Congressman Jinks was a widower and had several children, all of whom,
however, were away at school except his eldest daughter, a young lady
of Sam's age, and his youngest, a girl of seven. The former, Mary, was
a tall damsel with fair hair and a decidedly attractive manner. Mr.
Jinks reminded Sam of his father with the added elegancies of many
years' life at the Capital.

"Well, Samuel, I am glad to see you at last. We know all about you, and
we're expecting great things from you," he cried out in a hearty voice.
Sam felt at home at once.

"Come, Mary, show your cousin his room. Here, give me your grip. Yes,
you must let me carry it. Now get ready for supper as soon as you can.
It's all ready whenever you are."

After supper they all sat round a wood fire, for it was a little chilly
in the evening now. Mr. Jinks had his little girl in his lap, and they
talked over family history and the events of the day. Sam asked who Mr.
Reddy was whom he had met in the train.

"Oh! you mean old Reddy. Was he drunk? No? That's odd."

"He'd been away for the day drawing his pension," said Sam.

"Of course," said Mr. Jinks. "I might have known it. That is his one
sober day in the month. He sobers up to go to town, but he'll make up
for lost time to-night. That twelve dollars will last just a week, and
it all goes into the bar-room till. He's been that way ever since I was
a boy, tho they say he was a steady enough young fellow before he went
to the war. It's a curious coincidence, but there are two or three old
rum-soaked war veterans like that hanging round every tavern in the
country, and I'd like to know how much pension money goes that way.
It's a great system tho, that pension system. I see something of it in
Whoppington when I'm attending Congress. It distributes the money of
the country and circulates it among the people. I like to see the
amount increase every year. It's a healthy sign. I'm trying to get some
more for Reddy. It helps the county just that much. Swan, the hotel
man, spends it here. I believe in protecting home industries and
fostering our home market. I wish you could have heard my speech on the
war-tax bill--it covered that point. My, how this war is costing, tho!
A million dollars a day! But it's well worth it. The more money we
spend and the higher the taxes, the more circulation there is. You
ought to see how things are booming at Whoppington. I'm sorry you
couldn't