"I"m here in Washin"ton."
"I have been informed that you were in the city. Well, sir?"
"Oh! knew I was here, did you? Is that so? Who told you? Tad wrote, I suppose, hey?"
The congressman did not reply immediately. This man, whom he disliked more than anyone else in the world, had an irritating faculty of putting his finger on the truth. And the flippancy in the tone was maddening.
Mr. Atkins was not used to flippancy.
"I believe I am not called upon to disclose my source of information,"
he said with chilling dignity. "It appears to have been trustworthy. I presume you have "phoned me concerning the appropriation matter. I do not recognize your right to intrude in that affair, and I shall decline to discuss it. Yes, sir. To my people, to those who have a right to question, I am and shall always be willing to explain my position. Good night."
"Wait! h.e.l.lo! Hold on a minute. Don"t get mad, Heman. I only wanted to say just a word. You"ll let me say a word, won"t you?"
This was more like it. This was more nearly the tone in which Mr. Atkins was wont to be addressed. It was possible that the man, recognizing the uselessness of further opposition, desired to surrender.
"I cannot," declared the Honorable, "understand why you should wish to speak with me. We have very little in common, very little, I"m thankful to say. However, I will hear you briefly. Go on."
"Much obliged. Well, Heman, I only wanted to say that I thought maybe you"d better have a little talk with me. I"m here at the hotel, the Regent. You know where "tis, I presume likely. I guess you"d better come right down and see me."
Heman gasped, actually gasped, with astonishment.
"_I_ had better come and see YOU? I--! Well, sir! WELL! I am not accustomed--"
"I know, but I think you"d better. It"s dirty weather, and I"ve got cold somehow or other. I ain"t feelin" quite up to the mark, so I cal"late I"ll stay in port much as I can. You come right down. I"ll be in my room, and the hotel folks "ll tell you where "tis. I"ll be waitin" for you."
Mr. Atkins breathed hard. In his present frame of mind he would have liked to deliver a blast into that transmitter which would cause the person at the other end of the line to shrivel under its heat. But he was a politician of long training, and he knew that such blasts were sometimes expensive treats. It might be well to hear what his enemy had to say. But as to going to see him--that was out of the question.
"I do not," he thundered, "I do not care to continue this conversation.
If--if you wish to see me, after what has taken place between us, I am willing, in spite of personal repugnance, to grant you a brief interview. My servants will admit you here at nine o"clock to-morrow morning. But I tell you now, that your interference with this appropriation matter is as useless as it is ridiculous and impudent. It is of a piece with the rest of your conduct."
"All right, Heman, all right," was the calm answer. "I don"t say you"ve got to come. I only say I guess you"d better. I"m goin" back to Bayport tomorrer, early. And if I was you I"d come and see me to-night."
"I have no wish to see you. Nor do I care to talk with you further. That appropriation--"
"Maybe it ain"t all appropriation."
"Then I cannot understand--"
"I know, but _I_ understand. I"ve come to understand consider"ble many things in the last fortni"t. There! I can"t holler into this machine any longer. I"ve been clear out to "Frisco and back in eleven days, and I got cold in those blessed sleepin" cars. I--"
The receiver fell from the congressman"s hand. It was a difficult object to pick up again. Heman groped for it in a blind, strangely inadequate way. Yet he wished to recover it very much.
"Wait! wait!" he shouted anxiously. "I--I--I dropped the--Are you there, Whittaker? Are you--Oh! yes! I didn"t--Did you say--er--"Frisco?"
"Yes, San Francisco, California. I"ve been West on a little cruise.
Had an interestin" time. It"s an interestin" place; don"t you think so?
Well, I"m sorry you can"t come. Good night."
"Wait!" faltered the great man. "I--I--let me think, Cyrus. I do not wish to seem--er--arrogant in this matter. It is not usual for me to visit my const.i.tuents, but--but--I have no engagement this evening, and you are not well, and--h.e.l.lo! are you there? h.e.l.lo! Why, under the circ.u.mstances, I think--Yes, I will come. I"ll come--er--at once."
The telephone enables one to procure a cab in a short time. Yet, to Heman Atkins, that cab was years in coming. He paced the library floor, his hand to his forehead and his brain whirling. It couldn"t be! It must be a coincidence! He had been an idiot to display his agitation and surrender so weakly. And yet--and yet--
The ride through the storm to the Regent Hotel gave him opportunity for more thought. But he gained little comfort from thinking. If it was a coincidence, well and good. If not--
A bell boy conducted him to the Whittaker room "on the saloon deck." It was a small room, very different from the Atkins library, and Captain Cy, in a cane-seated chair, was huddled close to the steam radiator. He looked far from well.
"Evenin", Heman," he said as the congressman entered. "Pretty dirty night, ain"t it? What we"d call a gray no"theaster back home. Sit down.
Don"t mind my not gettin" up. This heatin" arrangement feels mighty comf"table just now. If I get too far away from it I shiver my deck planks loose. Take off your things."
Mr. Atkins did not remove his overcoat. His hat he tossed on the bed.
He glanced fearfully at his companion. The latter"s greeting had been so casual and everyday that he took courage. And the captain looked anything but formidable as he hugged the radiator. Perhaps things were not so bad as he had feared. He resolved not to seem alarmed, at all events.
"Have a cigar, Heman?" said Captain Cy. "No? Well, all right; I will, if you don"t mind."
He lit the cigar. The congressman cleared his throat.
"Cyrus," he said, "I am not accustomed to run at the beck and call of my--er--acquaintances, but, even though we have disagreed of late, even though to me your conduct seems quite unjustifiable, still, for the sake of our boyhood friendship, and, because you are not well, I--er--came."
Captain Cy coughed spasmodically, a cough that seemed to be tearing him to pieces. He looked at his cigar regretfully, and laid it on the top of the radiator.
"Too bad," he observed. "Tobacco gen"rally iles up my talkin" machinery, but just now it seems to make me bark like a ship"s dog shut up in the hold. Why, yes, Heman, I see you"ve come. Much obliged to you."
This politeness was still more encouraging. Atkins leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.
"I presume," he said, "that you wish to ask concerning the appropriation. I regret--"
"You needn"t. I guess we"ll get the appropriation."
Heman"s condescension vanished. He leaned forward and uncrossed his legs.
"Indeed?" he said slowly, his eyes fixed on the captain"s placid face.
"Yes--indeed."
"Whittaker, what are you talking about? Do you suppose that I have been the representative of my people in Congress all these years without knowing whereof I speak? They left the matter in my hands, and your interference--"
"I ain"t goin" to interfere. I"M goin" to leave it in your hands, too.
And I cal"late you"ll be able to find a way to get it. Um--hum, I guess likely you will."
The visitor rose to his feet. The time had come for another blast from Olympus. He raised the mighty right arm. But Captain Cy spoke first.
"Sit down, Heman," said the captain quietly. "Sit down. This ain"t town meetin". Never mind the appropriation now. There"s other matters to be talked about first. Sit down, I tell you."
Mr. Atkins was purple in the face, but he sat down. The captain coughed again.
"Heman," he began when the spasm was over, "I asked you to come here to-night for--well, blessed if I know exactly. It didn"t make much difference to me whether you came or not."
"Then, sir, I must say that, of all the impudent--"