第68章

Here was no overbearing,full-blooded ward ruffian brimming with vitality,but a thin,sallow little man in a cotton night-shirt,with iron-grey hair and a wiry moustache;he might have been an overworked clerk behind a dry-goods counter;and yet somehow,now that I had talked to him,I realized that he never could have been.Those extraordinary eyes of his,when they were functioning,marked his individuality as unique.It were almost too dramatic to say that he required darkness to make his effect,but so it seemed.I should never forget him.He had in truth been well named the Spider.

"Of course we haven't tried to get in touch with them.We are leaving them to you,"I added.

"Paret,"he said suddenly,"I don't care a damn about Grunewald--never did.I'd turn him down for ten cents.But you can tell Theodore Watling for me,and Dickinson,that I guess the `inducement'can be fixed."I felt a certain relief that the interview had come to an end,that the moment had arrived for amenities.To my surprise,Mr.Jason anticipated me.

"I've been interested in you,Mr.Paret,"he observed."Know who you are,of course,knew you were in Watling's office.Then some of the boys spoke about you when you were down at the legislature on that Ribblevale matter.Guess you had more to do with that bill than came out in the newspapers--eh?"I was taken off my guard.

"Oh,that's talk,"I said.

"All right,it's talk,then?But I guess you and I will have some more talk after a while,--after Theodore Watling gets to be United States Senator.Give him my regards,and--and come in when I can do anything for you,Mr.Paret."Thanking him,I groped my way downstairs and let myself out by a side door Monahan had shown me into an alleyway,thus avoiding the saloon.As I walked slowly back to the office,seeking the shade of the awnings,the figure in the darkened room took on a sinister aspect that troubled me....

The autumn arrived,the campaign was on with a whoop,and I had my first taste of "stump"politics.The acrid smell of red fire brings it back to me.It was a medley of railroad travel,of committees provided with badges--and cigars,of open carriages slowly drawn between lines of bewildered citizens,of Lincoln clubs and other clubs marching in serried ranks,uniformed and helmeted,stalwarts carrying torches and banners.

And then there were the draughty opera-houses with the sylvan scenery pushed back and plush chairs and sofas pushed forward;with an ominous table,a pitcher of water on it and a glass,near the footlights.The houses were packed with more bewildered citizens.What a wonderful study of mob-psychology it would have offered!Men who had not thought of the grand old Republican party for two years,and who had not cared much about it when they had entered the dooms,after an hour or so went mad with fervour.The Hon.Joseph Mecklin,ex-Speaker of the House,with whom I traveled on occasions,had a speech referring to the martyred President,ending with an appeal to the revolutionary fathers who followed Washington with bleeding feet.The Hon.Joseph possessed that most valuable of political gifts,presence;and when with quivering voice he finished his peroration,citizens wept with him.What it all had to do with the tariff was not quite clear.Yet nobody seemed to miss the connection.

We were all of us most concerned,of course,about the working-man and his dinner pail,--whom the Democrats had wantonly thrown out of employment for the sake of a doctrinaire theory.They had put him in competition with the serf of Europe.Such was the subject-matter of my own modest addresses in this,my maiden campaign.I had the sense to see myself in perspective;to recognize that not for me,a dignified and substantial lawyer of affairs,were the rhetorical flights of the Hon.

Joseph Mecklin.I spoke with a certain restraint.Not too dryly,Ihope.But I sought to curb my sentiments,my indignation,at the manner in which the working-man had been treated;to appeal to the common sense rather than to the passions of my audiences.Here were the statistics!

(drawn,by the way,from the Republican Campaign book).Unscrupulous demagogues--Democratic,of course--had sought to twist and evade them.

Let this terrible record of lack of employment and misery be compared with the prosperity under Republican rule.

"One of the most effective speakers in this campaign for the restoration of Prosperity,"said the Rossiter Banner,"is Mr.Hugh Paret,of the firm of Watling,Fowndes and Ripon.Mr.Paret's speech at the Opera-House last evening made a most favourable impression.Mr.Paret deals with facts.And his thoughtful analysis of the situation into which the Democratic party has brought this country should convince any sane-minded voter that the time has come for a change."I began to keep a scrap-book,though I locked it up in the drawer of my desk.In it are to be found many clippings of a similarly gratifying tenor....

Mecklin and I were well contrasted.In this way,incidentally,I made many valuable acquaintances among the "solid"men of the state,the local capitalists and manufacturers,with whom my manner of dealing with public questions was in particular favour.These were practical men;they rather patronized the Hon.Joseph,thus estimating,to a nicety,a mans value;or solidity,or specific gravity,it might better be said,since our universe was one of checks and balances.The Hon.Joseph and his like,skyrocketing through the air,were somehow necessary in the scheme of things,but not to be taken too seriously.Me they did take seriously,these provincial lords,inviting me to their houses and opening their hearts.Thus,when we came to Elkington,Mr.Mecklin reposed in the Commercial House,on the noisy main street.Fortunately for him,the clanging of trolley cars never interfered with his slumbers.