San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-04-06

tone of failure. Evidently he was dis
satisfied, and as intercourse brought
back again to reunited friends their
former trustfulness and candor he con-
fessed the secret reason.
al ought never to have taken clerk
ship" be said, "and / must get out of
government service US quickly as posi-
BILE, or DO content to be q clerk all my
life, and that would be to surrender. AS
it is / simply keep along. l am nobody.
just live. My surroundings are mean.
wish to goodness the Democrats would
win in 1880; then we would all be set
adrift.r
"lt's very hard getting started in New
York, can tell you," said Windward.
"But it's impossible here" retorted
Stevens fretfully. There's no start to
get; though l will say this, Windward,
I'm out Of the clutches of the money
brokers. had to live on bread and
water to do it, but after three years I'm
out of debt, and Tn worth two hundred
and twenty dollarsl"
"Now You talk like yourself" said
Windward. 'Oh, you'll get along,
| Peter"
"Well, mean TO-" Stevens replied,
"but | must civil service reform myself
out of Office to begin with. I'm keeping
my eyes open for chances. Pm cultivat-
| ing that private secretary, for instance
He is in the way of hearing of good
thing now and then. should rather like
to be a railroad man."
"Weu, you haven't got married,
Peter" said Windward, changing the
subject.
"Oh, no; of course not" ne answered,
utterly, ~ can't afford it. And sou
don't seem 10 prosper with Cupid, either.
How is that"
"Oh, am altogether too sensible" re-
piled Windward. with little bitterness
and cyniciSm in his turn.
81 suppose somebody has carried off
Miss Florence by this time" said Stevens
in quite casual and Indifferent manner.
mo-" said Windward, "she's sensible
too" And there by tacit consent the two
young men dropped the subject rs one
on which they wers not yet ready to
converse with the liberty of friends, and
turned to politics, tho beauty of the
streets, the oddities of the negro popu-
lation, the topics Of congressional de-
bate and what not other commonplace
OF the time and place.
"You have come to Washington at
the height Of very stupid session."
said Stevens. There is no politics, and
congress detests business legislation.
The proceeding are dreary enough, but
Of course you want to sse the two
houses The senate has resolved itself
into a debating club, and is talking
finance by the mile. The house Is dis
cussing the new code of rules. Mem
bers don't seem to know that what con-
gress wants is not so much new rules as
new men. There are the usual odd
stsgers' besieging the committee rooms.
'.Isuppose come in somewhere there,
interrupted Windward, laughing.
81 don't know whether the French
claims have gone even so far as that in
this congress-" said Stevens. But II
SO they must fight for place with the
sugar tariff and the electoral count bill,
and interstate commerce, and the re-
funding bill, and the Ute question, and
the Fitz John Porter case, and the
Heather Chinee, and the contested cleo
ton cases, and / don't know what else.
| read the other day that there were
over seven thousand bills already intro
duced and now pending, so you can
guess what chance there is for any one
getting through. But I'm wonderfully
glad you've come down, % the same,
Windward, and you will be very much
interested in all you see."
1t was perhaps because Windward's
visit had recalled old times, times Of
romance and aspiration, that, after his
friend had retired that night, Stevens
unlocked a drawer and took out formal
looking manuscript on the Dangers Of
Representative Institutions" The au-
thor turned over the pages carelessly till
he came to some dried and brittle leaves
of a pressed rose. The clerk gazed at
the relic moment, then with an ex-
clamation and gesture of impatience he
folded the manuscript up again, locked
it in the drawer, sat staring into the fire
while, then, with q second and sharper
exclamation and gesture Of impatience,
hastily undressed and was soon asleep.