The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-03-18

apcechmnking tour. TO DC very quietly
conducted, before the caucus, and thus
John Aliens remarkable talent for
writing short addresses became known
20 his employer. Wndsworth himself
Ind never made n sct speech In his life
ilc had no difficulty IN learning and
delivering the speeches, for his couii'
dcncc In his memory was absolute. lie
had. indeed. II wonderful gift such M
one seca In II very bright child AT the
10 called memory age" page OF the
dictionary TO be rccIicd forward OF
backward would not have appalled,
Wndsworth. though he wns past forty
Ave
When lildn glanced across the room
Ing The manuscript Of n speech which
he had prepared on the previous day.
doubtless the one which Wadswortll
was 10 deliver Al tho Washington
birthday banquet the following even.
Ing This banquet was TO be- given nn,
der the auspices Of cotcric of silk
stockings who were known TO be bit
ferIy opposed to the candidacy OF
WadAworth, and there had been sur.
prise among the wisc when he received
his invitation, The general opinion was
that an attempt would be made during
the evening To show the strength OF tho
opposition within the party and per,
haps start boom for another candi'
date right before Wadsworth's eyes.
iIiIdu had heard these rumors. and she
wns sorcly gricvcd by the thought that
n man who was nj heart so honest
should face his enemies with no better
ammunition than Il speech written BY
n hired rascal and delivered mcchan.
lrally, IN the manner Of phonogrnph.
That this performance should take
pncc IN the name Of the honored Fa.
ther Of His Country made II even more
distressing
MIR Allen"
The young man arose slowly and
crossed 10 lIilda.
This was with Mr. Wadsworth'F
mail" she said Il opened II by mis-
take"
She gave him the letter, from which
the check pro;ruded His face flushed
suddenly. He looked at her steadily
You read this note" said he. And
Hlda inclined her head.
Allen himself had not yet read 1t, and
hc supposed that II was much more
definite
What do you intend TO dor be
asked.
Il shall tell Mr. Wadsworth,"
Allen showed no alarm.
Il will not remind you" said he after
pause, that your information comes
from my private correspondence. | am
perfectly willing that you should lay
this matter before Mr.. Wadsworth, but
upon one condition"
State IT,"
II can prove that this affair IL entire
" legitimate, but cannot do 1t today.
Tomorrow Is holiday; we shant be
here. My condition Is that you wait
until The following morning so that
your accusation and my defense may
be laid before Mr. Wadsworth at the
same time"
Il will wait" said Hlda after brief
hesitation, though have no faith In
your defense. You have taken pay for
influencing MIR. Wadsworths action In
some political matter. He will never
forgive you
we shall see" responded Allen with
such complete assurance that HIlda was
deeply disturbed.
She was tempted to exercise a wo-
mans privilege and recall her promise,
but was restrained by something In
Aliens manner As he turned away he
seemed to be suppresslng laugh.
During the forenoon she was busy
with dictatlon, and at the close of 1t
Wadsworth said:
Il shall be away this afternoon, but
II you'll leave the letters for me I'll
come over this evening and send them
Off"
Accordingly about 3 O'clock Hilda en-
tered the private office carrying the let
ters. The room was dark and cold, and
gust of wind as she opened the door
scattered some paper along the floor
She turned on the light, closed the Win
dow and began TO gather up the loose
sheets that had been dislodNcd by the
draft They revealed themselves as be-
longing To the Washington address
which Allen had written. 1t must have
been lying on the leaf Of the desk. A
sentence in the manuscript attracted
lliIda's attention:
Because of the undenIabc greatness
Of WaShlngtons nature friends Of lib,
crty were emboldencd to defend our
cause even in the legislative halls of
England, where Pitt and Sir Isaac
Newton and the celebrated Sir Boyle
Roche
llIlda stared aghaSt. Then she has,
tiIy put the pages in order and read the
address from beginning to end with ris-
ing wrath. 1t was n bold and clever at
tempt to make Mr., Wadsworth ridicu-
lous. Ii abOundcd in the names Of his
torlcal pcrSonageS some of them dead