Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1917-02-15

on you, the real goods, they II
manufacture something. They'll
put out something, and it will be
rotten, and it will hit you at the
worst time. You can count on it,
"Lies don't get anywhere these
days" Smith objected warmly.
Don't they?" countered Wal
Ter. print one, and then see how
long 1T takes the truth to catch up
with it."
ooh, WE'LL" he dismissed the
subject. 81 stand on my work and
the cause for which / am fighting.
It's all | can do"
The newspaper man smoked in
silence. He could not understand
how Smith, so clear-headed in all
other things, should insist on a
policy which, in the end, must be
his ruin.
"You might as we'll know it
now, he said, the drawl pro-
nounced in his voice. you'll
know it soon enough anyway.
There somebody in this town
who knows something about this
precious past of yours"
"lmpossible!" exclaimed Smith
jerking himself upright.
IF there isn't | miss my guess a
million miles"
Smiths whole body bent to-
ward him, as if to project with
greater force the question:
What makes you say thatY
What do you know"
II don't know anything yet"
Waller replied. $50 far, it's Just
in the air. But hints, limitations,
are coming from the lobbyists,
from Mitchell particularly. They
say, If you don't give up the alb
surd attempt to lead this thing to
victory, they'll show you up.
They're insisting they have the
man who knows the story"
Just a threat, an empty
threat Smith dismissed the idea.
idea.
81 got it from Avery Of the Rec
ord Waller said, showing more
plainly than ever his belief in the
story.
Smith, gazing toward the setting
sun, pursed up his lips as if to
whistle, but no sound came from
them.
We'll, what is it to beg" Wal
Ter asked after watching him for
several minutes and failing to get
an mixing of what was in his
mind. "Do you talk, OF not?"
Mott was the answer.
He sprang from the chair. his
alertness full upon him again.
Waller followed him to the door,
waving aside the thanks for his
interest in the matter.
You're making a grave mis-
take" the newspaper man said
earnestly. "And there's one other
thing: Ii you expect to get action
on this amendment in the House
IN December, as you have said.
you've got to hit these represent
atives OF the people in the face
with something big, a new idea.
Light a fire under them. Force the
fighting. This isn't a fight that
can be won by the ordinary meth
DDS. Make them sit up and take
notice. Compel them to act. And"
he added p~ersuasively, "get to it
before the whisky crowd tries to
get to you. Have things fixed by
December"
Smith,, leaving Waller, went to
his rooms on | street. AS he
walked, the last drawing advice
he had gotten from Waller re
volved in his mind.
Light a fire under them" he
repeated to himself. "That's the
thing. Get the best of the com
mittee on amendments. Do that,
and I've got the fight won."
In his apartment, a modest little
affair, he paced up and down a
long time, permitting himself to
go over in detail the things Edith
Mallon had said to him. She loved
him. That was his dominant
thought. 1t seemed to him a mir.
acle that a woman like Edith
should not only care for him but
should actually come to meet him,
should show him so Enthusiastically
that she loved him, and should
ask for his confidence. The most
sought after woman in Washing
ton-and he an impossibility. He
remembered her again swaying in
the doorway, heard the little cry
with which she had turned and
left him. She even had ASKED him
if he thought it a fair thing to
keep her in ignorance. Was it
fair? He put the question to him.