John D. Barry

“ Fanny burst out laughing. “You! You get into politics?”
Guy looked injured. “I don’t see anything funny about that.”
“And do the things that Uncle Doug does?” Fanny cried.
“Yes,” said Guy, in a loud voice.
Fanny seized him by both arms. “Now, look here. You’re no more fit for politics than—well, than dad is, and the mere sight of a politician makes dad froth at the mouth. Oh, he says awful things about ’em!”
“Then he hates your uncle, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t, stupid!” Fanny cried, shaking him. “But he says Uncle Doug made the greatest mistake of his life when he went into politics. ”

“ They were in that most miserable of human situations where, loving each other, they were able only to cause each other pain. Briggs found relief in his work; Helen devoted more time to the children. She began to wonder if she had not neglected them, if she had not left them too much to their governess. It seemed to her, at times, that they cared as much for Miss Munroe as for herself. Of course, Miss Munroe was in many ways valuable, but she was provincial and narrow-minded and she petted the children too much and gave them sentimental and foolish notions. ”

“ Fanny assented, meekly. She kissed Helen; then she kissed her uncle. She approached Guy Fullerton on tiptoe and held her hand high in the air. “Good-night, sir,” she said, softly.
A half-hour later the house was in darkness, save for a light in the library, where Douglas Briggs sat writing. After an evening of excitement he never could rest, and he found that some quiet work soothed his nerves. He was one of those men who seemed to thrive with very little rest; he had often worked all night, not even lying down, without showing in his face the next day a trace of the vigil. ”

“ With her fine sense of character, a sense he had never known to err except with regard to himself, she must long ago have learned to appreciate the journalist’s character. Briggs wondered if she suspected that he was trying to use Farley. Once the thought made him boldly accuse himself. But he found a vindication in the thought that he was fighting his way against odds toward an honorable goal. Once elected to Congress, he would do everything in his power to atone for the wrong he had done. His future life would be not merely an expiation, but a vindication. ”

“ He was glad to be able to assure himself it was not pride that made the thought of appealing to her distressing; it was the fear that she should be worried by discovering he was so harassed; like a woman, the solution would seem to her far more serious than it really was. Even now, he told himself that he must be careful in talking over the taking into the family of the two girls; he must not let her realize what an immense help the money would be to them.
That night when he returned home, he found Helen already dressed for dinner. ”

“ Miss Wing and Miss Moore rose and walked to the farthest corner of the conservatory. By some physical expression they seemed to wish to indicate that a marked difference existed between themselves and the shabby, careworn little figure in black.
Mrs. McShane looked relieved. Her face brightened. “It’s a beautiful reception, isn’t it?” she said to Farley, in an awe-stricken voice.
Farley looked vaguely about the room, as if making an estimate. “Yes,” he said, slowly. “It must have cost Briggs a tidy bit of money.” ”

“ Briggs continued. “I might as well tell you frankly that I can only give you the assurance of my good faith, of my honesty of intention. I’ve made blunders in my career so far that I shall regret to my dying day. I’ve been the target of the sensational newspapers; but I don’t mind that. Many of the stories printed about me, I can honestly say, have been absolute calumnies. Some of the censure has been deserved. I suppose that the lesson of politics can’t be learned in a day. ”

“ Farley himself hardly realized how much his view of life was influenced by his attitude toward women. He had the exalted view of women that only those men can take who have kept their lives clean. He had first become interested in Douglas Briggs through seeing Briggs’s wife. He thought there must be remarkable qualities in a man who could win the love of a woman like that. Until within a few months he had seen Helen only a few times. ”

“ He wondered what men had to live for who did not have wife and children to think of, to give them incentive for their work. He had always been an optimist and he had felt a curious surprise when he heard people express a dissatisfaction with life. Even his trials and his disappointments had brought with them something stimulating. But now he often sank into despair.
Guy Fullerton was consoled in his confinement in Washington by the sense of his importance to his employer and by the letters that he received from Fanny Wallace. ”

“ Fanny sat on the edge of the desk. “He said you were busy. You—busy!”
Douglas Briggs smiled. “Well, I don’t seem to be busy whenever you’re around, do I? Still, I have to do a little work now and then.”
“I think there’s too much work in the world,” Fanny pouted. “Now there’s poor Guy. Think how he works!”
“Guy! Why, at this minute he’s sound asleep, and it’s nearly ten o’clock.”
“But think how he worked at that old nomination meeting of yours! He didn’t get home till nearly morning.”
“Well, I didn’t, either.”
“But you’re tough, Uncle Doug; Guy is delicate.” ”

“ Some of them were, of course, glad to be free and Briggs realized the commonplace thought with astonishment. There were some men who did not care for family-life, who were unfitted for it. It had become impossible for him to think of any other kind of life as endurable. Well, it was good that they could all, the happy and unhappy, come to a game of baseball and forget there was such a thing as care in the world. ”

“ Meanwhile, in Waverly, Helen Briggs was suffering as poignantly. The sight of the place where she had first met the young man who was to become her husband and where they had known their first great happiness, added to her misery. ”

“ As for the charge West had made against Douglas, that was merely another of the calumnies circulated about him since he had begun to be successful in Washington. Why was it that one man could not prosper without exciting the hatred and the envy of so many other men? Douglas, she felt sure, had never done anything to injure anyone. His success had been won by his own abilities and industry. He had worked harder than any other man in Washington. ”

“ Douglas Briggs sighed. Mrs. Burrell represented the type of woman before whom he had most difficulty in maintaining his air of confidential friendliness. For her husband, the shrewd old business man from Maine, who was serving his first term in Congress, he felt a genuine liking. His weariness at this moment prompted him to make one of his pleasant speeches. When most bored he always tried hardest to be agreeable. ”

“ Helen wondered if she had not pampered them too much. At times she became nearly distracted with the problem of living. She tried to console herself by reflecting that she had two thousand dollars a year of her own and that during the summer the expenses of the house in Waverly were far less than this sum. But such sophistry gave her little help; the truth which she must face was that they were living beyond their means. Someone must suffer from their dishonesty. ”

“ Sometimes, on the other hand, he became rebellious and he pitied himself as a man unjustly and inhumanely treated. No woman had a right to treat a man like that, a man who had always tried to be good to her, too. No woman had a right to expect her husband to be perfect.
It seemed curious that at this time Douglas Briggs should have found solace in the companionship of Guy Fullerton. The boy’s eager interest in life and his simplicity of mind amused and interested the older man. In spite of his four years of money-spending at Harvard, Guy had not been spoiled ”

“ Helen asked.
Farley could not keep from smiling at the simplicity of the question. “Hardly that. That would be more than we could hope for. But if we can only have the thing investigated, and get the people to realize what’s been done, why, his political career will be over. There’s a whole gang of ’em in with him; but most of ’em have covered their tracks.” Farley sighed. “It’s strange,” he said, “how hard it is to rouse public opinion. Sometimes I believe our people are the most indifferent in the world. They haven’t any sense of personal responsibility. ”

“ Mrs. Burrell drew nearer Helen. “She’s in love,” she whispered.
Helen smiled. “There isn’t any great harm in that.”
“There wouldn’t be,” Mrs. Burrell agreed, “if the young man belonged to her station in life. But he don’t. He ain’t got a cent to his name.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. But isn’t there anything else against him?—besides his being poor, I mean.”
“Oh, I guess he’s good enough,” Mrs. Burrell acknowledged, grudgingly. “I never heard anything against him. His name is Rufus James,” she added, as if this fact in some way explained his condition. “He’s here in Washington now.” ”

“ Stone nodded, and they slowly made their way through the crowd, Stone without speaking and looking straight ahead, and Briggs exchanging a few smiling words with those of his guests whom he could remember by name. At his wife’s parties he frequently sustained long conversations with people whom he could not remember to have seen before, but whom he impressed by his interest and friendliness. It was this faculty of being agreeable that [Pg 95] made enthusiastic young girls say of him: “When he is talking with you, you feel that you’re the only person in the world he cares anything about.” ”

“ Like most buoyant natures, Douglas Briggs often had sudden attacks of depression. His talk with Farley, followed by the interview with Franklin West, had taken away all his enthusiasm. Farley, he thought bitterly, had just said that this was a great night for him. Yes, it was a great night. It advertised him before the country as one of the most successful men in Washington and one of the richest men in Congress. What if the papers did ask where he got his money? They were always asking such questions about public men. He need have no fear of them. ”

“ Briggs remarked, with a sigh, “but it’s pretty hard to see it sometimes.”
[Pg 315]
“I’ve thought of that myself,” Farley replied, dryly.
“But I’m beginning to find out one thing, Farley. The Almighty often likes to give us what we deserve by letting us have the things we want.”
“Sometimes He gives us more than we deserve,” said Farley, in a low voice.
“Well, if a man gets it in the neck, it’s something to be able to stand up against it. And no matter how much you’ve had to take, Farley, you can have the satisfaction of knowing what you are.” ”

“ Two days later, while Douglas Briggs was smoking his after-dinner cigar in the library and chatting with Fanny Wallace, whose presence in the house greatly relieved the embarrassment of his strained relations with his wife, Michael entered and announced Mr. Farley. “There are two gentlemen with him, sir,” said Michael, “Mr. De Witt and Mr. Saunders.”
Briggs flushed. “Ah!” he said, as if the callers had suddenly assumed importance in his eyes. ”

“ He had seen men break down before under the strain of a political campaign.
“When a man has to go through life without any self-respect he’s apt to get pretty tired of himself. And when he has a wife who knows what he is!” Briggs threw back his head and laughed. “God! I suppose there are thousands of men right here in New York who are like that. Their wives know they’re blackguards, and they know they know it!”
The two men sat in silence. The look of worry was deepening in Farley’s face. ”

“ Briggs saw that his fears regarding the Burrell girls had been unnecessary. Toward Helen they maintained an air of worshipful devotion that greatly amused him, and they seemed to enjoy being with the children, too. He saw that, in spite of their acquired worldly air, they were really simple country girls, easily abashed and genuinely simple and kind. He grew interested in them and he began to wonder, as he often did in the case of unattached girls, if he could not help them to find husbands. ”

“ On the night of the election Farley stood at the telephone in Douglas Briggs’s library. “Oh, hello! hello!” he called. “Yes, this is Mr. Briggs’s house. Yes, Congressman Briggs. What?” He glanced at Guy, who sat at the table in the centre of the room. “They’ve shut me off!” he said, disgusted. He rang impatiently. Then he rang again. “Hello! Is this Central? Well, I want Central. Who are you? No, I rang off long ago. Well then, ring off, can’t you?” He turned toward Guy. “Damn that girl!” Then an exclamation in the telephone caused him to say, hastily, “Oh, excuse me.” He smiled at Guy. ”

“ He turned away, with disappointment and resentment in his face. “I see that it’s useless to try to please you. Perhaps it’s just as well that you’re not going to Washington with me.”
She rose from her seat and started to leave the room; but, on an impulse, she stopped. “I suppose a woman’s way of looking at these things is different from a man’s, Douglas. A woman can’t understand how hard it is for a man—how many temptations he has. ”

“ The only trouble with you, Briggs, is, you’re too easy. You don’t [Pg 97] seem to remember that we’re not in politics for our health. Those fellows think we ought to do all our work for glory. They’ve got plenty of money themselves, and they believe we ought to get along without any.”
“I suppose there’s some truth in that,” Briggs acknowledged.
“But don’t you let them fool you,” Stone went on. “They’re in the game for what they can make, just as you and I are. Bah, I know ’em. When they want anything from me they come and fawn and lick my boots, just as the dirtiest of my heelers do. ”