The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-08-28

let slip the thought tina was with him
most of the time; y ~ man ought, not to
ask ii girl to wall until 5hc.H lad gained a
,compctencyf upon which 70 support a wife.
" He had meant TO stop with that liz
Ind told her IL hundred times with his
eyes tl,a,. lie loved cher, E ind it was iii
keeping With his diplomatic charactc TO
embrace tho opportunity 3 fSsayingS I Q her
in this way hat he would never tell llet
so with #lilsAlips.
DO NolS$ think that fhirSt he girl::"i
she asked. Nj III ri .8 3l3
he replied In tone that his friends knew
always closed al, argument $sjy3
But suppose the girl would raj her8wait
than accept the other life ~ ss;
she will not be that big i fool; rs she
iwillfboijust as happy with some other 4fol-
low as with that last word was a
slip that he a ways charged$t to a Witchery
of the omn!potent8 river Tho girl II that
Shack lett could n Owe with lis Who'll soul
was of necessity a. girl Al that could talk
as frankly and Y vet as care fully d s the
a lobbyist spoke to lie IN enlber
who was chiefly concerned about fooling
himself as well as his constituents
Not II she real ly owes YOU. .sshe said,
clearly; and YOU arc ding her the great
est injury of her tlife In allowing her to
suffer because Of s&falsef philanthropy on
your part. She has ms good a right to cast
her own future as YOU have to- cas- yours.
and a much better3right than YOU havo
TO cast hers for her. II. s. n u y. "A
3Shacklett hated sham unless there wa
good Greaso forFit; he only helped a lcgis-
.latoi.to fool llimsel c whcnNit was a bso te-
Ily necessary il,is ord 4 to obtain results.
He ceased ,to he impc rsonal. SS j
- No; t{I u can't argue against tina ---1'y
tried to 5doEit to myself -bll + neverthele
I{shallSnot tic you up like tina tSlouscboat
until e am a BILE to pilot you through the
,rapidsn--and the girl knew that the ma t.
ter was settled as well $as CantWell knew
that 1T was useless &tostalk to Shacklet
about an ordinary amount for those two
members Al. B Y d s9s 81
And, neverthel less; Sshal, control my.
own rutnre,,t she said Hs That was four
years ago, and Shacklett knew that the!
home vas waiting, him when he reached
1t, as surely as the a louse--bont wintcrlngI
III tie canal would final VI tie up In the
warm 3sullllg llt Z at N eWS Orleans. u
Now for / lie firstSu me, Sllarklett saw
the home and the girl icloscr8to him than
the railroad bird GO md the lportico OF the
State House. d He had at east SIS, 600 in.
his pocket tina & would he iii sEown money,
unless Graves made a bull. rs Graves was
not always sure, but his rake off ought
TO make him as certain as a sharps hooter:
those chances had to be taken.
There was no way to improve them eX-s
cept to make Graves over, and that could
not be done in two hours. IA Il
III mi ght as we'll be said for the salts
factions Of the good people who cannot
lllt.lce the distinction between buying
votes In the legislature and other equally
illegal methods OF obtaining things. that
such L thing lis stealing theNmoney OF
the Chicago gang would never have en-
tered Shacklettss mind, 5lf there had been
danger OF that, Cantwcll would not have
given a I to him, Of course. Il Both knew
that there could be no real demand made
for tic return OF the money given for
such "a purpose by that gang; but both
knew It was as safe with Shncklctt as
with tile cashier of the First National
Bank Shacklett hud long since got past
the stage of moralizing about the pur-
chase Of Legislators. at was five years
before that lie was a clerk of committee,
ana ever since he had boon IL close stu
dent OF thai particular genus. He read
the remarks bout bribery In the papers
exactly AS the rest Of us read n olstoy;
ana he had no more intention OF living
5un to the standard Of the civil service
refornlerss than the rest of lis have OF
lllyfngs6up TO the example Of Jesus Of
Nazareth, He watched a rev legislature
come In az the orator watches the people
usliered into his audience; and he looked
at the members seriatim as the physio-
ilogIst studies the animals In his Elabora-
tory, hut with a little more enjoyment In
yIyisection, 1t was as near right to Y SO
a legislator for one's own purpose as It
was Ito open an oyster shell Or shoot q
hear. rs The whole genus were In I. SPRING
y ield solely because Of the operation the
law OF tile survival OF the strongest III
practical politics.. II they succumbed to
the stronger lobbyist, the Law WAS still
fulfilled. shacklett, however, could not
have formulated MI this for he was little
given to iutrospection;B but It paints the
iiepislat ure from his point OF view. Il Res
low him, his field OF vision was filled WI j.
the legislature; above him. i could cons
tain only the girl. And ms no walked
rapidly down under the bridge and up the
steps of{the State House, he was looking
upward at the girl nearer than she had
liver been4to him before. Il II
Shacklett dock the elevate 10 the second
floor, and went directly to the office of
the board of which Graves was chief
clerk, As he walked through TO the pri-
va e Office OF the secretapy With Ills staid
dignity, not so much as glnncing 10 either
side, nor seeming to notice even Graves.
anybody not acquainted In the Third
House at Springfield would have been sure
thai lie WAS the executive officer OF the
board That WAS wayfthat Shacklctt
mud AZ nsver beckoned "a man 10 him,
even by 50 much MS q turn OF. the eyesi
when he Went past q friend without
speaking thai friend followed him; II
saved much suspicion on the palr Of the
people VINO had an Interest n knowing
whom, he Get III
When Graves cannlinto the inner Office
and shut tlle don, Sharkleil wat not