e fence and watch somebody
else wallow in after the prizes."

"It seems to me that the best chance for fame and power lies in that
superior strength which is allied with honesty. A man who is at the same
time a clever manipulator of men, and whose aim is statesmanship, should
be able to reach his goal by a clean road."

Gwynne had been long enough in the United States to blush uneasily as he
delivered these sentiments, and his color deepened as Colton gave a
little snort.

"Can't be done. Not in this State, anyhow. You've been talking to
Isabel. She looks like the Pilgrim Fathers and has inherited all their
antiquated notions. Honest, now--_are_ your politics so much better than
ours?"

"A long sight. And they are by no means perfect. We have our machine and
our compromises, and all the rest of it; and even a few wholly rotten
boroughs. Fifty years ago we were blatantly worse than you are to-day.
As long as the game lasts, and there are two parties, there must be more
or less chicanery, but we are snow-white compared with the mire of this
country. And it is an anomaly I cannot understand. I have now been a
year in the United States, have talked with hundreds of Americans,
studied them and their institutions. Few have struck me as personally
dishonest--as we interpret the word in England. Human nature in this
country, indeed, has at times appeared to me almost elemental, utterly
without the subtlety that makes for crooked dealing. There is a thousand
times more petty trickery in Europe; and, with us, more hypocrisy,
certainly; but politics we have at least elevated. Here, the best man in
private life seems to become transformed the moment he enters the
political atmosphere, and if he is not a scoundrel, he sails pretty
close to the wind."

"H--m! All you say may be true. I don't agitate my gray matter over
problems. I know what we are, and the work cut out for me if I want to
stay on top. I have known reformers. We have lots of spasmodic attempts
at reform right here in this district. When the reform is directed at
some glaring evil, something that makes us uncomfortable, then it goes
through. When it's directed against politics in general, then the
reformer falls so hard he never gets up--unless, to be sure, he
scrambles up p. d. q. and trims with the wind. And that, I'm bound to
say, he generally does. We've had our idealists--talk till your mouth
waters. One session in Sacramento generally cures them. When it do