A Gentleman from Mississippi - Thomas A. Wise
Peabody had put on his smoothest and most polished manner.
"I came especially to meet you, Senator Langdon," he said. "Although
we are on different sides we may be interested in the same things. I
hope we shall see a great deal of each other."
Langdon chuckled.
"That's mighty good of you, Senator. I'm depending on you experienced
fellows to put me through. Don't know much about this lawmaking
business, you know. Raising cotton, arguing the Government and bossing
niggers have been about the extent of my occupation for the last forty
years, so I reckon I'm not much of a practical lawmaker."
"Oh, you'll learn; you'll learn quickly," assured Peabody. "With
Stevens, here, for a guide you can't go wrong. We all look up to
Stevens. He's one of the powers on your side. He's an able man, is
Stevens."
The new Senator from Mississippi gladly corroborated this.
"You're right, sir. A great man! I tell you, when he told that
Legislature what they ought to do, Senator Peabody, they did it. If it
wasn't for Stevens I wouldn't be here now."
In mock protest the senior Senator from Mississippi raised his hands.
"Now, now, Langdon, don't say that. Your worth, your integrity, your
character and our old friendship got you the senatorship."
The old planter laughed gleefully.
"Sure, Stevens, I have the character and the integrity, but I reckon
the character and integrity wouldn't have done much business if you
hadn't had the Legislature."
Clearly delighted, Peabody considered it certain that this new Senator
knew just the way he should go and would cause no difficulty. His
keen sense of gratitude made him appreciate how he had been elected.
Peabody literally beamed on Langdon.
"I hope we shall be able to work a good deal together, Senator," he
said. "I have the interests of the South at heart, particularly with
regard to this new naval base. Perhaps we may be able to get you on
the naval committee."
"Me!" laughed Langdon. "Well, that would be going strong! But I tell
you I'm for the naval base."
"For Altacoola?" suggested Stevens.
Langdon hesitated. Peabody and Stevens watched him as eagles watch
their prey from the mountain crag.
"Well, it looks to me like Altacoola ought to be a fine site. But the
actual place isn't so important to me. I tell you, gentlemen," he said
in impressive seriousness that rang with sturdy American manhood--"I
tell you that what is important is that the great, sweeping curve of
the gulf shall hold some of those white ships of ours to watch over
the Indies and the canal and to keep an eye on South America.
"And right there on our own Southern coast I want these ships built
and equipped and the guns cast and the men found to man them. I want
the South to have her part in the nation's defense. I want her to have
this great naval city as the living proof that there is again just
one country--the United States--and the North and the South both have
forgiven."
Senator Peabody clapped the new member on the back.
"Good!" he exclaimed. "You've got to make some speeches like that.
We'll have you as the orator for the naval base."
Langdon's eyes opened wide.
"Orator!" he gasped. "Me! An orator!"
"Why, that was oratory, good oratory," exclaimed Stevens, with
enthusiasm.
"Huh!" grunted the planter. "You call that oratory. Why, that was only
the truth."
"We'll see that you do some more of it, then," laughed Peabody.
"Remember, we count on you for the naval base."
"For rural simplicity he's perfection," whispered Peabody to Stevens
as they left the planter. "He's a living picture of innocence. We'll
push him forward and let him do the talking for the naval affairs
committee. Hiding behind him, we could put through almost any kind of
a proposition."
Once more did the senior Senator from Mississippi acquiesce.
CHAPTER VI
NEW FRIENDS--AND AN OLD ENEMY
Langdon gazed at the two departing Senators with varied emotions. He
sat down to think over what they had said and to carefully consider
what manner of man was Peabody, who showed such an interest in him. He
realized that he would have considerable intercourse with Peabody in
the processes of legislation, and finally had to admit to himself
that he did not like the Senator from Pennsylvania. Just what it was
Langdon could not at this time make certain, but he was mystified by
traces of contradictions in the Senator's character--slight traces,
true, but traces nevertheless. Peabody's cordiality and sympathy were
to Langdon's mind partly genuine and partly false. Just what was the
cause of or the necessity for the alloy in the true metal he could not
fathom.
His talk with these famous lawmakers was unsatisfactory also in that
it had conveyed to Langdon the suggestion that the Senate was not
primarily a great forum for the general and active consideration of
weighty measures and of national policies. It had been his idea that
the Senate was primarily such a forum, but the attitude of Peabody
and Stevens had hinted to him that there were matters of individual
interest that outweighed public or national considerations. For
instance, they were anxious that Altacoola should have the naval base
regardless of the claims or merits of any other section. That was
unusual, puzzling to Langdon. Moreover, it was poor business, yet
there were able business men in the Senate. Not one of them would,
for instance, think of buying a site for a factory until he had
investigated many possible locations and then selected the most
favorable one. Why was it, he pondered, that the business of the great
United States of America was not conducted on business lines?
He must study the whole question intelligently; that was imperative.
He must have advice, help. To whom was he to go for it? Stevens? Yes,
his old friend, who knew all "the ropes." Yet even Stevens seemed
different in Washington than Stevens in Mississippi. Here he played
"second fiddle." He was even obsequious, Langdon had observed, to
Peabody. In Mississippi he was a leader, and a strong one, too. But
Senator Langdon had not yet learned of the many founts from which
political strength and political leadership may be gained.
What he finally decided on was the engaging of a secretary, but he
must be one with knowledge of political operations, one who combined
wisdom with honesty. Such an aid could prevent Langdon from making the
many mistakes that invariably mark the new man in politics, and he
could point out the most effective modes of procedure under given
circumstances. It might prove difficult to find a man of the necessary
qualifications who was not already employed, but in the meantime
Langdon would watch the playing of the game himself and make his own
deductions as best he could.
The Senator started toward the hotel desk to ask regarding the
whereabouts of his son Randolph, when his attention was caught by the
sight of three powerful negro porters endeavoring to thrust outdoors
a threadbare old man. The victim's flowing white hair, white mustache
and military bearing received short shrift.
"Come along, Colonel! Yo' can't sit heah all day. Them chairs is for
the guests in the hotel," the head porter was urging as he jerked the
old man toward the door.
The Mississippian's fighting blood was instantly aroused at such
treatment of a respectable old white man by negroes. His lips tightly
compressed as he hurried to the rescue. He cried sharply:
"Take your hands off that gentleman! What do you mean by touching a
friend of mine?"
The negroes stepped back amazed.
"'Scuse me, Senator, is this gent'man a friend of yours?" the head
porter gasped apologetically.
Langdon looked at him.
"You heard what I said," he drawled in the slow way natural to some
men of the South when trouble threatens. "I'd like to have you down in
Mississippi for about ten minutes."
The head porter turned quickly on his assistants and drove them away,
shouting at the top of his voice:
"Get about yo' wuk. How dare yo' intehfere wid a friend of de
Senator's? I'll teach yo' to be putting yoh nose in where it ain't got
no business."
The old man, astonished at the turn of events, came forward
hesitatingly to Langdon.
"I'm very much obliged to you, sir," he said. "I'm Colonel Stoneman,
an old soldier."
The Mississippian stretched forth his hand.
"My name is Langdon, sir--Senator Langdon of Mississippi. I am an old
soldier, too."
"Delighted, Senator," exclaimed the seedy-looking old man, taking the
offered hand gratefully.
Langdon's easy method of making friends was well illustrated as he
clapped his new companion on the back. Everybody he met was the
Mississippian's friend until he had proved himself the contrary. That
had been his rule through life.
"Come right over, Colonel; have a cigar, sir." Then, as they lighted
their cigars, he inquired, "What army corps were you with, Colonel?"
"I was under Grant along the Tennessee," replied the old G.A.R. man.
Familiarity with a Senator was something new for him, and already he
was straightening up and becoming more of a man every moment. Langdon
was thoroughly interested.
"I was along the Tennessee under Beauregard," he said.
"Great generals, sir! Great generals!" exclaimed Colonel Stoneman.
"And great fighting, I reckon!" echoed the Confederate. "You remember
the battle of Crawfordsville?"
The old Federal smiled with joyous recollection.
"Do I? Well, I should say I did! Were you there, Senator?"
"Was I there? Why, I remember every shot that was fired. I was under
Kirby, who turned your left wing."
The attitude of the Northern soldier changed instantly. He drew
himself up with cold dignity. Plainly he felt that he had the honor of
his army to sustain.
"Our left wing was never turned, sir!" he exclaimed with dignity.
Langdon stared at him with amazement. This was a point of view the
Confederate had never heard before.
"Never turned!" he gasped. "Don't tell me that! I was there, and,
besides, I've fought this battle on an average of twice a week ever
since '65 down in Mississippi, and in all these years I never heard
such a foolish statement."
"What rank were you, sir?" asked the Union soldier, haughtily.
"I was a captain that morning," confessed the Southerner.
His old enemy smiled with superiority.
"As a colonel I've probably got more accurate information," he said.
"I was a colonel that evening," came the dry retort.
"But in an inferior army. We licked you, sir!" cried Stoneman, hotly.
The Mississippian drew himself up with all the dignity common to the
old Confederate soldier explaining the war.
"The South was never whipped, sir. We honorably surrendered, sir. We
surrendered to save the country, sir, but we were never whipped."
"Did you not run at Kenyon Hill?" taunted Stoneman.
Langdon brought down his fist in the palm of the other hand violently.
"Yes, sir; we ran at you. I ought to remember. I got my wound there.
You remember that long lane--" He pulled off his hat and threw it on
the floor, indicating it with one hand--"Here was the Second Alabama."
The hat of the old Federal dropped on the floor opposite the hat of
the Confederate.
"And here the Eighth Illinois," exclaimed Stoneman.
Langdon excitedly seized a diminutive bellboy passing by and planted
him alongside his hat.
"Stay there a moment, sonny," he cried. "You are the Fourth Virginia."
The newspaper Stoneman was carrying came down opposite the startled
bellboy, who was trying not to appear frightened.
"This is the clump of cedars," he exclaimed.
Both, in their eagerness, were bending down over their improvised
battle plan, their heads close together.
"And here a farmhouse beside your cedars," cried Langdon.
"That's where the rebels charged us," echoed the Union man.
Langdon brought down his fist again with emphatic gesture.
"You bet we charged you! The Third Mississippi charged you! I charged
you, sir!"
Stoneman nodded.
"I remember a young fool of a Johnnie reb dashing up the hill fifty
yards ahead of his men, waving his sword and yelling like a wild
Indian."
The Southerner straightened up.
"Well, where in thunderation would you expect me to be, sir?" he
exclaimed. "Behind them? I got my wound there. Laid me up for three
months; like to have killed me."
Then a new idea struck him. "Why, Colonel, it must have been a bullet
from one of your men--from your regiment, sir!"
The old Northerner pushed his fingers through his hair and shook his
head apologetically.
"Why, Senator, I'm afraid it was," he hesitated.
Langdon's eyes were big with the afterglow of a fighter discussing the
mighty struggles of the past, those most precious of all the jewels in
the treasure store of a soldier's memory.
"Why, it might have been a bullet fired by you, sir," he cried. "It
might be that you were the man who almost killed me. Why, confound
you, sir, I'm glad to meet you!"
Each old veteran of tragic days gone by had quite unconsciously
awakened a responsive chord in the heart of the other. A Senator and
a penniless old "down and outer" are very much the same in the human
scale that takes note of the inside and not the outside of a man.
And they fell into each other's arms then and there, for what strong
fighter does not respect another of his kind?
There they stood, arms around each other, clapping each other on the
back, actually chortling in the pure ecstasy of comradeship, now
serious, again laughing, when on the scene appeared Bud Haines, the
correspondent, who had returned to interview the new Senator from
Mississippi.
"Great heavens!" ejaculated the newspaper man. "A Senator, a United
States Senator, hugging a broken-down old 'has-been!' What is the
world coming to?" Haines suddenly paused. "I wonder if it can be a
pose;--merely for effect. It's getting harder every day to tell what's
genuine and what isn't in this town."
CHAPTER VII
LANGDON LEARNS OF THINGS UNPLEASANT
Haines quickly walked over and touched the Southerner on the arm.
"Well, my boy, what can I do for you?" asked the new Senator, turning
with a pleasant smile.
"My name is Haines. Senator Stevens was to speak to you about me. I'm
the first of the newspaper correspondents come to interview you."
Langdon's familiar smile broadened.
"Well, you don't look as though you'd bite. Reckon I can stand for it.
Is it very painful?"
"I hope it won't be, Senator," Haines said, feeling instinctively that
he was going to like this big, hearty citizen.
"All right, Mr. Haines, just as soon as I've said good-by to my old
friend, Colonel Stoneman, I'll be with you."
And to his continued amazement Haines saw the Senator walk away with
the old Union Colonel, slap him on the back, cheer him up and finally
bid him good-by after extending a cordial invitation to come around to
dinner, meet his daughters and talk over old times.
The antiquated Federal soldier marched away more erect, more brisk,
than in years, completely restored to favor in the eyes of the hotel
people. Langdon turned to the reporter.
"All right, Mr. Haines; my hands are up. Do your worst. Senator
Stevens spoke to me about you; said you were the smartest young
newspaper man in Washington. You must come from the South."
Bud shook his head.
"No, just New York," he said.
"Well, that's a promising town," drawled the Southerner. "They tell me
that's the Vicksburg of the North."
"I suppose you haven't been to New York of late, Senator?" suggested
the newspaper man.
"Well, I started up there with General Lee once," responded Langdon
reminiscently, "but we changed our minds and came back. You may have
heard about that trip."
Haines admitted that he had.
"Since that time," went on Langdon, "I've confined my travels to New
Orleans and Vicksburg. Ever been in New Orleans about Mardi Gras time,
Mr. Haines?"
"Sorry, but I don't believe I have," confessed the reporter
reluctantly.
The Senator seemed surprised.
"Well, sir, you have something to live for. I'll make it my special
business to personally conduct you through one Mardi Gras, with a
special understanding, of course, that you don't print anything in the
paper. I'm a vestryman in my church, but since misfortune has come
upon our State I have to be careful."
Haines searched his brain. He knew of no grave calamity that had
happened recently in Mississippi.
"Misfortune?" he questioned.
Senator Langdon nodded.
[Illustration: "FROM NEW YORK, EH? THE VICKSBURG OF THE NORTH,"]
"Yes, sir, the great old State of Mississippi went prohibition at the
last election. I don't know how it happened. We haven't found anybody
in the State that says he voted for it, but the fact is a fact. I
assure you, Mr. Haines, that prohibition stops at my front door, in
Mississippi. So I've been living a quiet life down on my plantation."
"This new life will be a great change for you, then?" suggested the
reporter.
"Change! It's revolutionary, sir! When you've expected to spend your
old days peacefully in the country, Mr. Haines, suddenly to find that
your State has called on you--"
A flavor of sarcasm came into Haines' reply.
"The office seeking the man?" He could not help the slight sneer. Was
a man never to admit that he had sought the office? Haines knew only
too well of the arduous work necessary to secure nominations for high
office in conventions and to win an election to the Senate from a
State Legislature. In almost every case, he knew, the candidate must
make a dozen different "deals" to secure votes, might promise the same
office to two or three different leaders, force others into line
by threats, send a trusted agent to another with a roll of bank
bills--the recipient of which would immediately conclude that this
candidate was the only man in the State who could save the nation from
destruction. Had not Haines seen men who had sold their unsuspecting
delegates for cash to the highest bidder rise in the convention hall
and in impassioned, dramatic voice exclaim in praise of the buyer,
"Gentlemen, it would be a crying shame, a crime against civilization,
if the chosen representatives of our grand old State of ---- did not
go on record in favor of such a man, such a true citizen, such an
inspired patriot, as he whose name I am about to mention"? So
the reporter may be forgiven for the ironical tinge in his hasty
interruption of the new Senator's remarks.
Langdon could not suppress a chuckle at the doubting note in Haines'
attitude.
"I think the man would be pretty small potatoes who wouldn't seek the
office of United States Senator, Mr. Haines," he said, "if he could
get it. When I was a young man, sir, politics in the South was a
career for a gentleman, and I still can't see how he could be better
engaged than in the service of his State or his country."
"That's right," agreed the reporter, further impressed by the frank
sincerity of the Mississippian.
"The only condition in my mind, Mr. Haines, is that the man should ask
himself searchingly whether or not he's competent to give the service.
But I seem to be talking a good deal. Suppose we get to the interview.
Expect your time is short. We'd better begin."
"I thought we were in the interview?" smiled the correspondent.
"In it!" exclaimed Langdon. "Well, if this is it, it isn't so bad. I
see you use a painless method. When I was down in Vicksburg a reporter
backed me up in a corner, slipped his hand in his hip pocket and
pulled out a list of questions just three feet four inches long.
"He wanted to know what I thought concerning the tariff on aluminium
hydrates, and how I stood about the opening of the Tento Pu
Reservation of the Comanche Indians, and what were my ideas about the
differential rate of hauls from the Missouri River.
"He was a wonder, that fellow! Kinder out of place on a Mississippi
paper. I started to offer him a job, but he was so proud I was afraid
he wouldn't accept it. However, it gives you my idea of a reporter."
"If you've been against that, I ought to thank you for talking to me,"
laughed Haines.
"Then you don't want to know anything about that sort of stuff?" said
Langdon, with a huge sigh of relief.
"No, Senator," was the amused reply. "I think generally if I know what
sort of a man a man is I can tell a great deal about what he will
think on various questions."
Langdon started interestedly.
"You mean, Mr. Haines, if you know whether I'm honest or not you can
fit me up with a set of views. Is that the idea? Seems to me you're
the sort of man I'm looking for."
The other smilingly shook his head.
"I wouldn't dare fix up a United States Senator with a set of views,"
he said. "I only mean that I think what a man is is important. I've
been doing Washington for a number of years. I've had an exceptional
opportunity to see how politics work. I don't believe in party
politics. I don't believe in parties, but I do believe in men."
Langdon nodded approvingly, then a twinkle shone in his eyes.
"We don't believe in parties in Mississippi," he drawled. "We've only
one--the Democratic party,--and a few kickers."
Haines grinned broadly at this description of Southern politics.
"What was this you were saying about national politics?" continued
the Mississippian. "I'm a beginner, you know, and I'm always ready to
learn."
"This is a new thing--a reporter teaching a Senator politics," laughed
Haines.
Senator Langdon joined in the merriment.
"I reckon reporters could teach United States Senators lots of things,
Mr. Haines, if the Senators had sense enough to go to school. Now, I
come up here on a platform the chief principle of which is the naval
base for the gulf. Now, how are we going to put that through? My State
wants it."
"You're probably sure it will be a wonderful thing for the country and
the South," suggested Haines.
"Of course."
"But why do you think most of the Congressmen and Senators will vote
for it?"
The Southerner took off his hat, leaned back and gazed across the
lobby thoughtfully.
"Seems to me the benefit to the South and country would be sufficient
reason, Mr. Haines," he finally replied.
The newspaper man's brain worked rapidly. Going over the entire
conversation with Langdon and what he had seen of him, he was certain
that the Mississippian believed what he said--that, moreover, the
belief was deeply rooted. His long newspaper training had educated
Haines in the ways of men, their actions and mental processes--what
naturally to expect from a given set of circumstances. He felt a
growing regard, an affection, for this unassuming old man before
him, who did not know and probably would be slow to understand the
hypocrisy, the cunning trickery of lawmakers who unmake laws.
"Sufficient reason for you, Senator," Haines added. "You have not been
in politics very long, have you?" he queried dryly.
A wry smile wrinkled the Mississippian's face.
"Been in long enough to learn some unpleasant things I didn't know
before." He remembered Martin Sanders.
"Will you allow me to tell you a few more?" asked Haines.
Langdon inclined his head in acquiescence. "Reckon I'd better know the
worst and get through with it."
"Well, then, Senator, somebody from Nebraska will vote for what you
want in the way of the naval base because he'll think then you'll help
him demand money to dredge some muddy creek that he has an interest
in.
"Somebody in Pennsylvania will vote for it because he owes a grudge
and wants to hurt the Philadelphia ship people.
"You'll get the Democrats because it's for the South, but if your bill
was for the west coast they might fight it tooth and nail, even with
the Japanese fleet cruising dangerously near.
"And the Republicans may vote for it because they see a chance to
claim glory and perhaps break the solid South in the next presidential
campaign. You catch the idea?"
"What!" exclaimed the astounded Langdon. "Well, who in hades will vote
for it because it's for the good of the United States?" he gasped.
"I believe you will, Senator," replied Haines, with ready confidence.
CHAPTER VIII
HOW SENATOR LANGDON GETS A SECRETARY
Langdon leaned over and seized the arm of his interviewer.
"See here, young man, why aren't you in politics?" he said.
"Too busy, Senator," replied Haines. "Besides, I like the newspaper
game."
"Game?" queried Langdon.
"Oh, I use the word in a general sense, Senator," replied Haines.
"Pretty much everything is a 'game'--society, politics, newspaper
work, business of every sort. Men and women make 'moves' to meet the
moves of other men and women. Why, even in religion, the way some
people play a--"
The speaker was interrupted by the appearance of Hope Georgia, who was
searching for her father.
"Stay here and listen to what a hard task your old father has got,"
said the Mississippian to his daughter, whom he presented to Haines
with a picturesque flourish reminiscent of the pride and chivalry of
the old South. "He has the idea that those New Yorkers who read his
paper would actually like to know something about me."
Hope Georgia stole many glances at the reporter as he talked with her
father. He made a deep impression on her young mind. She had spent
almost all her life on the plantation, her father providing her with
a private tutor instead of sending her to boarding-school, where her
elder sister had been educated. Owing to the death of her mother the
planter had desired to keep Hope Georgia at home for companionship.
This good-looking, clean-cut, well-built young man who was taking
so big and so active a part of the world's work brought to her the
atmosphere that her spirit craved. He gave one an impression of
ability, of earnestness, of sincerity, and she was glad that her
father approved of him.