The Press., 1915-11-17

| ", but was ut once repealed by the
stern look on his face.
ION, my goodness gracious!' she ex-
claimed. "You have relapsed to your
old SELF
| "Do tell me- he said earnestly, ''how
| am different from what | was when
I saw you last"
| .Why, you haven't kissed me YETI
kissed your T.
The plan was nearly spoiled by this
revelation. That "rascally political
charlatan,' as Ferguson called Cav
| try in thinking of him, had been kiss
ing the lady. But Ferguson was a man
| of great self control, and instead of be-
traying himself he bent forward and
gave his ladylove reverential kiss.
This helped him out for awhile, but he
soon continued to lose ground again,
and in half an hour Miss Buell. was
sitting by him pouting. He tried to say
some soft things to her, but they
were spoken from the lips rather than
from the heart and produced a contrary
effect from the one intended. The con-
sequence was that the parting was not
what it should have been.
Ferguson returned to his room crest
| fallen. He was to have the floor OF
the house the next morning on very
| important bill and spent several hours
| before going to bed in preparation for
his coming effort He had endeavored
to excuse himself for his seeming cold
ness to Miss Buell. by telling her that
his mind was on his speech, and the
next morning she resolved to go to the
| capitol to hear it.
When Ferguson took the floor there
was the usual hum of conversat ton
and business, and it continued till the
speaker was half through his argu-
ment. But gradually certain infuen-
| tial members were attracted by what
he was saying, and before he had fin
ished the whole house was listening.
Miss Buell. was much struck with this
power in her lover and very proud to
have won such man, but she sighed
at remembering that only once had he
thrown off the statesman for the lover.
| Not long after this she was in the
gallery of the house again when she
saw, as she thought, her Ferguson
arise to speak. He was not in his
usual apparel, and there was some
thing about him not like himself.
When he began to speak there came
forth a charming flow of words. The
members with one accord dropped
what they were doing and listened to
him. Miss Buell. was surprised that
whereas at his previous effort he had
been obliged to wait for the attention
Of his audience he now jumped right
into it. 49,. ....'+ ,.. .-...
But as the speaker continued one by
one the thinking members ceased to
listen. There was the same flow of
language, but no flow of ideas. When
the grafton was ended the hum Of
business there had been before was
recommended.
"Who is that MANI" asked a lady
sitting near Miss Buell. of another
That's Gawtry, the great dema-
gogue. He has an immense following
among people who mistake his oratori
cal powers for craftsmanship"
A light broke in upon Miss Buell's
brain-not one light, but two. In the
first place she had mistaken this man
for her lover. In the second she saw
the Unreasonable superiority of the
one over the other. There was third
light that did not pierce her brain. It
did not occur to her that one of these
men had played the part of the other. -
She sent a message to Ferguson ask
ing him to call the same evening. He
obeyed the summons with alacrity and
a new hope. AS soon as they met Miss
Buell. said:
"There is a member OF the house
whom, as soon as 1 saw him, mistook
for you. The likeness is marvellous. l
heard you speak the other day, and l
heard this man Gawtry speak today. l
noticed that you gradually gained a
hearing by bringing forth ideas, while
he, starting with hearing ON account
of a delightful flow of language, lost
it because ideas were wanting. I'm
afraid we girls are very much like the
people and their representatives. We
are caught by Establishments. Fortu-
nately, l have been disenthralled by
hearing you and this man Cavity
speak. Hereafter if you are not de-
monstrative I'll try not to notice it. l
prefer your worth to another's blair
ney."
This speech gave Ferguson a conf
dence he had never felt before. He
took the lady in his arms and kissed
her rapturously.
Ferguson in time left the political
arena. Gawtry never did. And now
Ferguson's name is being mentioned
among thinking men as candidate for
president. r...,