Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-21
AND HERE 1T CONTINUES

AND HEkE 1T CONTlNUES
GA1OT in the least. / am content to
IN leave that entirely TO fate o. :.
."Bucollc? Intellectual? An artist !
A man OF affairs?"
She made little grimace.
"How can tell? l cannot conceive
caring for an ordinary person, but then
every woman feels like that. And.
you see. II did care, he wouldn 7
be ordinary--to me. And 30 far aB !
am concerned" she insisted, with a
shade Of restlessness in her manner.
"that finishes the subject. You must
please devote yourself to telling me at
least some Of the things want to know.
What is the use Of having one OF the
worlds successful men tete "a tete, a
prisoner to my hospitality, unless ! can
make him crafty my curiosity?" s.
The thought crented by her words
burned through his mind like a flash Of
destroying lightning.
Zone Of the worlds successful men,
he repeated. "1s that how / seem to
you"
"And to the world" she asserted.
He shook his head sadly.
II have worked very hard.' he said.
~ have been very ambitious. A few
Of, my ambitions have been gratified,
but the glory Of them has passed with
attainment. Now I enter upon the
last lap and possess none OF the things
l started out in life to achieve
''But how absurd!' she exclaimed.
''You are one of our great politicians.
You would have to be reckoned with In
any rcorO,,ninO Of mn rtips'
t"Without even a seat in the House
OF Commons" he reminded her bitterly.
"And again. how can man be great
politician when there are no politics? :?
The confusion among the parties has
become chaos, and for one have not
been ear;sighted enough to see my
way through"
.HOf course, I know vaguely what
you mean,' she said, "but remember
that i am only a newspaper educated
eiplicit?''
He lit another cigarette and smoked
restlessly for a moment. =
,"I'll try to explain, If cam he
went on "To be Il successful poll.
titan. from the standard which you or
I would aim at, a man needs not only
political insight, but he needs to be
able to adapt his Views to the practical
program of one of the existing par
ties, or else to be strong enough to
form a party Of his own. That Is where
I have come to the cul .de-sac in my
career. 1t was my ambition to guide
the working classes of the country into
their rightful place In our social scheme,
but ] have also always been an In
tensely keen imperialist, and therefore
do 4
so-called Labor leaders. The conse-
quence has been that for ten years I
have been hanging on to the thin edge
Of nothing. a member of the Coalition
Government, a member by sufferance of
hotchpotch party which was created
by the combination of the Radicals
and the Unionists with the sole idea
OF seeing the country through its great
crisis. All legislation. in the wider
sense of the term, had to be shelved
while the country was In danger and
while 1t was recovering itself. That
time ! spent striving TO educate the
people l wanted to represent, striving
to make them see reason, to combat the
two elements in their outlook which
have been their eternal drawback, the
elements of blatant selfishness and
greedy ignorance. Well, failed.
That Is all there i, about tt failed.
No party claims me. l haven't even
a seat in the House Of Commons.
am nearly fifty years old and l am
tired
"Nearly fifty years old" she re.
peated. But what is that? You have
good health, you are strong and well.
there is nothing younger man can do
that you cannot. Why do you worry
about your age?'
Perhaps, he admitted, with faint
smile, and an innate compulsion to tell
her Of the thought which had lurked
behind. because you are so marvel
ously young"
Absurd" she scoffed. 81 am
twenty nine years old - practically
thirty. That Is to say, with the usual
twenty years allowance, you and are
OF the same age
He looked at her across the lace
draped table with its bowls of fruit.
It's richly cut dccanter of wine. it's low
bowl of roses, its haze of cigarette
smoke. She was leaning back In her
chair. her head resting upon the fingers
OF one hand. Her face seemed alive
with so many emotions. She was so
anxious to console. so interested in her
companion. herself, and the moment.
ne feit something unexpected and ir-
resistible.
81 wish to God could look at it
IKE that!' he exclaimed suddenly.
The words had left his lips before he
was conscious that the, thought which
had lain Mt the back of them hal found