The evening times., 1900-01-02
A COUNCIL OF STATE.

these places of honor and emoiument h.
invariably shrugged his shoulders and
smiled inscrutably. In fact, he found it
both more pleasant and more profitable
simply to boss his party. 1t gave him
power, position, and patronage and yet put
him under obligations to no narrow con-
stituency.
AS he sat in his private Office this par
ticular morning there was smile upon his
face, and his little eyes looked between
the heavy gray eyebrows and the massive
chdeks with CLEANS OF pleasure. His whole
appearance betokened the tact that he vas
feeling especially good. Even his mail lay
neglected before him, and his eyes gazed
| straight at the wall. What wonder that
/ he should smile and dream. Had he not
! just the day before utterly crushed trou-
| blesome opponent? Had he not ruined [ e
! career of young man who dased 10 opFo
| him, driven him out Of pubic life and
! forced his business 10 the wall? If this
were not food for sclf-congratulation, play
! what is?
Mr.. Hamilton's reverie was broken in
upon by tap at the door, and his sacre-
! tary entered.
! We'll Frank, what is it now? l haven't
! gone through my mail yet.
Miss Kirkman is in the outer office, sir,
and would like to see you this morning"
"Oh, Miss Kirkman, heh; we'll. snow her
! in at once"
| The secretary disappeared and returned
ushering in a young woman whom the
! ''bcss'' greeted cordially.
"Ah. Miss Kirkman good morning. Good
morning! Always prompt and busy, | see.
Have a chair"
I Miss Kirkman returned his greeting and
dropped into a chair. She began at once
fumbing in bag she carried
Wen get right to business she said.
! Il know you're busy, and SO am !, and l
! want TO get through. I've got 10 go ana
hunt servant for Mrs. Senator Dutton
when leave here"
! She spoke in loud voice and her words
rushed one upon the other as If she were IN
the habit of saying much in a short space
of time. This is trick of speech fre-
quently acquired by those who visit public
men Miss Kirkmans whole manner indi-
! Gated hustle and hurry. Even her attire
showed II. She was a plump woman, aged,
one would say. about thirty. Her hair was
brown and her eyes steely Eray-not
! bad face but one toe shrewd and aggTes-
! sive perhaps for woman. One might have
/ looked al her for long time and never
suspected the truth that she was allied TO
/ the colored race Neither features. hair,
/ nor complexion showed il. but then col
I ored'' is such an elastic word, and Miss
| Kirkman in reality colored for rev
! enue only" She found il more profitable
! 10 ally herself TO the less important race
! because she could assume position among
/ them as representative woman. which
/ she could never have hoped 10 gain among
| the whites. So she was Coiored, and with
! out having any sympathy with the people
I whom she represented spoke for them and
uttered What was supposed by the powers
! TO be the thoughts that were in their
! breasts.
We'll. from the way you're tossing the
! papers in tha; bag know you've got some
news for me-"
Yes | have but l don't know how i'm
! portant youll think it is. Here We are!
She drew forth paper and glanced at il.
It's just a memorandum, list OF
names OF few men who need watching
The Afro American convention Is to meet
on the I'D. that's Thursday OF next week
Bishop Carter is to preside. The thing
has resolved itself into a fight between
those who are ofFceholders and those who
want to be
Yes well what's the convention going
to doa"
They're going to denounce the admins
lration."
Hem. well in your judgment what
will that amount TO. Miss Kirkman?"
They are the representative talking
men from all sections OF the country and
they have their following. and so there's
no use disputiug that they can do some
harm
Hum what are they going to denounce
! the Administration for?"
oh there's spirit OF general dscon-
tent and they've got TO denounce some
thing so it had as well be the Administra-
tion as anything else"
There was new Gieam in Mr. Hamil-
! tons eye that was not one OF pleasure as
he asked. Who are the leaders in this
movement"
That's just what ! brought this list for
There's Courtney editor OF the New York
Beacon, who is rabid; there's Jones OF
| Georgia Gray OF Ohio
"Whew," whstled the boss Gray OF
Ohio? Why he's on the inside
Yes. and ] can't see what's the mat
| ter with him, he's got his position. an
he ough, 10 keep his mouth shut"
oh there are ways Of apI%ing the
screw. Go on.
Then too. there's Shackelford. of Mis-
sissppi. Duncan of South Carolina. Stowel
Of Kentucky. and a lot of smaller fry who
are not worth mentioning"
Are they organized?" -f -
Yes. Courtney has seen to- that. the
forces are compact
we must split them. How is tie
bishop"
Neutral"
ANY influence"
Lots of il.
''How's your young man. the one for
whom you're been soliciting place
what's his name"
Miss Kirkman did her womanhood TIE
credit of blushing Joseph Aldrich, you
mean You can trust TO me TO see that
he's on the right side
Happy is the man who has the right
woman to boss him, and who has sense
enough to be bossed by her; his path shall
be a path of roses, and his bed a fOWery
bed OF ease. Now to business. They must
not denounce the Administration. What
are the conditions of membership In This
convention -
Anyone may be present, but it costs
fee of s. for the privilege of the floor.
Mr. Hamilton turned to the desk and
made out a check. He handed II TO Miss
Kirkman saying Cash this. and pack
that convention for the Administration.
| lCCk to you and the people you may
have behind you TO check any rash reso-
lutions they may attempt to pass. ! want
you to be there every day and take notes
of the speeches made and their character
and tenor. | shall have Mr. Richardson
there also to help you. The record of
each mans speech will be sent TO his Gen.
tral committee. and We shall know how to
treat him in the future You know. Miss
Kirkman, it is our method to help our
friends and to crush our enemies. | shall
depend upon you to let me know which
is which Good morning"
Good morning, Mr.. Hamilton
And. oh. Miss Kirkman, just a mo-
ment. Frank" the secretary came in,