ing his
little metal hands together till he rang over like a bell, 'take the
least of two evils.' His voice had a sharp, clear, jingling sound, like
that of silver dollars falling into a till. It startled me so that I
woke up, but finding it only a dream presently fell asleep again. Then
I thought I was down in the Exchange, talking with neighbor Simkins
about the election and the tariff. 'I want a change in the
administration, but I can't vote for a military chieftain,' said
neighbor Simkins, 'as I look upon it unbecoming a Christian people to
elect men of blood for their rulers.' 'I don't know,' said I, 'what
objection thee can have to a fighting man; for thee 's no Friend, and
has n't any conscientious scruples against military matters. For my own
part, I do not take much interest in politics, and never attended a
caucus in my life, believing it best to keep very much in the quiet, and
avoid, as far as possible, all letting and hindering things; but there
may be cases where a military man may be voted for as a choice of evils,
and as a means of promoting the prosperity of the country in business
matters.' 'What!' said neighbor Simkins, 'are you going to vote for a
man whose whole life has been spent in killing people?' This vexed me a
little, and I told him there was such a thing as carrying a good
principle too far, and that he night live to be sorry that he had thrown
away his vote, instead of using it discreetly. 'Why, there's the iron
business,' said I; but just then I heard a clatter beside me, and,
looking round, there was the little iron soldier clapping his hands in
great glee. 'That's it, Aminadab!' said he; 'business first, conscience
afterwards! Keep up the price of iron with peace if you can, but keep
it up at any rate.' This waked me again in a good deal of trouble; but,
remembering that it is said that 'dreams come of the multitude of
business,' I once more composed myself to sleep."

"Well, what happened next?" asked his wife.

"Why, I thought I was in the meeting-house, sitting on the facing-seat
as usual. I tried hard to settle my mind down into a quiet and humble
state; but somehow the cares of the world got uppermost, and, before I
was well aware of it, I was far gone in a calculation of the chances of
the election, and the probable rise in the price of iron in the event of
the choice of a President favorable to a high tariff. Rap, tap, went
something on the floor. I opened my eyes,