The Alaska citizen., 1911-06-05

V.
 Francis E. Lewis was nearsilk stocking in politics-suave. soft spoken, bold. cynical and consci- enceless. selfish of his own power, merciless in his vengeance; altogeth- CT young man-he was 3b as against Warren's 32-altogether a young man 10 be reckoned with and consulted and pacified. Assiduous at tention 10 the interests of the peo- pie who had interests to protect had lifted him to his commanding posi- tion politically. had furthered his ambitions socially and had exalted him financially. As he climbed. the mere friction, of contact had given him superficial polish; but beneath that flimsy veneer were cunning and avariciousness and an unholy lust of power From the viewpoint Of the octopus he was an ideal man; and. this being true, the octopus was pleased to be permitted to eat out of his hand. He had had opposition at times. Some of it he had talked to death. some of it he had smashed and some of it he had bought out right, for the treasure vaults Of the octopus poured forth flood Of gold at his Open sesame!"
 When Jim Warren appeared on the horizon Lewis was in the ascend ency and coming to his zenith. A, the previous session he had routed opposition and personally named the speaker of the legislature. one Dwight Tillinghast Tillinghast was one of those innocuously rich men who had never been dishonest for the sole reason, perhaps. that 1t had never been necessary for him to be dishonest; and he was blessed with a conscience that worked on slid ing scale He was an ideal mask for the machinations of Lewis; and, seeing this. Lewis had made him speaker. Immediately after that he had dangled the governorship before Tillinghast's eyes. whereupon Filling hast became clay in his hands. In the course of events, all things go- ing we'll Lewis would make him governor. and then The boss lick ed his chops in contemplation.
 This being the condition, it was not odd therefore. that men smiled at Jim Warren's modest announce ment of his intention of making Lewis climb a tree and pull the tree up after nim. while the fiippant as- sertion made so little impression upon Lewis himself that he actually fcrgot to inquire of Franques. who knew everybody. just who Jim War ren was Instead. he went away mo- toring.
 Now the octopus is legitimate prey. Grasping it firmly by the tail. Jim Warren proceeded to tear great hand fuls of feathers out of it, after which he held it aloft and summoned the world 10 witness its naked shame. It was some time before the octopus noticed lAat anything unusual was going on-or coming off. The fact that it had noticed became evident one day when Franques received and opened a terSe note addressed to Lewis It contained few tart ln- quiries; who the duce was Jim War ren? Was he, Lewis, going to beat him? If so how? Would he need any help?
 Franques forwarded the terse note to Lewis.
 Jim Warren is a fool. as any oth- CT man is fool who tries to beat me in my own district" Lewis wrote easily in answer-"a two-dollar-a-day fool, without party affiliation or fol- lowing. I'll beat him, of course. How ever, it might be well to make an example of the fellow; so, any help you may see fit to extend in these circumstances-et cetera, ct cetera.'
 Soothed by this assurance of the man. who. above all others. ought to know, the octopus didn't squirm again for ten days or so; and it did not press the offer of help for the simple reason that it would have cost money and the octopus is fru- gal fish The occasion of it's next squirm was when Jim Warren relat- ed little of the inside history of railroad deal by which Warburton had been euchered out of divers and sundry municipal advantages, thanks