questions are perplexing you, and my presence suggests that I may aid
in their solution. This dinner follows, your personality appeals to me,
and the thought flits through my mind, why should not Rockland, rather
than some other man, lead the party two years from now?
"And the result, my dear Rockland, may be, probably will be, your
becoming chief magistrate of the greatest republic the sun has ever
shone on."
Rockland by this time was fairly hypnotized by Selwyn's words, and by
their tremendous import. For a moment he dared not trust himself to
speak.
"Senator Selwyn," he said at last, "it would be idle for me to deny that
you have excited within me an ambition that a moment ago would have
seemed worse than folly. Your influence within the party and your
ability to conduct a campaign, gives to your suggestion almost the
tender of the presidency. To tell you that I am deeply moved does scant
justice to my feelings. If, after further consideration, you think me
worthy of the honor, I shall feel under lasting obligations to you which
I shall endeavor to repay in every way consistent with honor and with a
sacred regard for my oath of office."
"I want to tell you frankly, Rockland," answered Selwyn, "that up to now
I have had someone else in mind, but I am in no sense committed, and we
might as well discuss the matter to as near a conclusion as is possible
at this time."
Selwyn's voice hardened a little as he went on. "You would not want a
nomination that could not carry with a reasonable certainty of election,
therefore I would like to go over with you your record, both public and
private, in the most open yet confidential way. It is better that you
and I, in the privacy of these rooms, should lay bare your past than
that it should be done in a bitter campaign and by your enemies. What we
say to one another here is to be as if never spoken, and the grave
itself must not be more silent. Your private life not only needs to be
clean, but there must be no public act at which any one can point an
accusing finger."
"Of course, of course," said Rockland, with a gesture meant to convey
the complete openness of his record.
"Then comes the question of party regularity," continued Selwyn, without
noticing. "Be candid with me, for, if you are not, the recoil will be
upon your own head."
"I am sure that I can satisfy you on every point, Senator. I have never
scratched a party ticket nor have I ever voted against any measure
endorsed by a party caucus," said Governor Rockland.
"That is well," smiled the Senator. "I assume that in making your
important appointments you will consult those of us who have stood
sponsor for you, not only to the party but to the country. It would be
very humiliating to me if I should insist upon your nomination and
election and then should for four years have to apologize for what I had
done."
Musingly, as if contemplating the divine presence in the works of man,
Selwyn went on, while he closely watched Rockland from behind his half-
closed eyelids.
"Our scheme of Government contemplates, I think, a diffuse
responsibility, my dear Rockland. While a president has a constitutional
right to act alone, he has no moral right to act contrary to the tenets
and traditions of his party, or to the advice of the party leaders, for
the country accepts the candidate, the party and the party advisers as a
whole and not severally.
"It is a natural check, which by custom the country has endorsed as
wise, and which must be followed in order to obtain a proper
organization. Do you follow me, Governor, and do you endorse this
unwritten law?"
If Rockland had heard this at second hand, if he had read it, or if it
had related to someone other than himself, he would have detected the
sophistry of it. But, exhilarated by wine and intoxicated by ambition,
he saw nothing but a pledge to deal squarely by the organization.
"Senator," he replied fulsomely, "gratitude is one of the tenets of my
religion, and therefore inversely ingratitude is unknown to me. You and
the organization can count on my loyalty from the beginning to the end,
for I shall never fail you.
"I know you will not ask me to do anything at which my conscience will
rebel, nor to make an appointment that is not entirely fit."
"That, Rockland, goes without saying," answered the Senator with
dignity. "I have all the wealth and all the position that I desire. I
want nothing now except to do my share towards making my native land
grow in prosperity, and to make the individual citizen more contented.
To do this we must cease this eternal agitation, this constant proposal
of half-baked measures, which the demagogues are offering as a panacea
to all the ills that flesh is heir to.
"We need peace, legislative and political peace, so that our people may
turn to their industries and work them to success, in the wholesome
knowledge that the laws governing commerce and trade conditions will
not be disturbed over night."
"I agree with you there, Senator," said Rockland eagerly.
"We have more new laws now than we can digest in a decade," continued
Selwyn, "so let us have rest until we do digest them. In Europe the
business world works under stable conditions. There we find no proposal
to change the money system between moons, there we find no uncertainty
from month to month regarding the laws under which manufacturers are to
make their products, but with us, it is a wise man who knows when he can
afford to enlarge his output.
"A high tariff threatens to-day, a low one to-morrow, and a large part
of the time the business world lies in helpless perplexity.
"I take it, Rockland, that you are in favor of stability, that you will
join me in my endeavors to give the country a chance to develop itself
and its marvelous natural resources."
As a matter of fact, Rockland's career had given no evidence of such
views. He had practically committed his political fortunes on the side
of the progressives, but the world had turned around since then, and he
viewed things differently.
"Senator," he said, his voice tense in his anxiety to prove his
reliability, "I find that in the past I have taken only a cursory view
of conditions. I see clearly that what you have outlined is a high order
of statesmanship. You are constructive: I have been on the side of those
who would tear down. I will gladly join hands with you and build up, so
that the wealth and power of this country shall come to equal that of
any two nations in existence."
Selwyn settled back in his chair, nodding his approval and telling
himself that he would not need to seek further for his candidate.
At Rockland's earnest solicitation he remained over another day. The
Governor gave him copies of his speeches and messages, so that he could
assure himself that there was no serious flaw in his public record.
Selwyn cautioned him about changing his attitude too suddenly. "Go on,
Rockland, as you have done in the past. It will not do to see the light
too quickly. You have the progressives with you now, keep them, and I
will let the conservatives know that you think straight and may be
trusted.
"We must consult frequently together," he continued, "but cautiously.
There is no need for any one to know that we are working together
harmoniously. I may even get some of the conservative papers to attack
you judiciously. It will not harm you. But, above all, do nothing of
importance without consulting me.
"I am committing the party and the Nation to you, and my responsibility
is a heavy one, and I owe it to them that no mistakes are made."
"You may trust me, Senator," said Rockland. "I understand perfectly."
CHAPTER XIII
DRU AND SELWYN MEET
The roads of destiny oftentimes lead us in strange and unlocked for
directions and bring together those whose thoughts and purposes are as
wide as space itself. When Gloria Strawn first entered boarding school,
the roommate given her was Janet Selwyn, the youngest daughter of the
Senator. They were alike in nothing, except, perhaps, in their fine
perception of truth and honor. But they became devoted friends and had
carried their attachment for one another beyond their schoolgirl days.
Gloria was a frequent visitor at the Selwyn household both in
Washington and Philadelphia, and was a favorite with the Senator. He
often bantered her concerning her "socialistic views," and she in turn
would declare that he would some day see the light. Now and then she let
fall a hint of Philip, and one day Senator Selwyn suggested that she
invite him over to Philadelphia to spend the week end with them.
"Gloria, I would like to meet this paragon of the ages," said he
jestingly, "although I am somewhat fearful that he may persuade me to
'sell all that I have and give it to the poor.'"
"I will promise to protect you during this one visit, Senator," said
Gloria, "but after that I shall leave you to your fate."
"Dear Philip," wrote Gloria, "the great Senator Selwyn has expressed a
wish to know you, and at his suggestion, I am writing to ask you here to
spend with us the coming week end. I have promised that you will not
denude him of all his possessions at your first meeting, but beyond that
I have refused to go. Seriously, though, I think you should come, for if
you would know something of politics, then why not get your lessons from
the fountain head?
"Your very sincere,
"GLORIA."
In reply Philip wrote:
"Dear Gloria: You are ever anticipating my wishes. In the crusade we are
making I find it essential to know politics, if we are to reach the
final goal that we have in mind, and you have prepared the way for the
first lesson. I will be over to-morrow on the four o'clock. Please do
not bother to meet me.
"Faithfully yours,
"PHILIP."
Gloria and Janet Strawn were at the station to meet him. "Janet, this is
Mr. Dru," said Gloria. "It makes me very happy to have my two best
friends meet." As they got in her electric runabout, Janet Strawn said,
"Since dinner will not be served for two hours or more, let us drive in
the park for a while." Gloria was pleased to see that Philip was
interested in the bright, vivacious chatter of her friend, and she was
glad to hear him respond in the same light strain. However, she was
confessedly nervous when Senator Selwyn and Philip met. Though in
different ways, she admired them both profoundly. Selwyn had a
delightful personality, and Gloria felt sure that Philip would come
measureably under the influence of it, even though their views were so
widely divergent. And in this she was right. Here, she felt, were two
great antagonists, and she was eager for the intellectual battle to
begin. But she was to be disappointed, for Philip became the listener,
and did but little of the talking. He led Senator Selwyn into a
dissertation upon the present conditions of the country, and the bearing
of the political questions upon them. Selwyn said nothing indiscreet,
yet he unfolded to Philip's view a new and potential world. Later in the
evening, the Senator was unsuccessful in his efforts to draw from his
young guest his point of view. Philip saw the futility of such a
discussion, and contented Selwyn by expressing an earnest appreciation
of his patience in making clear so many things about which he had been
ignorant. Next morning, Senator Selwyn was strolling with Gloria in the
rose garden, when he said, "Gloria, I like your friend Dru. I do not
recall ever having met any one like him." "Then you got him to talk
after we left last night. I am so glad. I was afraid he had on one of
his quiet spells."
"No, he said but little, but the questions he asked gave me glimpses of
his mind that sometimes startled me. He was polite, modest but elusive,
nevertheless, I like him, and shall see more of him." Far sighted as
Selwyn was, he did not know the full extent of this prophecy.
CHAPTER XIV
THE MAKING OF A PRESIDENT
Selwyn now devoted himself to the making of enough conservative senators
to control comfortably that body. The task was not difficult to a man
of his sagacity with all the money he could spend.
Newspapers were subsidized in ways they scarcely recognized themselves.
Honest officials who were in the way were removed by offering them
places vastly more remunerative, and in this manner he built up a
strong, intelligent and well constructed machine. It was done so sanely
and so quietly that no one suspected the master mind behind it all.
Selwyn was responsible to no one, took no one into his confidence, and
was therefore in no danger of betrayal.
It was a fascinating game to Selwyn. It appealed to his intellectual
side far more than it did to his avarice. He wanted to govern the Nation
with an absolute hand, and yet not be known as the directing power. He
arranged to have his name appear less frequently in the press and he
never submitted to interviews, laughingly ridding himself of reporters
by asserting that he knew nothing of importance. He had a supreme
contempt for the blatant self-advertised politician, and he removed
himself as far as possible from that type.
In the meantime his senators were being elected, the Rockland sentiment
was steadily growing and his nomination was finally brought about by the
progressives fighting vigorously for him and the conservatives
yielding a reluctant consent. It was done so adroitly that Rockland
would have been fooled himself, had not Selwyn informed him in advance
of each move as it was made.
After the nomination, Selwyn had trusted men put in charge of the
campaign, which he organized himself, though largely under cover. The
opposition party had every reason to believe that they would be
