ke, and his second that "King" Plummer should
continue to look upon her as his daughter--she was too young to be his
wife.

Nor was Churchill proof against her beauty and her blandishments. He
felt suddenly that for her sake he could overlook some of Mr. Grayson's
faults, or at least seek to amend them. It was not hard to make a
promise to a pair of lovely eyes that craved his help.

"Well, Miss Morgan," he said, graciously, "since it is you who ask it, I
will do my best. You know I am not really hostile to Mr. Grayson. The
_Monitor_ and I are of his party, and we shall certainly support him as
long as he will let us."

"You are so kind!" she said. "You have seen so much of the world, Mr.
Churchill, that you can help us greatly. Uncle James, as I told you, is
always willing to learn, and he will keep a sharp watch on the
_Monitor_."

"The _Monitor_, as I need not tell you," said Churchill, "is the chief
organ in New York of good government, and it is never frivolous or
inconsequential. I had hoped that what I sent from Milwaukee would have
its effect, and I am glad to see, Miss Morgan, that it has."

Churchill now permitted himself a smile longer and more complacent, and
Harley felt a slight touch of pity that any man should be blinded thus
by conceit. And Sylvia did not spare him; by alternate flattery and
appeal she drew him further into the toils, and Harley was surprised at
her skill. She did not seem to him now the girl from Idaho, the child of
the mountains and of massacre, but a woman of variable moods, and all of
them attractive, no whit inferior to her Eastern sisters in the
delicate airs and graces that he was wont to associate with feminine
perfection.

As for Churchill, he yielded completely to her spell, not without some
condescension and a memory of his own superiority, but he felt himself
willing to comply with her request, particularly because it involved no
sacrifice on his own part. He and the _Monitor_ would certainly keep
watch over Mr. Grayson, and he would never hesitate to write the words
of warning when ever he felt that they were needed.

"Why did you treat him that way?" asked Harley, when Churchill had gone.

"What do you mean by 'that way'?" she asked, and her chin took on a
saucy uplift.

"Well, to be plain, why did you make a fool of him?"

"Was my help needed?"

Harley laughed.

"Don't be too hard on Churchill," he said, "he's the creature of
circumstance. Besides, you must