Harold MacGrath

“ To elect you, I have given my word to Murphy that he shall have the office.”
“You may send Mr. Murphy to me,” said Carrington curtly. “I'll take all the blame.”
“This is final?”
“It is. And I am surprised that you should request this of me.”
“He will defeat you.”
“So be it.”
McDermott was exceedingly angry, but he could not help admiring the young man's resoluteness and direct honesty.
“You are making a fatal mistake. I shall make an enemy of the man, and I shall not be able to help you. I have a great deal at stake. If we lose the eighth, we lose everything, and for years to come.” ”

“ Carrington, his opponent, was not handsome, but he had a fine, clean-cut, manly face, an intrepid eye, a resolute mouth, and a tremendous ambition. He lived well within his income, the highest recommendation that may be given to a young man of these days.
He threw himself into the fight with all the ardor of which his nature was capable; whereas Williard was content to let the machine direct his movements. The truth is, Williard was indifferent whether he became mayor or not. ”

“ My honesty is my bread and butter ... and my conscience.”
“Corporations have no souls; politics has no conscience. Williard——”
“My name is Carrington”—abruptly. “In a matter of this kind I cannot permit myself to be subjected to comparisons. You brought about my present position in municipal affairs.”
“We had need of you, and still need you,” confessed the other reluctantly. “The party needs new blood.”
“You are a clever man, Mr. McDermott; you are a leader; let me appeal to your better judgment. Murphy is a blackguard, and he would be in any party, in any country. ”

“ McDermott smiled again. “I have made a mistake in not coming to you earlier. There is a great future for a man of your kidney, Carrington. You have a genuine talent for politics. You possess something that only a dozen men in a hundred thousand possess, a tone. Words are empty things unless they are backed by a tone. Tone holds the auditor, convinces him, directs him if by chance he is wavering. You are a born orator. Miller retires from Congress next year. His usefulness in Washington has passed. ”

“ What would the voters say if they heard that their respective candidates were hobnobbing at a private club? Carrington played billiards in the basement while Williard played a rubber at whist upstairs; and the Saturday rides out to the country club became forgotten. Only a few cynics like myself saw the droll side of the situation; and we were confident that when the election was over the friendship would be renewed, all the more strongly for the tension.
One night, some weeks before the election, Williard dined alone with the Senator at the Gordon home. Betty Gordon was dining elsewhere. ”

“ You must have popularity to back you. I have observed that you are a very ambitious young man.”
“Not so ambitious as to obscure my sense of right.”
“I like your pluck, my boy, though it stands in your own light. I'll do all I can to pacify Murphy. Good-night and good luck to you.” And McDermott made his departure.
Carrington remained motionless in his chair, studying the night. So much for his dreams! He knew what McDermott's “I'll do what I can” meant. If only he had not put his heart so thoroughly into the campaign! Was there any honesty? Was it worth while to be true to one's self? ”

“ That same evening Carrington and McDermott, the Democratic leader, met by appointment in the former's law-offices. McDermott was a wealthy steel manufacturer who had held various State and national offices. As a business man his was absolute honesty. He gave liberal wages, met his men personally, and adjusted their differences. There were as many Republicans as Democrats in his employ. Politics never entered the shop. Every dollar in his business had been honestly earned. ”

“ But this Matthews matter: you will have to swallow him or be swallowed.”
“He's a rascal.”
“Perhaps he is. Once you are elected, however, you can force him out, and be hanged to him. Just now it would be extremely dangerous. My boy, politics makes strange bed-fellows, as the saying goes. These men are necessary; to fight them is to cut your own throat. No one knows just how they get their power; but one morning you wake up and find them menacing you, and you have to placate them and toss them sops.” ”

“ Besides all this (for the secret must be told) , Carrington was in love and wished to have all these things to lay at the feet of his beloved, even if she returned them. You will regularly find it to be true that the single man is far more ambitious than his married brother. The latter invariably turns over the contract to his wife.
Williard was deeply in love, too, and, oddly enough, with the same girl. Senator Gordon's lovely daughter; and Senator Gordon was that mysterious power which directed the Republican forces in his section of the State. ”

“ Of the subsequent events—those which did not come under the head of politics—I learned but little; but, bring a newspaper man, I do not lack a fertile imagination.
Carrington had ridden twelve miles into the country. At eight o'clock the temperature changed and it began to snow. He turned and rode back toward the city, toward victory or defeat. Sometimes he went at a canter, sometimes at a trot. ”

“ They immediately hustled around and secured as candidates for the mayoralty two prominent young men whose honesty and integrity were unimpeachable. Caliban, as is his habit, sheathed his sword and went back to his bench, his desk, or whatever his occupation was.
On the Republican side they nominated a rich young clubman. Now, as you will readily agree, it is always written largely on the political banner that a man who is rich has no incentive to become a grafter. The public is ever willing to trust its funds tn a millionaire. ”

“ They say that your private life is profligate.”
“Oh, come now, Betty!”—laughing diffidently.
“They say that you gamble at poker and win and lose huge sums.”
“Your father plays poker in Washington; I've seen him.”
“He's not on trial; you are. ”