There's a fortune in sight--within reach. Langdon has faith in his
friends. He won't suspect a thing."

Still another thought occurred to the Hon. Charles Norton. "Stevens
elected Langdon out of friendship," he chuckled, gleefully. "That will
be well worth telling in Washington."




CHAPTER II

THE WARS OF PEACE


"Big Bill" Langdon was the term by which the new Senator from
Mississippi had been affectionately known to his intimates for years.
He carried his 230 pounds with ease, bespeaking great muscular power
in spite of his gray hairs. His rugged courage, unswerving honesty and
ready belief in his friends won him a loyal following, some of whom
frequently repeated what was known as "Bill Langdon's Golden Rule":

"There never was a man yet who didn't have some good in him, but most
folks don't know this because their own virtues pop up and blind 'em
when they look at somebody else."

At the reunions of his old war comrades Langdon was always depended
on to describe once again how the Third Mississippi charged at
Crawfordsville and defeated the Eighth Illinois. But the stirring
events of the past had served to increase the planter's fondness for