"--I tell you, it's got to come. We must act independently and not be
bought by a few offices."

"That's all well enough for you to talk, Teerswell; you have no wife and
babies dependant on you. Why should we who have sacrifice the substance
for the shadow?"

"You see, the Judge has got the substance," laughed Teerswell. "Still I
insist: divide and conquer."

"Nonsense! Unite, and keep."

Bles was puzzled.

"They're talking of the coming campaign," said Miss Wynn.

"What!" exclaimed Bles aloud. "You don't mean that any one can advise a
black man to vote the Democratic ticket?"

An elderly man turned to them.

"Thank you, sir," he said; "that is just my attitude; I fought for my
freedom. I know what slavery is; may I forget God when I vote for
traitors and slave-holders."

The discussion waxed warm and Miss Wynn turned away and sought Miss
Jones.

"Come, my dear," she said, "it's 'The Problem' again." They sauntered
away toward a ring of laughter.

The discussion thus begun at Miss Wynn's did not end there. It was on
the eve of the great party conventions, and the next night Sam Stillings
came around to get some crumbs from this assembly of the inner circle,
into which Alwyn had been so unaccountably snatched, and outside of
which, despite his endeavors, Stillings lingered and seemed destined to
linger. But Stillings was a patient, resolute man beneath his
deferential exterior, and he saw in Bles a stepping stone. So he began
to drop in at his lodgings and tonight invited him to the Bethel
Literary.

"What's that?" asked Bles.

"A debating club--oldest in the city; the best people all attend."

Bles hesitated. He had half made up his mind that this was the proper
time to call on Miss Wynn. He told Stillings so, and told him also of
the evening and the discussion.

"Why, that's the subject up tonight," Stillings declared, "and Miss Wynn
will be sure to be there. You can make your call later. Perhaps you
wouldn't mind taking me when you call." Alwyn reached for his hat.

When they arrived, the basement of the great church was filling with a
throng of men and women. Soon the officers and the speaker of the
evening appeared. The president was a brown woman who spoke easily and
well, and introduced the main speaker. He was a tall, thin,
hatchet-faced black man, clean shaven and well dressed, a lawyer by
profession. His theme was "The Democratic Party and the Negro." His
argument was cool, carefully r