might be enough to blow away the frail object of his attack.
Ultimately he would be forced to retire, perhaps in the face of a
serene smile, beaten and angered that he had been able to make so
little impression. And many the delicious remark and delightful
quip afterward at his expense!

Her gentle humor is of the highest quality. If only her opponents
could have seen her amusement at their hysteria. At the very
moment they were denouncing some plan of action and calling her
"fanatical" and "hysterical" she would fairly beam with delight
to see how well her plan had worked. Her intention had been to
arouse them to just that state of mind, and how admirably they
were living up to the plan. The hysteria was all on their side.
She coolly sat back in her chair and watched their antics under
pressure.

"But don't you know," would come another thundering
one, "that this will make the Democratic leaders so hostile that
. . ."

The looked-for note of surprise never came. She had counted ahead
on all this and knew almost to the last shade the reaction that
would follow from both majority and minority leaders. All this
had been thoroughly gone over, first with

{15}

herself, then with her colleagues. All the "alarms" had been
rung. The male politician could not understand why his
wellmeaning and generously-offered advice caused not a ripple and