s in order to advance his ideas, which mean of course his ambition.
Oh, I'm not denying that in the main he is sincere, that he believes in
his phrases. As a matter of fact one has only to look at his
appointments, those that he is able to make by his own authority! There
isn't a doubt in the world that he deliberately sold his office in
exchange for his election--"

So this was one honest man's view of Gideon Vetch! John Benham believed
this accusation, for some infallible intuition told her that Benham
would never have repeated it, even as a rumour, if he had not believed
it. Her father's genial defence of the Governor; his ironic
aristocratic sympathy with the radical point of view appeared
superficial and unconvincing beside Benham's moral repudiation. And yet
what after all was the simple truth about Gideon Vetch? What was the
true colour of that variable personality, which appeared to shift and
alter according to the temperament or the convictions of each observer?
She had never known two men who agreed about Vetch, except perhaps
Benham and his disciple, Stephen Culpeper. Each man saw Vetch
differently, and was this because each man saw in the great demagogue
only the particular virtue or vice for which he was looking, the
reflection of personal preferences or aversions? It seemed to her
suddenly that the Governor, whom she had thought commonplace, towered an
immense vague figure in a cloud of misinterpretation and
misunderstanding. His followers believed in him; his opponents
distrusted him; but was this not true of every political leader since
the beginning of politics? The power to inspire equally devotion and
hatred had been throughout history the authentic sign of the saviour and
of the destroyer. Her curiosity, which had waned, flared up more
strongly than ever.

"I should like to know," she said aloud, "what he is truthfully?"

Benham laughed as he rose to go. "Do you think he can be anything
truthfully?"

"Oh, yes, even if it is only a demagogue."

"Only a demagogue! My dear Corinna, the demagogue is the one everlasting
and unalterable American institution. He is the idol of the Senate
chamber; the power behind the Constitution."

"But what does he really stand for--Vetch, I mean?"

"Ask him. He would enjoy telling you."

"Would he enjoy telling me the truth?"

With the laughter still in his eyes Benham drew nearer and stood looking
down on her. "Oh, I don't mean that he is pure humbug. I haven