e country. Those papers call
you another such political boss as Quay and Gorman. There's nothing they
don't say about you."

"Well, Hallie, they've been saying it for some time; they will go on
saying it probably not only about me but about every other man who won't
be dictated to by impractical reformers and pharisaical newspapers. But
I must confess that this is rather hard luck!" He held up two of the
cuttings. "I've undertaken to do just what papers like the New York
'Evening Post' and the Springfield 'Republican' are forever begging
somebody with courage to do--I've been trying to drive a rascal out of
politics. I'm glad of this chance to talk to you about Thatcher. He and
I were friends for years, as you know."

"I never understood how you could tolerate that man; he's so coarse and
vulgar that his wife stays abroad to keep her daughters away from him."

"Well, that's not my affair. I have had all I want of him. There's
nothing mysterious about my breaking with him; he got it into his head
that he's a bigger man in this state than I am. I have known for several
years that he intended to get rid of me as soon as he felt he could do
it safely, and be ready to capture the senatorship when he saw that our
party was in shape to win again. I've always distrusted him, and I've
always kept an eye on him. When he came into Fraser County and stooped
low enough to buy old Ike Pettit, I thought it time to strike. You read
a lot about courage in politics in such newspapers as these that have
been philosophizing about me at long range. Well, I'm not going to brag
about myself, but it required some courage on my part to take the
initiative and read the riot act to Thatcher. I've done what men are
sometimes praised for doing; but I don't want praise; I only want to be
judged fairly. I've always avoided bringing business or politics home;
I've always had an idea that when a man goes home he ought to close the
door on everything but the interests the home has for him. I may have
been wrong about that; and I'm very sorry that you have been
troubled--sincerely sorry. But you may as well know the truth now, which
is that Thatcher is out of it altogether. You know enough of him to
understand that he's not a man to trust with power, and I've done the
state and my party a service in turning him out of doors."

He had spoken quietly and earnestly, and his words had not been without
their effect. He had never been harsh with her or the