him to write. His view of her was shared by most men who knew the
world, and especially by the elderly men who had a real knowledge of human
nature, among whom was a certain important member of the United States
executive called John Appleton. When the end of all things at Washington
came for Sally, these two men united to bear her up, that her feet should
not stumble upon the stony path of the hard journey she had undertaken.
Appleton was not a man of much speech; but his words had weight; for he
was not only a minister; he came of an old family which had ruled the
social destinies of a state, and had alternately controlled and disturbed
its politics. On the day of the sensation, in the fiery cloud of which
Sally disappeared, Appleton delivered himself of his mind in the matter at
a reception given by the President.

"She will come back--and we will all take her back, be glad to have her
back," he said. "She has the grip of a lever which can lift the eternal
hills with the right pressure. Leave her alone--leave her alone. This is a
democratic country, and she'll prove democracy a success before she's
done."

The world knew that John Appleton had offered her marriage, and he had
never hidden the fact. What they did not know was that she had told him
what she meant to do before she did it. He had spoken to her plainly,
bluntly, then with a voice that was blurred and a little broken, urging
her against the course toward which she was set; but it had not availed;
and, realizing that he had come upon a powerful will underneath the sunny
and so human surface, he had ceased to protest, to bear down upon her mind
with his own iron force. When he realized that all his reasoning was
wasted, that all worldly argument was vain, he made one last attempt, a
forlorn hope, as though to put upon record what he believed to be the
truth.

"There is no position you cannot occupy," he said. "You have the perfect
gift in private life, and you have a public gift. You have a genius for
ruling. Say, my dear, don't wreck it all. I know you are not for me, but
there are better men in the country than I am. Hartzman will be a great
man one day--he wants you. Young Tilden wants you; he has millions, and he
will never disgrace them or you, the power which they can command, and the
power which you have. And there are others. Your people have told you they
will turn you off; the world will say things--will rend you. There is
nothing so popular for