The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 17, 1905, Page 20

e serial rights of Alfred Henry novel of modern “The President,” and ives its readers the rd Installment of what Is Lewis ¥ Call has wecared ? & g th conceded to be the best and e S 3 stromgest work of this bril- § S lant, trenchant writer, already X mo well known as the author of “Wolfville Days” amd “The Boss.” “The President” will sppear in weekly instaliments § fn The Sunday Call until com- % pleted OROSSCOSSICIISOIISISS SOOI R0SNNNN® e suppose m me loving one Here she and these counterplots ugi reer had he to gain en ally in his reover, whose aid was that statesm thy perched Hanway's table, w: greete s eyes. Our radi- zht to stifie her effulgence be ok severe and practical. This of practical severity was a served to render her more nd,” quoth Dor- was inside the loud, dead- conceived to conversations gurgling ups and social, “I to come in every I'm tired of m nce.” y wore the re- n of Arc, who 1ds of politics rather of use to you, haven't panded Doroth se, dear,” sald Sena- & to his sec- score of about to and run typewriter: “Have o'clock and bring ure.” had no more than good morning when r Loot was announced. won’t stay long.” said Senator Hanway; “but while he's here, dear, won’t you take Mr. Storms into the li- brary?” The request was preferred to Dorothy. 2 “Yes,” began Dorothy, when she and Richard found themselves in the li- ary, and nothing to Interrupt them but the distant slumberous rumble of Senator Loot, “Yes, I'm going to help Pat. And I'm going to learn how to be a newspaper woman, too. I think every girl should be capable of ing her own living. Not fhat I ct to be obliged to do so; but it is best to be prepared.” Dorothy's face was funereal, as though disasters, wed and fanged, were roaming the kets of the future to spring upon So I shall learn the newspaper de; go in and be a writer as you are—only not so brilliant—and then, it 1t were necessary, 1 could'earn my own way. Now Richard knew these industrious resolutions to be the verlest webs of bterfuge. Their duplicity was appar- and they were spun for him. Dor- othy owned no thought of missing his morning calls, and had met Senator Hanway's courtesies of the veranda door with a move in flank. The news cocked up the spirits of Richard ex- cessively, and gave to his Farnese shoulders an insolent swing as he strutted up and down the library. He had expected Dorothy to reproach him for the soft violence done her fingers; but she made no mention of it. Where- upon—in such manner do unchecked iniquities multiply upon themselyes— Richerd turned toward her with a purpose of again outraging those little gers with the burden of a fresh ca The little fingers, grown weary, however, were in discreet retir ent s, with her back to stood facing him. his campalign against the ore it had begun, Richar en to discuss Dorothy’s wor solves. er work? Do society, I had got hold of s of the t and spoke of “doing " as thougn T d among the not society rothy shook ead. “I'd pl pieces, the nxes; and the papers don't want I'm going learn about with Un Pat. 1 shall write You must teach me.” d said he would ¥ shot know,” sald g need a deal of teaching my ried Dor- from the er in a your arlyle's e Dorothy me his ous T was overheard. back,” said Doro- asked Richard, g consignme d in luxuriat 3 ds!” cried Doro- whipping them behind her. Richard gave his humble parole t he would not tou ds Being 1ssured, Dorothy 1 in his 1 littl dly €O d of safety that t m @ no haste in these labors of the bud. Their confidence went unabused; Richard ad- hered to his parole and never touched them “I'm glad you c said Dorot delight Later, the pair made love to one an- er with their eyes across the digni- fied desk of Senator Hanway, while that an told Richard matters to the detriment of Mr. Hawlke's canvass for a Speakership and Governor Obstinate’s claims upon a Presidency, of which, through the medium of the Daily Tory, he believed the public should be in- formed. “My dear Dorothy sibyl of the golden locks, when the other related how faithfully Richard had kept his compact concerning her fingers, you ought never to make a pan promise the thing you do not They are such dullards; besides, have a passion for keeping their keep your prom- pouting- from pure observed the President and General Attorney y-two underling attorneys of conda Alrline, in accord with Mr. Gwynn's request, descended upon Washington, The thirty-two underling attorneys, coming to town by twos and threes, were amazed when they found a gathering of the Anaconda Airline clan They collected in groups and clots at the Shoreham, the Arlington and Willard's to discuss their amaze- ment. The President and General Attorney, if they were smitten of wonder, con- cealed it, and within the hour after their arrival rang the doorbell of Mr. Gwynn. They were ushered Into a room the tamed splendors of which told the thorough taste that had concelved it. Then their cards went up to Mr. Gwynn. Word came back that Mr. Gwynn was deeply engaged. Would the President and the General Attorney of the Anacon- da Airline call again in an hour? The president and general attorney had for long harbored a theory that Mr. Gwynn was the greatest man on earth Now they knew it; the fact was dis- played beyond dispute by his failure to instantly see them. The president and general attorney withdrew, silent in their awe, and Mr. Gwynn dispatch- ed Matzal to find Richard. On the hour's even stroke, the pres- ident and general attorney were again at Mr. Gwynn's. That personage was still unable to meet them; however, he sent Richard with written excuses for his absence and the suggestion that Richard, speaking in his place, would put them in possession of his wishes. “Mr. Gwynn desired to say,” observed Richard. “that Anaconda Alrline inter- ests deeply depend upon Mr. Frost for Speaker.” What we've said from the begin- ning!” remarked the president to the general attorney. “Precisely what we' served the general attorney. Chey had said nothing on that point; but they were too well drilled in their own int to fail of camplete coin- a gentleman who could 1 shareholders’ meeting, elect a new directory, and revise the icial family of the Anaconda Airline within any given thirty day % Gwynn asks you, then, Ri rd; “since you and he the propriety of Mr. Frost fc to consult with Senator H And now the Anaconda A in the war for the House gavel the supervision of Senator He brought its whole smothering to bear upon the Hawke twenty-three whose pated he Hawke tv nd hed, but in the end g a rock-ribbed quartet ay by the standards ot agree on k- v onstituents will destroy us if said the conda will destroy you if was the blunt retort of the attorney 0od firm, and were black ghter at the polls a 3 Ay, at which time they were fa knocked on the head. Sixteen the twenty w over to Mr. F president of the Anaconda Airline out in an interview in.the Daily ind said that the shift of the ex en was a popular victory. was two days before the line-up of fore Frost E Hawke, Hanway against Obstinate under able captains went vigorously forward. It pleased Senator Hunwa) to hear hat the Frost . foi tunes were being unexpectedly served by the voleanic 'Mr. Hawke K self. nat gentleman had fallea into a state of indignant eruption; his best friends could not approach him because of the smoke and flame and lava which his rage cast up. “The most scoundrel thing I ever saw ington is w.at 1 am made to fight peakership!’ cried the eruptive Mr, Hawke; and this fashion of outburst does not help any man’s cause. To steal a simile from a dead gentle- man who stole from others in his day, Mr. Hawke went into the final battle of the caucus much after the manner where- with a horse approaches a drum, that is, with a deal of prance and but little prog- ress, and, for the most part, wrong end foremiost. Even then the count of Sena- tor Hanway—a colu- -looded computation gave that gavel to the violent Mr. Hawxe. So much for being a House leader, a tariff monger and a friend of Governor Obstinate. On the afternoon before the caucus Sen- ator Hanway took a last look at the ar- ray. Besides Mr. Hawke and Mr. Frost, there were two otner candidates, Mr. rateh and Mr. Swinger. These latter had been sent into the lsts by the diplomacy of Senator Hanway to hold the delega- tions from their Stat:s, a majority where- of, if released, would fly to Mr. Hawke. With all four namés before the caucus, Mr. Frost would lead Mr. Hawke by two without having a majority. Eliminate Mr. Patch and Mr. Swinger, however, and Mr. Hawke would be chosen by a majority of seven. And, while the battle might be made to stagger on through forty bal- lots, in the end MA.r. Patch and Mr. Swing- er must perforce withdraw. They could give no excuse for holding on forever a fight shown to be hopeless. Some meth- 01 must be devised to break the Hawke alignment or in a last solution of the situation Mr. Frost would lose. Senator Hanway made ready to his last card—a card to which no saort of the desperate turn of events would have caused him to res He made a list of elghteen of: Mr. Hawke's supporters; he picked them out because they were mervous, hysterical souls whom one might hope to stampede.. Senator Hanway then got the names, with the home addresses, of a s€OTe of the principaj constituents of each of these aspen, hys- terical gentlemen. A telegraph operator, one close-mouthed and of & virtuous taciturnity, sat up all night with Senator Hanway in his study THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY C. "'here were speeches, foll calls; men Jost their heads and then their repu- threatened of the Anaconda Airline, with the fear of polit- upon_them, Messrs, Patch and Swinger held fast’' through ballot after ballot, keeping delegations Hawke captains pleaded and begged and promised and threatened in their efforts to make them withdraw and release their following to the main battle. Through roll call after roll call the tally never varfed. ‘With two hundred and ten members vot- ing, the count stood: Frost, ninety-tw ninety; Swinger, Of the twenty-elght who voted for Messrs. Patch and Swinger, understood that Mr. three-fourths upon a breakaway. reason the Hawke captains labored and moiled with Messrs. Patch and 8winger to withdraw and votes into the general caldron. On the touch of three, and while the fourth roll-call was in progress, the first of Senator Hanway's prepared messages were recelved and signed for at the cau- Ten minutes later, and some- thing like forty more were given entrance. During the sixth roll-call sixty messages came in, and a rickety little representa- tive, with a beard like a goat and terror tugging at his heart, arose and changed his vote to Mr. Frost. man had been for Mr. Hawke, and this sudden turning of his coat provoked a tempest of cheers from the, Frosts and maledictions from the Hawkes. A dozen men of both factions crowded about the little rickety man, some to hold him for Mr, Frost and others to drag him back to The rickety little man was Kingdoms and throneés were being gnmbled for and the players werc in earnest. In the height of the uproar over the rickety Iiftie man two more of the flock of Hawke arose, and with faltering lip stated that, by the demands of consiitu- entg whom they were there to represent and whose wishes they dared not disre- gard, they would also change their votes The cheers of the Frosts and the curses of the Hawkes were re- the < Frosts drowned the Hawkes, since it is one of the admirable arrangements of Providence that men can cheer louder than they can curse. And now a bevy of full one hundred of Hanway messages eame through the door. _The stampede which started with the —the night before tLe caucus. There was 1 but- Senator Hanway and telegraphic one; the former, deeming the occasion one proper for that the blinds closely. At Senator Hunway’s dictation, the tacl- 0 had been so forethoughiful to bring with him enveiop:s and blanss, The sixteen cautious rite, turn one, w man, signing them with the names of constituents, otter perfect; bore the name of one upon whom the would receive it destinfes of politics. albeit each manded and demanded the Speakership they were done, nearly four hundred of them, the taci- member who Hawke would take quirleyques and symbols cast those twenty-elght yphics which belong sages and finished by sealing each in an envelope properly numbered and Then the taciturn one made book to match the mes- with , genuine “There!” exclaimed Senator Hanway, when at 4 in the morning the taciturn forged message upon the pile and said that all were done; “that finished. put on a messenger’s uniform and come It's 4 a. m, now, the caucus convenes It will be held in There will be ten I have arranged for that, and Pateh and Swinger will not withdraw The ten ballots will consume two hours and a half—fifteen minutes After they have gone through four roll calls, begin to send these messages; on the door will sign first one to each member; then four; then five; then all you have. Give about fifteen consignments. one tossed the Now at 2 o'clock The rickety little to the Capitol. this is Saturday; at 2 o'clock sharp. the House chamber. Mr. Hawke. i h torn t0-a rall call. walluteh tor caucus officer them. Send then two; Have you got my plan?’ The taciturn one nodded. “Here's a $100 bill,” observed Sena- “for’ your night's work. Four- more wait for you Frost is decja to Mr. Frost. J doubled; but cjared the caucus mominee.” Saturday afternoon, and the caucus met behind locked doors. mighty struggle; now and then some walfword reached the outside world of Titan deeds were being done. rickety, goat-bearded little man, to in- clude the duo chronicled, upon a seventh roll call swept five more Hawkes from their* perches and gave them over to Mr. Frost. More messages, more and all to finish' in a pandemonium which Messrs. Patch and Swinger were withdrawn, and Mr, Frost was landed Speaker by the meager fringe of three. Speaker Frost it was; and ry one con- ceded that a staggering blow had been dealt the Presidential hopes of Governor Obstinate. Senator Hanwa waiting at the Senate end for news, sighed victori- ously when word was brought him. It would be Speaker Frost; and now, with House and Scnate his, he for the first time felt himself within sure and striking distance of a White Honse. CHAPTER VI How Storri Had a Vivid Imagination. Storri_had no more of moral nature than ha$ a tiger or a kite. He was found- ed upon no integrity, would keep faith with no one save himself. Storri was not a moral lunatic, for that would suppose some original morality and its subversion to insane aims; rather he was the morai idiot. At that, his imbecility paused with his morals;- in what a world calls busi- ness he was notably bright and forward. Storrl was of education, had traveled wide and far, as ones of his predatory stamp are prone to do, and with a Ru sian facillty for tongues spoke English, German, French, and half the languages of Europe. The iustinctive purpose of Storri's existence to make mon To him money was a prey and stood as do deer to wolves; and yet, making a fine distinction, he was rapacious, not avari- cious. Avarice includes some idea of a storekeeping commerce that amasses by buying for $1 and selling for Storri would have failcd at that. He was ra clous as the pirate is rapacious, and W a_gambler's love for the uncertain, balked at anything whereof the possible profits werc cut and dried. Jie wanted to win, but he wids willlng to lose if he must; and above all he distrusted the notion of a limit. Like every wild thing Storri ‘shied at a fence and loved the wilderness. While Storrt knew nothing of honesty he preferred his gold on legit- imate lines. This leaning toward the lawful came not from any bias of probity: Storri simply wanted to be safe, having & horror of chaine and bolts and cages and striped garmenta. When Storrl arrived in Washington he came from Canada by way of New York. before he had been in Paris, something—no the Bourse. He had been al of Asia and Europe, and al restless eye sleepless in its the while hi search for money. Gifted with an evolved a scheme. imagination until, nk upen link, it became endless and belted the earth. ation was might set least of flame it mu with no power of se Storri's imagin- on and ong like him who, given a ha way takes a horse It is the tb icans are manfacs conservatism yond which it will rope that Amer- was this which agile imagina ernment at S that he might ore reckless, ¥ with & gu _ Petersburg Govern- sentatives in Amer- ut indorsing Storrf meaps wise after the »r a Humboldt or a possess ‘the deep Being in Wash- coking up and down, he was propriety of Mr. Harley tth American million- he was the alter ego ley: Mr. Hagley Senator Hanw red for the sue- ecs would be reqy cess of Storri's plans, this last was to be of prime importance. (Continued next Sunday.)