The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-04-13

again if her prayer for me were not
| answered-and ! saw she rather sus
| pected that her threat was not unas
| ISOLATED with my recovery.
Eight weeks out of touch with af-
| fairs, and they the crucial eight weeks
| of all my years of thought and action I
| At last the harvest, indeed; and | was
| reaping what / had sovn.
In the second week OF January | re-
| VOTED against the doctors and nurses
and had my political secretary.
/ WheeIock, telephone for Woodruff
| he legislature had elected him to
! the senate three days before. When
he had sat with me long enough TO
realize that j could bear bad news,
/ ne said: Goodrich and Burbank have
| formed a combination against you
How do you kncw?" said I, show
Ing no surprise, and feeling none.
"Becanse"-he laughed-'I was in
| it. AT least, they thought so until
| they had let me be safely elected. As
| nearly as | can make out, they be-
| gan the plot about ten days after
| you fell sick. At first they had it
On the slate to do me up. too. But
the day after Christmas-Burbank sent
| for me-
Wait a minute" interrupted. And
/ began to think. 1t was on Christmas
day that Burbank telephoned for the
first time in nearly three weeks, in
curing about my condition. l remem-
bered their telling me how minute
his questionings were. And / had
thought his solicitude was proof of
his friendship, Instead, he had been
fnquiring to make sure about the re-
ports in the papers that l was GER
tain to recover, in order that he
might shift the factors in his plot ac-
cordingly. When did you say Bur
bank sent for your" ! asked.
"On Christmas day." Woodruff re-
piled.
/ laughed; he looked at me inquir-
fngly. Nothing" said I. "Only an
old joke-as old as human nature. Go
on"
Christmas day" he continued; Il
didn't get to him until next morning.
I can't figure out just why they in
vited me into their combine"
But l could figure it out, easily. II
1 had died, my power would have dis
fntegrated and Woodruff would have
been no use to them. When they
were sure I was going to live, they
had to have him because he might be
able to assassinate me. certainly
could SO cripple me that I would
as they reasonable helpless under
their assaults. But it wasn't neces-
sary to tell Woodruff this, / thought
Well said I, and what hap
pened?"
Burbank gave me a dose of his
great and gracious way-you ought
to see the side he puts on now!-
and turned me over to Goodrich. He
had been mighty careful not to give
himself away any further than that.
Then Goodrich talked to me for three
solid hours, showing me it was my
duty to the party as well as to myself
to join him and Burbank in eliminat-
ing the one disturber of harmony
that meant you
And did they tell you they'd de- |
stroy you If you didn't"
"Oh, that of course" he answered, |
We'll, what did you do"
played with 'em till / was elected /
Then 1 dropped Goodrich a line You |
so to HE'LL 1 wrote. L travel with |
men,"
Very imprudent," was my com.
ment
Yes" he admitted but 1 had to /
do something to get the dirt of my |
hands"
so Burbank has gone over to |
/ went on, presently, as
much to myself as to him.
Il always knew he was one of those
chaps You have to keep scared to
keep straight" said Woodruff They
think your politeness indicates fear,
and your friendship fright. Besides,
he's got a delusion that his popularity
carried the west for him and that |
Tou and | did him only damage"
Woodruff interrupted himself with a |
augh. "A friend of mine" he re-
;umed, was on the train with Scar
Borough when he went east to the
Meeting Of congress last month He
ellis me it was like president-elect
N the way to be inaugurated. The
people turned out at every crossroads.
wen beyond the Alleghanies And
Burbank knows it. IL he wasn't clean
laft about himself he'd realize that if
t hadn't been for you-well, I'd hate
o say how badly he'd have got left
But then. if it hadn't been for you.
led never have been governor He
vas a dead one. and you hauled him
ut of the tomb.
True enough. But what did it mat |
er now?
Hes going to get a horrible Jolt
efore many months Woodruff went
n. Il can see YOU after him"
You forget. He's president, an
vered. He's beyond our reach
Not when he wants renomina- |
ion, insisted Woodruff q
He can get that without us-if." e
said. You must remember we've !
aade him fetish with our rank and |
le- And he's something of a fetish '
nth the country now that he's presi- Q
emit No, we can't destroy him a
ant even injuTe him. He'll have / c
D do that himself, if it's done Be