The lady who is to be my bride is
divided from me by no other consideration than this--that I have not
obtained the one hundred and sixty thousand dollars."

The Congressman grew paler, and he made an effort to say "Go on," but
his voice was scarcely audible, and Elk MacNair saw that he seemed to
be suddenly sick. With self-reproach the younger brother observed all
this, but it was too late for him to falter; the time was too
precious.

"Arty," he said; "oh, my brother, the whole story must be told and the
full crisis met. I am dependent upon you for the price of my
happiness; for the hand of my wife; for the key to my fortune; for all
that makes the future auspicious and the past clear. I am not a
lawyer, as I have said, in the common sense in which, with modest
effort and goodness, you have followed out your career. I am a
lobbyist!"

"I returned from the war flushed with my success, and told on every
hand that an immediate and profound prosperity were close before me.
These politicians and speculators around the capital took me by the
hand, flattered me, and showed me where my fortune was within my own
grasp. Little by little they led me on, using my reputation and
influence to accomplish their ends; and my mode of living, my
acquaintances, my expectations, increased with my facilities, until,
chafing under the consciousness that I was working out the private
interests of others, I resolved to stake all upon one large hazard,
conclude this wayward, self-accusing life, and depart from the
purlieus of legislation. Up to the present time no stigma has been
attached to my irregularities, none have suspected that I was less
than I claimed to be--a soldier and a gentleman, betrothed to the
noblest woman in the world. But this manner of living in the end works
the destruction of habits and reputation to any who continue in it. To
be brief, I have found political life nothing but a commerce. All have
their price, and the highest sometimes sell out the cheapest. Men are
estimated here by their boldness and breadth only, and a single
successful venture of the kind I have in hand will dismiss me from
this city rich and without exposure, and I swear never again to be
seen in the lobbies of the Federal legislature. All my dependence in
this, however, is upon you. I watched your campaign in our native
region--how gallantly and how exceptionably you fought it, none knows
so well!--and I took to heart the belief that, wishing to