we inform our readers 
 that the representative of a syndicate of co- 
 lossal capitalists now honors our town with 
 his presence. The design of the enormous 
 aggregation of wealth and brains represented 
 by him is to build a double track steel rail- 
 road from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The 
 feeble imagination of man cannot picture, 
 nor his mind grasp, the far-reaching, wide- 
 spread, deep-seated and innumerable advan- 
 tages that would spring from this great com- 
 mercial highway. Nature has made this land 
 a seat for an empire. Its hills are filled 
 with building stones, its groves abound in, 
 
 "5
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 giant oaks, and through its verdant vales the 
 purest water ever flows. A railroad, then, 
 is all we need, and this once built the fac- 
 tories of the world would come to us, and 
 bring vast multitudes with pockets crammed 
 with wealth to make a mighty city." 
 
 The article argued that a railroad would 
 increase the number of personal injuries and 
 thus benefit the doctors, swell the amount of 
 litigation and thus help the lawyers, and make 
 every class happy in its turn. "With a rail- 
 road," said the article, "Littletown would 
 be the center of the earth instead, as now, 
 an ulcer on its surface." It warned the 
 people that, unless encouraged, the syndicate 
 might not decide upon Littletown, but se- 
 lect some other point, and calamities would 
 then come upon their cherished village until 
 it shrank to a desert waste. The article 
 closed by announcing a meeting of the citi- 
 zens of Littletown at the Court House, to 
 take action in the matter. After it came out, 
 anxious squads of men could be seen stand- 
 ing on the streets reading the "Fountain of 
 Truth," and talking earnestly and excitedly 
 with each other. The price of real estate 
 
 116
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 rose enormously. Men who had advertised 
 their property for sale, went out and took 
 down their signs, and began searching for 
 some to buy on credit. Nearly every man 
 who had anything to mortgage, mortgaged 
 it for money to pay part down on purchases. 
 Timothy Bronze opened a real estate office 
 and helped foreign corporations to unload 
 during the boom. The Lyer Brothers owned 
 a swamp of about one hundred acres, which 
 they had received for writing a ten line edi- 
 torial on the honesty of the "Swamp Land 
 Swindle." During the excitement they sold 
 this at a high price to the Baptist church for 
 a graveyard. Elder Goodman was seen, and 
 on the following Sunday he mentioned the 
 railroad project favorably in his sermon. 
 When the night came for the meeting, the 
 whole town was ablaze with excitement. On 
 that evening Bragg and Bronze, with the 
 Lyer Brothers and Elder Goodman, went to 
 the Court House together, and there they 
 found a crowd gathered, anxiously waiting. 
 A. Lyer was made president, and George 
 Washington Lyer, Secretary. The President 
 opened the meeting by calling on the Hon- 
 orable Henderson Bragg to address it. Mr. 
 
 117
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Bragg arose and spoke in slow, measured 
 tones as follows: 
 
 "Ladies and Gentlemen of Littletown: 
 This is the happiest moment of my life. 
 From the high apex of its eastern office, the 
 affluent company which I represent has 
 watched the growth of this, your beauteous 
 town. (Applause.) Our company are pa- 
 triots whose pious lives, high-fraught with 
 holy works, a bounteous God has justly 
 blessed with wealth beyond our greatest wish. 
 Now, with the cup of affluence running over, 
 they seek this pleasant land to see how they 
 can benefit its good inhabitants. A railroad 
 they would build across this continent. Along 
 its track comforts will cluster. Its flying 
 trains will scatter blessings far and wide. 
 Words cannot tell the joys innumerable that 
 will spring spontaneously from this great en- 
 terprise. God made this village for a mighty 
 mart, and by the assistance of this great high- 
 way people will swarm and cluster here like 
 bees around a honey-pot. Its boarded huts 
 and cots of sod to palaces shall be trans- 
 formed. Paupers will to merchant princes 
 rise. On its sandy soil, where now the milk- 
 weed withers in the sun, the marble palaces 
 
 118
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 of its millionaires, with silver minarets and 
 golden domes, shall mock the heavens with 
 man's magnificence. All that, we freely give 
 and only ask a little friendly aid from you. 
 We ask your people only to subscribe for 
 stock that they may share with us the golden 
 showers of profits which this enterprise will 
 yield. What say you, friends?" 
 
 "Never since the Son of God offered the 
 Kingdom of Heaven for faith," ejaculated 
 the Reverend Goodman, piously, "has there 
 been such an offer as this. I'll tell the glad 
 news to all my flock and have them toil as 
 one to aid these noble men." 
 
 There was a moment's pause; then Mr. 
 Jinks arose and said: 
 
 "Let's hear from Timothy Bronze, Esq." 
 
 There came from all quarters of the room 
 the cry for Bronze: "Speech!" "Bronze!" 
 "Timothy Bronze !" 
 
 Timothy Bronze then arose, and having 
 adjusted the set of his coat, began to speak 
 as follows: 
 
 "The magnanimous and unanimous clamor 
 for Timothy Bronze paralyzes his tongue 
 and clogs his gullet with globules of grati- 
 tude." 
 
 119
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Hear! Hear!" ejaculated the Rev. 
 Goodman. 
 
 "Meandering from my meagerness," con- 
 tinued Bronze, "let's mention the mighty ob- 
 ject of this meeting. The womb of time is 
 ripe. Destiny engraves the name of Little- 
 town upon imscratchable granite as the me- 
 tropolis of America. In my mind's eye, I 
 see her pusillanimous basswood hovels trans- 
 mogrify into gilded palaces as spontaneously 
 as the crimson gilded mushroom springs from 
 the rotten stump. Where is the Lamp of 
 Aladdin that manufactures this miracle? 
 Behold! I observe it now. I perceive it 
 crawling like a huge caterpillar along the 
 ridge pole of the horizon. I hear it puffing 
 
 puffing snorting snorting and hie 
 
 hie " 
 
 Here he broke down and commenced 
 coughing vociferously. This was his custom 
 when he struck a higher key than he could 
 carry out. 
 
 "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. It 
 is more blessed to give than receive," was the 
 fervent response of Rev. Goodman. 
 
 G. W. Lyer then spoke : 
 
 "Wind is wind, but it won't build rail- 
 
 120
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 roads. (Cheers.) This gas about the Lord 
 is all right, but it won't run engines. 
 (Cheers.) If you want a railroad lock your 
 jaw and unlock your safe." 
 
 Mr. Bronze felt it his duty to make a few 
 more remarks, so he arose again and said: 
 
 "When the cold pop ferments and fizzles 
 in the bottle then the thirsty philosopher 
 pulls the cork. When the fat clam has grown 
 broad in the back, then the scientific clam 
 catcher peels his shell; the wise bird does 
 not wait for the worm to take wings, but 
 gobbles him where he creeps and swallows 
 him while he squirms. Procrastination is the 
 parent of poverty. Then jerk while the bull- 
 fish bites!" 
 
 Many other speeches were made, urg- 
 ing the people to take stock in the road, and 
 the sentiment of the meeting seemed to be 
 unanimous in favor of it, when Enoch Fog- 
 horn arose and said he desired to ask Mr. 
 Bragg a question. Consent being given, he 
 said: 
 
 "Please give us the addresses of the men 
 who compose this company." 
 
 "Kind friend, that would weary us all, 
 there are so large a number," Bragg replied. 
 
 121
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "I should say so!" ejaculated Mr. Jinks. 
 
 "That is a useless ^uestion," said Good- 
 man. 
 
 "A most incompetent and immaterial in- 
 terrogatory," suggested Bronze. 
 
 "It might weary you," said Foghorn, "but 
 it wouldn't me. What and where is its prop- 
 erty?" 
 
 "Foghorn, your obtrusiveness betokens 
 imbecility," said Bronze. 
 
 "I am not now prepared, my dear Mr. 
 Foghorn, to schedule its enormous assets," 
 said Bragg. "That great labor would be 
 too tedious." 
 
 "Brother Foghorn, do you doubt these 
 honest men?" asked the Rev. Goodman. 
 
 "What do we care if we get our pay," 
 said George W. Lyer. 
 
 "He offers to pay us in stock. If the com- 
 pany is worthless, of what value is its stock?" 
 demanded Foghorn. "If it is 'sound and 
 reliable,' why is it so anxious to dispose of 
 its stock? The association of large and 
 small capitalists is like the association of 
 large and small fish. One class soon swal- 
 lows the other. In the end your subscription 
 will be a gift to a gang of men of whom you 
 
 122
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 know nothing, and judging by their repre- 
 sentative here, they may be the hardest lot 
 on earth." 
 
 While he was speaking he was often in- 
 terrupted by cat-calls, groans and hisses, and 
 was called to order by Bronze and Goodman 
 and others. He was at last compelled to de- 
 sist by the determined sentiment of the meet- 
 ing. When he had ceased, Rev. Goodman 
 offered the following resolution, which was 
 adopted almost unanimously by a rising 
 vote: 
 
 "Resolved, That we deeply regret that 
 one of our citizens should make such an un- 
 warrantable and unjustifiable attack upon the 
 character of the Honorable Henderson 
 Bragg, whom we all regard with the greatest 
 esteem." 
 
 Bragg voted against this resolution, and 
 then arose and said: 
 
 "My dear friends, Foghorn is an honest 
 man; so are you all. I love the brother who 
 asks for proof. I will deluge him with it at 
 the proper time. Now that we are all in 
 harmony, I will call you all my brothers. 
 Prosperity to bursting shall be yours. Dear 
 Brother Goodman, your searching prayers 
 
 123
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 shall bring us riches here on earth and peace 
 hereafter." 
 
 Foghorn then arose and left the hall. 
 
 The subscription book was then opened 
 and nearly everyone subscribed for all the 
 stock he thought he could pay for, and a 
 committee was appointed to solicit subscrip- 
 tions through the adjoining country. 
 
 This committee was selected from the dif- 
 ferent sects, cliques, and clans in the com- 
 munity. Religion was represented by Rev. 
 Goodman of the Methodist church. Infidel- 
 ity by R. Gospel Windysoul, President of 
 the Liberal League. Temperance, by Dr. 
 Waters, the druggist, President of the Tem- 
 perance Reform Club. The liquor interests, 
 by Hans Dummeldeutche, who kept a saloon 
 and brewery. The Irish, by Fagan O' Fla- 
 herty. The Secret Societies, by H. E. Q. 
 Grip. 
 
 The next day after the meeting they met 
 for consultation with Bronze and Bragg at 
 Bronze's office. 
 
 They concluded to divide the work and 
 each labor where he would be likely to do 
 the most good. Bragg assured them that 
 when the road was built its friends should 
 
 124
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 not be forgotten; that in letting contracts the 
 company would reserve the right to reject 
 all bids, and those who might wish to con- 
 tract for work on the road could be rewarded 
 in that way. 
 
 Elder Goodman stated that he had al- 
 ready consulted with the leading men of his 
 church and would see each member thereof 
 personally and deliver a lecture at the church 
 next week on the necessities and advantages 
 of a railroad. 
 
 R. Gospel Windysoul said that he had seen 
 the Vice-President and Secretary of the Lib- 
 eral League and secured their support, and 
 would canvass all the others and see all his 
 friends, and if Brother Goodman lectured at 
 the church next week, he would adjourn the 
 League to meet there and make a few re- 
 marks on the subject, after Brother Good- 
 man's lecture. 
 
 Dr. Waters stated that his whole heart 
 was in the work, and that he would have the 
 matter of taking stock brought up before the 
 Temperance Reform Club at its next meet- 
 ing, at which time he had made arrange- 
 ments to have Mr. Bragg speak, and he 
 would make it his special duty to see every 
 
 125
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 member of the club and exhort them on the 
 subject. 
 
 "Mein friends, Mr. Goodman and Mr. 
 Vaters and Mr. Vindysoul speaks veil," said 
 Mr. Dummeldeutche. "I vill close mein 
 saloon and prewery both de dimes vend 
 Broder Goodman speaks and ven the dem- 
 perance club meets and have mein fel- 
 lows all coom over, and when everybody 
 speaks I speak, too. And every man vat 
 comes to mein saloon I treats him and gets 
 him to take some of dot stock." 
 
 The committee continued their delibera- 
 tions until each member had expressed him- 
 self willing, and assured the others of his co- 
 operation. 
 
 When they had laid out their work, and 
 each had selected his field, they swarmed out 
 of Timothy's office and scattered themselves 
 throughout the community like bees from a 
 hive, to return again and again, laden with 
 the earnings of the people of the country. 
 
 Everything went on swimmingly with 
 Bragg, until the evening came for him to 
 speak before the Temperance Reform Club. 
 To deliver a temperance address was a little 
 new, but as he had prayed with the preachers 
 
 126
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and drank with the drinkers, he was confident 
 that his assurance and dissembling looks 
 would carry him through as a temperance 
 apostle. Besides, he knew that the president 
 and many of the influential members were 
 not total abstainers, so he resolved to try. 
 He would begin on the subject of temperance 
 and tell the story of his life, how wicked he 
 had been, of the crimes he had committed, 
 and then he would tell how he had reformed; 
 and gradually drift from that to the great 
 railroad enterprise in which he was engaged. 
 
 The Littletown Temperance Reform Club 
 was a collection of human wrecks, mental 
 wrecks, moral wrecks, physical wrecks, and 
 financial wrecks, all assembled there for the 
 purpose of reviving for a little time their 
 waning reputation and gilding, by self-praise 
 in public, the defects of their private life. 
 These were associated with, and controlled 
 by, a few professional reformers. 
 
 On the evening of the meeting Bragg 
 started to go to the hall. On the way he 
 slipped into the back door of a saloon and 
 drank a glass of beer. As he was going in 
 he met the grim visage of Enoch Foghorn, 
 who followed and watched him. When he 
 
 127
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 had done drinking he started out, and met 
 the president and secretary of the club com- 
 ing in. They informed him that they had 
 come there to attend a caucus to nominate 
 township officers, that he should go directly 
 to the hall and he would find a large audi- 
 ence waiting, and that they would be there im- 
 mediately. It was a motley crowd. Rev. 
 Goodman was there with his church; Hans 
 Dummeldeutche with his saloon patrons. All 
 classes, conditions and states of cleanliness 
 and degrees of intelligence, races and nation- 
 alities were represented. President Waters, 
 the druggist, soon came in and opened the 
 meeting. Before introducing him he told 
 Bragg he might talk to the club on any sub- 
 ject except politics or religion, that politics 
 included the question of prohibition or license. 
 His reason for this he stated to be that the 
 last speaker was a fanatical prohibitionist, 
 and went so far as to argue that the sale of 
 all kinds of liquors should be prohibited by 
 law, which, if done, would entirely destroy 
 the drug business, "And," continued Dr. Wa- 
 ters, "there is no telling how far the extrava- 
 gant idiot might have gone if Deacon Good- 
 enough hadn't called him to order." With 
 
 128
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 that explanation he introduced Mr. Bragg. 
 Mr. Bragg began: 
 
 "I will tell you how I got to drinking. 
 Years ago, when I was a young man, I was 
 helping grade a railroad down among the 
 Catskill Mountains. I shantied out down 
 there in the wilderness with twenty others. 
 Every one drank, lied, swore and played 
 cards but me. I went to bed many a night 
 and slept on straw between two drunken men, 
 when I was the only sober person in the 
 shanty. They would call me up nearly every 
 hour in the night to get pepper tea and salt 
 and water for them. Sometimes a whip-poor- 
 will would perch himself on the corner of 
 the shanty, in the middle of the night, and 
 pipe his shrill notes, and the way those fel- 
 lows would wake up and swear at him makes 
 me shudder yet. One night the boys were 
 having a terrible spree. Two of the most 
 intoxicated, Frank Ruff and Bill Savage, were 
 determined to fight. They staggered up to 
 each other, clenched and fell of their own 
 weight, each swearing the most fearful oaths 
 that he would kill the other, but both were 
 so drunk and weak that they could not kill 
 a fly with their combined forces." (Tre- 
 
 129
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 mendous applause.) "One day the boss came 
 to me and told me that he was going to cut 
 down my wages fifty cents a day. This 
 startled me, as I had been doing on the aver- 
 age nearly twice as much work as the other 
 men. I thought he reduced my wages be- 
 cause I did not do as the others did, so I went 
 to drinking with the rest, and sure enough he 
 raised my wages again." At this point 
 some one in the audience shouted out: "Tell 
 us where you learned to lie." This remark 
 caused much commotion and the president 
 severely reprimanded the party who made it. 
 Mr. Bragg then continued to narrate a fic- 
 titious story of his life, telling of crimes he 
 had committed while under the influence of 
 liquor. He spoke of his setting fire to a blind 
 asylum, of his cheating an idiot, and final- 
 ly of his trying to rob a hard-shell Baptist 
 contribution box of a missionary fund, four- 
 ing the time he was telling the audience how 
 vicious he had been he was frequently inter- 
 rupted by prolonged applause. He then in- 
 tended to tell the audience how greatly he 
 had reformed, and after he had done that to 
 lay before them the great business he was at 
 present engaged in. But before he had a 
 
 130
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 chance to tell of his reformation he was in- 
 terrupted by Enoch Foghorn, who arose and 
 said he would like to ask Mr. Bragg a ques- 
 tion. The looks of Foghorn worried Bragg. 
 He would rather have been asked a question 
 by any other man on earth. 
 
 "Did you take a drink of beer in the sa- 
 loon before coming to the hall to-night?" 
 asked Foghorn. 
 
 "What if I did?" said Bragg. 
 
 "Nothing," said Foghorn, "only you have 
 told this audience what a bad man you have 
 been. Everybody believes that to be true. 
 Don't pretend you have reformed. I saw 
 you drink there myself." 
 
 Bragg was about to reply when he was 
 prevented by the most stupendous applause 
 that the Littletown club ever knew. As soon 
 as silence came again, Foghorn turned to 
 Bragg with a look that made him wither, 
 and pointing his long, bony finger at him 
 said: 
 
 "How dare you masquerade in virtue's 
 guise? The very name of Temperance is 
 profaned, her power destroyed and influence 
 blasted by the false harangues of all such 
 men as you. Good and true men who are al-
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ways ready to help repentant sinners up the 
 steep ascent to virtue are indisposed to mix 
 with unrepentant knaves." At this point 
 Elder Goodman arose and called Foghorn to 
 order. Foghorn then left Bragg and turned 
 on Goodman with increased fury, saying: 
 
 "Does the sword of truth pierce you, too, 
 that you would interrupt it? You, who took 
 an oath to preach your Master, Jesus Christ, 
 then dragged your ministerial robes into the 
 dirty pool of politics to lift a vile, despised, 
 indicted sot into the chair of State, leading to 
 his and your support the trusting weaklings 
 of your flock, whose hopes of heaven hang 
 on their pastor's words, and who little know 
 how piety and hypocrisy can be mixed. Dare 
 you talk temperance and virtue, you gious 
 fraud?" 
 
 Goodman grew very red in the face while 
 Foghorn was talking and when he had 
 reached this point he started toward him and 
 severaL of his parishioners followed. As 
 they approached Foghorn stood as motion- 
 less and fearless as a stone statue. They 
 strutted up to him and gave him a look of 
 cowardly wrath and began brandishing their 
 arms in a threatening attitude, when a big, 
 
 132
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 strapping son of the soil arose, hitched up 
 his breeches and swaggered toward them 
 carelessly as he drolled out: 
 
 "Here, boys, fair play is the word. I don't 
 propose to see a lot of you fellows pitching 
 onto the old man. If I understand what he 
 has been saying there's a darned sight of 
 truth in it." 
 
 The prospect of a fight had a delirious ef- 
 fect upon the women present, and they all 
 made a stampede for the door. Before they 
 could be quieted they had so crowded each 
 other that part of them were down on the 
 floor and the others were crawling over them. 
 The air was filled with their screams, shouts 
 and groans, the cat-calls of the boys, and 
 the admonitions of the officers not to get 
 excited, that there would be no fighting. See- 
 ing it would be useless to try to continue fur- 
 ther with the meeting the president adjourned 
 it, and did his best to raise the fallen and bind 
 up the broken-boned. Mr. Bragg managed 
 to work out of the jumble and get to his ho- 
 tel, feeling very much discomfited at the 
 result, and inwardly swearing he would nev- 
 er undertake to deliver a temperance address 
 again. 
 
 133
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE INTERVIEW 
 
 The idea of studying for a lawyer hung by 
 Harry constantly from its first conception. 
 He mused on it by day and dreamed of it by 
 night. It quickened his pulse, excited his 
 nerves and almost buried, for the time, the 
 passion which he had for Jennie. He was 
 very anxious to begin, and in a few days aft- 
 er the night that he went to town with light 
 heart and buoyant hope to meet the girl he 
 loved, we find him treading the same read, 
 no less delighted and anxious, but on a far 
 different mission. He now seeks lore in- 
 stead of love. When he returned that night 
 he hugged an old calf-bound book to his 
 breast with some of the feelings of rapture 
 and triumph that he would have felt had he 
 on his last journey found and returned with 
 the girl he loved. Fantastic pictures of fut- 
 ure greatness appeared to his imagination, 
 and he hurried home eager to unravel the 
 
 134
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 mysteries of the book which he looked at 
 again and again as he glided rapidly over 
 the ground. He had made arrangements 
 with Mr. Foghorn by which he could study 
 law under his direction, spending part of the 
 time on the farm and part in the office. When 
 Harry entered the house he found his moth- 
 er's face radiant with glee. Harry's first 
 thought was that she perceived his success 
 and was overjoyed to see him return home 
 with a law book under his arm. And as he 
 came in he exclaimed exultantly: 
 
 "I made it, mother, I made it. I am going 
 to study law under Mr. Foghorn and it will 
 not cost me anything. I know you are glad !" 
 
 "Oh, nonsense," answered his mother. 
 "Something has happened since you went 
 away that puts the law business in the shade." 
 
 "What is that?" inquired Harry. 
 
 "A very rich man has been here," continued 
 his mother. "He is from New York City, 
 and is going to build a railroad through this 
 county and I am going to own a part of it. 
 I have been thinking of what you said about 
 my always working so hard for a living, and 
 I had a chance to buy an interest in the new 
 railroad that they are going to build, and if 
 
 135
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 you will let your crazy ideas of studying law 
 go awhile and help me pay for the stock, we'll 
 get rich in no time." 
 
 "For God's sake," exclaimed Harry in 
 despair, "how much stock did you take, how 
 much of the railroad did you buy?" 
 
 "I only bought $500 worth," she answered, 
 "but I can get some more, I think, if I see 
 them right away. I'll go to town to-morrow 
 and see, if you say so; besides, it's so very 
 profitable, perhaps $500 worth will make us 
 as rich as we will need to be." 
 
 Foghorn had told Harry of the scheme 
 of Bragg and his hirelings, and he was 
 completely stupefied when he learned how 
 his poor old mother had been duped by 
 them. At last he recovered himself and 
 said: 
 
 "Five hundred dollars is surely enough. 
 The whole scheme is a swindle, so Mr. Fog- 
 horn says, and he knows. You have lost just 
 $500 in the matter; don't, for heaven's sake, 
 take any more stock." 
 
 "Why, Harry," said Mrs. Hawkins, "how 
 can you speak so discouragingly of my pur- 
 chase? There is no swindle about it. Rev. 
 Goodman was along and he says it is all right. 
 
 136
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 He has taken a lot of stock himself, and he 
 wouldn't lie about it. And there are the ed- 
 itors of the papers, they have taken three or 
 four times as much as I have and they know 
 what they are doing. So you see, Foghorn is 
 wrong after all." 
 
 The plan had worked well. The most 
 that Harry could do was to induce his mother 
 not to take any more, and she promised finally 
 that she would not. Harry went to bed that 
 night with a heavy heart. He saw that he 
 would have to work on the railroad to pay for 
 the stock which his mother had unwittingly 
 subscribed, in order to save the homestead; 
 but he resolved to overcome all obstacles and 
 not be deterred from his determination to 
 study law, and when he once became a law- 
 yer he would visit with vengeance the 
 swindling railroad projectors. 
 
 Let us now return to Jennie. She had not, 
 as yet, seen Harry since the beginning of her 
 associations with Mr. Bragg; and had often 
 gone to the lake shore and returned in disap- 
 pointment. More than two long weeks had 
 elapsed which had been full of incident. She 
 had seen Bragg almost daily during that 
 period, both on the street and at her home, 
 
 137
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 which he visited very frequently. His polite- 
 ness and kindness; his jolly and frolicsome 
 disposition sometimes, and his sentimental and 
 religious moods at other times; his spright- 
 liness, vivacity and eloquence, boldness and 
 tenderness, and above all the great power and 
 wealth which she supposed he possessed, all 
 combined to make a deep impression upon 
 her. She could not help admiring him. 
 There was such a contrast between him as he 
 appeared to her, and the poor, uncultured, 
 country lad whom she had promised to wecl, 
 that she could not fail to see it. She began 
 to think that possibly she had been a little 
 hasty in falling in love with Harry. Per- 
 haps her mother was right after all. Could 
 she be blamed for thoughts like these ? Bragg 
 was becoming "more and more demonstrative 
 in his affections, and it was easy to see that 
 her beauty and intelligence had aroused at 
 least his passions, and what he had begun in 
 hypocrisy for policy was liable to end in 
 seriousness. She felt that it was not right to 
 receive his attentions while she was engaged 
 to Harry. Possibly Bragg intended matri- 
 mony. If he did, how delightful to become 
 the wife of a great railroad king of unbound- 
 
 138
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ed wealth. To live in a palatial mansion, 
 dress in diamonds, and be surrounded by all 
 the comforts and luxuries which wealth could 
 bring. How proud and happy it would make 
 her parents. The idea was entrancing. And 
 then to marry Harry. The thought of being 
 a farmer's wife, trudging in poverty through 
 the winter's cold and the summer's heat, for 
 the bare necessities of life, seemed cold about 
 her heart. What a contrast. But she loved 
 Harry and had promised to be his wife. What 
 should she do ? Such were the thoughts which 
 agitated Jennie's mind as she took a book and 
 strolled down to the lake shore. It was one 
 of those drowsy summer afternoons when the 
 mind loves to wander away from the busy 
 scenes of life, out into the green fields and 
 waving meadows, and we delight to lie down 
 in some cool shade on the green grass beside' 
 a rippling brook and listen to the rustle of 
 the leaves, or be lulled to sleep by the lazy 
 hum of the insect world. Jennie reclined un- 
 der a tree and tried to read, but her mind 
 would wander away from her book to Harry 
 and Mr. Bragg, and she finally laid it 
 down and looked off on the beautiful lake and 
 up into the blue sky. She sat and watched a 
 
 139
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 little fleecy cloud as It slowly sailed unattend- 
 ed through the azure in the bright sunlight. 
 While she watched, it grew smaller and 
 fainter, until at last it dissolved away and 
 the sky was cloudless. And she wondered if 
 the little trouble that now clouded her exist- 
 ence would some day melt away and like it 
 leave no trace behind. While thus musing 
 she was startled by the approach of Harry 
 Hawkins. He was taking a little walk by the 
 lake shore without expecting to see her, and 
 when he spied her sitting there he was review- 
 ing his lessons, but his old love returned in an 
 instant, and the past was all forgotten. He 
 rushed toward her, expecting she would fly in- 
 to his arms as she had often done. But when 
 she coolly asked him to take a seat beside her, 
 it rather dashed his ardor. Dumb with aston- 
 ishment, he gazed on her until the tears came 
 into his eyes. Jennie saw that her cold de- 
 meanor hurt him, but like many other girls, 
 she rather liked to harass and humiliate her 
 lover, as cats enjoy toying with a mouse after 
 they have caught it, by biting it a little, letting 
 it go, catching it and biting it again and 
 again. 
 
 "Darling, how can you treat me so cold- 
 
 140
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ly?" said Harry. "It is now two long weeks 
 since I saw you last, and I have been longing 
 and waiting to see you that I might again 
 feel your sweet kiss and fond embrace. Oh, 
 darling, I live upon your love. It is my life, 
 the inspiration of my existence. I cannot bear 
 the thought of losing it, and that you should 
 greet me so coldly now almost staggers me. 
 Do tell me what has happened." 
 
 "I am not aware that anything special has 
 occurred," replied Jennie with a somewhat in- 
 different air. "I see no use in being so very 
 fond all the time." 
 
 "You never acted so coldly and indifferent- 
 ly before," said he. "At our last meeting we 
 met and parted as lovers should, and the sweet 
 remembrance of that has filled my heart with 
 joy ever since. I know something has hap- 
 pened and I beseech you, if you have any love 
 for me or any interest in my happiness, to tell 
 me what it is." 
 
 "I have been wanting to see you several 
 days to have a long talk with you," she re- 
 plied. Here she spied her mother coming 
 toward them a little way off, and she suddenly 
 exclaimed, "Oh, here comes mother. We will 
 have to part. Where can I meet you again?" 
 
 141
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Meet me to-morrow afternoon at Mr. 
 Foghorn's office," said Harry. 
 
 To this she agreed, and by that time Mrs. 
 Jinks had arrived. Elizabeth Stuart Jinks 
 had a slim, lean countenance, and a thin, spare 
 frame. Her high cheek bones were crowned 
 by an irregular hectic flush. Her nose was 
 slightly crooked, after the Roman pattern, 
 and its nostrils and tip end were so full of red 
 veins, that they looked as if they might snort 
 fire at any moment. Her air and gait were 
 lofty, and her whole manner indicated her 
 great contempt for Harry, and her high dis- 
 pleasure in thus finding him with her daugh- 
 ter by the lake shore. She gave him a wither- 
 ing glance as she said : 
 
 "Harry Hawkins, what business have you 
 snooping around after my daughter? Why 
 don't you go after some other girl where 
 you are wanted ? Jennie is a lady, and for her 
 to keep company with such a person is ridicu- 
 lous." 
 
 This was too much for Harry. He had a 
 proud spirit and felt the insult keenly. His 
 lips trembled and his eyes darted fire at Mrs. 
 Jinks, as he quickly replied: 
 
 "Jennie is a lady, and in that respect she 
 
 142
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 does not in the least resemble her mother. 
 If she took after you in any way, she would 
 never be troubled by me." 
 
 "You may be sure she does," continued 
 Madam Jinks, "for she is my child, and a 
 part of my flesh and blood. Why don't you 
 leave her alone and go and marry someone 
 else?" 
 
 "Why didn't Mr. Jinks marry someone 
 else?" asked Harry. 
 
 "I wish to the Lord he had," replied Mrs. 
 Jinks, "for then I would have been saved this 
 trouble. I would rather see my daughter laid 
 in the grave than to have her become a mem- 
 ber of your family. To think that my daugh- 
 ter should be so humiliated as to be obliged 
 to recognize your mother as hers would kill 
 me outright." 
 
 To hear his mother thus spoken of hurt 
 him more than what she had said about him- 
 self, and he straightened up to his full height 
 and looked down on her with a scornful and 
 defiant glance as he retorted angrily: 
 
 "Madam, you can say what you please 
 about me, but don't you have the audacity to 
 slander my mother. I will not stand it. My 
 mother is a good woman, and she has worked 
 
 143
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 hard all her life to earn an honest living for 
 herself and me, and I am proud of her, and 
 I do not propose to stand and hear her abused 
 by you or anyone else without. resenting it." 
 
 "Why, Harry," interrupted Jennie, "how 
 can you talk so to my mother?" 
 
 "Excuse me, Jennie," said Harry, cooling 
 down a little. "In my anger I forgot that 
 she is your mother. For your sake I retract 
 what I have said, but she has treated me so 
 shamefully that I can hardly believe that she 
 is your mother." 
 
 "Jennie, come right home with me and let 
 him go off about his business," said Mrs. 
 Jinks as she took her daughter by the arm 
 and led her away. 
 
 When Harry saw mother and daughter dis- 
 appear in the path leading into the leafy 
 woods, disappointment and wrath alternately 
 raged within him. He stood in almost blank 
 amazement for a few moments, until he could 
 determine what to do. He asked himself, 
 how could such a hyena be the mother of such 
 a lamb? Why should such sweet fruit grow 
 on such thorny briars? Strange freak of na- 
 ture that a devil incarnate should give birth 
 to such an angel. 
 
 144
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 On the following day Jennie went to Fog- 
 horn's office to see Harry. While going she 
 met Mr. Bragg. He stopped her and they 
 talked on the sidewalk a few moments. She 
 told him she was in a hurry, and somehow he 
 was curious enough' to take notice of where 
 she went and wondered why she should go to 
 Foghorn's office. Passing a little further on 
 the street, soon afterwards, he met Mrs. 
 Jinks. She had missed Jennie, and fearing 
 she had gone somewhere to meet Harry, had 
 started in pursuit. She inquired of Mr. Bragg 
 if he had seen her, and he told her that he 
 had. seen Jennie go into Foghorn's office 
 a few moments before. She had heard of 
 Harry's entering Foghorn's office to study 
 law, and took in the situation at a glance. 
 She flew into a frenzy of passion, and vowed 
 she would shoot Foghorn and Hawkins and 
 send her daughter to a nunnery before the 
 name of Jinks should be disgraced by a mar- 
 riage with Hawkins. She started at once for 
 Foghorn's office, sawing the air with her 
 clenched fist as she proceeded. 
 
 When Jennie arrived at the office she found 
 Mr. Foghorn alone, busy writing at his desk. 
 Harry had not yet arrived. She was well 
 
 145
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 acquainted with Foghorn, and upon more 
 than one occasion had reason to look upon 
 his as a friend. His straightforward, manly 
 honesty and integrity of purpose caused her 
 to excuse his somewhat rough and stern de- 
 meanor. So, after inquiring for Harry, she 
 related to him an account of her relations with 
 Harry, her parents' displeasure, her associa- 
 tions with Bragg and the wishes of her par- 
 ents, and asked his advice. Foghorn hesi- 
 tated, and then said : 
 
 "Has Harry given you a reason to break 
 your promise to him ?" 
 
 "None, except I fear that I would never 
 be contented as his wife," she answered. 
 
 "Then, your question is, whether you ought 
 to break your engagement with Harry and 
 marry Bragg, if opportunity offers, because 
 of his position and wealth and the desire of 
 your parents," said Foghorn. 
 
 "That is it," she replied. 
 
 "My answer is, no," said he. "Suppose 
 Bragg is rich ; would you trade honor for dis- 
 honor, worth for wealth, purity for power, 
 and then not get them? If Bragg is rich and 
 powerful and you marry him, it does not fol- 
 low that you will be rich and powerful, too. 
 
 146
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Your poverty will not be swallowed up by 
 his splendor, your weakness will not be lost 
 in his power, your insignificance will not be 
 buried by his importance. When the strong 
 and the weak, the rich and the poor, the high 
 and the low live together they live in the re- 
 lation of master and slave. As well enter the 
 close confines of a Turkish harem and serve 
 the beck and nod of a tyrant, or be a prince's 
 mistress and creep to his caprice, as wed a 
 man in wealth and power vastly your supe- 
 rior. If you must serve, 'tis better to serve 
 a peasant than a prince. Your master's wrath 
 will fall the heavier as you are weak and he 
 is powerful. If you must be poor, 'tis better 
 to be poor amid poverty than splendor. Pov- 
 erty looks worse when near the blaze of 
 wealth; that is, supposing Bragg to be rich, 
 which is a dangerous supposition without see- 
 ing his title deeds." 
 
 At this point Harry came in, and with 
 Jennie, retired to the consultation room. She 
 then related to him, amid great professions 
 of affection, the story of her associations with 
 Bragg, and the overtures of her parents, and 
 asked him what she should do. Harry lis- 
 tened patiently, and then said with much emo- 
 
 147
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 tlon: "Jennie, you know what I have to offer, 
 the first love of a boy's heart, and all that I 
 can do or be in the future for your happiness. 
 You know Mr. Bragg and what he has to 
 offer. I release you from the obligation of 
 all the vows and promises you have made. 
 Think over the matter when you are alone 
 and uninfluenced by my presence; pray over 
 it and choose between us. If you choose to 
 link your life with mine, I will do my best to 
 make you happy. If you conclude to go with 
 Mr. Bragg I will never trouble you. Only 
 be true with me, and though it tears my heart 
 out, I will patiently abide by your decision." 
 
 Here he was interrupted by a terrible blus- 
 ter, caused by the entrance of Madam Jinks. 
 Madam Jinks advanced to Foghorn and 
 shook her clenched fist in his face as she said : 
 
 "Oh, you lean, lank lizard. Where is my 
 daughter? You've crept like a slimy snake 
 into the bosom of my family to poison my 
 domestic life. How dare you thus interfere 
 with other people's business? If you ever 
 poke your crab-faced visage into my affairs 
 again, I will macerate and mangle it into 
 mincemeat. If I had a man's strength I 
 would now pound and pummel your dried 
 
 148
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 carcass until it became as tender as new veal. 
 Where is my daughter? I say." 
 
 Mr. Foghorn was writing when she came 
 in. He merely looked up to see who it was, 
 and then kept on writing, apparently paying 
 no regard to what she was saying. After she 
 had emptied the vials of her wrath, and be- 
 gan to get a little faint, he told her to take a 
 seat, and as soon as he had finished the sen- 
 tence he was writing, he would talk with her. 
 When the sentence was done, he wiped his 
 pen, laid it down, took off his spectacles, 
 turned to her coolly and said : 
 
 "Madam, forty years ago, when I began 
 the practice of the law, you were a mewling 
 infant. Born in a country where the first 
 principles of human liberty are unknown, and 
 poisoned in your youth by the foolish fal- 
 lacies of aristocratic robbers, I look with char- 
 ity and pity upon your weak and pointless 
 wrath. Knowing, as I do, how great and 
 earnest a struggle it requires for the mind of 
 a barbarian to breed even an absurdity, I can- 
 not find fault with your erroneous conclusions. 
 You have some energy, else you would not 
 have made such a bluster. It will help you 
 to get along with natural dullness. Study 
 149
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 patiently the laws and constitution of our 
 government, and the current literature of the 
 day, and you will overcome, in a measure, 
 your natural stupidity and the influence of the 
 falsehoods taught you in your youth." 
 
 "My daughter marry a gawkey, a gump !" 
 ejaculated Mrs. Jinks. 
 
 "It is useless," continued Foghorn, "for 
 me to spend my time in talking to you in the 
 present feeble condition of your intellect. 
 Study until you learn the alphabet, and I will 
 then teach you the words. I want it under- 
 stood that I care not for what you have said, 
 but I must request you to leave my office, and 
 not take up my time further." 
 
 Madam Jinks was mad and frantic, but the 
 cool, unruffled manner of Foghorn cowed her. 
 After demanding her daughter again, and 
 making a few threats, she left. Harry and 
 Jennie then came out of the consultation 
 room, and she went home, agreeing to ponder 
 and pray over the matter, and decide what 
 she should do, and let him know the result.
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE PROPOSAL 
 
 Meanwhile the canvass for stockholders 
 for the new railroad went busily on. The 
 stock was considered very valuable, because 
 everybody had it, which was a much better 
 reason to consider it worthless. After every 
 man in the county had pledged himself to 
 take all the stock he could pay for, and a 
 much larger amount was raised than neces- 
 sary to grade, bridge and tie the road, Bronze 
 went to Bragg and said: 
 
 "Now we are ready to start the tax propo- 
 sition. We have done all we can to get the 
 property owners to help us, and we have suc- 
 ceeded well. We have squeezed, fleeced and 
 skinned them by persuasion, and now we must 
 take their kidney lard by compulsion. Those 
 who have no property are anxious to have a 
 railroad, so that they can get work on it, but 
 are unable to take stock. They will be per- 
 fectly willing to vote a tax on the taxpayers.
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 I have had a surveyor estimate that it will 
 cost much more to grade the road than the 
 stock taken, and now we must go to the people 
 through the newspapers, the pulpit, and the 
 rostrum, and tell them that something should 
 be done to raise the required amount, or the 
 project will be abandoned, and they will 
 rather vote a five per cent tax than let it 
 stop." 
 
 "I am afraid that we have exhausted the 
 people already," said Bragg. 
 
 "Oh, no," replied Bronze, "there is no bot- 
 tom to the gullibility of the people." 
 
 Bronze was right. The tax question was 
 agitated successfully. The Lyer Bros, advo- 
 cated it in the "Fountain of Truth." Rev. 
 Goodman prayed and preached for it in the 
 pulpit, and all the committee, who had so 
 far worked to procure stock subscription, 
 worked in their particular spheres for the tax, 
 and the result was an overwhelming majority 
 for it. And so, a five per cent tax was levied 
 on the taxable property. Old men, bent and 
 decrepit by a' career of toil, in life's dreary 
 winter, widows surrounded by orphan chil- 
 dren crying for food, washerwomen in rags, 
 wasted, worn to skin and bone, with despair- 
 
 152
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ing and drooping hearts, ready to die, luna- 
 tics in the asylums, infants in their cradles, 
 the lame, the halt, the blind, the unfortunate, 
 wherever industry, economy or charity had 
 husbanded a cent to provide for a day of mis- 
 fortune, all had to contribute to this railroad 
 building fund. It would be difficult to tell 
 of the enthusiasm with which this tax was 
 voted. It would be hard to relate, and dis- 
 tressing to read, of the groans of anguish and 
 despairing cries of the unfortunate poor, and 
 the oaths and curses of the infuriated rich 
 when the tax was collected and paid. When 
 the road came to be surveyed and located, 
 the Hawkins family met with an additional 
 grief. It was decided that the road should 
 run through the old homestead up the pleas- 
 ant valley, on the south side of the creek, in 
 such a manner as to make it necessary to tear 
 down the dwelling, cut down the trees that 
 adorned the beautiful grass plot around it, 
 and utterly annihilate its beauty and desira- 
 bility as a home. 
 
 When Timothy Bronze came out one day 
 and told Mrs. Hawkins that they would have 
 to run the railroad right through where her 
 residence then stood she told him that no rail- 
 
 153
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 road should run through there while she lived. 
 And when Mr. Bronze said that she would 
 have to sell to the company at their figures, 
 or they would have it appraised and con- 
 demned, she took an ax and invited Timothy 
 tcf leave the premises, which he accordingly 
 did. The next person who appeared was the 
 sheriff, with a jury made to order, from Lit- 
 tletown> who were all either directly or indi- 
 rectly interested in the projected road, and 
 they assessed the damage at $200, and the 
 amount was applied in part payment on the 
 stock subscribed by Mrs. Hawkins. A con- 
 struction company was then organized, in 
 which Timothy Bronze, Rev. Goodman, 
 Hans Dummeldeutche, H. E. Q. Grip, R. 
 Gospel Windysoul, Dr. Waters, the Lyer 
 Bros., and others who had aided in raising 
 the stock, were prominent members, and the 
 Sound and Reliable Railroad Company, 
 through Henderson Bragg, contracted with 
 them to build the road at such figures as would 
 amply pay them, not only for the work, but 
 for what they had done to assist the enter- 
 prise. These men divided up the job and let 
 it to sub-contractors who were irresponsible, 
 and who took the contract at a low rate, ex- 
 
 154
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 pecting not to pay their workmen where they 
 could possibly avoid it, or pay them with or- 
 ders on merchants, and then cheat the mer- 
 chants out of their pay. The extent to which 
 this was done was amazing. When Bragg 
 and Bronze had got everything in good work- 
 ing order in Littletown they went to other 
 towns and counties and workecj up the people, 
 and carried out the scheme in substantially 
 the same manner as in Littletown. Some lit- 
 tle aggravation arose in the matter of the 
 location of the depot. Timothy Bronze 
 owned forty acres of land about three-quarters 
 of a mile from Littletown, and he induced 
 the company to put its depot on his forty, 
 by giving them a handsome slice of it. This 
 diverted the benefits of the railroad to that 
 forty, and, in the future, caused the principal 
 business places to move down onto that tract, 
 and the place where Littletown originally 
 stood was reduced back to agricultural land, 
 thereby rewarding the property holders for 
 their aid in constructing the road. The work 
 of building the railroad finally began in ear- 
 nest and went briskly on. Some of the stock- 
 holders turned their lean backs to the blazing 
 sun and worked on through the long, hot sum- 
 
 155
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 mer days, grading to pay for their stock; 
 others sold or mortgaged their property, and 
 many did both. 
 
 Harry Hawkins left his studies, neglected 
 the farm, and part of the time handled a 
 scraper with a team, and part of the time 
 shoveled gravel, to save the homestead from 
 being sold at a sacrifice to pay for the stock 
 his mother had unwittingly subscribed. Along 
 in the hazy autumn the grading was finished, 
 the bridges were built and the ties were cut 
 and laid ready for the iron. 
 
 We will now return to Jennie. Since the 
 interview in Foghorn's office, she had often 
 met both Mr. Bragg and Harry. Bragg 
 showed her great attention on all occasions, 
 and gave many indications of love, and 
 Harry showed on his face unmistakable signs 
 of the pain she was giving him by her inde- 
 cision, but she still remained undecided. 
 Bragg had not yet proposed, and it looked as 
 if he did not intend to, but was only flirting 
 with her, hence she did not feel like giving 
 up Harry altogether, but chose rather to keep 
 him on the ragged edge between hope and 
 despair, and await further developments. 
 This was cruel to Harry, but circumstances 
 
 156
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 seemed to force it upon her. But when the 
 Autumn came and business began to relax in 
 railroad building, one beautiful afternoon in 
 October, Mr. Bragg drove up with a carriage 
 and invited her to go for a ride. She gladly 
 accepted the invitation, and before she started 
 her mother, who had also become a little tired 
 of Bragg's reticence, admonished her to make 
 him commit himself if possible. It was a 
 lovely day, and just warm enough to be pleas- 
 ant. The broad sun beamed through a light 
 haze, like an immense ball of glittering gold. 
 Its yellow light fell upon a mild and beau- 
 teous scene. The green mantle of the earth 
 had changed to purple and gold, the fair fo- 
 liage blossomed out in its gayest attire, and 
 the landscape looked one immense garden of 
 the loveliest of flowers. As they rode together 
 through the yellow woods they seemed sur- 
 rounded by a perfect paradise of dying glory. 
 Bragg had fed so long upon the fresh air and 
 the wholesome food of the west that this mel- 
 low Autumn filled his soul with a dreamy and 
 fond desire. Nor was Jennie insensible to 
 the charms of the occasion. While they were 
 riding he said: 
 
 "How softly the Autumn sunlight kisses the 
 
 157
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 golden maples, and streams among the leaf- 
 lets. How bright and beautiful are the death 
 robes of the forest. Yet, from its gay colors 
 there reflects to my heart a sweet sadness. 
 Each falling leaflet, in its little circles down- 
 ward, admonishes us of the brevity of life, 
 and there breathes a whisper from out the 
 depths of the forest warning us to cling closer 
 to each other, for time is fleeting and friends 
 must part. Draw near me, darling," he said, 
 as his arm gently encircled her waist, "while 
 I tell you how intensely happy I am to be 
 with you again. For many years my soul, 
 like a little dove, has been searching the earth, 
 longing and yearning for a mate, some dear, 
 sweet friend like you. Dearest, where have 
 you been all these long years that I could not 
 find you before? 'Twas a blessed time that 
 saw us meet. 'Twill be a day most sad when 
 we must part. But all must part. The little 
 leaflets, parted from the bough that gave them 
 birth, lie scattered on the ground. See yon 
 proud oak whose strength defies the storm. 
 Where lies the acorn that did breed that oak, 
 and where the oak that acorn bore? Gone 
 with the mist of vanished shadows. The past 
 is gone, the future may not come, to-day is 
 
 158
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ours. Then, darling, let me kiss your bloom- 
 ing lips before a frost shall come and make 
 them pale." 
 
 Closely he folded her in his arms and 
 kissed her. She slightly resisted. 
 
 "I do not like to think of parting," she 
 said. 
 
 "No, darling, I can not leave you thus," 
 he replied. "The Winter's cold of this inclem- 
 ent clime might chill my pet and steal her 
 loveliness. I'll take thee to some perfumed 
 isle that basks in sunlight, in a southern sea, 
 where Summer blooms eternal, and flowerets 
 never die, and sorrows never come. We'll 
 build our palace in an orange grove close to 
 the shimmering sea, where sweet-voiced birds 
 may come and sing their songs of love. 
 There where the sea breeze wooes the flowery 
 isle and scatters odors far and near, we'll 
 dwell embraced in bliss. And when the matin 
 birds shall greet the dawn and the red sun 
 rolls above the wave we'll rise refreshed from 
 soft and peaceful sleep, and, arm in arm, 
 stroll forth and drink the morning's fragrant 
 breath, to get a relish for our morning feast. 
 We'll dine on choicest viands, and through 
 the long, bright days, we'll sit embowered in 
 
 159
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 shade, and hear the waters murmur, and 
 watch the sunlight dance upon the crested 
 waves. There, far from the cold of northern 
 climes," remote from strife and toil, we'll read 
 and talk of love and days when love was born, 
 from morn till dewy eve. And often, when 
 the moonlight makes a silver sea, our songs 
 of joy shall climb to heaven upon the per- 
 fumed air. We then will have no further 
 thought of pain save that it's past. No wish 
 that is not fully gratified. Oh, darling, will 
 you be my little wife?" 
 
 "I can not tell you now, but I will pray 
 over it, and talk to father and mother, and 
 let you know some day," she said. 
 
 "Oh, let me know my fate to-morrow," he 
 replied. 
 
 "Perhaps to-morrow," she said. 
 
 And thus they chatted on till the afternoon 
 had fled, and in the dusk of evening they re- 
 turned. Shortly after tea that evening, Jen- 
 nie retired to her room to think over the 
 events of the day, and decide what to do. 
 It was no easy task. She could not bear the 
 thought of leaving Harry and giving up all 
 the hopes she had cherished of happiness with 
 him, but her parents' opposition, his poverty, 
 
 160
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 her helplessness, all made the way look dark 
 and drear. 'Twas a lovely sight to see her 
 there struggling with this, the greatest ques- 
 tion of a girl's life, her fair, white forehead 
 bowed upon her hands, her glossy curls hang- 
 ing around her shapely head and neck, and 
 her loosely fitting dress half revealing her 
 graceful form. "What shall I do?" she 
 asked herself, again and again. And seizing 
 a pencil wrote : 
 
 Two sighing lovers seek my hand, 
 One offers me a palace grand, 
 Enshrined within a fairy land; 
 
 And one an humble cot, 
 Where poverty and want and care 
 And toil and solitude prepare 
 For all who choose to enter there, 
 
 A very dreary lot. 
 
 Which shall I choose 
 And which refuse? 
 
 Two paths appear before mine eyes, 
 One leads where flowers of heavenly dyes 
 Look meekly up to smiling skies 
 
 And perfumes fill the air; 
 And one where want and hunger wait 
 
 161
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 To greet the traveler at the gate, 
 'Mid highlands bleak and desolate, 
 And hedges brown and bare. 
 
 Which shall I choose 
 
 And which refuse? 
 
 Two winged vessels catch the breeze, 
 One soon will sail o'er balmy seas 
 To blessed isles where joy and ease 
 
 With love and beauty dwell; 
 The other to a frozen zone, 
 Where icebergs creak and breakers moan 
 'Gainst barren shores of jagged stone, 
 
 A horrid funeral knell. 
 Which shall I choose 
 And which refuse ? 
 
 While she was thus engaged her mother 
 appeared and said: 
 
 "Daughter, did Mr. Bragg propose to- 
 day?" 
 
 "Yes, mother." 
 
 "Did you accept him?" 
 
 "No, mother, I did not. I told him I 
 would give him my answer to-morrow." 
 
 "My child, you should be very happy. 
 Just think of your marrying such a fine, rich 
 
 162
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 gentleman as Mr. Bragg. How jealous all 
 the girls will be, and everyone in Littletown 
 will envy you. You should be thankful to 
 me for keeping you from throwing yourself 
 away upon that Hawkins. You now see how 
 foolish you were." 
 
 "But, mother, I love Harry." 
 
 "Love! Nonsense. You might as well 
 fall in love with an iceberg and freeze in its 
 embrace, as to fall in love with a beggar and 
 starve. Make sure of your own happiness 
 for life, and the ease and comfort of your 
 parents, who have watched over and loved 
 you as their only daughter for so many years. 
 How proud and happy you will make us both 
 by becoming the wife of the great railroad 
 magnate. The idea ! Think how the account 
 will read in the great daily papers, of the 
 gorgeous wedding of the Hon. Henderson 
 Bragg, President of the Sound and Reliable 
 Railroad Company, and Miss Jennie Jinks, 
 the beautiful and accomplished daughter of 
 Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Stuart Jinks, 
 of Littletown. And then the wedding tour. 
 Why, child, it almost sets me wild to think 
 of it. I so long for the happy day. You 
 
 163
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 surely will accept him to please your father 
 and mother." 
 
 "Yes, mother, I will," she said. 
 
 She had been pressed beyond endurance. 
 All the reasons and inducements seemed to be 
 on one side, but her heart still shuddered to 
 think of giving up Harry. She could not 
 tell him of her decision. The next morning 
 when Bragg came, she gave him her answer. 
 He appeared to be very much affected by it. 
 But when she spoke of the arrangements for 
 their marriage he, realizing that she was irt 
 love with another and was being forced into 
 this step by her parents on account of his sup- 
 posed wealth, concluded to put the matter off 
 as long as possible, and so putting his arm 
 around her, softly said: 
 
 "Darling, I have a great secret which, now 
 that you are going to be my wife, I will re- 
 veal to you. A few years ago a very beau- 
 tiful Spanish heiress fell desperately in love 
 with me, and was determined that I should 
 marry her. I did not love her, and so re- 
 fused. She followed me day and night and 
 her presence hung like a black cloud over my 
 existence. At last, one day, she drugged my 
 coffee so as to make me insensible, and while 
 
 164
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 in that condition she paid a justice of the 
 peace to reel me through a marriage cere- 
 mony. Of course, when I came to my senses, 
 I refused to recognize her as my wife, and 
 immediately brought a suit to annul the mar- 
 riage. That suit came up in court the other 
 day and she, failing to appear, was declared 
 in default, and the case is waiting for me to 
 come and testify to the facts, in order to get 
 the decree. When the decree is entered I 
 will return for you." 
 
 Her credulity devoured this yarn, and thus 
 they parted. Did Bragg intend to return and 
 marry Jennie? That is another question. So 
 far he had proceeded only for the purpose of 
 aiding in Duncan's scheme. He saw her 
 guileful parents had framed a net to catch 
 and fleece him of his imaginary wealth, using 
 this girl as their decoy, and there seemed no 
 better way than the one adopted to hold their 
 allegiance until such a time as he could do 
 without the influence of Oliver Cromwell 
 Jinks. If, when she knew the real facts, she 
 should wish to marry him, he doubtless would 
 gladly fulfil his promise. 
 
 The road-bed was now built and the first 
 half of the scheme consummated. It was now 
 
 165
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 necessary that Bragg should leave and Dun- 
 can should appear to engineer the remainder. 
 The people were chagrined at the stoppage 
 of the work on the railroad, but Bragg al- 
 layed their discontent by stating that the iron 
 was coming from England, and fearful storms 
 had delayed it. On the morning of Bragg's 
 departure a large crowd gathered at the hotel. 
 Harry Hawkins was among them, and when 
 he saw Bragg get into the stage and the 
 horses trot away, he felt a great relief. The 
 plague that had so long galled him had gone, 
 and he hoped for the return of the happy 
 days spent with Jennie before Bragg had 
 come. Shortly after that he saw her on the 
 street and went to her. When she saw him 
 she was much flurried, and told him she was 
 in a great hurry. He asked her to set a time 
 and place when he could see her. This she 
 declined to do, wishing to avoid the embar- 
 rassment which it would give her to tell him 
 that she had engaged herself to another. But 
 her parents were not long in making the fact 
 public, and the crushing news so shocked 
 Harry that, for a time, it was feared he would 
 lose his reason. But Bragg had gone, and, 
 
 166
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 if Foghorn's suspicions were true, he might 
 never return, so the young lover still hoped 
 that something might occur to relieve him of 
 his successful rival.
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE LEGISLATURE 
 
 As soon as Bragg arrived in New York, 
 he hurried to the office of John Duncan to 
 make a report of his doings. There he found 
 him alone in his room in deep study on a 
 canal project. He was contriving to get the 
 United States to build a canal and give it to 
 him. Before him, on a table, he had a map 
 of the United States, a biographical sketch 
 of each member of Congress, and of those 
 who were supposed to own or influence them. 
 He had also the laws punishing and defining 
 bribery, and the decision of courts interpret- 
 ing those laws; also a list of the newspapers 
 in the United States and of the dates of hold- 
 ing congressional conventions and senatorial 
 elections. After Bragg had told him of his 
 success in the west, Duncan said: 
 
 "The time has then come for the Sound 
 and Reliable Railroad Company to fail. I 
 have the Skunk Creek and Skeighi Railroad 
 
 168
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Company already organized and the mort- 
 gage ready to sign on the road, as far as 
 built." 
 
 "We must go on with the work imme- 
 diately," replied Bragg, "or the people will 
 lose confidence in me." 
 
 "Just what we want, exactly," said Dun- 
 can. "Let them lose confidence in you, you 
 need not go out again. I will go there and 
 convince them that you are the worst rascal 
 unhung." 
 
 "That will not be difficult to do," answered 
 Bragg. 
 
 "In that way I can convince them that the 
 Sound and Reliable Railroad Company is in- 
 solvent and has been obliged to mortgage the 
 road-bed to put on the engines and iron, and 
 I can then get the land grant from the legis- 
 lature and sell sufficient to finish the road." 
 
 "There is an old lawyer out there in Little- 
 town, by the name of Foghorn; you want to 
 avoid him. He gave me lots of trouble and 
 he may you," said Bragg. 
 
 Thus the conversation continued. A mort- 
 gage was signed by the Sound and Reliable 
 Railroad Company, mortgaging the road 
 built to the Skunk Creek and Skeighi Rail- 
 
 169
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 road Company, to secure five million dollars, 
 to be expended by the last named company in 
 putting on the iron, rolling stock and equip- 
 ments necessary to get the line in operation. 
 The next day Duncan started for Littletown. 
 
 To secure such a public sentiment as would 
 give him a land grant he concluded to arouse 
 the energies of the friends of the road. From 
 what he had heard of Foghorn he concluded 
 that he might be converted into an important 
 tool, so called at his office at once and found 
 him at his desk. Hawkins was also in the 
 room. 
 
 "Are you Mr. Foghorn?" inquired Dun- 
 can. 
 
 "I am," he answered. 
 
 "I wish to consult you relative to a mort- 
 gage that I hold," continued Duncan, as he 
 placed twenty-five dollars on Foghorn's desk. 
 
 "Some time ago a worthless adventurer 
 came out here and induced the people to 
 grade, bridge and tie a railroad and take their 
 pay in stock. His name is Bragg. The com- 
 pany he represented is insolvent, and was 
 never anything but a paper concern." 
 
 'That's just what I told the people," said 
 Foghorn. 
 
 170
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "The Sound and Reliable Railroad Com- 
 pany have mortgaged the road to the Skunk 
 Creek and Skeighi Railroad Company, of 
 which I am president, and I wish to know if 
 I need record the mortgage in every county 
 in which -the road runs," further inquired 
 Duncan. 
 
 "In every county," said Foghorn, "but 
 where is this Bragg now?" 
 
 "Oh, he is in some of the slums of New 
 York City," said Duncan. "He is an un- 
 principled scoundrel." 
 
 "Would you have any objection to my dis- 
 closing these facts to the people?" asked Fog- 
 horn, who felt much elated to find one who 
 knew Bragg and could corroborate the opin- 
 ion he had held. 
 
 "None whatever," said Duncan. 
 
 At length, in their conversation, Duncan 
 grew more familiar. Foghorn related the 
 story of Bragg's conduct. Duncan listened 
 attentively, frequently denounced Bragg as a 
 villain, and agreed to help in bringing him to 
 justice. Both parties concluded that the con- 
 fidence of the people in Bragg should be de- 
 stroyed before that could be done. To ac- 
 complish this the story was industriously cir- 
 
 171
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 culated that Bragg was an impostor; the com- 
 pany he represented a fraud; that it had be- 
 come insolvent, mortgaged the road to an- 
 other company, and it was doubtful whether 
 the road would ever be completed. 
 
 The people along the line had spent so 
 much labor and money in constructing it that 
 they were poorly prepared to meet the cold 
 winter which was now upon them. Many 
 farmers, carried away by the craze, had so 
 neglected their farms to work out the stock 
 taken by them, that they had raised nothing 
 to sell, and but little to eat. Everything was 
 scarce, except railroad stock, and that was as 
 plenty as Autumn leaves. In these hard times 
 many who had spent large sums of money to 
 buy property when it was on the rise, having 
 exhausted their means and credit, were forced 
 by necessity to sell, and as but few had money 
 to buy, property that had risen so rapidly in 
 the Spring, in the Winter was almost worth- 
 less. The scarcity of money had paralyzed 
 business; laboring men were without money 
 or employment, and the merchants who had 
 sold goods on the orders of worthless sub- 
 contractors were nearly bankrupt. These 
 sub-contractors had drawn their pay, repu- 
 
 172
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 diated their orders and left the country. The 
 failure to complete the road had already 
 caused great dissatisfaction, and now that it 
 was circulated that Bragg was an impostor 
 and cheat, and that the road would not be 
 completed, Bronze and Goodman and the 
 Lyer. Bros, and their associates smelled terror 
 in the air. Men spoke in whispers on the 
 streets. There were secret meetings, threats 
 of lynching, and Bragg and his pals were 
 spoken of in very unenviable terms. Some- 
 thing must be done immediately to stay popu- 
 lar discontent. The "Fountain of Truth" 
 did its best to convince the people that Bragg 
 would return and the road would be com- 
 pleted, and in the meantime Duncan was pri- 
 vately consulted by Bronze, Goodman and 
 Bragg's other associates. They begged of 
 him to do no more to break down the confi- 
 dence in Bragg, and plead with him to go 
 ahead and finish the road with all possible 
 speed. Duncan told themvthat Bragg had 
 grossly misrepresented the condition of the 
 country and the road; and the Skunk Creek 
 and Skeighi Railroad Company had been in- 
 duced by these misrepresentations to contract 
 for the completion of the road, and take a 
 
 173
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 mortgage to secure it, but now they would 
 rescind the contract, unless some inducements 
 were offered by the people, and upon being 
 informed that the people had already been 
 bled until they could bleed no longer, he sug- 
 gested that the legislature be induced to make 
 a land grant to aid in completing the road. 
 They readily agreed to this, and promised to 
 do their utmost to secure one. The labors of 
 the Lyer Bros, and Timothy Bronze in behalf 
 of the railroad enterprise had made them in- 
 tensely popular during the Summer, and at 
 the Fall election Bronze had been elected to 
 the State Senate and G. W. Lyer to the House 
 of Representatives. In many other localities, 
 friends of the road had also been elected. 
 When the legislature met at Bigburg that 
 Winter, Duncan was on hand with his plans. 
 The legislature of that State was com- 
 posed of members of two political parties. 
 These parties we will call the "Good Party" 
 and the "Anti-Bad Party." The platform 
 of the "Good Party" contained two planks; 
 the first was an announcement in glowing 
 terms that it was proud of its great honesty 
 and grand achievements. The second plank 
 was a warning to mankind that the "Anti- 
 
 174
 
 A Strange ^Flaw 
 
 Bad Party" was sharpening its teeth and pre- 
 paring to tear in tatters the fabric of govern- 
 ment, and drive liberty and prosperity from 
 the earth. 
 
 The platform of the "Anti-Bad Party" 
 also contained two planks. The first stated 
 that the so-called "Good Party" had invented 
 and patented the art of stealing, had grafted 
 disease and famine on the soil, and was about 
 to install Satan the absolute monarch of the 
 nation. The second plank of the "Anti-Bad 
 Party" stated that it had long been an asylum 
 for virtue, and was now the only harbor 
 where the wrecked and shattered "Ship of 
 State" might be repainted and repaired. 
 
 These great parties had been in existence 
 many years, and each had at various times 
 held supremacy in the State, but no great 
 changes had appeared in the legislation. The 
 membership of these parties changed greatly 
 every year; many of their members died; 
 many new ones came from boys arriving at 
 majority, and from emigration; and many 
 each year changed from one party to the 
 other; and yet the platforms of these two par- 
 ties were never without the two planks re- 
 ferred to, of laudation for self and calumny 
 
 175
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 for each other, and the people never discov- 
 ered the cheat, but were lashed into fury at 
 each successive election, in behalf of one or 
 the other of these parties. 
 
 When the legislature met, the principal 
 topic of discussion was the character of these 
 two parties. Each had its champions, who 
 spent most of their time in delivering calum- 
 nies. Fortunately for Duncan the only lands 
 which the State was conscious of owning, were 
 a few thousand acres of swamp and over- 
 flowed lands in the northwest part, of no great 
 value. Knowing this, he hit upon the plan 
 of framing a bill granting to the Skunk Creek 
 and Skeighi Railroad Company all lands now 
 owned by the State, granted to it by the 
 United States, for the purpose of internal im- 
 provement. This grant would enable him to 
 set up title to all the lands along the line of 
 the railroad, under the flaw discovered by 
 Bragg at Washington. When this bill came 
 up for passage in the Senate, the minds of the 
 legislators were frenzied over the great po- 
 litical differences existing between the two 
 parties. Prior to that the Hon. Horatio 
 Hoggshanks, from Swillville, had introduced 
 a bill to banish moles. This was vigorously 
 
 176
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 opposed by the champions of the "Anti-Bad 
 Party." They claimed that it was a bill 
 wholly in the interest of the "Good Party," 
 for that moles burrowed generally in sandy 
 soil, and the "Good Party" were composed 
 principally of ignorant foreigners who settled 
 on sandy soil. The debate rose high and bit- 
 ter, whereupon the matter was partially com- 
 promised by amending the bill so as to ban- 
 ish gophers also, which burrow in muck soil. 
 While this fever was raging, Mr. Bronze 
 asked permission to put through a mere for- 
 mal matter, and the "Land Grant" bill passed 
 without attention or opposition. 
 
 From the Senate the bill went to the House, 
 and there it was referred to the Committee on 
 Public Lands. The Hon. Augustus Alcott, 
 one of the leaders of the House, was a mem- 
 ber of this committee. He was a broad, 
 square-shouldered man, with blue eyes, red 
 hair and long red whiskers. He was about 
 forty-five years of age and the father of 
 eleven children. He had been unfortunate 
 in his family affairs. His first wife, a short, 
 plump, little blonde, died with dyspepsia ; the 
 second, a tall, slim brunette, sank into her 
 grave with consumption, and his third, a 
 
 177
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 stout, fat Swede girl, was an inmate of the 
 asylum, having become a lunatic on account of 
 great bodily weakness and nervous prostra- 
 tion. Yet, notwithstanding this grief, Mr. 
 Alcott held his head up and possessed great 
 vigor. When not engaged in the affairs of 
 State he occupied his time as a retail dealer 
 in blooded stallions, and as Professor of Eth- 
 ics in the Girls' Reform School. The clerk 
 of this committee was a petite, sprightly 
 lady, named Mary Sweet, whose gentle smile 
 relieved to some extent the dull, monotonous 
 life of the committee man. Being of a sym- 
 pathetic nature she could not but pity Mr. 
 Alcott on account of his hard domestic fate, 
 and in thinking of her, he often reversed her 
 name, and there is no telling to what serene 
 heights of bliss this mutual sympathy might 
 have led, but for another feature. 
 
 The Hon. Ham Lamb was also a member 
 of this committee. He was short and slender. 
 He had large, expressive black eyes. His 
 head was small and round, with a large bald 
 spot extending from the forehead to the 
 crown, fringed on either side with clusters of 
 jetty curls. When he spoke it was in an ex- 
 ceedingly pompous manner. When not di- 
 
 178
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 recting the machinery of government he spent 
 his time cultivating flowers in his hot-house, 
 and raising canary birds. He also had been 
 unfortunate. While walking alone one day, 
 watching an eclipse, he slipped on a cherry 
 stone and broke his right leg, and in order to 
 save his life the surgeon had to amputate it, 
 so the Hon. Ham Lamb was compelled to get 
 about the best he could on a cork limb. Al- 
 .though forty years of age he was still a bach- 
 elor. He had always been a great favorite 
 with the ladies, and many a time had rumor 
 told of his approaching marriage; but his es- 
 thetic nature never found its true affinity. He 
 also had a warm feeling for Mary Sweet, and 
 also reversed her name, and he and the Hon. 
 Augustus Alcott had learned to look upon 
 each other as rivals in that regard where no 
 man loves his rival. And when these states- 
 men met in the presence of Mary, Lamb 
 would ask Alcott how his wife was getting 
 along at the asylum, and Alcott would ask 
 Lamb if the weather affected his cork leg. 
 When one introduced or advocated a measure 
 the other opposed it, and their hatred for each 
 other had great effect upon legislation. 
 
 The ease with which the bill was passed 
 
 179
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 through the Senate led Duncan to anticipate 
 no difficulty in the House. He was sure of 
 the support of G. W. Lyer, and that with the 
 prestige of its having passed the Senate, made 
 him confident of success. He had frequently 
 seen, crossing his legs about the House and 
 Senate, a remarkably well dressed, dudified 
 creature whose lofty look, foreign accent, eye 
 glasses and close fitting attire contrasted very 
 strongly with the slovenly appearance of the 
 ordinary legislator, with his coarse, ill-fitting 
 clothes bedaubed with mud and sprinkled with 
 hay-seed. The name of this dainty individ- 
 ual was J. Urebus Dove. After the passage 
 of the bill through the Senate, Mr. Dove 
 danced up to Duncan and presented his card. 
 
 "Well, sir, what is it?" asked Duncan. 
 
 "Ah, excuse me, my dear fellah, I can as- 
 sist you." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "Ah, pardon me, sir, your bill goes to the 
 House, sir." 
 
 "Will you vote for it?" 
 
 "Oh, I beg your pardon, sir, I am not a 
 member." 
 
 "What do you propose?" 
 
 180
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "To aid you with my influence, sir. Can 
 you comprehend, my dear boy?" 
 
 "Whom can you influence?" 
 
 "Ah, indulge me, while I inform you, sir. 
 I am the power behind the throne, as it were. 
 I control the fellows who control the House." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "I beg your pardon, sir, but that is my 
 source of revenue. Can I serve you?" 
 
 "Do you take me for a fool? Good day," 
 said Duncan, and walked off with disgust to 
 think that he had wasted his time conversing 
 with such a vacant simpleton as this dude. 
 
 When the land grant bill was brought up 
 for consideration before the House Commit- 
 tee on Public Lands, Mr. Duncan was pres- 
 ent, expecting to see its passage recommended 
 without objection. 
 
 Hs was greatly surprised when the Hon. 
 Ham Lamb arose and made a remarkably 
 telling speech against it, denouncing it as a 
 steal, and calling on every honest man to do 
 his utmost to throttle the measure. Duncan 
 saw he had greatly overestimated his chances, 
 and the committee would have probably rec- 
 ommended that the bill "do not pass," but 
 for the Hon. Augustus Alcott, who arose and 
 
 181
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 made a vigorous speech championing the 
 measure. 
 
 Many other members then spoke for and 
 against it, and the matter was submitted to 
 a vote. There were twelve members of the 
 committee and they equally divided upon the 
 question. So two reports were made. One 
 recommended that the bill do pass, signed by 
 six, and one recommended that the bill do 
 not pass, signed by six. 
 
 Duncan now became frightened. Never 
 before in all his experience with legislatures 
 had he met such opposition as this. Discus- 
 sion was almost sure to kill the bill. It would 
 cause delay. Delay would permit investiga- 
 tion and shed light on the plan. The more 
 light, the more danger of defeat. What was 
 to be done? He and G. W. Lyer held many 
 an earnest consultation. The matter had been 
 so much discussed in the committee it would 
 be impossible to avoid discussion in the 
 House, and it looked as though nothing but 
 an absolute purchase of a majority of the 
 House would prevent the defeat of the bill, 
 and the bill being specially set for consider- 
 ation on the third day after it was reported 
 back to the House, the time was too short to 
 
 182
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 negotiate. The Hon. Ham Lamb, who led 
 the opposition, had opposed it with so much 
 zeal that it was dangerous to attempt to buy 
 him. Anxiously and fearfully Duncan await- 
 ed the onset.
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE GREAT DEBATE 
 
 The House of Representatives had one 
 hundred members, who, at the beginning of 
 the session, induced by the powerful influ- 
 ence of Mr. Lamb, had elected A. Wolf 
 speaker. Consequently, Speaker Wolf liked 
 Lamb much better than Alcott, and that gave 
 him a great advantage over his rival. But 
 Speaker Wolf was never consumed by his love 
 for any one. He had an inordinate ambition 
 and desire for elbow room. Cold as a lizard 
 by nature, he would gladly have made the 
 earth tenantless, in order that he might use 
 it all for his grave. When the bill came up 
 for discussion, the hall was packed to its ut- 
 most capacity. The newspapers had notified 
 the world of the great debate that would take 
 place in relation to the bill. 
 
 Mary Sweet was seated in a conspicuous 
 place near the speaker's desk, where she could 
 witness the great contest between her lovers. 
 
 184
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Conscious of great weakness and trembling 
 with fear we approach the great task of nar- 
 rating this wonderful debate. Oh, that we 
 could but portray to the reader in all its vivid 
 reality the fires of genius that were lighted, 
 the barrels of enthusiasm uncorked and the 
 scintillations of wit which illumined that 
 grand occasion ; that we might inspire all with 
 a higher and a more reverent regard for our 
 lawmakers; that they, knowing the sublime 
 source of our laws, would meekly obey them 
 as the mandates of extreme wisdom. We 
 must content ourselves with imperfectly giv- 
 ing the proceedings of that eventful day. At 
 the opening of the session time was given for 
 presenting petitions and introducing bills. 
 The Rev. Jehosophat Freelove presented a 
 petition from the All-Saints Church, at Case- 
 beer, asking that the constitution of the State 
 be repealed and their creed be enacted in its 
 stead. Hon. Peaseley Ceascr presented a pe- 
 tition from the City Council of Skunkslough 
 asking the legislature to legalize one of its 
 ordinances, which provided that no one be 
 permitted to breathe within its corporate lim- 
 its before he had procured a license from its 
 mayor, and making it the duty of its police- 
 
 185
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 men to shut off the wind of all persons at- 
 tempting to violate the ordinance. 
 
 Hon. Theodore Tilton Jones introduced a 
 bill providing that ministers of the gospel be 
 required to register their names at the re- 
 corder's office, file a bond and take out li- 
 cense; and that they be required to give the 
 head of the family three days' notice before 
 making a pastoral visit. A bill was intro- 
 duced by the Hon. M. Pugh, prohibiting doc- 
 tors from taking commissions on prescriptions 
 and speculating in coffins. Many other peti- 
 tions and bills of like character were intro- 
 duced, and then the House proceeded to con- 
 sider the great land grant bill. 
 
 The vast audience had been eagerly wait- 
 ing for the great debate to begin, and when 
 the Hon. Ham Lamb arose in his seat to 
 open the discussion, all eyes were turned to- 
 ward him, and all ears strained to catch his 
 words. 
 
 To get an idea of this great spectacle, the 
 reader should imagine a great square hall, 
 with immense galleries upon the east and west 
 ends, and tall Gothic windows with panes 
 stained in crimson and purple at the sides. 
 Let the reader sit in the west gallery. 
 
 186
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Around you in this gallery you see the 
 flower of the West. Bill Thompson's cordu- 
 roy trousers kiss the velvet cushions; his cow- 
 hide boots caress the plush carpet. His old 
 mother is sitting by him with her knitting, 
 and as she looks around through her steel 
 spectacles, remarks, "Pap never dreamed he'd 
 be elected to such a purty place as this;" and 
 while Bill is squirming around to take in its 
 beauty, he puts his muddy boots on the satin 
 skirt of the President of the Woman's Chris- 
 tian Temperance Union. She gives him a 
 look that makes him shudder and think what 
 a terrible vixen she must be, and then inter- 
 rupts her daughter, who is flirting with a dude 
 in the opposite gallery, to show her the soiled 
 skirt. The gallery you are in and the one 
 opposite you are filled with people of both 
 sexes, all ages and positions in society, who 
 are scattered about promiscuously. Above 
 you the frescoed ceiling blossoms with lovely 
 pictures, and below you in the hall that sep- 
 arates the two galleries is the legislature of 
 the State of 
 
 As you look down upon the grand assem- 
 bly, a forest of heads meets your gaze. And 
 what a spectacle ! There is the head of Sam- 
 
 187,
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 uel Woodkirk, topped off like a hubbard 
 squash, and fringed at the bottom with corn- 
 silk whiskers; then there are flat heads, thin 
 heads, round heads; heads frosty with years, 
 and heads covered with curls; but the head 
 containing the great brain that's now playing 
 with the destiny of the State is situated near 
 the middle aisle facing the Speaker who sits 
 opposite you on the east side of the hall. 
 Tis the glistening bald head of that little 
 man who is so earnestly sawing the air with 
 his right hand and balancing himself with 
 his left, while the torrent of eloquence from 
 his mouth thrills the vast assemblage. This 
 is the Hon. Ham Lamb, now delivering the 
 great speech of the session. As we are be- 
 hind and above him we do not hear distinctly 
 all his words, but judging from the violent 
 motions that accompany their utterance, and 
 the apparent consternation that seems to agi- 
 tate his opponents, and the smile of approval 
 that spreads over the broad face of Mary 
 Sweet, we are satisfied that it is a masterpiece. 
 In order that the great debate might not be 
 lost, we procured a verbatim report of it, and 
 will give it to the reader. 
 
 188
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 The opening speech of the Hon. Ham 
 Lamb was as follows: 
 
 Mr. Lamb: "Mr. Speaker!" 
 
 Speaker Wolf: "I recognize the Hon. 
 Ham Lamb, from Sheepshire." 
 
 Mr. Lamb: "The provisions of the bill 
 which I propose to discuss, carry me back to 
 my boyhood days; when I, a little careless 
 lad, gathered the early spring flowers upon 
 the verdant hillsides. In the dewy freshness 
 of the morning, when the matin birds car- 
 oled their hymns of praise, how often have 
 I left my little cottage home, with its vine- 
 clad verandas " 
 
 Patrick Fogarty McDobb: "Mr. Spaker! 
 Mr. Spaker!" 
 
 Speaker Wolf: "I recognize Mr. Mc- 
 Dobb, from New Dublin." 
 
 Mr. McDobb: "Mr. Spaker, I call the 
 gintleman to order; he's not spakin' to the 
 pint." 
 
 Speaker Wolf : "I sustain the point of or- 
 der." 
 
 Mr. Lamb: "Leaving the cottage of my 
 youth, as I had done when interrupted, I will 
 now, in the brief time allotted to me, strike 
 at once for the core of this bill. Last even- 
 
 189
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ing, while watching the golden sunset that 
 streamed through the windows of my room, 
 and musing upon the passing pageant of earth 
 life, in a second the events of the next firty 
 years seemed to flit before me. I saw the pal- 
 aces of millionaires with their silver minarets 
 glitter in the sun. I saw their tables loaded 
 with the choicest viands of earth. I saw dogs 
 gnawing the bones of little children, who had 
 died of starvation in the shadow of these pal- 
 aces. The scene was changed. I saw mount- 
 ains of corn rotting in the sun, and I saw 
 hundreds of swine fattening upon the car- 
 casses of beggars, who either died of starva- 
 tion or were slain while attempting to steal 
 the corn. And seeing these sights, how I 
 did yearn for posterity. Oh, poor, misguided 
 posterity, may God pity you and save you 
 from your sad fate is " 
 
 Mr. McDobb: "Mr. Spaker! Mr. Spa- 
 ker!" 
 
 Speaker Wolf: "I recognize Mr. Mc- 
 Dobb of New Dublin." 
 
 Mr. McDobb: "The gintleman is not 
 spaking to the pint." 
 
 Speaker Wolf: "Millionaires' palaces and 
 rotten corn may have some connection with 
 
 190
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 railroad land grants. I will permit the gen- 
 tleman to proceed." 
 
 Mr. Lamb: "Going back again to pos- 
 terity, I will at once, without further prelim- 
 inaries, examine in its essence, the bill under 
 discussion. What is it, let me ask, makes 
 the lot of the poor so hard?" 
 
 Messenger from the Senate : "Mr. Speak- 
 er, the Senate has just passed house bill 19731, 
 requiring that beggars break rocks at the rate 
 of three cents a day, the proceeds to be de- 
 voted to the erection of a monument to the 
 late lamented Thomas Jones." 
 
 Mr. Lamb: "Returning again to my sub- 
 ject, I wish to narrate an incident of mighty 
 Pericles of Greece, how " 
 
 Mr. Cowslip: "Say, Speaker " 
 
 Speaker Wolf: "I recognize the Hon. 
 Hank Cowslip, from Slop county." 
 
 Mr. Cowslip : "Pear trees and grease ain't 
 got a darned thing to do with this argument. 
 When a hen wants to hatch a chicken out of 
 an egg she has it sot on, but this man's egg 
 will get rotten 'fore he gits on to it." 
 
 Mr. Lamb: "The gentleman from Slop 
 does not understand me." 
 191
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Mr. Cowslip: "Nor no one else; he's too 
 highfalutin'. No use of a goose trying to fly 
 like an eagle, he'll wabble a wing off. See 
 here, Clerk, read that air bill ag'in and let's 
 see if he can't get to the trough before he 
 empties the swill. Say, Hide, give me a chaw 
 of terbacker." 
 
 Speaker Wolf: "The reading of the bill 
 is called for. Mr. Clerk, read the bill." 
 
 Reading Clerk: "The bill reads as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 " 'AN ACT to relieve the settlers of certain 
 counties. 
 
 " 'Whereas, the citizens who reside in the 
 counties through which the Skunk Creek and 
 Skeighi Railroad Company have partially 
 completed an important line of railway, are 
 now in great need because of short crops, 
 high taxes, sickness, devouring insects and 
 sweeping tornadoes which have vexed them 
 to the verge of extreme poverty and helpless- 
 ness; and, 
 
 " 'Whereas, these meek and benevolent peo- 
 ple have for years filled the treasury of the 
 State, and the coffers of charitable institu- 
 
 192
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 tions with taxes which their generous hands 
 have willingly paid; and, 
 
 " 'Whereas, these kind and afflicted people 
 have never before asked any favor of this 
 State and now ask but a meagre return for 
 the blessings they have so freely showered 
 upon it; 
 
 " Therefore be it enacted by the Grand 
 Assembly of 
 
 " That all the lands now held by this State, 
 or in which it has an interest, that were 
 granted to it by the United States for the 
 purposes of internal improvement be and are 
 hereby granted to the Skunk Creek and 
 Skeighi Railroad Company to have and hold 
 forever, to aid it in the completion of its 
 railroad through this afflicted locality. 
 
 * This act being deemed of immediate im- 
 portance shall take effect and be enforced from 
 and after its publication in the "Morning 
 Moralist' of Bigburg and "The Fountain of 
 Truth'' of Littletown.' " 
 
 Mr. Lamb: "Without further digression 
 or illustration, and ignoring all surrounding 
 circumstances, I now propose to concentrate 
 my attention upon the essence of the bill just 
 
 193
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 read. The frequent interruptions which I 
 have suffered have had the effect of disinte- 
 grating my intelligence and scattering my 
 thoughts; and if I have not spoken directly 
 to the point I propose now, by the extreme 
 brevity and directness of my remarks, to atone 
 for any mistakes heretofore made. In parlia- 
 mentary discussion, nothing is more desirable 
 than that the discussion of a question be nar- 
 rowed down to the very point in issue, and 
 it is my strongest desire, to without fuss or 
 flourish reach the very heart of the subject 
 under consideration. By so doing much time 
 will be saved and the debate, liable otherwise 
 to be continued for a great length of time, 
 may be reduced to such an extent as to great- 
 ly abbreviate the session and " 
 
 Mr. McDobb: "Mister Spaker, Mister 
 Spaker." 
 
 "Speaker Wolf: "I again recognize the 
 Hon. Mr. McDobb of New Dublin." 
 
 Mr. McDobb: "The gintleman is not 
 spaking to the pint. The avils that he's after 
 givin' us " 
 
 Mr. McDobb was here interrupted by the 
 falling of one of the ornaments attached to 
 the ceiling over his head. This was com- 
 
 194
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 posed of plaster and weighed several pounds. 
 When it fell it struck the Hon. McDobb on 
 the crown of his head and broke into many 
 fragments, which flew in every direction. Not 
 knowing what hit him and supposing in his 
 half stunned condition that it was some one 
 sitting near him who was trying to suppress 
 him, in a wild and frantic manner he began 
 striking right and left at everybody and every- 
 thing within his reach, using language too 
 forcible to mention and more emphatic than 
 polite. Before the sergeant-at-arms, aided 
 by the janitor, could arrest his violence, he 
 had blacked the eye of Empty Jones, broken 
 a rib of the Hon. Peasly Caesar and stripped 
 the collar and a part of the shirt from the 
 Rev. Jehosophat Freelove. 
 
 In the terrible excitement and panic which 
 followed this occurrence, the women screamed 
 and rushed for the door. The commotion they 
 made, combined with the noise made by the 
 men in attempting to quiet them, the pounding 
 of the gavel of the speaker in an effort to re- 
 store order, the continued antics of McDobb, 
 the howls of the wounded around him, the 
 noise of their flight, and the scuffle with the 
 sergeant-at-arms and the janitor, converted 
 
 195
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 the lower house of this legislature into a pan- 
 demonium appalling to the strongest nerves. 
 
 Amid the excitement Mary Sweet fainted. 
 This immediately brought to her side the 
 Hon. Augustus Alcott and the Hon. Ham 
 Lamb. The Hon. Ham Lamb insisted that 
 he would remain with the fainting lady while 
 the Hon. Augustus Alcott went for a physi- 
 cian. 
 
 But this did not suit the Hon. Gentleman, 
 so he, fearing the dangers that might befall 
 her in his absence, thought best to save time 
 by taking her along with him to see the physi- 
 cian. So, like the bold Cossack of the des- 
 ert, he grasped her fainting form in his arms 
 and triumphantly strode up the aisle, followed 
 by the hobbling gait of the Hon. Ham Lamb, 
 who was trying to fan her pallid face with 
 his hat. 
 
 On account of the great confusion thus 
 engendered and the absence of the two cham- 
 pions, the House adjourned until the follow- 
 ing day. When Duncan observed the devo- 
 tion manifested by the Hon. Ham Lamb for 
 Miss Mary Sweet, he said to Geo. W. Lyer: 
 "I believe I have discovered the key to the 
 position. That Sweet girl undoubtedly has 
 
 196
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 great influence over Mr. Lamb. I shall at 
 once attempt to work her in the interest of 
 the grant." 
 
 So that same day Duncan sought and found 
 the abode of Miss Mary Sweet and obtained 
 an interview with her. She politely referred 
 him to her friend and counselor, J. Urebus 
 Dove, who, she stated, would negotiate with 
 him, and any arrangements he made she would 
 comply with. Having before treated Mr. 
 Dove in such an abrupt and contemptuous 
 manner, Mr. Duncan did not desire to so 
 humiliate himself as to seek his service; but 
 as time was short and there seemed no other 
 alternative, he at last concluded to do so. He 
 found J. Urebus in a neatly furnished room 
 
 at the House, smoking his cigar 
 
 and reading the New York Clipper. As the 
 great railroad king approached him, Mr. 
 Dove adjusted his eye glasses and looked at 
 him with a lofty and critical glance, as he 
 said: 
 
 "Ah, fellow, what do you require?" 
 "I called, Mr. Dove, to apologize to you 
 for my abrupt manner toward you the other 
 day. My excuse, sir, is that not being ac- 
 quainted with you, I did not properly estimate 
 
 197
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 the value of your friendship and your per- 
 sonal importance." 
 
 "Ah, I fear you flatter me, my dear boy," 
 I accept your apology. Good day." 
 
 "I beg your pardon," continued Duncan, 
 "but I have a little matter of business that I 
 wish to talk about, I wish to secure your valu- 
 able assistance." 
 
 "Ah, my dear fellow, I cannot now be in- 
 terrupted. I wish to finish this highly enter- 
 taining article. Call again." 
 
 To be thus dallied with by a dude was very 
 provoking to Mr. Duncan, who was accus- 
 tomed to have other people wait on his leis- 
 ure, but he rallied again and said, "When 
 shall I call?" 
 
 "In one hour from now I will see you," 
 said Mr. Dove. Duncan then left, but re- 
 turned in one hour. Mr. Dove was still read- 
 ing, and required Mr. Duncan to sit in silence 
 for another hour, waiting for him to finish. 
 
 This done, Mr. Duncan proceeded to plead 
 his cause before this autocrat, who composed 
 the 3rd House of the legislature of the State 
 of . 
 
 After much parleying, Duncan and the 
 dude agreed upon the share which the lat- 
 
 198
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ter was to have in the steal, in case he secured 
 the passage of the bill. 
 
 They then separated. 
 
 On the evening of that day, the Hon. Ham 
 Lamb received an invitation to a card party 
 at the residence of Miss Mary Sweet. On 
 the following day the speaker announced with 
 much regret that owing to indisposition, the 
 Hon. Ham Lamb was not able to be in his 
 seat. It was also noticeable that Mary Sweet 
 was not in attendance. 
 
 After the usual preliminaries were dis- 
 posed of, the great debate on the land grant 
 bill was resumed. The towering form of the 
 Ajax of the House, the Hon. Augustus Al- 
 cott, was seen erect and fronting the speak- 
 er's desk. Furiously his flaming hair waved, 
 as he swayed his head from side to side, while 
 from his powerful lungs a mighty torrent of 
 eloquence poured forth, filling with consterna- 
 tion the opponents of the bill. We know how 
 vain the attempt to transfer his burning 
 words to paper, but we give the report of his 
 great speech the best we can. 
 
 Mr. Alcott: "Mr. Speaker." 
 
 Speaker Wolf: "I recognize the Hon. Au- 
 gustus Alcott from Shanghai." 
 199
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Mr. Alcott: "Mr. Lamb is sick; I am 
 sorry. He studs his speech with stuff about 
 posterity. He rears and prances like a Ken- 
 tucky whip. He steps high and short, but he 
 trips himself. What makes him rave about 
 posterity? What has this bald-headed bach- 
 elor done for posterity? Nothing that any- 
 body knows of. While I have been raising 
 my eleven children, he's been cultivating flow- 
 ers and raising canary birds. Let him get 
 married and do something for posterity. He 
 talks about children starving in the shade of 
 millionaires' houses. Whose children ? None 
 of his I'll warrant you. If it wasn't for more 
 enterprising men there would be no children 
 to starve. He needn't worry about my chil- 
 dren. They know too much to get in the 
 shade and starve when there is a chance to 
 graze in the sun. He says something about 
 rotten corn, and beggars starving to get to it. 
 That's just what we want a railroad for. To 
 take the corn to beggars before it rots and 
 the beggars to the corn before they starve. 
 
 "If Mr. Lamb would spend less time in 
 watchin' the sun set, and more raisin' corn to 
 rot for want of a market, and raise children 
 instead of canary birds, and cultivate brains 
 
 200
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 instead of flowers, he might not be so flowery, 
 but would know more. That's what I've got 
 to say about what he says. Just another word 
 and I'll be through. I'm dealing in horse 
 flesh, and if you fellows are mind to be fools 
 enough to vote to keep this iron horse out of 
 the country, why I'll continue to furnish you 
 with thoroughbred stallions just as I have 
 done, and it won't be a dollar out of my 
 pocket. The more railroads the less horses. 
 There isn't a girl in my class at the reform 
 school but has brains enough to see as plain 
 a point as that." 
 
 The roll was then called and the vote was 
 taken. Just as his name was called the Hon. 
 Ham Lamb came in and asked the privilege 
 of explaining his vote as he gave it. He said 
 that facts had been brought to his notice since 
 the last adjournment, which caused him to 
 look at the matter in a very different light. 
 That he had discovered that the lands to be 
 granted were worthless, and the railroad to 
 be constructed of inestimable benefit to the 
 State. He therefore voted aye. The vote 
 when taken showed the bill to have passed by 
 only one majority. 
 
 The Hon. John H. Beer was then gov- 
 
 201
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 ernor. He had formerly been a dealer in 
 dried fruits and sour mash whiskey, but when 
 the prohibition wave struck the "Good Party" 
 it called him from his retirement to stand 
 upon its prohibition platform and head its 
 temperance ticket. The governor had a 
 beautiful pair of rosy eyes that sat on either 
 side of an illuminated proboscis, which was 
 well suited to illustrate the evil effect of in- 
 temperance. What his countenance lacked in 
 beauty it made up in color, which if well dis- 
 tributed might have made him a very hand- 
 some man. Unlike many other great moral 
 leaders, his exalted position did not make him 
 proud. He was as familiar as a female book 
 peddler; as easy of access as a saloon. He 
 would talk politics to a bootblack and ask 
 advice of a newsboy. His simple ways en- 
 deared him to the people. He regarded the 
 office of governor as purely executive, and 
 would have signed his own death warrant 
 had it passed both houses of the legislature, 
 and when the land grant was handed him 
 he signed it without reading and ordered 
 its publication, which was accordingly done 
 and the bill became a law. 
 
 202
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE TRIAL 
 
 Since Bragg first came to Littletown, Fog- 
 horn had steadfastly opposed him. That 
 opposition had borne no fruit save in bring- 
 ing Foghorn into ill repute, and now he was 
 forsaken by the community, despised by his 
 neighbors, and his business as a lawyer gone, 
 and he was reduced to extreme poverty. 
 Alone and poor, he stood firm and unshaken 
 in the path of duty, but the days seemed very 
 dark to the old man. He had grown weary 
 of sitting in his office from one month's end 
 to another, without a client or even a visitor, 
 save Harry or some person that came to dun 
 him for a debt. Harry also felt much dis- 
 couraged in striving for a pursuit which had 
 brought so little good to his venerable friend. 
 One day he said, "Let's leave this country, 
 Mr. Foghorn; everybody hates us. Your 
 business Is destroyed and we will soon be 
 driven out by poverty." 
 
 203
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "No," said Foghorn, "I have put in my 
 whole life trying to benefit humanity, and I 
 am not going to quit now. Have patience, 
 Harry, there will be a change some day." 
 
 "It's mighty slow coming," said Harry, 
 "I'm afraid we won't live to see it." 
 
 While they were talking heavy footsteps 
 were heard upon the stairs and in a moment 
 a stout, burly, blustering, full whiskered man 
 came in with a bunch of papers in his right 
 hand and a sack full at his side. He opened 
 a notice and read it to Foghorn and handed 
 him a copy. Then read one to Harry and 
 handed him a copy, and then went hurriedly 
 out. They were notices to quit. Foghorn 
 was notified to quit his homestead and his 
 office, and surrender the possession of the 
 same to the Skunk Creek and Skeighi Rail- 
 road Company, who claimed to be the own- 
 ers, by virtue of a legislative grant of recent 
 date. 
 
 When these notices were read the two men 
 looked at each other with blank astonishment 
 At last Harry said: 
 
 "It seems we haven't reached the bottom 
 yet." 
 
 204
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "I don't understand this," said Foghorn, 
 reading the notice over and over again. 
 
 "Don't understand it!" echoed Harry im- 
 petuously, "why, the cursed company is go- 
 ing to take away all your property and de- 
 prive mother and me of all we have." 
 
 "But this says something about a legis- 
 lative grant. It can't be that the legislature 
 has granted my property and yours. They 
 surely have no right to do that," said Fog- 
 horn. 
 
 While they were talking, a man, wild with 
 excitement, came in brandishing a notice in 
 his hand; he was followed by another and 
 another until the office was filled with an 
 angry and excited crowd, who were anxious 
 to consult Mr. Foghorn. Out on the street 
 there was a large crowd waiting for a chance 
 to get in, all of them holding notices in their 
 hands and greatly excited. They had all been 
 notified to quit by the Skunk Creek and 
 Skeighi Railroad Company, and knowing that 
 Foghorn had always opposed the railroad 
 scheme, they now eagerly sought him for his 
 advice. The most he could do was to take 
 their notices and promise to look after their 
 cases. All the afternoon until late in the 
 
 205
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 evening a continual throng of anxious clients, 
 young men and old, widows and orphans, ad- 
 ministrators of estates, guardians of wards, 
 trustees of churches, preachers, doctors, farm- 
 ers, and all classes, rushed to Foghorn's office 
 to find out what was the matter and employ 
 him. At last Geo. W. Lyer came in and wanted 
 to engage the services of Foghorn to defend 
 the firm of Lyer Bros, in the matter. The 
 Skunk Creek and Skeighi Railroad Company 
 had heen no respecter of persons. It had no- 
 tified both friend and foe, regardless of past 
 services, to quit and vacate every inch of 
 earth inside the region of the grant. This 
 had caused a complete change of sentiment, 
 and on the next evening an indignation meet- 
 ing was held at the Court House. A commit- 
 tee was sent to escort Mr. Foghorn and his 
 clerk to the meeting, and this committee went 
 to the office and carried them to the Court 
 House on their shoulders. As soon as they 
 entered, Foghorn was loudly called for, to 
 speak, and he arose and said: 
 
 "Sublime idiots, where is the Hon. Hen- 
 derson Bragg? Gilt edged and rainbowed 
 aristocrats, where is the Sound and Reliable 
 Railroad Company? At our last meeting the 
 
 206
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 priest of the oracle was here, holding the 
 destiny of Littletown in his hands. Where 
 is he now, and in which hand? (Some man 
 shouted out, "He holds it now in his pocket.") 
 At that meeting I made some reflections upon 
 the character of that honorable gentleman, 
 and you passed a resolution. I would like 
 to have the proceedings of that meeting read. 
 You would not hear me then. It may be too 
 late to hear me now. You have stepped into 
 the trap and sprung it. You have jumped 
 at the fly and caught the hook." 
 
 He then explained to them how they must 
 wait until the question of title could be tried 
 by the courts. That in his opinion it was 
 not possible for the State legislature to grant 
 to a railroad company lands that had been 
 patented to the people by the general govern- 
 ment. When the meeting adjourned, many 
 flocked around Foghorn to tell him that they 
 had been his friends all the time. Circum- 
 stances of a few days had brought a great 
 change. Two days ago he had not a friend 
 in the village, except Harry; now everybody 
 looked to Foghorn as their savior. Two days 
 ago he had no clients at all. Now nearly 
 every man in the county was his client, and 
 
 207
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 men came in from other counties to employ 
 him. It seemed like a new and strange life to 
 him. 
 
 The time having elapsed in which the peo- 
 ple were notified to quit, and they refusing to 
 surrender their homes to the railroad com- 
 pany, suits were brought in the United States 
 Circuit Court, which convened at Bigburg the 
 following May. 
 
 The questions that arose in all the cases" 
 were identical and had to be submitted to the 
 court without a jury. They depended solely 
 upon the construction of the original grant, 
 and that construction wholly upon the read- 
 ing of one word, and that word entirely upon 
 the reading of the first two letters, and if one 
 of those letters could be read, the other was 
 easy to read; so the fate of thousands of fam- 
 ilies depended upon the reading of one letter. 
 When the cases came on for trial, they were 
 ordered to be tried together. 
 
 The court room was crowded to its utmost 
 capacity with an eager and anxious throng, 
 and thousands of hearts, scattered over the 
 state, beat in great suspense waiting to hear 
 the result. The original grant was brought 
 into court. All before and after the doubtful 
 
 208
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 letters was read again and again. The Hon. 
 Galusha Parsnip appeared as attorney for the 
 company and intended to make a great argu- 
 ment to prove that the first letter of the word 
 was i instead of e, and therefore, by necessity, 
 the next letter must be n instead of x. 
 
 He intended to introduce specimens of 
 handwriting in nineteen different languages 
 and seven hundred specimens in one lan- 
 guage, and cite authorities to maintain the 
 proposition that all grants to railroad com- 
 panies had heretofore been held to include 
 everything and exclude nothing, and to speak 
 eloquently of the immense advantage rail- 
 roads had been to the country; and of the self- 
 sacrificing zeal of capitalists, who had in- 
 vested their hard earnings in the unsettled 
 West. 
 
 When the cases were called for trial Mr. 
 Parsnip had brought and spread out upon the 
 tables in front of the bench, several hundred 
 volumes in different languages and upon many 
 subjects. He evidently designed to immor- 
 talize himself by making an eternal speech. 
 
 Knowing the habits of Parsnip, and fear- 
 ing an endless essay on matters foreign to 
 the case, the judge stated that the court 
 209
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 had decided to limit the speeches of counsel 
 on each side to one hour. Mr. Parsnip arose 
 and, after taking up half his time in making 
 an apology, explaining how he had been called 
 into the case without any opportunity to pre- 
 pare his argument, said to the court that if it 
 had any doubt in relation to the position that 
 he took, he would furnish it a written brief. 
 He then began his argument as follows : 
 
 "Anterior to the creation of man " 
 
 "Come, come, Mr. Parsnip," thundered the 
 judge, "come down to the facts in this case. 
 This court cannot sit and listen to what hap- 
 pened prior to the creation. Reserve that for 
 a geological work. What is the point in this 
 case? Read the grant." 
 
 This rebuke would have tarnished the 
 cheek of some men, but Parsnip was un- 
 blanched. He continued : 
 
 "Your Honor may know better how to ar- 
 gue this case than I do, but you fail to com- 
 prehend my intention. When interrupted I 
 was proceeding to show the court how hand- 
 writing was originally made upon the rocks 
 by Deity, and so suggested to man. I then 
 proposed to exhibit to your Honors a photo- 
 graph copy of the laws of Moses, which were 
 
 210
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 written under the immediate supervision of 
 God himself, on tables of stone." 
 
 "How is that material to this case?" de- 
 manded the judge. 
 
 "I propose, then, to show that Moses made 
 an i just like the letter in the grant, which the 
 defendants claim is e," continued Parsnip. 
 
 "Wherein is that important?" asked the 
 court. 
 
 "Why, you see," said Parsnip, "the only 
 question in these cases is whether a certain 
 word is 'including' or 'excluding,' and if the 
 first letter in the word is i, the plaintiff must 
 succeed." 
 
 "Is that all there is in these cases?" asked 
 the chief justice. 
 
 "It is," answered Parsnip. 
 
 "Have you any decisions of the United 
 States Supreme Court on this grant?" further 
 inquired the judge. 
 
 "No, your Honor," replied Parsnip, "but 
 I have the Law of Moses and the Ten Com- 
 mandments, written under the immediate su- 
 pervision of Almighty God, and I suppose 
 your Honor respects such authority as that." 
 
 "I respect it, but I do not follow it," roared 
 the judge. "If you have any decisions of this 
 
 211
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 court or the Supreme Court on the point, read 
 them; if not, sit down. Mr. Foghorn, have 
 you any such decisions on this grant ?" 
 
 "No," said Foghorn, rising to his feet, 
 "but I wish to explain to your Honor the 
 terrible effect of your decision, if it should be 
 given in favor of the plaintiff; how many 
 people you will render homeless." 
 
 "Save yourself that trouble, Mr. Foghorn," 
 said the judge. "This court dispenses justice 
 without regard to the rights of parties. Pass 
 us the grant and the other papers and we will 
 look at them after we adjourn." 
 
 Thus, this great question was summarily 
 submitted and might have been otherwise de- 
 cided, were it not for the fact that when the 
 judge came back after dinner, and looked at 
 the grant, he discovered a little dot over the 
 first letter in the doubtful word, and he con- 
 cluded that the first letter was i, and there- 
 fore that the second must be n in order to 
 make sense, and decided that the railroad 
 company was the owner of all the lands em- 
 bracing several counties and ordered writs of 
 ejectment against the inhabitants thereof. 
 This was a crushing blow to Foghorn, for the 
 writs of ejectment could not be stayed by an 
 
 212
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 appeal, without a bond, which the settlers 
 were unable to give. 
 
 When the news arrived at Littletown, of 
 the court's decision, the people could hardly 
 believe it. At last, when they came to the 
 dreadful realization of the fact, hundreds sol- 
 emnly declared that they would never leave 
 their homes alive. Again and again did they 
 curse the evil day that Bragg came to Little- 
 town. Again and again did they bewail their 
 folly in refusing to listen to Foghorn. The 
 horror, felt by all, had suspended business. 
 Women and children were walking to and 
 fro in the streets, looking into each other's de- 
 spairing faces, asking if there was no hope. 
 They flocked around Foghorn by the hun- 
 dreds, but he was silent. He could promise 
 them nothing, except he would appeal the 
 case. Despair at last grew into desperation, 
 and men of all classes vowed impulsively to 
 defend their homes with the last drop of their 
 blood. With clenched fists and lowering 
 brows, through their set jaws, they demanded 
 a leader. 
 
 They were ready to take up arms against 
 the government, if it should seek to enforce 
 the unjust decree. They asked Foghorn to 
 
 213
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 lead them. He refused and advised submis- 
 sion, telling them that it was useless to fight 
 the government of the United States. A 
 meeting for the purposes of organization was 
 called at the Court House, and when they had 
 assembled to organize, the first question that 
 came before the meeting was, what the organ- 
 ization should be called. Elder Goodman 
 insisted that it should be named "God's Chil- 
 dren," while R. Gospel Windysoul insisted 
 that the name of God should not be connected 
 with it. Judge Muller insisted that it be 
 called "The Good Party League," and Hans 
 Dummeldeutch contended that it should be 
 called the "German-American Band," and 
 nearly every sect and clique in society had a 
 different name with which they wanted to 
 christen the organization. The debate be- 
 came very warm and bitter, and each cham- 
 pion was unyielding in his views. A motion 
 was made to call it "God's Children," by the 
 Methodist party, and a half dozen amend- 
 ments made to it by persons desiring to give 
 it a different name, and these motions were 
 all substituted by a motion offered by G. W. 
 Lyer that the organization have no name at 
 all. This was amended by H. E. Q. Grip, 
 
 214
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 who wished it to be called all the names which 
 had been proposed for it, and on these mo- 
 tions, amendments, substitutes and amended 
 substitutes the violence of the debate contin- 
 ued until nearly midnight, and when the ques- 
 tion was finally put it was defeated, and the 
 several parties became so greatly enraged that 
 they left the room, denouncing each other as 
 having been the aiders and abettors of Bragg 
 and his scheme. 
 
 During all this time there burned in Harry 
 Hawkins' breast an ambition to be the savior 
 of the community. If he could only defeat 
 this unjust decree and remedy the terrible 
 wrongs perpetrated by these railroad schem- 
 ers, how blessed his name would be to all pos- 
 terity. The opportunity that he had so often 
 hoped for was now at hand. He would cut 
 loose from all the cliques and organize a band 
 of young men like himself, and they would 
 carry on a guerrilla warfare against the offi- 
 cers who might seek to enforce the decree. 
 His cause, he was certain, was just, and it 
 could not fail to succeed. He was goaded on 
 to this course by the recollections of the ter- 
 rible wrongs which he and those he loved had 
 
 215
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 suffered, and now he was ready to fight till 
 death. So he organized a few hundred young 
 men, who announced themselves determined 
 to fight to the last. 
 
 216
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Meanwhile Foghorn worked diligently, 
 perfecting his appeals in the cases. This liti- 
 gation occurred before the United States Cir- 
 cuit Court of Appeals was created, and hence 
 cases were directly reviewed by the Supreme 
 Court of the United States. This court was 
 composed of nine judges, who dressed in black 
 alpaca kimonas, and at precisely high noon 
 appeared in solemn pomp and arranged them- 
 selves upon the bench in their great arm- 
 chairs. Much study and deep thought and 
 the weighty cares and responsibilities of their 
 offices had caused most of them to accumulate 
 a portliness that an alderman might envy. 
 Notwithstanding the fact that the settlers 
 were unable to give bonds to stay the execu- 
 tion of the writ to eject them, and Duncan 
 could at any time order such writs to issue, 
 he refrained from doing so until after the 
 hearing of the cases on appeal, dreading the 
 
 217
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 trouble sure to follow the dispossessing of the 
 people and the effect it might have on the 
 hearings. The importance of the cases en- 
 abled Foghorn to get their hearing advanced, 
 and finally before the ponderous presence of 
 the royal nine came the Skunk Creek and 
 Skeighi Railroad Company, pleading for just- 
 ice against these citizens who insisted upon 
 occupying its property. One of the nine had 
 sat on the Circuit bench, and tried the case in 
 the court below, and so could take no part 
 in its decision on the appeal. The cases were 
 ordered argued and submitted together, and 
 attorneys representing each side permitted to 
 make oral argument and submit written briefs. 
 There were other attorneys who represented 
 the settlers, but Enoch Foghorn was the one 
 on whose shoulders the main responsibility 
 was placed. It seemed as if all his previous 
 experiences had been fitting him for this su- 
 preme occasion. He had come into this coun- 
 try in an early day and had witnessed the tri- 
 als and struggles of the settlers in building 
 their homes. He had watched their children 
 grow up from infancy and he had that hon- 
 est character which despises fraud and de- 
 tests hypocrisy, however masked, and he could 
 
 218
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 feel in his own person the horrible injustice 
 of the lower court's decree, and when he arose 
 to address the Supreme judges his brow bee- 
 tled ominously and his eyes were like flaming 
 swords that searched for the very inwards of 
 the occupants of the bench. His voice trem- 
 bled, but not with weakness. It was the 
 hoarse diapason of the gathering tempest. As 
 he proceeded it stiffened in timbre until its 
 tones became terrible and fear spread among 
 his opponents. The judges leaned forward 
 with robes awry, as if they were tied to the 
 speaker by invisible bonds, and from the ex- 
 pression of their faces it was clear that he 
 was playing upon their heart-strings, when he 
 told them how his clients had come to this 
 land when it was wild, drove out the reptiles 
 and savage beasts, tore up the stumps, re- 
 moved the stones and made it fit for tillage. 
 How they had endured the pinching winters 
 and the scorching summers, and by their long 
 and patient toil and self-denial had, from these 
 rugged and hard conditions, saved up the 
 price the nation asked and bought their patents 
 from the government, assuring them of per- 
 fect title. And now it was proposed, in their 
 old age, to strip them of their lands and make 
 
 219
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 them paupers in life's dreary winter and give 
 their homes to other men to multiply their 
 millions, who had never given a farthing for 
 these lands; and this in the name of Justice. 
 When he said this each judge grew red about 
 his temples, his eyes beamed with a holy light 
 that came from his inmost soul, his eyelids 
 seemed inflamed and swollen with tears of 
 righteous pity, and Bra^g then thought the 
 judgment day was coming. Foghorn then 
 felt the universe at his back ; that all the mar- 
 tyred dead who had died for justice had risen 
 again, and with myriads of mighty angels 
 were fighting for his cause. He then, in tones 
 that touched the very marrow of his auditors, 
 said: 
 
 "You, sirs, are sitting on the loftiest seat 
 that man has ever raised before high heaven. 
 'Tis grounded on the graves of men who ever 
 fought for human rights. Their blood ce- 
 ments its structure and your panopoly must 
 ever be a nation's confidence and trust. Great 
 souls have been your predecessors. Their 
 brave and honest minds, with justice ever for 
 their guide, have made this seat a hallowed 
 shrine, fit only for such as consecrate them- 
 selves to such a cause. But never since this 
 
 220
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 pinnacle was raised has any occupant had a 
 better chance to slay a hydra-headed fiend 
 than you now have. If you are worthy of this 
 lofty seat and fit to wear the halo which 
 adorns this place, now show your mettle. Say 
 to this gang of pirates that the stars and 
 stripes still stand for justice and for human 
 rights, and to the thousands that these scoun- 
 drels would despoil, speak the strong assur- 
 ance of a nation's faith whose mighty arm 
 still shields the weak and curbs the strong. 
 Do this and break the clouds that cover this 
 fair land and threaten to destroy a thousand 
 homes. Do this and send the inspiring rays 
 of hope into ten thousand now despairing 
 hearts. Do this and raise so high above the 
 mists of doubt and crime the beauteous image 
 of the eternal right that all the world shall 
 see and men of every clime and age arise and 
 call you blessed." 
 
 When Foghorn ceased his speech the very 
 air in all the hall seemed charged by power 
 invisible, and all who heard him felt the gates 
 were closed against the opposition. Dun- 
 can's attorney, Parsnip, made a feeble effort 
 to reply, but his voice sounded so wicked and 
 out of place that even he felt guilty of a crime 
 
 221
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 in trying to defend his client. It seemed as 
 if hosts of liveried angels were hissing at him 
 from every quarter of the hall. His tongue 
 was partly palsied, his ideas fought each 
 other and his words came forth in incoherent 
 tangles, and every point he tried to make was 
 like a blow struck by a rubber weapon on a 
 wall of adamant, that bounded back and hit 
 the assailant. The judges settled backward in 
 their chairs, and on their faces one could 
 plainly read that they were set against him, 
 and so they had remained had not a dot been 
 noticed on the grant. While thus engaged 
 in argument descanting on the first two let- 
 ters of the word, and looking at the grant, 
 Parsnip observed a little speck above the 
 letter which he claimed was i, and seeing 
 this he started like he had seen a spirit. It 
 was an inspiration and his dull and stupid 
 argument now became forceful. Raising the 
 grant in one hand before the court, and point- 
 ing the index finger of the other to this speck, 
 he shouted loudly, "See here, your Honors, 
 how the i is dotted ! 'Tis small, indeed, but 
 large enough to place the imprint of eternal 
 truth upon the justice of our cause." 
 
 Foghorn was on his feet in a moment and 
 
 222
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 demanded to see the grant, denounced the dot 
 a forgery and declared it was not on the grant 
 when the suit was in the lower court. The 
 excitement became intense. The judges asked 
 to see the grant, and sure enough there was 
 a dot. That seemed to fix the status of the 
 letter written first, and thus the reading of 
 the grant. The judge who tried the case 
 below, being present, soon quieted the dis- 
 turbance by declaring the dot was there when 
 he tried it. From that time on, Parsnip had 
 easy sailing. He felt his case was won, and 
 so declared, and by their looks the judges 
 seemed unanimous for him. When Foghorn 
 took the floor to make reply, it was a trying 
 situation. 'Tis difficult for any lawyer to 
 meet such a surprise on so short a notice. For 
 a moment he stood silent, gathering force. 
 Then starting in low tones, clear but scarcely 
 audible, his voice became louder as he pro- 
 ceeded, and from a small beginning he 
 launched forth a mighty torrent against his 
 adversary. He pictured before the court in 
 lines of fire the avalanche of misery that must 
 descend upon the wretched people on these 
 lands if Parsnip should prevail. "Could this 
 mere speck," he asked, "small as a gnat's 
 
 223
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 egg, thinner than the shadow of a lie, be 
 made a pretext to commit so great a crime ? 
 a mark that any one could forge at any time 
 without discovery." Who had placed it there, 
 he said, was now unknown, and yet 'twas 
 claimed this trifling thing should be sufficient 
 to cause the nation's grant, made to its honest 
 citizens, a cheat and lie. Then casting his 
 eyes around the hall he raised his hands im- 
 ploringly, as if invoking the unseen, and said : 
 "Spirits of Marshall and of Jay, and all the 
 mighty dead whose memories glorify this sto- 
 ried hall, have all the broad foundations that 
 you laid for Justice and for human rights 
 shrunk to so small a point? Have all the 
 pillars of this temple that your hands so 
 firmly placed become so weak and rotten that 
 a plea like this can find an audience in so 
 great a court? If this is Justice, burn up 
 your dockets, and resign ; tear down the God- 
 dess with her even-handed scales, install the 
 impenitent thief the nation's patron saint and 
 ask some fiend of hell to write the name of 
 fraud on every facade of this capitol." 
 
 Thus the cases were submitted to be de- 
 cided when the court got ready. Immediately 
 thereafter Duncan concluded to dispossess the 
 
 224
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 people of their lands, and accordingly ordered 
 writs of ejectment to issue on the judgments 
 obtained in the court below. 
 
 Finally, one Autumn afternoon in the 
 month of October, three men drove into Lit- 
 tletown. They were the United States mar- 
 shal and his deputies. They found the vil- 
 lage quiet and everybody busy at work when 
 they arrived. As they surveyed this peaceful 
 little place, in the yellow sunlight of Autumn, 
 with its humble people dwelling in the little 
 homes they had built years ago, and working 
 patiently to earn an honest living for them- 
 selves and families, and they thought of the 
 task which they were commanded to perform, 
 the hearts of the officers nearly failed them. 
 The marshal said to those with him, "Gentle- 
 men, I hate this job. Here these people are 
 quietly at work and peacefully dwelling in the 
 cottages they have built, and to turn them out 
 in the cold on the threshold of the coming 
 Winter seems too hard. I would resign my 
 office if I could prevent its being done, but 
 if we don't do it some one else will, and we 
 might as well commence." 
 
 So they drove up to a little house near by 
 them, hitched their horses and got out to 
 
 225
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 begin their work. A soldier's widow, by the 
 name of Mary Marion, with a little family 
 of children, occupied this house. The mar- 
 shal, Horace Ketchem, knocked at the door. 
 She opened it and pleasantly invited him to 
 have a seat. Her three little children, a girl 
 of seven, a boy of five and a girl of three, 
 seeing a stranger come in, clung close to their 
 mother and looked at him with great curi- 
 osity. The sight of these helpless children, 
 gathered about this weak and defenseless 
 mother, might have stayed the march of a 
 hyena, and the marshal more than ever felt 
 a shrinking from his task. But he was the 
 executor of a cruel law, which spared neither 
 widows nor orphans. He had a writ issued in 
 the name of the president of the United States, 
 sealed and attested by a justice of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, commanding him 
 to commit the monstrous crime. He asked 
 her name. "Mary Marion," she said, hop- 
 ing that it was some friend or comrade of her 
 dead husband that had come to help them. 
 The marshal found his writ against her and 
 turning to her said : 
 
 "Madam, I have a very unpleasant duty to 
 perform. The Circuit Court of the United 
 
 226
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 States has decided that this property upon 
 which you are living belongs to the Skunk 
 Creek and Skeighi Railroad Company, and 
 I have come with a writ of ejectment to put 
 you off." 
 
 "Oh! that cannot be," said she, in great 
 fright and astonishment. "My poor husband 
 bought this place and paid for it before he 
 went to fight for his country. And when we 
 parted he said with tears in his eyes, 'Mary, 
 darling, if I do not return, never sell this 
 little cottage. I have paid for it, and if I 
 shall be slain, you and the children will al- 
 ways have a home.' I have the deed in the 
 house and I can show it to you." 
 
 "You need not mind," said the marshal; 
 "you must leave this place immediately, and 
 if you do not the law makes it my duty to 
 compel you to." 
 
 "Then you will have to compel me to," 
 she said, as she began sobbing, and her little 
 children clustered around her saying, "Don't 
 cry, mamma, don't cry, mamma." 
 
 The marshal then began setting her chairs 
 out in the street. As soon as she saw him 
 doing that, she fell on her knees at his feet, 
 and in the most pleading and piteous tones 
 
 227
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 said, "Oh, spare me for the sake of my poor 
 children. Do not turn us out of doors. We 
 have no place to go. The cold winter will 
 come and I shall be without shelter for myself 
 and little ones. God will bless you if you 
 will but spare me. Have you no pity for a 
 poor widow and her helpless orphans?" 
 
 "It is useless to plead," said Ketchem, "it 
 is not I but the law that turns you out. I 
 only do my duty." 
 
 "Oh, cruel law," she sobbed. "Oh, wicked 
 duty, to render widows and orphans home- 
 less. This house is no use to you. You would 
 not live here. Oh, for God's sake please let 
 us stay here. I will work for you. I will 
 wash and sew night and day. I will do any- 
 thing if you will only let us stay until my 
 little ones are old enough to take care of 
 themselves. Oh, do let us stay !" 
 
 "I would let you stay if I could, but the 
 court has ordered me to put you out and out 
 you must go," said he sternly as he pushed her 
 away. 
 
 Chairs sitting in the street soon attracted 
 attention, and it was rumored that the officers 
 had come to turn the people out of their 
 homes. Harry heard of it and he, with a 
 
 228
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 dozen more, went to where the marshal and 
 his deputies were carrying out furniture. As 
 soon as he saw Mrs. Marion and her little 
 children weeping, Harry's indignation was 
 aroused to the highest pitch. He approached 
 the marshal and accosted him thus : 
 
 "What are you doing, sir?" 
 
 "I am executing a writ of ejectment, if it 
 is any of your business," replied the marshal. 
 
 "It's every man's business when a helpless 
 woman and her little children are being turned 
 into the streets," answered Harry. "And it's 
 my business to tell you to carry that furniture 
 back where you got it, immediately, if you 
 expect to leave here alive." 
 
 "Who are you that dares interfere with the 
 officers of the law?" demanded the marshal. 
 
 "I am a man that has no respect for the 
 officers or the law that would steal from this 
 poor widow her home," responded Harry. 
 
 "Don't you know that the Circuit Court of 
 the United States has decided that this prop- 
 erty belongs to the Railroad Company?" 
 asked the marshal. 
 
 "Don't you know that the people of Little- 
 town have appealed from that decision?" 
 shouted Harry, defiantly. 
 229
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Why do you not give bonds and stop the 
 writ of ejectment?" asked the marshal. 
 
 "We cannot, but we can appeal to arms and 
 the god of battles," continued Harry. "Tell 
 the Skunk Creek and Skeighi Railroad Com- 
 pany, if it wants our homes, it must walk over 
 our graves to get them. We will defend our 
 firesides with our lives. Our court has issued 
 a writ of mandamus commanding you to carry 
 that furniture back and get out of this town 
 inside of thirty minutes, or your necks will 
 be stretched to the nearest tree, and we have 
 come to execute that writ and you had bettei 
 be at it." 
 
 The marshal saw that he was overpowered 
 with numbers, and it was useless to refuse, 
 so he and his deputies reluctantly carried the 
 furniture back to its place. When they had 
 done, Harry said, "Now you get out of this 
 country as soon as your horses can carry you." 
 
 And they went. As they were driving away 
 the people clapped their hands and yelled, 
 "Good bye, come again," in derision. 
 Women shook their handkerchiefs at them 
 and boys yelled at them as they rode through 
 the streets. 
 
 The conduct of Harry and his associates 
 
 230
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 was highly applauded. He was looked upon 
 as a hero. He had no trouble in organizing 
 a large company, of which he was made cap- 
 tain, ready to meet force with force when it 
 came. 
 
 In a few days the marshal appeared again 
 with a hundred United States soldiers in reg- 
 ular uniforms, armed with swords and mus- 
 kets. They began to put Mrs. Marion's fur- 
 niture out into the street again. 
 
 Oh, it was a noble sight to see. One hun- 
 dred great, broad-shouldered men, uniformed 
 and knapsacked, belted and labeled U. S., 
 and armed to the teeth, engaged in vanquish- 
 ing a weeping woman, and putting her and 
 her children into the streets to carry out Dun- 
 can's infamous scheme; but the Circuit Court 
 had said it was justice. 
 
 Harry and his men were ready. They 
 scattered themselves behind trees and build- 
 ings awaiting the onset, and watching for the 
 first man that should appear from the house 
 with any of the widow's furniture. Soon one 
 of the deputy marshals came out with a chair 
 in each hand, and just as he passed through 
 the gate, crack, crack, crack, went a dozen 
 rifles, and he fell dead, perforated with bul- 
 
 231
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 lets. It now began to be a serious business; 
 the other deputy and the marshal had just 
 started out with chairs, but they set them 
 down to think a minute. They didn't like 
 the aspect of affairs. The enemy were all in 
 ambush. They could not see any one to shoot 
 and they were in an exposed place, where, if 
 they kept at work they might be shot down, 
 one at a time, like sheep. Finally they con- 
 cluded to go back and get more help and sub- 
 jugate the country as they proceeded. So they 
 picked up their dead comrade and retreated 
 in good order. 
 
 In a few days a thousand men of the regu- 
 lar army, with several pieces of artillery, came 
 with the marshal to execute the writs of eject- 
 ment. 
 
 In order to intimidate the people, when 
 they got to the outskirts of the town, they 
 fired their cannon and sent several shells 
 screaming through the air. They then sent 
 a messenger to treat with the inhabitants, 
 threatening to kill every one without regard 
 to age or sex, if any further resistance was 
 made, and demanding that Harry and his 
 comrades lay down their arms. 
 
 The women and children, in terror, were 
 
 232
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 screaming in the streets. Old men, ghastly 
 with fear, advised submission. The utter 
 hopelessness of resistance seemed apparent. 
 Many of Harry's comrades weakened and 
 he saw that he would soon be alone, and now 
 comprehended the foolhardiness of the un- 
 dertaking which sympathy had led him into. 
 As he looked in the blank faces and heard 
 the tremulous voices, and saw the quivering 
 forms of his comrades whose courage had 
 melted away so quickly, he decided to aban- 
 don resistance by arms and resort to strategy. 
 As soon as the message was returned that 
 the people would lay down their arms, the 
 marshal immediately ordered the arrest of 
 their leader for high treason, and a detach- 
 ment was sent for him. They asked Mrs. 
 Marion who he was, and she told them it 
 was Harry Hawkins, and where he might be 
 found. As soon as he was arrested the work 
 of ejectment was continued. Family after 
 family were turned into the streets. In some 
 instances a soldier was left in possession; in 
 others the door was locked, and by nightfall 
 a hundred families were homeless. It was a 
 pitiful sight to see. When the morning came 
 the work of ejectment went on. It is useless 
 
 233
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 to follow it with all its hideousness. It is 
 the same sad story through and through. It 
 was an excruciating sight at best, but it was 
 supremely so to see Harry's mother turned 
 out of the old homestead into the street, but 
 Harry was saved from that. He was taken 
 to Bigburg and thrust into prison. 
 
 234
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE SENTENCE OF DEATH 
 
 The cloud that had so long been gathering 
 over the unfortunate people of the country 
 which lay in the shadow of the "Flaw" dis- 
 covered by the tramp, had at last burst with 
 all its fury. 
 
 Homeless, in poverty, in the midst of Win- 
 ter; old age, childhood, mother and maid, 
 widow and orphan, all were thrown into the 
 street. What could they do ? There was no 
 work to earn food or shelter. There was no 
 friend that had shelter to give. The earth 
 had been decided to be the property of this 
 corporation, and, in the name of justice, it 
 had remorselessly thrust them forth to starve, 
 or freeze in the Winter's cold. Meanwhile 
 they were prosecuting an appeal to the Su- 
 preme Court of the United States. 
 
 In vain did they cast their pleading eyes to 
 heaven and ask if a "God" were there. In 
 vain did they appeal to the officers of the law 
 
 235
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 for mercy, for they had no discretion. In 
 vain did they ask each other for shelter, for 
 all were destitute. Like poor, wrecked voy- 
 agers cast adrift upon a tempestuous sea, each 
 must find his grave the best he could. 
 
 Many, palsied with age or stricken by dis- 
 ease, found relief in death. Others secured 
 employment and homes in adjoining coun- 
 ties. But the larger portion arranged to rent 
 the lands of the Railroad Company until such 
 a time as their cases were decided. 
 
 In a damp and miserable dungeon Harry 
 had found shelter. Its horrid walls sweat 
 with a loathsome and bitter air which dis- 
 gusted the lungs and stupefied the brain. Be- 
 yond its darkness the glimmer of day might 
 be seen when the sun was shining. Save these 
 and the scanty meals served, he had no way 
 to mark the fleeting time. As the dismal days 
 wore on, his mind was mainly occupied with 
 the past. His early childhood in the beauti- 
 ful Spring, as he bounded o'er the green hills 
 in. search of early flowers, or hunted for the 
 nests of wild birds in the leafy forests in Sum- 
 mer; the days upon the farm and in the dis- 
 trict school; the companions of his boyhood; 
 these all came back. And then he thought 
 
 236
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 of the day in the store when Jennie and he 
 first knew each other's love; of the happy 
 meetings by the lake before Bragg came to 
 Littletown. 
 
 In due time the grand jury met and he was 
 indicted for treason, and the day for him to 
 be arraigned was set. On this day Enoch 
 Foghorn, G. W. Lyer, Oliver Cromwell 
 Jinks, Mrs. Jinks and Jennie, Rev. Good- 
 man, and Harry's mother and others went 
 to Bigburg to see what they could do 
 to secure his release. They were permitted 
 to visit him in the prison and they found 
 him serene and determined. Foghorn at one 
 time looked upon Harry as his only friend, 
 and when they met in that prison, long and 
 sorrowful was their embrace. Though one 
 had felt the frosts of age and stood in life's 
 dreary winter, and the other was on the 
 threshold of manhood's morning, yet both 
 were old in sorrow and felt that strange and 
 holy love which comes to companions in grief. 
 Foghorn was weeping. 
 
 "Harry," he said, "I have seen many mis- 
 fortunes and have borne crushing afflictions 
 with patience. While the world hated me 
 and it seemed as if poverty and want were 
 
 237
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 staring me in the face, I looked into your 
 fresh young countenance and found hope. I 
 believed that God had created you to follow 
 in my footsteps and take up the battle in be- 
 half of right when I am gone. I said, the 
 boy will show them some day that God reigns 
 and that justice, though long delayed, will 
 come. But now the cruel shafts of injustice 
 are aimed at your life, and my poor heart is 
 well-nigh broken." 
 
 "My dear old friend," said Harry, "I have 
 had many fond dreams of greatness, and have 
 looked to you to learn the path of honor. 
 You have always been a true friend to me, 
 and it pains me to see you weep. I have been 
 indicted for treason. I will plead guilty to 
 the charge. I am proud to be distinguished 
 as the enemy of oppression, and I am ready 
 to meet death as the foe of organized cruelty. 
 Foghorn, you are an old man. Nature, ere 
 long, will kindly call you home. I might have 
 stayed for many years to suffer the afflictions 
 which honor must receive from dishonor. I 
 might have brought to death the scoundrel 
 who has wrought our woe, but it matters lit- 
 tle. Death will reach him soon enough, for 
 all must die. Some day I might have stood 
 
 238
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 beside your corpse as you must stand by mine, 
 but I am saved this sorrow. My sails are 
 spreading for a brighter world, beyond the 
 reach of cruel laws, where fraud and vice may 
 never come. Stand firm, old man." 
 
 "Oh, Harry," said Foghorn, "plead, 'not 
 guilty,' and I will go before the court and 
 plead in your behalf. If there be justice in 
 the range of man I'll rake the skies, but I 
 will get it. Before the bar I will arraign the 
 shameless fiends who wrought this monstrous 
 wrong. In words of fire I'll tell the horrid 
 crimes committed by their hands. I'll show 
 the touching woes and weeping sorrows made 
 by their works. I'll tell them of your honor 
 and your love, and of the pure and tender 
 sympathy that led you to it, and if a juror 
 has a heart I'll wring it till he weeps with 
 sympathy, and make his every pulse in anger 
 cry for vengeance against this great oppres- 
 sion. Even as I speak I feel the awful 
 promptings of resistless power, that I could 
 tear the very heavens down and set men wild 
 with rage, hearing this horrid tale of woe. 
 Oh, Harry, do plead 'not guilty,' and I will 
 plead your cause." 
 
 "Mr. Foghorn," replied Harry, "I am 
 
 239
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 guilty. I take more pleasure in that guilt 
 than in the little life that you might save. 
 Let them come on, my neck is ready for the 
 rope. My soul aspires to leave the earth. It 
 only mourns to leave you here. But I must 
 for a little time." 
 
 Jennie Jinks then pleaded with him with 
 tears in her eyes, saying: 
 
 "Oh! Harry! Please forgive me! I 
 know I've wronged you bitterly, and bitterly 
 I've answered for it. The year last past has 
 brought me naught but pain. The days have 
 dragged in sorrow and remorse, the nights 
 been full of painful dreams. Could I call 
 back again those happy days when trusting 
 love filled both our hearts with joy, and hope 
 in rainbow colors made the future bright, all 
 that is left in life to me I'd give for one short 
 hour. Dear love, will you forgive me? 
 'Twas not my love that wavered. My heart 
 was ever yours." 
 
 Harry seemed much affected by her words 
 but he answered : 
 
 "Jennie, I do believe you, and if aught 
 could shake me from my purpose, the mem- 
 ory of those happy days and of the love you 
 
 240
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 bear me might make me strive for that slim 
 chance which Foghorn now holds out." 
 
 "Oh, Harry, plead not guilty and let him 
 plead your cause," she begged piteously. 
 
 "I can not, for I am guilty," was his an- 
 swer. 
 
 Mrs. Jinks then said : 
 
 "Harry, I'm much to blame. I did not 
 know your worth and wished a higher match 
 for Jennie. But now I see my error. You 
 bravely placed your life in peril to save us in 
 our homes. Like my great ancestor at Run- 
 nymede, who fought against King John, you 
 made your breast a bulwark against oppres- 
 sion. I'm tired of all this talk of dukes and 
 lords, of wealthy suitors and of railroad 
 kings. You're nobleman enough for me." 
 
 Harry's mother was overcome with her 
 grief and for a moment she was unable to 
 speak. Finally she said sobbingly: 
 
 "Oh! My poor son! In all the wide do- 
 main of human woe there are no pangs that 
 wring a mother's heart more keen than this 
 I feel. The deadly peril threatening you, my 
 son, my brave, my best beloved, my only son, 
 the goal of all my hopes, strikes like a poi- 
 soned dagger in my sad heart. My boy, if 
 
 241
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 any ray of hope is seen in this dark hour, 
 let's follow it and pray for succor to the God 
 of justice." 
 
 Harry answered with much feeling: 
 "Mother, your tears, your hopes, your 
 prayers, are all in vain. We are the victims 
 of the cruelest gang that ever made a govern- 
 ment its tool. There is no justice on the 
 earth for us. No false and coward plea shall 
 pass my lips." 
 
 When Harry was brought into court to be 
 arraigned, he wore a proud, defiant air, and 
 plead "guilty" with apparent pleasure, and 
 said he was ready for his sentence. The court 
 room was crowded to its utmost capacity. 
 Many had come to see the culprit. Doting 
 fathers had brought their young sons that 
 they might see the guilty prisoner and be kept 
 from iniquity by his sad career. Ministers 
 of the Gospel were also present in large num- 
 bers, that they might in their next sermons 
 depict the appearance of guilt, and regale 
 their congregations with moral lessons drawn 
 from the great depravity of this public crim- 
 inal. Many of them had been to his cell 
 and besought him to forsake his sins before 
 it was too late, telling him that "while the 
 
 242
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 lamp held out to burn the vilest sinner might 
 return." There were also many ladies in that 
 assemblage, and as he passed in with firm 
 and upright gait, one lady remarked to an- 
 other so that he could hear it: 
 
 "What a pity that one so young and hand- 
 some should be so very wicked." 
 
 Harry stood before the bench. The judge, 
 who was then presiding, assumed an air of 
 great commiseration, and said: 
 
 "Harry Hawkins, you have been indicted 
 by the grand jury for treason, committed 
 against the Government of the United States. 
 To this infamous charge you have plead 
 'guilty.' The punishment of this offense is 
 death. Have you anything to say, why a sen- 
 tence should not be pronounced against you?" 
 
 Harry stood erect and fixed his eyes upon 
 the countenance of the judge as he spoke in 
 clear and bold tones, as follows : 
 
 "I ask no mercy at your hands. You are 
 the agent of rascality and the tool of thieves. 
 There is no fraud which refined villainy can 
 invent or fiends contrive which is not fostered 
 by your power. There is, sir, in the character 
 of fraud an essence which springs from the 
 souls of devils, and whether it skulks by night 
 
 243
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 in the heart of a thief or marches at the sound 
 of drum and fife in the habiliments of war, 
 or parades itself in ermine, in the name of 
 justice, it is the same foul and despicable es- 
 sence, fit only for the flames of hell. I ar- 
 raign this government as a robber; and al- 
 though you have power over my life, yet in 
 your face I say that I am proud to be counted 
 among its enemies. Treason to robbers is 
 allegiance to God; and before His throne I 
 am prepared to meet the agents of this gov- 
 ernment and all its servile crew; and there in 
 the clear light of truth, in accordance with 
 eternal justice, let Him judge who is the trai- 
 tor. I care not for the life that you would take. 
 I am anxious to leave a land where justice has 
 no dwelling place. Standing on the brink of 
 eternity I suffer to see the wreck around me. 
 That a land wrung from the clutch of British 
 tyranny by the hands of bleeding patriots and 
 dedicated by them as the home of justice 
 should so degenerate is sad indeed. But it 
 can not long endure. Fraud furnishes the 
 dagger for its own breast, and though dressed 
 in iron mail and guarded round by a million 
 warrior hosts, it has a rot that gnaws within 
 and makes it perish when defended best. 
 
 244
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Bred in the womb of such colossal frauds, 
 calamities innumerable shall be born and vex 
 this land with horrors yet unknown. Honor 
 and justice in despair will leave the earth, 
 and industry no longer sweat for bread, and 
 from the cots of poverty and shops of toil, 
 swarms of avengers shall rush forth, made 
 desperate by long years of wrong. The torch 
 shall turn the temple into smoke; ashes shall 
 scatter where the palace stood, and dynamite 
 
 shall drink the rich man's blood " 
 
 "Stop ! I'll hear no more," exclaimed the 
 judge. "Receive the sentence of the court. 
 Your words prove you a traitor, a most dan- 
 gerous one. The law must be enforced. On 
 its obedience all our rights depend. The judg- 
 ments of its courts must be respected until re- 
 versed. If the decision was an error the ap- 
 peal was to the upper court, not to armed 
 force, resisting the court's decrees. As an 
 example for all future time we sentence you 
 to death. You shall be taken from the place 
 where now confined and on high noon, No- 
 vember ist next, hanged by the neck until 
 you are dead. May God have mercy on your 
 soul. This is our sentence. Is there no other 
 business?" 
 
 245
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Being informed by the clerk that there was 
 no other business the court adjourned. Mrs. 
 Hawkins, Jennie, Mr. and Mrs. Jinks, Good- 
 man and Lyer all clustered about Foghorn 
 and begged him to take an appeal to save the 
 life of Harry, but Foghorn said that he had 
 pleaded guilty and that there was no hope of 
 relief from appeal. All were much cast down 
 in grief and many asked if nothing could be 
 done. Harry asked his friends not to take 
 so deep an interest in his cause, to forget his 
 wrongs and let him take his course. After 
 meditating a few moments Foghorn said: 
 "There is only one escape the president can 
 pardon him." Then, turning to Harry, who 
 was about to be taken back to his dungeon, 
 he said: 
 
 "Young friend, this blow has dazed me, 
 but I shall recover soon, and when I do I'll 
 make this nation hear the story of your 
 wrongs. The common people still are kind. 
 Their honest hearts yet throb for justice. Our 
 fathers wisely placed in their clean hands a 
 power to right our wrongs. The president 
 and his associates now stand for re-election 
 and plead like starving beggars for the votes 
 of honest men. From your dark dungeon, 
 
 246
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Harry, shall go forth a cry that all the land 
 shall heed. From every hill-top a broken- 
 hearted mother's wail be heard. Thousands 
 of earnest souls shall heed its sound till prai- 
 rie, forest, vale and mountain-side, yes, every 
 part of our fair land, will echo with your 
 cause. The patient, sluggish voter who so 
 long has slept while villains ruled corruptly, 
 shall wake at last and to the polls, the free- 
 man's peaceful fortress, the many shall swarm 
 forth and push these rascals from their seats. 
 The rule of Duncan will be no more and the 
 trembling president shall offer pardon to stay 
 the common rage." 
 
 Harry was then taken to his cell and his 
 friends went sorrowfully back to Littletown, 
 determined to do everything possible to pro- 
 cure a pardon. 
 
 247
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE END 
 
 Henderson Bragg had not fully compre- 
 hended the misery that would be caused by 
 the consummation of the scheme he had un- 
 dertaken. The horrors of the ejectments had 
 been so distressing that it made him sick at 
 heart to hear the officers tell of their expe- 
 riences, and when he learned that Harry 
 Hawkins was indicted for treason and was 
 to plead guilty he urged Duncan to see the 
 judge and use his influence in favor of a light 
 sentence. But Duncan refused and insisted 
 that Hawkins should receive the death pen- 
 alty to deter others from imitating him. Dun- 
 can relied upon fear and force to accomplish 
 his purposes when fraud failed. He had 
 mortgaged the road-bed to get money to fin- 
 ish the road, and then to make the stock issued 
 to those who had built the road worthless he 
 had foreclosed the mortgage and bid in the 
 property. Thus he and Bragg, through the 
 
 248
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 agency of the Skunk Creek and Skeighi Rail- 
 road Company, had become the owners of 
 the entire property, which they finally com- 
 pleted and put in operation. If the Su- 
 preme Court affirmed the Circuit Court he 
 and Bragg would become the owners of 
 all the lands in the several counties 
 through which the road was located. Dun- 
 can had no fear that the cases would be re- 
 versed, but Bragg became frightened when he 
 heard the speech made in the Supreme Court 
 by Foghorn, and insisted to Duncan that there 
 was great danger that the Supreme Court 
 might decide in favor of the settlers. 
 
 At that time there was in existence in the 
 United States a great organization called the 
 Railroad Trust, whose object was to combine 
 and merge into one great system all the rail- 
 roads and steamship lines in this nation, that 
 thereby it might procure a monopoly of the 
 carrying trade. This trust was controlled by 
 bold buccaneers in finance who did not scruple 
 at any means to attain their ends. They were 
 so interrelated with all the banks, insurance 
 companies and other devices for collecting 
 large sums of money, and had such power 
 with the Secretary of the Treasury that they 
 
 249
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 could create plenty or famine in the available 
 money supply at will and they held in their 
 hands the leading strings of all the great po- 
 litical parties and furnished the means to con- 
 duct the battles that waged between them. 
 They considered themselves secure in their 
 absolute dominion over the material interests 
 of the people of the United States. Duncan 
 was in this combination, and when he found 
 that there was danger of a reversal he began 
 to negotiate with the Trust to get it to pur- 
 chase the title which he and Bragg possessed 
 in this railroad and the lands. He finally got 
 a proposition which would give them many 
 millions, but he thought it not enough, and 
 was trying to obtain more, when the great 
 presidential campaign for that year came on. 
 Crops had been good and the people gen- 
 erally prosperous, all of which was attributed 
 to the wise administration of the president 
 and his party. Everything pointed to his 
 easy triumph at the polls. 
 
 Each party had issued its customary cam- 
 paign book, containing stock arguments on 
 the tariff and money questions, and everything 
 augured well for the conduct of a lifeless 
 campaign, resulting in the election of a "safe 
 
 250
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and sane" ticket. Suddenly a dark cloud ap- 
 peared on the western horizon, which in- 
 creased so rapidly in its dimensions as to 
 cause politicians to fear an approaching 
 storm. 
 
 Foghorn had been as good as his word. 
 He had returned to the afflicted locality and 
 opened fire upon the administration of the 
 president. The people rushed out to hear 
 him in crowds, caught up his burning words 
 and added to them, and every one became an 
 agitator, and in a few weeks the settlers' cause 
 was taken up by the opposing party and be- 
 came first a state, and then a national 
 issue. A few of the states considered safe 
 for the president were now in doubt, because 
 of the feeling thus engendered. The presi- 
 dent saw this peril to himself and party and 
 felt that he must allay this opposition if he 
 could. 
 
 At the close of one of the busiest days on 
 the New York Stock Exchange, during which 
 the market had been unusually feverish, Dun- 
 can received a telegram from the president 
 asking him to come to Washington immedi- 
 ately and to bring Bragg with him, stating 
 that the summons was imperative. So, laying 
 
 251
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 everything else aside, the two men were at 
 the president's mansion the following morn- 
 ing before ten o'clock. 
 
 "The president must be panic-stricken," 
 said Duncan to Bragg, while they were wait- 
 ing. "Why didn't you fix that Foghorn on 
 the start?" 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "Retain him on our side." 
 
 "Impossible." 
 
 "Why didn't you buy him? You had my 
 purse to do it." 
 
 "Duncan, you can't buy everybody. If all 
 the bags of gold piled high as hillocks in the 
 nation's vaults were offered him to sell his 
 conscience, he'd spurn the bribe and drive the 
 tempter from his presence.' 
 
 "And he a lawyer," exclaimed Duncan, 
 "and not for sale! Ye gods, I thought this 
 slick profession merely merchandise hawking 
 its talents like wares at auction to the highest 
 bidder. You did not approach him right." 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "When you saw his temper you should 
 have tacked and reached him indirectly." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 252
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Worked through his wife, his sister or a 
 daughter." 
 
 "He is as tough as a gnarled oak that has 
 no rotten spots," said Bragg. "When first 
 he looked at me his penetrating glance pierced 
 to my very marrow. Though well veneered 
 with honest seeming I felt myself exposed and 
 naked to his gaze." 
 
 "Bragg, I am surprised. Your conscience 
 is too tender. There's where you fail and 
 publish to the world your real designs." 
 
 "Have you no conscience, Duncan?" 
 
 "Yes, and a good one, too, that, like a per- 
 fect stomach, grinds every grist and causes 
 me no discomfort." 
 
 "I own I am not equipped for tasks like 
 this," said Bragg. "I do not relish lying and 
 deceit, fraud and hypocrisy. My conscience 
 and my memory both were taxed beyond the 
 point of comfort." 
 
 "I see you're still a fool, the same poor fool 
 that tramped and begged for food and saw 
 his daughter starve to death," was the sar- 
 castic reply of Duncan. 
 
 "I wish you wouldn't bring that matter 
 up," retorted Bragg. "Then, no one had suf- 
 fered at my hands." 
 
 253
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "I've made you rich," said Duncan. 
 
 "In cash and crime, but not in character," 
 retorted Bragg. "In that respect the poorest 
 beggar that now tramps the streets has more 
 to lose than Bragg." 
 
 It was easy to see that Duncan was nettled 
 at this last remark, and was very glad to turn 
 the subject when the door opened and the 
 president entered. He appeared much agita- 
 ted as he said : 
 
 "Gentlemen, I am much disturbed." 
 
 "What's the matter now?" asked Duncan. 
 
 "You surely know. 'Tis the trouble you 
 have caused by your transactions in the West. 
 Your operations there have raised a storm 
 that now is a tornado, and it is moving East 
 with frightful fury," said the president. "A 
 man called Foghorn looms up in such propor- 
 tions that his very breath now fills the sky 
 with clouds. He's talking night and day. 
 Thousands rush to hear him, and by his words 
 are made my enemies ; even the mighty dailies 
 in the East take note of what he says, and 
 seem to heed it. He must be stopped." 
 . "You'll have to stop his breath," said 
 Bragg; "no bribe will do it." 
 
 254
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Who is this girl that they call Jennie 
 Jinks?" asked the president. 
 
 "She is an English maiden, as frail as the 
 tender blossom that a summer breeze may 
 sever from the bough," answered Bragg. 
 
 " Tis said," continued the president, "that 
 she goes from town to town and crowds swarm 
 out to hear her tell her tale and hearing issue 
 forth and swear grim vengeance on me and 
 my government. There is a place called Lit- 
 tletown, where every man and woman has 
 turned orator and scattered like the sons of 
 Noah, each on a different road, and where 
 they go the prairies are afire, the woods aflame 
 with enmity towards me. That country 
 where your road was built is hatred's hot-bed, 
 and on every side spreads its contagion till 
 even Europe has turned its eyes this way. 
 
 "I can do nothing," said Duncan. "I am 
 not in politics. Bragg says Foghorn can't 
 be bought. I do not know this girl or any 
 of these people." 
 
 "You must do something," said the presi- 
 dent, sternly. 
 
 "Must," echoed Duncan. "You must not 
 talk that way. I am John Duncan, the man 
 who made you. I have no master." 
 
 255
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Duncan, you go too far," said the presi- 
 dent angrily. "I am a patient man and have 
 learned to curb my temper, but even you must 
 not tempt me to extremes. No man in all 
 this land has asked more favors since I've 
 held this office than have you, and I've re- 
 fused you nothing. The aid you gave me in 
 my rise has been repaid a hundredfold by 
 what I've done for you. Your grasping greed 
 has raised this storm and, by the gods, you 
 must allay it, or I'll know the reason why! 
 / still am president" 
 
 "Don't get excited," said Duncan, "I have 
 not caused this row." 
 
 "You went too far. You should have 
 placed a limit to your grasping," said the 
 president. 
 
 "I am surprised that you should show such 
 weakness," said Duncan. 
 
 "I am a politician," was the president's an- 
 swer, "and to hold my seat I must, like a 
 barometer, be sensible to pressure. Shall I 
 sleep like a full-fed ass when all the air about 
 me is in a tremble and the earth unsteady 
 under me?" 
 
 "The cases which have caused so much 
 complaint are pending on appeal and when 
 
 256
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 decided will end the strife. Judgment will 
 be given in our favor, and then the people 
 will settle down," said Duncan. 
 
 "I don't think so," responded the presi- 
 dent. "All men and women, husbands, wives 
 and widows, torn from their homes to swell 
 your fortune, made eloquent by anguish, will 
 run far and wide and with a voice like Ga- 
 briel's call heaven's judgment on us." 
 
 "Nonsense!" ejaculated Duncan. 
 
 "You have a young man there in prison, 
 awaiting execution," continued the president. 
 "This acts as fuel to the raging flames." 
 
 "That was a grave mistake," interposed 
 Bragg. "I told you so, Duncan, and begged 
 you to intercede in his behalf." 
 
 "When he is executed you'll hear no more 
 of him," said Duncan. 
 
 "You may be wise in making money," 
 said the president to Duncan, "but in politics 
 you have less sense, John Duncan, than any 
 man I ever knew, if such is your opinion. 
 This young man is a hero in their eyes and 
 his death will turn his words to holy writ, 
 his grave will be a shrine, the day he died 
 be kept a sacred day, and his martyrdom in 
 song and story will be the theme through all 
 
 257
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 the coming years, and give our enemies great 
 strength to draw the masses to their cause. 
 Nor will it end when we have passed away. 
 Long after we are dead his death will be re- 
 membered, and its memory survive when all 
 our other acts are lost, and load our names 
 with infamy and make our sons ashamed to 
 own their lineage." 
 
 "What, then, do you propose?" asked 
 Duncan. 
 
 "I've ordered him brought here to-day, and 
 to reach the core of all this trouble, I've also 
 asked his friends to come, including Foghorn. 
 I'll see what I can do to stem this conflagra- 
 tion. If I have proper knowledge of the 
 facts these folks have cause to be aggrieved. 
 Their lands were granted to them by this 
 government; the patent which we give the 
 humblest settler should be as sacred as the 
 charter of your road or else our constitution 
 is a lie," said the president. 
 
 "The nation granted lands it did not own," 
 interposed Duncan. 
 
 "Then it must make the title good or com- 
 pensate the people for their loss," retorted 
 the president. 
 
 258
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "When did you get so honest, Mr. Presi- 
 dent?" inquired Duncan. 
 
 "I make no claim in that respect," he an- 
 swered. "I may have winked at many things 
 that should be questioned. In politics we 
 must not be too nice. I've kept a rubber 
 conscience and have allowed such men as you 
 to thrive by over-reaching. But this high 
 act of hateful spoliation reaches its roots too 
 far and strikes too deep to go uncropped." 
 
 "The Supreme Court took the case six 
 months ago," said Duncan. 
 
 "Why have they not decided it?" demand- 
 ed the president. "If I have any power to 
 make that court decide, if begging, prayers 
 or tears will stir it, its wheels shall start to- 
 day. Excuse me for a moment." The 
 president then left the room intent upon im- 
 mediately communicating in some way with 
 the members of the Supreme Court. While 
 he was gone, Duncan said to Bragg: 
 
 "The president is in earnest and we had 
 better sell immediately; I will notify the Trust 
 that their offer is accepted and you shall get 
 your share to-day." 
 
 "Do it quickly," said Bragg. "I will ask 
 the president to excuse you when he returns." 
 
 259
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Duncan then went to the nearest telegraph 
 office and closed the sale. While he was gone 
 Bragg thus soliloquized: 
 
 "Since first I started with this scheme I've 
 known no peace. What have my riches been 
 to me ? When but a beggar, weary and worn, 
 I have laid down by the wayside hedge and 
 sunk in sweet and dreamless sleep ; I've looked 
 up at the azure vault of heaven and felt the 
 promptings of a love Divine. The green 
 sward once my downy bed no longer shows 
 such verdure. The silver moon that looked 
 so clear and bright now seems begrimed with 
 filth. The tints of dawn and sunset now have 
 lost their beauty and all the air about me is 
 filled with flying missiles. There is no peace 
 for him who plots distress. Wealth won 
 through woe of others is but dross, yea worse, 
 it poisons and corrodes the dearest, purest 
 joys of life." 
 
 When the president had returned, he said: 
 
 "The opinion is prepared. The court will 
 file it in an hour. Where's Duncan?" 
 
 "He had an appointment, and begs that 
 you'll excuse him," said Bragg. "This is 
 his busy day. Whichever way it is decided, 
 
 260
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 suspense will then be broken. The whole case 
 turned upon a dot down in the court below." 
 
 "A small foundation for so great a claim," 
 observed the president. 
 
 "Tis often thus in law," said Bragg. "So 
 blind is legal justice that the largest matters 
 may hang upon the smallest hair; the slender 
 filament of a spider's web may bind great 
 empires, and a net of gossamer hold captive 
 the great world." 
 
 At this point a servant entered the room 
 and announced that a motley crowd had come 
 Who looked like gypsies of the road and said 
 that they had come from Littletown and had 
 been sent for. 
 
 "Then I will go," said Bragg. 
 
 "Stay, you may know them," said the 
 president. 
 
 "Alas, too well. If any plea of mine can 
 give weight to their prayers I will gladly add 
 it," said Bragg. 
 
 "Show them in," said the president to the 
 servant. 
 
 The servant then withdrew and very soon 
 ushered in Enoch Foghorn, George Washing- 
 ton Lyer, Elder Goodman, Oliver Cromwell 
 Jinks and Mrs. Hawkins, Mr. and Mrs. Jinks 
 
 261
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 and Jennie Jinks. They were the shabbiest 
 looking delegation that ever visited the presi- 
 dent by invitation. 
 
 The president had paid the expenses of 
 bringing these poor people from the West, 
 not because he loved them or wished to ben- 
 efit them, but because they had made it nec- 
 essary to his own interest that he should do 
 so. 
 
 "You've sent for us," said Foghorn sternly. 
 
 "Are you Enoch Foghorn?" asked the 
 president. 
 
 "I am. What do you want?" 
 
 "What have I done that you should wage 
 such a bitter war against me?" asked the 
 president. 
 
 "Nothing," said Foghorn. 
 
 "Why, then, oppose me?" 
 
 "Because you have done nothing," was the 
 reply. 
 
 "Why should your people's wrongs be 
 charged to me? I'm not responsible," said 
 the president. 
 
 "You are," said Foghorn; "and so is every 
 person in all the land, each in proportion to 
 the power he has, and you the most of all." 
 
 262
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "But recently I learned the cause of your 
 complaint," said the president. 
 
 "Such ignorance is a crime in your posi- 
 tion," was the unflinching reply of Foghorn. 
 "The lofty trust in you reposed should make 
 you quick to learn and swift to punish crimes 
 against the people. When robbers, unop- 
 posed, employ the government to rob and 
 plunder, and you in stupid ignorance sit idly 
 by and thus let them succeed, you show un- 
 fitness for your office. If those who hold the 
 highest seats shall be as deaf and blind as 
 you have been, who will protect the common 
 weal and keep our nation free from scound- 
 rels? But that's not all; since you have 
 learned the facts you have not moved." 
 
 "I have," persisted the president. "And 
 that is why I called you here, that I might 
 know what you wish me to do. I would not 
 be unworthy of this chair, that Lincoln once 
 adorned and Washington first sat in." 
 
 "There," said Foghorn, pointing to Bragg, 
 "sits our grievance. Hell has not in its dark- 
 est depths a blacker fiend." 
 
 "Foghorn, you wrong me," reproachfully 
 said Bragg. "I have committed no crime." 
 
 263
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 "Bragg, you make a common liar seem a 
 saint," interrupted George Washington Lyer. 
 
 "Does God still reign?" asked the Rev. 
 Goodman. "Was Ananias killed for lying 
 and can this Bragg still live ? He is the quint- 
 essence of the spirit of total depravity made 
 manifest in the flesh." 
 
 "The meanest skunk on earth," agreed 
 Mrs. Jinks. 
 
 "What have I done?" asked Bragg. 
 
 "Did you not and your pal seduce the 
 legislature to grant your corporation the lands 
 where we had built our homes and by the 
 grant so stolen through the State, did you not 
 put us out of doors?" demanded Lyer. 
 
 "All this was strictly legal. We did no 
 more than any man would do. The courts 
 so far have held with us," said Bragg. 
 
 "Is that the only charge you make against 
 him?" asked the president. 
 
 "He had us build the road-bed and take 
 our pay in stock, then mortgaged it, fore- 
 closed the mortgage and thus made the stock 
 as worthless as his promises," continued Lyer. 
 
 "That is a common practice," said the 
 president. "Most of the roads that web the 
 land were built by that device. Bragg has 
 
 264
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 only done what rich men often do, puffed up 
 his wares, got all the aid he could, and used 
 the courts to pass upon his claims." 
 
 "Custom is no excuse for crime," inter- 
 posed Foghorn. "Laws may be just, and yet 
 be used to cloak the purposes of theft. 'Tis 
 bad enough to violate a law, to use it as a 
 means to rob is worse." 
 
 "The case is in the courts," said Bragg. 
 "What they decide all must concede is right." 
 
 "Here are my witnesses," said Foghorn, 
 pointing to those with him. "These are but 
 samples of the destitute, scattered in thou- 
 sands over the broad domains that he claims 
 for his own. Happy and prosperous before 
 he came, they now are homeless, and all their 
 hopes depend on two small letters and these 
 on a dot so small it scarcely stains the paper 
 of the grant through which this Bragg and 
 his vile partners claim their titles. Now if 
 perchance the court above affirm the lower 
 court, then these poor people lose their all. 
 The fruits a life of toil had garnered are 
 given to these knaves. Can this be justice, 
 because the courts so hold? There is a judg- 
 ment higher far than human courts which 
 kings and presidents may not despise. 'Tis 
 
 265
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 resident in the souls of honest men, the mighty 
 masses that compose mankind. The courts' 
 decrees may violate this judgment and be en- 
 forced, the wrongs committed go unpunished 
 for a while, but, sir, there comes a time when 
 patience is exhausted, then like the mighty sea 
 lashed into fury by the raging tempest, the 
 people will rise, and all their pent up wrath 
 will then break forth and in the terror of 
 the times their proud oppressors will be but 
 bubbles, swift hurled to their destruction." 
 
 "I think," said the president, "that you 
 have great reason to complain, and you shall 
 have redress, if I can get it." 
 
 "I have my grievance, too," said Bragg. 
 "A homeless wanderer, shivering with cold, 
 I tramped through all this land and begged 
 for work and food. Their barns were burst- 
 ing with profusion, yet these people cursed 
 and drove me from their doors, beat me and 
 jailed me, called me a vagabond unfit to live, 
 till I was driven here and in the sight of 
 your most gorgeous feast, torn with pangs 
 of hunger, saw my only daughter starve to 
 death. 'Twas then I met John Duncan, and 
 his welcome words and promised aid made 
 me to vow dire vengeance against the world. 
 
 266
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 Now I have had it to the full. Tis not so 
 sweet as bitter. I sympathize with these af- 
 flicted folk, and most of all with that poor 
 boy now waiting death for treason. Do for 
 them all you can and I'll be pleased." 
 
 While they were thus talking it was an- 
 nounced that an officer had come with 
 Harry Hawkins. The president ordered him 
 brought in. Harry was indeed a wretched 
 sight, worn thin with grief and worry, pale 
 as a ghost, yet still he stood erect and proudly 
 answered the questions asked him. 
 
 At her first glance his mother exclaimed: 
 "My boy! My boy!" and began to weep. 
 
 "Mother, be calm and brave," he said. 
 
 "'Tis said you've asked for pardon," stated 
 the president. 
 
 "The tale is false," said Harry. "I only 
 wish to die." 
 
 "Oh God, my son!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Hawkins. "Do you not love your mother? 
 Oh, how I've wept and prayed for your re- 
 turn. For my sake, Harry, don't be so stub- 
 born." 
 
 Jennie Jinks then interposed: 
 
 "Harry, since last we met no time has 
 passed when you were absent from my 
 
 267
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 thoughts. I've taken the road and told your 
 wrongs to thousands, and people everywhere 
 are urging your release. By night and day 
 my toils and prayers are consecrated to this 
 one great end." 
 
 Then turning to the president, she said: 
 
 "Most honored president, if there be power 
 in maiden's tears to move your mercy, pity 
 me and free him." 
 
 "We ask his pardon, too," said Mr. and 
 Mrs. Jinks. 
 
 "God's minister in His holy name craves 
 pardon for this pious son," said the Rev. 
 Goodman. 
 
 "Mr. President, pardon him, it will make 
 you lots of votes," said G. W. Lyer. 
 
 During all this time Foghorn stood silent- 
 ly by, and finally the president, turning to 
 him, asked: 
 
 "Do you join in this plea for pardon, Mr. 
 Foghorn?" 
 
 "I do not," said Foghorn. "I cannot say 
 that in the sight of heaven the prisoner has 
 done wrong, and he may well refuse to ask 
 your pardon. All that he did he did with 
 good intent. The government you represent 
 should ask its people's pardon for the crimes 
 
 268
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 committed in its name, and you, its president, 
 have not been free from fault. You should 
 ask his pardon, not he yours." 
 
 "Your words are bold," said the president. 
 "What say you, Hawkins? Do you ask par- 
 don?" 
 
 "Never," said Harry. "I stand where I 
 have always stood, firm set against injustice, 
 and while life blood surges in my veins, I will 
 not kunckle to the wrong. The perpetrators 
 of this monstrous crime may rob me of my 
 life, but not my honor." 
 
 The president had never before in all his 
 career received such treatment from a pris- 
 oner or his friends. At first he felt he could 
 not offer a pardon to one who would not ask 
 it, but the death of this young man would 
 mean his political ruin, so he reluctantly called 
 in his secretary and had a pardon prepared, 
 signed and presented it to Harry Hawkins, 
 who was forthwith released. 
 
 It was then ascertained and announced by 
 the secretary that the Supreme Court had filed 
 its opinion and had decided in favor of the 
 settlers. 
 
 The joy with which this announcement was 
 received cannot be described. 'Twas like the 
 
 269
 
 A Strange Flaw 
 
 dawn of a millennium to these poor people. 
 Even the president involuntarily shouted with 
 the others. They clung to Foghorn and em- 
 braced him as a savior and somehow in the 
 ecstasy of joy, Miss Jinks had found her 
 lover, and Bragg was not the man. 
 
 When the excitement had somewhat sub- 
 sided, Bragg asked the secretary if he had 
 learned the ground of the decision. 
 
 "Yes," he responded. "The court found 
 the dot was an 'excrementum fliege.' " 
 
 "What in hell is that?" asked Lyer. 
 
 "A fly speck!" was the answer. 
 
 Bragg laughed and said: 
 
 "I'm glad you've won. Return and oc- 
 cupy your homes. Ride on the railroad that 
 your hands have built. May all your future 
 lives be full of joy, but this remember : There 
 is no insect, bird, or beast that will not some- 
 times fight to save itself. Man may be poor 
 and weak, patient, and suffer long and stand 
 oppression meekly, but every creature has its 
 limit. That passed, the weakest then will turn 
 and smite. If, when with plenty you're sup- 
 plied and some poor, hungry, ragged, home- 
 less tramp comes to your door and begs for 
 food and work, be kind remember Bragg." 
 
 270
 
 OTHER NOTABLE BOOKS 
 
 BY HENRY S. WILCOX, OF THE CHICAGO BAR 
 
 FOIBLES OF THE BENCH 
 
 144 pp.. cloth, gilt top. Price $1.00 postpaid. Exhibits the faults 
 and failings of judges and the abuses that have become common in 
 court proceedings in a highly entertaining manner. It is copiously 
 Illustrated by character sketches, humorous Incidents and witticisms. 
 
 FOIBLES OF THE BAR 
 
 163 pp., cloth, gilt top. Price $1.00 postpaid. This volume contains 
 the gleanings of 28 years' experience of the author as a trial lawyer. 
 It clearly sets forth the mistakes and weaknesses common among 
 members of the bar, and contains numerous cogent suggestions for 
 improvement. Many types and freaks of lawyers are sketched and 
 humorous incidents and pithy sayings abound to illustrate the points 
 made. 
 
 FRAILTIES OF THE JURY 
 
 150 pp., cloth bound, gilt top. Price $1.00 postpaid. This volume 
 surprisingly illuminates the petit jury system by giving sketches of 
 defective jurors and exposing the methods of their procedure. It 
 contains many suggestions of great value to lawyer and layman n 
 selecting and treating a jury. 
 
 FALLACIES OF THE LAW 
 
 206 pp., cloth, gilt top. Price $1.50 postpaid. Herein are tersely 
 pointed out the radical defects that lie at the very foundation of our 
 system of jurisprudence, and the absurdities and inconsistencies 
 that emanate therefrom and their pernicious effects are lucidly 
 pointed out The exhibition of every error is followed by the sug- 
 gestion of a remedy. No book has been issued recently that is more 
 likely to benefit humanity. 
 
 TRIALS OF A STUMP SPEAKER 
 
 124 pp.. cloth bound. Price 75c postpaid. This is a series of sketches 
 and humorous incidents, collected from the experience of the author 
 on the political stump, by which many of the absurdities of politics 
 are exposed to the great pleasure of the reader. 
 
 OFFER We w111 KnA toe flr8t fonr books for 
 UfrEK. J3.50 or tne entire set for $4.50 postpaid. 
 
 when all are ordered together and money received with the order. 
 Personal checks should add 5c for exchange. 
 
 LEGAL LITERATURE CO., 163 Randolph St, Chicago
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9 15wi-10,'48(B1039)444 
 
 UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA 
 
 AT 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 LIBRARY
 
 PS 
 
 Vile ox - 
 
 3314 
 W14s 
 
 -ranpe flaw!* 
 
 PS 
 3314 
 1 14 - 
 
 UCLA-Young Research Library 
 
 PS3314 .W64s 
 
 L 009 618 801 6