ics; for he would be of no service to the country, would not
hesitate to sacrifice it to his own ends--unless I am a poor student of
character. But as to personal enmity against me, or jealousy because I
occupy a position he has never sought,--and he is a year older than I,
remember,--I find that hard to believe, as well as this other; he is not
powerful enough to unite two such factions."

"He has a tongue as persuasive from its cunning as yours is in its
impetuosity, and he has convinced greater men than himself of his
usefulness. Believe me, Alexander, I speak of what I know, not of what I
suspect. Accept the fact, if you will not be warned. You always
underrate your enemies. Your confidence in your own genius--a confidence
which so much has occurred to warrant--blinds you to the power of
others. Remember the old adage: Pride goeth before a fall--although I
despise the humble myself; the world owes nothing to them. But I have
often trembled for the time when your high-handed methods and your scorn
of inferior beings would knock the very foundations from under your
feet. Now, I will say no more, and we part for ever. Perhaps if you had
not worn that colour to-night, I should not have betrayed my
family--heaven knows! We women are compounded of so many contradictory
motives. Thank your heaven that you men are not half so complex."

"My dear friend," said Hamilton, drily, "you women are not half so
complex as men. You may lay claim to a fair share because your
intelligence is above the average, but that is the point--complexity is
a matter of intelligence, and as men are, as a rule, far more
intelligent than women, with far more densely furnished brains--"

But here she boxed his ears and left the room. She returned in a moment.
"You have not thanked me!" she exclaimed. "I deserve to be thanked."

Hamilton put his arm about her and kissed her affectionately.

"From the bottom of my heart," he said. "I deeply appreciate the
impulse--and the sacrifice."

"But you won't heed," she said, with a sigh. "Good-by, Alexander! I
think Betsey is looking for you."

XXII

Hamilton for many months was far too busy with the reports he sent to
Congress in rapid succession, above all with the one concerning the
establishment of a National Bank, to be presented at the opening of the
next Session, and with the routine of business connected with his
department, to interfere in politics. He warned General Schuyler,
however, and h