A MEMBER OF THE THIRD HOUSE fiamlin Garland's Books. Uniform edition. Each, larno, cloth, $1.25. "Wayside Courtships* Jason Edwards* A Spoil of Office* A Member of the Third House* A Little Norsk* i6mo. 50 cents. D. APPLETON & COMPANY, NEW YORK. A MEMBER OF THE THIRD HOUSE A STORY OF POLITICAL WARFARE BY HAMLIN GARLAND AUTHOR OF WAYSIDE COURT- SHIPS, A SPOIL OF OFFICE, JASON EDWARDS, ETC. ::::::::: NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY M DCCC XCVII Copyright, 1897, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Copyright, 1892, by Hamlin Garland 6233 CONTENTS. e & Chapter. Page. I. THE SCHOLAR IN POLITICS 7 II. TOM BRENNAN'S AMBITION 21 III. CAN THE SENATE BE BOUGHT ? 33 IV. " THE GUTTER-SNIPE MUST RISE " 48 V. THE THIRD HOUSE IN SESSION 66 VI. A GAME OF TENNIS 75 VII. SENATOR WARD AT HOME 102 VIII. THE SUNDAY PAPERS no IX. AN EVENING CALL 119 X. " I WILL TESTIFY" 132 XI. BEFORE THE JOINT COMMITTEE 139 XII. SENATOR WARD'S APPEAL 143 XIII. THE ROUT OF THE RATS .- 183 XIV. THE IRON DUKE RECKONS WITH HIMSELF 199 XV. BRENNAN SACRIFICES HIS MUSTACHE , . .216 M518982 A MEMBER OF THE THIRD HOUSE. CHAPTER I. THE SCHOLAR IN POLITICS. TT was a phenomenally hot day in June. The * city pulsed with a suffocating- heat like a kiln for steaming wood. The air was filled with moisture, and seemed momentarily on the point of precipitating rain, while the sun burned down from the cobalt-blue sky with terrific splendor. Heavy clouds drove in like great ships from the sea and fell in brief, heavy down-dropping showers, exactly as if a valve had been opened and shut. Then the sun burst out again, and from the hissing pavements a gray, suffocating steam arose in the faces of the hastening throngs of men. These moments were terrifying, and in every doorway portly men could be seen standing with bared heads, panting with sudden weak- ness and vertigo, their faces vermilion with the rush of blood. The hack horses and dray teams labored to and fro, steaming with sweat 8 21 JHembn* of % Sljtrb and breathing" convulsively, their tremulous, eager nostrils like full-blown red trumpet-flow- ers. Their eyelids fell wearily and sleepily over their dim eyes, and they responded to the whip only by a weak thrusting of the neck or an impotent whisk of the tail. A young man walking slowly along the street stopped to watch such a panting, struggling team. His fine, serious face clouded with sym- pathetic pain as the teams struggled past him. He had the look of a student. His brown beard was full and cut in an oval shape, and his rather prominent brown eyes were partly hidden by his spectacles, the bows of which went behind his ears. A short man with a fat face came by, keeping close in the shadow, carrying his hat in his hand. " Hello, Tuttle," he called, "hot, ain't it? By jinks, my shirt sticks to me like the bark to a tree. Phew ! What you looking at ? " " That team. It's terrible to see 'em labor so on a day like this. " "Aha! Moral, Vote for the Consolidated and give the horses a rest. See?" Tuttle looked at him gravely. " Holbrook, you're a confirmed lobbyist. So you have gone into the pay of the Consolidated ? You talked just that way last year in favor of the" 21 JtUmbo; of tl) Sljirir Holbrook grinned. "Yes, sir. According to my lights. According to my lights. I see things different now. Say, your investigating order is going to raise the devil with you if you put it through." He laid his moist handker- chief over his bald head for a moment as one uses a blotting-pad. " It may raise the devil with somebody else," said Tuttle, quietly. "No, I guess not. Well, let 'er go, Smith ! Nothin' like havin' fun these hot days." He winked and grinned and waddled gayly off to enter a horse-car moving toward the Capitol. Tuttle gave a sigh of relief when the horses on the car reached a level and turned a corner. This sympathy for the suffering animals marked him as a man of rather keen sensibility. As he walked on the sun came out brilliantly again, the mists quickly disappeared, and life was a little more tolerable. Two young ladies came out of a store just ahead. "Oh, there's Mr. Tuttle," cried one. She floated down upon him like a spray of cool salt foam. "Oh, Mr. Tuttle, isn't it warm?" "Well, yes, I'd been thinking so until until I saw you. You look as cool as a sherbet. I don't see how you ladies manage to keep so cool. " 10 21 Jttembnr of tlje Sljiri fijotw. "Our looks deceive, I can assure you/' said the taller and plainer girl of the two. "Ah, Miss Ward, "he greeted her; "I didn't find you at home when I called the other even- ing." "No, father wasn't very well, and " " Oh, we've just been having an ice-cream soda. We stop every block or two I've eaten three. Won't you come in and let me treat ?" cried Miss Davis. "Oh, come. It'll be such fun." "Well, I can stand one if you can a fourth." Tuttle smiled, as he followed them into a long and excessively clean confectionery store, where they took seats on slender revolving wooden stools in a long row before a polished marble counter. Miss Davis chattered on like a jovial little blue-jay. She was pretty in a dainty, inconse- quential sort of way, and was dressed in some light-colored, fluffy stuff that rustled as softly as a breeze in a poplar tree, and she looked deli- ciously comfortable. The little beads of perspi- ration on her white temples and chin seemed cool as the drops on a dainty vase. "Ain't this heavenly?" she inquired, as she stirred the brown mixture with the long- handled, tiny spoon which went with the soda. 21 fHcmbn: of % Sljirir gmm. 11 " Don't you like to hear the spoon as it goes through? Grau-u!" She made a funny little noise to imitate the sound of the spoon. "This makes the fourth. Ain't you going to try one, Evelyn ? I believe I could live on ice- cream sodas and macaroons ! Couldn't you ? "For a limited time yes," Tuttle replied, looking into the sunny shallows of her blue eyes. " However, I prefer to go on in a grosser way for the present steaks and things like that." " What do you legislators do on such days as this ? " inquired Helene. "Adjourn, mainly," said Evelyn. "That's what we should do, but we don't, and can't. Here it is June, and the business fairly mountainous before us." "The sessions seem to be getting longer and longer, father says. Why is it?" asked Evelyn. "The Third House. Things have reached such a state that a bill must pass the Third House before it can get fairly before the sup- posed law-makers, and even then" " What is the Third House? " asked Helene, looking up from her soda. " I see so many jokes in the newspapers about it." "Yes, it is a joke there. I should define 12 21 Jttemttfr of % Stjirir it" he hesitated as if to be exact "as a body of corrupt men who stand between the people and legislation." Helene, who had been eating her cream soda, had not heard a word. She was thinking what beautiful eyes he had, and what a really elegant Prince-of- Wales cut he had on his brown beard. Evelyn said in her quiet way: " Father says the Third House is a very dan- gerous element." " Oh, I wish you'd take me to see it ! " Helene cried out. "Helene evidently thinks it a menagerie," said Evelyn. " I guess I won't take you to see the Third House." " Why not ? " she asked with wide eyes. " Because it ain't a fit place for women to go." " Why, that's the reason I want to go." " Why, Helene Davis ! " "I do I like exciting things." " Oh, Mr. Tuttle, you must come over and play tennis with us. I'm just all doubled up on tennis this year. I'm going to be a champion." Evelyn and Tuttle smiled at the slang. " Last year I didn't care very much about it, but that was because I was a beginner. And then I've 21 JtUmbcr of t\)t Sljirir tyonst. is got the loveliest suit, the very latest, and my racquet is a regular dandy ! " " Helene, your sodas have gone to your head." Tuttle smiled indulgently. Helene was too beautiful to reprimand. "I'll come if I can, but I expect to be very busy. I'm going to attack our national disgrace this Third House you hear so much about and the newspapers are likely to 'roast' me." "Now who's talking slang ? " Tuttle laughed and rose. "Well, I must be going. I I'm very sorry." "Come over to-night, won't you ?" "I can't to-night, but but I will to-morrow the Third House permitting." "I'll look for you, sure," smiled Helene, and audaciously waved a little kiss at him after he had turned away. Tuttle walked slowly up the street, in thought too deep to notice the heat. He felt indefinably a crisis approaching in his life, like the thunder- storm which the unusual smothering heat pre- dicted in the weather. He smiled at first as his mind went back to the dainty girl stirring the soda. Then he grew grave again, as he studied his position before the public, and especially before Lawrence B. Davis, the great railway president, the father of Helene. 14 21 JHember of tf)t l)irir " Hold on there, Tuttle ! " cried a voice, as a hand touched his elbow. "Hel-lo, Radbourn !" he said, his face light- ing into a beautiful smile. " By George, I'm glad to see you ! Where'd you spring from ? " " Spring from ? Didn't you hear me rap on the hotel window as you passed ? " "No, you see I was busy" "I should say so going along in a perfectly black study. Well, you see I'm on my way to the West. Stopping over a day, and was just going out to look you up. But come in and sit down and tell me all about things." They returned to Milliard's and went up to Radbourn's room, which was high enough to get all the breeze, he explained. " Yes, I'm out on another one of my lecturing trips. How's everything with you ? " "Well, I've done it, Radbourn," Tuttle said, abruptly, as he dropped into a chair. A faint smile lighted Radbourn's grave face. "You say that as if you expected me to know what you've done. So I infer that it has some- thing to do with the land question." Tuttle's deprecatory air amused him. "Am I right?" "Yes, I've put in my bill to charge an annual rent for street franchises." 21 JHembnr of tl)e Sljirir tytmst. 15 "Good!" Radbourn said, rising and throw- ing off his coat. "And I've carried a resolution to have the methods of the Consolidated Railway investi- gated. A joint committee has been appointed for the purpose. And the press and the monopoly are going to lift my hair." "Good! We need a martyr. Am I to understand that all this great spreading tree has sprung from that little mustard- seed talk we had last winter ? " Tuttle nodded. " Oh, I'm an apt pupil ! " "Well, I should say so. Your hand!" As they gripped hands, Tuttle said, with a com- ical look in his spectacled eyes : "That spectral cat you fellows are always talking about practically made my bedpost its promenade for months, and has got me at last just where my enemies want me. I am prac- tically fighting the Third House and the monopo- lists of all the houses alone." "Well, tell me all about it. I've only just a hint of it from the newspapers !" He stretched himself on the lounge. " Excuse me, won't you? I was riding all night. Take off your coat if you feel too warm." Tuttle had a curious air of being in the pres- ence of a teacher as well as a friend. There was 16 21 JHembn* of tlje Sljtri a look of timidity in his eyes. " I don't need to explain the Third House, " he began. "No, it's a condition in every capital. Wherever there is public property to be voted into private pockets, in fact " " Well, we've got a monopoly in this State and city that has become a terrible power, partly with the consent of the people, partly against it. The Consolidated owns the Air- line road over which you came to-day, and the street railways in half a dozen of our cities. It has swallowed half the lines of road in this city, and is trying to secure a charter which will practically put every street into its hands." " Oh, it's the universal movement !" sighed Radbourn. "But it can't last always. " "They came before the legislature last year, opposing the charter for a road of the very character which they now ask for themselves. It is claimed that they've put a hundred thou- sand dollars into the Third House, till there is no opposition. The papers, just now, are full of stories of their attack on the senate. Members of the lower house have told me that, at the Hilliard bar, twenty thousand dol- lars have been deposited by an agent of the Consolidated to pay bets with ! " of tlje Sfyirir 0n0e. 17 "How's that?" Radbourn sat up. "Why, that's a new idea! " "The member of the Third House is able to slip up to the bar with a senator, and say : 'Sam, I've just lost a bet of two thousand dollars to this gentleman/ ' " I see," said Radbourn. " He bets a bill won't pass." " Yes. The road is said to have three centers of action the Hilliard, the office of the attorney, Fox, and a den on some side street, a frightful place, reeking with liquor and all foulness. Men are trapped and debauched into service in that hole. At the other places they are bought genteelly." " Well, who's at the head of all this ? It's easy to infer a head." " Its head is a powerful old man, who has a national reputation the famous 'Iron Duke/ You've heard of him in connection with the Cedar Knob Mines and the Bitter River Railway deal Lawrence B. Davis. I don't know how deep he is in this saturnalia of bribery that is reported to be going on. I wish I did," he ended, with a changed manner. A look of sadness came over his face, and his eyes fell in thought. "Now what d'ye mean by that?" asked Rad- 18 21 $Tcmbrr of % Sfljirir ou0e. bourn, rousing up on his elbows again to stare at him. "Oh, nothing that is, it's a purely private affair. Yes, I'll tell you about it, " he went on, with an impulsive gesture. "The Iron Duke has has a daughter. " A sympathetic shadow came into Radbourn's eyes. "Ah! I see. Old story! Struggle of love and duty! The poor youth, the rich maiden, et cetera." "Yes, it does seem sort of theatrical to everybody but myself. But it's tremendously real life to me. I can't think her father is a full party to the corruption. It is done, I think, mainly by two of the trustees of the road, through a notorious lobbyist, Tom Brennan, and an attorney by the name of Fox." "Well, brother Tuttle, that sounds a little diaphanous, I'm afraid. A man of the character of Davis is not made use of in that way. But who is this man Brennan?" "He's the cleverest Irishman I ever saw. He's a genius in many ways, a man with infinite resources, but a a a conscienceless cormo- rant." That's drawing it rather strong, Tuttle." 1 Well, he isn't a bit theatrical, if I am. He's 21 JHunter of tlje Sljirir $0nse. 19 a real villain, and not a stage caricature. One of these laughing, handsome, successful, ingra- tiating, soulless " " Hold on ! You are piling it up. He isn't a he isn't a rival?" suggested Radbourn. Tuttle grew red and dropped his eyes. " Now, Tuttle, I don't want to drag the secret out of you, but if you want my honest advice, as I infer you do, give me the straight facts." " Well, he's the Iron Duke's secretary and confidential agent, and he wants Helene, of course." Radbourn was amused. " I understand the force of that ' of course/ but how about Helene ? " " I don't know. I suppose she likes him. He seems to have a singular fascination for the average woman, and lately she she don't seem " He did not finish. It wasn't neces- sary. Radbourn was in possession of the main facts. There was a little pause, and then Radbourn summed it up. "I think I see the whole situa- tion. You have set on foot an investigation that is sure no 'maybe' about it to turn the Duke and Helene against you, while the real-life villain triumphantly bears away the spoils, as he generally does in life, to be honest about it. " 20 ft JHember of i\)t Sfyirft fijcm0e. There was a pause. The roar of the street came through the open window, softened, puls- ing in the freshening breeze. Tuttle saw on his friend's face, which faintly resembled Napoleon's, a look that was both savage and lofty. " Now do you ask what my advice is ? " "I don't need to," Tuttle said in a low voice. " I see it all myself." " Of course, there is just one thing to say justice ! The time has come when a stand must be made all along the line for justice." " And freedom," added Tuttle. " That's the whole of it," said Radbourn, with his infrequent smile. And I tell you the final outcome will be good. You know what Whit- man says : ' Whatever is, is well. Whither I walk I cannot divine, but I know it is well/ Stand for the right thing, the conscientious thing, Wilson, and you will lose nothing in the end that is my faith. Come, let's go down to dinner and talk it over." CHAPTER II. TOM BRENNAN'S AMBITION. , he has a jag! " commented the elevator boy, as he looked through the barred door of the descending car at the Honorables Tim Sheehan and Pat Murnahan, of the Eighth and Ninth Wards, respectively. "This is the door," said Tim, as Murnahan shook his fist at the grinning boy disappearing down the shaft. They stood before a ground glass door on which was painted : Samuel D. Fox, Thomas Brennan, Attorneys-at-Law. "Shall I knock?" "Naw! Gaw right in!" Murnahan took off his pearl-gray plug hat, and, holding it in his hand, opened the door and walked in with elaborate but uncertain dignity. A young man with a grave, pale face that nothing (apparently) could cause to light into a smile or flush into color, rose from his desk in the outer office. " Is Tom Brennan in ? " asked Sheehan. The young man approached very close and 22 31 JUcmber of % l)irir sir. " What did you pay him that money for ? " "I I bought him out." "What do you mean by that? According to your previous testimony, he had no property to sell." 21 JEkmbrr of tlje Sljtrir gotw. 155 " I paid him to withdraw," replied Davis, in the tone of a man facing a critical question. The Attorney- General again looked benig- nantly over his spectacles. " You heard that he was coming before this legislature with a plan for a road, asking a charter, and you thought it good business method to pay him to stay away ? " "That's it, exactly; I paid him to keep away. I felt that we were better able to build the road, that it was good policy to use all legitimate means to get our charter, and " The Attorney-General interrupted him quietly but sternly. "Do you consider it a proper thing to step between a petitioning corporation and this legislature and buy it off? " Davis remained silent. " The legislature, representing the peo- ple of this State, should have a chance to see for itself the relative merits of each system. How much money did you pay ? " At this question the room became still as death ; the reporters waited with their pens in hand for this most important answer. Helene, without knowing what it all meant, was deeply interested. Davis partly rose, his face flushed with anger. " I decline to answer." This was the crisis that the defense had an- ticipated, and Binney rose and said : " Gentlemen of the c'mittee, I 'bject. I don't 156 31 JlTcmber of ti)t (Jfyirir $ou0c. see by what lee-gz\ right Mr. Attorney- General asks that question. What Mr. Davis paid to the representative of the Motor Line is of & pure-\y private nature. It don't enter into the province of this committee to ask for this information. I 'bject to this question as impertinent and unwar- rantable, having no basis in law." The Attorney-General arose, impressively quiet by contrast. " Gentlemen of the committee, I want to say, right here, that under the laws of the State the Consolidated Air Line Railway is a creature of the State, and, by the force of sec- tion twenty-one, chapter sixteen, it is obliged to render up its accounts at any time to a com- mittee of this character." He took up a book which Tuttle had opened and laid conveniently near. " I would call the committee's attention to the section where this is distinctly stated. I say, gentlemen, that my question is one which should be put and answered. I propose to show that that sum did not purchase five hundred dol- lars' worth of visible property ; that it was a bribe substantially, and a fraud on this legisla- ture. The Consolidated Road is a corporation ; the Motor System was seeking a charter as a cor- poration. A transaction of the nature indicated was not a private one, and I insist on knowing." He took his seat amid a hush almost painful. 21 JHcmbo; of % Sljirir fycmst. 157 The first grand dramatic moment had arrived. The first genuine battle. After the legal fashion they had approached by zig-zag and tunnel as if to taste to the full the delight of the mine's exploding surprise. The reporters sharpened their pencils and plunged into a racy description of the scene. The flapping curtains became an annoyance. The committee conferred a moment. The attorneys consulted each other. The crowd whispered their delight. Davis gnawed his bristling lip as Binney spoke in his ear. The chairman at last said : " At this point we agree to postpone the answer on the amount. Proceed on other matters for the present. We desire to secure precedent cases for reference." " I suppose you're willing to admit that it was a large sum, Mr. Davis," the Attorney-General said, in a kind, encouraging tone. " I am," Davis replied, after a pause. " Mr. Davis, according to your testimony on Wednesday, you did not know how many peo- ple had been retained. Since then a list has been made, and thirty-nine members of the lobby are known to have received money or promises of money from you. You admit that, I suppose ?" " It might be forty, or more." 158 % iHembn* of % ffiljiri t. 177 The room fell silent only when it had ex- hausted its emotion through utterance. " Keep your seat," said the Attorney-General, sternly, to Davis, as soon as he could be heard. " Go on, Senator. What proposition did Mr. Davis make ? " Ward's voice began to tremble a little. He passed his hand in a confused way across his face. " He said he was willing to expend fifty thou- sand dollars more to carry the charter. It was worth that to him. He said he must secure his charter in order to save what he had. He urged me strongly, and at last offered me fifty thou- sand dollars as a definite proposition if I would change six votes, including my own." Every word fell with terrible force upon Davis, whose white face and fixed eyes looked up at Ward as if he already sat a convicted criminal facing his judge. " I thank God I had the power to put the temptation aside, for it was a terrible temptation to a ruined man. It was not my strength it was the strength of my daughter and this young man here. I knew if I took that offer I could never look them in the face again. That saved me." He paused and put his hand to his head as if uncertain what to say next. 178 21 Member of % Sljiri fijoim. There was a note of sarcasm in the chairman's voice as he asked : " Will you state, Senator, why you make this statement to-day and refused last Tuesday ? " His tone roused the lion in the old man. He straightened up, and his eyes opened wide under his drawn brows, like a man who faces an assault. " The reason ! You might well ask why a man would stand here and testify to his own shame. I am here to-day, sir, because it is my duty and because my wife and daughter have taught me the duty I owe my State. Because I saw that this committee and its work was a farce and a by-word in the land." " What do you mean by that, sir ?" demanded the chairman, with a distinct threat in his voice. "I mean, sir, everybody said, 'They'll find nothing ; they'll never prove a single charge, and the road will get its charter.' I'm here, gentle- men of the committee, to say that if the confes- sion of a disgraced and ruined old man will bring these bribers to justice, I'll take whatever share of shame is coming to me." The cheering broke out again, falling into instant silence as the old man went on, stretch- ing out his hands appealingly to the audience, as if they represented the whole world, to whom he must send his case finally. There was a certain 31 Jttembo: of % Sljiri f)onst. 179 majesty in his action, and a fire of deep moral conviction in his burning" eyes. " Citizens of our grand free State, shall it be said that one man or corporation rules our legis- lators ? " " No, no ! " burst out fifty voices. They were rising to the level of his conviction. "What is one man like myself compared to the purification that will come with the conviction of these wholesale bribers ? Gentlemen of the committee, I'm ready to be questioned ready to be impeached. I'm not fit to serve"- His voice grew husky. Evelyn, in voiceless agony, saw his strength was failing, but she could not speak. " I've told the truth, gentlemen. Those un- scrupulous men must be defeated. The people's rights must be preserved. Cross-question me -I'm ready I shall be satisfied if if I shall be"- His head swayed ; he clung to the chair ; his eyelids dropped a moment. Evelyn screamed. Wilson sprung to his aid. Everybody rose and rushed forward. " Silence \ Sit down ! Sergeant, clear the room ! Help the Senator to a chair ! " shouted the chairman and committeemen. 180 21 Jttemkr of tlje Sfytrir "Out o' the way there! Let the girl through. Stand back ! Dammit, don't crowd ! " Evelyn forced her way through while the committeemen fought the crowd back. "Water! Stand off, there!" Silence fell as quickly as the tumult had arisen, and Wilson, who held the insensible man in his arms, was heard to say, in very quiet, formal tone, strangely thrilling : " Mr. Chairman, the Senator is in no condi- tion to be examined further. I ask permission to take him from the room." " Certainly. The sergeant-at-arms will see that the way is clear, and the room quiet." The committeemen resumed their seats, all but the chairman, who remained standing, while Ward was assisted out, followed by Evelyn. As the door closed on them, Davis leaped to his feet, furious with defeat, pitiless in his own extremity. "Mr. Chairman, I ask to be recalled. I can prove that man a liar and a drunkard ! " " Whack!" sounded the gavel. "Mr. Davis will keep his seat. The committee will confer. The sergeant will clear the room at the first dis- turbance. It must be quiet." The Attorney-General arose, fateful, introspec- 21 Ufanbo: of tl)e Sljirir Jjmwe. 181 tive, inexorable. " In the light of Senator Ward's testimony, Mr. Chairman, I desire to re-examine Thomas Brennan, Robert Bennett, Timothy Sheehan and James Holbrook." " The committee has decided to adjourn till to-morrow at two o'clock," said the chairman. The reporters seized their hats, swept their papers together, and rushed down the stairs. Tuttle, assisted by two or three bystanders, carried Senator Ward into a private room, where, under their care, he soon revived. The doctor, who had come in answer to the telephone mes- sage, smiled encouragingly upon Evelyn as he felt the old man's pulse. Evelyn flashed back upon him a faint smile of relief and gratitude. " Is he going to be very ill ? " " Oh, no ; I think not," said the young doctor, a handsome, smiling young man who had the absolute sureness of touch of a master, and an enthusiast in his art. " His pulse is growing in power; he'll be quite himself very soon. A rush of blood to his head. Has he been over-exerting himself in some way ? " " He's been speaking passionately lately," Tuttle replied. "Ah, that explains it. He'll be all right pretty 182 21 JMcmbcr of tlje ffljirlr $ soon. Get him home as quickly as possible, and keep him quiet." As a matter of fact the Senator rested quite calmly on the steamer's deck on the way down to Waterside. Tuttle saw him safely seated in an easy-chair upon the boat, and said at parting : " I'll be down as early as possible to see you ; perhaps to-night. I wish you would send word to my mother that I'm all right, in case the ex- citement of the day should reach her." As he came back up the street the newsboys were crying : " Evenin' papers. All about 'vesti- gation," and everywhere men stopped him on the street with all sorts of wild suggestions as to the next step in the prosecution. " Jump on 'em, Tuttle." " You've made your point, sure as hell ! Never thought you'd make it in the world." " You never would if it hadn't 'a' been for Ward. Swipe 'em quicker you'll lose 'em sure." "Somebody else must do the 'swiping,'" he replied. " I've done my part. I've carried the whole of this investigation on my neck, and now I propose to let the prosecution go forward by way of the regular machinery of the State." " Oh, we'll all help you now, Tuttle," laughed one of the fellows whom Wilson knew to be friendly to the road. CHAPTER XIII. THE ROUT OF THE RATS. TN a room situated above Sam Brady's saloon a * group of the members of the Third House were gathered in an atmosphere dim with smoke and foul with the reek of tobacco-spittle and the smell of beer and whisky. Crop-headed waiters from the saloon below dashed deftly to and fro, bringing platters of drinks from the bar to the groups of talkers seated in confidential attitudes upon the red-leather sofas and bar-room chairs of the room. The roar of the street outside made the din of talk within unintelligible. There had been no regular meeting called, but the general belief that this was the test day of the trial and that Tuttle was completely headed off brought them all together in a temper of general merriment. Sheehan was wildly drunk and was kept in check by Mark Brady, a shrewd, wiry little Irishman, the real owner of the saloon, who ran up occa- sionally to keep careful watch upon the rising 183 184 21 Jttemtor of % Sljtrir tide of intoxication, ready to utter a warning at the proper moment. He called aside two or three of the more self- contained of the group and said: "Now see here, me Buccoes, it ain't safe. Yous don't want 'o git swiped when y'r tongues 'r' loose. See? I can't affoord it. Not jist now. See? I can't affoord it if yous can." They promised to look after Sheehan and the others who had preferred to make a day and a night of it, and he went down below in answer to a telephone call. He came bounding up the steps, his weazened little face comical with fear and excitement. " The hell's t' pay now, sure ! " The rest made a rush for him. "What is it, Mark?" He jumped two feet into the air like a jumping-jack and uttered a string of Irish oaths before he could bring himself to intel- ligible speech. "Ward has squeaked. Skip, every domned mother's son o' yez ! " A chorus of oaths and wondering cries broke forth. The men stared at each other as a nest of rats might, feeling the shock of corn shake over their heads. "They can't touch us," said one. "Can't they?" sneered Mark, in unuttera- ble scorn. "The newspaper men'll be down 31 Jflnnbn: of tl) Sljtrb $on0e. 185 on us like flies on a gum-bile. Hell ! They'll jail ivery hell's spawn o' ye if y' don't skip." "That's a fact," said old Cap. Baker. "If they git one and he squeaks, we're all ripped wide open. I calc'late I need a Nova Scotia voyage. My health, it ain't been s' good as 'twas." " Scatter, iverybody ! " cried another powerful voice from the stairway. "Fox ain't to be trusted a minute." The most of them slipped out and down the stairway, and in less than ten minutes Mark was alone with his brother Sam, a man of large frame, with a prize-fighter's head and no feat- ures to speak of. "What'll they do, Sam?" asked Mark. "They'll arrest Brennan, Fox and the Gov- ernor and ivery cussed mother's son of us they can git their hands on. The air'll be full of im- paichments and criminal suits. The big fellers'll be bailed out afterward, av coorse, but that won't save us if they git anny hold on Sheehan. You see that he gits off, and clane this thing up," he said, looking about the room. "Dawn't lit annybody see it like this. See ? If Tom comes, tell'm he'll find me at home. Tell'm to skip quick as God'll let'm." 186 21 jUcmba of tljc Sljirb From the moment that Senator Ward fell, all was confusion and apparent rout. Nobody knew how much somebody else knew, and especially how much he would tell. All cohe- sive power was lost from the ranks of the Third House and their coadjutors. Instantly all the lesser men disappeared like rats when the last sheaf is lifted. Every one of them distrusted Brennan and Fox, and expected them to impli- cate others, while Brennan and Fox felt equally sure that these petty offenders would turn State's evidence upon the slightest provocation, and that, as usual, each confession would involve greater names and reach more dangerous inner circles. Therefore, all became a retreat a Waterloo. The papers, in each succeeding edition, con- tinued to vociferate in half-columns of head- lines : " Crushed at last ! ! Prosecute ! The cry of the People ! Let it be heard ! Purge our Politics ! Let every honest man throw aside party lines and help to banish bribery ! " And one paper, the Planet, cried out furiously, "No bail ! Down with the traducers of our State ! " The arrest of Fox, Brennan and Davis fol- lowed quickly upon the return of the commit- tee's report, and both houses were in a tumult as member after member became implicated. All 31 Jttcmbtr of % Sljirir $cm0. 187 other business ceased. The public watched feverishly for each new edition of the paper, and read with savage delight of each succeeding arrest. But the scoop-net, thrown out just too late, brought in only a few insignificant and dis- reputable go-betweens, who hardly knew the parties to either side of the criminal transaction. They implicated others, however, and arrests followed slowly, and the law's approach, though gradual, hemmed Davis round like a wall of menacing fire. There were plenty of people now to surround Tuttle and take the work of prosecution out of his hands, for which he was grateful. He was genuinely alarmed for Davis, and still believed him to be more of a victim than a conspirator. Leaving the matter of the prosecution, there- fore, in the hands of the State, Tuttle hurried home to Waterside to see his mother and to reassure Helene. He found Mrs. Tuttle knitting tranquilly on the piazza, her serene old face reflecting the sweetness and serenity of her mind. No noise of the battle had penetrated into her placid nook, warmed with the sunshine of ease and maternal pride. Officious neighbors had called her atten- tion to the attacks made upon Wilson, but it 188 21 JHemter of tlje Stftrb needed only a word and a smile from her boy to reassure her. " Now don't you worry, mother/' he had said to her, "no matter what people say or what the papers say. I am going to be perfectly honest with you. I'll tell you just how matters stand every time." And with utter trust and pride she had lost all apprehension, and the evening paper with its scare-head first page lay unread, twisted like a doughnut, where the boy had flung it upon the piazza. Her ear, however, detected excitement in the sound of Wilson's footsteps, and she rose with a touch of quick anxiety. "What is it, my son?" " I've won, mother/' he cried, joyously, as he ran up the steps. " Everybody is on my side now ! " She put her arms around his neck. She had a very vague idea of his victory, but thought it some sort of an election. "Well, I knew you would," she said, giving him a squeeze. "Now, come right in to supper." " I must go over and see Senator Ward first. How is he ? Have you heard ? " " No, I ain't heard nothin' except Nettie, 21 iilnnkr of tljc ftljirii fjonst. 189 their girl, told our girl that he had come home again in a hack." "Well, he didn't come home this time in the way you think. He's a hero, mother. I'll tell you all about it when I come back." He found Evelyn sitting out under the trees, looking at the water, her large eyes full of bitter reverie. She rose as he came forward, and a quick flush rose upon her face. " How is the Senator?" he asked before he reached her. " Better," she replied, with appreciable effort. " I left him resting very easy. His mind seems calmer than Oh, what will they do with him, Mr. Tuttle ? " The keen agony in her voice made him pause before he slowly answered: "I don't think he'll be proceeded against criminally. He'll be im- peached, possibly, unless he resigns, which I suppose he will do. The impeachment will be a mere form. I firmly believe he has won respect for himself by his course. Everybody is speaking with admiration of his heroism. The papers " " I haven't dared to look at one," she replied, shrinking as if she expected a blow. " You needn't be afraid to. They're pleading already for clemency. They recognize the moral 190 21 Ulembo: of % Sfyirir heroism of his position. Can I go in and see him? Is he lying down ?" " He was sleeping in his chair when I came out. I think he wants to see you. Perhaps you had better go in." She led the way into the house. Senator Ward was seated in his arm-chair near the win- dow, facing the sea. He turned his great dark eyes upon Tuttle inquiringly as Evelyn called his attention. There was something pathetic and full of pleading in the slow motion of his head. "Well, Senator, how do you feel ?" "Like a man shipwrecked, Wilson," he re- plied, smiling a little and putting his right hand out feebly. Tuttle took his hand and drew a chair up close beside him. " Don't be downhearted, Senator. Every- body has a good word for you to-night. The papers are full of it. In fact, you've quite robbed me of my laurels. Just listen to this ! " He read aloud from a paper which he took from his pocket : " If conviction follows, it will be due to the heroism of Senator Ward rather than to the work of Tuttle. The corruptionists presented a wall of brass to the enemy. The prosecution was helpless till Senator Ward, like another Winkelried, took the spears of the oppos- ing rank in his own bosom, and opened the way 21 member of tl)e Sljtrir zmt. 191 for the hosts of justice. No fair man believes that Senator Ward was himself when he touched the offered gold " Ward groaned and turned his head away. The memory of his ineffable disgrace came back upon him with crushing weight, conveyed like this in the editorial column of a great journal. Tuttle saw it and again tried to comfort him. "Don't worry about the past, Senator/' he said, putting his hand again into the old man's lax palm. "Look ahead. Things '11 straighten themselves. As soon as I get time, in a day or two, I want to sit down and go over your affairs and see if I can't help you." Ward was about to reply despairingly, when Mrs. Ward came in. "Good evenin', Mr. Tuttle," she said, a little stiffly. She had a sort of jealousy in her care of her husband, and she had an unreasoning repugnance to Wilson at the same time that she admired him. She could not forget that he was the apparent cause of all their trouble. He did not resent this, but sat a moment watch- ing her as she tried to induce her husband to eat. " Now, father, you know food '11 do y' good. You know 'twill. This chicking I fried m'self, and it's jest as tender as it can be, and the tea's jest right. I never had better luck." 192 21 Jtlembr of % Sl/trir He submitted, and when she insisted on put- ting the napkin about his neck as if he were a baby, he was able to look out of the circle of her arms and smile faintly at Tuttle. " I believe she enjoys havin' me sick," he said. Tuttle laughed heartily, and the whole room seemed to lighten up. Mrs. Ward's ignorance of the political world was wonderfully whole- some, and, besides that, she carried with her an odor of comfort and home-cooking which was irresistible. Evelyn, hearing Tuttle laugh, came in wonder- ingly. Tuttle met her at the door. " The patient improves ! " he said, with a tone of voice which had the effect of a joyful shout. " Have you seen Helene ? " he asked of her, as they stood on the piazza. " No ; she has not been over lately. She had a lot of company from the Point to-day." " I'm going over now to see her," he returned, as he stood on the steps looking up at her. "Now, when I can find time I want to go over your father's affairs and see if I can't help you straighten them out for him. Let me do that much for him, won't you ? " " Yes, if you think it worth your while. I am afraid there is little left," she replied, in somber 51 JlUmber of % Sljirir $ou0c. 193 fashion. As he walked away up the street she wondered whether this political calamity would not bring Helene back to him. Tuttle went to see Helene and was astonished by her action. She ran to him like a child and hid her face in his breast. It drove all questions of public policy out of his mind. He just put his arms about her and kissed her hair, and called her name in the voice of one whom sud- den joy confuses. He said a good many things which were true, and some that were only com- forting. He assured her that her father was safe ; that his arrest was a mere form ; that he would be released on bail at once, and would be at home soon. He said he knew Mr. Davis had not been guilty. Fox and Brennan at Bren- nan's name he hesitated as if there were some- thing to be explained, but she explained it all by simply nestling a little closer to him and putting her hands up about his neck. At last she looked up at him with her tear- inflamed eyes. " I know I'm a fright, but I can't help it. Everybody said he'd go to prison, and and I didn't have anybody to to cry to ! and I wanted to see you so. Don't go away till poppa comes will you ? " " I must go home to dinner." 13 194 21 JHemtar of tlje SIjtrii " Oh, stay and take dinner with me ! There ain't anybody with me. The girls all went home when the papers came. Please stay," she pleaded. "Well, I will if you'll send word over to mother for me." When they went out into the beautiful dining- room she looked quite like her usual self. Care- ful bathing and powdering had removed the effects of crying, and she was irresistibly attract- ive to poor Wilson in her remorseful tenderness and her childish, helpless trust in him. She had put on an exquisite robe whose color was surely intended to aid in removing the effects of tears. They had a wonderful dinner, Tuttle thought. It made the events of the day seem like an opium dream. It seemed impossible that Davis should be connected with the Third House. It must be all a mistake. While they were eating their fish a telegram came to confirm this impression. Helene read it aloud : " Don't worry, pet. This is simply a political game. I'll not be down to-night. I am all right. Never mind the newspapers. "From PAPA DAVIS." Helene kissed the telegram and laughed gaily when Tuttle suggested, with unnatural humor, that she might kiss the messenger boy too. She wrote a reply, and sent the boy away with an extra quarter instead of a kiss, and then they 21 Jttemba: af % ftljtrir <5cm0e. 195 went on with their dinner with incredibly light hearts. Tuttle wondered where her aunt was, and said so. " It seems like a special dispensation of Providence that we are eating dinner in this cozy way." " Well, it isn't ! " she laughed. " I told auntie not to come down, and that's the reason why." " How you must tyrannize over her. Are there any others waiting our superb leisure?" "Not to-night only auntie. She does just what I ask her. She's a perfect love for a chap- erone. All the girls are perishing with envy over my freedom" "And her slavery." Tuttle was like a man inebriated with some divine stimulant some rare and potent perfume which had power to drive out age and care. He was scarcely older than Helene during that glorious evening. He laughed when she chattered, and his talk was almost as gay as her own. When he went away at night he promised to call and see her in the morning on his way to town, and when he walked off down the moonlit lawn it seemed as if there were to be no dirges for the slain mingled with the exultant songs of his great victory. He had Helene's love. Senator Ward was tranquil happier than be- 196 21 Jttembn- of tlje ftljirb fore his confession and Davis, he still tried to believe, had been made use of by Fox and Brennan. He hummed a tune as he walked. It was only as he lay down in the quiet of his room that a mysterious look in Evelyn Ward's eyes came back to disturb him. He knew what it was. It was something" he had met before, and it always filled him with a bitter rebellion. Must it always be so that beautiful souls in plain bodies must suffer alone must love in silence and defeat? The next morning, as he ate his breakfast, he read the leading papers, which were black with huge head-lines still crying out for prosecution. One entire page was given to interviews with the senators, most of whom said that Rufus Ward must be impeached, but not prosecuted. There were also rumors that one or two of the guilty legislators had disappeared. Brennan, Fox and Davis had been arrested, and bailed out, of course, almost immediately. He stopped as he went by Davis' house, and left a note for Helene, begging her not to go up to the city ; that he would see the Iron Duke and bring him home to dinner sure. When he entered the committee-room he found it impressively quiet. It was no longer the lobby of a variety show. The committee 21 Jilrmbn: of % l)irir fjonst. 197 had ordered the doors closed against the public. The prosecution now took its seat as master of the situation. The chairman now no longer laughed at jokes by Tom Brennan. The king of the Third House had been dethroned. Bin- ney had waked from his dozing. Fox and Davis were absent. Most of the witnesses now had the solemn air of prisoners. The only men who appeared precisely the same as before were the first committeeman and the Attorney-General, who was as deliberate and apparently as benig- nantly uninterested in the case as ever. His face betrayed neither haste nor anxiety. A few witnesses were examined swiftly and in deadly earnest by the first committeeman and the chairman, who had become ferociously op- posed to the road. His zeal was unequaled. At last the Attorney-General rose to speak. He balanced his glasses between his thumb and finger, and said with impressive placidity : " Our work, Mr. Chairman, is practically over." He put on his glasses, looked at a slip in his hand, then gazed about upon the committee over the tops of his glasses with kindly interest, as if to include them all in his triumph. "We have proved the guilt of the various gentlemen whom we named at the beginning as principals, and have shown that the Third House does exist and is 198 21 Jttcmbcr of % tljirb subsidized. The law of the State will now take care of it. We have proven that Senator Ward, Senator Holway and several legislators have been tampered with. Their impeachment lies with the members of this legislative body. An era of reformation has begun. The credit of its beginning and its success is due to this young man at my left. And now, gentlemen, I can't close without a word of moral. The cure of this is suggested in the conviction. So long as legislators have the power to vote public values into private pockets the lobby will continue to exist, and its damning work will be seen in the ruin of men like Senator Ward and Mr. Davis ; for, as I conceive it, he is a victim of corruption as well as himself being a corrupting agent." CHAPTER XIV. THE IRON DUKE RECKONS WITH HIMSELF. THERE come moments in a man's life when he sits down and reckons with himself. It is usually at night, just before going to bed, when the house is silent and the outside world very dim and insubstantial. At such moments a man wants to be alone ; wife nor children nor mother is welcome. The soul is calling out for an unbroken moment of introspection, wherein to readjust values and start in anew. In such an hour the man stands for what he really is, an infinitesimal insect, lost in a swarm of similar flecks of life produced by this decay- ing globe of ours. In such an hour Napoleon looked down at himself and saw that he was an undersized man with an abnormally developed head. In such moments it must be that the billionaire marvels at the conjunction of forces that has made for him hundreds of millions, and sees himself a small man, differing from the type, as one blackbird differs from another, by a fraction of an inch. 199 200 21 Jttembcr of % Sljirb Sitting" alone at night in a farm-house, with the whippoorwill's infinitely pathetic note float- ing 1 in on the sweet summer wind, with the in- comprehensible stars swinging their appalling- circles in the silence of the upper air, Herbert Spencer's mighty brain might say, "What is it all ? And what does it matter ? " Lawrence Davis was not a philosopher. He had not been a thinker. Like most men of his type, he had lived such a life of material activity and narrowness that his hours of reckoning with himself had been few and short. His life, momentous as it seemed to him, was narrow, grooved and fruitless. It returned upon itself. At sixty years of age he was breaking, evidenced by his purple face, his snow-white hair, his pro- truding- stomach, and the clumsy use of his feet and hands and all this at a time when his affairs were most insecure. Everything- which he called his was at this moment out of his reach. His whole business life and possessions were founded upon a vested wrong, which he per- sisted in arguing was a vested right. It could endure only so long as the conscience of the people slept. He was like a man whose vine- yard is on the slope of Vesuvius, with this difference : that the voice of the thunder had 21 Jtfembcr of tlje Sljirtr " To keep Helene out." "Is she here?" asked Brennan, in a serious tone. " Yes. Came up late. But never mind her. Sit down. This business must be studied," he said, with something of his old decision and control. "That's right. Now you're talking sense. I'm in the soup, too, recollect." Davis stared at him a moment. " You ? Oh, yes ! I forgot. Why don't you work Fox's game ? " he asked, with a sneer. Bj-ennan took off his hat, and gave it a twirl. " How d' y' like me tile?" he inquired, to gain control of himself. He had risked a good deal JUnnbcr of % $I)irb $ou0c. 231 to see Davis, and this angered him. " Good idea, only it's a little late now," he added. " What do you mean by that ?" 11 As I came up the street I saw a man stationed opposite. The house is watched. We are liable to be arrested any hour." "They wouldn't do that!" " Wouldn't they ? Well, don't trust your bondsmen too far. They're going to drop you in less'n two days. They can't stand the pres- sure." " You don't know the men who stand for us. They are " " Trustees in the road. Just the men to sacri- fice us. I tell you we're in for it. The road is going to pieces. Got any cash about you ?" "A few hundred dollars; why?" " We'll need it. Turn down that light a lit- tle." Davis turned out the burner, and Brennan went to the window and looked out for several minutes. "Aha ! He's there in the cellar- way opposite. Oh, they have an eye on us ! That man is paid by Deacon Hall, your bondsman. His orders are to see who comes and goes and to keep an eye on you. See ? Now my plan is for you to put on an old coat and hat, slip out back "- 232 21 Jflembur of tlje tijtrtr " I'll do nothing of the kind. I won't sneak away like a cat ! " Brennan was a little irritated. "Well, I ain't standing on my dignity a cent's worth. It's sneak or fifteen years at hard labor for each of us." "Fifteen years. What do you mean ?" " I mean that when they arrest us again no bail will get us out. I tell you this fool public has an idea of making us examples, and they'll do it sure 's hell/' Davis sat staring into space. His eyes ex- panded and the blood fell slowly out of his face. " Fifteen years ! " "Nothing else unless we take a sneak to- night. They may put us in the laundry or the harness-shop. It'll be terrible on Napoleonic business men like you and me. Isle of Elba racket to men who control the traffic of a great railway like a general commanding an army ! / make one dash for liberty. Better a tramp in Arcadia than a compulsory harness-maker here. See?" Davis sat with bowed head. "But Helene?" he muttered to himself. " She'll be all right among friends here. Send for her by and by. If you don't you'll receive her in striped clothing, and talk to her 21 JHnnbtr of tlje (ftljirir (Douse. 233 through a barred window. I'd leave a dying mother in a case like this," he said, his voice sinking to a low key. " I'll tell you I don't want any State's prison life in mine. I've been too free in my life. I've been my own master, and since being with you I've reached the point of commanding men. I don't want to go to breakfast lock-step with a murderer and a burglar. I don't care about changing the cut of my hair and clothes. Come ; this won't do. We must make a break, right now." Brennan was honestly trying to rouse Davis to the gravity of the situation. Davis shuddered. "My God, what a picture you bring up ! " Brennan dropped all jocularity. His voice grew intense and husky. " It ain't the half of it ! Why, man, for you and me it would be simply hell ! To a man like you, handling daily hun- dreds of thousands of dollars, commanding a thousand cars and five thousand men ; you, with your financial and executive ability, set to work punching holes in leather ten hours a day " " Stop ! " cried Davis, his face white and twitching. " God Almighty, man, do you want to drive me crazy? " " I am trying to rouse you. We must get away right now." 234 21 Jttembfr of tlje Sljiri Davis again set his teeth. " I won't. I'll stay right here and fight them. Sit down ; give me the names of the other men you bribed quick ! I'll not go alone." " I guess not," said Brennan, coldly. "Why not?" "Because they are interested in getting us away. I can't and won't turn on my friends till the last ditch. Besides, they are trump cards. It won't do to go back on them now." " But you'd sacrifice me if necessary," said Davis. This was another uncalled-for thrust, and Brennan said, in deadly earnest : " I tell you, I'd sacrifice my own brother to keep out of that stone wall. Say, did you ever see a man come out of jail after fifteen years ? " he asked, in a new tone. " I have, twice, in my native town. Once, not four years ago, I saw a man come back to life ; that's what it is, coming back to life. I'll never forget how he looked if I live a thousand years. He kind of shambled when he walked. His hat was too wide for him ; his clothes seemed strange on him. His face had that sickly color called jail-white, and he winked and stared every time he lifted his head, and mumbled and burst out sobbing every little way as something familiar 21 JUnnbcr of tlje Sljirb jou0c. 235 came to his eyes. A crowd of jeering brats fol- lowed him." He acted this, in his fervor, so vividly that Davis groaned and sank into his seat at the desk. Brennan went on, carried away with the picture and the emotion it called up : "I trembled like a leaf when he passed me. I'm an imaginative cuss. Nothing takes hold on me like confine- ment. I've always lived out of doors. I grew up in the open air. I like action, liberty, and one year in a cell would kill me. I tell you, if I couldn't escape, I'd But I ain't got to that yet. I'm going to make a break for tall timber, as they say out west. I'm scared. I'm free to admit that. Only I wanted to see you and Hel- ene, or I wouldn't have come back here at all." He paused here as if another consideration came in. " Couldn't see her, could I ? " he asked, almost timidly. " No," answered Davis, in a low but decisive voice. t( No, it's too late." Brennan drew a quick sigh. " Well, I'll need a little money. Let me have what you can spare." Davis mechanically handed him a roll of bills. " Here, take this take it all ; I won't need it." Brennan put the bills away. ' This will come back to you by and by all right. I've salted 236 a iJIember of % Stytri fijotrse. down a little barrel where I need it, but I couldn't get hold of it just now. Am very much obliged. I'll send a check. You'll need all you've got if you stay and fight this thing. Better come, Davis," he pleaded as he prepared to go. Davis sat immovable. " No, I stay here." ' Well, good-by. I know we could get away all clear, if we reached the river. I'm all right. Some of the boys are there with a steam yacht." He turned in a last appeal. He hated to leave Davis alone to what he knew was certain de- struction. He came back and put his hand on Davis' shoulder. " Better come, Governor. It's simply desperation staying here." Davis shook his head harshly. " No, I tell you, I'll stay here." "Well, all right. But, if you should change your mind, let Tim Sheehan know through Bob. He'll look out for you." He paused at the door, and a little tremor came into his voice. "Tell Helene I hope to see her again soon. I'll write. Good-by." He unlocked the door and went out, closing it softly behind him. Davis sat at his desk for a long time in thought too deep for motion. He recognized the truth of all that Brennan had said. He was 21 JlUmbo; of tlje (Ztyiri $oti0e. 237 in a &/ de sac. His wealth, his social influence were alike swallowed up in the cataclysm of pub- lic indignation. His eyes fell on his papers, and he began to arrange them and pack them into the boxes. He worked rapidly and soon had them properly sorted. Then he locked the door and sat down to contemplate, at last, the desperate measure. He was like a man hemmed in by a burning forest, with this difference : he had very little inducement to live. He faced the problem squarely. Helene was provided for, a little property secured in her own name, and then Tuttle was rich. He balanced the two evils in a singularly calm way. He could not survive imprisonment, and was a con- vict's death any more honorable to him than Would Helene be any more hideously smirched in the one case than in the other ? And was there not infinitely less suffering for him in this ? He rose and went to a closet and brought back a valise, out of which he took a burglar's lantern, and a chisel or two, which he laid on the floor. He took a cap and shawl also from the bag, and threw them carelessly on the carpet. He went about this as if it all had been planned carefully. He overturned a chair at the desk as if to give the impression of a struggle. He opened the window at the back. He had a curiously 238 21 JUcmbcr of tlje (Sfyirtr methodical air. He left on the window a thin bar of steel. This done, he went to the door and listened. As he stood there he heard a fire-bell striking solemnly. He returned to the desk, took off his coat and vest and laid them on a chair by the closet door. At last he took up the revolver, looked into the barrel and pressed it first to his temple, then to the back of his head. He seemed to fear that the noise would alarm Helene, and he paused as if something 1 unex- pected had changed his mind. He looked about the room slowly. At length the partly opened door of the closet attracted him, and he arose and stole softly across the room. He opened the door and entered, draw- ing it close to .with his left hand. After an in- stant came a dull report, and, the door opening slightly, a faint gray smoke curled thinly out at the top. A moment later the door swung open, and the dead man fell back into the room and lay upon his face. It was nine o'clock when Brennan came upon deck, and faced the beautiful morning breeze. They were just entering the sea. On each hand were dim, low promontories of grassy hills whose feet were buried in yellow sand. The sea was 21 JHmber of tlje Sfyirir owt. 239 blue as cobalt and lined with foam that glittered like ridges of snowy salt. Fishermen's sails, aslant in the cool wind, shone with the glancing light of the unclouded sun. The yachtsmen were singing; the captain, with hands shoved into the pockets of his snowy coat, was walking the deck, whistling in exultation. Brennan leaped on deck with a burst of tenor song. The captain turned. " Hello, old man ! How do you feel this morning?" "Like new," said Brennan, with a ready laugh and exultant whoop. "Ain't this great ? South- wester; good for all day." " Beats railroading these days, eh?" " You bet your life ! " Brennan agreed, and with shining face and merry voice he sang : " With the sea before, And the wind ashore Then ho, lads, ho ! Oh, what care I ? Teedley dee, teedley die ! Yoho, my lads, yoho ! ' Say, I'm ready for breakfast." [THE END.] M518982 -