on him. For a time he was almost ashamed to face what memory brought
to him. Then manfully he set himself to read his heart--at least, he
tried to. In the end, hidden in his room, he wept--honest tears of a
strong man conscious that he was unable by his strength to hold disaster
from an innocent. Even his attempt to find the rogue, Spinney, was
futile. He wept, thinking of Clare Kavanagh--exiled from her home,
bravely solving her problem of life alone. He went to sleep thinking of
Clare Kavanagh.

It was fortunate for his self-respect that she filled his mind so
completely at that moment. Otherwise the reflection that he had led
himself by degrees to covet the brains and beauty of Madeleine Presson
would have convinced him that in his relations with women he was either
fool or knave.

Youth, untried in the ways of women and the wiles of loving and the
everlasting problem of what the heart most truly desires, has wondered
and wept the long ages through!

CHAPTER XXV

WOMEN, AND ONE WOMAN

The next day brought the reign of woman. That festal day in mid-session
which preceded the legislative ball had been made woman's field-day by
long custom. The politicians arranged the programme in order to bunch
events: for the women demanded that they be heard each session on the
suffrage question; and the women pleaded for one opportunity to show
their best gowns in parade for fashion's sake. So the politicians made
one bite at the cherry; "took a double dose and had it over with," as
Thelismer Thornton ungraciously expressed it. Frivolity was combined
with feminine fervor on the suffrage question. One element was invited
to neutralize the other. The politicians could endure the combination
better than they could face each faction separately. The advocates of
suffrage made their plea while their sisters promenaded the State House
corridors to the music of the band. The festival spirit dominated.

The members of the Judiciary Committee wore fresh waistcoats, pinks in
their buttonholes, and a genial air--and had not the least idea of
granting the suffragists anything except a benignant hearing. The report
of "ought not to pass" was a foregone conclusion.

But there were potted palms in the lobbies, decorations in the rotunda,
and masses of flowers in the House chamber which was given over to the
hearing. And sweet music softened legislative asperities. The women
asked, smiling. The men refused, smiling.

The federated