tation,
that Churchill slipped away from his associates and hastened towards the
hotel where the financial magnates were staying. These were really great
men, not the productions of a moment, thrown briefly into the
lime-light, but solid like the pyramids. Mr. Goodnight must be worth
forty millions, at the least, and he was a power in many circles.
Churchill thrilled with delight that such a being should hint to him to
come and be talked to, and he was more than ever conscious of his own
superiority to his professional associates.

Churchill was not awed by the hotel clerk, but haughtily asked that his
card be sent at once to Mr. Goodnight, and he concealed his pride when
the message came back that he be shown up as soon as possible. He
received it as the natural tribute to his importance, and he took his
time as he followed the guiding hall-boy. But at the door of Mr.
Goodnight his manner changed; it became deferential, as befitted modest
merit in the presence of true and recognized greatness.

Mr. Goodnight was hospitable; there was no false pride about him; he was
able in being great to be simple also, and Mr. Crayon and the others
present shared his attractive manner.

"Ah, Mr. Churchill," he said, as he shook hands heartily with the
correspondent, "it gives me pleasure, indeed, to welcome you here. We
noticed your bearing in Chicago, and we were impressed by it. We
therefore had an additional pleasure when we learned that you were the
correspondent of the _Monitor_, New York's ablest and most conservative
journal. The American press grows flippant and unreliable nowadays, Mr.
Churchill, but the waves of sensationalism wash in vain around the solid
base of the old _Monitor_. There she stands, as steady as ever, a
genuine light-house in the darkness."

Mr. Goodnight, being a member of Congress, was able to acquire and to
exhibit at convenient times a certain poetical fervor which impressed
several kinds of people. Now his associates rubbed their hands in
admiration, and Churchill flushed with pleasure. A compliment to the
_Monitor_ was also a compliment to him, for was he not the very spirit
and essence of the _Monitor_?

"Before we get to business," continued Mr. Goodnight, in the most
gratifyingly intimate manner, "suppose we have something just to wet our
throats and promote conversation. This town, I believe, is famous for
beer, but it is not impossible to get champagne here; in any event, we
shall try it."