that I wanted
to buy a newspaper, for they were either politicians or reporters,
which, of course, comes to the same thing. As a matter of fact, my
property in Philadelphia was mostly real estate in the old-fashioned
part of the city and all I wanted to do there was just to satisfy myself
that the houses were in good repair and the doors kept properly painted.
I wanted also to see my relations, of whom I had a few. These were
mostly professional people and they were mostly rather hard up because
of the big bank failure in 1907 or thereabouts. Still, they were very
nice. They would have been nicer still if they hadn't, all of them, had
what appeared to me to be the mania that what they called influences
were working against them. At any rate, the impression of that city was
one of old-fashioned rooms, rather English than American in type,
in which handsome but careworn ladies, cousins of my own, talked
principally about mysterious movements that were going on against them.
I never got to know what it was all about; perhaps they thought I knew
or perhaps there weren't any movements at all. It was all very secret
and subtle and subterranean. But there was a nice young fellow called
Carter who was a sort of second-nephew of mine, twice removed. He was
handsome and dark and gentie and tall and modest. I understand also that
he was a good cricketer. He was employed by the real-estate agents
who collected my rents. It was he, therefore, who took me over my own
property and I saw a good deal of him and of a nice girl called Mary, to
whom he was engaged. At that time I did, what I certainly shouldn't do
now--I made some careful inquiries as to his character. I discovered
from his employers that he was just all that he appeared, honest,
industrious, high-spirited, friendly and ready to do anyone a good turn.
His relatives, however, as they were mine, too--seemed to have something
darkly mysterious against him. I imagined that he must have been mixed
up in some case of graft or that he had at least betrayed several
innocent and trusting maidens. I pushed, however, that particular
mystery home and discovered it was only that he was a Democrat. My own
people were mostly Republicans. It seemed to make it worse and more
darkly mysterious to them that young Carter was what they called a sort
of a Vermont Democrat which was the whole ticket and no mistake. But I
don't know what it means. Anyhow, I suppose that my money will go to
him whe