Litchfield enquirer., 1872-12-12

| Gentlemen, one moment" pleaded Pullwool, passing his greasy smile around the company, as though 1t were some kind of refreshment. 'sLook at the whole lob; it's big job. We must have lawyers; we must have newspapers in all parts of the State; we must have writers to work up the historical claims of the city; we must have fellows to buttonhole honora ble members; we must have fees for honora- ble members themselves. How can you do it for less ?''
 l Then he showed schedule; so much | to this wire-puller and that and the other; so much apiece to so many able editors; so much for eminent legal counsel; final ly, a trife for himself And one hundred | thousand dollars or thereabouts was what the schedule footed up, turn 1t whichever way you would.
 l Of course, this common council of Fast burg did not dare to vote such sum for such purpose. MT. Pullwool had not expected that 1t would; all that he had hoped for was the half of it; but that half he got.
 'Did they do it ?" breathlessly inquired Tom Dicker of him, when he returned to the hotel.
 ''They done it." calmly, yet triumph l antly, responded Mr. Pullwool l Thunder p exclaimed the amazed Dicker. You are the most extraordina- " man You must have the very Devil in you P
 Instead of being startled by this alarm ing supposition, MT. Pullwool looked gratiied. People thus possessed general ly do look gratifed when the possession is alluded to.
 But the inspired lobbyist did not pass his time in wearing an aspect of satisfac- tion. When there was money to get and to spend he could run his fat off almost as fast as if he were pouring 1t into can dle-moulds. The ring-the famous capi- tai ring of Fastburg 1must be seen to, it's 1 fingers greased, and its energy quickened. Before he rolled his apple-dumpling of 8 figure into bed that night, he had inter viewed Smith and Brown the. editors, Jones and Robinson the lawyers, Smooth and Slow the literary characters, various lobbyists and various lawgivers. l '.Work, gentlemen, and capitalize Fast burg and get your dividends, was his in- spring message to one and all. He prom l ised Smith and Brown ten dollars for eve- humbugging telegram, and two dollars
 
 son were to have five hundred dollars apiece for concurrent legal statements of the claim of the city; Smooth and Slow, as being merely authors and so not accus- toned to obtain much for their labor, got l hundred dollars between them for work ing up the case historically. To the lob | byist and members Pullwool was munif- | cent; it seemed as if those gentlemen could not be paid enough for their "infiu- ence;" as if they alone had that kind of time which is money. Only, while deal- ing iberally with them, the inspired one did not forget himself. A thousand for MT. Sly; yes, MT. Sly was to receipt for a thousand; but he must let half of it stick to the Pullwool fingers. The same ar rangement was made with Mr. Green and l Sharp and MT. Hummer and MT. Pick purse and MT. Buncombe. It was a game of snacks, half to you and half to me; and sometimes 1t was more than snacks,-a thousand for you two and a thousand for too.
 With such a greasing of the wheels, you may imagine that the machinery of the ring worked like a charm. In the city and 1 Tn the legislature and throughcqt the State there was the liYliest buzzing and humming and clicking of political wheels I and cranks and cogs that had ever been known in those hitherto pastoral locali- ties. The case of Fastburg against Slow burg was put in a hundred ways and proved as sure as it was put. It really seemed to the eager bqrghera as if they already heard the olink of hammers on a new State House and beheld D perpetual legislature sitting on their fences and curbstones until the edifice should be fin | ioho1 ho I, gang of stipendiaries were the objects of popular gratitude and adoration, The landlord of the hotel which Mr .Eullwaol potronized actually would not take pay for that gentleman's board.
 ''No, sir p declared this simple Boni- face, turning crimson with enthusiasm "You are going to put thousands of dol lars into my purse, and I'll take nothing out of yours. And any little thing in the way of cigars and whiskey that you want, sir, why, call for it. It's my treat, sir D
 ''Thank you, sir," kindly smiled the great man. 'That's what call the square thing. Mir. Boniface, you are a gentle man and scholar; and I'll men, tion your admirable house to my friends. By the way, shall have to leave you for few days"
 "Golng to leave us p exclaimed Mr. Boniface, aghast. 'I hope not till this job is put through"
 "I must run about bit" muttered Pullwool, confdentially, "A little turn through the State, you understand, to stir up the country districts. Some of the members aint as hot as they should be, and want to set their constituents af- ter them. Nothing like getting on a few deputations. .
 70, exactlyp chuckled Mr. Boniface, ramming his hands into his pockets and cheerfully jingling bunch of keys and a penknife, for lack of silver It was strange indeed that he should actually see the Devil in MT. PullwooPs eye and should not have suspicion that he was in dan ger of being humbugged by him. ''And your rooms?" he suggested ''How about l them?''
 'I keep them," replied the lobbyist, grandly as if blaspheming the expense to BOniface, ''Our friends must have a little hole to meet In. And while you are about it, MT. Boniface, see that they get | something to drink and smoke and we'll settle it between us."
 "Pre-cisely laughed the landlord, as much as to say, My treat p
 And so MT Pullwool, that Pericles and Lorenzo de Medici rolled in one, depart ed for a season from the city which he ruled and blessed. Did he run about the State and preach and crusade in be- half of Fastburg, and stir up the bucolic populations to stir up their representa- tives in it's favor? Not a bit of 1t the place that he went to was Slowburg yes, covering up his tracks in his usual style, he made direct for the rival of Fastburg. What did he propose to do there? O., how can we reveal the whole duplicity and turpitude of Ananias Pullwool? The subject is too vast for merely human pen; it requires the literary ability of record ing angel Well, we must put our feeble le- yer under this boulder of wickedness as we can, and do our faint best to expose all the reptiles and shiny things beneath it.
 The first person whom this apostle of lobbyism called upon. in Slowburg was the mayor of that tottering capital.
 "My name is Pullwool, l" he said to the official, and he said it with an almost en-