The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-02-23
The Price Of Silence

men did not point at him in trolley cars,
and the clerk at the Metropolitan Hotel
seemed to regard him much as any other
guest. Still capital newspapers inter-
viewed him, got the thoughts which he
had been retailing to his constituents dur
ing the past campaign and editorially de-
nounced him as a Populist James Vim
ton Hammond looked at these paDers
the morning after he had talked TO their
reporters rather expecting TO see himself
featured" az the Young Demosthenes
Of the West" Which was the Prosey
County Iliuminator's only name for him
Being raw-boned and philosophic young
fellow, however, he did not feel disap-
pointed. He knew that he was a good
talker and he had dreams of electrifying
brother Congressman and the people in
the galleries, as well as new members
have.
Since the government gave him 500
with which to hire a secretary, and il
seemed a proper thing for him TO do, he
hired one. He took her because she was
neatly, but plainly, dressed; was pale,
with pair OF pathetic eyes, and SEEM
ed in need Of help. Hammond was %
years old, a bachelor, Independently
wealthy, a little romantic, with a good
big heart in him. The girls name was
Lucy Harding, and she was from one of
the poorer mountain counties of Ken
lucky. She was an orphan, had come to
Washington the year before to obtain
a government place, had failed and since
then had supported herself in uneager
fashion by stenography, in a city where
every third woman and every fifth man
are sten0graphers. she did her work
well, and he noticed, in a month or two,
that her pale gray eyes had lost their
tired look and sparkled and her step was
as springy as it had been when she
climbed her native hills in the Ken
lucky dawns.
In the early summer a new tariff bill
was well under way, and the corridors
Of the capitol swarmed with special
agents" of various corporations. They
We're of all ages and both sexes, from the
fat and gray side-Whiskered promoter
from New York to the young and hand
some professional widow" arrayed in
costly black, with a black-fringed pocket
handkerchief ready for production at a
moments notice. 1t was understood that
the vote would be close on certain sched-
ules. On the day before the bill was re-
ported Hammond was invited to luncheon
in the House restaurant by q gentleman
of polished manners and uncertain age,
calling himself w. Langdon McEvarts.
He obtained an Introduction to the Indi-
ana man some time before, and had
spared no effort to warm himself into his
good graces and his confidence. Ham
mond did not form friendship readily, and
endured McEvarts mainly because he
thought it too much trouble to get rid
of him.
At table, McEvarts, Slightly flushed by
wine, said: ST like you extremely, Mr.
Hammond, and I am going to be little
Il beg that you will be nothing of the
kind" Hammond replied hastily.
Yes, yes said the other soothingly.
Il want you to hear me. 1 am the spe-
cial Washington agent for a corporation
of aluminium manufacturers and I have
succeeded in obtaining justice for my eli
ents from the ways and means commit
tee-simple justice, mind you, simple JUS
tice. Now, ] know that you have strong
influences with your Western colleagues
Hammond had not-"and ! ask you
now, as man TO man, not to oppose our
schedule. You are young and ambitious.
You want place, power and wealth. We
shall see that you get all three if you
befriend us. 1 don't ask you to vote for
our schedule if it Is opposed to your
ideas. I ask only your silence. It viii be
worth, I should say, 5000 to you, and our
Hammond, with a white face, called
the waiter to him and demanded the bill,
paid it and rose. He leaned over the ia
bic and shook a long and bony forefinger
in the special agents. face "You dirty
dog" he said. 'but for the noise it
would cause, 1 would kick you out Of the
building. 1 shall make it my business to
see that you scoundrels do not rob the
people, Then he walked out
The debate upon the most radical tariff
bill which had been offered in years pro-
ceeded at wearisome length. It was hack
ed and clawed and ripped and torn and
broken and patched sewed up here and
opened out there, until its despairing Gre
ators could not recognize their Offspring
The aluminium schedule was near the
bottom Of the list, and Hammond. voting
with his party, bided his
time. He knew the Speaker well and had
made arrangements to be allowed a half
hour of space when he should ask for it.
Lucy Harding, standing in the second
story corridor Of the capitol near TO the
station, waiting for the arrival
Of q page she had sent to the library for
4 book of reference, found herself uncon-
Sciously listening to the dispatches as
they clicked from the key of the sending
operator. She had been a telegrapher in
i little mountain station of a Kentucky
railway before coming to Washington
Suddenly she heard:
American Aluminium Emporium, 1907
Broad Street, New York City-Hammond
mmovable. Schedule up tomorrow. He
viii smash ii. Shall act promptly. There
S night session. Deplore necessity, but
{ means Millions
(Signed) "W. L. Nee"
Hammond had told the girl Of the Nc
s,veTts incident He had fallen into a !
habit Of late months of telling her many /
Kings. He found her both receptive and /
Expensive, taking an unfeigned interest /
Il his doings, his hopes and ambitions. I
She went now straight to the door of the /
chamber and sent in her /
ard. He came out in a moment and she I
old him of the telegram,
I shall speak against Ihe schedule /
-es,' he said, and 1 think that I can /
leat it. McEverts, 1 guess, IS only trying
o square himself with his employers.
They viii hold him responsible for failure /
# course"
Being 2 Westerner, and therefore in a
Measure used TO making his hand guard I
lis head. Hammond left the hotel for the
.apit9l at O'Clock n the evening with
IL of MS senses about him. lie did not
lelieve that the telegram meant psrtfc-
liar harm 20 him, but he realized that
-reat interests were involved. and ne
new that desperate men were 70 Be
ound IN the East, as well as IN the Wet
Consequently ne was armed. though he
ouId rot help smiling at himself "a he
hrUst the weapon irsto his hip pocket he
vent TO the % pstol, on the Penrsy lvsnla
venue line which says up the steep hi
o the south Of the giant structure. swung
~ when the summit was reached. and
walked toward the southeastern entrance.
The shadows were heavy under the great
.ortlc0. and ne noticed that the arc light
vas noI burning. As ae entered the dark
cur men rushed al hin from bshsad th.
marble pillars. One aimed a vicious blow
2 him. welding a cylindrical ohject ttat
7oked Ike a policemaus billy, ard xas II
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