ted time, the office-seeker went again to see
the Congressman. This time he was admitted without question, and got
the chance to state his wants. But somehow, there seemed to be
innumerable obstacles in the way. There were certain other men whose
wishes had to be consulted; the leader of one of the party factions,
who, for the sake of harmony, had to be appeased. Of course, Mr.
Johnson's worth was fully recognized, and he would be rewarded
according to his deserts. His interests would be looked after. He
should drop in again in a day or two. It took time, of course, it took
time.

Mr. Johnson left the office unnerved by his disappointment. He had
thought it would be easy to come up to Washington, claim and get what
he wanted, and, after a glance at the town, hurry back to his home and
his honors. It had all seemed so easy--before election; but now--

A vague doubt began to creep into his mind that turned him sick at
heart. He knew how they had treated Davis, of Louisiana. He had heard
how they had once kept Brotherton, of Texas--a man who had spent all
his life in the service of his party--waiting clear through a whole
administration, at the end of which the opposite party had come into
power. All the stories of disappointment and disaster that he had ever
heard came back to him, and he began to wonder if some one of these
things was going to happen to him.

Every other day for the next two weeks, he called upon Barker, but
always with the same result. Nothing was clear yet, until one day the
bland legislator told him that considerations of expediency had
compelled them to give the place he was asking for to another man.

"But what am I to do?" asked the helpless man.

"Oh, you just bide your time. I'll look out for you. Never fear."

Until now, Johnson had ignored the gentle hints of his friend, Col.
Mason, about a boarding-house being more convenient than a hotel. Now,
he asked him if there was a room vacant where he was staying, and
finding that there was, he had his things moved thither at once. He
felt the change keenly, and although no one really paid any attention
to it, he believed that all Washington must have seen it, and hailed
it as the first step in his degradation.

For a while the two together made occasional excursions to a
glittering palace down the street, but when the money had grown lower
and lower Col. Mason had the knack of bringing "a little something" to
their rooms without a loss of dign