not do to antagonize one-half of congress. He felt that Kitty
and Billy had been planning some great feats of smuggling, and that
they had no desire to have their fun spoiled by the repeal of the
tariff. Probably no smugglers are free traders at heart--free trade
would ruin their business.

He put the motion, and the vote was what he had expected--two for
and two against the motion. It was not carried. For a few minutes
all sat in silence, the air tingling with suppressed irritability. A
word would have condensed it into cruel speech. It was Billy who
broke the spell.

"I'm going out to smoke another duty-paid cigar before I turn in,"
he said. "Do you want to have a turn on the porch, Kitty?"

"I think not. I'm tired. I'll go up, I think," said Kitty, and they
left the room together.

Mr. Fenelby gathered his papers and his book together and pushed
them wearily into the desk. Then he dropped into a chair and looked
sadly at the floor.

"Tom," said Laura, "can't we stop the tariff anyway?"

"Oh, no!" said her husband disconsolately. "We can't do anything.
We've got to go ahead with the foolishness until Kitty and Billy go.
They would laugh at us and crow over us all their lives if we
didn't. Especially after the fool I have made of myself with this
voting nonsense," he added bitterly.

Mrs. Fenelby sighed.

XI

THE COUP D'ETAT

The next morning dawned gloomily. The sky was a dull gray, and a
sickening drizzle was falling, mixed with a thick fog that made
everything and everybody soggy and damp. It was a most dismal and
disheartening Sunday, without a ray of cheerfulness in it, and Mr.
and Mrs. Fenelby felt the burden of the day keenly. The house had
the usual Sunday morning air of untidiness. It was a bad day on
which to take up the load of the tariff and carry it through twelve
hours of servantless housekeeping.

Breakfast was a sad affair. Kitty and Billy, who seemed in high
spirits, tried to give the meal an air of gaiety, but Mr. Fenelby
was glum and his wife naturally reflected some of his feeling, and
after a few attempts to liven things Kitty and Billy turned their
attention to each other and left the Fenelbys alone with their
gloom. As soon as breakfast was over, Kitty, after a weak suggestion
that she should help Laura with the dishes, carried Billy away,
saying that no matter what happened she was going to church. The
Fenelbys were glad to have them go, and Mr. Fenelby helped Laura
carr