ce cases and
small collection business. He meant to be a lawyer, not a
scandal-hunting detective or pursuer of small debtors with a constable's
process.

He tried to forget politics, and yet, in spite of his indifference,
hardly a day passed that did not bring visitors to his office bent upon
discussing the outlook. Many of these were from the country; men who,
like Ramsay, were hopeful of at last getting rid of Bassett. Some of his
visitors were young lawyers like himself, most of them graduates of the
state colleges, who were disposed to take their politics seriously. Nor
were these all of his own party. He found that many young Republicans,
affected by the prevailing unrest, held practically his own views on
national questions. Several times he gathered up half a dozen of these
acquaintances for frugal dinners in the University Club rathskeller, or
they met in the saloon affected by Allen's friends of Lueders's carpenter
shop. He wanted them to see all sides of the picture, and he encouraged
them to crystallize their fears and hopes; more patriotism and less
partisanship, they all agreed, was the thing most needed in America.

Allen appeared in Dan's office unexpectedly one hot morning and sat down
on a chair piled with open lawbooks. Allen had benefited by his month's
sojourn in the Adirondacks, and subsequent cruises in his motor car had
tanned his face becomingly. He was far from rugged, but he declared that
he expected to live forever.

"I'm full of dark tidings! Much has happened within forty-eight hours.
See about our smash-up in Chicago! Must have read it in the newspapers?"

"A nice, odorous mess," observed Dan, filling his pipe. "I'm pained to
see that you go chasing around with the plutocrats smashing lamp-posts
in our large centres of population. That sort of thing is bound to
establish your reputation as the friend of the oppressed. Was the
chauffeur's funeral largely attended?"

"Pshaw; he was only scratched; we chucked him into the hospital to keep
him from being arrested, that was all. Look here, old man, you don't
seem terribly sympathetic. Maybe you didn't notice that it was _my_ car
that got smashed! It looked like a junk dealer's back yard when they
pulled us out. I told them to throw it into the lake: I've just ordered
a new car. I never cared for that one much anyhow."

"Another good note for the boys around Lueders's joint! You're identified
forever with the red-necked aristocrats who smas