WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:03.720
<v Speaker 1>This is section twenty of The Gilded Age, A Tale

2
00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:06.440
<v Speaker 1>of to Day. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

3
00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.720
<v Speaker 1>The Gilded Age, A Tale of to Day by Mark

4
00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:13.839
<v Speaker 1>Twain and C. D. Warner, Chapter twenty. The visit of

5
00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:18.079
<v Speaker 1>Senator Abner Dilworthy was an event in Hawkeye. When a senator,

6
00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:21.640
<v Speaker 1>whose place is in Washington, moving among the great and

7
00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:26.000
<v Speaker 1>guiding the destinies of the nation, condescends to mingle among

8
00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:29.760
<v Speaker 1>the people, and except the hospitalities of such a place

9
00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:33.320
<v Speaker 1>as Hawkeye, the honor is not considered a light one.

10
00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:37.840
<v Speaker 1>All parties are flattered by it, and politics are forgotten

11
00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:41.320
<v Speaker 1>in the presence of one so distinguished among his fellows.

12
00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:45.719
<v Speaker 1>Senator Dilworthy, who was from a neighboring state, had been

13
00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.840
<v Speaker 1>a Unionist in the darkest days of his country and

14
00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.240
<v Speaker 1>had thriven by it. But was that any reason why

15
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:55.200
<v Speaker 1>Colonel Sellers, who had been a Confederate and had not

16
00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:58.880
<v Speaker 1>thriven by it, should give him the cold shoulder. The

17
00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:02.200
<v Speaker 1>Senator was the guests of his old friend General Boswell,

18
00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:05.200
<v Speaker 1>but it almost appeared that he was indebted to Colonel

19
00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:09.200
<v Speaker 1>Sellers for the unreserved hospitalities of the town. It was

20
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:13.040
<v Speaker 1>the large hearted colonel, who in a manner gave him

21
00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:16.200
<v Speaker 1>the freedom of the city. You are known here, sir,

22
00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:20.000
<v Speaker 1>said the colonel, and Hawkeye is proud of you. You

23
00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:24.959
<v Speaker 1>will find every door open and a welcome at every hearthstone.

24
00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:28.640
<v Speaker 1>I should insist upon your going to my house if

25
00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:32.280
<v Speaker 1>you were not claimed by your older friend, General Boswell.

26
00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:35.439
<v Speaker 1>But you will mingle with our people, and you will

27
00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:39.879
<v Speaker 1>see here developments that will surprise you. The Colonel was

28
00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:43.359
<v Speaker 1>so profuse in his hospitality that he must have made

29
00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:46.480
<v Speaker 1>the impression upon himself that he had entertained the Senator

30
00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:49.680
<v Speaker 1>at his own mansion during his stay. At any rate,

31
00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:52.799
<v Speaker 1>he afterwards always spoke of him as his guest, and

32
00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:56.519
<v Speaker 1>not seldom referred to the Senator's relish of certain viands

33
00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:59.560
<v Speaker 1>on his table. He did, in fact press him to

34
00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:02.359
<v Speaker 1>dine upon the morning of the day the Senator was

35
00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:07.280
<v Speaker 1>going away. Senator Dilworthy was large and portly, though not tall,

36
00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:11.000
<v Speaker 1>a pleasant spoken man, a popular man with the people.

37
00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.719
<v Speaker 1>He took a lively interest in the town and all

38
00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:18.639
<v Speaker 1>the surrounding country, and made many inquiries as to the

39
00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:23.759
<v Speaker 1>progress of agriculture, of education, and of religion, and especially

40
00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:28.520
<v Speaker 1>as to the condition of the emancipated race. Providence, he said,

41
00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:31.960
<v Speaker 1>has placed them in our hands. And although you and

42
00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:35.840
<v Speaker 1>I General might have chosen a different destiny for them

43
00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:41.240
<v Speaker 1>under the Constitution, yet Providence knows best. You can't do

44
00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:45.840
<v Speaker 1>much with them, interrupted, Colonel Sellers. They are a speculating race, sir,

45
00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:50.039
<v Speaker 1>disinclined to work for white folks without security, planning how

46
00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:54.319
<v Speaker 1>to live by only working for themselves. Idle, sir, there

47
00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:57.759
<v Speaker 1>is my garden, just a ruin of weeds, nothing practical

48
00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:01.319
<v Speaker 1>in him. There is some truth in your observation, Colonel,

49
00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:06.080
<v Speaker 1>but you must educate them. You educate the Negro, and

50
00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:09.120
<v Speaker 1>you make him more speculating than he was before. If

51
00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:12.120
<v Speaker 1>he won't stick to any industry except for himself. Now,

52
00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:16.599
<v Speaker 1>what will he do then? But Colonel, the Negro, when educated,

53
00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:20.960
<v Speaker 1>will be more able to make his speculations fruitful. Never, sir, Never,

54
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:24.599
<v Speaker 1>he would only have a wider scope to injure himself.

55
00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.960
<v Speaker 1>A negro has no grasp, sir. Now a white man

56
00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:32.879
<v Speaker 1>can conceive great operations and carry them out. A nigro

57
00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:38.360
<v Speaker 1>cat still, replied the Senator, granting that he might injure himself.

58
00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.919
<v Speaker 1>In a worldly point of view, his elevation through education

59
00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.759
<v Speaker 1>would multiply his chances for the hereafter, which is the

60
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:49.240
<v Speaker 1>important thing after all, Colonel, and no matter what the

61
00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:52.759
<v Speaker 1>result is, we must fulfill our duty. By this being,

62
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.479
<v Speaker 1>I elevate his soul, promptly responded the Colonel. That's just it.

63
00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:00.879
<v Speaker 1>You can't make his soul too immortal, But I wouldn't

64
00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:05.120
<v Speaker 1>touch him himself. Yes, sir, make his sole immortal, but

65
00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.439
<v Speaker 1>don't disturb the negro as he is. Of course. One

66
00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:11.960
<v Speaker 1>of the entertainments offered the Senator was a public reception

67
00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.520
<v Speaker 1>held in the court House, at which he made a

68
00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:19.240
<v Speaker 1>speech to his fellow citizens. Colonel Sellars was master of ceremonies.

69
00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:23.439
<v Speaker 1>He escorted the band from the City Hotel to General Boswell's.

70
00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:26.800
<v Speaker 1>He marshaled the procession of Masons, of odd fellows, and

71
00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:30.959
<v Speaker 1>of firemen, the good Templars, the Sons of Temperance, the

72
00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.199
<v Speaker 1>Cadets of Temperance, the Daughters of Rebecca, the Sunday school children,

73
00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:39.240
<v Speaker 1>and citizens generally, which followed the Senator to the court House.

74
00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:42.680
<v Speaker 1>He bustled about the room long after every one else

75
00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:46.720
<v Speaker 1>was seated, and loudly cried order in the dead silence

76
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:50.319
<v Speaker 1>which preceded the introduction of the Senator by General Boswell.

77
00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:53.920
<v Speaker 1>The occasion was one to call out his finest powers

78
00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:58.000
<v Speaker 1>of personal appearance, and one he long dwelt on with pleasure.

79
00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:02.000
<v Speaker 1>This not being an edition of the Congressional Globe, it

80
00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:05.839
<v Speaker 1>is impossible to give Senator Dilworthy's speech in full. He

81
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:11.399
<v Speaker 1>began somewhat as follows, Fellow citizens, It gives me great

82
00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:14.839
<v Speaker 1>pleasure to thus meet and mingle with you, to lay

83
00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:17.920
<v Speaker 1>aside for a moment the heavy duties of an official

84
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:23.040
<v Speaker 1>and burdensome station, and confer in familiar converse with my

85
00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:26.600
<v Speaker 1>friends in your great state. The good opinion of my

86
00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:30.839
<v Speaker 1>fellow citizens of all sections is the sweetest solace in

87
00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.319
<v Speaker 1>all my anxieties. I look forward with longing to the

88
00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:38.720
<v Speaker 1>time when I can lay aside the cares of office.

89
00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:42.639
<v Speaker 1>Damn sight, shouted a tipsy fellow near the door. Cries

90
00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.480
<v Speaker 1>of put him out, My friends, do not remove him.

91
00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:50.399
<v Speaker 1>Let the misguided man stay. I see that he is

92
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.720
<v Speaker 1>a victim of that evil which is swallowing up public

93
00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:57.920
<v Speaker 1>virtue and sapping the foundation of society. As I was saying,

94
00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.120
<v Speaker 1>when I can lay down the case of office and

95
00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.680
<v Speaker 1>retired to the suites of private life in some such

96
00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:11.680
<v Speaker 1>sweet peaceful, intelligent, wide awake, and patriotic place as Hawkeye applause.

97
00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:15.759
<v Speaker 1>I have traveled much, I have seen all parts of

98
00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:19.240
<v Speaker 1>our glorious union. But I have never seen a lovelier

99
00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:22.800
<v Speaker 1>village than yours, or one that has more signs of

100
00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:29.959
<v Speaker 1>commercial and industrial and religious prosperity. More applause. The Senator

101
00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:33.360
<v Speaker 1>then launched into a sketch of our great country and

102
00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.839
<v Speaker 1>dwelt for an hour or more upon its prosperity and

103
00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.959
<v Speaker 1>the dangers which threatened it. He then touched reverently upon

104
00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.959
<v Speaker 1>the institutions of religion and upon the necessity of private

105
00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:49.800
<v Speaker 1>purity if we were to have any public morality, I trust.

106
00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:53.040
<v Speaker 1>He said that there are children within the sound of

107
00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:56.759
<v Speaker 1>my voice, And after some remarks to them, the Senator

108
00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:01.279
<v Speaker 1>closed with an apostrophe to the genius of American liberty,

109
00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:05.680
<v Speaker 1>walking with a Sunday school in one hand and temperance

110
00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:09.800
<v Speaker 1>in the other, up the glorified steps of the national capital.

111
00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.759
<v Speaker 1>Colonel Sellers did not, of course, lose the opportunity to

112
00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.600
<v Speaker 1>impress upon so influential a person as the Senator, the

113
00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:22.120
<v Speaker 1>desirability of improving the navigation of Columbus River. He and

114
00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:25.759
<v Speaker 1>mister Brierly took the Senator over to Napoleon and opened

115
00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:28.199
<v Speaker 1>to him their plan. It was a plan that the

116
00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:31.800
<v Speaker 1>Senator could understand without a great deal of explanation, for

117
00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:36.600
<v Speaker 1>he seemed to be familiar with the like improvements elsewhere. When, however,

118
00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:40.519
<v Speaker 1>they reached Stone's landing, the Senator looked about him and inquired,

119
00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:46.120
<v Speaker 1>is this Napoleon? This is the nucleus? The nucleus, said

120
00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:50.800
<v Speaker 1>the colonel, unrolling his map. Here is the depot, the church,

121
00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:55.680
<v Speaker 1>the city hall, and so on. Ah, I see how

122
00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:59.560
<v Speaker 1>far from here is Columbus River? Does that stream empty? That?

123
00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:04.240
<v Speaker 1>Why that's Goose Run? There ain't no Columbus Thutin' it's

124
00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:07.240
<v Speaker 1>over to Hawkeye, interrupted one of the citizens who had

125
00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:10.079
<v Speaker 1>come out to stare at the strangers. A railroad come

126
00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:14.040
<v Speaker 1>here last summer, but it hain't been here no more. Yes, sir,

127
00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:17.920
<v Speaker 1>the colonel hastened to explain. In the old records, Columbus

128
00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:21.040
<v Speaker 1>River is called Goose Run. You see how it sweeps

129
00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:25.079
<v Speaker 1>round the town forty nine miles to the Missouri sloop

130
00:08:25.160 --> 00:08:29.120
<v Speaker 1>navigation all the way pretty much drains this whole country.

131
00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:33.080
<v Speaker 1>When it's improved, steamboats will run right up here. It's

132
00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:36.320
<v Speaker 1>got to be enlarged, deepened. You see by the map

133
00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:42.720
<v Speaker 1>Columbus River, this country must have water communication. You'll want

134
00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:47.200
<v Speaker 1>a considerable appropriation, Colonel Sellers, I should say a million.

135
00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:51.480
<v Speaker 1>Is that your figure? Mister Brierly, according to our surveys,

136
00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:55.000
<v Speaker 1>said Harry, A million would do it. A million spent

137
00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:58.600
<v Speaker 1>on the river would make Napoleon worth two millions at least.

138
00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:03.039
<v Speaker 1>I see, nodded the Senator. But you'd better begin by

139
00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:06.879
<v Speaker 1>asking only for two or three hundred thousand, the usual

140
00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:10.519
<v Speaker 1>way you can begin to sell town lots on that appropriation.

141
00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:14.559
<v Speaker 1>You know. The Senator himself, to do him justice, was

142
00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.200
<v Speaker 1>not very much interested in the country or the stream,

143
00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:20.919
<v Speaker 1>but he favored the appropriation, and he gave the colonel

144
00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.639
<v Speaker 1>and mister Brierly to understand that he would endeavor to

145
00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:28.000
<v Speaker 1>get it through Harry, who thought he was shrewd and

146
00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:32.600
<v Speaker 1>understood Washington suggested an interest. But he saw that the

147
00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:37.279
<v Speaker 1>Senator was wounded by the suggestion. You will offend me

148
00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:41.000
<v Speaker 1>by repeating such an observation. He said, whatever I do

149
00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.120
<v Speaker 1>will be for the public interest. It will require a

150
00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:48.440
<v Speaker 1>portion of the appropriation for necessary expenses. And I am

151
00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:50.799
<v Speaker 1>sorry to say that there are members who will have

152
00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:55.360
<v Speaker 1>to be seen, but you can reckon upon my humble services.

153
00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:58.399
<v Speaker 1>This aspect of the subject was not again alluded to.

154
00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.120
<v Speaker 1>The Senator possess himself of the facts, not from his

155
00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:05.679
<v Speaker 1>observation of the ground, but from the lips of Colonel Sellers,

156
00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:09.639
<v Speaker 1>and laid the appropriation scheme away among his other plans

157
00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:13.200
<v Speaker 1>for benefiting the public. It was on this visit also

158
00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:16.720
<v Speaker 1>that the Senator made the acquaintance of mister Washington Hawkins,

159
00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:20.919
<v Speaker 1>and was greatly taken with his innocence, his guileless manner,

160
00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:25.000
<v Speaker 1>and perhaps with his ready adaptability to enter upon any

161
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:29.240
<v Speaker 1>plan proposed. Colonel Sellers was pleased to see this interest

162
00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:32.639
<v Speaker 1>that Washington had awakened, especially since it was likely to

163
00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:37.440
<v Speaker 1>further his expectations with regard to the Tennessee Lands. The

164
00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:40.480
<v Speaker 1>Senator having remarked to the Colonel that he delighted to

165
00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.639
<v Speaker 1>help any deserving young man when the promotion of a

166
00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:46.799
<v Speaker 1>private advantage could, at the same time be made to

167
00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:50.200
<v Speaker 1>contribute to the general good, and he did not doubt

168
00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:53.679
<v Speaker 1>that this was an opportunity of that kind. The result

169
00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:57.679
<v Speaker 1>of several conferences with Washington was that the Senator proposed

170
00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.639
<v Speaker 1>that he should go to Washington with him and become

171
00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:04.480
<v Speaker 1>his private secretary and the secretary of his committee, a

172
00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:09.039
<v Speaker 1>proposal which was eagerly accepted. The Senator spent Sunday in

173
00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:12.480
<v Speaker 1>Hawkeye and attended church. He cheered the heart of the

174
00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:16.399
<v Speaker 1>worthy and zealous minister by an expression of his sympathy

175
00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:19.879
<v Speaker 1>in his labors, and by many inquiries in regard to

176
00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:23.120
<v Speaker 1>the religious state of the region. It was not a

177
00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:26.799
<v Speaker 1>very promising state, and the good Man felt how much

178
00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.600
<v Speaker 1>lighter his task would be if he had the aid

179
00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:33.840
<v Speaker 1>of such a man as Senator Dilworthy. I am glad

180
00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:37.279
<v Speaker 1>to see, my dear sir, said the Senator, that you

181
00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:40.600
<v Speaker 1>give them the doctrines. It is owing to a neglect

182
00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:43.679
<v Speaker 1>of the doctrines that there is such a fearful falling

183
00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:46.440
<v Speaker 1>away in the country. I wish that we might have

184
00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:50.559
<v Speaker 1>you in Washington as chaplain. Now in the Senate. The

185
00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.279
<v Speaker 1>good Man could not but be a little flattered, and

186
00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:58.679
<v Speaker 1>if sometimes thereafter in his discouraging work, he allowed the

187
00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.480
<v Speaker 1>thought that he might perhaps be called to Washington as

188
00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:04.960
<v Speaker 1>chaplain of the Senate to cheer him. Who can wonder

189
00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.480
<v Speaker 1>The Senator's commendation at least did one service for him.

190
00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:14.120
<v Speaker 1>It elevated him in the opinion of Hawkeye. Laura was

191
00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:17.240
<v Speaker 1>at church alone that day, and mister Brierly walked home

192
00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:19.679
<v Speaker 1>with her. A part of their way lay with that

193
00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:24.440
<v Speaker 1>of General Boswell and Senator Dilworthy, and introductions were made.

194
00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:27.799
<v Speaker 1>Laura had her own reasons for wishing to know the Senator,

195
00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.360
<v Speaker 1>and the Senator was not a man who could be

196
00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:34.519
<v Speaker 1>called indifferent to charms such as hers. That meek young

197
00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:37.720
<v Speaker 1>lady so commended herself to him in the short walk

198
00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:40.840
<v Speaker 1>that he announced his intentions of paying his respects to

199
00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:44.320
<v Speaker 1>her the next day, an intention which Harry received glumly,

200
00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:47.519
<v Speaker 1>and when the Senator was out of hearing, he called

201
00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:52.399
<v Speaker 1>him an old fool. Fie said, Laura, I do believe

202
00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:55.559
<v Speaker 1>you are jealous Harry. He is a very pleasant man,

203
00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.279
<v Speaker 1>He said, you were a young man of great promise.

204
00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:01.639
<v Speaker 1>The Senator did call next day, and the result of

205
00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:04.600
<v Speaker 1>his visit was that he was confirmed in his impression

206
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:08.000
<v Speaker 1>that there was something about him very attractive to ladies.

207
00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:11.480
<v Speaker 1>He saw Laura again and again during his stay, and

208
00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:14.320
<v Speaker 1>he felt more and more the subtle influence of her

209
00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:18.080
<v Speaker 1>feminine beauty, which every man felt who came near her.

210
00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:21.879
<v Speaker 1>Harry was beside himself with rage while the senator remained

211
00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:24.879
<v Speaker 1>in town. He declared that women were always ready to

212
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.120
<v Speaker 1>drop any man for higher game, and he attributed his

213
00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:31.720
<v Speaker 1>own ill luck to the senator's appearance. The fellow was,

214
00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:35.039
<v Speaker 1>in fact crazy about her beauty and ready to beat

215
00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:39.320
<v Speaker 1>his brains out in chagrin. Perhaps Laura enjoyed his torment,

216
00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:43.039
<v Speaker 1>but she soothed him with blandishments that increased his ardor.

217
00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:46.080
<v Speaker 1>And she smiled to herself to think that he had,

218
00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.919
<v Speaker 1>with all his protestations of love, never spoken of marriage.

219
00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:54.960
<v Speaker 1>Probably the vivacious fellow never had thought of it at

220
00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.720
<v Speaker 1>any rate. When he at length went away from Hawkeye,

221
00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:01.200
<v Speaker 1>he was no nearer it, but there was no telling

222
00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:04.440
<v Speaker 1>to what desperate lengths his passion might not carry him.

223
00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:09.039
<v Speaker 1>Laura bade him good bye with tender regret, which, however,

224
00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:12.840
<v Speaker 1>did not disturb her peace or interfere with her plans.

225
00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:16.879
<v Speaker 1>The visit of Senator Dilworthy had become of more importance

226
00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:19.679
<v Speaker 1>to her, and it by and by bore the fruit

227
00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:23.480
<v Speaker 1>she longed for in an invitation to visit his family

228
00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:27.600
<v Speaker 1>in the national capital during the winter session of Congress

229
00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:29.799
<v Speaker 1>end of Chapter twenty