aying so, that the only reason he had not
given his life to prison reform was that the larger duty of the public
service called him, and the only reason why he did not swamp his
audience with the technical details of the subject was that it was too
painful, too shocking.

There was great and sincere applause as he sat down. Workers were
inspired, subscriptions did flow in. Before the next speaker rose,
Lydia, in sight of the whole room, walked out, followed by the great
man, who had explained hastily to Mrs. Galton that he was already late
for an engagement with a man of national reputation who was waiting to
discuss a matter of international importance. Mrs. Galton nodded
amiably. She had little further use for the governor.

The next day Lydia went downtown to hear him conducting his
investigation, and was impressed by the spectacle of his dominating will
and crystalline mind in action. She came every day. Her life heretofore
had not stimulated her to intellectual endeavor, but now she discovered
that she had a good, keen mind. She learned the procedure of the
investigation, remembered the evidence, read books--Wellman on
Cross-Examination and the Adventures of Sergeant Ballentine. She enjoyed
herself immensely. It was the best game she had ever played. The vision
of a vicarious career as the wife of a great politician was now always
in the back of her mind.

Eleanor, with her superior intellectual equipment, might laugh at
Lydia's late discovery of the political field; but Lydia's knowledge was
not theoretical and remote, like Eleanor's. It was alive, vivified by
her energy and coined into the daily action of her life. With half
Eleanor's brains she was twice as effective.

She admired Albee deeply, almost dangerously, and she wanted to admire
him more. She enjoyed all the symbols of his power. She liked the older,
more important men of her acquaintance to come suing to her for an
opportunity of meeting Albee socially. She liked to watch other women
trying to draw him away from her. She even liked the way the traffic
policemen would let her car through when he was in it. She liked all
these things, not from vanity, as many girls would have liked them, but
because they constantly held before her eyes the picture of Albee as a
superman. And if Albee were a superman the problem of her life was
solved. Then everything would be simple--to give her youth and beauty
and money, her courage and knowledge of the world to m