can sort of work
together with some of them. We don't want anything of Congress, except to
be let alone. If we are doing something to develop the trade in the
Southwest, build it up, some member who thinks he is smart will just as
likely as not try to put in a block somewhere, or investigate, or
something, in order to show his independence, and then he has to be seen,
and shown that he is going against the interests of his constituents. It
is just as it is everywhere: men have to be shown what their real
interest is. No; most Congressmen are poor, and they stay poor. It is a
good deal easier to deal with those among them who are rich and have some
idea about the prosperity of the country. It is just so in the
departments. You've got to watch things, if you expect them to go smooth.
You've got to get acquainted with the men. Most men are reasonable when
you get well acquainted with them. I tell your husband that people are
about as reasonable in Washington as you'll find them anywhere."

"Washington is certainly very pleasant."

"Yes, that's so; it is pleasant. Where most everybody wants something,
they are bound to be accommodating. That's my idea. I reckon you don't
find Jerry Hollowell trying to pull a cat by its tail," he added,
dropping into his native manner.

"Well, I must go and hunt up the old man. Glad to have made your
acquaintance, Mrs. Henderson." And then, with a sly look, "If I knew you
better, ma'am, I should take the liberty of congratulating you that
Henderson has come round so handsomely."

"Come round?" asked Margaret, in amused wonder.

"Well, I took the liberty of giving him a hint that he wasn't cut-out for
a single man. I showed him that," and he lugged out his photograph-case
from a mass of papers in his breast-pocket and handed it to her.

"Ah, I see," said Margaret, studying the photographs with a peculiar
smile.

"Oh, Henderson knows a good thing when he sees it," said Hollowell,
complacently.

It was not easy to be offended with Hollowell's kind-hearted boorishness,
and after he had gone, Margaret sat a long time reflecting upon this new
specimen of man in her experience. She was getting many new ideas in
these days, the moral lines were not as clearly drawn as she had thought;
it was impossible to ticket men off into good and bad. In Hollowell she
had a glimpse of a world low-toned and vulgar; she had heard that he was
absolutely unscrupulous, and she had supposed that he would app