of the list. Then a reverie into which the Doctor had fallen was at
length disturbed by my inquiry, "What about Armstrong?"

"Yes, Hadlai, Armstrong of La Salle writes me that in his judgment
there is no man living so deserving of the gratitude of the party,
or so well qualified for the office of Speaker as myself, but that
the pressure from his constituents has been so great that he has
_finally consented to allow his own name_ to be presented to the
caucus."

"Fare-you-well, Mr. Armstrong," was my hurried observation, as the
name of that gentleman disappeared from my list.

Arousing the Doctor at length from the reverie into which he had
again fallen, I ventured to inquire as to the state of mind of Mr.
Cummins.

"Yes, Hadlai, Cummins of Fulton says that in a certain contingency
_he will himself be a candidate,_ and Moore of Adams writes me that
_he is a candidate!"_

It may not be out of place to supplement this little narrative
by relating an incident that illustrates the fact that a man wholly
devoid of any sense of humor himself may at times be the unconscious
cause of amusement in others.

Imprimis: The Doctor, while a member of the General Assembly,
voted for a measure known in local parlance as "the Lake Front
Bill." The criticisms which followed vexed his righteous soul,
and he patiently awaited the opportunity for public explanation
and personal vindication.

Now it so fell out that at the time whereof we write there was much
excitement--a tempest in a tea-pot--in the little city of Bloomington,
over a change in "readers" recently ordered in the schools by
the Board of Education. After much discussion on the streets and at
the corners, a public indignation meeting was called for Saturday evening
at the east door of the Court-house. Meanwhile the indignation
against the offending Board intensified, and there was some
apprehension even of serious trouble. At the appointed time and
place, the meeting assembled and was duly organized by the selection
of a Chairman. Calls at once began for well-known orators at
the bar and upon the hustings. "Ewing," "Fifer," "Rowell," "Prince,"
"Lillard," "Phillips," "Kerrick," "Weldon," were heard from the
crowd in rapid succession. It was like "calling spirits from
the vasty deep." No response was given, no orator appeared; and, as
is well known, an indignation meeting without an orator is as
impossible as "Hamlet" with the Prince of Denmark omitted.

But