long familiar lines had taken place, Radbourn
resumed the chair and called on any one in the room to volunteer a word
on either side. "We would like to hear from Talcott," he said.

"Talcott, Talcott," called the rest.

Bradley rose, as if impelled by some irresistible power within himself.
He began stammeringly. He had but one line of thought at his command,
and that was the line of thought indicated by Miss Wilbur in her speech
at the picnic, the Home Market idea, upon which he had spent a great
deal of thought. "Mr. Chairman, I don't believe in free trade. I
believe if we had free trade it would make us all farmers for England.
It aint what we ought t' do. We've got gold in our hills, an' coal an'
timber to manufacture. What we want t' do is to build up our
industries; make a home market."

As he went on with these stock phrases, he seemed to get hold of things
which before had seemed out of his reach, scraps of speeches, newspaper
comments, an astonishing flood of arguments, or at least what he took
for arguments, came rushing into his mind. He reached out his hands and
grasped and used phrases not his own as if they were bludgeons. He
assaulted the opposition blindly, but with immense power.

He sat down amid loud applause, and young Mason arose to close the
affirmative. He was sarcastic to the point of offence.

"He has said 'em all," he began, alluding to Bradley, "all the
regulation arguments of Republican newspapers. And as for the leader of
the opposition, he has got off the usual sneer at copperhead Democracy.
This debate wouldn't have been complete without that remark from my
esteemed leader of the opposition. Where argument fails,
misrepresentations and sneers may do service with the injudicious. I
trust the judges will remember that the argument has been on our side,
and the innuendoes on the side of the opposition."

The verdict of the judges was in favor of the free traders, but the
decision of the judges had less effect on Bradley than the surprising
revelation of Radbourn's thought. There were phrases whose reach and
significance he did not realize to the full, but their effect was not
lost. He never forgot such things.

He was thinking how diametrically opposite Miss Wilbur's ideas were,
when Radbourn came up, and said with a significant smile:

"Well, Talcott, you _did_ get hold of all the regulation stock
material. The Home Market idea is a great field for you. You think a
city is of itself