--loses, and loses--pays for them, and by the time he reaches
Washington he and his pocket-book are several sizes below normal."

The humble attitude of this, one of America's wealthiest and most
influential men, was edifying but scarcely convincing. The newspaper men
looked at one another dubiously. Perhaps, they thought, when the
Senator's magnificent house in the West End was completed, and his wife
and daughters came over from Paris, the poor fellow would not be so
lonely and neglected. He was a fine man, and it seemed too bad that he
should be so side-tracked.

"Quite true, Senator," agreed Representative Holloway, "and matters are
even worse in the House. There are more of us there, and the mere
individual is more dwarf-like than over in the Senate. We are treated
like a lot of naughty school-boys, and when we meekly beg leave 'to
speak out in meetin'' we are practically told to shut up and sit down.
The new comer is the victim of much quiet hazing on the part of his
colleagues,--ably aided and abetted by the Speaker,--but he soon learns
the ropes, and quickly effaces himself. He reserves his babble for the
cloak-room and hotel lobby; yet, to many of his constituents, he is
still a great man. There is no sadder sight in the world than the
newly-fledged Congressman in the throes of his maiden speech, delivered
to a half-filled House, busily reading the papers, talking, writing, or
absorbed in thought. An official stenographer, right under his nose,
wearily jots down the effort, and the real audience consists of a few
bored friends in the galleries who smile uneasily now and then, and
wonder what it is all about, and how long the blamed thing is going to
last. Anyway, he gets it in the Record for free distribution to
thousands of constituents, who read it, perhaps, and try to imagine why
'Applause' is tagged on to the finish."

"A gloomy picture, but not overdrawn," sighed one of the Kentucky
delegation. "Here's looking at you, Holloway," he added, more
cheerfully, "here's looking at you."

III

COLONEL MANYSNIFTERS--AN OUTING WITH THE "JEWELS"

Colonel Manysnifters, who had been quietly smoking a little apart from
the group, now drew up and joined us. He had been imbibing rather freely
since we left the station, but with the exception of a somewhat
suspicious silence, had shown no further effects of his efforts in
behalf of the Whiskey Trust. The Colonel's resemblance to Uncle Sam (as
popularly portr