committee on naval affairs." droned the clerk,
mechanically. "House Bill No. 1,109 is amended to read as follows--"
And his voice sank to an unintelligible mumble, for every Senator
present he well knew was aware that the amendment named Altacoola as
the naval base site.

Senator Langdon rose in his seat.

"Mr. President," he called.

"Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi," said the presiding
officer, as he leaned back to speak to Senator Winans of Kansas, who
had approached to the side of the rostrum.

The Langdon speech on "The New South and the South of the Future"
proved more than a document suited only to a reverent burial in the
_Congressional Record_. Although wearied at the start owing to the
exciting happenings of the day, the Mississippian's enthusiasm for his
cause gave him strength and stimulation as he progressed. His voice
rose majestically as he came to the particular points he wished to
accentuate, and even those in the uppermost rows in the galleries
could hear every word.

At the close of his formal speech he began on his statement of the
action of the naval affairs committee in buying control of the
Altacoola land to foil attempts to rob the Government. As he had
predicted, the Senate did "sit up." The Senate did agree that a new
kind of politics had arrived.

During this latter part of the speech many curious glances were
directed at Peabody and Stevens, who sat in the same tier of seats, in
the middle of the chamber, only an aisle separating them. Through
this choice of seats they could confer without leaving their places.
Various senatorial associates of these two men in other deals found
it difficult to believe their ears--but was not old Langdon at this
moment narrating the amazing transaction on the floor of the Senate?
Would the statue on the pedestal step down? Would the sphinx of the
desert speak the story of the lost centuries? Would honor take the
place of expediency in the affairs of state? What might not happen,
thought the Senate machine, now that Peabody and Stevens had taken to
their bosoms what they termed the purple pup of political purity?

Neither did the full portent of the situation escape the attention
of the reporters' gallery. Dick Cullen observed to Hansel of the
_Record_:

"Virtue's getting so thick around here it's a menace to navigation."

"Blocking the traffic, eh?" queried Hansel; and both laughed.

"Hello! What's this?" exclaimed Cullen a few mi