, over which as over a floor he strides to
superiority. His private and inmost faith is in himself alone. Upon
the majority he shuts the gates of his glory in order that the sight of
their misery and their needs may not disturb nor alloy his selfish
bliss. Frank Algernon Cowperwood does not believe in the people."

This editorial battle-cry, flung aloft during the latter days of the
contest at Springfield and taken up by the Chicago papers generally and
by those elsewhere, interested Berenice greatly. As she thought of
him--waging his terrific contests, hurrying to and fro between New York
and Chicago, building his splendid mansion, collecting his pictures,
quarreling with Aileen--he came by degrees to take on the outlines of a
superman, a half-god or demi-gorgon. How could the ordinary rules of
life or the accustomed paths of men be expected to control him? They
could not and did not. And here he was pursuing her, seeking her out
with his eyes, grateful for a smile, waiting as much as he dared on her
every wish and whim.

Say what one will, the wish buried deep in every woman's heart is that
her lover should be a hero. Some, out of the veriest stick or stone,
fashion the idol before which they kneel, others demand the hard
reality of greatness; but in either case the illusion of
paragon-worship is maintained.

Berenice, by no means ready to look upon Cowperwood as an accepted
lover, was nevertheless gratified that his erring devotion was the
tribute of one able apparently to command thought from the whole world.
Moreover, because the New York papers had taken fire from his great
struggle in the Middle West and were charging him with bribery,
perjury, and intent to thwart the will of the people, Cowperwood now
came forward with an attempt to explain his exact position to Berenice
and to justify himself in her eyes. During visits to the Carter house
or in entr'actes at the opera or the theater, he recounted to her bit
by bit his entire history. He described the characters of Hand,
Schryhart, Arneel, and the motives of jealousy and revenge which had
led to their attack upon him in Chicago. "No human being could get
anything through the Chicago City Council without paying for it," he
declared. "It's simply a question of who's putting up the money." He
told how Truman Leslie MacDonald had once tried to "shake him down" for
fifty thousand dollars, and how the newspapers had since found it
possible to make money, t