s seat. "Good heavens!" he ejaculated.

"To reappoint Fleetwood," the Governor repeated, "because at the
present juncture of affairs he is the only man for the place. The work
we began together is not finished, and I can't finish it without him.
Remember the vistas opened by the Lead Trust investigation--he knows
where they lead and no one else does. We must put that inquiry through,
no matter what it costs us, and that is why I have sent for you to take
this letter to the 'Spy.'"

Shackwell's hand drew back from the proffered envelope.

"You say you don't want my advice, but you can't expect me to go on
such an errand with my eyes shut. What on earth are you driving at? Of
course Fleetwood will persist in refusing."

Mornway smiled. "He did persist--for three hours. But when he left here
just now he had given me his word to accept."

Shackwell groaned. "Then I am dealing with two madmen instead of one."

The Governor laughed. "My poor Hadley, you're worse than I expected. I
thought you would understand me."

"Understand you? How can I, in heaven's name, when I don't understand
the situation?

"The situation--the situation?" Mornway repeated slowly. "Whose? His or
mine? I don't either--I haven't had time to think of them."

"What on earth have you been thinking of then?"

The Governor rose, with a gesture toward the window, through which,
below the slope of the Capitol grounds, the roofs and steeples of the
city spread their smoky mass to the mild air.

"Of all that is left," he said. "Of everything except Fleetwood and
myself."

"Ah--" Shackwell murmured.

Mornway turned back and sank into his seat. "Don't you see that was all
I had to turn to? The State--the country--it's big enough, in all
conscience, to fill a good deal of a void! My own walls had grown too
cramped for me, so I just stepped outside. You have no idea how it
simplified matters at once. All I had to do was to say to myself: 'Go
ahead, and do the best you can for the country.' The personal issue
simply didn't exist."

"Yes--and then?"

"Then I turned over for three days this question of the
Attorney-Generalship. I couldn't see that it was changed--how should
_my_ feelings have affected it? Fleetwood hasn't betrayed the State.
There isn't a scar on his public record--he is still the best man for
the place. My business is to appoint the best man I can find, and I
can't find any one as good as Fleetwood."

"But--but--your wife?" Shackw