e. Mr. Taney. Saw him go out?

[_He hangs up the receiver impatiently._

Isn't anyone on the job?

[_He strides up and down._

A damned plot!--

[_Enter, right, hurriedly,_ SENATOR TANEY_, a stout, red-haired
man, clean-shaven._

TANEY

[_Puffing._

Hello, Grosvenor.

GROSVENOR

Thank God, you're here.

TANEY

Only got a minute. Hell's loose in the Senate.

GROSVENOR

I've been nearly crazy waiting for news.

TANEY

God, man. Perhaps you think I ain't been busy rounding up a lot of
on-the-fence-men? It seems to me pretty nearly everybody was on the
fence. No decided opinions at all. But they're coming, they're coming.

GROSVENOR

How 'bout that report about the King over there wanting peace?

TANEY

That's what the row's about. The highbrows an' the peace people are
shouting hurrahs all over the place, an' the rest of us has to do what
we can to drown 'em out.

GROSVENOR

[_Restlessly moving about the room._

If it's true about the King, can you--work it--anyway?

TANEY

How do I know?

GROSVENOR

Got any figures? For or against?

TANEY

Yes. It's about an even go.

GROSVENOR

[_Disappointed._

You can't give me anything more definite?

TANEY

What's up, anyway? You look nervous.

GROSVENOR

I am. This business is cutting into my sleep. My last cent is tied up,
and I've got a good many other people's last cents as well. Damn it,
Taney, this is worse than Monte Carlo. You're dealing with cold-blooded
chance there, but here you're dealing with sentiments, emotions. It's
exhausting. War is a terrible thing, Taney. It worries me day and night.
Think of the lives! And yet we need this war, we need it for the good of
the nation. And now that we're ready, it would be a calamity if--

TANEY

[_Turning to go._

Don't you worry about that.

GROSVENOR

[_Nervously._

How's the House going?

TANEY

Don't know anything about the House. But I guess your man Maynard is
doing his job. I'm off to see Cottrell. Another man that wants news. Be
back in ten minutes.

GROSVENOR

Keep me posted, for God's sake. You know--I'm not ungrateful. You shan't
lose by your efforts, Taney. You know I'm a liberal man.

TANEY

[_Quietly, but with emphasis._

Look here. You're not Conroy and you're not Pollen. They're the whales
in this pond. You're only a nervous minnow. I'm working with bigger men
than you. And perhaps I've got some convict