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BOOKS BY DAVID ROSS LOCKE 
 
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 LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 
 
 10 MILK STREET NEXT OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE 
 
 BOSTON 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 A POLITICAL NOVEL 
 
 DAVID ROSS LOCKE ("NASBY") 
 
 Author of "Hannah Jane" "Swingin Round the Cirkle" 
 
 "Ekkoes from Kentucky" "Morals of Abou 
 
 Ben Adhem" "A Paper City" etc. 
 
 BOSTON 1891 
 
 LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers 
 
 10 Milk St., next "The Old South Meeting House" 
 
 NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILl^INGHAM 
 718 and 720 Broadway 
 
Copyright, 1890, by Robinson Locke 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 The Demagogue 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Introducing the Hero of these Pages at an 
 
 Early Period of his Life . . . i 
 
 II. Our Hero Starts in School ... 17 
 
 III. Caleb's Education Progresses ... 30 
 
 IV. How Caleb Mason fell in Love and how he 
 
 Made good his Approach to the Object 
 thereof .46 
 
 V. Farmer Dunlap becomes Caleb's Friend — 
 
 The Latter's School-Days ... 54 
 
 VI. Caleb Changes his Base of Operations . 75 
 
 VII. Caleb Mason as Printer, Reporter and Law- 
 Student 95 
 
 VIII. Caleb Mason in Favor — Some other Resi- 
 dents of Pulaski 117 
 
 M105438 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 IX. A Tide taken at its Flood . . .141 
 
 X. The further Progress of Caleb Mason — A 
 
 Trifle of Sinuosity. . . . • ^55 
 
 XI. The Wedding and the Counterplot . • 173 
 
 XII. Caleb goes on Conquering and to Conquer 196 
 
 XIII. Shows Mr. Mason's further Progress up the 
 
 Ladder of Glory . . , . .211 
 
 XIV. Mr. Mason goes Onward and without Inter- 
 
 ruption; and Why .... 238 
 
 XV. The Great Mason and Stevens Fight . 254 
 
 XVI. The next Rock upon which Mason's Ship 
 
 was Steering . . . . .279 
 
 XVII. Mr. Samuel Gleason Turns over a new Leaf 298 
 
 XVIII. Mr. Mason is Checkmated by a Tragedy . 318 
 
 XIX. Mr. Gleason Scores his Point . . , 341 
 
 XX. Mr. Mason and Mr. Gleason Cross Swords 356 
 
 XXI. Mr. Mason Meets his Match . . .376 
 
 XXII. Mr. Mason prepares his Forces for Another 
 
 Campaign . . . . . . 391 
 
 XXIII. Mr. Mason takes a Turn at the Political 
 
 Wheel ....... 405 
 
 XXIV. A Matter of Finance . . . .422 
 XXV. A Financial Crash and its Results . . 439 
 
 XXVI. The Wages of Sin is Death . . .447 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ■» * •) o ■»« 
 
 CHAPTfik I - '>>>.> 
 
 INTRODUCING THE HERO OF THESE PAGES AT AN 
 EARLY PERIOD OF HIS LIFE 
 
 IT was eleven o'clock at night, in one of the vast 
 wildernesses that covered North-western Ohio 
 fifty or sixty years ago. It was in November, the 
 most dreary of all the months in that country — a 
 month when the cold rains fall and are never weary, 
 when Nature is in its most sullen temper, as though 
 sensible that it had made a failure of spring and 
 summer, and it was therefore anxious to wreak its 
 vengeance upon the country by continuing in an ugly 
 mood. The air was cold — so cold that the rain 
 which was falling had changed its mind after leaving 
 the clouds where it was born, and struck the earth in 
 little pellets, just light enough to be carried on the 
 wind, and just heavy enough to cut and bruise like bird- 
 shot. The wind, charged with these missiles, was as 
 fierce and as ugly as the rain, and the stinging little 
 
2 THE DEMAGOGUE ^ 
 
 particles, too hard for snow and too insignificant for 
 hail, were as disagreeable to unsheltered man and beast 
 as anything could be. They cut like knives, and who- 
 ever was exposed to them felt that he was storming a 
 hidden battery, the defenders of which were shoot- 
 ing showers of little lancets from endless rows of 
 mitrailleuses/ ; ' | \ ] 
 
 The roads were long streaks of mud, half earth and 
 h^lt w'alieir,- beaten- together into a sticky mass, too 
 thick for a boat to float in, and too thin to support the 
 hoofs of a horse. It was a stagger, not a walk or a 
 trot, for the poor beasts condemned to travel these 
 roads. Their advance was a series of lurches, of sink- 
 ings and recoveries ; and slow indeed was the progress 
 possible to be made. 
 
 On either side of the long line of inky blackness that 
 marked the open way for the traveler, were immense 
 trees — black walnut, oak, ash and hickory — set as 
 closely as was possible, compatible with growth and 
 life, their branches interlacing and forming a canopy 
 which held the wet when it was rainy, and kept out 
 the sun when the sky was clear; and all the time 
 sending up clouds of malaria. There was a shake of 
 ague in every drop of the vegetable-impregnated 
 water under foot, and another in every breath of the 
 malaria-laden air above. 
 
 The soil was, as a rule, a rich black mould, five to 
 ten feet deep, soft from being so long covered with 
 water ; and the land was so level that the falling of a 
 tree centuries ago across a run or creek dammed it, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 3 
 
 making a swamp of what had once been fair land, and 
 which would be again when the hardy settler, armed 
 with his axe and sustained by quinine, should come 
 and search out the original course of the stream, and 
 by clearing it out, permit the water to flow through 
 its natural channel to seek the river and thence the 
 lake. The fight of the first settlers was with the 
 water. Once liberate the soil from its domination, 
 control the one element, and there was no end to the 
 wealth which it had hidden. 
 
 Famous fields of corn these swamps made years 
 after, but at that time one would have hardly given 
 the parings of his distressed horse's hoofs for the 
 whole country. Men do not usually look under the 
 surface, either in land or in other men ; but where 
 one does, he has the secret of success in life. One 
 Merriweather, a wealthy farmer of this region, years 
 after the date referred to in this chapter, in reply to a 
 question why he did not remove to the city, made this 
 answer, as he took a fresh bite from his plug of 
 tobacco — '^ 
 
 '' Yoo kin talk of makin' money in the cities; and 
 by merchandizin', and the perfessions, an' sich; but 
 I am satisfied right here. D'ye see this land } " 
 
 He waved his hand to the four points of the com- 
 pass, and if your eye followed the sweep thereof, it 
 did certainly rest upon a beautiful sight. There were 
 long stretches of level land, covered with Indian corn ; 
 a sea of greenery, which the gentle August wind 
 tossed in its loving embrace as if in play. The tas- 
 
4 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 seled heads bowed to its influence and raised again, 
 and bowed and raised, like a lake kissed by the winds, 
 and undulating as if every stalk was endowed with 
 life, and joyous life, too. 
 
 "Wal, old Gregory, in Canandaigua, York state, 
 owned this land, a thousand acres uv it ; and he took 
 it uv the government at ;^i.2 5 an acre, and held it ten 
 years, and one year he came out to see it. It wuz in 
 August, a drouthy yeer, for we hedn't hed a drop uv 
 rain for a munth or two. I wuz hostler in Pulaski, 
 and I druv the old man out to see his land. He, he! 
 It wuz three feet under water, every foot uv it, and 
 a pertikeler nasty kind uv water it wuz — all green 
 and scummy like, and as discurridgin' a lookin' place 
 ez yoo cood find in a day's journey. He looked 
 at it, Gregory did, for a minnit, and remarked — 
 *D— n!' 
 
 "'Why, Merriweather,' sed he, *I woodn't give ten 
 cents for the whole thousand acres ! ' 
 
 " ' Squire,' I remarked, ' that is good land. All it 
 wants is drainin', and fencin*, and fixin' up, and it'll 
 grow the biggest corn yoo ever saw. It's good 
 sile. ' 
 
 " ' Possibly it is when yoo git down to it,' he sed, 
 spitefully. * Merriweather, I'd like to sell it fer what 
 I give for it.* 
 
 "'Squire,' said I, 'will yoo give me the refusle uv 
 it for $1.25 an acre, and give me three years to pay 
 for it, if I pay interest on it } * 
 
 "'Indeed I will,' said he, 'and glad to git rid uv it. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 5 
 
 But don't do it ; you are a likely feller, and I don't 
 want to rooin yoo.' 
 
 "The upshot uv it wuz, I got a contrack out uv 
 him, and on that contrack I got a man in Pulaski to 
 lend me munny enuff to buy a team, and hire a man 
 or two, and buy grub for the winter. I found the 
 water course, and cleared it out, and cut a ditch strate 
 throo it all, and the next spring I plowed it, and put 
 it into corn. And that winter I sold corn enuff off 
 uv it to pay for the team, the ditchin', and the land, 
 and hed sumthin' hansum over. 'Squire, yoo coodn't 
 buy that land to-day for a hundred dollars an acre. 
 Old Gregory wuz out last year to see it, and he swore 
 like a pirut about it. Success in life, 'Squire, means 
 gumption enuff to know where the water-courses 
 ought to be, and how to find 'em, and pluck enuff to 
 do it. That's how I got this farm. It was a big 
 thing for a hostler in Pulaski ! " 
 
 It was a horribly disagreeable night ; at least, so 
 thought old Doctor Rawson, as he plunged along the 
 road leading north from Pulaski out into the country 
 on this eventful night. He was on horseback, 
 wrapped in a cloak voluminous enough to cover the 
 saddle-bags behind him, and dropping to his feet, 
 which was protection enough for all of his person but 
 his face. He glanced regretfully at the animal he 
 bestrode with the natural feeling a country doctor 
 always has for his horse, because he did not have a 
 cloak to cover him also. 
 
 It was a doleful and dismal ride, though such rides 
 
6 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 were nothing new to a man grown doleful and dismal 
 years since, nor yet to his doleful and dismal horse, 
 which had long since learned that he belonged to a 
 country physician, and that his lot must necessarily 
 be doleful and dismal. 
 
 The good doctor had come into this locality years 
 before, and his horse had been ridden through these 
 swamps for half that time. He had traversed the 
 country when there were no roads at all ; and, bad as 
 it was, it was infinitely better than those he had 
 Samaritanized over during his early years of practice. 
 
 "Drat the weather!" ejaculated the old man, as an 
 unusually fierce gust of wind drove the shower of 
 sleet with more than expected force into his weather- 
 beaten face. "Drat the weather, drat the mud, 
 and" — 
 
 His soliloquy came to a sudden ending, for just 
 then his horse, blinded as he was by the storm, struck 
 a miniature lake deeper than his philosophical head 
 had calculated upon, and in his floundering to get out 
 fastened the poor man's legs in the sticky mass and 
 nearly dismounted him. 
 
 " Drat the horse ! Git up and git out of this ! " 
 exclaimed the doctor, as the beast waded out and 
 stood once more on comparatively solid ground. The 
 animal stood still, as if puzzled which way to turn. 
 
 " Drat ye ! Don't ye know where to go .? Hevn't 
 ye bin along this road enough times to know every 
 hole in it.?" 
 
 The horse was dazed, but not confounded. He 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 7 
 
 merely took an observation, as a mariner might at sea 
 — indeed, a doctor's horse in that country ought to 
 be considered partly a sailor — and, determining upon 
 his route, started off on as good a pace as the ground 
 would admit. But the doctor's grumbling did not end 
 with the extrication of the horse from the slough, or 
 his starting off in the right direction. He had got 
 started upon a grumble, and it did him good to keep 
 on. 
 
 " Drat the old woman Mason ! Why couldn't she 
 have sent for me at a decent time of day, or in decent 
 weather.? There ought to be a law agin wimmen 
 havin' children between September and April, in this 
 ghastly country — that is, old wimmen; the young 
 ones don't know any better — and why couldn't she 
 have sent for Ballard, the beastly quack! Old man 
 Mason don't pay nothin', no how; what did they 'want 
 to send for me for ? Sich people don't deserve a reg- 
 ler doctor ! They ought to be kep for botanies, and 
 eclectics, and homoeopaths and very young students, to 
 practice upon. Ten to one if old Mason don't borrer 
 a dollar of me afore I get out of the house ! 
 
 "To go out sich a night as this," he continued, 
 "through this infernal swamp, and to sich a patient, 
 and ten to one — whoa, Jim, what are you about ? " 
 
 Jim had plunged into another slough, which he 
 waded out of as best he could. 
 
 "Bless the boss, I shouldn't get into a temper with 
 him ! He is having it worse than I am ! Ten to one 
 I shall have to give old woman Mason quinine and 
 
8 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 whisky to keep her up, with quinine worth four 
 dollars and a half an ounce, and Huber, the druggist, 
 sending notices to me that hereafter quinine is to be 
 cash, and I with less'n half an ounce in my saddle- 
 bags ! I wish that I could find suthin besides quinine 
 that would do these people — suthin indigenous, that 
 I could go out and dig; suthin that grows right here, 
 that I could bile up and give them a quart, and that 
 didn't cost nuthin ! It's awful to hev to give these 
 people cash drugs, and then charge it, and finally hev 
 to take it out in truck, if I get anything at all. Why 
 wuzn't I bred a shoemaker? And they ain't content 
 with an ordinary dose. You hev to give 'em enough 
 quinine to make their heads buzz like a sawmill, or 
 else they think they ain't got enough, and that you 
 don't know your bizness ! And they want quinine for 
 everything. Ef a man runs his blasted leg through a 
 thrashin' machine, he wants a dose of calomel at night 
 and quinine in the morning — and quinine four dollars 
 and a half an ounce ! Thank heaven, calomel is 
 cheap, or I should have starved long ago ! I'll give 
 old woman Mason so much calomel to-night that she 
 won't be able to take any quinine in the morning, and 
 save suthin in that way. 
 
 "And they've got to usin' quinine to make the hair 
 grow, just to have an excuse to put up the price 
 again ! What's the use uv a woman havin' hair on her 
 bed, ef she ain't got no liver.? Since this noshin that 
 quinine is good for the hair got around, there ain't no 
 controllin' uv 'em. The quinine powders I left for 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE Q 
 
 Mrs. Parkins she put onto her hair, and in consekence 
 I had to come agin. I hevtoo much practice! Ef 
 another doctor, and a rich one, don't come and divide 
 the bizness, I shel perish uv debt. Ef one uv my 
 pashents should pay once in a while, I cood git on; 
 but there ain't no collectin' nuthin' till they are ded, 
 and they don't die in this country! They hev fearful 
 constitooshens, and when they die, their estates don't 
 pan out nuthin'. I get 'em, though, on the last ill- 
 ness. Ef the expenses of the last illness wuzn't a 
 preferred debt, I shood hev to hev left long ago. 
 And half the time the widder comes snifflin' and 
 cryin', and gets me, like an old fool, to waive my 
 claim, and then where am I .-* I can't refooze a 
 snifflin' widder with a lot of tow-headed brats. I wish 
 to God I wuz a mean man, or had the repootashen uv 
 bein' one ! But, drat 'em, they all know me, and get 
 the better uv me ! " 
 
 Fortunately for the Doctor's peace of mind, a dim 
 light was finally discernible in the distance, which the 
 horse observed with all his rider's pleasure ; and, ani- 
 mated by the prospect of oats and shelter, he pricked 
 up his ears and started off with as much of a trot as 
 his years, his many and oft infirmities, and the state 
 of the road, permitted. 
 
 A few minutes brought the doctor to the door of a 
 log cabin of one room, standing alone in a clearing in 
 the forest, without even the adornment of a rail fence 
 around it. It was a dismal, dreary place, and not 
 even respectable for its class. The " chinking " of 
 
lO THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 mud was out between the logs, the chimney had suc- 
 cumbed to the blasts of the repeated winters it had 
 endured, and pools of half-frozen water were thick 
 about the door. It was laziness built of logs ; it was 
 unthrift patched, and carelessness with broken win- 
 dows in it. 
 
 While the doctor was knocking for admittance, 
 there came from within that piteous wail that always 
 accompanies the entrance of a soul into this world. 
 Such a wail is appropriate in most cases, for when the 
 great What-is-to-be is balanced up, the ills of life are 
 so much greater than the pleasures, that, could the 
 new comers know what is before them, and realize 
 the nature of the sea they are to encounter, they 
 would all desire to die at the beginning. But a wail 
 from a new-born child in that cabin was especially 
 appropriate. It was very proper to commence life in 
 that country with a wail. It was prophetic instinct, 
 a seeming foreknowledge of what it was to go 
 through. 
 
 *'Drat the woman!" exclaimed the doctor to him- 
 self in final soliloquy (doctors in the country get into 
 the habit of soliloquizing on their long and lonely 
 rides); *'drat the woman! I have ridden twelve 
 long miles through the infernal sleet and mud, and 
 jest ruined Jim, to take keer of her and here she's 
 gone and had her baby afore I got here ! This is a 
 cold and onfeelin* world!" 
 
 And, offended that the youngster had come into the 
 world without his help, as though the poor mother 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE II 
 
 could set the course of nature and fit its movements 
 to the pace of his horse, he entered the house. 
 
 If the dwelling was rough and uninviting outside, it 
 was no better within. It was a miserable apology for 
 a habitation for human beings. The floor was made 
 of logs hewed into something like smoothness ; the 
 walls were innocent of plaster, and not even covered 
 with old newspapers. No newspapers ever made 
 their appearance in that house, for its proprietor 
 would have sooner have cut off his right hand than 
 to have expended money on newspapers while whisky 
 was thirty cents a gallon. The windows lacked glass 
 in half the panes, the vacancies being supplied by 
 wads of rags stuffed in them. 
 
 Furniture, there was none, or next to none. A 
 rough pine table in the centre of the single room, a 
 few stools and one very cheap rocker, some few 
 shelves, and beds on the floor in the corners of the 
 room, one only rejoicing in a bedstead — this is a 
 correct inventory of the "havings" of the occupants 
 of the wretched cabin. 
 
 The place was dirty and squalid. At one side of 
 the room was the bed, supported by a bedstead, a 
 piece of furniture in excellent keeping with its sur- 
 roundings ; and around it stood the regular comple- 
 ment of women who are always present on such occa- 
 sions — hard-featured and middle-aged, every one; 
 and by the open fire-place in which a fire sullenly 
 blazed, or rather smoked and smouldered, for the -logs 
 were green as a matter of course — nothing could be 
 
12 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 comfortable in that cabin — sat a hard-featured, mid- 
 dle-aged man. He was smoking a short clay pipe, 
 moodily and sullenly looking into the fire, and appar- 
 ently brooding over something. It could not be that 
 he was considering the additional burden he had 
 brought upon himself in the person of a new-born 
 baby, for his children had never been burdens to him. 
 They were very like the animals in the forest about 
 them ; they came into the world, they subsisted as 
 best they could, till they were old enough to care for 
 themselves, and then they cared for themselves. 
 Certainly Seth Mason could not have been cogitating 
 on that subject. A good dozen had come to him, and 
 as eleven had never worried him, why should the 
 twelfth ? 
 
 The women gathered about were the u^ual_type of 
 those who are always present on such occasions — all 
 of a class. They lived in cabins just like this, they 
 all had husbands who, when not at the distillery nor 
 in the grocery in the village, sat before the fire, smok- 
 ing short clay pipes and thinking industriously of 
 nothing, and they had all been situated as was the 
 pale woman in the bed. They were there, not that 
 they could be of any service, but from the instinctive 
 call that comes to every woman to be present when a 
 soul is to be ushered into the world, a sisterhood that 
 compels assistance in this one great struggle with 
 nature. 
 
 And then it was an excuse for that other delight of 
 the women of this class. They were able, without 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I3 
 
 rebuke, to stay as long as they chose, and to gossip as 
 long as they stayed. What did they talk about? 
 Did a dozen middle-aged women ever get together 
 that they did not find something to talk about? 
 Were there not weddings in prospect ? Was it not 
 rumored that Jennie Smith had jilted Sam Brown? 
 Had not Simon Thompson gone to drinking because 
 Susan Elwood had thrown him over? Was not Mrs. 
 Bromley terribly disappointed at her failure to catch 
 young Smithson, the dry goods man in Pulaski? 
 And so on and so forth, to say nothing of the enu- 
 meration of the score of women thereabouts in the 
 condition that ladies are proud to be who love their 
 lords, and the accidents and what not that happen in 
 the country-side. 
 
 And be it recorded that in all this conversation, 
 this smoothly-flowing stream of gossip, not a word of 
 good was said of anybody. It was the evil side that 
 was always turned out to the gaze — they dwelt only 
 on what had happened that was wicked. And why 
 not ? These poor things had never known anything 
 good to happen to themselves. Why, it was some- 
 thing of a relief to know that other people were hav- 
 ing their troubles. The well-to-do, those who come 
 into the world wrapped in cotton wool, and are first 
 fed out of a silver spoon, can afford to be kindly. 
 But those born on the floor and reared in cabins see 
 so little of the good in life that they take comfort 
 in knowing that others have miseries as well as 
 themselves. 
 
14 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 To complete the picture, in the bed lay a hard-feat- 
 ured, middle-aged woman, wan and pale, with a 
 pinched face, and in her arms a new-born babe, whose 
 own features pitifully mocked those of the woman 
 who held him. 
 
 " It's a fine boy, doctor," observed one of the 
 women, "and the very image of its father!" 
 
 This would have been true had the baby been born 
 with a red nose, bleared eyes and a grizzly beard. 
 Happy is our race that it takes for its model in repro- 
 duction the first and better, not the worst and latter 
 part of our lives, and gives every baby a fresh start. 
 
 "H'm! All babies are nice babies to their moth- 
 ers, and to the women who help, till they get out of 
 ear-shot of their mothers," growled Doctor Rawson, as 
 he approached the bedside; *'and I never knew one 
 who wasn't the exact picter of his father. Yer old 
 enough and familiar enough with babies to be some- 
 what more original in yer remarks concernin' 'em." 
 
 Just then the baby, as though he resented being 
 made the subject of the conversation, uttered a pro- 
 longed howl. 
 
 " Howl away, my fine feller ! " said the doctor, 
 whose cynicism was kindly, after all, looking at it 
 grimly ; " howl away ! You can't commence howlin' 
 too soon, born as you are in this cheerful country. 
 Howl away ! You may have a happy life, but the 
 chances are agin you. You don't know how much 
 quinine you have got to take, and what you are to go 
 through with, or you'd quit at the beginning. But 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 5 
 
 you won't ! You'll grow up like your father, or you 
 may possibly — though Heaven protect you from that 
 — be a doctor, and have to ride out twelve miles on 
 sich nights as this to see brats born, without the 
 remotest chance of gettin' a cent for your work, and 
 always to people who don't need a doctor more'n my 
 boss two tails. Howl on ! You'll keep it up a good 
 while yet, if yer born with any sensibility ! " 
 
 Then came the usual questions and answers, where- 
 upon the doctor took out of his saddle-bags divers and 
 sundry solids and liquids, growling as he made up 
 powders and potions, for they cost him good money. 
 He gave directions for the morrow, and with a pro- 
 longed growl into which he threw his whole soul, 
 mounted his half-fed horse, with the oats still drop- 
 ping from his mouth, which had been brought to the 
 door by a shock-headed youth, brother to the latest 
 arrival; and then rode away into the night, mutter- 
 ing as he went. 
 
 The silent man at the fire was Seth Mason, the 
 woman in the bed was Hannah Maria Mason, his wife, 
 and the speck of humanity in her arms was destined 
 to be named Caleb Mason. His career these pages 
 will detail. 
 
 An inauspicious beginning.? True, but who knows 
 from the beginning what the ending is to be ? Flow- 
 ers spring from dung-hills, and have sweet odors and 
 beautiful colors. Very great men have been started 
 as badly as our hero, as well as the great rabble who 
 never achieved greatness. 
 
1 6 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Good or bad, in such a house, and in such weather, 
 and under such circumstances, was our hero ushered 
 into this vain world — this world which promises so 
 much, and performs so little ; this world which has 
 trouble at the beginning, worry in the middle, and 
 disappointment at the end. There he was born, and 
 there, also, our story. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 i; 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OUR HERO STARTS IN SCHOOL. 
 
 PROBABLY no young baby was ever brought into g> 
 the world whose start in life was more inauspi-^? 
 cious than that of our hero. The mother in whose 
 arms he was lying was an ignorant, coarse woman, 
 whose life had always been one of hard work, varied 
 by the most brutal treatment ; and his father was a 
 whisky-drinking, lazy, shiftless man, who never 
 worked when he could help it, and who made it a 
 more than religious duty to spend whatever money 
 he earned in whisky. A more than religious duty, for 
 men sometimes do dodge a religious duty, but he 
 never did this. The care of the children depended 
 entirely upon the mother, and very little they got of 
 it. There were so many of them that she had not 
 time enough to go around. 
 
 It was she who planted what corn they raised, and 
 she hoed it, cut it, husked it, took it to the mill, 
 brought the meal back again, and baked it in the 
 ashes for the sustenance of herself and the brood 
 dependent on her. She was compelled to do this, for 
 two reasons. Her husband would not do that amount 
 
I 8 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 of work ordinarily, and whenever necessity compelled 
 him to do it, he did it half-way. The corn he carried 
 to the mill, only got half-way there, for, unfortunately, 
 there was a distillery midway between the house and 
 the mill, and he always stopped there to rest ; and 
 once within range of a barrel, he was lost. Had his 
 sack contained diamonds instead of corn, it would 
 have been all the same. It never took but a minute 
 to exchange the crude corn for the essence, and an 
 hour of industrious drinking always laid him prostrate 
 on the bench in that stupid sleep which only swine 
 and drunkards know. It was a maxim with him that 
 it was of no use to eat a peck of dry corn when one 
 could get the sustenance of it in a glass of whisky. 
 If a mill had been half-way between his house and the 
 distillery, it would have been much better for his 
 family. 
 
 As he always got tired in that exact point in the 
 journey, Mrs. Mason found it better to go to the mill 
 with the corn herself. She could pass a distillery. 
 
 From this skeleton description of the Mason man- 
 sion, and of the occupants thereof, it is plain that 
 young Caleb had as bad a start in life as could well 
 be devised. And the badness of the start increased 
 with his years. As he grew up, his father grew 
 downward. Whisky-drinking is very much like walk- 
 ing on ice with smooth shoes — one step forward and 
 two steps backward. Poor Mason found it so. Before 
 his last hopeful was five years old, he was a helpless, 
 hopeless, confirmed sot, whose only ambition was to 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I9 
 
 compass a jug, and whose only pleasure was to drink 
 its contents. 
 
 A little village had grown up at one side of his 
 small farm, and the Mason boys were the boys that 
 every small village has ^ the ragged, dirty, vulgar, 
 unkempt, unwashed sons of the village drunkard, the 
 boys under no control, without education, manners or 
 restraint. 
 
 Was there a hen-roost robbed ? Who did it ? 
 
 Bill Mason. 
 
 An orchard stripped ? 
 
 Sam Mason. 
 
 A cow driven into the river and drowned ? 
 
 Jack and Tom Mason, 
 
 What boys were never seen at church, or Sunday 
 School, or at any other place where boys could be 
 humanized ? 
 
 The Masons. 
 
 In brief, they were the pariahs of the village — the 
 outcasts, the ne'er-do-weels, of whom nothing was 
 expected, and for whom nothing could be done. 
 
 The last of the Mason tribe, however, showed sur- 
 face indications of something more than the vegetable 
 life into which the rest seemed content to settle down, 
 and of fulfilling, in some degree, the predictions of 
 the ancient Mrs. Smith. 
 
 Very early in life he announced his determination 
 to be somebody, and to do something. In all these 
 worst families there is always one such boy, into 
 whom all the energy that should have been distributed 
 
20 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 seems to have concentrated. And that boy always 
 does amount to something. Despite his lack of 
 opportunity, he manages to pick up something of an 
 education, and, armed with that, he goes out into the 
 world, and throws down the gauntlet to all comers. 
 There are enough to take it up, and he receives ter- 
 rific drubbing; but with the strength born of early 
 struggles, he comes up again and again, and finally, 
 by sheer power of endurance, wins. The very 
 struggles that are required to get him out of the 
 slough in which he was born develop his mental 
 muscle, and give him strength for subsequent efforts. 
 
 Caleb Mason was the one' boy of this wretched 
 family who determined to be something in the world 
 better than his ancestry. Very early in life he got 
 an undue idea of the importance of money, for he had 
 been compelled to go hatless and shoeless, shirtless 
 and almost trouserless, while the other boys of his 
 acquaintance had hats, shoes, shirts and trousers of 
 many colors. He learned that these things, as well 
 as good houses, warm beds and good food, none of 
 which he ever knew except through the unsatisfac- 
 tory medium of sight, could only be got with money; 
 and therefore, in the bitterness of his soul, he swore 
 great oaths that he would have money, and a great 
 deal of it. 
 
 And as all the men of the neighborhood who had 
 money, and who stood high in the estimation of the 
 community were men who could read and write, the 
 boy began, even in his childhood, to wish for an edu- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 21 
 
 cation. He had within him the divine thirst for 
 knowledge. He recognized dimly that the acquisition 
 of what his father called " book-larnin' " would place 
 in his hands a weapon he must possess in order to be 
 successful in his struggle with the world ; and his 
 eyes turned longingly to the country school-house, 
 perched on a slight elevation by the side of the road, 
 near where it crossed the stream. 
 
 It was the regulation school-house of the back- 
 woods, the college in which Ewing, Corwin, Clay and 
 so many men of the republic obtained at least the 
 beginnings of an education. Education in this coun- 
 try is not of the schools — the schools merely fit the 
 boy to take in the broader development which contact 
 with the world gives him. It is the school-master 
 who lays the foundation — the world outside builds 
 the structure. ' 
 
 It was a one-roomed building, and a very small one, 
 of logs ; homely, inconvenient, illy-ventilated ; a miser- 
 able place, filled with ill-clothed and worse mannered 
 children. Children cannot be well-mannered without 
 good clothes. Good clothes require some care to be 
 taken of them. The ragged boy whose entire outfit 
 would not bring sixpence, is rough in his garments 
 because he can not harm them — the well-dressed boy 
 not only has pride in his clothes, but he is impelled — 
 why, he does not know — to make his conduct fit his, 
 clothes. Who shall write the philosophy of clothes ? 
 Why does the ruffian always wear a red handkerchief 
 about his neck, tied very low ? And why is a solvent 
 
22 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 banker always in black, and smooth shaven ? Why 
 are mustaches necessary to a soldier, and a smooth 
 face to a judge ? These are mysteries in life ! 
 
 The floor of this school-house was of puncheons — 
 that is, of logs hewed on one side to as near a flat 
 surface as a very lazy man with a bad axe could or 
 would do it. The seats were of the same (only the 
 trees used were smaller), with stout legs inserted 
 in them ; the desks were of the roughest boards, 
 scarcely planed. There were hundreds of these 
 school-houses in the West at that day, and in them 
 thousands of boys were fitted to take their places in 
 the world, and achieve success. In this one room, 
 heated by an enormous '* ten-plate" stove, were forty 
 unkempt children, presided over by a man named 
 Whitmore. Mr. Whitmore had had the misfortune 
 to lose one of his legs, the right one, in his early 
 manhood, and a stout leg of wood did duty in its 
 place. Nature is generous in all respects. When 
 Whitmore lost his leg. Nature made it up by giving 
 him extraordinary strength in his arms. All the 
 strength that naturally belonged to the lost leg was 
 concentrated in his right arm. With this arm he 
 could wrench a boy's arm out of its socket, and with- 
 out any trouble reduce him to submission by sheer 
 force of the twist and the agony it produced. 
 
 Mr. Whitmore could read and write; but reading 
 and writing were the least of the qualifications neces- 
 sary in a teacher in that locality. What good would 
 Greek and Latin do a teacher if he could not keep 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 23 
 
 his pupils together long enough to teach it to them ? 
 What good is an education in a school where the 
 pupils have the habit of throwing the teacher through 
 the window, and rolling him in the snow afterward? 
 The first point was to get a teacher whom the boys 
 could not throw out of the window ! 
 
 While Mr. Whitmore could read, write and "ci- 
 pher," his principal distinction came from the enor- 
 mous strength in his arms. He had always spent his 
 evenings in Dobson's store, among the regular loafers 
 and loungers, and among these simple children of 
 nature, tests of strength were the common amuse- 
 ment. This one could jump further than any other; 
 that one could lift more with his arms; one could 
 hoist the greatest weight with his shoulders ; another 
 excelled in feats of strength with his teeth. In fact, 
 each one had his peculiar excellence. Whitmore had 
 arrived at distinction -by trying his strength of hand 
 with the great louts always congregated there ; and 
 as he never failed to squeeze their hands so as to 
 make them howl with agony, and then by a dexterous 
 twist wrench them so as to nearly kill them, they all 
 had a profound respect for him, and considered him a 
 man a long way above the common run. Indeed, 
 many of them rather envied him the loss of the leg 
 which gave him this power, and not a few would 
 have accepted his wooden leg with pleasure to have 
 secured the additional strength in the arm and hand. 
 Ambition is ambition, and this was about as harmless 
 a variety as there is. 
 
24 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 It was this strength, added to his knowledge of 
 reading, writing and arithmetic, that made him the 
 pedagogue of the district. The wild, unruly boys had 
 half killed two teachers one winter, and the school 
 directors were puzzled to know whom to put in the 
 place. Providentially there was one man of the three 
 whose wrist Mr. Whitmore had dislocated, who wore 
 it in a sling — a perambulating testimonial of the 
 wonderful powers of the "one-legged cuss." 
 
 "I wish he'd take the school," he remarked. "He 
 aint got much edicashun, but. Lor* bless you, with *at 
 'ere wrist of his'n, he'd fetch them boys to time!" 
 
 The idea did not fall on stony ground. The main 
 point was to have a school, and if there were no order 
 there could be no school. Any man with Whitmore's 
 strength could manage the boys, and that was enough. 
 The school was offered him, and he, nothing loath, 
 took it. The man who made the suggestion was 
 entirely right. Mr. Whitmore entered upon the dis- 
 charge of his duties with the one idea that discipline 
 must be maintained, and with the one infallible pro- 
 cess, viz. : first, to twist the arm off every boy infring- 
 ing the rules, and then to half kill him afterward. 
 His measures might be considered half-way ones, for 
 he always did manage to stop just short of death. 
 
 His first day was tame enough, and a disappoint- 
 ment. He hungered and thirsted for some one to 
 offend, that he might make an example. The day 
 passed quietly enough, for his reputation had preceded 
 him, and the boys were taking his measure. But 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2$ 
 
 they could not long remain quiet. There is some- 
 thing in fourteen-year-old blood that will not be quiet, 
 something that will dare more than a wrenched arm 
 for the manifestation of disorder. One boy made a 
 slip — it was a very slight one, but it was enough for 
 Whitmore. He happened to be the largest and oldest 
 boy in the school, which pleased the teacher all the 
 more, and he was the son of a very poor farmer, who 
 had no influence. It was his opportunity. He 
 pounced upon the culprit hungrily, all the more that 
 his pleasure had been delayed a day, and hauled him 
 upon the floor before the astonished youth dreamed 
 that he had been discovered. There was the wrist- 
 twisting, the arm wrenching, the ferruling afterward, 
 and the boy went back to his seat entirely satisfied 
 that he wanted no more encounters with Master Whit- 
 more — on even terms, at all events. To improve the 
 lesson, the master invented new disturbances, the 
 second time taking three boys at once and twisting all 
 their wrists and wrenching all their arms so quickly 
 and artistically as to satisfy them that he was suffi- 
 ciently powerful to overcome, not one pupil alone, but 
 a mutiny, even though all were engaged in it. 
 
 The directors were delighted with the result, for it 
 relieved them of a grave responsibility. They had a 
 school, and a master who could keep order. As to 
 learning, they trusted to the native genius of their 
 children, judging that if they had books in a place 
 where order was maintained, they must learn. 
 
 It was before Master Whitmore that Caleb Mason 
 
26 , THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 appeared as a pupil when he had completed his tenth 
 year. He was a stout, heavy-set lad, with wonderfully 
 lustrous eyes, large and full, dreamy, and yet not 
 dreamy. They were a peculiar pair of eyes. Some- 
 times they were as blue as the heavens above him, 
 sometimes of a cold, glittering gray, and sometimes a 
 mixture of the two. It depended very much upon the 
 mood he was in. His hair was very dark, slightly 
 waved, and very thick. His forehead was not remark- 
 ably high, but there was a bold elevation just above 
 the eyes, and a large and prominent nose; lips not 
 too thick, and the head itself was set squarely upon 
 the neck, and equally divided ; the part forward of the 
 ears was exactly equal to that behind. Put such a 
 head upon a body as strong as that of a young bull, 
 and as active and wiry as a wild-cat, and there is a 
 boy of which something may be expected. Such a 
 one will obtain eminence in some way ; he will never 
 be mediocre. Whether he graces the senate chamber 
 or ornaments the gallows, depends very much upon 
 the way in which he is started. If he reaches the 
 senate, he will be a leader; if the gallows, it will 
 be for no common murder. 
 
 There probably never was a more unlicked cub ever 
 enrolled in a school-house. Manners he had none, 
 for how could he have.!* What had he ever seen at 
 home.-* He was the first of his family who had ever 
 been at school. His sisters never went, for they 
 never had clothes enough ; and his brothers, wild as 
 the animals in the forest around their cabin home, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2/ 
 
 could never be induced to show their faces in a school- 
 house. What good could learning do them ? Would 
 learning enable them to shoot the venerable old mus- 
 ket with any more accuracy ? Would a knowledge of 
 arithmetic give them any more skill in trapping 
 muskrats ? These were the only employments they 
 cared for, and what could learning do for them ? 
 
 How did Caleb Mason come to go to school ? He 
 was not of the Mason family, though he belonged to it. 
 He had a yearning for something, he knew not what. 
 He wanted to know, and he had an idea that the only 
 way to know was to go to school. He found that the 
 very few children with whom he associated who did 
 go to school knew things of which he was ignorant, 
 and he had noticed that in the grocery in the village, 
 the men who read talked quite differently from his 
 father, who, if he could read, never did; and he had 
 observed there was a difference in men, and he wanted 
 to be of the best. 
 
 And so he found himself in school, not knowing 
 what he was to find there, nor in what way it was to 
 be of advantage to him ; only he did know in some 
 way that education made superior men, and he had 
 formed a sort of indefinite resolution to be a superior 
 man. 
 
 Curious looking material he was of which to .make a 
 superior man ! It was winter, of course, for the 
 school did not **keep" in summer, when he first made 
 his appearance. He hung about the door, not know- 
 ing precisely what was required to penetrate the 
 
28 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 interior. What had he to do when he got in ? How 
 would the sole representative of the despised Mason 
 family be received ? Would Mr. Whitmore receive 
 him, or would he be bundled out again, as he had been 
 from every place of decent antecedents that he had 
 ever entered.** He nad once gone into a Methodist 
 revival meeting and was given no seat. The elders 
 felt that they had to draw the line somewhere, and it 
 was drawn on the Mason family. They were too 
 utterly worthless even for salvation. 
 
 But as he had made up his mind to enter, he 
 entered. He went in with his hat on — poor fellow, 
 he had never known that it was the proper thing to 
 take it off on entering a house — and an audible smile 
 went up from the assemblage of rough young boys 
 and pert young girls. Why not.? Youth is unthink- 
 ing and honest. He was a figure to be laughed at, 
 and they laughed. 
 
 The square-set, chunky boy had on his feet one 
 shoe and one boot, both made for adults, and each 
 broken at the toe and run over at the side. His 
 trousers had evidently done service for his father; 
 and, despite the clumsy patching of the patient 
 mother, were in the last stages of dilapidation. The 
 bare knees protruded in front, and the bottoms were 
 frayed to the degree that had the work been done 
 intentionally, it would have passed for scallops with- 
 out the binding or finish. His hair was unkempt, 
 and his hands and face rather dirty than otherwise. 
 
 But underneath that hair were a pair of eyes that 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2g 
 
 gave the dirty face a brilliancy, and despite the dirt 
 and rags, the boy was one to be looked at more than 
 once. There was a will-power expressed in the lips 
 that was painful in one so young ; a sadness rested on 
 the countenance that was far from pleasant to one 
 who did not delight in pain ; but there was a self- 
 reliance, a boldness, expressed thereon that relieved 
 the sadness, and gave confidence to those who pitied 
 the forlorn condition the boy was in, and convinced 
 them that time was all that was necessary to bring 
 him out, and change the dirt into neatness, the rags 
 into proper raiment, and convert the sadness of the 
 present into the exultant gratification of success. 
 
 He was a curious lad, a singular mixture, and he 
 never looked so curiously as when he entered the little 
 school, to commence putting on the armor that was to 
 take him through life. 
 
30 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 Caleb's education progresses 
 
 CALEB Mason proved a quick student. The 
 mystery of the English alphabet was soon 
 solved, and in what was deemed a marvelously short 
 time he ''learned to spell in 'baker'," as the phrase 
 went in the backwoods. The old blue-covered spell- 
 ing book of Noah Webster was the only one used in 
 those days, and the first table of words in two sylla- 
 bles began with that word ; hence, to say that a child 
 could "spell in 'baker,'" meant that he was able to 
 spell and pronounce at sight in words of two syllables, 
 and was fit for promotion to a regular reader. The 
 spelling-book was one that had been in the Mason 
 cabin ever since Caleb could remember, though 
 Heaven knows how it ever came there ; and when the 
 boy reached "baker" his mother traded a quantity of 
 white beans, the product of the crop she had planted 
 among the corn the previous summer, to the village 
 blacksmith for a dog's-eared copy of McGuffey's Sec- 
 ond Reader, that had been used by his children who 
 had '*quit school"; and it was from this volume and 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE ,31 
 
 the Webster's spelling-book that Caleb got his 
 winter's instruction. 
 
 The boy for a long time did not feel at home in the 
 school-house. The children all looked at him with 
 thinly-veiled contempt, as one inferior to themselves ; 
 for was he not one of the despised Masons } Upon 
 the play-ground he was the equal of the boys, as his 
 skill and quickness at "townball" led to his being 
 among the first taken when the two leaders "chose 
 up" for a game; and he was among the best in the 
 other sports in which the boys indulged at the noon 
 recess. But not one of the girls ever spoke to him. 
 He was a pariah, and he felt it. But he had a dogged 
 determination that he would learn, and though the 
 girls sneered at him, and the boys only tolerated him 
 because he was a good player, Caleb went on 
 steadily to school during the winter. The desire to 
 learn was stronger than the unpleasant surroundings 
 of the school-room. 
 
 Mr. Whitmore observed the boy narrowly, and saw 
 something in him that made him hunger and thirst to 
 get at him. He had an idea, based on the boy's 
 appearance and general make-up, that some day he 
 should have trouble with him, and he longed to have 
 the battle-royal take place. He felt a delight in con- 
 quering youth, though he was compelled to restrain 
 his inclinations. The sons of the leading men in the 
 neighborhood had to be treated with some consider- 
 ation, for he wanted to keep his place; and the wrist- 
 twisting with them had to be accomplished only when 
 
32 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 he had provocation so clear as to make it absolutely 
 safe and beyond question. But this young Mason 
 was a proper subject to operate upon, and an entirely 
 safe one. A boy bearing the name of Mason could 
 not be a good boy, and whatever was done against 
 him must be the proper thing to do. The general 
 reputation of the family made it entirely safe to twist 
 the wrist, or even the neck, of any one of the brood. 
 Therefore, when a stout bay named Mason, with a 
 rebellious eye and a sturdy form, was at hand, Mr. 
 Whitmore determined to enjoy the pleasure of half- 
 killing him at the first opportunity. But the forced 
 isolation of Caleb inside the school-room gave him no 
 opportunity of entering into mischief with the other 
 scholars, and the term was nearly over before Whit- 
 more was able to find the opportunity. It came in 
 this way. 
 
 There was a gorge of ice in the creek, which ran 
 its course within forty rods of the school-house, just 
 above the rickety bridge that spanned the turbulent 
 stream. The winter had been a very hard one, and 
 the ice in the creek was unusually thick. The warm 
 March winds had breathed upon the mass, and the 
 released waters had given it life. It was moving 
 down in great fields, borne along by that portion of it 
 that had been changed back into water, and at the 
 bend in the creek, just above the bridge, the mass 
 was caught and held, the ice coming down stream till 
 the gorge towered high in the air. The fields covered 
 acres upon acres upon both sides. When the sun 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 33 
 
 should weaken the support that held the enormous 
 mass of ice, and it should swing into the current, 
 nothing could prevent its taking out the bridge, as 
 well as many barns and sheds that were near the 
 brink of the stream. 
 
 There is nothing so merciless as ice, and nothing 
 that has its strength and power of destructiveness, 
 except the water that gives it power for evil. It has 
 no choice but to be destructive. The best work of 
 human hands cannot resist its terrible weight, nor 
 can any barrier that man can erect stay the flow of 
 the flood that bears this terrible mass of power. 
 
 The school was in high glee. They looked out of 
 the windows and saw the men of the township work- 
 ing lustily with axes to loosen the mass in pieces, and 
 get it below the bridge, so as to save the structure, to 
 the end of avoiding a tax for a new one. The 
 younger ones trembled as they noted the efforts the 
 men were making, fearing that they should be 
 cheated out of the sight of the destruction of the 
 bridge ; but the older ones were calm and content ; 
 for they felt that all this effort was for nothing. 
 They knew that the great gorge could not be so dis- 
 posed of. They knew that the bridge must go, and 
 all they feared was, that the ice would move before 
 the ten o'clock recess, and they thus be deprived of 
 the full glory of the scene. It would have broken 
 their hearts to have got only the meagre view of it 
 that the school-house windows afforded ; and they 
 knew that "old Whitmore" would take a grim delight 
 
34 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 in keeping them prisoners until after it was over, if 
 possible. "He never wants us to enjoy ourselves," 
 growled the larger scholars in whispers; "I'll lick 
 him if I ever get big enough." Mr. Whitmore was 
 laying up a competency of "lickings" for his old age. 
 
 Fortunately for the boys ten o'clock came and the 
 bridge was still standing, though the mountain of ice, 
 weakened by the rays of the sun, was quivering as if 
 impatient to get away and begin its work of devasta- 
 tion. With a whoop of delight the school poured out, 
 and every foot, big and little, was directed to the 
 bridge. They were not a moment too soon. The 
 great mass quivered a moment, there was a sullen 
 plunge, a terrible slide, and the mountain, lifted by 
 the enormous force of the wild waste of water, was 
 afloat, tearing and grinding cake against cake, as if in 
 warfare with itself, and as if each were eager to be 
 the first at the doomed pier. 
 
 It was a terrible sight. Detached cakes of ice, the 
 skirmishers of the main body, assaulted the pier 
 viciously, tearing off corners of stone where the 
 masonry was the worst, and taking out pieces of tim- 
 ber, and then succumbing to the will of its master, 
 the quiet water below, which was really doing the 
 mischief, but making no display about it, floated 
 swiftly down the stream, either to join some great 
 mass, or to continue as guerrillas against bridges 
 further down, as the treacherous sun which gave it 
 both life and death, should determine. 
 
 The great mass followed slowly, but with all the 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 35 
 
 more force from its slowness. It swept directly 
 against the pier. There was a noiseless crumbling, 
 the pier succumbed and disappeared under the water, 
 the bridge sank down in the middle, and broke, the 
 two pieces sinking upon the great ice field and mov- 
 ing off down the stream. 
 
 ''Blast it!" was the exclamation of the men, who 
 foresaw a heavy tax for a new bridge. 
 
 "Hurrah!" shouted the boys, who had seen the 
 greatest sight vouchsafed to them since they were born. 
 
 In the waiting for the final catastrophe, in the 
 intensity of the excitement, the scholars had forgotten 
 that they had long outstayed the fifteen minutes they 
 were allowed for recess. The angry bell of the irate 
 schoolmaster had been ringing at intervals in vain. 
 They did not hear it, and it would have made no 
 difference if they had. Inside a school-house when 
 the ice was going out, and a bridge was going down 
 stream ? Nonsense ! But when the ice had gone, 
 and had taken the bridge with it, reason returned. 
 With a rush they went back to the school-house and 
 took their seats. 
 
 There was a storm brewing, which, had it been 
 ice, would have carried off forty bridges. The 
 scholars noticed Whitmore fingering his ruler uneasily, 
 and knew what it portended. Finally it came: 
 "Caleb Mason, Sam Smith, Peter Jenkins, come 
 here ! " 
 
 The boys named left their seats and went slowly up 
 to the front of the desk. 
 
36 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Why didn't you come when you heard the bell?" 
 
 "I didn't hear it," replied Caleb Mason, very pale. 
 
 "Why didn't you hear it ?" 
 
 "We were all watchin' the bridge." 
 
 "I'll 'bridge' you!" was the angry response, as 
 Whitmore, with more activity than any man with one 
 leg was entitled to, darted from behind his desk, and 
 attempted to seize Mason by his wrist. He was dis- 
 appointed. The boy, as nimble as a squirrel, evaded 
 him and stood in a defiant posture in the middle of 
 the room. 
 
 " Come here, you scoundrel ! " roared the irate 
 master. 
 
 "I won't! T won't be pounded unless you pound 
 the rest ! Call up Sam Starkweather, Bill Gibbs and 
 the rest of the rich boys, and all the school ! There 
 wan't none of us come back when the bell rung, and 
 when you call the rest up, I'll come !" 
 
 A little girl in pantalets and with long yellow curls 
 had arisen and was watching the scene with a very 
 curious look on her half-scared face. 
 
 "He wasn't any more to blame than we all were!" 
 shrieked the little thing, her honest eyes blazing with 
 excitement. 
 
 "Sarah Dunlap, take your seat, or I'll attend to 
 you ! " roared Whitmore, springing upon the boy. 
 Missing his wrist, he seized him by the collar of his 
 very miserable coat, which had been his father's until 
 it got too ragged to cover the old man. It was a 
 mistake that Mr. Whitmore made. The boy slipped 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 37 
 
 out of the coat like an eel, leaving it in the school- 
 master's hands. Then making a bold and vigorous 
 dash, he tripped up the schoolmaster, who fell heavily, 
 and with his wooden leg out of place, was unable to 
 rise. Another quick movement and Caleb had pos- 
 sessed himself of the heavy ruler, and if ever school- 
 master was belabored, Mr. Whitmore was that 
 schoolmaster. 
 
 ♦^Good! good!" shrieked the little girl, clapping 
 her hands. 
 
 It was a dangerous victory the boy had achieved. 
 For Mr. Whitmore did manage to get his leg under 
 him, and rising, confronted thfe boy, whose pride 
 would not permit him to run. Caleb stood on the 
 defensive, his eyes blazing with excitement. Mr. 
 Whitmore regarded him for a moment, as a philoso- 
 phic tiger might regard an antelope, waiting a 
 moment to decide which part to sink his teeth into 
 first, and sprung upon him. He must catch his boy 
 before he could flog him. He had him fast in an 
 instant. He regained his ruler and gathered the boy 
 together, as it were, that he might beat him to advan- 
 tage. He bore him to the floor, the boy looking up 
 into his face as pale as a sheet, but with clinched 
 teeth and compressed lip, a most dangerous foe even 
 when helpless. 
 
 Mr. Whitmore had the ruler raised high in the air, 
 when there was a diversion. The little girl who had 
 protested against the punishment at the beginning, 
 flung herself out of her seat, and knelt upon the pros- 
 
38 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 trate boy, covering him so that the descending ruler 
 would strike her, not him. 
 
 "Get away from here, you vixen!" thundered 
 Whitmore. 
 
 "I won't!" screamed the miniature Pocahontas. 
 "He ain't to blame any more than all the rest of us ! 
 You shan't pound him unless you pound us all ! I 
 won't have it ! I'll tell my pa ! " 
 
 Caleb Mason looked up through his rags into the 
 flashing eyes of the little beauty, and felt as if he 
 could endure any amount of pounding if it would do 
 her any good. 
 
 But Whitmore was not to be defrauded of his pleas- 
 ure. "With one hand he flung the little thing aside, 
 and with the other he proceeded to belabor the boy. 
 For once he had his hands full. The boy was as 
 strong as a bull and as active as a panther, and 
 besides, he had an inspiration in the little girl who 
 had pitied him. He twisted and wriggled to his feet, 
 he twisted and wriggled out of his shirt, by which 
 Whitmore held him, and seizing a heavy stick of 
 wood dealt the teacher a blow that staggered him — 
 the little Dunlap girl crazy with delight, and clapping 
 her hands with joy as she saw the tyrant worsted; 
 and then Caleb, hurling the stick at Whitmore with 
 such sure aim that it felled him to the floor, darted 
 out of the door and made his way home. 
 
 "I guess this ends my education," thought Caleb 
 to himself; "but I've whaled old Whitmore. That's 
 wuth suthin'." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 39 
 
 An intense excitement resulted from this singular 
 encounter. The school directors were puzzled what 
 action to take. Had it been the Mason boy alone, it 
 would have been plain sailing. They would have 
 expelled the daring boy, and raised the salary of the 
 teacher, for in any dispute in which a Mason was 
 involved, the Mason must inevitably be in the wrong. 
 But the little Sarah Dunlap had raised up a powerful 
 friend for the despised boy. Old Simon Dunlap, her 
 father, was a very wealthy and influential man, and a 
 just one, who loved his little girl as he loved nothing 
 else on earth. She, child-like, had championed the 
 boy to her father, which she probably would not have 
 done had she been sixteen instead of ten — for girls 
 get wise as men do, when they have years, and she 
 would have discovered that it is always easier to let 
 the poor and oppressed remain poor and oppressed, 
 rather than to take the trouble to raise them. But 
 being a child, with a child's idea of justice, and not 
 realizing the fact that a shabby coat bars the wearer 
 from all human sympathy, she told the story as it 
 was, cried over the woes of the boy, and denounced 
 the wickedness of the master. 
 
 Farmer Dunlap was not only a just man, but he 
 was delighted with the spirit his little girl displayed ; 
 and he took up the cudgels for the boy against the 
 master. 
 
 " It's a blasted shame," he said, "that a boy should 
 be selected to be pounded, just because he's poor, for 
 seein' the bridge go off, when all the rich men's sons 
 
40 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 were let off. I won't have it. Whitmore is a brute. 
 The Mason's ain't just what they should be, but I 
 never heard anything agin this partickler Mason." 
 
 Then the fathers of the poor boys, finding that they 
 had the countenance of one rich man, rallied and made 
 such head against the wrist-twisting schoolmaster, 
 that he found it expedient to resign, and another 
 reigned in his stead. 
 
 This was the beginning of the loves of Caleb 
 Mason and Sarah Dunlap. The friendless boy with 
 the great eyes was profoundly affected by the heroism 
 of the little girl, and from that day forward he took 
 great delight in showing it. He followed her home, 
 and if other boys tormented her, as boys will, Caleb, 
 with his strong frame and ready fists, put them to 
 flight. If there was a bird's nest he thought she 
 would like, there was no tree so tall that the human 
 squirrel would not climb it and get it. An.d flowers ! 
 The woods were full of them that summer, and the 
 number of bouquets — he did not call them bouquets, 
 but nosegays — that found their way to her was aston- 
 ishing. And sometimes the freckled little beauty 
 would transport him into the seventh heaven by stop- 
 ping and talking with him. 
 
 "Caleb," she said to him once, "you are. a good 
 boy ; why don't you get some good clothes and be 
 like the rest of the boys, that ain't half so good as 
 you ? There ain't one of 'em as good as you are." 
 
 "I'm goin' to," he answered proudly, "when I get 
 big enough and get away from here. Why, Sarah, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 4 1 
 
 you don't think I'm always goin' to live in this way, 
 do you ? I'll hev clothes and hosses, and money and 
 a covered buggy." 
 
 At this assertion of his coming greatness, a 
 covered buggy being owned by but one man in the 
 county, Sarah laughed pleasantly, and remarking that 
 she hoped he would take her out riding when he got 
 it, tripped lightly away. 
 
 Boys have jealousies, as men have. The growing 
 fondness of Sarah Dunlap for Caleb Mason was 
 observed, and it subjected him to great annoyances 
 from the others. They would surround him and pull 
 the old hat, which had once done duty for his father, 
 from his head. They would bring down their sturdy 
 iron-shod boots upon his bare feet, and they would 
 hustle and beat him. This when there were five or 
 more of them together. 
 
 One day Caleb met one of his persecuters alone. 
 The boy trembled at first at finding himself face to 
 face with Caleb, but observing that he was within call 
 of help, he felt reassured. Caleb approached him cor- 
 dially and entered into cheerful conversation with 
 him, after the manner of boys who are on good terms. 
 It turned upon the prospects of the watermelon crop, 
 and the facilities for entering the principal patches. 
 Especially they dwelt gloomily upon the fact that old 
 Sampsell, who owned the best orchard in the country, 
 had procured a bull dog of wonderful strength of jaw 
 and of such ferocity that the chewing up of a boy in 
 a second would be play for him. 
 
42 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Finally Caleb, in the strictest confidence, informed 
 young Squires that down in Roe's lumber-yard he had 
 found a muskrat hole, which, by stopping up the river 
 end, could be got at without trouble, and proposed 
 that they should go down and investigate it. 
 
 The Squires boy was eager enough to go, for what 
 has such delight for a boy as a muskrat hole, with the 
 certainty of getting wet, without any possibility of 
 getting the muskrat ? But a sudden misgiving seized 
 him. He remembered that he was the ringleader in 
 the last raid that had been made upon Caleb. 
 
 "Will ye play fair, Caleb .-^ Ye don't want to get 
 me away all alone, and " — 
 
 " Sho ! " replied Caleb, with a reassuring smile ; 
 "all our little shindies wuz fun, wan't they? I don't 
 kerry sich things a minnit. Come on." 
 
 Thus reassured young Squires accompanied him to 
 the lumber-yard. 
 
 It was a delightful place for boys. The long piles 
 of lumber, twenty or thirty feet high, with narrow 
 alleys between, made it as pleasant a place for play as 
 could be desired. Down through the narrow alleys 
 Caleb dived, followed by Squires, till they were 
 exactly in the center. They were as completely out 
 of the world as though they were in the middle of the 
 great Sahara desert. 
 
 Caleb stopped, the pleasant expression died out of 
 his face, and in its stead came a sternness that boded 
 no good to his companion. 
 
 " Caleb ! " shrieked the boy, as he noted the change. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 43 
 
 "Sim," calmly said Caleb, approaching him, "you 
 want to git your coat off as quick as ever ye kin — I 
 ain't got no coat to take off — and ye want to brace 
 yerself for the wust lickin' you ever got or ever are 
 a-goin' to git. I'm goin' to go through ye like a dose 
 uv salts." 
 
 " Cale, ye sed ye wuzzen't a-goin' to" — 
 
 "No I didn't," said Caleb; "I don't lie, but perhaps 
 I don't alluz tell the truth. I sed to myself when you 
 and Tom Brown, and Starr Peters, and Pete Tompson 
 pounded me, that that wuz your fun. It wuzzen't fun 
 for me. I'm goin' to hev my fun now. I cooden't do 
 much agin the four uv ye, but I kin take ye one at a 
 time and whale blazes out uv ye. That's what's the 
 matter. Are ye ready .? " 
 
 As it was of no use to postpone the punishment, 
 Simeon announced himself as ready, and Caleb, to use 
 his own phrase, "sailed in." It was not a long 
 encounter. Caleb smote him hip and thigh. He 
 pounded his face until it had no resemblance to a 
 face. Then he kicked him from his shoulders down, 
 and finally, tired of punishing him, gave him one con- 
 temptuous kick with the remark — 
 
 " Now, Sim, ye hev had your grooel, and I want to 
 say one thing to ye. I am goin' to serve every one 
 of them other boys the same way, and you want to 
 keep yer mouth shut. Don't you put 'em on ther 
 guard. If yoo tell one of 'em that it wuz me that 
 whaled you, I'll half kill yoo, ef I hev to drag you 
 outen Sunday School to do it. Ef yoo keep still, I'll 
 
44 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 let yoo alone arter this. Ef yoo blow on me, I'll kill 
 yoo. Yoo know me. I ain't got nothin' to lose in 
 these parts, and I'd as soon kill a boy or two as not. 
 Will ye keep yer mouth shut.?" 
 
 Never was there a promise made more freely, and 
 never was one kept more devoutly. Simeon had two 
 reasons for keeping his word sacredly. He did not 
 want any more encounters with the terrible Caleb, 
 and he did want to see every boy in the school served 
 as he had been. So he gave the promise over again 
 and went out into the village and told his friends 
 that three boys from the hill settlement, between 
 whom and the boys of the village there had been a 
 feud of long standing, had decoyed him away and 
 licked him. But never a word spoke he of Caleb, 
 save of kindness. 
 
 What joy filled his soul the next day when he saw 
 that Starr Peters* face was mashed to a jelly, and 
 what a long conference he had with him ! Peters 
 invented a new enemy to whom he was indebted for 
 his bruised face, but the rest of the boys were not 
 informed as to the real author till every one of them 
 had made his appearance with a mashed counte- 
 nance. Then they confessed one to another who was 
 the real bruiser of countenances among them ; but 
 they wisely decided to let him alone for the future. 
 They could beat him collectively, but not singly ; and 
 as they could not always be together, they reasoned 
 that they would get as many beatings as he, and 
 as when he beat it was in dead earnest, it would 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 45 
 
 not pay. And they were respectful to him ever 
 afterward. 
 
 Thus Caleb Mason conquered peace by strength 
 and strategy. 
 
46 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 HOW CALEB MASON FELL IN LOVE, AND HOW HE MADE 
 GOOD HIS APPROACH TO THE OBJECT THEREOF 
 
 TO say that Caleb Mason was not in love with 
 Sarah Dunlap was to say that he was not a 
 boy of fourteen, who begins to feel within him the 
 first stirrings of manhood. He was wild over her, 
 first, because of the beauty of the red-cheeked, yellow- 
 haired little thing; and, second, because of the chiv- 
 alrous taking of his part when he was so sorely beset 
 in the school. He loved the ground she walked 
 upon, for her favor was no small thing. Kicked and 
 cuffed by the entire neighborhood, it was something 
 to have one friend ; and it was more than something 
 to have for that friend the beautiful daughter of the 
 richest farmer in the county. 
 
 But love her though he did, she was as inaccessible 
 to him as the stars that shone upon him through the 
 holes in the roof under which he slept.. While old 
 man Dunlap felt a sort of chivalrous sorrow for the 
 fine boy who came from such a desperately bad fam- 
 ily, it never entered his mind to do more for him than 
 to speak to him when he passed, and once in a while 
 to pat him on the head, and tell him if he was good 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 47 
 
 enough he might, possibly, outgrow the everlasting 
 stigma of being a Mason, and amount to something, 
 after all. 
 
 And so Sarah Dunlap, whom the boy loved with 
 all the devotion of a very earnest boy's nature, was 
 as far removed from him as possible. He could only 
 worship her at a distance, which is a very unsatis- 
 factory style of worship. It was cold comfort for 
 Caleb to stand outside the Dunlap homestead when 
 there were merry-makings going on within, to which 
 all the boys and girls of the village were invited, and 
 to hear the rippling laughter of the girls, and the 
 boisterous shouts of the boys. He was never invited 
 to any of these, for no one ever considered the 
 Masons as of enough account for society of any kind. 
 Had he been invited, he could not have gone in his 
 father's old clothes, which came to him after having 
 sheltered and been rejected by his six elder brothers. 
 And yet he had aspirations ; and he would stand out- 
 side and swear great oaths that he would be one of 
 them yet. 
 
 There was no possibility, seemingly, of his ever 
 coming within range of the girl he loved. Sarah 
 Dunlap was just as much above him as her father 
 was above old Seth Mason. Even in democratic 
 America, there is something in blood and descent. 
 The Dunlaps had come of a long line of excellent 
 people, of fore-handed people, of people who always 
 paid their way, and had something to the good ; the 
 men always zealous in matters of church and state, 
 
48 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 and the women always prominent in matters which 
 women manage. It was with a great deal of pride 
 that Mr. Dunlap referred to the fact that an ancestor 
 of his came over the water in the Mayflower. It is 
 more than likely that it was all a fiction, but Simon 
 Dunlap believed it, and a very good thing it is to 
 believe. The Pilgrims set the tone of the Mayflower, 
 and every one of them felt bound so to live as not to 
 disgrace the memory. It is a good thing to be 
 descended from somebody, for it keeps the family at 
 least up to that level. 
 
 On the other hand. Mason came of a race of 
 drunkards and shiftless people. There never had 
 been a Mason who could take pride in anything. The 
 young Caleb, if he could have known anything of his 
 ancestry, would have gazed back through a long line 
 of drunkards, the poor-house and penitentiary coming 
 in at altogether too frequent intervals, and occasion- 
 ally there was a blotch of blood upon the family 
 escutcheon, backed by a noose. There was nothing 
 behind for the boy — the family name had yet to be 
 made. 
 
 A boy from such a family has a hard time, necessa- 
 rily. The name of Dunlap inspires confidence, and a 
 Dunlap could be a rogue easily and with profit, for 
 the men gave him credit. But the young Mason was 
 handicapped from the beginning. The sins of a long 
 line of ancestors were piled upon his back, and he had 
 not only his own imperfections to carry, but the mis- 
 doings of a long line of misdoing ancestors. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE . 49 
 
 Mr. Dunlap would no more have permitted Caleb 
 Mason to enter his doors as an invited guest than he 
 would have had a sick calf in his barn-yard, or a 
 spavined horse in front of his wagon. The name was 
 synonymous with everything that was vile, and what 
 was worse than vile, "shiftless." Simon Dunlap hated 
 a bad man, but combine badness with unthrift, and he 
 wanted none of him. 
 
 Caleb Mason, at the mature age of fourteen, was a 
 philosopher and schemer. He did not indulge in 
 reveries in the school-house, in the woods, and by his 
 father's wretched fireside, for nothing. He acknowl- 
 edged the justice of the verdict of the world, and 
 never questioned it. The point with him was to 
 overcome it in his own person. 
 
 Sarah Dunlap did not share the dislike the commu- 
 nity had for the boy. It is true she was afraid of the 
 name, but the boy himself she delighted in. He was 
 so much brighter than the heavy respectables who 
 could speak to her, and he knew so much more, and 
 was so superior physically and mentally, that she would 
 have been glad to have him as her friend if she had 
 dared ; but the reputation of the family killed that. 
 
 Still Caleb Mason did succeed in getting an invi- 
 tation to the house of Simon Dunlap, and did work 
 himself into the good graces of the father. How."* 
 We shall see. 
 
 A very deep, though narrow stream ran back of the 
 school-house through the sloping meadows, down to 
 the river, where, after vexing the banks and fretting 
 
50 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 itself and them away, it yielded up its existence in 
 that of the larger stream. It was not more than 
 twelve or fifteen feet wide, but it was very deep, and 
 the current at this point, where it swept through 
 Dunlap's meadow, was very swift. To make a short 
 cut from the school-house to the Dunlap dwelling, a 
 slab had been laid across the wicked stream, and it 
 was the habit of Sarah, after school hours, to trip 
 through the meadow and across the stream on this 
 slab, saving thereby a long detour by the road. The 
 frail bridge was a long way from the house, and com- 
 pletely concealed from mortal view, a clump of trees 
 hiding it from the house, and a considerable stretch 
 of woods covering it from the school-house. 
 
 One afternoon Caleb was not at school, which did 
 not frequently happen. Where was he.-* He might 
 have been seen down at the slab, armed with a saw, 
 and a very bad saw ; but the best one the Masons 
 had, and that had been borrowed from somebody 
 years before, and never returned. The boy had 
 exerted all his strength, and dragged the slab upon 
 the shore, and turned it over with the flat side down ; 
 he took his saw and cut it carefully, almost off, so 
 that it would just bear its own weight, but break 
 surely if any other weight was put upon it. Then he 
 put it back in position, and took his saw home, 
 stealthily entering the wood-shed, keeping it carefully 
 concealed under his ragged coat, and a little before 
 four o'clock he sauntered down to the meadow tiH he 
 was behind the trees near the little bridge. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 5 I 
 
 He had not long to wait. There was a shout and 
 a "hooray," as the school was dismissed, and the 
 children, after the usual horse-play, dispersed, each 
 for his or her respective home. 
 
 Over the fence and down toward the bridge came 
 Sarah, weanng a red hood, no redder than her pretty 
 cheeks, with her yellow hair streaming in the wind, 
 and her books in a strap swinging before her. Close 
 behind her was another girl of her own age. The 
 latter was apparently going home with her, and there 
 was evidently a race between them, the little bridge 
 being the goal. 
 
 This did not suit Caleb at all. 
 
 "'Spose'n Emily Marston gits onto that slab fust! 
 I shel hev to pull her out, and she is runnin' mighty 
 well. I don't want to pull her out. No; Sarah is 
 ahead, and gainin' every jump. It's better, ef she 
 strikes it fust, than though Emily wuzn't here. 
 She'll see me do the trick ! " 
 
 It resulted as he wished. In a minute Sarah had 
 gained twenty feet on her laughing rival, and was on 
 the bank of the creek. She did not relax her speed, 
 but gave one jump, and was on the frail bridge. 
 There was a snap, a parting, a shriek from the girl 
 in the treacherous stream which had her in its 
 embrace, a shriek from the girl on the bank, as her 
 friend disappeared under the dark water. 
 
 Then what happened ? Why, the strong and lithe 
 figure of Caleb appeared from behind the trees ; there 
 was a plunge into the water. He disappeared for a 
 
52 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 moment — the young cub could swim like a muskrat 
 — he reappeared with the body of the insensible girl 
 on his arm, and after swimming a few strokes he 
 reached the bank some rods below, and, grasping a 
 willow, was safe, holding on to the tree with one 
 hand, and holding the girl with the other. 
 
 "Run to the house," he yelled to the affrighted 
 girl on the bank, "and bring help! I can't hold her 
 but a minute ! " 
 
 The girl sped back to the school-house, and Caleb 
 remarked to himself — "It is all right. I shel stay 
 here till somebody comes and pulls me out, if it's till 
 to-morrer mornin'. The water ain't very cold, and I 
 kin stand it, and she'll hev to." 
 
 Then he looked for the slab, and saw with great 
 satisfaction that both sections were out of sight, and 
 before anybody would reach him would be a long way 
 beyond human finding. 
 
 The scheme worked admirably, and surely fate 
 smiled upon the bold and daring youth. For who 
 should be at the school-house, when Emily Marston 
 reached it, but farmer Dunlap himself, who had 
 stopped on his way from the village to take his little 
 darling home in his wagon.? When the affrighted 
 girl told him that Sarah was drowned, he flew across 
 the meadow with all the speed parental love lent him, 
 and arrived in time to find his daughter recovered her 
 senses, and crying lustily on the arm of Caleb Mason, 
 who was assuring her there was no danger. He 
 pulled them both out, and was more than pleased 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 53 
 
 to find that nothing worse than a wetting had 
 resulted; and he rushed them across to the school- 
 house where his wagon was, and would hear of nothing 
 but Caleb's going with him. 
 
 When he reached there, Mother Dunlap changed 
 the wet clothes of her daughter, and farmer Dunlap 
 clad Caleb in a suit of his own. Then he asked how 
 it happened. 
 
 "I don't know," replied Caleb, looking as honest 
 as ever boy did. " I was in the woods, and saw 
 Sarah and Emily Marston runnin' down to the bridge, 
 and Sarah jumped onto it, and it parted, and I jumped 
 in and dove, and ketched her, and pulled her up, and 
 kep' her up, holdin' onto the willows, and told Emily 
 to go and get somebody to help us out." 
 
 **The slab hez been there nigh onto ten years, and 
 I s'pose it rotted off. It wuz keerless in me. Well, 
 young feller, it wuz bold in you, and great in you to 
 risk your life for my little gal. I don't talk much, 
 but, young feller, it wuz the best minit's work you 
 ever did." 
 
 And Farmer Dunlap regarded him with a great 
 deal of curiosity, and remarked to himself — "Ef he 
 wuzn't a Mason ! " 
 
 This is how Caleb got his footing in the Dunlap 
 house. 
 
54 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 farmer dunlap becomes caleb' s friend the 
 
 latter's schooldays 
 
 FARMER DUNLAP not only went to sleep revolv- 
 ing in his mind plans for aiding the boy whom 
 he supposed had saved his fair-haired darling from a 
 watery grave, on the night of that occurrence, but he 
 kept the matter in his mind the next day, and held a 
 family council with Mrs. Dunlap, the two resolving 
 themselves into a committee of ways and means for 
 Caleb Mason's advancement. The next result of 
 their deliberations was that Farmer Dunlap hitched 
 up his "dandy-wagon" the following Saturday, and 
 placing therein a bundle containing shirts and other 
 articles of underwear which had in the meantime been 
 prepared by the hands of his wife, he drove over to 
 the Mason cabin. 
 
 A half-starved yellow dog rushed out into the road, 
 barking furiously, as he halted before the door. 
 " Get out, you brute ! " shouted the farmer, springing 
 to the ground, and giving a vicious kick at the cur. 
 
 At this moment Caleb himself came to view in the 
 open doorway, and behind him appeared the slatternly 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 55 
 
 figure of his mother, who gazed in open-mouthed 
 wonderment at the unwonted spectacle of Farmer 
 Dunlap stopping, apparently, to make a neighborly 
 call. Such an event had not happened in all the 
 years that the Mason brood had been living there. 
 
 "Hello, Caleb!" was the farmer's greeting. "Get 
 your hat and jump in here. Here, first take this 
 bundle into the house, and then come." 
 
 In a few minutes the two were rattling along in the 
 direction of Pulaski over the same road Dr. Rawson 
 had traveled on the night on which our story opened. 
 The previous night had been frosty, and it was in 
 much better condition than on that memorable 
 occasion. Caleb sat by the farmer's side, wondering 
 much at what the object of the journey could be. 
 Farmer Dunlap was cordial in his bearing, therefore it 
 was obvious that nothing unpleasant was in store for 
 him. He did not have to wait very long, however, for 
 an explanation. The old farmer broke silence before 
 they had gone a mile toward Pulaski. 
 
 " Are you getting along pretty well at school now, 
 Caleb.-*" was his introductory remark. 
 
 "I'm doin' the best I kin," was the boy's non-com- 
 mittal reply. 
 
 " Like to go to school, eh ? Well that's right. 
 I've been talking to the master about you, Caleb, and 
 he thinks that you would make a right smart scholar 
 if you had books and things, and a good chance ; and 
 I know you've got grit, Caleb. Your jumping into 
 the water after Sarah shows that. Now I'm goifig to 
 
56 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 see that you have a chance. I'm going to take you to 
 Pulaski and get you some books and other things that 
 you need. You're a Mason, that's true, and the 
 Masons ain't thought much of in these parts ; but 
 somehow, Caleb, there's more to you than to the rest 
 of the lot, and we will see what you can make of 
 yourself." 
 
 Caleb was not skilled in the arts of politeness, and 
 so, instead of making a suitable reply in words, he 
 kept his eyes fixed upon the forelock of the farmer's 
 horse, and worked the forefinger of his right hand in 
 the buttonhole of his ragged jacket, as if he were 
 endeavoring to extricate the missing button from 
 somewhere in the interior of his own anatomy. His 
 face flushed, and he felt decidedly uncomfortable. 
 He knew that he should say something in the way of 
 thanks for Farmer Dunlap's friendly overtures, but he 
 was too ignorant to frame the words. Yet his whole 
 being was filled with triumph and delight ; he felt 
 that he had raised up one influential friend — that he 
 had actually made one decided step toward the 
 realization of his hopes and desires. 
 
 Farmer Dunlap, however, was just as well suited 
 with Caleb maintaining silence. It is often as 
 embarrassing to offer a favor as to receive one, and 
 had Caleb thanked him in fitting terms for his gener- 
 osity, he would have been as sadly perplexed as was 
 the boy to find suitable words to answer. 
 
 So a couple more miles were traversed in silence, 
 until finally the farmer volunteered a remark about 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 5/ 
 
 the prospects of the maple sugar crop. Caleb found 
 his tongue sufficiently to say a few words in reply, as 
 he had by that time gotten over the novelty of 
 actually riding to Pulaski seated by the side of Mr. 
 Dunlap. The ice being once broken, the stream of 
 conversation flowed on until, by the time the twelve 
 miles were traversed that lay between the Mason 
 cabin and Pulaski, the man and the boy were on a 
 tolerably familiar footing. Caleb had lost the feeling 
 of awe he had felt, in spite of himself, at being 
 thrown into immediate contact with the old farmer, 
 and the latter had formed a favorable impression of 
 the boy's intellectual quickness and native shrewdness. 
 After transacting some other business. Farmer 
 Dunlap took Caleb to a clothing store which bore 
 upon its front, in two-foot letters, the legend — 
 "Schonstein's Emporium," and purchased him a good 
 serviceable suit of blue jeans, a cap of blue cloth and 
 a pair of substantial cow-hide boots — an outfit as 
 good as was worn by any of the farmers' sons in the 
 community. They then visited an establishment 
 whose proprietor carried on the double business of 
 druggist and bookseller, where Caleb received the 
 first new books he had ever possessed in his life, the 
 farmer handing the dealer a list which had been pre- 
 pared the day before by the schoolmaster. It is safe 
 to say that there was not in all Northwestern Ohio, 
 a prouder and happier boy than Caleb Mason, as he 
 sat beside Farmer Dunlap on the return journey that 
 afternoon. 
 
58 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Now, Caleb," said Mr. Dunlap, as he parted with 
 his prot6g6 in front of the Mason cabin, "give your- 
 self a good clean-up and put on your new clothes 
 to-morrow. There's preachin' at the school-house in 
 the afternoon, and I want you to go to meetin'. I'll 
 tell you what to do — you get dressed up and come 
 over to my house at noon. I want mother and Sarah 
 to see what you look like in your new suit. Mother 
 was afraid, somehow, that may be the shirts wouldn't 
 fit very well, or I couldn't find a coat that set well in 
 the back." 
 
 Caleb promised to do so, and with a warm shake of 
 the boy's hand Farmer Dunlap chirruped to his team 
 and drove homeward, feeling that satisfaction — the 
 sweetest of which the human heart is capable — aris- 
 ing from his having done an act of kindness to one in 
 need. 
 
 When Caleb presented himself at the Dunlap 
 homestead at the appointed time, the farmer could 
 not suppress an exclamation of surprise. The boy, in 
 the ragged attire which had been his from his birth 
 up to that hour, had always looked as though his 
 dress were not equal to his deserts; but the farmer 
 was not prepared for so complete a transformation. 
 Caleb looked like a little gentleman. He did not 
 present the appearance generally common to those 
 who are arrayed in purple and fine linen only at rare 
 intervals — that of feeling uncomfortable in his new 
 garments. They fitted him well, and he seemed per- 
 fectly at home in them. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 59 
 
 **We]l," said the farmer, drawing a long breath, 
 " I hardly knew you, Caleb ! Come in, come in ! 
 Here he is, mother! " and taking the boy's hand, the 
 farmer ushered him into the family sitting-room, 
 where Mrs. Dunlap and Sarah were. 
 
 The boy was greeted cordially by both. Mrs. Dun- 
 lap's nimble fingers made several trifling alterations in 
 his attire — his necktie was pulled straight, the coat 
 collar was persuaded to lie better — and then the care- 
 ful mother looked admiringly upon the handsome boy. 
 *'Well," said she, ** though I suppose it's true that 
 clothes don't make the man, I tell you, father, that a 
 new suit goes far toward making a handsome boy! 
 Why, Caleb, you look splendid! Don't he, Sarah?" 
 
 Sarah blushed and dimpled, and nodded her head 
 in glad assent. Caleb felt very uncomfortable, it 
 must be confessed, at being put upon inspection ; but 
 his very soul rejoiced at the hearty admiration his 
 improved appearance elicited. During all these years 
 of his boyhood he had been kicked and cursed and 
 spoken to contemptuously, and it gave him a much 
 stronger idea than he already possessed of the power 
 of good clothes (and of course of money, which 
 enabled one to possess them) than he had before 
 entertained. Mrs. Dunlap stayed but a few minutes 
 to inspect and admire the boy, and then returned to 
 the kitchen to dish up dinner. In a few minutes the 
 family were summoned to the noon meal, and Caleb 
 was marshaled out to the table, for the first time in 
 his life acting the role of a guest. 
 
6o THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 The table was square, and as there were but four 
 persons, each occupied one side. Mrs. Dunlap sat at 
 the end on Caleb's right, the farmer at the opposite 
 end; and consequently Caleb had Sarah for his vis-a- 
 vis. The boy was secretly very much abashed at the 
 entire novelty of his position, but he felt that he must 
 act up to the dignity of his new clothes ; so he sat 
 quietly, watching sharply to see how the others would 
 act before he attempted to proceed with his meal. It 
 was his first lesson in table manners. He felt keenly 
 his own ignorance, but he was determined not to com- 
 mit any breach of etiquette if it were possible to 
 avoid it. Fortunately Sarah had a keen appetite, and 
 as soon as she was served began eating, and Farmer 
 Dunlap was not one whit behind her ; so the pause, 
 brief as it was, which Caleb felt compelled to make in 
 order that he might be sure of not committing 2ifaux 
 paSy had more the air of a courteous waiting for a 
 moment than anything else. As he proceeded with 
 his meal he gained courage, and Sarah, as is true in 
 most cases with a petted, only child, was an inveter- 
 ate talker ; and in the lively chat which soon sprang 
 up around the bountiful board, Caleb was soon com- 
 paratively at his ease. 
 
 But that dinner ! To his latest day, Caleb Mason 
 remembered that meal, and could have given a com- 
 plete bill of fare thereof, from the chicken pot-pie 
 which formed the main dish, to the yellow pumpkin 
 custard which was the dessert. Never had he tasted 
 such excellent, well-cooked food, never had he sat 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 6 1 
 
 down to such a variety of tempting dishes, and been 
 enabled to eat his fill without rebuke. 
 
 After dinner the whole family went over to the 
 school-house to attend divine service, and here Caleb 
 had another ordeal to undergo — that of running the 
 gauntlet of the eyes of the assembled populace of the 
 neighborhood. They arrived just before the services 
 began, and in spite of the nature of the gathering, 
 there was a general whisper of comment around the 
 room when the Dunlaps entered, and with them Caleb 
 Mason — the first time that he had ever been seen in 
 respectable company, and in attendance upon divine 
 worship. The matter was easily understood, how- 
 ever. Mr. Dunlap stood high in the community as a 
 just and a generous man, and the danger to which his 
 daughter ha4 been exposed, and the heroic conduct of 
 the boy, had been widely circulated and commented 
 upon through the countryside. 
 
 That pleasant Sunday in the early spring was 
 decidedly a red-letter day for Caleb Mason. For the 
 first time in his life he knew what it was to be well 
 dressed, and to be received favorably and on terms of 
 equality by those who stood much higher socially than 
 himself; and the experience immediately following 
 did not lessen the magnitude of the change thus 
 wrought in his condition. 
 
 His good clothes, his new books, and above all the 
 fact that he had a powerful friend at court in the per- 
 son of Farmer Dunlap, caused quite a change in his 
 relations at school. It was soon easy to see that he 
 
62 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 was a favorite with the schoolmaster, and that espe- 
 cial pains was being taken to push his education. 
 The boys and girls rapidly followed the example of 
 their elders, and from being an outcast among his 
 school-mates he was speedily admitted to an equality 
 in all their plays and diversions. Here his natural 
 aptitude soon exhibited itself; and long before the 
 term closed, which event occurred just before corn- 
 planting time, Caleb was recognized as one of the 
 leaders of the school. 
 
 On the Friday evening which closed the winter 
 term, as the children were preparing to go home, 
 Sarah Dunlap came to Caleb with a message which 
 she delivered thus — 
 
 " Caleb, father says he would like to see you ; and 
 if you don't mind, that you are to come along with me 
 from school." 
 
 The thought flashed over Caleb's mind that the 
 farmer was not through expressing his gratitude, and 
 he wondered what form it would take next. He 
 gathered his books together under his arm, and gal- 
 lantly relieving Sarah of a similar load, the two started 
 together for the Dunlap homestead, taking the well- 
 remembered path through the woods and across the 
 meadow, down which ran the stream, now spanned by 
 a substantial, new foot-bridge, at the spot which had 
 witnessed Caleb's exploit. 
 
 The boy's admiration for pretty little Sarah Dunlap 
 had increased rather than diminished now that her 
 father had become his friend. She was a child of 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 63 
 
 very sweet disposition, and gave promise of a noble 
 womanhood ; and the interest which she had taken in 
 the friendless boy, about to be punished unjustly by 
 the brutal Whitmore, had been deepened by the grati- 
 tude she felt at his having, as she supposed, saved her 
 life, and by the evident favor in which the boy was 
 held by her father, into a childish love. 
 
 Farmer Dunlap was fitting a new point to his plow 
 in the barnyard when the children arrived at the farm. 
 He saw them coming and beckoned Caleb to him. 
 
 "Well, Caleb, got anything to do this summer.?" 
 asked the farmer, after greetings had passed between 
 them. 
 
 "No, sir; nothing that I know of," was the boy's 
 reply. 
 
 "How would you like to come and work for me 
 this season ? There is enough to do here to keep you 
 busy until school begins next winter; and I should 
 like to have you, if you would like to come." 
 
 Caleb had wondered frequently how he could earn 
 some money after school was out ; and lo ! here was 
 the opportunity ready to his hand, and with the very 
 man of all others from whom he wished it. He 
 would be living in the same house with Sarah; he 
 would be lifted at once out of the social mire in which 
 his feet were planted, so long as he remained an 
 inmate of his father's cabin. It did not take him an 
 instant to make up his mind. 
 
 "I am glad of the chance, sir," was his prompt 
 reply. 
 
64 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "All right!" said Farmer Dunlap, heartily; "you 
 can sleep up-stairs with Hiram (who was the hired 
 man), and I suppose you can come right off, next 
 Monday morning?" 
 
 The boy gave ready assent, and after settling the 
 question of wages, in which Farmer Dunlap was lib- 
 eral in offering the sum usual at that time for boys 
 during the summer, Caleb, with a "Good evening," 
 turned to retrace his steps homeward. 
 
 "Hold on, Caleb," said Mr. Dunlap, "ain't you 
 going to be at the spelling-school to-night ? " 
 
 It was a custom in that neighborhood to celebrate 
 the closing of the winter term of school in the sub- 
 districts by a grand spelling-school, to which the 
 teachers and pupils of all the adjoining districts were 
 invited; and the master and pupils of the "Dunlap 
 district" — as this was called, in honor of Farmer 
 Dunlap, who was the most influential man in the 
 neighborhood — had been preparing for weeks for 
 this grand finish to the term. The "Skinner dis- 
 trict," lying on one side, had long been famed for 
 having among its pupils several champions ; and the 
 "Brushy Fork" school, the nearest on the other side, 
 was almost equally famous. The pupils of both of 
 these had been invited, and curiosity ran high to see 
 which would carry off the championship in this trian- 
 gular contest. In reply to Farmer Dunlap's question, 
 Caleb signified that he proposed attending. 
 
 "Well, then," said the hospitable old man, "there's 
 no need of your going home. Our folks are all 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 65 
 
 expecting to go over, and Sarah even thinks, the lit- 
 tle midget, that she stands some chance of carrying 
 off the prize. Of course she won't ; but, Caleb, I 
 want you to try your best to do it. So you come in 
 and eat supper with us, and we will all walk across 
 together." 
 
 So it was that Caleb Mason for the second time 
 was the old farmer's guest. The supper was bounti- 
 ful, everybody was pleasantly rejoicing over the com- 
 ing spelling match, and Caleb, as he thought of the 
 dull, dirty, cabin home, his drunken father, and his 
 slatternly mother, with her untidy ways, inwardly 
 rejoiced that the time was at hand when he could 
 leave such surroundings and start upon an independ- 
 ent life career. 
 
 Sarah was intensely eager to get back to the 
 school-house in time to see "those saucy, stuck-up, 
 * Brushy Fork* people and the big-headed ones from 
 the 'Skinner district'" arrive; so the preparations 
 were accelerated, and the Dunlap party was among 
 the earlier arrivals on the scene. 
 
 The room had been carefully swept out, and suffi- 
 cient illumination provided by candles stuck in 
 wooden sconces along the walls, and in improvised 
 candlesticks made of a block of wood, into the top 
 of which three nails were driven just far enough 
 apart to hold the candle firmly between them, which 
 were placed upon the window-ledges and upon the 
 desks. The master had carefully provided a candle- 
 stick for the use of the person who was to "give 
 
66 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 out," a phrase then current to indicate the pronunci- 
 ation of the words to the spellers. 
 
 The competitors and their friends were prompt in 
 putting in an arrival upon the scene. They came 
 a family at a time, or young men and young women 
 in couples, or a bevy of children, until the little 
 structure was crowded. There was more than ordin- 
 ary interest taken in the district over this contest, 
 for it was the first that had been held for years in 
 which both the ''Brushy Fork" and the "Skinner" 
 schools had been challenged together to a contest 
 for the supremacy. In duels between either of these 
 two and the ''Dunlap" district, the latter had always 
 been worsted. The teacher had paid particular atten- 
 tion to the spelling-classes during the past winter, 
 and everybody understood that he and his pupils 
 were determined to capture the championship, if 
 such a thing were possible. 
 
 Two farmer boys, the one a pupil of the " Brushy 
 P'ork" school, and the other from the "Skinner" 
 district, were selected to "choose up" — that is, to 
 divide the spellers into two long ranks for the com- 
 petition. There was some anxiety as to which would 
 gain the first choice, as he would most assuredly 
 select Ephraim Humphreys, who was popularly 
 counted the best speller in the neighborhood. The 
 broom was brought out from its retirement behind 
 the door. Thomas Mounts, the captain from the 
 "Brushy Fork" district, tossed it vertically through 
 the air to Jim Burnham, the opposing captain, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 67 
 
 and the latter caught it dexterously in his right 
 hand. 
 
 Mounts then grasped it in his own brawny fist just 
 above that of his opponent, their hands closely touch- 
 ing. Burnham next placed his left hand above 
 Mounts', and so they went on, alternately placing 
 hands — the last two inches of the handle falling to 
 Burnham, who consequently scored one, the trial 
 being the best two in three. Next, Burnham, taking 
 a step backward, holding the broom firmly, tossed it 
 to Mounts, who caught it in his right hand, and 
 the same proceeding was gone through with — the 
 "Brushy Fork" captain, however, getting the last 
 hold, thus also scoring one. The next toss, of course, 
 was decisive, and it was won also by Mounts, who, 
 having gotten the "end hold" twice out of the three 
 times, was entitled to first choice. 
 
 The two captains then took their stations against 
 the wall, one on each side of the door. Mounts hav- 
 ing the first choice called out "Ephraim Humphreys," 
 and a tall loose-jointed boy of about sixteen, the famed 
 champion of the Skinner district, rose from his seat, 
 shambled across the room, and took his station by 
 Mounts' side. 
 
 "Emma Dinsmore," called out Burnham, the rival 
 captain ; and a plump young lady of some seventeen 
 summers, who was counted the best speller in the 
 " Brushy Fork " school, simperingly took her .place at 
 his side. 
 
 This proceeding was kept up, the captains calling 
 
6S THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 alternately, until the available spellers were all chosen, 
 forming two long lines extending from the door along 
 the wall on each side, down the entire length of the 
 building. 
 
 "Major Starkweather, will you 'give out?'" asked 
 the teacher, politely. 
 
 From time out of mind Major Starkweather had 
 been selected for this duty, probably at first because 
 he had a remarkably loud voice, which could be heard 
 over the whispering and tittering that were sometimes 
 apt to prevail on such occasions between the rustic 
 swains and their inamoratas who might be present, 
 not as contestants but as spectators, and who were 
 apt to beguile the tedium by whispered confidences 
 and jokes, which produced a vast amount of giggling. 
 Be that as it may, it had grown to be a point of polite- 
 ness in the code of the neighborhood to invite the 
 major to pronounce. 
 
 Major Starkweather rose slowly from his seat and 
 walked in a dignified way to the front, feeling in his 
 pocket for his glasses, and murmuring some words 
 about the "unexpected honor." He took his station 
 at the teacher's desk, polished his glasses with 
 extreme care on a red bandana handkerchief, and 
 after fixing them firmly astride of his nose, picked up 
 a worn and well-thumbed copy of that famous blue- 
 covered volume, Noah Webster's "Elementary" spell- 
 ing-book, which he opened, as he always did, at the 
 first lesson containing two syllables, and began. 
 
 "Baker!" shouted he in a voice that would have 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 69 
 
 been distinctly audible for a quarter of a mile, had he 
 been in the open air. 
 
 Jim Burnham, who, as he had lost the first choice 
 in the selection of spellers, was thereby entitled to 
 begin the contest, spelled it. The next word fell to 
 Mounts ; the next to Emma Dinsmore, Burnham's 
 second; the fourth to Ephraim Humphreys, Mounts' 
 second ; and so on alternately, until it came back to 
 the captains again. 
 
 The match was uneventful for some time, because 
 there was not a scholar present who did not know the 
 earlier pages of the speller by heart, and some of the 
 brighter ones remembering the order of the words, 
 which Major Starkweather followed religiously down 
 the column, now and then relieved him of the duty of 
 pronouncing it by rattling off its syllables before he 
 could get his tongue in working order. All this was 
 but preliminary work ; and after some twenty minutes 
 or so had passed by, the Major turned over several 
 leaves and began in a more difficult portion of the 
 book. The spellers were at once all on the alert, and 
 it was instantly to be perceived that they gave more 
 attention and spelled with more care. There was no 
 more rattling over the letters and syllables at the tops 
 of their voices. Their work was pitched in a lower 
 key, and much more caution was exercised. 
 
 "Exertion!" pronounced Major Starkweather. 
 
 " E-x ex, e-r er, s-i-o-n, tion, exertion," said little 
 Jim Wilson, whose turn it happened to be. 
 
 **Next!" shouted the Major, in a voice of thunder 
 
/O THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 It was the first break in the monotony of the even- 
 ing, and he was rejoiced. When the scholars began 
 to miss, the interest began to increase. 
 
 A little red-headed girl on the opposite side rippled 
 off the letters and syllables of the word properly, and 
 poor Jim, with his head hanging and his face the color 
 of a boiled lobster, left his station against the wall 
 and took his seat among the spectators. This dimin- 
 ished the number of spellers on Mounts' side by one. 
 The boy, however, soon had the consolation of being 
 joined by others who missed; and during the next 
 thirty minutes at least one-half of the contestants had 
 been "spelled down," and, like himself, became spec- 
 tators. Then the major, after stopping to refresh 
 himself with a drink of water, turned several leaves 
 further in the book, and polysyllables of tedious 
 length and thundering sound were sonorously fired at 
 the survivors of the battle. 
 
 Another half-hour passed by, and but five spellers, 
 all told, still maintained their places upon the floor. 
 Both the captains had been spelled down. Ephraim 
 Humphreys and two others were all that were left of 
 the side which had been captained by Thomas 
 Mounts, while Caleb Mason and Sarah Dunlap stood 
 alone to uphold Jim Burnham's banner. 
 
 "Adolescence!" finally pronounced the major, 
 whose voice by this time was growing husky. 
 
 It was Sarah Dunlap's turn to spell, and it was 
 obvious from a momentary hesitation she displayed, 
 that she was uncertain as to its orthography. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 7 I 
 
 "A-d ad, o ado, 1-e-s les, adoles, e-n-c-e ence, 
 adolescence." 
 
 Hiram Driver was next on the opposite side, and, 
 without waiting for the major to call out "next," he 
 shouted, at the top of his voice, in tones of triumph — 
 "A-d ad, o ado, 1-e-s les, c-e-n-s-e, adolescence." 
 
 Quicker than a flash Caleb Mason spelled — "ad-o- 
 les-cence." 
 . "Right!" shouted the Major. 
 
 Poor little Sarah, blushing like a peony, had sunk 
 into the seat nearest her the instant she discovered 
 she had misspelled the word, and the laugh which 
 circled around the room was therefore at the expense 
 of Hiram Driver, who had been so certain of success 
 that he stood in his place a moment or two, looking 
 about him in a dazed manner, before it dawned upon 
 his comprehension that he, too, had made an error; 
 when, with a crestfallen look he retired to the rear. 
 
 The contest was now unequal ; for Caleb, being the 
 only representative of his side, had to spell every 
 other word — he thus having two chances of missing 
 to one of either of his opponents. Things were, 
 however, equalized in a few moments by a miss on 
 the part of one of them, and Caleb stood alone to face 
 the redoubtable Ephraim Humphreys, the champion 
 of many similar contests. 
 
 The major was getting tired of his work by this 
 time, and had determined to bring the battle to a 
 termination as quickly as possible; for he turned 
 from one portion of the book to the other rapidly, and 
 
72 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 instead of following the printed columns of words, 
 selected them at random from the page, thus adding 
 to the danger on the part of the spellers of making a 
 blunder. So the contest went on between the two, 
 and it seemed as though it would have to end in a 
 drawn battle, for it had now covered a much longer 
 time than was usual on such occasions, and the spec- 
 tators were anxious to see it terminate. 
 
 Sarah Dunlap was sitting but a short distance away 
 from Caleb, and as the major paused to search 
 through the book for some word of eccentric spelling 
 on which one or the other might possibly fail, the boy 
 glanced down at her. She was looking fixedly at him ; 
 the excitement of the occasion had brought high color 
 to her cheeks, in each of which burned a spot of crim- 
 son, and her eyes had an eager look, which told Caleb 
 better than any words that the little beauty's childish 
 soul was intent upon his triumph. Her steady gaze 
 infused new life into him, and he turned again to his 
 work with the determination to conquer the champion, 
 if such a thing were possible. 
 
 The major was growing anxious. He held the 
 book in both hands, the leaves flying backward and 
 forward through it, sometimes giving a word of one 
 syllable, sometimes of six, selecting at random from 
 the tables ; but it seemed as though both boys were 
 equally familiar with the " Elementary " from back to 
 back. The major pronounced as rapidly as possible, 
 giving a second word almost ere the last syllable of 
 the first had passed the lips of the speller. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 73 
 
 Finally the long-drav/n contest terminated like a 
 flash. The major had gotten among the words of two 
 syllables, and gave out "believe." 
 
 It was Ephraim Humphrey's turn, and he was a 
 little off his guard. "B-e be, 1-e-i-v-e lieve, believe," 
 he spelled. 
 
 "L-i-e-v-e!" called out Caleb, and the champion 
 was vanquished. The Dunlap district had triumphed, 
 in Caleb's person, over the "Brushy Fork" and the 
 "Skinner" schools. 
 
 The major closed the book with a sigh of relief. 
 There was no need of calling "recess," for everybody 
 knew that that was the next thing on the programme ; 
 and the boy was immediately surrounded by pupils 
 and parents, all anxious to do honor to him who had 
 vanquished the champion and retrieved the honor of 
 their own school. In the moment of his triumph, 
 Caleb's eyes sought the face of Sarah Dunlap ; and in 
 the glow of pride and pleasure which overspread it, his 
 boyish heart found a sweeter joy than in the encomi- 
 ums that were lavished upon him by all the others. 
 
 A quarter of an hour or so was spent by the boys 
 and girls in playing out of doors in the moonlight, 
 while their elders chatted over the contest and other 
 matters of moment within the building. Then the 
 assembly was again called to order, but the even- 
 ing had been so far spent in the prolonged contest, 
 that by common consent a further continuance of 
 spelling was dispensed with, and after what the 
 teacher called "a few remarks" from three or four of 
 
74 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 the leading men present — for we Americans have an 
 inveterate habit of making speeches on any and all 
 occasions — the assemblage dispersed, and the most 
 noted spelling school ever held in that neighborhood 
 passed into history. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 75 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 CALEB CHANGES HIS BASE OF OPERATIONS 
 
 PROMPTLY on the following Monday morning 
 Caleb Mason presented himself at the Dunlap 
 homestead, with his worldly possessions tied up in a 
 small bundle, prepared to begin his summer's work. 
 The confidence which the old farmer had shown in 
 the boy was not misplaced. Caleb showed himself to 
 be untiringly industrious, and his summer's work but 
 added to the confidence and esteem in which he was 
 held by all of the household. 
 
 The boy had never had an opportunity to read any- 
 thing save school books and an occasional newspaper, 
 for books were an unknown quantity in the Mason 
 cabin. Among the many advantages which accrued 
 to him from his residence with the farmer as a hired 
 hand, there was none which he prized more highly 
 than that of reading the books and newspapers about 
 the house. Farmer Dunlap was a tolerably well edu- 
 cated man for that primitive day. He had a couple 
 of dozen works of standard literature, ranging from 
 the history of Josephus to a set of the Waverley nov- 
 els. He took his county paper and the New York 
 
76 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Weekly Tribune, and of evenings and on Sundays, 
 and, in fact, whenever he had a minute's time, Caleb 
 might be found deeply immersed in either a book or a 
 newspaper. Farmer Dunlap was pleased at the boy's 
 studious habits, especially as he saw that Caleb did 
 not neglect his work, but performed it as rapidly as 
 possible in order to have the more time to devote to 
 his reading. 
 
 So the summer passed quietly and happily for 
 Caleb, and Farmer Dunlap was more than satisfied 
 with his bargain in securing him. He found him 
 eminently trustworthy and entirely above any need of 
 watching or supervision. Caleb worked steadily and 
 honestly, whether working alone or under his imme- 
 diate eye. So well pleased was he with the boy that 
 one day in the early fall, meeting old man Mason on 
 the road, a sudden impulse caused him to stop and 
 broach a subject which had been a matter of consider- 
 ation for some time. 
 
 "Mr. Mason," he began, "what are you going to do 
 with Caleb this winter — send him to school again } " 
 
 Caleb's father scratched his head meditatively a 
 moment before replying. Then expectorating a huge 
 mouthful of tobacco juice, he answered — 
 
 "Wall, I dunno. Cale's got to be a pretty good- 
 sized chunk of a boy, an* I think it's 'bout time he 
 was arnin* his own livin'. Besides, he's got schoolin* 
 enough. Why," he continued, with an injured air, 
 "that boy's got more eddication than I have! I 
 don't see that I'm called to give him any more. I 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE JJ 
 
 don't 'spect he's ever goin' to be a lawyer or a 
 preacher. I've hard enough time to get along as it 
 is, an' I guess Cale had better be humpin' himself to 
 hoe his own row." 
 
 "Well," said Dunlap, slowly, ''I like Cale pretty 
 well. He's been doing first-rate up at my place this 
 summer — that is, for a boy. I've been thinking that 
 perhaps you wouldn't object to letting him stay with 
 me this winter, say from the first of October, for his 
 board and clothes." 
 
 "Seems to me, farmer," broke in the old man, 
 "that board and clothes is pretty slim wages for a 
 boy as big as Cale. Why, he'd do better'n that git- 
 tin' out saw-logs this winter, or splittin' rails, or even 
 cuttin' cord-wood." 
 
 Old man Mason was shrewd in his way, and he 
 knew pretty clearly what farmer Dunlap's "liking" 
 for Caleb would lead him to do. He had no idea of 
 taking the boy away from the farm-house so long as 
 Dunlap wished to keep him. He knew from experi- 
 ence with his older boys that if Caleb remained at 
 home during the winter there would merely be one 
 more mouth to feed ; and with his chronic thirst for 
 whisky, he knew that then he would get less of it — 
 and this was not to be thought of. But he deemed it 
 due to his dignity as a father that he should make 
 some demur to the plan proposed. 
 
 The result of the conference between the two men 
 was, that Caleb should remain with Mr. Dunlap during 
 the winter for his board and clothes, having also the 
 
78 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 privilege of attending school. During the summer 
 months of the next year he was to be paid wages, at a 
 certain stipulated rate. No time was set at which 
 this arrangement was to terminate, old Mason being 
 perfectly willing that it should continue indefinitely, 
 or until Caleb should attain his majority; and Mr. 
 Dunlap not wishing to bind himself for any number of 
 years in the future. 
 
 When Caleb was informed of the result of the 
 interview by his employer, a pleased look came over 
 his face, and he exclaimed, in tones of satisfaction — 
 "Well, I'm glad I'm going to go to school this 
 winter. I was afraid that I couldn't manage it, and 
 I have just begun to find out how little I know." 
 
 ''That is the beginning of all knowledge, Caleb," 
 returned the farmer. "A man is never ready to 
 learn anything until he finds what an enormous lot 
 there is in this world to learn. But how did you hap- 
 pen to find that out, Caleb .-'" 
 
 "Oh, it came to me this summer, since I have been 
 reading the books and papers up at the house. The 
 night that school closed and I won the spelling-match, 
 I really thought that I knew a good deal. I sup- 
 posed that all the words in the English language were 
 in the speller; but I tell you, Mr. Dunlap, it was a 
 mighty lucky thing for me that Major Starkweather 
 didn't take some other book to pronounce from. I'd 
 have gone down in two or three rounds." 
 
 In point of fact, Caleb's mind had been very busy 
 during the long summer days, going up and down the 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 79 
 
 corn rows with the shovel-plow behind old Tom, a 
 horse that had seen so many years* service that he 
 could hug a row of corn the entire length of the field 
 without requiring a touch on the line. Caleb had 
 found ample time each day to think over the subject- 
 matter of the previous evening's reading, and began 
 to align himself with human thought and action. He 
 began to realize that the world was a vastly greater 
 place than he had supposed it to be. 
 
 He saw, too, that brains and money rule the world 
 — only, by an error, which is to-day common among 
 men much older than he was, he transposed the 
 proper way, reading it "money and brains" in place 
 of the reverse. He was not acute enough to see that 
 though sometimes it may be that money buys brains, 
 still that money is but the agent, while brains are the 
 principal. Mind, not lucre, rules the world ; and to 
 this fundamental error we may trace som.e of the 
 things in Caleb's later career which had an important 
 bearing upon his success in life. 
 
 Caleb realized as never before that in his cabin 
 home he and his family were practically slaves. 
 They remained at a stand-still, so far as progress and 
 development were concerned ; and as the world is 
 ceaselessly marching onward, as a result they were 
 lagging farther and farther behind ; and Caleb did 
 not wish to lag. He burned to be in the van; he 
 panted for a place in the front rank. 
 
 He realized, too, the necessity, if he were to become 
 a man of action, that he should mentally "keep 
 
80 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 touch" — as soldiers do, elbow to elbow — with his 
 fellow men ; and he also saw, though without form- 
 ing it into words, that the newspaper was the most 
 potent agent for keeping in harmony with the great 
 world. He saw that the first thing to do was to 
 acquire knowledge ; that if he were to carry out his 
 intention of going out into the worl.d and securing for 
 himself wealth, power and station, he must, by the 
 time he reached manhood, have himself equipped 
 mentally as well as possible — that he must be 
 superior to as many as he could, and at least the 
 equal of any. 
 
 So he was perfectly contented with the arrange- 
 ment that Farmer Dunlap had made with his father. 
 He had fully made up his mind that he would get 
 an education somehow, and, therefore, that he should 
 attend school during the coming winter. Had not 
 Farmer Dunlap anticipated him in making his 
 arrangements, he would certainly have preferred the 
 request to work on board wages for the privilege 
 of going to school. His present surroundings suited 
 him very well. He had made up his mind never to 
 return to his father's cabin. 
 
 He realized fully the advantage it was to him to 
 be an inmate of the household of the richest and 
 most influential farmer in the country-side. When 
 one of the boys of his own age, with whom he had 
 had a dispute at threshing time, had twitted him 
 with being "old Dunlap's pet," Caleb only laughed, 
 and did not resent what was intended to be an insult. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 8 1 
 
 It was a great advantage, he shrewdly saw, that the 
 powerful Farmer Dunlap should be considered his 
 especial champion and protector. It was even sweet 
 to have the boy speak in such a bitter tone, for it 
 showed that he was envious of Caleb. It marked to 
 the latter the fact that he had mounted in the social 
 scale — that there was somebody below him who 
 looked enviously upon his position. Caleb was long- 
 headed for a boy of fourteen. 
 
 It was one day in October that it became neces- 
 sary for Farmer Dunlap to take a load of corn to 
 Pulaski, and it fell to Caleb's duty to drive the 
 heavily laden team. The farmer himself took his 
 dandy wagon-. Sarah had begged to accompany her 
 father, and he, ever indulgent, allowed her to do so. 
 Of course they arrived in town some time in advance 
 of the heavy farm wagon, and Sarah was left to spend 
 the day with some friends residing in the town, while 
 her father transacted his business. The grain wagon 
 was driven to the warehouse and unloaded, and the 
 team hitched, along with those of a score or two of 
 others belonging to farmers who had come to town, 
 upon the public square. Caleb went with Mr. Dun- 
 lap to two or three places where the latter had busi- 
 ness to transact, and finally into the office of The Clar- 
 iofiy Mr. Dunlap's errand there being to pay his annual 
 subscription. 
 
 The newspaper office was located in the second 
 story of a business block, directly above a grocery 
 store. A narrow and very dirty flight of stairs led to 
 
82 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 the entrance door, which had probably once been white, 
 but was now so covered with dust and dirt, and bore 
 so many traces of inky fingers, that it was difficult 
 to tell what was the original color. This door led 
 directly into the editorial room. It was Caleb's first 
 visit to a newspaper office, and it was a genuine sur- 
 prise. The boy had formed a very high opinion of 
 newspapers and their importance in the world, and 
 he naturally supposed that a newspaper office itself 
 would reflect the dignity of the profession. 
 
 The Clarion was a fair sample of the average coun- 
 try newspaper establishment at that day. The only 
 furniture of which the room boasted was a large table 
 standing in the middle of the floor, which the editor 
 utilized as a desk, and on it was piled a confused heap 
 of newspapers, several account books, with paper and 
 other writing materials. There were a couple of broken- 
 backed chairs, in one of which the editor was seated, 
 gazing reflectively at a battered old stove which, as 
 there was no fire in it, he was utilizing as a foot- 
 rest. Near the door was a stand supporting a nest of 
 pigeon-holes, one for each letter of the alphabet, for 
 the convenience of those subscribers of The Clarion 
 who called at the office for their papers, and a row of 
 shelves against one wall, evidently the work of some 
 amateur carpenter, were filled with patent office 
 reports, bound volumes of the Congressional Globe, 
 and a miscellaneous assortment of public documents 
 and other bric-a-brac of the sort found in every coun- 
 try newspaper office. The opposite wall was entirely 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 83 
 
 devoted to home-made racks, on which were displayed 
 the entire stock of wooden job type belonging to the 
 office, for which, apparently, there was no space in the 
 other room. 
 
 The editor was aroused from his meditations by the 
 opening of the door, and turned his head listlessly to 
 see who the new-comers might be. As soon as he 
 recognized his visitor, a sudden change came over him. 
 He sprang to his feet and greeted Farmer Dunlap 
 with effusion. 
 
 "Why, Mr. Dunlap, this is an unexpected pleas- 
 iire ! " said he, heartily, shaking the old man's hand 
 effusively. "How do you do.? It has been long 
 since you climbed the stairs to The Clarion office. 
 I'm glad to see you ! Sit down ! Sit down ! " 
 
 Mr. Dunlap responded to his greeting, taking a 
 seat in the other spavined chair, while Caleb con- 
 tented himself with a candle-box turned upon one end, 
 which had evidently served the purpose of a seat 
 many times previously. Mr. Dunlap's errand was to 
 pay his annual subscription, which being done, the 
 conversation drifted off into talk upon the crops and 
 then into neighborhood matters; for Mr. Rhoads, the 
 editor, was a man of considerable shrewdness. He 
 had mastered some elementary principles of success 
 in rural journalism which were not well understood at 
 that day. He understood, first, that it flattered a 
 man to be asked his opinion on topics of public inter- 
 est ; second, that any subject upon which two men, 
 from different sections of the country, who came to 
 
84 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 town on business and there met by accident, would 
 stop upon the street and discuss, was of sufficient 
 interest to be mentioned in the paper. His own inter- 
 est also dictated that he should be on as friendly terms 
 as possible with his subscribers. Consequently wh-en- 
 ever a farmer dropped into the office, or he met him 
 upon the street, Mr. Rhoads put these principles into 
 practice, as he was now doing with Mr. Dunlap. 
 
 A queer, jerking series of noises, which followed 
 each other with uninterrupted regularity from the inner 
 room, excited Caleb's curiosity. After striving in 
 vain to determine their cause, the boy quietly arose 
 and passed through the door into the office proper. 
 
 The windows looking upon the main street were 
 devoted to the stands and cases of the workmen. 
 Around the walls were the cabinets containing the job 
 type. In the middle- of the floor were the large 
 imposing-stones — the one for the newspaper forms, 
 the other for job work ; and at the other end of the 
 room, next the windows which looked out to the rear 
 of the building, was an old Smith newspaper hand- 
 press. This machine was then in action, printing the 
 outside pages of the next issue of The Clarion, and it 
 created the noise which had excited Caleb's curiosity. 
 
 The boy stood for some time watching the slow 
 process of printing. The roller-boy behind the press 
 kept steadily at work, either rolling the form or distrib- 
 uting the ink upon the roller; the pressman lifted 
 a sheet of paper to the tympan, turned down the 
 frisket over it, then turned down the tympan with the 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 85 
 
 paper upon the type, which had been freshly inked, and 
 by turning the rounce, ran the bed containing the type, 
 covered by the paper and tympan, under the platen ; 
 and then grasping the great handle of the press, 
 and throwing his weight thereon, exerted great press- 
 ure by means of a combination of levers, whose inven- 
 tion by a man named Smith gave the press its distinc- 
 tive name. This made the impression ; the lever was 
 let go, the bed of the press run out, tympan and frisket 
 opened, and the printed sheet removed. While the 
 pressman was removing it and placing a fresh sheet in 
 position the roller-boy was busy inking the type. 
 The process was very interesting to Caleb, and he 
 stood for a long time watching it. 
 
 Meanwhile the boy became the subject of conver- 
 sation in the other room. Rhoads had noticed h^s 
 appearance, and casually inquired — 
 
 "By the way, Dunlap, who is that boy who came 
 in with you.-^" 
 
 "His name is Caleb Mason; he's living with me." 
 
 "Rather sharp fellow, I should say, from his face." 
 
 "Just so ; a very bright boy, as well as a good one 
 — the only white sheep in a family of black ones." 
 
 " Indeed ! Where is he from ? " 
 
 "He is the youngest son of old Seth Mason; you 
 know his father, I fancy." 
 
 The editor laughed. "What, old Seth Mason.? 
 Well, I didn't suppose as worthless an old brute as he 
 could possibly have a son like that." 
 
 Mr. Dunlap gave the editor a brief account of 
 
86 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Caleb, which so interested Mr. Rhoads that he desired 
 to take another look at the boy. So the two men 
 entered the printing office. Caleb was still watching 
 the man and boy at work at the press. Mr. Rhoads 
 placed his hand on the boy's shoulder with the 
 remark — 
 
 "Well, my boy, how should you like to work in a 
 printing office.?" 
 
 "I should like it very much, sir. I've often 
 thought I should like to be a printer." 
 
 "Would you, indeed! Well, now, why.-*" inquired 
 the editor. 
 
 "Because I should be able to get books and papers 
 to read ; and then a newspaper ought to give a man 
 considerable influence. An editor talks to more peo- 
 ple than anybody else." 
 
 Mr. Rhoads laughed. "Well, young man, I see 
 you have a pretty high idea of editorial work. Some 
 of these days when you want to learn to be a printer, 
 come to me and I will give you a job. Were you 
 ever in a printing office before.?" 
 
 "No, sir; never." 
 
 "Indeed! Step this way and see how they set 
 type." 
 
 Mr. Rhoads led the way to the other end of the 
 room, where the only other workman was busily 
 engaged in composition. Mr. Rhoads, who was a 
 very genial man, explained briefly the method of set- 
 ting type, patiently answering the many questions 
 which Caleb put to him. When Mr. Dunlap signified 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 8/ 
 
 that it was time to go, the editor accompanied them 
 to the door, and shaking hands with both his visitors, 
 said laughingly — 
 
 " Well, Dunlap, this boy was certainly intended to 
 be an editor. You had better let me have him in a 
 year or two, and put him in training." 
 
 The visit to The Clarion office gave form to certain 
 longings of Caleb as to his future. He had already 
 made up his mind, as we know, to become a man of 
 power and influence. He knew that it was impos- 
 sible to do this while working by day's work upon the 
 farm. He appreciated clearly the great gulf fixed 
 between the man who owns the land and the man 
 who tills it for hire, and he had no way to become a 
 land-owner. To get land, he must have money, and 
 to get money rapidly he knew he must follow some 
 more lucrative occupation than that of a hired hand. 
 Caleb knew that the occupations which bring money 
 rapidly are those in which a man's brains are actually 
 employed; brawn and muscle are much cheaper in 
 the market than mind. And somehow, he thought 
 he saw that the printing-office could be made a higher 
 field of work than the farm. 
 
 For one thing, he would be in Pulaski, the county 
 seat, and it would be easy to get books and to enlarge 
 his store of knowledge. He would find people who 
 would aid him in gaining an education in the law, 
 which was his secret ambition. From the farm to 
 the law office was a very long step, but with the print- 
 ing office as an intermediate stepping-stone, the pro- 
 
88 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ject looked feasible. He had read in a newspaper the 
 story of Thomas Ewing reading law while boiling salt 
 in the Hocking Valley, the bright fire under the 
 kettles serving as a lamp. Caleb could see no reason 
 why a printer could not put in his spare evenings in 
 reading law. 
 
 It was not long after this that the district school 
 re-opened for the winter term, and Caleb, grown 
 stouter and taller and healthier with his summer's 
 work, and with more nourishing food than that to 
 which he had been accustomed, entered joyously upon 
 his duties. 
 
 His summer's reading had been of incalculable 
 benefit to him. He had not only read all the books 
 in Farmer Dunlap's library, but had steadily devoured 
 the newspapers as they came week by week. He 
 knew a great deal of what was going on in the 
 world, and had a very clear idea of politics. He was 
 able to tell the attitude of each of the great parties on 
 the questions before the people, and was altogether 
 a far more intelligent boy, with a much greater degree 
 of mental development, than he had been six months 
 before when the school closed. Then he was a child 
 in mind ; now his mental horizon had infinitely 
 expanded, and he was consequently far better pre- 
 pared to grapple with his studies. He took some 
 new branches in addition to the old ones, and he 
 fairly amazed his teacher by the rapidity with which 
 he mastered them. 
 
 The country schools of that day possessed one 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 89 
 
 great advantage that the graded schools of to-day 
 sadly lack — the keen, willing pupil could go as fast 
 as he pleased. He was not held back and allowed to 
 go only so fast as the class of mediocres and dullards 
 with whom he was associated could progress. Hence, 
 he covered in that winter term as much ground as a 
 pupil under the present system would have passed 
 over in two school years, and what he learned was 
 not held by a mere effort of memory, but it was made 
 a part of his own mental fibre. 
 
 Thus two years passed on. The summers were 
 devoted to work, the winters to study. 
 
 It was in the late summer weather. There was a 
 premonition of frost in the air; the golden-rod had 
 hung its yellow tassels out upon the hillside, the 
 orange clusters of the bitter-sweet peeped out from 
 the masses of its leaves as it clambered luxuriantly 
 over the fence-rows, and the air was filled with the 
 shrill chirp of the grasshoppers. 
 
 It was a Sunday afternoon. Caleb Mason was 
 sitting listlessly upon the porch of the Dunlap farm- 
 house; a book he had just finished reading was lying 
 upon his knee and his eyes were fixed dreamily upon 
 vacancy. 
 
 '•What, Caleb, are you dreaming.?" said Sarah 
 Dunlap, who had come from the interior of the house, 
 without his noticing her, so deep was his self-absorp- 
 tion. Caleb started, and his thoughts came back to 
 his immediate surroundings. 
 
 "Hardly dreaming," he replied, turning to Sarah, 
 
90 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 who seated herself in the door, whose sill was a step 
 higher than the porch; "it could hardly be called 
 dreaming; it was more a looking into the future to 
 find what it had in store for me." 
 
 ''Well, and what did you find?" queried she. 
 
 Sarah was growing pretty, that was certain. The 
 freckles had all disappeared from her face ; there was 
 a peachy bloom upon the cheeks ; her lips, which yet 
 retained their childish curve, were like a thread of 
 scarlet, and as they parted gave a glimpse of the even, 
 pearly teeth within ; her abundant hair, in childhood 
 yellow as a wheat-sheaf, had taken a darker hue, but 
 still showed the gold when the sunlight played among 
 her curling tresses. She made a pretty picture sit- 
 ting there, framed in the old doorway — so pretty that 
 Caleb stopped to admire, instead of answering her. 
 
 Sarah repeated her question, somewhat imperiously. 
 
 "I don't know as I found anything," replied the 
 boy; "but I think — I think, Sarah, that I shall go to 
 Pulaski to the academy this winter. The term begins 
 to-morrow week, and " — 
 
 "Going to Pulaski Academy!" exclaimed Sarah in 
 a tone of amazement, her eyes widening with surprise. 
 "Why — I thought — why don't you go to school 
 here this winter ? " 
 
 "Well," returned Caleb, reflectively, "it's a fact, 
 Sarah, though I shouldn't say it, but I have got all 
 the good I can from this teacher. I know more about 
 some things than he does. I saw him last evening 
 down at the cross-roads, and he said that if he were 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE QI 
 
 me he should go to the academy. He said I could get 
 along much faster there, and I'm bound to have an 
 education somehow." 
 
 "But what does father say to this?" 
 
 "That's what I don't know. I hate to go away, 
 Sarah." 
 
 " Go away ! " exclaimed the child, in consternation. 
 
 "Why, Sarah, it's twelve miles to Pulaski, and you 
 know that I could not go back and forth every day." 
 
 Sarah, who had arisen to her feet in her excitement, 
 stood still a moment, and then darted into the house, 
 calling back — "I'm going to ask father about it ! " 
 
 The result of the conference between Farmer Dun- 
 lap and his little daughter and Caleb was, that on the 
 Monday morning of the following week Caleb started 
 to the academy at Pulaski. He had saved up enough 
 of the wages he received during the summers to pay 
 his expenses for the winter at the academy. Farmer 
 Dunlap, however, had not come to the end of his gen- 
 erosity toward the boy. He went with him to Pu- 
 laski, and made arrangements for him to board with a 
 family in the town, rooming with the assistant teacher 
 at the academy — a nice young man just out of col- 
 lege, who was glad to reduce his own expenses by 
 admitting Caleb to an equal share of the room he 
 occupied ; and the farmer further stipulated that 
 Caleb was to spend Saturday and Sunday at the 
 farm-house. 
 
 "But how shall I get back and forth.?" queried 
 Caleb. 
 
92 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Never mind that, Caleb," said the old farmer. 
 "The fact is," he continued, *< I have concluded that 
 it will do Sarah good to try a change of schooling, 
 and she is going to attend the academy this winter, 
 also. We will be going in after her on Friday even- 
 ings, and bringing her back on Monday morning; so 
 it will be just as easy to take you as not." 
 
 So the matter was decided. 
 
 Pulaski Academy was one of those scholastic estab- 
 lishments more common at that day than at present, 
 as the extension of the high school system in Ohio 
 has largely driven them out of existence. The prin- 
 cipal was a somewhat remarkable man. Dr. Williams 
 was a veritable book-worm. He had sprung from 
 the very poorest antecedents, and had worked him- 
 self upward by the sheer force of his talents and his 
 indomitable love of learning, until he was recognized 
 as the most scholarly man in that section of Ohio. 
 
 He was a short, fleshy man, on the shady side of 
 fifty. His head was bald, and a fringe of gray hair 
 encircled it at the level of the ears. His eyes being 
 weak from overmuch work, he always wore glasses. 
 Like many another great scholar, he was a good 
 teacher, but a poor disciplinarian. If boys or girls 
 desired to learn, there was no one who could lead 
 them along the path of knowledge more rapidly than 
 Dr. Williams; but if, on the contrary, an idle stu- 
 dent desired to shirk lessons, it was a remarkably 
 easy thing to do. 
 
 His assistant, Mr. Mills, the young gentleman 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 93 
 
 already alluded to as Caleb's room-mate, was a man of 
 entirely different type. Woe to the boy in his classes 
 who attempted to neglect his duty! He found the 
 path of wrong-doing infinitely harder to traverse than 
 the path of duty. The other assistant was a lady who 
 had charge of the junior and girls* classes. 
 
 The academy was a rambling old frame structure of 
 two stories, with a one-story annex on the rear, the 
 windows of which looked out upon a large garden, 
 shaded by trees, which was devoted to the young lady 
 students and presided over by the female teacher. 
 The lower room of the main building was under Mr. 
 Mills' charge, and was used as a study-room by the 
 young gentlemen. The up-stairs room was Dr. Wil- 
 liams' recitation room, the pupils of the classes over 
 which he presided proceeding thither only to recite. 
 Between the academy and the town was a wide bit of 
 common, which was used by the boys as a play-ground, 
 outside of school hours; while the girls took their 
 recreation in the large yard in the rear, already 
 referred to. 
 
 Pulaski Academy was a noted school in those days, 
 and many a man who has since become famous in 
 the state and nation first learned how to use his mind 
 within its modest walls, under the tuition of Dr. 
 Williams. With the intense desire for knowledge 
 which Caleb Mason possessed, it was inevitable that 
 his progress should be extremely rapid. There was 
 nothing to interrupt the course of his studies ; aside 
 from the time spent at his meals and in sleep he was 
 
94 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 generally at work. Once in a while he would, for the 
 sake of exercise, join the other boys in a game of ball ; 
 but as a rule he could either be found at his desk in 
 the academy, or at his room in the boarding-house, 
 hard at work. 
 
 He and Sarah saw very little of each other during 
 the week. At school they were seated in different 
 rooms and were in different classes, so that they 
 rarely met save on the road to and from school, from 
 Monday morning until Friday night. At the farm- 
 house they were like members of the same family ; of 
 course, the Dunlaps, having no son, took great pride 
 in the progress of Caleb, and it is safe to say that 
 always, except Sarah, who was the apple of their eye, 
 they cherished a deeper regard for the boy than for 
 any one else. He took the place that would have 
 been filled by a son, had Providence not denied them 
 that blessing. 
 
 Caleb soon renewed his acquaintance with Mr. 
 Rhoads, the proprietor of The Clarion. The latter 
 took a great interest in the lad — first, because he was 
 a prot^g^ of the wealthy farmer Dunlap ; second, for 
 the boy's own sake. He soon broached his former 
 proposition that Caleb should learn the printing busi- 
 ness, and the outcome of the matter was, that it was 
 finally decided that the boy should become an employe 
 of The Clarion office as soon as his year's schooling 
 at the academy was finished. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 95 
 
 CHAPTER Vir 
 
 CALEB MASON AS PRINTER, REPORTER, AND LAW 
 STUDENT. 
 
 THE school-days of Caleb Mason ended, and he 
 began the life he had marked out for himself. 
 At odd times while attending the academy he made 
 The Clarion office his resort, '^earned the boxes," 
 and the art and mystery of type-setting. When he 
 entered the office as a compositor, he had therefore 
 a knowledge of the elements of the art, and the 
 steady practice soon made him an expert and toler- 
 ably rapid workman. He found his surroundings 
 pleasant and encouraging. Mr, Rhoads had taken 
 a strong liking to the young man, and treated him 
 as an equal and a comjade rather than as a subordi- 
 nate; and altogether his lines were cast in pleasant 
 places. 
 
 Caleb worked steadily and zealously. His days 
 were passed in the printing-office; his evenings at 
 home or in the editorial sanctum of The Clarion. 
 Mr. Mills left the town for the summer, and Caleb 
 determined to spend his leisure time in reading. His 
 year at the academy had widened his mental horizon 
 and shown him the actual greatness of the field cov- 
 
96 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ered by the literature and science of the world. 
 Pulaski at that time possessed a rarity, namely, a pub- 
 lic library. There were some three or four hundred 
 volumes, all told, many of which had been contribu- 
 tions from various sources in the East. It was a 
 somewhat hap-hazard collection, yet it really con- 
 tained a very small proportion of literary trash. It 
 was a perfect gold mine to Caleb, and all his spare 
 hours were spent in mastering the better portion of 
 its contents. 
 
 The exchange newspapers which came to The Clar- 
 ion office he also made a part of his daily reading. 
 He had now got beyond the omnivorous stage, and 
 read only those portions of each journal which spe- 
 cially interested him. He began to take a deep inter- 
 est in politics. He noted many instances wherein 
 men who in youth had possessed no greater advan- 
 tages than were now his own, yet had risen to 
 national renown through political preferment ; and 
 he often speculated as to the possibilities of himself 
 rising in the same manner. 
 
 The following fall events came about in a way 
 which turned his speculation into a positive bias. 
 There was a political campaign on hand, including 
 a Congressional election. The fight promised to 
 be hot in that particular district ; for, although the 
 majority as it was then constituted was democratic 
 by a good figure, the candidate of that party was 
 unpopular to some extent because of some transac- 
 tions of his while acting as attorney for Eastern own- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 97 
 
 ers of land in that locality. In order to save the 
 country by assuring the election of the regular can- 
 didate, despite this disaffection, several speakers were 
 brought into the district from other localities. The 
 principal one of these was Judge Rainey, a prominent 
 Congressman from Pennsylvania, who was a brilliant 
 stump-speaker, and was detailed to make a number 
 of addresses in Pulaski and the county of which it 
 was the shire town. He had known Rhoads while 
 that gentleman lived in the East, and as soon as he 
 reached Pulaski he made a call at The Clarion office. 
 
 Mr. Rhoads was in the composing-room helping to 
 set type for that week's issue, which went to press 
 the next morning. After a few minutes' talk, stand- 
 ing at the case, Judge Rainey signified his desire 
 to have some private- conversation with Mr. Rhoads. 
 The conference extended itself to over an hour, at 
 the end of which time Mr. Rhoads made his appear- 
 ance in the composing-room with a number of sheets 
 of freshly-written manuscript, which proved to be the 
 "copy" of a double-leaded editorial taking extremely 
 strong ground in favor of the Democratic candidate. 
 The Clarion was of that school of politics, but Mr. 
 Rhoads had said little, if anything, about the nominee 
 for Congress, for the very good reason that a num- 
 ber of his best subscribers were farmers who had 
 conceived themselves injured by the course of Con- 
 gressman Dickman. 
 
 The first sheet of this was given to Caleb to set up, 
 the rest being distributed among the other workmen. 
 
98 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 He turned to Mr. Rhoads, who was working at a case 
 by his side, and said — 
 
 "Who wrote this article?" 
 
 Mr. Rhoads smiled as he replied — "I wrote it my- 
 self, of course; don't you see it is in my writing?" 
 
 "It is in your writing, I know; but it is not your 
 language nor your style, not to speak of the extreme 
 ground it takes in favor of Dickman." 
 
 Rhoads laughed as if he was immensely amused. 
 "Well, Caleb, the hand is the hand of Rhoads, but 
 the voice is the voice of Rainey, as I have no doubt 
 you knew to a moral certainty before you asked the 
 question. I wrote it from the Judge's dictation." 
 
 " But why do you take such strong ground for Dick- 
 man ? Only yesterday, you were talking about the 
 advisability of bolting his nomination and support- 
 ing the Whig candidate for Congress." 
 
 "The best reason in the world, Caleb — several rea- 
 sons, quite a number of reasons ; reasons so strong 
 and potent that the ruddy hue of health is in their 
 faces and even on their backs." And as he spoke he 
 drew from his pocket a fat roll of crisp new bills — 
 bills of the old State Bank of Ohio, all of whose issues 
 had the denomination printed across the face in crim- 
 son ink, while the ornamental lathe-work on the backs 
 was of the same color. One can get a good idea of 
 their general appearance if he will look at the back of 
 a national bank note, and imagine it printed in crim-, 
 son, instead of green. 
 
 The reader, unfamiliar with a printing office, may 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 99 
 
 wonder that Mr. Rhoads so frankly expressed himself 
 to Caleb, and that, too, in the presence and hearing of 
 his other employes ; but this will not seem strange 
 when the fact is taken into consideration that such 
 matters as the authorship of any article appearing in a 
 newspaper, and in point of fact, all subjects connected 
 with the conduct of the paper itself, are considered as 
 office secrets by every printer. There is a code of 
 honor existing among the members of the craft in 
 this respect, which is rarely, if ever, broken. The 
 whole city may be in a ferment over the authorship of 
 an article appearing in a local paper, yet the composi- 
 tors who put it in type, if they know the secret, are 
 as silent as the grave. Office secrets are as well kept 
 as those of a Masonic lodge. Besides Mr. Rhoads 
 had perfect confidence in Caleb Mason's discretion. 
 
 That evening after supper, Caleb returned to the 
 office with the intention of looking over some of the 
 exchanges. As he opened the door he was surprised 
 to see Mr. Rhoads and Judge Rainey. 
 
 " Here he is, now ! " said Rhoads, addressing the 
 Judge. *'We were just speaking of you, Caleb — or 
 rather, I suggested that you were the very person the 
 Judge wants. Come in." 
 
 Caleb was introduced to the distinguished gentle- 
 man, who opened the topic of his buisness. He was 
 desirous of having a secretary to travel with him 
 around the country during the week he would be 
 making speeches. He wanted a capable young man, 
 who wrote a good hand, who was intelligent, and 
 
lOO THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 whose fidelity could be depended upon. Mr. Rhoads 
 had recommended Caleb, and he would like to have 
 the young man's answer to the proposal ; and in con- 
 clusion he named what Caleb considered a very liberal 
 sum as compensation for the week's work. 
 
 "If Mr. Rhoads can spare me for the week," was 
 Caleb's prompt reply, "there's nothing I should like 
 better. I fancy if he had not known me well enough 
 to vouch for my discretion, he would not have recom- 
 mended me to you. I write a fair hand and a tolerably 
 rapid one ; as to the other qualifications you desire, I 
 can only say I will do my best." 
 
 "Well, young man," said the judge slowly, scruti- 
 nizing Caleb's lace, but evidently with favor, "I think 
 you'll do. I like to hear a man, especially a young one 
 like yourself, express confidence in himself, where he 
 does not do it in a vain-glorious way. I tell you, my 
 young friend, to be sure of yourself — to believe 
 you're as good and perhaps a little better than any- 
 body else' you know of, and yet not show it in your 
 words or manner, is one of the essentials to success 
 in these latter days. I wouldn't give a copper for a fel- 
 low who imagines that everybody else, of his own age 
 at least, is as good as himself." 
 
 The week that Caleb Mason spent with Judge 
 Rainey in the position of secretary was a revelation to 
 him. He found to his great surprise, what practical 
 politics really meant. It was a series of object-lessons 
 to him which colored all his after life. As we already 
 know,*he had an exalted idea of the power of money; 
 
) :> 5 3 > 
 
 3 > ) 
 
 J ? \ ' 
 
 THE DEMAG(iGUJE;'> ^, ] V \J 'ytpl. 
 
 that week's experience fixed in his mind the conclu- 
 sion that money rules the country, for he found that 
 money could be used to buy voters — or, rather, to 
 buy the services of men who controlled voters ; that 
 large majorities were thus obtained by the use of 
 money ; and as majorities rule, it follows that money 
 rules the country. 
 
 "Why," said Caleb to himself, "it would be possi- 
 ble, if a man were rich enough, for him to actually 
 become President of the United States, by the use of 
 money alone, irrespective of his own merits, or of 
 those of the opposing candidate ! " 
 
 Judge Rainey was one of those speakers who 
 sway the feelings of the multitude. Caleb, sitting on 
 the platform beside him, noted closely the very simple 
 means by which the judge produced the results he 
 desired, and wondered that the honest farmers who 
 listened so attentively did not also discover it. His 
 speeches always opened with some complimentary 
 allusions to the class of people forming the bulk of 
 his audience. With a crowd of farmers he would 
 make some neat remarks about the antiquity of agri- 
 culture, speak of the free, unhampered life of the til- 
 ler of the soil, compliment his hearers on belonging 
 to "that honored class who are the foundation of 
 national greatness, the corner-stone on which our free 
 institutions are built — the bone and sinew of the 
 country, the honest yeomanry who are the pride, 
 as well as the pledge of the perpetuity of our 
 nation." Having thus brought his hearers into"good 
 
*jki2**l ' ' 'I : : ,♦ THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 • ****** € t , t , , , *,€ 
 
 humor with themselves, and with a favorable predilec- 
 tion for himself, the orator went on to discuss the 
 political questions of the day from the stand-point of 
 his party-platform, taking care not to weary his audi- 
 tors by compelling their attention to solid argument, 
 save for a minute or two at a time. His speeches 
 abounded in illustrations, generally consisting of funny 
 little stories, the climax of which was twisted so as to 
 give an illustration of the political point he desired to 
 make. 
 
 Judge Rainey watched his audience as a doctor 
 watches his patient while administering some power- 
 ful medicine. He first got them into a good humor 
 with themselves and with himself; he stirred up their 
 party loyalty until it was at a white heat ; then came 
 the really efficacious portion of his discourse. His 
 sole business, of course, was to overcome the disaffec- 
 tion existing toward Dickman. In order to do this 
 he made a very strong point of party loyalty; com- 
 pared the Democrat who deserted the ticket at this 
 crisis, to the soldier who basely abandons the flag he 
 has sworn to protect, and deserts to the enemy. The 
 text of this portion of his speech was always the well- 
 worn aphorism, "principles, not men." The candi- 
 date had received the nomination at the hands of his 
 party in convention assembled — hence he might 
 fairly be assumed to be a choice of a majority of his 
 party. He then appealed to their party loyalty in his 
 support. He elaborated the point that it was not 
 Dickman the lawyer, nor Dickman the land agent, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE IO3 
 
 nor Dickman the man, for whom they were called 
 upon to vote, but Dickman the Democrat. He was 
 the party candidate for Congress, and it behooved the 
 Democrats of that county, as of every county in the 
 district, to see that, if possible, a representative of 
 Democracy should be returned to the House. If the 
 policy of that party were to rule in the halls of legisla- 
 tion, it could only be done by electing Democrats. 
 Unless they wished absolutely to turn their backs 
 upon its glorious principles, and to betray their party, 
 they should see that Dickman was elected, because he 
 represented those principles. 
 
 But why explain this method further .!* All are 
 familiar with that style of argument, and every one 
 who ever attended a political meeting has heard illus- 
 trations of it. Caleb Masan sat quietly by and 
 watched the crowd surrounding the platform, to note 
 the effect Rainey was producing upon the people. 
 Then, after the speech was over, there was always a 
 reception, wherever possible, to the judge; and the 
 crowds thronged in to shake the great man by the 
 hand. After the spectators had melted away, there 
 was always left a residuum of political workers, men 
 who had influence, men who were seeking for some 
 petty county office, and a private consultation was 
 held, in which the darker side of politics was made 
 plain to Caleb. 
 
 The week's campaign closed with a grand evening 
 rally in Pulaski. A huge bonfire burned in the pub- 
 lic square, a brass band made the night hideous with 
 
I04 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 its bang and blare, and speeches were made by Dick- 
 man and Judge Rainey. There was tremendous 
 enthusiasm, and the two gentlemen made strong 
 speeches ; Judge Rainey, particularly, out-did himself. 
 His stock of stories was entirely new, because there 
 were too many men present from different portions of 
 the county to render it possible to retail the same 
 set of anecdotes he had used while making the rounds 
 of the school districts. After the speech-making was 
 over, the public reception to the two distinguished 
 orators was held in the court-house, and lasted until a 
 late hour. Judge Rainey reached his room in the 
 hotel, Caleb accompanying him, just a little before 
 midnight. 
 
 "There!" said the judge, throwing himself into an 
 arm-chair, ''that's over, and I'm glad of it. I'm 
 getting too old for this active campaigning. It takes 
 too much exertion, both mental and physical, to be 
 knocking around in country neighborhoods and tick- 
 ling the ears of a lot of wooden-headed farmers and 
 country jakes with a pack of worn-out yarns. It has 
 got to be done, of course ; but you young fellows 
 must take up the burden. I ought not to have come 
 out here this week, but that shallow-pated ass, Dick- 
 man, insisted that I should come, and I want to use 
 him next year in Congress. He hasn't got sense 
 enough to hoe his own row in the House, for which 
 I'm mighty glad; for if all these fellows in the House 
 had axes to grind, some of us would have a devil of a 
 time carrying our points." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE IO5 
 
 The waiter came in just then with a stiff glass of 
 brandy and water, which Rainey had ordered upon his 
 way up-stairs. The judge drank it reflectively and 
 slowly, gazing curiously into the depths of the tum- 
 bler after each gulp, as if he expected to find some- 
 thing important at the bottom. ** There," said he, as 
 he finished the dose, "that was very good — very 
 good ! Take an old man's advice. Mason, and don't 
 get into the habit of drinking. It- plays the very 
 deuce with a man. I see that you don't drink ; you 
 always pass the bottle by. It is an excellent idea for 
 a young man — most praiseworthy, and all that. By 
 the way. Mason, why don't you read law.!* You 
 were cut out for a lawyer. There is money in it, 
 especially for a bright young fellow like yourself." 
 
 *'I should like to very much," replied Caleb, 
 modestly; "but I don't see my way clear to do it." 
 
 "Nonsense, my boy! The way to do a thing is 
 to do it ! You are working for our friend Rhoads ; 
 you've plenty of time evenings and at odd hours to 
 read law. You can get through and be admitted to 
 the bar by the time you're of age, and be ready for 
 a career ; and you can keep on working in the print- 
 ing-office to make your subsistence, until you begin 
 to get a practice. And, by the way, young man, 
 that gives you another string to your bow — for of 
 course a fellow like you will get into politics. You're 
 one of the kind that will take to it as a duck takes 
 to water. Yes, Mason, you're one of those clear- 
 headed fellows who'll make a success of it. You can 
 
I06 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 lake up your mind that the mass of people are fools. 
 
 'hey have not the ability to frame opinions of their 
 
 )wn, and so want them ready-made ; a fellow with 
 
 the gift of gab, who can think when he is on his 
 
 feet can do as he likes with them." 
 
 All this chimed in with the current of Caleb 
 Mason's thought during the week. He saw how easy 
 , it was to handle voters; and while he was determined 
 to become a lawyer, it was more because the law 
 would afford him a suitable stepping-stone to poli- 
 tics, than from any desire to become great in the 
 practice of that profession. Caleb saw that the law- 
 yers were becoming the distinctively office-holding 
 class, and he considered that it would be worth while 
 to become one for that reason, if for no other. 
 
 There were three weeks yet to intervene before 
 the election. Judge Rainey spent those in the other 
 counties of the Congressional district, one week to 
 each county. The work he had begun prospered 
 finely ; the current of public opinion against Dick- 
 man was completely checked, and turned in his favor. 
 And the result of the election was, that Dickman ran 
 but ninety-six votes behind his ticket in the whole 
 district. 
 
 Mason communicated his desire to study law to 
 Mr. Rhoads. A lawyer whose office was just across 
 the street from that of The Clarion entered him 
 as a pupil on mutually satisfactory terms, and Caleb's 
 course of reading was changed from miscellaneous 
 literature to Blackstone's Commentaries. He was 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE lO/ 
 
 an indefatigable student, and his preceptor cheered 
 him on by most encouraging comments upon his 
 progress. He continued, of course, to support him- 
 self by his work in The Clarion office. And thus 
 the years went on, bringing him nearer and nearer 
 the goal of his ambition. 
 
 Farmer Dunlap still maintained his interest in the 
 boy. He was proud to see that his discernment had 
 not been at fault when he extended a helping hand 
 to lift him out of the mire of social degradation in 
 which he was born. He insisted on Caleb's coming 
 out to the farm to spend Sunday now and then. On 
 these occasions young Mason was received as an 
 honored guest. Sarah, who was growing into a 
 beautiful young lady, received him with favor; and 
 Caleb, who still retained the admiration for her 
 which had begun when she, a little girl, had stood 
 up bravely for him against Whitmore's tyranny, often 
 found himself speculating upon the possibility of one 
 day marrying her and becoming wealthy — for Far- 
 mer Dunlap possessed a very comfortable store of 
 this world's goods, and Sarah, his only child, would 
 certainly be the heir. 
 
 But Caleb did not allow his dreams of the possible 
 future to interfere with his present activities for 
 solid advancement. He became a very good printer, 
 and also developed considerable skill as a reporter. 
 So there were one or two days each week which he 
 devoted to scouring the town for local news where- 
 with to fill the third page of The Clarion. These two 
 
I08 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 days were generally Saturday and Wednesday. Sat- 
 urday was the day of all others on which the farmers 
 flocked to town. They came from all portions of the 
 county on various errands of business — selling their 
 crops, paying their taxes, purchasing goods, etc. Mr. 
 Rhoads owed a great part of the success of The Clar- 
 ion \o his habit of publishing items of interest from 
 every portion of the county. It was Caleb's duty on 
 Saturday, then, to meet as many as possible of the 
 influential citizens of the rural districts who had come 
 to town, and to find out what there was stirring in 
 their neighborhoods suitable for items. This enlarged 
 the circle of the young man's acquaintance very much. 
 On Wednesday, of course, he endeavored to find every- 
 thing of interest that was occurring in Pulaski, and 
 chronicled it for next day's paper. 
 
 He soon developed a talent in this direction far 
 beyond that of Mr. Rhoads. The latter was bound 
 down by his earlier years of active newspaper life, 
 when local news formed but a very subordinate part of 
 the contents of the paper. Caleb found out the truth 
 of Rhoad's axiom, that anything in which the people 
 were interested was the thing to publish, and he 
 extended it in a way undreamed of by his employer. 
 
 It is a fact that this young man was the first "per- 
 sonal paragrapher." He was shrewd enough to see 
 that the mention of a man's name in the paper was 
 not only flattering to that person himself, but also 
 pleased his friends. And Caleb boldly reasoned that 
 the same must necessarily be true of women. So, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE lOQ 
 
 one Thursday afternoon, the local page of The Clarion 
 blossomed out with a quarter-column of items of 
 which the following are samples — 
 
 Miss Helen Harvey returned yesterday from a visit with the family 
 of Hon. Erastus Allen, at Springdale. 
 
 Miss Mary Powers, of Dresden township, is spending a few days in 
 town, the guest of her former school-mate. Miss Sylvia Rawson. 
 
 Three or four couples of young gentlemen and ladies took a moon- 
 light drive to Lake Musquash Monday evening. The trip was a most 
 enjoyable one, and no doubt a fashion has been set that will be largely 
 followed during the summer. 
 
 And SO on, through a quarter of a column. It is safe 
 to say that the columns of The Clarion had contained 
 nothing since the day it was established that created 
 as great a sensation as this. The older people con- 
 demned it without stint — that is, all the older peo- 
 ple except those belonging to the families of immedi- 
 ate friends of the persons mentioned. The younger peo- 
 ple thought it great fun ; and there was probably no 
 person mentioned in those items who did not feel flat- 
 tered at the compliment. There was an immense run 
 to obtain copies of the paper, and the outside forms 
 having been distributed, and the supply of Clarions 
 running short, Mr. Rhoads was compelled to print a 
 large number of half-sheets to send to his exchanges 
 and out-of-town advertisers, and finally found a con- 
 siderable sale for them in Pulaski itself. The people 
 did not care for what the outer pages of the paper 
 might contain ; all they wanted was that quarter-col- 
 umn, and the half sheet containing that was just as 
 acceptable as the entire paper. 
 
I lO - THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Caleb had perfect faith that the plan would be a 
 success, although the storm of indignation, which was 
 more sham than real, exceeded his expectations. The 
 next day Mr. Rhoads and himself were kept busy by 
 callers protesting against the publication of such 
 items. The number of these protestors was so great 
 that Mr. Rhoads became somewhat shaky, and that 
 evening seriously debated with Caleb the propriety of 
 apologizing in the next number of the paper, and 
 promising that the innovation should cease. 
 
 This by no means satisfied Caleb Mason. He had 
 a purpose in view, which he carefully concealed from 
 Mr. Rhoads. He was determined that the personal 
 items should not only continue, but be made a feature 
 of the paper ; and he used all possible arguments with 
 his employer, save the real one. He pointed out the 
 fact that The Clarion had never had such a sale ; that 
 over three hundred copies had been sold more than 
 the regular circulation of the paper; that not one of 
 those who had taken the trouble to protest, had 
 ordered their subscriptions discontinued; that these 
 persons really formed a small portion of the total list 
 of the subscribers ; that it was fair to presume that 
 those who were mentioned were flattered at the dis- 
 tinction, because no one among them, and none 
 of their families, had called to protest ; that if 
 the feature continued it would add considerably 
 to the circulation of the paper and thus increase the 
 revenues of the office. 
 
 "Well, Caleb," said Mr. Rhoads, in conclusion, "I 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I I I 
 
 guess you may go on with it, at least for a week or 
 so. We'll see whether or not it's any benefit, and if 
 it isn't, we'll stop it." 
 
 On Saturday, The Gazettey the opposition paper, 
 came out, and its leading editorial was devoted to the 
 new department in the columns of The Clarion, Had 
 its editor been wise, he would have said nothing ; but 
 he wasn't. Considering it an opportunity to make a 
 point against his hated contemporary, the Gazette 
 man resorted to what was then the style of editorial 
 controversy, and devoted a half-column to abuse, of 
 which the following is a sample — 
 
 Ghoul-like as is the crawling wretch of The Clarion, we must say 
 that he exceeded our belief on this occasion. He has invaded the 
 sacred privacy of the homes of our people to satisfy that prurient curi- 
 osity which is his distinctive characceristic. Like all loathsome creat- 
 ures of that class, he imagines that the good people of this town all 
 possess his own impertinent curiosity, and spreads out information 
 obtained at keyholes and by playing the peeping Tom at parlor 
 windows, before his handful of readers. He is too cowardly himself 
 to run any risk of the condign punishment which would follow detec- 
 tion, and, as we are informed, delegated the duty of obtaining the 
 knowledge of trifling family affairs which he so brazenly parades 
 in the columns of his loathsome sheet, to a vulgar employe of his, 
 who is endeavoring to become a pettifogger, and is reading Blackstone 
 for that purpose. That young sprout should be kicked out of all 
 decent society, if there is any to which he gains entrance. We predict 
 that the few honest people who, from motives of pity, patronize The 
 Clarion and thus enable its editor to eke out a miserable existence of 
 semi-starvation, will see that their charity is misdirected, and abandon 
 him to his ultimate fate — a resident in the county poor-house. 
 
 That settled the matter. Rhoads swore that the 
 
112 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 items should go in, if he had to stand at the door 
 with a shot-gun, every Thursday, to keep people from 
 mobbing the office. The above-quoted paragraph 
 contained the first reference to Caleb Mason that 
 had ever appeared in print, and the young man 
 writhed in his soul at the abuse ; and he felt for the 
 first time, what it must be to a man in public life to 
 be pilloried in the newspapers. He got used to that 
 in future years ; but nothing that was ever afterward 
 said of him, in the newspapers, during his political 
 career, had one tithe the effect of that brief allusion 
 in the columns of The Gazette. 
 
 Caleb's real purpose in his new department was 
 simply to obtain social recognition. He was content 
 to wait, for he knew it would come through that 
 channel. The next week he had a much longer array 
 of personal items, in which mention was made of 
 nearly every person of importance in the town of 
 Pulaski whose name had not been introduced on the 
 first occasion. He went on, week after week, until 
 the new feature was firmly established. As he had 
 predicted, the circulation of The Clarion increased 
 very perceptibly, in spite of the abuse of The Gazette. 
 The editor of the latter, after writing a number of 
 venomous articles, at last realized the fact that he 
 had been an idiot, and repaired his error as far as 
 possible, by dropping the subject. 
 
 As soon as the personal department of The Clarion 
 had become a recognized feature, Caleb was ready for 
 his next step. Colonel Burdell was ambitious to 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I I 3 
 
 obtain the nomination to the legislature. In order 
 to ingratiate himself with certain people whose sup- 
 port he desired, he gave a party. As a means of 
 obtaining a favorable notice from The Clarion^ he 
 invited the editor and Caleb to be present. He 
 knew he was perfectly safe in extending an invita- 
 tion to Mr. Rhoads, as the latter never attended 
 such affairs, and he supposed that he was equally 
 safe regarding Caleb. The latter was beginning to 
 make himself active in local politics, and Burdell 
 thought it just as well to extend an invitation, not 
 dreaming that it would be accepted. It was, how- 
 ever; the young man promptly presented himself 
 among the other guests. It was a rather heteroge- 
 neous gathering ; but Caleb knew about all the gentle- 
 men present and some three or four of the ladies. 
 When the next issue of The Clarion came out it con- 
 tained an extended account of the affair, making 
 special mention, however, of only those guests among 
 the gentlemen who had taken the pains to speak to 
 the young man ; while not a lady was referred to 
 by name, beside the hostess, except those whom 
 Caleb knew personally, or to whom he had been 
 introduced. The good people of Pulaski could see 
 as far into a millstone of this character as anybody 
 else, and it was not very long before it was under- 
 stood that if anybody was particularly desirous of 
 favorable mention in the social columns of The Cla- 
 rion, it were well that some attention should be paid 
 to young Caleb Mason. 
 
I 14 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 So it came about that by the time Caleb had com- 
 pleted his legal studies, and been admitted to the bar, 
 he was a visitor, on tolerance, at least, in a large 
 part of the best houses in Pulaski. It is fair to say 
 that the young man never abused his invitations. 
 He possessed wonderful tact. If he found, from the 
 social atmosphere at any gathering, that he was 
 admitted more as a reporter than as a guest, he took 
 it quietly and good-naturedly; he was unobtrusive and 
 pleasant in his manner, always gave a good, readable 
 account of the affair, and gradually worked his way up 
 to a more secure footing with the persons concerned. 
 
 During all ^ this time he had not neglected any 
 opportunity of getting a political foothold. His Sat- 
 urday tour of the town each week, to meet residents 
 of different sections of the county, was of great 
 help to him, as in this way he got to know the 
 inside of the petty politics of every township. He 
 knew who were to be depended on for work at the 
 polls to get out the vote ; he knew who were the 
 leading men, and who influenced public opinion ; 
 and he thus acquired a considerable fund of knowl- 
 edge which proved very useful to him later on. He 
 took an active part in the local politics of the ward in 
 which he resided, and of the entire town of Pulaski. 
 He was looked upon by everybody as a rising young 
 man, likely to make his way in the world, and a use- 
 ful man to have on one's side if one were running 
 for office. And it is safe to say that by the time 
 he was a full-fledged lawyer, and authorized to hang 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE II5 
 
 his shingle to the breeze, he possessed more influ- 
 ence than even the editor of The Clarion himself. 
 
 Caleb's friends, too, he shrewdly judged, would be 
 of aid to him in the legal profession. He made him- 
 self familiar with people engaged in law-suits, espe- 
 cially in land cases, with an eye to his own future 
 benefit. When he was licensed to practice law, he 
 rented a modest office and put out his sign, on 
 which appeared in letters of gold on a blue ground — 
 "Caleb Mason, Attorney at Law," and prepared for 
 that period of waiting which all young lawyers must 
 undergo, but which he determined should be as brief 
 as possible. Of course he could not continue work 
 at the case in The Clarion office ; but he had grown 
 to be almost indispensable to Mr. Rhoads in other 
 departments of the paper, and the latter offered him 
 a moderate salary to continue to act as local editor, 
 and also aid him otherwise. This afforded the young 
 man support, and he determined that it should not 
 be long before his law office should become remuner- 
 ative. He bent every energy he possessed in that 
 direction. He became the agent for several Eastern 
 land owners, and through his wide acquaintance in 
 the county was successful in disposing of several 
 tracts on terms which afforded him a neat percentage 
 for his work. Now and then he had some convey- 
 ancing to do, and finally small cases before justices' 
 courts were intrusted to him. Caleb worked as hard 
 over these as if the trifling litigation were for mil- 
 lions. And wherever he had any case at all he gener- 
 
I 1 6 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ally succeeded in winning it. He worked hard, but 
 met with a fair amount of success. He found that 
 the miscellaneous work of various kinds had increased 
 sufficiently to give him a living, and he resigned 
 his position upon The Clarion^ much to the regret of 
 Mr. Rhoads, and started out upon his life career. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 117 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CALEB MASON IN FAVOR SOME OTHER RESIDENTS OF 
 
 PULASKI 
 
 CALEB MASON, at twenty-two years of age, was 
 fairly launched upon the legal sea, and with 
 fair prospects of a prosperous voyage. Although in a 
 sparsely settled country, it was by no means an unfa- 
 vorable location for a young lawyer who had any 
 ability, and had the self-confidence to cope with the 
 other members of the bar. There was business 
 enough, with disputed titles to land, in which two men 
 would angrily fight over a farm, which ultimately 
 glided into the possession of the attorneys ; there were 
 assaults and batteries without number, and "boss 
 cases" were a mine of wealth. It is a singular fact 
 that people love law just in proportion to their inabil- 
 ity to indulge in litigation, precisely as nations are 
 most zealous in defending the most worthless areas. 
 Notice the stubborn bravery of the Scotch in defence 
 of that country. One would suppose that the Scotch 
 would feel grateful to an invader strong enough to 
 drive them out of Scotland. 
 
 The breath of public favor filled young Mason's 
 
Il8 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 sails, and there seemed to be no rocks ahead of him 
 that so skillful a mariner could not avoid. He was 
 really a good, sound lawyer, and a safe one ; and what 
 helped him even more than his zeal and learning, was 
 the peculiar start he had. The good — and bad — 
 people of Pulaski were lost in wonder at seeing a 
 scion of the house of Mason sitting in a decent suit of 
 clothes in a law office ; and they took pride in calling 
 attention to him. 
 
 " Look at that young fellow ! " was an every-day 
 remark of old Nick Weaver. " D'ye see what a good 
 lookin', bright feller he is ? He's a mighty good law- 
 3'^er, too — got it all himself without help from any- 
 body. D'ye see that old bummer, reelin' out of 
 Bascom's.-^ That's his father. Ain't it queer how 
 rum'll fetch a man ? Rum made old Mason what he 
 is, and lettin' it alone made young Mason what /le is. 
 It's an unmitigated cuss, rum is. Step in and take 
 suthin'." And pouring out a full three-fingered drink 
 of the newest and rawest spirits, which went down the 
 old man's throat without producing a wink, he pro- 
 ceeded to deliver a lecture on the evils of excess and 
 the beauties of temperance, as illustrated in young 
 Mason, till repeated doses put him in a sufficiently 
 mellow condition to be assisted homeward. 
 
 Nick Weaver was not the only one who blew Caleb 
 Mason's trumpet — the whole town did it. It was 
 the first instance in that locality of any good coming 
 out of such a Nazareth ; and as it was entirely abnor- 
 mal, they made of it a matter of consequence. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE II9 
 
 Caleb knew all this and was pleased with it. When 
 uld Weaver would slap him on the shoulder, and speak 
 in his huskiest voice of the meanness of his parents 
 and the wonder that he should have made so much of 
 himself, Caleb did not resent it. He knew that that 
 very circumstance was his capital, and he was not 
 above leaning upon such a dirty stick. To get on in 
 the world he would have been willing that his father, 
 mother, and all his brothers, should be found in the 
 gutter every day in the week ; and that the talk might 
 have a wide surface to travel over, he would have been 
 willing to have had dissolute and worthless relatives 
 distributed in every village in the county. For the 
 first time in his life he felt under obligations to his 
 father, and was sorry that he had so few brothers. 
 
 As a matter of course, at this age he began to think 
 that he was ready for matrimony. In fact, he had 
 thought of it long before. Before his ambition had 
 quite full possession of him and got the better of all 
 his other desires and impulses, he had experienced some 
 feeling for Sarah Dunlap. She was the only child of 
 the wealthiest farmer in the neighborhood, and a girl 
 who was as pretty and good as her father's acres were 
 broad and productive. This feeling was reciprocated 
 by the gentle Sarah; and while there had been no 
 formal exchange of vows, it was considered a settled 
 thing on all hands that they were to marry in the 
 good time coming, when he should have established 
 himself in a good practice. He was a constant visitor 
 at the house, and old Farmer Dunlap was his best 
 
I20 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 friend and most ardent admirer. The old man 
 believed in him, had confidence in him, and that he 
 was probably to marry Sarah was the greatest com- 
 fort he had in his declining years. He considered 
 Caleb as the greatest lawyer of his age, as the most 
 upright and honorable of men, and as possessing all 
 the qualities necessary to the making of a woman 
 absolutely happy. If he could only see his Sarah, the 
 very apple of his eye, more precious to him than his 
 blooded stock, even, the wife of Caleb Mason, he felt 
 that he could leave his farm and stock which he loved 
 next to her, his money at interest, and die happy. 
 And as he counted this a very certain thing, the old 
 man was content. 
 
 Sarah Dunlap had grown into a girl whom any man 
 could aflFord to love dearly. You know the style of 
 girl she was. The Black Swamp air does not give a 
 high color to the faces it produces, and hers was color- 
 less and slightly sallow, with features nearly enough 
 so to be called regular ; soft, fine, nut-brown hair, a 
 tender tress or two of which lifted itself from the tem- 
 ples and curled in a delicate, feathery way, the whole 
 enhanced by large, gentle eyes, with a sweet expres- 
 sion, that told the story of her calm spirit and maid- 
 enly heart. One delicious change they had was when 
 she had been thinking, and was quiet and pleased. 
 The glossy, curved fringe lifted, and her eyes shone 
 out purple and transparent, like the wind-flower that 
 comes after the snow of the blood-root has melted in 
 the spring. One who had once caught that charming 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 121 
 
 and fleeting wave of color would watch for it again. 
 Sunshine, warmth and happy leisure, are the only 
 spells to bring back that flower-like color. Her hair 
 lightened almost to paleness in the sunbeams, and a 
 light pink was in her lips, like fine rose-coral, not scar- 
 let. The kindly spirit and sweet gayety in her face, and 
 the good lines of her figure, made Sarah Dunlap seem 
 an attractive woman, whose invitation to stay, even 
 though not too warmly given, would be frankly 
 accepted ; from whose hand, well-formed and well-kept, 
 the cup of tea and the puffed cakes would have a 
 welcome of their own ; by whose side on the broad 
 piazza it would be pleasing to sit. Sarah might lead 
 the way round the shrubbery, inviting you to see how 
 sweet the white honeysuckle was that drooped over 
 the smoke-tree, taking a turn by a deliciously sweet 
 small rose-tree, laden with buds, full and colored like 
 a debutant, reminding one of a young girl in her 
 first season. 
 
 This was the girl that Caleb Mason, as everybody 
 supposed, was to marry, and would marry. She had 
 no doubt of it, for he had had her preference on all 
 possible occasions, from their school days, and nothing 
 was considered a more settled matter than their mar- 
 riage, when time should place him so that marriage 
 was possible. She loved him with a devotion such as 
 a Catholic might feel for the Virgin ; and if he did 
 not love her, his whole life belied him. 
 
 There is always one prominent family in a village 
 like Pulaski, a family which sets the fashion socially, 
 
122 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 and makes the law for everything. In Pulaski the 
 ly /reigning power was the Harxey-^mily. In social 
 matters, everything not headed by the Harveys was a 
 foreordained failure, and everything they approved 
 was a certain and fixed success. Occasionally some 
 new-comer, or some one who could not see why the 
 Harveys should rule over all and control everything, 
 would undertake something on his own account ; but 
 he never tried it twice. Was it a social matter ? There 
 would be no inquiry made — that is, orally — but 
 somehow the inclination of the Harveys for or 
 against, would be ascertained and the measure of fail- 
 ure depended entirely upon the extent to which. they 
 sat upon it. Was it a political matter .'' The Democ- 
 racy made their nominations with a view to the Har- 
 veys, and a Whig would no more dare to move for a 
 a nomination for himself, or for faction, till he had the 
 approval and co-operation of the Harveys, than he 
 would have attempted to fly to the moon. 
 
 It was strange to many as to how they got this con- 
 trol, and how they kept it ; and yet there was nothing 
 strange about it. They had managed to surround 
 themselves, socially, politically and financially, with 
 an immense number of people, all of whom were in 
 some way involved with them in something ; and as 
 they were the keystone of a dozen arches, each of 
 these arches necessary to the other, it was no small 
 matter for any one individual to make head against 
 them. At all events, it was a very serious affair for 
 any one who undertook to make head against them ; 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 23 
 
 and, as every one felt, it was always considered better 
 to bear the slings and arrows of the Harveys than 
 to rush to what they knew not. 
 
 They ruled by fear entirely, for certainly no one 
 loved them. The head of the Harvey family, Seth 
 Harvey, was a man of sixty, a large, portly man, who 
 had been a terror to the people when young by reason 
 of his enormous physical strength, and quite as much 
 a terror in his old age by reason of his imperious 
 will, brutal daring, and a great measure of cunning 
 and managing ability. Woe to the luckless aspirant 
 who crossed his path ! He would be so snubbed, so 
 sat upon, so belabored, that after a very short trial 
 of independence, he came back to the Harveys ; and, 
 after sufficient punishment, was forgiven and per- 
 mitted to serve where he had vainly tried to rule. 
 
 No one could look upon his immense head, with the 
 neck of a bull, the double chin that hung from 
 the flabby cheeks, the bushy eyebrows that half hid 
 a pair of small eyes — small, but keen as those of a 
 weasel — cold, cruel eyes, that had nothing kindly in 
 them ; the enormous shoulders on the massive body, 
 that body supported by legs that were like the pillars 
 of Hercules, without feeling that it would be better 
 to be on good terms with him, and that some measure 
 of deceit might profitably be used to placate him, but 
 that love, or even respect, would be impossible. 
 Added to the personal, aggressive, combative appear- 
 ance of the man was an imperious manner which said, 
 " I will," and a coarse, rasping voice, which admirably 
 
124 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 fitted the manner, and all backed by a will which 
 brooked no contradiction and endured no differences. 
 This was the head of the Harvey family, the control- 
 ling spirit in the society and politics of Washington 
 County. 
 
 He had sons and daughters. His eldest son John, 
 or Jack, as he was familiarly called, was as brutal as 
 his father, but had all that brutishness without his 
 father's strength — what he originally possessed hav- 
 ing been sadly wasted in dissipation which com- 
 menced very early in life, and clung to him through 
 his manhood. But his father's influence over the 
 faction of the party which he ruled was sufficient to 
 keep him constantly in office, the one he was filling at 
 the date of this history being County Commissioner, 
 the father being Treasurer. Then came Bill Harvey, 
 and Philetus Harvey, and three others, and the son- 
 in-law, Chet Saltonstall, he having married the eldest 
 daughter. 
 
 The other daughter, Helen Harvey, was still single, 
 and she deserves more than a passing notice. She 
 was the acknowledged beauty of the county, and her 
 fame had extended as far as the state capital, whither 
 she had been taken by her father on his official visits. 
 Indeed, the old man had represented the county in 
 the state legislature two terms, and Helen had accom- 
 panied him for the purpose of obtaining the polish she 
 might receive from commingling with ladies who had 
 seen more of the world than those of the backwoods 
 town, and she had made a positive sensation. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 12$ 
 
 It was not singular. She was a beautiful girl — 
 beautiful in every way. She had a tall, willowy figure, 
 — a figure not so slender as to be without strength, 
 neither were the indications of strength such as to 
 make her massive. It was that peculiar model which is 
 the perfection in women — grace apparent to the eye, 
 and with a suggestion of strength that was not visible 
 to the eye. Her face was not pretty. That is, it 
 was not beautiful, but one that attracted everybody at 
 the first glance. There was something in it that 
 grew upon one, and the better you knew Helen Har- 
 vey, the more beautiful her face appeared. Mentally, 
 she was superior to any other of the family. She had 
 been an omnivorous reader from her earliest girlhood, 
 and she had a mental digestion that was wonderful. 
 She had read history, not simply to fill her mind with 
 dry facts, but she had penetrated its philosophy. 
 She knew precisely when everything happened, and 
 she also knew from what the happenings proceeded, 
 and what effect they had upon the succeeding events. 
 She read fiction, not for the sake of the story, but 
 that she might gain a knowledge of the manners and 
 customs of the periods treated, knowing that the 
 writer must have made studies to be able to write, 
 and that the office of fiction was to illustrate and con- 
 dense history. She had studied politics — not only 
 the general leading events in our political history, but 
 she had made studies in local politics, for which her 
 father's position gave her abundant opportunity. 
 
 The whole family respected and feared her. She 
 
126 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 seldom spoke to them in the matters which went 
 over the buckwheat cakes and coffee, but when she 
 expressed an opinion as to any movement it was 
 accepted at once without any question, no matter how 
 much it differed from the others. She was, in real- 
 ity, the mental head of the family. 
 
 There is no profession that is so generally over- 
 done in the Western towns as that of medicine, 
 except law. The young medicos who form the 
 annual product of the Eastern medical schools find, 
 when they get their diplomas, and are pronounced 
 qualified to practice on the lives of their fellows, that 
 there are no openings at home, and so they go West 
 to find a location in a new town, that they may 
 ''grow up" with it. They forget that the medical 
 colleges, like the mills of the gods, grind slowly, 
 but grind surely, and have been grinding a great 
 many years; and when they get to their locations 
 are surprised to discover the fact that doctors' 
 shingles adorn every other house. Dr. Rawson tried 
 it forty years before in a new town farther east, but 
 disliking the competition, he went farther, to the site 
 of the present Pulaski, and built his cabin and put 
 out his shingle before any one else was there. Then 
 he waited for the people to come and get sick. He 
 determined to be in time, and for once to be the 
 first. 
 
 Dr. Blanchard, the most prosperous and prom- 
 inent of the younger set, was not dependent upon 
 his profession for his support, for he brought money 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 12/ 
 
 with him to operate in lands, as well as to support 
 him till he got his practice established. He had 
 built up a good practice, much to the envy of the 
 impecunious members of the fraternity, who won- 
 dered why the people would call him, who did not 
 need the practice, and leave them out, who did. 
 Poor fellows, they forgot the passage — "That unto 
 every one which hath shall be given ; and from him 
 that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away." 
 
 Aside from the comfortable financial condition of 
 Blanchard, which gave him standing, he was really 
 a good physician, and a splendid fellow in other 
 respects. He was as handsome as an Apollo, well 
 read in general literature, besides that of his profes- 
 sion ; a fancier of pictures and of the nice things of 
 life ; a most brilliant talker ; fond of dress, without 
 being a fop, and in short, a thoroughly good, bright 
 young man, whom all the good people liked, and 
 whom even the bad ones respected. He was at once 
 bold and daring, soft and susceptible ; in fact, a man 
 to make his way either among men or women. 
 
 Dr. Blanchard was in love with Helen Harvey, 
 and she was in love with Dr. Blanchard. She recog- 
 nized the superiority of this young man from the 
 first day she had met him, for he was the only man 
 in the town who was in any wise fit to mate with 
 her. He was cultured, not only in the line of his 
 profession, but in everything else; he was a person 
 of taste and reading, a thorough gentleman, and in 
 every way her peer. The first acquaintance led to 
 
128 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 esteem, esteem into a dangerously close friendship, 
 that into love, and love into an engagement. The 
 match was agreeable to the family, for Dr. Blanch- 
 ard was a man of considerable means for that new 
 country, and his rise to the head of his profession 
 was an assured thing. He knew more of modern 
 medicine than any one of the old doctors, the dear 
 old practitioners who stopped learning when they 
 came out of school, and, having the confidence of 
 enough of the people to give them a decent living, 
 did not care to learn more ; and^while he combated 
 them, he did it in such a way that they rather liked 
 him. Old Dr. Rawson, who had brought half the 
 children of the county into the world, was wont to 
 say that it was well enough to have young men to 
 keep up with the modern acquirements in medicine. 
 
 **I can get on well enough with calomel and quin- 
 ine, but I 'spose there are people who want some- 
 thing else, and I am willing Blanchard should dig it 
 out for them," was his sententious remark. 
 
 It was not singular that the Harvey family were 
 willing, and more than willing, to form an alliance 
 with so promising a young man, and that, when 
 Helen Harvey declared her intention to marry him, 
 they one and all seconded it with great unanimity. 
 They cared little whether or not she loved him. 
 His name would look well upon their notes, and his 
 influence would go a long way to strengthen the 
 family influence; and so the match pleased every- 
 body concerned. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1 29 
 
 Helen was as ambitious as the others of her family 
 — ambitious for them as well as for herself. Born in 
 an atmosphere of politics, hearing but little else than 
 politics talked of, educated to believe that human 
 happiness and grandeur consisted entirely of political 
 power, and that political preferment was all that was 
 desirable in life, she did find some fault with the 
 young doctor, who disliked politics and politicians, 
 and desired nothing so much as to be left entirely 
 outside of them and their schemes. 
 
 But she loved him for all that, and he loved her, 
 and they had been betrothed since she was eighteen. 
 There had never been a day fixed for the uniting of 
 the two willing souls, for neither was in a hurry to 
 resign liberty, but both expected that the event would 
 not be put off a very long time. 
 
 While this was going on smoothly and satisfactorily, 
 Caleb Mason began to loom up in 'the sky of Pulaski ; 
 and he loomed up in a way that made him the 
 observed of all political observers. There had been 
 a political contest as to who should be mayor of the 
 town, and Mason saw in the little fight an opportu- 
 nity for fleshing his virgin sword. The Harveys — 
 father, sons, sons-in-law and all — had supreme con- 
 trol of the party; and were very jealous of their con- 
 trol. They had carried it down to the election of the 
 smallest officers, for they had a correct idea that a 
 friend is a friend. They wished to be loved first, and 
 then feared ; and to this end they managed that every 
 man in position should owe that position to them. 
 
130 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 In this contest it was expected that Mason would 
 take a part, and that, as all shrewd, aspiring young 
 men did, he would side with the Harveys. But, to 
 the surprise of the people generally, he opposed them. 
 
 "Poor fellow!" said one; "he is ruining himself 
 and his prospects at the beginning." 
 
 "What folly!" said another; "he should make 
 friends with the powers that be. He'll go down this 
 time, and that will Qnd him." 
 
 And all his friends implored him to draw back 
 before he mortally offended these arbiters of political 
 fate in Pulaski. 
 
 "They will kill me.?" said Mason. "Suppose I 
 kill them." 
 
 And he persisted in his course. 
 
 The candidate of the Harveys was a wiry sort of a 
 political schemer, who had some job connected with 
 real estate which made it desirable that he should 
 have a voice in the city government. He rejoiced in 
 the name of Schofield, while Mason brought out a 
 candidate who had no schemes to work out, and no 
 axes to grind, and who only consented to take the 
 place that the office might be decently and creditably 
 filled, which he was certain would not be if the self- 
 seeking Schofield should be elected. 
 
 When the name of Dr. Rawson was announced, the 
 Harvey people laughed. They had the organization, 
 and in party matters that is everything to secure the 
 nomination. The nomination once secured, they 
 depended upon party drill to make the election sure. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I3I 
 
 They found Mason a more active opponent than 
 they had counted on. He made himself as busy as a 
 bee, and his activity told. He carefully abstained 
 from saying a word derogatory to the Harveys, but he 
 gave in public and private very excellent reasons why 
 Rawson should be put in nomination. The Harveys 
 saw that he was gaining ground, and they feared that 
 by the day of the convention he might have strength 
 enough to carry it. 
 
 So they resorted to the very common trick of 
 bringing out a third candidate to divide the Rawson 
 strength ; they expected to hold their own intact. 
 This they did by flattering a very decent man, one 
 Adams, into being a candidate. The Harveys them- 
 selves did not go to him, but they sent numbers of 
 their friends. Adams consented to be a candidate on 
 condition that those who had solicited him should stick 
 to him through thick and thin, and he was accord- 
 ingly announced. Adams did not expect to be nom- 
 inated, but it was well enough, he thought, to get in 
 the way of promotion. 
 
 Then Mason tried his hand at candidate-making. 
 He knew that one of the Harvey faction, and a man 
 of considerable influence, too, was somewhat soured 
 at the treatment he had received, for he had labored 
 long and faithfully in the interests of the Harveys, 
 and he had received nothing but promises. He had 
 long wanted the position of recorder, which was one 
 of the most profitable in the county. Now that pos- 
 ition, being one of profit, had long been held by Simp- 
 
132 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 son, a relative of Harvey, who, of course, would be a 
 candidate for re-election. 
 
 Mason was anxious to break the whole slate, and he 
 saw the rock with which to do it — namely, Potter, 
 the soured Harveyite and would-be recorder. So, 
 four days before the convention, he went to Potter, 
 and suggested that he make an effort for the place. 
 
 Potter thought a moment. 
 
 "I would like it," he said, eagerly; "but Simpson 
 will be a candidate, and, of course, no man can beat 
 him." 
 
 "Any man can beat him," was Mason's reply; 
 "that is, any man who has got pluck enough to go for 
 it, and go strong enough. The Harveys are good 
 men, but they do not quite own the corporation. 
 Rawson will beat Adams sure, and you can beat 
 Simpson." 
 
 Potter made a great many figures on a slate. 
 
 "If I could get the Rawson strength, I believe, 
 with what I know I can get out of the Harvey party, 
 that I could beat him. Some of the Harvey strength 
 I know I can hold. Can you promise me all the 
 Rawson strength at the primaries ? " 
 
 "Every one of them — on one condition." 
 
 "Name it." 
 
 "That you throw your strength for Rawson." 
 
 Potter thought again. He was a man of great 
 deliberation. 
 
 "I have never got a thing from the Harveys but 
 promises, and I don't believe I ever shall. Here is 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 33 
 
 something tangible, and if I am beaten I can make 
 my peace with them, for they can't very well get on 
 without me." 
 
 The conclusion of the matter was, that Potter con- 
 sented, and went to work in good faith and good earn- 
 est for Rawson — and himself. 
 
 Mason had counted noses very accurately, and he 
 was satisfied that he had Schofield beaten, provided 
 Potter played fair. That was the only weak spot, and 
 that weak spot was the one to strengthen ; for he 
 knew that Harvey would make an effort to bring Pot- 
 ter back to his allegiance. 
 
 Mason was a man of resource, and he had many 
 tools to work with. One of the Harvey family. Jack, 
 as he was called, was a quick-tempered, broad-shoul- 
 dered man, whose fists were as quick as his temper, 
 and Mr. Mason proposed to make him the nail that 
 should fasten Potter to his enterprise. 
 
 The very day that Potter was announced as a can- 
 didate for recorder, and before the Harveys had time*^ 
 to get him, it was made known to Jack Harvey, by a j 
 note through the postoffice, that Potter had said that ' 
 the whole ticket supported by the Harveys, from 
 Schofield down, was a fraud upon the people ; and ; 
 that, without influential friends in office. Jack Harvey 
 would have a hard time to keep out of the peniten- 
 tiary for defrauding his creditors. As Jack had failed 
 in business, and had paid nothing on the dollar, he 
 was very sore and sensitive on this point. 
 
 Harvey opened the anonymous note in Bascom's, 
 
134 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 just as he had taken his fourth drink, and he was pre- 
 cisely in the mood to immediately see about it. 
 Rushing at once toward Potter's place of business, he 
 got more and more infuriated as he approached it. 
 Entering, he saluted that gentleman with a blow 
 between the eyes that would have astonished him, had 
 the force of it left sense enough in him to have been 
 astonished — which blow was followed up by others 
 till the life was almost pounded out of him. 
 
 The fracas brought in from the street Mason and 
 others, who demanded of the infuriated man the cause 
 of the assault. 
 
 "The scoundrel has been lying about us! He 
 has been saying that the Schofield ticket was got up 
 to keep our family in office, and to keep me out of the 
 penitentiary!" 
 
 " To whom did he say this } " asked Mason, as some 
 of the citizens were carrying off the bruised body of 
 the innocent Potter. 
 
 "To whom did he say it.? Why, he said it — but 
 I have a letter that told me of it. Why, where is 
 it.?" 
 
 And Harvey began to fumble in his pockets. 
 "I've lost it!" 
 
 "Mr. Harvey," said Mason, gravely, "one ought to 
 have very good provocation for beating a man as you 
 have Potter. Something more than the story of a 
 letter that cannot be found will be required to satisfy 
 the citizens that this assault was justifiable. To 
 whom did he say these things ? It is a little hard if a 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1 35 
 
 man cannot be a candidate against your relative with- 
 out exposing himself to this treatment." 
 
 "Do you take Potter's part?" blustered Harvey, 
 blue with rage at the predicament he had put himself 
 and his party into. 
 
 "Take what I have said as you choose, Mr. Har- 
 vey, ' replied Mason, calmly. "You will not have so 
 cheap a bargain in me. I am not a candidate against 
 your relative, and ought to be exempt from beating; 
 but I am willing to take my chances, as I am oppos- 
 ing him." 
 
 Harvey made a step toward him, and then stopped. 
 He knew Mason too well to attack him. 
 
 "Good morning, Mr. Harvey. If you feel aggrieved 
 at what I have said, you know where my office is." 
 
 And to that office he went. As he closed the door 
 he chuckled — 
 
 "Potter will never forgive this, if he lives. And 
 what a lucky thing it was that Harvey dropped that 
 letter just as I came in! No one will ever believe 
 that he had it, and every one will believe that he 
 assaulted Potter for his temerity in coming out 
 against Simpson." And taking the letter out of his 
 pocket, he burned it. 
 
 It resulted exactly as he had anticipated. Potter 
 was badly injured, and he swore all sorts of vengeance 
 on the Harvey family, from the old man down ; and 
 as he could not get out himself, he made all his friends 
 redouble their energy. And now he had something 
 to go on ; for the public believed, or affected to, that 
 
136 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Jack Harvey had assaulted him simply because he 
 was contesting the place with a member of his family. 
 The letter story was received incredulously. 
 
 Under this excitement Mason went to Adams. 
 Why should he persist in occupying a position that 
 could only be a help to the unfortunate Harvey inter- 
 ests ? Rawson would only serve one term, and he 
 (Mason) would promise Adams that, if he would sup- 
 port Rawson this year, Rawson's friends would sup- 
 port him the next. Adams saw the point to this, and 
 he did withdraw in favor of Rawson. 
 
 The result astonished him. At the primaries the 
 Harvey party was routed, horse, foot and dragoon, and 
 the Mason ticket was carried from top to bottom. 
 He won, and he did it in such a way that the success- 
 ful party saw and knew that he, and he alone, did it, 
 and that it could only have been done by him. He 
 was pleased with the venture, and he said to him- 
 self — "Possibly these little kings will respect me 
 now, and possibly they may want me. If so, they can 
 have me — on my terms." 
 
 His boldness and temerity astonished the people, as 
 did his skill and adroitness. He was the town talk, 
 for he was the first man who had ever bearded these 
 lions in their den. 
 
 The Harveys were alarmed. This youngster had 
 shown the people that they could be beaten ; they had 
 lost their old-time reputation for invincibility, and 
 now every whipper-snapper might be trying it ; as 
 no one knew better than the senior Harvey that one- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 37 
 
 half of their strength lay in the fact that it looked so 
 big that no one before had the courage to test it. So 
 Mason was the topic of conversation in the house of 
 the Harveys, as everywhere else. The old gentle- 
 man remarked one morning that the young man must 
 be crushed. 
 
 **Pa," replied Helen, "he is not to be crushed.'* 
 
 "Why.!*" growled the old man. 
 
 "Because he is young, ambitious, bold, daring, has 
 brains, and has his way to make, and is going to make 
 it. Why don't you try to make a prop of the strong 
 tree, instead of butting your brains out trying to bend 
 it ? " 
 
 "Because" — 
 
 " Because you are angry with him ; but a good poli- 
 tician never gets angry, nor nourishes a spite. The 
 man you make an enemy of to-day you may want to 
 use to-morrow. He wants to be your friend, and has 
 all along." 
 
 "Then why did he oppose my candidates.? Why 
 did he put up the ropes to beat me, the " — 
 
 "Because he w^anted you to know his worth, that's 
 all. He wants a good price for his skill and talent, 
 and I must say he's worth it. I could bring him " — 
 and then Helen stopped suddenly. 
 
 "You could do what.?" demanded the old man. 
 
 "Nothing, father." 
 
 And she left the table suddenly. 
 
 On her way to her room, and after she got there, 
 the young lady mused a long time. She was as ambi- 
 
138 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 tious as her father or brothers ; and, like them, politi- 
 cal preferment was her ruling passion. She saw in 
 Mason the coming man, and saw in him the downfall 
 of her family, unless he could be attached to their 
 interest. Why was not Blanchard a Mason ? 
 
 And from this sprang a train of thought. Her sis- 
 ter had married to strengthen the power of the family, 
 and what a brilliant stroke it would be for her to bring 
 into the fold this young Samson, who already had his 
 shoulder against the pillars of her father's temple. 
 She shuddered as she thought of the encounters that 
 must ensue between this man and his family. She 
 admired and dreaded him. Intellectual as she was, 
 she could but admire the strength and adroitness 
 of the man ; and that very strength and adroitness, 
 opposed to the interests of her family, was to her an 
 object of dread. And she fell into a habit of regret- 
 ting that Blanchard was not more like Mason — which 
 line of thought was bad for Blanchard. 
 
 But the Harveys did not propose to be beaten by 
 the Mason party. Mason had nominated a candidate, 
 but that candidate was not yet elected. They 
 intended that he should not be, for they desired to 
 demonstrate to the people that a man not nominated 
 by them could not be elected. And to that end they 
 organized a secret bolt, and went to work zealously to 
 defeat him, without appearing in it themselves. 
 When they should have accomplished this they pro- 
 posed to regret it, always winding up with the lamen- 
 tation that if their man had been nominated the disas- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 39 
 
 ter to the party would never have happened, and by 
 demonstating the superiority of their wisdom, show 
 the necessity of the party coming back to their rule. 
 
 They very much underrated their man. Mr. Mason 
 let it be known that there was a majority of two hun- 
 dred in the township, that Dr. Rawson was as good a 
 Democrat as ever was born, and that there was no rea- 
 son why he should not receive the vote of every Dem- 
 ocrat in the township. The Harveys, heretofore, had, 
 when they suspected an intention to bolt, insisted 
 upon seeing the ballots of all regular partisans, and 
 Mr. Mason had it given out that this rule would be 
 followed at this election. If a Democrat did not 
 choose to vote an open ticket, and Dr. Rawson should 
 be defeated, those voting in secret would be held 
 responsible for the defeat, and would be treated in 
 future accordingly. In short, Mason applied to the 
 Harveys the test that the Harveys had heretofore 
 applied to everybody else; and the Harveys knew 
 that he had the will to hold them to it. 
 
 They could not help themselves. Their only safety 
 was in party discipline, and confronted as they were by 
 a man who knew what it was, and how to apply it, they 
 were compelled to succumb to it, and yield to a power 
 stronger than themselves. They had depended on 
 King Caucus, and they could not disobey him, now 
 that his decrees were adverse to them. They yielded 
 the point, because they could not help it, and Dr. 
 Rawson was elected by the usual majority. 
 
 Caleb Mason scored his first victory. He had 
 
I40 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 beaten the reigning family in their first encounter, 
 and was at least as powerful as they. 
 
 "I might have gone in without this and played sec- 
 ond fiddle." This to himself. "As it is, if they 
 want me, I am admitted to an equal partnership. It 
 is a good piece of work ; " and Caleb Mason went to 
 his bed in a most comfortable frame of mind. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I4I 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A TIDE TAKEN AT ITS FLOOD 
 
 MR. MASON, attorney, had a young man in his 
 office, by the name of Gleason, serving, as he 
 himself had served, in the double capacity of clerk 
 and student. Samuel, or ** Sam " Gleason, as he was 
 familiarly known, was a wiry young man of twenty- 
 two, who was completing his studies, and who 
 expected when he had them completed, which would 
 be in a few months, to take a partnership with 
 Mason on the usual terms accorded to young law- 
 yers — i. e., he would do all the hard work and 
 receive therefor a fourth or a sixth of the fees. Up 
 to the morning of which I write, he had been well 
 enough contented with the outlook, and was not 
 altogether displeased at his prospects, albeit he did 
 not like Mr. Mason at all. He was not the sort of 
 young man, however, to allow his likes or dislikes to 
 interfere with his plans ; for he would have made 
 the partnership if he had hated Mason as the devil 
 hates holy water, provided the said partnership 
 promised to be advantageous to him. 
 
 What was the cause of his hatred .? The old one, 
 
142 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 that has made more hatreds, broken up more friend- 
 ships, caused more bloodshed, and played the devil 
 more generally with human affairs, than all the other 
 causes combined, religion not excepted — love. For 
 when Sam Gleason was a boy, going to the same 
 school with Mason, he loved Sarah Dunlap, and had 
 the mortification of seeing himself ousted from the 
 girl's good books by this scion of a most disreputable 
 house. At the beginning she favored him ; for what- 
 ever her likes in secret might have been, it would 
 never have done for her to have been seen with any 
 one of the Mason family, and so Sam had the pleasure 
 of escorting her to singing-schools, evening meetings, 
 and such entertainments of a public character as hap- 
 pened in the neighborhood, and was her accepted 
 escort. 
 
 But when Caleb Mason approached the years of 
 manhood, sloughed off the Mason skin, and took a 
 higher place in life than any one had supposed pos- 
 sible, Sarah by degrees dropped Sam and allied her- 
 self to Mason, as naturally as anything could be. 
 Caleb did not know that he had displaced Gleason, 
 nor did Sarah ; for she had never looked upon 
 Gleason as anything more than a pleasant acquaint- 
 ance. Nor did Mason imagine that there was any- 
 thing serious in the attachment the young man had 
 for the girl. But Gleason — who did love the girl, 
 though he had never declared it — considered him- 
 self defrauded, and hated the defrauder with all his 
 heart. The two ruling passions in Gleason's mind 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I43 
 
 at the time, were love for Sarah Dunlap, which was 
 hopeless, and a desire to get on in the world, which 
 was entirely possible. 
 
 One morning Simon Dunlap entered Mason's 
 office with a large package of papers, and was 
 ushered, as usual, into the back room. Sam Glea- 
 son was writing, as was his custom, near the door 
 of this "private office." He could not avoid hear- 
 ing the discussion, for the door was left ajar; and 
 while he did not intend to play the eavesdropper, he 
 heard enough to excite his curiosity. 
 
 "These notes and mortgages, with the cash on 
 deposit, and what I have here, foots up ;^ 3 3, 500," 
 said Farmer Dunlap. 
 
 "That is the amount they figure up," Mason 
 replied. 
 
 The old man sat a moment in deep thought. "I 
 want you to take charge of it all, now," he said, 
 finally. "There's a part of the claims that needs 
 immediate attention, and the money ought to be 
 invested at once, so that it will be earning some- 
 thing. I can't attend to it, for I ain't strong 
 enough ; and I'm going to make it all over to you. 
 It will come to you and Sarah, anyhow, in a few 
 months. I'll make the notes over to you, and you 
 give me a receipt for them, so that in case anything 
 happens to me, Sarah'll have something to show 
 that it is hers; for I shouldn't want it — begging 
 your pardon — to go to your heirs. Then you go 
 on and manage it and let me out of the worry." 
 
144 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 *'I will accept the trust willingly, Mr. Dunlap, and 
 will do the best I can with it. I earnestly hope, how- 
 ever, that your condition is not so bad as you fear, 
 and that we will manage it together for many years." 
 
 "There ain't no hope of my getting any better — I 
 shall never get strong again," said the old man, 
 wearily. '< Write me a receipt, and take the trouble 
 on your own shoulders." 
 
 Sam Gleason was all ears. There was a moment 
 of absolute silence, except the sound made by the 
 travelling of a pen over paper. 
 
 "There, Mr. Dunlap, is a receipt. I will do the 
 best I can with this property." 
 
 Mr. Dunlap rose, and Gleason, through the crack 
 of the door, saw him put a folded paper in his pocket. 
 A few minutes after he walked out, and getting into 
 the wagon, rode home. Mason came out and sat 
 down to his work with his face as pale as a sheet. 
 He had had the glimmering of an idea. 
 
 So had Mr. Gleason. What Mason's idea was, will 
 appear. Sam Gleason's found vent in a few words 
 which he spoke to himself — "The old man is break- 
 ing up, and he has put all his loose property into 
 Mason's hands to manage — for which Mason has 
 given him a receipt. It will pay to remember this, 
 or I don't know Gale Mason." And, taking out a 
 memorandum book, he made an entry very carefully. 
 
 Three weeks afterward there came to Mason's 
 office a tow-headed boy, riding a bare-backed horse 
 as though life and death depended upon its speed. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I45 
 
 The horse was covered with foam, and the rider 
 bespattered with mud, showing how rapid had been 
 the pace. 
 
 "Mason! Mason!" yelled the urchin at the top 
 of his voice, as he drew rein in front of the office. 
 
 "What is it.?" answered Caleb, coming to the door, 
 and recognizing the lad as one of Dunlap's farm 
 hands. 
 
 " Come as quick as you can to the farm ! The old 
 man's bin gone and struck with a fit, and the doctor 
 don't know as he'll ever live through it. Come as 
 quick as you can — I've got to go for another doc- 
 tor!" and the boy, urging the horse into a gallop, 
 rode away as if for life. Caleb did not delay a 
 moment, but mounting a horse, rode with scarcely 
 less speed toward the farm. 
 
 It was what had long been feared. The old man 
 had seen seventy years of hard toil and apoplexy had 
 marked him. He had been stricken down that morn- 
 ing, and it was doubtful, so Dr. Rawson said, if he 
 ever rallied again. 
 
 But he did rally, however. His tremendous con- 
 stitution got the better of the stroke, and in a day or 
 two he was on his feet again. But Dr. Rawson 
 warned him — and as he pronounced the words 
 Mason's eyes glistened in spite of himself — that he 
 probably would have another stroke in a few weeks, 
 and that it would doubtless be fatal. He urged him 
 to set his house in order, and to make preparations 
 full and final for his taking off. 
 
146 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Simon Dunlap believed all that Dr. Rawson had 
 told him concerning the likelihood of his immediate 
 death, probably because the vast majority of those 
 the doctor had attended had died in about three 
 weeks, and he proceeded to set his house in order. 
 The first step in this direction was the making of his 
 will, and this determination he announced to Mason, 
 at which the young man's face fell. But when Dun- 
 lap remarked that, as he would probably marry Sarah 
 as soon as would be decent after his funeral, he 
 intended to make him the sole executor of the estate ; 
 that all the personal property would be turned over to 
 him at once to handle as he thought best, and that 
 bonds should not be required, Mr. Mason's face 
 cleared again. If the old man should make such a 
 will it was equivalent to giving him the entire estate, 
 or at least enough of it for his purpose. The land 
 was the least part of his wealth, and that he would 
 have full use of. There was a very large amount of 
 money at interest for which he had already given his 
 receipt, and almost as much more in personal prop- 
 erty of other descriptions, the control of which alone 
 was enough to give him all that he could advanta- 
 geously use. 
 
 The will was made precisely in those terms. Caleb 
 Mason was made the sole trustee and custodian of the 
 entire estate, without bonds or accountability. At 
 the decease of the old man, all the notes, bonds, mort- 
 gages, ready money, stock — exerything, in short — 
 were to be turned over to Caleb Mason in trust for 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I47 
 
 his daughter, and he alone was to have the manage- 
 ment and custody of it for her. 
 
 The old man signed the will, and pushed it away 
 from him as though a load were off his mind. 
 
 "There, Caleb, I have done my duty by my girl 
 and you — the only two beings on earth that I love. 
 I have trusted you implicitly. I have not bound you 
 to anything, for I know you love her better than I do, 
 and that you are true and honest. You are my son, 
 just as much as though you had been born to me, and 
 I have trusted you the same." And the old man 
 sank back in his chair, while Caleb, seizing his hands, 
 poured out his thanks and protestations. 
 
 Ten days thereafter Caleb Mason was sent for 
 again, for the old man had been again stricken down 
 with another disease, which Dr. Rawson feared was 
 more than apoplexy. 
 
 He went at once, for it was his rule to neglect 
 nothing about the Dunlap family. It was night when 
 he got there. Dr. Rawson had been alarmed to the 
 degree that he called counsel. Dr. Blanchard had 
 been with him since four o'clock in the afternoon, and 
 long and anxious had been the consultations and exam- 
 inations. Sarah had been requested to go to her own 
 room, for the physicians did not care, in so grave a 
 matter, to have the sympathetic distresses of a daugh- 
 ter to affect the patient, whose very life was hanging 
 in the balance. 
 
 There were in the room these four — the sick man, 
 Dr. Rawsoi), Dr. Blanchard and Mason. 
 
148 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 It was a singular, an awful scene. Dr. Rawson, on 
 whose pale, spare face, anxiety sat enthroned, deter- 
 mined to wrest his old friend from the grasp of death, 
 if the skill acquired by forty years of constant combat 
 could do it. Behind him was the younger physician. 
 Dr. Blanchard, with more of confidence in his face — 
 confident as all young men are in freshly acquired 
 knowledge — knowledge so freshly acquired that expe- 
 rience has not yet demonstrated its valuelessness^ 
 equally anxious, though showing it less. At the foot 
 of the bed stood Mason, with an anxious expression on 
 his face — though from what it proceeded only he and 
 his God could tell — and on the bed lay the subject of 
 all this anxiety, gasping for breath, holding to life 
 with a feeble effort, and looking into the faces of 
 those about him, as a drowning man, spent with strug- 
 gles, might be supposed to look into the faces of 
 those whose hands were outstretched to save him. 
 
 Dr. Rawson was the first to speak. 
 
 "It is not so bad as I feared," he said. *'We can 
 save him yet, if care and caution supplement our 
 efforts. I know this now." 
 
 And the doctor took out his medicine case, and 
 watched Dr. Blanchard, to whom he handed it to pre- 
 pare the medicines, as the latter proceeded to pour 
 from one vial to another, till he had two filled. He 
 gave the patient a dose from one. 
 
 " Who stays with him to-night ? " Dr. Rawson 
 asked. 
 
 "I — who else ? " replied Mason. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1 49 
 
 "Very well. I couldn't ask a better or more care- 
 ful nurse. Now listen ; Dr. Blanchard has given him 
 a dose from this vial. It is now ten o'clock. At 
 twelve a gentle perspiration will show itself on his 
 face and body." 
 
 The sick man's face lighted up. He heard and 
 understood every word. 
 
 ''Then the moment that perspiration appears, give 
 him twenty drops out of the other, repeating every 
 twenty minutes till one o'clock. Then twenty drops 
 of the first, and wait an hour, and if the perspiration 
 appears, repeat with number two, as before. Do you 
 comprehend.'*" 
 
 Mason repeated the instructions. 
 
 "Right!" said the doctor. "Now be very careful 
 and prompt. If you are, we shall carry him through 
 once more, sure." 
 
 And pressing the old man's hand, which was 
 answered by a look, the two doctors left the room. 
 
 Great scoundrels are not made at once, nor are 
 great scoundrelly actions struck at one blow, as are 
 coins. Scoundrelism results from accretions. A 
 suggestion of what might be is lodged in the mind, 
 and around it gather particles of wickedness till the 
 "what might be" gradually takes shape, and grows 
 into "what shall be." Macbeth was several days cog- 
 itating the murder of Duncan. Mrs. Macbeth was 
 quicker in her devilishness, as women always are. 
 That is because they do not reason. They jump into 
 the center of wickedness, knowing it to be so ; while 
 
150 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 men, who are coming to the same thing, try to deceive 
 themselves into the belief that they are doing right. 
 
 Caleb Mason had an idea shot into his mind while 
 Dr. Rawson was giving him his instructions. The 
 old man had placed his property in his hands when he 
 expected to die. On the handling of that property 
 depended his future, for it gave him the sinews of 
 war — it was the weapon with which he was to fight 
 his fate. 
 
 Suppose, instead of dying, the old man should 
 recover ? He would resume possession of his money 
 and he would be hampered. By marrying Sarah he 
 would, of course, be helped by the old man, but was 
 it best for him to marry Sarah ? Helen Harvey ! 
 She would be more useful to him in other respects, 
 but she had no money. With Dunlap safely 
 entombed, he would have the money, and then — 
 
 Why not marry Helen Harvey, and out of the influ- 
 ence of her father and brothers, and Dunlap's money, 
 build the pyramid on which he hoped to seat himself.? 
 
 He went to the bedside and put his hand on the 
 old man's face. It was nearly twelve o'clock, and the 
 moisture was beginning to show. The old man looked 
 up with a grateful look. Fortunately for him Mason's 
 face was averted. 
 
 The clock struck twelve. The face showed that the 
 medicine had done its work. The old man looked 
 eagerly at the stand on which stood vial number two 
 and made an inarticulate sound. He knew that his 
 life depended upon having it. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I5I 
 
 Mason had formed his resolution; and, having 
 formed it, he faced it. He might have left the room. 
 But he was too brave a man to shrink from his own 
 acts. 
 
 Suppose he should recover in spite of what he 
 determined to do .'' Very well — to accomplish great 
 purposes one must take great chances. And he 
 turned and looked the horrified old man squarely in 
 the face, his cold gray eye growing colder, glittering 
 with a ferocity that threatened death from active 
 rather than passive interference. 
 
 The old man looked into those eyes, and in them 
 read his doom. With one convulsive effort — the 
 last concentration of departing strength — he raised 
 himself into a sitting posture, and stretched out his 
 hands imploringly toward Mason. 
 
 It was a terrible sight. His face pinched and 
 emaciated, with the seal of death set unmistakably 
 thereon, his long white hair floating down to his 
 shoulders, and an expression of horror and entreaty — 
 it would have moved a heart of stone. 
 
 But that look of entreaty met no response. Caleb 
 Mason stood there with, his nostrils distended, his 
 cold eye glistening, as handsome and as immovable as 
 the demon that filled him. 
 
 The old man gave one convulsive start ; he leaned 
 heavily toward the stand as though to get the medi- 
 cine himself, and fell back — dead. 
 
 Mason sprang forward and put his ear to his mouth 
 and satisfied himself that he was really dead, and then 
 
152 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 with a key he had he unlocked the secretary, and run- 
 ning carefully over some papers, selected one which 
 he put in his pocket, and, returning the others, 
 re-locked the desk. Then he gave such an alarm as 
 an honest man might have given, and when the fright- 
 ened household came into the room they found him 
 with the dead man in his arms, and tears as natural as 
 could be flowing down his cheeks. 
 
 Drs. Rawson and Blanchard were called, and they 
 came. They could do no good. 
 
 **You gave the medicine from No. 2}" asked 
 Rawson. 
 
 "Certainly, sir," was Mason's answer, between the 
 sobs that were wrung from him by his bereavement. 
 "Would to heaven that it had had the effect you 
 hoped ! " 
 
 " It is singular ! " said Dr. Rawson to himself. 
 
 "Not at all singular," said Dr. Blanchard, dropping 
 something into his pocket. " I shall have something 
 to say about this myself, some day." 
 
 And so Simon Dunlap was dead, Sarah Dunlap was 
 an orphan, and Caleb Mason was entrusted with the 
 settlement of his estate, lands and personal property, 
 by will, and money, notes and other effects already in 
 his possession. Caleb Mason was at the funeral, sup- 
 porting and soothing the afflicted daughter, and he 
 stayed at the desolate house late in the evening, con- 
 soling and comforting her. But as he left the house 
 that night a more light-hearted, joyous, jubilant man 
 never bestrode a horse. And long into the night 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 53 
 
 Sam Gleason saw him at his desk conning an inven- 
 tory, with a most gratified expression on his face, 
 which he did not forget. 
 
 It was nearly morning when Caleb locked up the 
 papers, and went to his lodgings with the remark — 
 
 "It is the thing to do, and I will do it." 
 
 The next day Caleb Mason took possession as exec- 
 utor of the entire estate of Simon Dunlap. That 
 night he sat down alone in his private office examin- 
 ing papers, Sam Gleason sitting in the front office — 
 that is, he was supposed to be sitting there. Mason 
 took from his inside pocket a narrow slip, of paper and 
 tore it into minute fragments, which he dropped into 
 the waste basket at his feet, takmg care to mix them 
 thoroughly. Gleason had his eye glued to a crevice in 
 the door, from which he took in everything that trans- 
 pired. When Mason locked up his safe, and came 
 out with his overcoat on, he found Gleason busy writ- 
 ing at his desk. 
 
 It was Gleason's business to sweep the office and 
 empty the waste-basket. Country lawyers do not 
 keep office boys, nor are there janitors for buildings 
 twenty feet front by thirty feet deep. After Mason 
 had bidden Gleason good evening, and gone his way, 
 Gleason concluded that to save time in the morning 
 he would sweep the office and empty the waste-basket 
 before going. And he did it. He swept the office 
 carefully, dusted the chairs and desks, and emptied 
 his waste-basket into the dust-bin, which was the 
 regular thing to do. But Mr. Mason's waste-basket ! 
 
154 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 That he did not empty in the dust-bin. He spread a 
 newspaper on the floor, and poured its contents on 
 that, folded it carefully, made a nice little parcel 
 of it, and carried it out, remarking to himself — 
 
 "I will know, Caleb Mason, what that paper was 
 that you tore into such small bits. If you hadn't been 
 a fool you would have burned it. Ashes can't be 
 pieced together." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 55 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE FURTHER PROGRESS OF CALEB MASON A TRI- 
 FLE OF SINUOSITY 
 
 POOR old Simon Dunlap, when he told Mason 
 that he should give him the entire control of 
 his estate, dropped a seed of evil into the fertile mind 
 of that ambitious youth, which germinated and grew 
 at an awful rate. Jonah's gourd was nothing to it. 
 We have seen its first fruits. Then the will of 
 Farmer Dunlap gave him control of all the money he 
 wanted — all that he could use or wish for, to carry 
 out any scheme he might devise. If he married 
 Sarah — he started involuntarily as the word if came 
 to him — if he married Sarah, the entire estate would 
 be practically his. If he did not, he still had the 
 estate long enough to make him rich, for he would 
 have the use of it unquestioned. If he could put 
 Sarah out of the question, he had all that the Dunlaps 
 could give him now. What then } 
 
 The Harveys ! Father, six sons, three sons-in-law, 
 all men of very great influence in the county, district 
 and state. And every man of them admired him; 
 every one of them knew his good qualities — that is, 
 
156 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 the qualities they esteemed good — and every man of 
 them would be glad to have him one of them. For, 
 be it known, the Harveys were ambitious men in their 
 way; they hungered and thirsted for control — they 
 wanted office because it gave them that control, as 
 well as because of the profits and emoluments, which 
 were necessary to them. As it was, they were a 
 power; but not so much of a power as they wanted 
 to be. And then they lacked in many essential 
 points. There was not a speech-maker in the lot — 
 not one of them had learning, and consequently they 
 lacked the power that intellectual superiority gives. 
 They ruled by the simple power of combination, and 
 by the lower tricks of the small politician. 
 
 All that they lacked Caleb Mason could give them, 
 while they could supply to him the qualities he 
 lacked. Together they would be invincible; work- 
 ing in opposition, they each had power enough to 
 ruin the other, without succeeding themselves ; and 
 this they had intimated to him times without num- 
 ber, since he had shown his power by defeating them. 
 He believed he could make Helen Harvey his wife, 
 despite her engagement to Dr. Blanchard, by simply 
 making the effort. He knew the young lady better 
 than she knew herself. He knew that she loved 
 Dr. Blanchard, and he knew, also, that behind this 
 love lurked a passion stronger than love — ambition — 
 and that it needed only to be nursed a little to show 
 its superiority, and to overwhelm the other and swal- 
 low it up completely. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I57 
 
 Besides all this, there were the ambitions of her 
 family to urge her to such an alliance. Blanchard 
 could do something to prop the falling fortunes of 
 the Harveys if he would, but men are never anxious 
 to put out their own capital for the sake of fathers 
 and brothers-in-law, and it was not to be expected 
 that he would prove an exception. But with Mason 
 as an ally, the family could maintain their political 
 supremacy, and by means of the emoluments of 
 office and the opportunities for speculation that it 
 gave them, retain the position that, without such 
 aid, they must certainly lose. 
 
 Then they would be of advantage to him. What 
 would not this bold stroke do for him ? He had the 
 money of the Dunlap estate, and this marriage would 
 give him the influence of the Harvey family. It 
 would bind them to him, and in addition they would 
 bask in the glories he would achieve. They could 
 help him to gain what he desired, and when he had 
 achieved it they would share in the benefits. But 
 Sarah Dunlap ! He loved her and she loved him ; and 
 Simon Dunlap had loved him and trusted him like a 
 son. Pshaw ! What is love ? What is the welfare 
 of one girl or of a dozen, compared with the necessity 
 of making a career ? He had a pang as he thought 
 of abandoning that loving girl for another, of leaving 
 that sweet rose for some other hand to pluck. But 
 there was very little sentiment in his composition. 
 He had his work to do, and he intended lo do it. 
 
 It was a daring thought — one that most men 
 
158 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 would not have harbored for a moment — but Caleb 
 Mason not only admitted it, but he entertained it, and 
 made much of it, till it became fixed and rooted. 
 
 There is a magnetism in evil as well as in good. 
 Precisely the same thoughts had penetrated the mind 
 of Helen Harvey, and once lodged there, they could 
 not be dislodged. She recognized in Mason a man 
 who could restore her family, and who, if he were not 
 attached to it, would be compelled, for his own sake, 
 to destroy it. She could see in him a man who could 
 give her all that she thought she desired in life ; and 
 the more her mind dwelt on him the less it clung to 
 Blanchard, who had heretofore filled it. 
 
 One evening, instead of mounting his horse and 
 riding to the Dunlap farm, as had been his wont, 
 Caleb Mason walked to the dwelling of the Harveys. 
 He did not intend to make any demonstration — he 
 had no fixed idea of commencing his new departure 
 that evening, but he had an idea that he would like 
 to determine whether or not he could make the point 
 should he desire to. The first half-hour of his stay 
 satisfied him that all he had to do was to ask and 
 receive. The cordial greeting of the elder Harvey, 
 the evident pleasure with which the daughter received 
 the visit, the cordiality which the entire family 
 lavished upon him, all indicated more clearly than 
 words could possibly have done, that in that house 
 he could absolutely dictate his own terms. 
 
 He found Helen brighter and more intelligent than 
 he had supposed her to be, and that she possessed the 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 59 
 
 one quality that precisely sorted with him. She was 
 as ambitious as Lucifer, and ambitious in the same 
 direction as himself ; and her training was such that 
 she was qualified to be a help to him in his ambitions, 
 for she had been reared in an atmosphere of politics 
 and political management. 
 
 Therein she differed widely from Sarah Dunlap; 
 for that gentle girl had no desire in life but to have a 
 husband who loved her, and one whom she could love. 
 She would be immensely proud of her husband if he 
 succeeded in making any impression on the world ; 
 she would rejoice at his successes and mourn at his 
 reverses, and all that, provided it did not take him 
 away from her. She had been foolish enough to 
 intimate to him that she would not like his aim to be 
 political preferment, for it would occupy so much of 
 his time, and take him so much from her side. Mr. 
 Mason winced at this, for he had no idea of a quiet 
 home; of a day's work in his office, and a fireside 
 at night with his wife and children. 
 
 She knew nothing of the methods by which politi- 
 cal successes were achieved, or losses avoided. She 
 was eminently a little home-body, whose idea of an 
 earthly heaven was a well-ordered, comfortable home, 
 a loving husband and a quiet existence — all of which 
 were diametrically opposed to Caleb Mason's plan of 
 life. 
 
 He walked home that evening in a curious frame of 
 mind. He loved Sarah Dunlap, and he had in his 
 hands the first great start in life — money which was 
 
l6o THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 hers. Honor, love and gratitude bound him indisso- 
 lubly to her. But on the other hand there were the 
 Harveys and the advantages of their alliance. As he 
 thought of them the wild waves of his ambition rose 
 and drowned out of his soul honor, love, gratitude and 
 every warm impulse in his nature. He determined 
 then and there to marry Helen Harvey. 
 
 With Caleb Mason, to determine and to do was 
 one thing. He was at the Harvey house the next 
 evening, and the next, and the next. This last even- 
 ing he met Dr. Blanchard there, who was somewhat 
 surprised at the encounter, but who was too true a 
 gentlemen to make any mention of, or reference to it. 
 But when the doctor met him there night after night, 
 and when he found that Helen was giving him all the 
 favors that he himself had ever received ; and when, 
 on one occasion. Mason was even preferred to him, he 
 thought it time for an explanation. He sent a note 
 to the house the next morning, asking if she would be 
 at home in the afternoon. Helen would have drawn 
 from the snare she was setting for herself, even at 
 that late moment. She was enraged with herself at 
 the mean part she was permitting herself to play, and 
 had determined upon going back to her first love and 
 honor. Her father had received the note and brought 
 it to her opened. 
 
 **Who opened this note.-*" Helen demanded. 
 
 "I did," was the father's reply. *'I read it, and 
 sent back to Dr. Blanchard the answer that you 
 would be at home all the afternoon." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE l6l 
 
 "Why, father! Why did you open the note, and 
 why did you answer it ? " 
 
 " I will tell you, Helen. I knew the note was from 
 Dr. Blanchard, and I read it to see what he wanted. 
 I sent him word that you would be at home all the 
 afternoon, for I desired you to see him." 
 
 Helen looked intently at her father to catch, if pos- 
 sible, from his countenance, the drift of his remarks, 
 and actually started at the change she noted in his 
 face. She had seen him through the window, not a 
 minute previous, walking through the shrubbery to 
 the house, a tall, strong, determined-looking man, 
 hearty and bluff in his salutations to passers-by, his 
 step as firm as that of a man of thirty — the very 
 embodiment of the born leader and controller of men. 
 Yet, as he took an easy chair where the full light 
 streamed upon him through the window, he was 
 stooped, haggard and worried, and looked twenty 
 years older in the face than he had five minutes 
 before. The sudden change alarmed her. 
 
 ''Father!" she exclaimed, "what has happened to 
 you ? " 
 
 " Oh ! Helen, it is a pleasure to get into your room, 
 away from the sight of every face but yours. The 
 load I am carrying is a terrible one, and it is a relief 
 to be able to drop the mask I have to wear in public. 
 It rests me." 
 
 "But what is the matter.?" she asked. 
 
 "That is just what I came to tell you, and that 
 explanation will show you why I opened Dr. Blanch- 
 
l62 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ard's letter. Helen, you know I am the treasurer of 
 the county, and maker and unmaker of men in poli- 
 tics ; but do you know that the ground on which I 
 stand is but a quicksand, which may yield beneath my 
 feet at any moment, and I go down forever?" 
 
 ''But, father, what is the matter?" again inquired 
 Helen. 
 
 "The trouble is this — your brother Jack was, 
 twelve years ago, in business, and he became bank- 
 rupt, not from necessity, but because he lived a fast 
 life, and gambled, and drank, and did everything that 
 ■ a business man should not do. On the night before 
 a large number of notes were due — notes which cov- 
 ered almost his entire indebtedness — he came to me 
 and made a clean breast of his condition. Helen, for 
 once in my life I acted the fool ; it did not seem to 
 me possible that I could retain my hold in politics 
 and my influence, if the real condition of affairs 
 should be known. Fool that I was, I took from the 
 county treasury ^30,000 of the people's money. I 
 was the treasurer, you know. With that Jack paid 
 his maturing paper and went on till he could go no 
 farther. I see now, that it would have been better 
 if I had let him become bankrupt at once. That 
 ;^30,ooo did him no good, and it has laid a burden on 
 my shoulders that I have never been able to lift." 
 
 "What father, was that money never replaced?" 
 
 "How could I replace it, Helen, when I had not 
 the means ? To cover the defalcation I had to be 
 re-elected, and when that term — it was my second — 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 63 
 
 expired, I had to have some one elected in whom I 
 could trust, and who would cover it up. I managed 
 the nomination and election of Billings, who thus 
 became possessed of my secret. He agreed to cover 
 it up, and he did ; but the infernal scoundrel stole 
 nearly as much more himself, during the two terms 
 that he held office. Then after Billings' two terms 
 were out, 1 had your brother Jim nominated and 
 elected, and, as you know, he held the place two terms 
 and kept the secret, of course ; and, thank God, he 
 did not steal anything. His accounts are perfectly 
 straight, except that he carried not only my defalca- 
 tion, but that of Billings. Then I took another turn 
 at it myself, and my first term is now closing. False 
 entries were kept, and borrowing of money for the 
 days when the county commissioners examine the 
 treasury, and the matter has been kept concealed 
 until now. Of course, every auditor and most of the 
 county commissioners understood that there was 
 something; the matter — that something was being 
 concealed. They have presumed upon that, and I 
 have paid them money — hush money, in fact — until 
 a ring has grown up, all more or less guilty, 
 all linked together, so that no one dare expose his 
 fellows." 
 
 "Father! father! how is all this to end ? " exclaimed 
 Helen, in a distressed tone. 
 
 ''God knows, Helen ! We who are in this ring are 
 staving off the evil day by keeping the county 
 officers in our ranks. We change about from one to 
 
164 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 the other, but always take good care that some one 
 in our full confidence — one of us, in fact — is in 
 every office that has anything to do with the county 
 funds." 
 
 "Well! how long can this go on?" Helen's face 
 had gradually grown as pale as that of a marble 
 statue. 
 
 " Helen, we could go on for years ; but a new ele- 
 ment has come into the field, and one which must be 
 brought over to our support, or ruin, irretrievable 
 ruin, comes with the next election, for my time 
 expires then.' 
 
 "What is that element?" 
 
 "It is a man — one single man." 
 
 "And he is — ?" 
 
 " Caleb Mason. He has an inkling of the condition 
 of things. He has that infernal intuition by which he 
 can tell that there is something wrong. There are 
 a few men in this world who seem to have a sixth 
 sense ; they succeed because they intuitively place 
 their fingers on the weak spots in their opponents, 
 and no one can stand against them. Caleb Mason is 
 one of those men. He is as ambitious as Lucifer. 
 He wishes to climb to place and power, and he knows 
 to a dead moral certainty that if he once breaks our 
 ranks and gets himself, or some man devoted to him, in 
 a position where he can command a knowledge of the 
 financial affairs of the county, that he will unearth 
 something that can overwhelm us. He is sharp, and 
 knows there is no better chance of endearing him- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 65 
 
 self to the people of the county, upon whose shoulders 
 he means to mount, than to expose men whom he 
 shrewdly suspects of plundering the public. It would 
 delight him to be able to unearth such a matter as 
 this, for it would be the making of his political 
 fortunes." 
 
 "Well?" Helen put that one word of interroga- 
 tion with apparent calmness, but her pale face showed 
 that there was terrible emotion at her heart. 
 
 Her father sprang to his feet, and grasping her by 
 the shoulders, with a look of anxiety on his face 
 which was almost fierce in its intensity, went 
 on — 
 
 " Helen ! there is but one way that can save us. 
 Caleb Mason must belong to us ! He must be made 
 one of us ! He must be so placed that it will be to his 
 interest to shield us and not betray us. He has 
 gained such prestige with this one struggle with us 
 that he can become all-powerful in the next election. 
 He carried the town against us in the last election ; 
 he might carry the county against us at the next. He 
 must be made one of us ! " 
 
 '' How can this be done ? " 
 
 ''How.!* Easily enough! Helen, he loves you! 
 Or, if he does not, he loves himself, and with him that 
 is equivalent. He does not know, fortunately, how 
 far we are involved, and also very fortunately, he does 
 not realize the extent of the power that is in his own 
 hands. He fancies that we are still as powerful as 
 we were before — that it would be a great thing to 
 
1 66 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 become allied to our family and have the influence we 
 possess to advance him. He does not know that we 
 need his influence as much as he needs ours. Then 
 he has plenty of money at his command. Old Simon 
 Dunlap made him as good as his heir — for he is 
 left sole executor, without bond, and if he don't man- 
 age to have the bulk of the' old farmer's money stick 
 to his fingers, I am mistaken in my judgment of 
 him. He has enough money at least at his com- 
 mand to extricate me from my trouble with the 
 county; and if we don't capture him now, he will cap- 
 ture the convention this fall, get one of his own men 
 in the treasurer's office, and there will be such an 
 explosion as was never seen in this corner of the 
 state ; and that explosion will mean utter ruin for us 
 all. Helen, you can save us all; you. can save your 
 father. Will you do it.?" 
 
 Helen spoke slowly. "You mean — by my marry- 
 ing Mason ^ " 
 
 ** Yes, my daughter, it is our only salvation. I 
 know that Blanchard cannot raise that amount of 
 money, if he would ; and even if you were his wife, I 
 don't believe he would. He doesn't like Jack, nor for 
 that matter any of the family but you. He wouldn't 
 raise a finger to help any of us. As for influence in 
 getting me the nomination again, he is of no use. 
 He doesn't care a straw for political matters, and, if 
 he did, he has no knowledge of how to do it. And 
 besides, he has expressed himself so forcibly against 
 the *ring,' as he terms us, that he could not be 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 16/ 
 
 induced to help us in the least. His cursed consis- 
 tency is against it." 
 
 "Father, I will hear no more of this! I will not 
 sell myself to save the family places, nor for Jack's 
 sake. I will not ! " 
 
 The father had one more arrow in his quiver. 
 
 **Very well, my child, follow your own inclina- 
 tions. But what will Dr. Blanchard, who is a very 
 proud man, say, when I ask him to save Jack and 
 myself, both criminals, because he. is my son-in-law ? 
 Your other admirer is sufficiently a man of the world 
 not to mind so small a matter. But follow your own 
 inclinations." And he left her. 
 
 Helen was in a predicament, which she did not 
 dare to think of. On the one hand, her faith in 
 Blanchard, and the love she actually bor-e him ; on 
 the other, the ruin of her father's family, and the 
 opportunities that were held out to her for the grati- 
 fication of her ambition. The last consideration 
 would not have been sufficient to have swayed her, 
 but, added to the former, it turned the scale. When 
 Dr. Blanchard came, she was prepared to meet him. 
 
 The doctor was evidently embarrassed, for he had 
 come to make a complaint of something that he was 
 not certain existed. He beat about in all possible 
 directions for an opening, Helen remaining provok- 
 ingly silent. Finally he came to the point. 
 
 "I came, Helen, on an errand I do not like, but 
 which in justice to myself I cannot let pass without 
 comment." 
 
I 68 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "What is it, pray?" 
 
 ** Is it a pleasant thing for me, your accepted lover, 
 your betrothed husband, to see so constantly here 
 another man — a young man whose coming can only 
 be construed in one way, and who would not come so 
 constantly and regularly without encouragement from 
 some one. I ask you, Helen, is it proper for you to 
 give that encouragement — to give him a preference 
 over even me, and to show him such marked attention 
 as to excite comment from all who know the relation- 
 ship we bear to each other? Is it " — 
 
 "I have heard enough, doctor," replied Helen, 
 coldly. " I shall regulate my conduct by my own ideas 
 of what is right and proper." 
 
 "Helen! Helen!" cried the doctor, looking in 
 agony into the cold face of the girl before him, and 
 more alarmed at her strange and distant manner. 
 "For God's sake do not speak to me in that tone, nor 
 look at me in that manner ! If I have done anything 
 to offend you, tell me what it is ! If this is mere 
 coquetry, I implore you not to wound me with it. 
 And — and if, as I fear, there are other reasons that 
 compel you to receive Mason, let me know of them. 
 Helen, in the name of all that's good, let me know 
 where I am, and what you mean ! " 
 
 "I am not accustomed to being cross-questioned 
 and catechised. I will not be. If my manners and 
 methods do not please you, you have an easy and 
 short way to avoid them. I have said all that I shall 
 say on the subject." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I69 
 
 "You have nothing more to say to me than this? 
 Helen ! " demanded the doctor, indignant at this cool 
 and deliberate method of treating him, he being the 
 aggrieved party. 
 
 "I have said so." 
 
 "Then I bid you good afternoon," said the doctor; 
 and he took his hat and went away, without casting a 
 look backward. 
 
 Helen saw him disappear down the long lane of 
 trees, and threw herself on the sofa and sobbed as 
 though her heart were breaking. Dr. Blanchard 
 waited all the afternoon expecting a note of contrition, 
 begging him to come to her. But none came. Just 
 before sunset he saw Helen and Mason enjoying the 
 delights of a horseback ride, a pleasure he had often 
 importuned her for, but which she never would give 
 him. 
 
 Then he knew that her flirting with Mason, and her 
 cavalier treatment of himself, had a purpose in it. 
 'Gustus,*the black man of all work at the hotel where 
 he boarded, remarked to Chloe, the cook — "Dat Mas' 
 Blanchard was as brack as a thunder-cloud. Why 
 can't people tu'n away dah wrath, for dey know not 
 de day nor de hour wen de Lor' comeff.'*" 
 
 That very night Caleb Mason proposed to Helen 
 Harvey and was accepted, much to the relief of old 
 Mr. Harvey and all the Harvey family ; for they drew 
 full breaths for the first time for months. 
 
 So important an event could not long be kept a 
 secret. It was noised about the neighborhood, and 
 
I/O THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 was common property the next day before noon. 
 There was wonder enough among the people, for the 
 marriage of Caleb Mason and Sarah Dunlap had been 
 so long counted as an acknowledged thing that any 
 change from the programme was considered as impos- 
 sible as the running up stream of the river, or as the 
 sudden removal of Rattlesnake Hill. 
 
 And so long had Dr. Blanchard and Helen Harvey 
 been betrothed that their not marrying was an event 
 just as singular and just as unlooked-for. In short, 
 the event, in view of the peculiar position of all the 
 parties, was the one least expected of any that was in 
 the range of possibilities, and made a great deal 
 more than the usual nine days' talk. Dr. Blanchard 
 had nothing to say on the subject, and no one men- 
 tioned it to him twice. He did not laugh as loud nor 
 as long as before, and he attended more closely to his 
 books and his patients than ever. He became very 
 much of a recluse. 
 
 The next afternoon Sarah Dunlap, closely veiled, 
 entered Mason's office. He knew the figure, and 
 turned pale ; but he was not the man to blench when 
 he had settled on his line of action, and though he 
 turned pale, his soul was ready for the fray. He 
 rather rejoiced at an opportunity for an encounter, in 
 order to harden himself. 
 
 Sarah Dunlap, as she entered the office, did not 
 take a seat, nor put aside her veil. She grasped the 
 back of a chair in one hand, and with the other raised 
 the veil, displaying a face as pale as marble, with lips 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I/I 
 
 drawn tightly over her teeth, and an expression 
 thereon that was a compound of agony and scorn. 
 
 Mr. Mason's salutation was not quite easy, though 
 he intended it to be. 
 
 "Will you be seated, Sarah ?" he said. 
 
 "Not till I have asked you a question.'* 
 
 "Pray, what is it.?' replied Mason, turning uneasily 
 in his chair, and fumbling some papers on his table, 
 with a pretence of re-arranging them. 
 
 "A simple question and one answered in a word. I 
 was told this morning that you had engaged yourself to 
 Helen Harvey. Is it true } " 
 
 Mason summoned to his aid all the strength he 
 possessed, and looking her squarely in the face, 
 replied, steadily — 
 
 "It is." 
 
 "And this to me, after what has passed between 
 us — this, after years of intimacy — after the" — 
 
 "After the what.?" asked Mason. "I am at a loss 
 to understand you. I never promised to marry you 
 — no word concerning marriage ever passed between 
 us. I liked you — I like you yet; but as for mar- 
 riage, I never dreamed that you contemplated it — 
 never ! " 
 
 "That is a lie!" she returned with forced calmness. 
 "A mean, miserable lie! You know that for nine 
 years you never thought of anything else — that I 
 never thought of anything else, and that my poor 
 father died with no other thought in his mind than 
 that I was to be your wife. It was that certainty — 
 
1/2 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 for all these years had made it a certainty — that 
 gave you the control of his estate, and put every 
 dollar that he had amassed into your hands. I heard 
 of your new determination this morning, but did not 
 believe it, and would not believe it till I heard it from 
 your own lips. I believe it now. I will not say that 
 I hope you will be happy, for such treachery and 
 double-dealing never thrives in the long run. 1 do 
 not know what end you hope to serve by this move- 
 ment ; but remember this — whatever it may be, it 
 will lose for you in the end." 
 
 And drawing down her veil, she left the office and 
 went to her desolate home to weep convulsively an 
 hour, and then to rise calmly resigned, and go about 
 her usual avocations. 
 
 Caleb Mason drew a long breath of relief as she 
 left the office, and said to himself — ''Thank heaven, 
 that is over ! " 
 
 Then, as he remembered how much he had loved her, 
 and the consciousness came to him that he had acted 
 meanly, he sighed "poor girll" and went straight- 
 way to Helen Harvey. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1/3 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE WEDDING AND THE COUNTERPLOT 
 
 CALEB MASON went on his way to call upon 
 Helen Harvey with a mind very ill at ease. 
 His interview with Sarah Dunlap troubled him more 
 than he wished. It even seemed to him. that he 
 must have a conscience, for there was something 
 within him that kept up a constant gnawing pain at 
 his heart. Then, Mr. Mason felt very small in his 
 own estimation. In point of fact, when he thought 
 of Sarah Dunlap's last glance at his face, he felt as 
 he used to do when he was a dirty, ragged, friendless 
 boy, just starting to school, and the other pupils 
 passed him by and excluded him from their games 
 as one unworthy. It was by no means a pleasant 
 feeling. Caleb did not like it at all. 
 
 "There is nothing for it," he soliloquized, "but 
 to get married at once. There is no reason for any 
 further delay. I shall speak to Mr. Harvey about 
 it this evening." 
 
 Nor were the feelings of Helen Harvey since she 
 had accepted Mason, of that enviable sort which usually 
 fills the breasts t of young ladies just engaged to be 
 
1/4 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 married. Mason was handsome — there was no gain- 
 saying that. Helen felt rather proud of him. Since 
 she had determined on her course, and burned her 
 ships behind her by breaking with Blanchard and 
 accepting Mason, the devil of worldly ambition which 
 dominated her had again risen supreme. Her father 
 and brothers were shrewd men in their way, and 
 they harped upon this one string. They discussed 
 with her what should be done to advance Mason. 
 Her father seriously debated with her the propriety 
 of managing to send him to the state legislature 
 when the present incumbent's term had expired, as 
 the preparatory skirmish to getting him into the 
 line of promotion for Representative in Congress 
 from that district. So it came to pass that Helen, 
 as a refuge from thought of her unworthy treatment 
 of Dr. Blanchard, indulged in day dreams. She 
 allowed her mind to dwell upon visions of what 
 would happen when Caleb Mason, as her husband, 
 should be seated in Congress. She thought of the 
 delightful receptions, of fashionable levees, of the 
 whirl of society in the brilliant cirgles of Washington. 
 Then her mind went on to still higher flights. 
 Why should not he, with his talents, when he 
 became known, aspire to the Senate.-* She thought 
 of herself as the wife of a member of that distin- 
 guished body, of the place which would be hers, 
 and which she would grace in the society of the 
 capital. Helen knew well what a power a capable 
 wife may be in aid of her husband in political life. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1/5 
 
 She had an inherited liking for political intriguing, 
 and her ambition was dazzled at the idea of being 
 one of the leaders of official society life in Washing- 
 ton. What a helpmate she could be to Mason, 
 whose ambition would run in the same groove with 
 her talent and education ! And then her imagin- 
 ation plumed itself for a still higher flight. Why 
 not the White House itself.-* Such a thing might 
 occur. Nay, she determined to make it more than 
 possible. And when she had worked herself into 
 this delightful frame of mind, by letting her imagin- 
 ation, guided by her ambition, run riot, she contrasted 
 all this brilliancy which she anticipated would be hers 
 in the future, this career for which she felt herself 
 supremely fitted, with the dull, daily routine of the 
 life she would have had to lead as the wife of a coun- 
 try physician. 
 
 It happened that she had been thinking over all 
 these things on this particular evening, and when 
 Caleb Mason entered the room she greeted him 
 warmly and effusively. Ambition gave to her man- 
 ner much the same charm that real love would have 
 done. And in her bright, witty conversation, the 
 charm of her beautiful and animated presence, and 
 her warm, frank manner, which was more like that 
 of a sweetheart toward her accepted lover than it 
 had ever been before, Caleb Mason's self-esteem 
 revived, the inward monitor that had been probing so 
 severely became quiet, and he felt confirmed in his 
 resolution to fix an early day for his nuptials. He 
 
iy6 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 longed to possess this peerless woman for his own, 
 and to enter on the higher career that would open 
 before him with their union. 
 
 He did not have to plead long. They speedily 
 came to an agreement, and an early day was fixed for 
 the ceremony. That promptness of action which was 
 characteristic of Mason in the other affairs of life did 
 not desert him in this. He sought a private inter- 
 view with Helen's father, and was gratified to find 
 that Mr. Harvey was perfectly willing to ratify the 
 agreement as to the date of the wedding which had 
 been made by himself and Helen. 
 
 When the announcement was duly made by the 
 Harvey family to their friends, that on such a date 
 Helen would marry Caleb Mason, the gossip that had 
 been going the rounds for the past day or two con- 
 cerning the latter, and his jilting of Sarah Dunlap to 
 marry Helen Harvey, who in turn, had thrown over 
 Dr. Blanchard, gathered depth and strength. The 
 gossips of Pulaski had not for years had such a mor- 
 sel of scandal to roll under their tongues as this. 
 
 The first impulse, as it always is in such cases, was 
 to denounce the entire affair and all the participants 
 therein. That numerous class of people who make 
 the affairs of other people their concern, declared that 
 it was a breach of faith all around. It was such an 
 unprecedented affair that it could hardly be discussed 
 in all its bearings. It was something too monstrous 
 to be thought of, and everybody concerned was 
 deserving of the severest condemnation. In point of 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE fj^ 
 
 fact, the household arrangements of a number of 
 Pulaski families suffered considerable detriment in 
 order that the good wives might spend day and night 
 in discussing the all-engrossing topic. 
 
 Nor were the men one whit behind their wives. In 
 the saloons, in the stores and shops, in the lawyers' 
 offices, in every place that men congregate, the one 
 subject of discussion was the approaching marriage. 
 The tone of the discussion here was somewhat differ- 
 ent from that which took place in the kitchens and 
 over the back fences among the good wives of 
 Pulaski. The latter lamented over the severe blow 
 they imagined Sarah Dunlap had sustained, and were 
 sharp in their condemnation of Helen Harvey, whom 
 they blamed as being the author of the entire trouble. 
 The men, on the contrary, considered that it was 
 all Mason's fault. They generally came to the con- 
 clusion that it was such a mixed-up affair that they 
 could not understand it all, but they sagely deter- 
 mined that Caleb Mason had got hold of a "soft 
 thing" by engaging himself to marry Helen Harvey 
 and thus capturing the Harvey influence. 
 
 **No wonder he jilted poor Sarah Dunlap! He's 
 sharp enough to know which side his bread is but- 
 tered on ! " was the sage conclusion of Major Stark- 
 weather, who was holding forth to a crowd of idlers at 
 Bascom's. And his listeners not only agreed with 
 him, but all took the drinks at his expense. 
 
 Though public opinion was at first all very strong 
 against Caleb Mason and the Harvey family, a reac- 
 
1/8 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 tion soon set in. Miss Phipps, the milliner and 
 modiste of the town (she was once a dressmaker, but 
 as the town increased in population she blossomed out 
 as a modiste), thought it a burning shame when she 
 learned that Helen's trousseau was being purchased 
 in Cleveland, and did not hesitate to say so, at all 
 times and on all occasions, to the circle of which she 
 was the recognized leader; but when Mrs. Harvey 
 came into her shop and contracted a very respectable 
 bill for articles for Helen, Miss Phipps changed her 
 mind, and came to the sage conclusion that the match 
 between Mason and Helen was really the most fitting 
 and proper thing. 
 
 " For you know," she explained to ladies who 
 dropped in co examine the fashions and to discuss 
 their neighbors, '*Mr. Mason is a rising young man, 
 and Helen is exactly the sort of wife such a man 
 should have. She can be a great help to him in his 
 career." 
 
 And it may be, too, that Miss Phipps had the fore- 
 sight to consider that even though a portion of the 
 wedding outfit might be purchased in Cleveland, Mrs. 
 Caleb Mason would still reside in Pulaski, and would 
 undoubtedly prove a very valuable customer. 
 
 Major Starkweather, too, who had been heartily den- 
 ouncing Caleb Mason, and who had not been sparing 
 in condemnation of the entire affair in all its bearings, 
 came to remember that the Harvey family controlled 
 the politics of the county, and that Mason had 
 already demonstrated his powers of political manage- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 79 
 
 ment, and it might be well, all things considered — 
 for the Major was not without political aspirations — 
 for himself to be on friendly terms with the man 
 whose influence would be largely increased by the 
 proposed alliance. He was, in fact, one of the first 
 to congratulate Caleb upon his approaching marriage, 
 which congratulations he also extended in due form 
 to Mr. Harvey, the first time they met. In point 
 of fact, he intended to do the same to Helen, but, 
 meeting her upon the street with this intention, he 
 found himself checked by the fact that she refused to 
 recognize him, and walked calmly onward without 
 apparently seeing him. The major was somewhat 
 disconcerted, but did not change his attitude toward 
 the marriage, which he continued to extol as an emi- 
 nently wise and proper thing. 
 
 The rest of the people of Pulaski, both male and 
 female, soon followed the example set by Miss Phipps 
 and Maj. Starkweather. The Harvey family were too 
 powerful to be offended with impunity, and Mason 
 had become a man to be feared, or at least respected. 
 So the storm of gossip blew over, the" social sky 
 cleared, and all Pulaski settled down to the opinion 
 that the marriage was the most desirable thing for 
 each of the two high contracting parties, and that 
 there was no use in making any more bother about it. 
 
 There had been one exception to the universal rule 
 that it was the bounden duty of everybody in Pulaski 
 to discuss this match ; that exception was Sam 
 Gleason. He said never a word to anybody about 
 
l80 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 the matter. If he had any opinion, nobody found out 
 what it was, for he would not talk upon the subject. 
 He simply dug and delved at the office evenings, 
 occasionally relaxed his labors sufficiently to take long 
 walks over unfrequented roads, and apparently 
 indulged in a vast deal of thinking. 
 
 The wedding was one of the finest affairs that had 
 ever occurred in Pulaski. It was the first ceremony 
 that had ever been celebrated at high noon in that 
 town. The custom was, in those primitive days, when 
 nobody dreamed of taking a wedding tour, to have the 
 ceremony occur in the evening. Mr. Harvey, however, 
 decided that it was wise, all things considered, to 
 mark the occasion in every way possible. Dr. Risser, 
 the Episcopal clergyman, performed the ceremony, 
 Helen being an attendant at his church. A recep- 
 tion followed, and then the young couple started on 
 their wedding tour. During the time that they were 
 absent, Mr. Harvey fitted up and furnished a house 
 for their occupancy, about a square from his own. 
 
 On their return at the end of three weeks, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Mason at once went to housekeeping. Their 
 establishment was in every way a befitting one. 
 The house was neither one which would show extrava- 
 gance on the part of its occupants, not did it go to 
 the other extreme of indicating extreme economy. 
 It was simply but well furnished, and befitting the 
 young couple. 
 
 The sun does not give out all its rays at once when 
 it rises in the morning, but it doles out its heat 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE l8l 
 
 sparingly at first. As it mounts the sky it increases 
 in strength and power until the meridian is reached. 
 Mr. Mason did not show that he was possessed of a 
 very great amount of wealth in the modest beginning 
 of his married life ; but he did gradually — very gradu- 
 ally — show increase in this respect as he went 
 on. 
 
 Very soon after his marriage he commenced lending 
 money in a very small way, which was increased so 
 slowly and cautiously that the people did not espe- 
 cially notice that he was handling any very large 
 amount of capital. 
 
 Sam Gleason all the time kept his eye fixed intently 
 upon his movements, and there was never a hundred 
 dollar loan made, or a mortgage taken, that he did not 
 make a minute of it. He had always taken a lively 
 interest in the Dunlap family, and now that Mason 
 had married, and had not married Sarah Dunlap, his 
 interest redoubled. He went to Sarah Dunlap one 
 day and said to her — 
 
 " Sarah, do you know anything about your father's 
 affairs.?" 
 
 " Something. Father used to make me his right 
 hand and his eyes for years before he died. I did 
 the most of his writing. I never charged my mem- 
 ory with such things, but I have a general idea as to 
 what he was doing." 
 
 "Do you know of any money or valuable papers in 
 your father's possession before he died ? " 
 
 '* Certainly, he had money, and many papers, which 
 
I 82 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 he always told me to be careful of, for they were 
 valuable." 
 
 "What disposition did he make of them?" 
 
 "I suppose Mason has them." 
 
 " Where did he keep his business papers ? " 
 
 "In the secretary, in the room in which he died." 
 
 " May I examine that secretary ? " 
 
 "Certainly — why not.?" 
 
 Very careful was Gleason in his examination of 
 that secretary. Every scrap of paper underwent the 
 strictest scrutiny. Then followed a long and earnest 
 conversation. 
 
 A few days thereafter Sarah wrote a note to 
 Mason, asking a statement of the condition of the 
 affairs of her father, which were all in his hands. 
 
 The answer came with business-like promptness. 
 There was a schedule of notes left for collection, but 
 there was no mention made of money. This state- 
 ment was shown to Gleason, who uttered a significant 
 "h'm!" and requested Sarah to say nothing of the 
 matter for a week or two. The next week was court 
 week, and Gleason was examined and admitted to the 
 bar; and, to Mason's surprise, severed at once his 
 relations with his preceptor, and opened an office 
 alone. 
 
 "I have got one good case to begin with," said 
 Gleason. 
 
 "Ah, indeed!" was Mason's reply. "You are for- 
 tunate. It is more than I had." 
 
 Nothing more was said. Mason made no objection 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 83 
 
 whatever to the young man's commencing life on his 
 own account, nor did he make a proposition to retain 
 him by offering him a connection with himself. He 
 had the correct idea, that when a subordinate desired 
 to leave him, it was bad policy to attempt to retain 
 him by any offer whatever. So Gleason left the desk 
 at which he had sat so long, and commenced for 
 himself. 
 
 Mr. Mason heard one thing that he did not alto- 
 gether like, and that was, that Gleason was very often 
 at the Dunlap house ; and he also heard, in various 
 ways, that he had been making very close inquiries as 
 to the investments he had been making. Going into 
 Gleason's office one day when the proprietor was 
 out, he opened a blank book on his desk, and he 
 happened to open on a page headed with his 
 own name, and there he saw a record of all the 
 money he had loaned, in the clerkly hand he knew so 
 well, with the dates, amounts, and to whom. 
 
 Mason slipped out so that no one knew that he had 
 been there. What did this mean .? Was Gleason 
 possessed of any facts ? Had he heard anything ? 
 Had he seen anything.!^ Your rogue is always in 
 dread. What precaution had he overlooked .-* What 
 had he left undone.? Gleason and Sarah Dunlap to- 
 gether, and Gleason his former clerk.!* And what 
 troubled him most was that he saw in this record this 
 one entry — 
 
 "Oct. 10 — John Harvey, ^10,000. No security 
 but Harvey's note." 
 
184 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 How had Gleason ascertained that he had advanced 
 the money to John Harvey that had enabled him to 
 make the settlement with the state treasurer, and 
 save him from the stigma of defaulting ? 
 
 All this puzzled Mr. Mason ; and not only puzzled, 
 but troubled him. He awoke to the conciousness 
 that he was not the only acute, shrewd man in the 
 town, but that there was on his track a man quite as 
 shrewd, if not quite as broad as himself. 
 
 He need not have puzzled himself very long as to 
 how Mr. Gleason got his information about the Har- 
 vey matter. He knew of the defalcation, for he and 
 Jack Harvey, the scapegrace of the family, had been 
 great friends and boon companions ; and one night 
 when Jack was very drunk and very maudlin, he had 
 told Gleason the whole story, forgetting that he had 
 told it, after the manner of drunken men. That is, 
 it was partly told, and partly pumped out of him 
 by the adroit Gleason, who considered any secret of a 
 criminal nature good property for a young lawyer. 
 
 Having got the secret, he found it too large for 
 immediate use ; and as it affected such powerful peo- 
 ple, he was very careful not to part with it. He laid 
 it away carefully as a cheese that he should put his 
 knife into at some future time. He was profoundly 
 glad that Jack had no recollection of telling it, for he 
 was in as dangerous a position as was the courtier 
 who accidentally heard a state conference of Riche- 
 lieu's, and was put into the Bastile that the secret 
 should be kept safely. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I 85 
 
 But when Mason married Helen Harvey, and, a 
 few weeks after, the elder Harvey and Mason had a 
 conference in the back office, the convenient crack 
 enabled him to see a transfer of money that Mason 
 had gone out to draw from the bank, and his check- 
 book, which he sometimes left on his desk for a 
 moment, betrayed the amount ; and the fact that the 
 transaction took place the day before Harvey left for 
 the capital to settle with the treasurer of state showed 
 the object. A much less adroit man than Gleason 
 might have put these circumstances together, but 
 Mason could not understand it. 
 
 And then one morning he was astonished by Glea- 
 son showing him a power of attorney from Sarah 
 Dunlap, authorizing him to act for her in all matters 
 pertaining to her father's estate, to sign her name, 
 to receive and pay out moneys, to collect and adjust 
 claims, and in short, to act in her stead. 
 
 And what still more puzzled Mason was the cool- 
 ness and deliberation with which his late clerk and 
 student requested him to give him an account of what 
 he had done as trustee under the will of the late Mr. 
 Dunlap, a call which Mr. Mason could neither ignore 
 nor neglect. He did it very reluctantly, but he did 
 it. It was a formidable piece of work, and Mason 
 informed Gleason that it would take time to prepare 
 it. 
 
 "How long do you desire, Mr. Mason.? My chent 
 is anxious to get her affairs in shape as soon as 
 possible." 
 
1 86 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 '•In a week I can have it made out. There was a 
 large amount of personal property belonging to the 
 estate which was sold at auction, which if itemized, as 
 I presume you want it, will require considerable cleri- 
 cal labor. I can give you the gross in a few 
 minutes." 
 
 "No, that will hardly answer Miss Dunlap's pur- 
 pose. She desires an itemized statement. I will call 
 for it a week from to-day." And bowing cerem- 
 oniously, Gleason departed. 
 
 Mason was in an uncomfortable position. He had 
 calculated upon nothing of this kind, and had 
 made arrangements for the use of the money in quite 
 another way from that which he saw would be 
 required of him. Having a weak woman, ignorant of 
 business, to deal with, he had not expected to be 
 required to itemize every cent and dollar, and show 
 where they had been placed ; at what rate of interest, 
 and how secured ; nor had he contemplated being 
 required to show exactly how much there was in 
 gross. In short, he had expected to have everything 
 his own way, and to account for it about as he pleased. 
 
 But here came to him an acute man of business, 
 with full power to act — a lynx-eyed man of affairs, 
 who never would overlook a penny, nor let go a 
 straw's value. Decidedly, Mr. Mason did not like it. 
 
 The week rolled away, as such weeks always do, 
 with terrible rapidity, and with an ominous prompt- 
 ness, Gleason was awaiting the schedule. There was 
 a full statement ready of the articles sold at auction, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1 8/ 
 
 of the articles sold at private sale, of the rental of the 
 lands, etc., and it was made nicely and fully, as were 
 all papers from Mr. Mason's office. 
 
 Gleason scanned it closely in search of something 
 that he knew was not there. But the more he felt 
 that it was not there, the more scrutinizing the search. 
 
 "Mr. Mason, I see nothing to show that the late 
 Mr. Dunlap had any money, or government bonds, or 
 other securities, at the time of his death." 
 
 The answer came very promptly and emphatically. 
 
 " He had none that I know of. None were found 
 among bis effects, and his account at the bank was 
 almost balanced." 
 
 "I didn't know," replied Gleason. "It was gener- 
 ally supposed that he had both, and I thought pos- 
 sibly you had incorporated the totals in other items 
 for convenience." 
 
 " You will observe, Mr. Gleason, that all the items 
 are set down as they were originally made, and that 
 the disposition of everything is distinctly stated. 
 Had there been money or securities among the effects 
 of the deceased, it would have so appeared." 
 
 Gleason muttered an assent, and walked away, tak- 
 ing the schedule. 
 
 Mason bowed his head upon his desk, and pondered 
 long. He was in trouble. 
 
 But there was no sign made by Gleason to show 
 that he was taking any steps to investigate whether 
 or not old Farmer Dunlap had left any ready money. 
 Days passed into weeks, and weeks into months, and 
 
I 88 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Caleb Mason gradually adopted the belief that Gleason 
 had abandoned it. Meanwhile, though Mason's affairs 
 were prospering favorably, Mr. Sam Gleason's were 
 not in so good a condition. He had, as was before 
 said, opened an office and put out a sign, on 
 which was the regular orthodox inscription — " Samuel 
 Gleason, Attorney-at-law and Solicitor in Chancery," 
 but he did not seem to get a very heavy clientage. 
 The farmers who knew him as Mason's student and 
 clerk, dropped in to see him and encouraged him, as 
 they said — which encouragement consisted in prom- 
 ising him their business and wishing him all sorts of 
 success. But, as they invariably took their business 
 to the older lawyers, their good wishes would neither 
 pay office rent nor even find the firewood that was 
 required to keep the office warm. S. Gleason, attor- 
 ney-at-law, was therefore not much the better for 
 them. 
 
 Still it was friendly, or looked so, at least ; and Sam- 
 uel grinned as each one said his say, and studied assid- 
 uously. He was preparing himself for something, and 
 working very hard for it. 
 
 What was he working for ? It was a very curious 
 thing. 
 
 Every night when the office was closed, Samuel 
 was in a habit of going into the little back office, and 
 closing all the doors and locking them, and pulling 
 down the blinds very carefully. Then he would pull 
 out a table, a large, flat table with a smooth top, 
 evidently constructed for some special purpose. There 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1 89 
 
 was a green baize surface on it, and on that green 
 baize cover were bits of paper, with pins stuck 
 through them to hold them in place. 
 
 Mr. Gleason's regular business every night was to 
 take a basket out of a sort of cupboard or commode 
 he had there, which was full of torn paper, and empty- 
 ing it upon another table, try to fit the torn pieces 
 together. 
 
 It was merely a waste-basket such as every lawyer 
 and business man uses, and it appeared as tnough Mr. 
 Gleason were trying to piece together some particular 
 document out of the thousand or more pieces that it 
 contained. 
 
 • It was very slow, very tedious and very trying work 
 in which Mr. Gleason was engaged. But it was 
 evident that he was precisely the man to do it, for he 
 never tired and never got weary. The pieces were of 
 all shapes and of all sizes, and he labored very hard to 
 put them together as they had been before they had 
 been torn and thrown into the basket — that is, he was 
 attempting to restore a thousand different pieces of 
 paper that had been torn into infinitesimal fragments. 
 
 At this apparently hopeless work he labored every 
 night and every Sunday; every hour, in fact, that 
 he could keep his office closed; for it was evident 
 that he did not desire the world to see what he was 
 doing. 
 
 Sometimes Sarah Dunlap would come in, on which 
 occasion Samuel would take her into a back room, and 
 closing all the doors and windows, except enough to 
 
190 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 give light, would remove the cover from the baize and 
 show her a few bits in one corner which had been 
 joined together enough to show some lines of writing 
 that she seemed interested in, as follows — 
 
 
 PULAS 
 
 
 85 
 
 Receive 
 
 Sim lap. 
 
 four 
 
 nd 
 
 money, d 
 
 twenty 
 
 ne 
 
 sand 
 
 rs in 
 
 7 ds. 
 
 
 
 
 Ca 
 
 
 SON. 
 
 " Never fear ! Sarah, never fear ! It may take a 
 year or more, but I shall find all the pieces that 
 belong to this little document, and when I get it all 
 together, I rather think I can get him to resign his 
 position as trustee, and account for everything that 
 has passed through his hands, as he ought. I think 
 so. The whole document is in that pile — I saw him 
 tear it and throw it there, and I'll find it, and get it 
 together, if it takes ten years." 
 
 And Sarah, with a face that showed how keen an 
 interest she felt in it, would beg him to spare no 
 labor to bring out the mystery, and would go her way. 
 
 One day Mr. Blanchard came in and had a 
 long conference with Gleason. It was a very long 
 conference, and many things were gone over in it. 
 The doctor explained to Gleason the situation of 
 Farmer Dunlap when he was called to consult with 
 Dr. Rawson, and the precise symptoms of the malady. 
 And more, he showed him the treatment that had been 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE IQI 
 
 determined upon, and the necessity for the strict 
 observance of directions. 
 
 '' Are you certain that your treatment was the cor- 
 rect one, and that it would have saved him?" queried 
 Gleason. 
 
 "There isn't anything certain; but the chances 
 were a thousand to one in favor of the old man's 
 recovery. He had five years of life in him if he had 
 been carried through that attack ; and the medicines, 
 if they had been given according to the directions, 
 would have taken him through as certainly as any- 
 thing can be, and " — 
 
 "And what.? " said Gleason, trembling with excite- 
 ment at the revelation he felt certain was coming. 
 
 "The medicines were not given according to 
 instructions — that is all. We gave him a draught 
 to produce perspiration in two hours, marked " Number 
 one." When the perspiration appeared, another medi- 
 cine, marked "Number two," was to be given, and the 
 two alternately all night. This was at ten o'clock — 
 perspiration should have appeared at twelve. At 
 half past twelve the old man died, and Dr. Rawson 
 and myself were sent for. Gleason, the drops 
 "Number two" were not given at all." 
 
 "Do you know this.'*" 
 
 " Know it ? I put up the medicines myself in the 
 vial, and I filled it so full that I had to pour out a 
 trifle to get the cork in, and the liquid came up to the 
 very bottom of the cork. There should have been a 
 tablespoonful taken out for the first dose, which would 
 
192 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 have lowered it below the shoulder of the vial! See! 
 The liquid is still at the bottom of the cork — not a 
 drop has been taken out. The cork has never been 
 drawn. Caleb Mason, who was alone with the old 
 man, and whose duty it was to give this medicine, 
 murdered him by not giving it. And he forgot to de- 
 stroy the evidence of his guilt by pouring out the 
 dose." 
 
 "His object.?" 
 
 "You a lawyer, and ask such a question.? If 
 Simon Dunlap had lived, Simon Dunlap would have 
 managed his own business, because he would have 
 been stronger than he had been for years, and Caleb 
 Mason would not have had the management of the 
 money which was essential to his success, without 
 marrying Sarah Dunlap." 
 
 "I know all this — I only asked the question to see 
 how my theory would strike a layman. It will strike 
 the public as it has you." 
 
 "Certainly. He would not have been able to com- 
 pass Sarah Dunlap's money and the Harvey influence, 
 both — confound him ! Object! It's as plain as the 
 letters in the alphabet. This scoundrel, this villain, 
 this faithless man, this murderer, knows only one 
 interest — his own; only one human being — self. 
 To serve himself, he left Sarah Dunlap, to whom he 
 was pledged — he stole Helen Harvey from me, and 
 he murdered Simon Dunlap " — 
 
 "Now I have my little say," said Gleason, rising; 
 "you don't know it all. This is not the only crime 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I93 
 
 he has committed. He has done another thing of 
 which you know nothing, which I can and will fasten 
 upon him if it takes me a year. He stole a paper 
 from Simon Dunlap's desk, and destroyed it in order 
 to hold ;^3 5,000 of his money. It is a difficult thing 
 to fasten the murder upon him, but this I can and will 
 place to his account, so that the world will be con- 
 vinced. It will be singular if, with all this, we cannot 
 drag this man down. But, Blanchard, the ruin of 
 Mason is the ruin of Helen Harvey. Are you sure 
 that you don't love her yet to the degree that will 
 compel you to. hold your hand, when the time comes 
 to strike.? I am determined in this matter, and if 
 you are to be my auxiliary I want no letting down at 
 the time when I shall need holding up. He won't 
 die without a struggle, and he is as able as he is 
 unscrupulous." 
 
 "I did love Helen Harvey," was Blanchard's 
 answer, in sad, but very deliberate and stern tones; 
 "but I love her no longer. She might have managed 
 to marry Mason and left me in love with her ; but the 
 way she did it killed my love, for which I thank 
 heaven! But I am not pursuing Helen Harvey — it 
 is Caleb Mason. She has linked her fortunes with 
 his, and must share his fate. You can depend upon 
 me. I shall not be weak enough to spare him for any 
 reason — not on her account, you may be sure. My 
 Helen Harvey is dead." 
 
 They separated with a cordial shake of the hand. 
 Gleason was now certain of Blanchard, but there was 
 
194 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 another one of whom he desired to make sure, and 
 whose co-operation was necessary. He went directly 
 to Sarah Dunlap, and told her what discoveries had 
 been added to his. 
 
 "We can in time crush him, despite the position 
 he has, and the fortifications he has thrown about 
 himself. But, Sarah, are you quite sure that you 
 do not love this man, and that when we have him 
 bound hand and foot, you will not interfere to save 
 him.?" 
 
 ''Never!" was the firm reply. "I want justice. 
 I want to punish the man who took advantage of the 
 confidence my poor father reposed in Him to murder 
 him and plunder me. Never fear me. Hunt this 
 fox — this wolf — as you would any beast of prey. I 
 shall not weep or moan when you have him fast." 
 
 And the flashing eyes that never before looked 
 anything but love, showed the steadfastness of her 
 purpose more than did her words. 
 
 Gleason, satisfied with the steadiness of his coad- 
 jutors, went back to his office with a very light heart ; 
 and he hummed a pleasant air as he put up his shut- 
 ters that night, and pulled out that green baize table, 
 and set to work piecing his bits of paper. 
 
 He was well satisfied with himself. His practice 
 was not large, but he was a man who looked ahead. 
 Events had worked around tolerably well for him, 
 after all. With Sarah Dunlap for his wife and — Mr. 
 Gleason was a man who had something worldly in his 
 composition — with the Dunlap estate wrested from 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE I95 
 
 the all-devouring hands of Mason, what was there to 
 prevent him from realizing for himself all that Mason 
 had dreamed of and struggled for ? 
 
 The Harvey influence? Mason was the Harveys, 
 and when he went down, they also, went down. 
 Thanks to drunken Jack Harvey, he knew enough 
 now to blast what influence they had, if he should use 
 it; and the time would come when he should use it. 
 
 With these pleasant thoughts revolving in his 
 mind, Mr. Gleason whistled softly as he pieced his 
 bits of paper. He was piecing together his fortune, 
 and building an engine to destroy the fortune of his 
 enemy. 
 
g6 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER XII ^ 
 
 CALEB GOES ON CONQUERING AND TO CONQUER 
 
 WE shall skim over the next year or so of Mr. 
 Mason's life, for the reason that there was very 
 little in it worth giving space to. He had been patient 
 and zealous in the work of building up his ambitious 
 structure, and making it solid and strong. He had 
 gathered about him friends without number upon whom 
 he could depend, for he had made himself so useful to 
 them that they could not turn from him. The Harvey 
 influence he had not overestimated, nor had he mis- 
 calculated his ability to use it. He had made himself 
 their centre, and little by little had contrived to so 
 place himself that they could not do without him. 
 
 His first venture was, as is the case with all young 
 Western politicians, the state legislature. Of course 
 he had a fight for it, for in the West, as in the East, 
 no new young man is permitted a position without a 
 fight. He began modestly, in the usual way. One 
 morning, early in July, there appeared in TAe Pulaski 
 Clarion a modest announcement like this — 
 
 The name of Caleb Mason, Esq., will be presented to the Demo- 
 cratic convention, to be held on the 4th of August next, as a candi- 
 date for Representative to the General Assembly. 
 
 Many Citizens. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1 97 
 
 The "many citizens" were 'Squire Harvey, who 
 wrote, paid for, and inserted the announcement. 
 
 In the next issue appeared a call, signed by thirty 
 of the "prominent citizens," asking him to permit the 
 presentation of his name, to which he immediately 
 replied that while he should much prefer to be left out 
 of public life, and allowed to attend to the practice of 
 his profession and the enjoyment of his home, still 
 he owed a duty to his fellow citizens which he could 
 not refuse to fulfil without feeling that he had 
 acted in a manner unworthy of an American citizen. 
 The trust was an important one, the duties of the 
 position were onerous and exacting, and the sacrifice 
 to him would be great ; but he was a citizen of Ohio 
 and of Washington county, and he owed it to his friends 
 and to the community in which he was born, and 
 among whom he hoped to die, to accept the responsi- 
 bility, and make that sacrifice. He wished from the bot- 
 tom of his heart that some man better adapted to the 
 position could be elected ; but if the unsought suffra- 
 ges of his fellow-citizens, to whom he owed so much, 
 were given him, he could do no less than accept the 
 trust and discharge the duties put upon him, to the 
 best of his ability. But he wanted it understood dis- 
 tinctly, that he should ask no man for his support ; nor 
 should he use any of the arts of the politician to secure 
 the place. If he took it, it must come unsought. He 
 would suggest, however, that in the case he should be 
 elected, he should desire the united support of the 
 citizens, irrespective of party, in what should be his 
 
198 THE DEEAGOGUE 
 
 principal work, viz. : the development of the resources 
 of the Northwest, by the construction of the Brobdig- 
 nagian canal, a work which would bring Washington 
 county into connection with the trade centres of the 
 state, and add immensely to the value of landed prop- 
 erty therein. To this measure he had devoted much 
 study, and should do all that he could to push it 
 through the legislature. All of which was signed, 
 "Respectfully, Caleb Mason." 
 
 That night the elder Harvey, Major Starkweather 
 and Caleb Mason were in close conference in Mason's 
 office. Be it known that the legislative district was 
 composed of two counties, Washington and Madison, 
 and that, as Madison had had its member two terms, 
 by common usage it came this year to Washington. 
 Consequently, whoever was presented by Washington 
 county was certain of the nomination, provided he 
 was presented unanimously. But if Washington 
 should ''split," as the phrase is, between two candi- 
 dates, then Madison might, with propriety, and in 
 strict accordance with party usage, step in and take 
 the nomination. 
 
 Now there were three candidates from Washing- 
 ton — Major Starkweather, who, from lounging long 
 at bars, had the support of the Rum interest, which 
 was very strong in that county ; Rev. Melchizedek 
 Guttle, a Methodist circuit-rider, who was put forward 
 by the religious element; and Elijah Pogram, a re 
 spectable farmer, who did not expect to be nominated, 
 but who desired to be put in the way of succession. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 1 99 
 
 Starkweather, he of the bottle nose, was the only 
 one of the three who had any strength. He had 
 enough of a following to divide the county, even if he 
 could not be nominated. The fiery cross of Roderick 
 Dhu was not more effective in summoning his clans- 
 men than was the equally fierce nose of Major 
 Starkweather. 
 
 The three were in close conference. 
 
 **You do not want to go to the legislature.^" said 
 the politic Harvey. 
 
 "But I do," replied the major, drowning a fly in a 
 Niagara of tobacco juice. "Indeed I do. I have 
 been giving way to others for ten years, and this time 
 I am bound to go in myself. I want the honor, and I 
 want to be of some use to my fellow-citizens." 
 
 As he repeated the last words a perceptible sneer 
 was visible upon his mottled face, and a look passed 
 between Mason and Harvey. 
 
 "Major," said Harvey, looking the venerable mili- 
 tia man composedly in the face, "now how much 
 money — cash — will satisfy you to withdraw from 
 the field and throw your strength to Mason ? Cash, 
 mind." 
 
 The major thought a moment, but only a moment. 
 
 "I do want to go, and believe I can go," he said, 
 speaking very slowly, and with great deliberation, 
 "for it's dooty I owe my fellow-citizens, but if Mason 
 wants to go bad enough, and will do the dooty I feel a 
 call to do for our fellow-citizens, I should say that 
 fifteen hundred dollars would be about the figure." 
 
2 GO THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 " Why, that's ^750 more than you got of Slawson 
 for withdrawing six years ago," said Harvey. "It's 
 too much — it's extortion ! " 
 
 " It's a bigger deestrik now then it was then, and it 
 takes more to keep the boys together. But I don't 
 care to talk about it. I do really want to go this time ; 
 and what's more, I can go. I have the pins all set up 
 to carry the county against all of you." 
 
 Mason remained silent for a moment. The sum 
 named was at least twice what he had expected to pay, 
 and besides, he was not exactly sure of Major Stark- 
 weather. There were ugly legends of the old gentle- 
 man's selling out to two candidates. He was a tricky 
 customer, and one who would bear watching. 
 
 "Major," he said, finally, "I will give you ^1,500 — 
 500 in hand, and 1,000 after the convention has voted 
 to present me as their candidate." 
 
 "Do you doubt me.?" growled the Major. "I 
 don't agree that you shall be the candidate — I only 
 agree to get out of the way myself." 
 
 "But I know very well that I can be nominated 
 with your help, and if I trade at all, 1 propose to have 
 your help. This I will do, and it is all that I will do." 
 
 There was much grumbling and much disputing 
 over various points, but finally the bargain was struck. 
 
 The next issue of the Clarion contained the follow- 
 ing card, which Mason wrote that night. 
 
 To My Friends: 
 
 Some weeks ago my name was announced as a candidate for the legis- 
 lature and a gratifying number of the best citizens of the county made 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 201 
 
 haste to express their gratification thereat, and to pledge me their sup- 
 port. I hold it to be the duty of every citizen to serve his fellows 
 when called upon to do so, and I hold it likewise to be his duty to 
 refuse when their interests can be better subserved by another man. 
 
 Last week the name of our esteemed fellow-citizen, Caleb Mason, 
 was announced for the same position ; and recognizing in him greater 
 fitness for the place, I cheerfully withdraw from the field, and ask my 
 friends to give him their support. I need not say a word in defense 
 of this action, for the community knows and appreciates the integrity, 
 the ability and the patriotism of Mr. Mason too well not to be glad to 
 have his services in the legislature. I withdraw, as he accepts, for 
 the public good. 
 
 Thanking my friends for the generous support they have given me, 
 I am, 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Sam'l Starkweather. 
 
 The day after the publication of this card, Major 
 Starkweather appeared in a new suit of clothes and 
 paid an old score at Bascom's, that had been accumu-' 
 lating two years.- In this new suit of clothes, and 
 with the strength that the new credit at Bascom's' 
 gave him, the Major, with his nose blazing redder than 
 ever, went out into the country to "fix things" for 
 Caleb Mason. He said to his friends that he should 
 consider it a misfortune to the county — and him- 
 self — if Caleb Mason should be defeated. The latter 
 part of his sentence was emphatically true. 
 
 With Mr. Starkweather's valuable assistance Caleb 
 Mason and his immediate backers, the Harvey family, 
 had no trouble whatever in securing the entire delega- 
 tion of Washington county. One of the other candi- 
 dates, who had not a delegate pledged to him, agreed to 
 withdraw in consideration of the support of the Har- 
 
202 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 veys for the place at that indefinite tihie known 
 among politicians as a "year or two." The other, who 
 had some strength, withdrew nobly, that the county 
 might present unanimously the name of "our 
 esteemed citizen, Caleb Mason," and in an equally 
 noble manner immediately paid off a small mortgage 
 on his farm, which, small as it was, had worried him 
 immensely. He considered a candidature a tolerably 
 good thing, and in the silent recesses of his soul deter- 
 mined to go into the candidating business regularly. 
 
 But the securing of the delegation of Washington 
 county did not give Mr. Mason the nomination, by 
 any means. He had more to do to attain the desired 
 position. 
 
 Madison, the other county in the district, being a 
 more populous county, had twice as many votes in the 
 convention. Consequently it was necessary to have 
 over half of that delegation. A new trouble loomed 
 up in the horizon. 
 
 The county-seat of Madison was Madisonville, but 
 a new railroad, running some miles to the south had 
 left Madisonville a long way to one side, and had 
 built up Phoenixville into an important point. Phoe- 
 nixville was much nearer the center of the county, and 
 as it had the railroad, a large number of its citizens felt 
 that the county-seat should remove thither, and had 
 been beseiging the legislature for several years for an 
 enabling act to facilitate the purpose. This action 
 had been vigorously opposed by the prominent citi- 
 zens of Madisonville — namely, the two hotel keepers, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 203 
 
 five saloon keepers, and the tradesmen, who got a 
 chance at the citizens of the county who were com- 
 pelled to come there at least once a year to pay taxes, 
 and once or twice a year to attend court, and do other 
 county business. None of these believed that the 
 constitution of the state permitted the removal of 
 the county-seat, on which point of law the five saloon 
 keepers were especially clear. 
 
 It was a settled matter that the legislature to be 
 elected the coming autumn would decide this matter, 
 and therefore the county wanted to know how the can- 
 didates stood on that question before they gave them 
 their delegation ; and this was Mr. Mason's rock ahead. 
 
 He determined at first to be entirely non-commit- 
 tal, but he found that that would not do. Both places 
 had too heavy a stake to permit any such nonsense, 
 and whoever had the nomination must be known as 
 favoring the section that gave him the nomination. 
 
 A mass meeting was announced in the county, at 
 which the candidates were expected to commit them- 
 selves on this question. Both Madisonville and Phoe- 
 nixville were to be present in force, and whichever 
 town the candidate favored, he was certain to be 
 opposed by the other. 
 
 Mr. Mason was present as the only candidate 
 Washington county would present, and he was given 
 to understand by both towns, that if he was "all 
 right" on the county-seat question, he would be nom- 
 inated without the formality of a ballot. 
 
 Mr. Mason, at the proper time, ascended the ros- 
 
204 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 trum, if a rough flooring nailed on the stumps of trees 
 might be so called. He commenced with a tribute to 
 the greatness of the country in which Providence had 
 kindly permitted him to live. He reminded his hear- 
 ers that within three-quarters of a century the Ameri- 
 can people had risen from being the smallest and 
 weakest to be the strongest and greatest of nations, 
 from sparse settlements at long intervals to rich and 
 prosperous cities, and a fertile and cultivated country. 
 He enumerated the battles that had been fought in 
 the Revolution — victories, he called them, forgetting 
 that, as a rule, when our gallant forefathers came in 
 contact with the hireling Britons, our gallant forefath- 
 ers were dissatisfactorily drubbed — and from that 
 through the war of 1812, and the Mexican war. He 
 then digressed into a succinct history of the county, 
 stating its progress from the time when the only evi- 
 dences of civilization were the cabins of the few pio- 
 neers, who settled along the creeks, and who, for the 
 sake of that broader freedom denied them in the 
 crowded East, had bravely dared the perils of savage 
 warfare, and the hardships of frontier life. He 
 warmed with his subject. 
 
 "And what about the county-seat question.^" inter- 
 rogated an interested spectator, who had town lots in 
 Phoenixville. 
 
 Mr. Mason was a very quick-witted man. 
 
 " I am interrupted in the midst of my remarks by a 
 question which is not germane to what I am saying 
 now. I" — 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 205 
 
 "It's all very well," replied the unabashed inquirer; 
 " I take a great deal of stock in the Amerikin eagle 
 and sich, and likewise in the development uv the 
 kedn'try ; but jist at this espeshul time wat I want to 
 know is wat is the sentiment uv the man wat wants 
 to go to the legislacher regardin' the county-seat? 
 That's wat I want to know, and I'm goin* to know 
 it." 
 
 "My friend," replied Mr. Mason, "a man wa^ once 
 very much under the influence of intoxicating drink, 
 and was very sick. You see he hadn't been brought 
 up in Madison county." (This testimony to the 
 drinking qualities of Madison procured the applause 
 it deserved). " He attempted to ease his stomach of 
 the disturbing element without success, when a stran- 
 ger who saw him, ventured to suggest that he aid 
 nature by running his finger down his throat. The 
 sufferer replied, regarding him with a stare implying 
 not only surprise, but indignation — *Who ast you 
 advice.-*' he stuttered, steadying himself on the post 
 to which he was clinging. Are you or me bossin' 
 this y ere job.-* Go away — go away!' Now, let me 
 ask, are you making this speech, or am I ?" 
 
 A roar of laughter drowned the angry man's reply, 
 and under its cover Mr. Mason proceeded. 
 
 "And what, let me ask, was the motive that 
 impelled the pioneers to come hither, to brave, as I 
 said, the perils and hardships of frontier life ? It was 
 the inspiration that fills the breast, the mind, the soul 
 of every American-born man — liberty ! Liberty ! 
 
206 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 The American takes in the love of liberty with his 
 mother's milk ; he breathes it in the air ; it grows with 
 his growth ; it supports him through life with the 
 glorious thought that life is worth having, and it con- 
 soles him in the dread hour of death with the sweet 
 reflection that the world owes him nothing, that in 
 looking death in the face he has at least had an equiv- 
 alent in living. Liberty, my friends, liberty " — 
 
 '*But what about the county-seat question?" asked 
 his old antagonist, reinforced by a dozen disinterested 
 patriots who had town lots either in one place or the 
 other. 
 
 "Liberty, union, the constitution — this trinity, my 
 friends, constitute " — 
 
 "We've had enuf uv that," growled the old vet- 
 eran. "We heer that every Fourth of Jooly and 
 Washington's birth-day. Wat we want to know is 
 about the county-seat question. Which are you fur — 
 Madisonville or Phoenixville .-* And we want an answer 
 putty quick. That's wat we want." 
 
 Mr. Mason saw that he was cornered, and that fur- 
 ther dodging would not avail. He made a peculiar 
 motion with his hand, and a boy quietly left the 
 audience. 
 
 "My friend wants to know how I stand on the 
 county-seat question, which unhappily divides this 
 magnificent county. I am a resident of a neighboring 
 county, where this question does not mar our peace, 
 nor, by dividing our energies, prevent us from press- 
 ing forward to that goal which is the ultimate ambi- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 20/ 
 
 tion of all American communities. Unvexed as we 
 are by any disturbing influences, united as we are as 
 one man, with eyes fixed upon the common flag of our 
 glorious country, that emblem of freedom, that beacon- 
 light to the oppressed of all nations, with but one 
 thought, one purpose, the people of my country have 
 before them a glorious future, a future, the brilliancy 
 of which may be imagined, but cannot be described. 
 Oh ! my friends, to what may not a united country 
 aspire ? To what " — 
 
 "What about the county-seat question?" demanded 
 the unstable audience, now speaking very like one 
 man. 
 
 "I am coming to that, my friends," replied Mason, 
 glancing uneasily toward the high road. 
 
 "As I was saying, I love our common country, and 
 for it I would gladly" — a gleam of satisfaction 
 illumined the speaker's countenance as he saw a man 
 struggling through the crowd. " I desire to be open 
 and above board with my fellow citizens, particularly 
 those whose suffrages I expect to receive. In the 
 Old World honor comes from the king; here, from 
 the people. I shall seek to deserve the honor you 
 give me, as the knight of old strove that he might not 
 disgrace the honor given him when knighted. In the 
 matter of the county-seat, I have to say that from the 
 knowledge I have of the matter, I am unhesitatingly 
 of the opinion that" — 
 
 The audience was breathless with expectation. In 
 another moment it doubtless would have known 
 
208 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 whether Mr. Mason was for Madisonville or Phoenix- 
 ville, had not the young man who was forcing himself 
 through the crowd, made his way to the platform, and 
 handed him a sealed note. 
 
 Hastily tearing it open, Mr. Mason exclaimed in a 
 voice tremulous with emotion — 
 
 " My friends, some other of the able speakers pres- 
 ent will address you on the issues of the day. I have 
 received a note which has been sent express from my 
 home, informing me that my wife has been seriously 
 injured, and imploring me to return at once, if I 
 would see her alive." 
 
 And tossing the letter to the chairman of the meet- 
 ing. Mason, burying his face in his handkerchief, 
 pushed through the crowd, and taking a seat in a 
 light wagon, the horses to which were covered with 
 foam, drove rapidly away in the direction of Pulaski. 
 
 The people of Madison did not, that day, learn the 
 views of Mr. Mason as to the county-seat question, 
 but they were very sorry for his misfortune. Pos- 
 sibly had they been present in Mason's office that 
 night, their sorrow would have been somewhat less- 
 ened. For there sat Mason, the senior and junior 
 Harveys, and Major Starkweather, who, supplied 
 with money by Mason, had become one of his princi- 
 pal fuglemen. 
 
 "Simpson was on time with the note, was he?" 
 chuckled Starkweather. 
 
 *' Precisely on time," was Mason's answer. "The 
 moment I gave little Bliven the wink he went through 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2O9 
 
 the crowd like an eel, and caught Simpson, who had 
 been running the team up and down the road beyond 
 the woods for an hour, to get the horses warm enough 
 to make them look as though they had been driven 
 from Pulaski in less than two hours. It worked well 
 enough ; but it won't do, and the factions are bound 
 to be satisfied. I have got to commit myself, or I 
 shall lose both. With Washington county and the 
 strongest of Madison I can be nominated anyhow, 
 and elected in spite of the others. I want to do 
 what is right by the people of the county, and put the 
 county-seat where it ought to be. Which is the 
 strongest — Madisonville or Phoenixville .'* " 
 
 ** Phoenixville, by all odds," was the answer of the 
 eldest Harvey. "Two-thirds of the votes of the 
 county are nearest to Phoenixville, though in ten years 
 Madisonville will be the better point, and it will have 
 to be moved back." 
 
 "Then my duty is plain. The county-seat must 
 clearly be moved to Phoenixville. If they want it back 
 ten years from now they can move it. A county-seat 
 may as well be portable as anything else. I always 
 thought it ought to be moved — now I am certain of it." 
 
 And the next day Mr. Mason notified the partisans 
 of Phoenixville that after giving the matter careful 
 consideration, he had determined that the public good, 
 which was the only consideration that did or could 
 influence him, demanded the removal of the county- 
 seat to Phoenixville, and that if elected, he should use 
 all his influence to that end. 
 
2IO THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Phoenixville therefore supported him, and Madison- 
 ville opposed him ; but the result was as Mr. Harvey- 
 had foreseen. He was nominated by the vote of his 
 own county and the Phoenixvillians, and once nomin- 
 ated was elected as a matter of course. King Caucus 
 was quite as strong then as now. 
 
 This was Caleb Mason's first step upward. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 211 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 SHOWS MR. mason's FURTHER PROGRESS UP THE 
 LADDER OF GLORY 
 
 IT would be a sad waste of ink to recapitulate Caleb 
 Mason's services in the narrow field in which he 
 Started — the legislature of his native state. He- 
 made a more than average legislator ; he fought with 
 great determination all schemes of extravagance that 
 no one of influence wanted, thereby gaining without 
 cost to himself, the reputation of being an hopest, 
 incorruptible man. His speech in opposition to a 
 canal, which was asked by four or five crazy-headed 
 men, is still quoted in that country as a sample of 
 eloquence when directed against unworthy objects. 
 True, it was, that several schemes for depleting the 
 treasury did go through, and his rage at finding they 
 had passed when he was unavoidably absent on com- 
 mittees was probably the most edifying thing in 
 nature. He fought boldly for the removal of the 
 county-seat to Phoenixville, but as the lots he had 
 bought there previously were in an other man's name, 
 no one knew that he had a direct interest in the 
 change. 
 
2 12 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 And SO he came home full of glory, and standing 
 high in the estimation of his constituents ; and as he 
 lent his money discreetly, no one knew, in his dis- 
 trict, at least, that he had made more money legisla- 
 ting at ^5. a day (paying that exact sum for board) 
 than he had ever made in the same time in his life 
 before. 
 
 But he did not propose to stay there, nor did he 
 desire the honor of a renomination for a second term 
 in the legislature, which, by the usages of the party 
 belonged to him. He had his eyes fixed on a seat 
 in Congress. 
 
 But Mr. Mason was too sagacious to rush in at 
 once to secure a nomination. He possessed the fac- 
 ulty of being able to look into the future far enough 
 to keep himself from doing anything rash ; and the 
 signs of the times were to him a pregnant warning 
 that a political revolution was impending. He was a 
 Democrat, but it was more because that party had 
 been the one to offer the only chances of official pre- 
 ferment than from any real attachment to its princi- 
 ples. The Whig party received its death-blow in 
 1852, when Pierce defeated General Scott for the 
 Presidency. The party had embraced the sins of 
 Democracy, and was dying of them. Next came a 
 period in which the opposition to the victorious Dem- 
 ocracy was hopelessly divided, and the Know-Nothing 
 movement run its short course. But events were rap- 
 idly moving onward, and the insolent slave-power 
 which ruled the Democracy, took the step that ulti- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 213 
 
 mately proved its ruin. It demanded the repeal of the 
 Missouri compromise ; and the Democratic majority 
 in Congress did this when it passed the Kansas- 
 Nebraska bill. 
 
 Caleb Mason saw that the moral feeling of the 
 North was outraged by this, and he felt certain that 
 the result would be the organization of a new party, 
 with resistance to the extension of slavery into the 
 territories for its cardinal principle, which would at- 
 tract to it all that was worth saving of the old Whig 
 party, and draw the best blood of the Democracy; 
 and that the chances were that it would grow to be 
 the dominant party in the nation. Hence, when he 
 closed his term in the state legislature, he refused a 
 renomination on the plea that his legal practice 
 needed his undivided attention ; but in reality he did 
 not care to further identify himself with the Dem- 
 ocracy till he should see what the outcome of the fer- 
 ment in the politics of the nation was likely to bring 
 forth. 
 
 He had not long to wait, for events went forward 
 rapidly. He soon made up his mind that the move- 
 ment of opposition to the extension of slavery into 
 free territory, backed by the power of a moral idea, 
 would become irresistible, though its beginnings were 
 small, and would result in the formation of a party 
 that would control the country for years. 
 
 The small politicians of Mason's district did not see 
 this, but Mason did. He saw that the slavery ques- 
 tion would be paramount for many years to come, that 
 
214 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 it would end in a struggle which would last for years, 
 and possibly lead to an internecine strife, with years 
 more necessary to settle the questions growing out of it. 
 
 It was his opportunity, for the kind of politics that 
 was to rend the country exactly suited his turn of mind. 
 He was a florid speaker, and emotional politics gave 
 him precisely the field he wanted. It requires a great 
 deal of labor and study to attack finance and questions 
 of that kind ; but any man with a fervid imagination, 
 and a ready gift of speaking, can talk of the rights of 
 man by the hour. The people love it, for they love 
 emotion; and the anti-slavery struggle produced a 
 large crop of this kind of statesmen, who went down 
 after the war as rapidly as they went up prior to it. 
 
 Mason was a man who was always ready to act, for 
 he had foreseen the event, and had his plans made in 
 advance. He knew that it would be a combat for 
 life; that the two sections were preparing for a 
 death struggle, and that it would be an encounter that 
 would last for years, and afford a man like himself 
 material for political capital for a lifetime. 
 
 He promptly pronounced for the anti-slavery side, 
 and did it so earnestly and early that no one could say 
 he waited to see whether or not the tide turned in that 
 direction. He did it at the first blush, when public 
 sentiment was against it, and he did it in such a pro- 
 nounced manner that he left no way of escape — no 
 way of turning backward. 
 
 His was a peculiar nature. While to begin with, his 
 espousal of the anti-slavery cause was as purely a mat- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 21 5 
 
 ter of calculation as the buying of a horse or farm, or 
 a speculation in town lots — a pure piece of cold- 
 blooded financiering, a placing of his present in jeo- 
 pardy for the brilliant future he saw behind it ; he was 
 not having any more feeling for the slave nor care for 
 the evils that grew out of slavery, than for the serfs of 
 Russia — he, nevertheless, after a few days' speaking 
 upon it, became entirely enthused on the subject. He 
 was of that nature that he could kill a widow for her 
 property one minute, and the next could weep over 
 the grave of a virgin who had been taken off untimely 
 by consumption. The reading of an emotional poem 
 would produce floods of tears, notwithstanding which, 
 he could see a woman starve without having his pulse 
 quickened. And so, after a little preliminary discus- 
 sion of the slavery question, he became a sincere abol- 
 itionist — one of the kind who could and did warm up 
 on the subject to a point that affected his auditors. 
 To impress others, one has to believe in the subject 
 himself ; and he was of the kind who can make them- 
 selves feel what they wish to, and which feeling, if 
 not genuine at the beginning, becomes so at the end. 
 
 His enemies chuckled in private, for they saw in 
 it his political downfall and ruin — and the more so, 
 when, in i860, he accepted the Republican nomina- 
 tion for Congress in a district that had a clear admin- 
 istration majority of 3,500. 
 
 They did not know the man and his resources, nor 
 did they know the temper of the people. The North- 
 ern man always hated slavery and everything belong- 
 
2l6 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ing to it. The few old Abolitionists had been sowing 
 the seed, and the horrors of human bondage were well 
 understood and appreciated ; but slavery had some 
 sort of a constitutional guarantee, and so long as the 
 South was content to let it alone it was safe from inter- 
 ference. But when the Southern states demanded its 
 extension over all the unoccupied territory of the coun- 
 try, even those whose protests were mild against it, 
 rose as one man and put themselves into a position of 
 opposition. The opposing of its extension begot a 
 feeling of opposition to the institution itself, and those 
 who embarked in the movement against its extension 
 soon became clamorous for its extirpation. 
 
 Mason consulted no one, but at once arranged the 
 plan of his campaign. He held a mortgage on the 
 press of a Democratic paper in one county, and he 
 compelled the editor to espouse the Republican cause. 
 In all new countries oratory is a powerful agency, 
 and there was no better orator in the state for the 
 people with whom he had to deal. He had a fervid 
 manner ; he could work himself up to a pitch of 
 enthusiasm that carried his hearers with him ; a mag- 
 nificent voice which he had under perfect control, 
 and quite as magnificent a presence. In brief, he was 
 the beau ideal of a popular idol, and precisely the man 
 to work his way anywhere. 
 
 This was the situation. He had with him all the 
 humanitarians, which means all the radicals — all the 
 men who think enough of an idea to make sacrifices 
 for it. He had with him all the churches, who hated 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 21/ 
 
 slavery, and most of the young and enthusiastic men 
 of the district. Behind this by no means to be 
 despised force was the vast army of waiters whom he 
 knew he could capture if he commenced with suffi- 
 cient vigor and confidence. 
 
 His first aggressive movement was to organize 
 meetings all over the district. In the strong Demo- 
 cratic counties he was careful not to omit a single 
 school district. He threw himself into the canvass 
 with all his soul and all his powers, and what he knew 
 would be quite as important, with all his money. As 
 he was the first to raise the banner of absolute, square 
 resistance to the slave power, and as he was the apostle 
 of resistance in that district, he intended to reap all 
 the benefits of the movement. 
 
 He never did anything in a half-hearted way. He 
 was present at every meeting, no matter at what 
 sacrifice to himself. He killed horses, he swam rivers, 
 and more than once he made voyages over swamps in 
 dug-out canoes ; but he never failed to be present at 
 the appointed time, and to speak, no matter how few 
 the auditors. He would take as much trouble for a 
 half-dozen as for a thousand. 
 
 It had precisely the effect calculated upon. The 
 people could not but admire the man who could so 
 boldly overleap such difficulties. They believed that 
 he must have had the cause at heart for the reason 
 that he espoused it when it was so unpopular, and 
 adhered to it so pertinaciously ; and he made friends 
 and adherents every day. 
 
2l8 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 But he had more than the elements to contend 
 with. One county, Defiance, was overwhelmingly 
 Democratic, and therein one township, Hicks, was 
 unanimously so. In the old times, an occasional 
 Whig speaker had ventured thither, but he never tried 
 it twice. The hens of Hicks were healthy, but there 
 was a poor market for eggs, and many got addled ; and 
 the poor Whig speakers were always made the targets 
 for many dozens of the very worst, and not unfre- 
 quently missiles harder than eggs were thrown at 
 them. 
 
 The staunch Democracy of Hicks were astonished 
 at seeing their school-house published as the place of 
 one of Mason's appointments, and none more so than 
 Mr. William Sampsell, the leader of the Democracy, or 
 at least the fighting man of the Democracy. But the 
 night came, and Mason was promptly there in the 
 school-house and ready to speak. 
 
 Now the Democracy of Hicks were a peculiar folk. 
 There were no Republicans in the township, and the 
 leaders of the Democracy took precious good care 
 that there should be none. On the election days the 
 fighting champion Sampsell took his stand at the 
 polls, and every voter was required to show his ticket, 
 that it might go in pure and unscratched as the party 
 had nominated it ; the penalty of refusal being a 
 tremendous and satisfactory thrashing at the hands of 
 Mr. Sampsell. For this service Mr. Sampsell was 
 awarded some trifling township office, generally that 
 of constable. Sometimes a brisk young fellow would 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2 I9 
 
 refuse to show his ticket, for the purpose of disputing 
 the place. The reigning king knew that his power 
 was in jeopardy, and desperate would be the struggle 
 that would ensue. If he were beaten, the new man 
 would rise and take the place, and compel the voters 
 to show their tickets to him, and at the next election 
 take the constable's place made vacant. 
 
 It was a curious scene that presented itself to 
 Mr. Mason's eyes. On the puncheon benches ranged 
 across the house were all the people of Hicks town- 
 ship. There was not present a single Republican, as 
 it had been the boast of the Hicksites that there was 
 not a Republican in the entire' township, and as they 
 had a habit of beating unmercifully all of that persua- 
 sion who might stray into the vicinity, the few who 
 held those views were very careful to keep them to 
 themselves, and, outwardly at least, to be as good 
 Democrats as their n-eighbors. 
 
 There had never been as yet but one Whig candi- 
 date who had the audacity to attempt a speech in that 
 neighborhood, and as the free citizens, headed by Bill 
 Sampsell, had tarred and feathered him, the candidates 
 who came after did not feel very much like attempt- 
 ing the political missionary business in that locality. 
 
 As the tastes and habits of the people were so well 
 known as to have barred out all Whig speakers, the 
 people were curious to see the man who had the 
 temerity to invade this Democratic stronghold, and, 
 so to speak, ''beard the lion in his den." Conse- 
 quently the school-house was crowded. 
 
220 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 It was a building of fair dimensions, which, as it 
 was larger than the appropriation, had been just half 
 finished. It had been weather-boarded, but was 
 entirely innocent of lath or plaster. 
 
 Mr. Mason advanced to the rough platform, walk- 
 ing through the crowd as leisurely and with as little 
 concern as he would have gone up the aisles of the 
 court-room in Pulaski. He did not know one of his 
 audience. He expected insult, and probably an 
 assault ; but he had determined upon making the 
 speech then, and make it he would, at no matter what 
 hazard. 
 
 Without introduction he commenced with the usual 
 formula — 
 
 "Fellow-citizens of Hicks township:^ — This even- 
 
 ingi"- 
 
 He got no further. Mr. William Sampsell was 
 ready with his cohorts to prevent anything of any 
 unpleasant nature to them from going any further. 
 
 "This evening I" — repeated Mr. Mason, when 
 there came such a sound as was never heard before in 
 a school-house. The house being a mere shell, to 
 strike upon the outside would have the same effect 
 upon the ears of those inside as though they had been 
 shut in a boiler with men pounding vigorously on the 
 outer surface. 
 
 An ordinary man would have arranged his subor- 
 dinates all around that house, and given them clubs 
 with which to pound on the outside, which would 
 have created noise enough to have drowned any 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 221 
 
 speech-maker with less lungs than Boanerges. But 
 Mr. Sampsell was no ordinary man — he had genius 
 that was not connected with ordinary expedients, nor 
 satisfied with common results. Had he placed his ten 
 men with clubs to beat against the house there would 
 have been but ten sound-producing instruments. Had 
 he even given each two clubs, there would have been 
 but twenty, and the devil of mischief in him could not 
 be satisfied with anything of the sort. 
 
 He cut down two small trees, each just large 
 enough for five men to hold — trees with a thousand 
 branches each, and ten thousand twigs. These trees 
 were held closely against the sides of the house, and 
 then the men run them around the sides and ends. 
 Each twig was a hammer beating against the boards, 
 and as they ran rapidly the noise inside was the most 
 hideous that could possibly be produced by human 
 ingenuity. 
 
 Mr. Mason stopped and stood quietly till the un- 
 earthly din was over, and then resumed. Scarcely 
 had he uttered a word before the noise commenced 
 again. This was kept up for a half an hour — or un- 
 til the men were tired of holding the weight of the 
 trees. 
 
 Mr. Sampsell's ingenuity did not end with this. 
 He had other plans of annoyance in reserve, and he 
 proceeded to put them into execution. A flock of 
 geese were reposing quietly by the road-side, and one 
 of them Mr. Sampsell seized by the neck. Walking 
 with a defiant, swaggering step into the house, he 
 
222 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Stood till Mason had commenced again. Then delib- 
 erately wringing the neck of the bird, he advanced to 
 within ten steps of the platform, and threw it with all 
 his force into the face of the speaker. 
 
 Mason had taken an inventory of the backwoods 
 ruffian, and he knew precisely the man he had to deal 
 with. Sampsell was big and burly, but Mason was no 
 contemptible man physically. His course was deter- 
 mined upon in an instant. If he got anything in 
 Hicks, it would be necessary that he should half kill 
 the brute before him ; for it would never do, in a com- 
 munity where physical prowess was counted superior 
 to all other gifts, to tamely submit to such an 
 indignity. 
 
 Sampsell stood before him with a grin of satisfac- 
 tion on his inflamed countenance. 
 
 "Citizens of Hicks!" shouted Mason, "I am here 
 all alone and without a friend. Will you promise me 
 fair play for just five minutes.-*" 
 
 ** What do you want to do ? " shouted a dozen. 
 
 "I want to whip this man, which will occupy only 
 five minutes of your time." 
 
 Sampsell was delighted, for he dearly loved a 
 "skrimmage," to use the vernacular, and he revelled 
 in the anticipation of a neat and easy victory. 
 
 " Yoo shel hev fair play ! " he laughed hoarsely ; "no 
 one but me shel tech ye. Clar away them benches, 
 and let us hev it out here ! " 
 
 In a moment the benches were cleared away, 
 making an open space of perhaps twelve feet square, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 223 
 
 into which Sampsell sprang with a whoop of delight. 
 Mason made no demonstrations, but proceeded quietly 
 to divest himself of coat, vest and cravat, and then 
 tied his suspenders about his waist, that nothing 
 should confine his movements. 
 
 "Are ye ready.?" demanded Sampsell. 
 
 "Quite so," said Mason, coolly. 
 
 Mr. Sampsell's answer was a spring upon his antag- 
 onist which was intended to bear him to the floor at 
 once, and end the conflict. He had miscalculated his 
 man. Mason dodged him by a quick movement, and 
 with the full force of a strong man, reinforced by 
 plenty of practice when he was a boy, dealt him a 
 blow full in the face, which would have felled an ox, 
 or any other created being except Bill Sampsell, and 
 it surprised and staggered even him. 
 
 Again the giant attempted to clutch him,, but 
 Mason was too active for that. Dexterously avoiding 
 the loving embrace offered him, he dealt Sampsell a 
 succession of blows, as near the eyes as possible, 
 every one of which made its impression. 
 
 If the truth must be told, the bystanders were 
 delighted with the turn matters had taken, for 
 Sampsell had always been a bully, and was feared by 
 the entire township. His naturally quarrelsome tem- 
 perament, backed by his enormous strength, made 
 him an uncomfortable neighbor ; the people were not 
 unwilling to see his comb cut, and they were in a fair 
 way of being gratified. Mason avoided a close 
 encounter, but showered a perfect torrent of blows 
 
224 THE DEEAGOGUE i 
 
 upon Sampsell's face, every one directed at the eyes. 
 Mr. Sampsell did not understand that system of 
 fighting, and in four minutes he was as easy a bargain 
 as Mr. Mason could have desired. It is true Mason 
 did not escape punishment. Sampsell hit him several 
 well-directed and ugly blows, which marked him 
 severely, but Mason had "the best of it," as the 
 by-standers delightedly claimed. Sampsell was half 
 blinded, and was groping about like a blind Sampson, 
 when Mason saw that his opportunity for a finish had 
 come. Dealing him two terrible blows, he sprang 
 upon him with the agility of a tiger-cat, and bore him 
 easily to the floor. Then — let it be remembered it 
 was in the back-woods where a man was. never con- 
 sidered whipped till he was half killed — he sprang 
 upon him with his boots, and danced upon him till the 
 subdued giant had just strength enough to mutter 
 " Enough ! " 
 
 There was a delightful confusion in the school- 
 house, and Mason was ics hero. Several of the ten 
 co-workers with Mr. Sampsell carried him away to his 
 house, where a physician examined his injuries and 
 cared for him, and the men who remained vied with 
 each other in their efforts to make Mason comforta- 
 ble. Water and towels were brought, and the marks of 
 the conflict were carefully removed from him. Then 
 he resumed his coat, vest and cravat, ascended the 
 rostrum as coolly as though nothing unusual had hap- 
 pened, and resumed his speech exactly where he left 
 off — 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 22$ 
 
 "Fellow-citizens of Hicks township:" 
 
 "Well, he's a good one!" said one. "Didn't he do 
 it for Bill Sampsell, though ? ' 
 
 "Yes; and never turned a hair," was the reply. 
 
 The speaker was very attentively listened to, the 
 occasional wiping of blood from his cut face adding 
 materially to the effect ; and when he was through a 
 dozen offers of entertainment for the night were made, 
 one of which he accepted. His delightful manner, 
 and his convincing talk, made him one substantial con- 
 vert that evening, and the next morning he went his 
 way, very well satisfied with his night's work at Hicks. 
 If he had made no other votes but the one, the fame of 
 the feat and the peculiar nature of the conflict would 
 do him good where he had friends ; and he was right 
 in his conjectures. The story traveled much faster 
 than he did, and it increased in dimensions as it 
 traveled. When he got over into Jefferson county he 
 found that all of Hicks township had assaulted him, 
 that he tore up a bench and defended himself so vig- 
 orously that he killed two of his assailants, and 
 maimed five who would be crippled for life, to say 
 nothing of the other wounds he had inflicted. 
 
 When asked as to the truth of these reports the 
 astute Mason would answer modestly — "Not exactly; 
 but I did have quite an ugly little scrimmage," which 
 answer convinced everybody that it was true, and that 
 the truth had not all been told ; whereupon the ques- 
 tioner would go away and tell it over, adding two to 
 the killed and five to the wounded. 
 
226 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 When the story came to the ears of the gov- 
 ernor of the state, he immediately forwarded to Mason 
 a commission as brigadier-general of the militia of the 
 state, as he jocosely added — "For brilliant service in 
 the field," after which Mason was dubbed "General," 
 which Le did not discourage ; for whenever it was 
 asked how he became a general, this story would be 
 told, and it could not be told too many times to suit 
 him. 
 
 A few days after the meeting at Hicks, Mr. Mason 
 pondered long and earnestly, and he retraced his steps 
 to Hicks. He went to see Mr. Sampsell. He did not 
 herald his going, nor did he let any one know of it. 
 He had something of the mole in his composition. 
 
 "In the battles that are to come," thought Mr. 
 Mason, "the Defiance delegation may turn the scale. 
 Bill Sampsell could always control the delegation 
 were he a Republican, for there never will be two hun- 
 dred Republicans there. Decidedly I must see Mr. 
 Sampsell." 
 
 Accordingly he turned his horse's head towards Mr. 
 Sampsell's house. His knock was responded to by a 
 gruff " come in," which invitation proceeded from the 
 lips of a coarse virago, who had the felicity of bearing 
 Mr. Sampsell's name, and of supporting Mr. Sampsell 
 and his children. 
 
 The lady recognized Mason at once as the man who 
 had beaten her husband, and she planted herself in 
 front of him with her arms akimbo, and an expression 
 on her countenance that boded him no good. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 22/ 
 
 ♦'You are the rooster that licked Bill the other 
 night ! " she said in a threatening tone. 
 
 "Madam," said Mason, eyeing her closely so as to 
 be ready to advance or retreat as the case might be, 
 "I had a difference of opinion with Mr. Sampseil, 
 which resulted in an unfortunate encounter, but " — 
 
 "Waal, yoo licked him! I know it — I saw it! 
 And besides. Bill is layin' in the back bed-room now, 
 with your marks onto him, and so c o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y 
 whaled that I shel hev to chop the wood for a month. 
 Yoo did for him, yoo did ! Do yoo think yoo cood 
 sarve me out the same way.-^" 
 
 The virago advanced a fist which was almost as 
 large and horny as Bill's, and quite as dirty, in close 
 proximity to Mr. Mason's nose. 
 
 "Madam! Mrs. Sampseil!" ejaculated Mason, 
 looking her steadily in the eye and putting her 
 clenched hand away. " I am not a quarrelsome man, 
 and bear Sampseil no ill-will. I did not want to thrash 
 him, and did what I did reluctantly ; but what could I 
 do } I was bound to make my speech, and certainly you 
 would have thought small potatoes of me if I had run 
 with my tail between my legs, like a whipped cur, the 
 first time a man came near me ! You have more 
 respect for a good man than that." (Mr. Mason knew 
 to whom he was talking.) " I am here to do him good, 
 and want no quarrel with him or — gracious heavens, 
 Mrs. Sampseil, what a resemblance ! " 
 
 And Mr. Mason seized a dirty boy of perhaps four 
 years of age, who was sitting on the floor maltreating 
 
228 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 a dirtier cat, and lifting him up gazed with an expres- 
 sion of intense interest into his face. 
 
 "Wat a resemblance to wat ? " demanded Mrs. 
 Sampsell, not so defiantly. 
 
 "Mrs. Sampsell, the resemblance this fortunate 
 child bears to that great statesman, that good man, 
 John Quincy Adams, is miraculous. The very mouth, 
 the very eyes, the very nose, the expansive forehead, 
 — wrinkle that face, tear off its hair, and you have 
 John Quincy Adams before your very eyes in short 
 clothes ! We can hardly imagine John Quincy Adams 
 in short clothes, but if we could, there he is ! " 
 
 Mrs. Sampsell was mollified. Every mother has a 
 pride m her children, no matter how little cause she 
 may have ; and generally the less the cause the more 
 the pride, on the principle that nature takes care of 
 those unable to care for themselves. He followed 
 up his subduing process by asking the privilege of 
 breakfasting with her. 
 
 As this man with a clean shirt and freshiy shaven 
 face asked this boon, Mrs. Sampsell stared at him as 
 t-hough she could not comprehend his meaning. But 
 she finally found her tongue — 
 
 "I ain't gettin' breakfast but for them as I know 
 some good of ! " 
 
 "I hope you will find some good in me, then," 
 returned Mason with a pleasant laugh ; " for I started 
 without eating, and I thought you would give me a 
 breakfast — as an accommodation." 
 
 In Defiance county the word "accommodation" 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 229 
 
 meant a quarter of a dollar given in payment, and an 
 apologetic acceptance of the trifle. Mr. Mason 
 continued — 
 
 " Mrs. Sweetser said I was certain of getting good 
 cooking from you, and I'd rather pay you than to get 
 such as I would get at the tavern, being a little more 
 particular about my eating than a man really ought 
 to be. And then, Mrs. Sampsell, I wanted a word or 
 two with your husband, for after the other night's 
 affair I really want to do him a good turn. I have a 
 respect for a man who came so near getting away 
 with me. But never mind ! If it's not convenient, 
 I'll go to the Eagle hotel." 
 
 Mrs. Sampsell could not resist all these flatteries, 
 and entirely subdued, she set about preparing the 
 breakfast, which, to do her justice, was not the most 
 unwholesome in the world. 
 
 While Mr. Mason made himself tolerably familiar 
 with the people of this class, he did not commit the 
 mistake of common demagogues of attempting to con- 
 trol those below him by lowering himself to their 
 level. Had he dropped himself to Mrs. Sampsell's 
 level, she, being already antagonistic to him, would 
 have despised him for being no better than herself. 
 Had he shown himself in no better light than that in 
 which she appeared, she would have asked why his 
 wife wore silk and she only calico. But he was acute 
 enough to show why one was as she was, and the 
 other likewise. He compelled that class not only to 
 look up to him, but to fear him. He told her though 
 
230 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 how she could make her home better without any 
 additional labor or cost. 
 
 "What you ought to do, my dear Mrs. Sampsell, is 
 to take this excellently cured ham — it is your own 
 curing of course — and freshen it a little more, cut 
 the slices a little thinner, and broil it on the coals 
 instead of frying it. It gives it a better taste, and 
 makes it altogether more palatable. Of course you 
 know all about it, but I suppose the cares of your 
 family give you all you can attend to without going 
 into these details. But yet they are important, for 
 there can be no real progress without attending to 
 these little matters. And then you ought to have an 
 addition to your house, and more furniture. It is a 
 shame that a woman like you, with such children as 
 you have, should not have better and more pleasant 
 surroundings !" 
 
 He swallowed a cup of Mrs. Sampsell's tea, which 
 was honest and hot, and continued after this strain — 
 
 "Mrs. Sampsell, in the matter of tea, I am like that 
 Indian who was to have any three wishes he might 
 take. It's an old story — I presume you have heard 
 it. The first wish was all the rum he could drink, the 
 second was all the tobacco he could smoke, and then, 
 after fifteen minutes' thought, for the third wish — 
 more rum and tobacco. I'll take some more tea, if 
 you please. I can't always get tea that is made to my 
 satisfaction. It's more in the making, I tell people, 
 than in the quality." 
 
 " Better surroundings ! Briled ham ! Addishen to 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 23 I 
 
 the house ! " said Mrs. Sampsell, bitterly. ''With Bill 
 a loafin' abont the grocery the heft uv his time, and 
 me with eight children to take keer uv, much 
 chance there is for ever hevin' anything uv the sort ! " 
 
 She drew a long sigh, as one who sees a pleasant 
 prospect in the clouds far above reach. " Much 
 chance there is uv my ever hevin' anything uv that 
 sort! I've got now everything I ever she! hev, and 
 I'm mighty lucky ef I kin keep wat I hev got." 
 
 "Mrs. Sampsell," replied Mason, between two 
 bites of ham and a sip of tea, "if your husband is a 
 reasonable man, I will put him and you in a way 
 whereby you can have all these things and a great 
 deal more. I can and will put you in a position 
 where you can have not only such a home and table 
 as your natural good taste craves, but such clothing 
 for yourself and for your children as you and they 
 ought to have. Your children, Mrs. Sampsell, ought 
 to have every advantage that can be given them. 
 Excuse me for mentioning the little things. Can I 
 see Mr. Sampsell a moment.?" 
 
 She had determined that he should not see William 
 at all, for she hated him ; but what could she refuse a 
 man who had discovered that her sixth child was a 
 picture in miniature of John Quincy Adams, and 
 who not only ate her breakfast, but had the nerve to 
 recommend improvements in the management of her 
 household ? 
 
 So, relinquishing her antagonism, without a word, 
 she conducted Mr. Mason to the room in which the 
 
232 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 bruised and battered Mr. Sampsell was lying, and 
 then she judiciously retired. She had an idea that 
 Mason did not want to see him for nothing, and so bad 
 was his condition that nothing could make it worse. 
 
 Sampsell growled like a bear and made a hostile 
 demonstration, which, in his impotence was absurd. 
 
 "Be quiet, Sampsell, or you'll hurt yourself," said 
 Mason, quietly. " Pshaw ! man, why do you double 
 your fists at me ? I was too much for you when you 
 were on your feet — I should have no trouble what- 
 ever in doing it now that you are half dead." 
 
 "Yoo kim over to crow over me, did ye.**" growled 
 the disabled bully. 
 
 " Not at all. I came to see if I could do something 
 for you." 
 
 "You want me to doo suthin for yoo, I s'pose." 
 
 " Certainly. In this world very few men do some- 
 thing for nothing — I do not, at all events. I want 
 something of you, and I am willing to give something 
 for it. What I want, you can do, and what you want, 
 I can do. Shall I go on.?" 
 
 "I can't help hearin' ye." 
 
 "True. My dear Sampsell, I want you to support 
 me for Congress ! " 
 
 "Wat!" roared Sampsell, raising himself in bed in 
 spite of his weakness. " Me vote for a ablishnist ! 
 Me! Well, that's cool!" 
 
 "Cool or not, that's what I want, and that's what 
 I'am going to get. I am as certain of being elected 
 to Congress next October as the sun is to rise in 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 233 
 
 the morning; and Lincoln is just as sure of being 
 elected to the Presidency. You know Lincoln will be 
 elected. Well, suppose Pitts beats me, what can he 
 do for you, with Lincoln President .-*• Lincoln will 
 have the appointments, and in this place, where there 
 are no Republicans, he will be compelled to appoint 
 Democrats. In that event Peters will likely get the 
 postoffice." (Peters was one particular man whom 
 Sampseil hated.) <* Lincoln will be elected, and sup- 
 pose I am elected to Congress. What happens ? I 
 make the postmasters in Defiance county. I have 
 the appointing power practically in my own hands. 
 Do you see, Mr. Sampseil ? Would I forget my 
 friends.? Would I forget the noble few who came out 
 first on the side of right, and pioneered this holy cause 
 in Defiance ? And then think how few Republicans 
 there can be in this section ! Not as many as there 
 are offices ; and there are as many offices as there 
 are in the next county where the Republicans are in 
 the majority ! Think of this, William, think of it ! " 
 
 "Why, Squire, sech a man ez I am coodent hold 
 one uv these offices ef it wus offered me ! " 
 
 "William, don't depreciate yourself. Rise up, Wil- 
 liam, and shave yourself, and put on a clean shirt. 
 The ability to hold an office lies largely in a clean- 
 shaven face and a clean shirt. You might drink a 
 little less whisky, but the clean shirt is the principal 
 point. William, I want thirty votes in Hicks town- 
 ship this fall, and I promise you that if I get them, and 
 you support me, that I will not be ungrateful." 
 
234 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "But what excuse can I give for changin*?" 
 
 •'Tell them frankly that a man who can whip you 
 in a fair, stand-up fight, ought to go to Congress. 
 Don't say a word to me about it. If you support me 
 I shall know it. If you decide not to, and use this 
 interview against me, I shall deny it all, and shall 
 point to you, to show how absurd it would be to 
 offer such a man as you a position. But deal squarely 
 with me and I will help you, and make a man of you. 
 Good morning, Sampsell." 
 
 As he passed out he bid Mrs. Sampsell good morn- 
 ing, and patted the dirty child on the head, saying, 
 "Good morning, John Quincy," and leaving a half- 
 dime with it, he departed. 
 
 Mrs. Sampsell had glued her eye to a crack in the 
 door during the conference, and had heard every word 
 that had been said. 
 
 "Ef Bill Sampsell don't vote and work for Cale 
 Mason," she said to herself, "I won't leave whole 
 bones enough in his body to vote and work for anybody. 
 He hez politicked all his life for nuthin', and now that 
 there's a chance for him to do suthin* for hisself, he's 
 got to do it, or I'll maul the life out uv him." 
 
 Mrs. Sampsell was a woman of considerable energy 
 and wonderful strength. But she was aware of the 
 strength of her liege lord, and of his obstinacy as 
 well. All their wedded life it had been only neces- 
 sary for her to mention a desire for a thing, for him 
 to oppose it. They had never agreed but once, and 
 that was when they were married. As she was quite 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 23$ 
 
 determined he'should become Mason's henchman, she 
 made up her mind to take him at a disadvantage — 
 when, Hke Samson, his hair had been shorn, and he 
 could be made amenable to the only reason he 
 respected — force. But she determined to try strat- 
 egy first. 
 
 "Bill, are you a goin' to jine hands with that 
 blasted ablishnist, Cale Mason ? " 
 
 ** Go 'way, Marier, and let me alone. Wat bizniz 
 is it of yoors wat I do ? 'Tend to yer own end of the 
 house, and I'll 'tend to mine. Your bizniz is to 'tend 
 to the babies — I'll 'tend to the kentry." 
 
 "It peers to me Bill, that I've been a takin' keer 
 uv putty much all the eends uv the house for twenty 
 years. But I know wat I know. Wat are you goin* 
 to do.?" 
 
 " J ist what I please! Go 'way!" 
 
 Here Mrs. Sampsell's strategy failed her. She was 
 determined that he should support Mason. 
 
 "Look here Bill, I kin see suthin' in Mason, and 
 I'm goin' to hev yoo take holt with him, and go 
 through with it." 
 
 "Yoo air, air yoo.-* Marier, I'll give you jist 
 ten seconds to git out uv that door; ef you 
 don't" — 
 
 He attempted to rise, but it was of no avail. His 
 battered body refused to obey his will, and he sank 
 back with a groan. 
 
 "You see, Wilyum, that I hev yoo. Now I hev 
 lived a dog's life alluz. I hev never hed a dress that 
 
236 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 I didn't earn myself. Wat cloze the children hev hed 
 I hev bought and paid for; and all the whisky yoo 
 ever paid for you did it with the money that I 
 scrunched and saved, and you stole. It would be 
 cheaper for me to keep you here in bed than it would 
 to let you get out, spendin' wat I scratch together; 
 and here you stay onless you give me your promise 
 to go in with Mason, and git suthin' uv wat he will 
 hev to throw around when the time comes. You 
 promise me this, or, while you are yet sore from the 
 thrashin' he gave you, I'll thrash you agin, and I'll 
 keep doin' it ez long ez there's a breath in your bat- 
 tered, wuthlis body ! Yoo hear me } " 
 
 Sampsell threw a look of venomous ugliness at her, 
 but what could he do .? He was in her power com- 
 pletely, and he knew she would keep her word. She 
 was no unworthy antagonist when he was on his feet, 
 but lying there helpless she could do what she would 
 with him. He had not made up his mind to take the 
 plunge Mason had asked of him, for to do it he would 
 have to turn upon all his associates, and oppose every 
 friend he had in the world ; but the temptation, it 
 must be confessed, was very great. 
 
 This temptation, backed by Mrs. Sampsell's will, 
 which was in turn backed by her brawny fist, had its 
 effect. With more meekness that he had ever shown 
 towards her, he said — 
 
 **Wall, Marier, I promise. I am converted, and am 
 now a Republikin. I hev experienced a change uv 
 heart. And that bein' the case, go and get me some 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 23/ 
 
 dinner, and be quick about it, for I'm as hungry ez a 
 moral circus bar." 
 
 Mrs. Sampsell got his dinner with more alacrity 
 than she had ever shown before. 
 
 Truly Mr. Mason was fortunate in his electioneer- 
 ing schemes. He had made one convert very easily, 
 and that convert was good for many more. Mr. 
 William Sampsell became a terrible partisan of Caleb 
 Mason, for several reasons. First, he had a solid 
 respect for the man who had so chivalrously con- 
 quered him in the only thing that made him superior 
 to his fellows, namely, brute strength. Secondly, he 
 saw some advantages personal to himself in the 
 matter ; and when self-interest is joined to patriotism 
 there is no resisting it. He had absolute faith in 
 Mason and his motives, for the man who could whip 
 him in a fair rough-and-tumble could not be a bad 
 man to follow. Thirdly, Mrs. Sampsell had extorted 
 a promise from him, and that promise he would keep, 
 especially as it was his interest to' do so. 
 
 He had some difficulty with his old associates about 
 this sudden change, but he had a convincing way with 
 him. Half-a-dozen men argued with him, but as they 
 were all carried home with broken ribs, the others 
 declined to converse with him on the subject. 
 
238 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 MR. MASON GOES ONWARD AND WITHOUT INTERRUP- 
 TION ; AND WHY. 
 
 TO write an account of Mr. Mason's campaign 
 would be to put on paper a hundred such inci- 
 dents as those we have recorded. Suffice it to say 
 that, to the surprise of his friends, and to the 
 infinite disgust of his enemies, poHtical and personal, 
 he was elected by a most triumphant majority. His 
 labor had had its effect, and his judgment was 
 justified. 
 
 Another very curious thing about it was, that Mr. 
 Gleason had not only not opposed but had given him 
 a cordial support, which surprised everybody except 
 Mason and Gleason themselves. It was clear to Glea- 
 son why he did it, and partially so to Mason. Mr. 
 Mason knew this much — that Gleason was ambitious, 
 and wanted the seat in the legislature which he had 
 vacated, and to get it needed the support of Mr. 
 Mason and his all-powerful friends. At the first 
 intimation Gleason made of his desire, Mason was 
 disposed to be ugly and oppose him ; but Gleason 
 gave him such excellent reasons for changing his 
 mind that he did it very gracefully, and not only gave 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 239 
 
 him his support, but did it so effectually that Gleason 
 distanced his competitors. 
 
 Mr. Gleason did not show his whole hand. He 
 only exhibited enough of it to accomplish what he 
 desired. He did intimate that an expose of Mr. Har- 
 vey's management of the county treasury might be 
 awkward, and that a decided effort to push the 
 accounts of the Dunlap estate might be inconvenient 
 to Mason. He did not tell him that he had not suc- 
 ceeded as yet in piecing together the contents of the 
 waste-basket, and that many more months would 
 probably be required to perfect that wonderful piece 
 of work. 
 
 But the reasons he gave were ample, as the result 
 proved. Mason saw enough in what had been held 
 out to him ; he yielded the point with apparent 
 grace, and gave Mr. Gleason hearty and effective 
 support. 
 
 " Confound him ! " said Mason to himself, '' if I 
 could only find out how much he knows I should feel 
 more secure. But how much does he know ? " 
 
 Gleason on the other hand chuckled. He was an 
 astute man, with but little sentiment in his composi- 
 tion ; or rather he made his sentiment subservient to 
 his interest. 
 
 " I am not ready for Mason yet, and why should I 
 not make use of him to set up the ladder as close 
 behind him as I can .? Why should I stay at the foot, 
 when I can make mine enemy pull me up to within 
 easy reach of him when the time comes to throw him 
 
240 . THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 down ? I do not the less hold the thunderbolts 
 because I have shown him one of them, or because he 
 does not know of the others. I will use you, Mr. 
 Mason, till my time comes to destroy you. I may 
 put off the day as long as I can in order to make you 
 useful. But I shall be at your throat when my time 
 comes all the same ! " 
 
 Dr. Blanchard and Sarah Dunlap were indignant at 
 this delay. They wanted Mason attacked before his 
 election, that the election might be prevented, and they 
 wanted the punishment of their dcspoiler begun at 
 once. But Gleason was firm. 
 
 *' I have not got my patch-work far enough along. 
 We are not ready yet to show anything." 
 
 "But the murder!" ejaculated Blanchard. 
 
 " Can you prove anything of that now ? " was Glea- 
 son's reply. "Just now he is the idol of the people, 
 and unless you have proof positive it will be taken as 
 an attempt to injure a public man — as a device of his 
 political enemies to strike down a champion." 
 
 "When shall I bring it out ?" 
 
 "When I make it the interest of enough people to 
 believe it, whether or not there is any truth in it. 
 Then the story will get all the credit it deserves, and 
 more too. The original statement will be believed 
 and added to. Besides, my dear doctor, let him 
 climb. The higher he gets the further will he fall. 
 When he falls we want his neck broken." 
 
 Mr. Gleason had his way, as he always did, and 
 both the parties at interest accepted his ideas. They 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 24I 
 
 could do nothing without him — he was the main- 
 spring of their action in the matter. 
 
 So Caleb Mason was elected to Congress by Glea- 
 son's consent and aid. Gleason's assistance to Mason 
 was very largely negative, while Mason's to Gleason 
 was active and positive. 
 
 Once in Congress it was Mason's effort to so 
 entrench himself that he could hold the seat till he 
 was certain of his promotion to a higher place ; for 
 a higher place he had determined upon. Political 
 ambition, more than any other, is never satisfied ; 
 and Mason had no more idea of stopping in the House 
 of Representatives than he had the day he proposed 
 to go to the Legislature. 
 
 In Congress he made himself the most pronounced 
 radical in the body, and therein he showed his wis- 
 dom. In his campaign he had indoctrinated his con- 
 stituents very successfully. They were a generous 
 people who only needed awakening on the question 
 then prominent to become exceedingly enthusiastic; 
 and he had taken pains to lead them a little further in 
 that direction than he had intended to go himself. It 
 made his way clear and easy in Congress, and it 
 secured him in their affections at home. Whoever 
 should contest the seat with him would do it inevita- 
 bly by insisting that he was too radical, which state- 
 ment would be taken as an insult by every one of his 
 supporters. 
 
 But it was not with principles alone that he dealt. 
 He knew the importance of little things on little 
 
242 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 minds. The ponderous public documents which no 
 one ever reads, were showered on his district like 
 rain in April; and he did not content himself with 
 that. He would send the report of the Treasury 
 Department on imports and exports to a plain old 
 farmer, who could just manage to spell through his 
 county paper, and who was as capable of understanding 
 imports as he was of learning the Greek Alphabet, 
 and also write him the following note — 
 
 Washington, June 21, 1861. 
 My Dear Barker — 
 
 Knowing the interest you take in everything pertaining to the com- 
 mercial matters of our common country, I take pleasure in sending 
 you a report of the Treasury Department, which shows the imports and 
 exports of the preceding year. You will be much interested, I think, 
 in the statement, beginning at page 567, and continuing to page 1462, 
 showing the comparative exports of tallow from the principal countries 
 of the world for twenty years. As in these pages there is food for 
 reflection, I should be pleased to have your opinion on it. I need the 
 best thoughts and opinions of my constituents, for there are many 
 difficult questions arising which, alone, I feel incapable of coping 
 with. With great respect, I am, as ever, truly your friend, 
 
 Caleb Mason. 
 
 Poor old Barker would worry through a thousand 
 pages of figures without being able to make anything 
 out of them ; but nevertheless, his Representative had 
 thought of him, and he was ready to throttle the man 
 who would say a disrespectful word concerning him. 
 
 To another he would write thus — 
 
 My Old Friend Davis — 
 
 The Commissioner of Agriculture requested me to give him the 
 name of some thoroughly intelligent farmer, that he might send him 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 243 
 
 some seeds, the value of which are in doubt, with a view of determin- 
 ing the same. Will you plant the seeds, and carefully note results, 
 which send to me, that I may have the same incorporated. in the Agri- 
 cultural report ? If the variety is better than the native, it should be 
 largely sown. 
 
 Kindest regards to Mrs. Davis, and is your little Frankie better of 
 his white swelling ? 
 
 Truly your friend, 
 
 Caleb Mason. 
 
 What could Davis think of the man who had given 
 his name as one possessing all the qualities set down 
 in the inquiries of the Commissioner of Agricul- 
 ture ? And what could Mrs. Davis think of the man 
 who not only sent his regards, but his kindest 
 regards, to her, and also remembered that her little 
 boy had a white swelling ? Alas ! She did not 
 know that the seeds were such as any Congressman 
 could then get by the bushel for the asking, and that 
 the inquiries of the Commissioner were myths ; and 
 also that in a memorandum book, which Mr. Mason 
 made when he was canvassing, was this entry — 
 
 Davis, "Wm. — Fidelity P. O. — Good farm. Durham stock — 
 seeds — Ag. Dep. — Boy Frankie, white swelling on left leg. 
 
 And so zealous was he in the matter of seeds, that, 
 having exhausted his own allowance, he begged all he 
 could of his brother Representatives who were too 
 lazy to take care of themselves ; and then he bought 
 oats and wheat by the bushel, and sent it out as 
 grain which the Commissioner of Agriculture desired 
 tested. He neglected not a man in his district except 
 
244 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 a few incorrigible Democrats, and such of his friends 
 as would hold to him through principle or interest 
 anyhow. He was wise in his day and generation, was 
 Mr. Mason. He didn't waste time nor money on those 
 who would be his in any event. It was the doubtful 
 ones whom he bought up by remembrance, and the 
 luke-warm that he stirred into zeal by attention. 
 
 He it was who, through some of the wheat that was 
 badly cleaned, introduced more varieties of weeds into 
 the district than they knew existed. To him they owe 
 the Canada thistle, which afflicts them to this day. 
 
 But the seed plan was the smallest of his little 
 operations for keeping his constituents in mind of him. 
 He always came home during the holiday vacation, to 
 stay that brief time, as he was wont to say, " with his 
 constituents, and in the bosom of his family." "The 
 "bosom of his family" saw but little of him, however; 
 for the time was the busiest he had. He was to 
 return on Monday, the 14th. The week before his 
 return he received from Cincinnati, by express, a 
 package, which, when opened, proved to be litho- 
 graphed letters — two hundred of them, an exact fac- 
 simile of his handwriting — so exact, in fact, that only 
 an expert could have detected the difference. They 
 read thus — 
 
 Pulaski, Jan. 9, 1861. 
 My Dear Friend — 
 
 On Monday next I return to Washington to resume my duties as 
 your Representative in our national councils. There are many ques- 
 tions which will come up after the holidays, some of the most important, 
 indeed, being before the committees on which I have been placed 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 245 
 
 These questions are so grave and important, that I really shrink from 
 grappling with them till I have had the counsel of those in my district 
 whom I trust as my friends, and upon whose judgment and patriotism I 
 feel that I may rely. I have, therefore, invited a few of the leading 
 Republicans of the district to meet at my house, Friday night, the i ith, 
 for consultation, and (I hope this will not be amiss) dinner. Will you 
 come.'' Don't disappoint me, for I count upon you. 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 Caleb Mason. 
 
 "In the name of heaven, Mr. Mason," exclaimed 
 the wife of his bosom, "how many of them have 
 you?" 
 
 "Two hundred, my dear." 
 
 "And how many do you propose to send out.-*" 
 
 "All of them, my darling." 
 
 "Why, we can't have two hundred of those stogy- 
 booted farmers in our house at once ! It is impos- 
 sible ! Why, you might as well call a mass-meeting 
 in my parlors and be done with it ! " 
 
 "My dear," replied Mr. Mason, filling in the 
 names as fast as he could write, "'many are called, 
 but few come.' Isn't that the text.? No.? Well, 
 never mind, I am a little rusty. You will get dinner 
 for twenty ; only twenty will be here. I shall send 
 out two hundred invitations, but only twenty will be 
 here. You can get up a cheap dinner for twenty, I 
 hope." 
 
 "If you invite two hundred, every man of them 
 will be here. Why not ? " 
 
 " Because, my dear, somehow, the invitations will 
 not reach one hundred and eighty of them till the 
 
246 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 day after. The twenty names marked with a cross 
 are those that will go into the mail to-day. They 
 will reach the parties to whom they are addressed. 
 The other one hundred and eighty will be mailed too 
 late for to-day's mail, by some oversight of my 
 secretary" — 
 
 "What secretary.?" 
 
 "The one the people suppose I keep, and on whose 
 shoulders all the blame for the miscarriages rest. By 
 this oversight they will not get them till Saturday, 
 and I shall be so disappointed. Rest easy, love, and 
 get up a cheap, showy dinner for twenty. And, dear, 
 be sure to have oysters in plenty. Have them 
 stewed, fried, scolloped and raw — and if there is any 
 other way of cooking them, have them that way. 
 Have them in the gravy for the roast — have them 
 everywhere ! Buy five kegs of the cheapest brand, 
 but have enough. If there is anything that savors 
 of earthly grandeur to a Sixth district farmer it 
 is oysters. Whatever else is omitted, don't forget 
 oysters ! " 
 
 The invitations were sent, and on the night the 
 twenty were there. 
 
 They were excellent, good men in their way — and 
 their way was a good one — all in black coats, the 
 fashion of five years prior to that time, with creases in 
 them which showed very distinctly that they were 
 used only on state occasions, and with black satin vests, 
 striped pantaloons, and shirts painfully gotten up. 
 
 They demolished the supper, and Mrs. Mason 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 247 
 
 talked charmingly to every one of them. They dis- 
 cussed the weather, the crops, the prevailing fever, 
 everything that could be imagined, and went to the 
 tavern at twelve o'clock at night, full of oysters and 
 Mason's whiskey — it was some of a very cheap brand 
 that he bought for the occasion, though he intimated 
 that he had it as a present from a brother Congress- 
 man in Kentucky — and every man went to bed feel- 
 ing that all the questions of public policy had been 
 that night settled, though not a word of politics had 
 been spoken from beginning to end. 
 
 When Noakes, of Albion, met Stoakes on Sun- 
 day morning at church, the following conversation 
 ensued — 
 
 "Whar d'je go Friday, Noakes.? Ye wuzn't to 
 home." 
 
 *'Wall, now, ye see Cale Mason hed a leetle con- 
 sultashun Friday night, and he wanted me, and I 
 went. We had a good time — splendid supper — 
 isters and everything till ye coodn't rest, and we fixed 
 up everything snug. Gale's a great man, and a 
 honor to the deestrik." 
 
 "Jist what I sposed. I hed a invite thar myself, 
 but it didn't come till yisterday mornin', and it wuz 
 too late. I wish I'd got it sooner ! Isters, did ye 
 say? Well!" 
 
 Noakes was delighted that he was there — Stoakes 
 pleased, to say the least, that he had been invited, 
 but sorrowing that the invitation had come so late 
 that he missed saving the state, and — isters. 
 
248 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 But he loved Caleb Mason all the same, the more 
 when he met him and Mason told him that he had 
 heard of the miscarriage of his invitations, and had 
 investigated the matter, and in his rage had dis- 
 charged the secretary through whose carelessness it 
 had occurred. 
 
 So Mr. Mason got through his first term tolerably 
 well, and might consider himself fairly on the road for 
 the second. 
 
 But difficulties began to beset his path. The new- 
 born Republican party that was a wailing infant in the 
 wilderness of politics when he had picked it up, had 
 grown almost in a day into a giant. It had grown so 
 rapidly that it had taken up in its arms, simply 
 because they had clung to it, an enormous number of 
 very small men, who were themselves as astonished at 
 their elevation as were the people, seeing that they 
 had done nothing whatever to deserve it. And the 
 enormous shadow it cast killed a very large number 
 of respectable men who found it very like an upas 
 to them. 
 
 Now that the party had got to be so strong and 
 powerful, as a matter of course it had no lack of 
 recruits. Mason had gone into the forest of Democ- 
 racy, and chopped, and burned, and grubbed, until he 
 had made a decent Republican field of it. Now there 
 were plenty of great small men who had set up their 
 tents in it, and insisted, not only upon occupancy, but 
 upon taking the very best places. 
 
 It did not surprise Mr. Mason at all, to hear that a 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE .249 
 
 half dozen were actually laying the wires to usurp his 
 place ; and he smiled a smile of derision. 
 
 But he had no reason to smile nor to despise his 
 antagonists ; and to do him justice, when he discov- 
 ered their strength and their determination, he did 
 not smile, but he did what was more dangerous to 
 them — he gritted his teeth, and pulled his thin lips 
 down over them tightly,, and set to work. He could 
 not afford to be beaten at the beginning of his career. 
 
 He made a body guard of the best friends a man 
 could possess, but in making them he offended a very 
 large number of the best Republicans of the district. 
 
 This is about how it stood — 
 
 The Harvey family had lost much of its strength, 
 for in some way rumors had got abroad concerning 
 troubles in the county treasury. These rumors were 
 the more dangerous because there were no explicit 
 charges to meet and to disprove. Only it was in the 
 air that there was something rotten in that particular 
 Denmark. 
 
 There was a very large body of very respectable 
 men who saw that Mr. Mason proposed, as they 
 termed it, "to run the district" — that is, to keep 
 himself in place — and they were anxious to kill him 
 at the beginning. 
 
 There were a hundred or more who wanted Mr. 
 Mason's place themselves, and who knew they could 
 never get it so long as he maintained his present pop- 
 ularity and desired to retain it ; and they estimated 
 his ambition with marvellous accuracy. 
 
250 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 There were the Toms, Dicks, and Harrys, who 
 always bark at the heels of successful men, and who 
 hated Mason because he had been successful. 
 
 There were the actual conservatives, who honestly 
 believed that he was too radical. 
 
 Contra — 
 
 He had the radical element of the party completely 
 attached to him. 
 
 He had every office-holder in the district. 
 
 The radicals were the rank and file of the party, 
 and the office-holders were captains and sergeants ; 
 and they had the great body splendidly drilled, and in 
 shape to do any work that might be wanted. 
 
 His enemies in the party consulted long and earn- 
 estly as to how to get rid of him — how to beat him 
 for the re-nomination. 
 
 The Democracy were m hopeless minority in the 
 district ; so all they could hope to do was to so throw 
 their strength as to make mischief in the Republican 
 ranks. 
 
 Their leaders had told the leaders of the disaf- 
 fected — that is, the anti-Mason people — that if they 
 would split the nominating convention, and bring out 
 an independent Republican candidate, they would 
 throw the whole Democratic strength to him, and by 
 the combination succeed. In order to kill so ardent 
 and skillful a Republican as Mason, they would not 
 nominate a Democratic candidate at all. 
 
 This was precisely what the principal men in the 
 opposition to Mason desired, and the bargain was 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 25 I 
 
 closed. The next question was, what anti-Mason 
 Republican should be selected as the candidate. 
 
 Twenty of the leaders met secretly to decide this 
 point, our friend Starkweather being one of them. 
 They all insisted that the salvation of the country 
 depended upon beating Mason, and that all personal 
 preferences should be thrown aside, and only one 
 thing should be considered, viz. : the man who could 
 control the most Republican votes against Mason. 
 Who was be ? 
 
 There was a singular reluctance to propose names, 
 — a very ominous reluctance — which some of them 
 did not like. Finally one arose and remarked that per- 
 haps a ballot might be the best thing to indicate the 
 preferences, and to that end he would suggest that 
 each gentleman present write the name of the man of 
 his choice, and deposit it in the hat. This was 
 acceded to. Col. Starkweather smiling a grim smile. 
 
 When the ballots were taken out it was discovered 
 that each one of the twenty present had just one vote, 
 and the hand-writing betrayed the awkward fact that 
 each one had voted for himself. 
 
 There was the silence of a minute in the assembly. 
 A sort of shame-faced expression marked each counte- 
 nance, which was broken by the chairman remarking 
 that each gentleman present was very unanimous — 
 which in turn was followed by a loud, though some- 
 what forced laugh, in which they all joined. To 
 laugh was the easiest way out of the embarrassing 
 position they had got into. 
 
252 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 After much wrangling, a well-known and wealthy, 
 as well as respected Republican named Stevens, was 
 decided upon as the proper person to bear aloft the 
 independent Republican banner, and immediately the 
 work was commenced to put him in nomination. By 
 the way, the full report of the interview was made by 
 Major Starkweather to Mr. Mason that night. 
 
 The plan was to beat Mason for the nomination if 
 possible, and make Stevens the regular nominee; if 
 not, to bolt Mason's .nomination, and run Stevens as 
 an independent candidate. 
 
 The day of the convention was fixed by the central 
 committee, and a week thereafter the Stevens faction 
 discovered that Mason had four-fifths of the delegates 
 pledged to him. His discipline had done the work 
 before the volunteer soldiers had got ready to take 
 the field. So they decided not to go into the conven- 
 tion at all, but to call another, and to justify that, 
 they issued an address which set forth that the con- 
 vention called by the committee had been called so 
 early as to preclude the possibility of a fair expression 
 of the people; that it had been so arranged with a 
 view to packing it in the interests of one man, instead 
 of giving the malcontents an opportunity to pack it in 
 the interest of another (though they did not say this) ; 
 and they closed by inviting the independent Republi 
 cans of the district to meet in convention at a later day. 
 
 Both conventions were held — the first nominated 
 Mason by acclamation, and the second nominated 
 Stevens in the same way. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 253 
 
 Consequently there were two Republican candi- 
 dates in the field, and no Democratic one. 
 
 Mason saw that he had a fight before him, and he 
 braced his nerves for the conflict. He was the 
 strongest and most determined when most seriously 
 opposed. To fail now would be to fail forever. 
 
254 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE GREAT MASON AND STEVENS FIGHT 
 
 MR. STEVENS was a man of very considerable 
 wealth, and his supporters were men of 
 wealth, and Mr. Stevens had entered into the contest 
 determined to win, if money and influence could do it. 
 He really wanted to go to Congress ; and, besides, he 
 hated Mason as every man of old family hates a new 
 one — an "upstart." Respect for blood is not con- 
 fined to monarchical countries. 
 
 But one trouble assailed him at the outset. Every 
 Republican paper in the district supported Mason. 
 True, he had the Democratic press, but the Democ- 
 racy he was sure of in any event. It was the Repub- 
 licans whom he wanted to reach, and how could he do 
 it without a paper ? What is the use of having music 
 in you, unless you have lungs and a throat .-* 
 
 There were then in Pulaski three papers — one 
 Republican, one Democratic, and one Independent. 
 The latter was supported almost exclusively by 
 Republicans. Now T/ie Shield and Banner was very 
 independent. It had for its vignette a slave bursting 
 his bonds, and for its motto — 
 
 " Here shall the press the people's right maintain, 
 Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 255 
 
 True, it never paid a dollar; and true it was that 
 Mr. Gamaliel Incubus, its editor, proprietor and sole 
 business manager, was as poverty-stricken a man as 
 ever managed to exist on a business that sunk money 
 regularly. 
 
 To The Shield and Banner Mr. Stevens turned for 
 an organ. Why not t He was an Independent can- 
 didate, and why should not the independent press 
 support him t Stevens called upon Mr. Incubus, and 
 a long conversation followed. 
 
 Mr. Stevens suggested that The Shield and Banner 
 should strike a manly blow for freedom. 
 
 Mr. Incubus replied that he had a great deal of 
 respect personally for Mr. Stevens, and that the 
 striking manly blows for freedom was an excellent 
 thing to do ; but whatever might be his feelings as an 
 American citizen and patriot, seven children called to 
 him daily for bread — and butter — to say nothing of 
 an expected eighth ; and they must be considered. 
 
 *< I shall get the opposition of my radical friends," 
 said Mr. Incubus. 
 
 "But the principle!" was Mr. Stevens' reply. 
 
 "Seven children and a mother-in-law!" said Mr. 
 Incubus. 
 
 "Think of Mason building up a party controlled by 
 mercenaries, and overriding the will of the people ! " 
 
 "Think of an empty potato-bin, a pork barrel which 
 echoes dismally from its empty sides, and a flour 
 barrel in which there is not enough to make 
 paste ! " 
 
256 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "A thousand dollars if you come out for the inde- 
 pendent movement ! Let me know this afternoon ! " 
 
 " I can begin to see where my duty to my country 
 leads," said Incubus. 
 
 And Mr. Stevens left abruptly. 
 
 Mr. Gamaliel Incubus did not ponder very long. 
 To do him justice, he would have preferred to have 
 supported Mason ; but a thousand dollars was too 
 great a temptation to resist. He owed his paper- 
 dealer, his landlord, and his hands. Then he owed 
 every tradesman in the town, and his notes on hand 
 were as common as leaves. It had become a 
 custom in the town in such matters as horse-trading, 
 when it seemed as if dickering had become exhausted, 
 for one of the traders to say — 
 
 " Now I'll tell you what I'll do, and what I won't. 
 I've got a good note for $1$. I'll give you that note 
 and my boss, for your hoss and $S." 
 
 " Whose note is it ? " 
 
 "Incubus'." 
 
 And then, if the other man was an old settler, he 
 would answer with a horse-laugh. 
 
 Mr. Incubus himself was wont to say that if he should 
 ever become famous, autograph-hunters would have 
 no trouble whatever in securing all they wanted of his 
 signature cheap. 
 
 The thousand dollars which Stevens had offered 
 him would at least pay off the mortgage on his house, 
 which was in his wife's name, and give him that much 
 of a foot-hold. That determined him. T/ie Shield 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2$/ 
 
 and Banner should throw off its neutrality, and 
 espouse the cause of Stevens. He would dare the 
 Mason influence, and pocket Mr. Stevens' money. 
 He cared very little for the motto at the head of his 
 paper. No one would know that he was not 
 "unbribed by gain," and besides, for one thousand 
 dollars he could afford to bear some abuse. And 
 moreover, if Stevens were elected, were there not 
 post-offices } Who could say what might happen } 
 
 So Mr. Incubus grasped his trusty pen, which, in 
 his hands, was mightier than any sword would have, 
 been, and wrote — 
 
 FOR CONGRESS. 
 WHO SHALL BE OUR REPRESENTATIVE? 
 The time is rapidly approaching for the people of this district to 
 decide who shall represent them in the next Congress. Of course it 
 will be a Republican, for the district is overwhelmingly Republican, as 
 has been clearly demonstrated by the elections of the last two years. 
 The car of Republicanism is moving slowly but certainly toward its 
 goal, crushing remorselessly everything that comes in its way. 
 
 Mr. Incubus read and wiped great drops of sweat 
 from his brow. 
 
 "That's a splendid sentence," he said to himself. 
 "It's worth more than a thousand dollars. I'm going 
 too cheap at that." 
 
 Admitting that it is to be a Republican — and no one can doubt 
 it — the choice is narrowed down to the two candidates of that per- 
 suasion — Gen. Mason and John Stevens, Esq. As between the two, no 
 good citizen should hesitate a moment. Gen. Mason has served one 
 term, and we are compelled to say that he has not fulfilled the expec- 
 
258 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 tations of his constituents — that he has been unfaithful to the princi- 
 ples of the Republican party, as well as to the interests of the district, 
 and has bent his whole energies to the building up of a personal follow- 
 ing, through which to control the district and perpetuate him and them 
 in office. Such a man ought not to continue in a place which has 
 opportunities for so much good or evil. 
 
 Mr. Stevens is a citizen against whom slander has never breathed its 
 slimy breath. Devoted to the interests of the section, possessing ability 
 far beyond that given to ordinary men, devoted to the principles of 
 the great party he helped to found and of which he is an honored 
 member, he will make a Representative who will be useful in the dis- 
 trict, and of whom the district can well be proud. 
 
 The Shield and Banner knows but one word, and that is, duty! 
 We love our common country, and cannot do that which will, in any 
 sense retard its progress or impede its onward march to the greatness 
 reserved for it. Impelled by a profound sense of duty which we can- 
 not ignore, we throw behind us our neutrality, and give to Mr. Stevens 
 our cordial support ; and we hope to battle so earnestly in the good 
 cause as to be able to announce, on the 7th day of October, his triumph- 
 ant election to a seat in the national councils. The right must triumph, 
 and chicanery and demagogism must go to the wall. The price of 
 The Shield and Banner remains at $1.50 per annum, invariably in 
 advance. 
 
 Mr. Incubus took the manuscript to Mr. Stevens' 
 office and laid it before him and Major Starkweather, 
 who was recognized as Mr. Stevens' best friend. 
 They read it. 
 
 *'This is well enough to begin with, Mr. Incubus; 
 
 but it is understood — agreed, in fact — that from the 
 
 next issue, myself or whoever I may appoint, shall have 
 
 I control of the columns of the paper until after the 
 
 next election." 
 
 ♦* Certainly, Mr. Stevens j certainly ! " 
 
 Stevens went to his safe and counted out ;^ 1,000, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 259 
 
 which Mr. Incubus clutched with a joy he did not 
 attempt to conceal. 
 
 "It's all right, Mr. Stevens. I shall prepare The 
 Shield and Banner to mght ior its appearance to-mor- 
 row, and shall go out of town , for a few days. You 
 understand — there will be excitement when this 
 appears, and I would rather be out of the way till it 
 subsides somewhat — till it blows over, as it were." 
 
 "Very good. I don't care." 
 
 And Mr. Incubus had the article put in type, read 
 his proof, and went out of town on the evening stage. 
 
 Major Starkweather was in conference with Mason, 
 and that afternoon the foreman of the office was sent 
 'for. He was an acute young man who had an under- 
 standing with Mason, and he came the moment he 
 was notified. 
 
 "Well, Samuel.!*" said Mason. 
 
 "General, there is trouble brewin' — trouble! The 
 Shie/d comes out to-morrow for Stevens." 
 
 " The Shield? What is that for } " 
 
 "I don't know. Incubus went out this afternoon, 
 and went into Stevens' office over the way. He 
 came back and put an article in hand, announcing it 
 as his duty to support Stevens. He told me to get 
 the forms ready, and get up early in the morning and 
 work off the edition and mail it. He is going out 
 of town to-night for a day or two." 
 
 "The old scoundrel is afraid to meet me. But 
 never mind, Samuel. Can you bring me a proof of 
 the article } " 
 
26o THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Yes ; at six o'clock, when we quit work." 
 
 "Will the forms all be ready and on the press at 
 that time?" 
 
 "Yes; before we leave the office." 
 
 "And you don't work the edition till morning.?" 
 
 ''No; we can catch all the mails in time in the 
 morning, and it saves light." 
 
 "Very good; bring me the proof-slip." 
 
 Samuel did as he was requested. Mr. Mason went 
 into his inner office, whence he returned in a short 
 time with the proof-slip liberally marked. 
 
 " Samuel, can you lift that article out of the form, 
 and correct it.?" 
 
 Samuel looked it over. 
 
 "Why, good Lord! To correct it as you have 
 marked it commits the paper to you instead of to 
 Stevens ! " 
 
 "Certainly. I want you to correct this to-night, 
 and put it back into the form. You are the press- 
 man, are you not ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then work off the forms and get the edition 
 mailed." 
 
 "But I shall lose my place." 
 
 '* I will get you a better one in T/ie Clarion office, 
 and pay you all that Incubus owes you besides." 
 
 That settled him. He did as he was desired. 
 Half the night he worked in the office alone, and 
 the next morning the creaking of the press showed 
 that the edition was going through. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 26 1 
 
 Finally it appeared on the streets. Mr. Stevens 
 opened his copy and read his article so ingeniously 
 twisted as to make the paper pronounced in its sup- 
 port of Mason. His eyes expanded, and he rushed 
 over to the office of The Shield. 
 
 "Where is Incubus.'^" he demanded. 
 
 "Gone to Pleasantville," replied Sam, with a face 
 as innocent as a baby's. 
 
 "When will he be back.^^" 
 
 "The Lord only knows — probably not for a good 
 while. He has gone to raise some money, and may 
 be gone a month, for all I know. Did you want to 
 pay anything .? I kin take it." 
 
 Stevens rushed out in a rage. His indiscreet 
 friends had told everybody that The Shield was com- 
 ing out for the Independent candidate, and the laughs 
 that went up from the people were very loud. 
 
 Incubus saw it in Pleasantville, and came home 
 post-haste, and in a mortal fright. How could he face 
 Stevens, and would Stevens want his thousand dol- 
 lars t That he couldn't get, for he had paid it on the 
 mortgage. 
 
 "I will be fair with him," said Incubus to himself. 
 "I will give him my note for it." He went straight 
 to Stevens office to explain. What was said no one 
 ever knew, but the interview could not have been 
 pleasant, for Mr. Incubus came out with both eyes 
 blackened, and a lip like a piece of raw beef. 
 
 Enraged at this treatment, he went to the office 
 and thought over the situation. He could not 
 
262 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 explain the occurrence without getting a laugh upon 
 himself that would kill him. Then he went to 
 Mason, and that gentleman, after thanking him for 
 the cordial support The Shield had given him, and 
 hoping he had deserved it, pressed upon his accept- 
 ance another thousand dollars, which Incubus, smart- 
 ing from Stevens' fist, accepted without hesitation. 
 So Mr. Mason had both papers singing his praises. 
 Mr. Incubus was richer than he had ever been, Sam- 
 uel was not discharged, and was made happy by the 
 payment of all arrearages. 
 
 Mr. Stevens had to have a paper, though ; and he 
 got one the same as men get everything they want — 
 he started one. And so Pulaski had four papers 
 instead of three, and Mr. Stevens had the means at 
 command of answering the calumnies hurled against 
 the defender of the people's rights by an unprincipled 
 and subsidized press. 
 
 To the utmost astonishment of Blanchard — and 
 for that matter, of everybody else — Gleason again 
 stood with Mason in this contest. Blanchard had 
 gone with the Stevens faction, and had confidently 
 counted on Gleason's powerful aid. 
 
 The moment he heard of it he went to Gleason's 
 office to reproach him. Gleason met him with the 
 utmost good humor. 
 
 "Doc," said he, "you are probably a most excellent 
 physician — I don't know but what you have that 
 reputation ; but permit me to say that you know less 
 of men than any man I know of. Look here." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 263 
 
 And Mr. Gleason took the cloth off the green baize 
 table. 
 
 "See, I have got just this far." 
 
 The paper in the upper corner read like this — 
 
 PuLAS tob 185 
 
 Received Sim nlap, four thous nd 
 
 dol money, nd twent ne ousand 
 
 ars in 7 ds 
 
 Ca b son. 
 
 "Now, I have worked on this every minute of my 
 spare time, with this result. I have to handle these 
 bits of paper a thousand times each, you see, and it 
 gets on slowly. When the time comes I will speak 
 and strike ; but I don't propose to do either till I am 
 ready." 
 
 "But why do you support this confounded villain 
 for Congress.?" 
 
 " Ah ! that's my personal and private matter. Pos- 
 sibly it may be principle, and possibly I may have my 
 own private ends to serve. At all events, that's out- 
 side our compact. Let me alone, and trust me ! " 
 
 Blanchard left in high dudgeon ; but as he could 
 do nothing in the one matter next his heart without 
 Gleason, he held his peace. 
 
 The fact is, Gleason had had political sagacity 
 enough to see that by hook or crook Mason would be 
 elected — and moreover, that the radical faction would 
 not only win this battle, but would control the party 
 
264 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 for years, and that it would be political death for any 
 man to oppose it at the time. Besides, he had other 
 reasons. He did not want Mason killed till he was 
 ready to take his place. What good would it do to 
 kill Mason for Stevens' sake .'* Stevens once in, he 
 would stay in, and Gleason had no leverage on him. 
 With Mason it was different ; he had a crime on his 
 hands to be used against him, and Gleason could kill 
 him when he would. And besides all this he could 
 better prosecute the criminal while belonging to 
 Mason's faction than if he were opposed to him. It 
 would not be looked upon as political spite. 
 
 Mr. Mason was to be slaughtered in time, but Mr. 
 Gleason did not propose to do it till he was secure of 
 the hide, horns and tallow. He had a double game to 
 play ^ to kill his enemy, and to despoil his camp. 
 He did not intend to do the killing and permit any 
 one else to run off with the plunder. 
 
 Therefore Mr. Gleason gave Mr. Mason a very 
 hearty support, being very careful to have it under- 
 stood that it was from partisan and not from personal 
 motives. The people noticed that whenever Gleason 
 made a speech he had no tributes to pay to the candi- 
 date, but confined himself strictly to the discussion 
 of the questions involved in the campaign. 
 
 The canvass was a very warm one, and Mason con- 
 tested it stubbornly. He fought like a man fighting 
 for life, which, indeed, he was ; for politics was his 
 life, and to retire him at the beginning of a career 
 which he intended should widen as he progressed, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 265 
 
 would have been to make life worth nothing to him. 
 He spoke twice each day, and the amount of people- 
 seeing that he did was wonderful. Both sides did 
 wonders, though the Stevens faction rested in toler- 
 able security, for they were certain of a large vote 
 from the Republican party, and the Democracy 
 seemed to be pulling truly and squarely in the traces, 
 and there seemed to be no doubt of receiving the sup- 
 port which the leaders of the latter had promised. 
 
 The situation looked very awkwardly for Mason. 
 The disaffected Republicans had put in nomination a 
 man who could control a good share of the Republican 
 vote. Now if the Democracy should all vote for this 
 new nominee, of course he would be elected beyond a 
 peradventure ; and that they would, unless something 
 were done to stop it, there could be no doubt. They 
 had made no nomination, for they had promised to 
 vote for Stevens ; and this view of the case gave the 
 following result — 
 
 Total Republican vote 10,000 
 
 Total Democratic vote 6,000 
 
 Which apparently was to be divided thus — 
 
 Mason, Republican vote 7yS^^ 
 
 Stevens, Republican vote 2,500 
 
 Stevens, Democratic vote 6,000 
 
 8,500 
 
 This would give Stevens a clear majority of one 
 
266 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 thousand — enough, in all conscience. Mason and 
 the Harveys had made the same calculation. "What 
 is to be done.-*" asked the collector. 
 
 **Ah, indeed! What is to be done.?" sighed the 
 postmaster. 
 
 ** Ef Stevens is elected the principles of the Repub- 
 likin party is jeopardized, and off goes every one uv 
 our heads," said the collector. 
 
 "True, gentlemen," said Mason; "and to prevent 
 this, only one thing is necessary. The Democracy 
 must have a candidate of its own, and they must vote 
 for him. I want ;^20,ooo." 
 
 "Where are you going to get it.^*" Starkweather 
 gasped. 
 
 " You will make up a part of it among you. Every 
 office-holder in the district will do his share, and I 
 will take care of the rest. Go, every one of you, and 
 see to raising that money, and meet me here to-mor- 
 row night ! There's no time to lose." 
 
 And Mason left the room abruptly. 
 
 Now, Mason had as a matter of policy, a nunber of 
 good friends upon whom he could depend in the 
 ranks of the Democracy; and one of them whom he 
 had saved from the penitentiary, he sent for. 
 
 "Timpson, shut the door. Timpson, you had 
 rather see me elected than that bloated aristocrat, 
 Stevens.?" 
 
 "Why, of course I would." 
 
 "Very good. Here is ;^ioo — use it. Go out to- 
 night, and at every place where you can talk politics, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 26/ 
 
 talk. Ask every Democrat you meet what's the 
 difference, so for as Republicanism is concerned, 
 wheather they vote for me or for Stevens. And get 
 hot, Timpson, very hot ; and swear vehemently that 
 you don't propose to let the leaders sell you out — 
 that if the Democracy have no candidate, and you 
 have to vote for a Republican, that you will vote for 
 me. Swear by all that's good and bad that you want 
 a good old Jackson ian Democrat — a true-blue Demo- 
 crat — and you'll have one, or smash things. And, 
 Timpson, swear that there are eight hundred Demo- 
 crats you know of who think as you do, and will do as 
 you do. Now get, and do just what I have told 
 you ! " 
 
 And Timpson went out from the presence, and did 
 it; and he was surprised to find how many of the 
 Democracy were of his opinion. 
 
 There was an immediate alarm in the Stevens 
 camp. They had not counted on this defection, for 
 Mason having been two years in Congress, and having 
 been as radical as the most extreme man in his party, 
 they expected that every Democrat would do as the 
 leaders had done, or intended to do — namely, do any- 
 thing to beat Mason. 
 
 "Why can't you soften your Republicanism so as 
 to satisfy them ugly Democrats.''" asked one of 
 Stevens' friends. 
 
 "A remarkably sound piece of advice," returned 
 the much troubled Stevens. "Should I let down a 
 particle I should lose ten Republican votes where I 
 
268 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 saved one Democratic. No, that won't do ; but I'll 
 tell you what will. We must have a straight Demo- 
 cratic nominee, after all. There must be a Democrat 
 nominated sound enough to satisfy the impracticables 
 who otherwise would vote for Mason, not seeing any 
 difference between him and me, so far as the effect 
 upon Congress goes. But only those impracticables 
 must vote for him. The leaders must hold the mass 
 of their vote for me as was arranged. There can't 
 be more than five hundred of them, and that will 
 leave me still five hundred. Where shall we find this 
 man of straw .'' He must be a sound, unquestioned 
 Democrat, and one who was in the arrangement 
 with us, so that we shall not be betrayed. Who is 
 he.?" 
 
 "Adams, of Spread Eagle," said. one. 
 
 " Thompson, of Washington," said another. 
 
 "Peters, of Defiance," suggested a third. 
 
 "Phelps, of Potter," remarked a fourth. 
 
 "Phelps is our man," said Mr. Stevens, after a 
 moment's thought. " He always wanted to go to 
 Congress, and has been a candidate for nomination 
 half-a-dozen times when there was no chance of his 
 being chosen, before the war, when the district was 
 Democratic. There will be nothing singular in his 
 being the nominee — nothing whatever. He must be 
 seen immediately to-morrow ; a Democratic conven- 
 tion must be called, and the thing done regularly, and 
 he must be put out in such a way as to catch this 
 vote; for if it goes to Mason we are lost." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 269 
 
 The suggestion was acted upon without delay. A 
 conference of the leading Democrats was held, the 
 consent of Phelps was easily procured, and the wheels 
 were put in motion. 
 
 In consequence of the celerity of these movements 
 Mr. Mason had the pleasure of reading in the Demo- 
 cratic paper a few days after, the announcement of a 
 call for a convention to be held that day week, for the 
 purpose of nominating a straight Democratic candi- 
 date for Congress. 
 
 This announcement pleased Mr. Mason quite as 
 much as it did Mr. Stevens — it being probably the 
 only political movement on record that ever com- 
 pletely satisfied both opposing interests. Mr. Ste- 
 vens believed that the nomination of Phelps would lose 
 him only five hundred votes, and Mr. Mason was quite 
 willing that he should so believe. He had his idea. 
 
 It was probably the hottest campaign that was ever 
 fought in the state of Ohio. Mason directed his bat- 
 teries at Stevens, and he dealt terrific blows. He 
 admitted that there was an opposition to him in his 
 party, but from what did it proceed.'^ Was it because 
 he had in any way been derelict in duty to his con- 
 stituents ? No. Was it because he was in any way 
 lacking in duty to his party ? Could his opponents 
 point to a single struggle in the house in which he 
 was not in the van } Was there a measure affecting 
 the Republican party that he had not supported, and 
 had he not originated several of the most important 
 ones ^ 
 
2/0 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Why then this opposition ? Who was opposing 
 him ? Stevens. Who was Stevens ? A wealthy 
 man who came from one of the best families of 
 Connecticut ; Dr. Blanchard, who came to the county 
 with his diploma in his pocket, a wealthy father hav- 
 ing paid his expenses through college. Who else.? 
 Make a list of the aristocrats of the district and you 
 would find every man of them in the ranks of the 
 bolters. Those silk-stocking gentry who were oppos- 
 ing him were " the men who hold mortgages on your 
 land, fellow-citizens — who, by virtue of the money 
 which they inherited, not made themselves, are lording 
 it over you, and refuse to abide by your decision as 
 expressed in the usual form." 
 
 *'God knows, fellow-citizens," he continued, "that 
 it is not on my own account that I am making this 
 fight. Left to myself, I would a thousand times 
 rather settle down to my profession and live at home 
 among my friends and with my family. But you 
 have called me to this post, and I will not desert it. 
 I will fight these aristocrats who are opposing me 
 because I am not one of them. They are too proud 
 to vote for the son of old Seth Mason the drunkard 
 and the poor farmer ! I know that I come from the 
 people. I know and appreciate the difficulties which 
 one who came from a cabin, such as I was born in, 
 has to contend with. You know what I had to come 
 through ; you know the labor that I had to undergo, 
 and you know the disadvantages that beset me. 
 Well, I went through it all, and these silk-stocking 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2/1 
 
 gentry have never forgiven me, and never will, for 
 having made a success. They resent the impertinence 
 of a man of the people representing them. They want 
 one of their own class in Congress ; and I am not of 
 their class, never can be, and never will be. I am too 
 near the people for that." 
 
 And then Mason very adroitly stigmatized Stevens 
 as a conservative in politics, one who was in league 
 with the Democracy, and who would vote in Congress 
 as much with them as with the Republicans ; and that 
 compelled Mr. Stevens, who did not like it at all, to 
 out-Herod Herod in his denunciations of the Democ- 
 racy, under penalty of losing the Republican vote, all 
 of which cooled the ardor of the Democracy, whose 
 hate of Stevens personally had not been very bitter. 
 He had no other course open. He was between two 
 fires. If he sunk his Republicanism, Mason would 
 make inroads upon his Republican vote; and if he 
 retained the Republican vote he would be in danger of 
 losing the necessary portion of the Democratic 
 strength. 
 
 Finally the Sunday before the election came. The 
 speeches had all been made except the final grand 
 rallies at the county seats, and the outside work of the 
 campaign was virtually over. 
 
 The Stevens party were jubilant. If, as they antici- 
 pated, the loss to them by the nomination of Phelps 
 would only amount to five hundred, Stevens would 
 have a clear majority of five hundred. His friends 
 went out on the street and offered to bet, even 
 
272 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 to the giving of odds, that Stevens would be 
 elected, 
 
 "I shall be elected by about five hundred majority," 
 said Mason, *' and you may bet on my election all you 
 choose. Take every bet that is offered. Get all the 
 odds you can, but take every bet that is offered. I 
 expect you to make the expenses of the campaign off 
 the enemy." 
 
 On Sunday night there was a gathering of the vari- 
 ous federal office-holders at Mason's office. They 
 were always prompt at these meetings, for they had 
 an interest in the election that was somewhat more 
 than patriotic. Every blessed one of them knew that 
 in the event of Stevens' election his head would roll 
 into the basket ; and when a man's bread and butter 
 are in jeopardy there is no danger of his missing a 
 meeting. Whoever else may be delinquent, the office- 
 holder in danger never is. Collector Thompson was 
 present, you may be sure, that doughty patriot hav- 
 ing the best office in the district, and his occupying 
 it being one of the chief reasons for opposing Mason. 
 
 "You are all here," said Mason. "Have you your 
 wagons ready.?" 
 
 "All ready! " was the cheerful response. 
 
 "Very good, then. Thompson, you will go to 
 Bryan, McCann to Defiance, Peters to Napoleon, 
 Ellis to Ottawa. Each of you start to-night, and be 
 in each place Monday night, not before nine o'clock. 
 Here are lists of the men you are to see. Manage to 
 get to their houses at night after they have gone to 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2/3 
 
 bed, and awaken them, and tell them you came from 
 the Central committee here. Say that a careful can- 
 vass has shown that the Republican strength is 
 equally divided between Mason and Stevens, and that 
 the Republicans are so disgusted at the quarrel 
 between us that they will not poll more than half their 
 vote — that is to say, in this county. And say 
 further, that if the Democracy pull together, there is 
 no doubt of the election of Phelps, and the breaking 
 down of the Republican domination in this district; 
 that to elect Phelps will so divide the Republican 
 party that unity of action hereafter will be impossible, 
 and the Democracy will have control of every county 
 in the district forever ; that, therefore, every Democrat 
 must vote for Phelps. Take with you these packages 
 of straight Democratic tickets with Phelps' name on 
 them, and urge them to be at the polls early, and to 
 see that every Democrat puts in a straight Demo- 
 cratic ticket. And here are three hundred dollars 
 each to distribute to them for expenses. There should 
 be a Democratic leader, a well known man, start from 
 each county-seat not later than ten o'clock Monday 
 night, to canvass every township, and see that reliable 
 Democrats are at each voting precinct in his county 
 early Tuesday morning, who must see that every 
 Democratic voter casts his ballot for Phelps, except 
 those who will vote for me. Here is your money and 
 tickets. Go! and remember that the moment the 
 count shows that I am elected, there is one thousand 
 dollars each for you." 
 
274 "THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Is this going to elect you?" anxiously asked one 
 of them. 
 
 "Get away, and don't ask questions. I shall get 
 seven thousand five hundred Republican votes, and 
 Stevens will get two thousand five hundred. If 
 Phelps gets all the Democratic votes it leaves me 
 one thousand majority. Go and see that Phelps gets 
 all the Democratic votes." 
 
 That night before twelve o'clock twenty men simi- 
 larly instructed left Pulaski for all the county-seats 
 and principal towns in the district. 
 
 Then Mr. Mason and his coadjutors made such 
 other arrangements as they thought necessary, and at 
 five in the morning Caleb Mason threw himself on 
 his bed, thoroughly wearied and completely worn out. 
 "I have done all that can be done," he said to him- 
 self, while disrobing, "and if I have made no mistake, 
 I arn elected; if I have made blunders, I am 
 defeated. If I am defeated, I am ruined. Very well! 
 It is a gamble, and I must wait the turning of the 
 dice ! " 
 
 And he got under the covers and went off into a 
 sweet and pleasant sleep as quietly as though his 
 future did not depend upon the unknown result of 
 to-morrow's work — as though his life were not tremb- 
 ling in that uncertain balance — the favor of a fickle 
 people. 
 
 Tuesday morning came. Mason's work had been 
 well done. At every voting precinct in the district 
 stood staunch Democrats who made it their business 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2/5 
 
 to see that every Democrat voted for Phelps. They 
 did it very quietly, so that the Republicans should 
 not see them and find out what was going on. 
 They took Democrats into horse-sheds, and explain- 
 ing the situation, took from them the Democratic 
 tickets with Stevens' name on them, and gave them 
 Democratic tickets with Phelps' name for Congress ; 
 and they did it so quietly that no one knew of it. 
 Every Democrat was thus horse-shedded. 
 
 The night came, and the polls were closed. 
 
 At Pulaski the Stevens headquarters were bril- 
 liantly illuminated, and were filled with his confident 
 and jubilant supporters. They were defiantly joyous, 
 for they were sure that they had Mason defeated, and 
 that at last he and his career were ended, and a new 
 regime, with entire changes in the offices, was certain. 
 Indeed, there cropped out jealousies among them on 
 the point of the distribution of the places. 
 
 At Mason's headquarters there was no illumination, 
 but the leaders of the faction sat there grim and 
 glum — with much confidence, however, on their 
 faces. 
 
 Every now and then a Stevens leader who was on 
 good personal terms with the Masonites would drop in 
 and jeeringly ask if any returns were in ; and outside 
 the streets were full of Stevens men, their hands 
 filled with greenbacks, offering all sorts of odds on 
 their favorite. 
 
 These bets were all taken. A few of Mason's sup- 
 porters were foolish enough to risk their money. 
 
276 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 The Harveys were especially prominent in this, and 
 took all the bets offered. 
 
 At about ten o'clock a courier arrived from Green 
 township — the first return. Green had two hundred 
 Republican and sixty Democratic voters. Stevens 
 expected ninety Republican votes and sixty Demo- 
 cratic, giving him forty majority in the township. 
 
 Nervousl}' he tore open the envelope, but did not 
 hand it to any one to read. 
 
 ^'Read it ! Read it ! " shouted his friends. 
 
 "Is this authentic.'*" asked Stevens of the courier. 
 
 ** It was given me by the clerk of the election, who 
 is a friend of yourn," said the courier, **and there was 
 an awful row about it." 
 
 Stevens, pale as a ghost, handed the missive to 
 one of his friends and sat down. 
 
 "Read it! Read it!" shouted the crowd, who felt 
 that something ugly had occurred. The man who 
 held it read — 
 
 "Green township — Mason one hundred and fif- 
 teen ; Stevens, eighty-five ; Phelps, fifty ! " 
 
 A great silence fell upon the assemblage. Fifty 
 Democrats had voted for Phelps, ten had voted for 
 Mason, and a few Republicans had not voted at all ! 
 
 They looked across the street and the sight that 
 met their eyes did not please them. Mason's head- 
 quarters, which heretofore had been entirely dark, 
 save the usual light in an office window, was blazing 
 with candles, a flag had been thrown out, and a big 
 transparency announcing the result from Green was 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2// 
 
 being hoisted out. Immediately there came shouts 
 from men with greenbacks in their hands, who offered 
 odds on Mason, and the streets filled at once with 
 jubilant Masonites. 
 
 "It is all right," said Mason, calmly. "The thing 
 worked — I am not dead yet ! " 
 
 Presently another courier arrived, and the result 
 was the same. More candles in the windows of 
 Mason's headquarters. And there came over to 
 Stevens' headquarters a number of Masonites who 
 inquired with mock anxiety if any news had been 
 received. 
 
 And so it went on all night. At one o'clock 
 enough of the district had been heard from to make 
 it sure that the Democracy had nearly all voted for 
 Phelps, except about two hundred who had voted for 
 Mason, preferring him to either Phelps or Stevens, 
 and that Mason was elected surely by from seven hun- 
 dred to eight hundred majority. 
 
 The Stevens men got drunk from vexation, and the 
 Mason men from joy, and Pulaski was made hideous 
 for that night. There were fights beyond number in 
 which all parties were engaged. The Stevens men 
 were bitter upon the Democracy for betraying them 
 — the Democracy were bitter upon Mason, for they 
 felt they had been tricked — and the Mason men were 
 entirely satisfied, for they felt that they could prop- 
 erly endure the assaults of the other factions. They 
 had the substantial fruits. 
 
 There was a great demand the next morning 
 
2/8 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 for brown paper and vinegar, and slices of raw 
 beef. 
 
 How did the principals take it ? Mason very 
 quietly. He merely remarked that the result was 
 another demonstration of mind over matter. Mr. 
 Stevens was terribly sore. He had spent a vast 
 amount of money in the canvass, and so sure was he 
 of the election that he had bet another immense 
 amount through other parties, on his own election, 
 intending to reimburse himself in that way, all of 
 which was lost. And- it added to his chagrin to 
 learn, which he did, that it was Mason wh.o had really 
 taken all these bets, he acting also through another 
 party. Mr. Stevens had not only paid his own cam- 
 paign expenses, but likewise those of Mr. Mason. 
 
 Mason went home thoroughly exhausted. For 
 three months he had scarcely eaten, or drank, or 
 slept ; and the strain upon him, mentally and physi- 
 cally, had been frightful. But he had won his fight. 
 What was to have been his Waterloo he had con- 
 verted into an Austerlitz, and he lay down to recuper- 
 ate his wasted strength. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 2/9 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE NEXT ROCK UPON WHICH MASOn's SHIP WAS 
 STEERING 
 
 NO cessation was made in the efforts of the ene- 
 mies of Mr. Mason to bring his official and 
 public career to an end. It was not only the active 
 work of Dr. Blanchard and his confreres^ who, either 
 with or without cause, distrusted Caleb Mason, but 
 there was a large and growing party in the district 
 which opposed him, either openly or secretly. Mr. 
 Mason had ruled the district with a rod of iron, and 
 there were those who had bent to his sway without 
 open murmur, but who in their soul of souls resented 
 it. Control of patronage is a sword without a hilt ; it 
 as often cuts the hand that wields it as the object it 
 is aimed at. 
 
 Especially had Mason exposed himself to danger 
 from the disappointed ones ; for after his second 
 election he had used his organization in matters other 
 than the disposal of the federal patronage. His 
 finger was in every pie in the five counties of the dis- 
 trict. The nominations for all the offices, down to 
 the lowest ones in the townships, were made in the 
 
280 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 postmaster's room in Pulaski, which was his head- 
 quarters. Did Busbey, of Defiance, crave the auditor- 
 ship? Busbey was brought into the ring with 
 the great Mason lasso about his horns, and was 
 questioned as to how it happened that his township 
 sent anti-Mason delegates to the last county conven- 
 tion. And Busbey was required to purge himself of 
 his grievous sin before he could be permitted to have 
 his name mentioned in the county convention. For 
 be it understood that the delegates to the county con- 
 vention were, by a large majority. Mason's friends; 
 and fidelity to Mason was counted as the one thing 
 that entitled a man to consideration, and nothing else. 
 
 This was all very well so far as the building up of 
 an army goes ; but unfortunately, while one man is 
 satisfied and becomes a valiant soldier in the service 
 of the dispenser, there are a dozen equally in want of 
 places who are not provided for, and who see the 
 shortest road to promotion in revolt. Patronage 
 would be a blessed thing for a politician if he only 
 had enough of it to give each of his friends the place 
 wanted. If a general could only offer captaincies 
 to all of his recruits ! 
 
 The opposition had been growing for four years, 
 and it had become too formidable for comfort. There 
 was a strong feeling in the Republican ranks when 
 the time for the nominating convention o f ^1864 ^ drew 
 near in favor of shelving Mason, and a good Repub- 
 lican named Morrison, with a clean record, was in the 
 field to contest the nomination with that gentleman. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 281 
 
 How the machine Mr. Mason had constructed was 
 worked to prevent Morrison from receiving it, may be 
 judged from one single instance. 
 
 Mr. Mason was in the private office, of the 
 postmaster of Pulaski. Pursuant — not to orders, 
 for Mr. Mason never gave orders — but to a tacit 
 understanding, there lay on the table a number of 
 letters — some received by the last mail, and others 
 just dropped into the box to be sent out by the next 
 mail to the various addresses they bore. 
 
 What was in these letters none know but the 
 writers. There were none of them love letters; no 
 letters from mothers to sons, nor from brothers to 
 sisters. With this sort of correspondence Mr. Mason 
 had no concern. He left fathers and mothers, lovers 
 and brothers and sisters, a long way behind him on 
 the rugged road he was traveling. The letters so 
 conveniently placed before him were from men to men, 
 and he knew by the hand-writing the sender or the 
 receiver of each. 
 
 One attracted his attention particularly, not only 
 because he knew the hand-writing of the address, but 
 also because he had an especial interest in the party 
 to whom it was addressed. It was to Mr. John 
 Atkins, Pultney, and the address was in the hand- 
 writing of Dr. Blan chard. 
 
 Stepping to a little closet he brought out a com- 
 mon clay pipe. In a moment more he put a little pot 
 upon the fire, and in a few minutes a cloud of steam 
 was issuing from the pot. Holding the back of the 
 
282 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 letter over the steam, in a few minutes the mucliage 
 was dissolved, the round, smooth pipe-stem opened the 
 flap, and the letter was open before him. It was very 
 short. This was all — 
 
 Dear Atkins: — I will find the money to pay off the mortgage. 
 But remember the conditions. I will bring it to you myself, Thursday. 
 
 Blanchard. 
 
 "Thursday!" said Mr. Mason, to himself. "I 
 know the mortgage is ;^2,ooo on his farm, and it is 
 due very soon. Perkins holds it, and Perkins must 
 have the money. Atkins can't raise it. The con- 
 dition is to bring in Pultney township for Morrison 
 (who was his competitor for the nomination), and 
 Atkins can't do it. Thursday! Mr. Atkins' farm 
 shall be released, and the mortgage go over into other 
 hands, but they will not be Dr. Blanchard's." 
 
 And re-sealing the letter, which was done so deftly 
 that it could not^be detected, Mr. Mason called the 
 postmaster, and said — 
 
 "I don't care about the rest of these — but this one 
 to Atkins hold over one mail." 
 
 "Mason, we shall be caught at this one of these 
 days ! " 
 
 " I don't see how. You are not going to confess 
 yourself guilty of tampering with the mails, and I 
 shall certainly not denounce you. Who else can.^ 
 Don't get nervous ! There are other and better 
 places than this ! " 
 
 And Caleb Mason walked briskly on towards 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 283 
 
 Crefeld's bank, and lost no time in penetrating the 
 interior of that institution. Mr. Crefeld was sitting 
 alone, but was not surprised at Mason's entrance. 
 
 "Crefeld, put on your coat immediately, go up to 
 Perkins, and buy a mortgage he holds upon Atkins, of 
 Pultney, for ;^2,ooo. No matter what you pay, buy 
 it ; only, of course, don't be in too much of a hurry, 
 so as to excite his suspicions." 
 
 " Grashus fadder, Misther Mason ! I can't puy dot 
 mortgage, nor nodding! Ve hefn't fife tousand 
 tollars in der vault, and I must haf dot money to 
 meed der schecks vich musht come in to-tay!" 
 
 "It doesn't matter about money. Go at once and 
 secure that mortgage. How much money will you 
 want to tide you over today .<* " 
 
 "Not lesh dan ^5,000. It is terrible." 
 
 "I will be here with ^7,000 by the time you are 
 back, but get that mortgage!" 
 
 Mr. Mason left the bank and wended his way to the 
 court house, while Mr. Crefeld went up to Perkins's 
 shop. 
 
 At the court house Mr. Harvey was in his office, 
 which he left and went back to the private room. 
 The most of Mr. Mason's business had to be done in 
 private rooms. 
 
 "Harvey, I want ;^ 7,000 immediately." 
 
 "Mason, do you know the amount we owe the 
 treasury this minute ? " 
 
 " Yes, to a cent ! We — that is, the present syn- 
 dicate — owe it exactly ;^ 53,000, which, with the 
 
284 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ;^ 7,000 I must have to-day, makes it ^60,000. What 
 Jack drew out before and lost amounts to something 
 more than that." 
 
 "How long is this to go on ? Or, rather, how long 
 can it go on ? " 
 
 "It can't go on much longer, nor will it. We must 
 sell property and realize. I don't like to sell now, for 
 the boom is on, but hasn't got to its height yet, 
 and" — 
 
 "And if we begin to sell it will excite suspicion, 
 and the market will go back on us." 
 
 "That is it exactly ; but we must, nevertheless." 
 
 "What do you want this money for? " 
 
 "Five thousand dollars to carry Crefeld through 
 till he can turn, and ^2,000 to buy a mortgage on 
 Atkins of Pultney." 
 
 Mr. Harvey did not need to be informed as to the 
 point in either case. He merely went to the county 
 safe and took out seven packages of money, each 
 marked ^1,000, and handed them to Mason, who 
 placed them in his inside overcoat pocket, and 
 departed. He went directly to the bank, where he 
 found Crefeld. 
 
 "Well?" queried he. 
 
 "I hef done it. I hef ze mortgage." 
 
 "Very good. Now write Atkins a letter, saying 
 that in the way of the business the mortgage came 
 into your hands, that as you need money very much 
 to carry the wheat buyers, you will not be able to let 
 it stand over, and that immediate payment will be 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 28$ 
 
 required. Be sure and get the letter off at once, so 
 that it will reach him in the morning." 
 
 *' And zen vot vill happen ? " 
 
 "Before six o'clock to-morrow Atkins will be here, 
 and you had better see him, as he will not have the 
 money ; and you may recommend him to me." 
 
 The letter was written ; Mr. Mason pronounced it 
 good, and sent a special messenger to the post office to 
 see it mailed. Then he walked out jauntily into the 
 street, as cheery as though he had just elevated some 
 being to the seventh heaven of happiness, instead of 
 doing that which would bring one down from compar- 
 ative happiness to abject misery. But he hadn't 
 walked five minutes before he stopped suddenly. A 
 thought had struck him. 
 
 " Heavens ! " he said to himself, " I have over- 
 looked one thing. No matter how acute a man is, he 
 is never acute enough. There^re always others just 
 as acute as he is, and when struggling, it is simply 
 chance that decides between the two. As smart as I 
 thought I was, I have overlooked one thing. When 
 Atkins gets Crefeld's letter, he will mount his white 
 horse and ride in immediately, and will go straight to 
 Dr. Blanchard. Dr. Blanchard will tell him of the 
 letter he has written, which Atkins will not receive 
 till the next morning, and will advance him the 
 money ; and I will have committed a felony for noth- 
 ing. Atkins must not see Blanchard. But how to 
 prevent it ? " 
 
 The devil always helps his own, and Mr. Mason 
 
286 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 was certainly the devil's own. Raising his head from 
 his reverie, he saw across the street a henchman of 
 his, the postmaster of a village some twelve miles dis- 
 tant, a man who knew but one law in this world, 
 and that was Mason's will. A sudden inspiration 
 struck him. He called him. 
 
 "Dan," said he, "how long does it take to ride 
 from your house to town ?" 
 
 "Two hours, if the horse is good, and the rider 
 sufficiently drunk. It can be done in less time, but 
 not very much." 
 
 "Dan, at ten o'clock to-morrow — now, mind you, 
 have your clocks all right — at ten o'clock to morrow 
 you get sick ; at ten send a careful man to town for 
 Dr. Blanchard. You understand me?" 
 
 "I follow you." 
 
 " If Dr. Blanchard is at home, have him go to you 
 no matter what the cost. Make an appearance of 
 sickness when he comes, to keep him as long as possi- 
 ble; and then when you can keep him no longer, let 
 him come home." 
 
 "Why — why, what in" — 
 
 " Never mind ; do what you are told. Ask no 
 questions. Send for him at ten ; he will come to you 
 at about two ; keep him as long as possible, and let 
 him come home. Say no word to anybody — this is 
 very important. Dr. Blanchard must not be in town 
 till after six o'clock ; mind that. Go now, keep sober, 
 mind what I told you, and follow it to the letter." 
 
 Dan Phillips had had dealings too long with his 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 28/ 
 
 astute leader, and owed him too much, in many v/ays, 
 to dispute what he desired ; and he departed. But he 
 did linger a minute in front of Peters' grocery ; then 
 remembering Mason's injunction to keep sober, he 
 passed it, though reluctantly — which was as great a 
 compliment as was ever paid to Mr. Mason's power 
 over him. 
 
 The next afternoon Crefeld's letter was in Atkins' 
 hands. He had expected one from another source. 
 The poor man was in a terrible situation. His farm, 
 the land he had cleared by many years of painful 
 labor, and which he had hoped to end his days upon, 
 would be taken from him irrevocably, unless within 
 three days he could raise ;^2,ooo ; and where could he 
 raise it .? He had depended upon Dr. Blanchard, but 
 had not heard from him ; and Perkins, to save him- 
 self, had sold it to Crefeld. The latter must have the 
 money, for the wheat crop must be moved, and money 
 was always scarce at this time of the year. 
 
 Sorely distressed, he mounted his horse and rode to 
 town. First he had determined to see Dr. Blanch- 
 ard, but to his dismay the doctor was out of town, and 
 would not be back till late at night. 
 
 Then he went to Crefeld, who had been directed to 
 stay at the bank by its owner, Mr. Mason. 
 
 Crefeld was sorry for Mr. Atkins, but what could 
 he do ? The merchants must have money for the 
 wheat^ and he must take care of his customers. 
 Could he not raise the money and get an extension ? 
 Try Mason ! He sometimes had money. 
 
288 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "But I do not want to try Mason," replied Atkins 
 to this suggestion. He had good reasons for not 
 wanting to see that gentleman. 
 
 " I know of no other man in the town who has 
 ready money," replied Crefeld. "And he is not a 
 hard man ; he knows you, and will serve you if he 
 can." 
 
 Poor Atkins had nothing else for it. He drew a 
 long sigh, and went to Mason, to whom he told his 
 story. 
 
 "Is that all that bothers you, Atkins.? It is noth- 
 ing! I will go to Crefeld myself, and take up this 
 mortgage." 
 
 "But how about interest, and what do I pay for 
 it ? " 
 
 "Nothing. It is bearing ten per cent., I believe. 
 That is as much as I want for my money. I will pur- 
 chase the notes, and they can remain till you can turn 
 around and pay it. No, I will not buy it. I will lend 
 the money to Crefeld, and take the mortgage as col- 
 lateral. Never fear, Atkins ; I will protect you. It 
 would be a burning shame for you to lose your farm 
 and be turned out at your age. I like to do good — 
 and get good interest." 
 
 This latter with a pleasant laugh, as though it were 
 the interest, after all, that the kind, good man was 
 after. 
 
 And so the matter was arranged. Mr. Mason went 
 with him, the money was paid over, and Mr. Mason 
 took the papers. Mr. Atkins mounted his horse 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 289 
 
 and rode homeward, pleased and sad at the same 
 time. 
 
 "I must not support Morrison now," he said to 
 himself. '*It was Mason who helped me out, and he 
 has the power to ruin me yet. Clearly, Mason must 
 have Pultney. But I don't like it ! Why don't 
 Blanchard do as he agreed to } " 
 
 Mr. Mason smiled at Crefeld as he put back the 
 papers in his private tin box. 
 
 " I think Atkins will take good care of me in Pult- 
 ney ! " was his thought. 
 
 When poor Atkins went the next morning he found 
 at his post office the letter from Blanchard. Pious as 
 he was, he swore a great oath, and then sighed again. 
 "It is too late! The mortgage is in Mason's hands, 
 and he must have the township." 
 
 Dr. Blanchard was surprised when he came to know 
 that Atkins had got relief elsewhere, and that the 
 township was being "put up" for Mason, but he 
 could not help himself. He was not as old in small 
 management as was Caleb Mason, and besides, he had 
 not the inside of the post office. Knowledge is power. 
 
 However, he met Atkins a few days after, and 
 asked him angrily why he had not come to him in 
 pursuance of the letter he had written. 
 
 "I did go to find you, but you were out of town, 
 and Crefeld told me to go to Mason. What else 
 could I do.?" 
 
 "Nothing," said Blanchard; "nothing. But I can 
 yet help you to the money." 
 
290 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 " It is of no use ; I have it, and Mason has the 
 mortgage." 
 
 ''And Pultney?" 
 
 " I told the boys yesterday that we had better elect 
 delegates for Mason, and our caucus was held last 
 night. Doctor, God knows I am sorry ! Why wasn't 
 you home night before last ? " 
 
 "Ah! why indeed!" said Dr. Blanchard, as he 
 turned away. 
 
 And as he walked away, he pondered. His letter 
 miscarried. Who was it that took him out of town 
 and kept him out till after it was too late in the 
 matter of the mortgage ? " Confound it ! " sighed the 
 poor doctor, "it was Dan Phillips, a tool of Mason's! 
 And he wasn't any more ill than I am ! It was a put- 
 up job, fool that I am ! But a man is excusable for 
 such misfortunes when he is contending with one who 
 makes a business of perjury, murder and things of 
 that kind. I stand no chance ! " 
 
 And a convention, a majority of whose delegates 
 were chosen through methods similar to those which 
 had proved so effective in Pultney township, renom- 
 inated Caleb Mason with a whoop. But Mr. Mason's 
 Republican opponents set themselves to work again 
 to compass his overthrow at the polls. The defeat of 
 Stevens in 1862 had demonstrated the utter useless- 
 ness of attempting Mason's defeat by the nomination 
 of an independent Republican, for Mr. Mason had too 
 many good friends among the Democracy to make 
 that work. It was decided that the thing to be done 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 29I 
 
 at this time was to nominate a Democrat with a war 
 record — one who had suffered in the service and had 
 won golden opinions by his bravery and loyalty to the j» 
 Union. ^' 
 
 The man was in readiness. Gen. Price, of Ottawa, ^ 
 had enlisted at the beginning of the war and had 3"" 
 served with more than credit. He had risen from a v; 
 captaincy in the 21st Ohio to the colonelcy of the > 
 59th, and from that, by simple merit, to a brigadier-^ 
 generalship. At the battle of Arkansas Post he ledJ 
 a charge in person, and through his gallantry had his 
 right leg shot off and his body filled with rebel lead; 
 and he was at the time at his home in Ottawa, 
 recovering from his desperate wounds. 
 
 The general was a Democrat by inheritance, and 
 remained a Democrat, although he had served so 
 brilliantly against his former party associates then in 
 rebellion. He was a Democrat so far as slavery was 
 concerned, and yet he was a supporter of the measures 
 abolishing slavery. He believed that the South was 
 right in its rebellion, because with his party he held 
 to the holiness of slavery, and had always opposed all 
 efforts to abolish it. He was in the army fighting V 
 against his former associates because they were in 'y 
 rebellion against the flag. He was perfectly willing & 
 to see their negroes emancipated, not from any con- "^ 
 viction that it was wrong to hold them as slaves, but 
 because they were being used against the Union 
 armies. He would set them free precisely as he 
 would have confiscated the Southern people's horses 
 
292 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 and hogs. As slaves he had nothing to do with them 
 — as property, everything. On all other points, he 
 was in full accord with his party, though at the time 
 there were no other points to be considered. 
 
 Objectionable as he was to the "Copperhead" 
 element because of his taking up arms in what they 
 held to be an unholy crusade against the South, he 
 was still preferable to the Radical Mason, who was 
 not only most religiously hated by them personally, 
 but was especially hated as being the most conspic- 
 uous and the bitterest Republican in the House. 
 
 There was no trouble at all in making an alliance 
 with the Republicans who had supported Stevens two 
 years before; in fact, they made the advances. They 
 said to the leaders of the Democracy — " You can 
 support Gen. Price because he is a Democrat ; we 
 can support him because he is a soldier and a war 
 Democrat, and is not a demagogue. Nominate Price ; 
 we will bring enough of the anti-Mason Republicans 
 to elect him." It needed no urging to do this, for 
 Mason had antagonized every Democrat in the dis- 
 trict; and so prominent and so able was he, that every 
 Democrat in the United States took an interest in his 
 defeat. 
 
 The year before, the legislature of the state of Ohio 
 had passed an act enabling the soldiers of the state to 
 vote in the field. The law prescribed that at any post 
 where a given number of Ohio soldiers were stationed, 
 they might open polls, under regular formalities, and 
 vote as they would were they at home, seal up their 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 293 
 
 ballots, transmit them to their homes, and they should 
 be counted the same as though the election had been 
 held at home. 
 
 It was also provided that two judges of persons, to 
 be appointed by the governor, one of each party, to 
 ensure fairness, should be equipped with printed bal- 
 lots, poll-books, and all that, and should be sent to 
 each of these points, who should act as judges of the 
 election. 
 
 General Stillman was in command of the depart- 
 ment of Tennessee, and was, like Price, an ardent war 
 Democrat. He hated Mason as the devil does holy 
 water ; besides, he was very anxious that the Democ- 
 racy should, as quickly as possible, return to power 
 in his district, for he had his aspirations and ambi- 
 tions. He hated Mason personally, and he had other 
 equally potent reasons for desiring his defeat. 
 
 So, after Price was nominated by the Democracy, 
 by and with the consent of the anti-Mason Republi- 
 cans, Gen. Stillman came home to consult. The sit- 
 uation was something like this — The Democracy and 
 the anti-Mason Republicans together could carry the 
 district for Price on the home vote by a majority of 
 not less than eight hundred. Mason's friends con- 
 ceded this. Therefore, the casting vote, as it were, 
 was the vote of the soldiers in the field. How would 
 they vote ? Price was deservedly popular with them, 
 for there never was a braver officer, nor a kinder man to 
 those under his command. He was known to every 
 soldier from the Sixth district, and was loved by them. 
 
294 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Gen. Stillman assured his friends that he would 
 so manage it that every soldier in the field would vote 
 for Price, and that they might stake their money 
 upon this proposition. 
 
 **You take care of the vote at home! I don't care 
 if Mason — confound him! — carries the home vote, 
 we have 2,500 soldiers from the district in the field, 
 and I will beat him with them ! " 
 
 And the confident general started back to the 
 front, and he so ordered the disposition of the regi- 
 ments from the Sixth district that he had every man 
 of them together at Lavergne, Tennessee, all massed 
 and so disposed that he could manipulate them to his 
 liking. He, like Price, was very popular among the 
 soldiers. 
 
 Mr. Mason, who knew every word that was spoken 
 at these consultations, was very much amused at this 
 piece of strategy. He smiled a smile, and told his 
 friends to go out and plunder the Philistines by tak- 
 ing every bet that was offered ; that he would be 
 elected ; and he advised, if they were slow in making 
 offers, to give them odds. 
 
 Having got the troops together, Gen. Stillman 
 came back to finish the work. His name was sent in 
 to the governor as one of the commissioners of the 
 district, and to everybody's surprise Mr. Mason 
 insisted that the appointment be made. This was 
 about two weeks before the election. Gen. Stillman 
 went to Columbus, got his commission and instruc- 
 tions, and the blanks and ballots, and with Major 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 295 
 
 Beckwith, the commissioner appointed as the Repub- 
 lican representative, started for Lavergne. They 
 reached Louisville, and went to the ''Gait House" for 
 a night's rest, intending to proceed to Lavergne in the 
 morning. 
 
 Gen. Stillman rushed into Beckwith's room that 
 evening swearing terribly. He held in his hand a 
 dispatch from the secretary of War, Mr. Stanton — 
 an order directing him to remain in Louisville till 
 further orders ! 
 
 '' But I can't stay here ! " remarked the general 
 with a rush of profanity that was appalling. "I 
 must be in Lavergne to-morrow, and must stay there 
 till after the election ! " 
 
 "You know best," replied Beckwith, trying hard to 
 conceal a smile. "You must be your own judge as to 
 the propriety of disobeying a War-office order." 
 
 This the general dare not do, and so he stayed. 
 Maj. Beckwith went on alone, and reaching Lavergne, 
 found — what ? 
 
 Gen. Stillman had massed the troops at Lavergne, 
 and could not get to them to manipulate them. 
 Who was doing this very important work ? Why, 
 Col. Kingsley, a man who had always been Mason's 
 firm supporter — a man who, in fact, had been made 
 a colonel for his devotion to Mason ; Col. Bradley, 
 another of the same kidney; and a hundred others, 
 all with Mason's brand upon them, and as much 
 devoted to Mason as Mason was to himself. 
 
 Had Stillman been there to have fought those men 
 
296 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 he could have divided the vote, at least ; but unop 
 posed, Mason had it all his own way. Gen. Price was 
 held up as a man who if elected, would act with the 
 Democracy, and Mason as the true patriot and sol- 
 dier's friend. While Stillman was chafing himself 
 into a fever in Louisville, Kingsley was working with 
 the soldiers, and when the ballots were counted the 
 vote was as follows — 
 
 Price's majority on the home vote 800 
 
 Mason's majority on the soldier vote .... 1,800 
 
 And Mr. Mason, doomed to defeat, once more tri- 
 umphed over his enemies, and was again representa- 
 tive from the Sixth district. 
 
 How little did that worldly-wise man. General Still- 
 man, know of what other men knew, and what other 
 men would do ! He had his scheme fixed and worked 
 out in his own mind, down to the minutest detail. 
 The beginning was in his mind, and the ending was 
 perfectly clear in his mind ; but he did not realize 
 how many threads ran through the warp and woof of 
 a fabric — how many interests there are in the world 
 that cross and re-cross, and how much there is to 
 know that cannot be known even by the shrewdest. 
 
 Had Gen. Stillman known that the Administration 
 considered it of importance to the great cause then 
 trembling in the balance that the party should not be 
 without the ability of Caleb Mason in Congress, he 
 would have thought twice before he undertook to kill 
 him off, in this way especially. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 29/ 
 
 Then he would have known that precisely what Mr. 
 Mason wanted was to have him appointed as one 
 of the commissioners ; that he intended to have him 
 mass the voting strength of the district in Lavergne, 
 or somewhere else ; that his appointment as commis- 
 sioner was precisely what Mr. Mason desired, because 
 it put the commissioner under the control of the 
 War Department ; and Secretary Stanton having that 
 power, that the general would never be permitted to 
 reach the troops at all, but that they were massed by 
 the general, the only power capable of doing it, so as 
 to make it perfectly easy for Mason's colonels and 
 majors and captains to work at their own sweet will. 
 In short. General Stillman in his hate of Mason had 
 been doing Mason's work — a work which could not 
 have been done at all by any one else. 
 
 This was the basis of Mason's confidence, and his 
 henchmen, following his instructions implicitly, reaped 
 a rich reward. Thousands upon thousands of dollars 
 changed hands over this result, for the Price party were 
 confident and gave odds. Major Starkweather actually 
 indulged in a new suit of clothes, and really paid a 
 butcher's account of some three years' standing. 
 
298 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 MR. SAMUEL GLEASON TURNS OVER A NEW LEAF 
 
 MR. SAMUEL GLEASON now began to won- 
 der how he should be able to climb further up 
 the ladder through the aid, voluntary or involuntary, 
 of Caleb Mason. He had served three terms in the 
 General Assembly of the state, but he did not see 
 clearly how he was to make further progress. The 
 stipend he received for his legislative services was 
 a beggarly one, and his absence for three or four 
 months every winter and spring was a decided draw- 
 back to his legal practice. Clearly if he were to 
 depend upon the law for a competence he must attend 
 to its practice more attentively; and if he were to 
 depend upon political life for advancement, he must 
 find some more lucrative field than the state legis- 
 lature. As it was, he could not more than maintain 
 himself comfortably. 
 
 He would have been glad to step into Mason's seat 
 in Congress, but he saw no prospect of that. The 
 two unsuccessful contests that had been waged to 
 defeat Mason, wherein the latter had triumphed over 
 his Democratic enemies in his front and secret ene- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 299 
 
 mies in his own camp, showed Gleason that if he hoped 
 to defeat Mason he must spring the mine he had so 
 long been preparing. But how could he himself profit 
 by that? Gleason was alive to the political changes 
 going on. He saw that the war for the Union must 
 end in the collapse of the Confederacy and the reha- 
 bilitation of the nation ; and he had been a sufficiently 
 close student of history to know that the people, the 
 masses, worship military heroes. 
 
 "And every mother's son who wore a strap will 
 come home a little tin god on wheels in the eyes of 
 the voters," soliloquized he. "The success of the 
 Union arms will shed a reflected glory on every gen- 
 eral, colonel, major, and captain ; they will come home 
 and go into politics — and we fellows who stayed at 
 home won't have a ghost of a show for the offices. 
 Why wasn't I sharp enough to get a commission and 
 go to the war.? I'd have stood some chance 
 then ! " 
 
 And the more Gleason thought about the matter 
 the more he began to see that the political road was 
 destined to be a thorny one for himself. If he had 
 climbed as high as Mason, and had made a reputation 
 for himself, he would have been safe when the swarm 
 of army heroes should return and enter the political 
 lists ; as it was, the chances would be all against him. 
 He brooded over this rapidly-coming state of things 
 till tea time, and after his meal got on his horse and 
 turned in the direction of the old Dunlap homestead. 
 
 The years had passed over it lightly. Sarah Dun- 
 
300 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 lap was a good housekeeper, and had the instinct of 
 order largely developed, and it extended beyond the 
 interior of the farm-house and embraced the entire 
 place. Everything was in the same excellent order 
 as in her father's day. She and her mother lived 
 there together, but Sarah was the presiding genius. 
 The farmer who lived with them and tilled the place 
 looked to her for his orders, and often remarked 
 among his intimates that " If Sarah Dunlap had been 
 a boy, she'd have made the boss farmer of the hull 
 Black Swamp." 
 
 Gleason rode into the yard, gave his horse to the 
 boy and made his way to the house. Sarah received 
 him with a smile of welcome. 
 
 "It has been a long time since you favored us with 
 a call, Mr. Gleason. You gentlemen who are in pol- 
 itics are so engrossed that you forget us quiet dwell- 
 ers in the country." 
 
 "Unless your votes are wanted, Miss Dunlap," 
 replied Sam, returning her smile. "I'll admit the 
 politicians are somewhat neglectful of the -farmers 
 except at such times." 
 
 "Well, I acquit you of any design of that nature. 
 We women have no votes ; you men graciously allow 
 us to pay taxes, but our privileges stop there. So, 
 though you are a politician, I won't accuse you of 
 coming here on an electioneering mission." 
 
 "No; but queerly enough I came to talk to you 
 about my being a politician. The fact is, Sarah,'* 
 Gleason went on, falling familiarly into the old boy- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 3OI 
 
 and-girl fashion of using the Christian name, instead 
 of the more ceremonious " Miss," " I am not at all 
 satisfied with a political life. It is a dog's life at the 
 best, and I begin to think I was a fool for ever going 
 into it." 
 
 ** So you come to ask me if I think you a fool?" 
 Sarah asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she 
 looked into his own. 
 
 Gleason's heart beat faster as he returned her gaze. 
 Sarah Dunlap was indeed an attractive woman. The 
 years had rounded her form, and the willowy grace 
 of her youth had given place to lines that would bet- 
 ter have suited an artist's eye. Her face had become 
 more intellectual as it had lost its childish contour; 
 and although she lacked the promise that lurked in 
 the rosebud, the perfect flower of her womanhood was 
 more beautiful. 
 
 Sam Gleason had always loved her, but never so 
 deeply as at that moment, when somehow he felt that 
 she was more inaccessible than ever. Her ill-starred 
 love for Calab Mason, and the chain of events which 
 followed it, had driven him, as a prudent man, to 
 keep his own feelings in abeyance ; and now it came 
 to him that the failure of his career so far put an 
 insuperable barrier between them. How could he 
 under the circumstances ever press his suit with her, 
 without laying himself open to the charge of being a 
 fortune-hunter ? 
 
 He answered her promptly, however. " It amounts 
 to that, really. I feel that I have been one, and I 
 
302 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 don't doubt but that you will agree with me when I 
 explain the matter to you." 
 
 And thereupon Gleason went over the matter in 
 detail. "You see, Sarah," he concluded, "I am yet 
 young enough to make a new start. I do want to be 
 something in this world, and while I am beginning to 
 see that politics isn't my line, I know I can make my 
 way at the law, and I feel like just settling down in 
 Pulaski and sticking right to my office and my prac- 
 tice. I was turning it over in my mind this after- 
 noon, and I felt as though I wanted to talk it over 
 with somebody ; and somehow I thought your opin- 
 ion would be better than that of any one else whom 
 I know." 
 
 Sarah had listened attentively, not interrupting him 
 by a word. Drawing a long breath as he ended, she 
 answered, the color rising to her pretty cheeks as she 
 went on — 
 
 "I don't know when I have been so glad as I am 
 to hear you say you want to abandon politics. I dis- 
 like politics — I abhor politicians! You don't know 
 how sorry I have always been that you had a taste 
 that way. Faugh ! Politics ruins all that is most 
 admirable in a man. He neglects everything and 
 everybody whenever the ambition for office takes root 
 in his nature. I am glad — glad — that you have 
 come to your senses ! " 
 
 "Then you don't think it is too late for me to try to 
 make a career at the bar.-*" queried he, anxiously. 
 
 " Too late ? Certainly not ! You have not really 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 303 
 
 lost any time. You think too lightly of what you 
 have already accomplished in your profession. Also, 
 your experience in the legislature has been a part of 
 your education ; it has also given popular confidence 
 in you, and when you start in to devote yourself 
 entirely to the bar, you will find the people ready 
 to give you their patronage. I am only thankful 
 that you have had the wisdom to choose the right 
 course ! " 
 
 "Then you do think I've been a fool.?" asked Glea- 
 son, smiling. 
 
 ''Of course not! You must have had a fit of the 
 blues this afternoon to make you think so badly of 
 yourself. Your friends don't hold any such opinion 
 of you, I am sure — at least, none that I know." 
 
 **Well, I am glad I came," responded he. ''Some- 
 how you chase away the clouds and give me a little 
 better opinion of myself. I shall stick to the law and 
 drop politics ; that's settled." 
 
 And on his ride back to Pulaski Mr. Gleason medi- 
 tated deeply about Sarah Dunlap. If he could only 
 hope to win her ! Did she still entertain any fond- 
 ness for Caleb Mason .-^ Impossible! But would the 
 affair with him prove any obstacle to another wooer ? 
 Here Mr. Gleason became entangled in a maze of 
 doubt, simply because he had not enough knowledge 
 of the fair sex to know that it is a necessity to a true 
 woman's happiness that she shall be loved and have 
 some one on whom to lean, upon whom to lavish the 
 stores of her affection ; and that the falsity and base- 
 
304 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ness of one man is by no means made the reason for 
 enmity to all other men. 
 
 It came over Mr. Gleason's mind, too, that he had 
 not done his duty by Sarah Dunlap in regard to that 
 receipt which Caleb Mason had given her father, 
 which the latter afterward stole from the old man's 
 desk the night he died, tore it into infinitesimal frag- 
 ments and threw them into his waste-paper basket, 
 amid a vast number of other similar torn bits of writ- 
 ing. During his political career Gleason had done 
 very little toward sorting out these bits and restoring, 
 if possible, the document that would return to her 
 many thousand dollars that were justly hers. He 
 recognized now that he had been temporizing with his 
 conscience in neglecting this work of forcing a right- 
 ful restitution, in the dim hope that he might event- 
 ually see his way clear to succeeding Mason in Con- 
 gress. Had he completed the work successfully. Dr. 
 Blanchard and Sarah would have forced him to begin 
 proceedings to secure the property. 
 
 "Well, that dream is over, thank Heaven ! I shall 
 go to work and piece together the fragments of that 
 receipt, and force Mason to restore Sarah's property. 
 Then" — 
 
 Here Mr. Gleason stopped, for it flashed across his 
 mind that it would hardly be the way to win a lady's 
 hand to go to her with the property he had recovered, 
 and then attempt to make love to her. It would seem 
 like demanding pay for services rendered. And it 
 further occurred to him that to prefer his suit before 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 305 
 
 he had done his work would seem like demanding her 
 hand as a bribe to induce him to perform his task. 
 
 From all of which it would seem that he was, after 
 the manner of lovers from time immemorial, worrying 
 himself about points that would never occur to a 
 woman if she really loved a man — and if she did not, 
 would not weigh anything in her mind in his favor. 
 "Women are kittle cattle," says the old Scotch 
 proverb, but it is true only to men who do not under- 
 stand them ; and Sam Gleason certainly did not. 
 
 However, he did not let the unfavorable condition of 
 his love-affairs interfere with the determination he had 
 made to abjure politics. He settled himself down, 
 and could be found at his office early and late. Sev- 
 eral legal matters that had long been in his hands 
 were speedily cleared up, to the delight of his clients ; 
 he won a couple of cases in which he was attorney 
 before the next term of the Common Pleas court, and 
 attracted considerable attention to himself from his 
 fellow-members of the bar by the masterly analysis he 
 made in addressing the jury in one — a land case — 
 which showed a vast amount of patient, effective 
 study of authorities and precedents ; and be won 
 where everybody had supposed he had no case at all, 
 by unearthing a precedent that his fellow-lawyers had 
 never heard of. And so it finally dawned upon the 
 minds of the good people of Pulaski that Sam Gleason 
 had somehow become changed — how or why they did 
 not know ; but the change was apparent. 
 
 One evening Dr. Blanchard, passing along the 
 
306 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 street, noticed the light in Gleason's office, and 
 dropped in for a chat. He found the young attorney 
 deeply engaged in making notes, with a stack of law- 
 books around him. 
 
 "Hello, Doc! Come in! Find a chair and sit 
 down ! You haven't been in to see me for a long 
 while. How's things.'*" 
 
 Blanchard, 'returning the salutation, found a chair, 
 and seated himself. Gleason laid aside his pen and 
 threw himself back in his chair with a sigh of 
 weariness. 
 
 "What are you working at so hard, Sam.?" 
 
 "Oh, a case that was given me this afternoon. I 
 concluded I would take a run through the reports and 
 see what I could find in the way of precedents bear- 
 ing upon it." 
 
 "What is the out-look for the legislature this fall, 
 Sam ? Good, of course ? " 
 
 " If you mean as regards myself, Doctor, I am out 
 of it. I shall not be a candidate for renomination." 
 
 Blanchard's face expressed surprise. "Indeed! 
 Then you are looking out for something higher, I take 
 it .? " 
 
 "No!" promptly returned Gleason. "The fact is, 
 Doc, I can't afford to dabble in political life. I have 
 my own way to make in the world, and I am sure I 
 shall get along faster if I stick to my profession here 
 than if I waste my time in political work. I'm done 
 with it." 
 
 »" Well, there isn't much in a seat in the legislature, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 307 
 
 I'll admit ; but why don't you try for something 
 better?" 
 
 Gleason opened a drawer in his desk, took out a 
 box of cigars, gave one to the doctor and lighted 
 another. Then leaning back in his chair, he put his 
 feet on his desk, and began — 
 
 "Doc, you're a good friend of mine, and I don't mind 
 telling you, confidentially, what's the matter. First, 
 I've been in the legislature three terms, and while my 
 record is pretty good as a hard worker, and I hope as 
 an honest man, I haven't made anything like a state 
 reputation. I am not a particularly good politician, 
 because I haven't the patience to be watching every 
 possible chance to pull wires and keep myself before 
 the people. Now, the war is going to end inside of a 
 year. The Confederacy is nothing but a hollow shell ; 
 all its strength on the outside. That shell is soon 
 going to be pierced, and the whole thing will collapse. 
 The armies will come home, and the officers and men 
 will return to private life. The former have acquired 
 a taste for leadership, and many of them will go in for 
 political preferment. Their soldiers will be for them 
 first, last and all the time, and all the friends of the 
 soldiers. We civilians will have to take back seats, 
 and I've made up my mind that I will get out while 
 I can get out with credit, instead of being forced out. 
 I am out. Doc — out to stay ! I am going to stay 
 right here and practice law ; and get rich as quick as 
 I can." 
 
 Blan chard expressed his hearty acquiescence in the 
 
308 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 views of the young man, and commended his fore- 
 sight. *'I suppose you are still to continue as the 
 agent and legal adviser of Miss Dunlap ? " 
 
 Gleason nodded shortly. 
 
 "And you are going to take steps to recover the 
 money Caleb Mason robbed her of at her father's 
 death.?" 
 
 Another nod. 
 
 "Have you succeeded in piecing together that 
 receipt ?" 
 
 ''Not yet." 
 
 *'It seems to me," went on Blanchard, slowly and 
 meaningly, **that it is taking you a good many years 
 to do it." 
 
 Gleason winced perceptibly. "Yes," he admitted, 
 " I have neglected it too long. I must finish it up 
 as speedily as I can." 
 
 " How long will it take you ? " 
 
 "Several months, I am afraid — that is, as I can 
 only devote my spare time to it." 
 
 " You will have it complete by the time Mason is 
 up again for re-nomination, will you not ? " 
 
 "It shall be complete long before that. Doctor." 
 
 "You will use it against him then, of course.?" 
 
 Gleason considered a moment. Then he dropped 
 his feet to the floor, straightened himself up in his 
 chair, looking Blanchard squarely in the face, and 
 replied — 
 
 "What is my duty in that matter.? To bend every 
 energy to a recovery of the money for Sarah Dunlap, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 3O9 
 
 or to make the defeat and exposure of Mason the 
 main object ?" 
 
 "Will not the two necessarily go together? Do 
 not the recovery of the receipt and the demand for 
 restitution involve the overthrow of Mason?" 
 
 "Not necessarily. Mr. Mason cannot dispute the 
 receipt ; he will know I am able to prove that he had it 
 in his possession, and that he tore it into fragments, 
 intending to destroy it. Now, if I go to him pri- 
 vately, show the receipt, and demand the money, with 
 interest from date, he will, I think, be likely to pay up 
 in order to get that damaging bit of evidence, the torn 
 receipt, out of the way. But if the matter is made 
 public first he will fight the case. It will be neces- 
 sary for him to do so, for acknowledgment would 
 mean his ruin, to say nothing of the punishment for 
 the felony of which he was guilty in stealing the 
 paper. He may deny the genuineness of the receipt — 
 and in its patchwork condition there might be some 
 trouble in convincing a jury that it is not a forged 
 document, gotten up for political effect to injure 
 Mason politically. Or he may hatch up some story 
 to the effect that old man Dunlap took the money 
 back for some purpose, and gave up the receipt. He 
 is a clever rascal — very clever — and he could make up 
 a story that would impose on the average jury. Oh, 
 I know him. Doctor! He is the smoothest rascal in 
 the state of Ohio to-day ! Come now, old man ! 
 There is my case ; which course is it my duty to take as 
 the attorney for the defrauded party — Miss Dunlap ? " 
 
3 TO THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Dr. Blanchard had listened attentively to this slow- 
 spoken elucidation of the case — first with a look of 
 perplexity, which gradually changed into one of anger. 
 
 "You are a lawyer, and I am not," he replied, 
 coldly. "Why ask me a question which you are far 
 better qualified to answer than I am.?" 
 
 "Because I have reason to distrust my judgment 
 in this particular case," returned Gleason, not with- 
 out embarrassment. 
 
 Blanchard looked keenly at him, evidently debating 
 as to what interpretation to put on the young lawyer's 
 words and looks. Then he answered — 
 
 "I do not understand why you should distrust 
 your judgment in this particular case. Perhaps if 
 you will explain more fully I may be able to answer 
 the question you proposed." 
 
 "Well, Doc," said Gleason, with an embarrassed 
 laugh, "you are an old friend, and I can trust you 
 that it sha'n't go any further. The fact is — well — 
 I'm in love with Sarah Dunlap ! There, the murder's 
 out ! Now, can!t you see that I want to do the fair 
 thing, the right thiijg, but am perplexed as to whether 
 I may not be unconsciously biased } " 
 
 Blanchard's face cleared as if by magic. He 
 grasped the other's hand and gave it a hearty shake, 
 as he replied — "Well, I'm glad to hear it, and only 
 hope the lady reciprocates. But do you know, Glea- 
 son, what I suspected to be the reason that you put 
 that question to me.'*" 
 
 " I can't imagine. What was it ? '* 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 3II 
 
 "Well, I fancied you might have gotten entangled 
 with Mason in a political way, and didn't desire to 
 injure him publicly ! " 
 
 Gleason's face was the picture of amazement. 
 *'What on earth put that idea into your head ?" 
 
 *'Well, several things. In the first place, you 
 might nave completed the piecing together of the 
 fragments of the receipt long ago, if you had desired 
 to do so; no, don't interrupt me — let me speak 
 plainly and frankly. Then you have supported Mason 
 in his campaigns, and in many ways have shown a 
 disinclination, it seems to me, to move against him. 
 And when you stated your case a few minutes ago, 
 and asked me for my opinion, it seemed to me that 
 you wanted to draw me into agreeing with you that 
 your duty to your client could best be discharged by 
 making a private arrangement with Mason whereby 
 his rascality should be kept secret on the condition of 
 a full restitution being made. Can you wonder that 
 I suspected you of being in some measure entangled 
 in Mason's meshes } " 
 
 Gleason looked troubled. " I am not, however. I 
 will admit that I have not dealt squarely in the mat- 
 ter of that receipt. I might have finished piecing it 
 together long ago, and I'm sorry I didn't. But the 
 truth is that I wanted to climb as Mason climbed, 
 and when I had got high enough, then topple him 
 over. But I am cured of that. No more politics in 
 mine. Doc! I've sworn off — turned over a new leaf, 
 and so on, as to office-seeking. I want to get the 
 
312 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 thing straight however, just as soon as possible. As 
 quickly as I can do it that receipt shall be pieced 
 together. Then comes the question of how to pro- 
 ceed — and you haven't given me your opinion 
 yet." 
 
 Dr. Blanchard arose from his chair and walked up 
 and down the room restlessly. "I'm afraid, Glea- 
 son," he said, after several turns, ''that I am, like 
 yourself, in danger of having a biased judgment. I 
 dislike Mason so thoroughly, that possibly my opin- 
 ion would not be worth having." 
 
 *' You think, then, that I should expose him pub- 
 licly first, and then trust to luck and a country jury to 
 get Miss Dunlap's money from him ? " 
 
 Blanchard stopped his restless walk, and dropped 
 again into his chair. " No, I don't, Sam. As a law- 
 yer, your first duty is to your client. Get the money 
 from Mason in the easiest way. You will not be 
 compounding a felony, because we cannot prove that 
 he stole the receipt from farmer Dunlap's desk on the 
 night he died. We are both perfectly certain that he 
 did, but we can't prove it in legal form. Make him 
 disgorge first ; his downfall is certain, and the truth 
 will eventually come out. But tell me about your 
 wooing, Sam; does it prosper.?" 
 
 Gleason blushed slightly. '' N-no. I can't say that 
 it does. In point of fact, I have never said a word to 
 Miss Dunlap; and I don't know that I ever shall, 
 either," he added, disconsolately. 
 
 "Why not.? 'Faint heart never won fair lady,' you 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 315 
 
 know. Or are you waiting till you can restore her 
 own to her before you speak ? " 
 
 "That's just the trouble ! " burst out Gleason. "If 
 I wait till then, she will think I am presuming on her 
 gratitude ! " 
 
 " I see. Why not speak at once, then ? " 
 
 "Yes, and have her imagine that I want her to 
 marry me as a sort of retaining fee for taking the 
 matter up and pushing it to a conclusion ! Don't you 
 see what a dilemma I am in, Doc ? If I were as rich 
 as she is, or if she was as poor as I, and I hadn't this 
 confounded affair in my hands, I might make some 
 headway ; but as it is, I can't do anything ! " 
 
 To Gleason's intense surprise. Dr. Blanchard burst 
 into a peal of laughter. The lawyer looked at him 
 with such a surprised expression that he went off in 
 another explosion of mirth. 
 
 " Oh, you may laugh, Doc ! But it is no laughing 
 matter with me, I can assure you ! Can't you see the 
 dilemma I am in ? " 
 
 " The dilemma is entirely one of your own making, 
 Sam," replied the doctor. " Excuse my laughing, but 
 I really could not help it. Depend upon it, if the 
 girl loves you, she will not dream of suspecting you 
 of trying to marry her for her money, nor that you 
 ask her for her hand as a reward or as an incentive.' 
 If she don't love you, she won't marry you as a means 
 of paying your fee, depend upon it — and I think too 
 well of you to imagine that you would want her on 
 such terms, even if she were willing." 
 
314 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 *'Then you think I have a chance?" 
 
 "Just as much a chance as if you were not her law- 
 yer, if that is what you mean. Go in and try your 
 fate ! " 
 
 The doctor's words were consoling to Mr. Gleason, 
 but could not entirely remove his disquiet. Never- 
 theless he applied himself assiduously, whenever he 
 had any spare time, to the work of fitting together the 
 little bits of paper, locking himself carefully in his 
 back room for that purpose. It was very tedious, but 
 he worked away with a feeling that in some way the 
 prosperity of his suit for Sarah Dunlap's hand 
 depended upon his success in restoring the torn 
 receipt. 
 
 This was in the fall, not long after the triumph of 
 Mr. Mason over General Price at the congressional 
 election. Gleason saw Mason passing along the 
 street now and then, and every time this occurred it 
 set him on edge with impatience to complete his task. 
 He was anxious to bring that gentleman to book in 
 the matter of the Dunlap estate. 
 
 One day Sarah Dunlap called at Gleason's office on 
 a matter of business, and when it was concluded he 
 accompanied her to the buggy. "Can you take me 
 with you as far as Niles' factory. Miss Dunlap.?" 
 he asked. "I wish to see Niles, and you have to pass 
 his place on your way." 
 
 "I shall be glad to have your company. I often 
 get tired of riding alone," responded Sarah, cordially. 
 And the two went down the street together. As fate 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 315 
 
 would have it, they met Caleb Mason riding on horse- 
 back before they had gone two squares. He bowed 
 courteously, his face as impassive as though they were 
 mere casual acquaintances. 
 
 Gleason glanced apprehensively at his companion's 
 face. He had the impression that it must be very 
 disagreeable for her to meet Mason ; hence he was 
 surprised to see that her face bore its usual pleasant 
 expression, without a trace of feeling of any kind. 
 
 ''That gentleman will have the disagreeable duty 
 of handing you over a considerable sum of money 
 within a few months," Gleason began, with an 
 undefined idea of probing her feelings toward Mason. 
 
 Sarah's expression changed to one of interest. 
 " You have completed the piecing ? Why did you 
 not tell me.?" 
 
 "Not entirely; but I am getting on. I hope to 
 have it done by the time he returns home next 
 spring." 
 
 *'WelI, I shall be glad to have it all over with — 
 not so much on account of the money, as because I 
 want to be quit of him entirely!" responded she. 
 •'Will there have to be a lawsuit } I shall not have to 
 appear as a witness, shall I.-*" 
 
 " If there is a lawsuit, I am afraid you will. 
 But I hope to be able to settle the matter .without 
 recourse to the courts, if you are willing." 
 
 "Why should not I be willing.'*" 
 
 "I — well, really, I did not know," answered he. 
 "I am glad the subject came up, for I have been 
 
3l6 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 wanting to ask you about it," And he went on to 
 explain the case as he had done to Dr. Blanchard. 
 
 "Now, Sarah," he concluded, "shall I endeavor to 
 get him to make restitution without publicity, if he 
 will do so? or shall I make a public exposure of his 
 conduct? Which would you advise?" 
 
 " I ? The matter is one that you are far more com- 
 petent to decide than I. If nothing but my feelings 
 were to be consulted, I should prefer that it be done 
 privately, if possible." 
 
 " You have no desire to have him punished for his 
 treatment of yourself ? " 
 
 " Not the least. I am glad that I escaped, even in 
 such a way, the unhappy lot that would have been 
 mine had I married him. Better a short period of 
 discomfort than life-long misery!" 
 
 "You certainly have no wish to spare him the igno- 
 miny of exposure ? " 
 
 "I have no feeling for or against him. He is an 
 utter stranger to me, and shall always remain so. I 
 dislike the idea of making a public matter of it, unless 
 unavoidable, because I do not wish to be a witness in 
 court, for one thing; and for another, I do not wish 
 his wife, poor woman, to have any greater burden of 
 suffering laid upon her than she now bears. Poor 
 thing, she is unhappy enough as it is ! " 
 
 "Mrs. Mason unhappy? What makes you think 
 so?" 
 
 "Why, I know it! She is proud and reserved, and 
 conceals her feelings ; but her life is an exemplifica- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 31/ 
 
 tion of the story of the Spartan boy and the fox 
 which he had hidden in his bosom — he let it tear his 
 vitals rather than make any out-cry. Caleb Mason is 
 supremely selfish ; he is incapable of loving anybody 
 but himself. His wife jilted a man who could have 
 made her happy, to gratify her ambition ; and it is but 
 ashes now that she grasps it. Her illusion, if she had 
 any, was over long ago. Poor woman, I pity her ! " 
 
 Sam Gleason was convinced by this conversation 
 that Sarah Dunlap had no feeling for Caleb Mason, 
 save indifference. If she ever wore the willow for 
 his sake, she did so no longer. The coast was clear, 
 and there was no reason why he should not press his 
 own suit. 
 
 And as he sat in his back office that evening labo- 
 riously piecing together minute fragments of paper, 
 he took heart of grace and swore a big oath to him- 
 self that if Sarah Dunlap were to be won at all he 
 should be the man to win her; and he determined 
 that the campaign should begin at once, regardless of 
 the incomplete condition of the work upon which he 
 was then engaged. 
 
3l8 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 MR. MASON IS CHECKMATED BY A TRAGEDY 
 
 VERY few marriages result as the participants 
 expect, and especially is this true of the woman 
 in the case. The roseate ante-nuptial dreams of a life 
 of unbroken happiness and ecstatic joy, speedily are dis- 
 sipated, sometimes even before the honey-moon wanes. 
 Married life is found to be as full of trouble and worry 
 as was a state of single blessedness, for human nature 
 remains the same after the tying of the nuptial knot 
 as it was before. The act of marriage does not 
 involve the making over of the natures of the high 
 contracting parties, nor the elimination of all weak- 
 nesses, frailties and faults. Nobody but a fool — 
 a thorough, complete and symmetrical fool — would 
 imagine that such a radical change is worked by matri- 
 mony; and while the common run of individuals are 
 fools on one or more points, they are not on the other 
 counts of the indictment ; therefore, finding that the 
 connubial state is not at all as their perfervid imagin- 
 ations painted it, they accept the inevitable — by the 
 kindly law of nature finding unlooked-for compensa- 
 tions in their new conditions and surroundings. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 3 IQ 
 
 If this be the case in the ordinary love-match, what 
 was to be expected of the marriage of Caleb Mason 
 and Helen Harvey? If ever a couple came to the 
 altar without either feeling one throb of the master 
 passion for the other, it was those two. It was a 
 match of ambition, not of love. Mason entered upon 
 it to secure the powerful influence of the Harvey fam- 
 ily for the furtherance of his political and financial 
 schemes. He was proud of the beauty and intellect 
 of Helen, but he did not love her in the true sense 
 of the word. Intensely selfish as he was, all his 
 thoughts and activities and emotions centered upon 
 himself. And Helen became his wife for her father's 
 sake, aided by her own ambition to share the honors 
 she believed Mason would achieve — to move in the 
 brilliant society at the national capital ; and she sacri- 
 ficed the honest affection she felt for Dr. Blanchard 
 to marry a man she did not love, in order to compass 
 these ends. She dimly believed that she should find 
 in Mason a congenial companion, and that domestic 
 life and happiness would bring love as a consequence. 
 
 But she was disappointed. Caleb Mason treated 
 her well ; she could not complain of slights, of harsh 
 words or treatment, nor of neglect of that cour- 
 tesy which should always be shown a woman, even 
 though she be your wife. But there was no real com- 
 munity of thought and feeling between the two — 
 none of that sympathy which may exist even where 
 love is not. Mason was an intensely secretive man. 
 He schemed and planned by himself, taking counsel 
 
320 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 of no one ; and when he needed help it was only that 
 furnished by an instrument, not by a counsellor or a 
 trusted friend. In point of fact he trusted nobody; 
 he had no confidants. Helen's dream of being a sym- 
 pathetic adviser and co-worker with her husband in 
 his political advancement was soon shattered. She 
 found that she was shut out from his inner life, the 
 springs of his actions, as completely as before her 
 marriage; and when she endeavored to draw him into 
 confidential discussion of his aims, his purposes and 
 prospects, he always avoided the topic and changed 
 the subject. He would talk politics with her, and dis- 
 cuss general situations, but he was silent as to the 
 part he expected to bear, the advancement he had 
 planned for himself. She only knew of them when 
 they were accomplished. 
 
 Had she been blessed with children, her lot would 
 have been much better. She could have lavished 
 upon them a mother's love, and their education and 
 advancement in life would have afforded her feelings 
 a natural and healthy outlet. But her marriage was 
 childless, and she was denied the consolation which 
 only a mother can 'know. Slowly she and her hus- 
 band drifted apart ; the things in which he was inter- 
 ested he would not allow her to share, nor did he 
 evince the smallest interest in her reading, her music, 
 or any of her occupations. So long as his household 
 was well ordered, and the expenditure kept within the 
 limits he had set, he was apparently satisfied. To a 
 weaker woman this indifference would have been dan- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 321 
 
 gerous. The craving for love and sympathy, for a 
 community of thought and action, with many of her 
 sex is so strong, that if they are not found in a hus- 
 band there is danger that they will be accepted from 
 other men. But Helen was a woman too well poised, 
 of too strong a nature, to stoop to invite maudlin 
 sympathy from another, and thus drift into a vulgar 
 intrigue. 
 
 Her dreams of shining in social circles at the polit- 
 ical capital also failed of realization. Mr. Mason had 
 taken her with him to Columbus for a fortnight each 
 of the two winters of his term in the state legislature, 
 and she had not cared to make a longer stay. But 
 when he was first elected to Congress, in i860 her 
 old ambition woke within her, and she became anx- 
 ious to accompany him to Washington. The old 
 regime was overthrown, the first Republican Presi- 
 dent was elected, and there would be a complete revo- 
 lution wrought in the fabric of Washington official 
 society. Helen Mason knew her own powers, and 
 felt that she could easily make herself one of the 
 social leaders under the new dispensation. 
 
 We all remember the winter that followed Lincoln's 
 election — the beginning of secession, the loud-mouthed 
 treason proclaimed even in the halls of Congress by 
 Southern Senators and Representatives, their farewell 
 bravado and bluster as they shook from their feet the 
 dust of the seat of government to journey homeward 
 and join in the formation of the insurrectionary gov- 
 ernment and in the levying of armies to carry on their 
 
322 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 rebellion. Mr. Mason's official term, of course, did 
 not begin till the following March 4th, the day of 
 the inauguration ; but the Congress to which he was 
 elected would not begin its sessions until the next 
 December, unless convened in extra session — which 
 was, however, seen to be a necessity, and which was 
 afterward done. Helen's interest was powerfully 
 excited, and her desire to accompany her husband to 
 his new scene of duty was much intensified ; for she 
 shared his belief that we were on the eve of a gigan- 
 tic struggle — a thing not believed by the masses of 
 the people, even though the political sky was darken- 
 ing with swift-coming war-clouds. She foresaw that 
 Washington would be the centre, not only of political 
 events of transcendent importance, but also of mili- 
 tary movements, and her heart burned to become a 
 social star in the new Republican court amid the mil- 
 itary and civil magnates of the nation. 
 
 The day of inauguration was near. One day at din- 
 ner Mr. Mason referred to its approach, and spoke 
 of his intention to be present at the inauguration 
 ceremonies. 
 
 "How long shall you remain.?" inquired Mrs. 
 Mason. 
 
 " Probably two or three weeks. There must be a 
 change in the post offices in my district. We have 
 won the victory and are entitled to the spoils. I 
 shall stay long enough to have every Democratic post- 
 master in the larger offices turned out and a Repub- 
 lican put in his place. The smaller offices can wait 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 323 
 
 until Congress convenes. I shall have more time to 
 attend to them then." 
 
 "Do you think that an extra session will be called .?" 
 
 "I do. These secessionists mean business, and we 
 shall either have to let the South go, or subdue it by- 
 force. To do either transcends the power of the 
 Executive alone ; Congress must be called together 
 to legislate on the matter, whichever horn of the 
 dilemma is taken." 
 
 "What do you suppose are Mr. Lincoln's views.?" 
 inquired Helen, prompted by her interest in the polit- 
 ical crisis. 
 
 "We shall have war. Mr. Lincoln, even if he felt 
 like doing it, could not take any steps toward allowing 
 the disruption of the Union without arousing such a 
 whirlwind of anger among the people of the North as 
 would result in either his immediate resignation or a 
 revolution. Our people cannot believe that the South 
 will resort to arms. They are apparently divided in 
 counsels, but the first overt act of hostility — the fir- 
 ing of the first gun — will unite them as one man in 
 favor of using force to bring our * erring sisters' back 
 into the Union." 
 
 "But, Caleb, why should Mr. Greeley talk as he 
 does about compromises, and even refer to a possible 
 peaceable dissolution of the Union.-*" 
 
 "My dear, Greeley is, like all reformers, one-sided 
 and erratic. He is good in preaching a crusade, but 
 his judgment is worthless as a leader when the cru- 
 sade begins." 
 
324 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 *'But suppose Mr. Lincoln shares his views?* 
 
 ''Lincoln is not the type of man that Greeley is. 
 I shall time my departure so as to join him on his 
 way to Washington, and shall endeavor to find out 
 his views — and urge prompt changes in Sixth dis- 
 trict offices as well." 
 
 Helen considered a moment, and then, deeming the 
 opportunity as favorable as any, began upon the topic 
 uppermost in her thoughts. She rarely addressed 
 him, even when they were alone, except as *'Mr. 
 Mason " ; but now she used a more familiar form : 
 
 " Caleb, I am glad you are going to get on friendly 
 terms with the new President at once. You have 
 great talents, and with the incoming of the new 
 Republican administration you will have a field for 
 their exercise which should cause you to rise rapidly. 
 I am anxious to see you rise ; I am anxious to help 
 you, so far as lies in my power." 
 
 "Thank you, my dear," interrupted Mason, "both 
 for your flattering judgment as to my own worth, and 
 for your kindly wishes." 
 
 " It is not much that I can do directly to forward 
 your interests," pursued Helen; "but, were I with 
 you in Washington I could do much indirectly — in 
 a social way, you understand ; for the making or mar- 
 ring of many a man's career has been accomplished 
 in the drawing-rooms of the official society of the 
 capital. In the new order of things about to be 
 established there, both in politics and official society, 
 I feel that I can do my share in your advancement 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 325 
 
 among the latter, and be an aid to you in your efforts 
 in your own field." 
 
 Mr. Mason listened in silence, his face expressing 
 nothing but courteous attention. As he made no 
 reply, but apparently waited for her to continue, she 
 went on : 
 
 " I have thought over the matter considerably, and 
 have arrived at the conclusion I have just given you. 
 I hope you will take me with you when Congress 
 opens, and give me the opportunity of trying to fur- 
 ther your progress. I speak of it now so that you 
 may have time to consider the matter, and if you 
 approve, make the necessary arrangements." 
 
 Her husband drew a long breath. "Your offer 
 touches me, Helen; it does, indeed! If you were a 
 different sort of a woman — a social butterfly, rather 
 than a woman of thought and education — I should 
 say you were making a wheedling plea to be permitted 
 to enjoy the society whirl at Washington — that you 
 were flattering me into compliance. But I know you 
 better than that. I feel that your wish is prompted 
 by a wife's sincere desire for her husband's advance- 
 ment, and it touches me deeply." 
 
 He bent over her and touched his lips to her cheek. 
 
 ''I am sorry that I cannot say 'yes' at once, 
 Helen ; but I can, unfortunately, make no positive 
 answer. The Congressional campaign was a most 
 arduous one, as well as costly in a money sense ; not 
 only did my law business suffer greatly because I was 
 unable to give it proper attention, but I had to pay 
 
326 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 out large sums of money in various ways to carry out 
 the campaign work. It is very difficult to obtain 
 money just now, as the political troubles have 
 disorganized finance, and the outlook gets darker 
 every day. But I will do my best. As soon as I 
 return from Washington I will see what arrange- 
 ments can be made, and if it is at all possible, your 
 wish shall be granted." And with another kiss upon 
 her cheek he took his departure for his office. 
 
 The subject was not renewed until the President 
 called Congress in special session. Then Mr. Mason 
 explained to his wife that the extra session would 
 doubtless be brief — merely to provide money for the 
 expenses of the troops called out — and that it would 
 hardly be worth while for her to go to the capital for 
 a few weeks. But he hoped his personal finances 
 would be in better condition by the time the regular 
 session began in December, and he would endeavor 
 to have her join him in Washington after the 
 holidays. 
 
 But two Congressional terms passed away and 
 Helen had not had her wish. She had visited the 
 capital once, in the winter of 1862, but Mr. Mason 
 evinced no desire to establish her permanently with 
 him. 
 
 Helen was too proud to return to the subject; but 
 the cool ignoring of her offer widened the distance 
 between her husband and herself, and as the years 
 went on the estrangement grew. 
 
 Not long after the events narrated in the last 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 32/ 
 
 chapter, Caleb Mason returned to Washington at the 
 assembling of Congress. He was always particular 
 in writing weekly letters to his wife, utilizing Sunday 
 for that duty; as a consequence Helen regularly 
 received his missives every Tuesday. So it was with 
 some surprise that on one Thursday late in February 
 she received a letter addressed in her husband's well- 
 known chirography. When she reached home she 
 opened it, wondering what special matter of moment 
 had procured her the unexpected pleasure of a second 
 missive from him within one week. 
 
 As she unfolded it a slip of paper dropped out. A 
 glance showed it to be a check for a hundred dollars. 
 The letter read as follows — 
 
 My Dear Helen: 
 
 As you know, I was not able to spend the holidays at home, 
 because of some important political business which detained me here. 
 Had I been able to do so, I had intended to bring you back on my 
 return here, to stay for several weeks with me. Long ago you 
 expressed a wish to remain in Washington for the winter. It was 
 impossible, as you will remember, for financial reasons, to afford you 
 (as well as myself) that pleasure, and the rush and hurry of the great 
 events that have made our nation's history since then, I am sorry to 
 say, drove the matter out of my mind. I wish to repair my error of 
 omission. True, the somewhat Quixotic project you then entertained 
 of aiding me by the exercise of your undoubted social talents would 
 have come to naught, as the power of the camp has entirely eclipsed 
 that of the salon. Under the old order of things the salon dominated 
 politics in many ways, and your idea would have been an excellent 
 one. 
 
 I inclose check for $ioo, and hope to meet you here on Monday 
 next. Leave Pulaski Saturday, by way of Columbus. I know you 
 have a very good wardrobe, but you will, doubtless, desire to make 
 
328 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 some additions. Postpone doing so, however, till you reach here. 
 The check is for travelling and other immediate expenses ; I will give 
 you what you need for shopping when you come. Please telegraph 
 me when you will start. Affectionately your husband, 
 
 Caleb Mason. 
 
 "Now what scheme has he on foot that requires 
 my presence.?" murmured Helen to herself as she 
 finished its perusal. She knew Mr. Mason well 
 enough to understand that there was more in his sud- 
 den determination to give her an extended visit at the 
 capital than was contained in that letter. Her first 
 feeling was one of revolt — a disinclination to be 
 made a tool for some unknown purpose. But the 
 prospect of a sojourn at Washington was not without 
 allurement. Her life in Pulaski was a joyless one — 
 the dull routine of household duties, broken by an 
 equally dull giving and receiving of calls. Here was 
 an opportunity for an agreeable diversion. 
 
 <' Besides," she mused, "he hints at nothing else 
 than a simple pleasure trip for myself. I will accept 
 the invitation on its face, and if there should an 
 object develop after I am there, it will be perfectly 
 easy to decline to have anything to do with it, if I 
 wish." 
 
 Accordingly a telegram was dispatched, and the 
 next Monday as she stepped from the train at Wash- 
 ington she found her husband awaiting her. 
 
 Mr. Mason had rooms at a leading hotel, and Helen 
 found herself with a pleasant circle of acquaintances 
 within a very few days. No hint was given by her 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 329 
 
 husband that he had any ulterior motive in desiring 
 her presence, and her vague suspicions lulled to rest, 
 Helen began to enjoy herself very much. It was, 
 indeed, a marked change from the dullness of Pulaski. 
 Here was the political and military centre of the 
 nation, and the closing scenes of the mighty drama of 
 the rebellion were drawing near. Sherman had made 
 his glorious march to the sea, and had turned north- 
 ward. Grant was steadily hammering away in front of 
 Richmond, and it was becoming plain to the dullest 
 apprehension that the tremendous struggle would soon 
 be brought to a close. Helen's loyal heart was glad 
 at the thought, and it added a zest to the novelty of 
 living in the very centre of the nation's life, amid the 
 whirl and hurry of the actual occurrence of events. 
 
 Then, too, Mr. Mason was assiduous in having her 
 meet many notable men. She was introduced to so 
 many of his fellow-members of the House that her 
 brain was taxed to recall their names when next she 
 met them. She met leading Senators and cabinet 
 ministers, and accompanied her husband to the White 
 House to call upon the President. Mr. Mason's 
 faithful services to his party brought her more than 
 the ordinary attentions bestowed upon a member's 
 wife, while her own beauty, intelligence and social tact, 
 made her friends on every side on her own account. 
 Decidedly these were pleasant weeks, and Helen often 
 looked back to them as the one really bright spot in 
 the dull sameness of her life since, her marriage. 
 
 Then came the fall of Richmond, and it was plain 
 
330 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 that the end was only a few days off. The great 
 struggle would be closed and the nation return to the 
 arts of peace. Caleb Mason had seen the end from 
 afar, and had, with his customary foresight, made a 
 study of the possibilities of the future and the 
 changes which the end of the war would bring. He 
 saw that a new and important element would be 
 brought into the political field — the returned soldiers. 
 "The preference now will be for military men," ran 
 his conclusion ; "the million soldiers of the volunteer 
 armies will form a heavy factor in the voting popu- 
 lation, and they will largely control the preferences 
 of their friends at home. The army will vanish from 
 the field only to re-appear at the polls ; and the men 
 who commanded in war will have the suffrages of the 
 rank and file for civil office. This is Lincoln's second 
 term and he will be succeeded by a general. The 
 Americans are like all other people — they idolize a 
 successful military leader." 
 
 This had been a line of thought often present in 
 Caleb Mason's mind ever since the military success of 
 the winter had rendered it certain that the Union 
 arms would speedily triumph in the field. Now that 
 Richmond, the key to the Confederacy, had fallen, the 
 new order of things was impending. True, it would 
 be some time before things would settle down to a 
 peace basis ; but it was the part of wisdom to put in 
 action plans for his own personal advantage before the 
 new era dawned. 
 
 No man was wise enough to forecast what would 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 33 I 
 
 be done with the insurrectionary states in a political 
 way, nor on what basis the reconstruction of the 
 Union would be made. That a heated political con- 
 flict would follow the cessation of hostilities was cer- 
 tain ; but even Caleb Mason's acuteness could not 
 solve to his own satisfaction how he could best secure 
 his own interests during the period of turmoil. With 
 the pressing necessity for holding all loyal men 
 together with the one object of suppressing the rebell- 
 ion removed, there would be more elasticity in poli- 
 tics, and voters would feel more free to exercise their 
 personal choice as to the candidates at the polls. 
 Nothing but the manipulation of the soldier vote had 
 saved him from defeat the previous fall ; the home 
 vote had been against him. He feared to put the 
 matter again to the test in an election, if it could be 
 avoided. True, the next election was nearly two 
 years off; but if he could step higher before that 
 time would it not be wise .-* 
 
 Mr. Mason was decidedly of the impression that it 
 would be extremely wise. But how was he to step 
 higher ? 
 
 So he had, just after the incoming of the new year, 
 set his wits to work in the direction of finding the 
 desired step. It must necessarily be an appointive 
 office ; it must be one of more distinction than that of 
 Representative ; and last, but by no means least, it 
 must carry with it a higher salary. 
 
 Long ago Caleb Mason had made for himself per- 
 sonal friends in the Departments, especially in those 
 
332 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 of the State, War, and the Treasury. It was often a 
 matter of interest to him to know when there were 
 positions wherein changes were to be made in order 
 that a friend might be pushed at the earhest possible 
 moment for a vacancy. Mason's tastes ran toward a 
 diplomatic position. He felt himself a master in 
 the art of diplomacy, and could he find an opening he 
 Pieh assured that his talents would be as valuable to 
 ^•. his country in that field as his work in the House had 
 
 ^ been valuable to his party. Accordingly he had a 
 ,^ quiet talk one evening with a friend who held a confi- 
 
 /^^ dential position in the State Department, during which 
 
 •4 there was a transfer of a roll of greenbacks. 
 
 That day in February on which he had written to 
 Helen to join him in Washington, this friend came to 
 him with the intelligence that the United States min- 
 ister to one of the most important European courts — 
 
 ^, wliom we will call _Langdon — would probably be 
 
 ^ recalled for certain urgent reasons. 
 
 Mr. Mason congratulated himself. If he had been 
 given his choice of the foreign positions this would 
 have been the one he would have chosen. He knew 
 it would require considerable influence to get it, but 
 he felt sure he could control as many influential men 
 as any one else — and his knowledge of the sit- 
 uation would enable him to marshal his forces in 
 advance. 
 
 His first move was to write to Helen. Before she 
 had been in Washington a week, however, he received 
 information in the same way that nothing would be 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 333 
 
 done until after Mr. Lincoln's second inauguration, so 
 that the recall might appear to have followed as a 
 matter of course. That time passed, but the rapid 
 march of events in the field drove to the background 
 all matters of less importance than those pertaining to 
 the vigorous prosecution of the closing military cam- 
 paign. He learned, however, that the matter was 
 held in abeyance — that as soon as hostilities ceased 
 Minister Langdon would be recalled. 
 
 Thus it was that Helen came to be in Washington. 
 Her husband saw to it that she met every man of 
 political prominence who would be able to help him 
 when the time came. She was a success socially, and 
 he began to feel sanguine over the happy thought of 
 bringing her to his aid. It was even better that she 
 had not been in Washington before; she was unso- 
 phisticated as to the devious ways of practical politics 
 there, and the impression she had made was more 
 marked than would have been the case had she been 
 an habitue of Washington. Familiarity often breeds 
 depreciation as well as it breeds contempt. 
 
 Richmond fell, and the end had come. In the mad 
 whirl of rejoicing Mason was as jubilant as any, but 
 he kept a sharp watch for the recall of Minister Lang- 
 don. But day after day passed by, and still the State 
 Department was inactive. Late one evening after 
 Mason had retired he was awakened by a bell-boy, 
 who informed him that a gentleman in the office 
 wished to speak to him at once on important business. 
 
 Making a hasty toilet, Mason repaired to the office, 
 
334 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 to find his emissary awaiting him. They walked out 
 upon the deserted street in order to avoid being 
 overheard. 
 
 *'Day after to-morrow, strike as early as you can. 
 To-morrow is a general jubilee over the end of the 
 war, and nothing will be done; but the next day 
 Langdon will be recalled." 
 
 It was too late in the evening to set in motion any 
 of the agencies through which he hoped lo compass 
 the appointment he coveted, and Mr. Mason was fain 
 to return to his room and wdt the coming of the 
 morning. But he was out bright ar.d early, and 
 spent the hours of the great day of the nation's jubi- 
 lee over the downfall of treason in urging men pre- 
 sumed to have influence with the President to press 
 his claims for the mission to be made vacant on the 
 morrow. 
 
 Helen was with a party of friends viewing the 
 monster procession and watching the surging throngs 
 who packed the streets. It was 6 o'clock before she 
 and her husband met, just before dinner. Mr. Mason 
 looked very tired, but his face was bright, and he 
 seemed to be in an excellent humor. They went 
 down to the dining-room, and while waiting to be 
 served, Caleb turned to his wife and said — 
 
 '' Helen, I find that the President will attend the 
 theater to-night, and so have obtained two seats. I 
 presumed that you would like to go, and I was really 
 too busy to come home to speak to you about the 
 matter." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 335 
 
 *'0h, I shall be very glad to go ! I have always 
 wished to see ' Our American Cousin ', for I have 
 read so very many allusions to it in the comic 
 papers." 
 
 "Well, your longing shall be gratified to-night. I 
 am glad to have the chance of a quiet chat with you 
 while we are at table. I must tell you that" — 
 
 But Mr. Mason was interrupted by the waiter seat- 
 ing a party of guests at the same table. The gentle- 
 men were acquaintances, and a brisk conversation at 
 once being begun, he was obliged to abandon the 
 "quiet chat" with his wife. 
 
 They were, from one cause or another, a little late 
 in reaching Ford's theater. Their seats were in the 
 dress circle, on the opposite side from the Presiden- 
 tial box, and afforded them a good view of its occu- 
 pants when they arrived. Helen took her seat and 
 looked about her. The house was crowded with a 
 brilliant audience, and every face seemed alight with 
 joy over the end of the tremendous struggle. There 
 was even a note of triumph, it seemed to her, in the 
 very buzz of conversation that rose on every hand. 
 Then a clapping of hands began among those nearest 
 the door. Every one turned to look, and saw a party 
 being escorted toward the boxes on the right-hand 
 side, and the wave of applause rolled over the house. 
 
 "The President and his party," remarked Mr. 
 Mason, joining in the demonstration, which was 
 repeated with enthusiasm as the group entered the 
 box to take their seats. The President seated Mrs. 
 
336 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Lincoln, and then looked smilingly out over the 
 crowded auditorium, bowing in response to the enthu- 
 siastic cheering. 
 
 " Who are those with the President and Mrs. Lin- 
 coln ? " questioned Helen of her husband. 
 
 "Major Rathbone and Miss Harris." 
 
 The jubilant audience got tired of cheering, and 
 quieted down to listen to the orchestra. Presently 
 the curtain rose, and Helen's interest was absorbed in 
 the scenes of the celebrated play, "Our American 
 Cousin." 
 
 When the curtain fell upon the second act, Mr. 
 Mason leaned over toward his wife, and began upon 
 the topic he was about to discuss at the dinner-table. 
 
 " I must tell you something I think you will be 
 glad to hear, Helen. Bend over a little, for I must 
 speak low. This is a State secret, remember. Min- 
 ister Langdon is to be recalled at once. The recall 
 will be made public to-morrow." 
 
 "Well.?" inquired she, not understanding his drift. 
 
 "I am a candidate to succeed him. I have the 
 
 promise of aid from ," and he named a number 
 
 of leading Senators and Representatives, and others in 
 high station. 
 
 Helen gave a start as he began. Turning to him 
 as he ceased, she inquired — 
 
 "Why do you wish to leave Congress and seek a 
 position abroad.!* This is so sudden — it has taken 
 me entirely by surprise. Please explain it all to me." 
 
 "There is but little to explain. The position is a 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 33/ 
 
 higher and more honorable one than that I now 
 occupy. The salary, too, is very much larger. I 
 think a few years abroad would be a good thing for 
 us both in many ways, and I shall be very glad if I 
 succeed in obtaining the position." 
 
 "What are your chances .-*" 
 
 *<They are fairly good — and so far, better than 
 those of any one else, for the fact of the recall is 
 known to but few besides the President and the Sec- 
 retary of State. But as soon as it is made public, 
 there will be a rush of applicants. Such places do 
 not go begging, I can assure you." 
 
 "Then it is still a matter of doubt.?" 
 
 " Yes — of a great deal of doubt ; I shall need the 
 aid of every friend I have. And I had thought, 
 Helen, that now is an excellent opportunity for you 
 to test the idea you once suggested, of aiding my 
 advancement through your social qualities. It is for- 
 tunate that you happened to be here just at this junc- 
 ture." Mr. Mason watched his wife's face narrowly 
 out of the corner of his eye, in order to see how 
 the proposition might strike her. 
 
 "When did you ascertain that a vacancy would 
 occur } " 
 
 "Not until yesterday." It was a falsehood, though 
 it followed the strict letter of the truth. " I will 
 explain to you after we get home the way in which 
 you can be of great use in this matter. I think " — 
 
 "Hush! The curtain is going up." 
 
 Mason was perforce silent. Helen turned her eyes 
 
338 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 toward the stage, her brain in a whirl. So he had, 
 after all, summoned her to Washington to aid him ! 
 Should she do it ? Why not ? She was his wife, and 
 although there was no love between them, it was her 
 duty to do all that she honorably could to advance his 
 interests. But there was a feeling deep in her heart 
 that she ought not to degrade herself by becoming his 
 tool — that what he was going to ask her to do would 
 be a degradation to herself. 
 
 While her mind was intent on this matter, to all 
 outward appearance her attention was absorbed by the 
 play. " Asa Trenchard " and '' Mary Meredith " were 
 the two characters on the stage, and the house was 
 very quiet, listening to the dialogue in which "Asa" 
 tells her of her relinquishment of a bequest that 
 should rightfully have been her own. The stillness 
 was broken by the sharp report of a pistol, apparently 
 fired behind the scenes to the right. Helen started 
 and came out of her reverie. She gazed in the direc- 
 tion of the sound, and noted confusion in the Pres- 
 idential box, of whose interior she sat in full view. 
 Major Rathbone had risen from his chair to grasp at 
 another person who was pressing toward the front of 
 the box — could it be the President.? No, there sat 
 Mr. Lincoln, his head bent forward as if he were 
 asleep. The stranger wrested himself out of Major 
 Rathbone's grasp in an instant, and Helen saw the 
 gleam of a dagger in the stranger's hand as he struck 
 the major — as was afterward found — inflicting a 
 severe wound in his left arm. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 339 
 
 All this had passed in an instant ; but at the 
 gleam of steel it flashed through Helen's mind that 
 she was witnessing a tragedy — how terrible a one, 
 how far-reaching in its effects, she could not dream. 
 
 The stranger sprang upon the box-rail, and leaped 
 to the stage some nine feet below. Helen saw that 
 his spur caught the edge of one of the flags draped 
 around the front of the box ; she even noted the torn 
 portion of the bunting. As he sprang down he 
 shouted ''sic semper tyrannis!'' and rushing across 
 the stage — though he had broken his leg in the leap 
 — the stranger, John Wilkes Booth, disappeared. 
 
 The wild screams of Mrs. Lincoln rang out, and 
 the awful fact flashed over Helen that she had wit- 
 nessed the assassination of the President, the great 
 Emancipator ! She started to her feet with the rest 
 of the audience, and a scene of the wildest excitement 
 ensued 
 
 **My God ! He has murdered him ! " gasped she. 
 
 "Come quickly, Helen! Let us get away!" 
 exclaimed her husband, wrapping her cloak about 
 her. 
 
 They reached the street, thronged already with the 
 excited populace. They did not exchange a word 
 until they were in their room at the hotel. Helen 
 sank into a chair, trembling in every limb at the 
 exciting scene through which she had passed. Caleb 
 Mason's face was ashy pale. He walked up and 
 down the room, as if to collect his thoughts. Then 
 he spoke — and his first words were these — 
 
340 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 " My plans are overthrown. Lincoln is mortally 
 wounded ; Johnson will follow him and he is not my 
 friend. I shall not succeed Langdon ! " 
 
 Even in the face of the nation's fearful calamity his 
 only thought was as to its effects upon his own 
 fortunes. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 34 I 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 MR. GLEASON SCORES HIS POINT 
 
 THE death of President Lincoln and the accession 
 of Vice-President Johnson to the chair of the 
 chief executive put an end to the scheme for the 
 recall of Minister Langdon ; for he was a close per- 
 sonal friend of the new President, and the whole 
 matter was dropped. Mr. Mason had the wisdom to 
 at once confer with the friends whose interest he had 
 asked, and imposed a policy of absolute silence upon 
 them. Hence, the fact that a recall had been in con- 
 templation, and that he himself had been an active 
 aspirant to succeed Langdon, never became known to 
 any but a narrow circle of political chiefs, and the 
 voters of the Sixth district never dreamed that their 
 Representative had contemplated resigning his seat 
 and seeking promotion elsewhere. And Mr. Mason 
 took pains that they should not find it out ; for the 
 men who were held in power in federal positions 
 through him, and those who had been promised his 
 influence in the future, would have looked upon his 
 design, had they ever become acquainted with it, as 
 treachery to them, and he would have had an exceed- 
 
342 . THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 ingly interesting task in holding them together the 
 next time he wished to use them to advance his 
 interests. 
 
 Helen soon preferred a request to her husband that 
 she might return home, which Mr. Mason met with a 
 prompt and gracious consent. It was with a feeling 
 of relief that she found herself once more beneath her 
 own roof-tree. The episode but intensified that 
 feeling of antagonism to her husband which had been 
 silently developing for years. She had seen enough 
 of him in Washington to make it certain that he was 
 entirely selfish, insincere to the core, and that his 
 influence in official circles, great as it was, was that of 
 a time-server and a tuft-hunter, more than that of the 
 man who commands it through his own innate worth 
 and overshadowing talents. 
 
 It was a bitter reflection to her, in the quiet of 
 Pulaski, to recall the high ambitions she had enter- 
 tained when she yielded to the pleadings of her father 
 to marry Caleb Mason. Is is doubtful if even the 
 danger that menaced him and her brothers could have 
 moved her to accept Mason as her husband, had it not 
 been for her own boundless ambition, and the belief 
 she had that Mason possessed the qualities within 
 himself that would lead to their realization. And in 
 her present mood she fell into the habit of contrast- 
 ing the man she married with the man she had been 
 engaged to marry. Caleb Mason had made a great 
 mistake in not making his wife his coadjutor and con- 
 fidant from the very day of their union. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 343 
 
 The feminine nature is a complex one, compared 
 with the masculine. It may occur to the reader that 
 Mason was wise in not betraying his devious methods 
 and demagogic arts to Helen, lest she should have 
 become so utterly disgusted thereat as to have 
 betrayed his confidence by pitiless exposure ; but with 
 a woman of Helen's stamp it would have been by far 
 his safest and wisest course. A woman is governed 
 by her emotions. If she loves a man, she will unfal- 
 teringly keep by his side, even through crooked ways 
 and wrong courses, so long as that love endures. He 
 can either take her down with him, or carry her on his 
 upward path. Helen did not love Caleb Mason when 
 she married him ; but her boundless ambition would 
 have made an excellent substitute for love had her 
 husband been wise enough to have appealed to it at 
 the start. And the probabilities are great in such a 
 case that love would have followed as a consequence 
 of the close community of interest ; the clever appeal 
 to her ambition would have deepened her feeling into 
 love. But Caleb Mason had not that knowledge of 
 the sex which would enable him to see these things. 
 
 Helen had desired that her life should be spent by 
 her husband's side in a wider arena than the dull 
 town in which she was born; yet here she found 
 herself in Pulaski, and with no prospect that any of 
 her dreams would now be realized. When she 
 accepted Mason, and broke off her engagement with 
 Dr. Blanchard, she had felt that to settle down per- 
 manently in Pulaski as a doctor's wife would be 
 
344 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 unbearable ; yet her lot was even less enviable than it 
 would have been as Blanchard's wife. It is danger- 
 ous to her peace of mind for an unloving, disappointed 
 wife to contrast her husband with an old suitor, espe- 
 cially if the latter had once inspired love in her heart. 
 Helen Mason was not a woman to stoop to vulgar 
 intrigue ; she would never dishonor herself. But the 
 comparison she instituted made her very unhappy, for 
 she felt that the love she once bore Dr. Blancbard 
 was not extinct, but merely dormant ; and she fought 
 it down resolutely, with the result of increasing her 
 own unhappiness and unavailing regrets. 
 
 Dr. Blanchard, of course, did not dream of the true 
 state of affairs. Helen's breaking of their engage- 
 ment and marriage to Mason had dealt him a severe 
 blow. From that time there had been no communica- 
 •tion between them. They bowed coldly if they acci- 
 dentally met ; that was all. Yet down deep in the 
 doctor's heart the spark of love still gleamed, ready to 
 be fanned into flame if opportunity should offer. Dr. 
 Blanchard was, however, an honorable man, and 
 never would make love to another's wife. The only 
 effect of the lingering traces of his passion was to 
 keep him from marrying. He would not insult a 
 woman by the tender of a divided affection. 
 
 So time passed on, the calm current of events in 
 Pulaski being hardly disturbed by a ripple. Helen 
 quietly lived on, hopeless and unhappy in reality, but 
 betraying it to none ; her husband pursued his ambi- 
 tious schemes in Washington, and spent an hour each 
 

 THE DEMAGOCxUE 345 
 
 Sunday afternoon in writing her a letter ; Dr. Blanch- 
 ard attended assiduously to his professional duties, 
 and spent his leisure in literary and scientific pur- 
 suits ; and Sam Gleason worked hard at the law, and 
 pieced away at the myriad bits of torn paper. 
 
 The one thing that made his task much more 
 tedious than it otherwise would have been was that 
 the waste-basket contained a large amount of torn-up 
 writings, on the same kind of paper — the legal cap 
 so generally used by lawyers — and in Mason's hand- 
 writing. These were of no value ; but Mr. Mason 
 had the habit of tearing into infinitesimal bits every- 
 thing he threw into his waste-basket. It was a part 
 of that caution which was ingrained in him. When 
 sitting at his desk, listening to the statement of his ^ 
 case by a client he had the habit of taking any useless *? 
 paper, an old letter or envelope, or anything else that 
 came to hand, and tearing it into fragments, dividing 
 each until it became too small to afford him a hold 
 for further division. 
 
 There were literally thousands of these bits in the 
 waste-basket on the day that the stolen receipt was 
 added to its contents — and not one among them 
 larger than a finger-nail. Gleason's task of sorting 
 and piecing was, therefore, as may well be imagined, a 
 most onerous one. And now that he felt the spur of 
 haste, the task yet remaining seemed to himself infi- 
 nitely harder than he had supposed it to be when he 
 had told Dr. Blanchard that he would have it com- 
 pleted by the end of the Congressional session. 
 
 >^ 
 
34^ THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 He had kept up his habit of riding out to the farm 
 to spend an hour or two with Sarah Dunlap. One 
 evening, a few days after Helen Mason's return from 
 Washington, he mounted his horse and took the road 
 to the farm. 
 
 "I am glad you came, Mr. Gleason," said Sarah, 
 after the usual greetings had been exchanged; "I 
 want to have a business talk with you." 
 
 "I am at your service. What is it you want.?" 
 
 "You know the old Allen farm over on the Stu- 
 artsville turnpike ? Yes ? I supposed so. Well, I 
 learn that it is in the market. It is good land. I 
 remember once riding past it with father, and his 
 remarking that he would sooner buy it than any 
 other farm in the county. It has one hundred and 
 sixty acres of the best land, and I want to buy it. 
 The question is, can I.-*" 
 
 "You can, if the first payment demanded is not too 
 great, and time enough is given on the deferred ones." 
 
 " The price asked is one hundred and twenty-five 
 dollars an acre, one-half cash." 
 
 "H'm!" mused Gleason. "It's a full quarter sec- 
 tion. That makes twenty thousand dollars. That is 
 too much. You have not its half in cash, as you 
 know. But the price asked is too high. It ought to 
 be bought for a hundred an acre." 
 
 "I would, of course, expect you to get it for less, 
 if possible ; but I know that the present owner needs 
 ^10,000 in cash, and that he must sell so as to realize 
 that sum immediately." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 34/ 
 
 "Well," returned Gleason, "you know you haven't 
 that sum in cash ; but, of course, we can raise it by 
 mortgage." 
 
 "On the farm itself?" 
 
 "No, of course not! The deferred payments will 
 be secured by mortgage on that, and you can't get 
 money these times on a second mortgage, even on as 
 good a property as the Allen farm. You would have 
 to mortgage part of this farm." 
 
 "What!" returned Sarah, in surprise. "Do you 
 suppose for an instant that I would mortgage my 
 father's old home ? Never ! " 
 
 " I don't well see how we can raise the money 
 otherwise." 
 
 "We must do so. I want that land, and I cer- 
 tainly will not mortgage this property." 
 
 Gleason leaned back in his chair and stared reflect- 
 ively into the fire. " If I were ready to put the 
 screws on Caleb Mason I believe we could raise the 
 money in a hurry," he replied, after a time, appar- 
 ently speaking more to himself than to Sarah. 
 
 " Why are you not ready .'' " was her prompt 
 inquiry. 
 
 Gleason turned to look at her. "I haven't that 
 receipt pieced together yet, Sarah." 
 
 "It seems to me that I have heard you say that 
 before," responded she, gravely. 
 
 A flush passed over his face. "That is true; but 
 I am working at it all the time that I can spare," 
 
 "That also sounds familiar." 
 
34^ THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Perhaps it is," answered Gleason, in a meek 
 voice. "But it is true. I am pushing it along as 
 fast as possible." 
 
 "And I have heard that before," returned Sarah, 
 inexorably. 
 
 Gleason felt that he was at a disadvantage. " I am 
 putting every minute that I can spare from my busi- 
 ness upon it, Sarah,"* he repeated, weakly. 
 
 "I am told that your business is increasing in a 
 very gratifying manner," returned she, meaningly. 
 
 Gleason wondered what had cgme over her. "And 
 you infer that I shall have less time, then, to devote 
 to it.?" 
 
 "My words will bear that construction, certainly." 
 
 " But I tell you it shall be done very speedily now. 
 I am "— 
 
 "That also has a familiar ring. In fact, you are 
 apparently going to suit yourself about completing 
 it — if you ever intend to do so." 
 
 The flush on Gleason's face deepened. "You cer- 
 tainly do not think I am trifling with your business, 
 do yo^, Sarah } " 
 
 "Answer the question yourself. Look back over 
 the years that have gone by since you began the 
 work — since you first showed me the beginning you 
 had made — and tell me what else I am to think." 
 
 Sarah's face was as impenetrable as that of the 
 Sphynx, as Gleason anxiously gazed into it. She 
 looked frankly into his own, not a trace of displeasure 
 visible, and appeared to the perplexed young man as 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 349 
 
 calm and indifferent as though she were pursuing an 
 inquiry upon some subject not of the least importance 
 to herself personally. 
 
 "I must admit it does look a little that way," he 
 began, with an embarrassed laugh. "The fact is I 
 was not as diligent as I should have been." 
 
 -Why.?" 
 
 Sarah's face expressed only well-bred curiosity as 
 Gleason's eyes were again lifted to it. 
 
 "I assure you I am making progress. The next 
 time you are in town come to my office and see how 
 far I have gotten." 
 
 " I will. But you have not answered my question, 
 you remember." 
 
 "Oh, yes! — why I was not diligent. Well — ah — 
 that is — in fact, Sarah," blurted out the perplexed 
 young man, "I was a fool !" 
 
 Sarah preserved perfect silence. Gleason wiped 
 his hot face with his handkerchief, to gain time, but 
 his fair interlocutor sat impassive, apparently waiting 
 for him to go on. The pause became embarrassing. 
 
 "That is the only thing I can say. I was a fool!" 
 went on poor Gleason desperately, rising to his feet 
 and pacing up and down the floor. 
 
 "Are you quite sure you have recovered from the 
 attack ? " inquired Sarah, sweetly ; but there was a 
 suspicion of a smile upon her lips, a twinkle in 
 her eyes which gave the young man courage. He 
 stopped his walk, leaned upon the mantel, and went 
 on : 
 
350 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 " I might as well confess my sjn and beg absolution. 
 Yes, I was a fool ! I saw Caleb Mason climb the 
 political ladder, and I was bitten by the ambition to 
 do the same. I knew I had, in the fragments of that 
 receipt, a hold upon him that would mould him to my 
 will. I went on working at intervals until I got into 
 politics. He helped me to my seat in the legislature 
 in return for my aid to him in his congressional can- 
 vasses. I did not say anything about the receipt, 
 however. I did intimate that a strict investigation of 
 his management of your father's affairs might lead to 
 awkward results; but that was all." 
 
 Gleason stopped for breath, and wiped his brow 
 with his handkerchief. Sarah sat quietly listening, 
 her face still inscrutable. 
 
 "When I got into political life it engrossed me. I 
 put off everything that was not immediately pressing. 
 I neglected my law business — and — and, of course, 
 this matter." 
 
 " I thought there must have been a little neglect in 
 it," responded Sarah. 
 
 "There was — I admit it, but with sorrow and 
 regret. But, as I told you some time ago, I have 
 turned over a new leaf ; I have washed my hands of 
 politics ; I am sticking steadily to business. I have 
 been working a great deal on that receipt, and what I 
 have told you is strictly true — that I am putting all 
 my spare time on that piecing work. It is progress- 
 ing, and it will not be many weeks before it will be 
 completed." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 35 I 
 
 *'It has come down to a matter of weeks instead of 
 years, then ? " 
 
 "It has, indeed! It will take some weeks to com- 
 plete it, but not a minute shall be lost until it is 
 done — and then" — 
 
 Gleason paused and gazed into the fire, until Sarah 
 prompted him with — 
 
 " And then — what ? " 
 
 "Two things are to be done. The first — compel 
 Mason to return what is rightfully yours; quietly, if 
 he will — if not, then by legal means." 
 
 "What is the other thing.'*" inquired Sarah, betray- 
 ing more interest than she had hitherto shown. 
 
 "It is simply this; I shall, after I have secured for 
 you what is your own, resign the trust I have so badly 
 cared for." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 "I know you are offended, and justly so, at my 
 delay and negligence. You have the right to be. I 
 cann.^t find fault with you. You have been forbear- 
 ing — \^ry. I shall then resign the care of your 
 affairs intc I hope, more worthy hands." 
 
 "Have I arked you to do so.?" demanded she, the 
 soft color rising in her cheeks. 
 
 " No, not in words ; but you have shown me that 
 you clearly understood that I had neglected this busi- 
 ness. I never felt so keenly as now the criminal 
 carelessness of my conduct. Of course I see that 
 you cannot wish me to continue longer as your agent. 
 If I could, I would resign my responsibility at once; 
 
352 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 but unfortunately I cannot do this until I have fin- 
 ished the work on that receipt, and recovered your 
 money from Mason. By that time you can select 
 some one else to act in my capacity, and I will turn 
 over everything to him." 
 
 " Now you are angry at me, I see ! " exclaimed 
 Sarah, in a distressed tone, **and you are going to do 
 this because I wanted you to raise money to buy the 
 Allen farm ! 
 
 " Indeed, indeed, I am not angry ! " returned Glea- 
 son, earnestly. **I am mortified at what I have done 
 — or rather, what I neglected to do. I know you 
 must have lost faith in me, and I want you to have an 
 agent you can trust." 
 
 The bright tears flashed in the girl's eyes as she 
 responded — "I wish you would not be so cross with 
 me about it ! I did not, do not, want to make any 
 change whatever. I am perfectly satisfied with what 
 you are doing ! " 
 
 Gleason shook his head. 
 
 "You are very kind to say so, but I know you must 
 feel that I have not done right in this matter. I can- 
 not change the past, nor undo my error. I must 
 insist that you find some one else." 
 
 Sarah sprang to her feet in distress. "That miser- 
 able receipt has nothing to do with your management 
 of my other affairs. I am perfectly satisfied with 
 this, and I am sure you will bring the other through 
 all right. You are doing this just because you are 
 angry with me for teasing you about the receipt ! " 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 353 
 
 She made a pretty picture as she stood there, her 
 cheeks high-colored with excitement, tears in her 
 eyes, her hands clasped, and gazing in Gleason's 
 face with a distressed look upon her own. He 
 stepped forward, and taking her hands in his own, 
 replied — 
 
 "Indeed, Sarah, I am not angry. I am vexed that 
 I have been such a fool, and very, very sorry that I 
 have made you angry with myself! " 
 
 "But I am not angry — indeed I'm not! And 
 I don't want you to give up managing my affairs I 
 Please say you will go right on. Why, Sam, there 
 isn't anybody I could trust as I do you ! " 
 
 "Of course, if you want my services, they are at 
 your command, Sarah. I really thought you wanted 
 to get rid of me ! " 
 
 "What an idea! Why, I should be lost without 
 you!" 
 
 "Will you forgive me for neglecting that receipt as 
 I have done ? " 
 
 "There isn't anything to forgive, but of course I 
 will ! And you will forgive me for teasing you about 
 it this evening.?" returned she, releasing her hands 
 from his clasp. 
 
 " Gladly. But what made you tease me ? '* 
 
 " Because I wanted to buy the Allen farm, and you 
 began to find difficulties in the way ! " 
 
 "Well, I will try to overcome them, and secure it 
 for you, if I can." 
 
 "Now you are your own self! I was dreadfully 
 
354 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 afraid that you were so angry at me that you would 
 never do anything for me again ! " 
 
 " Why, Sarah, it wouldn't be possible for me to get 
 angry at you ! " responded Gleason, taking heart of 
 grace, as he looked into her bright face upturned to 
 his own. 
 
 "Why couldn't you?" asked Sarah, with height- 
 ened color, as her eyes drooped under his gaze. 
 
 " Because I love you so much, dear ! " replied 
 he, tenderly, again possessing himself of her hand. 
 Gleason drew a long breath. The murder was out at 
 last! He had not dreamed of proposing when he 
 started on his way to the farm-house that evening, 
 nor had the former portion of the conversation been 
 of a nature to encourage him ; yet when it had turned 
 his way, an opportunity was given — and Samuel 
 Gleason, Esq., was not a young man who would fail 
 to embrace an opportunity — especially when it came 
 to him in the shape of the woman he loved. 
 
 Sarah stood quite still, her head bent down, her 
 hand passive in his own. Gleason went on — 
 
 " I have loved you ever since you were a little girl, 
 Sarah — and as I grew older my love but deepened 
 and strengthened. I know I shouldn't have spoken, 
 but I couldn't help it — you were so sweet as you 
 stood looking up into my face, that the words said 
 themselves ! Are you angry at me .? " 
 
 " No," was the half-whispered reply. 
 
 Gleason's heart gave a great throb of hope. " Can 
 you love me a little in return, Sarah ? " 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 355 
 
 The brown head nodded. His arm stole about her 
 waist and he drew her yielding form closely to his 
 bosom. 
 
 ''And you will marry me, dearest?" 
 
 "Yes," came the whispered reply. 
 
 Gleason lifted the blushing face gently, and rever- 
 ently kissed her red lips. 
 
 " God bless you, dear ! You have made me the 
 happiest man on earth to-night ! How can I thank 
 you ?" 
 
 " By not neglecting me as you nave neglected that 
 receipt ! " came the laughing, blushing reply/ 
 
356 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 MR. MASON AND MR. GLEASON CROSS SWORDS 
 
 ONE of the queerest traits of the average run of 
 modern young people is the shame-faced way 
 in which they meet any mention of their love affairs, 
 and especially the secrecy with which they invariably 
 attempt, but with invariable failure, to invest a matri- 
 monial engagement. The lady acts as though she 
 had committed an indiscretion in engaging to bestow 
 her hand, and the gentleman denies the soft impeach- 
 ment as vigorously as if he were accused of being 
 particeps criminis instead of particeps amoris. This 
 attempted secrecy on the part of a young couple is 
 the more ridiculous because love is something that 
 cannot be hidden. A young man or woman in that 
 stage of the tender passion which follows a mutual 
 avowal and acknowledgment, and which extends from 
 engagement to its consummation, cannot conceal the 
 tender passion. It betrays itself to every one. 
 
 Why this futile attempt at concealment is invaria- 
 bly made is a query that should engage the attention 
 of some philosophic writer. No adequate reason ap- 
 pears ever to have been advanced to explain it. Why 
 should a young couple engaged to marry conceal 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE f^y 
 
 that fact as sedulously as if they were engaged in a 
 conspiracy against the peace and welfare of the gov- 
 ernment ? Their purpose is a most praiseworthy one. 
 The estate of matrimony is honorable, and the good 
 old custom of marrying and giving in marriage is one 
 that has the endorsement of the example of humanity, 
 from that of our first parents in the Garden of Eden 
 down to the present time. There is no reason why 
 an engagement should be concealed. In the society 
 of our cities we have largely outgrown the feelings of 
 secretiveness on this point ; but in rural neighbor- 
 hoods it still continues in vogue. 
 
 It never succeeds, however; nor did it in the case 
 of our friends, Mr. Gleason and Sarah Dunlap. But 
 the greatly increased frequency of the young lawyer's 
 trips to the Dunlap homestead speedily attracted the 
 attention of the good gossips of Pulaski ; and as a 
 love affair is a godsend to that class, they speedily sat- 
 isfied themselves of ths existing state of affairs. And 
 then they talked over the matter in all its phases, for 
 they recalled that it had at one time been an under- 
 stood thing that Sarah was to marry Caleb Mason, 
 who had jilted her for Helen Harvey. 
 
 And if any one doubted that the rumor were true, a 
 glance at Sarah Dunlap was sufficient to solve the 
 doubt and convince them of the fact. She was too 
 young when Mason deserted her to wed another to 
 have felt a real, enduring love for him. It was a sen- 
 timent of close friendship, rather than the deeper 
 passion, which she entertained for him. It is true his 
 
3 58 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 violation of the tacit understanding bad been a severe 
 blow to her. It is against nature for a woman not to 
 be cruelly wounded by such an act. It is innate in 
 the feminine creation to entertain a good opinion of 
 one's self, and to desire the admiration and adulation 
 of the sterner sex. If relations tending toward mat- 
 rimony exist between a man and a woman, and are to 
 be broken off, the latter always prefers to take the 
 initiative herself. A reversal of the case inflicts a 
 slight upon her in the eyes of the world, for there is 
 an implication that some other woman pleases him bet- 
 ter — and what daughter of Eve can be expected to 
 accept such an assertion, implied or expressed, with 
 equanimity ? 
 
 Sarah Dunlap was hurt and mortified by Mason's 
 act, and more ; for she had learned to rely upon him 
 wholly in business matters, and at first it seemed to 
 her as though all support were swept away, and she 
 were left to the cold mercies of the world. But she 
 soon learned that she had friends besides Mason ; and 
 when she had placed her business affairs in Gleason's 
 hands, she found him equally as efficient as Mason 
 had been. Gradually the sense of loneliness, and 
 the keen grief which she had attributed to disap- 
 pointed love, but which was in reality only mortifica- 
 tion at the painful situation in which Mason's conduct 
 had placed her, wore away, and she was able to think 
 of him and of his wife with absolute indifference. 
 The real injury that was done her was in making her 
 distrustful of any approach toward lover-like atten- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 359 
 
 tions on the part of the opposite sex. She could not 
 put faith in any man because one man had proved 
 faithless. 
 
 Sam Gleason had not attempted to put their busi- 
 ness connection on any more intimate footing. In 
 point of fact he had not felt any matrimonial inclina- 
 tions toward Sarah nor any one else. But years of 
 business acquaintanceship brought out many points of 
 like thinking, a similarity of views and tastes, that 
 placed these two upon a footing of closer friendship 
 than that arising from business interests. Sarah 
 had loved him long before he had thought it pos- 
 sible he might one day gain her. When he had 
 made up his mind no longer to be dazzled by the 
 glamour of politics, and to settle down quietly and 
 attend to his law practice, the lack of a home and a 
 wife to share it came strongly upon him, and his 
 thoughts turned instinctively to Sarah — for the 
 schoolboy passion he had entertained for her when 
 they were school-fellows had long ago deepened into 
 the enduring, honest love of the strong man for the 
 one woman in all the world he felt necessarv to his 
 happiness. 
 
 Basking in the warmth of a real and a reciprocal 
 affection, Sarah Dunlap's heart opened like a flower 
 in the sunshine, and her happiness was reflected from 
 her face, shone from her eyes, was evident in her 
 manner. She was a beautiful woman, but her happi- 
 ness transfigured her and gave a brightness to her 
 face, an added note of gladness to her voice, a springy 
 
360 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 life to her very step, that made her still more 
 beautiful. 
 
 And when those who had heard the rumor coupling 
 her name with that of Mr. Gleason saw her, they 
 were confirmed in their belief in the rumor. His 
 friends began to rally him upon the subject, and 
 jeered him good-naturedly when he stoutly denied 
 that there was anything more than business matters 
 which took him so frequently and regularly to the 
 Dunlap farm. 
 
 Dr. Blanchard heard the rumor, and happened the 
 same day to see Gleason and Sarah driving together. 
 The matter naturally possessed considerable interest 
 for him. He took an early occasion to drop in upon 
 Gleason when the latter was alone, and put the direct 
 question to him. 
 
 ''Well, Doc!" answered Gleason, flushing up and 
 giving vent to an embarrassed laugh, "I don't mind 
 telling you, in confidence, that it is true. We are en- 
 gaged. But I hope you will consider this confidential." 
 
 "I congratulate you heartily," responded Blanchard, 
 shaking the young lawyer's hand earnestly. "I con- 
 gratulate you both. It is an ideal match. But, 
 Gleason, why not announce the engagement .?" 
 
 "What's the need of that. Doc? Whose business 
 is it but our own ? We are both of age, and able to 
 mind our own affairs." 
 
 " My dear Gleason, this is one of the little things that 
 once in a while crop out to show that you were reared 
 in the country. There is nothing to be ashamed of in 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 36 I 
 
 an engagement ; and of course it isn't really any- 
 body's business but your own. But a love affair is 
 always a matter of interest. Who is it that says, 'AH 
 the world loves a lover ? * Well, no matter who ; but 
 he voiced a great truth. The town is gossiping over 
 you two already. Why not frankly acknowledge the 
 engagement, let the gossips make a nine days' wonder 
 out of it, and be done with it.?" 
 
 In this strain the doctor combated Gleason's argu- 
 ments, until the latter was brought to acknowledge 
 that his advice was good, and to promise to submit 
 the matter to Sarah that evening. His repetition of 
 Dr. Blanchard's talk was so effective that she con- 
 sented to the announcement, and Dr. Blanchard was 
 deputed to make it public, which he promptly did in 
 the most effective manner possible, by telling it that 
 afternoon to Miss Dobbs, the milliner, who happened 
 at that particular time to be under his professional 
 care on account of a slight attack of ''nerves." He 
 could not have made it public more speedily than by 
 telling that lady. It was equal to publishing the 
 engagement in all the local papers at once. 
 
 Miss Dobbs was sitting in the little parlor back of 
 her shop. The parlor and Miss Dobbs fitted each 
 other admirably. As Miss Dobbs had often said, she 
 was not a handsome 3 0ung lady. No one would 
 accuse her of being a beauty, and she herself had 
 sense enough not to assume youth. While she was 
 very careful in the matter of showing family records, 
 she did riot claim to be young. "Yes, my dear," she 
 
362 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 said, once, " I don't see why ladies are so particular 
 about age. Years carry with them no disgrace. Pas- 
 tor Williams asked me how old I was only yesterday. 
 Now, other girls would have lied about their age — I 
 say "lied," for any untruth is a lie you know, and I 
 believe in calling things by their right names. A lie 
 is a lie, whether it be about your age, or about 
 a spring bonnet — by the way, have you seen the new 
 styles.-* They are too sweet for anything — well, 
 when Pastor Williams asked me my age, some girls, 
 as I said, would have said twenty-five, or perhaps 
 thirty; but I didn't. I am older than that, and I 
 told him promptly, and without any more fuss than as 
 though the question had been anything else — 'I am 
 thirty-five ' ; and I think it was the best thing to do. 
 Why should I be ashamed of being thirty-five.!* I 
 was born thirty-five years ago, and am therefore 
 thirty-five." 
 
 Had Miss Dobbs said fifty-five she would have 
 been nearer the mark. But as she said thirty-five, of 
 course, thirty-five had to be accepted. 
 
 Miss Dobbs was, as she often said, of a monotonous 
 figure. She had not a Swiss figure made up of hills 
 and dales, and graceful sweeps of upland and lowland. 
 There were no precipices upon her figure, no undula- 
 tions. She was right in saying "monotonous." She 
 was built upon the general plan of an Illinois prai- 
 rie — one dead level from her head to her feet. She 
 was thick where she shouJd have been thin, and thin 
 where she should have been thick; and her sur- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 363 
 
 roundings fitted her exactly. There was a delightful 
 sympathy between her and the furniture of the little 
 parlor. She was straight and angular — so were the 
 chairs. She was thin and narrow — so was the sofa. 
 She was severe and sour — so was the carpet. The 
 furniture and she were complementary, and that was 
 all that could be said about it. 
 
 Ah, that parlor! That parlor had been the scene 
 of more murders than any other place in Pulaski. 
 Men and woman had not been literally killed therein, 
 but their characters had been. There was death in the 
 curtains, and the air was full of the ghosts of mur- 
 dered reputations. Many a well-balanced, symmet- 
 rical character had come into that room, but had gone 
 out of it as badly riddled as a French communist in 
 front of a mitrailleuse. 
 
 Miss Dobbs had two passions which were very 
 strong, and which had been strong all her life. 
 One was, to sell a bonnet, and the other was to des- 
 troy the reputation of the woman or the girl who was 
 to wear it. She would gossip about men when there 
 was no other available subjects, the same as a gour- 
 mand will eat liver when he cannot compass porter- 
 house steak; but she much preferred a woman. She 
 could say more against a woman without saying any- 
 thing tangible she could do more by insinuation than 
 any other woman in the town could by assertion ; and 
 so she had the luxury of killing without paying the 
 penalty for murder. The bulk of the gossip and 
 slander and back-biting in Pulaski could be traced to 
 
364 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 her back parlor, but none of it could be fastened to 
 her. She always defended the one who was under 
 the scalpel, and mangled her more in the defence, a 
 thousand times, than would have been possible by 
 direct attack. Her admissions always came in just 
 the wrong time; her defence, although seemingly 
 genuine, was always so weak that it was really a dam- 
 age to the defended party ; and so she, the promoter 
 of all the mischief in the village, enjoyed the reputa- 
 tion of being a good-natured, weak lady, who suffered 
 much by those who surrounded her. 
 
 When Dr. Blanchard entered this dissecting-room 
 of reputation, this morgue of good name, he found 
 two other ladies enjoying the society of the esteemed 
 Miss Dobbs. They made a feint of retiring, but he 
 courteously insisted upon their remaining. He found 
 Miss Dobbs' nerves in much better condition, and 
 congratulated her upon the improvement. ''You 
 have only to be a little careful of yourself. Miss 
 Dobbs," he added. "You should take more exercise 
 in the open air ; a nice brisk walk each evening, for 
 instance. As I was saying to Mr. Gleason, just before 
 coming here, fresh air and regular exercise are the 
 prime necessities to any one of sedentary occupation." 
 
 His mention of Gleason was made with intent, and 
 it was received exactly as he intended it should be. 
 
 "Te he!" giggled one of the visiting females. 
 <*Mr Gleason gets regular exercise enough if all 
 they say is true about his going to the country to get 
 fresh air." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 365 
 
 The giggle passed around the trio. Dr. Blanchard 
 looked interested ; turning archly to the last speaker, 
 he said — 
 
 "Why, has that matter become public already.''" 
 
 Three pairs of ears were metaphorically pricked up 
 at this. "Why, has what become public .'*" inquired 
 Miss Dobbs. 
 
 "The engagement between Mr. Gleason and Miss 
 Dunlap, of course," responded the doctor. "I under- 
 stood the remark to refer to that." 
 
 "Are they really engaged ? " chorused the trio. 
 
 "Undoubtedly so," responded the doctor. "There 
 is no secret about it, however. Both parties have 
 formally announced it to their friends." 
 
 "When are they to be married .<* " inquired the lady 
 who first rose to the doctor's hint. 
 
 "The date is not yet fixed, but it will probably take 
 place next fall, I am told by Mr. Gleason." 
 
 "Poor man!" exclaimed Miss Dobbs, compassion- 
 ately. "My heart bleeds for him ! " 
 
 "Indeed, I cannot see why!" laughed Dr. Blanch- 
 ard. " To my mind he is to be congratulated. Miss 
 Dunlap is a well-educated, cultured lady, handsome 
 in person and sweet in disposition. I think. Miss 
 Dobbs, you will find the young gentlemen of Mr. 
 Gleason's circle envying him as a lucky dog, rather 
 than pitying him." And so saying the doctor took 
 his departure 
 
 "Oh, well, she's handsome and well educated, and 
 all that," resumed Miss Dobbs after showing him out; 
 
366 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "but I think Sam Gleason's too nice a young man to 
 have to take Caleb Mason's leavings." 
 
 "Why, do you mean to say, Miss Dobbs" — inter- 
 rupted one of her auditors, breathlessly. 
 
 " I don't mean to say anything. But Caleb Mason 
 lived at that house for years, and he and Sarah Dun- 
 lap were as thick as two thieves. I just think Sam 
 Gleason is to be pitied, so I do ! " 
 
 "Te he!" tittered the other lady. "I don't know 
 but it's as long as it's broad. Sam Gleason knows 
 which side his bread's buttered on. Sarah Dunlap's 
 got plenty of money, and money covers up lots of 
 spots on a girl's character. If he is marrying some- 
 body else's leavings he's getting well paid for it." 
 
 "Yes," responded Miss Dobbs, in a gloomy tone; 
 "I didn't think of that. No doubt he is just marry- 
 ing her for her money — a mere fortune hunter! 
 Well, it's a good thing two families are not to be 
 spoiled by them ! " 
 
 And the caucus, after coming to this unanimous 
 decision on this subject, separated to spread the 
 authoritative news of the engagement among their 
 friends. The matter was the topic of conversation 
 for a short time, and then, it being accepted as a well- 
 understood thing, Gleason and Sarah were left alone 
 by the gossips. 
 
 So the weeks passed on, and Gleason worked daily 
 and nightly on the fragments from that waste-basket. 
 As the task neared its completion he became even 
 more absorbed in it. He labored upon it nightly 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 367 
 
 until long after midnight, and whenever he had a 
 spare hour during the day he locked himself in his 
 back room to continue the task. He even hurried 
 back to town on the evenings he rode out to see 
 Sarah Dunlap, in order to have the more time to 
 devote to it. What greater proof of its absorbing 
 nature could be given than that it would drive an 
 engaged young man away from the side of his 
 fiancee.^ 
 
 Thus the weeks passed on. Congress adjourned, 
 and Caleb Mason returned once more to the bosom of 
 his family, and his form was again a familiar one on 
 the streets of Pulaski. His presence only acted as an 
 additional incentive upon Gleason. 
 
 Sarah wondered, not long after this, why her lover 
 did not present himself at the farm-house. He had 
 been in the habit of coming regularly twice or thrice 
 a week, yet a whole week had passed and he had not 
 put in an appearance. The next evening passed, and 
 the next ; but no sign of Gleason. 
 
 The following morning Sarah drove to town, osten- 
 sibly to do some shopping. But she drew up in front 
 of Gleason's office the first thing, and sent in a mes- 
 sage by the farm-boy who accompanied her that she 
 would be glad to speak to that gentleman a moment. 
 
 Sam came out, his face glowing with pleasure. 
 He took her offered hand in both his own as he said, 
 before she could speak — 
 
 "I know, dear, that I have been apparently remiss; 
 but you'll forgive me when I tell you all about it. I 
 
368 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 shall be out to-night to see you, and I think I shall be 
 able to astonish you somewhat. Don't ask me what 
 it is, for I must not tell you. Wait till this evening." 
 
 And excusing himself, he hurried back and again 
 locked himself in the back office. 
 
 Sarah, a good deal relieved — for she had feared he 
 was ill — executed her errands and returned home. 
 Evening came, and the usual hour for Gleason's arri- 
 val, but he had not come. Evening darkened into 
 night. Sarah walked down the path to the front 
 gate, and listened for hoof-beats on the road from 
 Pulaski. 
 
 At last ! Her pulses quickened as her ear caught 
 the faint strokes of the iron shoes upon the stones in 
 the road. On they came. Yes, it is he ! Gleason 
 saw her figure at the gate, and called out as he 
 dismounted — 
 
 "Is that you, dear.?" 
 
 "It is me, but I don't know how dear I am," saucily 
 responded Sarah. **I was beginning to feel like 
 Mariana in the moated grange." 
 
 "Not so bad as that, I hope, Sarah," laughed he in 
 reply. "You know Mariana said — 
 
 " * I'm a-weary, I'm a-weary, 
 And I wish that I were dead 1 ^ 
 
 " I have some news for you that will banish all that 
 at any rate. Come, I want to get to the light, for I 
 have something here, to show you — something you 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 369 
 
 are hungering to see!" Putting her hand within his 
 own arm, he drew her back to the house. 
 
 "Now, what have you to show me?" asked Sarah, 
 when they had reached the old-fashioned sitting- 
 room. 
 
 Gleason looked all around the room to be sure the 
 blinds were drawn, and that they were alone. Then 
 drawing Sarah by his side to the table, he produced 
 from an inner pocket a pocket-book. Selecting from 
 its contents a folded paper, he handed it to her. 
 
 It was a sheet of thin, tough bond-paper, on which 
 were carefully pasted, in exact juxtaposition, a large 
 number of small fragments of paper — but so neatly 
 joined and pasted that it took a second and more 
 careful glance to note the junctions. Sarah read — 
 
 Pulaski, Ohio, October 15, 1853. 
 Received of Simon Dunlap four thousand dollars in money and 
 twenty-nine thousand dollars in 7 per cent, bonds of the United 
 States, to be invested for the benefit of said Simon Dunlap, and sub- 
 ject at all times to his order. 
 
 Caleb Mason. 
 
 It was the receipt Caleb Mason had stolen from 
 her dead father and torn up with intent to destroy. 
 
 ''You have finished it at last!" exclaimed she, 
 looking up into Gleason's face, her eyes shining. 
 
 ''And that is what has kept me away from you for 
 this past week and more," returned he. " I had it so 
 nearly completed that I could not bear to be away 
 from it one minute. I have not slept over four hours 
 
370 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 a night for the past week. I have put in eighteen to 
 twenty hours a day on it. I finished it late this after- 
 noon, or rather early in the evening, got a morsel of 
 supper, and hurried out here to let you know the task 
 is done." 
 
 "It has been a laborious one for you, I can see," 
 answered Sarah, regretfully. " I feel remorseful when 
 I realize how much work you must have put on it." 
 
 "You needn't feel one bit of remorse about it," 
 returned Gleason, with a joyous laugh; "I feel like 
 an emancipated slave, Sarah ! That miserable bit of 
 paper has been clinging to me as the Old Man of the 
 Sea sat upon the neck of poor Sinbad. It has 
 blighted half the pleasure of life for me for years. 
 Now it is completed, and I am free to enjoy existence 
 once more ! " 
 
 " I thank you ever and ever so much for your kind- 
 ness and patience!" said Sarah. "But you shall be 
 paid for your work. Bring in your bill, Mr. Lawyer, 
 as soon as you please ! " 
 
 "I ask but one thing, dear." 
 
 " And that is .? " — 
 
 "Your hand, Sarah," was the low reply, in a tone 
 of tenderness. 
 
 A pretty blush overspread her face. "You are a 
 little exorbitant, are you not .-* I have already given 
 you my heart, and now you ask my hand !" 
 
 "The two belong together, dear, May I not have 
 them for my own also ? " He gently clasped her right 
 hand in both his own. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 37I 
 
 "Yes, I suppose so, you masterful fellow! You 
 will not be satisfied unless your fee is paid." 
 
 The upshot of the discussion was that the date of 
 the wedding was fixed for a day three months in the 
 future. 
 
 The next day Mr. Gleason presented himself to the 
 Hon. Caleb Mason, at the latter's office, and asked to 
 have a private interview on important business. 
 
 "I am somewhat busy just now, Mr. Gleason. Is 
 this matter too pressing to be postponed until to-mor- 
 row morning.^" 
 
 Mr. Gleason was very sorry, but the case was one 
 that admitted of no delay. 
 
 Without a word Mason led the way into his pri- 
 vate office, and closed the door. Then he signified 
 to Gleason that he was ready to hear him. 
 
 "I called, Mr. Mason," began Gleason, in a meas- 
 ured, business-like tone, "to arrange for the closing 
 up of your accounts as trustee of the estate of the 
 late Mr. Dunlap." 
 
 "Indeed!" returned Mason, coldly. "You have 
 been acting as legal adviser of Miss Dunlap for sev- 
 eral years. If there was any unfinished business 
 left in my hands why was it not presented before 
 
 this r 
 
 "For reasons which will appear later. There was 
 a considerable sum of money left in your hands by 
 Mr. Dunlap, for investment, a short time before his 
 death, which has not been turned over yet. It is of 
 that I wish to speak." 
 
372 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Your accounts with the estate must be wrong, 
 Mr. Gleason," returned Mason, with a sharp look at 
 his visitor. "I think, if you will have the goodness 
 to go over the statements I made you when my trus- 
 teeship terminated, you will find there is nothing 
 unaccounted for." 
 
 "This item does not appear in those statements, 
 Mr. Mason. I repeat, it was money turned over to 
 you for investment by Mr. Dunlap himself/' 
 
 "I think you will find that everything in my hands 
 belonging to the estate was properly entered and 
 turned over to you years ago." 
 
 "All but this one item — a total of ;^ 3 3,000." 
 
 "I don't think, Mr. Gleason, I quite understand 
 you. You say this item does not appear in the 
 statements I made you. On what do you base the 
 claim V 
 
 " On the receipt given by you to Mr. Dunlap him- 
 self in your own handwriting." 
 
 Mason started in spite of himself. " I know of no 
 such receipt. May I ask to see it.!*" 
 
 "Certainly," returned Gleason, promptly. "Here 
 it is. You will pardon me if I ask you to examine it 
 without its leaving my hands." And unfolding the 
 paper, he held it open in his hand, inviting Mason to 
 read it. 
 
 Mason leaned over and scrutinized the paper 
 closely, evidently to gain time. His face paled in 
 spite of his iron will. He recognized the well- 
 remembered document only too well; and he saw 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 3/3 
 
 that it had been recovered and pieced together to 
 confront him thus unexpectedly. 
 
 Gleason watched him closely, ready to anticipate 
 any sudden attempt to destroy the paper. Mason 
 finally drew himself up, and said with an affectation 
 of surprise — 
 
 '♦Will you kindly explain this to me? I fail to 
 understand it." 
 
 ''Certainly. I was in the front office on the day 
 Mr. Dunlap put the sum mentioned here in your if 
 charge. I was an unseen witness to the transaction. "^ 
 I heard him ask for a receipt. I saw you write it, ."-> 
 and hand it to him." "^ 
 
 " It is a pity you were not present when the money y^ 
 was paid back to him," sneered Mason. ^ 
 
 "It never was paid back. . Mr. Dunlap took the^^^^ 3 
 receipt home with him, and placed it in a desk in his <->^ 
 own room. The night he died you were alone with **: ^ 
 him. He died with only you for a witness." ;;; < 
 
 A ghastly pallor spread over Mason's face. He 1 # 
 wiped his brow with his handkerchief to remove the ^^ 
 cold sweat that bedewed it at the thought of that 
 death-bed scene. Gleason went on — 
 
 "The next day, when you returned, I watched you. 
 I saw you take a paper from your pocket and tear it 
 into small bits, which you dropped in your waste- 
 basket. It was part of my duty to clean out the 
 office. That night, after you had left, I did so. I 
 poured into a newspaper the contents of that waste- 
 basket, saving every fragment, if not larger than a 
 
374 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 pin-head. I have just finished piecing together the 
 receipt you then attempted to destroy. I am here to 
 obtain payment, with interest." 
 
 ** What weight would a court of law give to a patch- 
 work document like that ? " asked Mason. 
 
 "With the evidence I can give, a grand jury could 
 find at least two indictments," responded Gleason, 
 imperturbably. 
 
 "Two indictments.? I do not understand you." 
 
 "It is not necessary that you should. Will you 
 arrange to pay this money at once."*" 
 
 "In case I pay it, what then } " 
 
 "The receipt is yours, of course, the same as it 
 would have been in case you had not attempted to 
 destroy it." 
 
 " In case I refuse }" 
 
 "I shall bring suit for settlement as Miss Dunlap's 
 attorney." 
 
 " Or as her husband ? ' 
 
 "As her attorney. The matrimonial question does 
 not concern you, Mr. Mason." 
 
 "In case it shall be paid, will the story you have 
 been rehearsing to me be made public.'*" 
 
 "Not unless it is called out by something else." 
 
 "What do you mean by that ? " 
 
 "Simply that I shall not make it public out of 
 revenge, nor for political effect merely ; but if any 
 other matter comes up, of which this forms a connect- 
 ing link, so to speak, I shall not consider myself 
 bound to keep silence." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 375 
 
 Mason rose from his chair and took several turns 
 up and down the room. *'I must have time to look 
 up some old papers and accounts. How long can you 
 give me } " 
 
 "Till this hour to-morrow." 
 
 "That is hardly long enough." 
 
 " I am sorry to inconvenience you, Mr. Mason, but 
 that is all I can give." 
 
 "Very well," returned Mason, coldly. "Call at 
 this hour to-morrow." 
 
 "No," replied Gleason ; "I must stipulate that you 
 call on me at my office. At this hour to-morrow I 
 shall expect you." 
 
 Mason looked sharply at him, and bowed assent. 
 Gleason left the office, bidding Mason good-day in 
 his ordinary tone as he passed the door. 
 
37^ THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 MR. MASON MEETS HIS MATCH 
 
 GLEASON departed ; but Caleb Mason remained 
 seated as his visitor had left him, engaged in 
 an attempt to take his bearings. He had always felt 
 that Gleason was a sleuth-hound on his track, and 
 vaguely feared that, sooner or later, he would make 
 him serious trouble. But Gleason's attack had been 
 in an entirely unexpected quarter. Mason believed 
 that Gleason had an inkling of the rottenness in the 
 county treasury, basing his idea on the stolen glimpse 
 he once had, long before, of a private memorandum 
 book belonging to the latter, in which were set down 
 certain financial transactions of Mason's, including 
 the loan on a simple note, without security, of a large 
 sum to the elder Harvey. It was from this direction 
 he expected the bolt to come, if one should be 
 launched by Gleason at himself. 
 
 But the bolt had fallen, and was from an entirely 
 different direction. The receipt he had given to old 
 Farmer Dunlap for the bonds and cash turned over 
 to him for investment had never been in his thoughts. 
 He had been absolutely certain that he had destroyed 
 it; and as his mind went back to that well-remem- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 37/ 
 
 bered day, he felt a spasm of anger at himself that he 
 had not been a smoker. 
 
 " If I had, I would have been certain to have had 
 matches with me!" his thoughts ran. ''I felt in 
 every pocket, but I had none ; there was not one in 
 the room, and the weather being warm, there was no 
 fire in the stove. It did not occur to me to go out 
 and get one, and I merely tore the paper into little 
 bits — and that piece of neglect will cost me thirty- 
 three thousand dollars!" 
 
 "And more than that!" he exclaimed, half-aloud; 
 "there is the interest since that time, curse it!" 
 
 Wheeling around to his desk, he took a sheet of 
 paper and pencil and figured the amount at six per 
 cent., the legal rate. 
 
 "Nearly fifty-four thousand dollars!" gasped he. 
 "My God, it will ruin me to pay it ! " 
 
 In his excitement he arose and paced the room, his 
 eyes bent upon the floor, his brows contracted in a 
 moody frown, and his scheming brain actively at 
 work devising some means of avoiding the obligation. 
 But the shock that he had received on hearing 
 Gleason's demand — the consternation at being con- 
 fronted with the recovered receipt, which he had sup- 
 posed was utterly destroyed years before — had so 
 upset him that he found clear, consecutive thought to 
 be an impossibility. 
 
 "Curse that scoundrel ! " he exclaimed, as he paused 
 in his restless walk, and threw himself again into his 
 chair. "Why is he so bitter an enemy of mine.?" 
 
1 
 
 378 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 And his mind went back over the years he had 
 known Gleason. "Jealousy! That's it! Why did I 
 not think of that? He loved Sarah Dunlap when she 
 was a school-girl, and he has won her at last ! " 
 
 It is one of the peculiarities of any man of the 
 criminal type of mind — and Mason's was distinctly 
 of that type, despite his really great talents — to 
 believe that all other men are animated by the same 
 motives, and are ready to engage in the same illegal 
 courses, should opportunity offer, as himself. Mason 
 forgot that the money was justly due Sarah Dunlap, 
 as heir of her father ; that Gleason was her agent and 
 attorney and only acting in the strict line of his duty 
 in demanding payment. He could only see in him a 
 relentless enemy actuated by old-time jealousy; a 
 fortune-hunter who had engaged himself to Sarah 
 Dunlap for the sake of her wealth, and who was 
 demanding this great sum as a part of his spoils. 
 
 "Yes, the villain!" groaned Mason; "he was 
 sharp enough to get the girl's promise to marry him 
 before he came to me with that infernal receipt ! It 
 is ten chances to one that she knows nothing what- 
 ever of it ! " 
 
 He was entirely wrong in this, as the reader knows; 
 but Mason judged Gleason by what he would himself 
 have done in a similar case, and worked himself up 
 into quite a state of righteous indignation over the 
 latter's sharp practice, as he supposed it to be. The 
 thought even occurred to him that Sarah Dunlap 
 ought to be informed of the facts, in order that she 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 379 
 
 might not be made the ignorant victim of a con- 
 scienceless fortune-hunter. 
 
 Mr. Mason was wise enough, however, to abandon 
 this idea — which he did very promptly when the 
 thoiight occurred to him that to state the case to 
 Sarah Dunlap would of necessity criminate himself. 
 And when he thus realized his helplessness — that he 
 was, so to speak, trapped — his indignation waxed even 
 fiercer against Mr. Gleason. 
 
 No ! decidedly not. If Gleason were marrying 
 Sarah Dunlap for her fortune, and intended to appro- 
 priate the money represented by that receipt, Mr. 
 Mason was clearly of the opinion that he could not 
 help it. 
 
 Then came the thought — why had he not married 
 Sarah himself.? And it added several degrees of the 
 gall and bitterness to Mr. Mason's reflections when 
 he felt constrained to admit confidentially to himself 
 that he would probably have been just as successful 
 had he done so. The money would have been his, 
 and would not now have to be repaid ; and as he 
 looked back on the alliance with the Harvey family, it 
 did not seem so overwhelmingly advantageous in 
 retrospect as it had in anticipation — in which Mr. 
 Mason but experienced the common fate ; for if a 
 man's foresight were always as good as his hindsight, 
 what could he not accomplish ? 
 
 " I might have crushed them all if I had played my 
 cards well," ran his unspoken thought, **and have 
 made myself as strong politically without them, as I 
 
380 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 have been with them. Pshaw ! what a fool a man 
 can make of himself! " 
 
 * And, thoroughly disgusted with himself, with Glea- 
 son, and with the rest of the world. Mason put on 
 his hat and went out to walk and collect his 
 faculties. 
 
 He came back to his office in the evening, locked 
 the door, and sat himself down to consider the situa- 
 tion, and find, if possible, some mode of escape from 
 the payment of the obligation. He was actually 
 worth much more money than its total, principal and 
 interest ; the money had proved very profitable in his 
 hands. But he had no means of raising so large a 
 sum in cash at once. Much of his wealth was in real 
 estate, most of which he was holding for speculative 
 purposes ; it would have to be sacrificed if a sale were 
 forced, and such a thing was gall and wormwood to 
 him. 
 
 His courage had returned now that his mind had 
 regained its elquilibrium, and he finally decided at 
 first to refuse payment, and let his interview with 
 Gleason determine how far he must yield ; for he was 
 too shrewd to leave the recovered receipt in hands 
 ready to use it against him. He expected to have to 
 pay, but he would not pay without an effort to avoid 
 it. 
 
 At the very time he was sitting in his office delib- 
 erating over the matter, Gleason was narrating to 
 Sarah the interview of the afternoon. 
 
 "Do you know," said she to her lover, "I do not 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 38 I 
 
 feel like having you expose him, and drag him down ? 
 I know he deserves it ; but I am so happy now that I 
 cannot bear to feel that I have been instrumental in 
 injuring anyone. Think of his poor wife! I can 
 realize now what her feelings would be ; for I can 
 imagine now how terribly I should feel if some one 
 should bring such a charge against you ! " 
 
 "You kind-hearted little thing !" laughed Gleason. 
 "You don't want him injured in reputation if it can 
 be helped, eh? Well, Miss Dunlap, let us consider 
 ourselves merely as principal and attorney; give me 
 your orders and I will obey them." 
 
 "Very good, sir!" respondea Sarah, dropping into 
 his vein. "This debt is justly due; get it without 
 harsh measures, if you possibly can." 
 
 " Suppose Mason asks for time to raise the money ? 
 He probably will; for though he is wealthy, it is not 
 at all likely he has anything like that amount of 
 cash where he can promptly lay hands on it. What 
 then.?" 
 
 "Give him a reasonable time, of course. Don't be 
 harsh, just because you have the power!" 
 
 By which conversation it will be seen that the two 
 parties were animated by motives as different as dark- 
 ness is from light. 
 
 Gleason was waiting in his private office the next 
 afternoon when Mason called. After a ceremonious 
 greeting. Mason opened the matter by requesting 
 another look at the receipt. Gleason took it from his 
 pocket, and spreading it on the desk, with his left 
 
382 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 hand holding it open, his right free, signified that 
 Mr. Mason was privileged to make as minute an 
 inspection of the document as he might choose. 
 
 Mason smiled cynically as he noted Gleason's pre- 
 cautions, but he made no comment. He carefully 
 and minutely went over every portion of the docu- 
 ment. Then he requested that he might be allowed 
 to look through it, by its being held up between him 
 and the light. Gleason took it to the window and 
 spread it open against the glass, to allow the fullest 
 view. Mason again studied it attentively, and made 
 several memoranda, when he had satisfied himself by 
 a thorough inspection. Gleason, after politely inquir- 
 ing if he was done, returned the document to his 
 inside pocket. 
 
 Mason put up his memorandum book, and sat down 
 near Gleason. ''How much is that document worth, 
 Mr. Gleason ?" he began. 
 
 ''It's face, with interest from date at six per cent.," 
 was Gleason's prompt response. 
 
 " It is not a note. It is simply a receipt. It can 
 bear no interest. But you did not understand my 
 question. How much is that paper worth to you, Mr. 
 Gleason .-*" 
 
 " I beg >[Our pardon ; but I do not clearly under- 
 stand what you may mean. Will you put your query 
 in another form ? " 
 
 " How much will you take for that paper .'* " 
 
 "Its face and interest." 
 
 "I will give you ten thousand dollars for it." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 383 
 
 "I am not for sale, neither is the receipt. As 
 Miss Dunlap's agent, I ask simply for her just 
 dues." 
 
 ''What need of Miss Dunlap's knowing anything 
 about the matter ? The case is a clear one. For 
 purposes of your own, you gathered the fragments of 
 a cancelled paper out of my waste-basket, and pieced 
 them together again — apparently. That was ten 
 years ago. Why was this paper, if genuine, if all 
 were straight, not presented long ago ? No, don't 
 answer," Mason interjected, as Gleason was about to 
 speak. "1 will answer for you. You waited till 
 your long suit for Sarah Dunlap's hand was success- 
 ful. I have not forgotten that you were her boy-lover 
 years ago. Whether that boyish passion still survives 
 might be a question. Probably the verdict of an 
 impartial jury would be that you love her money more 
 than herself. Almost as soon as your engagement is 
 announced this paper appears, after ten years' seclu- 
 sion. You are a lawyer, Mr. Gleason ; look at the 
 case as if it were not your own, and with legal eyes. 
 Is not the presumption that you held it back, hoping 
 to at last gain her for a wife, and then to make a fat 
 little private speculation by attempting to utilize it, 
 thinking that if you could get this money, you would 
 have a snug little fortune of your own, besides that 
 which the lady would bring you ; and as " — 
 
 Gleason's face flushed at Mason's words. He real- 
 ized the shrewdness of the man in thus utilizing 
 every circumstance to weave a story that would be of 
 
384 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 benefit to himself if the case ever came into a court. 
 He interrupted Mason to say — 
 
 ''I infer that you assume Miss Dunlap to be igno- 
 rant of this paper and its contents?" 
 
 " My words certainly have that interpretation. 
 The point is not worth discussing, however. The 
 point is" — 
 
 "Stop, Mr. Mason," again broke in Gleason. "Not 
 only does Miss Dunlap know all about this matter 
 now, but she has had that knowledge for years. For- 
 tunately, I received a note from her this morning that 
 will corroborate this. You will excuse me if I fold 
 down the portion having no reference to the receipt," 
 he went on, taking a note from his pocket, and fold- 
 ing it as his words had indicated. Mason read — 
 
 I have been vexing myself this morning with the fear that you did 
 not give sufficient weight to what I said last evening about that 
 receipt. I was entirely in earnest in saying I do not wish Mr. Mason 
 treated harshly in the matter. Years ago, when you showed me the 
 first few fragments you had pieced together, I longed for its comple- 
 tion, that I might be revenged on the man who had robbed the 
 father and scorned the daughter, but that feeling has all gone. I can 
 not be grateful enough that, even through suffering, I escaped a 
 union with him. Do nothing for revenge; require full payment, but 
 nothing more, and give reasonable time. 
 
 After a few sentences on other topics the letter 
 closed with Sarah Dunlap' s wriUiiiikinmmi signature. 
 
 "You certainly are well enough acquainted with 
 Miss Dunlap's handwriting not to doubt the genuine- 
 ness of this, Mr. Mason,'' said Gleason. "That dis- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 385 
 
 poses of that matter. As for the rest let me assure 
 you that the only terms I can listen to are those laid 
 down by the lady herself which you have just read." 
 
 Mason looked reflectively out of the window. He 
 did not dare defy Gleason. Clearly he must pay the 
 money. He recognized the necessity and accepted it. 
 The only thing to do now was to obtain the best 
 terms possible. 
 
 *'Very well," he said, "Now, supposing that I 
 should consider this receipt as binding, what do you 
 wish to exact } " 
 
 "This is August i6. Yesterday the receipt was 
 presented ; it was exactly ten years and nine months 
 since the date of this document. Let me see," and, 
 after a few minutes' calculation, Gleason continued — 
 "The full amount is $54,285." 
 
 "Well, on the same supposition, what are the terms 
 you would demand ? " 
 
 "Anything in reason. State the best you can do, 
 and I shall try to meet you." 
 
 Then followed a long negotiation, which ended in 
 an agreement that $10,000 should be paid in cash, 
 $15,000 in six months, the same in twelve months, 
 and the balance — $14,285. — in eighteen months. 
 
 "Your note, with security, for the deferred pay- 
 ments," announced Gleason. 
 
 "And when is the receipt to be handed over.''" 
 
 Gleason considered a moment. Mason was too 
 keen a hand to allow him to have a single chance that 
 could be utilized to evade the obligation. 
 
386 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "When the last note is paid." 
 
 "Impossible, Mr. Gleason ! Entirely impossible! 
 I must have it at once — that is, when the "first pay- 
 ment is made, and the notes given." 
 
 Gleason again pondered. He knew immediately 
 Mason's idea — that the receipt might be used to 
 crush him with the people as soon as the money was 
 secured. A thought struck him — 
 
 "That can be done, if you will give first mortgage 
 security on each note, the same as if the money had 
 been borrowed." 
 
 Mason expressed his assent to the stipulation, and 
 left to make the necessary arrangements. 
 
 An honest man can go alone, and depend solely 
 and entirely upon himself; but somehow it happens 
 that dishonest men must always have confederates ; 
 and therein lies their weakness. A great scheme, 
 based upon craft and dishonesty, cannot be carried 
 through without a multiplicity of men being engaged, 
 and in the lot that must be employed there always 
 come more or fewer men who, being dishonest, are 
 dishonest all the way, and with whom, life being a 
 trick and sales a portion of it, would as soon sell their 
 confederates as anybody else. Therein lie the weak- 
 ness of rascality and the strength of honesty. 
 
 Caleb Mason found this to be very true. He had 
 been compelled to take his chances with the Harvey 
 family, and found them defaulters ; and when he had 
 got himself fixed with them, he found himself fixed 
 with more people than was pleasant or desirable. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 38/ 
 
 There was the great bank of Crefeld & Co. The 
 senior, Crefeld, was a Jew who had commenced with- 
 out a dollar, and who had made some money honestly. 
 Having excellent credit, which he originally deserved, 
 he opened a bank, at the suggestion of the elder Har- 
 vey, who had his own reasons for having a bank at 
 his control. The Harvey family really started the 
 bank, for the funds upon which it was based were the 
 funds of the county, which, instead of being kept in 
 the safe at the treasurer's office, were transferred, as 
 occasion needed, to the vault of Crefeld's bank, and 
 loaned out. When cash was needed at the treasury, 
 the money was taken back. Care had to be taken, 
 also, always to arrange matters so that there would be 
 money at hand to balance the auditor's books on the 
 regular legal examinations of the treasury. These 
 were drawbacks, but small ones, compared with the 
 advantage of having the treasury to draw on at will 
 for cash. 
 
 Crefeld was a shrewd man, and could have made 
 the bank a very profitable thing had he been allowed 
 to run it on the plan generally pursued by that class 
 of banking establishments, which usually display three 
 golden balls as a sign ; that is, small loans, on short 
 time and undoubted security. He rejoiced especially 
 when harvest was ended each year and the crops 
 began to move. The grain merchants had to have 
 money, and were willing to pay well for it. The use 
 of the county treasury was a particularly valuable 
 privilege at that season ; for the law in Ohio requires 
 
388 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 the semi-annual payment of taxes — one by the mid- 
 dle of June, the other by the middle of December. 
 Hence the treasury was plethoric when July came, 
 and the wheat began to move briskly to market. 
 Similarly the December payment put plenty of money 
 in the treasury at just the right time for Crefeld to 
 use in aiding business men to tide over the close of 
 the year. Left alone, Crefeld would have made him- 
 self and his partners rich ; as it was, he made money 
 rapidly. But the Harveys dabbled in real estate, 
 as did Caleb Mason, and the irregular forays they 
 made on the bank's funds frequently spoiled Crefeld's 
 chances, and he often, in the privacy of the bank 
 office, invoked all the plagues of Egypt upon them for 
 their recklessness. 
 
 To the bank Mr. Mason directed his steps when he 
 left Mr. Gleason's office. Calling the banker into the 
 private room, he said — 
 
 "Crefeld, I want ;^ 10,000 to-morrow at ten o'clock." 
 
 "For yourself, Mr. Mason, or for some friend of 
 yours } " 
 
 "I want it for myself, of course." 
 
 " Will the note be negotiable ? " 
 
 " Certainly not." 
 
 " Holy Moses ! Vy, Mr. Mason, money's tight 
 now. I am sorry you want so much so soon. We 
 can make money fast these days. How long shall you 
 want it .? " 
 
 " Till I am able to pay it. I will see that you get 
 help from friends at the Court-house if you need it." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 389 
 
 " Father Abraham, but this is hard ! Vy, Mr. 
 Mason, money is worth two per cent, a month, and 
 plenty of men begging for it, and they are wilHng 
 to give gilt-edge security, too ! " 
 
 "Crefeld, I suppose you can't help getting off that 
 sort of talk ! but I sometimes wish you would not do 
 it with me. Talk it to borrowers on the outside ; 
 that is business. But it is unnecessary to make me 
 listen to it. Be sure the money is ready." 
 
 And it was. Mason appeared at Gleason's office 
 with ^10,000 in cash the following morning. He had 
 prepared the mortgage securities the previous after- 
 noon, and sent them, unsigned, to Gleason for inspec- 
 tion, as he knew the latter would require that formal- 
 ity. The notes were executed, the mortgages duly 
 signed and witnessed, the ^10,000 paid over and 
 receipted for. Then Gleason took from his pocket 
 tho receipt, and handed it to Mason. The latter 
 glanced at it and put it carefully into his pocket- 
 book. 
 
 ''One word, Mr. Gleason," said he, as he rose to 
 go. **The payment of these obligations fulfils all 
 your requirements, both now and hereafter. That is, 
 this story is not to be repeated to any one." 
 
 "Not unless it should become necessary to make 
 it public under special circumstances." 
 
 "I hardly understand you. Have you any other 
 claims, financial or otherwise, upon me, aside from 
 these notes .?" 
 
 "None whatever, Mr. Mason." 
 
390 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Then I must confess I do not understand to what 
 * special circumstances' you refer." 
 
 '*It is but a precautionary form of words. Should 
 any matter ever come up of which this transaction 
 forms a necessary part, it might become needful, in 
 the interests of right and justice, to make it known ; 
 not otherwise." 
 
 Mason nodded and left the office, pondering what 
 Gleason might mean. Gleason slapped his hand on 
 his pocket-book, which contained, the money and 
 notes, and said to himself — 
 
 "I have recovered Farmer Dunlap's money; now. 
 Dr. Blanchard, it is your turn to avenge his murder!" 
 
 Mason went directly to his office, and into the rear 
 room. Closing the door, he sat down, took out the 
 receipt, and studied it long and earnestly. Then he 
 held it up by one corner, struck a match, and lighted 
 the paper, and when it was fully ablaze, dropped it 
 into the stove, where he watched it until it was 
 reduced to ashes. As he stirred these up with the 
 poker he exclaimed — 
 
 "The lack of a match ten years ago has cost me 
 fifty-four thousand dollars! What a fool I was to 
 take Gleason for a fool ! " 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 39 1 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 MR. MASON PREPARES HIS FORCES FOR ANOTHER 
 CAMPAIGN 
 
 FACED by the necessity of paying over the money 
 he had obtained from Farmer Dunlap, Caleb 
 Mason found here a new factor of uneasiness. He 
 inwardly raged at Gleason — first, because that gen- 
 tleman had over-reached him ; and second, from a feel- 
 ing that it was unjust that he should be required to 
 yield up so large a sum, at a time when it was par- 
 ticularly inconvenient for him to do so. It is a 
 strange characteristic of the criminal that he is 
 impressed with the feeling that he is, after all, not a 
 whit worse than the remainder of the world ; that his 
 ill-gotten property was obtained by means really not 
 much, if any, worse than those by which other men 
 acquire their gains — merchants and speculators, for 
 instance yi^and Caleb Mason really felt so with regard 
 to the Dunlap money. As toward Gleason his feel- 
 ing was a singular mixture of dislike, resentment and 
 admiration. He admired the patient persistence of 
 the man in piecing together the receipt ; and disliked 
 him for the steady enmity, lasting through so many 
 years, which was thus exhibited. 
 
392 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Mason resolutely set himself to work to lay his 
 plans for the future. The situation was one which 
 called forth all his powers. His financial affairs were 
 now involved heavily, for the notes which he had 
 given Gleason must be met — the money must be 
 raised. But much of his means was locked up in real 
 estate investments — either singly or in connection 
 with the Harveys — and the fact that it was not all 
 paid for, but was mortgaged for part of the purchase 
 price, added to the perplexity of the situation. 
 
 Nor was his political sky much clearer than his 
 financial firmament. There was strenuous opposition 
 to him in his own party, while the Democrats, of 
 course, hated him with an exceeding strong hatred. 
 Those of us who have arrived on the stage of action 
 since the war cannot realize the intensity of polit- 
 ical feeling exhibited during that time ; and in Ohio 
 it was, if possible, more bitter than anywhere else. 
 And with the war now over, the soldiers returned 
 home, precluding any possibility of repeating the trick 
 which had secured his last election, he had good 
 cause to give the situation careful consideration. 
 
 Every public man who has championed any great 
 reform ought to die before he is fifty — that is, if he 
 desires to save his reputation and transmit any sort 
 of a name to posterity. If he passes that age, the 
 chances are very large that he will wreck his good ship 
 upon the shoals of other men's selfishness, guided 
 thereon by his own mistakes and folly. 
 
 Very few public men have lived in this or any other 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 393 
 
 country, who have not in their age smirched the 
 records of their youth. 
 
 The first anti-slavery men who had added to their 
 convictions some spice of personal ambition, all went 
 to pieces. Seward, Chase and Sumner, the three 
 great men of the early movement, all yielded to the 
 inevitable law, and died out of favor with the party 
 which they had made, and which had made them. 
 And there was a reason for it which possibly a miracle 
 of a man might overcome, but to which ordinary flesh 
 and blood always succumbs. Seward and Chase had 
 given the best years of their early lives to the 
 up-building of public sentiment against slavery; but 
 when the sentiment that they had fostered had 
 become strong enough to elect a president, they were 
 shoved out of the way because they had been too 
 prominent in the cause, and Lincoln, who only a few 
 years before had voted for the fugitive slave law, was 
 nominated and elected. They had kindled a fire, fed 
 it, and fanned it, and when it became great enough, 
 other men came and warmed themselves by its blaze. 
 
 No one but a philosopher, or a young man with 
 blood in his veins, could endure all this injustice and 
 say nothing. A philosopher never wants anything 
 for himself, but is entirely satisfied with the success 
 of the cause for which he has been striving, and is 
 perfectly willing that others should reap the reward 
 of his labors. Likewise a young man would brook 
 one injustice or a dozen, and depend upon time right- 
 ing him ; but an old man cannot do it. When a man 
 
394 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 strikes fifty, his chances are narrowed down to the 
 one, and losing that one, he becomes soured and 
 misanthropic, and takes delight in tearing down the 
 temple that he has reared, determined that if he can- 
 not repose within its portals, no one else shall. But 
 very few public men have been able to end their 
 careers in a manner worthy of their beginning. The 
 history is alike in all. 
 
 Caleb Mason had made the Republican party of his 
 district, and he had no idea of turning over the emol- 
 uments, the practical result of his work, to anybody. 
 He had determined always to reap where he had 
 sown, and that when he should relinquish his seat in 
 Congress, it should be to go higher. He had but 
 one way — if an adherent wanted a lower place, he 
 got it if he was worth it ; if not, and he persisted in 
 asking, he was summarily killed. Many a man who 
 wanted a place found himself very dead before the 
 public, and could never see who had dealt the blow. 
 
 So Mr. Mason looked carefully over the field, 
 marked out the new men who had come into it, espe- 
 cially among the returned soldier element, which was 
 nearly all Republican, and which, therefore, required 
 the most attention. He made up his mind that these 
 were the men who were to have the offices the next 
 deal, no matter how many of his old adherents should 
 have to go to the wall. He rightly foresaw that the 
 soldier element was to be the dominating one of the 
 Republican party, and he proposed no less a task 
 than its solidification in his own favor. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 395 
 
 There was but one way to do that. He must prove 
 during the next session that he was their friend, and 
 what could be done that would the better show this 
 than to make himself active in securing pensions to 
 those who were entitled to them under existing laws, 
 and if there were any exceptional cases needing spe- 
 cial legislation, to secure its passage? So important 
 did this work appear to Mr. Mason that he at once set 
 about obtaining information as to prospective pension- 
 ers, and the most of his time during the remainder of 
 that summer and fall was devoted to this laudable 
 work. 
 
 Meanwhile there were very happy times at the old 
 Dunlap homestead. The $10,000 which Mason had 
 paid over were at once paid as the first installment on 
 the Allen farm, and Sarah became the possessor. 
 The three months of the engagement passed swiftly 
 and pleasantly away. Gleason was very busy. He 
 pushed his law business energetically, and devoted his 
 little spare time to the fitting up of a neat residence 
 in town. The wedding was a very quiet one, and 
 after a brief bridal trip, Mr. and Mrs. Gleason took 
 possession of their home, and became residents of 
 Pulaski. 
 
 "Sam," said Major Starkweather, one day as he 
 met the young man, "what on earth are you workin* ( 
 so hard at your purf ession , f or .? You've got no need 
 of doin' it." 
 
 Gleason curtly replied — "I have my way to make 
 in the world. Major, and I cannot afford to be idle. 
 
39^ THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 As for the need, there is certainly as much now as 
 there ever was ! " 
 
 *'Huh!" snorted the old man, "if I hed a wife as 
 well fixed as yours, I don't think I'd worry much about 
 need. You've got two good farms, and I expect a 
 snug pot of money besides. I don't see as there's any 
 reason you should dig at the law, Sam." 
 
 ''Well, Major Starkweather," returned Gleason, 
 "we differ as to that. I did not marry my wife in 
 order to be supported. I am able to provide for us 
 both, and I shall endeavor to do so, the same as I 
 should had she possessed nothing." 
 
 "Huh!" again snorted the old man, as he pro- 
 ceeded on his way to his favorite saloon, where, 
 between drinks, he animadverted on the foolishness of 
 Gleason in "workin' like a nigger" when he had a 
 wealthy wife. If, on the contrary, Gleason had aban- 
 doned his practice to take his ease upon his wife's 
 wealth. Major Starkweather would have been the 
 first to declaim loud and long upon such a lack of 
 independence, and to declare his abhorrence of a man 
 who married simply for money. There are a great 
 many Major Starkweathers in this world of ours. 
 
 Dr. Blanchard found the Gleason family a very 
 agreeable addition to the social circle of Pulaski in 
 which he moved. He had always had a sincere liking 
 for Sarah Dunlap, and now that she had become Mrs. 
 Gleason his regard was in no wise diminished, while 
 their common cause against Mason had established a 
 firm friendship between him and Gleason. It so hap- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 39/ 
 
 pened, however, that it was not till after his marriage 
 that Gleason related to the doctor the completion of 
 the restoration of the receipt and the recovery of the 
 money from Mason. 
 
 It came about one evening during a call of Dr. 
 Blanchard's upon the young couple. Mrs. Gleason 
 was suffering from a headache, and had gone to her 
 room, leaving the two gentlemen alone ; and Gleason, 
 deeming the opportunity a good one, related the 
 story. 
 
 Blanchard was deeply interested. "I am glad you 
 have done it. Of course it was your duty to recover 
 the money, as you were the agent for the Dunlap 
 estate. Still, I can but regret that the receipt is no 
 longer available to be used as proof of Mason's direct 
 interest in the death of his benefactor." 
 
 "When are you going to spring that upon him.^ 
 How long are you going to let him hold his head up 
 among honest men, Doctor.''" 
 
 "That I cannot tell. It now seems to me that, hav- 
 ing kept the secret so long, I must wait until an 
 opportunity offers itself. It would not look well for 
 me to suddenly start out — to-morrow, for instance — 
 and accuse Mason of the murder of Farmer Dunlap. 
 Perhaps the next political campaign will show the 
 way. Whenever circumstances work together to 
 admit of it, I shall come forward and make the 
 disclosure." 
 
 So things went on — smoothly and happily for Glea- 
 son and his wife, while to Mason they were filled with 
 
398 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 political schemes and hard work. The six months 
 passed, and the first ^15,000 note became due. 
 Mason had called upon Crefeld, but the banker was 
 obstinate. He declared that he could not let Mason 
 have that sum, in addition to the ;^ 10,000 he had 
 already obtained — that it would cripple the bank's 
 resources tod greatly. 
 
 Mr. Harvey, the elder, kn-ew of all Mason's political 
 and business schemes that had been set on foot or 
 carried through since the latter had married his daugh- 
 ter ; but Mason had never let him know of the money 
 he had obtained from Farmer Dunlap. He was in no 
 mood to put his neck in a noose and give the end of 
 the rope into Harvey's hands ; consequently he had 
 concealed from the elder Harvey the fact of his being 
 indebted to Gleason, and having given notes, with 
 mortgage security, for payment ; for the old man 
 would at once have demanded to know the particulars, 
 and these Mason would not give. So, when he 
 applied to Crefeld for the ^15,000, he stipulated that 
 Mr. Harvey was to know nothing about it. 
 
 It was perhaps this request that made Crefeld bold 
 enough to refuse the loan in such positive terms that 
 Mason was fain to turn elsewhere. Fortunately at 
 this juncture he had an offer for a piece of real estate 
 at a figure that would cover his own investment and 
 afford him good interest ; and he promptly closed 
 with the offer, thus obtaining, by one lucky stroke, 
 the means to pay the note when due. 
 
 The next session of Congress opened a few days 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 399 
 
 thereafter, and Mason made himself extremely ener- 
 getic in the work of obtaining pensions. He had a 
 long list of the names of the soldiers of his district, 
 including every one who had a pension application 
 pending ; those who were entitled to pensions but had 
 not yet applied, it not having occurred to most of 
 them that they had any claim of the sort on the gov- 
 ernment ; and those who, from one cause or another, 
 did not come under the pension laws, but who were 
 assumed to have good reasons for asking Congress, 
 by special act, to place them upon the rolls. Every 
 man of these received a personal letter from Mason, 
 of the most cordial character, sympathizing with him, 
 and offering his services to forward his case in any 
 manner possible. 
 
 The result was as he had expected. Almost to a 
 man they jumped at the offer, and Mason labored so 
 effectually, yet quietly, that there was quite a shower 
 of pension grants descended upon his district, with 
 the result that he had in every township several of 
 these pensioners, who were his devoted henchmen, 
 and who used their influence in his behalf with their 
 friends and fellow-soldiers. So quietly was his work 
 done, however, that his enemies did not note it — or 
 if they did so, did not realize what it would mean 
 when the Congressional campaign should come on the 
 next fall. 
 
 By the time the second note became due, Mason 
 had realized on some town lots he held, which brought 
 him in ;^4,ooo ; the balance he brought with him from 
 
400 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Washington in crisp new Treasury notes, which 
 notes, by the way, had been handed him one night in 
 the privacy of his own room, by a notorious lobbyist, 
 a few hours after a hot contest over a certain railroad 
 bill had resulted in its passage in the House by a 
 majority of only three votes. Mr. Mason made a 
 three-minutes speech in explanation of his vote, which 
 was a model. No plea for the bill could have been 
 more clear and convincing, and there was probably not 
 one of his fellow-members, whether favoring or oppos- 
 ing the bill, who did not understand Mason to be 
 thoroughly sincere in his vote and support of the 
 measure. 
 
 Sincere ! No doubt he was sincere, for he had 
 twelve thousand reasons for being so; the sum of 
 ;^ 1 2,000 for a three-minutes speech, with a vote thrown 
 in for good measure, had been enough to make better 
 men than Caleb Mason sincere. 
 
 But the payment of these sums had left Caleb 
 Mason seriously embarrassed financially, with the 
 Congressional campaign coming on apace, and the 
 certainty that it would take a large sum of money, for 
 Mr. Mason's tactics always required money for their 
 perfect carrying out. The last note — that for over 
 1^13,000 — would be due just a short time before the 
 election, and that must be met also. 
 
 After considering the matter in all its bearings 
 Mr. Mason walked down to Crefeld & Co.'s bank one 
 afternoon, so as to reach the establishment just at 
 closing time, that his conversation might not be inter- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 4OI 
 
 rupted. He found the head of the firm in his private 
 office, as usual. He was a forbidding-looking man 
 when his countenance was in repose. His face was 
 large and flabby, with dark, oily skin ; his coarse, 
 black hair, somewhat thinning on top of his head, 
 stood up like a thorny hedge ; his heavy brows bee- 
 tled over two cavernous eyes ; he had a pronounced 
 Roman, or rather Jewish, nose, hooked at the end; 
 his lips were thick, and he twisted them into an oily 
 smile as he arose at Mason's entrance, and offered the 
 latter his hand, the fingers of which looked like bird's 
 talons, for he held them half-closed, as if they were 
 hooks. 
 
 Altogether, Crefeld reminded one of a great black 
 bird of prey, ready to swoop down upon whatever luck- 
 less living thing he was powerful enough to carry off ; 
 and this resemblance was much heightened by his 
 habit of lifting his shoulders toward his ears, as a vul- 
 ture lifts its wings when preparing to leave its perch. 
 And there was a general fitness about his surround- 
 ings that intensified the idea. The desk was a clumsy, 
 square-built piece of furniture that gave one the feel- 
 ing that it somehow resembled a jail. , The paper on 
 the wall was a heavy block figure, intended to imitate 
 stone, and the room was about as cheerful as a prison 
 cell, and looked like one. 
 
 Mason affected not to see Crefeld's offered hand, 
 but unceremoniously took a chair. After a few words 
 of greeting had passed, he turned to the banker — 
 
 "Crefeld, I called to have a talk with you. The 
 
402 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 congressional campaign is coming on, and it will 
 require a great deal of money. Unfortunately, my 
 means are largely invested in real estate, as you know ; 
 and to sell now would be to sacrifice the property. It 
 is not necessary, I think, to do that." 
 
 Crefeld of course knew what this meant. He lifted 
 his hand deprecatingly, and began — *'Vy, Mishter 
 Mason, if you can sell " — 
 
 Mason interrupted him sharply. "Did I not say 
 I do not wish to sell at the price I would have to 
 accept ? Nor is it necessary that I should. I shall 
 ask you to advance me what money I need, for which 
 I will give you my individual note, of course." 
 
 "But, Mishter Mason" — began Crefeld, again 
 raising his hand. 
 
 "There is no 'but' about it this time," again inter- 
 rupted Mason. "I will need not less than ;^25,ooo. 
 Of this, I will not need but ;^ 5,000 soon; two weeks 
 from to-day will do. The balance I must have on 
 " and he named a date. 
 
 "Fadder Abraham!" excitedly began Crefeld, his 
 right arm lifted and extended, the talon-like fingers 
 bent, and looking still more like a bird of prey. 
 "Vy, Mishter Mason, we can't do it. We are carry- 
 ing top much paper this summer to do that ! It is no 
 use of talking about it, I say; for" — 
 
 "I know there is no use talking about it, Crefeld," 
 returned Mason ; " I have been telling you that. I 
 must have the money, and I want you to spare me 
 your protests and expostulations, as I have often 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 4O3 
 
 remarked before. There is no need of them. Have 
 the money at the dates I gave you, and without fail." 
 
 Crefeld had kept his claw-like hand in air, wait- 
 ing for Mason to conclude. Here he broke in with — 
 
 " Holy ! Moses, Misther Mason, but this won't do ! 
 You are going in too deep ! We can't stand such a 
 demand ! " 
 
 "Why.? Is it better to have an exposure come.? 
 Are you ready to put back into the court-house the 
 sum necessary to square up things there ? Why can't 
 you see things and understand them without having 
 them pointed out to you ? Fool ! Don't you know 
 that a new treasurer is to be elected this fall, and that 
 we must put our man there ? And don't you know that 
 the only county where I shall have any serious difficulty 
 in obtaining a majority of the delegation is our own ? 
 And can't you see that, as the county convention 
 selects Congressional district delegates at the same 
 time that it nominates a county ticket, my canvass 
 is a canvass for the entire ticket, including the 
 treasurer.? " 
 
 Crefeld groaned — *' Gracious help me, but I didn't 
 know all that ! Well, well, if it must be done it must 
 be. I'll have the money for you ; but it cuts me to 
 the heart — it does indeed — to take the money out of 
 the business, for it is making such a good profit now ! 
 Ah ! " and he rubbed his hands together rapturously, 
 "it would do your heart good, Mishter Mason, to see 
 it grow — see it grow ! " 
 
 "I am glad it is growing so nicely," laughed 
 
404 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Mason. *'Let it grow all it can until I want it." 
 And he walked out, and turned his steps homeward. 
 
 He little dreamed that the toils were closing 
 around him and his fellow-robbers, and that the 
 county convention of which he spoke would for 
 years to come mark the most terrible epoch in the 
 history of Pulaski. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 405 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 MR. MASON TAKES A TURN AT THE POLITICAL WHEEL 
 
 HAVING provided for the expenses of the cam- 
 paign, Caleb Mason set to work, with cus- 
 tomary vigor and determination, to conquer the 
 nomination for Congress. He recognized the sound- 
 ness of the maxim "One thing at a time, and that 
 well done, leads to excellence." He could not hope 
 for re-election unless he received the nomination; 
 therefore to get the nomination was the one thing to 
 do, and Mr. Mason set about doing it with the most 
 praiseworthy assiduity, and with an eye single to 
 that end alone. Once regularly on the ticket, it 
 would be time enough to begin work to render his 
 election certain. 
 
 The main sentiment of opposition, in this as in his 
 former campaigns, was in Washington county, his 
 home. The anti-Mason Republicans were in largest 
 force where Mason was best known, and were com- 
 posed of quite a number of different elements. First, 
 there were a number of old fossils who could not 
 forget Mr. Mason's lowly origin, and who, having set 
 their faces against him in the days when he first 
 aspired to become something more than a coarse, 
 
406 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 drunken clod like his father, could not have the gen- 
 erosity to recognize in him the undeniable talents he 
 possessed, but still looked on him as a pretentious 
 interloper, and hence one to be sat down upon on any 
 and all occasions. They were not many in numbers, 
 of course, but they made up in venomous hatred what 
 they lacked in numerical strength. At the polls they 
 cut no particular figure, and Mason looked upon them 
 as very useful adjuncts. They afforded him an oppor- 
 tunity to speak of them as "aristocrats," who sneered 
 at him because he was a "son of the people." Mason 
 well knew — none better than he — that there is no 
 more potent appeal whereby to rouse the prejudices 
 of the masses, themselves sprung from the soil, than 
 to quote that hackneyed sentiment from the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, which declares that "all men 
 are created equal." Mason himself did not believe it 
 in the sense in which the masses commonly under- 
 stand it — as a declaration of absolute equality of all 
 men, in all respects. He knew it to be false, for he 
 knew that a man of brains and talents is superior to a 
 clod, and of more value to the world than a thousand 
 of them. He knew, too, that Jefferson when he 
 wrote it, if he really was its author, referred only to 
 equality before the law, and to nothing else. But he 
 never said so to his audiences when he was appealing 
 to them to come to his aid against the "aristocrats." 
 
 The next and most numerous class of his oppo- 
 nents was composed of the men who were opposed to 
 him because he did not rate their deserts as highly as 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 407 
 
 they themselves did, and did not aid them in procuring 
 the offices for which their souls longed. This was a 
 rather numerous class ; for the average American 
 thinks himself fully competent to fill any office in the 
 land, from constable to President ; and as there were 
 about two score aspirants for every position as to 
 which Mason had the slightest influence in the choice 
 of an incumbent, it is plain to be seen that the pha- 
 lanx of the disappointed was numerically respectable, 
 and cut somewhat of a figure in the caucuses and at 
 the polls. 
 
 Then there were the honest, intelligent men, who 
 were Mason's opponents because they did not believe 
 in the man — men who were intelligent enough to 
 fathom him, and who knew him as the conscienceless 
 demagogue he really was. They felt that he was a 
 Republican, not because he really cared for the princi- 
 ples the party stood for, but simply because be 
 wanted to rise to power in the nation, and the short- 
 est way to do this was to be a leader in the dominant 
 party. They knew that he would have been a Demo- 
 crat just as willingly had that party had the remotest 
 chance of coming into political control of the National 
 government, and of retaining that control. They dis- 
 trusted his politics, they distrusced his motives, and 
 especially did they distrust his leadership, and oppose 
 the tyrannical and arbitrary methods by which he 
 kept so firm a grasp on the party of the district. 
 
 These were the men whom Mason really feared. 
 They were not to be reached by the means familiar to 
 
40S THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 him. They did not want office, and could, therefore, 
 not be bribed in that way; they were upright men, 
 and therefore could not be bought. They were intel- 
 ligent men, and therefore could not be browbeaten ; 
 they were honest men, and therefore could not be 
 assailed in their private characters, and silenced that 
 way. And the most vexing thing to Mason was that 
 the very qualities that rendered them unmanageable 
 by the ordinary demagogic methods gave them the 
 respect and confidence of a goodly following of plain, 
 honest, plodding men, who took no part in politics 
 save to vote, and who consequently were his enemies 
 also. 
 
 There was but one thing Mr. Mason could do — he 
 could appeal to the voters to support him because of 
 his ''services to the party," and solemnly warn them 
 against ''silk-stocking republicans," who refuse to 
 "abide by the will of the majority of the party, as 
 expressed by the party's representatives, in delegate 
 convention assembled." He would doubtless have 
 called his opponents "cranks," but that expressive 
 word had not yet come into use in the offensive sense 
 it now bears. 
 
 Mr. Mason looked over the field, and carefully laid 
 his plans to capture the majority of the delegates — 
 or, rather, to see to it that so far as he could control 
 the caucuses and preliminary conventions, no delegate 
 should be sent to the Congressional convention who 
 was not his own man. He determined that he would 
 not only capture the nomination, but by so great a 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 4O9 
 
 majority that his foes in his own party ranks should 
 become discouraged, and abandon their warfare upon 
 him in despair. So an active campaign, but withal a 
 quiet one, was begun in the outside counties ; and 
 when the campaign had been gotten in good shape 
 therein he prepared to begin work in his home 
 county. He rejoiced that the county ticket was also 
 to be nominated, as it gave him an opportunity to put 
 his peculiar tactics into play. He knew that his 
 ''silk stocking" adversaries would confine their efforts 
 to work against himself. As he put it, "they did not 
 know enough of practical politics to understand the 
 use of combinations." And being himself a past mas- 
 ter in the art of combination in factional fighting, he 
 prepared to make his choice of the candidate for each 
 of the county offices to be filled that fall. 
 
 Of course it was already decided who were to be 
 the candidates of the Harvey ring for county auditor, 
 and county treasurer, as these were vital to the con- 
 tinuance of the Harvey family, and, in a great degree, 
 of Mason himself, in power and influence. In point 
 of fact, were they to lose control of the treasury ^ 
 books the defalcations would be discovered, the Har- J^'y^f' 
 vey family financially ruined, and two, of them at • ^ 
 least, would be likely to land in the state penitentiary. 
 
 The county commissionership was the place most 
 eagerly coveted outside of the two above mentioned, 
 because of the large financial interests which were 
 involved. The office was one always eagerly sought 
 by well-to-do farmers who had become possessed of 
 
4IO THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 political ambition. The board had charge of all 
 county improvements, such as opening new roads, 
 improving highways, building bridges, putting up new 
 public buildings for the county, and what was of the 
 highest importance in that section, the laying out and 
 digging of ditches for the proper drainage of the rich 
 lands of the "Black Swamp," as that whole region 
 was then called. 
 
 Of course the members of the board were, in the 
 discharge of their duties, brought in contact with the 
 entire farming community of the county, and were, 
 in fact, the men whose work was of the most import- 
 ance to them directly. Hence it was natural that 
 when an agriculturist of influence, or of wealth, or 
 both, became impressed with the idea that he should 
 cut a figure in the arena of county politics, he very 
 naturally turned his eyes toward the one office of the 
 most interest to his class, and which would magnify 
 his importance among his fellow-farmers. 
 
 There were several aspirants for the nomination, 
 one living in Pulaski, and the others in the country. 
 The latter were all farmers ; the Pulaski man was a 
 merchant, who had become convinced that good roads 
 were a factor, not only of civilization, but of traffic, 
 that the way to increase trade was to render travel 
 easy and secure, and that the way to do this in Wash- 
 ington county was to turn the roads leading from 
 Pulaski to the back townships into turnpikes. His 
 ideas were good, and he advocated them with much 
 vigor and ingenuity of argument. He got the people 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 4II 
 
 of Pulaski to see that good roads would bring more 
 country people to town, and bring them oftener, and 
 thus increase trade ; he got the farmers to see that 
 they would increase the value of their farms ; and he 
 was a candidate for county commissioner with the 
 avowed object of improving the roads. He had a 
 pretty good following of his own party, and could 
 count on a good many Democratic votes at the polls 
 if he should receive the nomination. 
 
 Another aspirant was Mr. Saxby, a wealthy farmer 
 of the northern end of the county, and a man 
 respected by all who knew him. He was a strong 
 advocate of "high farming" — that is, of thorough til- 
 lage, proper fertilization, due rotation of crops — of 
 farming thoroughly just as much ground as you can 
 cultivate completely, instead of half caring for a larger 
 area. And he preached the doctrine that it was bet- 
 ter to get thirty bushels of wheat per acre off fifty 
 acres, than to get fifteen bushels an acre o.T one hun- 
 dred acres, as taking but little more than half the 
 labor with equally large pecuniary returns. His farm 
 was the only one in the county that did not show a 
 single stump disfiguring its fields. His fences were 
 perfect, and the corners were not filled with black- 
 berry vines and elder shoots, nor were his pastures 
 grown up to sassafras and scrub oak. He had been 
 for several years president of the county agricultural 
 society, and was looked up to by the farmers of the 
 entire county as a representative man in whom they 
 had perfect confidence; and Mr. Mason speedily came 
 
412 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 to the conclusion that the nominee would necessarily 
 be either Mr. Saxby, or Mr. Parker, the turnpike man. 
 
 Which should he use to make his combination ? 
 After considerable reflection he made his choice; 
 and being a man prompt to act when he had made up 
 his mind, he called on Parker at once, and requested 
 that gentleman to call at his office that evening for 
 consultation. 
 
 Mr. Parker was on hand at the designated time, 
 and to him Mason at once opened up the subject of 
 the commissionership. He expressed himself as in 
 full sympathy with Parker's views on the turnpike 
 question, but added — 
 
 " I doubt though, Parker, that you are wise in 
 attempting to make a campaign on that issue, or even 
 in trying for the county commissionership." 
 
 The astonished Parker demanded to know why ? 
 
 ** First, because you are a grain merchant. Now, 
 everybody knows good roads would enable the farmers 
 to haul grain to town in rainy weather as well as in 
 dry weather. There would not be a tremendous rush 
 when the roads were good, and none at all coming in 
 when they were muddy, as is now the case. You 
 would be able to handle a far greater amount of grain 
 under such circumstances than you do now, because it 
 would not require so much capital. I know, of 
 course, as does every other man who knows anything 
 about the grain trade, that you have to borrow money 
 very largely when there is a rush of grain offered, 
 while in bad weather you have your money lying idle 
 
4 
 
 THE DEMAGOGUE 4I3 
 
 in bank. To have greater regularity in the influx 
 would enable you to use your own capital to greater 
 advantage, and to borrow less ; and as turnpikes 
 would be thus of great benefit to you in your affairs, 
 and as the people know that as well as you do, you will 
 find the charge of self-seeking, which is sure to be 
 raised against you, a difficult one to meet." 
 
 "Hut," interrupted Parker, ** I never thought of 
 any advantage that would come to me ! Good roads J 
 would benefit every business man in Pulaski as well :q 
 as myself!" 
 
 ''Quite true; but the other business men are not 
 talking of running for commissioner in order to build 
 good roads, while you are. Do you see the point ? " 
 
 The mortified Parker admitted that he did, but 
 maintained stoutly that his advocacy of turnpikes 
 ought not to be used against him in his candidacy. 
 
 "I agree with you, Parker, that it ought not," 
 returned Mason ; ''but all the same it will be, you may 
 be certain. There is active competition in the grain 
 trade; your competitors will use it against you among 
 the farmers, and with effect, I can assure you." 
 
 "Why should they, of all people.?" demanded the 
 perplexed Parker. "Good roads would benefit them 
 as much as myself, wouldn't they ? " 
 
 " Certainly they would. But they will oppose you, 
 not because you favor turnpikes, but because you are 
 their competitor in business, and their principal one. 
 You do a larger business than any other grain man 
 in Pulaski. If they can get the farmers to thinking 
 
414 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 that you are anxious to be commissioner simply to get 
 turnpikes, for which they must pay in taxes, in order 
 that your business may be benefited, they will badly 
 injure your trade, not only this year, but in the 
 future ; and they will profit thereby. Now do you 
 see the point?" 
 
 Parker, much disturbed, admitted that he did. 
 
 ''Now, Parker," went on Mr. Mason, ''you are a 
 friend of mine, and have proved yourself so in politics 
 more than once. I have had intimation of the work 
 that is preparing to injure you, and I deemed it no 
 more than a friend's part to warn you, so that you 
 may go into the campaign with your eyes open." 
 
 "What do you advise me to do, Mr. Mason.?" 
 
 " I would not presume to offer my advice, Parker ; 
 you know that I do not like to take sides in the little 
 differences of opinion about county ofifices. I only 
 want to see the Republican party retain control. At 
 the same time I cannot see a good friend taking a 
 step that will assuredly injure him without pointing 
 out the unwelcome fact to him." 
 
 Parker thanked Mason effusively. He really began 
 to think the latter had done him a great favor. "I 
 don't care for the office itself, Mr. Mason," he went 
 on; "but I am so anxious to see an improvement of 
 our roads. It would benefit everybody. You see" — 
 and he went on to recapitulate the advantages that 
 would accrue from a system of turnpikes. 
 
 "That is all true, Parker," returned Mason; "but 
 it still is no reason why you should injure yourself 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 415 
 
 financially to get an office with that end in view, 
 especially as you say you do not desire the office for 
 its own sake. Why don't you throw your influence 
 for some other candidate who would pledge himself 
 to you to work for the turnpikes ? " 
 
 '' I don't quite understand you, Mr. Mason ! " 
 
 "Why sacrifice 3 0urself if you don't care for the 
 position itself.? Why not look about among the 
 other men who are aspirants for the nomination, 
 determine who is the one who could best carry out 
 your ideas, and who, of course, favors them, and go to 
 him and offer, if he will pledge you that if elected he 
 will use every effort to inaugurate a system of turn- 
 pikes, to withdraw in his favor and turn your support 
 over to him ? That would disarm your enemies in 
 your own line of business. They want turnpikes as 
 much as you do ; they will turn in and work for the 
 other man in order to get them. The improvements 
 will be made as quickly as if you were elected, and 
 you will suffer no loss." 
 
 The plan struck Parker as so feasible that he 
 expressed wonder that he had not thought of it 
 before. Then he began to speculate as to who was 
 the best man to begin work upon. 
 
 "Who are the candidates for nomination.'*" asked 
 Mason. 
 
 Parker named them over — including Saxby. 
 
 "Saxby.?" said Mason, inquiringly. "Is he the 
 man who is president of the agricultural society.'*" 
 
 Parker signified that he was. 
 
41 6 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 *'How does he stand on the turnpike question?" 
 
 ** He incidentally expressed himself as favorable to 
 better roads in an article he wrote for The Ohio Cul- 
 tivator some three months ago. That is all I know 
 of his views." 
 
 "If he is favorable, it seems to me that he is the 
 best man. He stands well with the farmers, I under- 
 stand ; and I suppose there is no doubt of his 
 republicanism t " 
 
 "Oh, no! He was an original abolitionist." 
 
 "I don't believe I know the man," said Mason, 
 with a reflective air. " I have to go up to that part 
 of the county in a day or so on some business, and I 
 really believe I will call on him and get acquainted 
 with him." 
 
 "Will you.?" exclaimed Parker joyfully. "I wish 
 you would sound him about the turnpike matter." 
 
 "I shall be glad to do it on your account," 
 responded Mason, warmly. " Do you wish me to say 
 anything else in case he is a friend of the roads .-*" 
 
 "If you will be so kind, Mr. Mason. I should be 
 rejoiced to have you do it." 
 
 "H — m — m! Well, Parker," responded Mason, 
 after a minute or two of pretended deliberation, "as 
 I said before, I do not like to meddle in country poli- 
 tics ; but as a personal favor to you I will undertake 
 your mission." 
 
 Parker warmly expressed his thanks. 
 
 "By the way," resumed Mason, "how do the men 
 you have interested in your turnpikes stand toward 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 41/ 
 
 my renomination ? I don't mind saying to you 
 privately — privately, remember — that I have a large 
 majority of the delegates so far selected. I am cer- 
 tain of the reno nination, but want to have my own 
 county unanimous, if possible. Can you aid me in 
 this matter ? " 
 
 Parker, proud of the confidence reposed in him, 
 and of the friendship of Mr. Mason so signally exhib- 
 ited in the interview, pledged himself to work zeal- 
 ously for Mason, and gave all the information he 
 possessed as to the predilections of his own support- 
 ers. Then, warmly shaking the Congressman by the 
 hand, he took his departure, feeling much elated over 
 the whole matter. 
 
 Mason stood in the door-way of his office, watching 
 the retreating form of Parker. " It is a great thing 
 to be able to make a man do as you wish, and still 
 have him think you are yielding to him instead of 
 his yielding to you," he remarked to himself as he 
 turned away. " Now if Saxby is as pliable as Parker, 
 we can fix this matter nicely." 
 
 The next morning he paid a visit to Saxby. As 
 has been remarked before, Mr. Mason was not a man 
 to let grass grow under his feet. On the way he 
 stopped at the house of a farmer friend, and in the 
 course of the conversation asked if the latter was a 
 subscriber to T/ie Ohio Cultivator? 
 
 "Oh, yes, Mr. Mason, I have taken it for years." 
 
 "I have been told that Mr. Saxby, the president 
 of the Agricultural Society, had a very excellent arti- 
 
41 8 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 cle in its columns some three or four months ago. 
 Do you remember it ? " 
 
 " Quite well ! " 
 
 "Have you the issue containing it? I should be 
 glad to read it. Unfortunately, I do not take the 
 paper myself, and being told of his article, I felt sure 
 that you took the paper, and that I could get a look 
 at it from you." 
 
 The farmer spent a quarter of an hour looking it 
 up, and with a look of gratified pride placed the copy 
 in Mr. Mason's hands. 
 
 On his way Mason read the article attentively ; and 
 when he arrived at Saxby's house, opened his busi- 
 ness by a neat reference to the article, which he com- 
 mended in well-chosen terms. This put the flattered 
 Mr. Saxby on excellent terms with himself, and gave 
 him a very kindly feeling for Mr. Mason. The latter 
 soon found Saxby to be strongly in favor of turn- 
 pikes; and the remainder of the task proved a 
 remarkably easy one. 
 
 Saxby was astonished and delighted to be told that 
 Mr. Parker had so high an opinion of him that he 
 was willing to drop his own candidacy and throw his 
 strength for himself, if the aforesaid Saxby would 
 pledge himself to work for the improvement of the 
 roads, and at the same time see that the delegates 
 chosen to the county convention, so far as he could 
 control their selection, should be men who would vote 
 for Mason delegates to the Congressional convention. 
 Mr. Mason therefore went a step farther, and put in a 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 4I9 
 
 good word for the candidates for treasurer and auditor 
 selected by the Stevens ring, and obtained Mr. Sax- 
 by's adhesion to them ; and departed for home that 
 evening, fully satisfied with his day's work. 
 
 The next day Mr. Saxby came to Pulaski in fulfil- 
 ment of an arrangement to that effect made with 
 Mason. He met Parker at Mason's office, and the 
 triple alliance was further discussed and finally rati- 
 fied. Mr. Mason, having thus set the wheels in 
 motion that were to grind his grist for him in that 
 mill, started out on a similar campaign among the 
 candidates for the next office, and so on down the 
 ticket. It took hard work and close calculation ; but 
 by the time he had finished his job of pipe-laying he 
 was able to determine the personnel of the entire 
 county ticket which would be nominated, and to be 
 certain that the county convention would send a solid 
 delegation for himself to the Congressional conven- 
 tion of the sixth district. 
 
 But meantime his enemies were not idle, especially 
 that portion of them he was wont to stigmatize as 
 the "silk-stockings." Dr. Blanchard was especially 
 active. Wherever Mason had gone in his campaign, 
 work he heard of work being done against him, and 
 the paths that most frequently crossed his own were 
 those made by Dr. Blanchard and Mr. Glcason. 
 
 The steady, quiet, dogged activity of the latter, as 
 it was by chance revealed to him, filled him with dis- 
 quiet, in spite of himself. He had met Gleason once, 
 and been signally worsted — for the first time in his 
 
420 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 life in a contest with another man. He was now 
 sure that Gleason had not given up the chase — that 
 the battle must go on with that tireless foe till one or 
 the other met his Waterloo. Then the fact that 
 Gleason and Blanchard were together — hunting in 
 couples, as it were — showed a full understanding 
 between the two, and a common purpose to overthrow 
 him. 
 
 More than once he speculated whether they had 
 any secret motive — whether there was any weapon in 
 their hands save a common enmity toward himself. 
 It made a cold chill run over him at the thought of 
 such a possibility. If a knife was in the hand of 
 either, he knew that they were waiting for a favorable 
 opportunity to strike a fatal blow. But he always 
 reassured himself by the thought that there was no 
 possibility of that ; there was nothing he could recall 
 that he could imagine might be used by them to com- 
 pass his downfall. 
 
 Then the thought would recur that he did not 
 dream of the receipt which Gleason had toiled over 
 for so many hours to reconstruct, until he was con- 
 fronted with it; and the possibility that there was 
 another surprise of a like weighty nature in store for 
 him was not pleasant. 
 
 But what could it be ? 
 
 He never thought of the death-bed of old Farmer 
 Dunlap; his mind always took the direction of the 
 county treasury, and his connection with the Harveys 
 in the plundering of that. But he felt reasonably 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 42 I 
 
 sure on that score. He had not himself benefited 
 directly, nor was there any documentary evidence in 
 existence to connect him with any of the money 
 that had been taken illegally therefrom. 
 
 All of which shows that the lot of a rogue is not a 
 pleasant one, and that the man who enters upon dis- 
 honest ways never knows what moment the bolt may 
 fall that will strike him down. 
 
422 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 A MATTER OF FINANCE 
 
 THE county convention was a grand success, 
 viewed from Mr. Mason's standpoint. The men 
 with whom he had formed combinations, from Saxby 
 down, were nominated by large majorities, and the 
 delegates named to the Congressional convention of 
 the Sixth district were to a man favorable to the 
 renomination of Mason for a fourth term. He knew 
 that the delegations from the other counties contained 
 a majority of his adherents, and consequently he 
 dismissed all fears of his not being made the regular 
 nominee of his party. His thoughts then turned to 
 the opposition he was likely to meet with at the polls. 
 He knew he had the soldier element pretty favorably 
 disposed toward himself ; the elections of the previous 
 fall had shown a heavy majority in the district for the 
 Republican party ; and the only possible danger to be 
 anticipated was from the possible nomination by the 
 democrats of a man who would be acceptable to the 
 anti-Mason republicans, and a fusion of the latter 
 with them on the Congressional canvass. 
 
 This did not, so far as Mr. Mason could see, appear 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 423 
 
 to be a very great source of anxiety. The end of the 
 war had brought a revulsion of feeling among the 
 moderate element among the Democratic party, and 
 the so-called "Copperheads," who had swayed the 
 party during the dark years of the war, were discred- 
 ited because they had persistently taken the ground 
 that the war was a failure, and had stood about in 
 the high places declaiming against "the butcher, 
 Lincoln," and deploring the destruction of life and 
 the wasting of treasure in the impossible effort to 
 subdue the South. Now the South was conquered, 
 the Union was intact, and Lincoln slept in his grave. 
 The " Copperheads " sang exceeding small in these days. 
 The Democratic party was weaker than it had been 
 even during the progress of the war. Mr. Mason 
 took heart of grace, and felt that unless there were 
 some unexpected development of events, his chances 
 were nearly certain for a walk-over; but he made up 
 his mind that he should not be caught napping, that 
 he would abate not one jot of effort to get a good 
 round majority so that at the next Presidential cam- 
 paign he should be in a position to demand some 
 substantial recognition of the new Executive. 
 
 Dr. Blanchard and Gleason gave him the only really 
 anxious hours he had. He dreaded them, for he 
 did not know what secret line their activity might be 
 pursuing. He felt, when he pondered over their 
 enmity, as did the runaway slaves in old slavery times 
 in the South when they heard the distant bay of 
 bloodhounds on their trail. 
 
424, THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 So the days passed on bringing the Congressional 
 convention nearer. It was to be held in Pulaski, and 
 the date had been fixed later than usual for a number 
 of reasons. One was that Mason had from the first 
 believed that a short campaign would be better than a 
 long" one for himself ; for if there were serious opposi- 
 tion it would give it less time to work among the 
 voters, while a money campaign, such as he would in 
 that case have to enter upon, would be less costly to 
 his pocket the shorter it was. There did not seem to 
 be any effort making to oppose him in the coming 
 convention, for his confidential workers had all looked 
 carefully into it,and were convinced that there was no 
 secret preparing to be sprung on that body. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. Crefeld was actively engaged in his 
 favorite occupation of money-making. The summer 
 had been a dull one in general business, as the tre- 
 mendous activity in the manufacture of materials 
 needed by the war had all ceased with the end of 
 the conflict, and the inevitable reaction had set in. 
 Money was scarce, and there were far more borrow- 
 ers than lenders. The local rate of interest for 
 money went up, of course, under these conditions, 
 and Mr. Crefeld was in clover. He was always 
 happiest when he was able to extort a very high rate 
 of interest from a borrower who could give gilt-edge 
 security, and as a consequence he was often in a 
 beatific frame of mind. 
 
 When the harvest was over and ''threshing-time" 
 come, Mr. Crefeld got ready for his own little harvest. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 425 
 
 The farmers were rather short of money, and they 
 began to rush their grain to market as rapidly as the 
 threshers could turn it out. The grain men were 
 busy, they needed a great deal of money, and all the 
 banks had as much as they could do to furnish the 
 funds to handle it. In point of fact the grain busi- 
 ness required more ready cash than there was in 
 Pulaski. This gave Crefeld the opportunity he 
 craved. The other banks had nothing but their own 
 resources to depend upon, and when they got to the 
 end of them they could do nothing. 
 
 Not so with the bank of Crefeld & Co. When 
 there was a sudd6n demand for cash beyond the 
 amount on hand, Crefeld would call upon Mr. Harvey 
 and obtain the necessary amount out of the county 
 treasury. Some of this money was returned when the 
 loans were paid back ; but as the season went on, and 
 the volume of grain handled increased each succeed- 
 ing day, the ability of the other banks to furnish 
 enough money grew less and less, and the demands 
 from Crefeld upon the treasury increased. 
 
 Mr. Harvey was not averse to this use of the 
 money, for he knew it would all come back again, and 
 while it was out it was earning a very handsome 
 profit, most of which would go to his credit at the 
 bank, as his share of the profits. In point of fact 
 the bank of Crefeld & Co. was coining money. It 
 had been a profitable institution for several years, and 
 Mr. Harvey, in looking over the business done, came 
 to the comfortable conclusion that if necessity should 
 
426 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 arise he would be able to replace in the county treas- 
 ury the entire amount of the defalcations, and thus 
 avoid all chances of exposure, ruin, disgrace and 
 punishment. 
 
 Full of this idea the old man went into a thorough 
 examination of the books, much to Crefeld's disquiet. 
 Crefeld was honest — to his partner and backer, at 
 least ; but he did not at all like the idea of having Mr. 
 Harvey go through the books and see every transac- 
 tion — a thing he had never done before. How- 
 ever, there was no help for it, for he had an 
 undoubted right to do so if he chose. 
 
 Mr. Harvey settled himself to the task after the 
 bank had closed that afternoon, and he spent some 
 hours in his inspection. It was a highly gratifying 
 one, on the whole, and pleased him wonderfully. 
 There were some items that he did not under- 
 stand, however, and he called upon Crefeld for an 
 explanation. 
 
 " For instance, Crefeld," he went on, after venting 
 himself in some vigorous expressions, **here is over 
 $30,000 in Mason's notes, without security. Why 
 was this money loaned.'*" 
 
 Crefeld made what explanation he could of the 
 matter. Of course he did not know for what purpose 
 Mason had needed the money, nor did Harvey him- 
 self know of his son-in-law having embezzled the 
 bonds and cash put into his hands by old Farmer 
 Dunlap, nor of Gleason's compelling its restitution, 
 with interest. He thought he had full knowledge of 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 427 
 
 Mason's financial transactions of any importance; yet 
 here was a large sum borrowed of the bank within a 
 few months, of which he had not dreamed, and of 
 whose use he was totally ignorant. It puzzled him 
 greatly. He knew Mason had bought no real estate; 
 in fact, he had sold some which we know went 
 to pay one of the notes to Gleason — and Mr. Har- 
 vey recalled that he had no idea what Mason had 
 done with the proceeds of that sale. Was Mason get- 
 ting ready to fly.? This thought flashed across the 
 old man's mind, but he dismissed it at once. Mason 
 owned more than that amount of real estate which he 
 would not leave behind ; besides, why should he run 
 off .'' Mr. Harvey drew a long breath, as the certainty 
 came to his mind that there was no reason to appre- 
 hend Mason's absconding. 
 
 But what had he done with this money ? Mr. Har- 
 vey determined to find out. 
 
 The finances of the bank were, however, in excel- 
 lent shape, and Mr. Harvey began to see his way 
 clear to settling up the deficiency in the treasury. 
 The more he thought about it, the more he felt in 
 favor of the scheme. He left the bank, revolving the 
 matter over in his mind, and also the mysterious sums 
 absorbed by Mason. He speculated on the matter all 
 through supper, and after that meal was over 
 he put on his hat and walked over to Mason's 
 residence. 
 
 Mason was in his library, writing letters concerning 
 the Congressional convention which was to come off 
 
428 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 three days later. He pushed them aside to welcome 
 his father-in-law. 
 
 "Where is Helen .^" demanded the old man, after 
 a few minutes had passed in the interchange of 
 remarks about the weather and similar topics. 
 
 *'She has gone to the Tomkins's. One of their 
 children — little Nellie, her name-sake — is sick, I 
 believe, and Helen went over to see her." 
 
 "That's well," responded Harvey, shortly; "we 
 shall not be interrupted." 
 
 "Well, what is it.?" 
 
 "This deficiency in the county treasury. I am 
 determined now to replace the money. The bank 
 has been very profitable, and I think we can do it 
 without much trouble." 
 
 Mason looked the utter astonishment he felt. He 
 gazed critically in his respected father-in-law's face 
 for signs of mental or physical disorder, the old 
 quotation — 
 
 " When the devil was sick, the devil a monk would be," 
 
 coming up in his mind, but he could discern no signs of 
 any ailment. He warmly congratulated Mr. Harvey 
 on the prospect of being able to straighten up his 
 account with the treasury, and asked whether it would 
 involve a winding up of Cref eld's bank ? 
 
 Neither of the men heard Helen Mason enter the 
 next room, the door of which was ajar. She had 
 returned through the rear part of the house, and the 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 429 
 
 servant had told her of her father's presence. She 
 threw off her bonnet and shawl and went to join him 
 and her husband. She heard a part of her husband's 
 remarks about the treasury, and surprise caused her 
 to stop. Pay back that money ! She could not 
 believe her ears. 
 
 Her father went on to answer Mason's question. 
 "No, the bank can go on if we can call in sorpe loans 
 that will be needed — that ^30,000 odd of yours, for 
 instance." 
 
 Mason at once understood the object of the old 
 man's visit. His face did not change, nor did his 
 tone betray him as he answered — 
 
 "I can liquidate the notes, of course, but not at 
 once. As soon as I can sell some real estate I shall 
 be able to do so — not before." 
 
 ''That won't do. Mason," answered the old man, 
 impatiently. ''The notes are unsecured, and they 
 cannot be used as collateral, as you know." 
 
 Mason remained silent, with a look of courteous 
 attention on his face, as if he were waiting for Har- 
 vey to go on. 
 
 "Well, man, why don't you speak.?" burst out the 
 old man, impatiently; "I've told you the notes were 
 not negotiable as they stand, and that we must have 
 the money! " 
 
 "Well.?" answered Mason, equably. 
 
 "Well.?" repeated the old man. "Are you pre- 
 pared to pay the notes ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
430 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Then you must secure them in such a way that 
 we can use them as collateral." 
 
 "I will not do that, Mr. Harvey," tranquilly replied 
 Mason. " I am not going to have my paper hawked 
 about Pulaski." 
 
 " The devil you are not ! " shouted the old man. 
 " Why is your paper better than that of any business 
 man on J:he street.?" 
 
 " Because I am a candidate for Congress, and the 
 charge would be at once brought that I raised the 
 money to buy my nomination or my election, or both, 
 as you know very well." 
 
 Harvey gave vent to an impatient exclamation. 
 He knew Mason was right, and it angered him still 
 more to be balked. 
 
 "Well," he blustered, "you must pay the notes, 
 then. We must have the money." 
 
 "They shall be paid, of course; but I cannot do so 
 until I sell real estate," Mason replied, coolly. 
 
 "Why didn't you sell it at first, instead of making 
 a debt by borrowing of the bank.? I know that, 
 between the two notes you sold a piece at a good fig- 
 ure, and received the cash. What did you do with 
 this money } You have bought no property, yet you 
 have used up, in some way nearly $40,000 in cash. 
 Where has it gone t " 
 
 "That is a question I am not called upon to answer. 
 It is my own affair, not yours." 
 
 Mason's face was as calm as a summer's morning, 
 and this quiet defiance enraged the old man still more. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 43 I 
 
 He burst into a storm of wordy abuse, which lasted 
 until he was out of breath, when he wound up by 
 declaring that he would instantly bring suit for the 
 money if Mason did not either pay or secure the 
 notes. 
 
 Helen stood just within the doorway, listening 
 She had heard enough to make her determine to hear 
 all. There was a mystery here that she must fathom. 
 
 Mason waited until the old man had finished, and 
 then demanded to know the reason for such extraor- 
 dinary outbreak. He reminded Harvey that he 
 understood fully that the latter's threats were mere 
 bluster, as such a course, which would probably result 
 in Mason's defeat, would also inevitably ruin the 
 county ticket ; the opposition candidates for audi- 
 tor and treasurer would be elected, and an expose of 
 the defalcations in the latter office be made to the 
 ruin of Harvey himself and his sons. 
 
 "Now I understand all this, Mr. Harvey, and so do 
 you. I demand to know what you mean by your 
 threats. I am not used to such treatment, sir, 
 and I will not endure it, even from my wife's 
 father ! " 
 
 The old man laughed. "Why, Mason, if I deter- 
 mined to defeat you I could do it, and defy you to 
 harm me. Even if our men were defeated, I could 
 put back into the treasury the money, and the new 
 men could find nothing to show a misappropriation of 
 funds. The book-keeping is all right — I have seen 
 to that, all these years ! So you need not think you 
 
432 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 hold a rod over my head, for you do not. I haven't 
 felt so free in years as I do to-day, now that I know I 
 can settle in full with the county ! " 
 
 "And so, having slipped your neck out of the 
 noose," retorted Mason, "you propose to crush me, 
 to whom you sold your daughter for the money to 
 make good your first defalcation ! " 
 
 Helen started at this, but instantly controlled her- 
 self, and stood like a statue, eagerly listening. 
 
 "And you were quite ready to purchase, too," 
 retorted the old man. "You got my note for the 
 money, and I paid it. You were eager enough to get 
 Helen, and, with her, my influence to push your polit- 
 ical aspiratiojis ! " 
 
 "And it was altogether a poor bargain on my 
 side — a very dear one, indeed! However, there is 
 no need of quarrelling about that matter. I suppose 
 that your real object is to know what I did with the 
 money.? " 
 
 "Yes, it is," responded the old man bluntly. "In 
 business I distrust everybody. You influenced that 
 old fool of a Crefeld to advance it by some means — 
 he could hardly tell how. The fact is. Mason, I have 
 acted hastily to-night. It is nonsense for us to 
 quarrel ; but finding you engaged in a transaction of 
 such magnitude without my knowledge angered me. 
 If you had the power to get that much out of Crefeld, 
 you could have wrecked the bank even, if you had 
 been so minded. Then the lifting of the burden of 
 the treasury off my shoulders fairly made me d izzy. I 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 433 
 
 suspect, Mason, we have both acted like fools ; now 
 let us come down to business." 
 
 Mason reflected over the matter, and determined to 
 tell the facts. If Harvey were able to get out of his 
 snarl in the treasury he might be very useful to him. 
 So he told him of the money entrusted to him by 
 Farmer Dunlap, of his use of it, a part being loaned 
 to Harvey himself to conceal his defalcation ; and 
 then he added — 
 
 ''The receipt I had given to Mr. Dunlap was lost 
 in some way, and I merely held the money till Glea- 
 son happened to come across it. The interest had 
 amounted to a large sum, and the money about which 
 you are so curious was to pay both principal and inter- 
 est. All is paid off, and the two notes in the bank 
 have only to be met to enable me to be clear of the 
 whole matter." 
 
 Harvey listened with the greatest attention. " H'm ! 
 Queer that papers can be so mislaid," he commented, 
 with a sharp glance at Mason's impassive face. 
 "Well, all right ; settle up as soon as you can. Mason; 
 I don't want to be hard on you, of course." 
 
 The shame that Helen had felt for years over her 
 father's defalcation — the thing that had prompted 
 her to sacrifice her love for Dr. Blanchard and marry 
 Caleb Mason — had been a burden to her. She had 
 often reproached herself, in the earlier years of her 
 married life, that she could not love her husband, 
 prompted thereto by a vague feeling that he was an 
 innocent and injured party. Now that he himself 
 
434 'TH^ DEMAGOGUE 
 
 was a self-confessed embezzler, a thief, what little 
 feeling of loyalty to him she yet retained took flight 
 forever. She crept away from her hiding-place noise- 
 lessly, and to her bed, where she lay and counted the 
 slow hours as they passed, her mind busy with the 
 wretched recollections of the past. She had always 
 believed Mason honest in money matters. His political 
 trickery she had counted as a necessity in the life of 
 any public man, and it did not affect her. But now 
 to find that he was also a criminal ! It was too 
 much ! 
 
 The next day was a busy one for Caleb Mason. 
 The Congressional convention met on the next day 
 but one, and he surveyed the field, reviewed his 
 forces, and was glad to find that everything promised 
 well. The only fact that developed in the matter was 
 that the anti-Mason faction — and they were but a 
 half-dozen delegates, all told — had determined to vote 
 for a Col. Patterson, a soldier with an excellent record, 
 belonging to another county ; and that Dr. Blanchard 
 and Gleason were busy, endeavoring to get as many 
 votes for him as possible. 
 
 Mr. Mason smiled grimly at the news. It rather 
 relieved him. If they had settled on a fight in the 
 convention, there would be no danger of their attempt- 
 ing to run Col. Patterson as an independent candi- 
 date; and if the fight were between the Republican 
 and Democratic parties at the polls, he had now but 
 little fear that he would be able to carry the district 
 handsomely. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 435 
 
 As he passed along the street he remarked the large 
 number of farmers' wagons, all loaded with wheat, 
 passing along, and the thought occurred to him that 
 his friend Parker must be very busy these days, and 
 that he certainly should be glad that he did not have 
 to divide his attention with politics. *' It was much 
 better for him to let Saxby have the nomination," he 
 thought; "much better for himself — and for me 
 also ! " 
 
 The demands of the grain men for money were 
 unprecedented. The banks were put to great straits 
 to accommodate them, and Mr. Crefeld rejoiced. By 
 II o'clock he had borrowed ;^ 10,000 from the treasury 
 to satisfy the extraordinary demands of the borrowing 
 grain dealers, and shortly after dinner he had \o send 
 a note asking for $10,000 more. 
 
 " See here, Crefeld ! " exclaimed Mr. Harvey, as 
 he entered the private room of the bank with the 
 money, "you must be careful! Why, man, you have 
 $} 05,000 of our money here, including this! How 
 soon can we have some of it back.? " 
 
 " Fadder Abraham, don't worry!" grinned Crefeld. 
 "We are making money as fast as a mint! There 
 will be ;^6o,ooo here day after to-morrow, and we will 
 be all right then ! This is the biggest day's business 
 any bank ever did in Pulaski ! " 
 
 But one of those little things occurred, which, while 
 but trivial in themselves, have far-reaching conse- 
 quences. Parker, the grain man, banked with Crefeld 
 & Co. He bought a load of wheat of "Jim " Hyde, a 
 
436 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 farmer living out in the eastern part of the county. 
 The drive to town was a long one, and when Hyde 
 reached Pulaski he stopped his team on the public 
 square, and went into a bar-room to assuage his thirst. 
 After a couple of stiff drinks of whiskey he drove 
 down to Parker's, where he sold his wheat. Parker 
 knew that his balance at the bank was running low, 
 and asked Hyde, as he was writing him a check on 
 Crefeld's bank in payment, if he needed the money 
 that day, receiving a reply in the negative. Parker 
 knew that Hyde would be in the following day with 
 another load, and hence dated the check the following 
 day, the eighteenth, instead of the same day, the 
 seventeenth. Hyde took it in his befuddled con- 
 dition, Vithout clearly understanding what Parker 
 meant, and started up street again. 
 
 He hitched his team in the public square again, 
 and after making some purchases of groceries, which 
 he placed in the wagon, went into a saloon where he 
 met some friends. Drink followed drink, and Hyde, 
 feeling in a generous mood, stood treat until his 
 money had all been spent. Not being through with 
 his debauch, he bethought himself of his check, and 
 started unsteadily to the bank to get it cashed. 
 
 It being within a few minutes of three o'clock. 
 Smith had gone out to make a settlement with the 
 other banks. The rush was over, and Crefeld was in 
 his private room, leaving only a young clerk behind 
 the counter, who happened to be a person lacking 
 business tact. Hyde lurched up to the window, and 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 437 
 
 threw down his check, asking for the money in a 
 boisterous tone. The young man glanced at it, and 
 seeing it was dated on the following day, handed it 
 back, superciliously observing — 
 
 **We can't pay that to-day!" 
 
 Hyde looked at him with drunken gravity for a 
 moment, and then asked — 
 
 *' Ain't Parker got no money here, young fellow?" 
 
 "Of course," responded the clerk. 
 
 "Then I want my money, and be quick, too! " 
 
 "Come in to-morrow," replied the clerk. 
 
 "But I want it to-day!" 
 
 "Well, I tell you we won't pay it to-day," answered 
 the clerk pertly, making the error of supposing that 
 Hyde of course knew the check was dated ahead — a 
 common thing in business. 
 
 "See here, young feller," said Hyde, angrily, "if 
 I had you outside that there — hie — chicken-coop, 
 I'd — hie — smash your nose for you ! I want " — 
 
 Here the clock pointed to three o'clock, the hour 
 for closing, and the clerk, glad to be rid of a drunken 
 customer, slammed down the window and turned away. 
 
 Hyde was the only customer in the bank, and he 
 went out cursing the clerk roundly. He turned 
 toward Parker's, but met a friend who boisterously 
 asked him to go and have a drink. 
 
 Hyde did so, and forgetting all about Parker, and 
 the check, spent a half-hour drinking at his friend's 
 expense. Then he got on his wagon and started 
 homeward. 
 
438 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 He had gotten only a mile out of town when he 
 came up with two farmers, also homeward bound with 
 their teams, who had stopped at a cross-road to chat. 
 The matter of the check occurred to Hyde, and he 
 stopped to tell them the astounding news that 
 Cref eld's bank had refused to cash his check till the 
 next day, even while admitting that Parker had 
 money there; and he added that he had always 
 thought "that confounded hook-nosed Cref eld was a 
 thief, and now he knew it." 
 
 After talking over the amazing news, the two farm- 
 ers parted, and each told it to every acquaintance he 
 met. Hyde did the same, and by nine o'clock that 
 night the whole eastern half of the county was wild 
 over the news of the utter failure of Cref eld's bank — 
 the original story, as told by Hyde, having grown as 
 fast as Jonah's gourd in the telling. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 439 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 A FINANCIAL CRASH AND ITS RESULTS 
 
 HYDE did not know anything of the practice of 
 dating checks ahead, did not know that Parker 
 had done so, and would not have understood the rea- 
 son of that procedure, even had Parker explained it 
 to him, in his half-drunken condition. Nor could 
 many of his fellow-farmers have understood it. With 
 them a refusal to pay a check was a confession of 
 inabib'ty to pay it; and that meant a ''busted bank," 
 to use their phraseology. 
 
 Caleb Mason had a wide acquaintance among the 
 farmers, and had, in his indirect way, done much 
 missionary work for Crefeld's bank on his electioneer- 
 ing trips. The result was that it had a large part of 
 the patronage of the farmers, and the report of its 
 being in an embarrassed condition caused many a one 
 of them to spend a sleepless night, and to start for 
 Pulaski the first thing in the morning with his certifi- 
 cate of deposit, intent on drawing his money. 
 
 Those who reached Pulaski first were amazed to 
 find that no one in the town knew of any trouble at 
 the bank. But evil news flies fast, and before the 
 
440 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 bank had opened at nine o'clock the rumor had trav- 
 eled up and down Main street, and there were many 
 townsmen on the anxious seat. 
 
 The bank opened as usual, however, and the checks 
 presented were promptly cashed. A rumor is a hard 
 thing to kill, however, especially one of this sort ; 
 and the feeling of uncertainty grew, in spite of the 
 bank's paying whatever was presented with the 
 utmost promptness. The story had lost all semblance 
 of the actual occurrence of the previous afternoon ; 
 Hyde's name was not mentioned in connection with 
 it, for nobody knew how the rumor had originated. 
 As for Hyde himself, he had spent the evening in 
 going around among his neighbors, telling his tale, 
 winding up with a drinking bout at a cross-roads grog- 
 gery. He did not get to his bed till midnight, and it 
 was noon before he slept off his potations. 
 
 Harvey and Mason soon heard the disquieting 
 rumors, and they, knowing that a run would find the 
 bank at a great disadvantage, started out at once to 
 rally their friends. The bank was perfectly solvent, 
 but its loans to the wheat men the few previous days 
 had been so enormous that the margin of cash was 
 perilously narrow. Crefeld was perfectly wild with 
 rage. He telegraphed for financial aid, for he recog- 
 nized the danger if a heavy run set in. 
 
 A little after ten o'clock, Harvey, Mason and their 
 helpers met in the private office of the bank, to com- 
 pare notes. Mason was quite cool, as he always was 
 in the presence of danger. On the next day the Con- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 44 I 
 
 gressional convention was to meet, and he knew the 
 failure of the bank would imperil his chances of the 
 nomination. But he turned to the cashier : 
 
 **I think we are safe. Smith, what have you to 
 meet to-day.'*" 
 
 "In round numbers ;^30,ooo, provided there is no 
 unusual run on us." 
 
 **And you have on hand.?" 
 
 "Twenty-one thousand dollars." 
 
 " Very good. It is as I thought. Mr. Harvey has 
 brought you here ;^20,ooo ; there will at least $5,000 
 in deposits come in, and by putting a bold front on 
 the matter we can tide over till to-morrow, by which 
 time we will have the ;^6o,ooo due us, and all will be 
 safe again. But it is too close for comfort." 
 
 It was very close, for Mr. Harvey, to get the 
 ;^20,ooo, had been compelled to take all he felt it safe 
 to draw from the treasury, and had added thereto 
 ;^ 5,000 which he had borrowed. 
 
 "We are safe with that ! " joyfully exclaimed Smith, 
 and the party felt easy once more. 
 
 Their era of good feeling was destined to be of very 
 short duration, for scarcely were the words out of 
 their mouths before the clerk entered with a troubled 
 look, and whispered a few words into the ear of 
 Smith, who turned paler than the paper on the desk 
 before him. 
 
 "Gentlemen, the game is up! Kalloch, the treas- 
 urer of the school board, is in front with a check for 
 $18,000!" 
 
442 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 There was consternation among them. Every man 
 looked as though he had been struck by lightening. 
 
 " Kalloch ! " exclaimed Mason. 
 
 *' Kalloch ! " echoed Harvey. 
 
 "Goat once," exclaimed Mason, "and ask him to 
 put it off till to-morrow." 
 
 Smith departed to the front, but returned in a 
 moment with an expression that told the story more 
 plainly than words could possibly do. 
 
 "Well.'^" anxiously exclaimed Mason. 
 
 " He utterly refuses to put it off a moment. He 
 says he has bought the coal for the school houses 
 very advantageously for cash, and that the contractor 
 is waiting at his office for the money." 
 
 "Did you say that the money was wanted for 
 wheat .-* " ' 
 
 "I said everything, but to no purpose. He wants 
 the money." 
 
 Just then Sam Gleason passed the window and 
 entered the front door with a check in his hand. 
 Mason read trouble in this insignificant circumstance. 
 
 "It is Gleason who has done this!" he muttered to 
 himself. Then to Smith — 
 
 "Go out and pay it without a word. It will never 
 do to refuse payment of this. And pay Gleason's 
 check, whatever it is, and try to smile while you are 
 doing it." 
 
 Smith groaned, but went out and paid both. He 
 returned with an expression of despair so utterly 
 hopeless that he was to be pitied. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 443 
 
 "There is no hope. There are a dozen men watch- 
 ing the front door, and there is ugly talk about us. 
 We must have more money, and that right away. 
 We have paid ^19,000 out of $46,000, and a run 
 is certain." 
 
 Harvey left the bank, with a hasty instruction to 
 Smith to go to the front himself, and if a run seemed 
 to be in progress, to pay out as slowly as he could, 
 and keep the crowd, if one came, as long as possible. 
 Mason joined him as he hurriedly left. Harvey went 
 straight to the county treasury, took the last dollar, 
 and hurried with it over to the bank, stopping only to 
 borrow of whomsoever he met on any excuse, no mat- 
 ter in how small sums. Mason started out himself 
 to do the same thing. 
 
 There is something very peculiar in the spread of 
 bad news, even where it is false, and there is some- 
 thing terrible in the pertinacity with which men 
 believe evil tidings. The firm of Crefeld & Co. had 
 always paid every dollar that had been presented to 
 them on demand, none of their paper had gone to 
 protest, and there was no reason why, in the eyes of 
 the public, they were not as solvent as they had ever 
 been. 
 
 But, as we know, it had gone all over the county 
 that they were in difficulties. There was an added 
 feeling of insecurity among the business men of Pul- 
 aski now that the rumor of trouble was in the air, 
 because it had often been alleged that the bank used 
 county funds, and that made every man shy about 
 
444 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 lending financial aid. The other banks, which had 
 for days been straining every nerve to meet the 
 requirements of the grain men, made that an excuse 
 for not loaning to the threatened institution. Mason 
 had felt a sinking of the heart when Gleason pre- 
 sented his check, and had, as mentioned before, attrib- 
 uted the run to that gentleman's machinations. The 
 fact was, that Gleason had been paid a professional fee 
 that morning, the check being given by his client ; 
 and as he happened to need the money, he stepped 
 around to get it cashed, and did not know of the 
 rumors concerning the bank until after he had re 
 ceived his money — which was only ^20. 
 
 By another hour there were farmers from as far 
 as twenty miles away, dropping in one at a time with 
 certificates of deposit. The first came in with a 
 deprecating expression, muttering something about 
 "payments to make," but as the number increased 
 they dropped all apologies, and hurriedly asked for 
 their money. 
 
 The number increased, and in another hour there 
 was a respectable throng at the door. 
 
 The townspeople saw the crowd, and they came 
 likewise ; and seeing that everybody wanted money, 
 they rushed home and got their certificates, and 
 joined the throng. 
 
 Mr. Smith paid out the money with as much cheer- 
 fulness as he could command, and Harvey and Mason 
 worked like heroes to raise what money they could. 
 But it was pouring in with a spoon, while it was rush- 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 445 
 
 ing out with a torrent. At noon the comers had 
 become a throng, and they were surging in at the 
 doors and struggling for precedence at the little win- 
 dow. Mr. Smith found it impossible to pay as fast as 
 the slips of paper were passed into him, even if he 
 had had the money. The throng became a crowd, 
 the crowd a mob, and the mob progressed rapidly from 
 feverish anxiety to absolute ferocity. 
 
 At half-past twelve the badgered cashier dropped 
 the window and staggered into the back room. 
 
 "It's all over — the last dollar is paid out, and the 
 mob threatens to demolish the bank and hang the 
 bankers ! " 
 
 Pale but determined, Mason made his way through 
 the door to the front, and the moment the crowd saw 
 him there commenced such a pandemonium as was 
 never before heard in Pulaski. One half yelled 
 "Hang him with the others!" while the other half 
 insisted that he have a fair hearing. 
 
 He mounted the counter and asked for silence for 
 a moment. 
 
 "My friends," he began, "I am not interested in 
 this bank, nor do I know anything of its condition, 
 only this : an unexpected demand for money to carry 
 the crops has reduced their available funds, and to 
 add to the trouble, an unfortunate rumor that the 
 bank was in difficulty has aggravated the matter by 
 making a run upon it. I am assured by Messrs. 
 Crefeld and Smith that the assets are ample to meet 
 all demands, if time be given them to turn around 
 
446 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 in, and if this senseless run be stopped. I am 
 assured " — 
 
 "Beg pardon for interrupting," yelled a man named 
 Cassidy ; "but this is all a pack of Les. This concern 
 is rotten through and through. The money that has 
 been paid out this morning was not its own money. 
 The money of the people, out of the treasury, has 
 been lent to the friends of the ring, and they have lost 
 it in grain gambling. The county treasury" — 
 
 ''What about the county treasury.?" demanded 
 Harvey. 
 
 **We shall know all about the county treasury too 
 soon for your comfort," was the reply. 
 
 Where this discussion would have ended no one can 
 tell had not a score of Harvey's friends created a 
 diversion. As it was. Mason considered it safe to 
 leave, Smith and Crefeld got away by the back door, 
 and the clerk asked permission to shut the doors. 
 
 The crowd acquiesced, for there was nothing to be 
 made by remaining, and the doors swung upon their 
 hinges for the last time upon the bank of Crefeld 
 &Co. 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 447 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 "THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH*' 
 
 FAR from yielding supinely to the overwhelming 
 reverse that had overtaken the bank, Mason 
 rallied the friends of himself and Mr. Harvey, and 
 had the latter appointed receiver. It was of the 
 last importance that they should control the books of 
 the institution, for had an enemy been placed in 
 charge the connection of the bank with the treasury 
 would have been at once discovered, and ruin have 
 overwhelmed them all. With Harvey in charge the 
 matter could be tided over. 
 
 The next morning the ;^6o,ooo that would have 
 saved the bank from ruin arrived, and was at once 
 put into the county treasury. During the day there 
 was some ;^20,ooo more realized out of the bank's 
 assets, which was also placed there. So there was no 
 immediate danger of the deficit being discovered, and 
 every one concerned breathed easier, 
 
 Mr. Mason was obliged to leave all this to Mr. 
 Harvey, while he marshalled his forces for the Con- 
 gressional convention, which met that day in Pulaski. 
 He was up early, eating a hurried breakfast before 
 
448 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 Helen had arisen, and was out on the street engaged 
 in political labors, at the earnest possible moment. 
 
 The convention was to meet at ten o'clock. At 
 that hour the court-room, in which it was held, was 
 packed to the doors. There was extraordinary inter- 
 est taken in the proceedings, for no one knew what 
 effect the failure of Crefeld's bank, in which his 
 father-in-law was popularly understood to be a silent 
 partner, would have upon Mason's chances. Had it 
 not been for the rumors of the trouble in the treas- 
 ury — of the bank being allowed to use the county 
 funds — that Mason knew of this — and the knowl- 
 edge that he had done all he could to save the bank, 
 there would have been no trouble. But the anti- 
 Mason faction sprung into activity. They talked all 
 these things to every new delegate who arrived ; they 
 repeated the stories of years before of the Harvey 
 ring, of Mason's jilting his fiancee to marry Helen 
 Harvey and get the Harvey support ; and everybody 
 expected an explosion. 
 
 Mason had not been idle. He had sent for the edi- 
 tor of The Clarion the previous afternoon, and paid 
 him a generous sum to get out an extra edition of his 
 paper containing an account of the bank failure. 
 This Mason had revised in the manuscrpt, and it was 
 made clear to every reader that Mason was not con- 
 cerned personally in the bank, but that he had only 
 done all he could to help his father-in-law ; and he 
 was held up as worthy of all praise for this. There 
 was a separate article on the convention, in which 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 449 
 
 Mason's renomination was assumed to be a foregone 
 conclusion, and the delegates were exhorted not to let 
 the misfortunes of Mason's father-in-law affect their 
 judgment of "our talented Congressman," or prevent 
 their giving him the "deserved compliment of a prac- 
 tically unanimous renomination." 
 
 This extra was gotten out about eight o'clock in 
 the evening, and distributed free to everybody. All 
 read it, especially the newly-arrived delegates ; and it 
 was plain to be seen that it produced a reaction in 
 Mason's favor. 
 
 The convention was promptly called to order, and 
 the proceedings were rushed by Mason's friends, so 
 as to reach a vote at the earliest possible moment. 
 Some of the delegates had failed to reach Pulaski on 
 time, however, and, after organization, the convention 
 did not seem inclined to be in a hurry. A motion 
 was finally made to adjourn till one o'clock, which was 
 carried, and the crowd passed out, its curiosity whetted 
 to the utmost to know what the outcome would be. 
 
 Mason worked untiringly. He saw every man of 
 the belated delegations immediately upon their arri- 
 val, and when the convention again met there was not 
 a delegate in the body that he had not personally met 
 and urged his claims upon, for renomination. 
 
 A brief platform was reported and adopted with a 
 whirl. Mason's name was placed before the conven- 
 tion in an eloquent speech by one of his adherents ; 
 Colonel Anderson's name was also placed before that 
 body, and the decisive moment had come. 
 
450 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 The ballot was taken amid intense excitement. It 
 resulted in a tie, the convention happening to have an 
 even number of votes, and one-half voted for each 
 candidate. 
 
 A second ballot was at once ordered, but the result 
 was the same. 
 
 "It means a hot fight," said Mason, as this was 
 announced to him. He occupied the judge's room, 
 opening directly into the court room, and knew the 
 result immediately. "Take an adjournment," he 
 ordered. 
 
 It was moved and seconded that the convention 
 adjourn to eight p. m., which was carried ; and the 
 work for the two candidates began again. 
 
 Gleason and Dr. Blan chard had been hard at work 
 all day. They recognized that the Anderson phalanx 
 was by no means firm, and they dreaded the adjourn- 
 ment, as it would give Mason time to undo all that 
 they had done. Per contra. Mason feared the work 
 that they would do in the same manner. 
 
 Helen Mason had been most wretched since she 
 had overheard the colloquy between her father and 
 her husband two nights before. All the transient glow 
 of love for her husband — if it ever was a warm enough 
 passion to be called love — had died out long ago, but 
 she had always entertained a respect for him, because 
 she believed him to be in all things, save politics, 
 an honest, honorable man. When she found him a 
 self-confessed embezzler — a thief who had taken the 
 money entrusted to him by his benefactor, old Farmer 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 45 1 
 
 Dunlap — who had stolen the patrimony of Sarah 
 Dunlap, and then jilted her — Helen's soul revolted 
 at the man. An utter loathing and detestation of 
 him took possession of her soul. 
 
 On this day she was alone in her room. Alone ! 
 She was never alone. She had with her two constant 
 companions — hatred and revenge. Hatred of her 
 father and brothers who had attempted to strangle 
 her love, which was, however, now as strong and 
 vigorous as when it first sprang into life ; remorse at 
 having consented for a moment to play the part she 
 had done for objects so worthless. For now that the 
 tinsel was stripped off, she could see how utterly sel- 
 fish her father had been, how unworthy Caleb Mason 
 was, and in wonderful contrast to them stood out the 
 figure of Dr. Blanchard, who for her sake had endured 
 the humilation slie had put upon him without reproach 
 or murmur. 
 
 Immediately upon the adjournment of the conven- 
 tion her husband entered, pale, and without his usual 
 coolness. For once the man of iron nerve, the man 
 without heart or emotion, the man who never smiled 
 except in pursuance of a preconcerted plan, of a 
 bargain with himself, was excited, nervous and 
 agitated. 
 
 Helen showed no emotion, no feeling. Her look 
 was as icy as a frozen river. There was a fierce cur- 
 rent raging under this icy exterior, but Mr. Mason 
 could not see it. 
 
 "Well.?" 
 
452 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 That was her only salutation, put as an inquiry as 
 to why he had disturbed her. 
 
 "Helen" — the words came slowly, and with an 
 effort, as though for once he was asking something 
 instead of demanding it — "I am beaten." 
 
 ''Well.?" 
 
 "Confound it, woman! Have you nothing to say 
 but that infernal 'well'.?" 
 
 " Nothing. What difference does it make to me 
 whether you succeed or fail .? What concern have I 
 in it.?" 
 
 The husband thought a moment, looking directly 
 into her eyes. He saw his fate written there, unless 
 some influence could be brought to bear upon her 
 more than ordinary. 
 
 " Have you no care for my future — our future ? " 
 
 "None whatever." 
 
 "But there are those you have a care for, and there 
 are those you must save from the certain ruin that 
 must come to them if I go down now. In politics, 
 once out of the saddle and you walk all the rest of 
 your life. There is no recovery from a defeat. Your 
 father, brothers and family share ruin with me." 
 
 "What can I do to avert it.?" 
 
 "Blanchard" — 
 
 Helen started as the name was pronounced. 
 
 "Blanchard is the very soul of the movement 
 against me. Gleason hurts, but I can counteract his 
 work; Blanchard's I cannot. The people believe in 
 him, and he is a power in this convention. Could I 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE /|53 
 
 but Stop Blan chard, could I make him a neutral even, 
 I can get through ; otherwise I am beaten, and that 
 settles me forever." 
 
 *^Well?" 
 
 "Helen, Blanchard loved you — that I know; I 
 also know that he loves you still. He loves you a» 
 much to-day as he ever did, and you can control him 
 if you will. He" — 
 
 She knew what was coming, and she rose from her 
 chair with a very peculiar e'xpression upon her face. 
 It was a smile and not a smile. It was more of a 
 contortion of the features that showed there was 
 something in her mind that she could not trust her 
 lips to utter. It was an expression that boded her 
 husband no good, and had he been less excited, had he 
 been himself, he would have seen it. But he did not. 
 
 "I want Blanchard converted into a neutral; you 
 can do it." 
 
 *' How shall I proceed ? " 
 
 There was a still more mocking expression on her 
 face as she uttered these words. 
 
 " Why ask me that ? You know how to do it. 
 There never was a woman more skilled in manage- 
 ment, never ! " 
 
 '*You flatter me. But in a matter like this, when 
 the wife is expected to influence an old lover, a man 
 who was a lover, and an accepted one before her mar- 
 riage, she ought to have instructions, positive and 
 plain, that she may protect herself. State in words 
 what you would have me do." 
 
454 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 "Do! Do anything — that is, anything short of 
 committing yourself to him to the point of not being 
 able to get back to me. For the next two- months — 
 till after the election " — 
 
 He paused as if there were something he would say, 
 but dare not. 
 
 "I will finish the sentence. You would have me 
 go to Blanchard and induce him, for my sake, to stop 
 his opposition to you. To accomplish that end you 
 would have me awaken m him the old love — to let 
 him believe for the time that I love him — as I did — 
 and give him hope that I may yet be his, as he for 
 years expected I should be. In short, to put the mat- 
 ter in plain words, you would have me make love to 
 him, and make that love the price of his ceasing to 
 oppose you. Is that it .? " 
 
 "I care not how you manage, nor what you do — he 
 must be silenced. You must not — you shall not — 
 go farther than is proper — he must be" — 
 
 "Deceived. I comprehend." 
 
 There was a look that came over her face then that 
 he would have been wise had he observed it. But he 
 did not. He was possessed of one idea, and that 
 blinded him to every thing else. 
 
 "I will see Dr. Blanchard," she said, coolly and 
 with deliberation. " No, don't speak. I will see him 
 at once. That is all I will say now. Please leave me." 
 
 He left the room, half-satisfied and half doubting. 
 But it.was all he could get from her, and the assur- 
 ance that she would see the doctor was all. Twice he 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 455 
 
 turned toward her door after he was in the hall, but 
 he knew his wife, and he knew that further words 
 would amount to nothing. Excited and pale he 
 turned toward the court-house. 
 
 The door had no sooner closed upon him than 
 Helen rose from her seat a different woman. The 
 enforced calmness that had supported her during the 
 brief interview gave way in an instant. She was no 
 longer an iceberg — she was a tropical cyclone. 
 
 *'He would have me, his wife, make love to Dr. 
 Blanchard ! He would have me deceive the man I 
 have used so cruelly ! Will 1 1 " 
 
 She tore off from her person — she did not take 
 them off, she tore them off — every article of jewelry 
 which had come from him, as though she loathed them. 
 She stripped off the rich dress she wore, and donning 
 the simplest robe she possessed, as if to wear anything 
 that he had ever seen or touched were profanation, she 
 emerged from her room and left the house. 
 
 Casting a scornful look backward, and saying in an 
 
 undertone — ** Thank God, I am free at last!" she 
 
 turned down the street toward the residence of 
 
 Samuel Gleason, Esq. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Mrs. Gleason was in her comfortable and cosy par- 
 lor waiting for the advent of her husband who had 
 not yet come home to his dinner. Her chubby baby 
 was rolling upon the floor, and everything about her 
 showed that the woman was entirely happy — at least, 
 as happy as women generally are. 
 
456 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 There was a ring at the door — a firm, emphatic 
 r ng that asked for immediate attention. Mrs. Glea- 
 son answered it in person. 
 
 Helen Mason stood upon her threshold. Never 
 was a woman more surprised than Sarah Gleason, for 
 she had not exchanged a word with the haughty 
 woman for years. 
 
 Neither spoke for a moment, for neither knew the 
 purpose of the other. The silence was broken finally 
 by Helen as she passed Mrs. Gleason, without so 
 much as being asked to enter. 
 
 " You are surprised to see me here ; you have 
 a right to be. But others will be more surprised. 
 This will be a day of surprises." 
 
 *'I am surprised, I admit, for of all the women in 
 the world you are the last I expected to see upon my 
 threshold or within my doors. But you are here; 
 and you have come for something; I wait to hear 
 what." 
 
 "I come to you for a refuge, a shelter." 
 
 " Your own home ? " 
 
 " I no longer have a home. I have left what was 
 my residence — it was never a home to me. I will 
 not go to my father, and what I have to do I can do 
 better from here than from any other place. Your 
 husband will be glad to see me here — it will be the 
 happiest day of his life when he knows I am here. 
 Will you send for Dr. Blanchard ? " 
 
 "Dr. Blanchard.?" 
 
 *'Yes, Dr. Blanchard." 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 457 
 
 "Your husband's bitterest enemy — more bitter 
 even than my husband?" 
 
 "I have no husband — I have no father, no brother. 
 Yes, I want to see Dr. Blanchard." 
 
 Mrs. Gleason looked at Helen a moment as if in 
 doubt what course she should pursue; but she came 
 to a conclusion very quickly. She asked no ques- 
 tions ; she merely motioned her unexpected guest into 
 the parlor, and left her to herself. A messenger was 
 dispatched for Dr. Blanchard, and in a few minutes 
 he was face to face for the first time in years, with the 
 woman he had loved. 
 
 « Helen!" 
 
 " Martin ! " 
 
 They clasped hands, and looked at each other 
 steadily. His hand trembled, hers did not. 
 
 " I have sent to you for a purpose. I have left my 
 home, I have left my husband, I have abandoned 
 everything. I promised him I would see you — so far 
 I have kept my word, but not as he wished me to. I 
 will not say what he said to me, nor will I say what 
 he wanted me to do, nor how he wanted me to do it. 
 Only, if you ever loved me, if you ever cared for me, 
 leave no stone unturned to defeat him, nothing undone 
 to crush him, forget nothing that will not only crush 
 but annihilate him ! " 
 
 "You say this!" 
 
 " I say this. And as the first step toward it let it 
 be known that I am here with Mrs. Gleason under her 
 roof, and that I have left him forever — forev^er! Say 
 
458 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 not a word, but to your work. You have no time to 
 to lose." 
 
 "And afterward?" 
 
 "The future will take care of itself. The present 
 work in hand is to crush this man, this monster ! Go, 
 and leave me." 
 
 The doctor needed no second bidding. Casting 
 
 one look at her, a lighter and more hopeful look than 
 had visited his face for years, he left her presence. 
 
 Mrs. Gleason came in a moment after, and took 
 both Helen's hands in hers. There was a long con- 
 ference in which Helen did the most of the talking, 
 and at its close Sarah kissed her brow and said 
 softly — 
 
 "Helen, I misjudged you, but it was innocently. 
 Forgive me ! " 
 
 When Sam Gleason came home a little -later, he 
 found them sitting side by side; and when he had 
 heard Helen's story, he quietly remarked to her that 
 before lo o'clock that night she would learn other 
 reasons for abandoning her husband, and better ones 
 than any she knew of. 
 
 "You did well to quit as you did, and it comes to 
 us in the nick of time." 
 
 And hastily swallowing a cup of tea, he went out to 
 complete the last arrangements for the evening meet- 
 ing of the convention. 
 
 Two hours afterward Mason entered his house hop- 
 ing to find his wife, and to hear from her that what 
 he had asked her to do had been accomplished. A 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 459 
 
 chill crept over him as he entered her room. It was 
 not his wife that he saw, but all of her surroundings. 
 On the floor, as if torn out with scorn and contempt, 
 torn off as one might tear off something that was 
 hateful and oppressive, were her jewels, her watch — 
 everything that he had ever given her, or that she was 
 indebted to him for. On the floor was the rich house- 
 robe that had adorned her when last he saw her 
 two hours before, and scattered about were even the 
 rings from her fingers. The most conspicuous, 
 and the most significant to him, was her wedding 
 ring. 
 
 There was no note, no message; nothing. There 
 needed to be nothing. He knew what had befallen 
 him — he knew that Helen Mason was Helen Mason 
 only in name, and he intuitively knew whither she had 
 gone and for what purpose. 
 
 "Helen!" 
 
 It was the voice of her father, Mr. Harvey. 
 
 "Come up!" called Mason. 
 
 He came, and through the other door saw Mason, 
 pale as a ghost. 
 
 "Where is Hel — your daughter.^ " 
 
 The old man glanced around the room, and for a 
 moment said nothing He, too, read the hand-writing 
 on the wall. 
 
 "She has gone ! " he answered in a hoarse whisper. 
 "Has she gone to Gleason's.^* Will she spHt on us.? 
 If so, you are ruined ! " 
 
 "We are ruined — you mean 'we!'" 
 
460 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 " For God's sake, go for her at once ! There is 
 not a moment to lose ! " 
 
 *'Gofor her!" Mason laughed recklessly. "Why, 
 I know your daughter better than you do. There is 
 no use in going for her. What she has determined to 
 do, whatever it may be, she will do, and nothing on 
 earth will stop her. If I am right in my suspicion as 
 to what she intends to do, look to yourself. She 
 loves you, I find, as little as she does me. Blood 
 excepted, she has just as little cause. You and your 
 sons had better look to yourselves. If I am defeated 
 — and she has put the weapon in their hands by 
 leaving me — you all fall also! I must go and find 
 out exactly what it means, and what the effect is 
 going to be." 
 
 They left the house together, and found out 
 all about it before they had walked twenty steps. 
 On the corners were groups of men in earnest con- 
 ference, men who looked askance at them, and as 
 they passed, women peered from the windows and 
 almost laughed at them. They could catch in 
 passing detached sentences, but they were enough. 
 "She has left him and is at Gleason's." "There is a 
 defalcation, and she has split upon him," and other 
 talk of the kind. This two-hours-old movement had 
 already become town talk. 
 
 And as they passed the hotel Major Starkweather 
 sidled up to Mason and said in an undertone — 
 
 "It's all out, and if it's true we're done for. And 
 you, Harvey, if it's all true that is being said, I should 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 46 1 
 
 make myself skase before norning, and take the boys 
 with me. The feelin' is sich that I am compermising 
 myself by even talkin' with you. It's red-hot, I tell 
 you, and don't you forget it ! " 
 
 Mason found a few friends who still stood by him. 
 He did not dare go again to the judge's room, but he 
 sought the janitor of the court-house, who placed at 
 his disposal a little-used room in the basement — a 
 room with two doors, one opening on the rear of the 
 building, through which escape could be made if need 
 called for flight. 
 
 The convention met amid overwhelming excite- 
 ment. Its work did not take ten minutes. The 
 ballot for candidate for congressman stood : Col. 
 Anderson eighty-two, Caleb Mason six. Anderson's 
 nomination was made unanimous with a thundering 
 
 "aye! " and the convention adjourned si7ie die. 
 ****** 
 
 Mason sat alone in his room in semi-darkness, only 
 one lamp making an ineffectual struggle with the 
 gloom. The light was sufficient for him. He was in 
 deeper darkness than that made by the absence of the 
 sun. Sitting, as he did, by the side of the window, 
 he could see the flashes of torches borne by men 
 who to him seemed to be all throat ; and not a dozen 
 rods away other men were rolling tar-barrels and 
 light-wood together in front of a platform. The 
 hoarse murmur of the throngs on the street sounded 
 to him like the swelling of the torrent that was to 
 overwhelm him, and as the crowd gathered it became 
 
462 THE DEMAGOGUE 
 
 sharper and sharper and more dangerous. They 
 surged into the public square and surrounded the 
 platform. 
 
 Who was the speaker to whom they had assembled 
 to listen ? Dr. Blanchard. What was he saying ? 
 Mason could catch occasional sentences, but every 
 word went like a death's dart to his heart. 
 
 "I shall not discuss principles, for there is no more 
 reliable exponent of Republican principles in the dis- 
 trict than Col. Anderson, and none more able. It is 
 the defeat of Caleb Mason upon which I congratulate 
 you to-night. He is a murderer, an embezzler, and 
 a man who has not, and never had, a heart-throb that 
 was not for self; never had an impulse but for his 
 own aggrandizement; and never did a thing that did 
 not tend to the making of himself and to the accumu- 
 lation of power ! 
 
 "He is a murderer! I charge him here and now 
 with the murder of Simon Dunlap, fifteen years ago ! 
 I will not say I can prove it in a court of law; but if 
 my word as to facts be taken, I can satisfy any medi- 
 cal man that the untimely death of the old man lies at 
 Caleb Mason's door, and but for his devilishness, Mr. 
 Dunlap would be living and among you to-night. He 
 will deny it, but it is mj/ word against his ^^— and if my 
 word will not outweigh his, I have lived among you 
 all my life in vain. 
 
 *'He is an embezzler. Fortunately, Mr. Glea- 
 son has proof of that, positive and unassailable. I 
 charge" — 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE 463 
 
 Mason could hear no more. He staggered away 
 from the window and made his way, how, he knew 
 not, into the inner room, where he was alone with the 
 darkness. 
 
 What came to him there ? Who shall know ? He 
 was not alone. The room was peopled with ghosts 
 who came out of the past — each a vengeance, and 
 each clutching with bony fingers at his heart-strings. 
 The man of steel found he had a heart at last — some- 
 thing he had been ignorant of. No man may hope to 
 escape. Robust health and success may smother the 
 man, but flesh is human and weakness finally over- 
 comes strength. 
 
 There came to him the ghost of his first love, mur- 
 dered by selfishness and ambition. Trooping close 
 after it was the ghastly figure of Simon Dunlap, his 
 white hair hanging down his back, holding out his 
 hand for the medicine that would have restored him 
 to life. It was not the pitiful, appealing face of the 
 stormy night in the chamber of the old farm house; 
 it was a stern face, a pitiless face, that denied the 
 mercy that had been denied to him. There came 
 before him the long line of bargains and sales, the 
 petty intrigues, the lies, the deceptions, that were 
 strewn along his political career. All nothing at the 
 time, but now thorns that pierced him and pincers 
 that tore him. And then came the mocking demon 
 that had lured him into these ghostly embraces, with 
 the word "failure" written across its forehead; and 
 he felt how small a man he was, and he had not the 
 
464 THE DEMAGOGUE. 
 
 poor satisfaction of success to compensate him. He 
 was doomed. He must go down with all these fright- 
 ful accompaniments — a failure at last ! 
 
 There came to his door old man Harvey, who 
 knocked and whispered through the key-hole — 
 "Mason, for God's sake let us in ! We are not safe 
 upon the streets!" All the leaders of his clique 
 
 came, but they knocked and entreated in vain. 
 
 ****** 
 
 They found him in the morning, dead upon the 
 floor. There was a tiny hole through the temple, 
 with blood and brains oozing from it, and a pistol 
 with one barrel discharged. The ghosts of the past 
 had conquered him. He had wrestled with them in 
 vain. The vengeances were satisfied at last. Old 
 Farmer Dunlap was avenged, Helen Harvey was 
 avenged, Sarah Dunlap was avenged, Dr^^Blanchard 
 was avenged, and the country was avenged.^ He had 
 fought nature, but nature nad conquered. The form 
 on the floor was nothing but poor clay, incapable of 
 action, incapable of good or evil. He had gone to the 
 country of his ghosts. Who can know what he endured 
 before he pulled the fatal trigger.? The most exacting 
 vengeance could have demanded nothing more than 
 what he underwent that night before he took the cow- 
 ard's refuge, suicide, from his torture. He had his 
 
 hell in that one hour before he died. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Three years have gone by. Dr. Blanchard and his 
 wife of a year and a half are living in an Eastern city, 
 
THE DEMAGOGUE. 465 
 
 and the sweetness and harmony of their domestic life 
 are the admiration, and sometimes the envy, of every 
 one who is admitted as a friend within the circle of 
 their home. The years of her marri&d life in Pulaski 
 have left their impress on Helen's face, but though it 
 be plain to the observant that she has passed through 
 fire, the look of tranquil and complete happiness that 
 is habitual, shows that her trials are all in the past. 
 The two things on earth she idolizes are her husband 
 and her baby boy — a fine, lusty youngster, the pride 
 of his father's heart, i'^*'^'^ ^*^* :^tc^^ foo ,' 
 
 The town of Pulaski knows the Harvey family no 
 longer. They left it forever the night of Mason's 
 death, and reached Canadian soil before their track 
 could be discovered. Within a year the old man 
 died, and the sons, under an assumed name, give 
 promise of living honestly the remainder of their lives. 
 
 Caleb Mason sleeps in one corner of the cemetery, 
 with a modest stone, on which are engraved only his 
 name and age, to mark the spot. A withered bunch 
 of humble garden-flowers lies on the lonely mound, 
 left there one day by a slatternly old woman, dressed 
 in rusty black, whom Dr. Rawson recognized, as he 
 chanced to see her pass along the street, as the sui- 
 cide's mother. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 NEIGHBOR JACKWOOD. 
 
 A story of New-England life in the slave-tracking days. Dramatized 
 for the Boston Museum, it had a long run to crowded houses. The story 
 Ib one of Trowbridge's very best. 
 
 COUPON BONDS, and other Stories, 
 
 The leading story is undoubtedly the most popular of Ti ^wbridge'ii 
 ihort stories. The others are varied in character, but are either intensely 
 Interesting or " highly amusing." 
 
 NEIGHBORS' WIVES. 
 
 An ingenious and well-told story. Two neighbors' wives are tempted 
 beyond their strength to resist, and steal each from the other. One is 
 discovered in the act, under ludicrous and humiliating circumstances, 
 but 'e generously pardoned, with a promise of secrecy. Of covrse sh« 
 l^t/i^B her secret, and of course perplexities come. It is a capital story. 
 
 13mo, Cloth. Price per volume, fl.SO» 
 
 Sold by all bookaellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, 
 
 on receipt of price 
 
 LEE AND SHEPARD PubUsiiers Boston 
 24 
 
[ RERE E. J EROME'S . . . . 
 
 AEI BOOKS 
 
 IN A FAIR COUNTRY. With 55 full-page illustrations; en- 
 graved by Andrew. Nearly 100 pages of text, by Thomas VVentworth 
 Higginson. Gold cloth, full gilt, $6.00; Turkey morocco, $15.00; 
 tree talf, $15.00; English seal style, $10.00. 
 
 Miss Jerome has caught the very glamour of the woodland and the lea 
 with her pencil, transferring it to puper with the delicacy of an exquisite 
 photograph, while Colonel Higginson's delightful style brings out the 
 beauty ot iiis topics most satisfactorily. As a specimen of tlie book- 
 maker's art, the volume leaves nothing to be asked. 
 
 A BUNCH OF VIOLETS. Original illustrations, engraTed on 
 wood and printed under the direction of Geokge T. Andrew. 410, cloth, 
 $3.75: Turkey morocco, $9.00; tree calf, $9.00; English seal style, $7.00. 
 The new volume is akin to the former triumphs of this favorite artist, whose 
 " Sketch Books " have achieved a popularity unequalled in the history of fine 
 art publications. In the profusion of designs, originality, and delicacy of 
 treatment, the charming sketches of mountain, meadow, lake, and forest 
 scenery of New England here reproduced are uriexcelled. After the wealth of 
 illustration which this student of nature has poured into the lap of art, to pro- 
 duce a volume in which there is no deterioration of power or beauty, but, if 
 possible, increased strength and enlargement of ideas, gives assurance that the 
 >5remost female artist in America will hold the hearts of her legion of admirers. 
 
 NATURE'S HALLELUJAH. Presented in a series of nearly 
 
 fifty full-page original illustrations (9^4 x 14 inches), engraved on wood by 
 
 George T. Andrew. Elegantly bound in gold cloth, full gilt, gilt edges, 
 
 $6.00; Turkey morocco, $15.00; tree calf, $15.00; English seal style, $10.00. 
 
 This volume has won the most cordial praise on both sides of the water. 
 
 Mr. Francis H. Underwood, U. S. Consul at Glasgow, writes concerning it: 
 
 " 1 have never seen anything superior, if equal, to the delicacy and finish of 
 
 the engravings, and the perfection of the press-work. The copy you sent me 
 
 has been looked over with evident and unfeigned delight by many people of 
 
 artistic taste. Every one frankly says, ' It is impossible to produce such 
 
 effects here,' and, whether it is possible or not, I am sure it is not done ; no 
 
 such effect- are produced on this side of the Atlantic. In this combination of 
 
 art and workmanship, the United States leads the world; and you have a right 
 
 to be pioud of the honor of presenting such a specimen to the public " 
 
 ONE YEAR'S SKETCH BOOK. Containing forty-six full- 
 page original illustrations, engraved on wood by Andrew; in same bindings 
 and at same prices as " Nature's Hallelujah." 
 
 " Every thick, creamy page is embellished by some gems of art. Sometimes 
 it is but a dash and a few trembling strokes; at others an impressive landscape, 
 but in all and through all runs the master touch. Miss Jerome has the genius 
 of an Angelo, and the execution of a Guido. The beauty of the sketches will 
 be apparent to all, having been taken from our unrivalled New England 
 scenery." — Washington Chronicle. 
 
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BLUEBIRD, Told to Me 
 
 to Tell to Others. Original illustrations engraved on wood by 
 Andrew. Cloth and gold, $2.00; palatine boards, ribbon ornaments, $1.00. 
 " In its new bindings is one of the daintiest combinations of song and illus- 
 tration ever published, exhibiting in a marked degree the fine poetic taste .and 
 wonderfully artistic touch which render this author's works so popular. The 
 pictures are exquisite, and the verses exceedingly graceful, appealing to the 
 highest sensibilities. The little volume ranks among the choicest of holiday 
 souvenirs, and is beautiful and pleasing." — Boston Transcript. 
 
 Sold by alt booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of priat 
 
 LEE AND SHEPAED Publishers Boston 
 
T EE AND g HEPHRD'S 
 
 ^ W HITE g lflCK AND QQID gERlES 
 
 On fine paper, profusely illustrated, and bound in white, black, and goldi 
 
 with new and original dies, making uery attractive books 
 
 Per volume, $1.50 New edition 
 
 HEROES OF THE CRUSADES By Amanda M. Douglas 
 
 "With 50 full-page illustrations by Gustave Dore 
 
 " This work is an accurate and exceedingly interesting history of the 
 Crusades, a story of the personal incidents and efforts of the Crusaders 
 themselves in their heroic endeavors to rescue the Holy Sepulchre, break 
 up the Feudal System, and extend the influence of the Christian civiliza- 
 tion. The work abounds in fascinating passages, descriptive of the 
 heroism of the Crusaders, and the 50 full-page illustrations add greatly 
 to its value and interest." 
 ADVENTURES OF A CHINAMAN By Jules Verne 
 
 50 full-page illustrations 
 
 " In this volume he gives a full rein to his lively fancy, and the result is « 
 book that will compare with any of his preceding works in the matter of 
 pleasure to be derived from its pages. The Flowery Kingdom offers a fertile 
 field for a writer such as he is, and he has made it the scene of incidents that 
 show his fertility of invention, his keen sense of humor, and his faculty for 
 imparting valuable information, garnished with much that is extravagant and 
 only designed to amuse." — Budget. 
 FIGHTING PHIL The Life of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, by 
 
 Headlev With full-page illustrations 
 
 " The present volume is one of the most successful that the author has 
 produced. It is the life-record of a brave and good man, who was honored, 
 admired, and respected. Little Phil Sheridan endeared himself to the hearts 
 of a nation whose offspring should learn the story of his life. The wonc 
 is very handsomely printed, illustrated and bound, and, while it is one of the 
 most desirable gifts for a boy, it is a thoroughly historical and readable work, 
 suitable for all who wish to learn the facts in the career of a noble American 
 hero." — Aniericaii Hebrew. 
 PERSEVERANCE ISLAND or The Robinson Crusoe of 
 
 THE Nineteenth Century By Douglas Frazar With full-page illus- 
 trations 
 
 " It is an admirably told story, full to repletion of the most exciting adven- 
 ture. Its author was cast away alone upon a desolate island in mid-ocean, 
 and all his shipmates lost. The writing is a history of his life and adventures. 
 This history was launched in the balloon, and reached civilization and the 
 public in the manner specified. The old Robinson Crusoe was a bungler, but 
 this modern specimen was an adept in all mechanical contrivance, and the 
 young reader will be not only entertained, but instructed, in the chapters. 
 How he prepared fresh water, how he made gunpowder, lucifer matches, 
 edged tools, built houses and boats, is graphically told in these pages." 
 — Inter-Ocean. 
 OUR STANDARD-BEARER Oliver Oitic's Life of Gen. 
 
 U. S. Grant With full-page illustrations 
 
 " This volume is specially adapted to the youth of the country, but is 
 equally, if not more, interesting to those of maturer years. It is just such a 
 book as will be a favorite in the library of any household, be that library large 
 or small. It gives fine entertainment and capital instruction. The scenes 
 and incidents of the great general's infancy, childhood, and youth are told in 
 a pleasant way, while the later incidents of his eventful career are described 
 with a faithful and graphic '^QVi." — Keokuk Democrat. 
 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS From Washington to 
 
 Cleveland With new portraits. 
 
 A very interesting series of short biographies of the Presidents, describing 
 ihe principal events of each administration in an entertaining and readable 
 manner, giving just the information that is needed to convey, in brief, the 
 history of the United States, and affording in compact form a ready reference 
 book on national affairs. 
 
 %* Sold by all booksellers, or sent by mail on receipt of price 
 
 LEE AND SHEFAED Publishers Boston 
 
J 
 
FOURTEEN DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
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