e politics you want, but it must
be clean politics, straight out from the shoulder."

He had lapsed into sullen silence, too stunned to interrupt the placid
flow of her speech. She had not only meddled in his affairs in a fashion
that would afford comfort to his enemy, but she was now dictating
terms--this old woman whose mild tone was in itself maddening. The fear
of incurring his wife's wrath alone checked an outburst of indignation.
In all his life no one had ever warned him to his face that he was
pursuing a course that led to destruction. He had always enjoyed her
capriciousness, her whimsical humor, but there was certainly nothing for
him to smile at in this interview. She had so plied the lash that it cut
to the quick. His pride and self-confidence were deeply wounded;--his
wife's elderly aunt did not believe in his omnipotence! This was a shock
in itself; but what fantastic nonsense was she uttering now?

"Since I bought that stock, Morton, I've been reading the 'Courier'
clean through every day, and there are some things about that paper I
don't like. I guess you and Edward Thatcher ain't so particularly
religious, and when you took hold of it you cut out that religious page
they used to print every Sunday. You better tell Atwill to start that up
again. I notice, too, that the 'Courier' sneaks in little stingers at
the Jews occasionally--they may just get in by mistake, but you ought to
have a rule at the office against printing stories as old as the hills
about Jews burning down their clothing-stores to get the insurance. I've
known a few Gentiles that did that. The only man I know that I'd lend
money to without security is a Jew. Let's not jump on people just to
hurt their feelings. And besides, we don't any of us know much more
these days than old Moses knew. And that fellow who writes the little
two-line pieces under the regular editorials--he's too smart, and he
ain't always as funny as he thinks he is. There's no use in popping
bird-shot at things if they ain't right, and that fellow's always trying
to hurt somebody's feelings without doing anybody any good."

She opened a drawer of her desk and drew out a memorandum to refresh her
memory.

"You've got a whole page and on Sundays two pages about baseball and
automobiles, and the horse is getting crowded down into a corner.
We"--he was not unmindful of the plural--"we must print more horse news.
You tell Atwill to send his young man that does the 'Horse