When the bill was reported as it had been drafted by his friends in New York, it had been arranged that Mr. Newt should catch the speaker’s eye.  His figure and face attracted attention, and his career in Washington had already made him somewhat known.  During the time he had been there his constant employment had been a study of the House and of its individual members, as well as of the general character and influence of the speeches.  His shrewdness showed him the shallows, the currents, and the reefs.  Day after day he saw a great many promising plans, like full-sailed ships, ground upon the flats of dullness, strike rocks of prejudice, or whirl in the currents of crudity, until they broke up and went down out of sight.

He rose, and his first words arrested attention.  He treated the House with consummate art, as he might have treated a woman whom he wished to persuade.  The House was favorably inclined before.  It was resolved when he sat down.  For he had shown so clearly that it was one of the cases in which patriotism and generosity—­the finer feelings and only a moderate expense—­were all one, that the majority, who were determined to pass the Grant in any case, were charmed to have the action so imposingly stated; and the minority, who knew that it was useless to oppose it, enjoyed the rhetoric of the speech, and, as it was brief, and did not encroach upon dinner-time, smiled approval, and joined in the congratulation to Mr. Newt upon his very eloquent and admirable oration.

In the midst of the congratulations Abel raised his eyes to Mrs. Delilah Jones, who sat conspicuous in the gallery.

CHAPTER LXXXIV.

PROSPECTS OF HAPPINESS.

The Honorable Abel Newt was the lion of the hour.  Days of dinner invitations and evening parties suddenly returned.  He did not fail to use the rising tide.  It helped to float him more securely to the fulfillment of his great work.  Meanwhile he saw Mrs. Jones every day.  She no longer tried to play a game.

The report of his speech was scattered abroad in the papers.  General Belch rubbed his hands and expectorated with an energy that showed the warmth of his feeling.  Far away in quiet Delafield, when the news arrived, Mr. Savory Gray lost no time in improving the pregnant text.  The great moral was duly impressed upon the scholars that Mr. Newt was a great man because he had been one of Mr. Gray’s boys.  The Washington world soon knew his story, the one conspicuous fact being that he was the favorite nephew of the rich merchant, Lawrence Newt.  All the doors flew open.  The dinner invitations, the evening notes, fell upon his table more profusely than ever.

He sneered at his triumph.  Ambition, political success, social prestige had no fascination for a man who was half imbruted, and utterly disappointed and worn out.  One thing only Abel really wanted.  He wanted money—­money, which could buy the only pleasures of which he was now capable.