The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-04-30
CONTINUED from yesterday.D

life.
Public life-active nfe," said I.
Here there are other things, and
l looked toward my two daughters,
whose laughter reached Us from their
pony-cart just rounding a distant
curve in the drive.
His gaze followed mine, and he
watched the two children until they
were out of sight, watched them with
the seddest, hungriest look in his
eyes. Guess you're right" he said
grufHy.
After a silence 1 asked: whats
the news?'
A quizzical smile just curled his
lips, and it broadened into a laugh
as he saw my own rather shamefaced
smile Of understanding. Seems to
me-" said he, that | read somewhere
once how a king, perhaps 1t was an
emperor, so hankered for the quiet joys
that he got off the throne and retired
to monastery-and then established
lines of post-horses from his old cap
ital to bring him the news every half
hour or So reckon he'd have
taken his job back if he could have
got It,"
Il reckon" said I.
Well" said he, "the news is that
they're about to GUST you from the
craftsmanship of the national commit
tee and from control Of this state"
''Really?" said !, in an Indifferent
tone. though | felt anything but in
different.
Really" said he Burbank is
throwing out our people throughout
the country and is putting Goodrich
men in place of 'em-wherever our
fellows won't turn traitor And they've
got hold OF Roebuck He's giving a
dinner at the Auditorium tomorrow
night It's a dinner of II covers. /
think you can guess who ten Of 'em
are for. The eleventh is for Dom
inick!"
That was enough. 1 grasped the
situation instantly The one weak
spot in my control of my state was
my having left the city bosses their
local power, instead of myself ruling
the cities from the state capital Why
had I done this? Perhaps the bottom
reason was that / shrank from. per-
hitting any part of the machine for
which l was directly responsible to
be financed by collections from vice
and crime. l admit that the distinc-
ton between corporate privilege and
plumber and the pickings and steal
ings and prostitutions of individuals
is more apparent than real. l admit
that the kinds of vice and crime I
tolerated are far more harmful than
{ the other sorts which are petty and
make loathing outcasts of their
wretched practitioners. Still, I was
snob or Pharisee or Puritan enough
to feel and to act upon the imagin-
airy distinction. And so, 1 had left
the city bosses locally independent
for, will out the revenues and other
aids froI l vice and crime, what city
political Machine could be kept up?"
"Domini X" l exclaimed.
Exactly said Woodruff. Now,
Mr.. Sayler. he point is just here. I
don't blame you for wanting to get
olg If l ha any other game, I'd get
o1t myself But what's to become
of us-all OF tour friends, not only
in this state but throughout the
country? Are you going to stand by
and see them slaughtered and not
lift a finger to help 'em?"
There was no answering him. Yet
the spur of vanity, which clipped into
me at thought of myself thrown down
and out by these cheap ingrates and
scoundrels, had almost instantly
ceased to sting, and my sense of
weary disgust had returned. If I
went into the battle again, what work
faced me? The same old monotonous
round To outflank Burbank and Good
rich by tricks as old as war and pol
itics, and effective only because hui
man stupidity is infinite and unteach-
able. To beat down and whip back
into the ranks again these bandits
of commerce disguised as respectable.
church-going, law-upholding men of
property-and to do this by the same
old method OF terror and force.
You can't leave us in the lurch"
said Doc. And the game promises
to be interesting once more. don't
like racing on the fat It's the hur-
dies that makes the fun"
l pictured myself again circus
horse going round and round the
ring. jumping the same old hurdles
at the same old intervals. Take my
place, Doc said l.
He shook his head I'm a good
second" said he, but a rotten bad
first"
1t was true enough He mysteri
ously lacked that mysterious some
thing which, when a man happens
to have been born with it, makes
other men yield him the command
give it to him, force it on him, If
he hangs back
What do you want me to do?" I
asked