statesmen as the puissant Burke, the sagacious Pitt, the astute
Palmerston, that ninety per cent, of the people--and it is so even in
this glorious land of free schools and liberty--are relatively to the
remaining ten per cent, either poor and dishonest, or poor and ignorant;
and that none of the hundred per cent, goes into sackcloth and ashes
when he gets something for nothing. I, sir, am--or I was until
recently--a Jeffersonian Democrat. But our party made a great mistake a
few years ago by sticking to the slave interest too long. I finally
became hopeless of success at the polls. Now, when I whisper in your
all-comprehending ear that the leaders of this Greenback Party are
anything but Republicans, you will grasp the point. I repeat, sir, I am
not an ass--if I do bray sometimes. All's fair in love and politics. But
let me say to you, that the printing presses of the United States will
never be leased by the United States Treasury, whatever party wins at
the polls."

As he closed, we entered the town. It may not be wholly lacking in
interest to the reader when I say that, some years later, as I one
morning sat in my library looking through the window at the far-distant
smoke of Newcastle, I had just laid aside a copy of the _Times_, in
which paper I had read of the results of a political contest in the
State of Illinois. The Republicans had won. The Greenbackers and the
Democrats had lost. Then my eye caught the name of Castleton! The doctor
had made the race for Governor--not on the Greenback ticket, however;
not on the Democratic ticket; but--of all things!--on the _anti-liquor
or Prohibition ticket!_

As we drew up in front of the Loomis House, Doctor Bainbridge stood on
the sidewalk as if awaiting our return. I smiled, then nodded an
affirmative to the question in his eyes; and stepping out of the buggy,