opposed his methods. He aimed to win the friendship of these opponents
by diplomacy--as he had found that reporters of the Haines sort could
not be influenced by money. He considered a reporter who would take
a bribe as a constructive, conservative member of society, and
frequently regretted that so many of the correspondents sent to
Washington could not be bought nor had bills they wanted passed or
defeated. He extended his hand to Haines as Stevens concluded and
said, warmly:

"Of course I know the representative of the _Morning Star_! How do you
do, Haines?"

"I wonder if we're not all here on the same errand," suggested the
newspaper man.

Senator Peabody appeared to be all candor.

"We came to call on Senator Langdon, Senator Stevens' new colleague,"
he said.

Bud Haines opened his eyes wide. "By Jove! Langdon stock is going up
when the chairman of the naval committee drops in to welcome him."

"You see, Langdon went in on a naval base platform," explained
Stevens. "Our section of the South is red hot in favor of the
Government spending its naval base appropriation right there."

"Certainly," interrupted Haines, "but--"

"And, there being a vacancy on the committee on naval affairs,"