hen the
clerk finished, he spat plentifully in a spittoon at his feet, cleared
his throat, and let loose the flood of rhetoric which was threatening
already to burst over the dam.

The blow aimed by that villainous writer, the honourable gentleman said,
was struck at him. He was a member of the Committee on Military Affairs,
and he must reply ere the foul stain was permitted to tarnish his name.
He came from a sunny land where all the women were beautiful and all the
men brave, and he would rather die a thousand deaths than permit any
obscure ink-slinger to impeach his fair fame. He carried the honour of
his country in his heart; he would sooner die a thousand deaths than to
permit--to permit---

He paused, and waved his hand as he sought for a metaphor sufficiently
strong-winged.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Redfield, and I'll help you down," dryly said a
thin-faced member from the Valley of Virginia.

The sound of subdued laughter arose and the Speaker rapped for order.
Mr. Redfield glared at the irreverent member from the Valley of
Virginia, then resumed his interrupted flight. Unfortunately for him the
spell was broken. Some of the members began to talk in low whispers and
others to read documents. Besides the murmur of voices there was a sound
of scraping feet. But the honourable member from the sunny shores of the
Gulf helped himself down, though somewhat angrily, and choosing a tamer
course began to come nearer to the point. He called for the suppression
of the offending newspaper and the expulsion of its editor from the
city. He spoke of Winthrop by name and denounced him. Robert saw Mr.
Sefton appear upon the floor and once nod his head approvingly as Mr.
Redfield spoke.

The House now paid more heed, but the dry member from the Valley of
Virginia, in reply to Mr. Redfield, called the attention of the members
to the fact that they could not suppress the newspapers. They might deny
its representatives the privileges of the House, but they could go no
further. He was opposed to spreading the thing to so great an extent, as
it would be sure to reach the North and would be a standing
advertisement to the Yankees that the South was divided against itself.

Then a motion was made to deny the privileges of the House to Winthrop,
or any representative of his paper, but it was defeated by a narrow
margin.

"That, I think," said Robert, "will be the end of this affair."

"I am glad of it," responded Helen, "because I l