"Ah! Meester Lockwin," he says at last, "I like to play for you. You
look very tired, I hear you will go to the--to the--"

The professor must be aided by his good wife.

"To the Congress--ah, yes, to the Congress."

"If I shall be elected to-morrow," smiles the candidate.

The friends go to their homes. It is not late. Esther has explained
the need her husband has of both diversion and rest. "He is naturally
an unhappy man," she says, "but Davy and I are making him happier."

"Of all the men I have ever known," says one of the guests to his wife,
as they walk the few steps they must take, "I think David Lockwin is
the most blessed. All that money could do was dedicated to his
education. He is a brilliant man naturally. He has married Esther
Wandrell. He is sure to be elected to-morrow, and I heard a very
prominent man say the other day that he wouldn't be surprised if
Lockwin should some day be President of the United States. They call
him the people's idol. I don't know but he is."

"I don't believe he appreciates his good fortune," says the wife.
"Perhaps he has had too much."




CHAPTER X