's sharp
gaze took him all in.

In garb and mien he was a fine type of the American gentleman who is
marked by a touch of the old school. There was a clean-cut crispness
about him; the white mustache and the hair which matched it looked as
if they would crackle if rubbed. His eyes were steely blue, and he held
himself very erect as he walked, and he tapped the pavement briskly with
his cane.

He passed them, marched up the steps of a large building, and
disappeared through a door which a boy in club uniform held open for
him.

"That man," explained Citizen Drew, complacently displaying his boasted
knowledge of public men in minute detail, "is the Honorable Archer
Converse, whose father was General Aaron Converse, the war governor of
this state. Lawyer, old bach, rich, just as crisp in talk as he is in
looks, just as straight in his manners and morals and honesty as he is
in his back, arrives every night at the Mellicite Club for his dinner on
the dot of eight"--Citizen Drew waved his hand at the illuminated circle
of the First National clock--"leaves the club exactly at nine for a walk
through the park, then marches home, plays three games of solitaire, and
goes to bed."

"I know him!" stated Farr.

Citizen Drew's air betrayed a bit of a showman's disappointment.

"I never saw him before--never heard of him. But I mean I know him now
after your description--know his nature, his thoughts. You have a fine
touch in your size-ups, Citizen Drew."

"I've studied 'em all."

"What has he done in politics?"

"Never a thing. He is one of the kind I was complaining about. Too
high-minded."

"But, ho, how a man like that would swim if he were once thrown in!"
declared Farr.

"He never even tended out on a caucus."

"I know the style when I see it," pursued Farr. He did not look at
Citizen Drew. He was talking as much to himself as to his companion.
"Spirit of a crusader harnessed by every-day habit! Righteousness in a
rut! Achievement timed to the tick of the clock. But, once in, how he
would swim!"

"Think how our affairs would swing along with a man like that at the
head of the state!"

"Why hasn't he been put at the head?"

"I have been in delegations that have gone to him"--he waved his
hand--"he said he couldn't think of being mixed into political messes."

"He looked on you wallowing in muddy water and you invited him in. I
don't blame him for not jumping."

"He's a good man," insisted Citizen Drew. "